In This Edition
Picture Retake Day This Monday, 11th Grade PSAT & ASVAB: Wednesday, October 18, Yearbook Sale, Graduation Orders, Volunteer Opportunities (PSAT/ASVAB Snacks and Breakfast Items, Robotics Mentors Wanted, Vision Screening Volunteers, Gift Cards for Teachers, Mock Trial Attorney Coaches, Lunch Volunteers Needed, Teacher Appreciation Donations, Report Your Volunteer Hours, Questions About Volunteer Hours), Sports Announcements (MS Boys Basketball Tryouts, Fall/Winter Sports Academic Eligibility, Sports Physicals), Counseling Announcements (Counseling Donations, Building Resilience: Character), Can We Reach You In Case Of Emergency? (Opt In For School Text Messages, Update Your Contact Information)
Front Office Hours This Week
7:30am-4:00pm Mon-Tues
7:30-11:30am Wednesday
CLOSED Thurs-Fri for Fall Break
**PARENTS: Please remember to check in at the front office when visiting the school during school hours, including Fridays. We appreciate your help in keeping our students safe!**
Upcoming Dates and Deadlines
Friday, October 13
Last Day of Q1
6:45am MS Boys Basketball Tryouts
Monday, October 16
School Picture Retake Day
Wednesday, October 18
PSAT Day: Juniors only
ASVAB for sophomores & seniors who sign up in advance
NO SCHOOL for students in grades 7, 8, 9, 10, 12
Thursday-Friday, October 19-20
FALL BREAK: NO SCHOOL
Lunch Options
On days that the school uses the preorder forms, please let your child know they will have 10 minutes to get their lunch and after 10 minutes we will start selling the extras to students who did not preorder.
Tuesday: Gandalfo’s Sandwich & Chips – $6
Use the link to pre-order for this day. The link will close at 12pm on Monday.
Gandolfo’s Sandwich Pre-Orders
Microwaves are available in the lunchroom for students who bring lunch from home. Please note: we do NOT have refrigerator facilities for student use.
Picture Retake Day: Monday, October 16
Jostens will be on campus the morning of Monday, October 16th for school picture retakes. If your student missed school picture day or needs a retake, please remind them to look their best (in Full Dress Uniform) on Monday the 16th.
11th Grade PSAT Day: Wednesday, October 18
On Wednesday, October 18, all Maeser Juniors will be given the opportunity to take the PSAT — a pre-SAT test offered by the College Board. This is a free opportunity for our Juniors to enter the National Merit Scholarship Competition.
In order to create a safe and focused testing environment for our Juniors, we have set aside this day for PSAT testing only. There will be NO SCHOOL on October 18 for students who are not in 11th grade. Please make other arrangements for your students in grades 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 on that day, as we will not have space or supervision available for them on our campus.
Our generous parent volunteers will be providing breakfast before the test and snacks during the break. Juniors should plan to arrive by 7:30am for breakfast before the PSAT. Testing will begin at 8:00am. We anticipate that standard-time testing will end at around 11:00am and students should plan to leave campus immediately after their testing room is dismissed. More detailed information about PSAT day will be sent to Juniors and their parents as we get closer to the day of the test.
We encourage all Juniors to take the PSAT on October 18, both as a free opportunity to practice before taking the ACT and as an opportunity to enter a large scholarship competition. However, parents who prefer not to send their students to campus for testing can choose to opt their students out of this test by submitting a signed Parental Exclusion Form by NO LATER THAN Monday, October 16 to give us time to excuse your student’s absence and adjust our testing room assignments. Students who are unable to take the test will be provided with information about how they can enter the National Merit Scholarship competition without taking the PSAT.
ASVAB
If your sophomore or senior has signed up to take the ASVAB on October 18, please have them go straight to the math building WITHOUT entering the main school building. We will have breakfast available at 8:30 and begin the ASVAB at 9:00am. The test takes about 1.5-2 hours. Plan to come to the results meeting with your student on November 3 if you would like to attend. We will send a time to you when the day gets closer.
