Operation Homework a Success

As I stated in an earlier post we tried sometime a little different in an attempt to get missing work turned in. After attendance I had every student with any missing assignments report to the cafeteria where they got to spend time with me until all their missing work was completed. The majority of students were back to class fairly quickly after finishing (finding) an assignment or two that hadn't been turned in yet. All in all we had over 400 missing assignments turned in by the end of the day. The down side is that the staff didn't get those assignments until the end of the day so I'm sure that they won't show up on Parent Connect as being turn in until we get back from break. Great Job to our students for getting caught up.

It was a good day....

SCMS Students and Families....Amazing

As everyone knows, we have a number of families in the community that have been hit hard with the current economic climate. We asked our school family to help out with a few very worthy causes. Toys for Tots, coats for Kids in Distress and the Annual Pat LaCroix Food Drive were three charity activities that SCMS were involved with. Once again the generosity of our students, staff and their families was nothing short or amazing. A huge thank you to everyone involved especially our NJHS and our Student Council. Great Job.

Great Time of Year

One of the advantages of having experiences (I was trying to find a witty way of saying being old) is that you get to reflect on those experiences. I was talking to a younger friend of mine the other day and they were mentioning how much fun they were having with their young child. The reason I bring this up is that if you're reading this, chances are that you have children that live at home. Take a minute or two to reflect and enjoy this time of your life. I can most definitely tell you, from my experience, that this time in your life will be gone in a heart beat.

Tis the season to enjoy what you have and make sure everyone knows how lucky you are to have it.

Happy Holidays.

Student Anti-Bullying Committee

The response to our Student Anti-Bullying Committee has been outstanding. Phase two of this process is to have the students that signed up for the committee pick up a permission slip in the office to bring home to be filled out (both sides) and signed. I could not be happier with how this is coming together.

Missing Homework Thought

Had another idea to help cut down on zeros(I have a lot of ideas). Next Friday, the day before break, my thought is to have every student that has any missing assignments report to me in the cafeteria. Once they finish their missing work they report back to class. If it takes 20 minutes...great, if it takes all of first hour....great, if it takes all day, then it takes all day. For any student that is having a test or classroom assessment on Friday, they will released to that class and then report back to me when that class is over. I announced this plan today in hopes that everyone will clean up all missing work by next week. Any encouragement you can give them at home would be appreciated.

Facebook Thoughts

Had a staff member overhear a few students mention that their parents had "friended" them so they could keep an eye on what they were doing on Facebook (good idea). The students then shifted the conversation to tell each other that they now can see what their parents are posting (could be a bad idea). Keeping an eye on what your child is doing on the Internet is a must but please be very careful "friending" a young adult (aka kid). You could be opening up yourself to problems.

No Bullying Update

I could not be happier with the progress we're making and the direction we're heading. Our No Bullying Committee has done a great job is putting together our thoughts and moving toward a No Bullying Week January 10th - 14th. During that week we'll have activities each day that will focus on what are different types of bullying, how to handle it, what to do and how we can be part of the solution. As part of our committee we are also including a Student Anti-Bullying component. I announced the sign up sheet is in the office yesterday and I could not be happier with the response. The sign up sheet will be available until Friday for any student that is interested.

This is going to be good thing....

Borders Give Away

On Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, any Borders customer making an in-store purchase, whether of a book or a bagel or a latte, will receive a $15 gift card to donate to a public school of choice through DonorsChoose.org, an Internet-based charity. It's hard to beat free. If you happen to be out and about this weekend, this sounds like a pretty good deal.

For more information visit the site below:

http://tweentribune.com/borders

Washington DC Parent Meeting

We will be having our Washington DC parent meeting for all 7th graders that are interested in the trip on Thursday, January 13th from 7:00 to 8:00 pm in our cafeteria. This is an absolutely AWESOME trip that we want every kid to experience. At the meeting we'll discuss the trip, give parents a chance to ask questions and to sign up for next year's trip. Please make every attempt to attend this meeting.

E-Mail Links On Our Webpage

Just found out during our professional development day that since we have gone to a different e-mail server, links to our e-mails that are located on our website won't work. What you need to do is to cut and paste it into your e-mail address bar. Sorry

Same Message, Different Day

I wish more people would read these blogs.... Here is the thought for 17 days. Short term goals. 17 days until Winter Break. 17 days of no missing assignments. It is unbelievable how many students have multiple missing assignments. Good kids...smart kids. It's beyond frustrating and I know it's frustrating at home too. Drilling home the thought of short term goals is a life long skill...and if 17 days is too long, work on one week at a time. Every one of us has had a job to do that at the time seemed overwhelming, but we all rolled up our selves and got the job done. This is what we need to stress to our kids. We, they, you, can do anything if you break it up into do-able parts. Please help hammer that home. It's a skill that will help them in the long run.

Next Year's DC Trip

Had a number of 7th grade parents ask during PTC about our organizational meeting for next year's Washington DC trip. The meeting will be after the first of the year. If your family is anything like mine, asking for a deposit for a trip that is 9 months away right before the holidays is a tough sell. We'll make sure that every 7th grader knows of the meeting, we'll use our automated calling system as well as this blog to inform parents of the meeting. It's a GREAT trip that we don't want anyone to miss out on.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Monday November 22nd and Tuesday November 23rd.

1:00pm - 4:00pm
5:15pm - 8:00pm

Students have a half day of school on both days and will be released at 11:48.....

Hope to see everyone there.

Tis the Season

Odds are, either your family or someone close to you has been effected by our current economy. We currently have three very worth while charitable activities going on at the middle school. Kids in Distress is in desperate need of winter coats. New/used and of any size would be greatly appreciated. We have a large drop box located outside our gym, across from the cafeteria. In our main office we have another large box for Toys for Tots. That drop box is for new toys in their original packaging. Lastly, SCMS will be participating in the Pat LaCroix Annual Food Pantry Drive from December 1st through the 15th. It is a very difficult time of year for many families. If you have the means, any donation to any of these causes would be greatly appreciated.

Just the Facts

Just the Facts is a play consisting of three scenarios preformed by professional actors aimed at middle school students that focuses on situations that put kids at risk, not only with other students but also with adults. Inappropriate touching, harassment and prevention strategies are some of the topics that are covered. This year, as in the past, Just the Facts will be shown to our 6th graders. The performance will be on December 2nd during the morning with a parent meeting November 30th at 6:30 pm in our Media Center. This obviously is a very important topic for today's youth. Please try to make time to attend the parent meeting.

Community Ski/Snowboard Club

The Ski and Snowboard Club is open to all SCMS students and families. It is an absolutely awesome opportunity for our students that is organized by a SCMS parent, Mrs. Penny Werden. The short version is that the club travels to Mt. Holly on a variety of Fridays at a very reasonable cost and the kids have a blast. The only slight "catch" is that the club can always use drivers to help out with the transportation. Applications, flyers and more information is available in our main office.

Youth Wrestling

St. Clair Recreation Youth Wrestling Club

Boys & Girls grades 3 – 6

A safe and enjoyable introduction to “collegiate” style wrestling. Intro to various methods of strength, agility and speed training. Member of the Mid-Michigan Youth Wrestling Association. Volunteer Coaches & Parents needed.

Program : December 1, 2010 – February 28, 2011
Mon & Wed, 6:00-8:00pm
St. Clair Middle School

$45.00 per participant (Family Rate $65.00 for 2, $90.00 3 or more)

Open House – December 1st on-site registration accepted. Come ready to participate in a practice or to observe. Learn more about the program and sport of wrestling.

Pre-Register at the City of St. Clair Recreation Department – 547 N. Carney Drive, St. Clair, Mon-Friday, 7:30am-4:30pm. 810.329.7121

Kids in Distress in Need of Donations

Beginning today Achatz Soup from Skratzch is giving away one 12 ounce bowl of soup at its 8111 St. Clair Highway location with every qualifying donation to Kids in Distress Services.

Qualifying Items are:
one package of underwear (six or more)
one pair of footed pajamas
one package of socks (six or more)
tee shirts (four or more)
hats, gloves & mittens ($6 and up in value)
long underwear (tops, bottoms, or both)
slippers or slipper socks
nightgown
boxers (four or more pairs)
The 2010 Seat Cover Project begins today and runs through December 21.

KIDS responds to referrals from over 120 St. Clair County agencies. Since September, KIDS has distributed 2000 coats to those in need, underwear or seat covers are in high demand. While it's tempting to start holiday collection campaigns at many different levels, Achatz Soup from Skratzch challenges your school or place of employment to fill a dump truck with qualifying items. If you are interested in hosting a 2010 Seat Cover Project collection campaign "Toy Story" Style-please contact steveachatz@yahoo.com.

