Monday, March 25, 2019

Mandarino Minutes for 3-25-19

Dear Parents/Guardians,



Wonderful Variety Show! - 
Our students put on a very entertaining and fun variety show Saturday evening!  The talent and stage presence of our kids was really something that left everyone in attendance really impressed.  Director Sandy Krieg did a marvelous job preparing the students.  We will have an in-house show this Friday morning for the student body.






8th grade farewell meeting if you want to help-
A meeting will take place for parents wishing to help out with the 8th grade farewell at Upton in the conference room tomorrow (Tuesday) March 26th from 7:00-8:00 PM.





6th grade ice cream scoopers wanted-
Volunteers are still needed to help scoop ice cream and serve up some sprinkles this Wednesday, March 27th, for our 6th grade Banana Splits celebration. Our 6th graders have been working hard and reading like crazy.  If you can help us celebrate from 12:30-1:45pm, please contact Kristin Burnette (kburnette@sjschools.org)



Very generous students/Upton families!-
Thanks to the generosity of the Upton students/families we raised around $ 750 for childhood cancer research in our March Madness 1st hour challenge!  The 3 winning 1st hour classes were:
6th grade - Mrs. Milletic's 1st hour
7th grade- Mr. Khan/Riggs 1st hour
8th grade- Mrs. Hunnell's 1st hour
These 3 classes will be awarded a pizza party, but the real winners will be the cancer researchers!



Leaving Early for Spring Break?-
Once again if your family is leaving early for Spring Break, please notify the office by sending in a note with your daughter/son.  





End of the 3rd Marking Period-
The end of the 3rd marking period is this Thursday, March 28th.  Grades will be official on Tuesday, April 9th.





7th graders to Chicago-
Our 7th graders will be heading to the Field Museum this Thursday, March 28th.  This museum ties in really nice with the 6th/7th grade social studies curriculum.





Photo Contest Ending Soon-
All entries are due by March 30th at 10:00 PM.

http://www.stjosephpublicschoolsfoundation.org/Photo-Contest.html

Quote of the week-







Have a great weekend,
Mr. Mandarino



P.S.-  I will be sending out a testing schedule to parents on Tuesday, March 26th.





Monday, March 18, 2019

Mandarino Minutes for 3-18-19

Dear Parents/Guardians,




Festival Concerts this week-
All three festival concerts will take place in the John & Dede Auditorium at St. Joseph High School and will begin at 7:00 PM.
Tuesday, March 19th-  Orchestra 
Wednesday, March 20th-  Band
Thursday, March 21st-  Choir
We know that all three performing arts disciplines have worked extremely hard and look forward to working with clinicians to critique, and give helpful suggestions.






Variety Show is this Saturday, March 23rd-
This Saturday, March 23rd at 6:30 PM will be the Upton variety show, "Upton's Got Talent" located at the John & Dede Auditorium at St. Joseph High School.  The students under the direction of Sandy Krieg are really looking forward to performing for their family and friends!






United Way Book Drive Continues-
We continue to collect books for United Way that will benefit kids across Berrien County until this Thursday, March 21st.  Thanks so much for those that have already contributed.  






March Madness 1st hour Challenge-
Our 1st hour classes are competing against each other in a March madness bracket by collecting loose change and the class that collects the most moves on to take on the next class.  All donations will go towards cancer research.






End of the 3rd Marking Period-

The end of the third marking period is next Thursday, March 28th.






Leaving Early for Spring Break-
If your family is leaving early for Spring break please have your child bring a note into the Upton office indicating the day/days in advance of the vacation.  We have to account for every absence.  Thanks!  






7th graders to the Field Museum- 
On Thursday, March 28th our 7th graders will be heading to Chicago to visit the Field Museum.  This museum fits into well the curriculum that the students have gone through in 6th & 7th grade social studies.





Congratulations to the cast of Annie Jr.-
The cast of Annie Jr. will be posted at Upton today.  Everyone will be a part of the show regardless of tryouts.  The talent at Upton is really amazing and this will be a great show!







