Welcome to December!

November was a hugely successful month for us at MMJSHS! It saw our students engaged and involved in a plethora of activities that spanned content-specific disciplines, co-curricular activities, as well as personal and individual interests and endeavors. We saw success both inside and outside of the classroom, on and off the field, and couldn't be more proud of our students as they have settled into the school year over the last several months.

We want to make sure and continue the positive momentum as we close out what has been an amazing calendar year for us here at the Junior-Senior High School. In order to do so, we have a variety of activities taking place throughout the month. We hope to see you all at our upcoming events.

On a more personal note, I also wanted to take a moment to wish you all an amazing holiday season. I hope that it is filled with health, happiness, and opportunities to create lasting memories with your families!

As always, we thank you for your continued support and partnership!

Sincerely,

Chris Lowe

Some of you may be aware of our Unified Basketball program here at MHS and some of you may not. For this month's student spotlight, we wanted to take time and highlight the program as a whole and speak about this year's season. In addition to spotlighting the team, we asked members of our Unified Team to speak about how they got involved with the program, what was their favorite moment from the season, and what they were most proud of.

To provide you all with a bit of context about the Unified Basketball Team, this is a program that is in its second year of existence here at MHS and has seen tremendous growth in not only its number of participants but also its fan base and spectators! It is not uncommon to come to an event and see our stands full of spectators rooting on not only our Woolies but also our opposing teams.

Our Unified Team was coached by Jimmy Donnelly and Joe McNeil. The team participated in 9 games this season, two of which took place at the Special Olympics Jamboree which was hosted by Algonquin Regional High School this year. We are thrilled to have shared with the community that our Unified Basketball Team was the recipient of the Team Sportsmanship Award at this year's 2022 jamboree.

It is the mission of the program to promote social inclusion through shared sports training and competition experiences. In general, Unified Sports joins people with and without disabilities on the same team. It was inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.

Members of our S.T.A.R program here at the junior-senior high school hosted a bake sale event for our annual game versus the Millbury Police Department and Millbury Fire Department. The event is the culmination of a larger classroom project that ties in relevant content-specific skills such as measuring, mathematics, and budgeting as well as life skills such as cooking, preparing foods, etc. Many members of our Unified Basketball Team, are also members of our S.T.A.R program. A special thank you to Ms. Jameson, Ms. Medeiros, and all of our ABA/RBT staffing for their continued support of the program!

After the success of our first year of Unified Basketball during the 2021-2022 season, as well as the success of our previous Unified Sports programming, we moved forward this past year and implemented Unified P.E. into our program of studies as a course offering for all students! As we move into the 2023-2024 school year, we will also be looking at implementing a Unified Art course, as well as a Unified Music course at the Junior-Senior High School in order to continue promoting opportunities for friendship, understanding, and inclusivity!

This is undoubtedly a program that brings us tremendous pride. We are thrilled to see the growth and involvement in the program and cannot wait to see how it continues to evolve over the upcoming years!

Thank you to all of our athletes, coaches, fans, and community supporters! Your dedication to supporting our program does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

Below, you can find some testimonials from our players about their experiences from the past season.

What was your favorite moment(s) from this past season?

My favorite moment from this past season was beating the Millbury Police and Fire Department in a close game.

Why did you want to sign up for Unified?

I wanted to sign up for Unified Basketball so I could help student-athletes learn how to play basketball and experience what it's like to compete in sports.

What was the thing you were most proud of from this past season?

I was most proud of the fact that we went undefeated throughout the whole season, and especially beat teams like Shrewsbury and Algonquin.

What was your favorite moment(s) from this past season?

Going to different schools, and playing against them. And just the overall team effort.

Why did you want to sign up for Unified?

Because I wanted to play basketball and be on a team with people, but I wanted to try here first, instead of JV.

What was the thing you were most proud of from this past season?

Working as a team, and winning 9-0

What was your favorite moment(s) from this past season?

My Favorite part was helping others and seeing them score and also having fun as a team.

Why did you want to sign up for Unified?

I signed up because I wanted to help others learn the game.

What was the thing you were most proud of from this past season?

I felt really proud when I helped my friends score baskets

What was your favorite moment(s) from this past season?

My favorite moment of the season was the firefighters vs police game.

Why did you want to sign up for Unified?

I signed up because I wanted to play basketball with my friends and coaches

What was the thing you were most proud of from this past season?

I was proud of making the layups and scoring in the games.

What was your favorite moment(s) from this past season?

My favorite part of the season was seeing how happy the players were when they won and even just going to games.

Why did you want to sign up for Unified?

I wanted to join unified basketball because in the past I have loved working with members of the team.

What was the thing you were most proud of from this past season?

The thing I'm most proud of is how much the players have grown.

A special thank you to all of our coaches, assistants, community partners, and staff members who made these games such a success.

We are excited to see what the Winter Season holds!

I would again like to take a moment and thank everyone who took the time to vote for our candidacy as a Gold Project finalist for Saint Gobain's Sustaining Futures, Raising Communities grant. We are over the moon as the realization that we won this award sets in! We are excited to showcase how the space transforms over the renovation process!

A special thank you to everyone at Saint Gobain, for providing such an amazing opportunity for schools across the three eligible states.

The Millbury Parents Club invites you to join us at this year's Chain of Lights event in downtown Millbury this Sunday, December 4. We will be in the Children's Room at the Public Library and will have guest readers every half hour with stories for the kids, a giveaway for the children, swag items available for purchase (including some great stocking stuffers) and some incredible raffles available! Be sure to join us from 10:30-3:30.

Our organization continues to fund some exciting enrichment programs at the Millbury Public Schools. If you'd like to join us to hear more our next meeting will be on Tuesday, December 13th at the Millbury Jr/Sr High School. We will also be hosting a Meet 'n Greet that evening with some of the district leadership team and welcome you to attend! You can find more information on our Facebook page.

This event is for Millbury Junior-Senior High School 7th and 8th grade only students.

***Students must arrive at the event prior to 6:30 pm at the latest. Any student arriving after 6:30 pm will not be permitted entrance.

On behalf of the school, we would like to thank them for recognizing the academic achievements of these students!

We will be sharing more information with the community in the upcoming weeks and months to share what this will look like moving forward!

Please be on the lookout for more information. In the interim, you can read more about the Innovative Pathway Programs here.

I am happy to finally share that we are fortunate to be converting our weight room into an updated fitness center. We have been working with a variety of groups in order to make this a reality.

The current weight room will be receiving a makeover with updated equipment, flooring, a turf-inlay, updated audiovisual equipment, new windows, etc. The project went out to bid several weeks ago and we are happy to have a contract in place.

We are looking to have renovations begin around Christmas break.

A special thank you to everyone that is involved in the amazing opportunity for our school!!

Be on the lookout for more gear that will be available during the year through fundraisers and extra-curriculars!

The Millbury Public Schools ensures equal employment and educational opportunities for its employees and students and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or sexual orientation, gender identity (M.G.L. c. 151B and 151C, Title VI, Title VII, and Title IX), or on the basis of disability (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973/ADA) or homelessness. In addition, the Millbury Public Schools does not discriminate against its employees on the basis of age (M.G.L. 151B/ADEA) on the basis of veteran's status, or genetic information.