News

By Ethan  The question everyone wants to know is, how did the cultural performance turn out? Many people who saw the show said it was a great hit. People really showed what kind of things they do in their culture. The show began with the amazing Parade of Cultures. The show had a variety of performances ranging from hip-hop American style to poem reading in other languages. There was a Tae Kwon Do performance, and a native dance. Colin, performing in the Tae Kwon Do show, says he enjoyed being in the show. He said he was very nervous to perform in front of his friends. Colin thought his group did fine, but could have done better. He claims the show would have been much better if they had time to do the board breaking. The show was a success. Mr. Guill, the host of the show, was very proud. Also remember to buy a video of the show.
 * The Show That Says It All!!! **

By Arturo
 * The Culture Festival **

This year’s Culture Festival was fantastic. I think that people enjoyed it. If you didn’t go you missed out on a lot the performances which were exciting. The food was good too. There was a variety of food at the festival. Some of the countries that the food was from were Japan, Mexico, Africa, China, Iraqi, and more. I think that people liked this new experience to taste food from other countries. It also made them appreciate and understand other cultures. The set up in the lobby was nice. You had a little bit of everything. There were a lot of happy people after the cultural festival especially Mr.Guill. Mr. Guill was the host of the Culture Festival, and people enjoyed it just as much as he hoped they would.

2010 Science Fair **By: Jackson Just recently students have competed in the 2010 science fair. This science fair competition was in early April. The presentations were in the library and were all over the place in the library.
 * 

In the 6th grade competition Chris P. got 3rd place with a smoking experiment. Theo J. got 2nd place with a mold experiment. Willy S. got 1st place with a video game experiment. Nick C. and Ryan R. got Honorable Mentions.

The science fair has been great for the 6th graders, Mrs. Larson seems really proud of all of us, maybe next year will be even better.

Teachers Rule! by Nick This year teachers at Merrill have really outdone themselves, that’s why the kids at Merrill should appreciate their hard work at TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK. Because our teachers at Merrill Rule, we should appreciate them. They do so many things for the kids here at Merrill, they teach the kid so much. Although the teachers get paid for the wonderful things they do, no amount of money is worth as much as being appreciated

We can appreciate our teachers in so many ways. We can give them flowers, a granola bar, or even just a thank you note, it all counts because, and it really is the thought that counts. Although this year, the teachers said that most of the students didn’t even know it was Teacher Appreciation Week, and if they did, they didn’t even do anything about it. Although Mrs. Miller gave out sticky pads, coupons, and doughnuts, the teachers were still disappointed. Some teachers received a couple of verbal thank yous, and a couple of students even offered to clean up the classroom at the end of the day, a group of parents even hosted a breakfast in honor. But, unfortunately, all of them agreed that as the students become older, the less they appreciate the teachers. We should all make an effort to recognize the teachers, because they recognize us.

So, all the Merrill students should make sure and show the teachers how much we appreciate them, as we finish the school year strong.

Field Trip to South High School by Mireya This year some of the 8th graders went on a field trip to South High school to see if they really wanted to go there next year or not. More of the 8th graders went to South than to Thomas Jefferson the other school that some of the students went to go see. I interviewed one student that went to South High and here is what she said. . . The student I interviewed was Azspen and she said that she liked going to South and that it was really fun. She also said she will go to South next year and that some of her friends are going to South but not all. She thought that that the classrooms were nice and big and that the teachers were well dressed and that they were really nice. She said the school was really big and that it was really neat and that she chose South because it was near Merrill. I interviewed Mrs. Hastings and she said that it took her 4 months to make this field trip happen and that she thinks that South is a really, really good school. She said that some of the 8th graders came back and told her that they had a ball.

