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Pony Express
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER OF O. HENRY MIDDLE SCHOOL
In this Edition
NEW featureed items will be in BOLD
- Mustang News- Episode 7
- Happening This Week- calendar of events and announcements
- Art In Action- Each week we will feature student Art
- Athletics- Congratulations Volleyball, Girls Basketball tryouts, Boys Soccer tryouts
- Counselor Corner- October is Bullying Prevention Month, PreMed Summit at UT,
- Library News- Scare Fair
- Mustang Council- Campus CAC- next meeting Tuesday, October 25th
- PTA News--Bond- Voting November 8,Virtual Academy Coaching
- From AISD-- Austin High Red Jackets Dance Clinic, Mountain Biking Club
HAPPENING THIS WEEK
Save the Date
- Friday, October 28th- AHS Vertical Team Night 6:30
- Monday, November 7th-- PSAT for all 8th graders
- Tuesday, November 8th-- Student Holiday, Staff Development
Monday,10/17-A Day1,2,3,ACES, 4
4:00-5:30 UIL Theater Rehearsals Cafe
4:00-5:30 Twilight Grade Recovery, Homework Club, Science Club
Tuesday, 10/18--B Day 5,6,7, ACES, 8
4:00-5:30 UIL Theater Rehearsals Cafe
7:30 Football--OHMS 8th vs. Gorzycki-- Playing for Championship Game @ Burger
Wednesday, 10/19--A Day---1,2,3,ACES, 4
ACES- Cross Country Celebration
4:00-5:30 Twilight Grade Recovery, Homework Club, History Club, GSA Club
4:00-5:00 Cheer Practice OHMS
4:00-5:30 UIL Theater Rehearsals Cafe
4:00 Boys Soccer Practice
6:00 Football OHMS 7th vs Bailey--Playing for Championship Game @ House Park
Thursday, 10/20--B Day-5,6,7, ACES, 8
7:30 FCA in Big Gym
10:00-11:20 Ballet Folkorico Assembly
4:00 Boys Soccer Practice
4:00-5:30 Twilight Grade Recovery, Homework Club, Math Club
4:00-5:30 UIL Theater Rehearsals Cafe
6:45-8:15 Cheer Practice WAYA
Friday, 10/20- C Day 1-8:\
Student Council Spirit Day- Wear Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness
Income Verification Forms
This coming week Austin ISD will be sending an email to families regarding the Income Verification Form. We would appreciate if you take a few minutes to complete the survey because our campus could get additional funding if you complete the income verification form.
Austin ISD also uses this information to help determine staffing, technology allocation, and more.
Why it matters: The state and federal governments use this information to help them distribute grants and other forms of funding. If you don’t complete it, your student’s campus could miss out on some of this important funding.
In addition, your student could get fee waivers for college applications and exams, access to scholarship opportunities, after-school academic enrichment programs and increased health and wellness services.
ART IN ACTION-Beyond the Border
ATHLETICS
Congratulations Volleyball
8th grade Girls won the Championship Games for 1st Place.
7th grade Girls finished 4th in the District.
Girls Basketball Tryouts
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iLvzttbKHHBUtrVUnanmkyjJCKLhDuoUWmGdt2C2rgY/edit?usp=sharing
Girls basketball tryouts start during the athletic period on Monday (10/3) for 7th grade and Tuesday (10/4) for 8th grade. A-Team Volleyball players are invited to tryout after the volleyball season.
Tryouts will be held during the period for two weeks. There will be multiple cuts made. The final A/B cut will be ~18-22 players per grade.
Boys Soccer Tryouts:
Boys Soccer Tryouts will be October 18th and 19th after school. We will have practice leading up to the tryouts on October 5th, 6th, 12th, and 13th. Our first game is the morning of Saturday, November 5th.
Please fill out the google form link below if your student is interested in playing soccer this year.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KdV7Sc3P_9qwITgKZ-KwRV-rJ5iTYJ5FEWiJPEUhjlo/editCLUBS
FCA Update
FCA student leaders from across AISD are inviting the community to hear their testimonies at House Park. Please help us get this information out to parents, students, coaches, teachers, and neighbors. This is an amazing opportunity to come together as one body.
Counselor Corner
Save the Date - Pre-Med Summit at UT
The University of Texas' American Medical Student Association, a pre-medical student organization at UT Austin, is planning to hold the second annual Pre-Med Summit on Saturday February 18, 2023. Please save this date in your calendar! This event is primarily for students interested in going to medical school, but it is open to most any student interested in the biomedical field. As we plan, I will be sending updates with more detailed information, so keep an eye out for them!
Need to Reach Your Counselor
You can email at ohenry.counselors@austinisd.org
Grading Periods and Progress Reports
Progress 1-- Closes 9/2
Progress 2- Closes 9/23-- student eligibilty check
1st Nine Weeks- closes 10/7-- student eligibilty check on 10/13, lost or gained 10/20
Progress 3- closes 11/4--student eligibilty chek on 11/4, lost or gained 11/11
Progress 4- closes 12/2-student eligibilty chek on 12/2, lost or gained 12/9
2nd Nine Weeks-closes 12/20, lost or gained 1/17
Fine Arts News
Library News
It's October, and everyone knows what that means: it's almost time for Scare Fair!
We will be holding the Scare (book) Fair from Oct 24th-Oct 31st.
Photo caption: 6th graders Elijah, Hudson, Domenico, and Theo hang out with a new friend
O. HENRY CAMPUS ADVISORY COUNCIL (CAC)-- MUSTANG COUNCIL
O. HENRY CAMPUS ADVISORY COUNCIL (CAC)-- MUSTANG COUNCIL
Mustang Council meetings are held monthly in the school library and are open to all O. Henry community members. If you would like to speak during an upcoming meeting, please send an email to both co-chairs Paula Cook (paula.cook@austinisd.org) and Suzanne Perez (suzannep@gmail.com) with your name and specific topic of interest at least 14 days prior to the next meeting. You may also submit agenda suggestions, concerns and/or questions via email to the co-chairs which the co-chairs will share during meetings on the behalf of community members.
Our next CAC meeting will be Tuesday, Ocotober 25th from 4:00-5:15. If you are interested in speaking to our CAC using our citizen communication time, please email our CAC Co-chairs Paula Cook at paula.cook@austinisd.org or Suzanne Perez at suzannep@gmail.com.
Meeting Agendas and Meeting Minutes can be found on our campus web page.
Citizen Communications is the first item on the agenda and is time set aside for non-members to make comments to the CAC. The co-chairs may limit the time given to individual speakers and will ensure that the districts "Citizens Communication and Visitor Guidelines" are applied. Under these guidelines, except for requests for clarification, dialogue shall not occur between the speaker and the members. If the CAC is interested in hearing more from a speaker, the speaker may be invited to a future meeting and be placed on the agenda. The CAC may also call a special meeting specifically for the purpose of open-dialogue with non-members but it must be posted for discussion on specific topics.
PTA News
PTA News Updates
Round Up was a huge success! Thank you to all the volunteers and staff that helped make it run smoothly. Way to go, Mustangs!
Election Day is November 8th!
For more information about the 2022 bond in general you may visit www.austinisd.org/bond.
The Virtual Academic Coaching program supporting O. Henry students is back! This program provides parent/community member volunteer-led, free, VIRTUAL ACADEMIC COACHING for students!
Students nominated by their family will receive free, after-school or weekend one-on-one virtual support to reach their academic goals. Academic coaching support includes managing schedules, planning and prioritizing school work, turning in missing assignments, coaching on executive functioning skills and more!
This program is supported by O. Henry parents and community members for O. Henry students and we need more volunteers to support more students! Interested in volunteering one hour per week from home or interested in nominating your student for the program? Learn more here:
https://ohenrypta.org/new-virtual-academic-coaching/
Interested in learning more? Please read our FAQ!
Interested in volunteering? Please complete this volunteer form!
Interested in nominating your student? Please complete this student nomination form!