Mariner Memo
December 20, 2019
This Week at Marine City Middle...
Hello Mariner Community,
WHAT....A....WEEK!!!
Wow, was there a lot going on this week, the last school week of not only 2019, but also the final school week of the DECADE. The whole week has been full of holiday vibes with a special spirit week and it was so much fun to see our kids all dressed up.
Monday saw the conclusion of the Applebee's gift card fundraiser. Many thanks go out to everyone that took part in the sales. In a quick and busy turnaround for a fundraiser, MCMS was able to raise over $400 to enhance our student experience! All of the purchased gift cards were counted and distributed to students this week and should have been brought home on Wednesday. The top sellers from each of the grades, that will have a pizza lunch with a friend after break, were PEYTON DANNEELS, JAYLYN ASHBAUGH, AND TRISTA GELAUDE. Great Job Students!
Tuesday night was our annual fine arts holiday concert at the PAC and our students did amazing. This concert is a favorite of many people as it marks the "close to the holidays" moment on the calendar. If you were unable to attend this year, check out some video clips from the concert later on in this newsletter.
Throughout the week students were engaged in a lunchtime holiday scavenger hunt. In year's past we have done a daily holiday Kahoot game, but this year, we wanted to get them up and moving. The goal of the scavenger hunt was to scan qr codes around the cafeteria and solve the questions to find the single letter or number answers to plug into a mystery url. That url took students to a website featuring five "elfed" MCMS staff members. You can check out the introduction and challenge video below as well as the "elfed" video that have been a part of the fun this week. On Friday, we awarded a clever student from each grade that was able to name those staff members correctly.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this week also brought the full collection, sorting, wrapping, and delivery of the gifts that were purchased for the four families that MCMS adopted this holiday season as well as the contribution to the Old Newsboys. Mrs. McLeod has been a busy elf the past couple of weeks helping the Michigan Junior Honor Society and Student Council members. These two groups have done an incredible job of showing KINDNESS, PERSPECTIVE, and LEADERSHIP, while also taking a crash course in time-management. At the end of the day, these amazing students and their awesome sponsor have had a positive impact on the lives of their classmates and the community this holiday season.
To close, I'd like to say thank you for a wonderful 2019. After we all take a brief fortnight of celebration and relaxation, we look forward to an even better 2020. To you and your families, we wish you the very best of the holiday season. We hope your Christmas is filled with laughs and joy and we will see you in January!
-Mr. Ming
Wrapping Gifts for Adopted Families and the Old Newsboys
6th grade Science classes working on The Earth's Timeline project...
Santa Felax visited the halls of MCMS this week spreading the spirit of the holidays
MCMS Fine Arts on display
After school on Wednesday, the bands continued the season of giving by spreading the joy to the Medilodge, where they performed their holiday routine for the residents and their families.
Check out the pics and clips from both events below.
Having fun making reindeer crafts
MCMS Staff Member of the Month
Congratulations to MR. ANDY SCHEEL, the fantastic school counselor of Marine City Middle. Mr. Scheel is an amazing asset to the staff and students of our building, always providing a kind ear and a helpful hand. Mr. Scheel has selected the Rocketbook starter pack for his gift!
This Week in the Positivity Project...
There is a student that I meet with daily, just to check in. He is a student that has had his fair share of discipline issues come up over the last couple of years, but he has a truly good heart. He often finds himself in a position where he has a hard time controlling his mouth (a problem that many middle school students share). This young man came up to me at lunch time on Tuesday with a huge smile because he had something he wanted to tell me...here's our conversation.
Student: Hey, Mr. Ming
Me: Hey (student), what's going? You look happy today.
Student: You should be proud of me. Someone said something dumb in class today and I wanted to tell him so bad, but then I remembered what we were learning about with SELF-CONTROL this week so I stopped.
Me: That's awesome (student), you wouldn't have done that last year.
Student: Thanks, yeah, I wouldn't have done that, this P2 stuff makes me think more.
Stories like this happen every single day and are all starting to have the effect with our students that we have been aiming for. The Positivity Project is not a quick fix. What it is, however, is character education that teaches our young people about themselves and how to interact with others. I'm so proud of the student featured in the story above as well as all of our students that are taking these lessons to heart and are learning the value of strong relationships and interactions with others.
Positivity Assembly Pictures (more pics to come in January!)
We've added a couple of pictures from our December assembly here, but we will have many more in our January 10th edition of the Mariner Memo. There were so many good things in this newsletter, that we wanted to spread out the joy!
Positivity Project Assembly
The incredible Mariners listed below were recognized at the assembly on Friday for exemplifying the character strengths of KINDNESS, HUMILITY/MODESTY, and SELF-CONTROL. Way to go!
Kindness- 6th grade: Jack Reyes, Lily Carruthers 7th grade: Keith Amy, Angelina Tucker 8th grade: Josh Potvin, Emma Erdmann Humility - 6th grade: Gaeton Urbani IV, Analeis Ming 7th grade: Andrew Pressman, Averi Havercamp 8th grade: Chad Dietlin, Meilee Evans Self Control - 6th grade: Ethan Chipman, Claire Karczewski 7th grade: Austin Kohler, Arielle Wallace 8th grade: Will Stier & Grayce Sankuer