Math Team Celebration forms due April 4.

Please turn in the Math Team Celebration form and money on Monday, April 4.  Thank you.  Looking forward to a great time at Stone Bridge Farm on April 26.

Thank You Dr. Harris

As I read Dr. Harris' commentary in the paper today, I am reminded of how thankful I am for each of you.  Dr. Harris is a wordsmith for sure.  I have told her on many occasions how much I enjoy her writings.  To quote from the commentary, "I am thankful for parents who volunteer their time at events such as the CMS Math Tournament last Saturday.  I am thankful for the men and women who work tirelessly at our schools in order to support our extracurricular activities."  What you all as parents do does not go unnoticed as you read in her article (page 12H of the Times).  Our math team success is in direct proportion (had to put some math in) to the students hard work, parental support and great leadership from Mr. Hill, Mr. Page and Dr. Harris.  I am THANKFUL for our administrators, our wonderful giving parents, our terrific hard working students and a community that supports academics, the arts and sports.  Thank you math teamers for studying the TTK sheets over and over and over.  Thanks for asking good questions in class, being good problem solvers and for representing us so well at each tournament.  I am so proud of you all.  You all are brights spots in my day, everyday.

Berry/Simmons Math Tournament - April 2

Schedule

                6:00  Bus leaves CMS

    6:30 – 7:00  Eat breakfast at Jack’s at Dodge City

    8:00 – 8:30  Registration

  8:45 – 10:00  8^th Test  -  7^th Test

10:00 – 10:30  Refreshments in Cafeteria

10:30 – 11:45  7^th Ciphering  -  8^th Ciphering (competition gym)

  11:45 – 2:30  Lunch (Galleria)

                1:55  Leave mall

                2:30  Awards (Parents, we would love to see you at our last awards ceremony)

Traffic will be heavy due to Stadium Fest at Spain Park from 12 - 3 pm for kids.  Rick and Bubba, Toby Mac and Casting Crowns will be there later in the day also if your family would like to attend after the awards ceremony.

ALA-LA-MISS Results

8th Grade 

1st place in region and 7th in tri-state competition out of 38 schools.

Drake - 1st in region and 6th in tri-state (score of 33 of 35 was the second highest.  Five tied for 1st with a 34.  There were no prefect scores this year.  

Nicholas - 4th in region and 17 in tri-state with score of 28 of 35.

Team - North Alabama Region
1st - Cullman
2nd - Challenger Middle School
3rd - Good Hope Middle School

7th Grade 

3rd in region and 9th in tri-state competition out of 42 schools

Emily Dale placed 4th in region and 22nd in tri-state competition

Team - North Alabama Region
1st - Randolph School
2nd - Challenger Middle School
3rd - Cullman Middle School

Last Math Tournament - April 2 at Berry Middle School (next to Spain Park)

Who:  Math Teams

What:  Berry/Simmons Math Tournament

When: Saturday, April 2

Where:  Berry Middle School

Why:  Math competition (great way to FINISH STRONG and bring home 1st place again this year)

We invite all our parents for our last math outing of the year.  You all have been such great supporters this year.  We will be going to the Galleria for lunch and shopping.  Stadium Fest is at Spain Park the same day, so they will block off parking for us.

Very Humbling Experience and an Honor

Accepting the Teacher of the Year Award on Friday, March 18 was very humbling.  It was such an honor to represent our middle school students and CCS.  My husband, three children and my mom and dad were in attendance and we were honored to have Mr. Hill sit with our family.  We all sat together for a fantastic meal cooked by Northbrook's Wade Maynard.  Dr. Harris announced the Teachers of the Year and I went up on stage to accept the award. She read all of our accomplishments to those in attendance.  Teaching at Cullman Middle for the past three years has been a dream job for me.  We have wonderful students, parents, teachers, and administrators who really care about each student's learning.  I am able to coach math teams and also 7th grade math, which is my favorite grade thus far to teach.  During the past 20 something years, I have taught everything from geometry, Algebra I and II, Advanced Math for seniors, biology, ecology, reading, but found my niche teaching 7th and 8th graders.  Thanks for making these past three years such good ones for me.  Cullman Middle School is a special place.

ARMT and SAT Testing Up Next!

The ARMT (Alabama Reading and Math Test) is Thursday, March 24 and the SAT (Stanford Achievement Test) is Wednesday, March 30.  Last year Cullman City Schools placed 3rd in the state behind Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills.  When you think about it, what an accomplishment!  We would love to move into the 2nd or 1st place spot this year. 

