Global Interests

After a cold winter, StuCo wanted to encourage students to enjoy the outdoors and play the most popular sport in the world, soccer - a sport that unites us. Thanks to all those who participated in our spring Soccer Tournament! We raised money for StuCo, enjoyed friendly and competitive games with our classmates, and got a chance to enjoy the outdoors! The winning teams in each grade are as follows, and each team member earned a $25 gift card of their choice:

• 6th Grade - Argentina: Oniyah Samuels, Ahlayna Taliento, Caleb Huang, Jonathan Cabral

• 7th Grade - Cheeseburgers: Sabrina Dykeman, Gabby Vincent, Cam Zibrak, Brady Bell

• 8th Grade - Grant's Gang: Eliana Nakhla, Charlotte Serrano, Akshath Prasad, Grant McLaughlin

Our spring UNO Tournament was once again a success as students from all three grade levels tested their UNO skills in rapid round robin games before determining our winners in our championship bracket. Our winners were Maryam Kannachankudy, Henri Giguere, and Sarabeth Lonergan. Not only did each of them earn a $25 gift card of their choice, but they also earned the opportunity to donate to an organization of their choice. These three students donated a total of $100 to amazing organizations like St. Jude's, Dana Farber, and Make-A-Wish!

Thanks to all those who participated in our Global Food Trivia event! Students formed teams of up to four players and were quizzed on information about various foods, dishes, and ingredients that span cultures and countries across the world! And congrats to Aaron Sanchez-Verkkonen and Gabe Westman for winning the competition!

During the 2024-2025 school year, members of StuCo audited a collection of lost and found items (mostly clothing and water bottles) to find out how much (in terms of quantity and cost) our school community was discarding. Through multiple sessions, our members recorded 366 items at a total estimated value of $10,170. StuCo donated all of the items, yet next school year, we plan to educate our school community about the impacts of our decisions and how we can better keep track of our belonging.

Thanks to all those who voted in our most recent bracket-style voting competition! After a week of intense voting, the SMS community has selected Tokyo, Japan as the greatest destination! Be sure to check out our bracket on Schoology to see all of the results!

Thanks to all those who submitted a poster in this year's A Poster For Change competition. After our community voted, the three winning posters belong to:

• First Place: Lani Fisher, $75 gift card

• Second Place: Kinzom Jaiswal, $50 gift card

• Third Place: Cassie Lei & Edith Mayeski, $25 gift card

These students will also get their posters professionally printed and hung up somewhere in SMS to make an impact on our school community! Check out the poster document on Schoology to once again see their amazing work!

On Friday, April 26th, the SHS Young Women's Leadership Development Initiative (Y We LeaD) came to SMS to speak to student leaders from some of our clubs (StuCo, DREAMS, GLI, and Peer Leaders) as well as any interested students. They led this group through an interactive and inspiring trivia-themed presentation to talk about the disparities between men and women in leadership positions and what we can do to help shrink this gap in pay, opportunities, and respect.

Through the leadership of the Project 351 students at Sharon High School, we ran a clothing drive from late March to early April to benefit Cradles to Crayons, and organization we have been honored to support over many years. Students and families brought in new or gently used clothing items to our table, which was et up outside the main office, and on Friday, the Project 351 students from Sharon High School went around to each out the SPS schools to collect all donated items.

This was once again a wonderful opportunity for our school community to make a difference in the lives of others, and we look forward to doing so again next school year!

StuCo also held our first ever Lego building competition on Monday, March 4th, and we used world monuments and landmarks as our theme. We'd love for you to see a slideshow for this event so that you can view many of the builds that students created to capture the likeness of these structures. 

StuCo held one of our famous trivia events in March, and this time, it was sports themed. We asked questions that centered around the four major North American sports (basketball, baseball, football, and hockey), and there were some really fun categories for questions (like Sports Math!) Check out our trivia slideshow, put it in present mode, and see how well you can do!

Together, the four schools participating in the drive managed to collect over 200 pounds of non-perishable food items. This generous donation benefitted the food pantry at the First Congregational Church of Sharon and the Ilse Mark’s Food Pantry, both of which support members of our local community. Undoubtedly, the food we have collected will bring both joy and assistance to families in need during the holiday season. We look forward to collaborating on our next community-service initiative.

After a week of voting, the SMS community has decided on their top three favorite photographs! Also, we are now happy to reveal the amazing photographers behind the lens of each fantastic photo submitted! So be sure to check out our updated document to see whose photo is whose - along with the winners!

Ten teams of students participated in our first ever Country Flag Trivia, which saw students show their knowledge of the many countries in our world but correctly identifying flags, as well as answering trivia questions based on country and territory flags. It was fiercely competitive and awe-inspiring to see how much our students knew about this specific topic! 

StuCo held a restock/trinket sale over the last month to raise money for the American Red Cross. The funds will be used to support the recovery efforts in Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of the devestating earthquakes that struck the region earlier this year. Students from all three grades made donations by purchasing fun items at our lunch tables throughout late April and early May. We ended up raising over $300 to send to the American Red Cross, and we thank all those who supported this great cause!

Members of the SHS Red Cross Club came to SMS to deliver a presentation to StuCo, as well as students from DREAMS, GLI and Peer Leaders. All of these student leaders had a chance to see the important work these high schoolers have been doing to bring attention to international conflicts, understanding the laws and proceedings surrounding them, and learning how to get involved and make a difference. 

The presentation was interactive, asking students in the audience to participate by standing, giving ideas, and answering questions posed by the high school students.

Knowing that all of these clubs look to make positive change in the world (and work on issues of diversity, inclusion, and most on various world issues), this was a great opportunity to consider how to be more aware of international issues and how to get involved at our school. Thanks to the high school students for the leadership and dedication!

Through the leadership of SHS students, SMS StuCo was able to provide an opportunity for members of our community to donate new or gently used clothing items to be brought to local shelters requesting these items. SMS, along with other Sharon schools, helped to combine for 20 bags of donated clothing! This is a wonderful example of our students, families and staff coming together for a great cause!

Thank you to all those who donated to support these two important donation drives. We had many items brought in, and it was truly wonderful to see the SMS community show their generosity and giving spirit during the holiday season. Also, a huge shout out to Isaiah Gong, an 8th grader who coordinated our Ukraine Sock Drive, and also to Sava Kassev, a 10th grader who coordinated our Food Drive.

Thank you to all those who voted in our Climate Change Ad Competition. With 18 amazing posters to choose from, we know it was difficult, yet our community has selected the following as the winners:

1. First Place - Tahiya Sorker, Grade 8

2. Second Place - Mia and Elle Sheard & Brielle Hoemke, Grade 7

3. Third Place - Nika Fernandez, Grade 8

These students have won Crescent Ridge gift cards ($100, $75, & $50) AND will have their posters professionally printed and hung up around the school, so be on the lookout for them soon! You can see the winning posters on Schoology!

In our final Global Issues event of the year, StuCo and a group of dedicated 6th graders created a fun, trivia-themed event in order to raise money for the TeamSeas initiative started by Mr. Beast and Mark Rober. Students worked in teams to answer trivia questions (many ocean themed!) to earn prizes, all for a good cause!

The second, 2-day event in our series was once again a resounding success and an incredibly helpful & meaningful experience for students. Members of our LGBTQIA+ Planning Committee presented a helpful presentation in the auditorium on the first day. Also, members of the LGBTQIA+ in our school community along with allies shared stories of pronouns and misgendering, which was both powerful and memorable. 

On the second day, students were invited to the cafeteria to write down questions and ideas, draw and doodle, and interview each other by asking a series of questions. This was a more laid-back portion of our event, yet it was arguably even more important because it gave many students a chance to talk, chill, and feel supported!

We look forward to the next event in our series, which will take place in April!

