A Message from the Principal
 
Willow Springs Middle School Principal Newsletter - October 28, 2016

 
 
 
 
 
 
   
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Dear WSMS Parents and Guardians,
 
We have had a great Red Ribbon Week at WSMS in honor of living drug free. Our guest speaker at our pep rally was professional boxer, Cam Awesome. If you have an opportunity over the weekend, please visit with your son or daughter about his message and the purpose of Red Ribbon Week. Talk to them about the dangers of drugs and what they plan to do when they are confronted with drugs. They will thank you for it later. Have a great weekend. 
 
    
Sincerely,
Kent Messer
Principal
Willow Springs Middle School
1101 W. Lucas Rd., Lucas 75002
Office: 469-742-8417
Mobile: 214-293-9938
@WSMSLovejoyISD
#wsmslovejoy


OMG, YOU GUYS! WSMS Presents LEGALLY BLONDE, JR. - Tickets on Sale Now!
Our production runs November 10-12 at 7:00 p.m. with a matinee on Saturday, November 12 at 1:00 pm at Willow Springs Middle School, 1101 W. Lucas Road.  Tickets are $10 for students, $12 for adults and may be purchased at the online payment center by clicking here. No need to dress up, but please don't wear white after Labor Day. We hope everyone in Lovejoy is totally psyched to see the show.
 
 
8th Grade Service Learning Project - Sign ups begin Today
As part of the LISD Graduate Profile, to "work for justice through community service," our students at WSMS participate in campus wide community service projects every year. All 8th Graders and teachers will participate in this off campus event on Wednesday, November 16th. Our 8th graders may sign up today at 5:00 by going to the student menu on the WSMS website or by clicking here.

 
Wednesday, November 16th - 8th Grade Students will arrive on campus and be transported by bus to their designated community service location. Students will need to wear a red shirt, dress for the location selected, bring a sack lunch and wear comfortable shoes. Students and teachers will return to campus by 2:00 p.m. that same day.
 
8TH GRADE PARENTS: Response Required!
 
Please click here and respond to the required parent forms
 
 
Reflections Entry Deadline - Today
This year's theme is "WHAT IS YOUR STORY." There are six arts categories-dance choreography, film production, literature, musical composition, photography and visual arts. Students may enter the Reflections program in one or more arts categories with no limit to the amount of entries in a single category. Everyone that enters will be recognized. Winning artwork will move on to compete against other Lovejoy schools! The deadline for all entries is October 28th. Please go here for the student entry form and go here for more information about Reflections, rules and special entries. Please note, Reflections is now a PTA member benefit.
 
 
Yearbook Early Order Deadline - Today
There is still more time to order your WSMS Yearbook at the lowest price of the year of $40.00. Yearbook may be purchased online only by electronic check, Pay Pal, debit, or credit card. For more information, please click here . The price will go up to $50.00 after October 29 .
 
 
Principal's Coffee - Tuesday, November 1
I would like to invite you to our upcoming Principal's Coffee, on Tuesday, November 1 at 9:00 a.m. The Principal's Coffee is a forum discussion for all 7th and 8th grade parents to visit with me about the middle school experience over a cup of coffee. During the discussion, I will provide information about the overall 7th and 8th grade experience at Willow Springs and answer any questions you may have. Attending parents are encouraged to park in the front parking lot to enter and sign-in through the front office.
 
 
WSMS Career Day 2016, November 2
Next Wednesday, November 2, WSMS will host our 2nd annual Career Day. Please find the bell schedule here and the list of presenters here. Your student will receive their Career Day schedule in 3rd period next Tuesday, November 1. We are asking all students to "dress for success" for our career day presentations. During presentations, students will have questions to ask each presenter. On Friday, students will write a Career Day reflection paper in their ELA class. If you have questions about Career Day, please contact Kay Bordelon .
 
 
 
7th Grade Hearing /Vision Screenings - November 3 and November 4
Thursday, November 3 and Friday, November 4, WSMS nurses will be performing the required State Hearing/Vision screenings on all 7th grade students. If your child wears glasses or contacts, please make sure they bring them to school on those dates.
 