Be ready for the tests by:

1.  Get plenty of sleep.

2.  Eat a good breakfast.

3.  Go over the Easy CBM review quizzes and classzone.com quizzes and games.

4.  Ask questions about specific problems Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before the tests.

5.  On the ARMT open-ended questions, write as though you are trying to teach the problem to a 5th or 6th grader.  Write legibly and to the point.

6.  Read all word problems carefully (at least twice).

7.  Work the entire time.

8.  Relax and do YOUR best!  You have worked so hard this year and I am very proud of all that we have accomplished. 

GACS 2011

8th Grade Awards

 2nd - Nicholas Fillinger (95 - Great job Nicholas)

10th - Claire Lindsey 78

11th - Molly McLeroy 77

12th - Drake Hollingsworth 75

Great job ciphering (1st overall with 305 - much higher than last year), but we needed a couple of higher test scores to make up the only 11 points we lost to Chamblee.

7th Grade Awards

2nd - Ethan Kelley (100.2 Fantastic!)

9th - Hope Mason (95)

11th - Will Raney (95)

11th - Seth Swalve (95)

14th - Branch Knight (95)


Terrific job on your tests.  We had one 100, five 95's, and four 90's.   We just needed a few more ciphering points to place 1st. 

TEAM Awards - 2nd overall in 7th and 8th grades. 

7th Grade
1 Chamblee 710 + 25
2 Cullman 685
3 Westminster 628
4 Peachtree 596
5 Providence Christian 546
6 Immaculate Heart of Mary 490
7 St. Luke 455
8 St. John 395
9 Tatnall 390
10 Eastside 330
11 GACS 268
12 Individual 100

8th Grade
1 Chamblee (641) + 11
2 Cullman (630)
3 Westminster (478)
4 St. John (377)
5 Peachtree Charter (350)
6 Tattnall Square (348)
7 Five Forks (347)
8 Providence Christian (282)
9 St. Luke (256)
10 Eastside (175)
11 Crews (171)
12 GACS (165)
13 Individual (65)

Thank you to all our parents that came to support us.  Also, thanks to the 8th boys and parents for making the trip over after the ballgame. 

I appreciate your exemplary behavior on the bus and in the hotel. I was us to be good ambassadors for CMS.   Merle was bragging on you all and said thanks for the tip.

I hope everyone had a good time.  We'll work hard to place 1st next year.  We needed higher test scores in 8th and higher ciphering in 7th.  Great job on the test by the 7th graders.

GACS Here We Come! March 18-19

•  7th grade put luggage in Mrs. Sellers' room before school unless parents are going and take it. 

• 8th grade put luggage in Mrs. Hale's room before school unless parents are going and take it.

• 7th and 8th graders will eat lunch early at 12:15, load bus at 12:40 pm and then depart by 1:00 pm.

• Leave Friday, March 18 - around 12:30 - 1:00 pm
• Itinerary is on wiki

CMS Math Future is Bright!

Congratulations to East Elementary, St. Pauls and West Elementary schools for outstanding performances at the 3rd Annual Cullman Middle School 5th and 6th Grade Math Tournament held Saturday.  

By the numbers:

26 schools

299 math teamers

Over 90 volunteers

500 bags of chips

500 Pepsi products

90 trophies

1 flaw in question

25 question test - 20 ciphering problems

Thanks to all 90-something teacher, student and parent volunteers.  YOU helped make everything run as smoothly as possible.  I was so proud of our middle school students and their helpful spirit on Saturday.  It was a gorgeous day and it seemed a good day was had by all.

Susan Sellers

A special thanks to Mrs. Aundrea Kelley for taking these and many more wonderful pictures during the day.  I think they really capture a typical math team tournament.  Enjoy a few of them below:

Registration - a crucial part of the process.  A special thanks to Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Evans, Claire, Laura and all math teamers that helped them make it run smoothly.  Also, thanks to Mr. Huser and Mr. Shadix for help with traffic.  We appreciate our 90 + volunteers.

East math teamers working ciphering problems.  Great job ciphering for your first tournament!

The CMS cafeteria was buzzing with activity while students enjoyed refreshments before switching over to testing or ciphering.  Thanks to all the volunteers in the cafeteria and teacher workroom.  We appreciate Pepsi for donating our drinks this year and to Aundrea and David Kelley for providing the chips.

Mrs. Murphy and West 5th Grade - All Smiles!

Thank you ladies for your help monitoring the test.  Thank you Mrs. Robinson and Mrs. Hutchison for the terrific goody bags for the sponsors. 

Wow!  What a terrific spread for our sponsors and parents.  Thanks to Tammy Hill and math team moms for the beautiful decorations, food and hospitality.  Many good comments on our hospitality in particular.

