Congratulations to our AMS Students of the Week! This group has two types of students included - half of them were nominated because they have turned around their efforts in classes and have been showing initiative and growth, and the other half were nominated because they are showing that they are just genuinely good human beings - in classes, out in the community, etc. Both groups make us proud!
6th grade - S. Lawrence, V. Thorp
7th grade - H. Madden, L. Wallace, J. Reifsnyder
8th grade - T. Medina, W. Black, B. Huhman, E. Bartley, N. Gonzalez, J. Jones, D. Avig

Hello AMS Families,
All students at AMS will take the reading and math state assessments starting next week, so we need your help to make sure they arrive at school every day between March 30 and April 10 well rested, having eaten something protein-based for breakfast (or eating school breakfast), and carrying in fully charged iPads. We will follow a block schedule each day for these two testing weeks, so the first day will be hours 1, 3, 5, 7, & STAR and the second day will be hours 2, 4, 6, LH #1, LH #2, and STAR, and then we will rotate through days 1 and 2 through the end of testing. Thank you for your support to help our students focus and show off all they have learned this year!

Thank you to those students and families who dropped in for conferences and/or attended Related Arts Night! It was a successful evening sharing information, celebrating student work, and getting to see some great student performances.

Enjoy your break, Longhorns!

AMS families - we look forward to seeing you tonight from 3pm-7pm for drop-in Parent/Teacher Conferences and to celebrate the work our students are doing in Related Arts classes. Make sure to plan for special performances by our band and vocal students from 6-7pm in the commons. See you there!

Congratulations to this week's AMS Students of the Week. This is a group that shows kindness to others, stands up for their peers when someone is less than friendly, and works hard to excel in their classwork. Great job, Longhorns! Keep it up :)
6th grade - M. Norton, O. Avig
7th grade - J. Rouse, N. Garza
8th grade - B. Huhman, N. Pelfrey, W. Hageman

We are celebrating "Start with Hello" week at AMS - focusing on inclusion within our school community. Mrs. Wilkins grabbed this picture during our outside activity time at lunch - a small circle of kids tossing the volleyball around kept getting bigger and bigger as kids joined in. Everyone was welcome - no one turned away. It is an excellent example of our goal this week!! We get to work with some pretty amazing students at AMS!

Congratulations to our March Staff Member of the Month - Mr. Rose!

Staff Member of the Month is voted on by students, and students are given the option of sharing why they believe their chosen staff member deserves recognition. Along with being chill, these are some things students had to say about Mr. Rose:

“He makes Social studies fun and easier to learn and he is a great football coach and makes every thing more fun.”
“He is a very entertaining enjoyable person and teacher, he makes learning about our history fun and easy! He cares about us and wants to help us learn.”
"He helps everyone when people don’t know what to do and is very kind."

We are so grateful to have Mr. Rose as part of our Longhorn team!

Congratulations to this week's AMS Students of the Week! Several of the kiddos in this group have been studying hard for vocabulary tests AND taking advantage of every extra credit opportunity! Other in this group are working hard to adjust their work ethic from the past and are seeing the difference in their grades. Keep it up, Longhorns!
6th grade - P. Ferris, V. McNutt
7th grade - G. Foster, J. Loucks, H. McCoy
8th grade - S. Fortner, L. Riffel, C. Depew, J. Ottensmeier

Please join us for Spring Parent/Teacher conferences March 11 and 12 AND Related Arts night on March 12.

Come work with us at AMS! We need a Lead Custodian for daytime and management AND an evening custodian. Both positions are benefits eligible and starting custodial pay is $14/hour (experience will boost that number). Please help us spread the word!

Good morning, Longhorns! This is a reminder that students may not consume energy drinks at AMS during the school day. This rule is in place for student health and student success!

While caffeine can give short bursts of energy, large amounts more often lead to negative side effects which can make it difficult for students to be successful at school. Additionally, the AAP recommends avoiding caffeine entirely for children under 12 and limiting caffeine to 100 mg for adolescents aged 12-18. All of the energy drinks we see students with here at school exceed that.

