#sparkinfo. Weekly Update
Week 25, February 18th-21st
Being Lifelong Learners
I am so grateful for the many opportunities Pickens Middle has had to learn and grow recently and will have in the weeks to come!
Last Tuesday, John Walsh from the Stetson Consulting group was on campus and we had a great day of collaborating regarding inclusive practices and our SPED services for next year.
On Friday, I was inspired by the faculty book chat and learned some new things about accommodating students with ADHD. Coach Morris did a great job sharing Navigate Prepared. It seems like an incredible tool to further increase safety. Finally, we began to explore our "why" with personalized learning. I believe that this will be a game-changer for our school.
Tomorrow, our initial personalized learning academy planning team will meet and begin exploring what this looks like for our school in the coming year. Remember, our goal is to "Think big, start small, and scale fast"! While you may not have chosen to be on the initial planning team, your understanding the why and collective leadership will be critical. I can't wait to hear the ideas of the group.
On Wednesday, Mrs. Masters has organized our first round of learning walks. This will be a great opportunity to build the positive practices in our building.
Thank you for all you do to help students find great success, and for always striving to learn and grow in our most important of professions.
How We Learn
Photos From Last Week!
Congratulations Mrs. Dunn!
Our girls are the division runners-up!
Beta, SGA, and Robotics to Breakout!
Valentines Cards for Major Bill White!
Sparks Rising Family Night
The Tic Tac Snow Literacy Competition
This Week's Agenda-
Mon., Feb. 17th-
Inclement Weather Make-Up Day
Tues., Feb. 18th-
PHS visit to PMS: Rising 9th grade registration
7th grade Job Shadowing
Reading All-Stars Begins
Academy Planning Day
Wed., Feb. 19th-
Math/ELA Learning Walks
No One Eats Alone Day
Th., Feb. 20th-
Personalized Learning Cohort (Col)
Career Cafe - Grade 6
Fr., Feb. 21st-
SPARKS Finest Movie Day
Sat., Feb. 22nd-
8th Grade Winter Semi-Formal
Happy Birthday!!
Febuary 15th Amanda Wilson
Febuary 18th Karen Patterson
Febuary 22nd Jennifer Reeves
SPARK SPOTLIGHT!!!!
A shout out from your colleague!
Thank you! Have you ever taken the time to recognize those around you? It feels good to recognize others!
Susan Martin- I adore your generous and loving spirit that you have for your sixth grade family! It’s simple really, you take care of us. You keep it REAL, and that’s encouraging to us. It let’s us know that we are doing a good job and it will be okay. And you fixed my button on my sleeve I asked five people to help me with it and I Should of came to you first! You are like a mother hen and you take care of us and I love you and THANK YOU!
Cindy Whittemore- Cindy doesn’t have to stay after school with us, but she does. You let us know that we are worth your time and energy. You instill in us that we can do anything and then we pass that to our students. You think logically and you don’t get stressed or overwhelmed. THANK YOU for sharing your years of experience and know how with us. Your contribution to our school is priceless and often during morning assembly, as I look at our students, I’m in awe that I get to work with such AMAZING colleagues as friends well more like family really...I love and respect you!!!
Marion Lawson- Marion looks out for us. I joke that we have to look out for him and take care of him. But he is the one who serves us. I love and respect you my friend and colleague!
Anna Lemmons- Anna cracks me up! I’m serious she makes me laugh. Life is hard and y’all these past couple of weeks have been tiring and crazy. Just go to Anna and you will be laughing and the stuff she says is so TRUE! Comic Relief is SO important... it keeps it real and I love to laugh!!!! It reminds me to lighten up... we all need an Anna Lemmons for that...Ilove you friend!!!
James King- He encourages us to THINK BIG, start small, and Scale Fast! He told Olivia and I this week something that has stuck with me and gave me freedom really. He said, “Always remember that TRUTH doesn’t need defending” As we continue to work hard and do what we can for these kiddos, we don’t have to worry about Facebook, politics, the negative, social media, or the charter schools. Let’s let our light shine and our student’s accomplishments will speak for themselves!!!!!#SPARKPRIDE😊
Justin Bramblett- Because he is awesome! Lesson plans, labs, dichotomous keys these guy is an AMAZING resource. When you have a computer issue who do we go to Justin! Because of Justin my kids and have have an Appreciation for Star Wars and Musicals! Thank you for teaching me how to be cultured!!! And thank you for staying after school when our town was flooding to create some awesome digital day learning plans!
Janet Chastain- Janet, you are such a powerful and precious force in our school! You receive all parents or community member with grace and respect. Thursday was a crazy day, you probably made 500 calls to classrooms dismissing students you had an office filled with worried parents. You were “Grace under pressure”. Each time you called my classroom your were kind, calm, and professional. I know you don’t believe me when I say this, but it is true, you will be so hard to replace. I hope your replacement will have the opportunity to shadow you so they can see how to do it right! We will miss you so much! For 32 years you have served Pickens Middle School with love, grace, dedication, dependability, and this year was tough for you and yet you continue to serve with excellence. This verse from the ultimate teacher reminds me of you: “if your enemy is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty give him drink, for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head. Don’t be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good” and that’s what you do day in and day out! Secretary’s day is April 22! We will celebrate you!!!
Coach Riddle- There was a torrential downpour!!!! I was bringing in some crock pots of soup. Melissa Riddle with her beautiful strawberry blonde hair shows up right behind me in the parking lot as rain is pouring and you know it is going to cause her illustrious locks to frizz..... She says "I love you and wanted to help you".... and she did! She was wet, cold, and was about to leave on a field trip. I was worth her time and energy. She lovingly served me!! You do so much Melissa for our school and you are really GOOD AT IT. Thank you for taking time for me in the most unpleasant conditions. I will never forget that!
Click on the link below as you see and hear great things happening in the building. Please let us know about them by filling out the form. You may want to bookmark the link as we will be "Spotlighting" teachers and staff all year. Please note, this is a new link for this school year.
From Sparks of Knowledge Grow Flames of Success
Email: jamesking@pickens.k12.sc.us
Website: http://pms.pickens.k12.sc.us/
Location: 140 Torch Lane, Pickens, SC, 29671
Phone: (864) 397-4100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pickensms/?scrlybrkr=85865011
Twitter: @pmssparks