St. Michaels Middle High School

Feb 9, 2010 Announcements

Senior News! 

Don't forget to check out the latest scholarships!

You can still our your yearbook today!!  See Mrs. Jarrell for order forms

FAFSA Deadline is March 1, 2010.  You can apply free online to www.fafsa.ed.gov

 Attn. Seniors!  All cap and gown orders must be placed by March 1st.  Pick up late order forms in Miss Hopkins' room. 

ALL AFTERSCHOOL ACTIVITIES ARE CANCELLED ON FRIDAY!

The ACT Testing has been cancelled for Saturday, Feb.6 and rescheduled for Feb. 20th

JEKYLL & HYDE                                                                             

    February 12, 13, 19 & 20 at 7:00 p.m.    

     February 14 at 3:00 p.m.

                                                Snow date: February 21 at 3:00 p.m.

JANUARY PTO NEWSLETTER

Dear Students, Parents, and Guardians,

Happy New Year.  I hope that each of you had a restful holiday break.  The return to school signals that the end of the first semester of the 2009-2010 school year is rapidly approaching.  This means that our high school students will soon be completing midterm and final exams.  These assessments allow students to demonstrate their cumulative learning in each of their courses.  

Midterm and final exams for the first semester are scheduled as follows:

Friday, January 22           Periods 2 and 4
Monday, January 25        Periods 1, 3, and 5
Tuesday, January 26        Make-up Exams/Transition Day, No School for Students

Since finals account for 20% of a student’s grade and midterms 10%, please encourage your student to put forth his/her best effort. 

Helga Einhorn
Principal


HIGH SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS

Those students who have passed English 10, Algebra, Biology, and Government but who have not earned a passing score or a combined 1602 on previous High School Assessment tests will have the opportunity to retest in the needed areas during the week of January 11th.  In addition, all students enrolled in Government for the first semester will also test in that content.  Test dates are as follows:

Monday, January 11        Biology
Tuesday, January 12        Algebra
Wednesday, January 13        Government
Thursday, January 14        English

It is imperative that students who are testing arrive to school on time for school.  Please contact your child’s counselor if you have any questions about his/her HSA status.

ELIGIBILITY FOR ATHLETICS AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

A reminder that the next grade check for eligibility to participate in athletics and all other extracurricular activities is the marking period ending January 25, 2010.  Report cards will be distributed to students on February 1 during advisement.  Please be advised that any student who earns a combination of incompletes or failing grades in 2 or more classes or fails 50% of their course load (whichever is less) will be declared ineligible to participate in the activity.  All students are encouraged to attend correctives if needed to avoid loss of eligibility.  Please contact you child’s teachers and/or counselor if you have any questions.


CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Heidi Burgess for being selected to the All-State Senior Choir and to Stewart Mitchell for making the All-State Junior Choir.  Both students practice under the guidance of Mrs. Hale.



Congratulations to our seniors who have already received college acceptances to the following schools:

Drexel University
Otterbein College
Salisbury University
St. Mary’s College
Virginia Wesleyan College
Washington College
Western Carolina College

We will continue to update you on college acceptances as we learn about them and the opportunities are students will be pursuing.



SPORTS BOOSTERS

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Denver Leach Scholarships - Applications for the Sports Boosters’ Denver Leach Memorial Scholarship will be available in the guidance offices this month.  Please note, any senior that is interested in this must complete an application.  They will be due March 24.

Team Brochures - Anyone wishing to place an ad in the basketball or wrestling team brochure will need to submit those to us by Wednesday, January 6.  

It may not look like we have much going on, but we do!  We are in the finalizing stages of several events and the Saints Gear website.  As soon as we have all the details, we’ll let you know! 

Don’t forget to stop by and cheer on the winter sports teams!  As always, if you have any suggestions for us, please let us know!  Again, Happy 2010!!

Lu Ann McKelvey        
      President                 
   410.745.8123



JEKYLL & HYDE


  

    February 14 at 3:00 p.m.

    Snow date: February 21 at 3:00 p.m.



BAND BOOSTERS



Special thanks to all those that made this year’s Holiday Concert such a wonderful success!
The music was awesome, the refreshments amazing and the atmosphere quite festive.  The donation cans were quite full. Your generosity does not go unnoticed and is so appreciated.

This event was quickly followed by the annual Christmas in St. Michaels Parade with your very own marching band leading the way! The weather was perfect; a slight nip in the air added to the holiday magic that was shared by all. Doughnuts and drinks were provided by the boosters for all participating band members and volunteers following the parade.

