North Mason School District

🏆 A tremendous number of students were recognized last week at Hawkins Middle School 'End of Year Assembly' in the areas of Most Improved, No Missing Work, Helping Hand, PAWS Scores 3+, and Perfect Attendance. The assembly began by showcasing the Hawkins choir, a new addition to the musical offerings. After all the awards were handed out, students that excelled in each department were also recognized. As you can see from the number of students represented in the pictures, there is a lot to celebrate at Hawkins!! What a great way to end the year, Huskies! 🏆

June is National Safety Month, and we would like to highlight our hardworking security team, Clint Forsythe, Scotty Beaton, Anthony Marquez, and Dan Inch, who are making a difference to North Mason students each day with their dedication and commitment to keeping our district safe. Each year during Safety Month, our elementary schools welcome community partners for Safety Days, an interactive experience for our students to get valuable instruction on a variety of life-saving safety topics from first responders and industry professionals. Some of the topics covered include boating safety, CPR, electrical safety, traffic safety, and dental health, to name just a few. Students move station to station to learn from first responders and industry professionals, stopping for hugs and high fives from Sparky the Safety Dog! Thank you to our NMSD security team, and our community partners, for prioritizing the safety of our students. We appreciate all you do!

Let the Marbles Roll! Today in Mrs. Ruebush’s 4th grade classroom, Sand Hill students were "rolling out" (pun intended) their final projects that used engineering principles and creativity to develop a marble run. Students were tasked with creating a DIY marble run adhering to an adventure theme. From choosing materials and theme, then sketching the design and assembling the track, students handled every detail leading up to the testing phase and final touches. The excitement in the room was palpable, as the students collaborated to put the final touches on their design. One group asked for additional tape (having learned that glue was unreliable), another group adjusted angles to ensure the marble would successfully make it to the bottom of the track. One student, watching as his teammate encountered a recurring stoppage, was overheard saying, "Let's improvise!" Another student was thrilled when her group's marble ended up, repeatedly, in the same spot, proudly exclaiming, "It's trapped! Just like we wanted!" After testing their designs, students pivoted and gave their marble runs a new spin, one group turning theirs into a multi-player race. Thank you, Mrs. Ruebush, for sharing this glimpse into your classroom. It was amazing to watch the enthusiasm and ingenuity of your students. Well done, 4th grade!

🎓Let the festivities begin!🎓 The Food Services team started the day off right for our Class of 2024, serving a delicious breakfast with all the fixings. The Life Skills students added the beverages, serving Lotus with fun graduation themed names. After breakfast, the seniors went to Phil Pugh Stadium for rehearsal. See you at 7 pm! All are welcome!

Please join us to celebrate the Class of 2024! 🎓 When: Friday, June 7, 2024 🎓 Time: 7:00 pm (Doors open at 6:00 pm) 🎓 Where: Phil Pugh Stadium No tickets required. Please RSVP for disabled seating/assistance by calling (360) 277-2303 or (360) 277-2281. 🎓 Simultaneous translation devices available. Please reserve by calling Maria Vicente (360) 277-2281 or Mateo Santiago (360) 277-2342

The Hawkins Middle School Science STEM Showcase was a huge success yesterday with a great turnout to see the unbelievable projects our students created. Months of studying, research, and preparation was involved in this endeavor and you could see how proud the students were to present their projects publicly to family and friends. The students' focus was as follows: 6th grade - Design and Modeling, an intro to Engineering. Water cycle, puzzle cubes 7th grade - Ecosystems, green energy and recycled art 8th grade - physics and Newton's Laws MLL students also presented their Dream Jobs project in the Library. This project had students explore careers they wanted to pursue and research the pathway to get to their goal. The boards were amazingly detailed and included road maps, educational requirements, along with salary expectations for the profession. Students shared their projects with their families and it was wonderful to see the pride in their stance when they presented their future career. Valerie and Gene Johnson and the HMS Science team sponsored the Free Hot Dog Dinner to all families who came. Thank you to everyone who made this evening possible and came out to support our students' exploration in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

📸North Mason graduates will be able to purchase photos from Irene's Photos and Design who will be with us on June 7th to capture moments from the big day. Students will be supplied with a QR code when they pick up their diplomas. Thank you, Asst. Principal Hackett for sharing this information!

