Mandarino Minutes: 2022

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Mandarino Minutes for 12-22-22

State Championship for Robotics -

The Saint Joseph Public School district is incredibly proud of our 2022 Upton Middle School’s FIRST® Tech Challenge (“FTC”) Joe Bots Maize, Blue and White Robotics teams, who reached record setting results yet again this year!

FTC teams are given a game challenge the first week of September in which they must design, build, program, operate and fully document their robot’s and team’s designs and strategies to successfully compete at qualifying events starting in the third week of October. At these events Michigan FTC teams compete for the scant 72 available spots for the State event in Grand Rapids, MI out of the over 600 registered teams.

This year, for the second time ever, all three Joe Bot teams earned a place in the state competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At these qualifiers the Joe Bots':

Maize team won a Motivate Award (1st place)
Blue team was on a Finalist Alliance (1st Team) and won a Judge’s Award (1st place)
White team was on a Winning Alliance (1st Team) and won a Judges Award (2nd place) and a Control Award (2nd place)

At last weekend’s State Competition, Maize won the Joe Bots the Control Award (2nd place), our first award ever at States. Additionally our Blue and White teams were the first Joe Bots ever to reach the division finals as Finalist Alliance (1st Team). Finally, the White team then won both their Division Finals as well as the entire Competition as the first selected team, another first for Saint Joseph Public School Robotics!

The Saint Joseph Public School district is grateful for our community’s strong support. Our team's over 20 mentors are all volunteer based, coming from local companies including Spectrum Health, Wightman, Tempus, Stryker and Whirlpool. Our teams are financed through fundraising events and generous contributions of our sponsors, and the Saint Joseph Public Schools Foundation.

Thanks also to Moody on the Market and the Herald Palladium for their coverage of this!

All-State in Band -

Congratulations to 7th grade, Josiah Wagoner, for earning all-state honors on the tuba! What a great honor this is as it is players from the entire state of Michigan!

Students of the Week -

Upton staff votes each week on students that go above and beyond in the classroom. This week’s students of the week are:

Amelie Kraklau, Emily Tjader and Ariana Robinson

Educator of the Week -

8th grade Sewing Visits Brown Elementary -

A wonderful tradition continued as Mrs. Hunnell's sewing class made "Cat in the Hat" hats for Brown Elementary kindergarteners in Mrs. Schueneman's class. Each year the students sew and surprise a different class in the district, read a story with a student, and enjoy cookies together.

Here are some more pictures from that day:

Sewing Class Trip Photos Link

Builders Club at Caretel Inn -

Builders Club students went to Caretel Inn yesterday to Christmas carol and decorate sugar cookies. It was such a great time to be able to celebrate the Holiday Season with the residents at Caretel.

7th & 8th grade Girls Basketball Open Gyms-

Tryouts for 7th & 8th grade tryouts begin after the break. Physicals and paperwork must be done prior to January 9th. (Information was sent out about this previously from the athletic department).

Open gyms will take place from 10:00 AM-Noon on these dates:

Monday, December 26th
Tuesday, December 27th
Monday, January 2nd
Tuesday, January 3rd

Thanks,

Coach Bloodworth

7th & 8th Grade Upton Dance Photos-

A big THANKS to Di'Andre' Hureskin and REASONz 2 Share Digital Media Services LLC, reasonz2share@gmail.com, for volunteering to snap some pictures of students at the recent 7th & 8th grade dance. You can view the pictures HERE! Thank you!

UMS Holiday Door Decorating Contest -

Students of Upton- Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Holiday Door Decorating Contest! We know many of you put a lot of time and energy into crafting and completing your doors. Your effort did not go unnoticed! The halls were decked and we hope you had fun working with your classmates and getting into the holiday spirit!

There were three categories for the contest: Most Traditional, Most Creative, and Most Fun & Festive. The results are in!

The winner of Most Traditional is Ms. Kietzerow (Room 212) with the fireplace!

The winner of Most Creative is Ms. Francis with the penguins climbing the ladder!

