Highcrest Middle School PTO

STRIKES…SPARES…GUTTERS!!!
The fee covers shoes and games bowled. Students may purchase snacks at the Bowling Center. Every student is responsible for getting to the Wilmette Bowling Center and home after bowling.

Duplicate bridge is now being played at the Olympic games in the new Mind Games category. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet believe so much in the value of their favorite pastime that they have donated one million dollars for an initiative to get programs going for kids across the U.S. Bridge improves memory and logic and teaches teamwork; but the reason kids say they love it? It’s fun! The Highcrest Bridge Club will be recognized by the American Contract Bridge League. Visit www.youth4bridge.org to get a sense of what is happening in other U.S. locations. Lead teachers, Sue Friedman and Elizabeth Staehlin, have taught in the area for a long time and are Bridge Life Masters.

LIGHTS...CAMERA...ACTION!!!
Do you love the Monday Morning Broadcast and want to help create it? As part of the redesigned Broadcast Club, you will help look through student submitted work and make final decisions for what goes into the broadcast! Also, you will be part of a team to brainstorm, produce, film and edit segments filmed both in the TV Studio and On Location. We will learn how to use programs like keynote and imovie as well as the elements of Broadcasting. We need people for in front of the camera and behind the scenes to help create a newscast the whole school will enjoy!

3D VIDEO GAME WORLD DESIGN – NEW!!
Thinking about becoming a Video Game Programmer? Learn the fundamentals involved in creating your own 3D video game worlds! With a simple click and roll of a mouse wheel you can modify your world however you want. Work in teams to develop and storyboard your game design and learn to place animals, trees, characters, and other items in your own virtual world! Also learn the basic subsystems and scripting entailed in a 3D game system. If you like 2-D, you will love 3-D!! Note: Video Game Animation is NOT a prerequisite for this class! Program run by COMPUTER EXPLORERS.

Class Meets:	Wednesdays 3:50 pm – 4:50 pm
Dates:	1/18, 1/25, 2/1, 2/15, 2/22, 2/29, 3/21, 4/4 (8 weeks)
Room:	Room 112
Teachers:	Computer Explorers Staff
Student Fee:	(Form indicates $128.00 per student/course) Max 12 students

Chess provides an intellectual foundation that will serve the student well throughout their academic career and all of life. The student will learn and improve their game of chess with super trainer Shiva Maharaj, a United States Chess Federation Level III Certified Chess Coach. This program is geared to take each student to a new level of expertise through different openings, middle game theory and end game skills, while enhancing their math and vocabulary skills. The student will also develop life skills: decision making, analytical thinking, responsibility, patience, and the like. Chess is to the mind as exercise is to the body. The student will have the opportunity to participate in professional chess tournaments. Register today for this exciting enrichment program. Chess sets and other materials will be provided during the class hour.

Hands-on cooking classes featuring good tasting and good for you recipes from Creative Kids Corner’s Food for Life” series. Students will prepare, cook and enjoy one new dish each week that emphasizes using fresh seasonal ingredients and understand why these foods promote good health. Young chefs will learn culinary basics and terms, use a wide variety of culinary tools, and will discover how rewarding and enjoyable cooking can be at any age! When it’s over they leave with pride, smiles, a new global culinary palette and the day’s recipe for their individual cookbooks.

Come join the fun! Do you like painting and paper crafts? We will have a new craft each week. Some of the projects will be room decorations, Valentine’s Day cards and frames, sculpture clay and much more!

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge! This league provides participants with an opportunity to play the popular game in a safe and supervised environment. The program uses super soft balls and stresses safety during game play. Each week of league play, a different style of dodgeball is used. The first week is used for practice round robins and evaluations. After the first week, teams are assigned. Throughout the course of the season, each team plays games against other evenly matched teams. The staff of Hot Shot Sports facilitate the weekly games. Each participant receives a team t-shirt.

Act your heart out! In this club we will have a blast playing theatre games, improvising, learning drama skills and making new friends. Do you like the games we play during drama class? If so, this is the club for you!

This Beginning Fencing class introduces students to Epee fencing. We will work on footwork and basic bladework skills as well as developing athletic skills such as balance and reaction time through games and drills. Fencers warm up, work on footwork, receive a group lesson and have time to fence. Students will also learn to referee Epee bouts. Classes are designed to introduce fencing in a fun group atmosphere. This class utilizes real fencing weapons. Participants are required to wear pants and closed toe shoes (no Crocs). Equipment is provided.

Ever feel like you should be the one on television winning $1,000,000? Now is your opportunity! Come play popular game shows with your friends and show off your skills! It’s a great way to have some fun with a little friendly competition. The last couple of weeks will be for students to create their own game show!

.Ich bin total genial! Of course you are if you join German club! Come and hang out, play German games, make German foods and crafts, listen to popular German music and speak German with your friends. Do other fun things that will make you want to yell “Ausgezeichnet!”. (Teachers should be informed of any food allergies.)

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice! Enter the Highcrest Middle School Kitchen and learn how to make wonderful treats for family and friends. No nuts will be served. (Teachers should be informed of any food allergies.)

