This document provides information for parents of 6th grade students at Franklin Academy about the upcoming school year. It introduces the 6th grade teachers and their backgrounds. It also discusses volunteer opportunities, field trips planned including to local museums, botanical gardens, ice skating, and a final end-of-year trip to Williamsburg, Virginia. Parents are encouraged to email teachers with any questions or comments.

1. Welcome to the Sixth Grade 2013-2014
(last year’s 6th graders in Jamestown, Virginia)

2. Welcome to a new school year!
We are so happy to have your child join the Sixth Grade
Team at the Franklin Academy. We have created this
presentation for you to use as a reference throughout
the school year. In it you will find an introduction to the
sixth grade homeroom teachers, volunteer
needs, fieldtrip information and more. We hope you
will find it helpful and informative. We want this year
to be the best school year of your child’s life so far!
We welcome your comments and suggestions throughout the year. The best way to
communicate with your child’s teachers is through email. We check email several times
throughout the school day. We look forward to meeting and talking with each of you.
The Sixth Grade Homeroom Teachers:
Mr. Fradel fradelg@franklinacademy.orgExt. 118
Mrs. Mann manna@franklinacademy.org Ext. 125
Mrs. Taylor taylorb@franklinacademy.orgExt. 119
Ms. Tokostokosh@franklinacademy.org Ext. 127
Mrs. Humes humesr@franklinacademy.org Ext. 117

3. Mr. Fradel
Mr. Fradel lives in Wake Forest with his wife
Kimberly their two dogs, Maggie and
Sanders, and their cat, Tiger. They are also
wanting to add a baby girl or boy in their
future. When Mr. Fradel isn't teaching you
can find him fishing, camping, playing
drums, kayaking, or traveling with his
wife. Mr. Fradel graduated from East
Carolina University with a major in middle
grades education. Mr. Fradel has taught for 9
years and has taught 6, 7, 8 grade
science, math and social studies. This will be
his 3rd year teaching at Franklin Academy. He
loves teaching and seeing middle school
students grow in their knowledge, and share
that knowledge with the world.

4. Mrs. Humes
Mrs. Humes grew up in New York and now
lives in East Raleigh with her
husband, Bryan, and two dogs, Hudson &
River. She has a Bachelor of Science in Health
Education from SUNY Cortland, and a Master
of Education in Child and Adolescent
Counseling from Harvard University. She has
taught health education in NY, counseled
adolescents in Boston, M.A., taught summer
school math and reading in the Mississippi
Delta, and for the past two years has taught
math and science in Durham. Her hobbies
include fishing, playing with her dogs, going
to the beach, and eating whatever Mrs.
Tokos bakes. She is very excited to be joining
the Franklin Academy family!!

5. Mrs. Mann
Mrs. Mann has 14 years of teaching experience
in grades 3rd-8th. She starting teaching at
Franklin just last spring and is delighted to be
back for a full year. Mrs. Mann graduated from
West Virginia Wesleyan College with a BA in
Education grades K-8 and a focus in English
Language Arts (6th-9th). She lives in Wake
Forest with her husband, Steve, and three
children. Hudson is in 5th grade, Elena
Grace, 1st, and Eden is in kindergarten- all at
FA! In her spare time, Mrs. Mann likes to take
long walks, read, cook, work in the veggie
garden, and spend time with her family. She
also helps coach the Franklin Academy Middle
School girls’ basketball team. A few final tidbits
about Mrs. Mann: She likes coffee, eats mostly
organic, enjoys all kinds of music, a LOVES the
Pittsburgh Steelers!

6. Mrs. Taylor
Mrs. Taylor has 20 years of teaching experience
in grades 5th – 9th. She began her teaching
career at Western Middle School located in
Elon College. Her Husband and she moved to
Greenville, NC as he finished up his degree at
ECU. At this time, she worked in Edgcombe
County as a fifth grade teacher. She helped
open the doors to the Franklin Academy
fifteen years ago as a 5th grade teacher. She is
a National Board Certified Teacher in
Mathematics. She has two children, Ty (15)
and Kaley (13) who both attend the Franklin
Academy High School. Finally, her other areas
of interest are watching her daughter’s sport of
figure skating – if she’s not at home, work, or
church she’s at the rink! She also loves football
(a very loyal ECU fan), digital
photography, reading, visiting the
mountains, and spending time with friends
and family and her loyal miniature dachshund
Abby 

7. Mrs. Tokos
Mrs. Tokos: Mrs. Tokos has three years of
teaching experience in grades 6th-8th. She
lives in Wake Forest with her husband and
two English Bulldogs, Gus and Leela. They
are very excited to be adding a baby girl to
their family in late October! Mrs. Tokos
earned her bachelors degree in History
from Binghamton University in New York.
Next, she moved to South Carolina and
earned her Masters degree in Middle
Grades Education from Clemson
University. In her spare time, Mrs. Tokos
enjoys spending time with family and
friends, reading, participating in animal
rescue, and baking. She is looking forward
to another great year at Franklin
Academy!

8. Wish List
As you are shopping for school supplies, you might want to contribute to some of our wish list
items. There are a few things that are nice to have stocked in the classroom. If you feel like
contributing, please send in these items anytime throughout the year. We will alert you
through the grade level e-Newsletter if we are running low or need something new. Thank you
so much (in advance) for anything you send it!
Napkins Wrapped
Candy
Stickers Extra
Mechanical
Pencil Led
Plastic Ware
We have gone Green! All important information sent home
by the sixth grade team will be sent home via email. We will
send out 6th Grade Newsletters, fieldtrip permission forms,
reminders, special event, etc. via email throughout the
school year. PLEASE make sure that we have the most
current email address so that you will be included in the
group email. If you have a friend who didn’t get this
email… then we do NOT have a current email for them. Tell
them to email their child’s homeroom teacher as soon as
possible!

9. Parent Volunteers
There are many times throughout the year
that our class will need Parent Volunteers.
Here is a list of just a few opportunities:
• Lunch Volunteers (an email will be sent
out each quarter to request volunteers)
• Field Trip Chaperones
• Room Parent(s)
• Special Projects throughout the year 
• Testing Proctors (during Iowa Basic Skills
Test and the End-Of-Grade NC Test)
• Parent Volunteer Committee (school-
wide)
If you are interested in filling any of the
above volunteer needs, please contact your
child’s homeroom teacher. All volunteer
hours are very much appreciated.
Room Parent
Every class at The Franklin Academy has a
Room Parent. (In the past, when there
are two parents that are interested they
have shared this position). This parent
would be responsible for the following:
• Coordinating parent volunteers
throughout the year
• Coordinating special events
throughout the year with the
homeroom teacher.
• Finding Lunch Volunteers during each
9-week period
• Organizing special celebrations
(holidays, end-of-the-year, etc.)
• Delegating responsibility is certainly
expected.
If you are interested in being our Room
Parent, please contact your child’s
homeroom teacher as soon as possible.
We look forward to working with our
Room Parents!

10. Lockers
All Middle School students will be
issued a locker. All of the student’s
belongings need to be housed in his/her
locker. Students are not permitted to
put a lock on the locker. Students will
be expected to keep their lockers neat
and orderly. Lockers may be visited
between classes only. It is often
helpful to purchase a locker shelf to
help organize your books. The locker
dimensions are 16.5 x 12 x 35.5 inches.
Social Events
Sixth Grade Social Events are sure to be an
event each quarter that you don’t want to miss.
The teachers in the 6th grade thought it would
be fun to get outside of school and get to know
our students. Look for quarterly
announcements explaining the details. These
events are NOT considered fieldtrips and will
not be held during school hours. Parents will
be asked to provide transportation. These
events are optional – but provide a great
avenue to connect to other Franklin Academy
families. Look for our first Evite to our first

11. 6th Grade Fieltrips…
We want to give you an idea of how many fieldtrips
you can expect to go on in the sixth grade. During
the first quarter, we have visited the Botanical
Gardens in Durham for a science fieldtrip. In the
second quarter we go on our “Donate and Skate”
fieldtrip. We work with the Salvation Army to
provide a better holiday season for a family in need.
Then, we celebrate winter by going ice skating at
the Factory in Wake Forest. In past years we have
gone to Marbles Museum in downtown Raleigh to
enjoy an IMAX movie and science lab. We can’t
predict this far in advance if they will have a movie
that fits the sixth grade curriculum. Our end-of-the-
year fieldtrip is a treat for us all and a wonderful
way to wrap up the year! We go to
Williamsburg, Virginia. While in Williamsburg, we
visit Busch Gardens and Jamestown. More
information on all of these trips will be emailed
throughout the year. (As per school handbook, any monies
collected for fieldtrips are non-refundable.)

12. Botanical Gardens, Durham
This fieldtrip allowed the students to stop and really hear (and observe) the sounds of nature.
After our nature walk, the guides took us a little deeper into hands-on experiences where we
discovered how different climates affect the vegetation in various parts of our state. We
ended the day at South Park mall with a quick lunch before heading back to school.

13. Donate ‘n Skate
What a trip it is to see 6th grade boys and girls shopping for clothes for someone they don’t
know. The groups are on a mission to shop for items on their Angel’s wish list. They have to
endure a little math (Mrs. Taylor – really?) as they find unit price and comparison shop… just
preparing them for their college years when they will be on a budget! Then we have fun and go
ice skating at The Factory (well, some of us skate and others just hang on to the wall)…
Regardless, it is a fun way to spend the day before we track out in December!

14. IMAX and Exploris
There is nothing like seeing a movie on an IMAX theater screen! Depending on what is available
each year, we try to see a curriculum related movie at Exploris in the IMAX theater.
Immediately following the movie, we experience a very well designed learning lab. What a fun
day!

15. Williamsburg – End-of-Year Finale!
The BEST way to end the school year!!! Mrs. Taylor is totally in charge of this fieldtrip – she’s
taken kids to amusement parks for 15 years now! Too fun to spend our last few days in a theme
park riding roller coasters. “I absolutely LOVE it!,” says Mrs. Taylor. We spend the night at
the Embassy Suites and on the way home experience Jamestown Settlement – an amazing tour
and very interesting way to end our trip. Plan ahead – it is $180 per student and $150 per
chaperone – you don’t want to miss it!