The Panther Pulse

Dear Families,

One of the things I love about Pershing are all the engaging activities teachers provide the students to really drive home a lesson. For example, students in Ms. Reading's Science 6 class have been learning about metabolism and as you can see from the pictures above to help reinforce those concepts students had to build their own protein bar and them sample their creation and rate it's tastiness (see photos above).

I also want to remind students that Middle School Athletics for the Winter Season (Soccer and Volleyball) starts this week. There is detailed information below in the middle school athletics sections.

And finally, our amazing Pershing Foundation is hosting a holiday sweepstakes event. Help support our students by purchase tickets so your name can be entered into a drawing to win fabulous prizes like an X-Box S Series, $100 Amazon gift card and more! CLICK HERE for details and to purchase your ticket(s) online. The deadline to submit a ticket is Friday, December 8.

Congrats to our two FTC robotics teams for their performance at their first tournament. Both teams finished in the top 3! Great job Panthers!

ELECTIVE SELECTION FOR THE 2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR

This week our current sixth and seventh grade students will be able to access their online articulation form and select their elective choice for the upcoming school year. CLICK HERE to access the online articulation form. If you have any questions please contact your child's counselor. Online articulation forms must be submitted by Monday, December 11.

FIRST DAY OF MIDDLE SCHOOL WINTER SPORTS (VOLLEYBALL AND SOCCER)

If you signed up to tryout for the boys and girls volleyball or soccer teams there is detailed information below in the middle school athletics sections including the dates and times for tryouts and future practices. Please make sure you review the information carefully before going to tryouts. All student athletes will wait for their coaches in the lunch arbor on the first day of tryouts.

• BOYS SOCCER: Tryouts on Tuesday & Thursday
• GIRLS SOCCER: Tryouts on Tuesday & Thursday
• BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Tryouts on Tuesday & Thursday
• GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: Tryouts on Monday & Wednesday

HOLIDAY GRAMS WILL GO ON SALE THIS WEEK FOR STUDENTS

“Frosty” Grams(candy canes) will go on sale at lunch starting December 4th through December 12th and will be distributed on Wednesday, 12/13 during period 5.

ASB "POP UP" SPIRIT DAYS

Panthers are you ready for the last two spirit days of 2023?!

Festive Sweater Day on Wednesday(13th) and PJ Bottom Day on Friday(15th)

TOTS AND PAWS TOY & FOOD DRIVE CONTINUES

Our ASB is also supporting a Tots and Paws toy drive and our Paws and Pals food drive. Any student who donates a toy for both pet and human are entered into a drawing to slime a teacher.

NO HOMEWORK HELP AND AFTER SCHOOL TUTORING ON WEDNESDAY, DEC 13

We wanted to make sure family are aware in advance that Pershing will not be hosting after school tutoring or homework help on Wednesday, Dec 13. The faculty will be participating in a staff meeting.

FRIDAY, DEC 15 IS A MINIMUM DAY

A reminder that Friday, Dec 15 we will be on a minimum day schedule. Students will be dismissed at 12:44 PM.

BABY PHOTOS OF 8TH GRADERS FOR THE YEARBOOK

Yearbook is now collecting 8th grade baby pictures. The first 100 photos that are submitted will be guaranteed to be in the yearbook this year. Unlike in past years, we will only be accepting digital photos. Please email your child’s photo to sruckle@sandi.net by December 15th. Be sure to include your students name (first and last) in the subject line so we can accurately identify the students. Any photos that we receive above the limit and/or after the deadline may not appear in the yearbook. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ms. Ruckle.

CLICK HERE to complete the online registration form

CLICK HERE to make a payment online

Sixth Grade Families - camp will be here before we know it. Please make sure you are submitting your payments as soon as possible! All payments are due no later than February 1 but it is always helpful when families are able to get payments in sooner!