Watch for the 2010 Seat Cover Project Dump Truck in St. Clair's Annual Santa's Lighted Parade.

SCMS Science Olympiad Team

SCMS Science Olympiad Team will be having an Information Meeting Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 6:00 P.M. in our SCMS Media Center.

Science Olympiad is a team of 15 students who together have fun competing in 23events as a team. Competition will be held March 26, 2011.

EVENTS FOR 2011 include:
Life, Personal & Social Science
Earth & Space Science
Physical Science & Chemistry
Technology & Engineering
Inquiry & Nature of Science

Each category contains a host of different sections that the students can compete in. It is an awesome event that promotes team work and thinking outside the box. If you have any interest at all I strongly suggest that you take the time to attend the initial meeting. It's well worth your while.

SCMS Bands and Choir

I might as well just save this post and re-post it every year. I'm constantly impressed with how talented our kids are and every year I'm surprised at the amount of improvement I see from year to year. A perfect example of that has been over the past few weeks for anyone that has had a chance to listen to our three bands and choir perform. Paul Decker and Rick Carlson do a GREAT job with our kids. Even if you're not a band/choir parent, I would highly recommend if you get a chance to stop by and see one of their performances. Their next concert is Thursday December 16th, 6:30 at the Performing Arts Center. You can't help but walk away impressed.

A Chance for Discussion

We just had our Internet safety presentation. If ever there was an opportunity for parents to bring up a topic with their students, now is the time. Ask them about what they heard/what the presentation was about. That should be enough of a spring board to bring up important topics that every parent should be talking about with their kids. Internet predators, Internet safety, not giving out personal information, cyber bullying....the list goes on and on. This is a great chance to have a discussion that should be on going. It's scary stuff that most kids don't ever think can happen to them.

Cyber Safety Presentation

Here is some information I received from the Michigan CSI (Cyber Safety Initiative) on the presentation that all SCMS students will be seeing this Thursday.

Dear Parent or Guardian:

The Michigan Attorney General's office will be conducting Internet safety presentations for East China School District students in grades 1-8 during the week of November 1-5, 2010 A one-hour seminar for adults is being offered at the East China Administrative Office at 7:00 p.m. on November 2, 1010.

The first through third-grade presentation includes a video of the acclaimed book Faux Paw's Adventures in the Internet. The book and seminar material are being presented in cooperation with the Internet Keep Safe Coalition. The primary focus is to emphasize students should: keep safe by not sharing any personal information; keep away from Internet strangers; and keep telling parents or a trusted adult about everything they see on the Internet – especially when something makes them uncomfortable. The message is delivered in a child-friendly, appropriate manner.

In addition to the keep safe, keep away, and keep telling messages, students in fourth grade and above also learn about common dangers on the Internet and appropriate responses to cyber harassment. Fourth and fifth-grade students watch a realistic fiction video provided compliments of the nonprofit group i-SAFE Inc. Sixth through eighth-grade students are also cautioned about revealing personal information on social networking sites and watch i-SAFE videos.

The parent seminar on November 2, 2010 will provide practical tools, including a PowerPoint handout of slides covered during the seminar, to help adults employ these new skills at home. The seminar provides concrete tools including information on how to access online tutorials to:

• search and access a child's social networking site(s) (i.e., MySpace and Facebook);
• view Internet history logs to determine where a child has been online; and
• turn on safe surfing filters.

Handouts used during our presentations can be accessed at the Attorney General's website - www.michigan.gov/ag.

Internet Safety Seminar

There will be a community seminar on Tuesday, November 2nd from 7:00 to 8:00 at our Central Office on Meisner Road. The seminar will be run by the Michigan CSI (Cyber Safety Initiative)and will discuss protecting children from Internet predators.

There's a Bear in My Pool

Over the years I've had a number of angry parents contact me for one reason or another. Sometimes it's because I've messed something up and when that's the case, I apologize and make it right. More times than not, once the dust settles, everyone realizes that it had something to do with misinformation. The reason I bring this up is I just had a situation where the parent told me what I had said.....and the reason they knew what I said is because another child had told them what I said. Here's some breaking news.....middle school kids don't always say what really happened. It's not necessarily a lie, but sometimes they just draw conclusions, or hear part of something and then just fill in the blanks. Just because your son/daughter tells you something doesn't mean it's fact. I remember one time my son said he saw a bear in our backyard by our swimming pool. I love my son but I didn't totally believe him. I guess what I'm asking is, if you ever hear anything that is upsetting, please come talk to me with an open mind and we will figure it out.

Anti Bullying Committee

Here's the plan. I am meeting with our Counselors tomorrow (Friday). At that time I hope to set a date for our first committee meeting next week. At the meeting we will discuss a plan of attack for our school wide policy. I will use this Blog as a means of keeping everyone in the loop with what we discuss, our goals, plans, etc. If you are a parent that has volunteered to help out on the committee and can't make a meeting...not a problem. I still want your input (matter of fact, I want every one's input).

On somewhat the same note....I've received a couple of e-mails that basically said that they are glad that we are finally doing something about Bullying. That really could not be further from the truth. What we are attempting to do is to change how we are approaching the problem. I could go on and on but then you'd have no reason to check back

More to come.

Bullying...Looking For a Few Volunteers

No, not volunteer bullies. What I'm looking for is a few parent volunteers that would like to serve on a SCMS Anti-Bullying Committee. If you've read some of my previous blogs, you know where I stand on bullying. We are working very hard but it's obvious to me that we need to keep looking for ways to deal with the problem. My plan is to get parents, students and teachers together to discuss all aspects of bullying. What bullying is, what we can do to prevent it, what to do if you're being bullied and what we can do school wide to help educate everyone on this problem. My goal is that we get to a point where everyone understands that all aspects of bullying is unacceptable. If you are interested in being part of this committee, please shoot me an e-mail.

Might as Well Laugh...

This has absolutely nothing to do with SCMS...so those of you that are all business stop reading now. I'm putting this on our Blog to hopefully put a smile on your face if you're having a bad day/week....not as an attempt to get sympathy. As some of you might know, I've been down for a few weeks with pneumonia. I started at around 223 lbs before I got sick. I was at 215 by the time I went to the doctors and now I'm at 207. For those that haven't ever had pneumonia (thank your stars), I couldn't even climb a flight of stairs without being out of breath. Monday I finally thought I was on the mend and decided to get Murphy's pizza for dinner(which is a great deal on Monday's). As I was biting down on my first slice I heard my jaw pop. It really hurt and still hurts two days later. Being too embarrassed to go the doctors to explain that I hurt myself while eating pizza, I decided to tough this latest "owie" out. This morning has been the best I've felt in three weeks...I really feel like I'm on the upswing. I just got done e-mailing my wife to tell her that I'm finally getting my energy back and I get a nose bleed for no reason what so ever. I've decided that every body part I have is having it's own little rebellion. It's tough getting old.

Calling All Calculators

Tuesday is our Math MEAP. On a portion of the MEAP calculators are allowed. Unfortunately we don't have 650 scientific calculators. In the past we've flip flopped the portions of the MEAP (calculator/non calculator) and moved what calculators we do have from room to room. You can ease some of my stress by sending a scientific calculator in with your student if you have one at home. You can tell that it's a scientific calculator if you type in 4 + 3 X 2 and you get 10 (in the order of operation you always multiply before you add...a scientific calculator does that for you). Please make sure your name is on it. If you don't have one laying around the house, no big deal....we'll make it work.

MEAP...So Far So Good.....

Well.....week one of the MEAP is behind us and I'm impressed with the way our kids are attacking the test. In talking to some of our students I really liked what they had to say. Parts were a little tough but I worked through it. I thought it was easy. I gave it my best. All things that I was hoping to hear. One more week to go. Keep doing what you're doing at home....it seems to be working.

E-mail Problems

Those outside the East China School District might not know that we went through a HUGE (I'd write it in bigger letters if I could) technology change over the summer. As a matter of fact we are still in the midst of change (I'm sooooooo happy I don't have our technology department's job). One of the changes has been our e-mail system/server/host (I'd through a few more technology terms in there to try to make me look smart but it would just be a waste of time). Anyway....I just heard from a parent, in a very nice way, that they have been trying to contact a staff member since the second week of school. Four e-mails have been sent with no reply. After a little research we found out that the wrong e-mail address was being used. It wasn't getting kicked back to the parent, so it's out there somewhere....it just isn't here. If you ever have a problem getting in contact with a staff member and it goes on for a few days, don't hesitate to pick up the phone.

