MSA Weekly News - February 3, 2017

February 3, 2017 | Vol 10, Iss 21, No 345

NEWSLETTER

Cheesehead Out, Dirty Birds In

This has been one AWESOME week! It started in January and ended in February. We have had some auditions for a special event, Transition Day for students and Transition Night for parents (rising 5th and 7th grade families), Booster Pizza and Krispy Kreme Friday, a visit from a consultant, John Littleford, who held SEVEN focus groups meetings and a feedback session. Those culminated into a newly formed Parent Ambassador program with at least a dozen newly trained parents - who are very excited. There were 70+ parents, a handful of students, and some faculty/staff members as well who all participated at some level - A GIANT THANK YOU to all! More training and information to come. That doesn't even take into consideration all of the learning that is going on around here, we have had an incredibly full week.

At this point in this particular week, most everyone has the Super Bowl on their mind. I will be rooting for the Falcons, BUT I will do it wearing my Packers shirt! I'm just sayin'. This Cheesehead is OUT!

Have a great weekend - See you Monday!

Art of the Week

This week's Art of the Week is by Middle School art student, Jaden Prince. Jaden's love of trains was his inspiration for this original work of art.

Thank You to JTF Parent Chaperones

A HUGE THANK YOU to the amazing parent chaperones that braved a crowd of nearly 6,000 singing children at the Junior Theater Festival a few weeks ago. Meggie Velasco, Jill Coco, Lori Kogoy, Bill Porter, Erika King, and Kim Pekez. We are so appreciative!!

--Jamie Fambrough and Kate McElliott, MSA Directors who are so lucky to be supported by such awesome parents.

Congratulations

Our hats off to the following students as they have been accepted by the indicated schools:

Lindsay Lopp - Savannah College of Art and Design
Trevor Murr - Eckerd College, Middle Tennessee State University, and Daytona State College
Kyle Phillips - University of Alabama, University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Kennesaw State University.

Feature Teacher

Meet Judy Norris! Judy has been a part of the MSA community for 9 years as a parent, for 3 years as a substitute, and now as a full time teacher. She teaches American Literature and Geometry in the Upper School. When we ask her what she likes about Mill Springs she says she likes "the community and how it allows one to get to really know both the students and the staff." Also, "I believe in the students at MSA - they are capable of so much! You just have to convince THEM they can do it." Her teaching philosophy? "When I look at my students, I look for a spark of understanding. I get to know them and make sure from the start they know my one goal is to help them master the material. I do this by creating a safe environment where they can ask questions or tell me I am going to fast. I try to teach problem solving, whether for managing school or geometry." In her past life, she was a computational biochemist for 17 years. Her favorite foods are Mexican and chocolate. If she finds spare time, she likes gardening and quilting. She is currently reading X by Sue Grafton and a couple books about using Google in the classroom. Here are a couple interesting facts: 1) she tested for and received her 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and 2) when her son was a toddler she lived in Switzerland for two years.

Thank you for what you do every day Judy!

Musician of the Week

Meet Class of 2017 Upper student Victoria Toscano! Victoria is a member of our Band's Violin section. Her dedication to music, not to mention her leadership and great attitude in class, have earned her the title of Musician of the Week. Way to go Victoria - You are AWESOME!

Journal Entry - February 2 - My Job

Guest Journalist - Ward Sutlive, Lower School, 4th Grade

The job I would really like to have when I grow up is a computer programmer. The reason I want to be a computer programmer when I grow up is because it pays well and it sounds fun. I think Mill Springs has helped prepare ;me for this job by pushing me to do my very best at all times. They do everything in their power to help me. Thanks to my teachers, I can become a programmer. After all, I could not have done it without them.

Awesome Archers!

Since the weather has been beautiful lately, we've been setting up our Archery range outside! This gives us fresh air, lots of space to shoot and take breaks, and some really great shooting! They've been improving so much. Pictured are Aidan Harper, Jake Bryant, and Iris Dunn posing with their near-perfect shots! Great job Mustang Archery!

PVA 1st Monday Coffee Break

Join your fellow MSA parents for coffee on the first Monday of each month!! We will meet at Starbucks (at the intersection of Crabapple and Houze Roads) right after morning carpool. This is a great opportunity to meet other parents discuss your successes and struggles, and share advice and ideas. We look forward to seeing you there! All are welcome.

Future dates: February 6th, March 6th, April 10th (2nd Monday, due to Spring Break), and May 1st.

