Mandarino Minutes: May 2018

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Mandarino Minutes for 5-29-18

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Upton Choir Concert-
The Upton Spring Choir Concert will be tomorrow evening, Wednesday, May 30th beginning at 7:00 PM in the John & Dede Howard Auditorium at SJHS.

8th grade farewell-
This Friday, June 1st is 8th grade farewell. The ceremony will take place in the Blue Gym at 6:30 PM. The dance following will be from 8:00-10:00 PM. We are asking our 8th graders to arrive at 6:10 PM in the 7th/8th grade hallway. The dance and refreshments are free of charge. The evening is sponsored by our UPTO and 8th grade parents.

Exam Schedule-
Dismissal for Wednesday- Friday will be 11:04 AM.

Tuesday, June 5th- 5th hour exam (All grades) 6th hour exam (6th grade)

Wednesday, June 6th- 1st and 2nd hour exams

Thursday, June 7th- 3rd and 4th hour exams

Friday, June 8th- 6th hour exam (7th & 8th grades), Laptop turn in, 6th grade track meet

A Message from Coach Church- Graduation Help
Attention St. Joseph Football Community. If you have been by the high school lately you have seen that construction is underway on our new turf field. We are very excited for this project and thankful to the Upton family for making it happen. As a result of the construction our 2018 graduation will need to be moved down to Shadowland Pavilion. This is major undertaking and we need the St. Joseph Football Community to help out. We have been asked to take care of the chair takedown after graduation. We need as many people as possible who are associated with the St. Joseph Football program to show up Sunday June 3^rd at 8:30 PM down at Shadowland Pavilion and help stack chairs after graduation has finished. The graduates will be gone by this time and there will be plenty of parking downtown.
Thanks for your support, Coach Church

Southwest Michigan Maker Faire-
This Saturday, June 2nd from 10:00 AM - 4:00 P.M. at the Whirlpool Centennial Park will be the Southwest Michigan Mini Maker Faire. It will be a wonderful event with various students, groups, schools, etc. presenting all different types of projects and innovations. For more information please visit the webpage at: https://swm.makerfaire.com/

Last D & D Club Meeting of the School Year-
This Wednesday, May 30th from 2:50-4:15 will be the last Dungeons and Dragons club meeting of the 2017-2018 school year. This meeting will take place in the Upton Media Center classroom.

Still a Few Yearbooks Left-
If you daughter/son would still like a yearbook they should see Mr. Khan at Upton Middle School.

Southwest Michigan Spirit League-
This is a league for kids with special needs in grades K-8. The games will be held at Dickinson Softball field on Monday evenings. They are in need of gently used batting helmets, softballs, bats, adjustable tee, etc. All donations are appreciated! We have a box in the Upton office. For more information please contact Deborah Webb at dwebb@brighthopecounseling.com

Quote of the week-

Have a great week,

Mr. Mandarino

Monday, May 21, 2018

Mandarino Minutes for 5-21-18

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Upton Equestrian Team-
The Upton equestrian team took 2nd place yesterday at a 13-hour event. We are very proud of the girls and their tremendous effort.

7th grade trip to the Field Museum-
The social studies teachers reported that the students were really well behaved and enjoyed their trip to the Field Museum this past Thursday. A special thanks to all the parent volunteers who chaperoned the event.

8th grade Farewell and Picture-
Please drop off your kindergarten & 8th grade wallet size photo by this Wednesday, May 23rd. 8th grade farewell will be on Friday, June 1st at 6:30 PM. The dance will be from 8:00-10:00 PM and will start shortly after the conclusion of the ceremony.

Upton Baking Class-
We have a great opportunity coming to Upton next week for those who love baking and learning new cooking skills! The high school baking club is sponsoring a baking class on Wednesday, May 30^th from 3:00 - 4:30 in the Upton foods room. The club members will be demonstrating a delicious dessert recipe and then students will be making the dessert. The class is limited to 25 students and the cost of the class is $5. Contact Mrs. Hunnell to sign up for the class. Payment should be made at the time of signing up.

