December 11, 2020

There is something magical about the power of food. It has this ability to bring people together in ways that few other things do. It supports relationship and health, togetherness and warmth. Celebration and sustenance. And, this time of the year, it can magically pack on the pounds too. But I'm going to ignore the tightening of my own waistband and focus on the joy that cooking and baking for those I love brings instead. The waistband will wait until New Years.

Even back in middle school, food was this mysterious and wonderful thing. I remember oh so fondly lab days in home economics. You could smell whatever it was that classes were baking all day long in the hallways--warm carbohydrates and simple suppers and chocolate chip cookies--we could salivate in science class just smelling the warmth and deliciousness floating down the hallway.

Maybe this fascination with food (and eating it) is a middle school thing. Maybe it's the time of the year. Maybe it's the fact that we have fewer places to go and more time at home, or maybe its just that the magic never really left, but we have seen a strong resurgence in the baking bug at MTMS this week.

When we surveyed students back in October about what interest groups they would be most interested in participating in, I was shocked to see over 90 students proudly proclaiming the baking/cooking group as their first choice. And my goodness, is the group going strong. It was delightful to see a post on our own Mt. Tabor Middle School group of the cupcakes created and shared within the 7th grade baking/cooking group and hearing that they swapped tips and recipes this week during their meeting time.

Throw in the December Cake challenge that was featured in Homeroom as well. Students voted on the theme and the announcements team of Arnold, Liddle, and Llewellyn whipped up Star Wars masterpieces in true Nailed It! style. All three creations went forward to the student body to vote on their favorite Chewbacca, Princess Leia/Stormtroopers, and R2D2 creations and declare a winner. And while none of us celebrity bakers are giving up our day jobs of running a middle school in a pandemic, we all had a great time messing up our kitchens with our own families.

While I know that it is sometimes hard to find the fun in our physically-distanced world, we hope that our December Baking Challenge, unveiled to students on Wednesday during the announcements, will give our MTMS families a fun distraction and a reason to recapture the magic that only baked goods can provide. If you want to learn more about the December Baking Challenge, you can view the segment from our Homeroom Announcements from Monday--remember, that only students can submit their yummy or creative baked creations on Flipgrid from their student.pps.net account, so families will have to rely on their technical expertise when submitting their creations at https://bit.ly/mtmsdecemberchallenge

While we we understand how important it is for all of us to stay focused and productive during our distance learning, part of staying grounded and happy is taking care of some of those other needs we have--like licking frosting off the rubber spatula, sitting on the floor peering into the oven, and wondering if those cookies will even be done. And if I can speak from my own experience, making that cake with my kiddos was some of the best and most fondant-frustrating fun I have had in a long time.

I wish you all a lovely weekend, and hope to see you this week at Tabor Talks! Sweet baking dreams, MTMS families!

All the best,

Tonya Arnold

Principal, Mt. Tabor Middle School

We are doing another book distribution!

When: Thursday December 17 3-4 p.m.

Where: Front of the school Ash street entrance (near the library)

What: We will have "themed" bags for checkout as well as random bags. PLEASE RETURN any library materials (textbooks or books) that you have at this time as well. If you took a bag of books on one of our prior distributions please bring these back before taking a new bag.

Remember: Wear your mask and please observe safe social distance while picking up your bags. Thank you!

** Ms. Renauer's Quarter 1 Art Classes can pick up supplies during this time as well and will be sharing in classes this week where they can collect their supplies**

Every year, the staff at Mt. Tabor Middle Schools sets goals to improve our practices in an effort to center on improved student opportunities and achievement for all students. And while this year is a year unlike any other, our drive to get better does not change.

Join us at this week's Tabor Talks and explore our goals for the year, share the challenges and areas of success you see, and provide input on what we can continue to do to serve the diverse needs of our community and our students.

Tabor Talk Session #9 (AM and PM Edition)

Please mark your calendars for our upcoming Tabor Talk Sessions. Every Tabor Talk session can be reached at bit.ly/tabortalk.

• AM Edition: Tuesday, December 15 from 8:00-9:00 am
  
• PM Edition: Wednesday, December 16 from 6:30-7:30 pm

Our amazing leaders have determined the dates for their upcoming WEB Lunches on WEB Wednesdays. All of these meetings happen at 12:30 pm. Students should check with student.pps.net Gmail account for event invitations!

• December 16
• January 20
• February 17
• March 17
• April 21
• May 19

Heading to Franklin HS in 2021-22?

