Check out some of the MCES students at the Gurley Christmas Parade!

Mrs. MacKenzie presented a lesson to fourth grade about working together to solve a problem! Fourth grade students enjoyed working in teams to put their puzzles together!

The winner is Josh Clark and the runner-up is Ethan Absher. Congratulations! Josh will represent MCES at the district spelling bee!

Congratulations to Austin Mills! Austin signed his letter of intent to play baseball at the University of South Alabama.

Mrs. Hill’s second graders have done a class read aloud of Charlotte’s Web over the past several weeks. Last Friday, they got to enjoy the movie while sipping hot chocolate.

The ACE students at OCRS answered the call to volunteer for the CARE Center thrift store in New Hope. We spent a little over an hour, sorting, stocking, pricing, and changing out inventory in order to help our community!

Our OCRS students are not only great students, but also great teachers! Students in Mrs. West’s class are teaching their peers multi-step math problems.

Mrs. Fletcher and the student council members became Santa’s little helpers for pictures with Santa, EES Santa Shop, and Santa’s Village. These students went out of their way to ignite the joy and hearts of others at Christmas.

The Endeavor faculty and staff declared December 16th as Jean Hardiman Day. Faculty, staff and students wore Team Hardiman shirts to remember her with special thoughts and prayers. We love you Mrs. Hardiman and we are fighting with you.

Harvest Elementary was represented well at the Blue Ribbon Conference. Our Sunshine committee presented on positive school culture and community involvement. Thank you to Mrs. Wells (5th grade), Mrs Matthews (1st Grade), Ms. Hall (1st Grade) , Mr. Gunnels (Principal), and Mrs. Cosby (Assistant Principal) for representing Harvest so well. We are extremely grateful for all the stakeholder's support and for MCSS cheering us on. #IgniteExcellenceMCSS

Our annual PTO dinner with Santa was a huge success. Fun was had for everyone. Thank you PTO for your leadership with this event. Thank you also to our SHS NHS students and to all the teachers and staff who helped make this great. #ThisIsHarvest

Our National Honor Society did an awesome job singing Christmas carols to the residents at Madison Village. They look forward to our students coming every year and singing to them. The kids, teachers and residents all had so much fun. Thank you to all who helped organize this event.

The students and teachers both had a great time wearing tacky sweaters. Some classes even did crafts to go along with the theme. Harvest loves doing this event every year and the students love it! Happy Holidays from the Harvest family to yours.

From co-sponsoring Legacy’s Running Club with Erin Wilson, to hosting a canned food drive with her P.E. classes, Coach Brandy McWhorter encourages students to be active physically as well as socially active in their communities. By the end of last week, Legacy students donated 3,903 canned goods to House of Harvest. On Saturday, 45 members of Legacy’s Running Club participated in the Rocket City marathon.

Congratulations to our students who were selected as MXR Leaders of the Month for December! These students were selected by teachers and staff for their leadership and character displayed at school.

Jaydan Robinson

Krisjon O'Neal

Maci Molt

Amari Clay

Johnathan McAtee

Isabella Romero

Kierstyn Shrum

Allie Sheth

Rebecca Noonan

Serenity Nelson

MXR’s National Honor Society members are busy collecting canned and dry foods for House of Harvest. A very generous gesture during this season of joy and giving. A very big thank you to all who have donated items.

First graders enjoyed a visit to Santa's Village where they attended Elf University, learned a cheer about elves, cared for and fed reindeer, and navigated a maze to learn how to travel in snowstorms.

Students were surprised with a visit from Mrs. Claus and Jingle the Elf; they read books and enjoyed candy canes during their visit.

The SHS boys basketball team had a special guest, MES student Trey Hall! Trey is battling leukemia and he wanted to watch the Senators practice! He will also be an honorary team member on the bench Tuesday night! Thank you Sparkman High School Athletics for reaching out to our students!

A few of our staff members attended the National Blue Ribbon Conference in Orlando, Florida last week. MES is proud to be a Blue Ribbon School!

Our MMS Lady Hawks helped out at the Harvest House recently.

Our baseball and softball teams collected donations for the Kids to Love program. We had many generous donations and were able to donate three 30 gallon bags of toys and over $100 in monetary donations.

Our West Wing students volunteered at Free 2 Teach last week. They sorted, counted, and bundled more than 1,000 pencils! Then they retreated to Park Place Mall to eat lunch and catch a glimpse of Santa!