MEAP'ing

It just doesn't get any better than this. We've got GREAT kids...and I mean that, but this MEAP testing scares me. If someone is having a bad day, or stayed up late, or is a Wolverine fan...all of those things can effect how they do on this test. Every year we have a handful of kids that fail the MEAP by a question or two. Every year when we look at the test results, the last 20% of the test is the part we do the poorest on. It's not because the MEAP gets tougher as it goes on, it's because the kids lose their focus and give up on the last few questions. Please help by stressing the importance of finishing strong....which applies to life, not just the MEAP It's a speech they are hearing at school....hearing at home will only reinforce it.

DC Survey

Thanks to everyone that filled out this year's Washington DC survey. Some of the results, and a few comments, I've posted on our Washington DC link off of our main webpage. We'll be having a meeting for this year's 7th graders within a month to expalin the trip, costs, etc...

No Posts?

For those of you whose day revolves around reading my Blog, I need to apologize for the lack of entries lately. I've been a tad under the weather...matter of fact, when I went to the doctor's I was diagnosed with a condition that I thought only old people get (pneumonia ?????). Still not sure how that happened. Anyway, things should start to pick up now that I'm back to working a full day (which is tougher than I remember it)

MEAP ....Need Some Help

Every year I plead for help. I plead to our staff, our parents and our students. Please, please, please finish strong. The MEAP is a test that is hard to prepare for. Students aren't used to sitting for a 2 hour block to take a test. If you look at our scores, every year, we do the poorest on the last 20% of the test. It's not because the test is progressive (starts with easy questions and gets tougher as it goes along), it's because the kids get tired/bored. If we can get the kids to take their time and finish the test with the same focus as they start with, our already good scores would be outstanding. Anything you can do to promote this at home would be appreciated.

New Saturday School Procedure

I tried to post this earlier with zero luck but I was able to post it to my (Mr. Alley) webpage. It can be found under Staff Directory/Teacher Web Pages on our main SCMS website. Sorry for all the bouncing back and forth...I have no idea why it would let me post it here (???)

Drop Off/Pick Up

Need a favor......Please, please, please don't drop off or pick up in an area that encourages students to walk between buses. Talked to a bus driver last night that told me some parents were dropping students on the west side of school which caused them to walk between the buses that were pulling up to drop off students. My gut feeling is that the people that need to hear this aren't reading this blog. I'm going to try to get out there more often and see if I can direct the drop off to a safer location (like in the front circle).

Thanks

No Zeros/Saturday School

With the start of school now behind us it's time to start focusing on our one of our student achievement goals of turning in every assignment. Starting this week, any student that has two or more missing assignments on Thursday will be assigned a Saturday School to help them finish the assignment. Saturday School will last from 8:00 am until 10:00 am and depending on the size of the group we'll be either in the cafeteria or the Media Center. Parents are welcomed to come and help their child finish up their assignments. My plan is ask some of our NJHS kids to help us out. If your son or daughter is assigned a Saturday School, please have them to school no later than 8:00. Because of security I will be at the doors to let kids in at 8:00 but will have to lock the doors once we go into the cafeteria/Media Center. Our goal is to have every student turn in every assignment. This is not meant to be a punishment but if a student skips Saturday School then it will turn into a discipline issue. The trick/key is to turn your assignments in on time and then Saturday School doesn't come into play. I'll be explaining this process to our young adults today at lunch.

Doing Nothing.....?????

You ever hear something that you just can't let go? Last night I heard from my wife that heard from someone, that heard from someone, that over heard some parents talking that the bullying at SCMS is out of control and nothing is being done. Really? Out of control? Nothing is being done? Really? Unfortunately I'm pretty sure the ones that need to hear what I'm about to say are not the ones that are reading this Blog. Here are some facts. Bullying and putdowns have been a part of this age student since the stone age. That does not make it right. Let me repeat that....because it's happened in the past, doesn't make it right. I HATE bullies. I deal with teasing on an hourly/daily basis. Most are very minor things, but we are constantly reminding kids of how to act and behave. On some of what we consider more serious, when our student code of conduct comes into play, we don't consult the parent of the student that is being bullied when we hand down the discipline nor do we discuss the discipline with anyone but that student and that student's parent. To say nothing is being done is an absolute lie (can you tell that someone has hit a nerve with me?). I work exxxxxxtremely hard at this part of my job and take pride in our school and our kids. When I hear comments like that are out there it does no one any good. If you have an issue, please, please, please call me or stop in....I'm a pretty nice guy and easy to talk to. You might not agree with how we handle things but I assure you we are not looking the other way and we are working very hard in this area. If anyone brings this up to you, please ask them to stop in and see me.

I feel better...........

DC Parent and Student Survey

I have put two surveys on our Washington DC link that is on our main SCMS webpage. Please take a moment to take the survey if you went on this year's trip. We are always looking for ways to improve our process

HUGE Post DC Thanks

Another GREAT Trip. I've said this many times....if it wasn't such a great trip I'd send someone else. A special thank you to all the chaperones, who without their help this trip would be impossible. In a few days I will be putting a DC Survey on our website that I'd like all of our chaperones to take. The info is intended to help improve the trip. For those parents of our younger students....please, please. please, start planning for this trip. It's truly a memory that lasts a lifetime. I'll be getting info out to our current 7th graders regarding a organizational meeting later this fall.

Saturday Mornings are Meant for Sleep

Goooooood Morning....hopefully you're reading this after a very relaxing and restful night. I'm typing this between bus trips to the airport for our 8th grade DC trip. First group is gone and I'm waiting for the second group to arrive. If you're a parent of a younger student, please, please, please make every effort to get your child on this trip. It is awesome (except for me having to get up at 3:45 am). We'll be having a 7th grade parent meeting later this fall to explain the trip and get students and chaperones signed up. I hear people starting to arrive so I'm off to organize and head to the airport. Enjoy your weekend....I know I will

Wednesday's DC Thoughts

Thanks to everyone that came to the DC meeting last night. Not sure if I mentioned it but this is going to be a GREAT trip. I posted some of my notes under the Washington DC link on our main webpage. If you have any questions between now and 5:00 am Saturday morning, please don't hesitate to call me.

More Parent Survey "Stuff"

My plan is to leave the survey up until early next week then close it out. Once I close it, I'll post the results. So far it seems like a pretty quick and easy way to get some feedback. A monthly survey on various SCMS topics sounds like a good plan. Thanks to everyone for helping out and taking the survey

Parent Survey Thoughts

Just a quick note about the survey that we have on our main page. I hope that this is the first of many. One of the responses a parent made was that it was pretty early to gauge homework/homework time and maybe we should do the survey later in the year. Both excellent points. The question probably should of been worded a bit better....I guess what I was looking for was how much time on average does you child usually spend on homework (taking last year into account).

Thanks to everyone that has taken it and if you haven't, please give it 5 minutes. As I mentioned above....I hope this is the first of many short surveys that will help us do our job better.

Parent Reps Needed

If you've ever wanted to get involved with our district, here's your chance. John Fitzmaurice, principal of Eddy Elementary, heads up the committee that is in need of 2-3 parents to serve on Health and Reproductive Health Committee. The first meeting of the year is at C.O. on October 13th from 2:45-4:00 p.m.

According to Mr. Fitzmaurice it's a good group which discusses K-12 sex education and reviews materials to be referred to the Board of Ed for adoption.

If you are interested please e-mail Mr. Fitzmaurice directly at jfitzmaurice@ecsd.us

Yearly Magazine Fundraiser

Once again SCMS is having our Magazine Sale. We've tried to simplify things this year. Simply click on the link below to buy or renew your magazine subscriptions at up to 85% off newsstand prices. It's fast and your child will receive full credit for your selections. 40% of every sale goes to our school!http://www.qsp.com/profile/zfvz?Origin=CCL&extTrackID=LaunchEmail
In addition, you can send emails to friends and family for their support - they'll also save off newsstand prices! Simply click on the link below:http://www.qsp.com/profile/zfvz?Origin=CCL&extTrackID=LaunchEmail
This a great fundraiser for us every year. As always, thank you for your support!

Trying Something New

In our continuing effort to improve, I've put together a very short survey that I hope will prove successful and lead to more surveys. On our SCMS main webpage you'll see a link that says "September Parent Survey" It's on the right side about half way down. Please take a minute to take the survey. As the bar in education continues to rise, the importance of us working as a team is becoming more and more essential. In order for that to happen, we need feedback. I hope this proves to be a successful and easy tool to help accomplish that.

