MSA Weekly News

March 14, 2014 Volume 7, Number 27

“If a student can’t learn the way we teach … we should teach the way a student can learn.

-Tweetie L. Moore, Founder

In This Issue Agenda

Class of 2014 News

SCHOOL CLOSED

Meet Michael Smith

Alumni News

Many Thanks

Winners Announced

What’s Quackin’ 4

TOMORROW

Volunteering is an Honor

Who Reads? We Read!

Tee-Off for Technology

To Kill A Mockingbird

Come Visit Us

Track and Field Update

Come to Our B&N Bookfair

CA's & ACFB

No Sense of Humor?

Mmmmm … Doughnuts

Golf Defeats Dominion

Healthiest Lunch Award

Cancellation

Pick Me, Pick Me

Sports on Tap

Click HERE for Summer

What’s Next on the Agenda What a pretty sunny day it turned out to be. Not as warm as I would like, but I guess it isn’t really my call now is it? Regardless I am looking forward to summer. On our way to summer, we have St. Patrick’s Day on Monday, this is the day we celebrate by wearing green, Mill Springs Green of course! Then we relish in the Vernal Equinox, or what is more generally known as the First Day of Spring – March 20. Now we are talking warmer! Shortly after that we have Spring Break (it’s always warm for SB right?) – it seems far away, but truly there are only 14 school days until that time - make sure you take the Annual Spring Break Survey. Finally it is only 45 school days before the end of our school year, by that time it will be gloriously warm! But as we prepare to go into this next week, let’s all keep in mind that “April showers bring May flowers”, or whatever month this is, because it sounds like it is next on the agenda!

Speaking of agenda, this week we have had lots of sporting activities, make sure you read about those below. There was a very well attended Open House, some more sporting activities. Then Pi Day and the Ides of March were celebrated today with copious amounts of Pi(e) which was enjoyed by some in their togas! We topped all that off with a fire drill in the brisk air this morning! Looking forward to seeing ALL of you at the PVA Family Dinner tomorrow night – sounds like it’s going to be fun.

News from the Class of 2014

Alex Hurtsellers has been accepted to Drexel University in Pennsylvania.

Brett Jackson has been accepted to Truett McConnell AND Coastal Carolina.

Kylie Reynolds, who we previously shared was accepted at LaGrange College, has decided she will play Lacrosse with them as well.

All terrific new – Congratulations!

SCHOOL CLOSED

4th Annual Spring Break Survey

Let’s Be Social

The Bulletin Board

Cares and Concerns

Character Quote

Web Links of Interest MSA Sports Calendar

The most current information when it comes to MSA Sports Schedules

MSA Home Page Find everything you need to find about MSA is here

The Bee Stang Blog Check out what’s happening at the hive

MSA PVA Web Site Learn what is going on with your PVA

MSA Weekly News Archives Catch up on past news

MSA Current Calendar School Calendar on the MSA website

Legend L = Lower School

M = Middle School

PU = PreUpper School

CA = Communication Arts School

U = Upper School

Social Media

Friend, Follow, Pin with Mill Springs!

Friday, March 28 - Early Dismissal 12:15p L/M Carpool

12:30p PU/CA/U Carpool 12:45p – Buses Depart

Monday, March 31 – Friday, April 4

Mill Springs Academy will be CLOSED

Classes resume Monday, April 7

Feature Teacher

Michael Smith

Meet Michael Smith!

Michael is an Algebra teacher in the Upper School, he came on board at the start of the school year. He loves MSA, he feels supported by his peers and the administration. He thinks the students are awesome, and the smaller class size is very helpful in teaching the students. He immediately got involved in coaching both soccer and golf. He has been teaching and coaching since 2001, giving him 13 years of teaching high school sciences and math under his belt. When asked about his teaching philosophy he told me, “first and foremost I teach Respect, Responsibility and Organization. If students show these characteristics, then they will be successful with classroom curriculum.” Outside of school, his favorite food is pizza. Michael also enjoys many outdoor activities like disc golf, golf, hiking, and camping. But he also enjoys relaxing on the couch just as much! While he is sitting on the sofa he is reading Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. So many of us are reading this book we might need to have a discussion group!