Thank you to all students and families who participated in our holiday food drive! We were able to collect a number of items to assist the Project 351 students at Sharon High School with their efforts, and we are incredibly grateful for all the generosity shown. We had 276 total items donated, and Grade 6 brought in the most items, 117. Grade 6 has therefore earned an extended lunch and recess as a prize for their efforts. Note that this extended lunch & recess might not happen until some warmer weather in the spring so that it can be best enjoyed. Thank you for giving this holiday season!

Our first event was a huge success! Members of Student Council, the SMS GSA, and other motivated students formed our LGBTQIA+ Planning Committee in November. They worked for almost a month on our first presentation, and this past Friday they delivered it to over 50 students and staff! Our first event reviewed some of the basics in knowing and understanding the LGBTQIA+ community and equality movement, as well as the importance of pronouns and what misgendering is and how to best navigate it. The students who facilitated the event have created a survey for all those who attended. If you did attend the event, we would love your feedback, so be sure to click this link! Thanks again for everyone's support! We will be working on the second event in our series after break, and we will send an update about that as soon as we can! 

Thank you so much to all those who wrote messages of gratitude for our Gratitude @ SMS initiative! Student Council has begun to deliver many of the messages, and we will continue until all are delivered!

Since spring has sprung, this is a great opportunity to practice environmentally friendly choices and actions, and Student Council wanted to encourage us all to do this by participating in a fun BINGO-styled challenge! For the next two weeks, from Tuesday, June 1st to Friday, June 11th, students can complete five activities "in a row" from the BINGO Board we have provided. You'll. just need to fill out some completion slides to prove you've done so. Once you send in your completed slides, you will be entered into a drawing to receive a $100 Crescent Ridge gift card!For all the important info, click here to see the flyer!

On Wednesday, June 2nd @ 1:00pm, for the final event in our year-long Black Lives Matter series, we will be exploring what it means to be an Upstander and how Upstanders can specifically take action to address issues or racism and racial injustice. We will discuss the role Upstanders can play in our community, give examples of famous Upstanders and those who continue to work toward racial justice, and we will explore how we can all act as Upstanders in our own way to continue to address racism in our town and in our world. Please review our event flyer for more specific details, and like our previous events, we will be posting the event link on the morning of the event for all to access. We hope to see you there!

On behalf of StuCo and our SMS Project 351 representatives, we wanted to send a sincere thank you to all of the students and families who donated clothing to our Cradles to Crayons drive. In total, 1,057 clothing items were donated from our SMS community! That is AMAZING! This show of kindness and giving is what makes us such a strong and generous community, and we are happy that we were able to work together to make a difference in people's lives. For the donation competition, the 6th Grade brought in the most items! Congratulations! Because of this, 6th graders have earned an extended stretch break during an Advisory period over the coming weeks!

Thank you to all those who attended and helped faciliate our third event, which honored Black women, both in history and in our own community. We were fortunate to have a panel of staff, middle school students, and high school students who participated in a panel discussion to help educate our community about the daily struggles of being a Black woman in Sharon and in the United States. This was a truly powerful event, and we are so grateful for the insight and testimony of our panelists!

The SMS Student Council & BLM Committee is happy to announce that we had another successful event in our BLM Series! Many students presented on influential Black figures from history, and we had some powerful discussions! Here, you can review our presentation!

Our first event in our Black Lives Matter Series was a huge success! We discussed the tragic events of the Trayvon Martin case, engaged in an important discussion about race and racial violence, and we came together as a community to address these issues. You can review our presentation here.

Student Council is honored to have Dr. Karyn Horowitz, a renowned pediatric psychiatrist, join us for an evening to present to both students and families about the many challenges of managing mental health in middle school, especially amid these difficult times. There will be a presentation for 6th graders and one for 7th & 8th graders, and parents/guardians are welcome and encouraged to join their children. These presentations will be on Thursday, December 3rd, and all specific information can be found in our event flyer, including a Google Form to register for the event. Please reach out to Mr. Marrone (amarrone@sharonschools.net) with any questions.