Friday, December 1st

Happy Friday, Sharks!

December has finally arrived as the week comes to a close. While a short month, December is a fairly busy time here at SMS due to multiple after school shows, events, and meetings. Coming up next week, we have our Winter Band Concert here at SMS. Our Strings students put on a show last night and did an outstanding job as always. Down the road, we have a black light dance, a parent program for 8^th grade parents regarding the transition to AHS, the winter choral concert, and a PTO meeting. December always seems to shoot right on by us, so check the web calendar to try and stay ahead of all the goings on.

Today, we celebrate our students with November birthdays. We also have the Corn Hole Tournament tonight from 4 – 6 PM. We have 70 teams this year, some championship belts on the line, and a lot of trash talking already underway (from Mr. Criscione). Thus far, we have raised over $1200.00 for the HEADstrong Foundation to help with cancer research. We also have some important bets in regards to Mustache Madness on the line with Mr. Jody Taylor currently in the lead for keeping a half-clean shaven/half-beard for a week starting on Monday. Should be some great photos to come out of all this. The students have done a spectacular job raising money for this event, and we are very proud of their effort.

Just a few announcements this week. Hope to see many of you here after school tonight! Have a terrific weekend.

Next Week @ SMS:

Monday, December 4^th: Teal Day

Tuesday, December 5^th: Black Day

6:30 – 7:30: Band Boosters meeting

Wednesday, December 6^th: Teal Day

7:00 – 8:30 PM: Winter Band Concert

Thursday, December 7^th: Black Day

Friday, December 8^th: Teal Day

News from SMS:

1. Corn Hole Tournament Update: Our annual Corn Hole Tournament is today after school from 4 to 6pm. ALL proceeds are donated to the goal of curing Cancer, particularly those involving children. We could use a few additional parent volunteers to help sell concessions and provide supervision. IF you are able to help with this effort, please email Gayle Rainey directly at grainey@k12albemarle.org prior to 3pm. MANY THANKS! 
   
2. Come celebrate "FESTIVALS du monde francophone" before school on Wednesday mornings at 8 am! We will be traveling virtually around the French-speaking parts of our world to explore different winter festivals! We will celebrate Mardi Gras, the International Circus of Monaco, the Winter Festival of Quebec, and more. Each week will involve a fun art project that reflects the festival. Come eat King Cake with us and have fun learning French! Sign up forms will be in the office and outside of the gathering area starting Monday 11/27. No experience necessary - you don't have to be taking French to join in on the fun!
   
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