Thomas Jefferson Trip <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">by Becca <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">May 3, 2010 the eighth graders of Merrill Middle School went on a trip to their soon to be, high schools. Some students attended South High School, and others attended Thomas Jefferson High School! Dr. Hastings, here at Merrill said that the purpose of these trips was to give the students the opportunity to meet their future Principal, and teachers. The trip lasted two hours: 9.30 am to 11.30 am. Two eighth graders here at Merrill, Joelle and Tesla, went to T.J (Thomas Jefferson). They told us all about their fun trip “ This trip gave us a better idea of what to expect in high school.” Joelle said of the trip. “It also helped us to understand what to do when we come to high school.” Tesla added. They told us about all the changes they saw, and the difference from T.J to Merrill. A couple of the changes were dress code, “we saw some people even wearing pajamas to school!” larger and more advanced cafeterias, gyms, fields, and classrooms, and a swimming pool! “ We can’t wait until High School!” both girls concluded! Thomas Jefferson here I come.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; text-align: center;">Million Word Field Trip <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: center;">by Eddie <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">On Thursday May 13th ¼ of Ms. Smiths class will be going on A Million- Word field trip. The movie that they are going to see is called Furry Vengeance. Some people thought the movie looked very cool like Mireya said, “it looks good”. But some people said it was good because they got to miss school like Jonny and Willy. But some people like Nick said, “I think the movie is bad”. On the day the permission slips were supposed to be turned in, many kids did not have it in so they are going to ask if they could turn it in tomorrow. Ms. Smith’s response to that was “yes”. So everyone in the class turned in the permission slip. Everyone in the class said they would bring money to the field trip. The day before the field trip people had some new opinions Willy was concerned that we were going to walk in this weather.

The field trip was nice and was very good thought Eddie, Myraya, Jonny. The medium people were Ethan, Ethan and Chris. Jonny even said “it was the best movie I ever saw!”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">People who went on the field trip: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">**Sixth Grade:** Chris P. Nick C. William S. Jonny S. Mireya V. Ethan C. Ethan O. Edward A. Tania G. Lelya I. Jamil B. Isiah T.

Maddy G. Hanin M. Essoe N.
 * Seventh Grade:**

Troy F. Gerardo C. Nhi T. Andrew K. Sasha K. Devin A. Dehrian R. Ansha N. Azpen R. Josh B. Alyssa K. Cassandra K. Brianna L. Lorenzo S. Flavor R. Ngan T.
 * Eighth Grade:**

Shots? (As of a person who got one) by V <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">For the school, shots were recommended for students. For some kids it was the worse day of their lives but for others it was quick and painless. If you got a shot you know how bad it was for you but at least you don’t get sick right? (Sometimes wrong). As for the shots, they only happened three times this year: February 24, 2010, March 25, 2010, & May 12, 2010 in the girl’s gym. If you didn’t get your shot at all this year then you must be really lucky. Even though those shots barely hurts a sixth grader named Ryan says “It didn’t hurt but the lady jabbed me with the needle. I expected it to make me feel better and it actually did!” Eli in sixth grade replies, “When I got my shot it hurt like heck. I felt not any different except for the fact that I had a MAJOR sore in my arm.” As I was saying about the fact that you could get sick from a shot, a sixth grader named Ton tells me “The shot didn’t hurt at all but the possibilities of getting a cold took effect. I had a sore throat and was coughing.” As for me the shots didn’t hurt but like the lady said I would have, I got a sore arm. In the end, the shots weren’t as bad but can still get you sick

= = <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; text-align: center;">FIELD DAY <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-align: center;">by Destin Charles <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Many people have no idea that the Staff are planning a field day. Who you may ask can attend such an event? That is one of the many questions that remains a mystery. It is rumored that only people with good grades may participate, and that the kids that behave well in school may also attend. The exact date of which this athletic day will take place is on the last day of school, or May 27th at 12:30 -2:25. Most people are looking forward to this Merrill Middle School Field day. This is a day to obviously let the kids unwind and show their athletic feats. If this day is as good as it sounds, the students will love it.

**//__ THE NEW FLOOR!!! __//**

BY: Theo
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Merrill is very excited about the new floor that is going into Merrill. We have needed a new floor with new tiles. The new floor will be a blue and white tile in a pattern. The new floor is being installed this summer.

