Hello Pine Hollow Middle School community. This is your principal, Andrew Livengood, with the weekly message for November 20.

• This Week: This week is a two-day week for all PH students. There is no school on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday as we celebrate Thanksgiving. I hope all our students and families enjoy the break!
• Food Drive: PHMS has currently raised over 15,000 meals for the Food Bank of NC, and we're excited to see all of the excitement around the homeroom competition. Our goal is to raise 26,000 meals. Can you help us? The last day for in person collections is November 22 (give to your homeroom teacher) and online donations can be made through November 29th. Please visit this week to donate online. THANK YOU for helping us help others in our community!
• Holiday Assistance: 'Tis the season for our PHMS community. The student services department is sponsoring a gift card drive this holiday season. We are looking for donated gift cards to assist families that could benefit from some holiday assistance.
• If you'd like to donate one or more gift cards, then we ask the following:
• Please provide gift cards to one of the local grocery stores (Walmart, Harris Teeter, Publix, Food Lion, etc.) and/or department stores (Walmart, Target, etc.). This allows us to meet specific -or- multiple needs for our families, i.e. food and/or gifts.
• Though multiple gift card donations are welcome, we respectfully ask that each card doesn't exceed $25. This helps with evenly distributing the gift cards to our families.
• If you are interested in donating a gift card, then please do so by Wednesday, December 15th. Donation gift cards can be dropped off at the front receptionist desk in the main office.

• • Families that can benefit from some holiday assistance, we ask that you reach out to your child's grade level counselor so we can add you to our confidential list of recipients. Gift card distribution amounts to recipient families will be determined by how many gift cards we are able to collect during this drive.
  • As December 15^th approaches, the counselors will reach out to the recipient families to coordinate a pickup date/time. Never hesitate to reach out to your grade level counselor if you have questions on "giving" or "receiving".
    • 6^th Grade Counselor (Mr. Martin): Jwmartin@wcpss.net
    • 7^th Grade Counselor (Mr. Febres): Pfebres@wcpss.net
    • 8^th Grade Counselor (Ms. Haunsperger): Lhaunsperger@wcpss.net

• Spirit Week: We will have a Winter Spirit Week the week of November 28. See the flier in the weekly message for more info.
• Dance: We will be having our first school dance of the year on Friday, Dec. 2 from after school until 5:30. The cost of admission is $5 and the dress is casual. This is for PHMS students only. Students must have a permission form signed by a parent to attend. PTSA will be providing free refreshments as well as selling items in the concession stand. Permission forms are available in the main office and are attached to the weekly message.
• Spring Musical: Pine Hollow Theatre is excited to announce our 2023 Spring Musical: Legally Blonde Jr.! Auditions are being held after school on Dec. 6th and 7th, with callbacks on Dec. 8th. Any students that are interested in auditioning should visit bit.ly/PHMSAuditions to access the google form to sign-up as well as their audition materials. Hard copies of the audition music will be available for students to pick up in the front office. Students can begin signing up for auditions on Monday, Nov. 21st. If you have any questions about auditions, please email our choral director Ms. Cain at ewcain@wcpss.net.
• Carpool: With all three tracks in school, carpool is more congested. Please remember to pull all the way forward before letting your student enter/exit the vehicle by the curb. Please also be mindful of not blocking the daycare or CVS if traffic backs-up on Leesville Church Road. Please pull down and make a u-turn so that we can keep Leesville Church Road from backing all the way up to the stoplight.
• Second Step: Here is what students will be looking at this week:
• 6-1 and 6-4 will continue their work on bullying by discussing how to be an upstander.
• 6-3 will learn how to recognize bullying and the difference between bullying and “playing around”.
• 7-1 and 7-4 will continue their work on roadblocks and how to get past them.
• 7-3 will begin to look at roadblocks and distinguish between which are internal and external.
• 8-1 and 8-4 will look at how to use their strengths to get better at something new.
• 8-3 will name unique and important aspects of their identities.
• Community Lacrosse Opportunity: This announcement is being offered as a courtesy. Ambush Lax is not affiliated with PHMS in any way:
• Ambush Lacrosse is a non-profit lacrosse club that is a 2-time champion for all of the middle school club lacrosse teams across Wake County (TYLC) and is seeking boys (4th-8th grade) in the Leesville community from mid-Feb thru April to participate in the recreational lacrosse league. All skill levels are welcome! For complete details visit Ambushlax.com. Register today!
• From Our Counselors: If you were unable to attend one of our in-person sessions “My Child, Your Child & Social Media” but would like to learn more on how to keep your student safe online, please visit this website. It can also be reached by going to our school website, then clicking “Our School” followed by “Student Services Department” then “Social Media Information”. You will find a digital presentation along with a wealth of information and helpful resources. Questions? Contact your student’s counselor.
• School Tours: If you know a family who might be interested in sending their child(ren) to Pine Hollow next year, please encourage them to sign up for a tour using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0c4ea9a62da13-phms.
• Attention 8^th Grade Families: There are many high school options in Wake County. Please click here for the school names & visit dates to PHMS. Please visit wcpss.net/magnet for more information. Application Window: Early College Oct 14-Dec 14, Magnet Schools Oct 14-Jan 25
• Teacher Recognition Program:  Is there a teacher or staff member you would like to celebrate for doing a terrific job? Has someone been consistently outstanding or maybe gone above-and-beyond recently for your student/family? If so, I encourage you to nominate that person for our Top Gun Staff Member of the Month award. There aren’t any firm rules or requirements to nominate someone for recognition. The point of this is to recognize a teacher or two each month who was nominated by a student or parent. The teacher(s) would be recognized in front of their peers at the next staff meeting. In order to nominate someone, just fill out this form and make sure to clearly explain why you think they are deserving of this recognition.
• From the PTSA:
• The PTSA supports PHMS in so many ways--from teacher grants to support of athletics and the arts. But we can't do all of this (and so much more!) without parent support. Please join the PTSA and donate to our annual no-fuss fundraiser, Invest in Your Child, so we can continue to assist our students, teachers, and administration! https://pinehollow.memberhub.com/store?limit=21&live=true
• The first dance of the year will be held on Friday, December 2, from 3:30-5:30! We are so excited! Please sign up to volunteer to help and to donate snacks. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b044fafa629a1fb6-fall2
• Our teachers need snacks! Help us restock the teachers lounge with snacks and drinks. It's easy--order from this Amazon wish list, and items will be shipped directly to us. https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/102Q2ZACU3U1?ref_=wl_share&fbclid=IwAR1XB56SOfOR8Yn22Q7nNwt4SUgalJ6od2TJ3RfoIDU4kVEGeVm5nQ2Q3mg
• If you have any questions about the PTSA, please reach us at phmsptsa16@gmail.com. Follow us on FaceBook, Instagram, and Twitter for frequent updates!

• Have a great week and remember, at Pine Hollow Middle School the sky is the limit!!