The Viking View

Join PTA: Parents, teachers, and students, please join our VMS PTA either through the PTA Website or directly at https://www.joinpta.org/. Visit our VMS PTA Facebook page to see the latest updates. For questions regarding VMA PTA, please contact president.vmspta@gmail.com.

Monday, November 8th

College Day

• Wear your favorite college shirt with jeans!

8 Period Day

• Advisory Day

Tuesday, November 9th

8 Period Day

• Viking Time - ILA

Library Closed

• 2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Wednesday, November 10th

Block Schedule Periods 1, 3, 5, 7

• Viking Time - History

Fire Drill @ 9:45 a.m.

Thursday, November 11th

Block Schedule Periods 2, 4, 6, 8

• Viking Time - Math

Veterans Day Celebration

• All Lunches
• 11:29 a.m. - 1:33 p.m.

Friday, November 12th

Spirit Day!

• Wear Viking or Liberty gear!

2nd 9-Week UIL (Eligibility Check)

8 Period Day

• Viking Time - Science

November

15 PTA Board Meeting

16 Library Closed 2:30-4

16 AIM for Success Parent Program

16 Art Club Meeting

19 Career Day

22-26 Thanksgiving Break

"Native American Heritage Month has evolved from its beginnings as a week-long celebration in 1986, when President Reagan proclaimed the week of November 23-30, 1986 as "American Indian Week." Every President since 1995 has issued annual proclamations designating the month of November as the time to celebrate the culture, accomplishments, and contributions of people who were the first inhabitants of the United States.

Through dance, family traditions, and music, these stories show the diversity and long history of Indigenous people across the United States. Celebrate the history, culture, and traditions of American Indians and Alaska Natives in a special collection of films, short stories, and resources from Public Television" via this link: https://www.pbs.org/specials/native-american-heritage-month/.

Please help me congratulate Diana Park, our 2021-2022 Teacher of the Year for Vandeventer Middle School. Coach Park is currently an 8th grade ILA teacher and coach. She came to VMS four years ago by way of Lancaster ISD where she taught in the elementary school setting for three years. Before moving to Texas, Diana was a public school teacher in New York City for two years.

Congratulations to the 8th grade girls volleyball team for taking 2nd place in the district tournament this past weekend! Our athletes did a great job this year and are well-deserving of this recognition! Pictured from left to right: Bottom row: Anna Knight, Kayleigh Cox, Lilly Duffy, Morgan Ferguson, Nicole Moros Top Row: Ella Ferguson, Jaiden Harris, Sarah Mills, Cherie Nelson, Camila Beck, and Maclane Mercer.

This past Saturday, many of our Vandeventer Orchestra students participated in All-Region Orchestra auditions. This is a highly competitive process in which students prepare advanced music and compete against students from Frisco ISD, Mckinney ISD, and Prosper ISD to earn a coveted ranking in a cross-district orchestra, or All-Region Orchestra.

Students prepare for this audition through many avenues of practice: weeks of campus-based assessments, mock auditions by playing for both directors and their peers, before and after school tutoring, master classes, and additional music instruction with their private lesson teachers.

We are ecstatic to announce that 37 Vandeventer Orchestra students were awarded placements across the three orchestras. This is the 2nd highest amount of students making All-Region from all of the middle schools in Frisco ISD, Mckinney ISD, and Prosper ISD. We are thankful to have many talented and dedicated musicians on our campus!

The 37 students’ names are placed on the VMS Orchestra website "All-Region" page to commemorate their success. This can be found by scrolling towards the bottom of the page linked here: https://www.vandeventerorchestra.com/all-region-orchestra

Congratulations to the following students that placed into an All-Region Orchestra (listed alphabetically by first name):

Amy Li

Callie Yim

Calvin Jung

Christine Wu

David Yu

Diana Zhang

Eric Youn

Ethan Liu

Eunchan Jeong

Evan Santoso

Jian Park

Karthika Menon

Krish Kumar

Laura Huang

Mathias Wong

Medha Pedaprolu

Minseok Kim

Namya Sripati

Naomi Permana

Om Joshi

Phil Jeon

Rishab Srivatsan

Ruben Valles

Ryan Lee

Sahana Narasimhan

Sameera Patoliya

Sarah Mills

Sarah Tang

Shrinidhi Varadarajan

Shriya Satish

Shruthi Varadarajan

Sonja Mo

Sriram Mupparapu

Vivian Wang

Yasaman Soleimani

Yejin Choi

Zeno Kang

We are celebrating our 10-Year Anniversary this year on March 25th with a huge celebration, to include a pep-rally, outdoor activities (bounce house, obstacle course), games, food trucks, music, PTA auction, and much more! In preparation for this celebration, we are asking our students to design the 10-Year Anniversary t-shirt. Design submissions are due no later than Friday, November 19th via this link: https://forms.gle/59zkisjx25Tbubj88. Hard copies of submission may be turned in to Mrs. Pontius, the front office receptionist! We will announce the winning t-shirt design after Winter Break!

