The Pizitz Post
for Students, Parents & Families - January 31, 2022
Highlighting Student Talent
Thank you, families, for providing your children with every opportunity to help them succeed. It is our honor to come alongside you in that partnership. It is our goal to partner with you in working to raise students who win and lose with humility, encourage and inspire with kindness, and collaborate and persevere with determination.
Notes From Nurse Nancy
- If your child is sick and COVID is suspected or confirmed, please make sure to let Nurse Nancy know.
- If your child misses school to visit the doctor for any reason, please get an excuse for that absence within three days of the absence.
- If you have any concerns about your student's health that Nurse Nancy should be aware of, please feel free to touch base with her.
- Nancy's email is hennekern@vestavia.k12.al.us
Congratulations to Our Band Students!
We had 36 band students audition for the Alabama All State and District Honor Band on Saturday at Hoover High School. This is an in-person audition including 15 memorized scales, two prepared pieces, and sight reading. We had eight students qualify for the All State Band, the highest honor a middle school band student can earn. These students will participate in the All State Band Festival in Mobile on April 7-9. We had twenty two students who qualified for the District IV Honor Band- these students will participate in the District Honor Band Festival on February 25-26.
District IV Honor Band: Jaymin Bae, Jackson Hartsough, Zara McKelvey, Jason Murong, Ella Palmer, Colt Riley, Wyatt Smith-Moody, Eric Wang, Autumn Berry, Will Crowe, Annika Dalton, Anthony Dollar, Kevin Esparza, Sofia Knight-Garcia, Eric Li, Connor Moorhouse, Walker Norris, Akash Parekh, Wells Sheheane, Alan Sheng, Lance Wilkerson and Ayden Yother
Alabama All-State Band: Jaymin Bae, Jackson Harsough, Zara McKelvey, Jason Murong, Ella Palmer, Colt Riley, Wyatt Smith-Moody
Spruce Up the Courtyards for Spring
Please consider giving to the cause! Our courtyards can be an open space outside for lunch, collaboration with classes, and more! Our students and teachers are excited about utilizing these spaces more frequently as the weather warms up this spring.
If you can participate and give, click the link here.
Thank you for contributing to the Vestavia Hills School Foundation's Pitch-In Campaign last week. The Foundation is a wonderful supporter of our classrooms at Pizitz!
Debate Team News
Scholar's Bowl Update
8th Grade: Krish Chintareddy, Vincent Fang, and Emily Owen
7th Grade: Connor Moorehouse, Yash Pillai, and Ishan Shah
Finishing the Basketball Season
8th grade boys fought hard in their last game on Tuesday, and came up short by a few points. Their determination was evident throughout the game and season! Coach Burson said, "They improved tremendously as basketball players, teammates, and young men."
8th grade girls had an undefeated regular season, and ended up finishing 3rd in the metro tournament. Wow...we are so proud of your hard work, ladies!
7th grade girls only lost one game in the regular season, and ended up winning the metro championship in a tough game against Mountain Brook on Thursday night.
7th grade boys were 18-2 in their season, ending with a big win against Thompson on their home turf.
7th grade boys and girls are METRO CHAMPS!
We are proud of all of our teams and coaches! Our athletes have come together to display great teamwork and determination.
A shout out to our cheerleaders, too. They had a busy week as they made an appearance at every metro tournament game. Girls, you did a great job of creating a fun atmosphere to cheer on our Pirates. Thank you for bringing your school spirit!
Robotics Competition
We had four teams compete in a robotics competition in Arab this weekend. Team Logic qualified for state competition by receiving the Middle School Excellence Award. They finished 3rd in the qualifying tournament. Team Combat Pencil came in 11th place.
A shout out goes to the determination of all four teams: Imperatrix, The Combat Pencil, équipe, and Logic. Our four teams worked hard to compete against twenty high school teams and six other middle school teams!
Wrestling Season Comes to a Close
Our team competed tough this weekend at the Metro South Championships. They finished 4th overall with six placing in the top three.
Metro Champions:
119 lbs - Walker Hogue
125 lbs - Grayer Manown
2nd Place:
95 lbs - Charlie Noto
3rd Place:
130 lbs - Owen Wilbanks
135 lbs - Thomas Dollar
175 lbs - Caleb Boylan
On River Time
One of the ways we will be raising money for this worthy cause is through selling t-shirts. There are two styles (which you can see by visiting the link here) and the shirts will be sold for $20 each. Sizes for these shirts will be ADULT SIZES. Orders will be taken February 1 through February 15. The order form can be found on the Pizitz SGA website here. Payment, via CASH or CHECK (made out to PIZITZ with a phone number), must be made by the end of the day February 16, or your order will not be filled.
If you have questions, please contact Mrs. Button Smith (smithel@vestavia.k12.al.us). Thank you in advance for your support!
Join us for the Rebel Run!
Pizitz students and families who register will have their t-shirts delivered to them on the Pizitz campus when they come arrive prior to the run date. Go Rebels! Go RISE!
Interested in Outdoor Track & Field?
Indoor Track & Field Finished the Season Strong!
The following athletes placed in the top 8 in their events, scoring at the Alabama Championship meet:
Pole Vault:
Ezra Huber - 1st Place ALABAMA CHAMPION
Caleb Farrar - 2nd Place
Brady Ferrll - 6th Place
Krislyn Thomas - 2nd Place
Lizzie Griem - 6th Place 60M
Hurdles:
Katie Llewellyn - 1st Place ALABAMA CHAMPION
Ezra Huber - 3rd Place
Tyler Bradshaw - 7th Pace
1600:
JT Hayes - 2nd Place
Ethan Meadows - 3rd Place
Owen Stevens - 4th Place
Jackson Mize - 5th Place
Angela Zhang - 6th Place
High Jump:
Wesley Newman - 3rd Place
Walker McInnis - 7th Place
Emma Falkner - 6th Place
800M Run:
Riley Zeanah - 3rd Place
Angela Zhang - 7th Place
Ethan Meadows - 4th Place
JT Hayes - 5th Place
Jackson Mize - 6th Place
Owen Stevens - 7th Place
Boys 4x200M Relay:
6th Place with Drew Vercher, JD Adkins, Noah Kusibab and Wesley Newman
Long Jump:
Ezra Huber - 6th Place
Wesley Newman - 8th Place
Shot Put:
Antonio Corona - 7th Place
Lily Xie - 7th Place
Support the VHCS Arts Program
The VHHS Arts Ed team is excited to roll out a fundraiser that will benefit all VHCS Arts teachers. We are selling Arts Ed sweatshirts, t-shirts, and hoodies in adult and youth sizes. With the help of a PTO grant and a local graphic artist, we have created this new logo. When an order is placed, they will be asked what school's Arts program they would like the purchase to benefit. When the fundraiser concludes on February 11th, we will send a check to your school to be split between your Arts Ed teachers. Check out the website here.
Cheerleading Parent Meeting
For questions or concerns, feel free to contact Virginia Wharton at whartonvj@vestavia.k12.al.us
Louis Pizitz Middle School
Where Pirates lead, others follow.
Email: hunsbergera@vestavia.k12.al.us
Website: vestavia.k12.al.us/domain/13
Location: 2826 Columbiana Road, Vestavia Hills, AL, USA
Phone: 205-402-5350
Facebook: facebook.com/pizitzmiddle
Twitter: @pizitzmiddle