Washington DC Meeting

Mark your calendars. Our informational meeting for our current 7th graders regarding next year's Washington DC trip will be Wednesday, January 28th, 7:00 pm in our Cafeteria. Information, dates, prices will be discussed at that time as well as any questions you might have regarding this OUTSTANDING educational opportunity. The meeting is meant for parents/guardians but students are welcomed to attend.

Heads Up For Parents

The following article in the Detroit Free Press has to do with an app called "After School". I had never heard of it until I read the article but it doesn't sound like much positive is coming of it. Please read the article by Clicking Here

Student Antibullying Group Tie Dyes

This past Tuesday our Student Antibullying stayed after school to tie dye shirts. The group meets weekly to plan and carry out different school activities, educate their peers about bullying and create a positive school climate. The group decided to order shirts as a club and tie dye was a natural choice because it aligns with the group's mission. Just like our SCMS student body is comprised of many unique individuals who together form SCMS, each shirt is unique but represents membership in the club as a whole.

Helping Special Olympics

I have decided to take the Polar Plunge to help Special Olympics. The event is Sunday February 22nd, 2:00 pm at the St. Clair Boat Harbor in the Pine River (I'm sure the water will be in the mid 70's once they cut a hole in the ice). If you are interested in helping me help the Special Olympics, you can donate by clicking on the following link I'M COLD ALREADY

Short Term Goals

I know I talk a lot about setting goals and the best goal is a short term goal. Now is an excellent time to hammer that idea home with your student. We have 14 school days left until Winter Break. Regardless of the task, we can do anything for 14 days. Getting organized, getting homework done and handed in on time, getting any missing assignments completed, preparing for tests.....we can do this. If you're ever looking for a conversation starter at dinner, here you do. 14 days.....a great short term goal.

Thanksgiving Break Homework

They say that with age comes experience. What they could also say is that with age comes an ability to reflect on those experiences. Thanksgiving is a time of year that most of us focus on football, turkey and the changes in the seasons. It's also a time that reminds us that we need to step back and focus on all the good things in our lives. With that said, here is your two part homework assignment. 1). Make it a point to thanks those around you that make you a lucky person. 2). Call someone that you've been meaning to call but just can't find the time. Odds are they have been meaning to call you too. 3). (yes I know I said two parts)....Give your kids a hug. These days will be gone in a blink of an eye. Now go enjoy your turkey and football.

SCMS Hotline

This is just a reminder of a tool we started last year with a great deal of success. Many times at the middle school level students don't feel comfortable coming into the office to let us know of a "situation". The SCMS Hotline (810-637-1812) is available for those types of situations that allow students to send an text. Here is how it works. A student has thoughts of wanting to hurt themselves, or know of a friend that talks about wanting to hurt themselves, or they know of another student that brought something to school that they shouldn't have, or they know of a bullying situation, or anything that they feel an adult needs to know, they can text that to the SCMS Hotline. These texts will be monitored by myself, Mr. Westerhof and our counselor Mrs. McElreath. Students do not need to leave their name. So far we've had a few that I would classify as falling in the "Middle School Drama" category, but all in all it's been a valuable tool for our students.

Hungry for Pizza

Tuesday November 11th is SCMS Night at Hungry Howies. SCMS gets a portion of every order if you mention SCMS when you order or when you are picking up your order.

Do You Tweet?

Twitter, as I think I've mentioned on this Blog before, among other things is a great way for educators to network, learn new strategies and share ideas/techniques. Our SCMS staff is in the process of becoming more familiar with Twitter. We currently are engaged in a "Twitter Challenge" where staff are encouraged to jump through a few Twitter "hoops". If you'd like to follow our Twitter progression, search #scmsrocks

PTO Meeting Time Change

We've heard from a number of parents that our normal 7:00 pm PTO time is in conflict with other meetings/activities. Because of that we are going to move tomorrow's meeting (Tuesday November 11th) to 3:30 in the afternoon. The meeting will be in the main office conference room.

Cyber Safety Presentation

As we know, growing up in today's world with all the technology can be exciting, educational but also at times challenging. It's important that we never lose sight of some of the dangers that go along with technology. The East China School District has taken advantage of a program through the State of Michigan called CSI, Cyber Safety Institute. SCMS viewed presentations today that were very well received. I know as a parent, certain topics are hard to bring up in a casual conversation. If you were ever looking for a chance to bring up this important topic with your child, here it is. If you would like more information click in the State's website HERE

SCMS NJHS Mackinaw Island Meeting

There will be an informational NJHS Mackinac Island parent meeting next Monday, November 10th at 6 pm in Mrs. Walton's classroom (room 1209).