Putting it Together Graphically

This week, the Pre-Calculus class is learning how to draw relatively complex rational functions. It is a multi-step process involving a combination of analyses including finding restrictions on the domain, determining any holes that are present, continuity or lack of continuity, determining any vertical, horizontal, or slant asymptotes, taking a table of values, and putting it all together in graphical depiction by hand.

Students learned that the same graphical depiction can be found by using a graphing calculator, and we also discussed the differences between what the calculator shows and what can be determined by hand. This is all probably the most thorough graph analysis any of the students have done to date in any math class, and is certainly a precursor to what they will have to do in any college algebra or calculus course, or beyond.

I'd like to thank Mike Martin, one of the star students in the Pre-Calculus class, for helping me go through all the steps on one of the homework problems the class had to do, and for all his great help in the graph that you see pictured here. Way to go, Mike!!

--Henry Franklin, Upper School Instructor

Public Open House

Wednesday, February 8

9:00 - 11:00am

Student Activity Center

If you know someone that might benefit from attending MSA, please invite them to an Open House or better yet bring them! In case you haven't attended an Open House, it provides prospective parents with an overview of the school, a wonderful Fine Arts presentation, at least one parent and one student perspective, a tour of the school and an opportunity to speak with the principal. It's a great opportunity for them to get a feel for what we are all about. Word of mouth is by far the biggest way families find their way to Mill Springs and we know that you sometimes have the chance to be "Mill Springs on the Street", we thank you for sharing MSA!

Varsity Basketball Finals

Here is the schedule for the Atlanta Athletic Conference Boys and Girls Varsity Basketball Tournament (all games are away at the Howard School):

Monday, February 13, 2017

Girls

2:00pm - #1 AASD vs. #4 MSA (MSA gets the #3 seed if they defeat Howard on 2/3)

5:00pm - #2 Howard vs #3 Cottage

Boys

3:30pm - #1 Howard vs #4 MSA

6:30pm - #2 Cottage vs. #3 AASD

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Girls

2:00pm - Consolation Game

5:00pm - Championship Game

Boys

3:30pm - Consolation Game

6:30pm - Championship Game

Mark your calendars and come out to cheer your team on!

Conference Schedule

Your student will NOT have school on the following conference days. Your principal will schedule your specific conference. Buses run on their normal AM/PM schedule for those students that are here.

Lower/Middle - NO SCHOOL February 9 and 10
PreUpper/CommArts/Upper - NO SCHOOL February 17 and 24

Again, your student does NOT have school on their conference days.

Math and History Connections

We had an exciting week in Math Class. We started off the week learning about algebra by making algebraic equations with chocolate. Then, we played an interactive game similar to jeopardy in order to reinforce the steps to solving equations. Lastly, we combined history and math by talking about the Great Depression, the Stock Market, and the Holocaust. The students wrote in their journals about how Math was connected to each of these historical events. I was impressed with how insightful each of my students responded to the above writing prompt. Lastly, we tapped into our creativity with finishing up our algebra collages. As you can see from the picture, Jeremiah Jones (grade 6) and Ella Parsons (grade 5) are pointing to their Math Art that I have hung in my classroom. As my one student stated earlier this week, "Ms. Katie, you have given me the math curse." And I responded, "you are welcome, for it is true. Math is EVERYWHERE. We can't escape it!"

- Katie Winokur, Middle School Instructor

Parent Workshop

No matter what grade your student is in, you may have questions about college? Come join Counselors Susan Day and Brandi Smallwood for this informal gathering as we discuss frequently asked questions such as:

How does college counseling work here at MSA?
Where do MSA students typically go to college?
What can I do to help my student?

Wednesday, February 15

8:30 - 9:30am

Upper School Great Room

Google Southern Summit

"Embrace the creative chaotic potential within our students." --Jessica Loucks, Speaker

Eleven teachers from MSA, representing Lower through Upper Schools (one of whom even participated in a pre-conference boot camp), traveled to Fayetteville last weekend to spend two totally AMAZING days with Google for Education leaders and innovators. From the warm welcome to the hugs and farewells on the last conference day, the time was transformational! Each day we were inspired, encouraged, and empowered to be the best teachers we can for our students. We learned tips, tricks, and skills to make our lives more efficient and effective. Every one of us is excited to share what we've learned with our students and our colleagues. Thank you, Robert and MSA for allowing us to attend this conference. We are all grateful for the ability to go forth and learn, then return and apply the knowledge that was shared with us at the Summit. Watch for the results from the new things your students will be doing soon. Pictured: 1) Vaidehi Rallapalli, Cindy Thorne. 2) Bryan Sellers, Michael Adams, Greg Bodeep, Judy Norris, and Angela White.