Thanks and please help spread the word

First Week......Done!

Great first week. We should have most of the rules, classroom procedures and "newness" out of the way. Next week is going to be a busy, busy week. We really start to focus in on our mission of student achievement. Our No Zero policy will kick in with lunchtime homework help followed by Saturday School for those that are falling behind. We have our Open House Tuesday at 7:00 pm followed by our Washington DC meeting at 8:00. Hope to see everyone there.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

My Goals....

I have many goals but the two that jump to the top of the first page is Student Achievement and our focus on No Bullying. I'd like to spend just a few seconds giving my thoughts on bullying. I hate bully's. It's unfortunate that many kids at this age go through a stage that they feel the need to bring themselves up by putting someone else down. It is a daily goal of mine to deal with educating our students that this is not how young adults act. What has complicated our job (yours as parents too) is technology. Facebook, Myspace and texting make saying hurtful things way too easy. It is my goal to really hammer that phase of bullying this year. One of the best tools we have is through education and awareness. Please take a second to check out this website. It has to do with text slang. Odds are if you or I picked up our child's cell phone and saw a bunch of jumbled up letters we'd have no idea what it meant. This isn't meant to scare you....we've got great kids...but as a parent (or a principal) you can never have enough knowledge.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/26/kids.drugs.text/index.html?iref=obinsite

First Impressions

Day one....done! Whew....what a whirlwind. Hats off to everyone for making this day a success....and in everyone I mean students, parents, teachers, custodians, office staff, lunch ladies, cafeteria workers, parapros and bus drivers (and anyone else I happened to miss). It was definitely a team effort. As far as my first impressions of the hand SCMS has been dealt this year, I'm very impressed. The kids....I mean young adults,....were very respectful and attentive during my 30 minute talk in the gym. Most of them were very friendly, made eye contact and would have a conversation with me (which isn't always easy when you're in middles school and are talking to the principal who happens to be 6'7").

It's been a good day. Thanks for having great kids.

Short Term Memory Test

Every fist day is filled with new "stuff". Locker combs, classes, class rules and my annual class assembly to welcome them back, go over some school rules and set some expectations. When you get a chance in the next few days ask your son/daughter what they remember about my talk. Here are some highlights. Our No Zero policy and the consequences of not doing homework. Dress code (always a highlight of my talk), behavior, put downs/bullying...especially the texting/facebook/cyber bullying, cell phones in the school and setting short term goals. If they got most of that from my talk then mission accomplished. Any support/reinforcement of those thoughts you can give at home would be greatly appreciated. It's going to be a great year.

SCMS is a Peanut Free School

It is unbelievable how many peanut allergies we have.....really. A few years ago we would designate certain classrooms to be peanut free but it's gotten to the point that we just made the whole building peanut free....sort of. This applies to all hallways and classrooms. The lunch room we will still allow PB and J sandwiches (for us dads that don't know how to make any other type of lunch) and other peanut products. During lunch we will have certain tables that are designated as peanut free tables for those students that are allergic to peanuts. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call.

Congrats to Future Poets

Bettina Lee, a current 7th grader, was selected out of thousands of entries in a contest of young poets as being one of the Top Ten poets in the contest at her grade level. Her entry will be included in an anthology along with many other entries. Bettina will be receiving a $50 savings bond and a complimentary copy of the book. A special thank you to Mrs. Mullins for organizing this and congratulations to a number of other members of her class that will also have their poems included in the anthology.

Important DC Meeting

We'll be having a verrrrrry important Washington DC meeting for everyone that is going on this year's trip on September 14th at 8:00 in our cafeteria. It's the same night as our Open House so you'll be able to knock two things off on the same night. We'll be discussing flights, times, groups, itinerary, rules, etc....

First Week Bus Riders

One of the things I really look forward to is the end of the first day....and it's not why you think. Once that bell rings we have about 400 kids all looking for which bus to ride home. Of that 400, at least half have no idea what bus number they should be getting on. A good number of kids get dropped off in the morning so it's not a matter of them forgetting....they just don't know. A number of us will be out there with master lists helping to direct kids to the correct bus but if you get a chance, find out what bus takes them home, right it on a piece of paper and ask them to keep it in their pocket. (BTW.....I was joking about looking forward to that......it's a cluster)

Bloggers.....

Please help spread the word to parents and friends of SCMS to check this Blog hourly...ok....hourly might be a tad excessive but once or twice a week would be great. This blog is a great communication tool for SCMS thoughts and updates. The more people we can get to check it out the better. And as long as I'm talking about communication, please don't hesitate to shoot me an e-mail, pick up the phone or stop in to see me if you have a concern. Far and away the number one problem we have at the middle school comes from a lack of communication.

Main Webpage

The bump in the road has been worked out and I can finally update/change our main webpage.....now if I can just find the time to do it......

DC Fundraisers

If you click on the Washington DC link on our main page, I've added the results of how we did on all of our Texas Hold em's. I hope you can follow my explanation. Thanks to everyone who helped out. I've heard positive things from quite a few of you.

Incoming 6th Grade Parents...PLEASE READ

Sorry about capitalizing of the please read...I always think someone is yelling at me when they do that in an e-mail, but this is important. There is a new law that went into place January 1st 2010 on changes for vaccines for incoming 6th graders. The changes include:
One dose of Meningococcal Conjugate vaccine on or after the 11th birthday for all 6th graders and students new to your district.
One dose of Tdap on or after the 11th birthday if it has been 5 years since the last dose of tetanus/diphtheria vaccine for all 6th graders and students new to your district
Two doses of Varicella or history of chicken pox disease for all kindergarten and new entrants to your school.
Please help spread the word. These immunizations and vaccines can be obtained through your physician or at our county health department. The health department is offering free immunizations on August 28th. Please call for more details. 810-987-5728

Small Bump in the Road

Having a little technical difficulty with our main webpage....I'm not able to update/change any part of it including all the links. The only exception is this blog. Unfortunately, unless you click on this blog link, you'll have no way of knowing that I'm not a total web slacker. Hopefully we can get this back and running soon, but until then this blog is only link that is semi-up to date.

ECSD Garage Sale

In need of any computers, TV's, VCR's, shelving units, office furniture, etc....? Check out the district's garage sale on Wednesday, August 25th from 8:00 am until noon. It is being held in our maintenance building (behind our Central Office) on Meisner Road. Everything is priced to go!!!!

Back to Work.....

What a GREAT Summer so far. Compared to last year, which it seemed to be cool and wet, this summer is what a summer should be.

One quick thing as I try to clean my desk off.....for those of you that are wondering, Parent Connect will be available September 1st.

More to come in the days to follow....it's good to be back and I'm looking forward to a GREAT year.

DC Fundraiser Info

Trying to contact everyone individually to give out info on all the when, where, how much, etc, is tough and has turned into a very time consuming chore. To help streamline the process, I'm going to be posting all the Fundraising info on our Washington DC link off our SCMS website. Please help spread the word.
Hope everyone is enjoying the heat (Think February....it makes it more bearable)

Report Card Delay

Excuses are like noses...everyone has them. That's an expression I use all the time. The ball was dropped and report cards did not get sent out in a timely manner. I was not aware that they didn't get sent out until they were sent out....but like I opened this blog with.....excuses are easy to come by. Hopefully you will be receiving them about the same time as you see this post. Sorry.

On a side note.....which ever parent left me the voice mail, you could of left your name. You were very polite and your concern over not receiving the report card was extremely legitimate. I'm a pretty nice guy and when someone points out something that we dropped the ball on I'm thankful....I don't put your name on some secret blackball list....(I use that list for other names).

DC Fundraiser Info

Information for those of you that volunteered to help out with the Texas Hold'em fundraiser is on it's way. I should get it the volunteer schedule mailed out by the end of the week. Please take a look at the day/time slot that you have been assigned and let me know as soon as you can if I've plugged you into a time slot that doesn't work. As hopefully you can appreciate, giving everyone the exact day and time that they asked for was impossible...but if anyone can understand that you have other things already planned (ball games, vacations, camps, etc...) it's me. Let me know and I'll do my best to work something else out. Thanks in advance for all your help with this.

Cy Bastian Memorial Fundraiser

A Co-Ed Soccer game will be held as a fundraiser to help the family of Cy Bastian, a SCHS Sophomore who passed away on Friday June 4th. The game is scheduled for Monday, June 14th 5:30 pm at East China Stadium. Entrance fees will be by donation.

