Town on Monday, October 24, 2011.

Happy Monday!
October 24, 2011
Welcome Back Minutemen!
We are off to a wonderful start! Together this will be a prosperous 2011-2012 School Year!
PTO Meeting - The next PTO meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 8 @ 8:15. Hope to see you here!
EARLY RELEASE – School will dismiss at 11:55 am on Monday, October 31, 2011.
Halloween Costume Guidelines – Monday, October 31, 2011 are:
1. Students must be dressed and ready prior to coming to school.
2. If face painting is part of your costume, it must be completed at home and may not create a mess within our school.
3. NO MASKS will be allowed.
4. NO costumes relating to violence of any sort will be allowed.
Let’s have some fun with this event. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the day in two categories.
a. General Halloween theme
b. Summer read them –“Al Capone Does My Shirts”
• If in doubt about what you are planning to wear, please talk with your homeroom teacher or an administrator at lunch time.
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
8th Grade Yearbook Meeting - There will be a meeting for 8th grade yearbook staff on Thursday, October 27 from 3-4 in Mrs. Piner's room.
6th Grade Band Concert - The sixth grade band will have their first concert on Tuesday, October 25 at 7:00 pm in the gym. Sixth grade band students need to be dressed, in their seats with instruments and music, ready to begin at 6:30. The concert begins at 7:00 and should last 35-40 minutes. Everyone is invited to attend!
Sports Eligibility – Students please write in your planners that Sports Eligibility is Nov. 1. All grades and behavior will be checked on this date. The sports effected by this are boys soccer, volleyball, wrestling, boys and girls basketball, and cheerleading.
Volleyball Game – Next volleyball game will take place on Thursday, October 27 against Down East right here at MCMS at 4:00. You don’t want to miss this! Make plans to be here.
Boys Golf Team – The golf team will have a match on Thursday, October 27 at the Crystal Coast Country Club in Pine Knoll Shores at 3:30.
Football News – Come on out and support the football team for their final game at WCHS on Wednesday, Oct 26th starting at 5:00 against Newport.
Quiz Bowl - Meetings will take place every Wednesday from 3:00 to 3:45 thru April 2nd. Our first competition is on Wednesday, November 2nd, at Beaufort Middle School.
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 - Next "Spirit Day" 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. You can now buy a gray, long-sleeved t-shirt from our PTO just in time for the cooler weather. The price of the t-shirt is $15.00.
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 Day – Our next Make-up day for the school day we missed due to hurricane Irene is 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!
Media Mania News …. Don’t get caught without a BOOK!
Because I'm free! Free Fallin' over leaves in our media center. Our grand total of leaves to date is 554 leaves as of Wednesday, 10-19 8:00 am. The Staff more than doubled their leaves and are no longer in last place! Way to go staff! Ms. Boulia and Mrs. Tripp-Cox keep the leaves pouring in along with our other staff of multiple leaves. Don't forget to fill out a leaf when you finish a book. The Starfish are still in the lead, but the Sea Turtles are in hot pursuit. Sandpipers are raking in the leaves as well, and our first shot out goes to Rachel Rouse, who has turned in over 20 leaves to date. Other shot outs include Desmond Jones who rated 50 Cents a 10 for being wise and encouraging. Morgan Ballou rated Hunger Games a 10 for being action packed. Speaking of Hunger Games, we can't keep it on the shelf. Students are reading like crazy! Our last shout out goes to Andrew, who read The Desperado Who Stole Baseball by John Ritter. He rated it a 10 due to holding his attention. Prizes for the winning team along with individual winners are in store. Don't miss out on this opportunity. Be a free faller over books!
Box Tops for Education – Box Tops is all about the difference 1 can make. This year our goal is to raise $334.00 for materials and programs to benefit our students. Here are three easy, ways to help:
1. Clip – Clip the Box Tops from hundreds of participation products and send them to school. Each one is worth 10 cents when our school redeems them from Box Tops for Education
Shop Online – Shop at your favorite stores through the Box Tops Marketplace (boxtops4education.com/marketplace). Up to 15 eBoxTops per $10 spent on qualifying purchases is automatically donated to our school, at no additional cost to you. Plus you’ll get exclusive Box Tops deal and discounts!
2. Read – Buy books online through Reading Room, a partnership between Box Tops and Barnes and Noble. Our school receives up to 6 eBox Tops per $10 spent on qualifying purchases.
3. Sign up – It’s easy and free. Sign up to support our school at boxtops4education.com
• See how much our school is earning with Box Tops
• Enter online promotions for chances to win Bonus Box Tops and other prizes
• Print money-saving coupons for your favorite Box Tops brands
• Make mealtime easier with family-pleasing recipes
You can also sin up for Box Tops email newsletters that will keep you updated on the program, and for Marketplace newsletter with Box Tops members-only deals and discounts.
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!