Poplar Grove Post

Hello again PGMS families,

It's hard to believe the last few weeks of school are already upon us. It seems like the year has flown by, and believe it or not we are only about 17 school days away from Summer break! Last week we closed out TCAP and students worked hard to show what they know. We appreciate all of your support to make sure students were present, on time, and ready to test each day. We would also like to thank you for the overwhelming amount of snacks that came in for testing days. We look forward to getting scores back soon and seeing how much our students shine. We are also excited and thankful for next week's PTO Staff Appreciation events. The PTO always goes above and beyond to celebrate our hard working teachers and staff, and this year is no exception!

As you know, May is a very busy month with several end of the year field trips, school wide events, celebrations, and other important items for the calendar. On top of all of the end of the year events, we also have several sporting opportunities in the coming weeks. Cross country, Volleyball, and Football tryouts are all in the works. Students are also already starting to register for Summer programs offered by the FSSD. Please take some time to look at the items listed below and be sure to mark your calendar for anything important for your family. Lastly, please be sure to continue to reach out with any support you need. As we get closer to the final days of school and begin planning for the summer, don't hesitate to reach out with questions. Have an amazing May!

5/6-5/10 - Teacher Appreciation Week

5/7 - Bike Walk Roll to Poplar Grove - 6:45am (See Below)

5/7 - Spring Band Concert - 6pm

5/8 - Special Olympics at Summit High School

5/9 - 5th Grade Field Trip - Carter House and Carnton Plantation

5/9 - Spring Choir Concert - 6pm

5/10 - Pride Time

5/13 - 8th Grade Field Trip - Andrew Jackson Hermitage

5/13 - Board of Education Meeting at FMS - 6:30pm

5/14 - 5th Grade 101 - 6pm

5/15 - 7th Grade Field Trip - Adventure Park in Nashville

5/16 - 8th Grade Canoe Trip (Rain Date - 5/20)

5/16 - Volleyball Tryouts

5/17 - PGMS Field Day

5/21 - Grade Level Awards Day

5/21 - Sports Awards - 6pm

5/22 - Senior Grad Walk - 9:30am

5/23 - PBS Carnival/House Cup Reveal

5/24 - 2 Hour Day/8th Grade Celebration

Liz Cowan has been our PGMS school nurse for 14 1/2 years. While employed with FSSD, she was awarded the District Extraordinary Service Award in 2021 and she also received the Classified Employee of the Year in both 2015 and 2017. Her plans for retirement are to relax, travel, outdoor activities, community service, spend more time with family and her new rescue dog, and catch up with friends. Nurse Liz shares that it has been an amazing experience personally and professionally completing her 39 year nursing career by serving as the school nurse at PGMS! She wants to thank the administration and staff for all the kindness, encouragement, and support!

Hello PGMS Families!

As we reach the end of the school year, I just want to extend my sincerest gratitude for allowing me to build relationships with each of your children. It's been an incredible year and I'm so lucky to be part of the PGS community. Here's a brief School Counseling program recap of the 2023-2024 school year so far!

Individual student sessions: 440

Small group meetings: 32

Classes visited for guidance lessons: 28

Mental health referrals made: 24

Fuel bags given: 525

Quarterly attendance challenge winners: 4

I look forward to building up the school counseling program more next year.

Have a great summer!

Caitlin Otto

Each year, the families of 7th graders traditionally host the reception for students and their families immediately following the 8th Grade Celebration Ceremony. This year's ceremony will be held on Friday, May 24th in the Performing Arts Center (PAC). There are opportunities to volunteer your time on Thursday the 23rd and Friday the 24th. Also, we need several food items donated for the breakfast reception. Please sign up HERE if you are able to help.

Thank you so much! We know this is a very busy time of year and we truly appreciate you. If you have any questions please reach out to Susan Phelps via email at susan.phelps327@gmail.com

As part of the Weather Balloon Project, engineering students from UAH visited with lessons to share. For the first demonstration, a Fischer Vacuum Pump and a bell jar were used together to create a vacuum chamber. As the pump drew out the air from the bell jar, the balloon inside increased in size until it popped. The example is a comparison to how the balloon eventually pops as it rises and the air becomes less dense. Another device mentioned was the stratotrack. This device will be attached to our balloon and will send back data for us to analyze. These high altitude balloons can reach heights of up to 100,000 feet. As a reference, most commercial airplanes fly at around 35,000 feet.

As a part of our Guppy Project, this 6th grade STEM class reaches out to pen pals from the Vanderbilt Math and Science School. After reading our pen pal letters including hypotheses about guppies living in a closed system for two weeks, each of these 9th graders video recorded their hypothesis for their project. The hypotheses ranged from the percent of plastics found in a bolus from an albatross to the type of plastics found. In addition to the hypotheses, these students talked about what was found when they dissected the thrown up indigestible materials, the bolus, of an Albatross. Scientists study the indigestible materials found in an albatross' boluses to determine the health of our oceans.

