District-Wide Title I Meeting April 11 At 5:00 Pm PJHS .

Mississippi Poetry Society RecognizesPCSD StudentsDistrict Events:At their meeting in Jackson, MS, the Mississippi Poetry PHS Events Apr. 9 Baseball @ ItawambaSociety recognized the student award winners and Apr. 9 Softball vs Moorevillehonorees of the "Rising Stars" student poetry contest. Apr. 9 Tennis Division @ TupeloThe contest, open to MS students in first grade through Apr. 9 G olf @ Tupelo Country Clubcollege, were invited to submit poems of their own choice Apr. 10 C areer Cafe : MS Dept. of Healthand theme to the poetry society for judging. Pontotoc Apr.11 rack Divisional Meet, HomeTCity School District was honored to have four students Apr. 11 S oftball @ Moorevillewho were recognized. Several of these students traveled Apr.11 olf @ AmoryGto Jackson with their teachers and family to receive their Apr.12 aseball vs Itawamba, Senior NightBcertificates and read their poems aloud to the audience in Apr. 13 P owerlifting State Championshipattendance. Zaavan Nesbit (honorable mention), Ellinor Apr.13 aseball @ BoonevilleBRodgers (second place), and Annabel Quinn (honorable Apr.13 oftball @ SmithvilleSmention) were present to read their poems in the 1st-3rdgrade division. Reese Laenen won first place in the 6-8thPJHS Eventsgrade division. Apr. 8 Pontotoc City Spelling Bee PJHSAuditorium at 6 // Admission is free Apr. 11 Student interest meetings for SpringBreak 2020 trip w/ current 6/7th graders Apr. 11 Silver Band competes at ICC Apr. 12 Gold Band competes at ICC Apr. 15 Parent interest meeting for SpringBreak 2020 trip 6pm PJHS auditorium Apr. 17 Progress reports go out Apr. 22-23 Volleyball AcademyPMS Events Apr. 8 Pontotoc City Spelling Bee PJHSAuditorium at 6 // Admission is freeDTC Events Apr. 11 Art Show Come view student artworkbetween 4:00-6:00District-Wide Title I MeetingApril 11 at 5:00 pmPJHS Auditorium

The Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival was held last week at theUniversity of Southern Mississippi. The winners for 2019 Magnolia BookAwards were announced, and the short list for the 2020 awards wasreleased. Each year children across Mississippi vote for their favoritenominated books during the month of February. Check out the winnersbelow and the nominated books following on the next page.2019 Magnolia BookAward WinnersK-2nd Grade Winner:Give Me Back My Book!by Travis Foster3rd-5th Grade Winner:Not so different : what youreally want to ask abouthaving a disabilityby Shane Burcaw6th-8th Grade Winner:The Road to Ever Afterby Moira Young9th-12th Grade Winner:You Bring the Distant Nearby Mitali Perkins

Pontotoc High SchoolThank you Mr. Arnold & the AP Chemistry classes for your generous donation of 314raised during the Pennies for Patients Drive. The AP Chemistry classes will receive treatsfor a week. PHS raised over 700 that will be given to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.Congratulations to ALL theWarrior Athletes whocompeted in theSpecial Olympics!

Pontotoc Junior HighWhere Will PJHS Go NEXT SPRING BREAK?We will be announcing THIS WEEK! In the meantime, see if youcan use this clue to figure it out! It’s always good to travel! Especially when the destinationis so pretty. So this next year we are headed to a bright andbustling city! Girls & Boys Soccer TryoutsLocation: High School TrackTime: 3:30-5:00Date: April 16th-17th(make-up on 18th if needed)Open to all current 6-11graders!Bring cleats and an up-to-date physical.If you have any questions, contact:Coach Jensen (Girl’s coach): 662-760-6050Coach Moore (Boy’s coach): 662-419-1765The Pontotoc City SpellingBee will be April 8 at 6pmin the PJHS auditorium!ADMISSION IS FREE!

Girl Talk 2019 looks like an amazing opportunity for our Jr HighGirls! Topics will include leadership development, smart socialmedia, personal branding, health and wellness education, conflictresolution, and self-defense techniques.Saturday April 13that the Bancorpsouth CenterFlyers and registration forms are available in the PJHS Front Office.Register by email to newmsgirltalk@gmail.com or bring to thecounselor’s office and Mrs. Cruse will submit for you. Please knowthat there are only 100 spots, so get these in soon if you areinterested.2nd Annual Pontotoc Junior HighSchool Volleyball Academy 2019Date: April 22-23Time: 3:30-5:30Place: PHS gymFor: girls in grades 3-7Cost: 25Coaches: Coach Annie McGregorCoach Jacob KentCoach Kawana WadeTeachers are gearing up for apositive testing environment bycovering the school in creativemessages that promote student’sbest efforts on the upcoming MAAPAssessment, which begins May 6!Stay tuned for more examples ofteacher’s encouraging words!Learn the basics of setting,passing, hitting andserving! Whether you’regetting ready for tryoutsor just want to see whatvolleyball is all about,come join in on the fun!Forms can be picked up in front office of yourschool!

FOLK ART DESIGNSMary Holland Burnett came to Mrs. Koon’s class from the University of Mississippi to discuss SouthernFolk Art and lead her classes in a folk art project.

