Office: 605-367-7643

Website: https://www.sf.k12.sd.us/edison/home

Email: SFSDEdisonOffice@k12.sd.us

Counseling Center: 605-367-8331

Fax: 605-367-8457

Edison is now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Facebook: @WeAreTheCats

Twitter: @EdisonCats

Instagram: @sfsdedisoncats

Newsletter Date:

October 8, 2021

Volume 2, Issue 3

Attendance Matters

One of the most important things students can do to achieve success is also one of the most basic: attend school every day and on time! Students who attend school regularly achieve at higher levels than students who do not have
regular attendance

Please remember to call or email the office if your student will be absent for any reason. If your student needs to leave early for an appointment, let the office know before the school day if possible. The office will provide students with a pass before school begins to avoid classroom interruptions. You can email the Edison Attendance Office at SFSDEdisonAttendance@k12.sd.us

Dear Edison Families,

Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held this week on Tuesday and Thursday evening, and we are looking forward to meeting with you and visiting about your student’s progress. It has been a great start to the school year, and we are excited about what is to come for the 21-22 year!

MAP Assessment results are coming home with your student this week. Please use the below link for additional information regarding MAP assessment data:

https://www.nwea.org/resource-center/fact-sheet/29662/family-guide-to-map-growth_NWEA.pdf/

October is National Bullying Prevention month and Edison will kick off it’s Olweus Bully Prevention program. Middle School is the time when students will have many social challenges and it is important to teach and coach students when conflict with peers comes up. Through our Olweus Bully Prevention program we focus on stopping & preventing bullying, being part of the solution vs. part of the problem, and character development. Students have monthly class meetings to focus specifically on these ideas. We also encourage students to report bullying through our student reporting form, which is located on our Edison library website.

Thanks for partnering with us in your child’s education. We look forward to a great school year ahead of us!

Sincerely,

Amber Blume, Principal

Mentors

Almost 40 students at Edison have been matched with an adult mentor who meets with the student once each week for 30-40 minutes. However, many of our students would still like a mentor. If you are willing to volunteer at Edison for 30-40 minutes each week, please connect with one of the counselors or call the School-Based Mentor Program at 221-2346.

SD MyLife

Coming this fall the 8th graders will begin building their portfolios for SD MyLife. This will help them understand their interests and begin looking at career possibilities based on these interests that would be the best match for them. The program consists of an interest inventory which lines up with 16 career groups, called career clusters. Inside each of those clusters, there are several jobs listed which would be possible matches for the student. Information about these careers from income and education requirements to working conditions would be then available.

This will be saved for them and they can build on it throughout high school. Along with the careers, the program can show them classes that are needed to prepare them for their career match in both high school and college. It will also give them information on where colleges or technical schools are located that have majors available for your career match and contact information for these schools.

Once in high school, students will revisit this program to build resumes, post their information and reassess their career course they are taking towards getting a job that will best fit them. Knowing that this program is beginning in 8th grade and their work life is in the distant future, there will be many opportunities for them to make changes and updates as they grow and change. It does get them to begin to think about the whole purpose of school and that is to prepare them for the future!

COMING UP:

Stop Bullying

We will continue the push to keep Edison a safe, productive place. Olweus anti-bullying classroom meetings will be held monthly in PRO-Time classes to ensure enough time for discussion and understanding. Each grade level will have their own lessons, but will follow a school-wide theme for the month.

Binders Needed… Every year we have students that are unable to purchase binders and try to unsuccessfully organize themselves in other ways. We try to help provide students with binders that cannot afford binders and need one.

We can always use more zipper binders to help our students in being more successful. If you would feel the urge to help some of our less fortunate students out, we would appreciate donations of binders to the Counseling Center.

Counselors at Edison follow their students throughout middle school.