Donate Today

Contact Us http://www.millsprings.org

charwood@millsprings.org

Mill Springs Academy

13660 New Providence Road Alpharetta, GA 30004

770-360-1336

Thank you for what you do at Mill Springs Michael!

Alumni News

Austin Coleman – Class of 2013

Piedmont College has just announced that Austin Coleman was recognized for earning a spot on the

Dean's List with a grade-point average between 3.5 to 3.99. Austin is majoring in Communications at Piedmont and is scheduled to graduate in 2017.

Congratulations!

Many Thanks to Our Terrific Parents

Thank you to … Judy Shurling!

A huge Thank YOU to Judy, Upper School parent, for ALL of her help in the Fine Arts Department. She completely submerges herself in our spring musical every year! She comes into the studio during Winter Learning to help with props. Then she jumps into helping with costumes and hunting for the perfect accent piece! Then she is a huge hand at the Art Exhibit and reception. Her energy, creative ideas and generous spirit are such a beacon of light for us. Thank you Judy.

Janet Ford – Fine Arts Director

Winners Announced!!

This year's Box Top Winners are Jack Buck (Upper) for the Fall submission and Matthew Murr (Upper) for the Spring Submission. Each Student will receive a $25 gift card. Thanks to everyone that submitted their labels this year. Also, since we had to cancel our box top cutting session due to the weather, if there are students that still would like to earn volunteer hours, they can contact me via e-mail at dsuper30@yahoo.com and

we can work out a way for them to help with the labels. Make sure to let your student know as they don’t receive the MSA Weekly News.

What’s Quackin’ 4

Caroline Dyer-U

Charlotte Christerson-L

When all was said and done, SIX ducklings survived the hatching process. So now Upper School students stop by each day to get a “Dose of Duckling Luvin’” to help offset the stresses of high school. The ducklings are always ready to oblige with adorable antics and fuzzy kisses.

We are also observing the little mallards grow and develop at a rapid pace! Each day they seem to double in size as they are now able to peer over their container and observe Annette’s Geometry lesson. These curious critters will be the smartest ducklings in town!

You may ask, “what happened to the eggs that did not hatch?” They were donated to Vaidehi’s Anatomy classes so that students could examine the development of duckling embryos. Even though it sounds gross, this was actually a valuable learning experience for MSA science students.

PVA Family Dinner - TOMORROW

The Mill Springs Parent Volunteer Association can’t wait to see everyone tomorrow night, 5:30 to 8:00p.m., at the Family Dinner in the gym. If you have not bought your tickets yet, you may do so at the door. Raffle tickets will also be for sale. Tickets are $20 per person with food being provided by Mirko Pasta and a show from Big Thinkers and amusements from Games2U!!! The Dickerson Middle School Robotics Team will come to show us their robot and CommArts 3-D printer will be operating on display. All proceeds for this event will go toward purchasing a new field trip bus for the school and toward teacher requested items. If you

have any questions, contact Jill Bonds at 770-656-8442 or Kathy Petty at 404-842-6896.

Volunteering is an Honor

Will Domenico, a Senior in the Upper School, and his dad, Larry, served with the USO at the airport this week. Will and Larry joined other volunteers preparing and serving lunch to our returning service men and women. A great experience and an honor to thank these members of our armed forces for their service to our country. (We love to have news like this - Thanks for sharing Mom!)

Who Reads? We Read!

Middle School, Mom’s and Dad’s All Read

Gretchen Beck (Middle) – Triangle: The Fire that Changed America by David von Drehle, In the Land of Blue Burqas by Kate McCord, The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell, The Lost Hours by Karen White, From Sorrow to Hope by Philip Graham Ryken

Margaret Brito (Middle) – People Magazine Ray Cobb (Dad of Raymond, Upper) – Everything is Obvious: Once You Know

the Answer by Duncan Watts Jessica Connell (Middle) – The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman Tom Dalluge (Dad of Matthew, PreUpper) – Young Money by Kevin Roose,

The Next America by Paul Taylor Courtney Downs (Middle) – A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’engle was

just finished by her class Anne Holland (Counseling) – Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, On Becoming

Toddler Wise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam Roy Lander (Middle) – Mindset by Carol Dweck Ed Little (Middle) – Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel

To: All Mill Springs Parents, Board of Trustees, Newsletter Friends, Newsletter Family, Newsletter Professionals, Newsletter Foundations and All Staff/Faculty

