Town Crier on Friday, October 7, 2011.

Happy Friday!
October 7, 2011
Welcome Back Minutemen!
We are off to a wonderful start! Together this will be a prosperous 2011-2012 School Year!
PTO Meeting - Our next PTO meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 8:15 AM!
MCMS Athletic Booster Fundraiser - Parents, your MCMS Athletic Booster Club is hosting a fundraiser that will allow our club to receive 100% of the proceeds. Belk is hosting a special sale on Saturday, November 5 from 6:00 AM-10:00 AM. This is a private sale dedicated to support local organizations. This sale allows the customers to receive 20%-70% off purchases storewide, including special savings on rarely-discounted brands. If you purchase more than one ticket, you will have to ring up some items in multiple transactions to receive the multiple discounts. If you are interested in participating in the sale, but are unavailable to attend on November 5, you may reserve items beginning on October 30. Simply present your ticket to the cashier and ask them for details on how to reserve items.
The cost of the ticket is $5, which gives you $5 off your Belk purchase. WE are planning on selling these tickets in our carpool line on October 7th and October 21st. In addition to those dates, the tickets are on sale in our office and at our ball games.
Thank you for your support,
Morehead City Athletic Booster Club
Flap Jack Fundraiser –Come on down for our Flap Jack Fundraiser $7, tickets on sale in office, ask a cheerleader, or on the day of the event tomorrow, Saturday, (Oct. 8) from 8-10 AM at Applebee’s on Highway 70. Yum, Yum!
Volunteer Training – Volunteer training for those of you who would like to volunteer in our school will take place today, Friday, October 7th at Morehead Primary School promptly at 2:15 in the cafeteria. There will also be a training session on Monday, October 10th at Morehead Primary School at 5:30 pm.
Are you ready for some Quiz Bowl?
Students who are interested should give their name to their homeroom teacher. Meetings will take place every Wednesday starting on Wednesday, October 12th and lasting until April 2nd. There is a $10 fee for students wishing to join our team and the first competition is on Wednesday, November 2nd, at Beaufort Middle School. Hope to see you on October 12!
E-Grades - Many of you have asked about E-grades. This system of communication regarding your students’ grades has been and continues to be important to us.
"Egrades are up and working! Teachers gained access this Thursday and have been helping students log in and view their grades.
Parents should visit the school website to learn how to access their student's grades.
* Please view the Parent Tools page for directions on how to access student grades."
Absences and Tardies - We’d also like to remind you of the importance of clearing absences and tardies when they occur. Students should bring notes to Ms. Becton in first class within a couple of days of the tardiness or absence. We thank you in advance for keeping our attendance records up to date.
Lost and Found Items – Parents, there is now a link on the MCMS web page that allows you to check “Lost and Found” items that have collected for a few weeks now. We encourage you to collect your valuable items before we must donate to charity organizations. The lost and found list is updated each Friday.
Rachel’s Challenge – Rachel's Challenge will meet each Friday during AC and Lunch.
*6th Grade will be in Room 134 (Kathleen Miller's Room)
*7th Grade will be in Room Number 10 (The old First Class Room)
*8th Grade will be in Room Number 7 (The Health Room)
*Rachel's Challenge Sign up with your homeroom teacher
* Rachel's Challenge Chain Links Club is a group that seeks to start chain reactions of kindness and compassion throughout MCMS
* Meets Every week during lunch (Friday)
* Meets Every Other week during AC/Lunch (Friday)
* All year committment: Need to attend all meetings

The 2010 presentation of Rachel’s Challenge is still actively at work in our school!
As you may be aware, Rachel Joy Scott leaves a legacy across all continents. Her message of treating others with compassion and kindness sounds simple. Yet, the message Rachel continues to send is so complex. Adolescents are living in a world very different than many of us experienced during our teenage years.

Whether we think it is or is not the role of schools to teach respectful behaviors, the reality is that we do this in some capacity, every day, at MCMS. We have found the common message in Rachel’s Challenge to be an extremely valuable tool to teach and re-teach the characteristics of kindness and compassion. Rachel’s message has much more impact than any anti-bullying message around. It just makes sense to our kids.

Our plan is to bring Rachel’s Challenge back to our school community the last week in October. Two assemblies will take place. The first will be presented to our sixth grade students. They will hear the message our entire school heard last year. The second assembly will be a follow up for both seventh and eighth grade students. The message will extend the students’ knowledge of kindness and compassion and tap into their ability to understand the concepts at a deeper level. The third component to our day will include training for our student leaders-those that have chosen to be members of the Chain Links Club. This support for student leadership will build on this group’s leadership capacity, reinforcing life-long skills.