Some of the features of this new floor are new tiles, which are waterproof, very durable and bug safe. Waterproof is very good because if there is a leakage it wont effect the students or teacher on the floor. The durability in the floor will means that it will last for a long time. Lastly the bug proof is good because there will be no bugs.

These are good elements for tiles because they are going to be walked on every day and will last for many years. This is what will be going in at merrill this summer. = =

= = = **__SPRING BREAK__** = = =

By Ton
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Spring Break is a wonderful time off of school. It is a time to relax and travel to other places. Some students had a wonderful time during spring break. Here are some of their stories about spring break.

One student here at Merrill named Colin had this to say, “I went to Copper Mountain for the special Olympics. Then, I skiing. Yes, I did, and the assignment was about tax. Yeah I did because I was busy and had no school.”

Another student here at Merrill named Willy had to say this, “I went to Roswell, New Mexico to go see and alien museum. Then, we went into a cave that was five miles long. After that, we swam at the bottom of a lake. No, I did not. Yes, because I saw an alien museum.”

`One student named Shayla had a different story, here is what she said, “I had a basketball tournament and I went to my family’s house for Easter. I hunted for eggs. No, because I already finished it before spring break. Yes, I did enjoy my spring break because we didn’t have any school.”

Finally, one last student named Jackson said this, “I went to the mountains, and went snow shoeing. I played a lot of video games. I had no schoolwork. I did enjoy spring break, but I was sick most of the time.”

There are only four questions that were asked. What did you do over spring break? What activities did you do? Did you have schoolwork? If so, what was the assignment? Last, did you enjoy your spring break? Why?

These are some stories that students had to say about spring break. There are many more stories that students have to say. Hopefully, the next spring break will be a lot better and that it will have better weather.

= =

= = = The Social (for those who attended) =

by Victoria
T<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">he second social was on March 26, 2010 and the only people who went were the people who attended all of the days of the CSAP. If you did attend all the CSAP days and you went to school on March 26th then you know how fun it must have been for you. Some people were interviewed on how fun it was for them. Mireya and an anonymous peson quoted “It wasn’t fun for me because I didn’t know how to dance & it was not as fun as the last social.” Then 2 anonymous people said that “Yes, it is true that it wasn’t as fun as the last social but I had fun playing basketball outside.” If here is another social the students should have lots and lots of fun there. Plus try to attend each test so that you could be able to go!!!!

= The Social (for those nonattending) =

By Noah
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some of you may know that the second social was on March 26th, 2010. People who missed a day or more of CSAP couldn’t go. The people had a choice to either read or watch the Disney movie, Aladdin.

When students in the 6th grade had to miss the social they went to Ms. Graber’s room of 219. She let them have a choice of a movie or read. They chose a movie. While everyone else watched Aladdin, one person decided to read.

Three sixth graders were asked the same question “What was the social like for you?” Destin said, “ It was awesome, I got to break-dance, listen to cool music, and just chill with my friends.” William said, “I did not go.” Lastly, David said, “ The social was great, you could buy food and hang out with friends

= =

= = =<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">The Merrill Parent Group, Otherwise Known as the PTO =

=
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 9. Yvonne Sprague (president J <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">)  ======

=
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Merrill for sure needs to get a lot of more people on the PTO because they need a lot of help with making the school a better place for students to be. And being apart of the PTO makes you apart of your child’s learning… please become involved with the PTO and you will have so much fun because you will get to have a part in the choices that the school makes to make each student have a better journey through Merrill. ======

=
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Anyway…the PTO has done various things to help the school raise money such as the pizza kits. It think that this is very helpful and I think that they found a way to make it fun and raise money for the school but it worked and the people that raised the most money for the school by selling kits are…. ======

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> But in order to come up with smart ideas like this we need more people on the PTO! ;)
**//__ B.I.G. __//** By: Jackson

B.I.G, also known as Beacon Interest Groups started the 9th of April. There will be six B.I.G. meetings over the month of April. On the 9th, 16th, 19th, 23rd, 29th, and the 30th.