 
Spelling Bee Tryouts - Thursday, November 3
Willow Springs Middle School will be hosting our 10th Annual Spelling Bee on November 17 at 9:30 a.m. in the cafeteria. Spelling Bee tryouts will be on Thursday, November 3 after school. All 7th grade participants will tryout in room C601/Mrs. Ream's room; 8th grade participants will tryout in room C605/Mrs. Heid's room. Tryouts will begin at 4:05 p.m. in room C601 and C605. (No make up tryouts will be held, so make sure to come if you are interested!) Students must participate within their appropriate grade level, and the top six spellers from each grade, and one alternate from each grade, will be advance to the campus wide Spelling Bee on November 17.
 
 
Deadline Fast Approaching! Your Student Could Win a $25 Cinemark Gift Card!
This year's WSMS Battle of the Books offers students a chance to compete against their teachers and win a $25 Cinemark card. We currently have THREE teacher teams ready to challenge students, so encourage your students to p articipate. Student teams can have 1-4 members. The deadline to register is November 4! Click here for the official rules, and stop by the library to get registered. 


Willow Springs Tennis Tryouts - January 9th-13th
The Willow Spring Tennis tryouts will take place January 9th-12th (Second week back from Christmas break) from 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. at LHS. During the first week back from Christmas, if tennis players have 8th period athletics they need to meet at WSMS by 8:00am and we will practice until 8:30am. First period athletes need to be there by 8:30am and we will practice until 9:00am. I am not at WSMS during 8th period due to being at the High school for Varsity practice. We will use the first week back to go over scoring and get players prepared for tryouts. Please make sure to bring enough water and snacks. The tryouts will be a tournament format and every player will have a match each night. All Skill levels are welcome! Please be able to keep score and bring your own racquet. The sign up sheet will be located outside of the locker rooms in December. Players must sign up to attend. All buses from Willow Springs will end up at LHS for tryouts. Once the team is set, I will send out more information. If you have any questions or concerns please call me at 972-975-2631. I played tennis in college and basketball at a high level. Tennis is very difficult if you have never played. It is important to practice 3-4 times a week with a junior development program.
 
Please contact Lou Hervey if you would like information regarding his Junior Development Tennis Program and private Lessons. Coach Cherry and I teach privates during the summer. Here is Lou's cell 214-883-3822- Coach Davis 
 
Other good JD's
High Point Tennis Center
The courts at Mckinney
Eldorado Country Club
Brookhaven Country Club 


Campus Information and Reminders

Safety Corner
Willow Springs Middle School is equipped with security cameras inside and outside the building. The interior cameras provide views of all hallways, gyms, and the cafeteria; while the exterior cameras provide views of the building periphery and entrances.
 
 
Red Ribbon Week
This week, students and staff at WSMS celebrated Red Ribbon Week. We had great speakers address both parents and staff, as well as great discussions in classes throughout the week! Drugs and alcohol impact kids in every district and every socio-economic group across the US, so we encourage parents to speak to their kids about the facts of drugs and alcohol. Openly discuss your family's expectations with your children and talk to them about ways they can get out of a situation where they may feel pressured to drink alcohol or use drugs. Here are useful links for the presentations we had on campus this week:
 
To view the parent presentation by Lovejoy parent Susa'n Hoemke, titled Our Unexpected Journey: Helping You Be Prepared, go to parent resources on our campus website or go here. Mrs. Hoemke did an excellent job and I highly recommend that you view the video.
 
 
To view the student presentation with Cam Awesome, please go here.
 
 
Need more talking points with your kids? Please go here.


Carpool Improvements
Thank you for everyone's help and assistance in following the new carpool procedures with the implementation of our traffic officer on Bethany. We would like to make an additional adjustment to our carpool procedures to improve the flow of traffic with vehicles pulling forward in the carpool line. Beginning next Thursday, November 3rd, students will no longer be picked up in the courtyard. We will be moving the carpool pick up for students to the grass area located on the west end of campus. This will allow vehicles to continuously pull forward to the west end of the building. This will improve both student safety and the continuous flow of vehicles in our carpool lanes.
 
