District Final tickets are on sale now! The Hemlock Huskies take on the Cass City Red Hawks this Friday, November 13th at 7pm on Wallace Field.

Buy tickets here -> https://gofan.co/app/events/150212

We are in need of volunteers to work at the concession stand this Friday for the football game. Please sign-up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4faaac2aa3f85-volunteer

Congratulations to our 2020 All-TVCW1 Award Recipients -

1st Team: Hunter Hahn, OL, Alix Breternitz, OL, Corbin Larkin, WR, Robert Knapik, RB, JD Schnell, DL, Jeremy Wazny, DE, Brayden Green, LB, Espin Miller, LB, Dylan LaGrow, DB

Honorable Mention: Max Dinninger, TE, Jacob Shelagowski, WR, Bryce Murphy, WR, Noah Grandy, DL, Carter Miller, DB, Nolan Finkbeiner, Specialist

At Hemlock Public School District, we are all about high expectations and holding ourselves accountable to deliver the highest quality education and services possible. The hard-working people at Hemlock Public School District have made the impossible look easy to many of us, and it simply isn’t. Our staff district-wide has come together to provide our students and families with options, with face-to-face and remote learning, with services like food service and transportation, and our students with extracurricular activities as able. We have done this with little disruption up to this point, but we face unknowns as COVID-19 cases rise and generate close contact quarantine situations for staff and students.

A wise person once said, “unrealistic expectations are premeditated resentment.” We need to make sure you understand the road ahead has lots of potential for inconvenience, frustration, and uncertainty. The good news is we are not in this alone; the whole Huskie Pack is in this together, and we will continue to make great things happen together for our students and families no matter the challenges we face together. We ask that everyone dial their expectation meters with the realities we face in the coming weeks and months. No doubt, there will be potential opportunities for inconveniences, frustration, and uncertainty.

Half Days Schedule:

Thursday, November 12th - In person, see class schedule below

Friday, November 13th - All students remote: class work in 5th, 6th & 7th hours only

This is our 11th week of the 2020-2021 school year. It remains our goal to provide the most current information possible.

We still remain cautiously optimistic that we can continue our positive trends. Still, we need everyone to do their part by doing daily health screeners, keeping sick children home, and following the 3 W's: wear a mask, wash your hands, and watch your distance.

It is important to keep things in perspective; we want all of our county to succeed with our efforts against COVID-19. Right now, all of our Saginaw County school district neighbors are either partially or fully closed to face-to-face instruction. It feels like it may only be a matter of time for us, but please know we will do everything we can to safely keep our face-to-face options available for our students and families.

We can currently report that we have had one student and three staff members this week that have tested positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, these employees did not have close contact with other students or staff when we conducted our contact tracing. Our one elementary classroom that had face-to-face instruction suspended at K.C. Ling is now back to school, but we now have another K.C. Ling classroom that is quarantined due to close contact. However, there are still three dozen or more students on quarantine, plus this additional new classroom, and some staff members due to close contact.

This week we were not able to provide busing to students and families that ride bus #27. Although this was not directly related to COVID-19, it was part of the trickle-down effect from other COVID-19 situations.

We continue to follow our return to learn plan and guidance from the health department, the department of education, and other oversight that has been provided.

Please continue to encourage your child to utilize our free breakfast and lunch program for all; it makes your morning easier knowing that breakfast and lunch are already taken care of.

Please rest assured if there are any concerns specific to you or your children that either a building principal or myself will contact you directly.

Our goal is to be back in school five days a week; at this time, we continue to review our format and will continue remote Friday on November 6th and 13th.

If you should have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at 989.642.5282.

All the best,

Don Killingbeck, Supt.

The following are lessons learned from this week.

1. You don't need permission to be socially awkward.
2. Data continues to be important in the decision-making process.
3. Close contact really is the big issue when navigating these situations.

Looking to get a jump on Christmas presents? The Hemlock Athletic Department is holding a water bottle fundraiser now until winter break.

These water bottles/tumblers come in navy or pink and can be customized with a jersey # or first name on the front and a last name on the back. This keeps others from guessing who's bottle is who's.

Samples are available in the high school office to view. There is a quick turn around on the orders so no waiting for weeks or months to get your order back. All order forms should be turned into the high school office as well.

DEADLINE TO ORDER: December 11th

With the weather getting colder, we have assigned lockers for students to use for their coats/hats. Lockers are only to be used upon arrival and departure. Students will still need to carry their backpacks with them to classes. No loitering at lockers.

We at Hemlock Public School District are always looking to improve our communication game, which is easy for mass communication. We have added many tools to help with that type of communication between our website, social media, mass text, and other options. The difficult part of the tools we have is when we attempt to reach the granular level and not cast our net so wide. When we need to communicate with a select smaller audience, our tool belt is primarily email or individual phone calls as we try to avoid becoming “white noise” by sending a communication that does not apply to you. When the information is time-sensitive and the group is larger than a few, we need to utilize email. So please do yourself and us a favor and check your email regularly. Trust us; we aren’t trying to send you junk mail.

The yearbook is in need of action shots from this year's boy's soccer season. If you took any photos of the JV or Varsity soccer team and are willing to share them with the yearbook, please email them to netzley@hemlockps.com. Thank you!

We are so exciting to be able to replace the windows that have been here since 1959. We lost a lot of heat/ac thru these windows. The upgrade should make these rooms more comfortable and energy efficient.

Your senior photos for the yearbook are due by December 4th. There is a link under "classwork" in the Student Services Google classroom. See Mrs. Netzley if you have questions - netzley@hemlockps.com.

Picture day has been rescheduled! It will take place on Tuesday, November 24th 8am-2:30pm in the new Stem Center. Remote students come any time.

**NEW process - You order AFTER picture day to see what you want. See flyers below.

Wednesday, November 11th

- Veteran's Day

- Both Teams Report

Thursday, November 12th

- Parent/Teacher Conferences (Virtual)

- Half Day (Both teams report)

Friday, November 13th

- Remote Half Day

- V Football District Final vs. Cass City - 7pm

Saturday, November 14th

- Nothing Scheduled

Sunday, November 15th

- Nothing Scheduled

Monday, November 16th

- Boys Basketball, Wrestling & Bowling Begin

- Both teams report

Tuesday, November 17th

- Both teams report

Wednesday, November 18th

- Both teams report

Important Upcoming Dates:

- November 24th, Picture Day

- November 25th-27th, Thanksgiving Break

- December 16th - Tentative Winter Band Concert

- December 19th thru January 3rd - Winter Break

11/7/20 - V Football District vs. Bad Axe - W (20-17) In a hard fought, physical battle, the Huskies prevailed against a good Bad Axe Hatchets team. Dylan LaGrow passed for 180 yards, connecting with Max Dinninger 5 times for a critical 109 yards. Dylan also ran for a TD. Espin Miller ran for two TDS and a 2 pt conversion. Corbin Larkin led the defense with 13 tackles. Carter Miller had an interception while JD Schnell had a QB sack.

11/7/20 - V Cross Country @ State Final - Chloe Watson placed 190th out of 247 runners with a time of 23:01; she was the 30th sophomore finisher. Chloe had a terrific season highlighted by earning all conference honors and qualifying for the State Finals for the second year in a row.

Planning on playing a winter sport? Make sure you are signed up in FinalForms. Parents need to login and update their athlete's information and complete signatures.

Make sure ALL sports are listed that your athlete plans on participating in, otherwise you may miss early communications.

Lastly, if you plan on using last year's physical that is on file with the Athletic Department, you are still required to complete and turn in the MHSAA Health Questionnaire. This completes the physical requirement.

Girls Basketball begins November 9th. All other winter sports begin November 16th.

Once again Hemlock High School is a drop-off location for Toys for Tots. New, unwrapped toys can be brought to the front lobby of the high school during office hours, 7am-3:30pm. The collection is through December 11th.

There are some traditions that even COVID-19 cannot stop! The Hemlock Business Association is excited to announce their third annual Christmas wreath decorating contest and raffle, “Festival of Wreaths”. This tradition is a local favorite.

To purchase tickets, visit local participating businesses or attend the Holiday Market at the Richland Township Park on December 4, 2020 starting at 4:00 p.m. Winners selected at 6:30 p.m., attendance is not required to win. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5.

For full article, click here.

Hemlock welcomes new business - Hometown Gym, LLC located at 16625 Gratiot Rd.

For more information on the 24/7 fitness facility email: hometowngymllc@gmail.com or visit them on Facebook - hometowngymllc.

Email: galbraith@hemlockps.com
Website: www.hemlockps.com
Location: 733 North Hemlock Road, Hemlock, MI, USA
Phone: (989) 642-5287
Facebook: facebook.com/HemlockHighSchool
Twitter: @MIHemlock_High