The Beacon Interest Groups worked out perfectly because every one chose his or her groups evenly, so every teacher and student is participating. Merrill decided to do the Beacon Interest Groups when Ms. Shepard (Cory’s principal) went to a teaching seminar and learned that B.I.G. was a good idea, so she decided that both Cory and Merrill should try it out.

“ This is one of the most important things that has happened to Merrill all year because the students will have fun and learn at the same time “ said Mr. Weaver. So far the B.I.G.s have been great for Merrill.

= Bake Sale =

by Robby
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, at Merrill Middle School students held a baked goods sale. We raised six hundred eighty-nine dollars. Wednesday the supplies we helped to fund were transported to Haiti. The sale began at 7 A.M. and sold out of everything by 9 A.M. Students bought and sold a very large amount of food.

**The Brain Bowl by Anastasia** The Brain Bowl daring challenging gutsy to be in it do YOU dare take this awesome challenge? This is where you find out who is in the brain bowl and why their in it. Some of the confirmed names are here today I have spoken to Mr. Weaver and found who is definitely in the brain bowl. In Smarties are Theo, Owen, and Scott in the Road Scholars is Maddy, Kathleen, and Sherry in Division Addition is Maeve and Dominiue in Iron Pencil is Spike, Faith, Sekyi, and Jennifer and in Iron Paper Devin, Cassie, and Steeven. Quoting Mr. Weaver “I think the kids really enjoy it when it is time to stop practice they want to keep going.” He also said that he thinks that the reason why they wanted to join was because it is a very fun and lively game show environment. We the press also heard that another seventh grader might join in the fun stay tuned to find how many people will join.

__Mrs. Clark’s New Baby!__ By Jo-Jo Mrs. Clark came to Merrill on Thursday with her new baby. Her baby’s name is Chloe and she was sleeping most of the time. Her baby is about five or six weeks old. Her baby was due December 5th, but she was born on November 30th at 11:30 P.M. When her baby was first born, it weighed six lbs., nine oz. She is expected to be back by February 8th.

**Ms. Stromberg broke her finger**
By Dulce

Ms. Stromberg broke her finger in a tragic accident and I will tell you the story. The accident happened on September 18, 2009 but didn’t find out until December 18,2009. When I found about this I decided to go find out how this happened. She said “I had a compound fracture in my finger and I didn’t know till December 18” ===== It all started September 18 when she put her hand on the bush to get something. When she put her hand in something bit her hand, her hand got swollen. When she open a door in the school she didn’t open it as far as she needed to, so it slammed shot in her finger when she got home she tripped on a dog fans. She thought she broke her ankle. She when to the doctor but only checked her ankle and her hand never thought about her finger. On December18, 2009 she went to the doctor because her finger wasn’t getting better. Her doctor told her to go get an x-ray. When she went to the x-ray the doctor said “huuuuuu” and Ms. Stromberg said “huuuuu what?” and he said “you have a compound fracture in your finger.” She had to get a surgery. After that they had to put something in her finger to keep it from folding that thing is going to be removed on 1/26/2010. =====

= = = = = **Field Trip** =

By Robby
On Tuesday, the twenty seventh, there is a field trip to the Museum of Nature and Science. This field trip was organized and will be led by Mr. Bash. The Museum of Nature and Science is displaying an exhibit based off of Ghengis Khan. Also, this is a free field trip. This field trip will start around nine-fifteen, A.M. and end around twelve-thirty P.M. we are going on this field trip because, it is part of the curriculum for seventh grade world history. The teachers chaperoning are every seventh-grade teacher except Mr. Southall because, he also has an eighth-grade class. Also, other staff members may be chaperones.