Winter activities will pick up again after the break including All Shore Band Auditions at Easton Middle School on January 30th. The Solo & Ensemble Festivals will be held at Wicomico Middle School (South) and St. Michaels Middle/High School (North) in February. Once again, congratulations to Mrs. Wildasin and the Music Department for bringing this terrific recognition to our school!

March brings our annual (and much anticipated) Spaghetti Dinner with entertainment on Saturday, March 6th. The It’s All About the Music Concert follows on Saturday, March 20th supporting the L. Scott Kilmon Scholarship fund benefitting one deserving senior band student each year. The All-Shore Senior Band Festival will be on March 10th with the All-Shore Junior Band Festival on March 25th. Look to April for parades, concerts and flower marts ~ more to follow on those events next month.

The boosters will take December off to spend time with family and friends. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, January 19th at 6:00 P.M. in the band room.

We wish all of you a happy and healthy Holiday Season. See you next year!

“Music has a great power for bringing people together. With so many forces in this world acting to drive wedges between people, it’s important to preserve those things that help us experience our common humanity.”  - Ted Turner

Jalan VanLowe, President

PTO NEWS

Wishing you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that you found time to rest in the midst of a busy time. As we start this new year we are reminded that we are half way through the school year and that our seniors are preparing to move on in their journey.  Also at hand is an election that we cannot sit complacently by and let happen without our voices and vote being heard.  It is time for us to seek new leadership in several of the county council seats because our children and their education must be a priority for these elected officials.  The vision that they have must include an education that will serve our children well into the future. Money for a college education is becoming harder to get as the whole country is suffering in these economic times and more students are competing for the same dollars.  The only way that our children can compete is academically and without the most aggressive and rigorous education they will not stand out.  This will leave the cost of an education beyond the reach of many and our student’s dreams will not be able to be realized.  If you are registered, great!  If not, why not?  It's free and it's your tax dollars that you are giving away control over.  Get registered, it's not too late.  Look for updates here and in the newspaper as SMM/HS leads the way in creating the Talbot County League of Informed Voters (TLCIV).  Membership is free, just drop us a note at school or on our email or through the school email letting us know that you support this initiative so that we can let the sitting County Council know that we are rallying and we are willing to fight for our children!
 
Upcoming events that the PTO will need your help with include the following:
 
March 13: VERA BRADLEY/COACH AND SOME SURPRISES FOR THE GUYS BINGO! That's right invite the guys because we have some incredibly awesome games planned for the guys!  You can make a monetary donation for a game in honor "him" or you can purchase a bag at Bags Aloft.  The bag games work this way: you go into Bags Aloft and we have a sponsor who will cover half of the cost of a bag. (i.e. a bag that costs $36.00 will need a donation of $18.00 from you)  Then you can let us know if that bag is in honor of a special person. You can even go together with a group of friends to purchase a bag!  The coach bag donations require a call to Toni or Lisa and we will let you know how much of that is covered by our "benefactor."  Admission is still only $15.00 per person in advance and $20.00 per person at the door.  There will be special games in addition to the regular games available for purchase.
 
February 13: SOUP SALE!!!  10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at St. Lukes' to benefit the scholarship fund.  We need pots of soup and biscuits to be donated and people to come hang out and help us to serve and to deliver the soup.  Contact Lisa or Toni.  The basic soups we sell are chicken noodle, veggie beef and chili, but we have had great success with corn chowders and crab vegetables when they are made.  We have had requests for a ham and bean as well.  So please make a pot of your favorite soup and share it with us as we help honor seven of our seniors with scholarships.
 
May 8: Tentative date for our first ever Mother/Daughter/ Girls Night Out/It's All About Us Ladies Bingo ever!  We say tentative because we need volunteers who can keep a secret about our plans until April, and we will need nominal donations of food and money to pull this one off.  Want in on the best kept secret at the school?  Call us, volunteer.  Of course the men are welcome, and trust us if they win one of the scheduled prizes they will be very popular!
 
TREES FOR KNOWLEDGE:  This year was a very special year for this program as we saw a dream of the PTO realized. The trees this year were decorated in entirety by school staff, student organizations, and parents!  We loved that you all embraced this program and supported it this way! A special thank you to Frannie Phillips who chaired this years tree program.  She was tireless in promoting the trees and applying "first aid" upon their return from the stores as needed! Thank you Frannie, couldn't have done this year without you.  Also to Toni Hall, Anna Chroniger and Ginni Mulutinovich who helped to deliver and pick up the trees. This is not an easy task and they did it with a smile, so thanks ladies!

