Shepherd Middle School

Announcements, Wednesday, November 20... The wrestling team placed 3rd last Saturday at the Ithaca Invitational scoring 158 points and had 10 placers. Good luck to the Girls’ Basketball Teams as they take on Sanford-Meridian tonight at home. Games are in the MS Gym and the first game starts at 5:00pm. Tickets are $5 each and concessions will be available. The BlueJay Wellness Center Youth Advisory Committee is holding an art contest! We are looking to display student artwork throughout the clinic. Your art will be displayed as a canvas or as a part of a larger mural that will be featured in the waiting room! Themes will include health and wellness or anything Shepherd. Submissions can be turned in using the QR code. Deadline is Nov 26. Winners will be notified after Thanksgiving break. Any questions, please contact Nurse Alayna. 2023-24 Middle School Yearbooks are available for $20 each in the Middle School Office. BlueJay Renaissance Drawing winners for today are: In 6th Grade: Tucker Berry & Josie Eisenberger In 7th Grade: Paislee Nelson & Mya Bloniarczyk In 8th Grade: Mia Reed & Keagan Spindler These students can come down to the office sometime during SOAR to pick from the prize cart. Just a reminder that the end of the 1st Trimester is this next Tuesday (11/26). Check with your teachers on deadlines for late or missing assignments. Also realize that your final grades for the first trimester will factor into your end of the trimester BlueJay Renaissance Rally, so get those grades up, time is quickly running out. Today during SOAR, all students are to work on their Math IXL Recommended Skills

Announcements, Tuesday, November 19... Results of the Girls Basketball games at Ogemaw Heights versus the Falcons last night. The 7th grade team won big 44-10 The 8th grade team also won big 48-8 Nice job girls. The basketball teams play again tomorrow at home versus the Mustangs of Sanford-Meridian. First game begins at 5:00pm, tickets are $5 and concessions will be available. The BlueJay Wellness Center Youth Advisory Committee is holding an art contest! We are looking to display student artwork throughout the clinic. Your art will be displayed as a canvas or as a part of a larger mural that will be featured in the waiting room! Themes will include health and wellness or anything Shepherd. Submissions can be turned in using the QR code. Deadline is Nov 26. Winners will be notified after Thanksgiving break. Any questions, please contact Nurse Alayna. 2023-24 Middle School Yearbooks are available for $20 each in the Middle School Office. BlueJay Renaissance Drawing winners for today are: In 6th Grade: Aaralyn Lambert & Carter Travis In 7th Grade: Jordyn Voultrin & Austin Deming In 8th Grade: Aubrey Pelcher-Bonstelle & Macy Fulk These students can come down to the office sometime during SOAR to pick from the prize cart. Due to the boil water advisory that is still in place for the entire village of Shepherd, we have set up a water drinking station outside the counseling office. There are jugs of water, which can be used to fill up your water bottles. We also have plastic water bottles that are available for all students and staff. Students are limited to one bottle of water at a time, and we ask that you throw away bottles once you are finished. Today during SOAR, all students are to work on their ELA IXL Recommended Skills

School CLOSED for Monday, November 18, due to Boil Water Advisory for the Village of Shepherd (see attached letter).

Announcments, Thursday, November 14... Tomorrow is the open day of firearms deer season and this is a day off of school for all of you. Good luck to all of you headed out to the woods tomorrow. May your sights be steady and your shots true. Be safe and I wish you all the best. Results of the Girls Basketball game last night versus Bullock Creek; The 7th grade team 16-42 The 8th grade team 35-48 Good luck to the Wrestling Teams as they travel to Ithaca on Saturday for an Invitational meet. Middle School Competitive Cheer practice will be starting Monday in the Cafeteria from 3:30-5:30pm with a team meeting today (11/14) in the cafeteria from 3:30-4:30pm. If you are still interested in joining the Cheer Team, come to the office and sign-up. You are still able to join. You must have a current physical on file on FinalForms as well as your Code of conduct signed to practice. Art Club is meeting next Wednesday (11/20) in the HS Art Room. All are welcome to attend. 2023-24 Middle School Yearbooks are available for $20 each in the Middle School Office. BlueJay Renaissance Drawing winners for today are: In 6th Grade: Ashton Hart & Tyler Beltinck In 7th Grade: Bruce Vuorenma & Andrea Martinez-Velasquez In 8th Grade: Ava McCaul & Allison Bendele These students can come down to the office sometime during SOAR to pick from the prize cart. Today during SOAR, all students are to check their grades in PowerSchool and email their parents. Then it is Silent Reading for the remainder of the class period.

