MSA Weekly News - September 16, 2016

September 16, 2016 | Vol 10, Iss 5, No 329

NEWSLETTER

Woo Hoo! What a week we have had on campus! So much fun stuff has been going on around here. All the Creativity Week activities have been a blast, I hope you have been trying to keeping up on Facebook (there's video of Robert participating in the drumline) and/or Instagram. Besides all of that, we had some more MAP testing, ACT tests have begun, we held a fire drill and an open house, and last but not least we had Mini Day @MSA. We got some great pictures of the parents in class, I put a few on Facebook and a short video of Josh having them do math out loud in his room! Looked like everyone was enjoying themselves.

I hope you have a great weekend and we will see you Monday!

Art of the Week

Lower School student Patrick Keane stands proudly with his body tracing! It was displayed outside the Lower School building in celebration of Creativity Week!

Thank you Karen Ferguson!

KK's Clubbers are so appreciative to Jin, Freddy & Charlie Butler's mother Karen for all the wonderful fruit she brings each week. Karen arrives at 3:30 with her bag of goodies and the students love it! Thanks for being a part of the "Club" Karen, we love you!!

Katy Kane

PE Coordinator

School Portraits are Ready

The school portrait photographs are now available and retake photos should be posted soon. To access/purchase them, please click on your school link below:

The password is MSA202 (it is case sensitive)

NOTE: Make sure to order your photos before Friday, September 30. There will be a 10% price increase beginning on October 1 on all galleries.

Musician of the Week
Congratulations to Upper School student Morgan Graves, one of the MSA Band's brilliant clarinet players! Morgan, who is a senior, was sworn in as an official member of MSA chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society in front of an audience that included her friends, family, and teachers. But she is also our Musician of the Week!

Informative AND Fun!

This past week in Karen's PreUpper Georgia History class, the students played Trasket Ball for the first time this year! This is a review game that students play to prepare for upcoming tests. The eighth graders have their first test next week. The material covered on the test will include, important facts about Georgia, the physiographic regions present in the state, and fundamental concepts for interpreting sources used by historians. Eighth grader Channing Allen stated, "I liked that it was informative and very fun at the same time, it was a great review." Pictured Matthew Birnbaum going for double points!

Swim Team Meeting

Greetings Mustangs! We will be having a meeting on Wednesday, September 21st at 12:15pm for any students interested in joining this year's Mustang Swim Team. The meeting will be in my room, PreUpper second room on the left. After the amazing Olympics we had this past summer and the first ever AAC Championship we earned last year, this is truly shaping up to be another unforgettable swim season!!! The swim team is a super fun way to get in shape, make new friends, and represent your school in a very positive environment. The team is open to all students in Middle, PreUpper, CommArts, and Upper Schools.
I look forward to seeing all those who are interested on Wednesday, September 21 to discuss what it takes to be on the team.
--Coach Josh Hersko

MSA Police Blotter

Guest Journalist - Jack Abram

In order to teach the students in Forensics class about how to process a crime scene, a project was planned in which two separate teams in the class would have to stage a fake crime scene, and the other team would have to solve the crime. The project was useful in teaching the "Seven S's", or proper handling of a crime scene. These are securing the scene, separating the witnesses, scanning the scene, seeing the scene, sketching the scene, searching for evidence, and securing evidence.

For the first crime, a body was discovered in Keith's class. Upon arrival, investigators marked off the crime scene with yellow tape and identified the victim as Nate Foster (pictured). They identified heavy trauma to his upper torso, and a blood trail leading out of the room. Upon following the trail, it led to a plastic sheet covered in blood on the ground in the science lab adjacent to Vaidehi's room. READ MORE

Upcoming PVA Meeting

The Parent Volunteer Association will hold their monthly meeting on

September 22, 2016

7:00pm

at John & Liz Parks' home

If you have any question feel free to contact Susan Lake, your PVA President.

Writing is a Treat

Ms. Branigan's class has been learning about using transition words when they are writing. They completed a fun, hands-on lesson this week to demonstrate their knowledge of the learned concept. First, the students made dirt cup snacks. Then, they wrote about how to make the snacks. The students had to list what was needed, and write the steps they followed using transition words. Finally, they got to enjoy their yummy treat. Who wouldn't love to learn about using transition words and getting a delicious snack from it? Pictured: Joshua Nanney in the front, Trey Stormont and Aidan Burris in the background.

2nd Annual Creativity Week

Creativity is intelligence having fun. --Albert Einstein

This week we celebrated the 2nd Annual Creativity Week led by our Fine Arts staff. It was a week to celebrate all the many ways our students and staff solve problems and express themselves in creative ways. The campus was full of colorful displays painted by some visual arts students and the week's activities included sidewalk chalk drawing during breaks, a school wide drum circle, and a collaborative cardboard city designed by multiple MSA classes. Check out all the photos from the week HERE. Pictured Zack SoolaymanAli, Robert Moore, and Kaitlin Bolander.