Community Corkboard-
If you have not taken a look at the SJPS community corkboard you may want to see what new things are being offered around town.  Here is a direct link:  SJPS Community Corkbaord.




Quote of the week-
"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."  - Nelson Mandela




Have a wonderful week,
Mr. Mandarino

Monday, March 11, 2019

Mandarino Minutes for 3-11-19

Dear Parents/Guardians,




National History Day Winners-
The district National History Day projects took place at Western Michigan University this past Saturday and we had eleven students from Upton (and two from SJHS) move on to the state competition.  
Our students who advanced were:
Individual Documentary- Eliza Kuhlmann
Individual Exhibit- Hayley Shears
Group Exhibit- Ginny Weykamp & Nick Pierangeli and 
Phoebe Champion & Andrew Ferrell
Individual Paper- Rhys Conybeare
Individual Performance- Maddie Ugalde
Individual Website- Aseem Singh
Group Website- Emma Teng and Jintong He




Science Olympiad-
As you may have heard Upton Middle School won the regional Science Olympiad competition for the 10th year in a row!  Kelly Kietzerow and her amazing mentors did a wonderful job leading our students!  Here are the winners and their subject/s:

Beth Paine-  1st place in Heredity, 1st place in Potions & Poisons, 2nd place in Crime Busters, and 3rd place in Meteorology
Jack Hirsch- 1st place in Boomilever, 1st place in Fossils, and 3rd place in Herpetology 
Anirudh Ale- 1st place Battery Buggy, 2nd place Game On, and 3rd place in Thermodynamics
Riya Jain-  1st place in Water Quality, 2nd place in Elastic Glider and 2nd place in Anatomy & Physiology
Tanvi Gaikwad- 1st place in Boomilever and 1st place in Experimental Design
Nandish Dixit- 1st place in Heredity, 1st place in Disease Detectives 
Andrew Smith- 1st place Battery Buggy, and 2nd place Game On
Grace Yuan- 1st place in Potions & Poisons, 2nd place in Density
Silas Lorenz- 2nd place in Elastic Glider, 2nd place in Dynamic Planet, and 2nd place in Density 
Lilly Woytsek- 1st place in Fossils, and 2nd place in Crime Busters
Harshdeep Kaur- 1st place in Experimental Design
Ross Zerbe- 3rd place in Thermodynamics






Wonderful Concert-
We really had a wonderful concert last week from our 7th & 8th grade bands and orchestras!  The students sounded great and appear to be ready to do well at their upcoming in-house festival next week!  



Spirit Week this Week-
Monday- Pajama Day
Tuesday- Twin Day
Wednesday- Pirate Day
Thursday- Decades Day
Friday- Wear Everything Green Day





Annie Tryouts-
Today, tomorrow and Wednesday in the choir room at Upton are rehearsals for students who would like a part in the upcoming musical Annie Jr.  Auditions will be this Thursday and Friday.  All rehearsals and auditions will last from 3:00-5:00 PM.




Board Of Education Meeting-
Tonight the board of education meeting will take place at Lincoln School and will begin at 6:00 PM.




UPTO-
Our March UPTO meeting will be this Thursday, March 14th at noon in the Upton conference room.




Ren Baldwin Technology Submissions-
Student submissions are due by April 15th to the Ren Baldwin Technology Festival.  Information is around the Upton hallways and also in the media centers if your daughter/son is interested.



Honor Credit Union February Winner-
Congratulations to Sanjan Ameresh who is our February winner for the Upton Bears Student Credit Union. Each month a name is drawn when they make a deposit of any amount.  Congratulations Sanjan!



Photo Contest Deadline Approaching-
Here is the link to the photo contest rules for the 2019-2020 calendar:  SJPS Foundation Calendar Link




Upton Variety Show-
The Variety show is right around the corner!  It will take place on Saturday, March 23rd at the John & Dede Howard Auditorium at SJHS.  The students have worked hard and always put on a cute show!





