These students improved in both math and reading from 5^th to sixth grade and will be attending a bowling party in April.

We had one student with the most improved in MATH: Sedonia Cribbs
We had two students with the most improved in READING: Kimberly Huntington and Devontate Davis
Our highest average in reading and math was from Flint Ridenhour

Congratulations to all Battle of the Book participants. These students read several books in a short amount of time in order to "Battle" it out with other teams at Wood and then on to other schools in the district. The winners of the building battle were: Ashley Goeller, Bree Stebbins, Kate Brown, Cassie Schulz, and Megan Seidel
alternate: Josh Burnham

These students went on to the district battle and won through the second round....GREAT JOB TO ALL BATTLE READERS!!!!

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Mr. Owens, Mrs. Schultz, and Mr. Cartee

Students had the opportunity to participate in a roller-skating unit during PE class. Skating not only enhances balance, coordination, and motor skills but also is an excellent cardiovascular workout. The students had a great time skating and playing various skating games. Their favorite was the limbo!

Wood held its first "Hoops for Heart" event this year. Many of you have heard of "Jump Rope for Heart", well this is the same concept except students play basketball instead of jumping rope to raise money for the American Heart association. The students raised a total of $591.00. The top collector was Jeff Hill; he raised $252.00, what an awesome job! The money is used to help fund research to fight heart disease. The following 6^th grade students participated in this event: Front row: Suzi Brownell, Rachel Russell, Megan Seidel, Ngoc Pham, Roxi Witherow, Carly Baguss. Middle Row: Sam Willi and Jeff Hill. Back Row: Ryan Washburn, Taylor Mollenbeck, Tyler Vandevorde, Nick Kendell, Aaron Doestart, and Zach Wundrum. Great job by all that participated!

Orchestra Notes
Mr. Henry, Mrs. Kendell, directors

The Wood Intermediate Orchestras are having a very busy spring! The 6^th/7^th/8^th grade orchestra students attended a performance of the New York Philomusica through Visiting Artists on March 31^st at Wood. The group, consisting of two violinists, a violist, a cellist and a pianist, performed a number of chamber pieces for our students.

The combined 6^th/7^th/8^th grade Wood Orchestras performed a series of concerts first for parents on Monday, April 5^th, and then again at Fillmore, Harrison, and Truman schools on Thursday, April 8^th. The students did a wonderful job and represented Wood Intermediate School very well. Thanks so much to the Overmire family and the Miller family for allowing us to borrow the great Scooby-Doo and Sponge Bob costumes! Thanks also to our parent chaperones: Mrs. Crane, Mrs. DeFauw, Mrs. Holtz, Mr. Orcutt, Mr. Awad, and Mrs. Dostart! The first annual 8^th grade parents night took place prior to the tour concert on the5^th. Parents and students ate pizza and listened to a presentation on next year’s high school music schedule. Ninth grade music students have an option to take several of their required courses in an early-bird format giving them more space in their schedules. We are recommending these classes for music students who want to expand their options. If you have questions you can contact Mr. Henry or your counselor.

For the past two months, some of the Wood Orchestra students have had the pleasure of working with our "cellist-in-residence", Mark Awad. Mark is a graduate of Iowa State University as an English literature and Music major. Thanks so much to Mark for all of his dedication and help with our students!

The Wood 7^th/8^th Grade Orchestra will again be competing in Cedar Rapids this year on Saturday, April 24^th at 9:50 a.m. at Jefferson High School. Good luck to Mr. Henry and the Orchestra as they compete against some of the finest middle school orchestras in Iowa.

The combined 6^th/7^th/8^th grade Wood Orchestras will be performing at CASI on Thursday, May 6^th. The Wood Orchestras will perform and then the CASI band will perform for the orchestras. Students will also be served lunch at CASI. We are looking forward to this performance opportunity!

The final concert of the year will be on Monday, May 17^th. This is our Wood Area Concert and will feature the 4^th Grade Area Orchestra, the 5^th Grade Area Orchestra, the 6^th Grade Orchestra, and the 7^th/8^th Grade Orchestra. This concert is unique in that it demonstrates the development and progress of orchestra students through the years of musical development and participation.

Summer School Orchestra will again be offered for orchestra students entering 7^th and 8^th grades in the fall. Students will be bringing home registration cards. Please keep your students playing over the summer! 7^th/8^th Grade Summer Orchestra will be held from 10:30-11:15 TWTh beginning August 3 and ending August 19. Cost is $27. If your student is unable to participate in summer orchestra, please consider enrolling your student in lessons with a private instructor. A list of private teachers if available from the orchestra directors.