Announcements, Wednesday, November 13... Tomorrow, November 14th, is World Diabetes Day. You can support World Diabetes Day by wearing the color blue tomorrow. Good luck to the Girls’ Basketball Teams as they travel to Bullock Creek tonight to take on the Lancers. Bus leaves at 3:30pm. MS Competitive Cheer practice will be starting Monday in the Cafeteria from 3:30-5:30pm with a team meeting on Thursday 11/14 in the cafeteria from 3:30-4:30pm. You must have a current physical on file on FinalForms as well as your Code of conduct signed to practice. 2023-24 Middle School Yearbooks are available for $20 each in the Middle School Office. There is no Art Club this week. The next Art Club meeting will be next Wednesday, November 20th, in the HS Art Room. All students are welcome to attend. The High School Theatre Class is putting on a murder mystery play called “And Then There Was One: A Spoof!” The show is this Thursday (11/14) at 7:00pm in the HS auditorium. It is open seating with a $5 suggested donation. We hope to see you there! BlueJay Renaissance Drawing winners for today are: In 6th Grade: Brooklyn Nethers & Autumn Terwilliger In 7th Grade: Janet Strand & Annessa Szymanski In 8th Grade: Gabe Smith & Ben Hamp These students can come down to the office after announcements. Today during SOAR, all students are to work on their Math IXL Recommended Skills.

Announcements, Tuesday, November 12... Results from the Girls’ Basketball game last night versus Clare The 7th grade team lost 16-42 to the Pioneers The 8th grade team lost 35-48 in a hard fought game Clare The girls next game is tomorrow night at Bullock Creek Good luck to the Wrestling Team as they travel to Gladwin for a meet tonight. Wrestlers are dismissed from class at 2:50 and the bus leaves at 3:00pm today. There is no Art Club this week. The next Art Club meeting will be next Wednesday, November 20th, in the HS Art Room. All students are welcome to attend. The HS Theatre Class is putting on the murder mystery entitled “And Then There Was One: A Spoof!” It is a 'who done it' comedy full of one liners, crazy characters, and bizarre twists! The show is this Thursday (11/14) at 7:00pm in the HS auditorium. It is open seating with a $5 suggested donation. We hope to see you there! Thank you for supporting Shepherd Theatre! 2023-24 Middle School Yearbooks are available for $20 each in the Middle School Office. Hoops for Hunger is now through January 15th. Bring your non-perishable items or cash donations to your SOAR class. The winning class from each grade will get the opportunity to attend the game on January 22nd. If you have any questions you can ask us or another student council member. "Attitude of Gratitude: A November Challenge" for the month of November. You can pick up an Attitude of Gratitude sheet from Mrs. Gall. Also see Mrs. Gall if you have any questions. BlueJay Renaissance Drawing winners for today are: In 6th Grade: Brant Veal & Jolene Jones In 7th Grade: Nora Schwartzkopf &Izabel Hernandez In 8th Grade: Brogan Eisenburger & Brayden Rountree These students can come down to the office after announcements. Today during SOAR, all classes have their SecondSteps Lesson to complete.

Announcements, Monday, November 11 - Veterans Day Today, we honor and recognize Veterans Day, a special day to thank and remember all the men and women who have served in the U.S. military. Their courage, sacrifice, and dedication protect the freedoms we enjoy every day. As we go about our day, let's take a moment to reflect on the bravery of our veterans and show appreciation for their service, both past and present. We encourage you to thank a veteran if you know one, and remember that their contributions have made our country stronger. The wrestling team finished 2nd place at the Ovid Elsie Tournament going 4-1 on the day. Wrestlers will meet in the lobby outside the middle school gym immediately after school today. Winter Run Club will begin today after school. See Mrs Gimmey if you have questions. 2023-24 Middle School Yearbooks are available for $20 each in the Middle School Office. Hoops for Hunger is now through January 15th. Bring your non-perishable items or cash donations to your SOAR class. The winning class from each grade will get the opportunity to attend the game on January 22nd. If you have any questions you can ask us or another student council member Students that go outside for recess; you are not allowed to go past the picnic tables or up near the building by the gym or locker rooms. "Attitude of Gratitude: A November Challenge" for the month of November. You can pick up an Attitude of Gratitude sheet from Mrs. Gall. Also see Mrs. Gall if you have any questions. BlueJay Renaissance Drawing winners for today are: In 6th Grade: Anthony Drozd & PrincessReyna Spencer In 7th Grade: Mya Bloniarczyk & Emma Hudecz In 8th Grade: Wyatt VanAlstine & Sierah Breen These students can come down to the office after announcements. Today during SOAR, all students are to work on their ELA IXL Recommended Skills. All 6th hour Semper Fit 8th grade students are dismissed to the HS gym at this time.