 
Perfect Attendance 1st Nine Weeks
During the first grading period, we had 251 students (34% of our entire student body) that had perfect attendance. This means these students were in class every period of every day during the first nine weeks. Let's continue to work together to encourage students to increase our perfect attendance. For a complete list of students who had perfect attendance, please click here.
 
 
State Attendance Requirements
Attendance is crucial to the success of your child in school. Although we know that students will get sick or other challenges may arise during the school year, consistent and timely school attendance is of the utmost importance. Our state legislature has enacted a new set of laws intended to encourage school attendance. For a copy of the updated attendance laws, please click here.
 
 
WSMS All Region Orchestra Audition Results
We are very proud to announce the outstanding results for our WSMS students.
 
Violin
Richard Dunham - 20th Chair
Jacob Beets - 39th Chair
Jordan Watson - 41st Chair
Maddie Clancy - 60th Chair
 
Cello
Mark Wen, cello - 8th Chair
Jakob Underwood - 19th Chair
 
Bass
Lauryn Watanabe, bass - 4th Chair
Stone Scalf - 1st Alternate


Athletics

WSMS Athletics


Winter Sports Season Transition
We will be transitioning into winter sports soon. This morning student-athletes double checked
they are signed up for their correct winter sport, and they will get detailed information from their winter sport coaches. Winter sport options are as follows: remain in cross country, girls/boys basketball, or off-season. Boys athletics will transition to their winter sport Wednesday, November 2, Girls athletics will transition into their winter sport on Monday, October 31. Girls/boys wrestling will begin practice on Monday, November 7. Thank you for your support of Willow Springs athletics. Go Leopards!
 
 
WSMS Girls Basketball Tryouts - Mon. Oct 31, Tues. Nov. 1, and Thurs. Nov. 3
 
8th Grade
Oct. 31: 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Nov. 1: 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Nov. 3: 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
 
7th Grade
Oct. 31: 3:25 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Nov. 1: 3:25 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Nov. 3: 3:25 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
 
8th grade will practice in the mornings and 7t h grade will practice in the afternoons.
 
7th grade games are on Monday nights ( exception is Tuesday, January 17 ) . 8th grade will play on Thursdays.
   
WSMS Boys Basketball Tryouts
7th Grade:
Nov. 2: 1st period and 4:30-6:00 PM
Nov. 3: 7:00 am thru 1st period
Nov. 4: 5:30-7:00 PM
 
8th Grade:
Nov.2: 6:00-7:30 PM
Nov. 3: 8th period until 5:00 pm
Nov. 4: 8th period until 5:30 pm
 
The boys need to bring shorts, a t-shirt, and basketball shoes for tryouts. They do not need to bring a basketball.
 
The boys that make the team will have a follow up parent meeting on November 7th at the LHS cafeteria at 6:00 PM.
 
   
Volleyball Results - October 20
 
7th Grade
A team defeated Ford 25-15,25-15
B team defeated Ford 25-21, 25-8
C team defeated Ford 25-5, 25-10
 
8th Grade
A team won 25-5, 25-12
B team won 25-7, 25-8
C team, playing short handed, won 25-18, 18-25, 26-24!

Football Results - October 25
Willow Springs vs Allen Ford
 
7th Grade
Red won 32-0
Black won 35-0
 
8th Grade
Red lost a close one 21-22
Black dominated 46-28
 


WSMS PTA

WSMS PTA Volunteering Opportunities! Want to help at WSMS but not sure how or where??
PT-Ave is a one stop shop for volunteer opportunities at WSMS. By following this link you will find all the ways you can support WSMS for the month of October!
 
Needs for the remainder of the month of October are:
 
Thursday Teacher Copies
 
Letter Writing Campaign Contributions
 
CAT (Center of Academic Training)
 
Our feature volunteer area this week is our CAT! The CAT (Center for Academic Training) serves two main purposes.
 