Mrs. Murphy – ALL 6th grade (pictured left)

Mr. Biteler – ALL 7th grade (pictured middle)

Mrs. Plaine – ALL 8th grade (pictured right)

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES - October 5 & 7

Parent/Teacher conferences are around the corner! Even though conferences will be both in person and virtual, our teachers and staff are going to be in the building and are going to need dinner. They are so grateful to have these meals provided. Thank you for all your help in making this feasible. We have two options to help with the meals:

1. Donate food toward the "Soup/Chili/Dessert" night. Check out our sign-up sheet here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C054AAEAC29A0FE3-fall4
2. Donate funds toward the "Order in Individual Meals" night from a local restaurant. Make a donation here: Conference Meals (cheddarup.com) You can also drop off cash/check made out to "Edison PTO" in the main office.

HAVE YOU PURCHASED YOUR SPIRIT WEAR?

The Spirit Wear booth will be open during Parent Teacher Conferences. Drop by to check out all the Edison Cats apparel!
We are looking for volunteers to help at both the SpiritWear table and the Book Fair during conferences. If you are able to help please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C054AAEAC29A0FE3-fall5

COLOR RUN - October 15
We are eagerly awaiting the Color Run on Friday, October 15. Participation is looking great for the event! You can still sign up to volunteer at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c054aaeac29a0fe3-edison4 You’ll have a blast...literally!

PTO MEETING - October 20

PTO meetings occur online on the third Wednesday of each month at noon. If you were not able to make our first meeting you can check out the minutes at www.edisonsf.org. We hope to see you at our next meeting on October 20.

CATALOG SALES KICK-OFF - October 20

Starting on October 20th we will be holding our final major fundraising effort of the school year, Cherrydale catalog sales. This ongoing fundraising supports our commitment to Edison and our students. As a PTO, we function solely off of donations and fundraising. In recent years our fundraising efforts provided much needed updates to the library, and supported our counselling, student, and classroom needs. Fundraising is optional and donations are welcomed. Both are very, very much appreciated. If you have further questions about our fundraising efforts, please contact edisonsiouxfall@gmail.com or read our monthly meeting minutes.

Edison PTO
edisonsiouxfalls@gmail.com

October 2021 Music Notes

Important Dates for First Semester~

Make sure your child’s concert dates are on your calendar. High school concert information will be communicated with your child if they are an 8th grader in band or chorus.

MAIN CONCERTS -

Nov. 18 Edison Orchestra Concerts 6th grade–6:00 p.m., 7th grade–6:45 p.m. & 8th grade–7:30 p.m.

Dec. 7 Edison Band Concerts 6th grade–6:00 p.m., 7th grade–6:45 p.m. & 8th grade–7:30 p.m.

Dec. 14 Edison Chorus Concerts 6th grade – 6:30 p.m. & 7th/8th grade – 7:45 p.m.

OTHER IMPORTANT DATES -

Oct. 18 LHS & WHS Fall Choir Concerts w/8th graders (rehearsal 6 pm) 7:00 p.m. @ LHS & WHS

Oct. 19, 20, 21 Brio Auditions in the Orchestra Room 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.

Nov. 1 JHS Fall Choir Concert w/8th graders 7:00 p.m. @ JHS

Nov. 8 RHS Fall Choir Concert w/8th graders 7:00 p.m. @ RHS

Nov. 16 WHS Band Concert w/8th graders (6:00 rehearsal) 7:00 p.m @ WHS

Nov. 18 LHS Band Concert w/8th graders (rehearsal on 11/17 at 7:30 a.m.) 7:00 p.m. @ LHS

Dec. 9 & 10 Variety show performance in auditorium 7:00 p.m.

Dec. 16 RHS Band Concert w/8th graders (7:30 am rehearsal) 7:00 p.m. @ RHS

Musician of the Month~

Each month the band, orchestra, and chorus areas will each recognize a 6th, 7th, and 8th grader that shows exceptional dedication, responsibility, and character each and every day.

Musicians of the month for September are:

Band: Evelynn Nixon (8) Abigail Eastman (7) Holland Meyerink (6)

Chorus: Thanya Hernandez (8) Sydney Hartmann (7) Alice Perry (6)

Orchestra: Lily Sheets (8) Kiebron Mekonnen (7) Henry Rasmussen (6)

The Edison music department wishes to thank Lewis Drug for supporting our Musician of the Month program!

