Mandarino Minutes for 3-5-18

Dear Parents/Guardians,


A Great Day at the National History Regionals at WMU-
Congratulations to our State qualifiers for the National History Day State Championships that will be held on April 28^th, 2018 in Bay City, MI.  On Saturday the following students qualified:

State Qualifiers

Junior Division Individual Documentary: Alistair Bealer

Junior Division Individual Exhibit: Lauren Konopacki

Junior Division Group Website: Jaclyn Cool, Anna Weber, and Madalyn Cleveland

Junior Division Individual Website: Jakob Diamond

Junior Division Individual Performance: Lillian Shasky

Special Awards

Best Civil War Project: Lauren Konopacki

Best Use of Primary Sources: Lauren Konopacki

30th Annual Battle of the Books Winners-
Congratulations to the 2018 winners of the Battle of the Books! It was Mrs. Gressley's 1st hour team, The Team That Shall Not Be Named.  The team members are : Captain Ella Rimes, Mei Mei Saggau-Drotos, Noah Kelley, Aaliyah Louis, and Dylan Daly.  They will take on the winner of the Lakeshore Middle School Battle of the Books sometime in April.  

Congratulations to our Choirs-

6th, 7th and 8th grade choirs  sang BEAUTIFULLY at Festival last Wednesday! Best they had ever done singing their songs. 

7th and 8th graders were the only MS choirs at the festival to read an advance level of sight reading and they sight read each example with ease. The judge was very impressed!

Both 7th & 8th choirs received high number ratings and came away with the highest rating of Excellent (1).  Congratulations to the students and Mrs. Gray-Roll.

Great job Spellers-
Out of nearly 50 spellers at the Cloverleaf Spelling Bee Upton had two top ten finishers! Andrew Ferrell ended in 3rd place and Madison Klitchman finished in 8th place.  The students worked hard and it was a fun day!

Science Olympiad, Tuesday, March 6th-
Good luck to our kids who are participating in the Science Olympiad Regional competition at Lake Michigan College tomorrow Tuesday, March 6th.  Upton has won this competition for 8 straight years.  The students have been working extremely hard with Coach Kietzerow and her amazing team of mentors.

Band & Orchestra Festival-
Good luck to our 7th & 8th grade bands and orchestras this week at they perform at festival.  Festival is like the M-Step of the performing arts.  The students perform pieces, and sight read.  It will be an amazing experience for the musicians.

Ren Baldwin Technology Festival-
Please see this attachment for the Ren Baldwin Technology Festival.  We are hoping for many great entries at Upton.  Click here for more information:  
Ren Baldwin Technology Festival Info

Little Mermaid, Jr. Auditions-
Rehearsals for the Little Mermaid begin next Monday-Wednesday in the Choir Room at Upton Middle School from 3:00-5:00 P.M.  Auditions will take place next Thursday & Friday March 15th & 16th.  All experience levels and no experience are welcome!

Variety Show next Friday, March 16th-
The Upton Variety Show will be next Friday, March 16th at 6:30 P.M. in the Upton Auditorium.  Co-directors Joanne Schrock and Sandy Krieg have said it will be a great show!  

Chess Club time change-
Chess club will be this Thursday (March 8th) in Mrs. Walsworth's room and will end at 4:00 P.M.

Culvers Give Back Night tonight-
Tonight at Culvers from 5:00-8:00 P.M. is Culvers Give Back Night for St. Joseph High School Softball.  A portion of the proceeds will go to the softball program.

Quote of the week-
"Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see." - Mark Twain

Mandarino Minutes for 2-26-18

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Good luck to the Choirs-

Good luck to our Upton Choirs as they have their festival tomorrow!  Festival is like the M-Step to the performing arts department! :)  Mrs. Gray-Roll has the students well prepared and the students should have a lot of fun participating!

Good luck to our Spellers-

Tomorrow, February 27th will be the Cloverleaf Spelling Bee at Lake Michigan College.  6th graders, Andrew Ferrell & Hayley Rawls, along with 8th grader Madison Klitchman will compete in the event.  We wish them the best of luck!

Wonderful Career Day-

We had 33 guest speakers that came to Upton on Friday and it was such a wonderful day!  The students responded really well to the various presenters.  Many of our presenters commented on how engaged the students were!  If you were one of our presenters, we really would like to thank you!  Mrs. Fairchild, Mrs. Peterson, and Ms. Toth put a tremendous amount of time & energy into this worthwhile event.

Battle of the Books-

The Battle is here!  The Final Battle of the Books will be this Friday, March 2nd at 11:45 P.M. in the UMS Media Center.  This is the 30th annual battle! Our 7th graders have been reading ferociously!!! 

Assemblies this week-

Thursday, March 1st-  Carry the Love

Friday, March 2nd- Tumbling Show

7th & 8th Band and Orchestra Pre-Festival Concert-

Wednesday, February 28th will be our 7th & 8th grade bands and orchestras giving their pre-festival concert at the John & Dede Howard Auditorium located at SJHS beginning at 7:00 P.M.  Festival will run next week at Lake Michigan College.

Online Scheduling and Paperwork due Friday, March 2nd-
Online scheduling is open and ready.  Students are asked to register by this Friday, March 2nd for classes next year.  The 6th going into 7th will return a salmon colored sheet, the 7th going into 8th will return a green colored sheet, and the 8th going into 9th will return a blue sheet.  This sheet is to make sure parents/guardians are aware of the classes/electives that they are signing up for.