Yearbook Sale
Get your yearbooks early! If you order during the fall, it only costs $55 per copy. Go to jostens.com and search for Karl G. Maeser in their Yearbook section (or follow this link) and put in your order today.
Graduation Orders
Believe it or not, it’s time to get graduation caps and gowns, tassels, graduation announcements and your Senior 2024 swag ordered. Class rings and letter jackets are also available to order online. We recommend getting your order submitted by the end of November. Please see the options and instructions for ordering below.
OPTION 1: Order your cap and gown as part of a graduation announcement and celebration package.
Click here to order graduation packages that include custom graduation announcements, photo cards, senior swag and the cap and gown
OPTION 2: Order your cap and gown unit only, or to order cap and gown and other graduation/celebration items individually such as the exclusive mascot tassels*, graduation announcements or swag.
Click here to order the cap and gown unit and/or other individual graduation items.
Click here for the cap and gown unit ONLY.
OPTION 3: Order a graduation class ring along with your graduation products.
Click here to order your graduation class ring
OPTION 4: Order a Letter Jacket along wth your graduation products.
Click here to order a Letter Jacket
Questions? Please contact Jostens directly at Bryan.durfey.office@jostens.com or 801-766-6754.
Volunteer Opportunities
PSAT/ASVAB Snacks and Breakfast Items
We still have a few items needed for snacks and breakfast for students on PSAT and ASVAB day (Oct 18th)! For more information and to sign up, please visit our SignUpGenius: Breakfast & Snacks for PSAT and ASVAB Day.
Robotics Mentors Wanted!
The robotics team could always use a few good mentors. No robotics experience necessary, mentors are needed with business experience, finance experience, marketing experience, electrical, fabrication, coding experience, or even just to be an adult body in the room. Contact Mark Summers at mark.summers@maeserprep.org if you are interested.
Vision Screening Volunteers
We would love to have parent volunteers to assist in vision screening students. No previous training is required. The screening will take place in the Maeser Library. For more information and to sign up, please visit our SignUpGenius: Vision Screening Volunteers.
Gift Cards for Teachers
At this time, we are asking for gift cards to give to teachers when they want to purchase items (including food) for various class activities, and for the administration to give to teachers for a pat on the back and a token of appreciation. For more information and to sign up, please visit our SignUpGenius: Gift Cards for Teachers.
Mock Trial Attorney Coaches
Our High School and Middle School Mock Trial Teams are looking for Attorney Coaches! If you are looking for a way to support Maeser and are an attorney here in Utah, we would welcome your involvement in our Mock Trial program. We rely on our Attorney Coaches to help teach the finer points of the law, court procedure and student roles (attorney, witness, bailiff). We meet weekly on Fridays. Our state competition begins in February, 2024. If you are interested or have questions, please contact Mr. Geary at: douglas.geary@maeserprep.org.
Lunch Volunteers Needed!
Do you need to get your volunteer hours? We need help selling and serving lunch every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 11:15-12:00pm. To sign up to help please email Jared Norris at jared.norris@maeserprep.org
Teacher Appreciation Donations
We would like to have a variety of treats/drinks available for teachers in the faculty room. We would also like to celebrate teacher birthdays each month. If you can help, please visit the following links to sign up (can be used for volunteer hours!):
Help Us Celebrate Our Teachers’ Birthdays
Help Provide Teacher Treats
Report Your Volunteer Hours
DON’T FORGET! Report your volunteer hours once you’ve dropped off your donation: Report Parent Service Hours. Each $5 spent for donations counts as one hour of volunteer service!
Questions About Volunteer Hours?
Contact us at volunteer@maeserprep.org.
Sports Announcements
MS Boys Basketball Tryouts
Tryouts are Friday, October 13 from 3:30-5:30pm. Practices will start the following week and will generally be before school from 6:30-7:45am. You must have your sports physical in order to participate in competitions or practices beyond October 20th. Also, a reminder that you must pass all your classes 1st term and have a GPA of 2.7 or higher. For questions contact jessica.kemper@maeserprep.org.
Fall/Winter (Q2 & Winterim) Sports Academic Eligibility
Eligibility for participation in fall sports/activities that go into the 2nd term and winter sports/activities will be determined by 1st term grades. All students (middle and high school) must have earned a 2.7 GPA with no Fs. In addition, high school students cannot have any Fs/NGs/Incompletes from previous high school terms. All Fs/NGs must be made up by the last day of term.
Sports Physicals
All students, middle school and high school, who will be playing sports this year (2023-24) need a physical in order to play. Physicals completed on or after March 10, 2023 are good until July 15, 2024. Any physicals completed before March 10 of this year will not be accepted (per UHSAA policy) for the upcoming school year.
Here is a link to the UHSAA form which Maeser uses for ALL athletes: UHSAA Physical Form
Counseling Announcements
Counseling Donations
The Middle School Counseling team is in need of large bags of individual sized candy. You can use this towards your volunteer hours!
Kind: an assortment- chocolate, hard candy like jolly ranchers, tootsie pops or rolls, whatever comes in the assorted bags is fine. We would like some non-chocolate as well.
Amount: 4-5 bags/month
Building Resilience: Character
There has been a lot of talk lately about students and resilience. In the book Building Resilience in Children and Teens, 7 C’s of Resilience are discussed. We’re taking the next 7 weeks to give you some tips to help your students with resilience.
This week let’s focus on Character.
Martin Luther King is famous for his I have a dream speech. In that speech he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Another famous quote, given by our namesake, Karl G Maeser: “I have been asked what I mean by ‘word of honor’. I will tell you. Place me behind prison walls—walls of stone ever so high, ever so thick, reaching ever so far into the ground—there is a possibility that in some way or another I might be able to escape; but stand me on the floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor never to cross it. Can I get out of that circle? No, never! I’d die first.”
Character is the mental and moral qualities of an individual. As parents we would love for each of our children to develop the type of character embodied by these two great men. However, if we do not have discussions with our children about what character means to them, how can we expect them to develop into the people we would like to see them become? Often our children dream of being superheroes and saving the world, but they forget about the traits that lead a hero to becoming a hero. Often the real heroes are those in the background doing the quiet, thoughtful, things.
Talk to your children about the traits that are their strengths and weaknesses and make a plan on how to turn those weaknesses into strengths.
Here are just a few character traits that we should be helping our children develop as they grow to be men and women others can trust and rely on:
Accepting, Authentic, Balanced, Cheerful, Committed, Collaborative, Communicative, Confident, Connected, Consistent, Empathetic, Flexible, Friendly, Good listener, Helpful, Honest, Inclusive, Integrity, Open Minded, Organized, Patient, Pleasant, Proactive, Reliable, Respectful, Responsible, Self-reliant, Sincere, Supportive, Trustworthy, Valiant, Wise.
Can We Reach You In Case Of Emergency?
It’s important to keep your contact information up to date and opt-in to receive text messages from Maeser — in case of an emergency, this is how we notify parents! In addition, we use your contact information to notify you about important school events and school fees deadlines.
Here’s how to make sure you’re getting all of our important announcements and information:
Opt In For School Text Messages
Our school utilizes the SchoolMessenger system to deliver text messages to your mobile phone with important information about events, school closings, safety alerts, student fees, and more. We will only use text messaging for urgent and important information.
You can participate in this service by sending a text message of “Y” or “Yes” to our school’s short code number, 67587.
You can also opt out of text messages at any time by simply replying to one of our messages with “Stop”.
Update Your Contact Information
If any of your contact information has changed – email address, mailing address, phone number – please let us know asap so we can be sure you’re getting school and teacher communications.
Thank you for helping us keep in contact with your family!