| | Quicklinks MSA Home Page Construction Blog School Calendar Athletics Schedule Parent Volunteer Assn Current News Upcoming Events SATURDAY, MAY 14
» 6th Grade Banquet
6:00pm, Upper Great Room MONDAY, MAY 16
» Board Meeting
7:00pm THURSDAY, MAY 19
» 1st Period Exam
10:30am Dismissal, PU/CA/U » Spring PM - Last Day
FRIDAY, MAY 20
» 2nd Period Exam
10:30am Dismissal, PU/CA/U MONDAY, MAY 23
» 3rd Period Exam
10:30am Dismissal, PU/CA/U TUESDAY, MAY 24
» 4th Period Exam
10:30am Dismissal, PU/CA/U WEDNESDAY, MAY 25
» 5th Period Exam
10:30am Dismissal, PU/CA/U THURSDAY, MAY 26
» 6th Period Exam
10:30am Dismissal, PU/CA/U FRIDAY, MAY 27 LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
» Awards Ceremony - 8:30am, your school » Honors Day - 10:00am, gym » Early Dismissal - 11:00am Carpool, 11:15am Buses Depart MONDAY, MAY 30
» SCHOOL CLOSED
Memorial Day TUESDAY, MAY 31 » Summer Hours begin
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Send your photos to:
pictures@millsprings.org
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| Art of the Week 
This week's art of the week is by Nic Allen, an 8th grader in Communication Arts. He has beautifully recreated a work by Van Gogh using pastel pencils.
Congrats to the Class of 2016
Mill Springs Academy is proud to announce the graduating Class of 2016, our largest graduating class to date. Our Valedictorian is Mr. Neil Bingham Jensen and the Salutatorian is Mr. Jeremy Rex Border. Now that they have had success in school, it is time for them to feel success in life! Congratulations to the following list of graduates: CLICK FOR THE LIST it also shows the colleges to which the Class of 2016 has been accepted. We are proud of you, we wish you well, and would love for you to keep in touch.
Junior Moms
A heartfelt and huge thank you to the following Junior Moms: Laura Covert (U), Deidra Pratt (CA), Susan Toscano (U), Lynn Buck (U) and Maureen Lally (U). Your time, effort, and contributions for the Senior Hospitality Room during Senior Presentations were greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
Shilpee Kathuria and the Senior Class of 2016
Feature Teacher
 Meet Angela Davis. She was a new counselor at MSA this year. She is from Music City USA, Nashville, TN. She moved to Georgia with her husband in 2005. I graduated from Fisk University with a BA in Psychology and Education, and from Argosy University with an MA in Community Counseling (Magna Cum Laude, no less). She started out as an intern here and fell in love with the school and students; so she is very excited to be working here. She is the youngest of five sisters and one brother, and she has several nieces and nephews who think they are are her kids. She loves all kinds of music and says, "growing up in Nashville you have to like music!" She enjoys singing, movies, bowling, board games/trivia, all things entertainment and pop culture, traveling, and cooking/baking. I am fascinated by people ... meeting and interacting with people of diverse cultures provides a way to grow and connect. Her favorite thing to do is LAUGH! But the little known fact about Angela? She has recorded a gospel CD with her choir in Tennessee!
Angela thank you for what you do at Mill Springs!
Got Pictures?
 I would love to see the pictures you have taken! Send 'em to me!
PICTURES@MILLSPRINGS.ORG If you have some awesome pictures of anything Mill Springs Academy please email them. We have set up this email address that can be used by everyone to share the wonderful pictures you have taken with me. If you email them with a brief description and include any names of students you know, we might just use them on Facebook, in the Weekly News, on the monitor in Administration, or maybe even in the Yearbook! Anyone get some great shots of Graduation?
PICTURES@MILLSPRINGS.ORG
The Binding Revelation
 I have been surprised by the number of people I personally know that have written books and another new author, Nicole Lynn, has been added to that list. Nicole Lynn is a combination of middle names for Brandi Smallwood, MSA Counselor, and her sister Amy Cooper. Together they have written a young adult book, the e-book was released just last week. They have garnered some wonderful reviews. So if you are interested the book is titled, "The Binding Revelation" and if you click on the title it will take you to Amazon, where you can find out more. Congratulations Brandi and Amy!
ATTENTION PARENTS!
