This just in...from MPS | News

This Just In...

  for the week of October 8-12, 2012 

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Montgomery Public Schools over $1 million to expand social work services in elementary schools. Department officials announced Monday that MPS was among 60 recipients in 24 states to receive a share of $21.2 million in grants it awarded school districts to support social work and school counseling programs. The funds will help schools hire qualified mental-health professionals with the goal of expanding the range, availability, quantity and quality of services. MPS will receive $347,566 in Year 1; $336,357 in Year 2; and $337,541 in Year 3 - for a total of $1,021,461.

Congratulations go to Jobs for Alabama’s Graduates (JAG) students at Lee High for sponsoring the We Can Do Good campaign and collecting over 2,013 non-perishable food items. These items will be used by the art design team that will participate, for the first time, in the Can Do Good competition at The Shoppes at Eastchase on October 13, sponsored by Goodwyn Mills and Cawood. High schools teams will create artistic structures for the competition made from canned goods collected during school food drives.  This social design competition will benefit the Montgomery Foodbank. 

Students, faculty, and staff at Morningview Elementary raised $118 to help support the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Highland Gardens Elementary would like to thank Mr. Lee Busby of Horace Mann Insurance for sponsoring the September Positive Behavior Support (PBS) celebration.

Bear Exploration Center will participate in the World Wise Schools Correspondence Match program with the Peace Corps. The World Wise Schools program matches Peace Corps volunteers in the field with U.S. classroom teachers, to exchange ideas, stories, pictures, and artifacts. Peace Corps volunteer Parker White, who is teaching English as a foreign language in Azerbaijan, will be Bear’s cultural liaison. Parker is a 2007 graduate of LAMP and a 2011 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama.

The City of Montgomery and the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs invites school bands, student clubs and other organizations to participate in the Montgomery River Region Veterans Day Parade on Monday, November 12, at 11 a.m., downtown Montgomery. Entry into the parade is free and the deadline to register is October 31. For more information, contact Robert Horton, Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs at (334) 242-5077.

The 18th Annual Prudential Spirit of Community Awards is seeking nominations from schools and student groups (grades 5-8) who are actively engaged in community service. Applications are available online at http://spirit.prudential.com. The deadline to nominate a group is November 6, 2012. Winners have the opportunity to win $1,000 and a trip to Washington, D.C. next May. If you have a student group that is committed to community service or want to highlight a recent service project, please consider applying.

Monday, October 8

Brewbaker Intermediate students will show their support during Breast Cancer Month by wearing pink every Friday.

Floyd Elementary will begin their free after school tutorial program today through December 20. This service will be offered Monday – Thursdays from 3 – 5 p.m. Students should be picked up no later than 5:05 p.m. For more information, contact Cynthia Sankey or Gary Coleman at 284-7120. In addition, Floyd Elementary’s book of the month is Miss Smith and the Haunted Library. This book teaches respect which is one of the school’s character education traits.

Third grade students at Catoma Elementary in Brandi Walker’s language arts class will participate in the Great Mail Race. Each student will write a letter to another third grade class in a different city and state throughout the country. Each time a letter is received they will place a star on the state where the letter came from. The objective is for students to learn about our country from other students their own age.

Kindergarten students at Halcyon Elementary will review letters and complete activities that correlate with those letters.

Bear Exploration Center will hold its monthly meeting of Discovery Clubs after school.

Fourth grade students at Fitzpatrick Elementary in Tomika Walker’s class will conduct a plant project for three weeks. Students will keep an observation chart to record how the plant was cared for.

Fourth grade students at Wilson Elementary will create “Fractured Fairytales” throughout the month. Students will write a new version of a traditional fairy tale. Their completed work will be typed and displayed in the hallway with an illustration of an important scene from their story.

Students at Flowers Elementary will raise money for the United Way by donating $1 to wear blue jeans to help support the “Blue Jeans for Babies” Campaign sponsored by March of Dimes and the United Way.