Science Olympiad next week Tuesday, March 6th-

Next Tuesday, March 6th the UMS Science Olympiad team will compete at Lake Michigan College for their regional event.  Upton has won this event for 8 straight years! We wish Coach Kietzerow and the team best of luck!

Quote of the week-

"If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love." 

-Maya Angelou

Have a great week, 

Mr. Mandarino

Mandarino Minutes for 2-19-18

Dear Parents/Guardians,


Career Day this Friday, Feb. 23rd-
This Friday, February 23rd will be our annual career day at Upton.  The students will interact with 4 different speakers on various careers.  The students are asked to come to school that day dressed like they are applying for a job that they really want.  It should be a fun and informative day!

Used Book Drive for Area School-
8th grader, Abby Cichocki needs your help with donating used books for distribution to students in need.  We have collection boxes in the office and cafeteria.  The books we are looking for are books that a kindergarten-5th grader would read.  Please help if you can.

1/2 Day Friday-
Dismissal this Friday will be at 11:04 A.M. for the 1/2 day.  

Chess Club-
This Thursday after school is Chess club in Mrs. Walsworth's room. (Room 219)

Choir Festival-
Choir Festival is next Tuesday, February 27th located at The Chapel in St. Joseph, MI.  Mrs. Gray-Roll will provide the times to students and parents.  We wish them good luck!

Band and Orchestra Pre-Festival Concert-
Next Wednesday, February 28th at 7:00 P.M. will be the Pre-Festival Concert for 7th &8th grade bands and orchestras at the John & Dede Howard Auditorium at St. Joseph High School.

Little Mermaid, Jr.-
Little Mermaid rehearsals begin 2 weeks from today on Monday, March 12th from 3:00-5:00 PM in the Choir Room. Auditions will take place on Thursday, March 15th and Friday, March 16th.  All experience levels are welcome!  More information is available at :
www.sjmusicalboosters.com

Rotation 4 starts this Wednesday-
This Wednesday, February 21st starts rotation four for 6th and 7th graders.  

Variety Show-
The Upton Variety Show will take place on Friday, March 16th at 6:30 P.M.  It will be a great show!

Board of Education Meeting Tonight-
The Board of Education meeting this evening will take place at EP Clarke Elementary beginning at 6:00 P.M.

Photo Contest Reminder-
The Photo contest for the district calendar ends March 30, 2018.  Please click here for more information:  SJPS Foundation Photo Contest

Quotes of the week (Some of the quotes from the Honors Breakfasts last week)-

"It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it." - Benjamin Franklin  

 

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." - Eleanore Roosevelt

"Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe."- Gail Devers

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. " - Henry Ford

"It's not only children who grow.  Parents do too.  As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours.  I can't tell my children to reach for the sun.  All I can do is reach for it, myself." ~Joyce Maynard

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."

- Fredrick Douglass

Have a great week,

Mr. Mandarino

Mandarino Minutes for 2-12-18

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you enjoyed your three day weekend!
Friday debut on SoulPancake-
This past Friday, February 9th the debut of the SoulPancake video went out on youtube.  Mrs. Walsworth and the 7th grade students did such a great job. Warning:  It will bring a tear to your eye. Here is the link to the wonderful clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqnYrdomOw8

Google Online Safety Roadshow hits UMS-
Congressman Fred Upton was at Upton Middle School this morning to introduce the team from Google as they shared their online safety program.  We talk about this a lot in September with the students, so this was a great follow-up to reinforce these important ideas.  The students interacted during the presentation.  Our students were an awesome audience! Here is a link to a site that talks more about it:
Google Online Safety Roadshow Program

Honors Breakfast-
Our Honors breakfast invitations went home with the students on last Thursday (2-8-18) afternoon. If you are questioning if your son/daughter did not receive an invitation, please email Mrs. Peterson (Last name A-G) apeterson@sjschools.org or Ms. Toth (last name H-Z) vtoth@sjschools.org to check for you.  
7th grade- Tuesday, February 13th
6th grade- Thursday, February 15th
8th grade- Friday, February 16th
We will begin as close to 7:15-7:20 A.M. as we can.  

Planetarium Community Night Show tonight-
Tonight beginning at 6:30 P.M. is a planetarium community night show at Upton Middle School.  The show is called "From Earth to the Universe".  

Count Day this Wednesday-
It is Count Day for the State of Michigan this Wednesday, February14th.  Please make every effort possible to have your daughter/son show up on time to school.

UPTO Meeting this Thursday at Noon at UMS-
This Thursday, February 15th at noon in the Upton conference room is our monthly PTO meeting.  Please join us if your schedule allows.

7th & 8th grade Dance this Friday-
We have a 7th & 8th grade dance this Friday, February 16th from 6:00-8:00 P.M. We are in need of a few more chaperones.  If you can chaperone please email Cindy Igoe at:  cindyigoe@yahoo.com

Spirit Week this week sponsored by the Student Council-
Today-  Maize and Blue Day
Tuesday-  Pajama Day
Wednesday-  6th grade: Wear Pink or Purple
                      7th grade:  Wear White
                      8th grade:  Wear Red
Thursday- Snowed in Day (What you would wear around the house on a snow day)
Friday-  Fake an injury Day

After school Pickup-
Please do not block the end of our parking lot entrance when picking up after school.  We have had recent trouble with parents getting into the parking lot and buses getting blocked out.  Please be mindful in the parking lot.

Quote of the week-
"Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right. " - Dr. Jane Goodall