Parents of Incoming 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Students, and Students,

Hard copies of the Summer Reading Projects for Mrs. Alvarez's Language Arts classes have been
delivered to the students. If you click on the Photo/Docs2 link, all of that same information is
available online for you to download. Have a great summer, and don't forget to read!

 

Summer Science stuff for incoming 6th, 7th and 8th graders.  

It's metrics time again!  I know all of you have done metrics before so I'm sure the review will be nothing more than that...a review!  To prepare for your metric review (and test) it would be wise to check out the following website.   

Update - 7/-5   -  Just got back from my annual Fourth of July in the mountains event.  Spent a long weekend at Moseley Mountain in Boone N.C.  It's the family summer cabin for the past 35 years.  On the way up we stopped in Atlanta to see the Anne Frank - Holocaust Exhibit and the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial.  Both were great tributes to people we have studied in our classroom curriculum.  The next day we went back to nature in visiting Whitewater Falls (the tallest water fall East of the Mississippi River) and then we went swimming at Sliding Rock.  Sliding Rock is a 60 foot naturally formed water slide.  It was super cold but a lot of fun.  I'm going to have to chill-out from my travels for the next few weeks.  I'm doing a tour of duty at the Cornerstone Day Camp.  After that I may still have enough time for a a few more summer adventures before school starts.

Update - 6/23 - All right...I promised to let you know how my daughter's wedding went.  It was fabulous!!  It was "on the beach" in Panama City Florida (also known as the Redneck Riviera).  My brother, who is a Presbyterian minister, was the preacher for the service.  Most of the family was there and we had a great time.  The reception was at a place called Spinnaker's and we were on the deck eating good groceries, drinking some cool drinks and dancing a whole lot (you should see Mr.Moe do the "Apache" dance).  A few Cornerstone folk were there (Ms.Ingrid, Ms.Margarita, Ms.Sieg, Ms.Annie, Ms.Beth) to enjoy the activities.  The main thing was that my daughter had a fabulous time and I have another son, Bobby!

Update - 6/17 -  I just got back from hiking 100 miles on the App. Trail in North Carolina and Tennessee.  Before I left on my hike I did a white-water rafting trip down the Nantahala River.  I went with my wife (Boo) and another Cornerstone Middle School Student (Randi Cason) and took on the Class 3 and 4 rapids in a five mile river trip. No one fell out of the boat and we all survived. 

     The trail was great with just a few problems.  One day I had a blowout with my hiking boot...had to walk 12 miles with a sock-foot.  I saw four bears along the trail...they usually just run away...but sometimes they do get a little close in the middle of the night.  One night a ranger had to sleep in the campsite with a dart rifle waiting for the harassing bear to appear.  The plan was to shoot the bear (with a dart) and then tag it which would make the bear associate the campsite with a bad experience, never to return to the area.  We'll never know because the bear never showed up. Other wildlife on the trail was mild-life compared to the bears. I did meet a strange guy on the trail that hiked with a hula hoop and a miniature guitar (not a ukaleile).  Whenever anyone asked him..."hey, why are you hiking with a hoola hoop?"  he would just answer, "you want to give it a whirl?"  I also met a German guy and his wife that sang religious music in German.  It sounded OK the first couple of songs, then it was hard to shut him down.   I met a Canadian Middle School Science Teacher from Thunder Bay.  He and his wife were going to spend 3 months hiking on the trail.

     My next adventure is to attend my daughter's (Miss Megan, who was a fourth grade Cornerstone Assistant a few years ago) wedding in Panama City.  I'll let you know how that goes when I return. 

 

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER...and I can't wait to do some SCIENCE when we all get back in August.



STATE SCIENCE FAIR NEWS! STATE SCIENCE FAIR NEWS! STATE SCIENCE FAIR NEWS! STATE SCIENCE FAIR
The Cornerstone Middle School is proud to announce the results of the Florida State Science and
Engineering Fair held in Lakeland last week (Wed.15 - Fri.17).
In the Chemistry Division, Alexander Wartels, 6th Grade, came in Fourth Place for the entire
state of Florida.
In the Human Behavior Category, Caroline Sessions, 8th Grade, came in Third Place for the entire
state of Florida.
In the Mathmatics Division, Christopher Polack, 7th Grade, came in Second Place in the entire
state of Florida. Christopher also won the prestigeous NASA Science Award (only two given in the
state)
In the Engineering Division, Logan Gore, 8th Grade, came in First Place in the entire state of
Florida.
We are proud of the accomplishments of these students and the hard work and effort
that have put forth. They have done a great job in representing the excellence of The
Cornerstone School.

