We are happy to report that the Advanced Band and Jazz Band had a very successful weekend in San Diego where they competed in a festival. Both bands received a GOLD rating for their performances! Also, LHMS took home the Sweepstakes trophy too! What's so special about the Sweepstakes Trophy is that it is given to the school with two groups that score the closest to 200 points! LHMS was the ONLY middle school in attendance at the festival and had to compete with only high schools for that trophy! Lone Hill came out on top and beat all the other high school bands! Congratulations to Mrs. Leyva and all the students in the Advanced and Jazz Bands. We are all very proud of you!
6th Grade Student Publishes 1st Book
Lone Hill Middle School sixth-grader publishes first novel
Chloe Jade Mouawad, 11, of San Dimas has published her first novel, "The Deadly Curse," through KidPub Press. The Lone Hill Middle School sixth-grader is already working on a sequel starring Drew Midster, the novel's main character. (Photo courtesy of the Mouawad family)
Chloe Mouawad is a pretty multi-talented kid. She fences, plays soccer, practices violin and can even clap with just one hand.
But what sets this Lone Hill Middle School sixth-grader apart from her classmates is that at age 11, Chloe is also a published author.
"The Deadly Curse" is a 48-page tale of the adventures of Drew Midster, a "normal kid with a normal life, until his school bus tips over in the worst possible place," according to the book description fromKidPub.com.
The avid reader was playing around with fonts on her computer in the summer of 2010 — at age 9! — when she came up with the title, and the rest of the story flowed from there.
"I wrote another story called `Jake Midster and the Trickster,' and that's where the name Midster came from," Chloe said. Older brother Ryan's name was used for a character — "he got to choose his last name, Flame, because he likes fire" — and Chloe rushed to finish the novel by her mother Ghada's birthday.
"She offered (the novel) to me as a special birthday gift since my birthday is in July," Ghada Mouawad said in an email. "At a very young age she was already showing a vivid imagination and a passion for writing stories."
By second grade, the San Dimas girl had discovered the writer's plight. Middle-of-the-night breakthroughs had to be written down immediately, for fear of forgetting the story by morning light.
It was Chloe's fifth-grade teacher who said the once-aspiring farmer's writing talent should be nurtured. Mouawad began searching the Internet for youth-friendly publishing sites and submitted "The Deadly Curse" for print. The novel was published in January 2012.
Chloe had never expected to be a writer — she still doesn't. When asked about her future plans, writing is still nothing more than a hobby, a creative outlet for someone who loves animals, making YouTube movies with her friends and climbing trees.
"I would have said a vet, but I changed my mind because I don't want to do surgeries," Chloe said. "I don't like seeing blood and stuff."
She has plenty of time to figure out the rest of her life. The sixth-grader is in the GATE program at Lone Hill and is loaded with extracurricular activities.
She said she likes to work on four stories at once because if she gets bored of one, she can pick up writing any of the others.
None of it stops her from being a typical 11-year-old, though. Her favorite TV show is "Wizards of Waverly Place" and she loves to read about celebrities — especially Selena Gomez. Blue raspberry Jolly Ranchers are the best because they make her tongue blue and, "it's fun going up to someone and saying hi, then sticking your tongue out at them," she said.
And her summer vacation plans are pretty basic: writing, going on trips and playing games.
She's already written 80 pages for a sequel to "The Deadly Curse" and it ventures out to new territory.
"(Drew) goes back because he made a promise to go back and find James," Chloe said, reluctant to give away any spoilers. "He tries to find him but gets in a mess in a place somewhere away from here."
2011 Pertussis (Whooping Cough) Immunization Requirements for Students
Beginning the 2011-2012 school year, your student will be required to provide proof of immunization after the age of 10 years for the Tdap Booster. Petussis is widespread. If your child is 10 years or older and has received the Pertussis booster shot, please provide a copy as soon as possible to the Health Office at Lone Hill. If your child has not received the Tdap Pertussis Booster please contact your doctor or health department. Getting a booster shot now will protect your child against the ongoing threat of Pertussis and meet the new school requirement that begins in the 2011-2012 school year.
To view the California Department of Public Health notice, please click on this link:Public Health Notice