Activity Night This Friday November 7th

Our first Activity Night will be this Friday November 7th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Our Activity Nights....which have been awesome.... are for current SCMS students only. Pre-sale tickets sold during lunches are $2, tickets at the door are $4. Students must have their student ID to purchase their ticket and to enter the Activity Night. If a student has lost their student ID, those are on sale in our main office for the reduced price of $1.

Crazy Chopped Up Week

As I hope everyone already knows, we have a crazy, chopped up week this week. Tomorrow, Tuesday the 4th there is no school for students. All East China Teachers will be participating in Professional Development. Wednesday, November 5th, All district elementaries and middle schools will have a half day (hours 1, 2 and 3). SCMS will dismiss it's students at 11:48.

A SCMS Halloween Tradition

As many of you know that have students go through SCMS, we have had a tradition of having a Halloween Parade. This year we were able to combine it with a Walkathon that our PTO has been sponsoring. This year our 8th grade Band came up with the idea to play "Scary" music as the parade was going on, which was a great idea. The winners of our costume contest....which was not easy to select, was 6th Grader Matthew Reincke, 7th Grader Jimmy DeVolder and 8th grader Andrew Puwal. Excellent job by all.

National Pat Yourself on the Back Day

I've declared Monday November 3rd as National Pat Yourself on the Back Day. Use Facebook, Twitter, Billboards, anything you can find to say something nice about yourself. Please help spread the word. With a little help (you tell six, who tell six, who tell six...) it'll become a yearly event. Hallmark is always looking for another reason to make a card.....it's just this time you'll have to buy it for yourself.

7th and 8th Grade Bands...Great Job

I'm always amazed at how talented our kids are and even more amazed at the improvement they make from the all concert to the June concert. Well done everyone....looking forward to our next performance.

Words We All Can Live By

A Couple of Chopped Up Weeks

For those that might not of looked ahead, we have a few 1/2 days and one full day PD (professional development) Days coming our way. This Friday, October 31st is a 1/2 day, Next Tuesday, November 4th is a full PD Day and the following day, Wednesday November 5th is another 1/2 day (but November 5th 1/2 day is only for district elementary and middle schools. Students will be released at 11:48 on our 1/2 days.

Our Parents Are Great

One of the more fun parts of having a Box Top collection is all the sorting and trimming that has to be done before you can send the Box Tops in to be redeemed. Thankfully we have GREAT parents who are will to give up a morning to help out. Thank you sooooooooooo much.

Automated Phone Answering System

Starting Monday, October 27th, the East China School District will be going to an automated phone answering system when someone calls the main office line (press 1 for attendance, press 2 to dial by name, etc....). Unfortunately the system will cause us to lose a bit of the personal touch but it's the district's hope that it allows us to be more efficient.

Have Any Extra Newspaper?

This could start to be a problem. With more and more of us reading the news online, the availability of used Newspaper is getting limited. If you have any newspaper laying around, please send it in with your student or drop it off to our SCMS Office. Our Art classes use it for various projects and could use any that we get donated. Thanks in advance.

Parent Survey

We need some help. When you have a few minutes, please use your phone to scan the QR code below and take a parent survey. Your thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated.

Afer School Opportunity

We will be having a Google CS First after school enrichment opportunity for our students. Google CS First is Free curriculum from Google that uses online, project-based tutorials for elementary and middle school students and offers free club plans and resources to create an easy computer science entry point for educators and students alike. Our first session (and I hope to have others after Winter Break) is on Gaming. Applications are available in the office that need to be filled out, signed by parents and turned back in by Monday (short turn around...sorry). Unfortunately, there is limited spots. If we have an overflow...which I'm hoping we do, those that don't get in this time around will get the first shot at the next session. (if you look closely at the bottom of the application it says to check the activity.....sorry, that should of been deleted)

Great Weather, Great Fans, Great Game

Great night for football (at least it wasn't cold). SCMS defeated our cross district rivals MCMS 58-40 on a wet night at East China Stadium. Congratulations to all the team and to Coaches Smith and McKiernan. Great job. Also....just another example that SCMS is in a class by itself, our parents had a tailgate before the game and sat through the rain to cheer our team to victory. Nice job to all.

The Future is Not That Far Away

Interesting Article on 21 things that will be obsolete by 2020. Click here.

Need a Reason to Have a Conversation With Your Student?

