The Coyote Howling - Clark Middle School - Lake Central School ...

The Coyote Howling
The Official Clark Middle School Parent Newsletter
8915 West 93rd Avenue, St. John IN 46373
219-365-9203
Volume 6, Issue 2
December 2012/
January 2013
FROM THE DESK OF PRINCIPAL– SCOTT GRABER
Happy Holidays! I hope that during
this holiday season you are
blessed to be with family and
friends. From the Clark staff,
Happy Holidays!
As the year continues, it is hard
to believe that 2012 is almost
over and 2013 is just around the
corner. With the semester ending
on December 21, students
will begin second semester upon
their return to school on Tuesday,
January 8. January 7 is a teacheronly
day.
In October, I sent out a notification
to the Clark families that
our school received the highest
rating in the state, an “A.” This
rating is based off of a formula
that pertains to ISTEP scores,
percent of students showing
academic growth, and several
other factors. Congratulations!
We are very proud of the success
of the students and congratulate
the parents and staff
for their hard work!
Since the last newsletter, the
CMS students have been collecting
food for the annual NJHS
food drive. The support from the
community has been overwhelming…Thanks
for your help.
Additionally, our Book Fair
took place from November
19-21 and again, we had an
awesome turn out. The
Drama department held
their fall play on November
16 and 17. The 8 th grade
students did an outstanding
job directing their first play.
What an incredible weekend!
Another great job
and super performance by
our drama students.
Our Veteran’s Day program
took place on November 9.
Over 150 veterans were
treated to a breakfast in
the cafeteria followed by a
very moving ceremony in
the gym. From flags waving
to a sea of red, white, and
blue in the stands, the CMS
students and staff demonstrated
pride throughout
the morning. The choir and
band performed several
numbers, and the Drum
and Bugle Corp from Lake
County assisted with the
procession. Our Patriot
Pen Essay winners were
announced and read their
winning essays during the
ceremony. Thanks to Inter-
State studios for providing
8x10 photos of the veteran and his
or her CMS family members.
The 7th and 8th grades took the
ACT Explore test on October 30.
The results arrived last week. It is
our intent to schedule a meeting
with the parents in the Spring to go
over results. The information provided
by the test is used to help us
create the master schedule for
Clark and the high school as we
look at preparing your child for the
future.
Please take time to come out and
support the students at Clark. We
have several upcoming events, and I
would love to see you at the events.
Our Fall sports team (wrestling and
boys’ basketball) will continue to
compete in games until we leave for
the holiday break. The holiday band
concert is scheduled for December
5 at 7:00 pm and the holiday choral
concert will take place on December
18 at 7:00 pm. Both of these
events will take place in the gymnasium.
Until next month, stay safe and have
the Merriest of Holidays!

Clark’s Wellness Committee Proudly Presents…
”Rock the Beat”
This event will be on Tuesday, December 11 and will be used raise awareness about heart disease
and to raise funds for the American Heart Association. We will have a t-shirt sale beginning
Monday, December 3 through Friday, December 7 during students’ lunch hours. The t-
shirts will be sold for $15.00. We will also be selling red headbands for $3.00 each or 2 for
$5.00.
Clark will have a poster contest for individual students to enter and a door-decorating contest
for homerooms to enter. The posters need to be related to the theme of “Rock the
Beat.” There will be a pep rally on Tuesday, December 11, and that night Clark will compete
against Kahler in basketball at 5:00 pm. Please come out, cheer the Clark Coyotes on, and help
support the American Heart Association.
Attention 7th Grade Parents:
By now you should have received
a packet of information
on the Washington, D.C.
trip we will take next fall!
This trip includes three funfilled
days in Washington
D.C. touring such sights as
the Smithsonian Museums,
the Capitol building and many
monuments. There was an informational
meeting on November
28 by Miss Whitcombe.
If you were unable to attend the
meeting and need information,
please contact Miss Whitcombe
at 365-9203 or via email at
rwhitcom@lcscmail.com.
THEATRE
Thank you so much to all of the people that came out to see the seven unique and interesting plays that were
performed on November 16 and 17. The kids did such a great job!
Please come out and see the 8th grade theatre students once again directing their very own second round of
plays.
The show starts at 7:00 pm on January 18 and January 19. Tickets prices are $5.00 and can be purchased at
the door. The concession stand will be full of candy, pop, water and popcorn as well!
We hope to see you there!
Page 2