CORNERSTONE ATHLETICS MAKES A HIT!
GOLF TEAM TAKES IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!
The Cornerstone School Golf Team dominated the entire Kingdom Conference tournament held at the
Ironwood Golf course in Gainesville and brought back another Conference Championship to The
Stone! Crushing the closest challenger (St. Patrick's) by 12 strokes the Cougars made it look
easy in capturing their third conference golf championship in the past four years. Led by a
group of 8th Grade veterans (Evan Byrd, Brandon Zacco, Matt Davis and Jimmy Wear) the winning
margin was the largest ever. Several coaches of the opposing teams were quoted saying "I'll
be glad when that group graduates, we're tired of getting beat like a drum by such a dominate
team."

Evan Byrd (conference individual top medalist)said, "It was my best tournament of the year and
I'll miss playing with a great team like this." Matt Davis added, "I might play golf at the high
school level but I doubt that my high school team will be as good as this awesome Cornerstone
Middle School team." Jimmy Wear pointed out, "No team can win this consistently without great
coaching. We owe a lot of our success to Coach Zacco." Brandon Zacco (Coach Zacco's son)
said, "We've done a lot for Cornerstone Golf and now we are going to leave it to the
underclassmen ... Blake, Austin, Daniel, and Jesse. It's up to them to keep the streak going."

TRACK--
In a feat that has never been equaled in Cornerstone history, the Varsity Boys track and field
team defeated eleven other schools at the Conference Track and Field Championships to claim
first place! This vasity team was led by Jesse Wear, Austin Putzeys, Evan Byrd, Jimmy Wear and
Brandon Zacco. Never have so few done so much for so many!

If you want to be a champion miler you better go to Cornerstone! - Varsity Boys mile event
winner, Jessie Wear, Varsity Girls mile event winner - Madison Toney, Junior Varsity Boys mile
event second place - Jacob May.

If you want to place in the 880 you better go to Cornerstone and be a Wear! - Varsity Boys 880
winner, Jimmy Wear, second place - Jesse Wear, The only reason Cornerstone didn't win third
place is because they wouldn't let Daniel Wear run for the varsity team.

A FABULOUS NIGHT FOR OUR 7TH GRADE MEDIEVAL FESTIVAL!
Cornerstone is the place to find an integrated curriculum that employs best educational
practices across the subject areas, and with it, the 7th graders made magic. Beginning with a
tour of Medieval Castles created by our students using Photo Story, and ending with skits based
on the embodiment of members of a Medieval Village (complete with costumes, hair-styling, and
make-up), we integrated music, drama, social studies, art, technology, and language arts in an
unforgettable evening.

AN EVENING OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE HOLOCAUST PRESENTED BY OUR 8TH GRADE STUDENTS.
The Eighth Grade Class concluded their 9-week study of the Holocaust Unit with a night of
sharing their learning. Parents, friends, and families were invited to a special presentation of
music written by concentration camp victims, poetry reading, essays, online survivor interviews,
and personal reflections. The students conducted themselves with the respect and dignity
appropriate for the subject matter, and left them with the decision live their lives
as "Upstanders."

This unit was a combined effort by Mrs. Alvarez, Mrs. Doyle, Mrs. McAninch, and Mrs. Stevens, as
an integrated unit of Social Studies, Language Arts, Science, and even Spanish. The is an
example that demonstrates the uniqueness of Cornerstone Middle School. Our teachers are given
the opportunities to tackle important, global issues with depth and breadth across all subject
areas.

AND THE HITS JUST KEEP COMING!!
Do you know how to spell boutique? How about contiguous? How about tantalize, discrimination or
subterfuge? On a night that will be remembered in Cornerstone School history, Christopher
Polack, who spelled those words and more, placed First Runner-Up in the annual Marion County
Spelling Bee. As the runner up, Christopher has qualified to compete in the State Spelling Bee
finals in Orlando. Way to go Christopher, way to represent Cornerstone School!

REGIONAL SCIENCE FAIR RESULTS
As earlier reported at this very website, twelve Cornerstone students advanced from the school
level Cornerstone Science Fair to the Big Springs Regional Science Fair. On Thursday and Friday
(Feb.19-20)our Cornerstone students competed against science fair projects from a two county
area (Marion and Sumter). It is our privilege and honor to report the following results:

Caroline Sessions - Human and Social Sciences Category - First Place
Gabby Little - Environmental Category - Second Place - Special Award from the Stockholm Water
Conservancy
Logan Gore - Engineering Category - First Place - Special Awards: Orlando Science Center,
Society for Professional Engineers, Discovery Science Award, Special Science Award (Cash Award)
Jimmy Wear - Medicine and Health Category - Fourth Place
Shannon Domfort and Kira Lowell - Team Category - First Place - Special Award: Orlando Science
Center Award
Carson Bedford - Third Place - Environmental Category
Christopher Polack - Mathematics Category - First Place - Special Awards: Orlando Science Center
Award, Ocala Womens Club (Cash Award), Discovery Science Award, Susan Crabb and Associates (Cash
award)
Alexander Wartels - Chemistry Category - First Place - Special Awards: Orlando Science Center
Award, Discovery Science Award
Niyant Reddy - Medicine and Health Category - Second Place - Special Award: Juvenile Diabetes
Association (Cash Award)
Lauren Donnelly - Physics Category - Second Place
Megan Wolosky - Chemistry Category - Second Place
In summary: 5 First Place, 4 Second Place, 1 Third Place, 1 Fourth Place, 13 Special Awards.

We are proud of what these students have achieved and how well they represent the Cornerstone
School. A special thanks to all of the Elementary School faculty that have contributed to the
science teaching at Cornerstone school. Without the teaching of the scientific method and
nurturing an interest in scientific investigation, these middle school students would not be
able to compete at such a high level. We would also like to thank Mrs. Alvarez and her efforts
to have our students produce excellent research papers that support their science fair
projects. All of our First Place winners have been invited to participate at the State Science
Fair to be held in Lakeland in April. Good luck to them all.

EIGHTH GRADERS RETURN FROM A FABULOUS WEEK OF SCIENCE IN THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS.
Our Eighth Grade class just returned from spending a week at the Smoky Mountain Institute at
Tremont. It was a full week of science activities and fun. We waded in ice cold mountain
streams doing a bug count (different species) to measure the health of the stream. We observed
the gelatanous mass of wood frog eggs and caught different species of salamanders. We saw the
damage done to the hemlock and fur trees by an invasive species of aphids and acid rain. We
hiked to waterfalls and stood atop New Found Gap (where President Obama will be next month to
celebrate the Smoky Mountain National Parks 75th anniversary). We met with Madison Kirkland's
cousin Ed who told us the history of Cade's Cove, a very special place in the Smoky Mountain
Park. We visited Cade's cove and went into a cave, observed a pioneer home dwelling and counted
25 deer and 6 turkeys running wild. We also had a scare from The Burger King and had our bunks
tossed. It was non-stop fun with a great eighth grade class. If you want to see more about our
trip visit the new Cornerstone website for video shots of our group (thecornerstoneschool.org).
Special thanks to the wonderful staff at Tremont and especially to our own, Miss Mack, who
organized and orchestrated this experience. Thank you Miss Mack, you are without a doubt the
field trip master of Cornerstone School. Everything was perfectly planned down to every last
detail. A thank you to Miss Ingrid who took the time to be with our eighth graders as they
prepare to conclude their Cornerstone years.

WHAT A GREAT BEE!! (SPELLING BEE)
The Cornerstone School completed their annual Spellng Bee on Thursday, 2/5. We had over 24
competitors from the Middle School grades as well as the fourth and fifth grades. The words
were flying and the letters were gyrating and after several rounds of spell-offs and spell-downs
we were left with our Cornerstone Spelling Bee Champion, Christopher Polack. Our alternate (in
the event that Christopher is unable to fulfill his spelling duties) is Sierra Short.

Congrats to Christopher! Christopher will now move on to the Marion County Spelling Bee on Feb.
26 at the Appleton Museum.

A special thanks to Mrs. Alvarez who took the time to organize this fabulous event as well as
the many teachers who support this effort. A shout-out to Mrs. Doyle who served as our MC and
offical Word Miester.

DID YOU KNOW that Cornerstone School had its first state champion when Mallory Locke won the
Human Behavior Category in 2007.

DID YOU KNOW???
Did you know that Cornerstone School has after school math/algebra help EVERYDAY after school
from 3:15 - 4:15? Mrs. Bryant has made herself available to help with homework and support
students that may have difficulties with our accelerated math/algebra program. If you/your
student is having difficulties this is one of the first steps to get help.

CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to the seventh grade students that scored high enough on last years Standford
test to qualify for the Duke University TIP (Talent Identification Program)Program. The
Cornerstone School is proud to report that over 50% of our seventh graders qualified for this
honor. This percentage is higher than any other middle school in Marion County (Public and/or
Private).

NEW CORNERSTONE WEBSITE!!!!
You need to check out the new Cornerstone Website. The web address is
www.thecornerstoneschool.org
There is still somce work to be done but it is such an upgrade from what we had before. Be sure
to thank Mrs. Mac for her efforts in making this new website happen. Over time we will see lots
and lots of information about each teacher...clubs...athletics...etc. You can still continue to
check for information at this website until further notice.