6th grade Elephant Fundraiser-
The 6th grade ELA classes raised a total of $1,450 for the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya. The students raised $725, and that amount was matched by Dr. Ann St. Amand. The students were able to sponsor 29 orphaned elephants with their contributions! On a side note, there just happened to be 29 baby elephants in the orphanage (mostly orphaned due to poaching) so we just sponsored all of them.

Here's the website: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/

Robotics for current 6th & 7th graders-

Please find attached information on how to request a sign-up package for Upton middle school robotics. Please consider joining the Upton Joe Bots for the exciting upcoming season of robotics. Upton hosts three robotics teams and can accept a total of 45 students, so sign-up early! All meetings will be held at the Saint Joseph high school.

Our main robotic season runs from September 8th - December 22nd. We then hold some off-season activities the rest of the school year and even next summer for community service projects. If our teams make the cut by the end of December, we will be invited to the world robotics championship in Detroit next April.

We will challenge your student in designing, building, programming, marketing and management of a tight schedule to meet our competition challenges. We will prepare the students for the riggers of high school robotics. Please be aware that robotics is a commitment of time and attendance, the same as any school sport. In fact, your dedicated student can earn their high school letter in robotics!

Please also consider joining us as a team mentor to help our brilliant young engineers with their progress. No technical skills are required to be a mentor, just the passion for seeing our students succeed.

Robotic pdf link

Choir Concert-
We will have the Upton Spring Choir Concert next Wednesday, May 30th at the John & Dede Howard Auditorium at SJHS beginning at 7:00 PM. It will be a fun and entertaining concert.

Southwest Michigan Mini Maker Faire-
Coming June 2nd at Whirlpool Centennial Park in St. Joseph is Southwest Michigan Mini Maker Faire. Students will show their woodworking, robotics, coding, etc. to the visitors. They will also have a blacksmith present, and steamrolling printmaking. It will be a great event!
Here is the link to the page: https://swm.makerfaire.com/

Diving opportunity again-
Try Diving! The SJHS boys' and girls' diving teams are hosting one more Try Diving night at the SJHS pool tomorrow evening, May 22nd from 7:30-9:00 PM. If you've attended before, you are welcome to come out again and continue learning the basics! If you haven't tried yet, but want to give diving a try and learn more about it, then join us! The boy's diving team is especially looking for 8th grade boys who may be interested in joining the boy's diving team as a Freshman next year, so if you have any interest, then come out and meet the team and give it a try! No experience necessary. If you can't attend but want more information, please email Brandy Maynard at brmayn@yahoo.com.

Boxtops for the B.O.P.-
The Band and Orchestra Parents Association (BOP) collects Box Tops to support the Upton bands and orchestras! Please drop off any Box Tops you have to a band or orchestra teacher! You don't have to be in band or orchestra to donate your Box Tops! You can download Box Tops collection sheets from here:
https://www.boxtops4education.com/about/collection-sheets

Summer Mowing Job opportunity-

Part-time position: 20 hours/week

Days and times will vary depending on the weather

Must be 18 years of age or older

2 positions available

Employment Dates: Monday May 14th through August 24th.

If you know of someone interested, please pass along the information and have them contact

Michelle Cohoon : mcohoon@sjschools.org

Soccer Camp for Girls and Boys-
Here is a link to a boys and girls soccer camp opportunity run by our varsity boys soccer coach, John Brown.
Soccer camp link

No School next Monday, May 28th-

In observance of Memorial Day, we will not have school next Monday, May 28th.

Quote of the week-

Have a great week,

Mr. Mandarino

Monday, May 14, 2018

Mandarino Minutes for 5-14-18

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Wonderful Musical-
The Little Mermaid Jr. was simply a wonderful musical this weekend! Numerous people approached me after the show and were blown away that this was a middle school performance. Mrs. Gray-Roll and Mrs. Richards along with a wonderful support system really guided these very talented kids to a phenomenal production. These kids are very talented!

Fantastic Technology Festival-

For those interested in viewing the projects and seeing the winners in this year's technology festival, the link to the website can be found below. Thank you to the SJPS Foundation, IT department, Mrs. Dirlam, media specialists, media assistants, T3 Team, HS custodial staff, Food Service, Key Club, Robotics Teams, and numerous other volunteers who helped make Friday night a success. Enjoy! The picture below was from the Saturday Herald Palladium of Andrew Smith and Jared Svetlev working on their robot at the Tech fest.