As a parent, there are many things that we worry about...many of which just wasn't an issue back when we were in their shoes. One issue is technology, poor choices with technology and what the consequences can be. If you haven't followed what is happening at Romeo High School, please click on this link. To think this could never happen here or to any of us is asking for disaster. If you are ever looking for a reason to have a conversation, here it is.

PTC Fleur de lis

When you come in for conferences this week look for this table! In school the students have each created a positive fleur de lis about themselves. During conferences we invite you to write some positive comments on a fleur de lis to take home to your student. These are meant to be taken home and shared with your student to encourage them to do their best every day.

Pink Day

As many of you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and in honor of that, SCMS is having a Pink Day Friday, October 17th. Students and Staff are encouraged to wear Pink and asked to donate a dollar to the cause. (Please no "I Love Boobies" t-shirts)

PTC Times

Parent Teacher Conferences are this week Wednesday and Thursday, October 15th and 16th. There was a little confusion with our times. We are on the Elementary time schedule, not the High School PTC time schedule. The times are:

Thursday Morning Fire Drill

Well....that was fun. If you were dropping students off Thursday morning you might of seen everyone standing outside with alarms going off and lights flashing. There was no fire. SCMS has a very complicated safety system that will alert of us if something isn't clicking on all cylinders. In this case, our indoor sprinkler system had a water pressure issue which caused the alarms to go off. Everyone was evacuated, the fire department arrived and students were kept out of the building until the issue was resolved. I'm sure that the additional 15 minutes of fresh air will increase the learning today. Just another day at SCMS.

Looking For Some Spooky Fun?

Saturday, October 25th at 7:00 pm...yes that's pm....The East China Educational Foundation will be hosting it's Frist Annual Zombie Run/Walk starting and ending at SCMS. It's geared toward a fun family event and everyone, whether you are a runner or walker, are encouraged to participate. Click on the following link to find out more and to register.

Box Tops Collection

SCMS is asking your help in sending in Box Tops. Students are asked to bring Box Tops in to their first hour teacher. The deadline of this collection is Friday October 17th. Last Fall we were able to raise over $1100 with our Box Top collection (crazy huh.....)

Homework Help

Because of a scheduling conflict, there is no Homework Help today after school (Tuesday October 7th).

Heads Up for Parents

We just received word from our school nurse that there is a illness going around called EV-D68, which I like to refer to as the "creeping crud". It basically is a really bad chest cold that is starting to send children to the hospital. Click on this link for more information.

October Newsletter

Click here for the October Newsletter

Being Organized

One of the more common bumps in the road for middle school students is being unorganized. Many times, just looking in your child's locker will let you know (if you didn't already) if there is a problem. Being unorganized leads to missing assignments, not being prepared for tests/quizzes and poor grades. When you come to PTC in a few weeks, stopping by and checking out your child's locker might be a good use of your time.

Pretty Simple Words to Live By

Plastivan Program

The Plastivan program has been coming to SCMS for over 10 years now and is paid for by the Society of Plastic Engineers(SPE)-Automotive Division. The kids love it. Their offices are located in Troy MI and travel around the country talking about the plastics industry, doing hands-on activities, and trying to interest young people in entering the large and ever-growing field.

Flu Vaccine

The entire East China School District through a partnership with Health Heroes are offering a Flu Vaccine Clinic. SCMS's date is this Friday. If the form did not make it home, more forms are available in our main office. This is a free service to all students but parents need to fill out the paperwork for the student to receive the vaccination.

Zombie Fun Run/Walk

The East China Supporters are having a 5K Zombie Fun Run/Walk Saturday, October 25, 2014 7:00 PM at SCMS. There will be no timing or prizes for the fastest runner. It is meant to be a fun family event that we hope you'll consider participating in. Please click on the following Link for more information and to register. Zombie Run

Speaking of DC.....

I cannot begin to thank the people that helped with the trip enough. In our office, Mrs. Draghiceanu did all of the heavy lifting in organizing the trip, the EC Bus Drivers that got us to and from the airport, our staff chaperones, Mrs. Rutledge and Mrs. Akers and most importantly, all the parent chaperones. Without all the parent support, the trip wouldn't happen. Thanks for helping to make a life long memory for our 8th graders that were able to be on the trip.

Attention All 6th and 7th Grade Parents

For close to 20 years, SCMS has been taking a group of 8th graders to Washington DC (my oldest son was on the very first trip). It is an absolutely AWESOME (notice the bolding and all caps) trip. Now is the time to start planning for it. We'll have a meeting in late January/early February for all current 7th graders that are interested. I posted photos of this year's trip on my Twitter account that you are encouraged to look at. (@Mike_Alley59 search #SCMSDC)

Follow Our DC Trip....