Grief/Loss Support Program

As I'm sure everyone knows, our East China Family has suffered many tragedies in the past year. In an effort to help our students cope with these losses, a Grief and Loss Support Program will be held at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Clair, on Wed June 16th. A program for teens is scheduled to begin at 7pm. A separate program for parents helping teens starts at 7:30pm. For further information, please go to the St. Clair High School Web Site.

Football Meeting

The date for Tuesday's 8th grade/soon to be 9th grade football meeting was wrong in an earlier post and has been corrected. The correct date and time is Tuesday, June 8th from 6:30 to 7:30 @ the high school.

Goodbye Mrs. Zydek

Last night was our end of the year Choir Concert and as in years past, the kids did an amazing job. What made last night extra special was that it was the last concert for Mrs. Zydek as she will be retiring at the end of the year. Mrs. Zydek started in the district in 1989 and has been an inspiration to countless young musicians. Congrats to everyone involved last night and a special thank you to Mrs. Zydek for all of her hard work.....you'll be missed.

SCHS Meet the Coaches

The Meet the Coaches Night that was scheduled for June 9TH 2010 at the high school has been canceled....but......the Football meeting for current 8th graders, soon to be 9th graders, that is scheduled for Tuesday night, June 8th, from 6:30 to 7:30 is still on.

New Skate Park Project.

Anyone that has been down Carny Drive has seen a new addition to our community that has been getting a lot of use by our middle schoolers. I just received this flyer....looks like they could use our help.

The City of St. Clair Skate-Bike Park
Community Build – Thursday, June 10, 2010

Work with the Home Depot Crew to beautify our park.
Community and Student volunteers needed!!!

Tree Plantings, landscaping, benches, planter boxes, Butterfly Garden install all in one day!!!

Community helping hands!! Student volunteers are needed after school!!! Please contact the City of St. Clair Recreation Department and/or Trice Hawkins, Recreation Director at 329-7121 phawkins@cityofstclair.com to volunteer.

Watching History....Almost

Over the past few years, through the hard work of Mrs. VanTroostenberghe and the generosity of the Detroit Tigers, we have been able to take all of our students that make Student of the Month to a Tiger game. Last night, our Student of the Month kids came within one out of seeing the Tigers make history. In all of sports, one of the rarest feats is the perfect game in baseball. No hits, no walks, no errors. With two outs in the 9th inning, a weak ground ball was hit and I was sure history was made....I had already planned how I was going to frame my ticket stub with the next day's Detroit Free Press front page. Then, the umpire makes one of the worse calls I have ever seen and calls the runner safe at first. By the time we got home, the umpire's poor call was the talk on every local and national news station..and probably will be for a few days. I'm still a little stunned, but even without the perfect game, the weather was great, the kids had a good time and memories were made...what else could you ask for (except maybe for instant reply)?

Band Concert....Wow

Hats off to Mr. Decker and all of our bands as they preformed last night. It seems that I say this every year, but the improvement from the start of the year to the end of the year in each of the bands is amazing. This year we had an extra treat when our Middle School Jazz Band performed during an intermission. Great job to all involved....just another example that we've got talented kids at SCMS.

Great Weekend

Could the weekend have been any better? The weather was a tad rocky Monday afternoon but other than that we couldn't of asked for anything better. I did learn that it isn't a very smart idea to put oil on your face and fall asleep in a lounge chair in the heat of the day (chasing grand kids around wears you out).

As the light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter and brighter we're going to make one last push to get all assignments turned in. As you can probably imagine, as the finish line gets closer, our ability to keep everyone focused gets tougher and tougher. Any and all help you can give us is appreciated.

Middle School Tennis Club

Dave Clutts, our SCHS Varsity Tennis Coach (who does an amazing job), organized a middle school tennis club that completed in a recent, first ever, middle school tennis tournament. Here are the results I received from Coach Clutts:

Our middle school team won all 3 of its matches and the first ever middle school tournament. The saints defeated Romeo, Armada, Richmond and L'anse Creuse North. The saints team was made up Abbie Shonk, Meg Phyle, Danielle Slonac, Jake Tracy, Alec Rood, Allie Winkler, Allie Kennedy, Mackenzie Kent, Mackenzie Mazzola, Jasmine Sattler, Jake Bunting and Josh Beaker.

Abbie Shonk, won the #1 singles division
Meg Phyle won the #2 singles division
Danielle Slonac and Jake Tracy won the #1 doubles division
Allie Winkler and Allie Kennedy Won the #2 doubles division
Alec Rood and Mackenzie Kent won the #3 doubles division
Mackenzie Mazzola and Jasmine Sattler placed 3rd at 4th doubles
Jake Bunting and Josh Beaker placed 3rd at 5th doubles

DC Fundraiser #3

I'm going to sending home some info on our last Washington DC fundraiser tomorrow with the 7th graders that are currently signed up for the DC trip. The fundraiser is a Texas Hold'em. Basically here is what the flyer is going to say:

We have four separate “dates”, each one being four days long. I’m told we can expect to earn about $1000 a night. The school is going to keep 40% of the profits (believe it or not, we have expenses that we need to cover….it’s not going toward my vacation fund). 60% will go toward the DC trip of that worker’s child. Each night we’ll have 6 workers, so 10% of the profit will go to Gerber in your child’s name. Example…we make $1000 that night and you work one shift, you get $100 toward your child’s DC trip. If you owe $175 and work two sessions that earn you $200 then you’ll pay off the trip and get a $25 refund from Gerber. The one catch that I don’t see happening is that you can not make more than the trip costs. If that happens (which it won't) the “extra” will go SCMS. If you are interested in helping out, please fill out the form below with the dates and times you are interested in. My first priority is to get everyone interested an opportunity to earn some DC bucks. If we have too many wanting one time slot then I’ll make some phone calls to see if we can work it out…if not, I’ll draw names out of a hat. Once everyone who wants to help out gets a slot, if there are still openings I’ll fill those from the names of those parents that would like to do more than one time.

The flyer will have the dates/times and a part that you fill out and turn back in to the office. After you see the flyer if you have any questions, give me a call.

Warm Weather...I HATE IT

But I only hate it when we're in school. Cold and rainy during the week and sunny and warm on weekends would be GREAT. From an Administrative standpoint, nice days equals problems. One of the problems that I can really use some help with, and parents have the most control over, is our dress code. Let me speak to just the Dads. Think back to when you were in middle school and what was on your mind as a young man. Enough said. Please, please, please take a look at your daughter before they leave for school and have a talk about what they wear. Short shorts and low cut tops are the areas that seem to be the biggest problem. Somehow...and it's a mystery....many of their shirts tend to slide down once they get to school and show waaaaaay too much chest. Help in this area is greatly appreciated. Convince them that turtle necks and sweatshirts are a great fashion statement.

Friday, May 28th, is Positively Pink Day

This Friday is a day where staff and students will be dressing in as much pink as possible and make a dollar donation to support the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It's an extremely worthy cause that whether you donate dollar or not we're hoping everyone will support by wearing pink.

Lance Armstrong Wanna-be

If you are looking for a blog that has to do with the middle school, you can stop reading now. This is a personal entry about giving in to peer pressure, overcoming a challenge and having a great time. It all started a month ago when I was with a bunch of my daffy friends when they started talking about going on this bike ride up north and how much fun it was. Initially there was no way I was going...then a while later, I'd think about it....then maybe....then by the end of the night I was in. How tough could it be? It's on a bike....if I get tired I can just coast. I used to be an athlete. It was only 50 miles (actually 51) and I had a month to train. Well, as life would have it, training never happened and I spent 4 plus hours Saturday on my bike going from Boyne to Mackinaw on a ride that is call "The Zoo de Mack". For those of you that own a bike I would highly recommend it. It's not a race and you'll see every type of rider imaginable on the road. Tall, short, young, old (older than me), muscle bound, not so muscle bound, guys and gals. From your basic "Tour de France" types to your "I can't believe you think that bike is going to make it to Mackinaw". If you decide to give it a try, you'll need to go in understanding at least one basic law of nature. There are a few hills along the way and going down hill is great....uphill, not so much. Other than that, understand that no one's hind quarters was intended to sit on a bike seat for any extended period of time (I'm standing as I type this). It is something that I'm glad I did, even though I can't sit and my legs are still cramping up. I hope to make it an annual thing. Next year I'm asking my sons to join us (using the same peer pressure techniques that were used on me). Anyone that is interested should Google it and give it a shot.

