MSA Weekly News - March 31, 2017

March 31, 2017 | Vol 10, Iss 29, No 353

NEWSLETTER

Only 34 More School Days this Year

Another week has just flown by! One of the big things that happened this week on campus were the Senior Presentations. The seniors have done a fabulous job preparing for and presenting their topics of choice. You are all just a few weeks from freedom - so to speak. The other awesome event was the Lower School's performance of Singin' in the Rain Jr. - very good job! I hope you are planning on coming to see the larger production of this musical later in April, our wonderful fine arts department never fails to enchant with the musicals. So much fun and the students seem to really enjoy themselves.

Right about now, I think that the only thing on the minds of the students is the fact that it is an early release day. Well it is on the horizon for the staff and faculty also. Everyone needs a break, every now and then, it is well earned.

Once we come back from Spring Break, the rest of the school year just seems to zip by so fast. See you on April 10th when we will only have 34 actual school days left to the year. Don't forget to SEND ME a photo of the awesomeness that is YOUR Spring Break.

Art of the Week

All in attendance at our MSA Studio Art Gallery & Reception last Friday were asked to vote for their favorite works of art in the show. There were so many amazing works of art on display from so many of our students to choose from. After tallying the votes, this year's Best In Show Awards to Lower School - Zoe Caines for her umbrella, Middle School – Presley Hellriegel for her Nyan Cat sculpture, PreUpper School – Griffin Middleton for his Sklyline painting, Communication Arts School – Maxwell Davis for his Boombox sculpture, and Upper School – Alexis Herrington for her Dragon painting. Congratulations to these artists and to all our MSA artists for a job well done!

To Our Parent Volunteer Association

We would like to let you know of our gratitude. We thank you for the constant and continuing support. We appreciate all that you do for us!
Thank you,

Team Upper School

Musician of the Week

Meet Middle School student Presley Hellriegel! Presley is a member of the amazing Clarinet section in MSA's Concert Band. Her exceptional work ethic, infectious exuberance in class, and impressive progress during her very first semester have made her this week's Musician of the Week! Great job, Presley – you are AWESOME!"

Alumni News

We have had some wonderful news on Mustangs in the Wild (Alumni) this week!

Levi Smith, MSA 2015, who is currently attending Kennesaw State University, was among the almost 3,000 KSU students who were honored for academic excellence, and is on the President's List (enrolled with at least 9 credits and a 4.0 GPA).
Class of 2016 graduate Russell Jones also attends KSU and was added to the Dean's List for the Fall 2016 semester (enrolled in at least 9 credits with a 3.5 GPA).
Nathan Beard, MSA 2016 is also on the Dean's List for Fall 2016 semester at Kennesaw.
Susan Day visited Young Harris College earlier this week and ran into Wesley Site (pic 1) and Tim Schultheis (pic 2), both of them graduated from MSA in 2016.

Congratulations and keep up the great work!

Body Biography

While reading the Arthur Miller play, The Crucible, Upper students in Honors American Literature were to create a Body Biography. The result of this activity is for students to understand how to analyze and understand the motivations of characters in plays and novels. This life-sized drawing is both a figurative and literal representation of their character. After selecting a character from the text, they start by tracing a full-size body silhouette onto paper. The assignment requires that the students assign different character traits to various parts of the body. In the area of the heart, students may list the things or people the character loves the most. For the spine, they might list what drives and motivates their character. For the brain, the inner dialogue and thoughts from the story can be written or illustrated. Additionally, they choose symbols they feel best represents their character. Finally, they choose quotations that are in some way representative of the selected character. When complete, the students have a thorough character analysis with both visual and written elements.

Pictured: Christian Kelm creating a silhouette using model, Christopher Walker.

--Judy Norris, Upper School Instructor

Yearbook - LAST 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!

The Green Machine

The Mustangs went into this week looking to rebound on their 1-2 record in the AAC. Monday saw the Mustangs playing host to AASD. Jack "Rabbit" Holt took the mound looking to shut down the Panther offense. The Jack Rabbit did not disappoint, striking out 3 and limiting the Panthers to 3 runs and scattering 4 hits over 4 innings. The Mustang offense assisted by scoring 15 runs. "The Green Machine" was led by Michael Flanigan, Noah Terpstra, and Tommy Ray accounting for a combined .875 batting average, 5 stolen bases, and 9 runs scored. Final score Mustangs 15 – AASD 3.

The Mustangs looked to continue their winning ways against Howard on Thursday. The Jack "Rabbit" was called to the hill once again to shut down the opposing offense, but this time Jack would need support from Tyler "The Thunderbolt" Goodwyn. Jack would last 1 2/3 innings striking out 3 and surrendering 4. While Tyler would have finished the game with 6 strike outs, surrendering 1 run in 2 1/3 innings. READ MORE

EARLY DISMISSAL
TODAY - March 31, 2017

12:15p – L/M Carpool
12:30p – PU/CA/U Carpool
12:45p Bus Departs

Spring Break - SCHOOL CLOSED

April 3 - 7, 2017

Be safe and have fun! Don't forget to SEND CHERI your vacation pictures.

