Weekly Top for 12-7-17

Folks,

Congratulations Jason-
Congratulations to Coach Jason Catania for being named Assistant Coach of the year by The Michigan High School Football Coaches Association.  We know all the hard work, time, and commitment Jason gives to his job!

Represented us well in Lansing-
Winter Bell, Jack Francis, Morgan Hanks, Ruby Rappette, Emma Stout, Micah Wagoner, and Dana represented Upton Middle School very well yesterday in Lansing!  It was really fun to watch how our kids interacted with all the visitors and politicians. We represented Southwest Michigan with extreme class!

Reminder on 7th grade vision screening-
All 7th graders will be vision screened Friday morning.  Please encourage 7th graders to have the 1/2 sheet vision screening sheet with them at all times.

Staff Meeting on being a Mandated Reporter-
Our staff meeting on Monday will begin right at 3:00 P.M. It is a very important meeting that we all need to hear the latest and most accurate information on.  It has been several years since this meeting/information and hopefully you never have to make a call, but many of us have in the past.

End of Rotation 2-
Next Wednesday is the end of rotation 2 for 6th & 7th graders, so on Thursday we will begin rotation 3.  

Concerts-
This upcoming Wednesday, December 13th will be the 6th-12th grade band concert and the following Wednesday, December 20th will be the Upton Choir and Orchestra Concert.  Both concerts begin at 7:00 P.M. at the John & Dede Howard Auditorium at St. Joseph High School.

Dec. 21st Go Time-
We are encouraging you to have a "fun" Go time on Thursday, December 21st.  I would encourage you not to do a holiday movie/show on this date. However, we know that some students will need to make-up work, make-up tests, etc.

Dec. 22nd in-house concert-
Our in-house concert (choir, band, and orchestra) will start as close to 9:30 A.M. as possible.  We want to end our entertainment as close to 10:50ish to allow for everyone to make the bus.  We will call each grade level down at the end of the 1/2 day 3rd hour schedule.  We do not want the kids to come down with anything.

Quote of the week-

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill

I will be out Friday during the school day.  Have a great Friday and weekend!

Chad

Weekly Top for 12-1-17

Folks,

Staff Party-
It is not too late to join us this evening at Baroda Founders 
8963 Hills Rd, Baroda, MI  49101 from 6:30 to 10:00 P.M.

Hour of Code-
December 4th-8th is the 2017 official Hour of Code week!  While we are not planning to run a delayed start schedule for all students to participate, offering an "hour of code" event during GO Time next Thursday would be a great extension opportunity for each department to consider.  Amy will be sharing out specific lesson ideas and resources from code.org and Google CS First with all teachers next week, but for those who might be interested in exploring the tutorials and possibly offering a session, here is a link to Hour of Code website.  We are hopeful several departments will consider offering at least one room for students to try coding activities during GO Time.

Upcoming Concerts-

All Concerts begin at 7:00 P.M.

Tuesday, December 5th- 6th grade "Informance"- Upton Blue Gym
Wednesday, December 13th- 6th - 12th Band Concert -SJHS
Wednesday, December 20th- Upton Choir & Orchestra Concert - SJHS

BLT-

We will have a BLT meeting next Tuesday, December 5th.  No other meetings next week.

Presenting in Lansing at the State Capitol-

Next Wednesday, December 6th, six students, Dana, Amy D., and I will be heading to Lansing for a technology presentation by our students at the State Capitol building in Lansing. It is the 17th annual student technology festival sponsored by MACUL, and AT&T.   Here is a link: http://sts.macul.org/home

Neat Show Monday on WNIT-
Our Town: St. Joseph will air this Monday, December 4th at 8:00 P.M. and again at 9:30 P.M. it features 25 little stories about different things going about St. Joseph.  I was at SJHS last evening to see the early debut and it was really a cool show.  I think you would enjoy it!

Upcoming Dates (not including concerts which are listed above) -

December 7th, 14th, and 21st- Go Times

December 8th- 7th grade vision screening

December 8th- 7th & 8th grade Dance

December 11th- School Board Meeting at Upton

December 11th- Staff Meeting 

December 14th- Christmas Luncheon in the cafeteria

December 22nd-  1/2 day (All hours)  In-house concert to begin at around 4th hour (9:30ish).  This will last almost the entire rest of the day.