Honors Night on Cable 6

Our Honors Night will be on Cable Channel 6 this Saturday and Sunday, May 22nd and 23rd @ 2:00, 6:00 and 10:00 (am and pm). It will also be available online @ watchctv.or

National Anthem Etiquette

It was pointed out to our Assistant Principal, Mr. Bialk, that during our Honors Night while the National Anthem was being sung that only one person on stage had their right hand covering their heart.....and.... we should show more respect. I took that to heart (no pun intended).....you're not going to find many people that are more patriotic or respectful than I am when it comes to our country. I was always taught growing up that during the pledge, you cover your heart but during the National Anthem you stand at attention, remove your hat and face the flag. With that said, I did some research. In 2007, Congress addressed this for the first time in 36 USC 301. This U.S. Code created the first mandated national anthem etiquette. The pledge of allegiance should be rendered by standing at attention, facing the flag, and placing the right hand over the heart. Uniformed personnel, firefighters, law enforcement officers, and military personnel in uniform should render a hand salute. When the national anthem is played or sung, U.S. citizens should stand straight and rigid and salute at the first note and place your right hand over your heart through the last note. Good to know, and now that I do, you can bet my hand will be placed over my heart in the future. No disrespect intended.

Saturday School Update

Yes....I am at school at 7:15 on a Saturday. For those that might not know it, we've been running a Saturday School for students with missing assignments for the past three weeks. We've tried to put a positive spin on this and use it to help kids get on top of their missing work. As I'm sure you can imagine, when a student gets behind it typically has a snowball effect...as they are working on their missing work, they aren't able to do their current work and things just pile up. So far we have had GREAT results from this and the kids have been great. Unfortunately....now that I've got the kids used to this system, we have to take the next two Saturday's off. Next Saturday is our middle school league track meet and the following Saturday is Memorial Day Weekend. Hopefully we can pick it back up in June and finish the year strong.

Washington DC Fundraiser

For those that attended our initial meeting in the fall I mentioned that I was working on a different kind of fundraiser to help offset the cost of the trip. The fundraiser is a series of Texas Hold'em nights. There were a ton of hoops that had to be jumped through...licences through the State, etc....but all that has now been taken care of. I'm going to be mailing out the information, dates, times and the amount of money that can be earned/applied to your child's trip. If we have any remaining spots open for workers after I offer it to this year's group, I'm going to offer it to our current 6th graders (parents obviously) who plan on their child going in two years. If you earn more than you owe on your trip then you'll be getting that amount back as a refund.

Grade Level Talk

I've been making the rounds talking to individual classes hitting on four main topics to focus on, or re-focus on, to finish out the year. Behavior, Assignments, Tardies and Dress Code. I should finish up today meeting with the few classes that haven't heard from me first hand. If you are looking for some conversation starters with your son/daughter, ask them about what I said and then let the conversation flow. As always, any help you can give us at home will be greatly appreciated. I want to hit the finish line on the upswing, not on a slide.

Supporters Fundraiser

The Supporters of the East China School District is having it's second annual "Cruising Down the St. Clair River" fundraiser on Tuesday August 24th. The cruise departs from the River Crab on the Duc d'Orleans at 6:30 and returns at 9:30. On board music will be by The Rivertown Gents with hors d'oeuvres provided and a cash bar. Tickets are $50 per person and it is limited to 150. You must be 21 to participate. If you have any questions or would like a ticket (or 10) please don't hesitate to contact me.

May....or November???

Don't you love it when you have to scrape your windows in the morning.....and it's the second week of May? How many of you have already planted flowers? From a middle school Principal's standpoint you really don't mind this cold spell. Long pants and sweatshirts in the middle school is a pleasant sight.

6th Grade Orientation

Our annual 6th grade Orientation for next year's incoming 6th graders will be this Thursday, May 13th. Our current 6th graders will be released at 11:38 (at the end of 3rd hour) and 5th graders from the 3 North end elementary schools will be bused to the middle school for the afternoon. They will go to a variety of sessions, have lunch in our cafeteria, go to more sessions and then be bused back to their home school at the end of the day. That night there will also be a parent meeting at 7:00 pm in our cafeteria to give parents a feel for the middle school and to answer any questions.

Saturday School Options

Just a FYI......our new No Zero Policy, two or more missing assignments on Thursday equals a Saturday School, has been very positive. This is open to anyone, whether they have been invited or not. If your child has a few missing assignments that didn't make the list for what ever reason...or....if they have an assignment that requires a computer, they are more than welcomed to join us on Saturday. 8:00 am until 10:00 am. Just make sure they are here before 8:10 (I lock the door at that time for security) and you might want to give me a call just to make sure that Saturday School is still on. My glass is always half full so I'm hoping that this new process will take care of itself so that eventually we won't have to have Saturday School. This Saturday, May 8th, it's a go. Parents are also welcomed to join us.

New Homework Policy Huge Success

Our new No Zero Policy (about 3 blogs to the south) was a huge success. The majority of kids with multiple missing assignments turned everything in by Friday so they didn't have to attend Saturday School. The ones that did attend Saturday School made good use of the time and were able to knock off a number of assignments. There were a few bumps in the road that we'll have to iron out but actually, this worked so well that I'm going to continue this process every week instead of every other week. Thanks in advance for your support

Front SCMS Sign

As some of you may have noticed, we are missing the letter "A" on our St. Clair Middle School sign by our main front driveway. Not sure where it went or why it was taken but it has been a huge pain to find a replacement. With the help of Mr. Aspenleiter who is the district's head of building and grounds, we have found a company that can make another one. In order to make another one they need to a sample of what they need to duplicate, so we had to remove another "A" from the sign to send to them. I'm told it should be done in a couple of weeks. Until then we'll be A-less.

No....We Weren't TP'd

If you pass by the middle school, at first glace, it looks like someone threw some toilet paper in our trees. If you were to take a closer look you'd see that they are streamers with messages. Mrs. Biernot's Art Classes have participated in a global art project where kids create images of peace and send them to a school to share. Our participating school is a British School from New Delhi, India. We have received art posters and long streamers with positive messages to hang on trees as a reminder of our unity as a human race. The posters are displayed on blue boards down by our main office. If you get a chance, stop and take a look.....it's a neat idea.

Full Moon-itist

Wow.....it could be the weather...it could be the full moon....it could be the time of year. Bottom line is that I'm not sure what it is but seems like the average age of a good number of our students dropped into the 3 to 4 year old range. Some of our kids are acting like a bunch of caged monkeys. Anything you can do at home to re-focus them would be greatly appreciated. This isn't anything out of the ordinary for middle school and the time of year, but it is an opportunity to do some "molding" at home. Topics for conversation could include, effort, dress code, behavior, no put downs.....those topics should easily take you a month and a half and then school's out.

May the Force be with us.

New No Zero Homework Policy

As I hope everyone who is reading this knows, we have a No Zero policy here at SCMS. We have certain procedures in place to help students finish assignments and keep their grades up. Unfortunately some students for a variety of reasons still fall behind. Once they fall behind it tends to have a snowball effect and before long they find themselves in a hole that is very difficult to get out of. For that reason, we're going to try something a bit different from now until the end of the year. Anyone that has two or more missing assignments on Thursday will be assigned a Saturday School/Homework Recovery Session with me from 8:00 am until 10:00 am. Here is how I see this working. On Thursday, anyone with two or more missing assignments will be getting a letter to bring home. Depending on the number of students involved, I hope to make phone calls home giving parents a heads up. If by Friday they turn in all the missing work, in an acceptable fashion (not just a bunch of chicken scratch) then they do not have to attend Saturday School. If there is some situation that makes attending Saturday School impossible (being out of town, family obligation, etc), give me a call and we'll work out something else...possibly some time before school. Our goal is to get work completed and to stay on top of things. This is not meant to be a punishment. These Homework Help Saturdays will be run about every two weeks starting this weekend. I say about every two weeks because Memorial Day weekend is in the mix and that throws my every two weeks off. The Students will be notified of this tomorrow. I'll be using this Blog to notify parents of the upcoming dates.

Career Day Highlight

During our Career Day last week I had a personal highlight. As some of you know, my oldest son is a Federal Agent. As part of Career Day he came in to talk to the kids about being a Federal Agent. After he left I had a number of students come up and ask me if the speaker was my brother. You can take that one of two ways...either my son came across very mature or I look very young. I took it as looking very young. Life is good.

7th Grade DC Parents

Don't forget that our Little Caesar Pizza Kits are being delivered today. Please make arrangements to have them picked up before 5:00 pm today (in our Aux Gym)

I'm a Slacker

Blogs/updates have fallen off in the last few weeks....sorry. That changes today. This time of year we have a ton going on. Keep checking back as I try to be more on the ball.

