Principal's Weekly Message, 3-1-24

Greetings LRMS Families,

Welcome to March! Here are your weekly updates (for those who actually read this!):

1. Next week is a four-day week for students. Tuesday, March 5, is a Teacher Workday.

2. Events next week:

Wednesday, March 6, 5pm - Spring Sports Teams Parents Meeting (gym/cafeteria)
Wednesday, March 6, 6pm - Eighth Grade Charleston Trip Parents Meeting (Media Center)
Thursday, March 7, 5:30pm - Single Subject Acceleration Parents Meeting (virtual)
Thursday, March 7, 6:30pm - Mini-Science Olympiad Parents Meeting (virtual)

3. With the arrival of March, we celebrate Women's History Month. We'll be highlighting some impactful women on our morning news each day. Here is some background:

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation naming the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week. The following year, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution establishing a national celebration. In 1987, Women's History Month became a month-long celebration, observed annually, honoring women's contributions to the world.

In North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed March Women’s History Month to honor the legacy of women whose visionary leadership has shaped the state of North Carolina and the nation. “This month we take the time to celebrate strong women who have made our state stronger by their contributions,” said Governor Cooper. The 2024 national theme for Women’s History Month is Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

4. See the note below from Coach Avery about Cheer Club:

Are you interested in the sport of Cheer? Try Cheer Club!

Begins March 6th! Wednesday afternoons- 3:15-4:40pm in the Gym

Cheer club is open for all students interested in building their cheerleading skills. NO TRY-OUTS needed! We practice tumbling skills and beginner stunt techniques. We also cover basic cheerleading skills such as jumps, motions, flexibility, cheers, etc. Come join us!

5. Leesville plans to fully launch Science Olympiad next school year. In the meantime, we have decided to host a "Mini-Science-Olympiad" this spring to give our students a taste of this engaging, competitive club. Our main event will be Saturday morning, April 20 here at the school. Here is the flyer from Mrs. Maley with a QR code to sign-up:

LRMS Mini-Science Olympiad 2024

We are also in need of parent volunteers for this event! Mrs. Maley will host a virtual parent info session about Mini Science Olympiad immediately following the SSA Parent Meeting this upcoming Thursday, March 7^th from 6:30-7:30pm. Here is the link to the Science Olympiad meeting for all interested: https://meet.google.com/ich-xpco-oax.

If you want to learn more about Science Olympiad, here is the link from NC State with more details: https://ncscienceolympiad.ncsu.edu/resources/middle-school/

6. Last week all 6^th graders received a form for the upcoming field trip to UNC-Chapel Hill. Anyone with a health or medication need must turn their form in by this Monday March 4^th for our school nurse to review.

7. For 8th graders going to Charleston:

If all payments have not been made for trip please do so ASAP!

Student going on the Charleston trip were given permission slips Tuesday 2/27 and slips will be due by Friday 3/8. Even if your student has paid but not permission slip is turned in by due date, they can NOT attend!!!

*Parent meeting Wednesday 3/6 at 6 pm in the Media Center.

8. For 8th graders planning to attend Leesville High, the choir director, Ms. Dickens is hopeful you'll consider joining Chorus for next year:

Leesville Chorus Informational Video

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j9XHfJfJzLIRxiFyDor1iVo46vqMgirT/view?usp=drivesdk

Please share our website: There is a section devoted to Rising 9^th Grade Students

https://leesvillechorus.weebly.com/

9. See note below from AIG Coordinator, Mrs. Maley:

The Single Subject Acceleration (SSA) Nomination window is April 1-April 12 (the link for the nomination form will go live beginning at 7am on 4/1). All SSA testing will take place from April 22-May 6. Specific information will be shared with families of students that are nominated before then. If you are interested in nominating your child for the 2024-2025 school year, please see Mrs. Maley's website: https://sites.google.com/wcpss.net/aigleesvilleroadmiddle23-24/home and the WCPSS SSA website for more information: https://www.wcpss.net/Page/3799

Mrs. Maley will host an SSA Virtual Parent Information Meeting on Thursday 3/7 beginning at 5:30pm. Here is the link to the meeting: https://meet.google.com/wdp-xqnr-mwe. If you are unable to attend the meeting, it will be recorded and added to her website the following day.

10. From our Yearbook Advisor, Mrs. Sinor:

Last chance to pre-order your student a copy of this year's yearbook! Order at jostens.com.

11. PTSA Updates:

Donate to Lion Locker

Leesville Lion Locker is what we call our backpack buddies program. We sent a small bag of groceries (a few meals, snacks, breakfasts, and drinks) home with students on the weekends and longer breaks from school (families determined by our social worker). We have a limited budget to last them all year, so your donations could really help beef up the bags.

If you'd like to help keep our students' bellies full, visit the Lion Locker Amazon Wishlist and select the option to send food directly to LRMS or purchase similar products and bring them to the front office. Thank you!

Stock the Staff with Snacks

If you'd like to donate snacks to perk up our teachers and staff, visit our Stock the Staff Lounges Amazon Wishlist here. You can choose to directly send items to the school or you can bring in similar items to the school yourself.