Presidents' Day

Monday, February 20

SCHOOL is CLOSED

in honor of

Presidents' Day

The Equation Solvers

By this point in Mr. Josh's Algebra 8 class, we are really firing on all cylinders. We have finished our first two lessons of the semester, and have already started prepping for our first quiz. We hit the ground running this semester, and picked up right where we left off with Solving Equations with Variables on Both Sides. Students were familiar with the steps for solving equations, but now we've added one more important step. Students have been taught to remove the variable from the smaller side in order to isolate the variable on the larger side. A fun strategy the class used when learning this lesson was teaching each other from the SmartBoard. Pictured is PreUpper Student, Mallory Mulhern, teaching the class. In the second lesson of the semester, students learned about unit rate (for example miles per hour OR cost per pound). Students also learned about proportions which are two ratios set equal to each other, and finally how to convert from one unit to another. READ MORE

Time to Turn in Box Tops!

Turn in Box Tops by Friday, February 24th for our spring submission and drawing. Place in a zipped bag or envelope with your students name & grade on the bag to be eligible for the drawing. Drop in the collection containers in each school or office. Labels for Education, Tyson A+ labels and My Coke Caps/codes should be turned in now too.

Winter drawing winners will be announced in March.

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.

The ClaroRead Chrome Extension

What is it? The ClaroRead Chrome extension adds speech to any web page you visit, and can read aloud Google Docs with highlighting to let you see where you are. The ClaroRead Chrome Extension sits in your Google Chrome web browser and lets you speak web pages on Windows, Mac, or Chromebook… and is free!

How do I install it? ClaroRead Chrome only works within the Google Chrome browser. To install, launch a page in Chrome and go under the customize area (the three dots on the far right top of the page). Select "More Tools" and select "Extensions". Go to the bottom and click "Get more extensions". Type in ClaroRead Chrome and install.

How do I use it? Once the extension is installed, you will notice a small dark blue speech bubble icon at the top of your Google Chrome page. You'll also notice a play and stop button. To use, click anywhere on the page and it will begin reading using the default Google voice.

You can also easily adjust settings. Just click on the speech bubble icon and a settings menu will appear. Here you can adjust speed, select it to echo sentences (whenever you type a complete sentence, it will read the entire sentence back to you), echo words, among other options.

Want to learn more? CLICK HERE to access the ClaroRead Chrome Extension User Guide. Enjoy!

Announcing Spring PM Programs

We are very excited to announce our Spring PM Programs! These programs begin on Monday, February 27th and run through May 18th. We've partnered with Nexplore to offer two new programs: Zumba and Games!. We've also added a Book Club and another unique opportunity to earn service hours by crafting for our community. Make sure you check out the complete line-up on our website, and look for an email with details. Visit our website at www.millsprings.org/pm for more information.

Don't Miss Your Chance!

Purchase your yearbook before

March 31, 2017

to have your student's name imprinted on the front cover.

Just CLICK HERE

And place your order TODAY!

Triangles in Geometry

In Geometry class this week, we had project covering the lessons we have covered over the last few classes on triangle congruency. Students had to identify if given triangles were congruent by Side-Side-Side, Side-Angle-Side, Angle-Side-Angle, Angle-Angle-Side or not congruent at all. After making identifications, students created a poster of their findings. Poster 1 was created by Sophia Bressler and Alex Comis. 2 by Siobhan Hightower and Jin Butler, and 3 by Nathan Mostyn.

Summer Sports Camps

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 or to register 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!

Transition Day for the Rising 5th Graders

This week in Fourth Grade, we had Transition Day! The students had the chance to have "a day in the life" of a Mill Springs Middle School student. The students came back extremely excited for Middle School, and they had some great feedback.

"I liked seeing how middle schoolers spend their day." –Lauren Scobee

"I loved when they taught us algebra." –Aiden Weaver

"My favorite part was science class because we got to meet the class pets." –Ward Sutlive

Transition Day was a great sneak peek for the fourth graders to see what to expect as they make their way to Middle School in the fall.

Not only did the fourth graders get to transition into middle school, the third graders also had the opportunity to spend some time in fourth grade! I think they were most excited about having their very own laptop.

--Carolyn Shapiro, Lower School Instructor

Community Cares & Concerns

The Barkley Family

The Carlson Family

The Smith 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