Quote of the week-

"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together."  – Woodrow T. Wilson

See you at the staff party and have a great weekend,

Chad

Weekly Top for 11-17-17

Folks,


Siaka Massaquoi-
We are the headlines of today's Herald Palladium! HP Article How can words do justice to yesterday?  Siaka was such a dynamic, gracious, awesome, wonderful presenter yesterday!  He is overall an even better person!  The way he interacted with our kids was simply a work of art!  We were all blessed for this great opportunity!  The producer, Nick Ross, is also a talented and great guy as well!  Matt & Sam the camera men were also very gracious men.  Thanks Dana, Amy D., Kelly G., Cathy, Michelle V., Craig, Ann C. for all your contributions in pulling this off!  If Dana is still going through the hallways today without her feet hitting the ground I would be one bit surprised!

Lady Gallagher-

Our wonderful head cook, Emie Gallagher (Lady Gallagher), is improving each day.  She is out of ICU, in a progressive room, hoping to get to a regular room today.  She was sitting up last evening.  The family is optimistic and glad to have her back to acting more like herself.  She appreciates all the prayers!

Another reminder-

Wednesday will be running hours 1-6 for a 30 minutes each.  (Weekly Top from Oct. 27th)

Turkey lunch today-

Today is the turkey, stuffing, mashed potato, pumpkin pie, corn, etc. lunch.  

Dress-Up next Wednesday, Nov. 22nd-

The tradition will continue as we dress nice for the day before Thanksgiving.  We do this to signify that we are thankful for many things!

Early Heads up on November 27th (School Improvement Meeting Date)-

We will have the Michigan State Police in on Monday, November 27th to give a short inservice on drugs and electronic devices.  It should be a good presentation.  Unless you have a game, please plan to attend. I would like as many staff there as possible.

Food Drive-

It was great to see a group venture between Student Council, Builders Club, and Interact Club for the food drive.  The Emergency shelter is very thankful and appreciative of our generosity.

Book Fair around the corner-

Kristin B. and Deb will be hosting the Upton Book Fair --  Monday, 11/27 through Friday, 12/8 in the media center. Our book fairs help to add to our wonderful collection.

Zero Influence- Zero gained responses-

I have read all 30 responses to the article that we read and jigsawed on Monday.  I really appreciate the discussions that were going on and the reflection that you each did.  It is good to talk about things like this.  It is also good to see others perspective.

Quote of the week-

In honor of Siaka's favorite author:

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." - J.R.R. Tolkien

Weekly Top for 11-10-17

UMS,

The weekly update is short and sweet this week!  It has been a long first week of the 2nd marking period!

Recycle this morning-
We are recycling after announcements today!

Thanks-
-  To all of you for a long day yesterday having great student conversations with parents and building relationships.  I only had one upset parent the entire evening come up to me.  That is incredible!
-  To Ann Essig for having all our name-tags out at conferences, and Amy D. for the itsLearning sheet on each table.
-  To our wonderful UPTO for the wonderful dinner at our break between conferences.
-  To our Amy P., Torrey, Beth, Tracy O., HS Admin., and Ann C. for coming together to plan the day today for our HS students on the unexpected death of Ricky H.
-  To all of you for the many emails, prayers, food dishes, etc. to the Mandarino family.  Ally is improving each day!  

Can't wait-
Next week Craig and I will be going into classrooms to see engagement and teaching.  Truly the best part of the job!

Staff Meeting Monday-

We will have a staff meeting on Monday.  It will begin at 2:55 P.M.  One of the topics is grading.  It will be a great conversation!

Quote of the week-

"The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have." - Vince Lombardi

Enjoy the semi-extended weekend,

Chad

Weekly Top for 11-3-17

Folks,

End of the 1st Marking Period-
It is officially the end of the first marking period.  Wow!  Where did it go?  Grades are due on Tuesday, November 7th at 8:00 A.M.  Please remember Sherri's email on grade submission.

