MST Weekly Update

Good afternoon to all of our MST family members.

As I am writing this, we are a couple of hours away from our first dance of the 2023-24 school year. The students seemed excited about the event as all tickets were sold out by Wednesday.

Next week is Red Ribbon Week, the nation's oldest and largest drug prevention awareness campaign. Moe information can be found here: RR - About Us (redribbon.org)

The end of the first marking term is less than three weeks away. All students need to be submitting, and resubmitting, all assignments so that they are on pace at the end of the first term. The first quarter is a time of transition for the 9th graders, but our teachers are working diligently with the students to make sure they understand the concept of competency grading. More information about our grading will be provided in this newsletter as we approach the distribution of the first progress report.

22 students from the Business & Marketing Principles CTE Program participated in the Fall Leadership Conference held by the NH FBLA Chapter at Camp Carpenter. Our students joined 450 high school students from across the state to network and develop leadership and team building skills.

Over the couple of weeks leading up to Halloween, Mr. Lord's Video and Digital Media classes are working hard to create Halloween themed Public Service Announcements for an annual contest sponsored by the NH High School Film Festival Organization. Students choose from a list of Halloween safety themes like: "stranger danger, makeup safety, suspicious candy, or jack-o-lantern carving safety" and create a 90 second PSA commercial based on their theme. This year they also have to include a 'Jump Scare' in their projects. Be on the lookout for students in spooky costumes and camera crews around the building. Awards will be announced in early November.

The Fire Science class focused on ladder evolutions this week to include ventilation techniques. The ventilation prop has been modified to add a realistic "building fire" look to add to the realism of the task.

SkillsUSA Cosmetology Officers accept a generous donation of 1,000 disposable gloves from an anonymous donor! Thank you very much to our donor,

If you are using the Aspen Family Portal, please remember that our high school uses competency (1-4) grading, not percentages. If you happen to see a percent grade for a high school class, it is not the actual grade. (CTE classes do use traditional grading).

When looking at the Aspen gradebook, you will most likely either see a 3 for a grade, or it will be blank. If you see a 3, that means that the assignment has met competency and is completed. If you see a blank, that means the assignment is not completed. It may mean that it needs to be finished or was not handed in at all. More detailed information can be seen in Google Classroom. You can access your child's Google Classroom account or ask a teacher for a Google Classroom invite if you have not received one yet.

To sign up for Aspen Family Portal, which also provides attendance information, you can click HERE

Is your child graduating this year, but is still uncertain of their future plans? They might want to consider City Year.

What is City Year?

City Year is a year of service as a tutor and mentor in schools. Our corps members work in diverse teams, each with a different class for the whole year, providing a positive, developmental relationship with students and critical academic and SEL instruction. Besides student impact, City Year focuses on the leadership development of our corps members with weekly training days, strong coaching and mentorship, and an inclusive, supportive community based on positive values.

The service year runs August-June, either fulltime or 25 hour/week. City Year benefits include bi-weekly pay ($890 or $472 biweekly), an education grant ($6,895 or $3,447), free health insurance and other benefits, and college app/career support. Check out this 1-minute video on the City Year Experience.

Interested students should click here to get more info and a copy of the application. The application takes just 30-45 minutes and is open now for the 2024-25 school year.

(See attached recruitment flyer.)

Even though we have barely begun the fall season, it is already time to be signing up for spring softball in Manchester. See the information below from the Manchester Girls Softball League

Friday, October 20th-Homecoming Dance 6:00-9:00 PM

Tuesday, November 7th-No School for Students, Election Day

Thursday, November 9th-End of Quarter 1

Friday, November 10th-No School for Students, Veterans' Day Observed

Wednesday, November 22-Sunday, November 27th-Thanksgiving Break

That's all for this week! Have a great weekend.

Timothy Otis-Principal

Email: mst@mansd.org
Website: mst.mansd.org
Location: 100 Gerald Connors Circle, Manchester, NH, USA
Phone: 603-624-6490
Facebook: facebook.com/manchesterschooloftechnology

The mission of the Manchester School of Technology is to foster a safe and respectful learning environment while cultivating academic and technical competency, career success, and social awareness.