Dear Middle School East Families,

February is I Love to Read month! This is a great time to be encouraging an increased level of Reading within your homes. Some doable ideas include: spending half an hour where everyone at home unplugs and reads, reading the same book as your child and talking about it every few chapters, or heading to bed 15 minutes early and spending it Reading! While these seem like simple, little things, they are honestly some of the things that will make a difference in your child's Reading and daily habits! KORT classes have been enjoying the Reading competition that Mrs. Williams and the Reading Committee at East have been promoting!

Exploratory Day was a huge success!! Thank you for your continued support of this activity! Such a great way for students to engage with a wide variety of activities and implement social skills and new learning. The following teachers spend a ton of time planning and organizing this day to make it a reality: Andy Cleveland, Shannon Walters, Brian Mashuga, Ryan Payne, Emily Hary, Rich Jensen, and Mallory Lichtenberg. Thank you!!

Our second trimester ends on March 9th! That is only 10 days away, with today's and tomorrow's cancellations. Please sit down with your child and have them show you their Student Vue Account. Many students are doing a great job with their academics and love to hear adult praise for their independence and hard work paying off! Others are struggling to do daily assignments, study for quizzes and tests, or complete projects. This really hurts them in so many ways! Two of the biggest lessons for middle schoolers are first how to organize/manage "school life" with greater independence and secondly how to advocate when they need help. While turning things in at the end of the tri may accomplish raising their grade a bit, it doesn't promote daily habits for success that they need now and in their future. Thank you in advance for promoting these skills at home that we are teaching them at school! We truly rely on each other to help them to be their best selves! Thank you for your partnership!

Respectfully,

Jennie Kelly

STMA Middle School East Principal

National School Counseling Week 2023 (#NSCW23) was Feb. 6-10, 2023, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. We are extremely fortunate at East to have two of the best in the business in Jessica Mesna and Amy Kornovich. We appreciate you and your hard work supporting our students.

Kindness matters. Random Acts of Kindness Day, February 17, 2023. Share your kindness!

Mrs. Gessner's Celebrating Black Voices Responsive Hour class's goal is to help out MSE teachers and students celebrate Black History Month. Their class has created a playlist of all black artists to play during responsive hour. Mrs. Gessner and student Morgan Mielke had the wonderful idea to share this playlist with all of you! We hope you enjoy the playlist and happy Black History Month! Here is the Spotify Playlist link.

"A blind date with a book" table in the Media Center has been a hit this month!

Mrs. Prell's responsive hour students are very proud and excited to share their project of selecting books and making read allowed videos.

KORTs compete against each other for most pages read this month! KEEP READING!

Blue Calendar Art Contest: Do you like to create? Do you love STMA? If so, you’re invited to join an art contest! The winner’s art will be featured in the STMA District 2023-24 calendar. If you choose to participate, your task is to create a piece of art that represents Middle School East. If it is a drawing or painting, please submit to Mrs. Mesna (in the MSE Office). If it is a digital creation, please email to Mrs. Mesna in a PDF or JPG format. Please submit your artwork by Friday, March 24th.

February 9th -- 5th Grade BAND Concert @ MW Auditorium 6pm & 7pm

March 6th -- 6th-8th Grade BAND Concerts @ MW Auditorium

• Gr. 6 - 6:00pm
• Gr. 7 - 7:00pm
• Gr. 8 - 8:00pm

March 14th -- CHOIR Concerts @ HS PAC

• Gr. 5-6 - 6:00pm
• Gr. 7-8 - 7:30pm

Adult supervision is available at the crosswalk on Naber Avenue and 47th Street in the morning from 8:00-8:10 and in the afternoons from 3:00-3:10. Please encourage your children who are walking or biking to utilize this crossing. Your continued alertness driving near school grounds is greatly appreciated to ensure student safety.

Does your child need additional support in school? Complete this Registration Form link to register your child. Click here for an information letter with all the important details.

Youth Matters

Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:00-4:30 p.m.

Breakfast Club

Fridays 7:00-8:00 a.m.

Four continue to the Regional Spelling Bee on February 7th

The STMA Middle Schools MathCounts Team traveled to Saint Cloud State Tuesday, February 7th to compete in the Lake Region Chapter Competition. Three Middle School East Students cracked the top ten! Natalie W. finished 8th, Lucas D. finished 7th, and Zara M. came in 5th place overall. The competition was tough and our STMA team came in 5th place. Lucas D. made the final four of the stressful, in front of an audience, head to head countdown round. Congratulation Mathletes on a great season!

• MATHCOUNTS competes at St. Cloud on Tuesday, February 7th
• Destination Imagination competes at Coon Rapids on Saturday, March 4th
• Math Masters competes on Thursday, April 20th

Boys Basketball at MSE runs through February

• 2023 STMA Middle School East Spring Activities Brochure
  

In The Time of Trolls

Free and Reduced Price Meals are available to families who qualify. If you would like to apply, please complete a free and reduced application.

Our School Counselors are building positive relationships with students through 5th Grade Minute Meetings. The relationships we have with our students truly matter. Knowing our students and their needs can allow us to be a part of their support system toward success here at school. Our students have enjoyed us visiting their classrooms and taking the time to get to know them individually!

Please know that your school counselors are here to support you!

Last names A-L please contact Ms. Kornovich amyko@mystma.org

Last names M-Z please contact Mrs. Mesna jessicame@mystma.org

School Social Worker please contact Mrs. Buskey jessicab@mystma.org

“Every child deserves a champion; an adult who will never give up on them. Who understands the power of connection, and insists they become the best they can possibly be. Is this job tough? You Betcha! But it is not impossible. We can do this. We’re Educators. We were Born to make a difference.”--Rita Pierson

Please know that we are here to help your child be successful.

Please don't hesitate to call 763-497-2655.

Jennifer Kelly, Principal

David Holler, Assistant Principal

Molly Schleicher, Dean of Students/Activities Director

Gabrielle Scoblic, Administrative Assistant

Amy Kornovich, School Counselor for last names A-L

Jessica Mesna, School Counselor for last names M-Z

Jessica Buskey, School Social Worker

Email: jenniferk@mystma.org
Website: https://www.stma.k12.mn.us/Domain/8
Location: 4862 Naber Avenue Northeast, Saint Michael, MN, USA
Phone: 763-497-2655
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stmamse
Twitter: @stma_ms_east