Congratulations to the Luminant Pleasants Power Plant Student of the Month for September, Olivia Kimball!
Congratulations to the Luminant Pleasants Power Plant Student of the Month for August, Adeline Smith!
Dustin Bell, a STEAM and social studies teacher at Pleasants County Middle School, has earned West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Above and Beyond Award for October, which recognizes excellence and creativity of Mountain State teachers.
Bell was presented the award in front of the student body, Assistant Principal Tyrell Childers, Superintendent Mike Wells, and his wife Amanda Bell during an exhilarating pumpkin drop event organized by Bell himself. He received a monetary award and a signature Blenko Glass blue apple paperweight. The award is sponsored by the West Virginia State Treasurer's Office, presenter of the SMART529 college savings program in the Mountain State.
The pumpkin drop has been a tradition for Pleasants County Middle School for multiple years, led by Bell and two other STEAM teachers. Previously the pumpkins were dropped from the roof, and participation was limited to STEAM classes. However, in recent years, participation has opened to all students, and due to collaboration with Luminant, the experience has been amplified with a crane. Luminant representative Tim Ansell was helping with pumpkin clean up and stated that Luminant has been a partner in education for three years. They gladly help reserve the crane and donate snacks for the students.
The pumpkin drop is one example of many to support why Dustin Bell earned the Above and Beyond award for October. His lessons and activities are engaging, innovative, and fun for students. In Childers nomination for Bell, he listed lessons and projects that included woodworking, telegraphs, hot air balloons, and a Zombie Map. For example, to assess map skills, students are presented with a prompt that Zombies have taken over Pleasants County, and they are tasked with designing a new settlement using map skills they have learned in the classroom.
Bell also enjoys woodworking and incorporated this in his STEAM classes by teaching students the basics of working with wood and basic tools. Students are given choices of plans created by Bell, including a birdhouse, flower box, small chest, and a plant shelf. Bell feels that learning these hands-on skills is crucial for students and their future career choices or helping them in their own homes.
This year Bell is going Above and Beyond by encouraging students to be involved in the community by starting the Good Citizen Project. This project shows the importance of community service and how to be a good citizen. Some students picked up trash around their neighborhood, volunteered at the animal shelter, assisted an elderly neighbor, and one student cleaned leaves and trash out of their neighboring nursing home’s flower beds. Next year, Bell plans on coordinating with community members and organizations to provide a variety of projects students can choose from to practice being a good citizen.
Bell is passionate about his students and teaching them skills they can use for a lifetime. When asked what he loves most about his job, he said his students are what he loves most. “Seeing students out in public, having them come to me bursting with excitement about some news in their life, and seeing them grow from young, Minecraft obsessed little kids to amazing, fully functional adults. It is inspiring and what keeps me going on those days when I can tell it’s a full moon without even looking.”
On November 18, as part of our STEAM-Minded Week, students at PCMS participated in a Cardboard Regatta. Teams of students in every science class tested their engineering skills by designing a boat that could hold one person and only be constructed of cardboard and duct tape. After problem solving and building their projects, students then tested the seaworthiness of their boats by seeing which team could sail the furthest in the school’s pool. A teacher team even got in on the action by designing and building a staff boat.
Schools will be closed for Thanksgiving Break through November 27. School will resume for staff and students on Monday, November 28.
Pleasants County Middle School has started its 2022 8th Grade Butter Braids Fundraiser! Proceeds will go to the 8th Grade class account.
Parents this is reminder that this Friday is an early dismissal day. School will be dismissing at 1:00 p.m. Parents of younger children need to have someone available to pick them up from the school bus. If you have any questions, please contact your school. Thank you.
American Education Week 2022-2023.
Please see the image for current job vacancies. Instructions/ Downloadable Forms: https://www.pleasantscountyschools.com/documents/employment/instructions-and-forms/194249
Postings: https://www.pleasantscountyschools.com/documents/employment/job--postings/194251
Friday, November 11th, all schools and offices will be closed to observe Veterans Day. Thank you to all who served.
Please see the image for current job vacancies. Instructions/ Downloadable Forms: https://www.pleasantscountyschools.com/documents/employment/instructions-and-forms/194249
Postings: https://www.pleasantscountyschools.com/documents/employment/job--postings/194251
November 7-11 is recognized as school psychologist week. See the image to see a part of what our school psychologist provides to our students.
School will be closed Tuesday, November 8 due to Election Day.
Thank you Addy Wilson and Mrs. Henegar for replacing the American Flag at PCMS.
Please see the image for current job vacancies. Instructions/ Downloadable Forms: https://www.pleasantscountyschools.com/documents/employment/instructions-and-forms/194249
Postings: https://www.pleasantscountyschools.com/documents/employment/job--postings/194251
This week is the National Red Ribbon Week!
All of our schools will be doing activities this week to recognize this year's theme- "Celebrate Life, Live Drug Free."
The Scholastic Book Fair will be at PCMS today through Monday, October 31st! Follow the link below for more information or to set up an e-Wallet for your child.
https://www.scholastic.com/bf/pleasantscountymiddleschool2
Our first run of our new report card system has unsuccessfully calculated GPA for several students. This primarily impacted students in advanced 5 point classes and students in satisfactory/unsatisfactory classes that were not set to exclude from GPA. If you suspect your child's report card was not correct, please contact the school for a revised copy.
SMART 529 SWEEPSTAKES:
SMART529 is celebrating 20 years by giving away three $20,000 savings scholarships to West Virginia children ages 14 and under. One scholarship has been given away already, but there is still time to register for the remaining two. Click the link for more details regarding the sweepstakes. Families must register to be eligible for the sweepstakes. Please share this with appropriate personnel to connect families with the opportunity.
https://www.wvtreasury.com/20years
Mrs. Reed’s 6th grade math class compares and orders fractions, decimals, and percents.
