We watched October change into November this week and on top of that we have had a week filled with fun! There have been auditions for the musical, candy, a trip to the Capitol, a mailbox costume, Halloween parties across the campus, candy, Halloween parades, astronaut costumes, a trip to Stone Mountain, candy, a movie theater visit, Captain Americas, Flex Friday, candy, and another fabulous College Day! Did I mention candy? Did everyone get a taste of their favorite candy this week? I know I had more than a taste!

Don't forget that school is closed on Monday and remember to change your clocks back Saturday evening. I hope your long weekend is wonderful - See you Tuesday!

It's Time for the Annual MSA Can-a-thon!

Let's get together to feed those in need! Please join MSA and the Atlanta Community Food Bank to take a bite out of hunger in Metro Atlanta. We have big goals this year, so we hope you will participate (and maybe bug a neighbor or two). Many hands make light work and big differences!

Deadline: November 26, 2018

*Please do NOT bring glass items or perishables

WHAT TO BRING* – MOST NEEDED ITEMS – TAKE THIS LIST TO THE STORE:

• Whole grain goods: whole wheat pasta, brown rice, whole grain cereal, whole wheat flour, whole grain crackers, plain oatmeal
• Shelf stable milk (cow, soy, rice, etc.)
• Fruit, dried or canned in light syrup or juice 
• Low-sodium, no salt added vegetables
• Low-sodium pasta sauce in plastic container
• Foods high in protein: Natural peanut butter (no hydrogenated oil), dried beans, dried peas, dried lentils, canned tuna (canned in water, not oil), canned salmon (canned in water, not oil), canned chicken (canned in water, not oil), unsalted nuts
• 100% fruit and/or vegetable juice
• Cooking oil (olive oil, canola oil)
  

Families and individuals who struggle to put food on the table also have a tough time with the household essentials many of us take for granted. In addition to food, these non-food items are greatly needed and appreciated:

• Paper products
• Diapers
• Toiletries

Public Open House

Wednesday, November 7

9:00 - 11:00am

Student Activity Center

Many of you have attended an Open House on campus, and if you have, you know it is a great opportunity for someone to get a good feel for what Mill Springs is all about. If you haven't attended an Open House, it provides potential families 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. If you know someone that might benefit from attending MSA, PLEASE invite them to an Open House or better yet bring them! Word of mouth is by far the biggest way families find their way to Mill Springs. We know that you sometimes have the chance to be "Mill Springs on the Street" and we truly thank you for sharing MSA!  www.millsprings.org/OpenHouse

A Basket for Halloween

This week in my Earth and General Science classes, we celebrated Halloween with a STEM activity called, "The Paper Bag Basket Challenge." In each class, the students worked with a partner to construct a paper bag basket using only 2 brown paper lunch bags, 8 inches of tape, and a pair of scissors. The challenge was to create a basket with a handle, that can hold the most weight. After setting off to work, many of the students found the hardest part of this task was constructing a handle (using a limited amount of tape) that was strong enough to support a basket full of weights. What did they learn? One of the students replied, "Sometimes it's hard to build something with a limited amount of materials. You have to be very creative." Pictured are (L) Charlotte Leber and Zoe Caines and (R) Aiden Pettyjohn.

--Katie Aiello, Middle School Science Teacher

The Halloween Journal

This week in Lower School, we had fun celebrating Halloween. The 4th graders were given a prompt and wrote spooky narrative stories to get in the Halloween spirit (student writing below). In 4th grade, we are also reading "Bunnicula" by Deborah and James Howe, which has an eerie tone that is perfect for Halloween. On Halloween, we spent the morning doing Halloween themed activities such as writing a journal about our Halloween costumes and decorating bags for trick-or-treating. In 3rd grade, we read the book "Crankenstein," made our own Crankensteins, and wrote about what makes us cranky and turns us into a "Crankenstein." Then the entire Lower School walked in a Halloween parade all across campus to show off their costumes and trick-or-treat in Administration, Upper, and CommArts. We also played Halloween Bingo using candy corn as markers, and had our annual viewing of, "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." The Level L/R's even got to go to lunch at Dos Margaritas in costume (picture 1). We finished the day off with an exciting Halloween party planned by our amazing parent volunteers where we played games and decorated cookies. Thank you to our parent volunteers, Admin, Upper, and CommArts for helping to make Halloween so fun for Lower School.

Griffin Snell (L4) – prompt in italics, bold is his original writing

I was home alone on Halloween night. My parents said I was too old to go trick-or-treating, so they stuck me with handing out the candy. It was getting dark and I hadn't had anybody come to the door for at least fifteen minutes, so I thought it was time to turn off the lights and head upstairs to my room. Boy, was I wrong! Just as I opened the door to my room, I heard the strangest noise... It sounded as if the souls of the past were speaking to me. I was so nervous that I jumped under my bed. It was coming from the basement. I went downstairs to see what it was. Then I saw it. I was face-to-face with the washing machine. I went upstairs once I heard something at the door. It was trick-or-treaters. This was the best Halloween ever.