Blessed with beautiful weather for the tournament!

Great job ciphering by Mrs. Howse, Mrs. Pylant, Stats and all the high school math teamers!  Thank you for your time and professionalism.

Door prizes galore!  Thank you to Mrs. Robinson and Mrs. Hutchison and to Office Max and the Bulletin Board for fantastic prizes!  Great way to recognize the math coaches!

West math teamers checking their answers! Great day for Cullman Math Teams                  (East, St. Pauls and West)!  Sorry that I got in the way of a great picture of the girls.  Oh well!



 SAVE THE DATE
See you all next March for our 4th Annual Cullman Middle School 5th and 6th Grade Math Tournament.

CMS 5th and 6th Grade Math Tournament

Thanks to all the many volunteers for our tournament on Saturday, March 12 (just two days away).  The weather should be beautiful Saturday.  If you need ANYTHING, please let me know.

7:30 am - Kim Johnson, Susan Evans, Laura and Claire, Mr. Huser, Mr. Kilgo and Mr. Shadix meet in the gym for registration.

7:30 am - Traffic, Hospitality Room and Teacher Workroom workers.

7:45 am - Guides be in place (gym, round building, main bulding hallways, office area)

7:45 am - All test proctors meet in Room 112 (by Mr. Parris' room.

8:10 am - Proctors and math teamers by in rooms.

8:30 am - 9:45 am - 6th Test and 5th Ciphering in the gym

9:15 am - 10:15 am - Refreshments in lunchroom

10:30 am - 11:30 am - 5th Test and 6th Ciphering in gym

11:30 am - Pizza in lunchroom (drinks)

1:45 pm - Door prizes for math teams and goody bags for teachers in gym

1:59 pm - Awards Ceremony (5th Grade and 6th Grade - Div I, II, and III)

Registration - Kim Johnson and Susan Evans

Traffic - Mr. Huser, Mr. Shadix and Mr. Kilgo

Goody Bags - Nancy Robinson and Dawn Hutchison

Hospitality - Contact Mrs. Tammy Hill

Teacher Workroom - Snacks for workers

Refreshments - lunchroom

Central Hub - Julie Fillinger and Sharyn Hollingsworth

Testing and Scoring - Parents, Math Teamers, Kim Johnson, Renee Quick, Josh Swindall and Susan Sellers

Awards - Susan Sellers, Lane Hill, Jan Harris

Security in Gym - math teamers 

Clean-Up - Mrs. Donna Scott

THANK YOU for all your help.  There have been so many volunteers that it has made the preparation a great deal easier than normal.  Please pray for a good day and safe day for the 387 kids, their teachers and parents coming  to our campus Saturday.

I truly am thankful for each and every one of you,

Susan Sellers

Hoover Highlights 2011

What a great day all the way around for the CMS Math Teams!  The 8th grade math team made it 6 victories in a row and the 7th grade team now has 4 first place awards.  There were seven 7th graders AND seven 8th graders placing in the top 15.  Nicholas Fillinger had a perfect score today.  Excellent!  The 7th graders had a great day of ciphering with 64 points, meeting our goal.

8th Grade - First Place
1st Nicholas Fillinger
3rd Drake Hollingsworth
5th Molly McLeroy
6th Claire Lindsey
12th Ben Huser
13th Ben Ratliff
15th Branch Hill

First Place - Hoover 2011

7th Grade - First Place

2nd Will Raney

5th Libby Burroughs

6th Ethan Kelley

7th Noah Shadix

8th Emma Hicks

13th Emily Dale

14th Andy Robinson

First Place - Hoover 2011

8th Team Awards
1st Cullman (370) 3rd overall out of 25 schools.  Only Pizitz and Liberty Middle had more points. 
2nd Muscle Shoals (325)
3rd ASFA (240)
4th Handley High School (127)
5th Albertville (121)

7th Team Awards
1st Cullman (315)  64 ciphering points
2nd Muscle Shoals (306)
3rd Albertville (261)
4th Brookwood (157)
5th Centre (107)

Hoover Math Tournament Schedule - March 5

Leave CMS by bus at 6:00 am
Eat at Jack's at Dodge City (8th grade request)
8:00 - 8:30 am Registration
8:45 - 10:00 Pre-algebra - Test
                    Ciphering (Algebra I)
10:00 - 10:30 Refreshments
10:30 - 11:45 - Algebra I Test
                        Pre-algebra - Ciphering
12:00 - 1:30 pm Lunch (Stix by Galleria)
2:00  Middle School Awards