Improv Club will enrich student’s lives by encouraging on-the-spot thinking, bolstering communication skills, and building confidence through the use of standard theatre games and other improvisational tools. Class clowns, wallflowers, and everyone in-between will benefit from this fast-paced, fun and funny crash-course in Chicago’s home-grown art form.

Students will learn how to make beaded jewelry. The class will include instructions on how to design jewelry, figuring out sizing and finishing techniques. Each student will have the opportunity to make beautiful handcrafted jewelry using a variety of materials!

Have you ever wanted to see your name in print? Join the “Highcrest Hype” team. We will work during the quarter writing news stories and covering important school events. You will interview, photograph, write, edit and more. At the end of each quarter we will produce a newspaper. Snack will be served. Students that were enrolled in the Fall Session will have priority in joining the Winter Session.

Can’t get enough of Latin class or the Ancient Greek and Roman culture? No fear, comrades! Come to Latin club where we’ll delve deeper into the lives of the Ancient Romans and Greeks with fun, hands-on activities! Each week we’ll learn new, exciting, and even sometimes weird facts abut the Ancients’ religion, culture, history, and daily lives. Latin isn’t “dead”!. Lingua Latina Vivat! Latin Lives!

This movie club is a chance for kids to become knowledgeable about the movie industry. They will be watching old and new movies, different genres, studying special effects, understanding the different ways movies are created to entertain audiences, and how critics work their magic.

Join the Photo Phun Club to learn how to edit pictures in Aviary. Participants will learn digital photography skills and edit their own pictures with cool effects. Participants will compile their creative photos at the end in a gallery they can share!

-The truth is finally out.
-You can make words with a Y and no U.
-Your two best friend; the blank and the s.
-Join us for scrabble! Fun and snacks will be served!!

Spanish crafts, games, activities and more! Come join the three Spanish teachers for some fun-filled activities to help improve your Spanish language and culture knowledge. The students will learn new skills and even be able to come up with some of their own activities. Open to all students!

Creative Writing Club
It’s time to write the fun stuff. Whether you like to write poetry, fiction, personal essays, journals, or all of the above, there’s a place for you here! Each week the Creative Writing Club will focus on a different aspect of creative writing: poetry, language, plot, character, dialogue, and other aspects of storycraft. Enjoy writing and creating new work while working closely with a professional writer who will help to guide your process and answer any questions you have about writing, publishing, living the writing life, and more. At the end of this session, you’ll have your work published on StoryStudio’s online magazine: Cooler by the Lake.

The Highcrest Taekwando Club is a great opportunity for children to experience martial arts right in their own school. Our Taekwondo program caters to a child’s development, coordination and motor skills all while instilling morality, respect and discipline. Our curriculum centers on the 5 tenants of Taekwondo: Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self Control and Indomitable Spirit. All classes will start with stretching followed by races and games for a suitable warm up. The remaining class time will be used to teach a basic, introductory Taekwondo curriculum that involves: Korean language, basic kicks, punches, stances, blocks, combination kicks, form and board breaking. There will be an optional promotional belt testing for eligible students at the end of the club session which will be an additional fee.

Seeking all of you girls who have been a part of Girls in the Run in the past and those new girls looking to get into a great program! Girls on the Run is a life-changing, experiential learning program for girls age eight to thirteen years old. The programs combine training for a 3.1 mile running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts. The goals of the programs are to encourage a positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development.

We are on our way! During the Fall Session the Yearbook Club did a great job brainstorming ideas for the yearbook and selling the yearbook to the student body. Now we are ready to really start creating. During this Winter Session you will help organize pictures, design layouts and create pages of the yearbook all done on the computer. This class will not only teach the creative skills that go into designing a yearbook, but will also teach the computer skills needed to create the pages. A light snack and water will be served. This class will meet 6 times this Winter. Classes will meet every other Tuesday starting January 17th. During the last class on April 3rd.we will celebrate all our hard work with a “Game Party”. Students that were enrolled in the Fall Session will have priority in joining the Winter Session. (7 Fifth graders and 7 sixth graders).

Are you looking to get stronger and tone your muscles? Are you looking to find both physical and emotional balance? Are you looking to de-stress and energize yourself at the end of the day? Then, this is the club for you! Yoga has proven effects of not only improving physical health, but also of relaxing and quieting the mind. Come join us as we learn the different poses and forms of yoga. Please bring a personal yoga mat.

It’s not a dance class, it’s a Dance Party! So bring your Friends! Learn to MOVE and Groove! Zumbatomic is specially designed Zumba for children. It incorporates easy to learn routines with foot tapping, energetic music, making it super fun for boys and girls. The class encourages kids to develop a healthy lifestyle and to incorporate fitness as a natural part of their lives through dance, music and exercise. Parents love Zumbatomic because of the effects it has on the kids, increasing their focus and self-confidence and enhancing coordination. Kids will learn the choreography and perform for each other. Parents are invited to stay and watch the last class as the kids perform what they have learned.