We have about 50% of the $4,000 needed for this year’s program. If you are interested and able to contribute in any way, we are accepting all donations, regardless of the amount. Know that at least once per week, every student is participating in a classroom discussion that promotes the spark to start a chain reaction of kindness and compassion in our school, community and world. Together, we can make a difference!

Once we finalize our dates and times, we will publish the information within our community, hoping you are able to join us for this awesome event.

Spirit Days at MCMS - "Spirit Day" Tuesday, Oct. 18, and Monday, Nov. 7. Students we encourage you to show your school spirit by wearing red, white, and/or blue or an MCMS t-shirt on Spirit Days.
This Thursday is our next spirit day! We encourage all students and staff to participate by wearing MCMS spirit wear or dress like your twin! Keep in mind that you must be prepared for the day before getting to school. I’d ask that you’d refrain from using marker on yourself as this isn’t an appropriate way to show school spirit. These days are intended to have a good time together, while supporting our athletic team. Let’s see if the 8th or 6th grades can post higher participation numbers and beat the 7th grade!
There are two incentives:
*1. On each Spirit Day, students who are wearing school colors will write their name on a piece of paper (the bag and slips of paper should be in your box). A cheerleader will come to your room on those mornings to assist with this if needed and to collect the bags. One student will be chosen for each Spirit Day to win a prize given by the PTO.
*2. The grade level with the most participation for all five Spirit Days will win ice cream that will given to them during lunch one day in November.
Make-up Days – Make-up days for the school days missed due to hurricane Irene will be on Monday, October 10th and Monday, December 19th. Monday, December 19th will be an early release day also. Students will be dismissed from school at 12:00 noon. Mark your calendars!
Sports Pictures Scheduled: October 21st beginning after school at 3:15 the following teams will take sport pictures:
Football @ 3:15
Boys Golf @ 3:30
Girls Soccer @ 3:45
Cheerleading @ 4:00
Boys Golf Team – MCMS defeated Beaufort and Broad Creek yesterday afternoon. MCMS had 126, Beaufort 140 and Broad Creek scored 147. Tanner Beszterczi was the winner with a 29. Jacob Ellingsworth was 2nd with 30 points and Jack Rixey was 3rd place with a score of 33.
Great Job Guys!
8th Grade Yearbook Staff -There will be a meeting of 8th grade yearbook staff on Thursday, October 13. This meeting is only for 8th graders. Please meet Mrs. Piner out front after school. The meeting will begin once the car line clears.
Boys Soccer Tryouts – Boys Soccer tryouts begin on Tuesday, October 11th at 3:15 on the back field behind MCMS. Must have a Copy of grades and sports physical MUST be in hand before they can tryout.
Football News –The football team travels to Down East on Wednesday, October 12.
Media Mania News …. Don’t get caught without a BOOK!
Celebrate good times! Come on! Wow, talking about falling into fiction, we've fallen in love with books! The Starfish team is leading the competition with 160 leaves! Sea Turtles are the closest rival with 94 leaves! The 8th Grade teams are neck and neck. The staff is the lowest on the totem pole with 10 leaves. Staff, we gotta keep reading! Shout out to Kristen Milosh for Shadow by Jenny Moss; she rated it a 10 for the best book she ever read! Shout out to Ian Karasinski for Box of Treasures by Theodore Taylor; he rated it a 10 because it is "awesome, exciting, and actiony". Shout out to Mrs. Guay for Serendipity by Carly Phillips; she rated it a 7 for a small town story. Keep falling for reading! The leaf elves are busy at work to keep the leaves ready for recording books read. Do you think the staff can catch up with the students? Do you think the Starfish will maintain the lead? Read and stay tuned for more action.
Follow our Blog – We encourage you to become a Follower of our blog to receive our Town Crier News through your email. To do this, please click on the Town Crier Blog on the left side of Morehead Middle’s Blog page. The Town Crier School News will pop up. Click on the Follower button located at the bottom of our school calendar. It will take you to a screen where you sign into an account listed or you can create a Google account to automatically receive daily updates. Fill out the necessary information. Join us! Keep in touch with what is happening daily at MCMS!
Have a Wonderful Day!