We hosted a pep rally last week to celebrate our winter sports teams and to pie our principal as well as the top teacher in each grade level whose homerooms collected the most money for Bucks for Bikes. Thanks to our SCA for organizing this event and thanks to everyone who participated, especially Dr. Schrimsher, Coach Smith, Mr. Lambert, and Mrs. Anderson who were the lucky pie in the face (and hair) recipients.

Narci Hardin and Ryan Jacobs - 3rd place Readers Theatre

Kamaryn Robinson and Jade Taylor - 1st place Readers Theatre

Narci Hardin, Ryan Jacobs, D’Asia Betts, Jessica Fischle, Damien Fletcher, and Jeremiah Conley - 3rd place Group Acting

Darwin Benson and Emily Hammer - 3rd place Duet Acting

Jeremiah Conley and Destiny Cade - 1st place Duet Acting

Megan Stewart - 3rd place Scene Design Novice

Sparkman Ninth Grade School Career Prep. students participated in the “Your Money, Your Life” simulation. Students learned how to manage their budgets based on an entry level salary in their chosen career field.

Sparkman 9th Grade School staff members were the recipients of Free Lunch Friday, sponsored by Way-FM and Crye-Leike realtors. Thank you to Mrs. Kelly Deiss for the nomination.

Dr. Chumbley & the BHS Culinary students catered "Kick-Off Santa's Village" on Friday, November 22, 2019. Picture credits, Haylee Morman, BHS Yearbook Staff.

Congratulations to 8th grader Bailey Terkeurst (tenor saxophone) for being selected to play in the Alabama All State Middle School Jazz Band.

Ms. Cora and Mr. Jose with Art We There Yet volunteered over 60 hours at NMS during the first week of December. They worked tirelessly at NMS to paint murals, teach art and music classes, teach Spanish club, and work with our Extended Adventures club. Check out their Facebook page and website to learn more about their mission to bring art to underserved populations in North, Central, and South America!

Extended Adventures kicked off the first week of December. Extended Adventures is an afterschool program provided by a collaboration of Heart of the Valley YMCA, Friends of New Market, New Market School, and 21st Century Clubs. Students are provided a snack, homework help, physical activity time, and a special club each day from 2:45-5:45. This week the special clubs were coding, art, dance, cooking, and STEM. Dance classes are coordinated through Rythms of Grace and cooking club is through the Alabama 4H Extension. Extended Adventures is a true community of learners!

We have a “Kindness Countdown” in our 3K room! Each day they take off a link to countdown the days until Christmas break, and each chain link has an act of kindness on it. Recently, they made a hand print wreath card for Mrs. Donna Stricklin Campbell and Mrs. Denise, our office staff, to say thanks for all they do for us!

Check out these classes who had the B E S T student attendance in their grade levels for the month of November! Proud of these students for modeling excellent attendance habits! We have proudly displayed an attendance rockstar award outside of each of their classrooms for all to see!

Pre-K - Mrs. Mayhall

K - Mrs. Betancourt

1 - Mrs. Eimer

2 - Ms. Sterling

3 - Mrs. Brandon

Congratulations to our December Student Leaders of the Month! These students were nominated by the faculty and staff due to their leadership qualities and their excellent character. Their portraits are now proudly displayed on the Leadership Wall in the front lobby!

Mason McGrady

Julia Kate Taylor

Jonah Barch

Sharisia Upchurch

Olivia Santiago

Evan Marshall

Georgia Williams

Connor Wiginton

Kane Fisher

Joseph Fearn

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to our RIS spelling bee winner and runner up!! ALL participants represented their classrooms so well! We are proud of all of them!

Runner up - Sophia Hoffman

Winner - Gavin Pierce

Mrs. Jones class had fun making pumpkin pie!

Aren’t they cute?! Our Pre-K students put on a Christmas performance for their parents. They were awesome!

They call themselves the "Staff Infection" and somehow find a way to win the HGHS Dodgeball Tournament every year! Congratulations to this year's team of teachers who bravely took on the students in a game of dodgeball. Way to go, Trojans!

The Lady Trojans are ranked #1 in the first Alabama Sports Writers Association girls basketball rankings of the season. Our defending 6A state champions are 11-0. Let's go, Lady Trojans!

Congratulations to Alexandria Hayes and Grace Maddox for placing 5th in competition at the State Trumbauer Festival with their comedic duet! They represented HG Theatre at the festival held at Troy University.

