Middle School - Clubs

Builders Club           

Builders Club is the middle school division of Kiwanis International.  The club meets every Wednesday after school.  Members participate in a variety of service projects from local to international areas as well as develop leadership skills.  All students in grades 6 – 8 are welcome to join by October 14.

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Middle School Band and Chorus

            You can participate in our music program and earn class credit at the same time.  Middle school students gain an appreciation of music through the playing of an instrument or by singing in the chorus. Students attend lessons and perform at concerts throughout the school year.

National Junior Honor Society

            The National Junior Honor Society is a national program designed to recognize and celebrate the students in the middle school who have demonstrated high academic achievement. Students in grades 7 and 8 with a cumulative average of 90% since 6th grade may be eligible.  In addition, those students must complete a rigorous application process wherein a committee of teachers review the individual's character, citizenship, service to school and community, and leadership potential.  Students are inducted into the organization through a candle lighting ceremony.  The N.J.H.S. then participates throughout the year as volunteers to assist the school and community in a wide range of activities.

Drama Club

            Middle School students have the opportunity to participate in a fall drama production.  Students will receive instruction in the theatre arts (both onstage acting, and behind the scenes tech and lighting crew) rehearsals are held after school ending with a "dessert theatre" production.

Peer Dispute Mediation Program

            The Peer Mediation Program teaches students how to resolve conflicts in a nonviolent way.  Students and faculty members are selected based on their moral character and their ability to act as a positive role model for the student body of Rensselaer Middle School.  The selected students go through a three-hour training session before they are placed in an actual mediation situation.   Other students and faculty refer students to the program.  Mediation sessions are scheduled through one of our counselors.

Career Exploration Program

            All middle school students are required to participate in the Career Awareness Programs.  Our program consists of career education, exploration, guest speakers and field trips to local businesses.  Students are able to experience firsthand the challenges of future careers. 8th grade students participate in National Groundhog Job Shadow Day each February.

Voyage of the Discovery / Sailing on the Half Moon

            At the invitation of the New Netherlands Museum, selected middle school students participate in reenacting Henry Hudson's 1609 exploration of the Hudson River.  Crews sail for 6 days on the lower half of the Hudson, including the New York City harbor and on the upper half of the Hudson.  We join students from two other middle schools in our voyages on the "school with sails" as we conduct experiments, explore the river and the shore, learn the workings of the ship and relive the voyage as sailors of 1609.  We also have students volunteer to be docents while the ship is docked in Albany for 3 weeks in the fall and 3 weeks in the spring.  Parents are always welcome as well.

Horizons

            Horizons is the district's enrichment program for students who have high academic achievement or display unique talents.  Horizons Activities have included building a model miniature golf course, a scavenger hunt (students look for obscure items using their research skills), challenge boxes (students select a problem to solve which focuses on higher level thinking skills in the areas of science, language arts, math, social studies, art, and reference skills), creating a museum of statues of famous people from the past (a statue would come alive if tapped and speak about herself/himself), designing a Horizon's web site, developing an educational tool to help others learn about the specific topic (ex: a board game to learn about the revolutionary war), Artifacts Box (collecting New York State artifacts and sharing them with another school in the country), designing a cereal box that would be appealing to consumers and creating a Horizon's scrap book.  Other activities include the Tangram Challenge (duplicating a given picture using only 7 shapes), Odyssey of the Mind spontaneous problems and a packet of imagery, and deductive reasoning and patterning exercises.

After School Assistance

            After school assistance is open to all students in need of extra support.  Teachers are available to work with students after school.  Since teachers sometimes have other responsibilities, students need to check with teachers, beforehand.

Lego Robotics Club

            The LEGO Robotics Club will compete in the LEGO FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Challenge in December of each school year.  Designed to inspire interest in science and technology, teams are challenged to solve an engineering design problem on a competitive way. Students learn the value of teamwork, professional presentation, programming and technical design.
Our middle schoolers work with Volunteers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Students work after school for 8 weeks on research, design and programming. After the competition, students continue to work with their advisor and volunteers on various robotics activities, enriching their overall experience. The club continues to meet throughout the spring semester.

Odyssey of the Mind

       Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program.   Rensselaer students on the OM team will compete in March.  The competion this year will be held at our school.

SPORTS PROGRAMS

            For the sport's minded student, there are several athletic teams for student's grade 6 - 8.  All teams are open to students who have achieved a quarterly grade of 70% or higher.  All practices occur after school and are supervised by certified coaches. Students participating in a modified sport must have a physical before they are allowed to participate on any team.  Students must maintain a minimum of a grade point average of 70.00 to be eligible for any extra-curricular activity.                                

Fall Sports                 
Modified Soccer (girls)
Volleyball 
Modified Football

Winter Sports            
Modified Basketball - boys
Modified Basketball - girls
Modified Wrestling - boys and girls

Spring Sports             
Modified Baseball
Modified Softball
Track & Field