Cindy Thorne (Tech) – The Awkward Season – Prayers for Lent by Pamela C. Hawkins

Tee-Off for Technology

16th Annual “Tee-Off for Technology”

Golf Tournament

Monday, March 24, 2014 9:30am

TPC Sugarloaf

Click HERE for more info and registration

Values of “To Kill A Mockingbird”

This week in MG’s 7th grade Literature class, students began the powerful novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. As this book deals with some weighty themes, such as justice, prejudice, equality, discrimination, and morality (to name a few), students were asked to get together in groups and to put together a running list of various moments in their lives when they’ve had to stand up for something in which they believe. Once complete with the discussion, the students had the opportunity to share their responses prior to commencing the readings. PreUpper students Peter Cook, Alex Comis, and Ian Partain all exhibited courageous responses to a very difficult topic . . . and as Maridy Moore exclaimed, “This sounds like it’s going to be a great book!”

Come Visit our Table at the Fair

Please consider the environment before printing. If at any time you wish to not receive further MSA Weekly News editions please just ‘reply’ with that information in the email to charwood@millsprings.org

Mill Springs Academy does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, handicap, national or ethnic origin in its admissions policy or in its employments. Cheri Harwood Communications Director

Track and Field Update

Mill Springs Academy

The MSA JV and Varsity Track and Field teams have had a busy week. We hosted our first home meet Saturday, March 8th, and then we traveled to Flint River Academy Tuesday, March 11th for another meet! We have a strong team this year, and we are very excited about the rest of the season. Highlights: Varsity boys took home a 2nd place trophy at our home meet, Varsity girls placed 3rd and both JV teams took 4th. Saturday at Flint River, the competition was close, the Varsity boys took 4th and the girls 3rd. The JV team pulled together and completed almost all events even though we did not have the full team. We are very proud of everyone! Our next home meet is Thursday, March 20th at 3pm down at the track complex. We’d love to see you there.

Come to Our Barnes & Noble Bookfair

When: Friday, March 21st Time: 4pm – 7 pm Where: Mansell Crossing Barnes and Noble, Alpharetta Events: There will be an MSA Drama performance at 5pm, and Ms. Brittany will be there to help you find great titles for class reading, summer reading, or just pleasure reading! We will have light refreshments and an art display featuring some of your favorite MSA Artists.

A portion of the proceeds will go to MSA’s Library.

CA Learns about the Atlanta Community Food Bank

13660 New Providence Road Alpharetta, GA 30004 Tel: 770-360-1336 Fax: 770-360-1341

Email: charwood@millsprings.org Web: www.millsprings.org

Where does all the food that MSA brings in for the canned food drive go? To find out, Communication Arts students were treated to a lecture by Food Drive Sourcing Specialist Elizabeth Haskell from the Atlanta Community Food Bank. She spoke to the students about the great need for help for a large variety of groups: the elderly, the unemployed, the working poor, and the homeless. She presented the students with different economic scenarios, and had them work out a budget to feed a family on minimum wage budget or a small Medicare check. “I just don’t see how anybody can make it on this amount of money,” said Jacob Budwitz. Ms. Haskell noted that MSA brings in an incredible number of cans for such a small school. “The only school even close to you is Woodward Academy, and they have over 3,000 students,” she stated. “Mill Springs should be very proud of the huge effort they make every year to help feed people in need,” she added.

No Sense of Humor?

Jason – Tech Words

Claire

Jason - Legos

Oftentimes our technology folks get a bad rap for not having a sense of humor – that being the case, we thought we’d pass along a few pictures to prove otherwise. Coming soon the movie short “Tech Space” – loosely based on the mega hit “Office Space” - Paul, Jason and Claire take their aggressions out on old printers and secretly everyone covets Jason’s red mouse. “Excuse

me, I believe you have my mouse.”

Mmmmm … Doughnuts

Success in School … Success in Life

Krispy Kreme Breakfast Friday, March 21

1 doughnut - $0.75 2 doughnuts - $1.50

Dozen - $8.00

Thank you for supporting the MSA Booster Club!

Golf Team Defeats Dominion!

