Happy Friday, Sharks!

What a week! We started with a well-timed snow day on Monday, which the students were grateful for after watching the Super Bowl the night before. Everyone came back with their post-game faces on and pushed through a cold, damp week. Thankfully, the rain has stopped and we get to enjoy the ICA day today. A reminder that during ICA days, pick-ups between 3 PM and 4 PM can take a bit longer, so please plan accordingly.  Looking ahead to next week (theoretically, a five day week barring any weather), we have the rescheduled division-wide spelling bee over at the County Office Building on Monday. We bookend the week with the awesome Band Coffee House on Friday starting at 6:00 PM. This is a great event where students, parents, and staff are given the chance to participate up on stage. Looking a bit further down the road, we have the SMS Carnival coming up in two weeks, so look for the announcement below for more information.

We wrap up School Counselors Week with a special shout out to Mrs. Heather Lindsay and Mrs. Lisa Wright, our school counselors, for all the hard work and care they give to our students each and every day. That’s all for this Friday. We hope you have a terrific weekend!

Next Week @ SMS:

Monday, February 12^th: Teal Day

5:00 – 8:00 PM: Division Spelling Bee @ Lane Auditorium (County Office Building)

Tuesday, February 13^th: Black Day

Wednesday, February 14^th: Teal Day

Thursday, February 15^th: Black Day

Friday, February 16^th: Teal Day

6:00 – 8:00 PM: Band Coffee House event here at SMS

News from SMS:

1.            Since 1995, Seminole Boys Lacrosse League has been providing recreational lacrosse for future Albemarle High School Patriot lacrosse players.  The League works closely with Coach King and the AHS Lacrosse program.  Practices begin February 20 with Games March - May.  Registration is open now at www.seminolelax.org.  Equipment and financial assistance available. Join us this Sunday 2/11 at Dick's Sporting Goods near Wegman's for Lacrosse Appreciation Day and get 20% off your purchase of most items in the store for the day. Questions - brian@seminolelax.org

2.      23^nd SMS CARNIVAL DATE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2017    6 TO 9PM

In 2 weeks, we are having our annual carnival for our students! For those of you who are new to our community, the Sutherland Carnival is a unique activity designed for middle school students to have the opportunity to socialize with their own unique peer group, and registered friends from other middle schools in the area, while under both teacher and parent supervision.

Obviously, an event this large takes a massive amount of parent volunteers. The success of this annual event is truly attributable to the support of our parents, and the AHS Honor Society students, who work tirelessly to ensure that our students have an evening of fun. Please know that I am grateful for your generous donation of your time and talent to this event every year! We need help in all areas of the carnival from games; from hall supervision to games to concessions to the inflatables in the gym-we can use your help in any area and timeframe that you are able to give us!

The PTO will be coordinating the parent volunteers again this year, so please watch click on the link below to sign up for an activity or supervision of a door for security. THANK YOU PTO FOR YOUR HELP! At the beginning of next week, we will be uploading the SMS Guest Registration Form and the Carnival Brochure to the school website. On behalf of our student body: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! For general carnival questions, please contact the Carnival Chairperson, Gayle Rainey, at grainey@k12albemarle.org

Sign-Up Link: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/5080D4BAFAB2FA2F85-smscarnival2

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, our breath, 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