Congratulations to Cheryl Thatcher, Heartland's 2025 Support Employee of the Year! Mrs. Thatcher serves as principal's secretary at Heartland and is an integral part of the Heartland family!
This morning, local author (and EPS teacher!) R. Loomis visited Heartland Middle School and spoke to young writers in the NaNoWriMo Hawk Hangout where students are working toward writing an entire novel in a month. Mrs. Loomis's book Touch of Kindness came out this past summer. Our students absolutely loved hearing about her journey to becoming a published author and being able to ask their own questions about the writing process and how it works to get a book published. We are so thankful that she took the time to visit and share her knowledge and experience with our students!
Heartland Middle School recently honored veterans in the community and those connected to Heartland Middle School students and staff in its annual Veterans Day Assembly. The assembly featured performances by the Heartland Choir, Band and Orchestra and students learned about the history and purpose of each military branch. We are so thankful for the sacrifices of our military veterans.
Due to the threat of severe weather, all Edmond Public Schools will move to remote learning for Monday, November 18. Students should refer to information sent by their school site for assignments that will need to be completed for attendance to be counted.
All schools will be CLOSED today, Monday, November 4. All activities are cancelled. Please stay weather aware.
Heartland Media Center once again hosted their annual pumpkin decorating contest. We had so many amazing entries and it was a close race to determine which pumpkin would be crowned champion in each prize category. This year's winners were 7th grader Ayla C. for Most Creative and Artistic for her pumpkin depiction of Appa and Katara from Avatar the Last Airbender. Most Fun pumpkin went to 6th grader Aspen W. for her pumpkin inspired by A Silent Voice. Cutest pumpkin went to 7th grader Arlee B. for her Pete the Cat pumpkin. Most Accurate pumpkin went to 6th grader Man P. for his Spider-man pumpkin. Best Paper Pumpkin went to 6th grader Anna B. for her Lorax pumpkin. And the grand prize winner was 7th grader Ayla C. for her Appa and Katara pumpkin! The winner of the teacher division went to Mr. LeBlanc for his Beholder pumpkin. Congratulations to our winners!
Mr. Wilmes's STEAM Art students considered the importance of giving back to nature and architectural engineering as they design and create bird-Châteaux out of clay. Students considered load bearing walls, balance & stabilization, post and lintel, archways, and flying buttresses.
Châteaux must hang from a tree or have curb appeal that would make any home improvement show envious.
It’s Scholastic Book Fair time! From Monday Nov. 4 to Friday Nov. 8, come experience the excitement all over again with your kids. Remember, what starts at the Book Fair stays with you forever. Every purchase benefits the Heartland Media Center. Thank you for your support! https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/heartlandmiddleschool1
7th grade artists in Mr. Wilmes's STEAM Art classes considered the importance of Gyotaku (the Japanese printmaking technique) and its role in society. Gyotaku is the traditional Japanese method of printing fish, a practice which dates back to the mid-1800s. This form of nature printing was used by fishermen to record their catches, but has also become an art form of its own.
After their prints dried, students embellished their prints with colored pencils and watercolor paint.
Congratulations to Shane Hohn, Heartland's 2025 Teacher of the Year!
King Hohn, who teaches 7th grade science, is celebrated by all of his loyal subjects.
Visit the Teacher of the Year page at https://heartland.edmondschools.net/o/heartland/page/teacher-of-the-year to learn more about our Teacher of the Year!
(You can also navigate to this page through the Faculty menu in the About our School menu.)
The FatHeads are back!
Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Spiderman enjoyed reading books in the media center.
SpongeBob was serving Krabby Pattys at the snack bar - yummy!
Betty Boop, Travis Schoot, and Gir thought our vending machines rocked!
STEAM Art students considered the importance of Structural Engineering when designing their FatHeads. Students created large 3D paper mache masks from cardboard, tape, newspaper and paper mache glue. Students considered how to interlock support beams (cardboard) for strength as well as how the interlocking beams can be used to form and shape their designs. Other challenges students explored were layering of the newsprint for strength, functionality of wearable art, constructing a 360 degree portrait of their favorite celebrity, and being able to physically see from under their structures.
Mr. Wilmes's STEAM Art students have been creepin' it real this month. It may be witchful thinking, but this Halloween is going to be absolutely fang-tastic!
Monster Mugs are Alive - they're Alive!
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.
