Thank you to Lou Cerone, Senior General Manager of Advanced Technology at General Electric, for coming to speak to our students today.  He spoke at 3 assemblies, toured our school and enjoyed lunch with our math and science teachers.

Talent Show…The Langston Talent Show is on May 6^th at 6:30pm.  It will be at Woodruff Road Christian Church, the church that we use for car line in the afternoon.  Admission is $5.00 at the door.  If you are in the talent show, please be there at 6:00 with your CD of your music.

Relay for Life Yard Sale…Our yard sale will be on May 7^th from 8:00 until 12:00 in our school parking lot.

BOOK FAIR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THE FOLLOWING SHIFTS: Mornings 9:00-11:00, afternoons 2:30-4:00, lunchtimes 11:00-1:00 and for breakdown on Friday, May 20 from 1:00-2:30.  If you can work a shift on a certain day during the week of May 16-20, please contact Leslie Royaards at Lroyaards@bellsouth.net or 268-2088.

BOOKFAIR CHAIRMAN: Leslie Royaards is looking for someone who would like to “shadow” her next year to take over the Book Fairs the following year (in 2012-2013).  If you are interested in being trained to run a Book Fair, please contact her at Lroyaards@bellsouth.net or 268-2088.

THE PATRIOT WORE PETTICOATS by Marnie Pehrson: All new students must read this book this summer.  It retails for $12.95, but we will offer an autographed copy at the Book Fair on Family Night, Tuesday, May 17 (4:00-7:00) for ONLY $8.00.  After Family Night, it will be $10.00.  Limited copies so come to Family Night and get the BEST deal around!

The Langston Girls Soccer Team beat Spartanburg Christian last evening by a score of 4 to 0.  Their last game of the season is next Tuesday at 4 PM at Shannon Forest – come out and see a great soccer match!

Thank you to Ricardo Castillo (step dad of Azalia Jones) and his brother, and to Minh Van Nguyen, father of Dang, for painting the room that will be our computer lab next year.  It looks great.

Calendar…Please remember to check the calendar regularly to stay up to date.

Channel 4’s Chronicle to Examine Education in SC will be replayed this Saturday.

Mr. Intile, one of our parents, is in need of help  at God’s Pantry May 7th from 9-12.

Contact Mr. Intile if you are interested in volunteering.   Take 20 cans with you on your volunteer day and earn an additional hour of community service!

kjintile@charter.net

We need a volunteer to put together a slide show or video of our Community Service Day pictures.  Please email kweekes@langstoncharter.org if you would like to do this.

Relay for Life is Friday, May 13^th from 7-10pm. (other teams stay all night, but Langston does the abridged version).

We need some volunteers to go early ( maybe 5:30) and set up our tent, tables, decorations, banners, and luminaries in our assigned spot. Students will be bringing food and drinks to share—those items will have to be placed on tables. Decorations will include table cloths and posters that the kids make. If anyone wants to bring balloons, that would be great too. I have 2 Langston banners that need to be hung up from the tent.  If you can help please email Kelly Weekes at kweekes@langstoncharter.org.

Plain Elementary needs help with their Spring Carnival.  It is on May 6th, from 5:00 until 9:00.  Please email Mrs. Coker at jeanahcoker@gmail.com,  if you need more information, or if you can help.

Langston Club T Shirts may only be worn on T Shirt and Hoodie days.

Shop for Langston…Don’t forget to do your spring shopping at www.shopwithscrip.com.  If you have not signed up yet, the Langston code is 8BB8AL827275.  Brigid Benedict at 363.3460 can help if you have any questions.

Monday, April 25^th Channel 4 is airing a special on education. Here is the link to the teaser on their website.  http://www.wyff4.com/news/27506196/detail.html

YARD SALE ON SATURDAY, MAY 7^TH…Several 7^th grade girls and boys are collecting items for a yard sale benefitting Relay for Life.  Please consider donating up to 15 gently used household items (no clothes please).  Kelly Weekes will accept your donations during the school day.  For large items that can’t be dropped off at the school, please contact Zach or Megan Martin at 292-6102.  They will be happy to make arrangements (with you and their parents) for pick up.  Items will be collected until Friday, April 29th.  The sale will be in the school parking lot on Saturday, May 7th from 8:00-12:00 noon.  Thank you for your support!

Volunteer Opportunity… Pelham Road Elementary is looking for community volunteers to help during their Spring Fling Carnival, which will be held on Friday, May 6th from 4:30pm – 8:00pm. Volunteers are needed between 4pm – 8pm and can work a one hour shift or multiple hour shifts. If interested in volunteering, please contact Jodi LaValla, PRE PTA President, at 915-3789 or by email at JRLavalla@charter.net.

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR… Mark your calendar for the upcoming Book Fair from May 16 to May 20.  Come to the SPECIAL FAMILY NIGHT on Tuesday, May 17 from 4:00 to 7:00 and see performances on the back patio by both the Glee Club and the Dance Club.  Buy a SIGNED copy of The Patriot Wore Petticoats (required reading for all new students).  Special price of ONLY $8.00 on Family Night (normal retail is $12.95, after Family Night price is $10.00, limited quantity!).  Shop the Book Fair for all your summer reading.  Recommended lists are on the school’s website under option, About Langston.

Summer Camps…There are still openings in many of the summer camps.  See the website for the camps offered and the registration forms.

Science Fair…Congratulations to Alyx Farkas, Holly Cannady, Amanda Royaards and Omar Abdeladl for placing and winning awards in the Fair at Roper Mountain Science Center.