Broken boiler By Anastasia

The broken boiler brings cold through out the school. The boiler in the janitor’s basement is broken for the rest of the winter. It seems like it brings cold through out the school. Many students and teachers want the heat back in our school. Quoting one of our school janitors apparently the boiler was broken for only a few hours before they found it out and they fixed it but still some rooms are really cold. Some people want their heat in their rooms back on. Quoting Ms. Wilcox she said “It’s like the air is coming straight from outside.” I talked to Bruce the security guard during the fifth period and he told me that they had to build a whole new boiler a few days ago. Anyway the boiler was broken but one of our school janitors told me they fixed the problem so it sounds like our school should be heated in no time at all. Quoting Ms. Stromberg she said that the boilers are so old and on that really cold day they put out too much steam which made the fire alarm go off so we think that they could have been broken after that but now they are new and fixed and like I said before heat should return to our school.

**__The New Display Case by Room 206__** The new 7th grade action learning team has come up with a game for their display case. There will be a sheet that covers the front and there will be holes so that the kids can see through it to play the guessing game. There is a jar with candy in it. No one knows how much candy is in the jar. You can go guess how many candies are in the jar in Mr. Weaver’s office, the small little office in the corner, diagonal from the display case. The sign says, “Don’t look, no looking!” Also the prize is that whole jar of candy! Yummy! So go and check out the display case.
 * __By Faith__**

by Rosa
Everybody is curious about Mrs. Clark’s baby. There are a lot of people asking themselves a lot of questions at this very moment, but no problem because I have most of the answers right here, right now! Mrs. Clark left about 2 weeks ago. She will be back by February 8th. She was at bed rest because her blood pressure was higher than the doctors wanted it to be. The official due date for the baby’s birth was December 9th but on November 30th at 11:30 pm baby Chloe was born. She did say that the baby could arrive early. Since, she doesn’t teach 7th and 8th graders we won’t see the baby… sad! Mrs. Clark will bring her baby to the International Festival at the end of the year. Mrs. Clark’s baby was born healthy at 6 pounds, 9 ounces. Mrs. Clark is doing fine and she said that she would be back home at Wednesday, Dec. 3. We hope to see her soon.

**by Batoul**
Mr. Diego Romero is the new Spanish teacher at Merrill Middle School and he is pumped to work. Mr. Romero says that this is his very first year of teaching anything and he is really proud that it is Spanish since he has been learning the language of Spanish since high school. Mr. Romero has been teaching at Merrill since November 23, 2009 and he already has some great techniques such as doing a lot of hands on working. He says it is very important to capture the reason why Spanish is important in our country. Mr. Romero does this by showing videos, music and showing stuff on the radio. Mr. Romero enjoys this class very much because he can see what people think about different cultures and how they react. That is why Mr. Romero loves Spanish class.

by Elaine
Hugs are no longer allowed in school! During passing period, teachers usually see boys hugging girls inappropriately so they decided to have a meeting. On October 23, 2009 in 6th period all the 7th grade girls went to the library and the boys went to the auditorium. Dr. Hastings talked to the boys about sexual harassment and how they can’t whistle to any girl. They can’t touch any body parts of a girl and if she feels uncomfortable leave her alone. Mrs. Levi talked to the girls. She talked about how if they feel harassed or uncomfortable because of a boy they should tell a teacher. The only time that students are allowed to hug is before or after school. Hugs can’t be more than five seconds. During break students should not be hugging but getting their stuff for class, getting a drink, or going to the restroom. That is why hugs are not allowed in school anymore.

**By Faith**
At Merrill we have a new recycling program that is teaching all of our students and faculty that recycling is good for our environment. Mr. Brian Weaver, the Gifted and Talented program manager, has taken on the job of being the new recycling “green team” manager. At Merrill we have had the recycling program for a while, but the new program is better than the old program. The new program can now accept items in the purple bins like: notebook paper, copy paper, pastel colored paper, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, aluminum foil, steel cans, junk mail, envelopes, magazines, catalogs, cardboard, paper bags, paperboard, newspaper, class bottles and jars, index cards, phone books, paper folders. The purple bins **__cannot__** accept plastic bags, plastic tubs, plastic trays, plastic wrappers, paper cups, laminated paper, Styrofoam, napkins, paper towels, and milk cartons. Every Thursday the 7th grade “Green Team” goes out and picks up all of the recycling bins, and takes them to the curb, then on Friday morning the big purple bins get picked up. You may have seen some posters of “Keep Denver Beautiful” around school. They show you that you should care about our environment and respect our Earth. If you would like one of those posters, you can pick one up from Mr. Weaver’s room, room 205. Every bottle, piece of paper, etc. counts. Our earth is hurting, and we need your help to save it. And don’t forget to put your bins outside of your room Thursday morning; it really helps our “Green Team!”

