Washington Middle School provides enriched curriculum to its students, as well as a safe and enjoyable environment in which to experience the joys of learning. At WMS, it is guaranteed that all students will be taught to the best of the staff's abilities. The students will have a complete understanding of their teachers expectations and requirements for each class.
WMS students' schedules are broken down into six periods each day. Each student has one period of music/elective and one of period of physical education, health, home economics, and shop every day. The rest of the day consists of reading/language arts, social studies, math, and science. WMS strongly believes in having many different learning opportunities for students.
Elective Class Descriptions
Art 6
Fine Arts 7/8
Art is a semester-long class where students will work with clay, printmaking, painting, papier-mache, and more! They will learn foundational art skills and develop their personal artistic voice. Projects encourage creativity, experimentation, and problem-solving in a supportive and fun environment where students are challenged to grow as artists.
Bulldog News (BDN) 7/8
Bulldog News is Washington Middle School’s student-run news program. This is a highly collaborative course in which students use their creativity and technical skills to plan and create their own original news segments, which air every other week during advisory. Students use WeVideo to produce and edit their news segments.
Effective, professional communication and organization is a critical component of this course. Students set up interviews with WMS staff and students using their student email account, and must keep track of their segments and schedule with Google Sheets and Google Calendar. Digital Communications is a helpful pre-requisite for this course, but is not required.
Students must exhibit a strong ability to work well independently to be considered for this course.
Media Arts 7/8
Media Arts is a semester-long course focusing on skills that enable students to work online effectively, creatively, and efficiently. A heavy focus is placed on using Google Workspace within your OSD Google account, particularly Gmail, Google Sheets, and Google Docs.
A significant portion of the class is spent learning Adobe Photoshop for photo editing and graphic design. Students will learn to incorporate text-to-image software in their designs as well (through Adobe Photoshop and Firefly). Students will also learn basic 3D modeling through Sketchup for Schools.
Media Arts shares a classroom space with the WMS print shop, giving students access to 3D printing, large poster printing, and sublimation printing. This class has a highly creative focus, in which you will use a variety of software to create one-of-a-kind designs and projects and take them home with you.
Robotics 7/8
Robotics is a semester long class that uses the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Education Core Set and partnering software. We start by exploring what robots are and how they interact with their environment before building robots that do just that. This class is very hands-on. In addition to coding on the computer, we use sensors, motors, and legos. Some of the larger projects we will work on in this class are building and coding color activated dragsters, building attachments so that our robots that can hold a whiteboard marker and write a message, and building and coding sumo bots programmed to knock each other out of an arena.
Students in this class should expect to primarily work with a partner and will need to be able to work successfully in a room with a lot of distractions as other students test their own robots.
Tech Arts 7/8
In this semester long class students will learn software, including adobe illustrator, that will allow them to create a variety of projects. For example, you can design and create a project that uses the laser engraver to create gifts for your family or friends. You will also learn about the sublimation process. Again, this involves using adobe illustrator to edit an image, and then you can print and heat press this image on T-Shirts, coffee mugs, or sweat towels, and many more materials. Being able to personalize your projects allows you to create original work. We will also teach you how to use a variety of tools and machines in order to create wood working projects such as small furniture, cutting boards, bowls, and baseball bats. All of these projects can be enhanced and customized using the laser engraver as well. This class also offers a 3D printer to create 3D printed projects that students can create using Sketch-UP software. There is a CNC router available as well to create signs or other original projects.
Tech Arts II 8
Tech Arts II is an advanced Tech Arts course for students who have successfully completed Tech Arts. Students will further develop their skills in Adobe Illustrator and woodworking to create a variety of projects for themselves, family, and friends. This is a semester-long course.
This is a project-heavy course, in which students will have the ability to design and create their own projects on a larger and more independent scale than they did in Tech Arts.
Tech Arts II students interested in music and instrument design have the option to build custom electric guitars for an additional $250 in this course. Students choosing this option should plan to spend the majority of the semester working on their guitars.
Tech Arts Enterprises (TAE) 8
Tech Arts Enterprises is a year-long course in which students establish and market their own (Tech Arts) based businesses. Students develop and produce their own products using sublimation, laser engraving, 3D printing, and woodshop machinery. Products are marketed and sold to the Olympia community, with all proceeds returning directly to the Tech Arts program.
Fall semester is focused on the Olympia Bearzaar, where students showcase their products and take custom orders. During spring semester students further develop their products and businesses, marketing themselves to the greater Olympia community.
Students must successfully complete Tech Arts before enrolling in Tech Arts Enterprises. This course requires a significant amount of individual responsibility and ability to manage your own time effectively.
Leadership 7/8
Leadership is a semester-long course with a goal to strengthen our school community through positive peer engagement. As a Leadership student, you will work in teams to complete a project each month that benefits the students of WMS. You will be expected to meet project deadlines, work collaboratively with others, and embrace a culture of inclusivity. Examples of Leadership projects include planning fun lunch activities, creating eye-catching bulletin boards with positive messages, recognizing cultural heritage months with displays or activities, giving tours to new students, and planning events such as Spirit Week and Bulldog Bash.
Peer Mentor
Helping other students achieve academic, behavior and social success by participating in the classroom goals. If you are patient, kind and like helping others; this is the class for you. Students will play games and work on academic goals like counting, reading and identifying characteristics of objects. Peer mentors also attend other academic classes and assist in helping with assignments and expectations.
Peer Mentor 7/8
Helping other students achieve academic, behavior and social success by participating in the classroom goals. If you are patient, kind and like helping others; this is the class for you. Students will play games and work on academic goals like counting, reading and identifying characteristics of objects. Peer mentors also attend other academic classes and assist in helping with assignments and expectations.
Office TA
Office TA Expectations:
1. Be a good citizen and role model;
2. Respect confidentiality: all information you see or discussions you hear in the office are confidential (not to be shared);
3. While you are a TA in the office, we expect you not to socialize with students who come into the office, the workroom or the detention room;
4. Stay on task/Be on time/Be where we can find you to assign new jobs as needed;
5. Ask questions (if you don't understand instructions).
6. What happens in the Office, stays in the Office!
Library TA 8
A Student Library Teaching Assistant (TA) helps make the library a warm and welcoming place for everyone. We’re looking for students who love to read, enjoy sharing favorite books with others, and are excited about helping fellow students discover new stories and resources.
As a Library TA, you’ll greet visitors at the circulation desk, check materials in and out, help students find what they need, and keep our shelves organized. We are looking for applicants who are friendly, dependable, organized, and take pride in doing their best work.
If you’re passionate about reading, have a keen eye for detail, and love helping others, then becoming a library TA might be the right choice for you!
Woodshop 6
Woodworking 6 is a semester-long for 6th graders. Students will learn shop safety and how to use a variety of power and hand tools, including the band saw, table saw, disc sander, spindle sander, drill press, and lathe.
Students will learn to identify wood types and joinery, and will have the opportunity to create a variety of projects to take home. This can include cutting boards, picture frames, wooden boxes, baseball bats, hand-turned pens, and much more.
Students will have access to the laser engraver so that they can further customize their finished projects.