Happy Friday, Sharks!

A busy week here at Sutherland as we start to draw close to the end of the first semester. We had an outstanding 6^th grade drama performance on Wednesday after school. It is always great to see our student talents on display. A reminder that the 7^th and 8^th grade performance is now next week. The 8^th graders are back from the trip to CATEC this morning, where they were able to see what options are available through their school programming. The big event of the week was the Spelling Bee yesterday. We had around 50 students participate and dominate their Latin roots, suffixes, and prefixes. About half way through the event, we were down to 12 students as the words progressed to greater and greater difficulty. Two students made it to the end of the first word list and went back and forth a few rounds before a winner was crowned. Great job to our winner, Renae, and to Veda who proved to be an excellent opponent. Awesome job to all who participated and put my own spelling to shame.

As we head into the final week of the semester, a few reminders: Parent Portal is open for all students to select courses for next year. We have no school on Monday as the buildings are closed in observance of Martin Luther King Day. Next week may be short, but we will pack a lot in. Students take the mid-year school climate survey on Tuesday during Chomp. We have the 7^th and 8^th grade drama performance on Wednesday night starting at 6:30. Finally, the grading period ends Friday followed by a teacher workday at the start of the following week.  

That is all for now. Have a terrific weekend, all!

Next Week @ SMS:

Monday, January 15^th: Schools closed for MLK Holiday

Tuesday, January 16^th: Black Day

Climate Survey during CHOMP

Wednesday, January 17^th: Teal Day

6:30 PM – 7^th and 8^th grade Drama performance

Thursday, January 18^th: Black Day

Friday, January 19^th: Teal Day

End of Q2/Semester 1

News from SMS:

1. From the PTO: Donut Day for all staff is January 19th. Please see SUG attached as we are in need of K cups, juice & paper products! Thank you!  https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/5080d4bafab2fa2f85-donut

2. The PTO and SCA are co-hosting the January 26th dance. The theme this month is Star Wars! We are calling all Jedi masters to gather to watch over our young padawans and Captain Phasma and her team to train the next generation of stormtroopers. Get in on the action: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080d4bafab2fa2f85-star