Mark Your Calendars
Feb. 13-17 - No School - Intersession Week
Our office will be closed.
Feb. 13 - Girls Basketball vs. Niles - Home - 4 p.m.
Feb. 15 - Girls Basketball vs. Three Rivers - Home - 4 p.m.
Feb. 20 - Current 6th & 7th grade Encore requests for 2023-24 due.
Girls Basketball at Paw Paw - 4 p.m.
Wrestling at Niles - 5 p.m.
Feb. 22 - Tryouts for Dawgs Got Talent - 3rd Hour
Girls Basketball vs. Plainwell - Home - 4 p.m.
Feb. 23 - Wrestling at Hastings - 5 p.m.
Feb. 24 - 7th & 8th grade district band festival
Feb. 25 - Father/Daughter Dance (see ticket info below)
Feb. 27 - Girls Basketball at Sturgis - 4 p.m.
Feb. 28 - Regional Spelling Bee - 4:30 p.m. - OMS Auditorium
"KINDNESS" Month is in full swing at OMS
This week, students at OMS learned a lot about being kind! They were able to practice kindness in a variety of ways as well. It is always our hope that the character lessons that we work on in school will carry over. We were thrilled to get the following email from one of our parent volunteers:
Hi Melissa & Mark,
I want to give a shout out to Hayden, a random student who saw me struggling to carry stuff while pushing the cart to the Media Center yesterday afternoon. He came right up and asked if I needed help and proceeded to take the cart for me. I appreciated that so much!!!
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Random Acts of Kindness Cards Students filled out Random Acts of Kindness cards when they noticed a student doing something kind for another person. We had a drawing of all entries (50 entries in one day!) and the winners were: Rylee Stoughton, Morgan Thomson, Kyra Haywood and Akeila Horton. | Sticky Note Challenge Our Aim Class, was given a sticky note challenge. Challenge #1 - Kind message to a specific teacher. Challenge #2 - Kind message to a good friend. Challenge #3 - Kind message to someone that you feel could use a bright spot in their day today. | Kindness Challenge Ms. Sokoloski's Math classes had a new challenge each day including completing 12 random acts of kindness before the end of the school year, writing acrostic poems, kindness quilt, kindness contract and writing a kindness haiku. Great job OMS! |
Random Acts of Kindness Cards
Sticky Note Challenge
Kindness Challenge
Be NICE in the Community!
Some of our Be NICE Student Leaders presented at the OPS Senior Living Event this week. They each talked a little bit about Be NICE, the importance of strong mental health, and kindness. They were then able to mingle and create Valentine's with them. They also invited interested seniors to become pen pals. Way to go!
Community Service Opportunity to Spread Kindness!
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
Attention 6th & 7th Grade Parents - Time to Schedule for 2023-24
It's hard to believe, but it is already time to start scheduling for next year's classes! Please click on the link to hear from Mrs. Garrett, our Student Support Specialist. All forms are due by Feb. 20th.
Video from Mrs. Garrett explaining the options for current 6th grade students:
https://watch.screencastify.com/v/Zj3fhyTA1wMOH0yFgYBZ
Scheduling form for current 6th grade student:
https://forms.gle/kMH6mkUGzrvWwVcC7
Scheduling form for current 7th grade student:
https://forms.gle/oun7DfSxEGDfLo8a9
Scheduling for current 8th graders will be done with the high school Student Support team on March 20th and March 21st.
Dawgs Got Talent Auditions
The annual OMS Dawgs Got Talent show will be held on Thursday, March 30th. Signups for the talent show are next week! Auditions will take place during 3rd hour on Wednesday, February 22nd. We are looking for vocal acts, dancing, instrumental, and any other talent a student would like to share in front of the school. These can be solo acts or group acts. To sign up, students should see Mrs. Patin in the morning before school starts to reserve a tryout spot. Tryout spots are limited. So, please encourage your student to sign up soon if they are interested. We’re excited to see them share your talents!
Student Support Services Spotlight (aka social/emotional health)
Focus on Kindness!
Kindness is our focus this month at OMS. Why focus on kindness? This is an important life skill for students to learn and practice. Our world sometimes challenges kindness and encourages a “all about me” attitude. Good news---we can do both! We can be kind to others AND to ourselves. We do not need to choose.
How can you foster kindness at home? Try these easy tips:
Model kindness: In your speech, behavior, and attitude…model kindness.
Be sure your child sees you being helpful to others
Be careful NOT to put others down, even as a way to bring your student up. Example: Instead of “don’t worry about that mean kid, you are way prettier than they are.” Try: “I’m sorry that person has hurt your feelings, remember the great person you really are.”
Check yourself when you make a mistake. If you are unkind, catch yourself and let your child see you take ownership and make it right. Example: While driving, you start complaining about the slow driver in front of you. Consider correcting yourself and saying something like “That really wasn’t necessary…who knows what is going on for them.”
You are your child’s biggest teacher! Let them see you being embarrassingly kind! Need help promoting kindness? Feel free to reach out! Contact Anna Starr at 269-694-7510 or astarr@otsegops.org
Scoreboard
6th grade basketball took a tough loss to the Trojans 18-16, but defeated Paw Paw 29-10.
The 7th grade girls team put up a fight against Plainwell in a game that came down to the last minute, the ladies dogs showed patience on offense even when shots weren’t falling and buckled down on defense to finish with a 22-20 victory. They kept their win streak alive with a 34-29 victory against Paw Paw
The 8th grade girls showed grit and fought hard but came up short against Plainwell with a 37-43 final score. They had an enormous victory over Paw Paw scoring 53 on the Red Wolves. Brooke Smalldon led the way with 20.
The girls are back in action at home on Monday, Feb. 13th against Niles.
Next Pizza with the Principals is March 7th
RESOURCES FOR MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT:
988--Suicide Prevention HotlineThe 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a United States-based suicide prevention network of over 160 crisis centers that provides 24/7 service via a toll-free hotline with the number 9-8-8. It is available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress
Gryphon Place: 269-381-4357 (HELP). Gryphon Place is a 24/7 service for immediate emotional support or crisis.
Text Hotline: Text the word HOME to 741741. This is a resource for texting support when someone is in emotional distress.
Otsego Middle School