Dr. Delay and Dr. James have recently had to confiscate a lot of energy drinks from students. When this happens, students are given the choice of throwing away the energy drink or being able to pick it up in the office at the end of the day. Students are allowed to have juice, flavored water, and soda during their lunch period, and, while soda does have caffeine in it, the amount is often 2-4x less than what is in an energy drink. For the rest of the school day, students may only have water.

We have also had many students share how many energy drinks they're consuming outside of school. For some kids, they are drinking as many as 3-4 a day. Depending on which energy drink they're consuming, that much caffeine exceeds the FDA's recommended limit for adults! Please take a chance to talk with your kids about healthy habits and why it's important to limit caffeine intake!

AMS Families - please join our Parent Planning Committee's Social Media pages to sign up for concession stands this Thursday (basketball NCKL) and April 9 (track) and to watch for sign-ups to help with Night of the Stars!

SportsYou Code: MTDH-SMHD
On Facebook: Search for Abilene Middle School Parent Planning Committee

We are getting an early start on asking for volunteers to drive for this year's Night of the Stars. If you are interested in driving one of the brand new cars loaned to us by Holm Automotive to deliver students to the red carpet on May 20, starting at 5pm, please call the AMS office at 785-263-1471 to get on the list. Thank you in advance!

Congratulations to this week's Students of the Week! This is a group of brightly shining souls who bring happiness to our classrooms and who work hard to earn their grades by learning, especially when they have to miss classes. Keep up the hard work, Longhorns!
6th - H. Collie, A. Davis
7th - K. Geering, Z. Ross
8th - T. Cornell, D. Day

The Abilene Middle School Parent Planning Committee is meeting on Monday, February 23 at 6pm in the AMS Library. We NEED your help to cover the home track meet concession stand AND to plan the decorations, meal, and drivers for Night of the Stars. We would really love to have 6th grade parents join in the fun and maybe even step into the role of PPC President or Treasurer for next year. Please join us Monday at 6pm after the home basketball game :)

What a great sport! Mr. Niles was voted by the sixth grade to kiss a pig at today's pep assembly! The sixth graders donated the most in our "penny war" to support the Tumani Children's Home in Africa, so they got to select the teacher. Thanks to 6th grader Riley and her mom for providing the pig - even though the pig was not super excited to be here ;)

Reminder for all 8th grade families - AHS will host a meeting for incoming 9th graders this Thursday at 7pm in the AHS Auditorium. The AHS counselors will be there to share information about enrolling for high school and all the opportunities your student will have next year. It's a great opportunity to learn and ask questions!

Have you ordered your yearbook yet?! Our yearbook staff is working hard to capture memories from our school year. We have to submit our final copy number by next week, so we would love to have orders in by FEBRUARY 20th to guarantee a yearbook for your student! Order online at jostens.com/yearbooks.

And check our staff out in the Abilene Reflector Chronicle below:
https://www.abilene-rc.com/news/capturing-an-amazing-year-one-spread-at-a-time/article_70da1f74-185d-41d2-a065-e4c4f4f30435.html

Congratulations to this week's AMS Students of the Week! This group is full of students who are working hard to either maintain their excellent academic habits or improve them, brighten our classrooms each day with their positive attitudes, and represent the hard working Longhorns we work with every day. Good work, kiddos!
6th grade: R. McKee, J. Smith, E. Donnel
7th grade: L. Simecka, E. Wernecke
8th grade: J. Sellers, J, Parish, E. Bartley

Congratulations to this week's Students of the Week! This group includes students who took their time on recent tests to make sure they were digesting the questions correctly and answering with appropriate responses - leading to 100% scores on the tests! It also includes students who are just a genuine joy to have in class because of their positive outlooks and their yearning for learning ;)
6th grade - L. Wild, E. Kroeker-Jones
7th grade - G. McDonald, C. Brown
8th grade - E. Jermark, K. Caffrey, R. Kraft, L. Burns, T. Wilson