Planetarium Show-
The Upton Community Night planetarium show is this Wednesday, March 13th beginning at 6:30 PM.  The show is geared towards 10 years and older and is called, Seeing.  Tickets are only $2.50 each.




College and Career Workshop for 8th graders-
It was recently shared with me that this Wednesday evening at SJHS is a College and Career night at SJHS from 6:00-8:00 PM.  Here is the pdf for more information:  College & Career Workshop pdf





Student Technology Article of the week-
This week's article talks about Snapchat.  I found the article very informative and you may as well.  Here is the link to the page:



7th & 8th grade Dance on Friday-
The 7th & 8th grade dance is this Friday, March 15th from 5:30-7:30 PM.  This dance is open to all 7th & 8th grade Upton students only.




Please help kids out-
Please consider donating gently used or new books to the United Way book drive.  The box is in the office at Upton.  These books will be given to students that do not have the resources to purchase books.



Late Start Wednesday-
The district has a late start this Wednesday, March 13th.


Quote of the week-





Have a great week,
Mr. Mandarino

Monday, March 4, 2019

Mandarino Minutes for 3-4-19

Dear Parents/Guardians,




7th/8th grade Band & Orchestra Concert-
This Wednesday, March 6th evening at 7:00 PM in the John & Dede Auditorium at SJHS will be the 7th/8th grade bands and 7th/8th grade orchestras performing their pre-festival concert.




Ren Baldwin Technology Festival-  
Bella Alimenti
The 2019 Ren Baldwin Student Technology Festival is now accepting entries.  Submit a technology project by April 15th for a chance to win an iPad, cash prizes, and more!  Congratulations to Bella Alimenti for winning the secondary logo contest!To access the middle school entry form visit this link:  https://goo.gl/forms/xAnB6XILAW4DHSVU2
Ren Baldwin



Annie Jr. Practice and Tryouts-




Late Start this Wednesday-
The district has a one-hour delay this Wednesday, March 6th.  Breakfast will be available beginning at 8:15 AM.  School begins at 8:45 AM.



United Way Book Drive-
We have a box in the Upton office to collect new or gently used books for kids in need.  We are collecting books for K-12th grade.  They would really appreciate your donation.




6th grade Reading Assembly-
Author Patricia Sutton will visit Upton this Friday, March 8, to share her book Capsized! The Forgotten Story of the Eastland Disaster with our 6th graders.

Screen Shot 2019-02-27 at 9.44.11 PM.png
As an amazing addition to our current 6th grade reading incentive, "Banana Splits", Sutton will talk about what happened that fateful day, St. Joseph's connection to this tragedy and delve into critical questions like why some tragedies continue to garner attention while others go virtually forgotten.

She will also be speaking and signing copies of Capsized! at Forever Books on Thursday, March 7, at 7pm.




7th and 8th grade dance is next Friday, March 15th-
We will have a 7th & 8th grade dance from 5:30-7:30 on Friday, March 15th in the Upton Blue Gym.


Planetarium Community Night-
Next Wednesday, March 13th will be a community planetarium show at Upton Middle School.  The show is called Seeing and here is the trailer:  Seeing Trailer




Upton Variety Show-
The Upton Variety Show is less than three weeks away.  It will take place on Saturday, March 23rd at the John & Dede Auditorium at SJHS.  This week practice is after school on Wednesday and Thursday until 4:30 PM.





Dropping off in the Morning and Pickup after-
Please use caution when dropping your daughter/son off in the morning, and picking up after school.  We have had a few incidences where cars are cutting in front of buses, driving too fast in the parking lot, trying to pass where it is not a good idea to do so, etc.  If it is a morning that you are in a hurry you should leave earlier.  We do not want to jeopardize the safety of our students.



Quote of the week-
"Truth is powerful and it prevails." - Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth



Have a great week,
Mr. Mandarino




Mandarino Minutes for 6-9-23

  Dear Upton Middle School Families, Thanks! - We thank you for sharing your daughter/son with us this school year!  We also appreciate your...