UPTO Remodeling this weekend-
Just a reminder that the start of the staff lounge remodeling will begin today after school and run some of the weekend.  Painting, carpeting, etc.  If you have something in the refrigerator please take it home for the weekend as they will be unplugged for awhile and the refrigerators will be replaced.

Next week agenda-

Monday, Nov. 6th-  

• No meeting after school

Tuesday, Nov. 7th-  

• Grades due 8:00 A.M.
• Chip Minton at 8:00 A.M. to address the student body (Late-Start Schedule)
• BLT at 2:50 P.M.
• Flu Shots from 3:00-5:00 P.M.

Wednesday, Nov. 8th-  

• Wizard of Oz performance at SJHS leave at around 8:45 A.M.  (Hours 2 & 3 will not take place)

Thursday, Nov. 9th- 

• 1/2 day- Hours 1, 2, and 3 Dismissal at 11:04 A.M.
• Conferences from 12:30-4:00 & 5:30-8:30 P.M.

Friday, Nov. 10th-  

• 1/2 day- Hours 4, 5, and 6 

Conferences-

We will not be printing report cards for next Thursday.  It will be important that you have a fully charged computer.  Please try to keep your conferences to 5 minutes or less.  The UPTO will be providing Charlies Piggin' and Grinnin' between afternoon & evening conferences.  I know it will be a long day, but parents always love the opportunity to make that relationship. :)

Staff Survey-

As part of our new school improvement report, we must survey the staff on various items.  Please take a few moments and give us your feedback.  Staff Survey Link

Knock-Out November-

We have a group effort going on between Builders Club, Interact Club, and Student council to provide non-perishable & toiletry items for the Emergency Safe Shelter.  Please encourage your homerooms to participate. 

Beautiful Landscaping Continues-

The beautiful landscaping continues around Upton.  If you haven't got a chance to look at the morning student entrance area/picnic area it really looks nice.  Rocque Emlong and his crew really worked hard on this last phase.

Lock your Door Please-

Please remember to lock your door each afternoon when you leave at the end of the school day.  We have so many activities going on at Upton in the evening, and we want to ensure your room is secure.

Quote of the week-

"We don't develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity." 

- Barbara DeAngelis

Weekly Top for 10-27-17

UMS Staff,

Sign the attendance sheet/s-
Please sign the attendance sheet at Grace's desk.  Thanks!

Thanks-
-  Torrey, Beth, and Amy for organizing Unity Day on Wednesday.
-  Matt for coordinating the staff vs. student volleyball game.  Thanks also to all the participants and fans!  The girls had a great time!  
-  Beth, Craig, Torrey, Amy, Dana, and Dave for their help with getting silent mentoring back going again.
-  Jenna, Amy, and Melissa for organizing a great 8th grade field trip!

1/2 days in November-

Thursday, November 9th - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd hours

Friday, November 10th- 4th, 5th, and 6th hours.
The day before Thanksgiving every class for a 1/2 hour.

The high school is running the same schedule.

End of the Marking period is next Friday, November 3rd and Rotation submission-

The first marking period comes to an end next Friday, November 3rd.  Please refer to Sherri's email on submitting on Tuesday, October 24th at 3:46 P.M.

Also, rotation teacher grades are due this Monday, October 30th by 8:00 A.M.

Wizard of Oz leave time for 11-8-17-

Just another reminder that on Wednesday, November 8th we will be going to the high school to view part of the Wizard of Oz.  We will leave right around 8:50 A.M.  At the end of 1st hour we will have students return items to their lockers and only bring their coats.  

Former Olympian Bobsledder & Former Professional Wrestler, Chip Minton, on 11-7-17-

On Tuesday, November 7th at 8:00 A.M. will will have a former olympian bobsledder & former wrestler, Chip Minton, address our student body.  We will then run a one-hour/late start schedule.  It will be in the blue gym.

UPTO-

Our wonderful UPTO will once again be sponsoring Piggin & Grinnin between afternoon & evening conferences.  They also will be starting the remodeling of the teachers lounge after school next Friday (November 3rd) through the weekend.  The lounge will be out of commission for that time.  Last, they also voted to buy new baking sheets for our Foods classes. 

Quote of the week-

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." - Mahatma Gandhi

Have a good one,
Chad