MAAP Countdown is on!Students in fifth grade Language Artsare counting down the days to theMAAP assessment by strengtheningweak areas! Some students arecollaboratively working in GoogleClassroom to complete activitiestargeting their individual nearmastery areas. The goal is to see ifthey can move near mastery areasinto mastery. Some students areworking in small groups to targetspecific test taking strategies. Somestudents are working in small groupsby practicing the skill of going backto the text, while others are focusedon academic vocabulary and contextclues. We can not wait to see howmuch our students grow!Hooray!! Last day of LAS Links Testing!Students in Ms. Mims’ ELL class finished the LAS Links tests today. Theycelebrated this task with donuts. The students were thankful for the donutsand to be finished with thistest!

STICK TO IT VOCABULARYThis week 6th ELA participated in test prep by playing a vocabulary game called Stick to It . Students arepracticing academic vocabulary words such as distinguish, assess, and verify.MARCH MADNESS IN ELAMrs. Whitworth scored some points with her students whenshe incorporated March Madness into her Test Prep activities.She scored a 3 pointer when she played a "March Madness"music playlist! The student population ROARED!Student teams were the following:Duke, Gonzaga, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Michigan.These teams were breaking the scoreboard with points!Students were grouped according to Benchmark Data. Theythen decided the name of their team. If all students participatedin and completed accurately all assignments with evidence andjustifications, they earned points for their teams. Students areanxiously awaiting Whitworth's Final Four!

Mississippi Poetry Society Poetry Contest WinnerReese Laenen won first place in the 6-8 Grade Division of the Mississippi Poetry Society Poetry Contest. She hasbeen invited to read her poem this Saturday in Jackson at the MPS Spring Festival. This is the poem that wasfeatured in a newsletter last fall.A Beautiful Dream?The sweet smell of lavendercascades through my windowas if to remind me today has begun.Every flower and bladeof grass dances in the crisp breeze.The robins sing a song of beautyas if to wake the world.The bright rays of sunlightwarm the crow’s black wings.They look like pure silver in the light.The wind wisps around my roomlike a whirly tornado.Tornadoes take meback to a dark place.The crickets chirpstories of mischief to the trees.Chimes sway in the breezecreating a whirlwind of soundlike being in a glorious dream.Or a storm.But then I wake to findthat this whimsical fantasyis but a delusion.And as if in a nightmare,the dreams are soon to beas forgotten as an old chestlost to the bottom of the sea.And when discovered long after,all that is left is the rusty old lockthat once heldthe secrets,now released into the currentsof the oceanfor the mermaids,and the monsters.

HAIKU WRITING6th grade UFO students use art, current events, and music to inspire Haikus. They made a watercolor backgrounds,then typography skills and transferred the finished poem on top of the painting."Haiku is a contemplative, unrhymed Japanese poem that attempts to chronicle the essence of a moment in whichnature is linked to human life."REVIEWING FOR THE MAAP TESTMrs. Wingo’s students have been working hard trying to meet goals they have set for the MAAP test. Students are reviewing skills they havenot mastered this year. Each class is competing to master the most skills.

Escape fromMrs. Heatherly’s homeroom class was rewarded this week for having the top CASE test scores out oftheir pod by playing Escape from Emoji Island. The object of the game is to compete as teams to solve avariety of problems from various math standards taught throughoutthe year to escape! The first team to escape wins! This is a fun way tobuild on team work, critical thinking skills and problem solving!On Wednesday, April 3, Coach Calhoun paid a surprise visit to DTC! He had the whole school on their feetmoving to learn! Did you know that several studies have shown that students who are in shapeperform better in school, have fewer absences and show less behavioral problems regardless of raceor socioeconomic backgrounds? It’s TRUE! Visit www.movetolearnms.org to find tons of free exercisevideos to get your brain and body moving!!

Oh, snap!Mrs. Stanford’s 4th grade art students are studying photography as a way to increase theirknowledge of all art mediums. They used the iPads to take and edit nature photos. Thesephotos will be on display at the DT Cox Art Show Thursday night from 4:00-6:00.

DTC Went blue on April 2nd forworld A u t I s m AWARENESS DAY!#GOBLUEMS

ufo Egyptian festival 2019On Friday, March 29th, UFO students at DTC hosted their Egyptian Festival. The students havebeen so busy learning all about the Ancient Egyptians. After transforming their classroom intoAncient Egypt, they were able to share with parents, grandparents, classmates, and teachersALL they have learned throughout the unit.

P o n t o t o c E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o lPlant the PromisePES is growing Drug Free Warriors. In October our Little Warriors planted red tulips for "Plant the Promise" and theyare growing beautifully right now.Move to LearnMrs. Steele’s first grade class has been learningabout different types of graphs. For an extension tothe lesson, the class used GoNoodle (used for brainbreaks) to pick their favorite dance/song. Thestudents then recorded their data by using a tallychart and bar graph. The students really enjoyedthis lesson!

Congrats!Mrs. McRaney’s class won the spring cleaning challenge in the cafeteria for second grade! They’ve been doing a greatjob cleaning up their area after eating. The cafeteria gifted them with goodie bags and free ice cream. Great jobeveryone!

HAIKU WRITING 6th grade UFO students use art, current events, and music to inspire Haikus. They made a watercolor backgrounds, then typography skills and transferred the finished poem on top of the painting. "Haiku is a contemplative, unrhymed Japanese poem that attempts to chronicle the essence of a moment in which nature is linked to human life."