Announcements, Friday, November 8... Good Luck to the cast and crew of the musical this weekend, with your performances tonight and tomorrow night. You all did a great job yesterday performing for all of us. I can’t wait to see it again this weekend. Winter Run Club will begin Monday, November 11th. Get an information sheet in the office. Talk with or email Mrs Gimmey if you have questions. The Semper Fit class is selling American flag pins for $1 each before school and at the beginning of B Lunch. Monday is the last day they will be selling the pins. 2023-24 Middle School Yearbooks are available for $20 each in the Middle School Office. Hoops for Hunger is starting now and it's going until January 15th. You can bring non-perishable items like canned goods and boxed food like fruits, vegetables, soup, cereal, and condiments. You can also bring things like shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, paper products, and diapers. Also $1 equals 9 pounds of food. The winning class from each grade will get the opportunity to attend the game on January 22nd. If you have any questions you can ask us or another student council member. "Attitude of Gratitude: A November Challenge" for the month of November. You can pick up an Attitude of Gratitude sheet from Mrs. Gall. Also see Mrs. Gall if you have any questions. During SOAR today, 8th Grade Student Council will be around to talk about expectations in the auditorium for this afternoon and the Hoops for Hunger canned food drive. All students also need to check grades in PowerSchool and email their parents and then work on their ELA IXL.

Announcements, Wednesday, November 6... Girls Basketball results from Monday versus St. Louis; The 7th Grade Team won 26-15 The 8th Grade Team lost 15-51 Good luck to both the girls teams tonight as they travel to Pinconning to take on the Spartans. Bus leaves at 3:15 Winter Run Club will begin Monday, November 11th. Get an information sheet in the office. Talk with or email Mrs Gimmey if you have questions. The Semper Fit class is selling American flag pins for $1 each before school and at the beginning of B Lunch. 2023-24 Middle School Yearbooks are available for $20 each in the Middle School Office. If you do not already have one, get one while supplies last. Picture Retakes are tomorrow (11/7). If you did not get your picture taken on Picture Day at the end of September or would like your picture retaken, you need to sign up by the end of the day today. There is a sign-up sheet in the office. Mrs. Gall is hosting "Attitude of Gratitude: A November Challenge" for the month of November. The challenge is to come up with one thing that you are grateful for every day in November. You'll track your gratitude on a calendar that is available in Mrs. Gall's office. At the end of November, turn in your gratitude calendars. Mrs. Gall will randomly draw 5 winners of the "Attitude of Gratitude" Challenge to win a prize. If you have any questions, reach out to Mrs. Gall All cast and crew of the musical will be going to A Lunch today and tomorrow. After eating lunch, before dismissing students to go outside, we will dismiss those participating in the musical to go to the Auditorium. Tomorrow afternoon (11/7) all MS students will be attending a performance of the musical “Charleston.” Throughout the next few weeks, I will be drawing names from the remaining names in the bucket of names from the Rally last Friday. If your name is drawn, you will come down to the office to select from the prize cart. During SOAR today, all students are to work on their ELA IXL.

Announcements, Monday, November 4... Tomorrow (11/5) there is no school for students. Good Luck to our 7th & 8th Grade Girls’ Basketball teams as they play the Sharks of St. Louis tonight, here at home in our MS Gym. First game starts at 5:00pm and tickets are $5. Concessions will be available for purchase during the game. The Semper Fit class is selling American flag pins for $1 each before school and at the beginning of B Lunch. 2023-24 Middle School Yearbooks are available for $20 each in the Middle School Office. If you do not already have one, get one while supplies last. Picture Retakes are this Thursday (11/7). If you did not get your picture taken on Picture Day at the end of September or would like your picture retaken, you need to sign up. There is a sign-up sheet in the office.

