Otsego Middle School
Sept. 19, 2021
Upcoming Dates
Volleyball vs. Edwardsburg - Home - 5:00 p.m.
Sept. 21 - Football vs. Sturgis - Home - 4:30 p.m.
Sept. 22 - Volleyball vs. Edwardsburg - away - 5:00 p.m.
Sept. 23 - Links meeting -7:00 a.m. - Media Center - breakfast provided
Cross County at Edwardsburg - 5:00 p.m.
Sept. 25 - Cross Country at Calvin College
M-STEP Parent Reports Have Arrived
Fall Intersession to Assist Students Failing Core Classes
Fall intersession week is a week designed to help students who are failing core subjects - Math, English Language Arts (ELA), Social Studies and Science. We provide intervention classes, teacher-led assistance, to get students back on track in those classes.
This year:
Intersession classes will be held Monday-Thursday, October 18-22, from 8:30am-11:30am
Otsego will provide transportation (if needed), breakfast and lunch
OMS classes will be held at the high school
Students who are failing a core class as of Monday, October 4th, will be expected to attend intervention during fall intersession week. If your child is on this list, you’ll be notified by October 6th.
Students Set Short & Long Term Goals
Since the start of school, students have attended weekly class meetings that have focused on specific character traits. It has been a blend of both Capturing Kids’ Hearts and the 8 Keys of Excellence. Topics discussed so far include: integrity (matching values with behavior), ownership (being responsible for actions), empathy (understanding and feeling the heart of another), failure leads to success (accepting failure and adversity as feedback), and speak with good purpose (positive words where intent and body language match).
Last Friday, students were tasked during homeroom to create both a short term goal and a long term goal that is unique to them. The message from these meetings is that we all have room for improvement and we are all in this together. Please ask your student what goals they created on Friday! Some student examples:
- I will say 1 positive thing about myself and someone else everyday for 2 weeks.
- If I fall in cheer, learn to accept the failure as feedback to myself, saying get back up.
- I plan to take my dog for a walk everyday.
- I will use empathy 10 times before the end of the month.
- In the next 2 weeks I wanna be able to be responsible and do all of my homework.
- My short term goal is to place in the top 25 in our next meet in cross country
- Be the best clarinet player in school.
- By the end of next week, I will talk to more classmates and put myself in others and spread kindness by saying something nice to others.
- I will give 5 different people a compliment.
- Help someone with something they are struggling with like homework.
Fancy Like!
6th Grader, Josie Dennis!
7th Graders, Emma Harrington & Jordan McKague!
8th Grader, Karalyn Collins
Picture Retake Day is Monday, Sept. 20th
Links & Friends Enjoy a Day at the Fair!
Fall Parent Teacher Conferences
Tuesday, Oct 5, 2021, 05:00 PM
Virtual Conferences
Student Support Services Spotlight
Tips for Parent-Teacher Conferences
On October 5 & 6, we will be hosting parent-teacher conferences. Virtually! We've gathered some tips here to make your experience as productive as possible.
1) Assess your child's situation by talking to your child and:
Check infinite campus for grades and for missing work.
Check your emails to see if your child's teacher (s) have reached out with questions or concerns.
Ask yourself what questions you have for teachers
Prioritize which teachers/subjects you feel a virtual meeting would be the best.
2) If everything seems okay, maybe sending an email to your child's teacher is enough. Simply asking how things are going and if there is anything further you can do to support your child.
3) If you have some concerns, you may consider sending your questions ahead of time so the teacher can be ready with answers.
4) Consider sharing this experience with your child. Virtual meetings are a great opportunity for both you and your child to talk to the teachers. Middle school a good developmental stage to help your child ask questions and seek feedback.
You may notice that I have parent/teacher time slots too! Feel free to sign up if you have questions about helping your child navigate these middle school waters! We are better together!
8th Grade Band Represents OMS Well in Parade!
The Scoreboard
Both 7th and 8th grade teams defeated Allegan & Sturgis this week.
Football
The Bulldogs started their season this week with a big win on the road in Edwardsburg with a final score of 46-0. The Bulldogs offensive attack was led up front by the offensive line: Owen Gauthier, Whitman Ruiz, Karson Holladay, Caleb Koenig, Colin Fitzpatrick & Alex Robbins. The dogs accumulated 296 rushing yards on only 12 carries. Eli Sonnenberg led the way with 117 yards on three carries and three touchdowns. Kole Engleright had 100 yards with one touchdown. Ty Oaks picked up 72 yards on 4 carries with 1 touchdown. The bulldog defense was also on a mission to keep the Eddies out of the endzone. Leading the way on defense was Kole Engleright with 7 tackles, Eli Sonnenberg with 5, Lane Blanchard with 5, Roman Busscher with 4, Carson Brooks with 4 and Alex Robbins with 4. Karson Holladay had a huge fumble recovery that he picked up and ran 25 yards into the endzone for a touchdown. Great job Bulldogs! They are at home on Tuesday, September 21st against Sturgis at 4:30 p.m.
Cross Country
The OMS Boys Cross Country team ran away with a victory against Niles and Sturgis with 7 Bulldog runners placing in the top 15. Scoring for the team were Zeik Clark in 11th place, Hayden Bowe in 10th place, Trevor Meyer in 4th place, Blake Mathieu in 2nd place and Kenny Sheffer in 1st place. Great work guys! The team travels to Edwardsburg on Thursday, Sept. 23rd.
Otsego girls cross country also defeated Niles and Sturgis last night. Scoring for Otsego were Emma Hoffman, Zoey Veldt, Rebekah Stachura, Skylar Mejeur, and Sydney Miller. Personal best times were run by Zoey Veldt, Sydney Miller, Brenna Yocum, Millie Shattuck, Alyssa Long, Junie Sisson, Abigail Gallup, and Ava Bentley. Way to go ladies!
A Note from our ELA Department
The ELA department is excited to be using a workshop model
based on Lucy Calkins’ units of study this year. Reading many texts and writing
about them are at the heart of the instruction. Along with that comes
a stronger focus on every student reading more high interest books.
Due to the varying topics in high interest books, there are mature book permission
slips in the media center that must be signed by a parent/guardian for a student to check out mature topic materials throughout our building. It is our expectation that students choosing to read a mature book from the media center or classroom libraries has a mature book permission slip on file for the current year. Please discuss your personal guidelines for book reading in your household with your child. If your child selects a book that does not meet these guidelines or in anyway is troublesome, please return it promptly. Have a great year of reading!
Be Nice Recruitment is Still Happening
Be NICE stands for Notice, Invite, Challenge, and Empower. Our Be NICE Student Leader group is in full swing and we are working hard to plan events that will center around this topic. If anyone is interested in joining, please see Mrs. Starr or Mr. Throop for an application. Everyone is welcome to join Be NICE!
Here is a link to a news broadcast we did a couple of years ago. Although the faces have changed, the message is the same!
PE Department in need of Bean Bags for Corn Hole
The PE department is in need of bean bags for their corn hole unit. If you have any bean bags that you are willing to donate, please drop them off to the middle school office. Thank you!
Dawg House Open For Delayed Starts
Sign Up for Remind
Otsego Middle School
Email: mkoenig@otsegops.org
Website: www.otsegops.org
Location: 540 Washington Street, Otsego, MI, United States
Phone: 269-694-7500
Twitter: @mkoenig72