Barn Bash 2016

Please join the Mill Springs PVA for our most fabulous event of the year, the annual Barn Bash! The Barn Bash will be held at the lovely Chukkar Farm and Polo Club in Alpharetta on Saturday, September 24, 2016 at 6:00 pm. We have a delicious meal planned for you, an awesome band, lots of fun games and raffles, and many unique and inspired items for our live and silent auctions. This is your chance to meet and mingle with your fellow MSA parents and enjoy an elegant and date-night worthy event with your spouse! This is it - you do not want to miss this event, trust us! Your attendance at this event will also go far to support a very worthwhile cause, your child's education. Each year, the Mill Springs PVA uses your contributions to benefit your child's school in a meaningful way. Buy your tickets today at http://www.msabarnbash.com/!!

ACE Students are Working with Arduinos

Students in Martha's ACE class continue to work at building circuits and writing programs using an Arduino and a breadboard. The microprocessor in the Arduino can handle many commands that can be used to control turning lights on and off in different sequences or at different rates or to control the movement of an antenna for an Amateur Radio station. (So far, we are still at the blinking lights stage of our mastery of the things one can do with an Arduino.)

Our great friend and mentor Jim Stafford, whose Amateur Radio call sign is W4QO, has been coming in on Mondays to work with the ACE students on this and also on Morse code. So far, everyone in the class has shown perfect mastery of the first seven letters of the code. It is hoped that the ACE students will have a number of Arduino projects built and programmed to demonstrate to the other students from the metro Atlanta area who will be participating in the Student Shack at the Stone Mountain Hamfest in November. Pictured on left is Iris Dunn editing her program to change the rate at which her LEDs blink, right is her Arduino and breadboard set up to control two LEDs. READ MORE

Parent/Student Workshop

A parent/student workshop is being sponsored by the MSA Counseling Department on Intro to Financial Aid for College and the FAFSA. Join us on September 28 from 6:30 - 7:30pm in the Upper School Great Room to find out more.

An RSVP is requested - Please CLICK HERE to RSVP.

Totally Invested

Change your mind, clear your mind, and control your mind was the call to order as the Mustangs faced AAC foe AASD. The Mustangs did not waste any time as Yates Smith took a beautiful pass from Sean Nemesh and finished his first of two goals on the day. "Adversity reveals character, and after last week's debacle, we were glad to see our guys come out of the gate with energy, enthusiasm, and a sense of purpose." Leading 1-0, the ubiquitous Yates Smith again got behind the Panther Defense, finished another Mustang Fastbreak; and at halftime, MSA commandeered a 2-0 lead. "All week long, Coach Smith made it a priority to attack and get our running game back on track."

The Mustangs continued their offensive barrage as Trevor Murr scored on a pass from Jack Buck which extended MSA's second half lead to 3-0. READ MORE

Time to Turn in Box Tops

Turn in Box Tops by Friday, October 21st for our fall submission and drawing. Place in a zipped bag or envelope with your student’s name & grade on the bag to be eligible for the drawing. Drop in the collection containers in each school or administration office. Labels for Education, Tyson A+ labels, and My Coke Rewards caps/codes should be turned in now too.

Fall drawing winners will be announced in November

EACH School will have a winner that can choose a $10 Gift Card from Barnes & Noble, Dick’s, Target, or Toys R Us
Contact Beth Kane at beth-kane@outlook.com with any questions.
Thanks for your participation!

National Hispanic Heritage Month

Each year we observe the National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. President Lyndon Johnson first approved Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968, and was expanded to a full month by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, Maria Gonzalez' Spanish II classes participated in a project that celebrated the achievements and accolades of notable Hispanics in the United States. Students were encouraged to leverage their individual interests to research an individual who has contributed to society in their selected category. Student research resulted in notable findings in politics, science, sports, and art. They'll share biographies in English to their fellow classmates, answer a few questions in Spanish, and their work will be posted on a bulletin board within the classroom for all to see.

Getting Creative

This week Lower School participated in Creativity Week. Students made pictures on the sidewalk with chalk while we listened to the drummers perform in the outdoor amphitheater. Ms. Jodi's students, Cooper Casdia and Jake Brown jumped right in to help the percussionists! Lower Students were so proud to see their work displayed all over campus that they made with Ms. Janet in art class.

--Jodi Easter-Smith

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.

--Helen Keller

Community Cares & Concerns

The Coco Family

The Jones Family

The Swift Family

The Tijerina Family

If there is ever a care or concern you would like to share with the community, please just email me at any time, I will be glad to include either names or situations. For privacy, I will only list names and claim ignorance if anyone asks me for details. Cheri