Ensemble Schedule~

Jazz Band will meet on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 7:45 – 8:45 a.m. Our first rehearsal is Wednesday, September 29.

Brio - Students who audition and are selected for the string ensemble, Brio, will meet on Wednesday and Friday morning from 8:10 – 8:45 a.m. Audition dates are 10/19, 10/20, & 10/21 from 4:00-5:00.

Inventions - Students who audition and are selected for the vocal ensemble Inventions, will meet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 7:45 - 8:45 a.m. Our first rehearsal is Thursday, October 7.

All-State Orchestra~

The South Dakota Middle School All-State Orchestra is in its sixth year! The top orchestra students in the state of South Dakota come together to perform for this special event. Auditions are held in October and the first week of November, but interested students need to start practicing the required music now. We have already handed out sign-up forms to all students interested during class. For more information please contact Mrs. Sip or visit http://sdmea.net/ and look under the Events list for: Middle School All-State Orchestra. All the information you need and the audition music is there for you!

Variety Show Performances!~

Plan to attend the Edison Variety Show at 7 p.m. on Dec. 9 or 10, 2021. All seats are $4. Tickets will only be sold at the door. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

There will be a student show on Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. for Edison students and staff. Admission for the student show is $1.

All-State Band~

The South Dakota Middle School All-State Band is a special event designed to inspire and encourage top band students from across the state. Tryouts are held in December, but interested students need to start practicing the required music now. For more information, please contact Mr. Jensen or visit http://sdmea.net/ and look under the Events list and MSASB (Middle School All-State Band). We encourage you to give it a try!

Sign Language Interpreter~

Please notify your child’s director if you need a sign language interpreter for either the winter or spring concert. Notify the director at least ONE MONTH before the concert date. (Director e-mails are included in this ECHO.)

Cleaning Your Closets?

The Sioux Falls School District is always on the lookout for donations of gently-used band and orchestra instruments. Given our funding challenges, this is a great way to increase our instrument supply and allow more students to play in band and orchestra. Please contact Mrs. Sip or Mr. Jensen for more information.

Edison Music Department Website~

The Edison Music Department has a website! Refer to this website for information and dates.

http://emsmusicdept.weebly.com/

“Like” us on Facebook!~

Edison Music Department has a Facebook page! This page will be used for informational purposes only. You can check concert dates, rehearsal dates, practicing tips, etc. on our page. We will NOT have any pictures of students posted, it will strictly be used for getting information out to you!

The page is: www.facebook.com/EMSMusicDept

There are other Edison schools out there so check before you “like” our site!

• Band directors – Rick Jensen - Rick.T.Jensen@k12.sd.us & Emily Deinken – Emily.Deinken@k12.sd.us

• Chorus directors – Amber Sundvold – Amber.Sundvold@k12.sd.us & Mollie Weflen – Mollie.Weflen@k12.sd.us

• Orchestra directors – Stacy Sip – Stacy.Sip@k12.sd.us & Shannon Abels – Shannon.Abels@k12.sd.us

“When you play music you discover a part of yourself that you never knew existed.” -Bill Evans

Congratulations to the following 57 students that completed at least one BINGO on the Edison Library Summer Reading Challenge! Those students in bold completed a Blackout which is the equivalent of 12 BINGOS! We are so proud of the efforts of ALL the students listed. And a special congratulations to our grand prize winner Macie Olson!

Hello Edison Families,

The 2021-22 fall sports are about halfway through their seasons. I have witnessed some excellent performances in all of our teams, but what has impressed me the most has been our work ethic, team focus, and sportsmanship. I have received emails and phone calls from parents that have witnessed Edison students demonstrating excellent sportsmanship by cheering on and supporting their teammates as well as their opponents during cross country meets. Keep up the great work!

7th & 8th Girls’ basketball sign-ups start on October 18. First practice November 8th.

If you are interested in gymnastics or wrestling, please contact the high in which you will be attending for more information.

All our athletic information can be found here

https://sfsdathletics.k12.sd.us/middle-schools/edison-middle-school

If you have any questions about athletics, please feel free to contact me

David Christian

David.christian@k12.sd.us

Go Cats!

“In purrsuit of Excellence”