Our Annual FMCS Golf Tournament is coming: Saturday, May 1, 2010!

Download the 2010 brochure – brochure2010

Recap from 2009 

May 3rd was a great day for golf, food and fellowship! The end of our three busy days of great events ended today with our annual golf tournament at The Forest Golf Club. We want to thank the 76 golfers that joined us today – we had an excellent turnout on a beautiful day. Many thanks to The Forest – first class all the way! And to Colleen Marinello, Sissy Felice, John Ryba and all our volunteers – including alumni, Christine O’Brien, who is faithful to join us every year. Congratulations to the top three teams: Third: Pastor Dan Betzer, David Betzer, Joe Micale, and Chocky Warriner; Second: Charlie Fulton, Ash Fulton, Butch Fulton and Randy Cline; and First Place: Bill Miller, Bill O’Connell, Jeff Hemenway, and Gene Taylor (pictured with trophies)

And now a word from our sponsors…FMCS would like to thank:

Our six year total is NOW $50,282!

LETTER TO PARENTS: On February 1st, we will be handing out five dollars to every student, including PK! (Some thought they were too young, but many of them have done very well.) Wait a minute, a private school giving away money? Well, there is a little more to this opportunity. 

Parents – I need you to do a little homework:

1. Read the “Parable of the Talents” in Mathew 25:14-30.

2. If you think giving $5 away is strange, take a look at a Pastor who gave 100 members of his church $100 each at www.kingdomassignment.com

3. When you take a look at that – take a look at what happened in the lives of those who were changed by Christ!

Let me stress to every family, as we do each year, if you choose not to participate all you need to do is return the five dollars – no questions asked! If you choose to accept this mission, you will help us continue the legacy of helping students attend FMCS. In Once you do your homework, you’ll understand the “investment” that we will be making in our school! During this past week, I spoke to our students in chapel to explain to them what we are doing:

Our rules: 
A) Realize that the money is God’s and not theirs; Pray to find a way to multiply your “talent” ($5.00); and time frame: They have the month of February and then they will have to return their “talent(s)” on March 1^st .

B) Students will be raising money to help us with our financial aid fund. Each year, we supplement the financial aid account in our budget. I would like to see our students begin to help others – great concept! As a result of this assignment, our students will be learning to help others and take pride in the school that they have been blessed to be a part of each year. They may also begin to see what God can do through them if they are obedient to His call.

How can my child “multiply their talent”? If you look through the binder in the middle school office or if you go to our website, you’ll see the great ideas that families used last year for their Kingdom Assignment. February is a great time to raise money at Super Bowl events, Valentines Day, and The Edison Parade.  You can begin by telling those outside of our school, “Hey, our Principal sent money home with my child today!” You will be surprised how many people want to know what is going on and how they can help! (Students MAY NOT sell items or raise money during school hours on campus) 

Start first by praying with your children – then let’s see what God will do! All of our financial aid families say “THANK YOU!”

In His Service,

Mel Mitchell, Principal

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2010
- Used the $5 to buy window cleaner, washed car windows at a tennis match – made $32
- Brothers had a “swim-a-thon – 5 miles swimming total and made $500
- “This expereince was wonderful and I’m now calling to have my Pastor involve our church in this wonderful journey” – parent comment
- Used the $5 to pay for Ebay listing, sold items on that site and Craig’s List – made $100 (”and enjoy less clutter in our house”)
- Ran the Edison 5K – made $37.50 (from pledges and a garage sale as well); other students sold drinks at the parade and made $32
- Washed white mailboxes in our neighborhood – sisters made $15 each
- Did chores, bake sales, sold goodie bags, garage sale, made Valentine cookies; sold candles, laundry soap, candy bars, muffins, Christain t-shirts, mow lawns, pizza, hot chocolate, and more!