More Congratulations

Current 8th grader, Nicole Denny competed at the USGWA (United State Girls Wrestling Association) National Championships over Spring Break. Nicole wrestled 4 matches and recorded 4 pins. She pinned a gal from South Carolina in the finals in 1:14 to capture the USGWA National Title in the Middle School Division at 100 lb division. Congratulations Nicole...awesome achievement.

St. Clair Art Association Awards

Three SCMS students won awards from St. Clair Art Association for their art that were entered.

The Johnson Award went to Nicole Conigliaro for art titled Green Turtle
Honorable Mentions went to Nick Alexander for art titled Night Fishing and to Tristan Unger for art titled Puffin

Congratulations to all students who participated and to Mrs. Biernot our SCMS Art Instructor.

DC Fundraier #2

We are starting our second round of fundraising for our Washington DC trip. Little Caesar Pizza packets are coming home today with dates/directions. The short version is that we've used this fundraiser in the past with great success and it's a great way to help defer some of the cost of the trip. If you have any questions don't hesitate to give me a call.

More Congratulations

Community Mental Health held a Writing Contest this year and SCMS had a total of 45 entries. Congratulations and thank you to all that participated. In the Non-Fiction category, Paige May received a first place and Erika Lindsay received a honorable mention. In Poetry Brittany Gonzales received a second place and in Fiction, Alexis Smith brought home first place.

Congratulations to all.

2010 Science Fair

Congrats to 6th grader Ally Card for Grand Award Trophy in this year's Science Fair. Ally's Science Fair project examined the effects of fertilizer on worms. Without going too much in detail, fertilizer and worms don't get along very well, although natural fertilizer and worms do. Congrats again Ally....great job.

Tennis Anyone?

All 6th, 7th and 8th grade boys or girls who are interested in signing up for a competitive tennis clinic and matches against other middle schoolers, are asked to sign up in our main office. The St. Clair High School Varsity Tennis Coach will be running this clinic and will be in touch regarding days/times/etc. after the sign up. This will not interfere with our middle school track season. We are asking that interested students sign up bu Monday, March 29th.

Disturbing News

Received an e-mail from a SCMS parent last night that let me know that they saw a few SCMS students climb over the rail on the boardwalk and were standing on the ice flow. The parent, besides e-mailing me, also contacted the police. I spoke with all the classes during lunch and made an announcement at the end of the day to try to put into words what a poor decision this behavior is. Please take this as an opportunity to have a discussion on ideas/behaviors that could go terribly wrong. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that this makes me sick to even think about how something like this could turn out. Please don't take the chance by not talking to your child, thinking that they would never do something like this. It's not worth the chance.

Changes are on the way....

Just a heads up on some changes that are right around the corner. It shouldn't surprise anyone that our school district is looking for ways to save money. We currently spend thousands of dollars in mailings. Our plan is to experiment with putting our newsletter online soon. The downside of this, of course, is what about those that don't have Internet service? There a couple of options that we're throwing around but we'll figure it out. It might take a few tries to work out the kinks but it's a move worth making financially.

Sticky Problem

Need a little help.....we seem to be having a rash of gum chewing at SCMS, or should I say, gum leaving. We're finding gum stuck on desks, under chairs and worst of all, thrown on the ground/carpet which causes a huge mess. This is mainly happening in the 6th grade but because of it we'll be reminding all kids that gum is not allowed. I'm sure we'll see an increase in referrals for gum chewing. Please reinforce this at home. It's unfortunate that a few students that couldn't make the extra effort to make sure their gum went in the trash has caused this to be an issue.

Congrats to our Seventh Grade Band

Our 7th Grade Band performed in the MSBOA District XVI Band Festival at Port Huron HS on Saturday, and received a First Division rating for their performance. All three concert judges and the sightreading judge gave them First Divisions, for straight 1's! Congrats to Mr. Decker and all the band members for all their hard work....GREAT job.

Parent University

Our RESA is offering a neat opportunity called Parent University. It's aimed at anyone who cares for a child ages 0-18. There will be a Keynote Speaker as well as breakout sessions that cover topics such as behavior issues, autism, raising resilient children and Internet safety just to name a few. You can learn more and sign up by going to the RESA website and click on the Parent University link:

http://www.sccresa.org/

Just the Facts

Just the Facts is a live play developed for 6th graders and is designed to educate students about personal body safety and the law. Topics covered will be sexual harassment, sexual assault, internet safety and confusing touch. In the world we live in, it's important that students understand the value of developing prevention skills and appropriate responses in the event they encounter a difficult situation.
Our SCMS 6th graders will be seeing the play on Thursday March 16th during 1st and 2nd hour. A parent information meeting is Thursday March 9th at 7:00 pm in our SCMS Media Center for all those that are interested and or have questions

Science Olympiad 2010

I had the pleasure this weekend to see our kids compete in the Science Olympiad. For those that have never been to or involved in the Science Olympiad, imagine being given a task, a box full of odds and ends that you can find laying in most garages and then asked to accomplish the task....within a set amount of time. That's just one of the many examples of the types of events that go on during this day long event. What I liked most besides the competition is that all of the events the kids are asked to think on their feet and apply concepts to achieve a goal. It really is an awesome display that the kids put on. Once again I'm reminded at what talented kids we have. Hats off to our Coach, Ms. Rachelle Wynkoop and to all the members of this year's team. Great Job Guys.

8th grade:
Bennett Wynkoop
Jake Tracy
Bridget Kutsche – 3rd place medal – Write IT Do It
Teri Kutsche – 3rd place medal – Write It Do It
Austin Smith – 3rd place medal – Elevated Bridge

7th Grade:
Sam Tracy
Erica Werden

6th Grade:
Steven Whittlesey – 3rd place medal – Elevated Bridge
Morgan Kronner – 5th place medal – Fossils
John Staiger – 5th place medal – Fossils
Eli George
Adam George
Matt Lamontagne
Allison Urban
Jane Wentrack

Amazing....No Really....AMAZING

Read this slowly....ok, not this part, you read this part at your normal rate....our NJHS was presented with a problem that our local area is in desperate need of children clothes, especially jeans. They ran a week long "jean drive" that concluded today. OK.....now start reading slowly....They collected 841 pairs of jeans. 841 pairs of jeans?????? AMAZING. Not only is the amount staggering, what is really impressive is the way our kids stepped up the the plate to help our community. Great job to everyone.

Boy Our Kids Are Smart.....

Over the weekend a group of our 8th graders came in First Place at the Mathcounts Competition. Ben Miller, Jon Dillon, Savannah Koester, Samantha Marcath, Jacob Bunting, Jasmine Stattler and Luke Eitniear lead the team to victory. While the accomplishments of the team shouldn't be overlooked, I don't think the time and effort that the coach, Mr. Morgan, can be overstated. Hats off and congrats to the team and coach....GREAT job.

Snowy Monday

All after school activities....games, practices, tutoring, etc... have been cancelled.

Nope....it wasn't me

This has nothing to do with school, so if you're looking for valuable information you can stop reading now. This is to clear up a common myth and a few rumors that I hear all the time. As some of you know, I have taken up snowboarding. No, I'm not very bright...lets get that out of the way. I started this journey two years ago in an attempt to stay young...plus two of my sons were doing it and we wanted to be a part of their weekends. Since I started down this path, I have had my shoulder operated on twice (rotator cuff) and my knee once. Neither had anything to do with snowboarding. Both had to do with once being athletic and the wear and tear that comes with years of activity. Actually, I'm awesome on a snowboard...ok, maybe not awesome but pretty good....ok, pretty adequate...anyway, the reason I bring this up is that every time someone asks me what I'm doing over the weekend and I say snowboarding, the reply I get is "well, don't hurt yourself again". The reason I bring this up now is that over mid-winter, my son, who is also Michael Alley, had a pretty nasty spill while going over a jump and had to be taken to the hospital. He's fine and is ready to do stupid things again, but when my wife put it on Facebook that Michael went to the hospital, everyone assumed it was me hurting myself again. Nope.....it wasn't me.

Back from Break...time to get moving

Hope everyone had a relaxful Mid-Winter Break. We are now entering the worse stretch for kids....the weather is typically poor, most are sick of winter and we're a month and a half away from our next break. This is the time of year that I turn into part cheerleader to keep the kids (and staff) from falling into a deep state grouchy depression. Any rah-rah you can do at home to keep them motivated and upbeat will not only make our jobs easier but improve the overall quality of life. No one likes to be around a grouch...and a depressed grouch is even worse.

