MSA Weekly News - December 8, 2017

December 8, 2017 | Vol 11, Iss 16, No 376

NEWSLETTER

Welcome to Winter

This week was teeming with activity, PVA held their Coffee after Carpool and their Holiday Gift Shop was open for a few days early in the week. Then we were presented with a WONDERFUL Concert by the band and chorus. Exam review has begun for grades 7-12.Then today was a flurry of activity with the snow causing us to set up Early Dismissal.

We don't have many of these snowy days, but it is December and last week we were complaining that it wasn't feeling like winter. So here it is - Welcome to Winter! It sure is pretty and peaceful. Today I was reminded by a parent that we all need to take a moment and enjoy our surroundings, thank you for that.

I hope everyone is safe and has a great weekend.

Fine Arts Student of the Week

Our Fine Artist of the Week is Alumni and SCAD student Johnny Ray (2016). He visited our National Art Honor Society students this week to share his experiences, give advice and answer questions of MSA artists considering art school after MSA. He prompted the students to choose what THEY want to do after MSA, rather than what they think someone else wants them to do or be. "When you choose to do what you have passion for, that's when the fireworks happen!" Pictured are MSA art students and Janet Ford our Fine Arts Director next to Johnny (in white shirt).

A Huge Thank You

A huge thank you to all the parent volunteers who helped make this year's Grandparents' day a success. Whether you helped serve grandparents in the gym, worked at a picture station, or drove a golf cart, your help and support are greatly appreciated.

Feature Teacher

Meet Alice Hall! Alice is our newest teacher, she recently joined the Middle School to teach math. She has done some student teaching and has been a math tutor. She says she likes "how the community feels like a family and the education focuses on the whole student rather than academics alone." Her teaching philosophy is that "all students should feel encouraged and capable of success." She further remarked that her "classroom is a place where learning differences are not disabilities, and great minds don't always think alike."

Outside of school Alice likes to paint, hike, sing and sew. Her favorite foods include grilled cheese and movie theater popcorn. She is currently reading The Mark of the Lion series of books. Interesting fact: Alice has traveled to 12 countries in the past 3 years, yet she loves to be at home the most.

We are glad you are here and thank you for what you do!

Birth Announcement

Congratulations to Upper School's Michael Smith and his wife Tove on the birth of their baby girl.

Tatum Lorraine Smith

November 22, 2017

3:04pm

8 pounds - 6 ounces

Everyone is doing well. Welcome to this world Little One.

Book Buddies

Branigan's class had a wonderful surprise this week. One of Carolyn's reading classes came to share the class book they made about marine life. All of the students were paired with book buddies. My students thoroughly enjoyed listening to the book and learning from the older students. Thank you Group 4 for coming to read with us.

Pictured is Evan Eisenstat, Jack Wallace, and Oliver Healey reading to Lucas Hennings.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Emma Harris on her acceptance to Tusculum College!

#SuccessInSchoolSuccessInLife

Review, Review, Review
This week in Nina's Pre-Algebra class the students learned all the ins and outs of the Laws of Exponents via Brainpop, YouTube videos, and in class work.
Throughout the rest of the week we have been working on our cumulative exam review guides. The class had an opportunity to ask last minute questions and study with their peers. On Monday of next week the class will go over the review guides and correct them via a power point presentation. Please wish us luck as we take our pre-algebra exams on Tuesday and Wednesday. Pictured is Ashley Dugger working hard on her review guide.

Book Fair Thanks YOU!

Thank you to everyone in our Mill Springs community for supporting our annual Scholastic Book Fair! It was very successful, and Brittany is already working on ordering fun new titles and supplies for the library. Special thank you to Lori McCullers (Middle School mom) for helping before and after the Book Fair, Joshua Nanney and his family for providing a cool Western display for us, Juani Randolph (Middle School mom) for helping things run smoothly on Grandparents Day, and the many students who popped in to help Brittany throughout the week. Book Fair is so fun and successful because of YOU! Many, many thanks, we are SO grateful to have such generous families and great readers at MSA.

Mexican Culture

In World Geography students are learning about the countries and cultures in Latin America. This week students learned about the importance of the arts in the Mexican culture. We discussed Mexican dances, festivals, and Mexican Art. Students learned that muralism is a movement that Mexican artist started in the 1920's to display their art to the community. Students created their own murals to represent different aspects of Mexican culture. In the photo Tom Lueder, Eliana Banks, and Presley Hellriegel are showing off their murals.