Page 3
PARENT CORNER
Please make sure your
students have their homework
and lunch before
they leave for school in the
morning.
Students should know
how they are getting
home at the end of the
day. If your child will
have a change in transportation
for the day,
please write a note or
call the office by 2:00 pm.
Student pick up is at
Door J in the back
(south) side of the building.
Parents, please do
not have students walk
to the side of the school
to be picked up. Thank
you.
Let’s make responsible
kids together.
School Hours:
8:47am—3:40 pm
LOST and FOUND Parents,
please encourage your
children to check the lost and
found. We are accumulating
a large collection. Any unclaimed
items will be donated
to charity over the winter
break.
YEARBOOK
The earlybird discount for
the yearbook was $20.00.
As of December 21, the
price increases to $25.00.
Order your yearbook now!
2 HOUR DELAY SCHEDULE
On a two hour delay
schedule you will receive
a School Messenger
phone call from Central
Office. The buses will
run their regular routes
but will start picking up
students two hours later
WINTER WEATHER
ALERTS
With winter weather upon us,
please send students
dressed appropriately for
the temperature. The School
Messenger will be used in the
event of weather related delays
or closing. Radio stations
covering school closures
are:
WJOB -1230AM, WZVN-
107FM, WONU-89.7FM,
than normal pick up time.
Breakfast will not be
served in the café on
days with a late start.
Please let the office know
as soon as possible if
there is a change in any
of your phone numbers
WXRD - 103.9FM, WVLI-
95.1FM, WLJE-105FM,
WAKE-1560FM. Emergency
Closings:
www.cancellations.com . Enter
zip code (46373). Click on
GO (Scroll down to Lake Central
for information). On inclement
weather days, information
will be updated by 6
am.
so we may change the information.
We want to
make sure you receive
the School Messenger
phone calls.
Just a reminder that the
end of the 2nd quarter
of the first semester is
December 21. Report
cards will be available
online beginning January
9.

CLARK PTO NEWS
As the holidays quickly approach,
the Clark PTO would
like to invite everyone to stop
by and pick a Coyote ornament
off of the “Angel” tree
located outside the main office.
The purpose of the tree
is to help our teachers and
staff get items that they need/
want for their classrooms or
offices. There are numbered
coyote ornaments on the
tree. Please make sure that
the items are returned unwrapped,
along with the
Coyote, to the office, no later
than January 14 th . This is a
great way to give back to our
terrific staff. Thank you in advance
for your generosity.
Saturday, December 8 th
Clark will be hosting the Lake
Central H.S. Craft Show. The
Clark PTO is looking for SEV-
ERAL volunteers to help out
with the concession stand and
the café. Please contact Jami
Knopf at,
tnjk1997@gmail.com to volunteer.
Clark will be receiving
a portion of the profits from
concession sales that day
that will be used towards
future purchases and
events at the school.
Our next Box Top collection
date is December
21st. Keep saving, we’re
doing great!
Please mark your 2013 calendars
with a special
event happening at Clark
on March 8, 2013. The
Harlem Wizards will be
here for a fantastic evening
of basketball, against none
other than your favorite
Clark teachers. We will
hold an Art contest for the
Logo that will go on your
teachers’ t-shirts the night
of the game. More information
coming soon.
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THE C OYOTE H OWLING

Page 5
National Junior Honor Society
(NJHS) 2012 Food Drive
This 2012-2013 school year, the National Junior Honor Society has once again sponsored an
NJHS Food Drive. This Food Drive was was very successful thanks to all of the students that
participated in the event. Each day was given a specific theme, and we collected more than
enough food and supplies to contribute to food pantries in Cedar Lake and Crown Point.
*Congratulations to Mrs. Vogt’s 5 th grade class, the overall school winner for the food drive!
The next upcoming NJHS sponsored event will be the Hat and Coat drive, which will
start on December 5 and continues through December 19. All of the hats, gloves, and
coats collected will be donated to other school districts and passed out to students who
need these items. The Coat Drive will also continue after the holiday break, from January
8 to January 18. If you have any old coats that you would like to donate, please send
them in with your student and bring them to Mr. Gustas, Room 801.
At the end of the second nine weeks, applications for new members will be given to students
who have qualified to be part of the National Junior Honor Society. Students in
the 7th and 8th grades who have a cumulative grade point average of a 3.33 will be receiving
applications. In order to become a member of the Clark chapter of the NJHS,
qualified students must complete the application and then be selected by a faculty committee.
Just getting the application does not guarantee membership. Students must have
at least two in-school and two out-of-school activities and answer an essay. An induction
ceremony will take place for those chosen for the honor society sometime before Spring
Break. Any questions about what is considered an in-school activity can be answered by
checking the agenda book for all school activities, asking current members, or contacting
Mr. Gustas at Clark by phone 365-9203 at ext. 801 or via email bgustas@lcscmail.com.