The Poplar Grove Softball team won their third HVAC softball championship! The team is coached by Randy Stevens and Howard Washington and is composed of players from PGS, FMS and FIS.

PGS finished the season with 10 wins, 6 losses and 1 tie while only having two eight grade varsity players.

Team members are:

PGS- Kylie Bowie, Bristol Cox, Ellison Chesak

FMS- MaKenna Beckingham, Avery Azaimina, Riley Chandler, Aubrey McAllister

Homeschool- Evelyn Bader

FIS- Cailtin Kelly, Avery Mallard, Avery Clark, Peyton Clark, Layla Venable

Congrats on a great season!

Congratulations to Corey Cooksey and Mac Hause who competed in the WMAA finals. They came in 1st place with the 4x200 team with a new Personal Record (PR) of 1.39.07. Corey Cooksey also had a new PR of 25.02 and came in 3rd place in the 200 meters. The boys team came in 3rd overall for the entire WMAA meet.

Be prepared to participate in school sports this fall by completing Final Forms and your physical now!

*All paperwork and forms must be complete prior to tryouts and practice.

New this Year!

• 5th Grade will be allowed to participate in all PGMS sports at the JV level only per Harpeth Valley Athletic Conference rule change effective for the 2024-2025 school year.

• Due to potential team conflicts, student athletes may only participate and compete in one school sport per sport season.

Poplar Grove Sports Opportunities 5th-8th Grade:

Cross Country, Volleyball, Tennis, Soccer, Competition Cheer, Basketball Cheer, Basketball, Softball

Freedom Co-op Sports 6th-8th Grade:

Football, Golf, Wrestling, Baseball, Bowling, Track

6th-8th grade must complete all forms on-line and have a current sports physical on file prior to attending any practice or tryout.

https://www.finalforms.com/

5th Grade will fill out an ATHLETICS packet because Final Forms are NOT available on-line until 6th grade! (physical, cardiac, concussion, contact form, and code of conduct)

Please look on the right side of the PGMS Athletics webpage for the paperwork links. You can also get a hard copy from Mrs. Marchy, Mrs. Casey, or the elementary and middle school offices.

Please look at the PGMS Code of Conduct for athletes, coaches, and parents.

We look forward to a great year of Athletics at Poplar Grove Middle School!

I want to start by saying how thankful I am for all of your support this year! Many of you have donated to our chapter events, and we are so grateful. THANK YOU!!

We have several upcoming events happening in May. Our matched peer buddies will be attending the Williamson County Special Olympics at Summit High School on Wednesday, May 8th to cheer on their buddies. Students had to meet participation requirements and get signed permission from their teachers to attend the event with us. We are so excited to cheer on our PGS athletes!

We would like to give a BIG shout out to Mrs. Lowery’s 6th grade Art Students! They participated in a T-shirt design contest and created our design for this year's Special Olympics shirts. Congratulations to Melaney Diaz and Adrianna Fuentes. Both girls won a $25 gift card for best design.

Our annual Grove Games mini olympics event will be Friday, May 17th from 1:00-1:45 in the PGMS gymnasium. Our Special Olympics athletes will show off their skills in front of the student body. Our Best Buddies members will help out with setting up the events and cheering on their buddies.

Best Buddies Water Day will be on Tuesday, May 21st. There are several activities going on in the building this day, including awards day. Students are encouraged to come to water day after awards are over for their grade level. We will serve pizza, chips, and drinks for lunch. We are looking forward to a fun day in the sun!

Our PGMS Green Team has worked hard this year to show care and appreciation for our environment. They have collected six tons of paper for recycling so far this year. They helped to water and prune the indoor ferns, palms, and other plants in the front lobby. During the winter months, members also added holiday cheer to both front lobbies by helping the PTO decorate with a winter theme. Green Team members helped add beauty to our outdoor campus by planting and pruning various flowers and shrubs, including irises, daisies, black-eyed Susans, marigolds, succulents, boxwoods, junipers, hollies, azaleas, hydrangeas, and more. They did a great job maintaining the landscaped area and planters at the front entrance, as well as the garden areas on the playground, by pruning, weeding, watering, and spreading pine straw multiple times throughout the year. We are thankful to our hard-working Green Team members who help add beauty to our school campus!

Meet the Volleybrawlers, an adult team made up of 12 PGS teachers and parents. This team was organized by Jenn Marchy and Jake Habeggar. They meet once a week to practice and play games at the Williamson County Recreation Center on Thursday evenings. The season last 7 weeks followed by a 2 week tournament. We are currently 2-1 in our season. Our team is full this year, but if we have more interest next year, we may be able to have a couple of teams. Click on this link to find out the schedule of games. Here is a link to our info! Come on out and cheer on the Volleybrawlers!