Collections for the end-of-the-year Teacher/ Staff Appreciation Gift are slowly coming in. Therefore, we are extending the deadline for contributions from today to Thursday, May 19th. Each year, MSA parents have generously thanked our teachers and staff at the end of the school year with a group cash gift. No amount is too big or too small!! Remember, you get the added advantage of not having to go buy gifts for staff, teachers and your child's principal during this hectic time of finals, field trips and last minute assignments!! You can mail a check for your entire donation payable to MSA PVA to the school or feel free to personally deposit your cash or check in the basket located at the front desk inside the Administration Building. You can also make an online payment through the MSA PVA Store. Just CLICK ON THIS LINK to the MSA PVA Store and the page will open with the option to donate online. This is a wonderful way to show MSA’s teachers and staff our heartfelt appreciation for a YEAR WELL DONE!!! Thank you for your participation. If you should have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact Debbie Drew.
Novel Timelines
In reading class this week, we created a timeline to display the important events in our novel, Strider, by Beverly Cleary. The students learned about what a timeline is and how to use it properly to sequence events. First, we brainstormed ideas for which events were most important. We included important details, dates, and pictures to represent each major event in the story. Each student's creativity is displayed with their unique timeline. Here are some photos of the students working on their book reports. Pictured is Edward Gorgoll
SENIORS: Keep Up With Friends
You are DONE with your high school career and are now an alumni! How awesome! I bet you thought it would never get here. There are a couple things you need to know about being an Alumni of the Class of 2016: - First, you can still keep up with your friends through MUSTANG (yes, the place where you have gone to get homework).
- Second, you can still get the MSA Weekly News sent to you.
In order for those two things to happen, you must send me your personal email - not your MSA millsprings.org email because that goes away soon - but your personal email address. Just REPLY to this newsletter and send me that information and I will take care of the rest. Right now you have access to the Alumni Portal - but school gets out that access will go away if you don't send me your personal email address. So do it today, right now while you are thinking about it. Then you will use the same password that you currently use with your personal email to access MUSTANG after you graduate. THEN you will continue to receive copies of the MSA Weekly News in your inbox every week just like you do now so you can keep up with friends and teachers still here on campus. So click on REPLY and send me your personal email address today! OH and keep in touch! We love to hear what is going on with everyone.
Diversity Day
This year we had a great turnout for our Diversity Day Celebration. It was a long and fun day. We had student-led talks and discussions on how diversity affects our lives and our community. The students also created games and activities to help us grow and understand each other. The teachers even got involved with a teacher vs. teacher Twister competition! It was a moving experience for all who came. We cannot wait until next year! Thank you to everyone who helped plan this event.
Honors Day
Honors Day Schedule - May 27, 2016 Parents YOU are invited to join us at ALL Honors Day activities. -
 8:30-9:30am Final Levels Meeting and Awards Ceremony for each School (in your School).
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10:00-11:00am Honors Day Program - In the Tweetie Lewis Moore Student Activity Center -
11:00am Dismissal -
11:15am Bus Transportation will leave
Standing Room Only
On April 29th and 30th the MSA Fine Arts department presented the spring musical, Little Shop of Horrors live on stage! It’s the story of a lowly flower shop clerk on Skid Row that gets tricked by a talking carnivorous plant to feed it people! What ensues is campy, melodramatic fun! Both shows were completely sold out, and the audiences were wonderfully positive. The cast and crew were on point, working hard, and having a blast. Special thanks goes out to all the parents who stepped up and helped make this year’s show a huge success! We couldn’t have done it without you! Congratulations to the whole cast and crew!
There is Still Time
There is still time to order portraits from the photographer. Either individual student pictures, drama, graduation, and/or sports photos. So take a moment and look at them to decide what you would like. www.mocphoto.com School Portraits password - MSA202 Other Galleries password - MSA101
The portrait galleries will be available until Monday, May 30th. So get what you want before it's too late.