Congratulations to Keyshawn Erskine! He finished in the top 10 in two events at the AHSAA State Swim Meet in Auburn. He placed 9th in the state in the 100 free and 10th in the 50 free.

On December 12, Mrs. Burger (Principal), Mrs. Kralovec (Librarian), and second grade student Abby Grace Braudaway attended the Huntsville Optimist Club STEM Committee Annual Award Presentation at Optimist Park. Lynn Fanning received a check to help purchase Chromebooks that will be used in the Library so students can learn computer coding skills. We appreciate the Optimist Club of Huntsville for their support!

Mrs. Beaman's third grade class recently experimented with balanced and unbalanced forces. This was part of their Project Lead the Way studies.

The LFES PTA has been very busy this month. They hosted a Breakfast with Santa on December 7 where students were treated to a delicious breakfast and some time with Santa Claus! Students even got reindeer food to help the reindeer stay energized on Christmas Eve! The PTA also treated the LFES staff to a delicious breakfast on December 16. A huge thank you to our amazing PTA for all they do for LFES!

The LFES family has been very generous in two recent collection drives. Students brought in stuffed animals for the Pals 4 Pals organization. The organization was started by a former Lynn Fanning student, so everyone was happy to help!

The Kaboom Club, founded by students Kiptyn Patterson and Avery Minskey has been in action for the second year in a row! Kiptyn and Avery challenged the whole school to bring in canned goods for Lunches of Love and other local food banks. The school more than doubled their donations last year, reaching over 1,000 cans donated!!!

Students also participated in a schoolwide Kindness Challenge and were able to pie administrators at the end during their celebration. Thank you to Mrs. Perry and Mrs. Caldwell for leading our school in this kindness celebration and helping to celebrate Alabama turning 200!

These students are being recognized for consistently demonstrating generosity, our character trait for November. Thank you for being a role model for others!

Congratulations to: Gabby, Lily, Brandon, Koltyn, Riley, Jayden, Lilly, Shaelyn, Karlei, Dixie, Aydan, Emily, Emma, Aubrey, Natalie, Anna, Zachary, Catherine, and Ari!

Walnut Grove is honored to receive the Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Renewal Award! Our dedicated teachers and staff members have worked to establish and sustain a culture of continuous improvement. They are committed to the success of all students.

Santa is headed back to the North Pole after a very successful "Breakfast with Santa" event! Thanks to all the families who came out. It was such a sweet and happy day for our children. Many of our teachers worked hard to make it happen: preparing food, providing entertainment, taking pictures, wrapping gifts, decorating, and cleanup. Our WGS teachers go above and beyond for our students

Robo-Rangers are going to state! They won the robot performance and project award. They also wrote a beautiful essay to win the coach’s award for their grateful coach.

Dominique Watson knows how to give back in a big way! This Virtual Academy student makes time in her busy life to serve our community by working with and inspiring young dancers to perfect their art and dream big. We couldn’t be more proud of this young lady and we thank her for working so hard and helping so many young people! You inspire us all, way to give back Dominique!

The Virtual Academy would like to join New Hope High School in congratulating the NHHS Show Choir on another outstanding Christmas Dinner Theatre! As the Virtual Academy grows we are seeing more and more of our MCVA students in this wonderful production each year. This year were excited to see six MCVA students take the stage. For one of our seniors- Jordan Lasater- we celebrate her last Christmas Dinner Theatre performance and thank her for being with the Virtual Academy for the past four years. Jordan is near and dear to our hearts and we will miss her greatly as she and our other seniors embark on the next part of their journey. Thank you to all of our NHHS Show Choir students for a great show and for all you do for us!

The spirit of giving is alive and well with the MCVA students as they brought in items to donate for our December service project. Students donated books, toys, clothes and diapers for baby/young child to help make some Christmas wishes come true for a local family in need this season. We never cease to be amazed at the generosity of some of our students who strive to do everything they can to help others.

This was a ton of fun to make and play in the classroom for our Christmas Party. Students had to wear oven mitts and they could work on unwrapping the ball and keeping anything they unwrapped until the next person rolled doubles. Sometimes they just got started when they had to pass it on-- other times they got to unwrap for quite a while. Students loved the excitement of this game and others like bobbing for candy canes. What a great party. Lots of food and fun and a great way to close out our first semester in the 3-6 MCVA! Merry Christmas to everyone!