May will be filled with a lot of wonderful ways for your child to connect with other students from their House and to earn those last minute House points during Field Day on Friday, May 17th. That day will be jam packed with activities starting with a movie in the morning, grade level field day competitions, Grove Games, and concluding in a final Advisor Group meeting. This will be the last opportunity for students to earn points for their House! The first House Cup was awarded in 2018 and each year after that another House has claimed victory. Fun fact: Sapenta is the only House that has won back to back years. The House Cup reveal will be held on Thursday, May 23rd.

PGMS House Cup Champions:

2018 - Almitas

2019 - Reverentum

2020 - Coraticus

2021 - Reverentum

2022 - Sapenta

2023 - Sapenta

2024 - ?

We have been very busy celebrating students' good behavior during TCAP with special Positive Behavior Support (PBS) tickets that students were able to earn each day. Hopefully, your child was able to earn a ticket each day during testing and enjoyed the incentives such as popsicles, pj day, extra recess and more! The end of the year celebration will be our annual PBS carnival, which will take place on May 23rd. This is a fun-filled day and the last opportunity our students have to spend their PBS tickets that they have been earning and saving for being responsible, respectful, and showing pride during the 2023-24 school year. If you are interested in donating to this end of the year event, please use the link below:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0544AEAA23A5FA7-49305396-pbscarnival

We appreciate your support and look forward to an amazing event!

STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK – Hello PGS Families! Staff Appreciation Week is fast approaching, with planned events beginning next Monday (May 6-10th). We still have some outstanding needs to make it a special week for our PGS teachers and staff. These needs include volunteers to help throughout the week. Scan to sign-up here:

or by visiting https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E49A9A92BA7FDC61-49101121-pgsstaff

If you’d still like to contribute, it’s not too late! Here’s how you can donate:

• Send a check to the school made out to “PGS” and make a note that it is for “Staff Appreciation.”

• Please send a donation via Venmo to @PGES-TN. 100% of these funds will be used for gifts and purchases for Staff Appreciation Week.

We are so thankful for such a supportive community and thank you, in advance, for all that you do to make this week a treat for PGS staff!

Many thanks,

PGS Staff Appreciation Committee

MOTHER-SON DODGEBALL – Please make plans to join us on Friday, May 10th beginning at 5:00pm for a fun family evening as our PGS Mothers and Sons compete in our 7th Annual Dodgeball Event! The dodgeball games will run from 5:30pm-6:30pm. We will have a photo booth to capture the memories and food trucks. The food trucks will be available before and after the event from 5:00pm-7:30pm. All are welcome to come out and cheer on our PGS Mothers and Sons!

TEACHER GIFTS: PGMS Families - This is the only time of the year each grade collects to purchase gifts to thank our teachers for all they’ve done for our kids. We ask that you please consider contributing to your grade-level’s gift fund. Teacher’s gifts will be purchased by grade level room parents and presented on the last day of school.You may find Venmos for each grade’s room parent below. Please indicate “teacher gift” when sending a Venmo. Every little bit helps, but please only donate what works for your family’s budget. Thank you for your generosity!

5th Grade: Portia Garrett → @Portia-Garrett (last four 6067)

6th Grade: Christy Pauley → @ChristyLpauley (last four 5339)

7th Grade: Susan Phelps → @Susan-Phelps-3 (last four 0788)

8th Grade: Gracie Bowman → @mazingrace (last four 9247)

8th GRADE PROMOTION RECEPTION - ATTENTION, 7th GRADE FAMILIES – Each year, the families of 7th graders host a reception for 8th graders and their families immediately following the 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony. This year's ceremony will be held the morning of Friday, May 24th in the Performing Arts Center. We need your help to pull this off! Please see the sign-up to see where you can help. If you are interested in helping organize this event, please email Susan Phelps at susan.phelps327@gmail.com. You may view the sign-up HERE, or by visiting: https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/78426078011/false#/invitation

8th GRADE GIVEBACK – SAVE THE DATE for the 8th Grade Summer Giveback on Monday, August 5th from 9A-12P. 8th grade students will work on a legacy project and help teachers around our school prepare for Meet and Greet Night. A free pizza lunch will be served to those students who attend!

As we wind down this school year and prepare for the fall, avoid the crowded stores at back-to-school time by ordering your student's school supplies for the upcoming year NOW. ALL grades, kindergarten through eighth grade, are available for purchase. To place an order, go to https://tinyurl.com/fwux69dk and select your grade level. PGS school supply box sales will be ONLINE ONLY, using a credit card, through Saturday, July 1, 2024. All supply boxes will be delivered to PGS at no shipping charge. Additional supply boxes will NOT be available for purchase on the first day of school. Let this be your one-stop shop to get all of your student's supply needs at a special bulk pricing discount.