2018 Ren Baldwin Student Technology Festival

8th grade meeting for Dual Credit Courses-
The rescheduled meeting is tonight at the John & Dede Auditorium. This meeting is for 8th grade parents & students that will be in dual credit classes at SJHS next year.

DUAL CREDIT IMPORTANT INFORMATIONAL MEETING

New Guidelines & Deadlines for 2018-19 School Year!

MONDAY MAY 14, 2018

6:30 PM in the John & Dede Auditorium at SJHS

8th Grade Pictures for the Farewell-

We are asking families of all 8th graders to please send in:

- a wallet size kindergarten picture

- a wallet size 8th grade picture

These pictures will need to have the students name written on the back.

The deadline to have these pictures in is Thursday May 17th.

Any student without a picture sent in by that day will not have their picture in the hallway.

If families do not have a wallet size 8th grade picture, the school will provide a miniature 8th grade picture.

A basket will be set up in the office by Mrs. Bolt where students or parents can place these pictures.

All pictures can be taken home at the end of the 8th grade farewell. Parents can take them off the wall.

If there are any questions please contact btsalvano@gmail.com, or call: 269-519-3574.

7th graders to the Field Museum-
This Thursday, May 17th our 7th graders will be heading to the Field Museum. They will arrive back to Upton Middle School right around 4:00 PM. The Social Studies department has planned a fun trip!

Golf Tournament-
Please click on this link for a middle school golf tournament this Saturday, May 19th. It should be a really fun event! The pdf has information on how to sign up. Click here:
1st-8th golf tournament information.

Concerts this week-
Wednesday, May 16th at 7:00 P.M.- 6th-8th grade band concert
Thursday, May 17th at 7:00 P.M.- 6th-8th grade orchestra concert
Both concerts will take place at the John & Dede Auditorium at SJHS.

Heart and Sole/Girls on the Run-
Heart & Sole (Girls on the Run) will be this Thursday, May 17th with the race beginning at 6:30 PM. Coach Kym Hernandez and her team have worked hard to prepare. Good luck!

UPTO next Thursday, May 24th-
We will have the last UPTO meeting of the school year next Thursday, May 24th at Noon. The group of ladies under the leadership of Cindy Igoe have really done a nice job supporting our students and teachers.

Quote of the week-

Have a great week,
Mr. Mandarino

Monday, May 7, 2018

Mandarino Minutes for 5-7-18

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Ren Baldwin Technology Festival this Friday-
The 2018 Ren Baldwin Student Technology Festival will be held this Friday, May 11, 2018, in the SJHS Student Center. This free family event runs from 6:00-7:30 p.m., with awards and door prize giveaways beginning at 7:00 p.m. The festival will include hundreds of student projects, robotics, digital citizenship activities, a scavenger hunt, and more! Come see the amazing technology work being done in St. Joseph Public Schools.

Little Mermaid Jr. this Saturday, May 12th-
The big performances are almost here! This Saturday at 2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. at the John & Dede Howard Auditorium will be the Little Mermaid Jr. musical. Our kids have worked hard and look forward to entertaining their friends and families.

NWEA testing Tuesday and Friday-

All 6th-8th graders will be NWEA testing this Tuesday and Friday right at the beginning of the day. On Tuesday they will take the reading NWEA and on Friday the math NWEA. The results of the Fall and Spring scores will be mailed at the end of the school year.

May 17th trip to the Field Museum-

Our 7th graders will be heading to the Field Museum Thursday, May 17th. Many of the exhibits hit on their 7th grade Social Studies curriculum. It should be a fun and informative day.

Board of Education Meeting at SJHS tonight-

The St. Joseph Board of Education meeting tonight will begin at 5:45 p.m. at St. Joseph High School.

Community Corkboard-

Have you taken a look lately at the Community Corkboard? It has information on many summer activities around St. Joseph. Here is the link: SJPS Community Corkboard

Guidance Blog-

Another area we would love you to take a look at is our guidance blog. The guidance department has made several classroom visits on several topics this school year. Here is the link: UMS Guidance page