* Celebrate your Jet’s birthday with Legacy’s Birthday Celebration Signs, which will be displayed for the day by the flagpole in front of our beautiful campus. The cost is $35.00 and is on a first-come/first-serve basis.

Please use this link to make your Jet feel extra-special on their birthday: https://www.schloopay.com/pay/for/BIRTHDAY-SIGN-FUNDRAISER/StSiDN

The AMAZING Legacy Dance Team will be performing a Holiday Showcase Dec. 5, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Link to purchase tickets: https://teachtix.com/legacyms/dance-holiday-showcase

Legacy’s faculty and administration celebrated the hard work and success of our Honor Roll students. We are so proud of the 284 Jets who earned a 3.50 or higher GPA for the first quarter. Ninety-nine (99) of these students earned a 4.00! Congratulations, Jets!

Several students attending the breakfast were asked what they did to earn such excellent grades. See their replies below:

Coach Tatro, 6th Grade P.E., recently took students on a field trip to the City of Orlando’s Bill Fredrick Park. Students earned this field trip based on good behavior points. They were led on a hike, accessing nature trails to form healthy habits outside of school. They also took a farm tour, where kids got to feed pigs, see turkeys, and bunnies. Students also played several structured games in the park, including leap-frog tag, a version of kickball w/pickle ball rackets, tunnel tag, and frisbee. The group enjoyed a picnic lunch with pizza.

When asked what she enjoyed about the field trip, Coach T replied, “I loved getting the kids outside in nature. Because of the district policy of no cell phones, they did not have them on this field trip. As a result, they interacted with one another and talked ALL DAY. Our guide, Tony, was amazing."

* Read more about Tony and Bill Fredrick Park in our Featured Partners in Education section below.

Seventh grader Hilda is a big fan of science fiction. She is currently reading The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan, who is her favorite author, because, “I like how he writes his characters as relatable and the diversity that he includes in his books. At first, when you get into the Percy Jackson series, all of the characters are white. But then when you go book by book, he starts introducing new and diverse characters. I’ve already read the Percy Jackson series, Heroes of Olympus Series, Trials of Apollo series, and Magnus Chase series. And now I’ve finished book one of The Kane Chronicles and am now reading the second book.” When asked to describe what reading means to her, Hilda explained, “I love how you can escape the real world and enter different realities. There is a lot to love about reading, you know? You can literally carry it with you everywhere. It is so interesting. For people who don’t read, they are missing out.” Thank you, Hilda, for sharing what this author and reading means to you.

Social Worker Ms. Butler is currently reading Killing Comparison by Pastor Nona Jones. She explained what she likes about this book: “It teaches you to better understand why we compare ourselves to others and how to not do this. Distance yourself from social media because that plays a part in how we compare ourselves to others.” When asked why she chose this book, Ms. Butler said, “I’m working on not comparing myself to others in all aspects of life…Just because we may see someone’s success, we don’t know how they got there, so you don’t have to compare your success to theirs. Everyone has their own story. Social media only shows what people want you to see.” Ms. Butler, we thank you for sharing a book that addresses a topic so relevant to our students, the Legacy community, and beyond.

Coach Mitchell’s P.E. students are currently working in the Track & Field section standard for 8th Grade Individual Sports. Students are learning and executing the proper way to throw a shot put, which is a major event for Track & Field. Students can apply what they are learning in class when they try out for our school track team in the spring!

Band teacher Mr. McGarvey took 65 seventh and eighth grade band students to the UHS Middle School Band night. Our Jets got to perform not only with the University High School band during their football game but also with Odyssey, Union Park and Arbor Ridge Middle School band students. Mr. McGarvey shared that this trip is a great way to make middle school students a bit less afraid about going to high school, “Middle school students love this trip! They get to make new friends and see what high school marching band is really like.”

If you’ve never seen our band perform, please check them out at their winter concert on December 14th at 6:00 p.m.

 UHS Marching Band performs.

Ms. Fray’s grades 6-8 Critical Thinking & Research classes have been doing daily independent reading, and it shows! Her students have read a combined 102,912 pages! Beanstack lists eight advantages of independent reading for students:

1) it increase language acquisition

2) it promotes concentration and improves focus

3) it boosts analytical and critical thinking skills

4) it improves writing and literacy skills

5) it reduces stress and anxiety

6) it builds empathy

7) it allows them to expand their knowledge of a world beyond their community 8) it creates an academic community.