**Merrill’s Healthy Lunchroom**
By Cassie

Very recently the Denver Health Department visited our school lunchroom. They came to make sure that we have a healthy and a clean lunchroom. When the Denver Health Department came they rated our school perfect on the health factors that matter the most. The health factors include good hygiene, proper cooling of food, proper hot and cold holding temperatures, and proper cooking temperatures. These are the main concerns of the Denver Health Department inspectors and we did great on all of them.

So good job Merrill lunchroom and lets keep on doing a good job on our lunchroom and keeping it healthy and clean for our students.

Focus Tickets
By Andy

Something new to Merrill is the reward for good behavior—focus tickets. The way they work is your teacher will give you one if you’re a good student and then you put your name on one half and tear the entire thing in two and then you put the half with your name on it in the focus ticket box in the office. If you have ten this month, you will receive a certificate and a “special prize”! Each month the number to get a prize will increase. This month (October) is 10 tickets.



by William
I think you have seen the new advanced white board. It is called the Promethean board. It is a touch screen projector. It is the most advanced white board out. The price is insane. They start a $5,000 that’s more money then a Mac pro. There are 3 Promethean boards in the school. The teachers are Mr. Kress, Ms. Petrova and Mr. Guill they did not pay this huge price. They got a grant. Mr. Kress and Mr. Guill got the from the Morgridge family foundation. Ms. Patrova got hers from the PEBC. These white boards are very interactive.

The Promethean Board is a big touch screen connected to a computer. It has a projector on it so the computer screen is projected. You can watch DVDs and TV on it as well as interact with the computer. There is a magic marker that you write with. Without this all power is lost. It is a touch screen sensation! The marker has a magnetic tip that activates the magnetic field, which is in the board. It is a very powerful tool that is worth the money.

Greg Mortenson

by Charis
====On September 21, Merrill Middle School had a very special guest. Our guest's name was Greg Mortenson. Greg Mortenson has written two books, one of which is Three Cups of Tea. Greg Mortenson was born in Africa. He first came across the children without a school when he tried to climb the second tallest mountain located in Pakistan. When he did not succeed in getting to the top he wandered into a village. When he got into the village he saw how none of the children went to school. He promised he would raise money in America to build a school there. Like he promised, he started a fundraiser and raised enough money to built the school and many more.==== Beacon not Bacon

By Rosolen
====On August 26, 2009 Merrill MS and Cory elementary had a press conference about becoming Beacon School. Many of Cory-Merrill teachers attended the conference and a few important people and many parents supporting the idea also joined the ceremony. I also attended and so did many other students from both schools, We all had a chance to hear the opportunities and future goals that we tend to achieve over time.==== ====There were many important dignitaries, including Theresa Pena president of the school board attended the conference, the Executive Director of K-8 Schools Pat Slaughter, also superintendent Tom Boasberg, and Robert Woodson the instructional superintendent also a couple of parents had a chance to talk and of course, Merrill Middle Schools principal Stacy Miller and Corys principal Mrs.Shepherd spoke about how excited they are to start this beacon program.====

====Being a Beacon School is a very good thing. Cory & Merrill both are trying to improve in their academic areas and trying to make each a community school. We wish Merrill and Cory both good luck in the upcoming years. Just keep doing what you’re doing and keep teaching your main lesson teaching you students how to be leaders for the future.==== = = = = =Picture Day=