8^th grade orchestra members will be invited to join the North High School Orchestra and perform for the North graduation on Sunday, June 6^th at 12:00 noon. Interested students will receive music in May and will be asked to attend several rehearsals at North before the performance.

The North High School Orchestra will again be having a summer camp several days before school starts in order to prepare music for a performance at the instrumental department’s Ice Cream Social. The camp will happen during the week of the 23^rd of August with the exact time and dates yet to be set. Watch for an informational letter in early August.

Vocal Music Notes

Eighth Grade Choirs Prepare for Spring Concert: Wednesday, June 2, 2004 at 7:30 p.m. in the Cafeteria.

The 101 voice Eighth Grade Chorus and the 49 voice "Acquire" will perform an eclectic selection of choral works. "Acquire will perform several jazz selections enhanced by vocal and instrumental solos as well as narration.

The evidence of the students’ hard work and commitment to excellence is apparent in the quality of their musical performance.

Mrs. Collins…………………………………………………..Vocal Music Director

Mr. Seward……………………………………………………Accompanist

                The Wood students who participated at the regional History Day competition at St Ambrose did admirably presenting their projects and answering judges’ questions.  Five of those participating were selected to move on to the State National History Day Competition in Des Moines, on Monday, April 26.  Those students are Holly Graap, who has written and will present a ten minute Individual Performance on the Holocaust; Emily Hill and Hilary Tanner, who have written and will be performing a ten minute Group Performance on the letters of John and Abigail Adams, and Megan Middleton and Allison Redman who will present their exhibit on the Underground Railroad.  These girls were recognized at the April 13^th meeting of the Davenport School Board.  We wish them well.

  

Hilary, Emily and Holly	Megan & Allison

Kayleigh	Tyler	Brian & Matthew	Melvin	Thomas	Kyle

     

Mock Trial Starts Again!

We have several eager TAG students who are ready to begin preparing for fall Mock Trial.  To this end, we are pooling both 6^th and 7^th grade students to begin some foundation work on Mock Trial.  We have  chosen a more ‘modern’ version of Jack and Jill and a case of trespassing to test their abilities. We will be covering several new topics for the current 6^th grade students such as Direct and Cross Examination, Opening  and Closing Statements and the ever favorite, Objections!  The older students are very generous  with their mentoring of the younger students. Those participating so far:  Emily Hill, Hilary Tanner, Tyler Wentworth, Sara Millard, Nicole Woodson, Stephen Sorensen, Robin Evans, Allen Gish, Katie Leach, Nicholas Kendell, Kurt Meyer and Cassie Schulz. IF YOU KNOW AN ATTORNEY WHO WOULD BE  WILLING  TO HELP US OUT A BIT IN THE FALL PREPARING FOR THE REGIONAL COMPETITION, PLEASE CALL  ME AT WOOD:  391-6350.

Two groups of 6th grade TAG students have had the opportunity to pilot a new after school activity.  The program was taught by Mrs. Duncan, a 6^th grade science teacher and Mrs. Davis, TAG, who were trained in November in Washington, D.C. for this program.  It is now available throughout Iowa, as well as 33 other states.     In the fall of 2004, it will be offered to new 6^th grade students at Wood.  There is a $20.00 fee for the eight week, one hour sessions, held after school.  Complete information will be available at Registration in the fall.

All student library books are due back on Wednesday, May 19, 2004. After that date the Library staff will be sending phone messages and overdue notices to you. Please help your child to return all borrowed materials promptly.

A USB drive (also known as flash drives, or pen drives) is a device which plugs directly into a computer via the USB port and acts like a little hard drive (or a big floppy drive).  It is solid state circuitry which replaces the need for floppy disks.  Currently 64Mg of storage on one of these devices costs only $20 and holds about the same amount of data as 46 floppy disks. These are available to students through the office now.  We really encourage each student to have one. The correct program to download the program for the USB drives is:  http://www.supertalent.com/.download/STF_O_USB20.zip

Grand Excursion: 
The library has a display of books about the Mississippi River and trunk of goodies that can complement the curriculum and learning about the early settlers struggles to explore these Unites States through the railroads and the riverboats. The display is planned to coincide with the June 2004 Grand Excursion of boats from the Quad Cities Area north to the Twin Cities of Minnesota that takes place locally June 25-27, 2004. Look for more information in this newsletter and through local area media agencies.

