Rice Middle School eNews

Congratulations to Madhalasa Iyer, Rice Middle School (8th grader) who won the Presidential Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) for her project “Saving the Hands that Feed Us.”

"When thirty-two pesticide poisoning deaths (in three months) occurred in Madhalasa’s ancestral town of Yavatmal District in India, Madhalasa felt compelled to do something. As a seventh grader in Texas, she coordinated a community fundraising activity that brought in enough money to purchase 700 pairs of gloves and masks for farmers in that region. She involved her Girl Scout troop to prepare them and volunteers in India to distribute them. Additionally, after conducting research on pesticide effects, Madhalasa came up with a blend of stable mixed cultures that could potentially help biodegrade a leading pesticide faster than what is most commonly used. Her work earned her first place in her District’s Science Fair and has received local media attention. Madhalasa’s journey is far from over; she is currently researching the possibility of a low-cost plant-derived herbicide."

Last week, Madhalasa and her family traveled to Washington, DC, to receive the award. We are so proud of her for her hard work and achievement! Thank you for being a leader and hero in the community!

Attention Parents:

The 2017-2018 federal meal benefits 30-day rollover expiration date is on September 25, 2018. Please click on the links from Plano ISD Food and Nutritional Services to learn more.

The PTA and Rice have gone "Nutty!"

We would like to see how many jars of peanut butter we can collect through this Friday to support the North Texas Food Bank Peanut Butter Drive. Please plastic jars only--no glass. Contributions may be dropped off in the rotunda!

We hope to see the school "jam"-packed with donations!

Here is a list of what's occurring over the next two weeks:

Tuesday, September 25

• 8th Grade Football vs. Bowman - Clark Central 5:30/7:00

Wednesday, September 26

• 8th Grade Volleyball vs. Murphy - Rice Gym 6:00
  

Thursday, September 27

• RMS Band to play at the Jasper HS football game - Clark 7:00
• 7th Grade Volleyball at Murphy - 6:00
• Beginning Orchestra Concert - 6:30

Monday, October 1

• 7th Grade Football vs. Frankford - Clark Central 5:30/7:00
  

Tuesday, October 2

• 8th Grade Football vs. Frankford - Clark Central 5:30/7:00
  

Wednesday, October 3

• 8th Grade Volleyball at Robinson - 6:00
  
• Orchestra Concert - Rice 6:30
  

Thursday, October 4

• 7th Grade Volleyball vs. Robinson - Rice Gym 6:00

Attention Parents:

Please make sure your student’s name is written into binders, PE clothes, lunch boxes and instrument cases.

Also, encourage your students to look in the Lost & Found for items that have been misplaced. They can look before school, in between classes, during lunch and after school. There is a Lost & Found bucket in each grade level pod area and also a larger Lost & Found in the Cafeteria.

Once in a while the Lost & Found will be cleaned out, and clothing items without a name will be donated. If items have a name in them, the front office staff will notify the student so he or she can retreive the item. Items that are not picked-up in a timely manner, may be thrown away. An announcement will be made during the week prior to clean-up day, so the students will have plenty of time to check Lost & Found before items are donated.

Attached you will find the Fall Parenting Series for the Strong Willed Child and Parenting & Understanding the child with ADHD. These are some of our most popular workshop series that we offer and we hope that you will join us.

Attachments in Spanish

• "Strong Willed Child" Flyer in Spanish
  
• "Parenting & Understanding the Child w/ ADHD" Flyer in Spanish
  

A. Guidelines for Exclusion due to Communicable Disease

Please review the guidelines for exclusion from school for communicable disease linked below:

Communicable Diseases – Exclusion from school for health reasons

B. Flu Season Is Fast Approaching!

To learn more about seasonal influeza, please click on the link below:

https://www.pisd.edu/cms/lib/TX02215173/Centricity/Domain/233/Influenza2014-2018A.pdf

C. Plano Families First Fall Fair

The Plano Mayor's Office Plano Families First Fall Fair is free and open to families who reside in Plano or attend Plano schools.

Saturday, October 6 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Plano Event Center at 2000 E. Spring Creek Parkway

With community-wide support from local business and nonprofits, the fair will provide an array of services to those seeking community, educational and career services and resources.

Dozens of employers will be on hand ready to offer full-time, part-time and seasonal positions, plus a "Career Corner" where adults will receive career counseling and a free LinkedIn headshot. Families can take advantage of free health and dental screenings and flu shots, and children who qualify based on need will receive eye exams and new eyeglasses at no cost to the family. There will also be fitness demonstrations, puppet shows, book giveaways, a children’s career corner complete with costumes and props, as well as science-focused educational activities.

To learn more about the fall fair, please click on the link below:

Express your artistic talent by participating in Reflections 2018-19!

National PTA Reflections welcomes all grades and abilities at Rice MS to explore and be involved in the arts. Students can participate in the categories of Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography and Visual Art as part of the Reflections 2018-19 program. Submitted entries will be first awarded at the school level, with top placing entries in each category progressively advancing to district, state, and final placements will be at the national level.

This year’s Reflections theme is “Heroes Around Me”. The deadline for submitting entries for the 2018-19 Reflections PTA program is Oct 31, 2018.

Note

Visit http://www.txpta.org/reflections to learn more about the program and obtain the student entry form. Carefully read all eligibility and participation rules (such as format, dimensions, video/audio time limit etc.), to avoid disqualification.

Submission rules are as follows:

1. Students should have at least 1 PTA/PTSA Member in their household by Sept 30, 2018.
2. Fill the student entry form completely and legibly. DO NOT glue/tape the student entry form directly to the envelope or art work. Place it in a sheet protector before taping it on the envelope or back (in case of visual art) of each entry
3. All entries need to be submitted at the Rice front office (except Visual Art entries: these should be submitted at the art studio) on or before Oct 31, 2018.

Rice Reflections Coordinator: Deepti Vaidya (deepti2vaidya@gmail.com)

A. Time to Sign up for a PTA Membership

While you’re in Membership Toolkit, sign up for your 2018-19 Rice PTA membership. Families need to renew each July 1 for the coming school year. Signing up for PTA doesn’t mean you have to volunteer, although we appreciate those who do.

Why join PTA? Since we don’t hold traditional fund raisers at Rice, our membership dollars are key to supporting all the wonderful activities and services offered each year. Membership dollars help fund classroom wish list items, student programs, teacher conference registrations, parent education programs, teacher appreciation luncheons and special amenities throughout the building.

This year, we would like to see 100% parent participation in membership. This may be a lofty goal, but everyone can benefit from being a PTA member. Sign up at http://ricepta.org.

B. Complete your Volunteer Application Now

Rice Middle School PTA new and returning volunteers for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year must complete an online volunteer application through PISD to be eligible to volunteer. Get a head-start and submit your application today at https://www.pisd.edu/volunteer.

You can also select the Rice opportunities that you are interested in volunteering for through our Rice PTA Membership Toolkit athttps://ricemspta.membershiptoolkit.com/home - just log in and click on the "Volunteering At Rice 2018-19" form to submit your preferences.

Contact volunteers@ricepta.org with questions. Thank you in advance for your service to the students and staff at Rice!

C. Please Continue to Send in Your Box Tops

Hello, Parents, We would like to thank the families who have contributed to the Box Tops fundraiser. With your help, we are expecting to raise money just like previous school years. Thank you!

For this year our target is $500. Please continue to support our school by sending in your Box Tops! It's easy: just tear or cut off the Box Tops logo from your grocery item boxes and have your child bring them to the front desk of the school where a container is there to collect them.

Please like the Rice PTA Facebook page to stay informed about PTA activities!

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, Rice Athletics will be hosting our annual Pink Out games for volleyball and football. Pink Out shirts are officially on sale now through September 28th . Shirts are $20. Please make all checks payable to Rice Middle School. Place your order through Coach Cole, Coach Green or Coach King. Thanks!

After school practice for the Bowman Speech Tournament will take place on Tuesday, September 25th of this week. We will not have practice on Thursday, please make plans to stay after school Tuesday!

If you have summer photos or back to school photos of your student, please e-mail them to Ms.Marcus at haley.marcus@pisd.edu. We love including your pictures in the yearbook!

King's Court is an after school club for guys (grades 6-8) interested in learning how to play the game of volleyball or continue practicing their skills!.

The club meets at 3:30 - 4:30 PM

Schedules Dates:

• Wednesday, September 5
  
• Wednesday, September 12
  
• Tuesday, September 18
  
• Wednesday, September 26
  
• Wednesday, October 3
  
• Wednesday, October 10
  
• Monday, October 15
  
• Monday, October 22
  

Jasper Jazz and Jasper Cheerleaders are excited to announce that our annual High Kicks and Herkies junior clinic will be on Saturday, September 22nd! Come enjoy a morning of dance and cheer with Jazz and Cheerleaders! All participants will be invited to perform with us at Jasper's football game on September 27th at the Clark Stadium. The registration form is attached and more information is available at:

https://www.smore.com/gmsw8

You must pre-register by 9/10 to be guaranteed a t-shirt. For more information about Jazz, see

http://www.jasperjazzdance.com. We look forward to having fun and sharing the excitement of the football game with you!

It is Game night. No time to cook? What's for dinner? A delicious meal can be enjoyed on the way to the game at Lita's la Mexicana at 7224 Independence Parkway! On Thursday, September 27th from 4:00 to 7:00pm, mention Jasper Jazz for a percentage of sales donated to the Drill team. Please see the attached flyer below.

Show your school spirit and support Jasper Jazz Drill Team with new spirit wear shown in the attached flyer. Sale going on at Jasper this coming Wednesday, September 26th during lunch from 12:30-1:30pm.

Thank you all for supporting the Plano West Royales Drill Team. Due to inclement weather, the mini Royales game day participation has been postponed to the September 28th game at Clark Stadium. (More info to come on this....) We hope you are all still able to join us for the September 28th game at Clark Stadium.

• If you have already registered for the game day participation and are not able to make the September 28th game due to schedule conflicts, you may choose to either donate your registration and shirt payment to support the Royales Drill Team or request a refund.
  

• Refund request form is attached below. Deadline to turn in the refund request is Monday, October 1st. All refund requests should be returned to the Royales Director, Chloe Hills by email or mail to Plano West (attn Chloe Hills)

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