Town Crier on Wednesday, October 5, 2011.

Happy Wednesday!
October 5, 2011
Welcome Back Minutemen!
We are off to a wonderful start! Together this will be a prosperous 2011-2012 School Year!
Tdap Vaccinations for 6th Graders - Thanks to all sixth grade families for making the Tdap vaccinations a priority. The deadline is fast approaching, so please make appointments this week!
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
Are you ready for some Quiz Bowl?
Students who are interested should give their name to their homeroom teacher. Homeroom teachers can email either me or Wendy the names of the students who are interested. 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. We need all names by Monday, October 3rd. Hope to see you on October 12!
Do you love to SING? - The MCMS Glee Club will be starting back up this Wednesday! Please join us for the MCMS Coffee Shop! This is an open mic event for anyone who would like to show off their singing talents. If you would like to perform, you must sign up by lunchtime on Tuesday. If you want to come and listen, just show up Wednesday! We will be meeting from 3 - 4 in room 5 (Mrs. Dodgens room).
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" is again tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 6, 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 this Thursday 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
Girls Soccer News – The Lady Minutemen Soccer Team won their game yesterday afternoon. Great Job Girls! Our girls will play a playoff game on Thursday against Broad Creek Middle School. This game will be played at Newport Middle School beginning at 4:00 pm.
Students will get in free and adults will pay $2.00. NO booster passes will be accepted. Come out and join us!
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 – Our football team travels to Beaufort Middle School today, Wednesday, October 5th. Game time is 4:00 pm. We would love to see you there!
Media Mania News …. Don’t get caught without a BOOK!
Introducing our new LIP service, I ain't givin' you no lip; we are falling like crazy over books. Fall into Fiction, our literacy initiative project, shouts out to Carson Davis, who finished The Juvie 3 by Gordan Korman and rated it a 9 due to holding his attention, Bailey Rotchford, who finished The Bear and rated a 10 over loving the baby, and Mrs. Hopkins, who rated Beautiful Creatures a 10. The competition has really kicked up a notch with the 8th graders ruling the school. It is very close between Sandpipers and Leatherbacks for the leading team, so stay tuned for details next week about who's on first. Don't forget, when you finish a book, fill a leaf. The leaf should be written in pen or marker for the best reading conditions. Include the title, author, rating (1-10), a few words why, your first and last name, and your team. Read all about it!
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!