Kasson-Mantorville Middle School
February 2020 Newsletter
A Message From The Principal
Monday, February 3, 2020
Hello Kasson-Mantorville Middle School Families,
I cannot believe how quickly the first two quarters have gone by. Here we are three days into the month of February. I hope you and your family have been able to enjoy the relatively meek and mild winter. At KMMS, we are getting geared up for the remaining days of winter activities and athletics. It has been great watching our students participate in extracurricular activities outside of the school day. It is inspiring to watch students exhibit their passions and interests.
KMMS offers a wide array of student activities and athletics. I highly encourage students to participate in activities and athletics. Research shows that students that participate in extracurricular activities benefit from increased academic performance, higher self-esteem, and the ability to explore personal interests in a social setting. We are excited to provide several school clubs (Harry Potter Club, Art Club, etc.), activities (Academic Triathlon, Middle School Play, etc.), and athletics for students to participate in.
Thank you for your continued partnership with Kasson-Mantorville Middle School. I am excited as we begin the month of February and take every opportunity to reflect on our students and their growth at KMMS. Each and every day we are committed to making KMMS the best in all that we do. Have a wonderful month of February.
Good luck to all the students participating in Kasson-Mantorville activities and athletics.
Together in KoMet Pride,
Josh Larsen
Principal
Kasson-Mantorville Middle School
Looking Back
Spelling Bee: The ZED Spelling Bee for the middle school was held on January 8th.
Participants for the ZED Spelling Bee were selected based on their performance on a
forty word written spelling test. There were approximately 20 students in 5th and 6th
grade and 20 students in 7th and 8th grade that qualified. Four finalists will advance to
the Regional Spelling Bee, one from 5th/6th Grade and one from 7th/8th Grade. The
Regional Spelling Bee is held in Rochester at the Southeast Service Cooperative on
February 11th. Advancing further would mean participating in a Multi-Regional Spelling Bee on February 25th with the possibility of advancement to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington DC in May. Good luck students!
Grade 5 attended the “And Then It Changed: Child Sexual Abuse is Preventable,” to help prevent child sexual abuse on Thursday, January 9th. The program was delivered by a prevention specialist from Victim Services who is trained to facilitate a guided discussion with students following the program.
Academic Triathlon competed here at KMMS, and one of our Challenger teams (5th/6th grade) placed 1st and another Challenger team placed 2nd. Two of our Cross-Trainer teams (7th/8th grade) earned 4th place. We'll be competing again on February 7th in Stewartville. Way to go and good luck teams.
On Monday, January 13 at Knowledge Bowl, we had two of our nine teams advance to the Regional Final next Wednesday, January 22nd. Teams 5 and 6 will represent the middle school. Team 6 also was 4th overall in scoring this season at our round-robin competitions in the fall. Knowledge Bowl Coach, Dillon Denter has this to say: “They had an outstanding day and we are very proud of their accomplishments throughout the season.” On January 22, two teams participated in the Regional Final. Team 6 placed 3rd in the AAA finals, and Team 5 placed 4th in the AAA finals. Way to go teams!
On December 20th, students in Mrs. Furst’s Careers class learned key concepts for successful interviewing and then were able to apply those concepts. Desirae Dyke, from Workforce, gave mock interviews. On January 14th, they experienced a career panel where parents volunteered their time and talked about their career experience and students were able to ask questions.
Kasson-Mantorville 5th grade students started the new year off with D.A.R.E., led by our school resource officer, Jesse Kasel. In the first lesson he talked about making good decisions and about what it means to be responsible. Students also met Darren, the D.A.R.E. Lion! Classes are held weekly until mid-March with graduation on Friday, March 20 from 2-2:50. Families are welcome to attend. (Please bring your drivers license so the office staff can scan you in)
January 28th and 31st we had our annual "Get out of Class for a $1" during Advisory. All proceeds go towards KoMets vs. Cancer. Student Council also sold suckers for .50 cents. We raised a total of $2,015.78. Way to go KoMets!!!
Spelling Bee
Knowledge Bowl/Triathlon
Looking Forward
Buy a "Crush for your Crush" or "Sweethearts for your Sweetheart" from 7:30 - 8:00 in the commons for $1. They will be sold Monday, February 3rd - Friday, February 7th. Crushes and Sweethearts will be delivered to advisories on Thursday, February 13th. Slips will be available for parents to purchase in the office next week. All orders MUST be placed between Monday 2/3 and Friday 2/7 to guarantee we will have one for your child.
Feb. 4th: 8th Grade Courage Retreat
Feb. 10th: STEAM Grades Posted to Portal
Feb. 11th: ZED Traveling Art Show 6-7pm
Feb. 15th: Fabulous Armadillos and Collective Unconscious performing in the PAC at 7:30 PM
Feb. 24th: School Board Meeting 7-8:30 PM, HS Community Forum Room.
Feb. 25th: Q.3 Progress Grades Posted to Portal
Feb. 26th: Band Festival for 7th grade, Lake City, 6:30 AM to 3:00 PM
Welcome to KMMS Brogan Evenstad
Brogan Lives in Kasson with her husband and daughter and is very excited to be a part of the KoMet team!
If you are interested in having your child meet with the SLMH therapist, please contact Lindsey Campbell (school social worker) or Alyssa Trow (school guidance counselor) at 634-4030 so a referral can be made.
Things to Know
Feb. 14th: No School- Vacation Day Feb. 17th: No School- Comp Day Feb. 18th: PLC Late Start- 10:00 AM
Starting the first week of December and going through March 2020 Kasson-Mantorville Lions Club will be doing a Soles4Souls drive, please click on the following link to read more about this. Click here for the Soles4Souls parent letter.
Need to order your Yearbook: Visit www.jostensyearbooks.com and search "Kasson Mantorville" in the GET Started search bar. Make sure you select MIDDLE SCHOOL, Click on the '2020 Yearbook' box, then click 'Order Now' ($25).
ATTENTION: We are looking for a few good pictures! If you have any photos (team pics and/or action shots) from KMMS athletics or activities (football, hockey, gymnastics, plays, wrestling, cheet, volleyball, basketball, etc.) that you think are yearbook-worthy, please e-mail them as soon as possible to Mr. Zahn at: m.zahn@komets.k12.mn.us. We want to make sure our student athletes, actors and academics are represented in nother great Josten's yearbook!
Make sure to check out KMMS Things to Know on our middle school website under office tab>Daily Bulletin, for updates on events going on at the middle school.
Top 20 Quote Of The Week
If you've tried owning and solving your problem, but it isn't getting better, talk to your teacher or another adult. They can help you solve it."