If interested, I'll be posting photos and thoughts along the way of our Washington DC Trip on my Twitter account Mike_Alley59

76 - 79 - 84

Guess what those numbers represent?.....Wait for it.......those numbers are the expected temps for our 8th grade Washington DC trip this weekend with a 10% change of rain each day. Can you say perfect?

Short YouTube Put Together by Our Yearbook

Just another day at SCMS Click Here

Art is Everywhere

Wow....do we have talented kids. If you look closely, you'll see the artist's name inside the drawing. Well done.

HWH Starts Today

Sorry for the late notice. Our afterschool Homework Help is being held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 to 4:30 in our Media Center. We normally have SCHS NHS students on hand to tutor as well as computers available to finish assignments. Today afterschool will be our first session.

Washington DC

If You missed the meeting or you lost the handout, here is the information.

Uplifting Quotes

I love this stuff. I found this on Twitter ( @Mike_Alley59 ). I think these can apply to all of us. Click Here

Looking for Leaders....SCMS Student Council

Student Council applications are available in our main office and due this Friday. Please encourage your child to get involved.

SCMS Art/Instragram

If you'd like to see the latest happenings in the SCMS Art Room, check out SCMSARTROOM in Instragram

Important Washington DC Meeting

If your 8th grade student is going on this year's Washington DC Trip, we will be having an very important meeting Tuesday, September 9th,at 7:30 in our cafeteria (right after our Open House). Flight times, hotel information, itinerary, what time to be at the school, what to pack and not pack will all be explained. The meeting is for students and parents. Please make every effort to be there.

Friday is Saints Day

This Friday, September the 5th, SCMS is having Saints Day. Students and staff are encouraged to wear Red and Blue/Saints gear. Go Saints

Re-Cap of Our First Day

First Day's are always a blur and yesterday was no exception. Lockers that won't open, schedules that were wrong or incomplete, lunch lines that seem to never move, not knowing what bus to ride home. All expected bumps in the road at any school....but, as always, we survived. One thing that did go as planned was my meetings with each class. I tried to stress just a few things with each group. Behavior, Getting to class on time and setting short term goals. The one short term goal that I set for everyone was to make sure that they completed every assignment and turned it in on time this week. Asking your son or daughter about what was talked about is a great dinner conversation. This is gong to be a GREAT year.

Do You Twitter?

I'm a "Newbie" when it comes to Twitter but I'm quickly finding out what a valuable resource it can be. Many people use it as a social networking device (who doesn't want to know what Justin Timberlake or Lebron James is having for breakfast?) but I'm using it as a mini professional development tool. You can find out information on pretty much any educational/student/technology trend that is currently relevant. I also use Twitter to post these Blog posts. If you don't have Twitter, I highly recommend that you give it a try. Going to YouTube and searching "Starting Twitter" will give you all kinds of videos to watch. If you already have Twitter, think about following me at Mike_Alley59 I'll be posting SCMS updates and also posting my Blog updates.

Student Leadership Seminar...Huge Success

SCMS and MCMS teamed together to with MASC/MAHS to offer a Student Leadership Seminar at SCMS. Students went through a variety of leadership sessions designed to build teamwork and learn how to build positive atmospheres in their home schools. As anyone knows that is reading this post, both schools have been dealt a GREAT hand when it comes to students and student leaders. If your son or daughter was not able to attend this seminar, that does not mean they can not get involved with Student Council or NJHS. More information will be coming out once school starts regarding signing up for our leadership groups. All students are encouraged to join. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Mr. Alley

Ever Wonder What the Common Core is?

Here is a website that does a pretty good job explaining what the Common Core is. Click Here

SCMS PTO Newsletter

Making Changes to Your Skyward Family Access Information

I love YouTube. Need to know how to fix a leak....find it on YouTube. Need to know how to wax and sharpen your snowboard...find it on YouTube. Need to know the basics of Twitter....it's on YouTube. Pretty much anything you're looking for, there is a YouTube video explaining how to do it. Changing your contact and emergency contact information within Skyward Family Access is no different. Here is just one of many sites that explains how to update/make changes. Click Here

