News from Mrs. Graves

Upcoming This Week
**REVISED**

MONDAY, 4/10  BLUE

PTO HOSTS TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK
UIL Orchestra Concert and Site Reading Competition
Pin Oak Idol "Wild Card" Auditions, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
HISD Baseball Tournament vs. Briarmeadow @POMS, 4:30 p.m.
HISD Softball Tournament vs. Hamilton @POMS, 4:30 p.m.

TUESDAY, 4/11  GREEN

ADVO
Tennis Practice
Boys' & Girls' Soccer vs. Meyerland @POMS, 4:30 p.m.
2017-18 Company & Crew Audition Dance Clinic, 4:00-6:00 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, 4/12 BLUE

2017-18 Company & Crew Audition Dance Clinic, 4:00-6:00 p.m.

THURSDAY, 4/13  GREEN

NO AFTERSCHOOL CARE
FREE DRESS NO MISSING/LATE ASSIGNMENTS
PTO Meeting, 8:30 a.m.
PALS Special Olympics
Tennis Practice
2017-18 Company & Crew Try-outs, 4:00 p.m.
SDMC Meeting, 3:50 p.m.

FRIDAY, 4/14

Spring Holiday

Many Thanks!

Thanks to the many volunteers who made our New Student Signing Day a success.  It is so nice that our incoming Chargers had an opportunity to meet so many students, parents and teachers. 

ADVO This Week

We have seen an uptick in students reporting over-the-counter medications at school.  Most of what we are seeing is related to things that are seemingly harmless, but the conversation is leaving students confused. We will be addressing it this week in Advocacy, but I also want to call it to the attention of parents. It is a safety issue, and a violation of the code of conduct for students to have any type of medication on campus, including things like ibuprofen, cough drops, etc.  Please have a quick chat with your child to ensure he or she is not carrying anything in their purse, backpack or on their person. 

In addition to some of the risks related to taking medications that have not been prescribed to you, we will also be addressing an increasingly more popular hazard among adolescents, e-cigarettes, or vaping.  There has been some chatter on campus about this and we feel like it is an important topic to tackle through ADVO, although this is covered each year in Health.  It is also an important topic for you to be aware of, and an important conversation for you to have with your child.

Here are a few resources that might help you better understand the risks your adolescent is facing:

http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/consumers/parents_abuse_rx_and_otc_dangerous.pdf

Https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/prescription-over-counter-medications

Yearbook

The school year is drawing to a close and every year we completely sell out of our yearbooks. Currently, we have only 150 books remaining. If you don't want your child to be disappointed that they didn't get one, please purchase their copy today for $45 at www.balfour.com and make sure you receive an email confirmation from Balfour. If you don't receive the confirmation it means you did not complete the purchasing process. 

8^th gr T-Shirts

There are a few more class t-shirts available for our 8th graders.  Interested in purchasing a t-shirt? Contact Rebecca Kant at rebecca_kant@yahoo.com.

Jr. Cheer Clinic a Huge Success!

Saturday morning the Charger Cheerleaders hosted a Cheerleader for a Day clinic for 30 girls.  The Charger cheerleaders-in-training learned dances and cheers during the clinic.  The morning was topped off with a performance in front of their adoring fans.  The POMS Cheerleaders did an awesome job representing our school and our community.  Congratulations Charger Cheerleaders!

We Have A Winner!!

Grade 6 House C submitted a total of 581 boxtops between Nov 1 and April 1.  As appreciation for their efforts, we will be hosting a lunch on Friday, April 21 featuring Raising Cane’s chicken fingers, pizza, and dessert from Everything Bundt Cakes.

Thank you to all who have participated so far this year.  Every box top collected provides 10 cents to our school.  This money can add up quickly.  Please keep submitting your box tops.  We collect them all year round!!!

Testing Schedule

I know that it can be frustrating to schedule an appointment and then find out it conflicts with testing.  I hope this is helpful!

Wednesday, 5/3  STAAR Algebra EOC

Monday, 5/8  STAAR 6th & 7th Math; STAAR 8th Math Retest

Tuesday, 5/9 STAAR 6th & 7th Reading; STAAR 8th Reading Retest

Wednesday, 5/10 STAAR 8th Science

Thursday, 5/11 STAAR 8th Social Studies

FINALS WEEK (for students taking a HS credit course)

Monday, 5/15  Periods 1 & 3

Tuesday, 5/16  Periods 2,4

Wednesday, 5/17 Periods 7,5

Thursday, 5/18  Periods 8,6

POMS Triathlon Team

Join the POMS Triathlon Team and help raise money for our new Track (no need to try out, everyone can join)-  Houston Texans Kids Triathlon May 21, 2017 at NRG.

Check out this race video to get an idea of what to expect — you will see some former and current POMS students. 

The Senior Division ages (11-15) will swim 200M, bike 6 miles and run 1 mile on at their race on Sunday the 21st.  We will have team training to prepare your child! 

Click this link to register for the race: http://www.imathlete.com/events/EventOverview.aspx?fEID=39267 

NOTE: Make sure you email Julie at sandjmalin@hotmail.com to tell her that you have signed your child up for the race as she will be sending out periodic updates about training and race weekend.  

Don’t forget to list POMS as your team! Siblings and former students can sign up for our team as well. We will receive $10/participant (as long as we have a minimum of 10) in an educational grant back to our school.  We will use $5/participant to help pay for our new track and the other $5/participant will go towards finding a cure for Giant Axonal Neuropathy (GAN).

Lexi Clark, a POMS 6th grader, has GAN.  Her family founded the group Justin’s TRIumph in 2012, which works in partnership with the non-profit Hannah’s Hope Fund, raising money to find a cure for GAN, a rare, fatal genetic disorder. Children with GAN are typically in wheelchairs by age 12. They later become quadriplegics and require the use of feeding tubes and ventilators. Life expectancy for kids with GAN is only into their 20’s.  To learn more about GAN, watch this short video http://vimeo.com/86083436

Lexi is doing the race and would love to have her fellow POMS students join her.