National Library Week: 
Staff and students will be celebrating National Library Week during April 18 -24, 2004. Remember that any student can access our school library online at the web address: http://webopac.davenportschools.org/webopac/main?siteid=wooimc.

Students can look up book titles, interesting subjects, or favorite authors from the comforts of their home. Books and posters are displayed in the Library Media Center (LMC). Students are encouraged to read for selected reading lists from Newberry Books, Favorite Author Books, and Battle of Books lists. 

World Book Online Reference Collection:  
World Book Encyclopedia is a great resource provided to students and teachers by Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency. World Book Online has been licensed by the Iowa Area Education Agencies (AEAs) for all K-12 teachers and students in Iowa. It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computer connected to the Internet. World Book has always been a favorite encyclopedia for students, and has been rated the best online encyclopedia by School Library Journal.

The resources in World Book Online include much more than you would find in the printed version of World Book. There are text articles, audio files with word pronunciations, audio examples of music and speeches, downloadable photos/illustrations, video clips, 360-degree views, maps, tables, related articles and study aids. The advantage of the online version of the encyclopedia is that it is continuously updated with current and accurate information. To access World Book Online go to the Iowa AEA Online website at http://www.iowaaeaonline.org Teachers and students were given a user name of 1611605 and password of aea09. If you need assistance, contact us in the LMC.

Summer Reading Program: The Davenport Public Library has an excellent summer reading program. The theme is Discover New Trails at Your Library, the program runs between May 21 – July 30. Students who designate their school name will help Wood Intermediate School possibly win a trophy. Students will be registered for a drawing for a bicycle. Other prizes will include: water bottles after reading 10 hours; binoculars after reading for 20 hours; and a backpack after reading for 30 hours. You may call 326-7900 for further information. Have a great summer filled with reading.

(Science, Engineering, Communications, Mathematics Enrichment)

SECME, which is held on Wednesday nights in conjunction with the Stepping Stones after school program, involves students in activities that increase their interest in the fields of math, science, and engineering. The main activity that the group participates in is the mousetrap car competition. The students are responsible for building a car and completing a technical report and drawing. The school competition was held on April 7^th. The fourth place team consisted of Kyle Lindemann, Aaron Dostart, and Andrew Ehrecke. The third place team consisted of Kareese McGregory, Farica Lomas, and Olivia Jones. The second place winners were Alexa Dostart, Keyla Davis and Bianca Anguiano. The first place team, which consisted of Andrew Lange, Kyle Barton and Michael Anderson, continued on to compete in the district competition on April 17th. They placed first in the district competition and will represent the Davenport Community School District in the national competition in Houston, Texas this summer. Great job to all the students that participated!!! If you are interested in participating in the program, please talk to Miss Tarara (Room 452) or Ms. Thames (Room 105).

The seventh annual Geography Bee was held during December 2003. The Geography Bee began in the 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade social studies classrooms with students answering geography questions to qualify for the competition. There were 90 students that qualified to participate in the school bee.

It’s impossible to believe we are nearing the end of the school year as it has gone all too fast.  Students and faculty both have a lot to accomplish before we conclude on June 3^rd.  Please continue to support this final push through the 4^th quarter. We would enjoy seeing most Wood students conclude the year with a sense of pride in what they have achieved.  From a counseling perspective there has been so much growth this year for so many!  Whether that means being comfortable in a bigger school with many new friends or doing well working in a collaborative group, all are signs of progress.

Counselors coordinate several efforts at the end of each academic year. One of which is  offering summer school information  to parents whose children have struggled with  their academic subjects..  There are two programs underway during the summer.  The “Summer in the City” summer school program at the Kimberly Center and The Stepping Stones Summer Camp located here at Wood.  The “Summer in the City” materials are being mailed home to all Wood families along with the scores from our Iowa Test of Basic Skills.  Additional summer school forms with a counselor signature will be mailed home to parents whose children need to consider this option, in order to better prepare for the following year. Please don’t hesitate to contact our main office if you need additional copies.

We also receive information on recreational and summer camp offerings through out Davenport.  It you are interested in structuring activities for your children this summer, we have brochures available in our main office.  You could also call the City of Davenport directly at 326-7812.

Both counselors are grateful for the opportunity to have worked with so many parents and students throughout the course of this year.  We wish you all a safe and relaxing summer!

The Counselor Corner

Ann McNamara
Judy Kendall

Office Corner: