Greetings Students (and Parents):
It is hard to believe that this is your final month as a 7th grader. How quickly the year flew by! It has been a great honor being your science teacher this past year. I have tried very hard to impart an appreciation not only for science, but for life. While my primary goal has been to get all of you to enjoy science, it has been equally important to me that you walk away from my class a better person--a person who values life and the universe around us. You have all made incredible progress towards becoming mature, skilled young adults, and you are all better versed in the life skills of organization, hard work, respect, responsibility, cooperation, compromise, teamwork, written communication, and, everyone's favorite, oral communication! I am very proud of your efforts, and wish you continued success in your life journey. It is my hope that all of you will keep me informed throughout the remainder of middle school, high school, college, and your career. Remember, while there are no guarantees in life, if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. Effort, hard work, and responsibility are often rewarded more than intelligence in this society, so always do your best. Also, you cannot be a great student or worker if studying and work is all that you are. Therefore, I encourage all of you to be as well-rounded as possible, so get involved in extracurricular activities outside of school and work.

Have fun, enjoy life to it's fullest, and focus on all of the good that surrounds us. Remember, 'garbage in' = 'garbage out', so make educated and logical decisions in life that will make you happier and more successful in the long run.
Have a fantastic summer break, and an even more fantastic future. Keep in touch!

Best Wishes,
~Mr. Finley

PS: Words of Advice from Bill Gates: Life is wonderful, but it is also challenging at times. The following advice comes from one of the most successful businessman in history, Bill Gates. He recently told a group of high schoolers about 11 things they did not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a full generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world. I want all of you to be very successful, so consider some of his words:
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it.
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone, until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

--There may be virtual reality, but there is no such thing as virtual happiness--
--You are who you choose to be--