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

AMS Site Council tonight is being postponed to March 2 at 6pm. I sent an email to Site Council members but wanted to post it in multiple places just in case ;)

Congratulations to our February Staff Member of the Month - Mrs. Konrade!

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 nice and the best teacher, these are some things students had to say about Mrs. Konrade:

“She should be staff member of the month because she is a very good teacher that can not only teach well but explain very well.”
“She is always coming to school with a great attitude.”

We are so grateful to have Mrs. Konrade as part of our Longhorn team!

Last week, select members of our AMS band participated in an Honor Band at Washburn University. We appreciate these students' hard work and dedication to their craft, and we are grateful to Mr. Weishaar and Mrs. Hirsch for making these types of opportunities available for our students!

Congratulations to the AMS Students of the Week for February 2, 2026. This group is described by their teachers as hard workers, responsible students, and very enjoyable to work with in classes. Awesome job, Longhorns! We are proud of you!
6th grade - K. Hodges, S. Dickerman
7th grade - K. Riffel, E. Barlow
8th grade - W. Bathurst, G. Ogden, B. Huhman

AMS 7th graders showed off their learning in Science class recently - check out those drawings of the stages of Mitosis!

Hey Longhorns! Remember to order your yearbooks soon!

Yearbook Ordering Link: http://jostensyearbooks.com?ref=A02518130
USE PROMO CODE YRBK2 TO SAVE $2

🎉Yearbook Signing party will take place on May 18th! Don't miss out!
📅Orders DUE February 26th to ensure a yearbook for the 2025-2026 school year.

Congratulations to this week's AMS Students of the Week! It's funny to me how each group of selected students has a bit of a "theme" to the reasons they are chosen, and this week is no exception. This group is full of quiet leaders who follow expectations, help as needed without being asked, work hard to excel in everything they do, and simply represent AMS and their own families well. Way to go, Longhorns!
6th grade - M. De La Mora, K. Bogart
7th grade - A. Straight, C. Trower
8th grade - T. Wilson, S. Fortner, J. Perez Pecina, M. Wagner

Because of the extremely low temperatures and hazardous road conditions, USD 435 will be closed Monday, 1/26/26. Stay safe and warm!

Congratulations to our AMS Students of the Week for January 20-23, 2026. This group has been working hard in classes to not only be great students but to be really good humans as well :). Keep up the work, Longhorns! We are proud of you!
6th grade - A. Huen, E. Reyer
7th grade - Z. McGehee, B. Zambrana Rivera
8th grade - A. Beals, C. Colby, D, Heart

Congratulations to our January Staff Member of the Month - Ms. Katzenmeier!

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 kind, cool, and nice, these are some of the things students had to say about Ms. Katzenmeier:

"She makes everyone’s day better."
"She brings me in every morning and makes me feel I’m in a safe place."

We are so grateful to have Ms. Katzenmeier as part of our Longhorn team!