Read more about the benefits of independent reading here: https://www.beanstack.com/blog/the-importance-of-independent-reading-for-students

It’s that time of year Jets! Purchase a yearbook early for the discounted price of only $30.00 through December 1st, after which there will be a price increase. Link: https://buytheyearbook.com and use School ID: 715586 And don’t forget to purchase a yearbook ad at this same link for your Jet!

Who is a Spanish spelling whiz? Sign up for the Spanish Spelling Bee, which will be held Friday, December 1st at 9:45 a.m. in room 824. The last day to register is Friday, November 24th with Ms. Zayas-Vargas. Email abigail.zayas-vargas@ocps.net for additional information.

Legacy thanks Partner in Education Tony Ulivella, Nature Program Specialist for Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake. Tony describes his job with the City of Orlando: “I develop and facilitate nature-based programming for our local community, coordinate the care for our farm and the animals that live there, as well as work with outside organizations to organize a variety of volunteer events. I have been with Bill Frederick Park for almost a year, but have been a lover of nature for the majority of my life. I strive to educate our communities, both near and far, about the beauty the natural world has to offer and how we all play a part in it's ever-shifting balance.”

Tony, our 6th graders loved their recent field trip to Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake. Thank you so much for what you do!

Email Tony for more information at: antonio.ulivella@orlando.gov

Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake:

You can access the fine amount your student may owe for the device and/or device accessories here: https://legacyms.ocps.net/parents/student_device_fines

* Amounts owed are listed by student I.D. number.

* After School Zone is funded by a grant from the Orange County Government. There is no charge for youth to attend. The program takes place from the last bell to 6:00 pm.

Of all items surveyed this year, pumpkin pie mix ($4.44 per 30 oz. can) and dinner rolls ($3.84 per dozen) had the largest percent increase at 3.8% and 3.0% respectively. Of products surveyed, dinner rolls are the most likely to be prepared in-store, and thus could be impacted by sustained increases in wages due to a tight labor market.

Products with the largest percentage drop in prices included whipping cream ($1.73 per half pint) and fresh cranberries ($2.10 per 12 oz.) at a decrease of 22.8% and 18.3% respectively. For cranberries, the price drop is indicative of expanded supply, as confirmed by production estimates from the Cranberry Marketing Committee (CMC) in August which indicate a 3.6% increase from the previous year to 8,165,000 100-lb barrel equivalents. Additionally, fresh cranberry import volumes are up 33% this year-to-date (January – September), almost exclusively from Canada. Of note, approximately 95% of U.S.-utilized cranberry production is processed.

Source: American Farm Bureau Federation Read full article

César's ancestors were goat herders, and his father was a goat herder. In their tiny Swiss village, there were fewer than two hundred people. His mother and father disagreed over his future. His mother had great ambitions for her son, while his father felt he should stay on the farm and tend the animals. César's mother won! He was sent to school in Sion, Switzerland to learn French and math. At the end of two years, he learned little of either… you see, all he wanted was to tend goats! Both parents began to worry and even his father agreed that he should do something more ambitious, so the father wrote to a friend in a nearby town and actually paid the friend to hire young César as a waiter in his hotel.

The boy was eager to learn and tried his best, but the more he tried, the more nervous he became. His mistakes and poor service to the hotel customers increased to such a level that the hotel manager had no choice but to fire him. He told the young boy, “You are not cut out for this type of work. Go back to the village and tend goats; that’s what you were meant to do.”

César was heartbroken. He actually loved the hotel work but was crushed by the failure. Unable to face his parents, he did not return home but went to Paris and once again, worked in the hotel business. What happened after that is what dreams are made of! In fact, his last name is now in the dictionary! It is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “elegance.” The boy’s last name? Ritz, César Ritz, founder of the great hotel chain that has come to symbolize the best in service and luxury.

The lesson from César Ritz for our Jets?

If there is one defining talent or quality in the universe that can almost guarantee success against all odds and has lifted the most common of men and women to greatness, it is persistence. If you think about it, persistence is not really a talent; it is a state of mind, a personal decision. It is the decision to never surrender or give up regardless of what happens to us. What matters most is our reaction and our action. Persistence coupled with passion is an unstoppable force!