Heartland Middle School

6th Grade STEAM students along with Devon Energy and the Oklahoma City Thunder considered the importance of “Good Hands.” Teacher Mr. Wilmes challenged his students to think outside the box and use the engineering design process to create a robotic hand that could be used for commercial or prosthetic applications. Students were then challenged to test their creations by picking up four different objects. By simply applying some creativity and their engineering know-how, STEAM Art students made a useful robotic hand.

6th grade STEAM Art students explored the relaxing power of doodling with watercolors. By blowing air through a straw at different velocities, students manipulated the watercolor paint blobs into various abstract shapes. After the paint dried, students analyzed the abstract forms and embellished the shapes into amoebas or invented new species of their own.

Mr. Wilmes's STEAM Art students considered how compression, friction, speed and centrifugal force are used to create pottery on the pottery wheel. Students explored the balance between hand compression and wheel speed in order to create balanced forms such as bowls, cylinders and belly pots.

Mr. Wilmes’s STEAM Art students created a functional 3D ceramic gumball machine. Students considered mechanical physics and explored simple machines, momentum, and gravity. Students explored trial and error as they considered how to successfully make an individual piece of candy fall from the candy jar and roll down the chute. Finally, students considered how the shrinkage rate of clay would factor into the overall function of their gumball machines.

Mr. Wilmes's STEAM Art Students considered Bernoulli's Principle as they created an Egg-O-Copter. Students brainstormed and designed a non-motorized helicopter that would safely transport a raw egg being dropped from 25 feet off the ground. Not only did the egg have to survive the vertical drop, student helicopters had to prove Bernoulli's Principle (airfoil/helicopter blades will rotate due to the air pressure being off balanced above and below each blade). Unfortunately we did have a couple bowls of egg drop soup for lunch. Most groups created successful Egg-O-Copters and 2 groups were crowned champions and won a bag of Takis. Results: 1st period: 14 eggs survived, 3 eggs became Egg Drop Soup for Ms. Zigo 2nd period: 8 eggs survived, 8 eggs became Egg Drop Soup for Ms. Zigo

🔔 Parents/guardians will need to complete an Annual Update for the 2024-2025 school year by logging into the Parent Portal (not the Campus Parent app). Upon login, scroll down and select “More” in the lower left corner of your portal screen, then select “Online Registration,” then select “Start” on the “2024-2025 Existing Student Annual Update.” You will verify your existing information and make any needed changes. The Annual Update must be completed for your student(s) to receive their 2024-2025 schedule or homeroom teacher/classroom placement. 🔗 | Infinite Campus link: https://edmondschools.infinitecampus.org/.../edmond.jsp

7th and 8th grade STEAM Art students considered the importance of architectural engineering as they designed and created birdhouses out of clay. Students considered load bearing walls, balance, stabilization, post and lintel, archways, and flying buttresses. Birdhouses must be able to hang from a tree and be glazed or painted for curb appeal.

6th grade STEAM Art students along with DevonEnergy and the Oklahoma City Thunder considered the importance of “Good Hands”. The hope was to challenge students to think outside the box and use the engineering design process to create a functional robotic hand that could be used for commercial or prosthetic applications. Students were then challenged to test their creations by picking up four different objects. By simply applying some creativity and their engineering know-how, STEAM Art students made a useful robot hand. April 5, 2024 Update: Mr. Wilmes's Good Hands STEAM Art project won $500! Congratulations! Stay tuned for their next project - functional gumball machines made from clay.

Mr. Wilmes's 7th and 8th Grade STEAM Art students considered the importance of 3D functional pottery and its role in society. Students gained an understanding of decorative and functional pottery as they emphasized balance, pattern, texture and scale. Students' aesthetically pleasing Monster Mugs were required to be a minimum of 6” tall or 6” wide, hold 12 ounces of liquid, and have a functional handle. Finally, the mug had to be functional for drinking from.

