Mandarino Minutes for 11-20-17

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Siaka Massaquoi-
Upton Middle School hit the headlines of Friday's front page of the Herald Palladium! Words do not do justice on the wonderful visit our 7th graders had with Siaka Massaquoi.  Siaka was such a dynamic, gracious, awesome, wonderful presenter!  He is overall an even better person!  The way he interacted with our kids was simply a work of art!  We were all blessed for this great opportunity!  A huge thanks to Mrs. Walsworth, Mrs. Gressley, Mrs. Gaideski, Mrs. Vukorpa, and Mrs. Cardon for all their contributions in pulling this off!  This was secret appearance to our 7th graders based on their name paper that they wrote at the beginning of 7th grade.  

Siaka with our 7th graders at lunch

Upton Robotics-

All three Upton teams made it to the final match  of the Robotics competition on Saturday! All three bought home three trophies! Our next competition is December 2nd at Coloma High School. They also have a very good chance of making it to the State finals in Battle Creek on December 16th!

Here are the statistics from our event.

Overall team 8513 was Rank 17 with a record of 2-3-0

Overall team 11855 was Rank 5 with a record of 4-1-0

Awards include:

• Finalist Alliance
• Rockwell Collins Innovate Award Winner

Overall team 13702 was Rank 22 with a record of 2-3-0

Awards include:

• Finalist Alliance

Rankings are from a total of 37 teams.

Thanks to everyone for your donations-
A BIG thank you to Interact Club, Builders Club, and Student Council for teaming up and organizing Knock-Out November in an effort to collect items for the Emergency Shelter!  This was the biggest collection to date and we look forward to doing it again next year!

Upton Book Fair-  We need you!

The Upton Book Fair is almost here!  The fair in our media center will run from 11/27 through 12/8, but early birds can visit our online fair beginning on 11/22 -- just in time to browse for holiday surprises or gather and give gift suggestions to far-flung family members.  

Online fair:  http://www.scholastic.com/bf/uptonmiddleschool

In addition, volunteers are still needed for our book fair.  Come browse the books, connect with your child at school, and help students find the books they can't wait to read.  Follow the link below to check out ways you can help.

https://volunteer.scholastic.com/#/experience/login/NuwtCGUog

If you'd prefer to email directly for times and dates to volunteer, send inquiries to Elena Neus (eldave1@earthlink.net) or Kristin Burnette (kburnette@sjschools.org).

See you at the fair!

Guidance Blog-

Check it out:  Guidance Blog Site

1/2 day this Wednesday-

This Wednesday, November 22nd dismissal for Thanksgiving break is at 11:04 A.M.  We will run all classes this Wednesday for a 1/2 hour each.  It has been an Upton tradition for a long time to dress nice on the day before Thanksgiving to honor all those things we are thankful for!

SJPS Community Corkboard-

Have you checked out the SJPS Community Corkboard lately?  It has various items like:  a cool Krasl Art Center project, opportunities for middle school students at the library, etc.  Here is the link:  https://www.sjschools.org/sjps-parents/community-cork-board-district

Quote of the week-

"All I ever wanted really, and continue to want out of life, is to give 100 percent to whatever I'm doing and to be committed to whatever I'm doing and then let the results speak for themselves. Also to never take myself or people for granted and always be thankful and grateful to the people who helped me." - Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your family time,

Mr. Mandarino