Murray Messages November 3, 2014 RESPECTFUL RESPONSIBLE READY Principal’s Message Dates to Dear MHMS Community, Remember: November 3 – As you may know, our 6th grade students read the book titled “Red Professional Learning Scarf Girl” as part of the ELA curriculum. I am excited to announce Day – No School for that the author of this wonderful book, Ji-Ji Jiang, will be visiting Students MHMS on November 6! During this time, our 6th grade students will have the opportunity to meet the author and ask questions related November 4 – General to her work. Election Day – All Schools and Offices Closed On Tuesday, November 18, Murray Middle School in partnership with the Continental Societies (Laurel Chapter) will be hosting our November 5 – second annual Passport to Success: College & Career Night. PickATime Opens for Throughout the evening, 7th and 8th grade students and their Scheduling parents will have the opportunity to meet with representatives Parent/Teacher from universities, receive information on Financial Aid for College, Conferences meet professionals in the STEM related fields, and receive career guidance. I hope you can join me for this wonderful event! November 6 – Chorus Field Trip to Toby’s Dinner Theater Sincerely, st November 12 – 1 Quarter Report Cards Issued Joshua R. Wasilewski Principal November 13 – PTA Meeting – 6:30 p.m. - Media Murray Hill Newsletter 9989 Winter Sun Road, Laurel, MD 20723 410-880-5897 410-880-5897 School News and Events: Nominations for Staff of the Month Murray Hill Middle School has a dedicated staff that does wonderful things to enhance the educational experience of our students. We need your assistance with highlighting their exceptional acts. Nomination forms can be found on the Murray Hill Middle School website and are due to Mrs. Harmon by the 20th of each month. Your input would be helpful in recognizing those outstanding staff members. Second Annual Math Festival The 2nd Annual Howard County Math Festival will take place on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. at Centennial High School in Ellicott City. See how much fun math really is!! Open to all ages and it’s FREE! There will be demonstrations, discussions, activities and giveaways!! For more information check this out at http://www.stemulatingminds.com or contact them at [email protected]. 8th Grade News Permission slips will be going out this week for the Eighth Grade field trip to the Newseum, National Archives, and American History Museum in Washington, DC on December 5th. This will be an extended day field trip that will last from approximately 9:00 am until 6:00 pm. The cost of the trip will be $30.00. Permission slips will be due by November 14th. Student Ambassador News Check out the Student Ambassador Newsletter Fall -Winter Edition and get a sneak peek at the programs and activities that our student leaders are planning for the 2014 - 2015 school year. To view this newsletter, please click on this link: http://mhms.hocoschools.org/newsletters/student- ambassador-newsletter-October Whole Grain Hero The FACS department is introducing the “Whole Grain Heroes” campaign. Starting in November, students will be asked questions during their grade level lunch period, about what whole grain items are in their lunch. Each student that participates will receive a sticker for answering questions and their names will be placed in a drawing each week to win a Whole Grain Hero shirt. The Whole Grain Heroes campaign is to encourage students to incorporate whole grain foods at lunchtime through a recognition and incentive campaign every Wednesday in November. For more information about finding whole grains and some wonderful recipes and suggestions for preparing whole grains, families can visit: http://wholegrainscouncil.org/files/WholeGrains101brochure.pdf 2 PTA News Hello Murray Hill Friends and Families! It is quite hard to believe the 1st marking term is over! Wow! We hope and trust that you are settling in as the year progresses. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who supported last week's Scholastic Book Fair whether by volunteering or by granting your child permission to purchase books. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for making the Book Fair such a success! A Big Congratulations goes to our Amazing Bands directed by Mrs. Hersey and our Fantastic Chorus led by Mr. Heaton. Both events benefited the Grassroots Homeless Shelter in Columbia, MD. Our MHMS community contributed over $800.00 to the shelter! PTA Dates and Notes: November 1: Safeway/eScrip Registration Deadline November 5: UNO's Restaurant Night - All Day! November 13: PTA Meeting @ 6:30pm Learn about the MESA program Howard County Library representative will discuss student study skills. November 24: Staff Appreciation Dinner - 3:30pm. November 1st Deadline: Currently we have 23 families registered with Safeway/eScrip. In order for MHMS to receive donations, we