Spartan Herald March 2017
Building Community Empowering Learners Inspiring Creativity
Applied ISTEP testing has started and will continue through Monday of next week. Students are working hard. Please encourage your child to stay positive during the testing process.
If you have a daughter attending SMS, please consider the opportunity at Notre Dame described below. We have 12 students who are attending and only a limited number of Schmucker students can attend. Space is filling up quickly so please let me know if you are interested.
Attendance is critical the next several days of ISTEP. We start math ISTEP testing on Thursday and Friday and conclude with science (6th) and social studies (7th) on Monday of next week. 7th grade students should have their Chromebook charged for Monday as they will use this device for testing.
Go Spartans!
https://schmucker.phmschools.org/
Sean Galiher
Principal
Parent To Do List
1. Read this newsletter
2. Read the weekly emails you get from your child's Advisory teacher.
Important Dates
March 1 - ISTEP
March 2 - ISTEP
March 3 - ISTEP
March 6 - ISTEP
March 11 - Young Authors' Conference
March 13 - Apr 13 - Early Summer School (Mon.-Thurs.)
March 24 - Make Up School Day
March 28 - Art Show
March 30 - Final DC Payment Due.
Check out all events on our Website calendar: SMS Calendar
Expanding Your Horizons
For more information: "Click Here"
SMS will pay for up to 30 girls to attend this conference. Please complete the online registration and email Mr. Galiher when complete. Please select "My school is paying for me" on the online registration form.
One Book/One School
Outside Beverages NOT permitted
7th & 8th boys track
7th & 8th Girls Track
Athletics
National Junior Honor Society
Get to know our NEW TEACHERS
Melissa Fiegel is teaching 8th grade LA this year at Schmucker. Coming from three years of teaching high school in Milwaukee, she loves that, this year, she is able to act a little silly without a bunch of 16-year-olds rolling their eyes at her. In her spare time, she likes reading, camping, gardening, writing, and trying to learn how to make the perfect homemade mac and cheese. She is also still a Band Geek at heart and plays her clarinet with the Notre Dame University Band. You have all made her feel very welcome so far at SMS and she is loving it here!
Dan Osler currently teaches 6th grade science at Schmucker. He's a graduate of both Penn High school (1999) and IUSB (2003). Him and his wife Sara live in Osceola and have a sixth grade daughter named Payton and a chocolate lab named Remi. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, fishing, and being outdoors. Prior to transferring to Schmucker he spent eleven years teaching second and third grades at Elsie Rogers and one year teaching first grade at Northpoint. He enjoys teaching because every day is different. Teaching is a job that keeps him on his toes and never becomes stale.
Erica Briones is happy to be back at her Alma mater! Not only did she attend Schmucker but she also completed her student teaching here with Mr. Rice. This marks her 13th year of teaching. She has now taught grades 2-6. She graduated from IUSB with her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education with an endorsement in middle school math. Then she went on to get her Master's Degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in reading from Ball State. She has been married to Doug for ten years now and they have 3 energized boys; Jackson 8, Grayson 5, and Dawson 20 months. When she's not teaching, you can find her at some type of sporting event.
8th Grade Hollywood Premier Night
ATTENTION SMS 8th Grade Students and Parents: Schmucker's 8th Grade Hollywood Premier Night is scheduled for Friday, May 19th, 6:00pm - 8:00pm so mark your calendars. Tickets are $10 and include food, entertainment, and "Penn Class of 2021" T-shirts (T-shirts are only guaranteed if ticket is purchased by May 1st).
Don't miss your chance to walk the "Red Carpet" and enjoy and evening with the stars! There will be taxi cab karaoke, photo booth, DJ,food and prizes! This is a celebration you definitely won't want to miss!!
Parents, if you are interested in donating food or helping out as chaperon the evening of the Premier, please contact Becky de Varona at rebeccadevarona@gmail.com.
8th Grade - Washington, D.C. Trip
21st century scholars
Intramurals
Schmucker will be offering fun activities to enjoy through our intramural program throughout the year. The intramural coordinator, Mr. Sears has set up "Frisbee Fling, Volleyball & Open Gym". Check out dates and time on our SMS Calendar. Come and join in the fun!
Amazon Smile (PTO)
Schmucker has recently joined AmazonSmile. You can do all your regular Amazon shopping but use the AmazonSmile website. AmazonSmile has everything Amazon has to offer. Before checking out make sure your account/purchase is linked into the link below. Schmucker PTO will earn 0.5% of your purchases.
https://smile.amazon.com/ch/35-1718599
Remember, start your Amazon shopping at this link and Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the SMS PTO!
The account will be named "PHM No-Profit Organizations Inc."
This is a simple way to help the students and staff of Schmucker. Thank you for supporting the PTO!
Travel Abroad
As most of you know, we have developed a China (travel) exchange program for 7th and 8th grade students at Penn-Harris-Madison and a Europe travel opportunity. We would like to offer the travel abroad experience for our CURRENT 6th and 7th grade students to travel to Germany, Switzerland, and Italy next June 2018. Through this trip, students will experience the history, culture, and foreign languages taught in 6th and 7th grade social studies classes and in the world languages curriculum.
Mr. McMillen, assistant principal at Schmucker Middle School and Mrs. Harper will be co-leading this trip. We received approval from the Penn-Harris-Madison school board of trustees to plan and facilitate this trip for the summer of 2018 (tentative dates of June 24 to July 4, 2018). This trip will be open to Grissom, Schmucker, and Discovery current 6th and 7th grade students.
The cost for the trip is presently projected at $3,610, which includes the EF insurance package. The trip will begin on June 24 with an overnight flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Travelers will spend time in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. We will tentatively return home on July 4, 2018.
Mr. McMillen and Mrs., Harper will host two information meetings. Please plan on attending one of these two meetings if you are interested: Friday morning, March 3 at 7:30 AM or Friday afternoon, March 3 at 4:30 PM both at Discovery Middle School. Please enter Discovery’s main entrance off of Ash Road and someone will direct you to our LGI. We look forward to seeing you!
Next Gen Day @ PHM
Local High School Robotics teams are hosting a FIRST Robotics Competition on March 11 & 12 at Penn High School. For More details: Click Here
Summer Coding Camp
Canvas
Canvas is a LMS (Learning Management System) that is used in PHM. Teachers can put content online for students, make announcements and provide assignments. All parents are enrolled in the Canvas course of their students as observers. As observers, you can see the content, but are not able to interact with it. Please access the links below to learn more.
To keep you organized, you can also download the Canvas app on your phone or tablet for Android and Apple devices.
Homework Requests
Community Events/Activities
Check out the P-H-M website for an online listing of non-school events & activities agencies have asked us to share with P-H-M families: