South Middle School
Est. 1932...The Spartan tradition continues
April 2020
Hello South Middle School Families,
How are you doing? During these challenging and uncertain times, we hope your family is doing well. We sincerely miss our students, so we are trying to connect with all students in various ways. Contained in this newsletter are a few reminders and celebrations including our March Students of Honor, Mathcounts, and Optimist Club Essay Contest winners.
Attendance Procedures Reminder:
Each day that we are scheduled to have school, Monday through Thursday, students will be asked to check in for attendance through Google Classroom. Students will need to check-in for attendance purposes some time each day (Monday through Thursday) between 7:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. Daily student attendance is being recorded in PowerSchool.
Academic Expectations:
South Middle School, the physical building, might be closed, but learning is continuing for our South Middle School students. Thank you parents for all you are doing to help guide your child to be organized so they can get their work done with your support. Your effort is noticed and appreciated! Our educators are dedicated to maintaining learning for your daughter or son, while also being mindful of adversity our students and families may be experiencing. If your child is unable to complete required coursework, please inform the teachers as they will be understanding and provide accommodations and exemptions accordingly.
If you have a question regarding attendance, technology, or how to contact a specific teacher, please refer to the South Middle School Distance Learning Manual (https://bit.ly/southdistancelearning). If your family is needing support in any way, please reach out to a teacher, Dr. Schleicher, Mr. Loe, Mr. Chase, Mrs. Thorfinnson, Ms. Skogen, or anyone at South. You may call the main school phone line at 701-746-2345 and leave a message. Mrs. Linda Olson is monitoring messages and will forward your question/message to the appropriate staff member.
We are looking forward to the time when we can all return to South Middle School. Until then, stay safe and be well. We’re all in this together!
Dr. Joel Schleicher, Principal
STUDENTS OF HONOR
Each month, teams select a boy and girl who exemplify the Spartan Code of Honor: Respect Self, Respect Others, Respect School and are positive role models.
Congratulations to the following students for being chosen as our Students of Honor for the month of March!
Code of Honor Students – March
- Auroras 6: Elijah Thompson and Londyn Flanagan
- Comets 6: Dane Larby and Tianna Buckley
- Rockets 6: Jaeger Thomasson and Kate Nelson
- Challenger 7: Jack Stevens and Elizabeth "Zibby" Flagg
- Discovery 7: Andrew Larsen and Haley Bachman
- Explorer 8: Trevor Anderson and Lauryn Mason
- Voyageur 8: Logan Gourneau and Alexis Massey
SUPERNOVA
Students of Character
Congratulations to the following students for being chosen as “Students of Character” by the Supernova, allied arts, teachers. All of these young adults have shown a respectful and trusting attitude. They are also very helpful, kind, and fair toward their peers and teachers.
MARCH
- Grade 6: Rilan Korynta and Dagimawit Tamerat
- Grade 7: Sanjay Chandran and Isabella "Izzy" Escobar
- Grade 8: Delin Feldman and Ella Hagen
TikTok
I hope everyone is staying healthy, and are taking care of each other. I want to take a few moments to help you learn more about a very popular social media app that students (and adults) are using. It is called TikTok, and used to go by the name Musicly. Students have been using this app for a couple years, but it has really gained a lot of attention over the last few months (especially now, since everyone has extra time on their hands).
Just like many social media apps, this one allows complete strangers to send messages to other users. If your student is using this app, take a few moments to check their settings. Make sure their profile isn’t public. Also, take the time to talk with your child about interacting with strangers, especially online. It is common for predators to create social media accounts posing as children, so they seem more approachable. Remind your child that if they don’t know someone in real life, they shouldn’t be talking with them online.
While you are checking their settings, turn on the “digital wellbeing” setting. Once turned on, this setting will set time limits on app use, which can help your child moderate the time they spend on their phone. This setting also allows a parent to put restrictions on their child’s account. This will block videos that have been flagged as inappropriate. An important point to remember, however, is that not all inappropriate material is flagged properly; things slip through the cracks.
What type of inappropriate material are we talking about? Just like any other social media platform, there is always suggestive content mixed in. Since this is a music/video based app, profanity and suggestive clothing/dancing are the most obvious sources of adult content. The app also encourages some themes that are much more mature than their 16+ rating would suggest.
Remember to have open and ongoing conversations with your child about the content they are consuming on their devices, and encourage them to come to you if they are seeing content that is harmful or inappropriate. The more you have this conversation, the more likely they are to share with you. Don’t hesitate to check the content yourself!
As always, if you ever have questions, concerns or ideas for me, please don’t hesitate to contact me. My cell number is 701-740-8079 and my email address is jthorlacius150@mygfschools.org. Thank you for letting me be a part of your students life! I miss them all terribly right now!!
Cpl. Jessica Thorlacius aka Officer Thor
School Resource Officer
Congratulations State Mathcounts Students
On Monday, March 9th in Bismarck, 160 of North Dakota’s top middle school math students met for the state mathcounts competition. Our South Spartans did an excellent job, with the team of Eli Zerr, Morgan Uhlir, Selena Wu, and Jason Ling earning 3rd place in the team competition. Nivanthi Wijetunga earned 4th place in the regional team competition with her team of region 1 teammates. Individually, Morgan took 24th place, Selena took 11th place, and Eli took 9th place. Excellent job to all! Pictured below are: Jason, Selena, Morgan, Eli and Nivanthi.
Optimist Club Essay Contest Winners
South Middle School is the proud home of the top three winners of the Optimist Club Essay Contest. Omea Sumneing won first place with a $250 scholarship, Selena Wu won second place with a $150 scholarship, and Lauryn Mason won third place with a $50 scholarship. The topic they wrote about was "Is Optimism the Key to Achieving the Dreams you Imagine?"
Omea’s winning essay has now been entered into the district competition, where she is competing with other club winners from North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Manitoba.
The three winners and their parents/guardians, along with their teacher, Mrs. O’Toole, are invited to the Optimist Club luncheon on March 18th to read their essays and receive their awards.
Pictured below are Lauren, Omea and Selena. South is proud of all three of you! Way to go!