The Spartan
Schmucker Middle School PTO Newsletter - May '16
Letter From the PTO President
Dear SMS Families,
Another school year is ending and I'm sure I'm not alone in asking "Where did the time go?"
The PTO is incredibly grateful for your support. Every minute you give, every encouraging word you share with a student, every penny you donate, every time you tell a teacher "thank you," you help make SMS the outstanding school we have all come to love. Without your support we would not be able to celebrate our teachers through Staff Appreciation, hold a book fair, or fulfill specific teacher requests. Without you our students wouldn't have opportunities to raise money to help them get to DC as an 8th grader. Your support in purchasing spirit wear and PE clothes helps keep programs like 5 Star and Robotics, along with many others, going strong. Taking time to clip box tops and shopping at Martin's and Meijer helps us give back to the school in a myriad of ways including a significant contribution to the 6th and 7th grade field trips. This is just s sampling of all that we are able to do because of your continued support. Thank you to all of you, our SMS families, for being part of the work we do at Schmucker.
It ha been my privilege to serve this year and I am grateful for the opportunity. I have been honored to work alongside many wonderful people. The PTO is a true group effort and I am beyond thankful for the amazing team of board members, committee chairs and volunteers who kept everything running smoothly. This group has given tirelessly throughout the year, sometimes in very visible ways and at others working quietly behind the scenes. To each and every one of you I say "Thank You!" It has been a joy.
From all of us at the PTO we wish you a safe, sunny and fun filled summer!
Serving together to make a difference,
Cleary Jankowski
8th Grade GLOW Party - May 20th, 6-8pm
The 8th grade GLOW Party is on Friday, May 20, 6-8pm. There will be ONE MORE DAY OF TICKET SALES BEFORE THE EVENT:Tuesday, May 17, during lunch - $10 each! T-shirts are still available. Tickets will be sold at the door. The night will feature a special performance by SMS Superstars your children know well, phototainment by TapSnap, Cash Cab (trivia on a golf cart), and plenty of food and drinks. Please encourage your child to “GLOW” to this final Schmucker celebration - the black lights will be a blast!
We are also collecting photos for a “Guess that Baby” photo collage created by Julie Turner. After all, we are sending our “babies” off to high school next year! Please email Julie a jpg of your “baby” to incorporate into this fun guessing game by 5p Wednesday, May 18to julieturner@comcast.net. Photos should be 1MB or higher for printing and cropping. OR you may have your child bring in a high quality copy of a photo sized 4x6 or 5x7.
Looking forward to fluorescent fun,
The 8th Grade Party Committee
SPARTAN STOMP VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
The PTO is still in need of volunteers to help with the Spartan Stomp (much like a field day) on May 17th for 8th grade and May 24th for 6th/7th grade. Please go to the following link to sign up. Thanks for your help!
https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10c0f4badaa29a3f49-spartan/39986581
SMS Staff Appreciation
Many thanks to our wonderful volunteer team that have so generously contributed food and assistance throughout this school year! Generally we do something each month to show our support and appreciation to our SMS Staff. Because of your kind donations this year has been a wonderful success! We could not do it without you all.
We hope you enjoy a fantastic summer and if you are returning to SMS next fall, we look forward to your continued support!
Julie Massey and Meg McQueen
Julie Massey 214.223.0452 - Cell
Interested in the PHM Forum?
The PHM forum is volunteer- based parent-led group which meets monthly to receive updates on current PHM topics from Dr. Thacker, guest speakers, and the forum committee. Each PHM school sends representatives to this meeting as well as being open all PHM parents. Meetings are generally held the first Wednesday of every month at 12pm in the Educational Services Center. Please join us!
October 7 Meeting Topic: The Latest Tech Rollouts
November 4 Project Lead the Way / STEM Initiatives
December 2 Holiday Potluck & Student Safety Discussion
January 6 Foreign Language Opportunities
February 3 Art & Music Education
March 2 Engineering Programs K-12
April 13 Grading Scales, Report Cards, & Graduation Qualifying Exams
May 4 Sports Opportunities
Schmucker Staff Appreciation and Hospitality
HAPPY FALL, SCHMUCKER FAMILY!
Each month our SMS Staff Appreciation volunteers along with the PTO will be showing our support to all of our awesome staff. If you completed your volunteer forms and said that you wanted to join our team or wanted to be aware of needs throughout the year, you have been added to our SignUpGenius and email roster. You should be seeing an email soon and a signup regarding our first event later this month.
So many of you signed up to help out and we sincerely appreciate your willingness to contribute. Each year we are able to decorate the front of the school with flowers, pumpkins, and winter/spring decor. You make it possible by your donations for us to treat the staff each month with food, treats, coffee, candy, etc...We do have a budget and with your help we are able to do something each month. All the little things we do to support and encourage our Schmucker Staff mean a great deal!
You DO NOT need to contribute every month. You can pick just one event or three or all events (whatever is best for you).
To follow are a few upcoming dates. If you didn't sign up or you are not 100% sure if you are on the volunteer list, please email us and we will add you to our roster.
October 19 - Dinner for teachers (student led conferences)
November 20 - Soups, stews and chili lunch for the SMS Staff
December 15 - Holiday cookies and treats for the SMS Staff
THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING A PART OF OUR TEAM!
Meg McQueen, Julie Massey, Laura Christensen, Anna Binder and Cleary Jankowski
Questions: cjjpmassey@aol.com or 214.223.0452
Schmucker PTO
Location: 56045 Bittersweet Rd, Mishawaka, IN 46545
Facebook: facebook.com/SchmuckerMiddleSchoolPTO