New Freshmen Orientation Date

Because of the storm of the century, the Freshman Orientation original date of February 9th was canceled. the new date is February 23rd, 6:30 at the SCHS cafeteria. For those that don't want to scroll down to read the earlier blog on the orientation, here's the details:

Ninth Grade (our current 8th graders) Parent Orientation is scheduled for February 23th at 6:30 in the SCHS cafeteria. This program is intended for parents only. You are requested not to bring students or young children. There will be a separate orientation for students in August.If you have any questions please contact SCHS at 810-676-1711

Who Calls Off School?????

I do....or at least that is what I told a handful of 8th graders today at lunch. The story I told them, with a straight face of course, is that every year a different principal from one of the schools is in charge of getting up early, driving the back roads, and deciding if school should be canceled. This year was my turn. You should of heard the pleading that was going on....and the disappointment on their faces when I told them how much I liked being here and didn't like snow days. By a hour later, I've had countless number of kids from all three grades begging me to call of school tomorrow.

It's good to be the King......

9th Grade Orientation

Ninth Grade (our current 8th graders) Parent Orientation is scheduled for February 9th at 6:30 in the SCHS cafeteria. This program is intended for parents only. You are requested not to bring students or young children. There will be a separate orientation for students in August.

If you have any questions please contact SCHS at 810-676-1711

After School Enrichment Activities

As in the past, SCMS will be offering a set of 6 week Enrichment Activities. Students can choose between Spanish, Art and Jazz Band. Here is how it works:

There is no charge for these activities.
All school rules will apply. A student can be removed from an activity.
Transportation is the responsibility of the student.
Application form must be signed by your parent/guardian
Class sizes are limited. If we have more students sign up than the class will accommodate we will hold a lottery and select the kids at random.
Activities will start the week of February 22rd and end the week of March 29th.

All classes are from 3:30 to 4:30 and sign up flyers/applications are available in the office. If you have any questions don't hesitate to call.

7th Grade Parents, Please Read

The deadline to sign up for Washington DC is this week....(please keep reading)..... The deadline is a soft deadline that can be extended. Please give me a call if you need more time. We still have two fundraisers that a student can easily chop the cost of the trip in half. This is a GREAT educational experience that I don't want anyone to miss. If you have any questions, concerns or thoughts....don't hesitate to call me. I completely understand that times are tough but I can work with you to make this happen....but I can't if I don't know. Every year, after the fact, I hear from parents that tell me they wish their son or daughter would of gone on the trip. Please don't let be you.

YMCA Teen Night

The YMCA is holding a Teen Night on Feb 6th. This is open to any 6th - 10th grader and is not hosted by SCMS...(not one of our Activity Nights). They have received permission to advertise and have flyers available in our school. I'm going to do my best to try to make sure that our kids don't mistake this event for one of our Activity Nights that we have hosted in the past at the YMCA. The last thing that I want to happen is for some of our students to show up and be surprised to find a bunch of high schoolers from varying area schools also are at the Y.

Washington DC Fundraiser $$$$

Here is a question that has been coming up....for those that participated in the first fundraiser (Achatz Pies)....where is that money? Right now we have all the money and are going to keep it until after the deadline to sign up. The reason for that is many of the kids that participated in the fundraiser haven't registered yet. Once the deadline passes, we'll send all the money with a list of who gets what credited to their account. If someone has paid in full, or the fundraiser amount is more than what they owe, the travel company will issue a check back to that student.
Hope that makes sense...it's a lot easier to explain than to type. Give a call if I've confused you....

On somewhat of a separate note...we still have 2 more fundraisers for the trip. We'll be selling Little Caesar Pizza Kits and we'll be helping with a Texas Hold'em fundraiser. It is very possible, with a little effort, that the student can pay for most, if not all, of their trip. Please do what you can to register your 7th grader...it's an awesome experience that will give them memories that will last a lifetime.

Time to Register for DC

One of the advantages of having a major event (Washington DC Trip) meeting well before the event is that you get the word out and that gives plenty of time for parents to plan. One of the disadvantages of having the meeting 3 months before the registration deadline is that like most everything else, once the excitement wears off, it gets put on the back burner. Our Washington DC Trip that we do every year for our 8th graders is an outstanding educational experience for the kids. I can not say enough great things about it. The deadline for current 7th graders to sign up is quickly approaching. I completely realize that money is tight but we have two fundraisers upcoming that will make this trip very affordable. Please take advantage of this opportunity and register your 7th grader. It truly is outstanding. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to give me a call.

2009-2010 Yearbooks

Yearbook orders need to be in by the end of the week - there won't be any extra copies at the end of the year to sell. Please, Please, Please...if your student wants one, please order one now. Every year we have a handful of kids that are almost in tears because they wanted a yearbook but didn't order one.

Congrats to two future Chuck Norris's

Two SCMS 8th graders, Paul and Andrew Schnieder, accomplished something this past weekend that many of wish we had. Both of the brothers have taken TaeKwonDo for the past 8 years and yesterday they tested for their BlackBelt. After a three and one half hour test they both earned the degree of 1st Don Blackbelt. This took years of working hard, dedication and striving for goals....all qualities that we hope to our students leave here with.

Congrats (and don't forget who your favorite principal is...)

Studio 1219 Classes

Just received some information on classes being offered through Studio 1219 in Port Huron. If you are interested a variety of Art/Theatre classes, we have flyers in the office.

HHHHEEEELLLLPPPPPPP!!!!!

(that was me yelling for help)....

We have a TON of missing assignments as we approach the end of the Marking Period/Semester. Any and all encouragement that you can direct toward your student would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Geography Bee

Which Mediterranean country, located at the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula, is Europe’s largest exporter of cotton? Any idea? Well, 6th grader Matt Tetreau knew and he was the winner of this year's Geography Bee. Congratulations to all the students that participated. A special thank you to our SCMS Social Studies Staff, especially Ms. Hannon, for all the work that went into organizing and putting on the event.

.....by the way....the correct answer was Greece.

Free Throw Contest

Knights of Columbus will be holding a boys and girls (ages 9-14) free throw contest on Sunday, January 17th at 1:00 at the St. Mary's School Gym. Entry forms are available in the SCMS front office.

St. Clair Winter White Out

Just received some information on what sounds like a neat event. The Winter White Out, January 22nd and 23rd, is a family oriented event that will take place on Clinton Ave and in the Riverview Plaza. Clinton Ave will be closed Friday afternoon and not reopen until Sunday Morning. Some of the activities will be frozen chicken bowling, a fruitcake fling, cardboard luge and tic-tac-snow to name a few. The event will be held regardless of the weather.

For more information, contact:
Fred Rollins 810-357-8566
Scott Adkins 810-329-7121

Newsletter Online

Because of a number of reasons, we've been having trouble getting our current Newsletter on our webpage. That problem has been solved and the current Newsletter (January) is available....which, by the way, my opening article is award worthy if you haven't read it.

On somewhat of a tangent, it's no secret that money is tight everywhere. The district spends a boatload of money in paper and mailings when it comes to Newsletters. The plan in the future is to eliminate the mass mailings and just have the Newsletter online. The problem with that, of course, is for those that don't have access to the Internet at home. We're working on that....maybe generate a list of those that are requesting the Newsletter be mailed. At the very least, I see our costs district wide going way down by taking advantage of our technology. More information on that will be forthcoming.

Enjoy the weekend

2nd Annual Pink Halo Project

Super Saturday
Marine City High School
January, 30th 2010
9th grade games 9:00 am start time

The 2nd Annual Pink Halo Project fundraising campaign that will culminate on January 30, 2010 during the Marine City High School and St. Clair High School “Super Saturday” basketball event. This event will showcase all levels of our high school basketball programs at both MCHS and SCHS. The 2nd Annual Pink Halo Project is the name for Marine City High School local fundraiser that is being conducted in conjunction with the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) “Coaches Against Cancer” fundraising project. Proceeds from this fundraising event will be divided between BCAM’s project (2/3 total raised) and a local cancer project donation (1/3 total raised) in the Marine City/St. Clair area.

If you are interested in purchasing sponsor items for this event, please pickup a Sponsor order form @ Marine City High School or St. Clair high School. Other fundraising events will take place throughout the day!

For Questions or Order forms, please contact:
Jim Dupuie- (810) 765-3267
Carrie Rhodes –(810) 676-1248
Heath kent –(810)676-1964