Worthingway Updates: 9-4-17
The following is an update for the coming week (please see the school website for athletic updates):
Check the Worthingway athletic website for Fall sports information
Weekly updates are also posted at the school website. Worthingway Website
Mon., 9/4: No School – Labor Day
Tues., 9/5: PTA Mtg. 6 – 7 p.m. WW Library
PTA News:
Kroger Community Rewards:
Enter Kroger Community Rewards and enter to win a $25 gift card! The PTA is holding a drawing for a $25 Kroger card and you can enter by linking your Kroger card to Worthingway. Then, to enter the drawing, send a receipt from Kroger with Worthingway PTA showing at the bottom. Send it in an envelope with the following information: 1) your name 2) your child’s name and 3) your email with your child. One entry per Kroger card. Be sure to help grandparents, aunt/uncles and other family members or friends register their cards, too. All entries must be received by 4 p.m. September 5th.
This is at no cost to you. The PTA receives money based on the amount spent by those who have signed up. Use the steps below to register your card.
1. Go to Kroger.com
2. Click Sign in on the upper right
3. Enter your email and password
4. Click the Community link along the menus, and then Community rewards
5. Click View Your Rewards Detail button, then Edit
6. Enter Worthingway then click Search
7. Once found, click the circle next to Worthingway and click Enroll
French/Spanish Club:
French/Spanish club will meet on Monday, September 11th. It is open to 8th grade students. If you have any questions, you may contact Mme Laird or Senora Newcomb.
The Importance of Letting Your Child Struggle:
Wednesday, September 13th 6:30 – 8 p.m. at TWHS auditorium. In this workshop you will learn to make your child proud of the things they master, help your child develop grit and perseverance and help your child be emotionally independent. Norman Shub, Ph.D. is the Clinical Director of the Gestalt Institute of Central Ohio and will be the presenter at the workshop. Please RSVP to
Books and Bagels:
Our first Books and Bagels get-together will take place on September 27th at 8:00am in the library. The book selection for this month is The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill. Any interested students should read the story and join us for a lively discussion and delicious treats!
Box Tops for Education:
It's that time! Send all snipped Box Tops for Education to school with your child. Students will turn them in to their homeroom teachers, and the homeroom with the highest number by October 19th will receive a pizza party! Yum!!!
Yearbook Order Forms:
The yearbook order forms are available from homeroom teachers. You can also go online to Jostens to order as well.
Classroom News:
Robotics Club
Mr. Baird (Gateway to Technology):
Any 7th or 8th grade student interested in joining the Robotics Club at Worthingway this school year please contact Mr. Baird and pay attention to school announcements for further information. No prior experience(s) in robotics is required to join. Members will learn how to build and program various robotic platforms such as NXT/EV3/VEX to complete specific tasks. The goal is to possibly compete in one or more First Lego League (FLL) competition(s) in the winter; one or more VEX competition(s) in the winter and at the National Robotics Challenge (NRC) in Marion, Ohio, in early April. We will generally meet once a week after school on Thursdays beginning at a date yet to be determined in room 30 (technology and engineering lab) from 3:50-5:00. There is a possibility I may rotate the days we meet if there are many scheduling conflicts with the same day each week. Also, if needed, we may have to meet more than once a week as we get closer to the competition(s). Students are also encouraged to come in during the school day if they have extra time in their homerooms. In addition, if students have conflicts with other curricular activities I would still encourage them to join. Once I find out more information on contests and other things I will put announcements and emails out when the club will start. Several parents have offered their expertise and may serve as our mentors, and more parents are welcome to help out as well. Depending on money collected, the goal of the club is to compete in at least one FLL and one VEX event. We definitely will compete at the National Robotics Challenge (NRC) in Marion, Ohio, in early April on Friday. We will take a Worthington school bus there and back. We will leave at 8:00 am from one of the 3 middle schools (McCord, Worthingway, or Kilbourne, I will let you know which one we are meeting at as we get closer to the competition), you will have to provide transportation for your child to the middle school in the morning and pick your child up when we get back, which should be between 5:00 and 6:00 pm. Check out the NRC website at The specific events are described under Resources > Contest Manual. We are planning to compete in some of the events held on Friday: the Robot Maze, Mini SUMO, and perhaps others if the interest and capability is there. If your child places in the top three in their SUMO competition they are invited back for the finals the next day (Saturday) in Marion. If that occurs, you will have to provide transportation for your child to compete. We will not be taking a bus up on Saturday and I am not allowed to transport students on my own.
To participate in the club I am asking for $50.00 from each club member, the majority of the fee ($35.00) goes in the general fund to cover advisor salaries. The remaining $15.00 would be for participation fees to the NRC in Marion and possibly to contribute participating in one FLL and/or one VEX competition. T-shirts would be an added cost if your child wishes to purchase one for the club. A t-shirt usually costs between $10-15 from a local vendor in Worthington. Snacks/pizza parties would be an additional cost as well if we decide to have those from time to time. If the club participates in all of the robotic events (FLL, VEX and NRC) it would roughly be between $700-800 in registration costs. So it just depends on how many students join the club. If we can, we will fund raise and/or there could be donations. I will also be in the process of writing grants, but getting money from that usually takes time and is not a guarantee. We definitely will participate in the NRC since that is the least expensive robotics event. In addition, any parent(s) or guardian(s) on free or reduced lunch may have the $35 fee waived (they would still have to pay for the $15 for registration fees). Parents should notify the administrative assistant Val Swearengen at Worthingway if this is the case. There are also payment plans that can be setup to collect smaller payments throughout the year. I am glad your child has expressed interest in being part of the team. I hope it’s a fun and rewarding experience for him/her. Please email or call with any questions or concerns.
Once your child commits to the club and I get a final roster it will be posted online in MY Payments Plus, which is the preferred method of payment by the district. If for some reason that method does not work for your family please contact me to work out other payment arrangements. Please e-mail me with with your student’s name, their school email address, parent’s name and email address. Jon Baird, .
Ms. Beasley (Language Arts):
My class will be starting our unit on The Outsiders and continuing to focus on nonfiction texts.
Ms. Newcomb (Spanish):
Sra. Newcomb's Spanish 1a classes are deep into alphabet (letter names and sounding out words), learning numbers 0-30, and identifying colors in Spanish. The first content based formative assessment will be Friday, September 8th. Students should be working with flashcards to master spelling very regularly.
Sra. Newcomb's Spanish 1b classes are completing the review of 1a content and will embark on the adventure of Unit 5 by the end of the week. Expect a sharp uptick in homework as well as additional studying of new terms.
Sra. Newcomb's REMIND group are up and running. If you would like to receive occasional class and school related reminders search Sra. Newcomb on the App or at or text the course based codes to 614-470-5868. Spanish 1a (7th and some 8th graders) @ef78ba Spanish 1b (mostly 8th graders) @38984 In both levels the "@'' sign is part of the code to text.
Ms. Speicher (Social Studies):
We are beginning to study European exploration of the western hemisphere.
Upcoming Events:
9/11: Spanish/French Club Mtg. for 8th grade
Washington D.C. Mtg. 7 – 8 p.m. WW Cafeteria
9/13: “The Importance of Letting Your Child Struggle” TWHS 6:30 – 8 p.m.
9/27: Books and Bagels 8 a.m. WW Library