Announcements, Friday, November 1... The Semper Fit class is selling American flag pins for $1 each before school and at the beginning of B Lunch. 2023-24 Middle School Yearbooks are available for $20 each in the Middle School Office. If you do not already have one, get one while supplies last. Picture Retakes are Thursday, November 7. If you did not get your picture taken on Picture Day at the end of last month or would like your picture retaken, you need to sign up. There is a sign-up sheet in the office. Today during SOAR, students are to check their grades in PowerSchool and email their parents. Teachers will then pass out Rally Tickets to those who have qualified. After that, students have a short survey on the OK2SAY presentation from Wednesday, which can be followed up with a short discussion.

Announcements, Thursday, October 31... The Semper Fit class is selling American flag pins for $1 each before school and at the beginning of B Lunch. We have Middle School yearbooks from the 2023-24 school year available for sale in the Middle School Office. There are only a few yearbooks left, so if you did not get one, buy one while supplies last. They are being sold for $20 each. Picture Retakes are Thursday, November 7. If you did not get your picture taken on Picture Day at the end of last month or would like your picture retaken, you need to sign up. There is a sign-up sheet in the office. Tomorrow we will be having our first BlueJay Renaissance Rally of the school year. Rally tickets will be passed out during SOAR tomorrow. Students that did not qualify for a ticket will stay in their 5th & 6th hours classes during the Rally.

Announcement, Wednesday, October 30... Picture Retakes are Thursday, November 7. If you did not get your picture taken on Picture Day at the end of last month or would like your picture retaken, you need to sign up. There is a sign-up sheet in the office. Tomorrow is Halloween and we will be having a Halloween Costume Contest during SOAR. There will be awards and prizes for each category. We will be selecting 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in each category, with first place receiving a prize. The categories are: Best Due/Group Most Creative Scariest Funniest Best Overall Students are allowed to dress up for Halloween, but the following guidelines must be followed; 1. Costumes cannot be offensive in mocking or resembling another student, school staff member, religious preference, or ethnicity. 2. Costumes cannot feature inappropriate themes, characters or reference to drugs, alcohol, or sex. 3. Masks may be worn only during the contest. For the remainder of the day, these items will be kept in lockers. 4. No “look-alike” or fake weapons are allowed in any manner. If brought to school, these items will be held in the office until a parent or guardian can pick them up. 5. Blow up/Inflatable costumes are not encouraged. While students may wear them, they will not be allowed to be blown up during class. 6. Nothing is to be brought to school that has a possibility of staining (dye, make-up, face paint, hair color spray, etc.), but these things may be worn if put on at home. Time will not be allocated for removal of paint/dye etc during the school day. 7. Dress must meet our current School Dress Code. 8. Teachers retain every right to ask students to remove any item during class that is a distraction. On Friday we will be having our first BlueJay Renaissance Rally of the school year. To attend this Rally you must earn a Gold, Blue or White ticket, which is based on your Academics, Attendance, and Attitude. Following Announcements we will be having a Zoom presentation on OK2SAY. This presentation will last approximately 50 minutes and students will be dismissed to go to their 1st hour class after the presentation. The rest of the day's schedule will be as normal.

Announcements, Tuesday, October 29... Picture Retakes are Thursday, November 7. If you did not get your picture taken on Picture Day at the end of last month or would like your picture retaken, you need to sign up. There is a sign-up sheet in the office. Tomorrow SOAR class will be extended until 9am. We will be having an OK2SAY presentation in your SOAR classes through Zoom on your classroom digital boards. This presentation will begin following announcements and go until approximately 9am. After the presentation, students will go to their 1st hour class, which will be shortened. The rest of the day's schedule will be as normal. Thursday is Halloween and we will be having a Halloween Costume Contest during SOAR. There will be awards and prizes for each category. We will be selecting 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in each category. On Friday we will be having our first BlueJay Renaissance Rally of the school year. To attend this Rally you must earn a Gold, Blue or White ticket, which is based on your Academics, Attendance, and Attitude. Today during SOAR students are to be working on their Math IXL and teachers will finish identifying students that qualify for the BlueJay Renaissance Rally.

