Activities

Competitive Math Club:  Open to 7th and 8th grade or invited 6th grade students.  Register on MyPaymentsPlus in September. Meetings 7:15-8:00am Monday Mornings.  Students who join the Competitive Math Club participate in Jr. Math Leagues Competitions.  Select members will form the Math Counts and Math Masters Competitions later in the school year. 

Contact: Ms. Skluzacek

6th Grade Fun Math Club:  Open to 6th grade students. Register on MyPaymentsPlus in September. Meetings will be held after school on Mondays or Tuesdays from 3:20-4:50pm.  This is open to any 6th grade student who enjoys math or wants to improve their math skills, but does not want to compete. 

Contact:  Ms. Vortherms

Cohort Read:  6th Grade only.  A summer reading list is given to GTYS students in the Spring of 5th Grade.  Students who read three or more of the books are encouraged to sign up with Mrs. Back in the GTD Resource Room.  Students are asked to create one book project and bring it to the first meeting in late September or early October.  Additional meetings may follow if the group would like to continue.   

Contact:  Mrs. Back 

 

Maud Hart Lovelace Reading Group:  Open to all grade levels.  The Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award is a children's read and vote book award. Its purpose is to encourage recreational reading among school age children.  Students are challenged to read from the list and then vote for their favorites in April. 

Contact Mr. Otte or Mrs. Back

Battle of the Books:  Open to all grade levels. Teams form in October.  Teams work to divide up 14 books on a reading list and they will take  group quizzes and complete projects to earn points in the year-long contest!  Battle of the Books is both fun and competitive, with an emphasis on fun!  Reading and sharing experiences with books helps all members appreciate and understand literature at a deeper level. Final meeting will be held at the end of May.  This group may include a combination of in-person and Zoom meetings. 

Contact:  Mr. Otte or Mrs. Back

NaNoWriMo: November is National Novel Writing Month. On Mondays and Wednesdays during the month of November join the NaNoWriMo group in the library after school to brainstorm, write and share your ideas.

Contact Mr. Otte with any questions.

 

Promising Young Writers:  8th Grade only.  This national writing contest is sponsored by the NCTE. English teachers will promote this contest in class at the end of December or early January.   Students will compose two writing samples and submit to a panel of SHMS judges.  Four students will be selected to represent SHMS in this national writing contest.

http://www2.ncte.org/awards/promising-young-writers/

Contact:  Mrs. Back

 

Writing Contests:  Open to all students.  Join the Schoology Group to have access to writing contests.  Schoology Code:  2RXS-M5P9-P7B32  Contests are added frequently, so check the Schoology Group often!  Some contests we have entered in the past have been sponsored by Scholastic, Elks Club, Daughters of the American Revolution, and Dakota Public Library. In November students may join Nanowrimo, a free writing group that meets after school for a month and encourages student to set writing goals, share their writing journey and publish their work within out school  https://www.nanowrimo.org/ 

Contact: Mrs. Back

 

Young Authors Conference:  Open to all students.  In early January students submit registration and payment for the March Young Authors Conference held at Bethel University.  Students will miss one day of school when they attend this conference.  Registration will be in MyPaymentsPlus. http://www.successbeyond.org/ 

Contact: Mrs. Back

 

Drama/Musicals:  All students are welcome to audition. The musical’s auditions will be held in December, and the show will be in March.  Students should listen to daily announcements to learn more about auditions. Registration will be in MyPaymentsPlus. 

Contact:  Ms. McMurchie-Pasch

 

Speech Team: 

Season Date: December 11, 2023-February 3, 2024

Time:  3:20-4:45

Coach: Mrs. Walton, Mrs. Handler, Mrs. Toutge, Mrs. Trusty

This is a great opportunity to improve public speaking ability, gain confidence, and have fun! The speech program continues into District 196 high schools where students have competed at the state and national level. 

Each member will select a category of piece to perform. They will participate in the same category at all four of our meets. Most categories involve choosing an excerpt from a published work and performing an interpretive reading for 5-8 minutes.  A few categories allow the student to write their own piece. More information can be found on our website. Each member will attend practice once a week after school at Scott Highlands, any day of the week except Friday. The first few practices will involve choosing pieces and writing introductions.  Later practices will involve practicing important speech skills as a large group and one-on-one private coaching sessions with one of the coaches. It is very easy to work this schedule around other school and outside activities. Practices end at 4:45pm and students ride the activity bus home if they regularly use bus transportation.  If not they will need to be picked up at 4:45.

All of our meets will be held on Saturday mornings in January and February.  At the middle school level, the students do not compete against each other.  Rather, a judge determines how their performance compares to a standard and that is how students earn ribbons.  Families must arrange transportation to meets within District 196.  We will provide transportation by bus to the meet out of the district. Parents may attend the meets as spectators, or we also welcome parents to volunteer as judges. Generally, meets last from about 8:30am until around 11:30am (not including transportation time).

Please see the website for more information. 

If interested, students can attend an INFORMATIONAL meeting after school from 3:15-4:45 on December 6, 2023 in the FACS Kitchen, Room 6. Practice starts December 11, 2023.

 

Drama Club: All students are welcome to participate. Come join Drama Club after school every Tuesday in the choir room starting on November 8th.

We will read a play featuring Marvel Superheroes: Squirrel Girl, M.O.D.O.C. and Dr. Doom! Those who are interested can sign up outside of the choir room.

Future City Competition: All students may participate.  Registrations are in MyPaymentsPlus  in September and the competition is in mid-January. There is a limited number of spots open for this competition, and it will fill quickly.  This competition is a  time-intensive team project.  Dream it, Design it, Build it and Present it.  The FCC Team meets after school with a coach at SHMS one day a week AND competition teams meet an additional day at a location outside of school.  Students are given a national topic for this competition and they research solutions to the problems their future cities would face 100 years in the  future.  

https://futurecity.org/

Contact: Mrs. Back

The Band and Music Departments have various band auditions throughout the year.  Most of the groups meet during the mid-day.  Contact any band director.

Geography Bee:  All students participate at the classroom level.  Based on classroom performances, the highest scores will participate in the SHMS Geo. Bee.  The Geo Bee is  NO LONGER a National Competition. Students can join a Schoology Group to access practice material. Contest will be in early Spring. 

Code:  GSK2-Q3WG-HT5PC

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/study-corner/

 

Spelling Bee:  All students can participate.  If there is a State Sponsor, we will join the SCRIPPS National Spelling Bee.  If there is no sponsor, we will have a School-wide Bee. Top spellers from each grade will advance to a grade level bee and then the next level of top performers will qualify for the SHMS Spelling Bee in January.

Join the Schoology Group to access study material: 4FPH-WQ7R-GBHHH    

http://spellingbee.com/

 

Chess Team:  All students can participate.  Begins in January and runs a couple of months.  Practices and meets will be after school.  Register in MyPayments Plus.

Contact:  Ms. Hansen for information.

Scholastic Scrimmage:  Open to all grade levels.  Sign up with Mrs. Back for the meets that work for your schedule!  SHMS hosts after school trivia contests against the other District 196 Middle Schools. (think team based Jeopardy!)  The SHMS teams will practice during the mid-day.  After school meets are held at SHMS, and students can ride the Activity Bus home at 5:00. 

Service Projects:  The GTYS Program plans, organizes and sponsors one service project per trimester.  Any student can participate in the event.  Events include:  Food Drives, Feed My Starving Children, etc.

Contact:  Mrs. Back