Wildcat Wrap: 3.21.14

Dear White Hill Families,

Thank you for getting on top of your YES pledge or donation and helping White Hill reach the 70% mark or higher! We really appreciate your support of our schools through YES. See below for the latest from White Hill!

Girls Ignite Night 2.0 Coming to White Hill Wednesday, April 2nd!

Current 6th- to 8th-grade girls* are invited to join us at White Hill on Wednesday, April 2nd from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. for an evening of engineering fun! This evening is a continuation of our popular first Girls Ignite event. Girls who attended the last event, as well as girls new to the event, are welcome. We will work in our maker space in the upper floor of the West (7th grade) building.

We will be engaging girls in a fun activity to taps into their design skills and creativity. Our popular STEAM program at White Hill has been received enthusiastically by our students and we are excited about bringing more girls into the program. Students can be dropped off at 6:30 and should be picked up at 8:30. We look forward to igniting girls’ interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math).

Please bring in as many TP/paper towel tubes as you can—bonus gift to anyone who brings more than 10!

Please sign up here and please put your daughter’s name in the comment field.

*We will hold an additional Girls Ignite event for our 4th- and 5th-grade girls on May 27th. Stay tuned for more information.

This evening is sponsored by YES – thank you for your generous support of our school district’s foundation. Haven’t donated yet? Please donate today and support all the YES Foudnaton's valuable programs.

Roll on! The White Hill Steam Team,

Emma Beauchamp, Doretta Ruzzier, Kaki Mclachlan, Julia Marrero, and Nate Macdonald

White Hill Sports and Clubs! -- New Sport and New Clubs

Congratulations to White Hill 6^th-grade girls’ basketball team! They won the Marin County Middle School League Championship! Team players include Abby Wines, Chenna Benavides, Stephanie Coghlan, Chloe Abbushi, Anna Jay, Lucy Martiken, Gigi Yore, Ella Crockand Ziahah Griffin. Thanks so much to coaches Gary Ross and Alex Wines for leading the team to victory! This is the first girls' championship team for as long as anyone around here can remember!

New Sport! New Clubs!

The White Hill Wrestling Team has started, and it’s not too late to join! Practices will be held on Mondays, 3:15-5pm & Wednesdays, 2:15-4pm in the White Hill Gym. This team has no cuts, so come out and try it! Questions, please contact Coach Johann Gerlach, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Amy Forrest, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please meet Coach Johann right after school in the gym. No experience necessary!

New! ZUMBA® Class with Catherine Martikan will be held on Thursdays, 3:3-4:30, in the White Hill Gym!! Kids, parents, teachers are welcome! Ditch the workout; join the party! ZUMBA is fun...it’s the type of exercise you’ll want to do every day and feel good about doing it. It’s different. You probably never thought you’d be exercising to this type of music. It’s effective. It’s an aerobic workout, which will make you stick with the program until you get results. ZUMBA fuses hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy to follow moves to create a dynamic fitness program that will blow you away! You will want to work out, love working out, and get hooked. ZUMBA fanatics achieve long term benefits while experiencing an absolute blast in one exhilarating hour of calorie-burning, body-energizing, awe-inspiring movements meant to engage and captivate for life!

Classes will be held on Thursdays after school, 3:30-4:30, Room 97 or the WH Gym. All participants, please bring a permission slip to the first class. Instructor: Catherine Martikan, M.A. Certified ZUMBA Instructor, AFAA Certified Instructor. Questions, please contact Catherine Martikan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Amy Forrest at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

New! Skateboard Club with Elizabeth Flanagan, Mondays from 4-5:30! Skaters, come check out the new Skateboard Club at White Hill! Starting on Monday, March 24, skaters can meet in the library after school, do some homework, and then skate from 4-5:30. Questions, please contact Elizabeth Flanagan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Amy Forrest at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

New! Bridge Club! Tuesdays after school, starting date to be announced! Free bridge lessons for students, parents and grandparents, are coming soon to White Hill Middle School as an enrichment activity and club, under the sponsorship of The American Contract Bridge League Bridge in the schools’ program. No prior experience is necessary. Joe Herzberg, a fourteen year math and writing tutor in Marin public schools, and an experienced bridge player, is adding Bridge to his volunteer coaching repertoire, and urges parents and grandparents (space permitting) to join in the fun.

Research proves that Bridge can sharpen students' critical thinking and judgment development and improve academic performance. As a partnership game it also develops social skills and most of all it is a lot of fun for a lifetime and can be a family bonding activity. Joe is committed to de emphasize the primacy of winning, and emphasize the values of partnership, and skill building, and the joy of feeling improvement. We hope to start soon on Tuesdays after school. Attendance at the first meeting is expected with a signup. Interested? Please contact Amy Forrest, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Art Room Needs!

The White Hill art rooms need paper towel and toilet paper tubes. Can you please save them and then bring them to Room 501 at White Hill or our school office? Thanks!

Read on for more news on YESFest--coming May 18th--and other events for our kids happening this weekend and next!

YESFest Coming on May 18th

YESFest It takes village to put on an event as big as YESFest, the annual celebration of all things YES, from theater to jazz bands to art to poetry. Please sign up if you can lend a hand putting up art and getting the new White Hill buildings ready for this wonderful community gathering. Contact a YESFest co-chair, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., if you have questions

Networking Event For Teen Girls -- Meet Professional Career Women on March 22nd

Peforming Stars of Marin, one of Marin's leading youth development programs, is celebrating Women's History Month with its Enlighten event on Saturday, March 22nd at 10:30 a.m. This event bring teen girls together with professional women and is being offered free to girls in 6th to 12th grade. More information is available here. If you or your daugther plan to attend, have your daugther complete this questionnaire and bring it with you.

Beyond Differences Event - Saturday, March 29th, 5-7 PM - Marin Art and Garden Center

Beyond Differences will hold its annual spring event at the Marin Art and Garden Center this year. This student-led organization focuses on ending student social isolation, which is frequently the precondition to bullying and teasing; 26 White Hill students attended Beyond Difference's Leadership Academy Training Program. This lively and inspiring event will showcase the pioneering work of the Beyond Difference's Teen Board that works to change the culture of middle school. More information on the March 29th event is available here.