South Meadows Parent News
February 1, 2019
Parent News
We are already done with first semester and ready to begin second semester.I sometimes hear students say that middle school really doesn't matter and they will start working hard when they are in high school. This attitude can keep students from reaching their true potential. The habits and skills they learn in middle school will set the groundwork for a successful high school experience. Remind your students how important this term can be for them. Your encouragement will make a difference.
Respectfully,
Mary Mendez
Dates to remember
February 1st- No school- Grade prep
February 4-15 Pennies for Patients fundraiser
February 7-District Basketball Tournament @ SMMS 4:30-6:15
February 12-immunization clinic at Century
February 20-Exclusion Day for required immunizations
Bus Passes
All bus riders are assigned to specific routes and specific bus stops. If your student needs to ride a different route or get on/off at a different stop on a certain day, i.e. going to a friends house, they will need a “bus pass”. To obtain a “bus pass” Parents/ Guardians will need to send a note with their student to give to the schools front office. The front office staff will issue the “bus pass” to the student with the appropriate route number and stop location. The student will then give the “bus pass” to the Bus Driver. You may also contact you school’s office in person or by phone with the alternate address and they will issue the “bus pass”. Students must present a bus pass to the driver or they will not be allowed on the alternate bus or be left off at an alternate stop location.
Immunizations
The Century School Based Health Center (SBHC) would like to remind you about the upcoming Exclusion Day which is February 20, 2019..
Century SBHC Immunization Clinic Day: Tuesday, February 12, 2019 from 8:30-4:00. We would like your students to know that they can come into the Century SBHC to get caught up on immunizations so they are not excluded from school on February 20th. Please click on the following links for additional information. Send this information to anyone who would benefit from this information.
Sparrow Club at SMMS
We are super excited to have Sparrow Club here at SMMS again this year. Sparrow Club is an organization that supports local children and families that are struggling with medical costs due to illnesses. SMMS has adopted a Sparrow named Kailanie. She is 3 years old and has a number of medical conditions from Chiari Malformation and Lateral Meningocele Syndrome. She has had more than 19 surgeries. Students will work hard to not only love and support her, but raise money for Kailanie through sponsored community service and fundraising.
We have 3 sponsors that have pledged $4,060 Our students will then do community service hours in order to match that sponsors donation ($10 per hour) and all the money goes to support Kailanie's medical needs.
Visit www.sparrowclubs.org
Welcome to our new science teacher
As you all know, our wonderful Mr. Collins is leaving us and we now have our wonderful new teacher, Heidi Tolle who will be taking over his classes. Please give her a warm welcome!
Prolonged phone usage linked to depression among youngsters, Study finds
The study, published in the journal Emotion, found that Teenagers who are constantly glued to their smartphones are significantly less happy.
In order to explore this association, investigators analyzed data from the Monitoring the Future (MtF) longitudinal study—a nationwide representative survey comprising millions of U.S. 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders.
In this survey, the students were asked to answer a questionnaire about the total time spent on their mobiles, computers, and tablets, as well as their direct social interactions and their happiness in general.
On average, it was found that teenagers who spent an excessive amount of time on screen devices (using social media, playing computer games, video chatting, and messaging) exhibited lower levels of happiness than teenagers who spent more time engaging in non-screen activities such as reading magazines and newspapers, sports, and direct social interactions.
According to Jean M. Twenge, the lead author and professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, while the current study could not find the exact cause, various other studies have shown that more social media use leads to unhappiness, but unhappiness does not lead to more social media use.
Having no interaction with digital screen devices also doesn’t lead to happiness. The happiest teenagers used digital media for under an hour per day. However, the findings showed that daily usage of screen devices could gradually increase unhappiness.
The key to digital media use and happiness is limited use. Aim to spend no more than two hours a day on digital media, and try to increase the amount of time you spend seeing friends face-to-face and exercising–two activities reliably linked to greater happiness."
Jean M. Twenge, San Diego State University
By analyzing the historical trends from the same age groups since the 1990s, the investigators identified that prolonged use of screen devices has accounted for reduced happiness in U.S. teens. In particular, life satisfaction, happiness, and self-esteem of youngsters has been in rapid decline since 2012, the year in which America saw a 50% rise in smartphone users.
Twenge commented: "By far the largest change in teens' lives between 2012 and 2016 was the increase in the amount of time they spent on digital media, and the subsequent decline in in-person social activities and sleep. The advent of the smartphone is the most plausible explanation for the sudden decrease in teens' psychological well-being."
Mary Mendez, Principal
Email: mendezm@hsd.k12.or.us
Website: http://schools.hsd.k12.or.us/southmeadows
Location: 4690 SE Davis Rd, Hillsboro, OR, United States
Phone: 503-844-1220
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/874310209328004/