Updated March 5:

Dated March 4: This year  40 spellers from 20 public, private and charter schools will be competing for an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for the National Spelling Bee in June. Last year’s 21-round county bee lasted 2 hours, 22 minutes before Dunbar Middle eighth-grader Nicholas Betancourt spelled “deracinated” correctly to earn the title. Tune in to news-press.com at 7 p.m. to watch the drama unfold.  (From Newspress.com 2/4/10)

Here are the contestants, listed by their spelling order: 

(1) Patrick Niedermair, Dunbar Middle
(2) Amanda Masi, Bonita Middle
(3) Samantha Agravante, Challenger Middle
(4) Nashari Carter, James Stephens Academy
(5) Emily Moser, Cypress Lake Middle
(6) David Luciemable, Gulf Middle
(7) Kara Koepfer, St. Francis Xavier
(8) Hunter Grant, Alva Middle
(9) Jasmin Bailey, Varsity Lakes Middle
(10) Nozomi Watanabe, Bonita Middle
(11) Diego Azcuy, Lexington Middle
(12) Asia Robinson, Gateway Intermediate Charter
(13) Jade Talley, Oak Hammock Middle
(14) Andrew Gyure, Crestwell School
(15) Josh Ellis, Cypress Lake Middle
(16) Kaitlyn Nespoli, Gulf Middle
(17) Katherine Wilhelm, North Fort Myers Academy
(18) Neesh Patel, Dunbar Middle
(19) Melvin Williams, James Stephens Academy
(20) Kyle Miller, Lexington Middle
(21) Ahmed Ahad, Canterbury School
(22) Mikal Molina, Lehigh Acres Middle
(23) Taylor Oxnam, North Fort Myers Academy
(24) Kenneth Garcia, Gateway Intermediate Charter
(25) Austin Watson, Three Oaks Middle
(26) Britney Henry, Lehigh Acres Middle
(27) Jenny Lear, Trafalgar Middle
(28) David Faux, Fort Myers Christian
(29) Derek Rossington, Three Oaks Middle
(30) Omar Hanbali, Trafalgar Middle
(31) Mary Ratz, Alva Middle
(32) Kimberly Picado, Challenger Middle
(33) Joseph Young-Perez, Canterbury School
(34) Samantha Shinbaum, Crestwell School
(35) Robin Mitchell, Fort Myers Christian
(36) Fermamda Armay, Varsity Lakes Middle
(37) Sarah Bowman, St. Francis Xavier
(38) Stephanie Dorleans, Oak Hammock Middle

Dated: February 9, 2010 - Congratulations to Robin Mitchell (7th grade) and runner-up, David Faux (8th grade)! They will be our two FMCS representatives to the Lee County Spelling Bee (March 4th). Sixth grader Tyler Williams finished third in the event held today in the Colonial Chapel. Great job by all the participants:

6th grade: Josh Harvey, Sarah Swiersz, Tyler Williams
7th grade: :Mallory Dillon, Robin Mitchell, Amy Romstadt
8A: Holly Branthoover, David Faux, Carlye Fulton
8B: Megan Morrow, Marissa Petrullo, Jordan Sadler

BEFORE YOU GO THE SITE: FMCS teachers have been working very hard for many years uploading and updating information for each subject and each grade level. Not every subject and level is complete…yet. (Overall as a school, Bible will appear in 2011; teachers are still working on other subject areas) This will never be a finished product – it is ALWAYS updating every year if we want to provide the best for your children.

Please be sure to read the directions so that you understand these are not lessons plans, they are maps that will help you see the road to learning at FMCS – the content, skills, and the very important, faith integration,  that takes place. FMCS would like to thank former Principal, Shelton Gwaltney and Assistant Principal, Denise Encarnacion – they helped us get this process started in 2004.

Benefits of Mapping (From the Rubicon Atlas Site)

Atlas allows educators to look through the macro lens at a student’s learning experience and build on what students have learned in previous years to prepare them for future classes and achievement.