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to:

6th Grade Camp Coordinator | Erika Ohnesorgen | erikarenae28@gmail.com

MESSAGE FROM PRINCIPAL KRAY SENT TO FAMILIES ON 11/3

If you haven't done so already, please let us know your preferred date for camp by filling out this quick form: Date Availability/Preference date survey

As we shared previously, the large increase in our overall sixth grade enrollment means that we have had to add a second week (June 3-7) to our original week (April 8-12) so that all sixth grade students will have an opportunity to go to camp. Please let us know your preferred week as soon as possible and a big thank you to the families that have already completed the survey. Our April week is approaching capacity and we will likely run out of capacity and only be able to offer one of the two weeks at some point so please let us know your preference so the Foundation can do it's best to accommodate your preference. Families that are able to send their child to camp the Week of June 3-7 will have the opportunity to select one friend who is also going to camp that week as a bunkmate until we hit our reservation limit. This bunkmate selection option is not guaranteed for students going the Week of April 8-12. Families not sending their child to sixth grade camp DO NOT need to complete the preference date survey.

Message from the Middle School Athletics Department on 11/30

Hello Parents/Guardians,

Thank you for your interest and patience with the SDUSD Middle School Athletics (MSA) winter soccer & volleyball season. While reviewing the sign-ups, we’ve noticed that some of the school sites have an extremely large amount of sign-ups and so I would like to please ask parents/guardians to really consider if their student can make the commitment to practice twice a week and commit to two games on Saturdays at our high school sites. I recognize that families have multiple options for their child’s health and athletic well-being, including students that participate in outside organizations, and while I appreciate that, I also would hate to have a child not make a team because a spot was taken by a student who may have been more talented but cannot actually make the necessary commitment.

I understand that communication with you is critical and until teams are finalized and coaches take over the responsibility of communication with their teams, the communication about matters such as weather conditions/cancellations/game schedules, etc. will go through our office.

We will update districtwide changes/expectations/rules/etc. on our district’s Middle School Athletics website located at https://sdusdathletics.com/middle-schools/

Here is the schedule for the first two weeks of the season that include tryouts/practice: 2023-2024 MSA Winter Soccer/Volleyball Practice Schedule **PLEASE KNOW THAT THIS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Please note that there will be two weeks of tryouts/practice starting the week of December 4 - December 15. Please have your students meet their coaches at the basketball courts and from there the coaches will take them to their practice location on campus. Students are still able to SIGN UP and participate before coaches need to submit a final roster to our Athletics Office.

Here is a list of confirmed teams for your school site. Teams that are NOT listed did not meet the registration requirements to field a team.

• Boys Soccer
• Girls Soccer
• Boys Volleyball
• Girls Volleyball – PLEASE CHECK THE TRYOUT SCHEDULE LINK AS DAYS AND TIMES HAVE CHANGED FOR NEXT WEEK

In preparation for next week’s tryouts, here are a few suggestions for student athletes:

• Bring plenty of water
• Wear comfortable athletic attire
• Rubber cleats (no metal) are suggested but not mandatory – SOCCER
• Knee pads are suggested but not mandatory – VOLLEYBALL

Day 1 of tryouts is always very busy with checking in the student athletes which will cut into instruction time. Please remember these tryouts are closed to parents/guardians as the coaches have limited amounts of time with the student athletes.

We appreciate your participation in Middle School Athletics.

We are fortunate to have a very active parent community and an engaged foundation that works tirelessly to ensure our school has the funds it needs to allow our students to have enriching academic experiences beyond the typical program.

Email: pershingfoundation@outlook.com

Website: https://pershingmiddleschoolfoundation.org/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/pershingpanthers

Dec 18-Jan 2: Winter Break (NO SCHOOL)

Jan 19: S1 Grading Period Ends

Follow Pershing Middle on Instagram & Threads

@Pershing_sdusd

Interested in volunteering on campus?

Contact our Community Assistant Ms. Johana Moreno at jmorenoperez@sandi.net

Email: mkray@sandi.net
Website: https://pershing.sandiegounified.org/
Location: 8204 San Carlos Drive, San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: (619) 352-3550
Twitter: @melanie_kray