The Dallas Cowboys and Reliant are excited to kick off year two of the Cowboys Class Acts Program! Cowboys Class Acts honors teachers that constantly encourage, lead and strive for excellence in the classroom. This year the Dallas Cowboys and Reliant will recognize a teacher in the DFW area for their phenomenal work empowering our youth each month from September-February.

New this year, the six (6) teachers recognized as a Class Acts teacher of the month will each receive a $4,000 grant. It is our hope that these funds will allow them to continue to impact their students and further their mission of education.

Nominate a deserving teacher by completing the link below. The application period is now open and will close on January 31, 2022.

Nomination Link: https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/cowboys-class-acts-2021

To capture Vandeventer Middle School related activities and to ensure that all students are included in this year's yearbook, we need your help. Parents/guardians, students and faculty may drop any school related pictures here. Adding a photograph to this link does not necessarily guarantee publication. We appreciate your assistance!

Parents/guardians are allowed to eat lunch with their student(s); however, we are asking parents to notify the administration as least 24 hours in advance by completing the form linked below. There will be a 2 visitor/family maximum per lunch per day on a first come first serve basis. Campus office staff will provide an email confirmation to the requestor if the lunch reservation is approved. The requestor MUST receive this email confirmation to redeem the reservation on the date/time requested.

Parents/guardians are NOT allowed to bring food and/or eat lunch with students other than their own student. There are tables designated for parents eating lunch with their student(s). Parents/guardians MUST check-in at the front office to receive a visitor badge. Additionally, parents/guardians/visitors must be listed in eSchool in order for the lunch reservation to be accepted and confirmed. Unauthorized visitors will not be granted access to the building.

All visitors must be prepared to show their photo identification when checking in at the front office and in order to receive a visitor badge.

Please complete the form linked below when requesting a lunch visit.

How To Buy Tickets (all sports other than varsity football)

• NO TICKET SALES AT THE GATE -- ONLINE ONLY
• Tickets for middle school and high school games are available at events.ticketspicket.com or on the free TicketSpicket app in the Apple Store or Google Play
• IMPORTANT: The TicketSpicket app must be installed on your device to enter an event.

• All sales open on Monday at 10 a.m. on the week of the event. (Middle school football tickets will be available a week in advance to accommodate scheduled games on Mondays)

Ms. Taylor began her career in education in 1997 with Irving ISD after receiving her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Dallas. After several years as a teacher and coach, she obtained her master’s degree in Educational Administration from the University of North Texas and continued in Irving as a middle school assistant principal. In 2006, she transitioned to Dallas ISD where she worked for the next twelve years in various leadership roles. This is Ms. Taylor's third year as the Viking principal, and she looks forward to another great school year!

Marla Smith got her start in marketing and public relations, but found her true calling in education with the Dallas ISD in 2002. She taught RLA for 10 years and was a master teacher before transitioning to Central Office and School Leadership for another 7 years. Mrs. Smith earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Howard Payne University and her Masters degree in Education Technology from Lamar University. She has a husband and two teenagers. Mrs. Smith is excited to begin her third year at Vandeventer MIddle School.

Mrs. Brotherson grew up in Grapevine, Texas, and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of North Texas. She began her teaching career at Spears Elementary as a 5th grade teacher in a self-contained classroom. After five years, she made the jump to middle school, teaching GT ILA at Cobb Middle School and serving as the Lead GT Teacher. Mrs. Brotherson obtained her Master's Degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Texas at Arlington. This is Mrs. Brotherson's fourth year at Vandeventer Middle School.

Email: vandeventer@friscoisd.org
Website: https://schools.friscoisd.org/campus/middle-school/vandeventer
Location: 6075 Independence Parkway, Frisco, TX, USA
Phone: 469-633-4350
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VandeventerMiddleSchool
Twitter: @VandeventerMS