✨ Tri-lingual Learning ✨ At Hawkins Middle School, Nicole Bonnell's MLL class is pushing language learning further. Using three languages, Q'anjob'al, Spanish, and English, students are working together on a project to identify the story elements of character, Family Liaison, Mateo Santiago, has been visiting and reading a story to the class in Q'anjob'al, then working with Mrs. Bonnell and the students to compare sentence structures between the three languages in order to enhance their understanding of literacy concepts and patterns across languages. In small groups, students deconstruct the story in pictures and then reconstruct the story in multiple languages which helps them understand these literacy concepts on deeper levels. The final step is to present their story poster to the class to share what they've learned through this in-depth process. Thank you, Nicole Bonnell, for sharing this story about your MLL students digging deeper into language literacy!

Apply Today! https://www.northmasonschools.org/page/job-openings

Small but Mighty In an overwhelming display of generosity, the North Mason Scholarship Foundation and community organizations awarded over $500,000 to seniors from NMHS and James A. Taylor High School at the Award Ceremony held last night. Recipients were beaming with joy, their faces bright with pride and gratitude as they walked up to receive their awards. It was a myriad of emotions in the faces of families, friends, staff, and administration that had gathered to celebrate. In between the speeches and awards was loud clapping and cheering to congratulate the students, many of whom made the walk up to the podium multiple times. At the end of the evening, students gathered in front of the bulldog backdrop for a picture with family, friends, and donors. Another small step on their way to do mighty things. To learn more about the enduring legacy of the North Mason Scholarship Foundation, see a list of donors, and get pictures of the event, please visit https://www.northmasonschools.org/page/north-mason-scholarship-foundation ***************************** En una abrumadora muestra de generosidad, la Fundación de Becas North Mason y organizaciones comunitarias otorgaron más de $500,000 a estudiantes del último año de NMHS y de la escuela secundaria James A. Taylor en la ceremonia de premiación celebrada anoche. Los destinatarios estaban radiantes de alegría, con los rostros brillando de orgullo y gratitud mientras caminaban para recibir sus becas. Había una gran cantidad de emociones en los rostros de las familias, amigos, personal y administración que se habían reunido para celebrar. Entre los discursos y los premios hubo fuertes aplausos y vítores para felicitar a los estudiantes, muchos de los cuales subieron al podio varias veces. Al final de la noche, los estudiantes se reunieron frente del bulldog para tomarse una foto con familiares, amigos y donantes. Otro pequeño paso en su camino para hacer cosas poderosas. Para obtener más información sobre el legado perdurable de la Fundación de Becas de North Mason, y ver una lista de donantes y obtener fotografías del evento, visite https://www.northmasonschools.org/page/north-mason-scholarship-foundation

Opening Night is May 30th! Get your tickets for this highly anticipated performance! https://gofan.co/app/school/WA23286

🖐️ Making an American Flag 🖐️ How can children show love for their country? They can create a flag for their school. That is exactly what the students at Belfair Elementary did. In fact, their flag is so big that it hangs permanently in their school library. Going back in history, school children became actively involved with the American Flag in the late 1800's after Patriot John Upham suggested that students save pennies to buy flags for their school. The result was a success! The American Flags were purchased and put into schools. While the flags were placed in schools, a man named Francis Bellamy wrote the Pledge of Allegiance. On October 12, 1892, it was first recited by 12 million students and the tradition continues today. What does the flag mean? To our preschool and primary students, it may just mean something that flies from a pole or is a red, white and blue square piece of material. As the child grows, so does a deeper meaning of the flag. At Belfair Elementary, we wanted to teach the value and respect of the American flag by giving all students the opportunity to create one. Under the direction of art teacher, Lars Lundberg, each student traced their hand on either red or white construction paper. After cutting it out, it was placed and glued on a unique, heavy fabric. This created red and white stripes. The left upper corner was painted navy blue with 50 stars placed in proper order. Finally, a special coating was applied to preserve our freedom, and protect it for years to come. On this Memorial Day, we honor and the men and women who fought to preserve our freedom, by proudly hanging our finished flag in the Belfair Elementary school library. It is our hope that the students will grow a deeper understanding and respect for the American flag - an enduring symbol of our freedom. Story shared by Jane Adams, school counselor at Belfair Elementary.

