Mandarino Minutes: 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.