Deadline Extended

Due to the Thanksgiving break, we are extending the deadline for contributions to this year's Holiday Gift Collection from Friday, December 8th to Friday, December 15th. Each year, MSA parents and/or guardians have generously thanked our teachers and staff 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 at those pesky crowded stores!

You can mail a check to the school for your entire donation, make it payable to MSA PVA.
You can personally deposit your envelope in the decorative basket located in the Admin Building.
Or you can make an online donation to the PVA. Just scroll down to Teacher & Staff Gift Contribution and fill in the form, click submit and it will take you to the credit card info screen.

Together we can make this a very special holiday season for the INCREDIBLE teachers and staff of Mill Springs Academy!

Chemical Reactions

These Chemistry students spent some time this semester learning about factors that can speed up or slow down a chemical reaction. In addition to changes in temperature, concentration, and surface area, students also investigated how adding a catalyst can affect a reaction, as seen in this lab. They worked with two blue solutions- copper (II) chloride and copper (II) sulfate, which look very similar, but reacted very differently when the aluminum foil was added. This lab group decided to make things fun by forming their pieces of aluminum foil into "Foil Men". READ MORE

Celebrating the Holidaze

Carissa's class has had so much fun in reading this week! We are reading a book titled Horrible harry and the Holidaze and learning about the different holidays celebrated in December/January, including Three Kings Day, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Korean New Year, and Christmas. In addition to working on comprehension activities, we are having a celebration for every holiday we read about! The students have gotten to make crowns, make mkeka mats, play the dreidel game, and try sweet potato pie and latkes. And we still have more celebrations to come next week! Pictured is Sam Hartman holding the book with his classmates.

The Role of the Theater Director

In November, MSA theater teacher Jamie Fambrough attended a seminar at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta given by guest artist-in-residence, Leora Morris. Ms. Morris has worked extensively throughout eastern Canada and new England, directing and developing contemporary work. The seminar was an intense discussion on the role of theater directors in the contemporary theater scene, as well as techniques for working with actors, and analyzing a script for interpretation. The seminar concluded with small groups working on only the first three lines of a play, and how many different interpretations a small section can have. Overall, it was a whirlwind immersion in directing topics and application. MSA theater students can look for some of these new ideas in future MSA productions!

Forensics is Fun

Guest Journalist - Emily Van Aken, Upper School Senior

Recently, in my 3rd period Forensics class, we have had the opportunity to learn about a variety of new and interesting topics. Each class period has left me on the edge of my seat.

We have recently closed the cover on our fingerprint unit, and moved onto ballistics! Considering this is a topic I did not expect to find interesting, I am happy to say it excites me. We have learned about the anatomy of various firearms, their classifications, categories of bullets, how to determine one type of gun from another, and even what happens when you actually fire one.

I am always eager to learn about how ballistics can be tied to a case, and we have been focusing on this specifically. Witnessing how detectives determine a gunshot wound from a stab wound entirely from the blood splatter is actually shocking, and learning how much information can be revealed about a gun solely through the lands and grooves of the weapon is insane. READ MORE

Coming Soon - Winter Holiday!

EARLY DISMISSAL

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

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

SCHOOL CLOSED

December 21, 2017 - January 5, 2018

Have a Safe and Happy Holiday!

Sad News ...

We just wanted to share with you that Nikki, one of our PreUpper dogs, passed away last week. She had been with Bryan Sellers for ten years and this was her third year attending Mill Springs. Not too many schools are dog friendly but fortunately, Mill Springs is an exception. Bryan is thankful that Nikki had a chance to be a part of this community where she was shown compassion and love in her final years. Nikki is pictured with PreUpper students Ashley Dugger and Cat Hertzfeldt.

Are You STUCK?

If so, GREAT! Wait, what? Great? Yes that is great! If you are not STUCK, then let me help you get STUCK. Come by the Administration building at any time and we will be glad to help you get STUCK. I have lots of stickers in the closet that are just waiting to be STUCK to the window of YOUR car, truck, mini van, bus, whatever you drive. If you don't have a sticker STUCK to the window of your car like the Honda in the picture, come on by and I will be glad to give you one for every car you have. I'd love to see your car STUCK in front of me on the road one day! Come get STUCK!

--Cheri Harwood

Community Cares & Concerns

The Allen Family

The Buckley Family

The Sellers 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