Media Center News
Happy Holidays from the Clark Library
The Scholastic Book Fair, held in November, was a huge success! We sold over $7,000
in Scholastic books! Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the fair. Our parent
committee included: Cindy Sues, Ronna Reznik, Niki White, Janet Engelhaupt, Julie Peterson
and Carol Hayes. Many other parents volunteered to work the fair, and we greatly appreciated
your time and effort. Ladies, you all did an outstanding job! The new books will be processed
and out on the shelves soon.
Also, thanks to students in Book Chat, Book Club & NJHS who helped with promotional material,
set up and take down. You were all very helpful.
The Young Hoosier Book Award Nominees (YHBA)
We continue to promote the YHBA list. The twenty middle school book titles are still playing a
dominant role in the library. We concluded our “HOWL”oween contest and the raffle winners
were: Melissa Ghabriel, Elizabeth Haberling, Caleb Johnson, Nina Joy, MacKenzie Kusbel,
Vicki Lin, Anthony Paganelli, Samantha Quinlan & Brianna Usak. Congratulations!
Our next promotion will award book baskets filled with best selling book titles, bookmarks, and
other reading related prizes. The drawing will be held on Friday, December 21. The baskets
will be awarded to students who have read and taken an AR test on any of the YHBA titles. If
you’ve turned in your AR test for the other raffle, you will automatically be entered into the new
raffle.
Teachers and staff have begun reading the YHBA books for our March Madness promotion.
Pick up an entry form and try to predict the winning title for Clark Middle School. Any student
who chooses the winning book will be entered into our mega raffle in March. Watch the bulletin
board in the library to track the progress of the contest.
BOOK REVIEWS
Any student interested in writing a book review may submit it to Mrs. Snyder’s email, and I will
post the reviews on our library webpage.
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THE COYOTE HOWLING
THE OFFICIAL CLARK M IDDLE SCHOOL PARENT NEWSLETTER
8915 WEST 93RD AVENUE, ST. JOHN IN 46373
219-365-9203

Page 7
5 th Grade Spell Bowl
Congratulation to the 5 th Grade Spell Bowl team who competed November 15 at Kahler Middle School.
Our team placed 4th in our local state competition and was able to spell some pretty tough words. Perfect
scorer for the team was Alexa Calonia. Other top spellers included Morgan Taylor, Maisie Westerfield,
and Savka Popovic. We would like to thank each student for his or her hard work and dedication.
You all did very well, and your hard work paid off. ~ Mr. Carlson and Mrs. Haskell.
5 th Grade Math Bowl
The 5 th Grade Math Bowl Team will be starting shortly. Try outs will take place before the December
break. Listen to announcements for the exact date and time.
Academic Super Bowl
The Academic Super Bowl team will start practicing in early December. Students in grades 6, 7, and 8 are
welcome to join the team. There will not be tryouts; students simply choose their subject area team based
on their interests. This year’s topic is “Ancient Greece.” Listen to announcements for the exact time and
date of our call out meeting.
If you have questions regarding any of the Academic Super Bowl, please feel free to contact Mrs. Campagna
at gcampagn@lcscmail.com or via telephone at 219-365-9203 X 704.
GUIDANCE NEWS
8 th GRADERS
1. The middle school guidance counselors
will be meeting with 8th grade
students towards the end of December
to discuss their transition to the high
school. Students will officially create
their high school schedules in February
with the middle school counselors.
2. On January 17, there will be an 8 th
grade parent night at the Freshman
Center. The Freshman Center Counselors
and the Principal will be sharing
valuable information regarding your
child’s first year in high school.
3. The 8 th grade students will be touring
the freshman center in early May.
ISTEP DATES
ISTEP dates are set for the week
of March 4 through March 13
and April 29 through May 10.
Due to the importance of these
tests, we encourage all students
to get a good night’s rest and be
present for the duration of testing
time. Parents can visit the
Department of Education link:
http://www.doe.in.gov/istep/p
ublications.html to review past
ISTEP test samples to help prepare
your child.
Homework Hotline
Students may call the Homework
Hotline toll free at 1-877-ASK-
ROSE, Sunday through Thursday,
7 p.m. through 10 p.m. eastern
daylight time, September
through May. Students may also
ask questions online at
www.AskRose.org. The Homework
Hotline reinforces mathematics
and science concepts and
helps students develop better
problem solving skills. Rose-
Hulman student tutors have been
trained to tutor middle and high
school students. Tutors have access
to state-adopted math and
science textbooks.

