UPDATE FROM MR. RUTHFORD
Happy December Fairhaven Friends and Families,
Well, winter is officially coming this month…and in some ways, it feels like it is already here! Snow and freezing temperatures have arrived, as has a buzz about snow, snow days, snow routes…everything snow. Thank you in advance for having your Parent Square communication preferences set so that we can efficiently and effectively let you know if there are any weather-related challenges, changes, or cancellations as we move into our winter season. Our goal is to quickly provide you with any changes, minimizing impact on your family, children, and plans. If you are having challenges with any of our communications, please reach out to our front office for support and help at 360-676-6450.
Beyond potential weather changes, December is a shorter school month, with our winter break beginning Saturday December 17th. You will see in this month’s Grizzly Growl that we have a number of fantastic events and opportunities both at school and within our community. As mentioned above, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns. We are all here to help.
I look forward to seeing many of you at this month’s events, concerts, activities—Welcome winter!
My best,
Steve Ruthford, Principal
VIRTUAL GRRS...
LILYANA AIKINS
KHLOE-VON BALDERAMA-QUON
MARCUS CONLAN
ALANA FAIREY
NATALIE HOOD
EDIE LODIS
SOPHIE MCGRATH
KAYA PAXMAN
MIA RIBER
JACOB SCHILLER
RILEY SINNETT
MARGO SMITH
EMERY WALTERS
TYNAN TATU
LYLA ALCANTAR
BENJAMIN BARNETT
TALEN BRITTAIN
SYD CORSACK
SION CULTEE
MCKINLEY EHLERS
ESTEFANIA ESTUDILLO
JAYDENN GORDON
CHANTAL HERNANDEZ
KADEN KIRK
EMILY MACGREGOR
EMBER OLSON
SHAYLA PORTILLO
TORI ROSE
ANNA SANTANA
LINCOLN SCHIEFELBEIN
KEROLLOS SHAFEK
AINE WATSON
SHA'REEF WISHUM
ELENA BAZANTE-GUZMAN
CLYDE BEVARD
DIEGO BONILLA UCLES
OSCAR GRANADO MARROQUIN
KALEB KOEHLER
MYATT LARSEN
CALLIE MCPHERSON
SHERLYN MONTALVO
THOMAS BANASICK
KAJSA GLASS
RIVER HAWKES
MARINA HEINRICH
CHELSEA LI
JULIE ROBINSON
PIPER SUITER
QUINCY TANOVAN
SABINE USTORF
DANIEL VELAZQUEZ JUAREZ JR
EVER ROGEL
PHYNEAS GASH
BAILEY HARRIS
EMMANUEL DO
JACOB SCHILLER
MAE ARMSTRONG
CONNOR CHIN
OLIVER JOHNSON
VALENCIA LUCKETT
WILLIAM PARNOW
CHENG WOO
KEENAN CREEKMORE
CONNOR GIDDENS
DIEGO STILES
ILA STOTTS,
CHRISS VELAZQUEZ JUAREZ
LUKE YAWITZ,
BANE MITCHELL
CECILIA NEWMAN
WHITNEY PARNOW
CHANNER RUSK
BENJAMIN ZOU
PATRICK BALDWIN
MAILOND LARSEN
SOPHEA PRING
TYLER STOCKBURGER
AVA WILSON
HADLEY CROVO
EDIE CULVER
EZRA DISTEFANO
LILY GROSSARTH
AUBREY HUGHES
JAYDEN MCELROY
DARIOUS MORALES
EVA SCHNEEKLOTH
MARLEY CONNOT
STELLA HOGAN
ANDREW MAO
ASA MAPPS
LOGAN ROGERS
KEVIN SCHROEDER
LUCAS WATKINS
Winter Supply Drive
In partnership with our friends at the Firehouse Café, FMS is collecting items to contribute to the Firehouse “Winter Supply Drive Project.” For nine year the Firehouse has been providing much-needed winter supplies and gifts to teens at Northwest Youth Services and other local housing providers or shelters. This is a special way for teens to help out other teens.
Stay tuned for a Parent Square with more details, but in the meantime we can start collecting small hygiene items, festive and/or warm socks and hats, gift certificates to ice cream or even small notes of shared good cheer or a favorite poem or song lyric. Small toys that pass the “cool” test are especially needed, and all donations should be non-religious in nature and gender neutral.
