I hope this issue of the VandenBerge Vibe finds you and your family in good health during this holiday season. Many things have been written regarding the stresses that come with this time of year. Be aware that your children can be affected by the very same issues that affect adults and they might be exhibiting behaviors due to these issues. Our Counselor, Dave Crocker, and Social Worker, Lynnae Thompson, are available to assist students during the school day with a variety of issues. Please do not hesitate to reach out to either one of them. They would be happy to help.

I enjoyed meeting and seeing many of you during our fall conferences. We appreciate your support and communication. If you have questions or concerns, please contact your student’s teachers by phone or email to set up a plan for success.

As winter sets in, I would like to remind you that our building is locked until 7:45 AM unless there is a scheduled activity earlier. For the safety of your child, please do not drop your child off at school before 7:45 AM.

As we head into the holiday break, I hope everyone will take some time to enjoy the season with family and friends. On behalf of the staff at VandenBerge, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to work with your children and for all of your support. We wish you the very best this holiday season!

November Students of the Week

Amber Aamodt, Dan Bickman, Gaby Danielowski, Erin Gannon, Carmen Galante, Harleigh Lucas, Matthew Reinert, Evan Ressler and Corinn Seifert

Coats for Kids

VandenBerge Middle School Honor Society collected coats, snow pants, hats, gloves and mittens of all sizes and in good, useable condition and donated the items to CAER Community Aid in Elk River. Students brought items to the cafeteria in the morning before RALLY from October 31 through November 9.  They were collected and sorted by Honor Society representatives.  Mr. Hammerseng's RALLY turned in the most cold weather items.  They received breakfast on November 11 for their dedication and efforts.  VandenBerge's 6th graders as a grade level contributed the most items.  They will receive an opportunity to enjoy enrichment courses during RALLY on December 9.  Through the generosity of Nature’s Cleaners of Elk River,  the donated items were all cleaned, free of charge, before being donated to CAER. The students collected 156 coats, 120 hats, 64 pairs of gloves and mittens, 63 scarves and 9 pairs of snow pants.

Grade 8 Update

Students in the 8^th grade will have the opportunity to explore a variety of career fields on Friday, January 6, 2017.  They will select four careers out of a field of fourteen possibilities that they would like to learn more about.  Students will hear from area experts in medical, service and the arts fields.  Eighth graders will be able to register for sessions on December 20 during RALLY.  Students will receive a brochure describing the career choices and speakers on Friday, December 16.  Please ask your student about the choice of career fields they will be investigating.  Prior to January 6, students will have been involved in researching career fields in preparation for registering for high school classes, which occurs in late January. 

Veteran's Day

Thank you to the Elk River American Legion Honor Guard and Officer Jon Christie for making our Veteran's Day Ceremony memorable to our 8th grade students. Our 8th grade band and choir members created some ambiance with patriotic tunes.

VandenBerge Middle School Math League

The second math league meet went well once again. Team VandenBerge won the meet with 124 points, followed by Salk with 96 points and Big Lake with 88 points. This week's scoring team consisted of 6 girls. It's so cool to see girls excited about and excelling in math competitions. Leading scorers for this meet were Katie Gerold (2nd place), Sophia Tobin (3rd place), Mya Yoder (5th place), and Olivia Kramer (6th place). We have four in the top 10 cumulative scoring: Sophia Tobin (2nd), Katie Gerald (3rd), Mya Yoder (5th), and Lindsey Redepenning (9th).

We have practice December 1 and 8 and a meet the following Monday, December 12.  We hope to see everyone there!

English...

Sixth Graders have been learning about plot diagrams in class. After Thanksgiving they will be giving book talks to their peers-trying to "sell" good books.