And the winner of Most Fun & Festive is Ms. Byerle with the Take a sELFie!

Thanks again for participating and Happy Holidays!

A Huge Thanks to All -

Upton PTO would like to thank all of those who contributed to the Staff Holiday Breakfast. It was a HUGE success and a wonderful way to honor the members of our school community! We appreciate the support and know the staff did as well. Thank you!

UNPLUG-

Each year I suggest to families the idea of unplugging a bit over the break. We believe it is healthy for all! We encourage you to talk with your middle school student about setting limits with technology use at home, especially over the holiday break. An excellent resource that may be helpful for your family is Common Sense Media. Our Digital Learning Agreement was adopted from their educational materials, and they have numerous resources available for families. You may find their Family Media Contract or Customizable Device Contract to be helpful as you set limits and guidelines for technology use at home.

Quote of the week -

Have a wonderful break with your family,

Mr. Mandarino

Friday, December 16, 2022

Mandarino Minutes for 12-16-22

Dear Upton Middle School Families,

The Holiday Break -

Our break begins 12/23/22. No school 12/23/22 - 1/8/23. School resumes 1/9/23.

Joe Bots Headed to State! -

WOW! What an exciting weekend for the Joe Bots over at the Coloma Qualifier. Together, the Joe Bots brought home five awards:

8513 Joe Bots Maize received the Motivate Award.

11855 Joe Bots Blue claimed the Finalist Alliance - First Team Selected award, the Judges Award and the Control Award, sponsored by Arm, Inc - 2nd place.

13702 Joe Bots White won the championship Award and came in 2nd for Judges Choice Award.

For the second year, all three Joe Bot teams are going to the State Championships. As the Joe Bots prepare to compete this Friday and Saturday in Grand Rapids, Joe Bots Blue is ranked 6th by FTCstats.org. Way to go, Joe Bots!

Check out our YouTube Channel and follow our competitions on Twitch at Orangealliance4. State Championships are Friday and Saturday. More details at: STATE CHAMPIONSHIP-NW – FTC

https://firstinmichigan.us/FTC/events/states-nw/

Upton Choir & Orchestra Holiday Concert -

This Tuesday, December 20th, from 7:00 PM at the John & Dede Howard Auditorium will be the Upton Choir and Orchestra Concert. It is always a fun concert!

Great Concert Tuesday Evening -

If you were present Tuesday evening I am sure you will join me in congratulating our bands over a wonderful concert! The combined piece of the 7th-12th graders at the end was especially spectacular!

Students of the Week -

Upton staff votes each week on students that go above and beyond in the classroom. This week’s students of the week are:

Rylee Schaffer, Emily Hartsell, Anibri Coates,

William Conroy, Reid Slye

Educator of the Week-

Lost and Found -

Last call for our Lost and Found tables! Please have your child check out the tables by the kitchen/cafeteria area for any items they might have lost already this year. Anything left on these tables after next Wednesday will be donated to a local charity. Many of the items have been sitting on the table since September. We would love for these items to find their proper homes.

Hour of Code-

This week our students had the opportunity to sign up during BEAR time to work on coding with Mrs. Amy Dirlam from the Berrrien RESA. A national campaign to introduce computer science to students and the opportunities around it was discussed as well.

Boys and Girls Club -

We will NOT have the Boys and Girls Program on next Monday, December 19th or Thursday, December 22nd. We will have regular programming on December 20th and 21st. We will start the club back January 9th, 2023.

Wonderland Toy Donation -

Thank you for your toy donation at the school dance last Friday! We collected many toys for the Wonderland Toy Mosaic CCDA. These toys will stay right here in Southwest Michigan to families that are struggling this Christmas season. Thanks for your generosity!

Late Start Wednesday - 12/21/22

Our district has a late start next Wednesday, December 12th. A quick reminder that on late starts, our back doors do not open until 8:15 am when our supervision is available. If you drop off your child before 8:15, it is very possible that they will be waiting outside in the elements. School begins at 8:45 AM.