Sample Ballot…A sample ballot was sent out in a separate email on Friday.  Please take a moment to look it over.

Parents, in keeping with Langston’s goal of teaching personal responsibility to our students, the front desk will no longer accept any work from parents.  All work must be turned in by students.

Hasna Karim…won 3^rd place in the State wide Geography Bee last week.  Congratulations, we can’t wait to see how you do next year as a 7^th grader.

Prayer Group… The school year is close to being over, and we want to invite you once more to the Langston Prayer Group.  Even if you have never come, we would love to have you come pray with us.  Please know that there is NO pressure to pray out loud.  It is special time of sharing and hearing needs and lifting up the needs of Langston.

Even if you aren’t able to come to the group, please feel free to send us any requests that you would like us to pray for.  We keep your requests confidential within the group, and we would consider it a privilege to pray for you.  Send your requests either to Carolyn at wellsfamily@charter.net or Susan at sgoodbar@live.com .

Alita Wanner…was the winner of the Dogs for Autism Puppy Playground Contest.  Congratulations Alita, the puppy playground will be as you designed it!

Community Service Day…was a huge success.  Thank you, students and parents for being such great representatives of Langston.  Here is a letter from a nonprofit that we visited.

Mr. Able,

On behalf of Harvest Hope Food Bank, I would like to thank the students, faculty, staff, and families at Langston for your generous support of Harvest Hope Food Bank.  Harvest Hope’s mission is to provide for the needs of those who are hungry by gathering and sharing quality food with dignity, compassion, and education.

This past week, over 1,100 pounds of food was gathered at the school for Harvest Hope.  This is quite remarkable considering that all this was collected in only 4 days time.  On top of that, a group of students volunteered at the Bloom grocery store this past Friday, collecting donations for Harvest Hope.  The students were visited by Harvest Hope’s mascot Cool Can Sam, and thanks to their courteous and compassionate appeals, Bloom shoppers contributed an additional 630 pounds of food and $215 to the food drive.   With 1,734 pounds of food and $215 from your contributions, Harvest Hope will be able to feed over 2,800 people.  Harvest Hope will distribute this food to hungry families in the Greater Greenville Area through our partnering food pantries, soup kitchens, and children’s programs.

I would appreciate it if you could convey our thanks to the Langston students and let everyone know how much food you were able to donate to help our community.

With many thanks,

Sharon Savage

Office Manager/ Food Drive Coordinator

Greater Greenville Branch, Harvest Hope Food Bank

Mailing Address: PO Box 8858, Greenville, SC 29604

2818 White Horse Road, Greenville, SC 29611

Phone: (864) 281-3995 x3103      Fax: (864) 281-3998

www.harvesthope.org

News from Ms. Cannon and the Model UN Trip…The following students won awards…

Outstanding Proposal – Cameroon / Mary Frances Behnke, Annaleis Orozco, Stephanie Burton

Outstanding Native Attire – Cameroon / Mary Frances Behnke, Annaleis Orozco, Stephanie Burton

Outstanding Booth and Display – India / Ananya Manian, Varsha Gopal, Pooja Patel, Aparna Mahendranath

Outstanding Booth and Display -

Solomon Islands / Claire Andrew, Becca Cockman, Kaitlyn Pyle

Outstanding Booth and Display -

Switzerland / Bradley Simmons, Kelly Simmons

Outstanding Statesman – Amir Mollaebrahimi

Talent Show and Auditions…Auditions will be on April 25 and the Talent Show will be on May 6.  Contact Kim Kemp at kimrkemp@yahoo.com for more information.

Spring Pictures…will be in before Spring Break.

One Last Thing…In keeping with our mission statement, the front desk will no longer be accepting school work, homework or projects from parents.

“The mission of Langston Charter Middle School is to enrich and empower sixth, seventh and eighth graders with personal responsibility and a compassion for their community through single gender classes and innovative teacher, parent, and community collaborative learning.”

Monday is a school day.  It is the 2^nd makeup snow day.

Afternoon Pick up…There are a lot of children not being picked up promptly after school.  We dismiss at 3:00 Monday through Thursday, and at 1:30 on Friday.  Due to safety concerns, all students still here 25 minutes after dismissal time will be inside the lobby.  Please park and come in to get your child.  We do offer an after school program for students who need to stay late.

Congratulations to Hasna Karim! She won 3^rd place in the State Geography Bee held in Columbia today.

Summer Camps…There are still openings in many of the summer camps.  See the website for the camps offered and the registration forms.

Mr. Temple’s homeroom won the cake and ice cream party for bringing in the most canned goods for Harvest Hope.

Science is still collecting cell phones and ink cartridges for recycling.  Bring the items to Mrs. Melcher’s room after you are dismissed from the gym.

Plain Elementary needs help with their Spring Carnival on May 6^th.  Contact Jeana Coker at jeanahcoker@gmail.com if you would like to help, or if you want more information.

Shop for Langston…Don’t forget to do your spring shopping at www.shopwithscrip.com.  If you have not signed up yet, the Langston code is 8BB8AL827275.  Brigid Benedict at 363.3460 can help if you have any questions.

Thank you to Tatiana Cerreta and the many families that sponsored a teacher, or a hole on the course, for our golf tournament.  8 of our teachers and Mr. Abel played, and all said it was a blast!  The tournament raised over $2500.00 for Langston.

Community Service Day went extremely well.  We have had nothing but positive feedback from the organizations that hosted our students today. Thank you kids and parents.  Don’t forget to send your pictures to Kelly Weekes.