Also thank you to American farm Publications and Renee' Larrimore, our printing and graphic design guru, for the great posters that announced our trees.  The trees were a huge success and seeing them displayed together at the choral concert, thanks to Mrs. Hale's generosity was a sight to behold.  Thanks to everyone for showing that you support what we do.
 
In closing we would encourage you to look at our upcoming events and VOLUNTEER!  Everything we do benefits your student and their school.  Our next PTO meeting is on Tuesday, January 12th at 6:00 p.m.  It will be followed by a brief meeting for the After Prom Party. (The AP Board is a separate board from the PTO but we hold our meetings back to back because many people help with both and this allows them to only have to leave their families for one evening.)
 

Contact: Lisa Hayes, President, 410.819.0392 or Co-President, Toni Hall, 410.200.4856

IMPORTANT DATES

January
12th – Senior Financial Aid Night (6PM Café)
15th – NHS Tapping Ceremony
18th – MLK Birthday – Schools Closed
19th -20th  - HSA Make-Up Testing
19th – Band Boosters Meeting
22nd & 23rd - Battle by the Bay
23rd – SAT Testing
26th – Transition Day – No School for Students

February
6th - ACT Testing
12th-14th – Jekyll & Hyde Musical (Auditorium)
16th – Band Boosters Meeting
19th & 20th – Jekyll & Hyde Musical (Auditorium


PARENT SUPPORT MEETING

Tuesday, January 12, 2010
6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Talbot County Education Center (TCEC)
12 Magnolia Drive, Easton
Light supper provided!

Come join us for an informal gathering where you can meet other parents who have children with special needs.  These topics of interest will be presented:
Autism Awareness
with Jaime Langdon
President of the National Autism Association of Maryland-Eastern Shore
Mid-shore Challengers
(a recreational group for families who have a child with special needs)
with Robin Murphy, coordinator

For more information, please contact Carol Zinser or Audra Cherbonnier at the Family Support and Resource Center at 410.820.6940 or czinser@tcps.k12.md.us or  acherbonnier@tcps.k12.md.us

Please call or email by Monday, January 11th if you will need childcare (provided at the Critchlow Atkins Children’s Center across the street from the TCEC.)


Talbot County Public Schools’ FAMILY SUPPORT & RESOURCE CENTER

Invites All of Our Families to Join Us for a...

FAMILY BOWLING PARTY
                     @
EASTON BOWLING CENTER
    Sunday, January 24, 2010
             2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Talbot County Family Support and Resource Center is hosting this fun-filled family bowl at Easton Bowling Center for all of our families with children receiving IEP services (ages 5-21) through Talbot County Public Schools.  There will be wheelchair accessibility and bumper lanes so all can enjoy bowling!!!

Soooo…grab your family and come and spend the afternoon with us!!

We will provide 2 hours of bowling, shoes, pizza and soda!!

RSVP no later than January 18th to Audra Cherbonnier or Carol Zinser, Parent Coordinators with Talbot County Public Schools Family Support & Resource Center at 410-820-6940 or email czinser@tcps.k12.md.us or acherbonnier@tcps.k12.md.us


TALBOT PARTNERSHIP MESSAGES
                                 
Parent Alert:  There is an alarming trend occurring locally involving opiate (Percocet, Darvocet, Methadone) use among our teens.  Just because these are prescription drugs does not mean they are safer than illegal drugs. Misuse can slow down or even stop breathing and continued abuse can lead to addiction. This is a good time to monitor what’s in your medicine cabinet and what’s being prescribed to your children. Talk to your teen and if you suspect there is a problem, call TurnAround (410.819.5900) for a confidential screening and assessment.


DID YOU KNOW?
   
        *48% of Talbot County seniors admitted to binge drinking within the past thirty days; the highest rate in the state. (2007 Maryland Adolescent Survey)
    
        *Alcohol may cause permanent changes to the way the brain works.

        *Young people who start drinking before age 15 are five times more likely to have alcohol related problems later in life.

        Tip:  If you suspect your teen is abusing alcohol, call Turnaround for a free and confidential assessment.      
                (410.819.5900)
        Tip:  Call the Talbot TipLine to report underage drinking parties (410.820.4003)