Third grade students at MacMillan International at McKee in Cathy Simmons and Chrisanthia Glass’ classes will work on grammar and writing techniques through new pen pal relationships. Ms. Glass’ students are pen pals with a third grade class at Sammons Elementary in Houston, Texas. Ms. Simmons’ class is pen pals with third graders at Carver Elementary.

Bellingrath Middle will hold Anti Bullying Rallies for students to aid in the prevention of bullying. Seventh grade students will attend the rally at 10 a.m., and sixth grade students will attend at 1:30 p.m. In addition, Bellingrath will kick-off its Accelerated Reading program. They year’s theme is “Race to the Top”.

Johnson Elementary students in grades 3-5 will compete in the school’s Seventh Annual Magic City Classic Drawing Contest. Coach Charles Brooks and Coach Gabriel Harrison will have students use creativity to represent the Alabama A&M Bulldogs or Alabama State University Hornets. Also, media specialist Joyce Brown will host a book fair. Students will preview the items today and then create a wish list. Parents and students will be able to make purchases from October 9- 12. In addition, Stacey King’s fifth grade reading classes will conduct research on famous baseball players. Students have studied Satchel Paige, a famous African-American baseball player from Mobile, Alabama. Students will research the careers of Paige, Jackie Robinson, and Babe Ruth. This project will allow students to compare and contrast the treatment of players during the 1920s and present day.

Tuesday, October 9

Second grade students at Bear Exploration Center in Stephanie Scoggins, Mary Ellen Lanier, Lucretia Franklin, and Susan Rief’s classes will visit Lake Chinabee.

Fourth grade students at Dannelly Elementary will go to the Alabama National Fair.

Kindergarten students at Morningview Elementary will go on a field trip to the Alabama National Fair.

Kindergarten and third grade students at Johnson Elementary will visit the Alabama National Fair.

Wednesday, October 10

Fifth grade students at Bear Exploration Center in Robin Norred, Shelia Lawson, Susan Pharr and Ashley Forster’s classes will participate in a presentation at 9 a.m. on blood and the human body by parent and nurse Margaret Borders.

Carver Elementary students will attend the Alabama National Fair from 9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Brewbaker Intermediate’s fifth grade teacher Brittany Green will teach a group of students to play chess. Students will have the opportunity to learn the rules and play chess with volunteers from Frazer United Methodist Church on Wednesdays from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Students will also be able to participate in tournaments during the spring semester with other local schools. All chess materials were donated by Frazer.

Students at Morningview Elementary in Judy Cordell’s class will go to the Alabama National Fair.

Thursday, October 11

Third grade students at Carver Elementary in Laura Holmes and Latania Benson’s classes will visit the Arboretum to learn about the lifecycle of plants and trees.

Fourth grade students at Forest Avenue Elementary will go on a fieldtrip to Moundville to learn about Alabama’s Indian tribes.

Bellingrath Middle will hold a parent luncheon at 11:30 a.m.

Friday, October 12

Eighth grade students at Georgia Washington Middle in LaShundra Forbes-Johnson’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club will tour the Hyundai Plant.

Third grade students at Forest Avenue Elementary will go on a field trip to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival to see the performance of Tom Sawyer.

Third grade students at MacMillan International Academy at McKee in Chrisanthia Glass and Cathy Simmons’ classes will complete their International Baccalaureate unit on “Dollar and Senses.” After studying about economics and how it impacts humankind, the environment, and political differences, students will create character cans based on IB learner profiles and present them to the class.

Johnson Elementary will sponsor a Family Bake Off. Parents and students will bake their favorite cakes, pies, cookies, or brownies for a chance to win the official title of Johnson’s Best Baker 2012-2013. All parents and students will be invited to enter a dish to showcase their culinary skills.

Saturday, October 13

Bellingrath Middle’s football team will play at Brewbaker Middle at 10 a.m.

This Just In...is a weekly publication of the MPS Communication Office. Events are submitted to the Communication Office by schools and are subject to change.

Information Source: MPS