Special guests from the United States Army attended last night's board meeting to present Nicole Bonnell with the "Salute to Coaches" award. Staff Sergeant Rice spoke about the values of the Army being reflected in Nicole Bonnell's coaching philosophy. Sergeant First Class Ayala and Staff Sergeant Rice presented Coach Bonnell with a plaque and gift bag to commemorate her career achievements. Her husband and children proudly watched her receive this award in front of a crowd that included the NMSD School Board, Superintendent Rosenbach, administration, staff and community members.. To see the full presentation, please visit https://www.youtube.com/live/wBX3Z5Q-kOg?si=9lnqBfjGDZVjAm70&t=970. Thank you so much to our distinguished guests for delivering this honor in person. Congratulations, Coach Bonnell!

YOU ARE INVITED! NORTH MASON SCHOOL DISTRICT GRADUATION 🎓 When: Friday, June 7, 2024 🎓 Time: 7:00 pm (Doors open at 6:00 pm) 🎓 Where: Phil Pugh Stadium No tickets required. Please RSVP for disabled seating/assistance by calling (360) 277-2303.

🔥Winter Color Guard Showcase🔥 ⭐When? Saturday, May 18th @ 7 pm ⭐Where? North Mason High School Main Gym ⭐Who? NMHS Students and their coach, Stacy Hovland ⭐WHY? Because the students have worked extremely hard learning 12 different pieces AND it's spectacularly entertaining. Come out and support our students and enjoy this creative expression for $5 (with ASB) and $8 (without ASB)

🍰 North Mason Culinary Students Recognized by United Way 🥧 For the third year in a row, North Mason culinary students created decadent desserts for the United Way Spring Dessert & Gift Auction. Their creations for the May 10th event included Fruit Tart with Pastry Cream, Spring Blossom Cookies, Raspberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars, and Lemon Blueberry mini bundt cakes. In addition to baking, students help with set up and take down of the event. At last week's United Way meeting, students and teachers, Rob Thomas and Heather Brase, were presented with a plaque to recognize their dedication to making the event a success. Rob Thomas is proud of his students, "giving back to the community that they live in," and, hopes that, "in the future, we can provide the lunch that goes along with the event to showcase more of our students' abilities." Congratulations on receiving this recognition from the United Way!

🌱❤️ "True love and flesh-eating plants? Now isn't that bizarre?" Come and see the classic musical Little Shop of Horrors as imagined by the amazing North Mason theater cast and crew. You only have FOUR chances to see it, so mark your calendars now! 🌱When: May 30, 31, June 1, 2, NMHS auditorium, 7:00pm 🌱Cost: $10 adults, $8 ASB and under 12 🌱❤️ "This year's production features some very special set pieces and props; most notably four amazing Audrey II puppets. This group of students not only had the opportunity to act, sing, and dance in this year's production, but to be puppeteers! There is much that goes on both onstage and behind the scenes to make this a very special production. The support of the community is so important to these students, and this program. This is a fabulous show you won't want to miss!" Hilary Gennaro, Drama Teacher

☕ Would you like a hug with your coffee? ☕ The crew from Bulldog Java, some of them Sand Hill alums, arrived with their mobile coffee service to make and deliver coffees to the teaching staff as part of Teacher Appreciation Week. It was a "well-oiled machine," to borrow a phrase from Rick Robbers, who came in for his coffee order and left with a side of hugs and high-fives from the students. It was a variation of that scene at each delivery. A perfect start to the day: coffee, smiles, and hugs. Thank you to the Bulldog Java students, Mrs. Hackett, Ms. Ashley, Ms. Chelsea and Ms. Lelaine for bringing all that joy to our teachers' classrooms today at Sand Hill Elementary, and earlier in the week doing the same for the teachers at Belfair Elementary. What a treat!

🦸‍♀️ Is that an apron, or a CAPE? Happy School Lunch Hero Day to all of our amazing HEROES! Today, Mackenna Long, Child Nutrition Director and Dan King, Assistant Superintendent, toured each building to personally thank each of our lunch staff for all they do to sustain our students. We appreciate all of you! Want to learn more about North Mason's amazing team of Food Service professionals? Visit the website https://www.northmasonschools.org/page/food-service-menus-information to learn more about the people behind the program.

🍎 It's National Teacher Day today, which is the precursor to a big event at NMSD...Teacher Appreciation Week May 6-10th! Check back as we will be sharing your teacher appreciation comments from the recent POSSIP survey, along with pictures of all the fun events happening around the District to celebrate our SUPERSTARS! We L❤️VE our TEACHERS!