====For all of you who don’t know picture day is coming up soon. Merrill’s picture day is coming up on September 4, 2009. You many think picture day is the same old boring thing, your wrong. There have been new additions to Merrill picture day.==== ====There is now the option to get you name in the bottom of the wallet sized pictures. This is something new to Merrill. Here’s what some of the student think about this option. This is what Mishel has to say “ That’s awesome “ I think this is an option that many parents will like. Another new option that I think parents will enjoy is the Retouch option. You can get the basic Retouch where they remove blemishes. If you take what they call the premium plan it whitens teeth and it will remove hair that is in your face. Lets see what Charis has to think about this “ I think people that get that are insecure.” There is one more addition I want to talk about. You can put you your name in the bottom corner of the picture. This addition is new and quite frankly I don’t think many people will take this offer. I think that it is useless.====

These options are new and interesting. I for one am looking forward to seeing how many people will try out the new options. Picture day will be here soon, so I just guess I will have to wait and see.
= EPIC Award =

=
Our school Merrill Middle School has recently received an award called the EPIC award. EPIC stands for Effective Practice Incentive Community. What the EPIC award does it reward the best teachers in a school with money from the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Incentive Fund or TIF. The primary components of EPIC are, The development of value-added models for analyzing student achievement. Also the recognition and rewarding of school leaders and instructional staff in high-gain schools for sharing there effective teaching practices with other schools.======

=
The EPIC award has a unique way of rewarding school leaders and educators. However they only receive the money once they agree to share their effective practices with the other teachers. School leaders have higher rewards available to them due to the amount of time the spend on the effective practice documentation process. EPIC operates in the following school districts and partner schools: District of Columbia Public Schools, Memphis City Schools, the National Charter School Consortium, and Denver Public Schools. To date the EPIC award has given over 4.3$ million in financial awards to educators in 68 schools nationwide.======

=Merrill 2009 CSAP Scores= by Nick ====Merrill Middle School has worked very hard to help all their students raise their CSAP scores by ten percent. I am sorry to say that Merrill as whole did not achieve that goal. In fact our school didn’t improve in any area.==== ====Last year in reading the school decreased by ten percent. As you can probably tell this is not a good thing but not the end of the world. Also in math the school did not go down or go up, we stayed exactly the same from the year previous. In writing the school decreased by two percentage points. The last subject that growth was measured in was science. Although only the eighth graders took science their tests growth is important. Just like in writing they decreased by 2 percent. By no means was last year a good year for CSAP but there is always next year.====

Even though the students of Merrill didn’t do too
====well by themselves, compared to the rest of the district they weren’t bad. In reading Merrill was one point better than the rest of DPS. In writing they were 5 points better than the others school’s in our district. Also in math Merrill was five points better than the rest of DPS on average.==== ====Although the scores of 2009 were not up to the standard it is not a bad thing. This dramatic decrease in Merrill’s performance is due to the new things the teachers tried. This is called an implementation dip meaning that the new stuff introduced last year was a little bit spotty in some areas; fortunately all the kinks have been worked out since the CSAP of last year. Implementation dips are almost always followed by great increases in performance in the following years. If this proves true for Merrill at this time next year we could all be celebrating our great academic achievement.====

= New at Merrill = = =

By: Devin
Ms. Miller is planning big things for this upcoming school year. She wants Merrill to once again achieve above the average ranking.Ms. Miller is planning to do things such as joining twitter and sending home an electronic newsletter. Students and parents will be able to receive ‘tweets’ telling the basketball scores and other things happening around Merrill. The Merrill faculty will be sending home an electronic newsletter via e-mail, which can be sent to all members of the family (even the family pet if it has an email.) Also this year, Ms. Miller and Ms. Kellog will be in classes 1-2 days a week. The school policy has also changed to FOCUS. FOCUS stands for Fairness, Ownership, Community, Understanding, and Safety. Lunch detention has also been changed to “refocus” time. Those are the new things to Merrill happening this year. Ms. Miller knows how hard the students work so when I asked her what he