Smith's Knightly News
Smith Middle School
Mission: The purpose of Smith Middle School is to ensure learning for all members of our school community.
Website: https://smith.troy.k12.mi.us/
Location: 5835 Donaldson Drive, Troy, MI 48085
Phone: (248) 823- 4700
FEBRUARY 10, 2024
MONDAY: 2/12
- 7:10am - IM Volleyball
- Troy High Wrestling Team Visit During Lunches
- 3:05pm - Quiz Bowl (Rm 25)
- 4:00pm - 7th & 8th Volleyball vs Reuther (Away)
TUESDAY: 2/13
- 11:30am - 1:00pm - WEB Lunch Day
- 3:10 - 4:00pm - Homework Help Club (Rm 28)
- 3:10 - 4:00pm - History Club (Rm 21)
- 3:10pm - Caring Crew Meeting (Media Center)
- 4:00pm - 7th & 8th Volleyball vs Hart (Away)
WEDNESDAY: 2/14
EARLY RELEASE DAY - 1:33 DISMISSAL
- Valentines Spirit Day!
- 7:10am - IM Volleyball (Gym)
- PTO BAKE SALE DURING LUNCHES!
- 1:33pm - School Dismissal
THURSDAY: 2/15
KNIGHTS + 7 PERIOD DAY
- 3:10pm - 4:00pm Homework Help Club (Rm 28)
- 3:10pm - 7th & 8th Volleyball Practice
- 3:10pm - Model UN Meeting (Room 20)
- 3:10pm - STAND Club (Stage)
- 3:10pm - Chess Club (Rm 7)
FRIDAY: 2/16
- 7:10am - IM Volleyball (Gym)
Feb 19 - 20: No School, Mid-Winter Break
Feb 21: First Wrestling Practice
Feb 21: Volleyball Game vs Larson (Home)
Feb 22: Volleyball Game vs Avondale (Home)
Feb 23: PTO Sponsored Dance (3:10 – 4:30pm)
Mar 4: Court in Schools for 8th Graders
Mar 5: Troy High and Athens High Counselors will be visiting to discuss high school registration with our 8th graders.
Mar 19: Smith Festival of Cultures!
SMITH'S COIN STALL EVENT
Smith Supported ON MY OWN This Week
This past week was Activist Week at Troy High. Each year Troy High selects a local organization to fundraise for and support by hosting a variety of activities during the week. This year, Smith got involved!
Last Thursday, not only did Troy High participate in a Coin Stall event, but Smith did as well! Students brought in donations to the classes of their choice and for every $1 donated it "stalled" the class for 1 minute!
I am very happy to announce that our Smith community raised a total of $4,324.78 and we had a lot of fun doing it!
Thank you Smith Community for all for your support and thank you to our WEB Student Leaders, Mr. Torres, and Mrs. Walls for organizing the day!
NATIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELORS WEEK!
This past week we celebrated our amazing Smith counselors, Mrs. Hartenburg and Mr. Denyes! Thank you for all you do to support our students, our families, and our Smith staff.
We appreciate you both so much!
SMITH MODEL UN UPDATE
On Saturday February 3rd the Smith Model UN team traveled to Michigan State University to participate in the RCMUN XIII annual conference. 24 Smith Knights spent the day participating in committees with middle school students across the state in debating, collaborating and creating resolutions in order to solve real world problems. For many of the Smith Knights it was their very first experience at a conference and each student worked so hard to prepare for the day. Each student has gained tremendous experience including improving their public speaking skills that will allow them to become better delegates in future conferences!
Congratulations to Nishi Bergi- earning the award of Best Delegate for Disarmament & International Security Committee; Ahmad Bokhari - earning the award of Best Delegate for In Hot Water- The Great Lakes Compact Committee; Henrik Karstensen- earning the award of Honorable Delegate for the International Telecommunication Union Committee; and Zayd Siddiqui- earning the award of Honorable Delegate for Disarmament & International Security Committee.
Thank you to Troy High School’s Model UN Team for your assistance in preparing our Smith Knights for RCMUN as well as accompanying us to the MSU and spending the day to us! Your support is amazing and we Smith Knights truly appreciate you all!
VIP LUNCH!
Thank you to all our families that joined us this past Thursday for our VIP Lunch at Smith! Thank you to our Student Council, Mrs. Casko, and Mr. Koneval for making the event happen!
TSD BELONGING SURVEY
Dear Families,
The district is offering staff, students, and families an opportunity to share feedback for the 2023-24 school year by capturing perception data on belonging. If you have not yet completed the survey, we hope that you will take a few minutes to do so. We would appreciate your feedback! The survey will close for all participants on Monday, February 12.
