With the year winding down, you only have 11 more days to steer your state income tax dollars towards Oglethorpe County School System instead of sending it to Atlanta. Watch this short video, as our own board member, Jake Willcox, explains how easy it is easy complete the process for the Peach Education Tax Credit: https://ceonews-video.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/video/video-files/AthensCEO-01-18-24-Wilcox%201.mp4. Remember, in order to be able to take this off your 2024 taxes, you must have applied by December 31st.
Also, just a reminder, if you are a business looking for a last minute tax deductible write off, the school is connected to the Athens Area Community Foundation. All donations are tax deductible. Simply click the link below, or visit the Oglethorpe County website and click the donate button in the top right hand corner.
https://athensareacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4762.
Students had a blast at the OCMS Winter Games today!! Special thanks to Coach Joni Gabriel & her Connections Team pals for organizing the fun!
The OCMS Junior Beta Club collected money this quarter to shop for Community Christmas. Last week, the Beta Club exec team went to Athens to buy gifts for middle-school-aged children. They also donated two bags of gently used clothing to the Community Christmas Yard Sale.
Beta Club also sponsored a sock drive this month and was able to donate over 100 pairs of new, gift-wrapped socks to Quiet Oaks Nursing Home. Thank you to everyone who donated to either cause. Because of you, the people in our community will have a happier holiday.
Four of our 8th grade band students represented OCMS at UGA's Middle School Band Festival (Midfest). They rehearsed all day Friday to put together a full concert on Saturday afternoon. They finished the weekend out by performing in the beautiful Hodgson Concert Hall.
Reminder that this store closes Monday!!!!
Our OCMS PTO is sponsoring an online spirit store for OCMS/OC apparel. See the attached “OCMS Spirit Wear Flyer” for details. The online store closes on December 16th. Unfortunately, items won't ship in time for Christmas, but you should get things in plenty of time before the warm weather returns. All items come in your choice of red, white, or blue.
Did you know that illicit fentanyl, fentanyl sold illegally through laced counterfeit pills, nasal sprays, eye drops, candy, and even other illicit drugs, claims over 72,000 lives a year? Unfortunately, the use of illicit fentanyl is becoming more and more prevalent, especially among teens, and it is therefore vital that we educate our youth about the dangers involved.
This past Wednesday & Thursday, students at OCMS participated in a program called the Tucker Project, a standards-aligned, curricular path to protection from the illicit fentanyl crisis. In a developmentally appropriate manner, students learned information needed to answer the essential question, “How can we protect ourselves and others from the dangers of illicit fentanyl and recognize obstacles that lead to its misuse?” On Wednesday, a portion of each class (Math, ELA, Science, Social Studies, and Connections) devoted time to learning about the dangers involved in illicit fentanyl. On Thursday, Stephanie Roe, the mother of Tucker (the namesake of the project), told her story of how fentanyl effected her life and demonstrated how our students can help themselves & others in the fight against fentanyl.
WE ARE SO PROUD OF OUR 7th/8th GRADERS for their respect, maturity, and engagement as they went through the lessons & listened to our guest speaker these past two days.
OCMS enjoyed another great end-of-quarter recital from Mrs. Serrian’s 6th & 7th Grade Ukulele classes Wednesday afternoon!
Thumbs up to Ms. Serrian and her 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, & Jazz Bands on an awesome Winter Band Concert Tuesday night!
Congratulations to members of our OCMS Robotics Team: Ayden Todd, TJ Wood, Jackie Arroyo, Jayden Meadows, Jayden McGreevy, and Lucas Stalvey. This past weekend, they competed in the First Lego League robotics competition presenting a very cool project about how to remove micro plastics from our oceans. They also learned and improved on the robot competition table. Thanks to Mr. Cederbaum & Mr. Fogarty for the leadership of the Robotics Club as well!
Two OCMS FCCLA students represented us well at the Middle School Culinary Bootcamp this weekend (Dec. 6 & 7). During the camp, they learned essential culinary skills like such as safety and sanitation, mise en place, reading recipes, kitchen conversions, knife skills, and more. Then, the students had to produce several meals (entree and side) using their newly learned skills. One meal challenge included making chicken jalousie with spinach strawberry salad and a dressing from scratch. Another meal was chicken parmesan with bacon wrapped green beans. By the end of the camp, our OCMS students had earned second place and qualified to compete in the middle school culinary competition this spring. Congrats to Nova and Braylon!
IYKYK…OCMS teachers & staff had fun with an Underground Spirit Week. Ask your middle schooler if they noticed. Monday was Monochrome Day, Tuesday was Holiday Day, Wednesday was Beachwear Day, Thursday was Flannel & Pigtails Day, & Friday was Athleisure/Anything hit. A Cup Day.
Students have asked that we have dress theme days for them before the break, so here are our dress days for OCMS next week along with some pics of our teachers from their Undercover Spirit Week.
OCMS Holiday Spirit Week
Monday, 12/9—Mele Kalikimaka Day—Wear your best Hawaiian Christmas attire
Tuesday,12/10—Deck the Hall with Disney Day— Wear your favorite Disney inspired outfit with some holiday flair
Wednesday,12/11—Cozy Christmas Day— Wear school appropriate pajamas with holiday flair or a flannel shirt
Thursday,12/12—Wear an Ugly Christmas Sweater or Favorite Christmas Shirt Day
Friday, 12/13—Festive Christmas Hat Day—Wear a hat with holiday flair
Our 8th grade Careers & Leadership class got a taste of the real world through an updated, realistic version of the Game of Life. This room transformation paired nicely with a budgeting lesson they did previously. Thanks for the life lessons from Mrs. Barnes!
Our OCMS PTO is sponsoring an online spirit store for OCMS/OC apparel. See the pic for details. The online store closes on December 16th. Unfortunately, items won’t ship in time for Christmas, but you should get things in plenty of time before the warm weather returns. All items come in red, white, or blue. Go Pats!
Congratulations to these awesome students who were selected by their teachers for the Patriot Pride luncheon for the month of November for being examples of well rounded students in & out of the classroom.
It's BASKETBALL season at OCMS! Come see our first game today vs. George Walton Academy. Girls tip off at 4:30 followed by the boys game. $5 admission for all.
Congratulations to our OCMS FCCLA. They attended the FCCLA Fall Leadership Conference in Covington, GA on November 14th. Students brought home one 2nd place trophy and two 3rd place awards from the event for Cupcake Design, Resist Design Challenge, and Member Recruitment Display. Members also attended leadership sessions, participated in community service, engaged with a guest speaker, networked with members all over the state, and more!
To round out their Drama/Akeelah and the Bee unit, Mrs. Collins’s class participated in a Halloween spelling bee. A great time was had by all, and the students have requested a Thanksgiving Bee at the end of the month.
We're behind on posting this... Congratulations to these 1st quarter Patriot Reward Card drawing winners! OCMS students earn a PRC Card after each quarter based on parameters related to grades & behavior. All students who receive a PRC card are eligible for the drawings at the end of the quarter.
The OCMS Patriot Wrestling team was a dominating force at the War Eagle Scramble on Saturday. The team points put the OCMS Patriot Wrestling team in first overall for the tournament. Taking 1st place in their pools were Bryar Cushing, Cooper Davenport, Kaden McDaris, Kyler Clark, Levi Brown, Logan Sanders, Sawyer Pittard, Xander Bryant, Luke McDaniel, and Zavian Swain. Taking 2nd place were Bentley Arnold, Brock Stewart, Carlos Huff, Cooper Layne, Easton Cushing, Mario Perez, Paul Pittard, and Liz Campbell. Placing 3rd were Branson Campbell, Conner Wilson, Damerai Appling, DJ Faust, Truett Campbell, and Kellen Suarez.
Thanks to Dr. Benton & her FCCLA members that put on a great collection of Red Ribbon Week activities.
Kudos to all of the classes that participated in the Red Ribbon Week Door Decorating Contest. There were some great entries!
The winners of the contest were…..
6th grade-Mrs. Miller
7th grade-Mr. Brese
8th grade-Mrs. Slaughter
Connections-Ms. Denney
Congratulations to these and all of the classes.
See pics on Facebook & give a 👍 to your favorite doors to see if Facebookland matches the judges!
Post your own pics from OCMS Red Ribbon Week in the comments if you have any.