Discover Franklin: webpage Launch January 7th

Discover Franklin, traditionally, has been a preview day for 8th graders where they learn about our course offerings, and other school programs, resources, and supports; to assist them with forecasting for their upcoming 9th grade year. This event was typically held in the evening where we invited families and 8th grade students to join us. Due to the complexity of families and 8th graders trying to navigate multiple links in order to attend live presentations from teachers about elective offerings, we are opting to create a Discover Franklin website instead. This site will have pre-recorded videos that students and families can view at their leisure and serve as references as they forecast for classes or just get general information about our school. Teachers and Staff will be sharing their contact information on the webpage as well so families can reach out and ask any questions.

Heading to Cleveland HS in 2021-22?

Cleveland High School has posted information for 8th graders coming to Cleveland next year on its website. Parents of 8th graders who are interested in attending Cleveland next year can access the information.https://www.pps.net/Domain/109, or you can learn more by watching the Bridging the Gap Video linked here.

We sincerely hope these resources will provide students and families with solid reference and reteaching materials as needed at home. Students and families can also expect to see these resources linked in their Canvas pages as well.

Your Weekly PTA Update

A big THANK YOU to the Mt. Tabor Middle School community for participating in the Winter Drive for Families in Need. We could not have done this without your generous contributions! The drive will end this Friday, December 11th. If you have not donated, please consider giving at https://pps.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2cd3c4ba5266c444cc32f2774&id=3e64783e72&e=2a72a3c8b2

Fundraiser: Dream Dinners

Dream Dinners is partnering with the MTMS PTA in a curbside pick-up fundraising event. Order three delicious meals through Dream Dinners (links providedin the PTA newsletter linked below) and a portion of your order will be donated back to the MTMS PTA. Meal pick-up dates are December 17th, 6:30pm - 7:30pm, and December 19th, 9:00am-10:00am.

Are you tired of planning meals, grocery shopping, and all the prep with homemade meals? Then check out this link for details on Dream Dinners and links to order for next week. You pick-up the meals and cook them in the safety and comfort of your kitchen. https://mtmspta.com/2020/12/10/week-of-december-7th-11th/

Join the MTMSPTA

We still need you! Our PTA helps to fill needs that our school budget just cannot. We support programming, the purchase of teacher supplies, and a host of other things that truly make a difference for our students. Becoming a member is easy, and your membership dues help support our efforts at MTMS. To join, simply sign up at https://bit.ly/joinMTMSPTA

Stay Connected & Up to Date with the MTPTA

It's easy to stay up to date with the PTA. We encourage Mt. Tabor families to visit our website at mtmspta.com for weekly updates (beginning the next couple of weeks) and following our page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MTMSPTA/.

Questions? Ideas? Concerns? Want to volunteer?

Write us at mtmspta@gmail.com

Teachers look at three basic factors for determining whether your students is in attendance on any given distance learning day. Those three factors are:

• Attendance in the Live Class Meeting
• Submission of assignment for the class in Canvas
• Direct teacher contact on the day in question (typically via email or discussion board)

Students who engage in one of those ways should be marked as present.

If you believe there was an error in attendance, please use ParentVUE to look up the course the absence was marked in (you can watch this video tutorial to see how you can find this information in ParentVUE).

We are asking all families to contact the teacher of the course if you believe there is an error. where the absence occurred first as they will have the best knowledge of student attendance measures. From there, they can make the change or contact our front office to change attendance if the mark was made in error.

If you know your student will be gone in advance or was sick, please follow the standard protocol of calling into the office to excuse the absence.

Parents can get in on the Canvas platform and "observe" their student to allow for both transparency and support. For instructions on how you can get started, click here:

https://www.pps.net/cms/lib/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/4/CanvasQuickGuide-English.pdf

If you or your student is still struggling with any of the aspects of learning technology, we hope you will call the PPS Technology Help Desk, which is open from 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on school days. We will answer your questions and share information and helpful tips about anything related to distance learning technology. The Technology Help Desk is available in all PPS-supported languages.

Email support@pps.net or call us:

• English: 503-916-3375
• Español: 503-916-3582
• 中文：503-916-3585
• Tiếng Việt: 503-916-3584
• Soomaali: 503-916-3586
• Русский: 503-916-3583

If you need to exchange a Chromebook or Hotspot, the BESC (district office) can help every day!

• When: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Where: PPS district office (501 N. Dixon St). Please go to the lower level parking lot, which has an entrance on N. Larrabee Ave.
• Please bring: Your student’s school ID or ID number. If you are exchanging or returning a device, please bring the device and charger with you.
• Please be aware: We are asking everyone to use recommended social distancing practices, keeping at least 6 feet of space between groups and wearing a facemask or face covering, if possible.

Please note that if you have a technical issue and are not sure if you should exchange a computer, you can also:

• Call: 503-916-3375
• Email: support@pps.net