IT'S NOT TOO LATE!

If you are still looking for a quick gift ~ the Hidden Oaks Middle School Student Council is selling Prior Lake Lakers bags for $7.00 and Prior Lake Lakers water bottles for $3.00! 

Hidden Oaks Yearbooks are still on Sale!

Still looking for a gift for someone from Hidden Oaks?  There is still time to order a yearbook on line! 

A Heatwave Rocks the House!

The Hidden Oaks Middle School Heatwave Band rocked the halls this morning before school started.  What a treat! 

MIDDLE SCHOOL ROBOTICS WRAP-UP

65 kids participated in the middle school VEX robotics tournament last weekend at the high school.  Congratulations to all participants.

If you were unable to attend Parent Teacher Conferences you missed out on some great art work!  Stop by, walk the hallways and see what our kids are working on!

Sharing Holiday Cheer

For the last eight years, the Hidden Oaks Middle School  staff have provided gift cards to students who may go without a gift or get very little for the Holiday season. We are again, asking for assistance in this generous venture we take on every year. The program so far has benefitted more than 345 students who attend Hidden Oaks Middle School. I have a rough calculation that over eight years, our staff has collectively donated in the area of $9,000.00 in holiday assistance to our students. This is truly amazing. If you are out shopping in the next few weeks, please consider picking up an extra gift or two for our students.

Suggested gift card amount: $25.00

Suggested retailers: Target or Walmart

Donations can be dropped off in the Student Services or Front Office at Hidden Oaks

By what date? We would like the cards collected by Friday, December 14^th so we can distribute before winter break.

High Honors Choir Members

Five students from Hidden Oaks Middle School had the opprotunity to sing as a part of the All-State Honors Choir on November 16 during the American Choral Directors Association's 50th Anniversary celebration.  The students auditioned among 750 students statewide and were among 250 seventh and eighth grade students singers in the state.  Members from Hidden Oaks included Brandon Grund, Mimi Weightman-Bragg, Dylan Kappes, Natalie Restifo and Casey Gardner.  Mrs. Thomas also received an award from the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota.  Congratulations to all! 

Band Concerts

Concert week is upon us here at the middle schools.  The bands will be putting on three fine performances from our 8^th grade themed concert “A Journey Through Time” to our 7^th grade theme “Music of Past, Present and Future” to our 6^th grade “Premier Performance.”  Come out and support our middle school instrumental students in the 6-8^th grade bands and 7-8 PL Middle Schools Honor Band.  GO LAKERS!

The concerts and venues are as follows:

8^th Grade and 7-8 Honor Band:  Monday, Dec. 3, 7:00 p.m. – PLHS Auditorium

7^th Grade Bands:  Tuesday, Dec. 4, 7:00 p.m. – Twin Oaks MS “Jerabek Hall”

6^th Grade Bands:  Thursday, Dec. 6, 7:00 p.m. – Twin Oaks MS “Jerabek Hall”

Fundraiser Checkbooks Still Available

A limited number of fundraiser checkbooks are still available for purchase in the Hidden Oaks office. The checkbooks contain coupons for local merchants and are perfect for holiday giving. $20 each while supplies last!

Drama Club Auditions

Hidden Oaks Writers

Hidden Oaks Writers

Luc Le, 8^th grade Advanced English student at Hidden Oaks Middle School, is the winner of the Prior Lake VFW Post #6208’s Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest.  Luc was awarded $200.00 for his winning essay, and will be reading it at the VFW Christmas dinner on Sunday, December 16.  He will now advance to the VFW State level contest. 

Cassandra Herubin, 8^th grade Advanced English student at Hidden Oaks, was awarded first runner-up in the Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest.  She will also be reading her essay at the dinner, and was awarded $100.00.

The prompt for this year’s essay contest was “What I Would Tell America’s Founding Fathers.”

Congratulations to both these writers! 



FROG CLUB meets Tuesday morning

Hidden Oaks and Twin Oaks students are invited to join tomorrow's FROG CLUB meeting on Tuesday, November 27th at 6:45 AM in Twin Oaks Room 503. Join other students for donuts and an encouraging devotion. No registration is necessary.  FROG CLUB is a student-led middle school faith club that meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday morning of each month and is open to all TO/HO students.

SPAN

Reminder that SPAN (Synergy/SAGE Parent Action Network) will be hosting an MCGT-sponsored CHAT night on Tuesday November 27 at 7pm in the WestWood Media Center.  The title of of the CHAT night is “The Social and  Emotional Development of Gifted Kids Throughout Childhood.”  Our facilitator will be Dr. Teresa Boatman, a Twin Cities psychologist who focuses her practice on  gifted kids.  Please contact Apryl at span.priorlake@gmail.com with questions or for more information.

6th Gr. Middle School Choir Concert

The Twin Oaks Middle School and Hidden Oaks Middle School 6^th grade choirs will present their first concert on Tuesday evening, November 27^th.  Twin Oaks choirs perform at 6:45 and Hidden Oaks choirs perform at 7:45 (note second concert time change).  All performances will be held in the Twin Oaks Auditorium.

Join us as our combined choirs from TOMS provide the first of back-to-back concerts followed by the combined choirs from HOMS in a second performance.  Their music making and 6^thgrade enthusiasm will offer a charming introduction to festivities associated with the holiday season.

"SOCK IT" to Drugs Day

 Many students got into the spirit and wore fun socks in support of our "SOCK IT" to Drugs Day! Fun socks were all around to show support for Chemical Health week!



Letters to Veterans

Students learning English as an additional language wrote letters to veterans this week. They thanked them for the freedom to move to this country and for fighting so that they could have new opportunities in a new country. Students were excited to learn that their letters would be sent to the local VFW!

Middle School Laker Strength Team Winter 2012

         Prior Lake Athletes in grades 7-8 are invited to join the Laker Strength Team.
      Click HERE for details.

SPAN

 SPAN (Synergy/SAGE Parent Action Network) will have its next meeting on Tuesday November 27 at 7pm in the WestWood Media Center. The event will be an MCGT-sponsored CHAT night titled, ―The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Kids Throughout Childhood.‖ The facilitator will be Dr. Teresa Boatman, a psychologist from the Twin Cities area who focuses her practice on gifted kids. The event is free and open to the public. Please see our website www.mcgt.net/priorlake for more information about SPAN. Contact span@mchsi.com  with questions/concerns.