The MUS Lower School Blog

Spelling Bee results in marathon session

Whew!  In the first of two preliminary spelling bees to select contestants for the grand spell-off on December 3, Michael Carter (far right) triumphed Wednesday afternoon by correctly spelling diphtheria and anaconda. Marshall Sullivan (left, checking heart rate on the wrong side of his chest) and Baty Daniel (not pictured) also qualified for the spell-off by placing second and third.

English teachers Dax Torrey and King Bee Keeper Terry Shelton conducted the competition.

The second preliminary bee will be held on November 14.  Students interested in participating may download a study booklet and bee rules from Mr. Shelton's website: Terry.Shelton@musowls.org.

Come run, come all

Saturday, November 14 at 10:00 a.m. on the MUS campus will be a great opportunity for the entire family as we host a 5k and Family Fun Walk, sponsored locally by Breakaway Running. If you want to run, please register here.  There will be prizes, but, hey, who's competitive around here? A cool t-shirt is guaranteed for the first 300 who register. 

Please turn in the registration form along with a check made out to Memphis University School for either $10 for the walk and t-shirt or for $20 to enter the 5k and get the t-shirt. Mrs. Debardeleben in the Lower School Office and Mrs. Counce in the Upper School Business Office await your applications, one per entry. Proceeds benefit charities selected by MUS Alumni along with the Civic Service Organization while also supporting the Spring Sports Fest 2010, hosted by the Student Council.

River rats return

Nevin Naren, Tristan Morris, Andrew Elsakr, and Charles Brandon celebrate their wears compliments of the Tunica RiverPark and Museum. Our annual trip seemed to have gone off without a hitch, save our missed comrades home-bound with the illness. A big thanks go to Mr. Judd Peters and Mr. Eddie Batey who worked the details in order for our trip to be a success.

Seventh-grade elects 2009-2010 Student Council reps

Amidst the madness of the past few days, we happened to elect a student council for the rising eighth-grade. Patrick DiMento, Lucas Crenshaw, Shaan Jiles, Harrison Stewart, Nick Schwartz, Trey Moore, and Zack Spisak will join president Chris Galvin and vice-president Malik Smith into what looks to be an outstanding leadership group for the next school year.

Consider SLAM program for potential MUS applicants

Summer is a great time for potential MUS students and their parents to be introduced to the way our school lives, moves, and has its being. There are numerous offerings to be found in what we call MUS Summer Stuff. One unique area opportunity is SLAM. Here is some language from the brochure:

PROGRAM MISSION
In its fifth year, SLAM is the area’s premier leadership
development program for middle school-aged young
men entering fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades in
the fall of 2009. The program attracts high-achieving
students from the Memphis area.Designed to foster
academic preparedness for a group of emerging
academic and social leaders, SLAM develops and
connects the future leaders of Memphis.Ultimately,
SLAM introduces all participants to college-preparatory
school experiences and expectations while promoting
community relationships for a lifetime of leadership and
service.

Many students previously unaware of MUS first experience the school through SLAM. Some of these boys become candidates for application. Some get accepted, and some of those enroll. Interestingly, a number of Honor Council reps, Student Council reps, and school leaders first came to our campus through SLAM.

Currently enrolled students, either SLAM alumni or not, often participate as ambassadors, serving to build a bridge and make friends with Memphis-area peer students.

If you know of a sharp boy entering fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth grade who could benefit from SLAM, consider offering him an application: Download SLAM2009BrochureApplication. All participants have to be recommended by their school principals. Email Judd Peters if you have any questions.

Student Council election results

The votes are in. Serving the Freshman class as Student Council representatives for the 2009-2010 school year:

Selby Austin

Derrick Baber

Andrew Miller

David Montgomery

Sam Moore

James Rantzow

Noah Thomas

Serving as the Lower School Student Council President:

Chris Galvin

 

His Vice-president:

Malik Smith

Congratulations to you all!

Youth In Government news

From field reporter Eddie Batey: The YMCA’s Middle School Youth In Government (YIG) conference was held Friday at City Hall. Participating schools this year included ECS, Mt. Pisgath, MHA, St. George's, Westminster, St. Mary's and MUS.
Of 56 bills submitted by 110 delegates, only 10 bills “made it out of committee” to reach the General Assembly (GA) for consideration.

Eli Ostrow argued the merits of his proposed bill (Senate Bill 09-5-5) entitled “An Act to Institute a Payroll Tax and Lower the Sales Tax”. His bill passed with a comfortable majority of his peers’ votes. Of the 10 bills considered in GA, Eli sponsored one of only 4 that was passed in to law!

Cole Ettingoff and Thornton Brooksbank received “Outstanding Bill” recognition as judged by the adult advisors. Their bill (SB/09-2-2) “An Act to Revise the State Tax on Inheritance” was one of only two bills so recognized.

Ian Turner provided exceptional leadership before the conference as an advisor and during the conference as a presiding officer. Thank you, Ian.

Lower School participants (15) were:

Bolton, Logan

Boshwit, Jeremy

Boyd, Hal

Brooksbank, Thornton

Crosby, Andrew

Ettingoff, Cole

Jampana Raju, Srujan

Lamb, William

Lynn, Grayson

Mayzell, Ryan

Ostrow, Eli

Oxendine, John

Shah, Aditya

Shah, Amit

Weaver, Mack

Permission slips for Thursday; Gettin' down and dirty

Download FieldTripPerm040909EighthDtown

Download FieldTripPerm040909SeventhCommServ

Please print, complete, and return to the Lower School office. The Eighth-graders are gettin' down, Downtown Memphis, that is. Seventh-graders are gettin' dirty. The Jubilee Schools and the neighborhood Boys and Girls Club will benefit, not to mention your sons.

Any student not attending Thursday must submit a parent note to Mrs. Debardeleben. Thank you for your cooperation.

Chess Team: Third in State

From Evan Mah: This past weekend the Jr. High and High School chess teams traveled to Cookeville, TN to compete in the 2009 State Team Chess Finals. Each section consisted of 16 total teams from various schools, public and private, in the Tennessee area. I will say that both sections were considerably more difficult than last year. Nevertheless, both MUS teams performed very well.

The Jr. High team, consisting of Andy Sorensen, Corey Clay, Amit Shah, Ashish Nathani, and William Lamb tied for 2^nd place and ended up coming in 3^rd on tiebreaks.

The High School team came very close to winning the tournament but alas we came in 2^nd. And as with last year when the team tied for 2^nd, we had to engage in a speed chess playoff (since scholarship money was at stake to attend Tennessee Tech University) where we eventually beat Hume Fogg. The HS team consisted of 8^th Graders Nathan Vogt and Andy Sorensen, Parker Wilson, Shiven Samant, and myself. Oak Ridge, MLK Magnet School, Page, Alcoa, Webb, and McCallie were some teams which we beat out.

Hold on... we're comin'

Seventh-graders wait patiently before entering the STAX Museum of American Soul Music.

The annual trip through Downtown Memphis is part of the Memphis Leaders class, a semester introduction to the history of MUS, Memphis, and the region.