Congratulations to Heartland 7th grader Autumn Guest, who was inducted into the American Association of University Women Girls Hall of Honor yesterday. Teachers nominate 7th grade girls for their leadership qualities, and those girls complete an application that describes their activities and leadership skills. Each year the AAUW selects one 7th grade student from each Edmond Middle School for this award. Edmond Mayor Darrell Davis spoke at the event and provided each girl with a letter of commendation. At the reception, each girl gave a presentation touching on the topics of leadership, interests, activities and future plans. Congratulations to Autumn for this well-deserved recognition.

Heartland students raised $7,038 for Double Pup Dare Week, a part of Santa Fe High School's Double Wolf Dare Week. Teachers and students participated in a variety of fundraisers and events during February to help raise money for Project 66, an organization that provides food and resources to people who are facing food insecurity in Edmond and surrounding areas. From a 3v3 basketball tournament, to a movie night, to a masked singer competition and selling Valentines Grams, takis and other items, Heartland pulled out all the stops to raise as much money as possible, culminating in the Dare Assembly on Thursday. At the Dare Assembly, students paid to pie teachers in the face - don't worry, they were willing volunteers! Students taped teachers to the wall and some brave teachers even waxed their legs or shaved their beard in front of the student body! We are grateful to the Heartland community for going all out to support a great cause!

72 STEAM Art students created stop motion videos outlining a solution to an environmental issue that they’re passionate about. Topics include cleaning the air, restoring the ocean, protecting nature, reducing waste, and addressing climate change. Representatives from the Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education (OKAGE) stopped by Heartland last week to drop off prizes. As a result of participating in the contest, students received either a globe, an atlas, or a pair of eclipse glasses. Way to go Thunderhawks!

On February 22, Heartland hosted its second annual Black History Month Program - I AM: Celebrating the Beauty and Contributions of Black Artists. Dr. Sandra Thompson, Artistic Director of The Ambassadors’ Concert Choir and Professor Emeritus at the University of Central Oklahoma was the keynote speaker. The program also featured student performances of dance, song, poetry and more. Heartland teacher Mr. Perry even surprised the students with an energetic step performance. As always, the program was an uplifting experience highlighting the important contributions of Black Americans.

Heartland art students have been exercising their creativity and engineering skills as they have crafted paper mache masks. Some of the masks are more decorative and meant to be hung, while the FatHeads are oversized paper mache heads that are a type of self-portrait and are meant to be worn.

At their choir competition yesterday, the Thunderettes (Heartland's Show Choir) received straight superior (a I) from all three judges and scored 555 of 600 possible points! They won trophies for Best In Class for 6A Junior High as well as Junior High Sweepstakes for scoring the highest among all the Junior High Show Choirs, regardless of class. They are doing some great things! Choir director Ms. McKinzie will be working with the Thunderettes to add new songs to their competition set over the next month or so before their next competition in April.

New York Times Bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen visited Heartland on January 29. She spoke to 8th grade students about her books and the creative process. She also conducted a writing workshop for a small group of student writers nominated by their teachers. Jennifer is the author of more than 25 books. The False Prince, the first book in her fantasy series The Ascendance, won the Oklahoma Sequoyah Intermediate Book Award. Two of her riveting historical fiction books have also been nominated for the Red Dirt Book Award, including Lines of Courage, a current nominee. She was a phenomenal presenter and was so encouraging to our students, especially our young writers, in whose work she took a genuine interest.

Congratulations to Miss McKinzie - Heartland's 2024 Rookie of the Year! Miss McKinzie teaches Choir and has a long list of accomplishments in her first year of teaching, which isn't over yet! For more information, see the Rookie of the Year page on this website. (In the Faculty menu, under About our School)

Mr. Wilmes's STEAM Art students participated in the second annual Slingshot Challenge. The National Geographic Society, with support from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and the Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education sponsored the contest. Students were asked to create a one-minute video outlining a solution to an environmental issue that they’re passionate about. Topics could include cleaning the air, restoring the ocean, protecting nature, reducing waste, and addressing climate change. Mr. Wilmes's students responded to the prompt by creating their own stop motion videos.

Because of icy and dangerous road conditions, Edmond Public Schools will move to remote learning for all schools for Monday, January 22nd. Students should refer to information sent by their school site for assignments that will need to be completed for attendance to be counted.

Due to inclement weather, all Edmond Public Schools will move to remote learning for Tuesday, January 16th.