More than 140 kids and families will benefit from this effort.
Collecting will start on Monday, December 5th at Fairhaven. Please direct questions and offers to volunteer to elizabethipage@outlook.com.
Thank you for caring this season!
~ Your FMS PTS
December 14th Teacher Appreciation: Soups & Breads Lunch!
Welcome to our second "Staff Appreciation" correspondence.
We are using this site, SignUpGenius, to put together some wonderful spreads this year to let the AMAZING FMS staff know how grateful we are for them! We are providing a list of items for you to choose from to make a complete lunch for the 60+ middle school staff to enjoy. After you sign up for an item or two, you will receive an email reminder 3 days prior to the event. This is a true example of many hands make light work: by signing up for a small piece, together we can make a delicious lunch!
The upcoming lunch is scheduled for Wednesday, December 14th. As a group we will serve SOUPS to the incredibly hard working staff at FMS. All kinds are welcome.....both veggie and meat-based. We do have a handful of staff members who are gluten-free, so if anyone has gluten-free options they are welcome. We will also be providing breads, desserts, & drinks to finish up the meal.
Please check out the list and find what works for you. You or your student can drop your items at the office before 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec 14th. Please confirm that your dishes/utensils have your name on them. All dishes will be ready for pickup at 3:45 in the lounge the same day. THANK YOU!
Your Staff Appreciation Coordinator,
Alicia Gabrielson
Fairhaven PTSA Membership & Meetings
HEY – We need a PTSA Bookkeeper!!
- Is your check book always balanced?
- Are you unafraid of Quickbooks?
- Do you do your own taxes?
This position takes no more than an hour or so each month, and is responsible for creating a budget report for the monthly meeting. It is budgeting light, trust us – there are few transactions each month, and reconciling them takes very little time. But, this position is critical to us for keeping our oversight obligations! You’ll have a “Treasurer Buddy” who writes all the checks and sends you the information (not an elf, sorry). You also get to file our taxes, but again – super simple. The previous position-holder is available to train you, and meeting attendance is even optional on this one. 😉
Join the PTSA ~ Meet new people, support our teachers and staff, and contribute your skills/time in whatever way you are able to!
We are looking for people interested in leadership roles for the next school year, so jump in now if you have a 6th or 7th grader and want to “seize the opportunity” to be mentored by this year’s PTSA board - before our kids move out of middle school next year. 😉 We are especially interested in finding trainees to learn the job of Bookkeeping Treasurer and Secretary!
Give us a shout at PTSAFMSMembership@gmail.com or FairhavenPTSA@gmail.com
Your membership helps provide:
- Teacher Grants
- Staff Appreciation
- Sports Uniforms
- 8th Grade Celebration
- Sponsoring Special Events (Masquerade Ball, Parent Education) and more
No meeting in December!
The January PTSA meeting is:
Wednesday January 18th
FMS, in person
4:15-5:30 PM
We HOPE to offer a Zoom option at this meeting if we can find volunteers to support it (is that you?), and your feedback about what works best for meetings is welcome – email fairhavenptsa@gmail.com
YMCA Winter Programs
Teen Movie December 9th
Movie Night - Teen Night Takeover
Date: DEC 9th 6pm-9pm
Grades: 6th-12th
Fee: 100% FREE!
Pizza, popcorn, movie, and a whole lot of fun. This is a great event for students to invite friends to and come check out the YMCA.
M-F 3pm-6pm
Grades: 6th-12th
Fee: Free! With the opportunity for a free Y membership with regular drop-in program attendance.
Homework help, games, art, video games, ping-pong, foosball, and more!
**Thursday Teen Climb from 3:13-5:15pm, Friday Pool from 4:45-5:45pm.
Grades: 6th-8th
Dates: Now accepting schools for 2023 winter and spring sessions.
Fee: 2022-2023 School year we are offering this 3 day program for FREE!!!!
Schools sign up a group from their school to take part in this experiential learning based program to build communication skills, peer connections, problem solving, and self esteem. Don't wait, reach out to schedule your school for this amazing opportunity while there are still free sessions available!
6th Grade Intramural Basketball