Learning About Africa

Guest Journalist - Hailey Lober, PreUpper

Last week Ms. Kris's class created and presented posters on the countries of Eastern,Southern, and Central Africa. We learned a lot about culture and customs of our countries. Presenting the posters made sure that other kids, not only learned about their country, but other countries as well. Posters are a fun way to learn about other countries. We had fun designing and choosing pictures for our posters. Pictured: Hailey Lober and Caroline Skinner standing by all the posters.

First Monday Coffee Break

Monday, April 10th

Join your fellow MSA parents for coffee on the first Monday of each month! (Yes, it will be the 2nd Monday in April due to Spring Break.) 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 as well as share advice and ideas. So drop off your student and come on over - we look forward to seeing you there! All are welcome.

The next one will be on May 1st.

Track Highlights

The Mustangs had their 2nd home meet last week. There were many Personal Records (PRs) set and amazing performances by all!

Victoria Toscano

(6th place) 1600 meter run (PR)
(4th place) high jump
(5th place) discus

Jordyn DeNardo

(5th place) 100 meter hurdles – 1st time competing in this event!
(1st place) 400 meter dash - This 8th grade star BREAKS THE SCHOOL RECORD AGAIN!
(3rd place) 800 meter run (PR)

Public Open House

Wednesday, April 12

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!

CommArts Pets

I love our pet policy. Students can arrange to bring in their pets on certain days and teachers can bring well behaved pets daily. This gives students a broad range of experiences and new ways to interact. Amy Lamp'l brought her chicken "Emperor" giving all of us a chance to learn about an animal we may be less familiar with. Meanwhile, Bonnie's dog, Bella, tries to hypnotize me with her laser tractor-beam eyes hoping to trick me into feeding her. It didn't work. (Pic 1 - Emperor; Pic 2 - Nolan Waits, Aidan Reilly, Cooper Bailey, Andrew Jones, and Amy Lamp'l, Pic 3 - Bella)

--Jay Hudson, CommArts Instructor

Wonderful Tennis Season So Far

These last two weeks of tennis have been very busy, but wonderful. Our team has been consistently playing well with Josh Huiet (pictured left) and Alli Kogoy winning matches against Dominion Christian, the Cottage School, and Trinity Christian Academy, Furtah Prep, and the Heritage School. All players worked hard in Wednesday's matches against Furtah Prep, and the Heritage School.

There has been so much improvement from Madison Taylor (pictured right), Camille Michael, Richard Hall, and Griffin Middleton who all joined the team as brand new players this year! We want to thank Connor Bollinger for helping us clinch one of our wins against the Cottage School. Andrew Liban, Kevin Kemple, Emily Hyman, Sean Martin, and Nathan Mostyn also contributed key elements to our team's success this season, and our senior Emily Wright has been an awesome example of leadership as she mentored the younger players. She will be missed next year. The positive attitudes and camaraderie of the players made this team a pleasure to coach for Vaidehi and I.

Great work team! Our winning streak against the cottage school is intact! Onto our tournaments when we return from Spring Break with GISA on April 12 and AAC here at MSA April 26. Come out and support us here on the 26!!

--Elke Silva, Coach

Prom Tickets on Sale NOW!

Saturday, April 22, 2017
7:30 - 11:30 PM

Luxury Lounge and Lighting

9315 Industrial Trace

Alpharetta, GA 30004

Buy your TICKETS HERE!

#msaprom2k17

Developing Leaders

The Level R and Level L students enjoyed a wild and wonderful three days in the Blue Ridge Mountains last weekend. The purpose for the trip was to equip students for Leadership and to develop Team Building skills. Students cooked their own meals (ask them about preparing and rolling meatballs, making fluffy waffles, and whipping up variations of eggs); participated in many activities which required creativity, critical thinking, difficult decision making, and working together; hiked in the woods; built a fire; and made s'mores. On Saturday night, the girls even had "girl time" with Ms. Courtney and Mrs. Gretchen. We can't wait for our next trip.

--Gretchen Beck, Middle School Instructor

Hanrahan Coaches "The Pittsburgh Classic"

The nation's best high school wrestlers squared off with the best Pennsylvania has to offer in an all-star dual format. The Western Pennsylvania All Star team took on the Georgia all-star team to get things started. Veteran World Champion and former Penn State All American, John Hanrahan coached both the Georgia All Stars and then lead the USA All Stars vs. the Pennsylvania All Stars in the main event here in town. This is what is known as the Rose Bowl of wrestling events, "The Pittsburgh Classic".

Camp Registration is OPEN!

Come follow our trail to SUMMER FUN! Mark Trail Camp (MTC) serves students ages 6-14+ who are looking for an activity-based, small-group, camp. MTC offers a variety of camp programs throughout the summer to suit your child's interests as well as your schedule. You have the option of morning, afternoon, or full-day activities, all of which emphasize appropriate social skills and the tenets expected of everyone at Mill Springs Academy - to be Courteous, Considerate, and Cooperative (The 3C's) community members. Our camps are open to the public, so make sure to bring your friends!

CLICK HERE to see the descriptions

If you have any questions just give Will Turner a call or SEND HIM AN EMAIL.

Community Cares & Concerns

The Carlson Family

The Otott Family

The Smith Family

Unemployed Families

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