New Criteria for the District Academic Awards at the PAC

All ECSD middle and high school students who academically achieve the following criteria during the 2014-15 school year will be invited to attend the Academic Honors Celebration. Please note the new criteria being used beginning with the 2014-15 school year: 6th-11th Grade: Using grade point average, the top ten students including ties in each grade at each of the schools will be recognized. Graduating Seniors: Summa Cum Laude status (3.67 GPA and higher) for graduating seniors at Marine City High School and St. Clair High School.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Blogs, e-mails, texts, Twitter, websites, phone calls....when is enough, enough? When it comes to communication, it is my feeling that you can never communicate enough. For that reason, I have set up another quick and easy communication tool for our SCMS Family to take advantage of. It's called Remind 101. All you have to do is to CLICK HERE and it will take you to a link where you enter either a cell number or an e-mail address and you'll be signed up to receive SCMS updates/reminders/messages. This is a one way communication tool, which means you don't have to worry about see 237 replies or anyone else seeing you phone number or e-mail address. It's quick and easy....give it a try. (When you click on the link, you'll see it is called scmsco, which stands for SCMS Community)

2014-15 Supply List

Well, school has been out for a few weeks so it's about time for the stores to start their back to school sales. Our SCMS supplies are fairly basic. We encourage parents not to buy the large "Trapper Keeper" type of binders. They tend to become black holes that student stuff what ever they touch into and can't find anything when it's time to study or turn something in. Please remember that this is a very basic list and that nothing is mandatory. 6th Grade Supply List: Scissors erasers lined paper box of Kleenex Six one inch binders (one for each class) dividers for each binder red pens for correcting 4 pack of dry erase markers colored pencils 1 old sock (to use as an eraser for the markers) glue sticks one Green spiral notebook for Math highlighters One Blue spiral notebook for Geography 7th Grade Supply List: Colored Pencils #2 pencils and erasers Glue sticks ruler (English and metric) Highlighters box of Kleenex (turned into your Math teacher) TI-30X-IIS calculator pens One Green (Math), one Blue (Geography), one Yellow (Language Arts) and two red (Science …one for notes and one for labs) spiral notebooks. 8th Grade Supply List: Colored Pencils #2 pencils and erasers Glue sticks ink pens Highlighters box of Kleenex TI-30X-IIS calculator One Green (Math), one Blue (Geography), one Yellow (Language Arts) and one red (Science) spiral notebooks.

Soon to Be SCHS Freshmen

Here is a suggested supply list for SCHS Students

Lost and Found (Soon to be Gone Forever)

Our Lost and Found pile is about to spill over into the road and block traffic. It's incredible how much "stuff" we have.....it's about to become a Lost and Give Away pile. Students have until the end of the week to look through the mounds of coats, shirts, shoes, lunch boxes, etc to claim what is theirs. What is left over will be donated to Kids in Distress.

Medication Pick Up

As the end of the school year approaches, please remember to pick up your child's medication in the school office the last week of school. This includes medications, inhalers, and EpiPens. By school policy, any remaining medication will be discarded, whether prescription or nonprescription, which has not been taken home. Also, keep in mind that each year a new medication form must be completed when bringing medication (prescription and/or over-the-counter) to school.

Read, Read, Read

As I'm sure you know, reading is the key to future opportunities. Because of that, we are challenging our students to read over the summer. The photo below is a banner hanging in our main hallway with every current 6th and 7th grader's signature accepting our reading challenge. Every student has a username and login that they can enter their minutes. We have lined up incentives throughout our community that we are offering our students if they reach certain levels. Your support of this at home is greatly appreciated.

Personal Blog Post

Some of you might of seen me leaving the Band Concert last night before it was over. I received a phone call that my son and his wife were headed to PH Hospital to deliver their third child which turned out to be a healthy little boy. That makes grandchild #6 for me. Life is good.

Great Job Band and Choir

Congrats to all of our aspiring musicians and singers. Great Job

Summer Meet Up and Eat Up

East China has been approved through the MDE to run a Summer Food Service Program. It's easy and best of all it's free. If you have any questions please give me a call.

Pink Day at SCMS

Our Annual Pink Day, organized by Mrs. Gilbert, was once a gain a HUGE success. Students bought raffle tickets to win an I-Pad Mini and donated money to wear pink. All proceeds went toward the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure. Once again our students, staff and community came through in a big way. Great job

SC4 Decisions Day Lunch

Unlike years past, lunch is NOT provided (note the all caps and bolded letters). All 8th grade students going to SC4 are asked to bring a sack lunch for that day (which is this Thursday, May 29th).

Robo Camp

Changes Are Coming

Change is good...right? Next year we are changing the tradition of mailing home Progress Reports and Report Cards with the exception of the final Report Card in June. With the advancement of technology and Skyward Parent Access, the mailing of Progress Reports and Report Cards have become redundant and expensive....hundreds of dollars, per building, per mailing. It'll take a while to get accustomed to, I just wanted to start giving people a heads up. Change is good.

Jr Golf Program