First, it provides a place for all students at Willow Springs to go before school, after school, or during lunch to receive extra help on their classwork, homework, or projects. Along with help from certified personnel, the CAT has many resources available to all students such as computers, supplies, textbooks, and study aides.
 
Second, the CAT is also the source for retesting for all students.
Some students require oral reading of assessments, and this is when we need volunteers to help read to students.
 
Additionally, we need volunteers to help manage students during lunch times, 11:15 - 1:20, each day. This may include monitoring the testing side to make sure it is a conducive environment for testing, or it could be working with students who need extra help (keys to assignments are available).
 
Your help is vital to the effective running of the CAT and is very much appreciated by all of the staff members.
 
 
WSMS Letter Writing Campaign
We need your help for an upcoming opportunity to let our teachers and staff know how much our Lovejoy ISD community values them and what an impact each one has on our children! The district provides an extra check for teachers the day before Thanksgiving break. In addition to those checks, again this year we would love to include a hand written letter from Lovejoy ISD families expressing gratitude and appreciation to each teacher and staff on your campus.

We would be so grateful if you could write a letter or letter(s) to any teacher or teacher(s)/staff, either current or past, that have been valuable to your child(ren)'s educational experience. Please clearly label the envelope with the staff/teacher's name and LLC (Lovejoy Letter Campaign) and return the letter to the front office by Friday November 11th.

The letter campaign has become such a meaningful tradition, we really appreciate the time and effort your contributions will make again to this year's letter campaign.

Sincerely,
Kasey Havens
kasey.havens@yahoo.com

Lovejoy Letter Campaign WSMS Coordinator   

District and Other News


5th - 8th Grade Basketball Tournament: October 29 Senior Project
For his Senior Project, Ethan Kerry is hosting a basketball tournament on Saturday, October 29th at LHS. The tournament is open to all 5th through 8th grade boys. The tourney will start at 8:00 AM and end between 2:00 and 4:00 PM, depending on registrations. This 3-on-3 tournament may consist of either 3 or 4 people per team. This is a "bring your own basketball" tournament. The entry fee is $20 per team, with the money being donated to a college scholarship in Ethan's grandfather's name. Please contact Ethan at 214-385-7184 for additional information.
 
 
E-Waste Recycling Event - Saturday, October 29
Lovejoy High School has arranged for an e-waste recycling day on Saturday, October 29 from 9 AM - Noon in the LHS parking lot. It is the perfect time to start gathering electronic items you would like to dispose of. Please click RECYCLE for additional information regarding the e-waste collection.
 
 
Rudolph Run: December 3/ School Registration Deadline: November 1
The Rudolph Run is one of Allen's most exciting holiday 5Ks and takes place on Main Street in downtown Allen. The event begins with a non-competitive, one-mile run and concludes with the USATF-registered 5K Rudolph Run. Chip timing is used to determine race results of participants. Also, there is an overall male/female Master's division for 50+ winners. This is a family-friendly event open to all ages and skill levels.
 
You may help a Lovejoy PE department earn money by registering through the Rudolph Run's "School Registration Only" page. For each registration, $5.00 will be donated to the Lovejoy campus (PE department) of your choice. Click here to register.
 
 
LHS Girls Soccer Presents Parent's Night Out - Friday, November 4
The LHS Girls Soccer Team is hosting a community Parent's Night out on November 4th, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Click here for additional information.
 
 
STAR PARTY: November 7
Puster Elementary, along with the Texas Astronomical Society, will host a star party on November 7th. Viewing will begin at 6:00 PM and end at approximately 9:00 PM. Join us as we explore the stars, moon, planets, the Andromeda Galaxy, and many exciting objects in the Milky Way. Parking will be available in the front lot. You may enter through the front doors where signs will direct you to the courtyard and back parking lot where viewing will take place. Access to the back parking lot will not be available via the driveway. The Puster PTA will provide hot chocolate. In the event the skies are overcast on the 7th, a back-up date of November 11th is planned.