Announcements, Monday, October 28... On Wednesday we will all be having a virtual presentation on your classroom digital boards from OK2SAY. This will take place during your SOAR class and will last until about 9am. After the presentation students will go to a shortened 1st hour class. Thursday is Halloween and we will be having a Halloween Costume Contest during SOAR. There will be awards and prizes for each category. The contest will be help during SOAR on Thursday. On Friday we will be having our first BlueJay Renaissance Rally of the school year. To attend this Rally you must earn a Gold, Blue or White ticket, which is based on your Academics, Attendance, and Attitude. Today during SOAR students are to be working on their ELA IXL and teachers will be starting to identify students that qualify for the BlueJay Renaissance Rally.

Announcements, Friday, October 25... Next Thursday is Halloween and we will be having a Halloween Costume Contest during SOAR. There will be awards and prizes for each category. We will share the contest rules, categories and Halloween Costume Guidelines tomorrow during announcements. Next Friday, November 1, we will be having our first BlueJay Renaissance Rally of the school year. To attend this Rally you must earn a Gold, Blue or White ticket, which is based on your Academics, Attendance, and Attitude. Locker signs from this fall's sports seasons; football, volleyball and cross country, are to be removed from the outside of lockers. They can be hung on the inside of your lockers. Any locker signs still hanging up after today will be removed and discarded. Today during SOAR, Student Council Members will be around to collect $1 if you want to wear your hat today. They will give you a ticket as proof that your paid. Hold onto the ticket today. Your teachers do have the right to request you remove your hat in their classroom. 7th graders are going to clean out their lockers. Once you are done cleaning your locker, return to your SOAR class. All teachers will also be passing out M-STEP Parent Reports from last Spring M-STEP test, to all students that did not get a copy during Parent-Teacher Conferences last week. Please up these in your locker and take them home to parents tonight.

Announcements, Wednesday, October 23... Good luck to the Cross Country Teams as they head to Chip Hills today to compete in Regionals. Runners are dismissed at 1:45 and the bus leaves at 1:55. Friday is Michigan - Michigan State Day here at Shepherd Middle School. Wear your Blue & Gold or Green & White gear that day and show which university you support. We will get a count of Friday of how many supported each school Therapy Dogs will be available to all students in the media center during A and B lunch today. Please eat your lunch first, then feel free to head to the media center and meet our furry friends The Counseling Office is closed this morning until Mrs. Bauer returns. If you need a break or are in need of something please come down to the Middle School office. Tomorrow during SOAR, 6th & 8th grade classes will be doing a locker clean-out. 7th graders will then clean out their lockers on Friday. Lunch Op for B Lunch will be in Mr. TerBurgh’s classroom today, room 315. Today during SOAR all students are to work on their Math IXL recommended skills.

Friday (10/25) is Michigan VS Michigan State Day at Shepherd Middle School. Students and staff are encouraged to wear the colors of the in-state rival that they support, in preparation for the U of M / MSU football game on Saturday (10/26). We want to see who the Wolverine and the Spartan fans are at SMS.

Announcements, Tuesday, October 22... Please check the lost & found table. All items in the lost & found will be removed after today. Friday is Michigan - Michigan State Day here at Shepherd Middle School. Wear your Blue & Gold or Green & White gear that day and show which university you support. We will get a count of Friday of how many supported each school Today during SOAR all students are to work on their ELA IXL recommended skills.

Announcements, Monday, October 21... Results from the Cross Country Invitational on Saturday at Cadillac Both the boys and girls teams took 4th place out of 22 teams that were there. Great job to all the runners. Wednesday the Cross teams compete in the Middle School Regionals which will be held at Chippewa Hills. Results of the Football Teams games on Saturday versus Ithaca The 8th grade team finished their season off with a 43-35 victory over the Yellowjackets. The 7th grade team ended the season beating Ithaca 42-12 The 6th grade team finished the season losing to the Yellowjackets 22-34 Shepherd Middle School wrestling will have its first practice today (10/21), at 3pm in the high school wrestling room. If you are having trouble finding the room, report to the high school atrium, or ask an older member of the team to guide you. Please remember, you have to have a sports physical on file in order to practice. Please check the lost & found table. Just a reminder that throughout this week, teachers and other adults may be visiting classrooms. They are observing and learning about what you do in your classrooms. There is no need for concern. Just continue on as normal. Friday is Michigan - Michigan State Day here at Shepherd Middle School. With the in-state rivalry football game being on Saturday, we want everyone to wear your colors. Wear your Wolverine or Spartan gear on Friday and show us which team you support. Today during SOAR all SOAR classes will be doing their SecondSteps Lesson.