How great it is to be a Heartland Thunderhawk! Every Sunday I spend a little bit of time in my office preparing to send out this newsletter. I reflect on the week and today I feel an overwhelming sense of PRIDE! I feel so proud of our Heartland teachers, proud of our students/athletes and proud to serve a community that truly wants the best for our school. Thank you to each and every one of you for your continued support and flexibility as we navigate this school year together! So many wonderful things happened last week and I am so excited to share just a few of them with you!

• We had a fantastic showing for our first ever SK8 Club! Thanks to Mr. Wilmes for donating his time and efforts to provide yet another avenue for our students to connect with each other...and have lots of fun doing it! 21 HMS’rs came out for our inaugural Sk8Jam. We had a lot of parents hang around until the end. Our students left The DailyShredd sweaty from head to toe and smiling from ear to ear - “totally stoked!” If you are interested in more information about Sk8 Club, please contact Mr. Wilmes!
• We had an amazing time celebrating our August Thunderhawk RISE recipients on Thursday! Each teacher picked one student that consistently met our RISE expectations for the month of August! Respect, Integrity, Self-Control & Effort! We treated them to lunch, games & sweets! Keep up the great work, Thunderhawks!
• We started our Hawk Hangout Advisory time last week! From this point forward, every Wednesday and Friday our students will attend their Hawk Hangout during their advisory time from 7:40am - 8:10am. Hawk Hangout is an enrichment time that we host that allows for students to sign up for an activity that interests them. Each teacher hosts a different activity that the students can sign up for! Whether it's karaoke, yoga, Just Dance, gaming, coloring, drawing, cards, BINGO....you name it, we have it! This allows for students to connect with different teachers and make new friends with students that they may not have met otherwise! We know that if students can find a niche within our school in which they feel they belong, they will be more excited to come to school! Our first Hawk Hangout Session will last until Fall break and then students will select a new activity for Session 2!
• To top all of that off, we ended the week with our first Fun Food Friday of the year! Students were able to purchase sweet treats during their courtyard time! We brought our resident DJ out, Officer Amy Brooks, and each grade had a dance party! Peep Officer Brooks getting low in the pic below!

Our short week packed a mighty punch!! This was just a few of the highlights! This upcoming week, we will be hosting the "Think Before You Post" campaign. Our 7th graders will have an assembly during their Science classes on Tuesday to hear from Officer Brooks and the importance of their digital footprint. Be sure to see the graphic below for information about how your Hawks can participate! We are looking forward to another fantastic week at the HEART!

WE ARE...HEARTLAND!

Respectfully,

Veronica Johnson

Principal, Heartland Middle School

405-340-2972

• Eligibility is run mid-week. For example - we run eligibility on Thursday morning based on grades posted on Wednesday evening. If a student is listed as "ineligible" - that means they can not participate in any OSSAA games scheduled for the next calendar week of Sunday - Sunday. By OSSAA rules - students can still practice during that time. However, individual coaches may have other team rules regarding practice.
• Probation vs. Ineligible. The first week a student has a grade that qualifies them for the eligibility report - they are listed as "on Probation"... At that point in time - they can still participate and play in games. (Again - team rules may be more strict) If the student raises the grade by the next eligibility report run - their name comes off the list and they are good to go. If there is still a grade in question - the student becomes ineligible.
• If a student is listed as ineligible - AND - raises their grade (yay!!) the next time there is a grade in question -- they move back to the probation category. Therefore, there is always a week of grace after a student has worked to get their name off of the list.

Please feel free to contact Heartland Athletic Director Laura Brown with questions as I know it can be confusing.