2013 Clark Yearbook
The Yearbook staff are in the
process of creating the 2013
Clark yearbook, and we are trying
to gather as many pictures
as possible. To help with the
process, we will be using eShare,
an internet picture-sharing site.
Please share your photos of
events, games, clubs, etc.. This is
for students, parents and staff.
If you have any pictures you
would like to share, you can upload
them to the website.
Thanks in advance for your
help!
The login information is as
follows:
www.hjeshare.com
School Code: clark123
Scherereville Civic
Funds, Inc.
Are you in need of assistance? If you are a
Schererville resident, Schererville Civic
Funds, Inc. is a wonderful organization that is
here to help you! We distribute food certificates
during Easter, Thanksgiving, and
Christmas (all information is kept confidential).
We also loan healthcare equipment such
as wheelchairs, walkers, and hospital chairs -
ALL FREE OF CHARGE. In addition, we
award educational grants to high school seniors
demonstrating financial need. Please
contact us at 219-322-1020,
(www.scherervillecivicfunds.org).
PENNY WARS VOLUNTEERS
NEEDED
Lake Central School Corporation is
seeking volunteers for all of our
schools for the upcoming Penny Wars.
Please contact Donna Kozel at 365-
3407 or via email at
dkozel@comcast.net if you wish to
help out as either a “Penny War Mom”
or a “Penny Counter”. Clark’s Penny
Wars will be the week of February 4
through February 8. Thank you in advance.
For any 7th or 8th grade girls interested in
playing for Clark’s Coyote Basketball team,
there will be a call-out meeting on Thursday,
December 6 at 8:00 am in the school
gym. Tryouts will be on Monday, December
17 for 8th grade from 4:00 to 5:30 and 7th
grade from 5:30 to 7:00. The second tryout
will be on Tuesday, December 18 for
7th grade from 4:00 to 5:30 and 8th grade
from 5:30 to 7:00. Please be sure to have
your updated physicals and white cards on
file with Mr. Simmons if you are considering
trying out for the team.

Page 9
TEACHER PAGE
Mrs. Vogt’s 5th grade English class has pen pals in Bayport,
New York that were affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Mrs. Vogt’s students decided they wanted to send their
New York friends a “care package.” Due to the timing
of the hurricane, the students figured their pen pals did
not get to go trick-or-treating, so they collected candy
to send. In addition, they sent some school supplies.
Within one week, Mrs. Vogt’s class of 26 collected
more than a box full of candy, along with another large
box of school supplies. Thank you to the students and
their parents for their generosity!
Meterologist Megan Glaros from CBS Channel 2 News will be coming to Clark on Thursday,
December 6 during students’ 6th period class to talk to 8th grade science classes
about the topic of weather, which was just covered in their classes. This will be a great
opportunity for our students to see the connection between what they are learning in
the classroom to real-world applications. She will also discuss the passing of Hurricanes
Sandy and Isaac, which not only affected the coasts in the east and south, but
affected our weather here in Northwest Indiana.
LCHS SCIENCE FAIR
The Lake Central School Corporation Science Fair will take place on Saturday, February
2 at 9:00 am for students in grades 4 to 12. Students can pick up entry forms and further
information from their science teachers, school science fair coordinator, Ms. Julie
Moore, or the school office. Entry form deadline is Thursday, January 17, 2013.

CLARK MIDDLE SCHOOL CALENDAR
DECEMBER 2012
12/5 Band Concert at 7pm
12/6-12/13 NJHS Hat/Clothing Drive
12/8 LCHS Band Craft Fair/held at Clark from 9am-4pm
12/11 Red-Out Basketball game vs. Kahler
12/18 Clark Choral Concert 7pm
12/24-1/7 Holiday Break—No School
JANUARY 2013
1/7 No School—Teacher Record Day
1/8 School Resumes
1/9 Report Cards available on-line
1/21 No School—Martin Luther King Jr. Day
1/22 School Resumes