Polygon Project
This week in my math class students focused on the properties of polygons. After covering vocabulary while describing what makes polygons regular and irregular, we started a fun polygon project on our laptops. Students got to use their creativity and knowledge of polygons to create a polygon robot using the shapes in Word. Pictured: Gito Nunez
Feedback from 5th period about this assignment: - “It’s fun and it allows you to create whatever you want only using polygons!” –Zach Burns
- “It’s awesome and very interesting to play with the shapes on my computer.” –Sebi Wise
- “I really like creating things on my computer.” –Gito Nunez
- “I’m learning something new and I’ve never made a robot out of shapes before! It’s pretty cool.” –Sahara DiClemente
- “Lightning bolts in the Word Program’s shapes are polygons.” –Alex Yager
- “I enjoy mixing a little art and creativity with math!” –Ms. Kelli
Summer Sports Camp  Sign up now for Summer Sports Camp at Mill Springs Academy. We are offering coed basketball and soccer along with girls' volleyball. For more details CLICK HERE or talk to Coaches Phil Hanson for basketball or soccer, and Karen Kaiser for volleyball. This is an excellent opportunity for all new students to get to know some of our coaches and get in the groove before school starts in August. GO MUSTANGS!
Coming in the Fall
This week Communication Arts students had first row seats to a preview of next year's MSA Chess Club experience. Daniel Gurrvich and his coach (and mother) Inga will open the chess club to all grade levels, and they love teaching young students to learn the game. MSA is incredibly lucky to have them build our chess program. Daniel travels around the world competing in chess tournaments, and he is currently the top player in the United States under the age of 18. He ranks in the top 50 in the world overall, and at the age of 18 he has already completed his first degree at GA Tech! In addition to his other accomplishments he writes for Jr. chess publications, and is passionate about spreading a love for the game. Keep your eyes peeled for information about signing your student up for next years' chess club!
FOILing Polynomials
In Algebra I students are ending their year learning about polynomials and operations involving polynomials. At this point, students understand FOIL (First, Outer, Inner, Last) which is the method of multiplying binomials usually resulting in a trinomial product. Now we reverse the process and ask students to factor a trinomial into its binomial products. We regularly utilize Khan Academy in my classroom. Sometimes, as you see here, we will have a student come up to the smartboard and talk the class through a problem. If a student can explain a problem, they understand the concept. We’re coaching up future teachers over here. Pictured Jake Bryant at the board.
Family Pictures
  
The directors, Jamie Fambrough, Kate McElliott, and Patrick Rose have eight children between the three of them that loved the plant! Pictured here are 1) Jamie with his wife, Valerie, and their two girls Charlie and Violet loving the plant; 2) Kate with the plant, her 5 kids are not pictured-maybe they were eaten?; and 3) Patrick with his son Emmett and a baby plant.
Sister School Visits
Communication Arts students spent weeks preparing for the visit of Little Wound High School students from Kyle, South Dakota. When the two Oglala Lakota chaperones and four students arrived, the trees at MSA were decorated with Lakota prayer flags, and the Mustang horse was draped by a welcoming sign in the Lakota language. “You all always make us feel so welcome here,” said chaperone Eddie Jumping Eagle. “Who would have thought we’d see the Lakota language in Georgia?”, he added. The Lakota students spent a lot of time sitting in classes and getting to know their MSA friends. Little Wound students Tye Pourier and Dave McBride taught the Diversity Club kids a traditional Native American game called “sticks”. The students compared their schools and classes, and Dave sang a traditional Lakota prayer for the club members. Tye, Dave, and the Lakota girls, Catalina Rodriguez and Gabby Marrufo, played basketball with a group of MSA students. READ MORE
Keep Up Over Summer
 Wanna know what's going on here on campus during the summer? Join us on the Social Scene. We have a few Pinterest boards with helpful and/or interesting information for parents, students and teachers. You can also follow us on Twitter (@millspringsacad) or LIKE us on Facebook (Mill Springs Academy). Post pictures with Instagram (MillSpringsAcademy) or watch videos on YouTube. We'll post some things through the week that might be of interest to you. So PLEASE FOLLOW ME on the Social Scene!
Community Cares & Concerns 
- The Davis Family
- The Dixon Family
- The Rose 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
Quote of the Week I will not permit any man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.
--Booker T. Washington
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We had a wonderful graduation this past weekend, we released 48 Mustangs into the Wild. If you were a part of that, congratulations and good luck to you.There are always mixed emotions on those days; we have seen something special take place in your lives and we look forward to your future, just as you do. But you are leaving the corral, the place you have come to know, a place where you feel you belong. Just know that your Mustang roots are still inside of you - remember what you learned, the 3C's will do you well everywhere you go in life. You all have some greatness to give to your community, wherever that ends up being. Go and share that greatness!
