Fine Artist of the Week

The Fine Artist of the Week is senior Nate Foster. He is given the honor as a tribute to his passion for technical theater. He has worked hard all year in preparation for several events including, but not limited to: One Act competition, Senior Presentations, and the Spring Musical. He is also on the All Set Team that coordinates technology and Fine Arts event set ups. He works hard behind the scenes and deserve recognition or all he does! Nate is pictured in 6th grade as Colonel Hathi the Elephant in Jungle Book.

Thank You Parent Volunteer Association

On behalf of all the teachers and staff, I would like to take this opportunity to say a very heartfelt, "THANK YOU". The luncheon you gave us for Teacher Appreciation Day Tuesday was wonderful. We appreciate the effort that went into all the arrangements, organizing, serving, and decorations. The food and the "Chocolatey Goodness" was terrific. We also enjoyed our afternoon snack bag of cookies. As always, we feel loved and appreciated.

Thank you very much!

Catch Me If You Can - The MSA Spring Musical

TONIGHT and TOMORROW ONLY

Come see this year's Spring Musical, Catch Me If You Can. Performances are Friday April 27th and Saturday April 28th at 7pm in the Stallings Theater.  The students have been working hard to create a fantastic show this year and you are in for a treat. Please note that this show is PG-13. You can reserve tickets ahead of time on our website or at the door. 

Spring Musical Artist Market

Friday April 26th – Be sure to come early to the show to shop for some artistic treasures created by some of our art students. These students will have booths set up in the gym before the show from 5:30-6:30pm and will also be selling during the show's intermission. Come check it out!

Check Facebook for some early reviews of the musical.

Volunteers Needed

Senior, Matthew Dalluge will be doing his Eagle Scout project at MSA on Saturday, April 28. He is building a set of seven steps that will connect the crosswalk by the front of Lower and Middle with the concrete pad by the Counseling Building. This is a fairly ambitious project with the steps already prefabricated last weekend. On Saturday, Matthew's project entails picking out the dirt on the hillside, insuring that the steps are level, putting in a base of rock and eventually pouring 140 bags of cement to form the steps.

Can you help Matthew TOMORROW? Specifically, we need to be sure we have enough people to do the job. Matthew will have help from his current troop and scouts but he would appreciate plenty of additional workers. For scouts, this counts as service hours towards rank advancements. For others, it could be their chance to get service hours for Level R and L. Because of the tools being used, students MUST be accompanied by a parent especially if they are between 10 and 13.

We will begin on Saturday at 9 AM. We will be serving lunch and will have cool drinks available.

Anyone seeking more information can contact Tom Dalluge at twdalluge@gmail.com or 678 516 6514 or Matthew at school or at mdalluge@millsprings.org.

Thanks for your consideration!

Sports Awards Reception

Please join us for the MSA 2017-2018 Sports Awards Reception. It will be held Tuesday, May 1, 2018 in the Upper School Great Room at 6:30pm. There will be refreshments afterwards. This is for all students who competed in a school sport this year. Any questions contact James Sampson.

Planning a Vacation

We recently had a fun project in Personal Finance class. It's called "My Vacation Project". Students have a hefty budget of $10,000 to spend for the whole trip. They must visit at least three different cities outside the USA over a two-week period.

They have to get a plane ticket, rent a car, get hotels, and find a restaurant to eat at every night. The students complete a daily itinerary which includes where they stay, one activity they will participate in, where they will eat dinner, and the total daily cost.

The students also create a brochure for their vacation. This is like an advertisement trying to invite their friends to join them. It includes pictures, approximate cost, and some of the activities in which they will participate. The students really enjoyed this. Hopefully they will actually take this vacation in the future. Or if it's a good one, I will!

--Michael Smith, Upper Instructor

Surprise!

Communication Arts students had a fun surprise when they went on their field trip to the Civil Rights Museum and CNN Center. They ran into their former Lower School teacher, Shannon Koch, who now lives in Florida. They had fun saying hello and catching up. Shannon couldn't get over how grown up the kids are now - they are all taller than her! What a small world!

Pictured L-R: Aaron Breitkopf, Jackson Wickley, Shannon Koch, Lilliana Coco, and Christopher Carey.

Magic Tree House: Pirates Past Noon

Join us for this full-day camp in which participants will learn basic acting, singing, and dancing skills through participating in theater games, exercises, and learn a mini-version of a show taking place in the Magic Tree House base on the book Pirates Past Noon.

Campers will learn about all aspects of theater including: set design, making props, designing costumes or makeup, running lights and sound. We will hold a performance for family and friends on the last day of camp, Friday, June 29. Come join us in the Magic Tree House!