Survey Link: https://hanover-research.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cTk4sKAn2KXuecS
GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, and SCIENCE BEES
The Social Studies and parts of the Science Department participated in the Geography, History, and Science Bees in December and January. We had 80% of our students qualify for the regional competition. This is outstanding and so exciting. We are in the process of distributing a handout sharing if your child qualified along with some registration details. Students are welcome to participate in any Bee that they qualified for. For students interested in competing, we offer a History Club on Tuesdays from 3:00 - 4:00pm in Room 21 where we practice past question sets and prepare for the regional and national competitions. All are welcome to come and participate.
We are proud to be once again hosting the Michigan Regional Finals here at Smith. We are hoping to have 100+ students participating on April 20. The registration deadline is April 5. Students can reach out to their Social Studies or Science teachers if they have more questions.
Here is the registration link for those interested in participating:
We Celebrate Writers!
The Smith English and Social Studies Departments would like to celebrate the following writers from all grade levels for their second quarter participation and overall excellence in pursuing writing opportunities in the classroom and beyond.
These students wrote literary analysis essays on theme, authors’ crafts, and conflict, historical arguments, mystery and fantasy short stories, contest writing pieces, and historical reflective pieces.
At school, see their names highlighted on our Celebrate Writers board between rooms 14 and 15.
Hyunjin An, Sohyean An, Aleena Ateeq, Colton Baksik, Amelia Bejleri, Nishi Bergi, Zana Berishaj, Nishad Bhide, Ahmad Bokhari, Sydney Coit, Ellie Coran, Riley Courtney, Mateo Cruz, Isabella Danial, Glory Dippel, Rodrigo Dugarte, Emma Elias, Briony Esper, Hafsa Fatima, Selena Ghobrial, Hayun Jeong, Ethan Joliat, Orestes Kaltsounis, Eunyu Kim, Jacob Kinaya, Kanishka Kishore Kumar, Alekhya Lala, Aaron Lee, Ethan Lee, Cassie Lido, Anushka Mandal, Jordyn Mattei, Victoria Modzelewski, Edgar Movsesyan, Yara Moussa, Valli Nagamalli, Paulina Ndione, Ayden O'Donnell, Brandon O’Malley, Trenton Pappas, Seine Park, Aarushi Patel, Aashin Patel, Noelle Peck, Tanish Rastogi, Suhana Reddy, Michael Jon Sayas, Haneul Siemion, Colin Smitka, Lucy Spangler, Jayden Stroup, Avry Voight, Sophia Zhong, Ailina Zhou
2024-2025 WASHINGTON D.C. TRIP
Attention 7th grade students and parents:
Registration is now open for the 2025 trip to Washington D.C. The early bird pricing will be effective through Feb. 14, 2024, with a deposit of $89. This reflects a $30 discount. Pricing this year does NOT include the full refund program. Please be aware that you may want to opt into the extra insurance protection.
Information for the trip will be shared via all 7th grade social studies teachers Schoology pages as well as the Smith website. You will be able to access the WorldStrides registration link, the parent meeting PowerPoint as well as a video from the parent meeting that was held on Jan. 24. Forms and other materials will be handed out in the fall once the final payment is made.
We are looking forward to another great trip!
- Mrs. Casko and Mrs. Trice
Welcome!
We are excited to announce that Mrs. Zastrow welcomed baby Connor into the world this past week! Both mom and baby are doing great! Welcome to the Smith Family!
HEARTS, HEARTS, HEARTS
This week our 3rd hour classes took some time to share what they "LOVE" about Smith.
We filled the cafeteria wall with lots of positive messages on why Smith is such a great community. Enjoy a few samples of what our students shared.
Take a moment this month to appreciate and share they great things happening in your life
~The Smith Student Council
ORDER A SIGNED TROYBERY BOOK TODAY...
Would you like to order a signed copy of Troybery author Rebecca EF Barone’s books?
Order by Feb. 10 at www.bit.ly/Baronebooks.
Books will be shipped to school and delivered to your child on March 8.
SMITH WRESTLING INFORMATION
Wrestling season is here!
Smith Wrestling is considered a Club / IM sport. All 6th, 7th, and 8th graders can participate. Students need to pay the $50 club fee and they do need to have a sports physical completed and on file with the front office or on Final Forms from another sport (Wrestling is not on Final Forms since it is a club sport).
Practices will be held at Smith Middle School with Coach Will England (williamengland317@gmail.com).
Our first practice will be Feb 21.
If your student is planning to participate, you need to complete this form: https://forms.office.com/r/87b342fcdz
How to Pay Club Fees:
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We have a great online spirit wear store with a number of new modern styles and items for purchase. You can either pick them up or utilize the option of having your orders delivered directly to your home for a small fee.
Click on the link below to check out the wide variety of styles and prints.
https://smithknights.itemorder.com/shop/home/
Below is a sample of the logo choices for most items...