Please congratulate the MSA Golfers for Tuesday’s 46-stroke victory over Dominion (216-262)! Senior Brett Jackson led the scoring with a 5-over par 41 that included a birdie on the par four 5th hold on a beautiful early spring day.

Healthiest Lunch Award

On Mondays and Wednesdays, PreUpper is instituting a healthiest lunch award for those students who go the extra mile to eat a balanced lunch. Some of the criteria is that the lunch needs to contain fresh fruits and veggies, contain a minimal amount of pre-packaged items, be well-balanced nutritionally, and all-around healthy and delicious. MG and Michael Adams are the current resident judges. The first winners of the competition were Ian Partain and Luke Sherrill. Way to eat healthy guys!

Cancellation

Please Make a Note:

The Lower School Performance Night Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Has been canceled Mark your calendars appropriately

PVA Opening Positions

Looking for a place to volunteer? The Parent Volunteer Association (PVA) would love to have your help. It’s not too early to jump in (or too late). We have the following positions opening for the 2014-15 school year:

President Vice president

Secretary Chick Fil A Chair Polo Party Chair

Please contact Liz Parks!

Sports on Tap

Schedule (find a complete schedule HERE) BASEBALL: Monday, March 17th vs. Johnson Ferry Christian @ 2:30 (AWAY) Thursday, March 20th vs. Cottage @ 4:00 @ MSA GOLF: Wednesday, March 19th vs. Weber @ 4:00 @ Trophy Club TENNIS: Monday, March 17th vs. Crowns @ 4:00 (Away) Wednesday, March 19th vs. Weber @ 4:00 @ AJCC TRACK:

Thursday, March 20th @ 3:30 @ MSA

Click the Icons for Summer Program Information

Mark Trail Camp

Sports Camps

Summer School

The Mark Trail Camp brochure is available HERE. We have a different sport scheduled each week for our Summer Athletic Camps, you can see the schedule and register HERE. If you need or know someone that needs Summer School (rising 9-12 grades) you can find that information HERE. We are offering core classes AND certain ELECTIVES under our Forward Thinking program. Look for those offerings HERE. Sign up NOW as these programs are all open to the public, but not yet advertised there.

Any questions? Contact: Mark Trail Camp – Will Turner

Summer Athletic Camps – Jennifer Kramer Summer School/Forward Thinking – Cynthia Traylor

4th Annual Spring Break Survey What will your family do on Spring Break?

LAST CHANCE

VACATION STAYCATION NOTHING

Click on your response and then click “send”. Next week we will compare the past year’s results to this year’s results so get your

vote in before the evening of Wednesday, March 19!

Let’s Be Social

Wanna know what’s going on here on campus during the week? Join us on the Social Scene. We have a few Pinterest boards with helpful and/or interesting information for parents, students and teachers. You can also follow us on Twitter (@millspringsacad) or Like us on FaceBook (Mill Springs Academy). We’ll post some things through the week that might be interesting. So let’s get together on the Social Scene.

Click on the logos on the left to get started!

The Bulletin Board

If the school had a bulletin board, here is what you would find on

it (besides your picture, of course):

Sat, Mar 15 – 5:30pm – PVA Family Dinner – Student Activity Center

Mon, Mar 17 – St. Patrick’s Day – Wearin’ O the Green

Tue, Mar 18 – Booster Biscuit Breakfast

Tue, Mar 18 – Achievement Testing L/M only

Wed, Mar 19 – Achievement Testing L/M only

Thur, Mar 20 – Achievement Testing L/M only

Fri, Mar 21 – Booster Krispy Kreme Breakfast

Sun, Mar 23 – 2:00-4:00p – North Atlanta Special Needs Resource Fair – Hembree Park Rec Center

Mon, Mar 24 – Tee-Off for Technology – TPC Sugarloaf

Tue, Mar 25 - Booster Biscuit Breakfast

Tue, Mar 25 – Sr. Presentations begin – U Grt Room

Tue, Mar 25 – Lower School Performance Night - CANCELLED

Cares and Concerns of our Community

Please keep the following from our Community in your thoughts and prayers.

The Beck Family

The Hintze Family

The Parks Family

Unemployed Families

Please email me at any time with individuals you would like to include on our list as their needs arise. For privacy, I will only list names and claim ignorance if you ask me for details.

Character Quote of the Week

“True friendship … is infinite and immortal.”

- Plato