• Dates - June 25-29
• Ages - 6-14
• Time -  8:30AM - 3:30PM
• Cost - $500
• Staff - Kate McElliott, Fine Arts Instructor and Cartwright Ayres, Fine Arts Student

REGISTER: www.millsprings.org/MTCamp

Please register ASAP for our camp planning purposes, as we select the show script based on number signed up for the camp, and to guarantee your spot!

If you have any questions about registration, feel free to contact Nina King at nking@millsprings.org

Middle School Level L/R Trip - 2 of 4

Guest Journalist - Seth Horwitz, 6th Grade

Another part of the L/R trip was to participate in two escape games at Mastermind Escape Games in Sandy Springs. The ones we did were the "Bank Heist" room where we were bank robbers and the "Superhero" themed room where we had to escape Dr. Mayhem's evil robot. They were both pretty challenging even for the teachers but they were both extremely fun and tricky. For the bank escape room, we were one clue away from escaping. For the superhero room, we were one digit away from escaping. Overall, both groups agreed that these rooms were the most challenging they have ever done but the cleverest also. Even though we didn't escape, we still bonded, used our critical thinking skills, worked as a team, and had fun.  

Middle School Level L/R Trip - 3 of 4

Guest Journalist - Temima Izenberg, 6th Grade

For lunch we went to Fuego Mundo. Fuego Mundo is a kosher Latin America restaurant in Sandy Springs. Fuego Mundo is a formal place and the table was set beautifully for us when we arrived. The food was ready 10-15 minutes after we ordered it. Some of my favorite things on the menu are Sancocho (a Latin vegetable soup), Beef Pastelitos, Fried Yucca, Maduros, and a variety of delicious burgers made from Uruguayan beef (a favorite for the Ls and Rs). Here is the website for the menu.  We loved it and think you should check it out!

Pre-Algebra Review

In Nina's Pre-Algebra classes we have been consistently reviewing for our final exam. Over the course of this semester we have worked with the following concepts: repeating decimals, ratios, collecting like terms, basic probability, adding and subtracting integers, distributive property, introduction to equations, volume, pi, multi-step word problems, numbers in a series, two step equations, and percentages – calculating sale costs, tax, tip, etc. We've been working hard preparing for our final the last couple of weeks by reviewing the above concepts via BrainPOP, online math games, and group work. The concept that Pre-Algebra students enjoyed learning about the most this semester was Pi. From learning the formula for Pi to calculating Pi to eating pie on Pi Day this was a definite class favorite!

Presentation ... in Spanish

Monday morning Jaime Gutierrez (Asst. Principal in Upper) attended a 12 minute presentation fully in Spanish by Connor Samsky. "He talked about Madrid. He taught the class about soccer, architecture, Art, Music, and the Spain Royal Palace among other things. Fantastic pronunciation, and on top of that answering questions in Spanish at the end! I wish I was able to speak English the way he speaks Spanish at his age. He was really good when he was in my class, but he has improved a lot! Thanks Maria for working with him. I'm really impressed."

Middle School Level L/R Trip - 4 of 4

Guest Journalist - Brooke Steele, 6th Grade

Last week was such a fun week for the LR students. We all got together in Gretchen's classroom and divided into groups to make blankets. Some of us were cutting slits in the side of fleece and others were tying the strips together. We got to take our shoes off and there was music and the time with friends there helping make these really soft blankets was specil. We stayed in for breaks to make them. On Friday, we delivered the blankets that we made and the blankets, hats, and tutus that the after school art students had made. We took them to Scottish Rite and to the Ronald McDonald House. In all, we delivered about 40 blankets and 20 tutus. (Pictured: Matthew Carlson and Alec Robinson delivering pop tabs, that have also been collected over time in the Middle School, to the Ronald McDonald House.)

Do YOU Take Pictures?

~~Thank you to those that have been sending photos,

I appreciate it very much.~~

If you are prone to take pictures of your Mustang at any of the events, on or off campus, whether you take pictures with your cellphone or a camera, I would love to have them to share on our different social media outlets. When you attend any of the athletics or other activities, please keep me in mind and forward your pictures to pictures@millsprings.org. It's so helpful to have other feet on the street. Thank you in advance. I really appreciate it.

--Cheri Harwood, Director of Communications

Summer Sports Camps

Sign up now for summer sports camps at Mill Springs Academy. We are currently offering co-ed basketball, volleyball, and soccer. For more Sports Camp details go online or talk to:

• Coach Phil - Basketball, Soccer
• Coach Karen - Volleyball

This is an excellent opportunity for all new students to get to know our coaches and get in the groove before school starts in August, or just have a little fun.

GO MUSTANGS!