Author: SteveS

Miller JH/HS Newsletter

Volume 5, Issue 1

September 26th, 2016

From the Principal’s Office:

Calendar Dates of Interest:
Thursday, September 29th– parent/teacher conferences are from 1:30 to 8:30. School dismisses at 1 pm.
Friday, September 30th - No School.
Monday, October 3rd coronation 7 pm.
Friday, October 7th Homecoming Parade at 2 pm. School dismissed at this time.
Friday, October 21st– End of 1st quarter.
Tuesday, October 25th picture retakes at 8:30.

Parent teacher conferences will be held on Thursday, September 29th. Junior High and High School teachers will all be in the commons from 1:30 to 8:30. Unlike the elementary, no specific meeting times are scheduled. Please take advantage of this opportunity to meet with your child’s teachers. School dismisses at 1 pm on this day.
Homecoming week will be Monday October 3rd through Friday, October 7th. Coronation is Monday at 7 pm. Senior royalty candidates are, boys: Cole Sargent, Dylan Fulton, Evan Steers, Glenn Aymar, and Marshall Johnson; girls: Allison Grogan, Jennifer Kenaston, Paige Kilker, Sarah Martchinske, and Shaly Werdel.
Homecoming week dress up days are:
Monday—student/teacher switch Day
Tuesday—USA Day
Wednesday—Twin Day
Thursday—Mismatch Day
Friday—Miller Rustlers Day
Friday—Miller Rustler Day

FLU SHOT CLINIC
Flu shots will be available during parent/teacher conferences, September 29th from 1:30 to 8:30. Renae Simons will be set up in the elementary gym to administer shots during this time.

The Homecoming parade begins at 2 pm. It will run the same route as last year, turning on Broadway Avenue at East 5th Street and going south until turning east on East 1st Street. The theme for this years homecoming is “A Historic Homecoming” Anyone who would like to enter a float or classic car or classic tractor please call the high school office.
If you are interested in the Parent Portal please contact the office or see us at parent/teacher conferences. The Parent Portal allows you to see your child’s grades and attendance online at home or on your phone.
Please remember the street east of the armory is a one-way running south.
A big thank you to Mrs. Fiala for her volunteering her time for the robotics team. (see the article on the next page)
Thank you!
Steve Schumacher
7-12 Principal
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-Steve Schumacher
Principal
“Learning today for a better tomorrow”

Call the Office
If your child will be absent from school or late to school, please call the office between 8:00 - 8:30 am. This saves the office a lot of time.

The Miller Robotics Team traveled to SDSU in Brookings on September 17 for the formal kick off of the Jacks BEST robotics competition. BEST stands for Boosting Engineering, Science, & Technology, and is a national non-profit organization with the mission to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science, and technology through participation in a sports-like, science and engineering-based robotics competition.
Teams are provided with identical kits of parts and software to take back to their school and then have six weeks to design and build a robot that can perform a specific set of tasks. The overall competition includes the Robotics Competition and a team Project Engineering Notebook (where teams record their design process and the steps they went through to build and program their robot) as well as a formal Marketing Presentation, Exhibit & Interview, and the teams are also judged on their Spirit & Sportsmanship. So it is much more than just building a robot.
The game theme and competition field change every year. The 2016 theme is perfect for our community and region – “Bet the Farm” – as it pertains to precision agriculture. The competitors will have to build a robot within the given constraints that will: round up loose pigs, put them in a pen and feed them corn; harvest lettuce & tomatoes and put them in a roadside stand for sale; turn on an irrigation system; and harvest & plant corn.
Game day is Saturday, October 29th on the SDSU campus in Brookings in the new SJAC facility. Winners will advance to the Northern Plains Regional competition in December at Fargo, ND.
For more information about BEST check out their website bestinc.org or to learn about Jack’s BEST go to sdstate.edu/jerome-j-lohr-engineering/jackrabbit-best-robotics - Mrs. Fiala

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Miller JH/HS Newsletter

Miller JH/HS Newsletter

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On Thursday, September 22nd, the Miller High School and Junior High Marching Bands competed in the East Central Marching Festival in Arlington, South Dakota. In total, there were 26 bands competing in four different classes at the festival.
Leading the High School was Drum Major Jennifer Kenaston, Colorguard Captain Shaly Werdel, and Dance Corp Captain Abby Turner. Leading the Junior High was Drum Major Alana Howard. The High School Marching Band placed 4th of 8 in their class, while the Junior High Marching Band took 3rd of 3. The Festival was a first for both of the Marching Bands and was well received by the students. Basically, the competition started with a two block warm up area, then a one block staging area, where the bands waited for the groups in preceding them. After rounding the final corner the bands had a three block judged performance area. Three judges rated the bands on “Marching Execution” (uniform marching style, straight ranks and files and correct horn angles), “Musical Execution” (dynamics, articulations and musical style) and “General Effect” (banners, colorguard/dance corp and overall showmanship of the performances).
I am very pleased with how well both bands performed, and represented Miller, in the competition (despite rainy conditions and two flat tires). The High School is now working on applying the comments from the judges to their practices for the Hobo Day competition in Brookings on October 22nd. The Junior High is gearing up for their Homecoming performance and both ensembles are already brainstorming ideas for next year’s competitions as we set our goals to expand the marching band subdivision of the Miller Instrumental Program. I’d like to give a special Thank You to Jaimie Lammers for designing our new banners – which the judges highly complimented in their comments.
Up next on our performance schedule is the Homecoming Parade for both groups on October 7th and the field show performance of the high school band (minus football players) that evening. On October 22nd, the MHS Marching Band will be traveling to Brookings for the Hobo Day Competition and on November 4th, both groups will be returning to the ranks at the Miller JH/HS Indoor Marching Concert. - Mr. Otteson

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Miller High All-State Chorus members: Connor Bertsch, Cody Bevers, Hunter Russell, Eric Turner, Chloe Miner, Abby Turner, Sydney Jessen, and Josi Stevens.

Volleyball action versus Hitchcock/Tulare last Thursday at Dig Pink Night. (picture credit to Dawn Joy)

Learning today for a better tomorrow.

Miller Junior/Senior High School
623 East 4th Street
PO Box 257
Miller, South Dakota
57362

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Volume 5, Issue 1

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