Using Atlas, curricular information can be assembled and used by curriculum decision makers to:

• Determine what is taught, as it actually occurs in the classroom.
• Understand how students are being taught.
• Make appropriate, immediate modifications to the curriculum.
• Determine “why” certain performance results have been achieved.

Atlas can also allow parents a larger view of what their children are experiencing in the classroom and the requirements needed to excel. It has the capability to enable community leaders and board members to see how schools are planning students’ educational careers and what support is needed to ensure success.

TO GO TO THE FMCS PUBLIC SITE, CLICK HERE

On Thursday, February 18, two teachers at FMCS had surprise visits from the Golden Halo committee:

1) Miss Rachel McLaughlin – 3rd grade teacher and graduate of FMCS. This is her first top ten finish and she was nominated by fourth grade student, Morgan Tyson.

2) Mrs. Jennifer Crouch – middle school language arts teacher. This is her second top ten finish! She was nominated by 6th grader, Melissa Burke, and 8th grader, Nikki Haas.

This year’s awards were held Saturday, March 13th from 6:00-9:00 pm at the Grace Community Center in North Ft. Myers.! Congratulations to the winner, Mr. Steven Noyes from the Village School in Naples.

UPDATE, 2-10-10: Over 10,000 students were involved in science fair projects in Lee County. Over 400 students had their projects on display at Harborside on January 30th. The number dwindled down even further as the winners advanced to tonight’s 53rd Annual Thomas Alva Edison Kiwanis Science and Engineering Fair held at Alico Arena tonight. Here’s how our three winners faired:

Mallory Dillon, 7th grade – Honorable Mention in the category of Mathematical Sciences

Robin Mitchell, 7th grade – 3rd place in the category Medicine and Health Sciences

Zach Liebetreu, 7th grade – 2nd place in the category of Medicine and Health Sciences

WAY TO EAGLES! Who will soar in 2011? Now is the time to plan!

January 30. 2010: GREAT NEWS from the 53rd Edison Regional Science Fairheld today at Harborside in Ft. Myers – seventh graders, Mallory Dillon, Robin Mitchell and Zach Liebetreu ALL RECEIVED WINNERS RIBBONS! (Saturday, January 30th)

The official awards ceremonies will be held at Alico Arena on February 10th. There were over 360 entered in the science fair with students from Lee, Collier, Charlotte and Hendry county. MANY THANKS to Mrs. Dana Barfield (who helped us with judging and support with our school’s fair) and science teacher, Mrs. Stacy Leatherman!

MANY THANKS FOR RAISING $1605 for the QUISQUEYA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL (pictured) update – Port au Prince, Haiti

Many have lost family members, many are injured, have lost their houses, their businesses etc.  There will be a temporary hospital/surgery room in our chapel and a trauma centre on the basketball court starting Friday Jan 15.  We hope to be able to have a water and food distribution from our campus also.  Our soccer field is now the temporary living area for some of our staff and national workers, the PreK/K playground is occupied by children an orphanage from our community. The situation in Haiti at this time makes it impossible to function as a school…..

During the week of January 19th, FMCS National Jnuior Honor Society sponsored a coin drive to help provide needed funds for those affected by this disaster.  Special activities included: 

• Tuesday, January 19 – Donations will be collected by homeroom teachers.
• Wednesday, January 20 – Donations will be collected.  In addition, Christian T-shirt dress down  - $1.00 – money collected will also be donated to the relief fund.
• Thursday, January 21 – Donations will be collected by homeroom teachers.
• Friday, January 22 – Donations will be collected.  In addition, “Wear Red for Haiti” – dress down wearing a red shirt and jeans - $1.00 – money collected will be donated to the relief fund.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY! Above all, please pray for the people of Haiti as they go through this terrible tragedy.  We are praying that the Lord would not only provide comfort in this time of need, but would also work in the hearts of the men, women, and children of Haiti.

Pictures from the school: