

What's Happening on the Hill?
D.R. Hill Middle School - December
Stay in the Know
It is the goal of D.R. Hill Middle School to keep parents, guardians, and students up to date on everything happening at The Hill. If you need to update your address, email, or telephone information please contact the school. Information can be found in several areas:
Monthly Parent Newsletter
Thrillshare Automated Messages
Guidance Department
Guidance News
Congratulations to our Students of the Month chosen for November. These young ladies and gentleman were selected by their team of teachers for showing what it means to have Respect, Effort, Attitude, Cooperation and Honesty when working with their peers and daily adult interactions.
These 9 students will be celebrated along with their families at our monthly breakfast whereby they will be recognized for their outstanding character!
7th Grade:
Majella Molina
Vlad Reznichenko
Zoe Reilly
Zy’Keem Dawkins
Jeremiah Wheeler
8th Grade:
Karina Tofan
Jakiyas Dawkins
Eliyah Young
Weston Gomer
Release Time through Friendship Baptist Church will conclude for this semester on Tuesday, December 5th . Students who attended this semester are invited to continue attending next semester as well! Any new student who would like to attend Release Time for second semester must stop by Guidance to pick up a parental permission form. We will start Release Time in mid January!
Junior Scholars
Please join me in congratulating 12 eighth grade students who have made the honor of Junior Scholar. This academic recognition was awarded to them based upon the results of their sub scores in either the Reading/Writing or Math sections of the PSAT 8/9 exam taken in October.
These students will be honored at a district wide recognition ceremony later this coming spring!
Payton Brown
Ava Clements
Devon Cook
Audrey Kalk
RuvimKalyuta
Francisca Morales-Cruz
Markis Mouacheupao
Brody Simpson
Daniel Starykov
Gabe Tucker
Jacksen Whitener
Caroline Wright
A special congratulations goes to Ruvim Kalyuta and Jacksen Whitener for making a PERFECT score of a 720 in the math portion of the exam!!
OLWEUS
This past month we kicked off our Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.
What: What is Olweus?
The Olweus Program (pronounced Ol-VAY-us) is our district and school bullying prevention program. Weekly class meetings are an important part of the program.
Who: All Spartanburg District 5 students participate in Olweus class meetings.
When/Where: Every Monday during Tiger Time
Why: Through Olweus meetings we aim to reduce and prevent bullying and create a positive school climate.
We recognize the following definition of bullying:
Bullying is when someone repeatedly and on purpose says or does mean or hurtful things to another person who has a hard time defending himself or herself.
3 Key Components of Bullying Behavior:
Involves an aggressive behavior
Typically involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time
Imbalance of power or strength
D.R. Hill Middle Anti-Bullying Rules
We will NOT bully others.
We will try to help students who are bullied.
We will try to include students who are left out.
If we know that somebody is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and an adult at home.
AVID
DRH Tigers are AVID
AVID T-Shirts - If you would like a DRH AVID t-shirt, please complete this form. There are 11 different colors to choose from. Orders and money ($12) will be due by December 15.
AVID T-Shirt Ordering Form
Media Center
Students have had a blast in the library during the last month! At least two days a week, the library is open during lunch to a limited number of students. During this time, students are able to participate in fun activities. This month students were able to create Gobblegrams to send to their teachers and create paper chains & snowflakes to decorate the library.
Literary Pumpkin winners were announced early in November. Congratulations to the following students for their creativity and determination.
In third place, Pete the Cat by Benjamin Galo (7).
In second place, the house from Up by Luis Leon (7).
And first place went to Loa van Gass (8) with the dragon from Dragons Love Tacos.
All the participants did an outstanding job showcasing their ability to blend creativity and literary skills.
Just like last month, several classes have been able to come in and collaborate with Mrs. Dickerson to extend their learning! We love seeing the progress students make when our teachers and librarian work together to provide instruction.
Pictured below: Mrs. Redding & Coach Johnson (8th grade social studies teachers), Mrs. Reynolds (7th grade ELA teachers)
The library… it’s not just for books anymore.
Spotlight on: Collaboration
How does the school library promote collaboration? I know that a lot of us think that the school library is just a place to check out books, but it is so much more than that! Collaboration happens in so many ways in the school library. One of the ways we see this at D R Hill is through programming, which is basically activities that seem fun, but encourage deeper thinking. For instance, this month when making paper chains for the library, students delegated who would cut strips, who was stapling, and whether they would do a pattern or not. This also shows how students problem-solve on their own! Our kiddos are going to do great things!!
Collaboration looks like students working together to broaden perspectives and work towards a common goal.
Upcoming Events:
Lunch in the Library Theme for December- Community
Read with the Gamecocks - Games announced in January
Reading All Stars- More details to be released later
Fine Arts
The D.R. Hill Fine Arts Department consists of performing arts (band, theatre, chorus, and orchestra) as well as visual arts (creation and design in different mediums).
Orchestra
Chorus
Students participated in their Fall Chorus Concert. We look forward to their next performance.
Theatre
Students are hard at work with rehearsals and stage design for the upcoming production of Shrek Jr., the musical. Mark your calendars.
Shrek performance will be January 25th at the Byrnes Fine Arts Center at 6:00 pm. Performers and stage hands should arrive by 4:50pm.
Band
The Christmas Concert will take place on December 12th at the D5 fine arts center. Band students should arrive by 6:15pm in their concert attire, the concert begins at 7:00pm. See flyer for more details.
Teacher Feature
(top) Ms. Wilson, Ms. Steighner, Ms. Moniouk, Mr. Swann, Ms. Allen. (bottom) Ms. Hall, Ms. Kinard
Ms. Howard, Ms. Exum, Ms. Kay
7th Grade Top Cats
Our 7th Grade Top Cats are just that - tops. They are an amazing group of educators who work great together and all have a "student first" mindset. They can always be found helping students or each other and are always willing to pitch in wherever needed. We are lucky to be able to call them Tigers.
Clubs
Student Council
Student Council November Update:
Our Student Council has made amazing moves to share the positive culture here at DR HILL Middle School. Here are a few updates:
Lyman Reading Buddies Partnership
Led by our Class President, Amayah Williams, and Community Link lead, Isabella Alvarez, the Student Council along with Dr. Kennedy Norungolo, have partnered with Lyman Elementary to encourage their reading initiatives on campus! There is no better way to make mentors, and leaders of our Tigers than to share the joy of reading with their younger peers at the elementary school!
Raising our Flag!
Our House Speaker, Rhy'Jon Davis, and Community Link lead, Isabella Alvarez, along with Officer Castillo, honor our nation and wonderful state flag, by raising it high and proud every morning! Our students feel a great sense of pride and patriotism daily before each day begins!
Building a Legacy of Leadership
Our team of 51 has Friday officer meetings that allow the students to take ownership of their campus, build upon a vision of DR HILL, and learn collaborative skills that will make them leaders of tomorrow! Go Tigers!
VEX Team
The D.R. Hill VEX team has been working diligently on their robots and preparing for their upcoming competitions. These students meet frequently after school to push towards their goals. The students who are participating are going through the Design Process to design, build, and program a robot to play the current VEX game called Over Under. Students must be focused, inquisitive, willing to learn - including learning from mistakes! This group of students is working hard and looking forward to competing against other middle school teams very soon!
Culture Club
The Culture Club is currently in the process of painting pavers that represent various countries that make up our school population to be displayed in our school garden. The students in Culture Club really enjoy learning and sharing more about their culture, and this has been a super fun way to do just that!
Volunteer Opportunity - Any parent/guardian interested in volunteering for our Multi-Cultural Celebration Day - please complete this form. On February 21, 2024 we will celebrate cultures found at DRH and around the world with music, games, snacks, and more. Interested parties must complete the Volunteer Form no later than January 7, 2024. D5 Volunteer Application Form
Garden Club
Did you know that approximately ⅓ of the food you consume is produced with the help of pollination? While many people associate pollination with just flowers, pollination is much more. Pollination is critical for the development of fruits and other crops. It also provides a habitat for bees, beetles, butterflies, and other insects. In 2007, the United States Senate established National Pollinator Week as the first week of June to highlight the importance of pollination.The DRH Garden Club is proudly taking steps to create a pollinator garden on campus. The beds have been ordered and are on their way. Upon delivery, beds will be set up in a honeycomb shape in the outdoor garden located between our 400 and 500 halls.
Beta Club
Beta Club will be selling Candy Grams starting next week (Dec. 11) for $0.50 each.
Basketball Schedule
Tigers on the Prowl
SC Financial Literacy "Educator of the Month"
State Treasurer Curtis Loftis Recognizes Brent Bernier of D.R. Hill Middle School as Educator of the Month
November 17, 2023
Mr. Brent Bernier of D.R. Hill Middle School, November Educator of the Month
South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis has recognized Spartanburg County School District Five’s Brent Bernier of D.R. Hill Middle School as the South Carolina Financial Literacy Master Teacher Program’s Educator of the Month for November.
“Subjects such as math, science and history have long been central to the K-12 curriculum. To prepare our students for success in today’s world, it is critical that personal finance skills become a priority as well,” said Treasurer Loftis. “Mr. Bernier’s students are fortunate to have a teacher who develops engaging lessons to teach this vital information, and we are pleased to recognize him this month for his ongoing efforts.”
Bernier serves as the Career Exploration teacher at D.R. Hill, where he has taught for 23 years. Named D.R. Hill’s 2017-2018 Teacher of the Year, Bernier also received recognition as “District Five’s Finest” and as a Next Gen Personal Finance Distinguished Educator. Bernier holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Clemson University and a Master of Education from Converse College. He is also credentialed as a Global Career Development Facilitator.
“I can think of no subject matter taught in our schools that has more of a direct impact on our students’ lives than financial education,” says Bernier. “It is during our times diving into topics such as the pros and cons of renting versus having a mortgage, using credit cards, creating a budget, and investing in the stock market that my students become the most engaged in their education. The earlier we introduce our students to these concepts, the more they will retain as they move forward in their lives and the earlier they can put this knowledge to real use for themselves.”
The South Carolina Financial Literacy Master Teacher Program provides incentives to K-12 teachers who are experts in the area of financial literacy and have a desire to teach professional development workshops to other educators in their schools and districts. Through the program participating teachers have access to specialized training and financial literacy curriculum resources that better enable them to promote financial literacy education in K-12 schools.
This D.R. Hill Middle School teacher is making an impact on students in the classroom and is now being honored on the state level! Congratulations to Brent Bernier, who has been recognized by SC State Treasurer, Curtis Loftis, as the South Carolina Financial Literacy Master Teacher program's "Educator of the Month " Read more here spart5.net/article/1346458
2023 - 2024 District Calendar
Cell Phone Practices
Student ID's
All students are required to wear their ID's at all times. The initial ID is $5, all subsequent ID's are $15. Students without their ID will serve lunch detention that day.
Ride360
Dates to Remember
December
12 Days of Dress Up - Students and staff are encouraged to participate
December 11-14 - iReady Diagnostic Testing
December 18 - NTI Day
December 19-20 - iReady Incentives
December 20 - Student Half Day/End of 1st Semester
December 21 - January 3 - Christmas/Winter Holidays
January 3 - Staff Development Day
January 4 - School Resumes for Students
Contact Us
Website: https://www.spart5.net/o/drh
Location: 1303 Holly Springs Road, Lyman, SC, USA
Phone: (864) 949-2370
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DRHillMiddleSchool/