need at least 100 families registered by November 1st. We can certainly reach this goal as a community! Please ask your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to register to the MHMS school ID - 6541014 @ http://www.escrip.com And START using your cards... it is an easy way to support your PTA. Please feel free to contact Grocery Rewards Guru, LaMont Ruley, on [email protected] should you have questions. Let's reach this goal! Mixed Bags Fundraiser: Catalogs have been sent home. You may order online http://www.mixedbagdesigns.com for early delivery! Remember to use code: 337156 at checkout to ensure credit to MHMS. Should you have any questions, please contact the marvelous Mary Weber at [email protected]. Happy Shopping! We are so proud to serve such a wonderful community. Thank you so much for your continued support. We wish you a terrific weekend and be sure to rock the vote!! 3 BOX Tops Contest The MHMS PTA will be sponsoring a “Box Tops for Beats” contest to kick off our School Marquee fundraising campaign. All students who submit Box Tops now through April 1, 2015 will be entered in a contest to win a set of Beats by Dre Headphones. You may enter as often as you’d like and every 20 Box Tops submitted equals one submission. Movie tickets will also be awarded to the 2nd and 3rd place winners. Campbell’s Labels will be accepted but they will not be included in the contest. Please include your name and the number of Box Tops submitted with each entry. Place your Box Tops in a sealed envelope marked “PTA.” Your submission can either be given to your homeroom teacher or placed in the Box Tops receptacle in the school lobby. Ready, set…….Start Clipping!! Grocery Rewards An easy way to contribute to your school community is to simply register your store cards and designate Murray Hill as the school. MHMS will receive a percentage of the sale. Participating stores include: MHMS ID# for Giant - 03458 http://www.giantfood.com/aplus MHMS ID for Target - 735 http://www.target.com MHMS ID for Harris Teeter. – 7866 http://www.harristeeter.com/community/together_in_education Feel free to contact LaMont Ruley at [email protected] for assistance. All our best, Your MHMS PTA HCPSS Pupil Personnel Services, Howard County PTA Council and North Laurel Community Center Coat Drive The HCPSS Pupil Personnel Services, the Howard County PTA Council and the North Laurel Community Center to hold a coat drive on Saturday, November 8th from 9:00-1:00pm. There is no income eligibility and no documentation is needed. There will be coats, hats, gloves, scarves, under garments, casual and dress clothes of all sizes from infants to adults. Everything is neatly organized by sizes which makes shopping very easy. Families are asked to get there early as the clothes go quickly. 4 Career stations * career choice guidance * college tourscollege * guidance choice career * stations Career College Continental Societies, Inc. Southeastern Howard / Laurel Chapter (SEH/L) prep * admission process * * processadmission * prep PASSPORT TO SUCCESS: COLLEGE & CAREER NIGHT mock interviews mock Mini-college fair * vocational careers * stem FINANCIAL* ASSISTANCE Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2014 * scholarships* Time: 6:30pm – 9:00pm Location: Murray Hill Middle School 9989 Winter Sun Road North Laurel, MD 20723 Audience: Grades 7 & 8 students and families For more information contact: MHMS Assistant Principal, Mrs. Andrea Harmon at 410-880-5897. 5 Atholton High School’s Theatre Department Presents: You Can’t Take It With You Atholton High School's award-winning theatre department will present the hilarious family comedy You Can’t Take It With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, November 8-15, 20104. Show times are Friday and Saturday at 7:00 PM and Sunday at 3:00 PM. Atholton High School is located in Columbia, at 6520 Freetown Road, between Cedar Lane and Route 29. Please see our website www.atholtonboosters.org for more details and ticket information. Atholton High School To Host Build-A-Bear Fundraiser Atholton High is hosting a "Build-a-Bear" fundraiser to support the Class of 2016. Animal Land will be bringing all the materials to build a custom teddy bear to Atholton High on Saturday, Dec. 13 from 9-12. Orders and payment need to be submitted before NOVEMBER 12. Pre-orders only please! The order form and additional information can be found here: http://teacherweb.com/MD/AtholtonHighSchool/Vennard/Animal-land-Fundraiser-Order-Form-- -Class-of-2016-1.pdf Please contact Scott Vennard or Nicole Payne with any additional questions [email protected] [email protected] Thanks, and hope to see you on Dec. 13! HCPSS News: HCPSS Debuts New Mobile Application A new HCPSS mobile application provides instant updates to HCPSS news and events, menus for all schools, documents and minutes from Board of Education meetings, and connections to all system social media resources.