Happy
Friday, folks!
Winter
Break is quickly approaching and the weather is finally starting to feel like
snow may be a possibility. While tonight’s forecast does not affect school, who
knows what may be coming down the road. As a reminder, if we do have a snow day,
the Black/Teal rotation just jumps back in where we left off. Thus, if Monday
is supposed to be a Black day and it snows, whatever day we come back will be a
Black Day.
This
week was amazing here at Sutherland. We started off honoring all the hair
commitments from the Mustache Madness fundraiser. If you have seen the pictures
from the Twitter Feed, you can imagine some classes were a little crazy due to
the wonkiness of the day. How Ms. Jackson taught 6th grade science
in a sumo suit all day and kept control is beyond my comprehension. The
highlight for me has been the number of 6th graders (and a few 7th)
that had no idea who I was as I walked down the hall without the facial hair.
Just over $1400.00 was raised from the Corn Hole Tournament, so we far exceeded
our goal for the year. 100% of that goes directly to the HEADstrong Foundation
to help fight for a cure for cancer. A huge shout out to all the parents who
helped by letting us borrow the boards, Mr. Criscione for organizing the event,
and Mr. Jody Taylor whose Anytime Fitness Gym donated all the food and
beverages to the event.
We
also had an outstanding Winter Band Concert on Wednesday night from our various
7th and 8th grade band groups. Mr. Gregg and his students
put on a terrific show. The hard work and countless hours of practice over the
past two or three years has really paid off.
Coming
up, we have a busy week in terms of after school activities. Monday, we have
the 8th grade parent program where the counselors will talk about
the course selection process for 9th grade classes. Believe it or
not, the teachers from all three grade levels are already making their
recommendations for course levels for all of our students for the 2018/2019
school year. The course selection for rising 7th, 8th,
and 9th grade students begins in early January. I highly recommend
any parents of 8th grade students come out to the parent program to
learn more about the AHS transition and course offerings. We will have a bunch
of folks on site to meet with parents after the short presentation (MESA, AVID,
ESA, HMSA, Team 22, etc.). Wednesday, we have a PTO meeting after school.
Thursday, we have a Winter Choral Concert, and then Friday is the Black Light
Dance.
Busy week ahead! Not a whole lot in terms of announcements, so I’ll end here. Have a terrific weekend!
Next Week @ SMS:
Monday, December 11th: Black Day
6:30 – 8:00 PM: 8th Grade Transition parent meeting
Tuesday, December 12th: Teal Day
Wednesday, December 13th: Black Day
7:00 – 8:00 PM: PTO Meeting
Thursday, December 14th: Teal Day
7:00 – 8:30 PM: Winter Choral Concert
Friday, December 15th: Black Day
4:00 – 6:00 PM: Black Light Dance
News from SMS:
1. The PTO would like to send-off our teachers/staff on Winter Break with some Holiday Sweet Treats, Tuesday, December 19th. See SUG attached to sign up! Thank you!
2. Parents and Guardians— You may have heard from your students that during recent library visits they have been participating in the Speakup Survey. We hope you will share your input, too.
Since 2003, data from over 2.6 million Speak Up surveys have been shared with local, state, and national leaders. Staff, student, & parent opinions are used each year to help make decisions about how to improve education at schools around the country. Our school division will use the data to inform and measure our work related to our educational technology plan as well as for professional development programming.
This brief survey, which takes about 20 minutes, will inform our school division on topics of technology availability and use in Sutherland households. Your participation in the survey would be greatly appreciated.
Taking the survey is easy!Follow these instructions to take the survey:
1. Visit speakup.tomorrow.org .
3. Select your group (Parents or Educators).
4. Search for your school by entering your zip code or by selecting Virginia and selecting your
school’s name from the list.
5. Read the instructions and begin the survey.
Thank you in advance for your participation in this helpful survey. Sutherland is planning to have our participation completed by Dec. 19.
Ms. Washko
3. Want to start your Friday off in a relaxing and attention focusing way? Every Friday there is a Mindful Morning group for all interested Sutherland students - we meet in the library. Students are welcome to arrive as early as 8am, we will start at 8:15, and we will finish before first bell - SNACKS provided! You are welcome to bring any of your Sutherland friends. We will do movement like stretching and balance and sometimes add other activities like drumming. We will do some mindful awareness practices, focused on noticing our thoughts and the present moment. We also hope to connect with other students at other schools who do similar activities and possibly go on field trips. No experience necessary. This is a great, healthy way for all of us to start each Friday. This is a drop in class without long term commitment, students are welcome to come any Friday that works. Any questions or comments, let me know. Kindly, Mr. Matriccino
