This was our eighth week of the 2020-2021 school year.

We can currently state that there are no reports of new Covid-19 cases from our eighth week back at school.

We remain cautiously optimistic that we can continue this trend but need everyone to do their part by doing daily health screeners, keeping sick children home, and following the 3 W's: wear a mask, wash your hands, and watch your distance.

As a school district, we will continue to follow our return to learn plan, guidance from the health department, Michigan Department of Education, and other oversight that we have been provided.

We know every day can be hectic, getting ready for school, and would encourage your child to utilize our free breakfast and lunch for all program.

Each week we have seen a trend of more and more virtual students return to face-to-face instruction. Our rate of face-to-face students remains relatively the same at slightly less than 90% +/-.

We encourage you to watch our sports teams utilizing our streaming network. Tomorrow night our undefeated Varsity Football team will be on the road against the Millington Cardinals.

It has truly been a team effort to successfully get to this point; our staff and teachers have made the impossible look easy and I need to make sure everyone understands; it's not easy.

Our goal is to be back in school five days a week; at this time, we continue to review our format and will continue remote Friday's on October 23rd and 30th. There will be a calendar shared in my next weekly update to get us through the remainder of 2020.

If you should have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at 989.642.5282.

All the best,

Don Killingbeck, Supt.

The following are lessons learned from this week.

1. Our students are resilient.
2. Our students are still very excited to be back at school.
3. Our staff and teachers have made this look too easy (it's not).
4. Working together, we can accomplish anything.

Looking to get a jump on Christmas presents? The Hemlock Athletic Department is holding a water bottle fundraiser now until winter break.

These water bottles/tumblers come in navy or pink and can be customized with a jersey # or first name on the front and a last name on the back. This keeps others from guessing who's bottle is who's.

Samples are available in the high school office to view. There is a quick turn around on the orders so no waiting for weeks or months to get your order back. All order forms should be turned into the high school office as well.

This is a great resource for parents to gain information about Google Apps and how they can learn more about the tools their child uses every day. Click here for the link.

Driver ed will hold indoor classes at Hemlock High in November. Segments 1 and 2 begin Nov. 2. Segment 1 will be 5-7 p.m., Nov. 2-19, and segment 2 will be 3-5 p.m., Nov. 2-4. The class size has been able to expand, so if you still would like to take either class, there are currently seats available only for Hemlock students. It will be opened to the general public later if seats remain available. Anyone wishing to sign up should call Student Drivers School at 989-791-4300.

Picture day has been rescheduled! It will take place on Tuesday, November 24th 8am-2:30pm in the new Stem Center.

We will not be using Lifetouch for this service, we have switched to Jostens. If you already purchased a picture package through Lifetouch you should be receiving a refund. Please call Lifetouch if you have questions.

As soon as we have more information from Jostens, we will share that with you on how to purchase your student's pictures.

Planning on playing a winter sport? Make sure you are signed up in FinalForms. Parents need to login and update their athlete's information and complete signatures.

Make sure ALL sports are listed that your athlete plans on participating in, otherwise you may miss early communications.

Lastly, if you plan on using last year's physical that is on file with the Athletic Department, you are still required to complete and turn in the MHSAA Health Questionnaire. This completes the physical requirement.

Girls Basketball begins November 9th. All other winter sports begin November 16th.

Did you know, Hemlock High School Early Middle College was established in 2014? It has provided opportunities for students to earn thousands of college credits and has saved families hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition. #huskietastic #bettertogether #theHemlockDifference

Class of 2021: Please make sure you have accepted the invitation to the Student Services Classroom. Your parents can also join to receive updates. We share FAFSA, scholarship and college information here. Be sure to check your email for a link to schedule your first senior meeting with Mrs. Netzley. If you have any questions, see Mrs. Netzley or email her at netzley@hemlockps.com.

Hemlock High School Student Council is hosting a pumpkin carving and painting contest. The painted and carved pumpkins will be judged separately. Pictures of your pumpkins will be due by October 26th, voting will be released the 28th and winners will be announced on the 29th or 30th. Try to make your pumpkins as creative as possible. Entries must be school appropriate. Send your pictures to 21marshall@hemlockps.com.

Round 3 of the Sugar Showdown starts today! Round 3 runs today through Wednesday, October 21st. Round 4 will start this Thursday, October 22nd and run through Sunday, October 25th.

Click the link to vote for your favorite candies: https://forms.gle/GHecYwwBJMwTENjc7

Round 2's Results (71 Voters, Winning candy is listed first):

Starburst - 94%, Good & Plenty - 6%

Hershey Bar - 87%, Fun Dip - 13%

KitKat - 79%, Twix - 21%

Gummi Bears - 54%, Sour Patch Kids - 46%

Baby Ruth - 87%, Candy Cane - 13%

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup - 92%, Mary Jane - 8%

M&M's - 87%, Bubble Yum - 13%

Nerds - 83%, Candy Corn - 17%

Skittles - 87%, Life Savers - 13%

Almond Joy - 85%, Smarties - 15%

Twizzlers - 85%, Bottle Caps - 15%

Tootsie Roll - 85%, Blow Pops - 15%

3 Musketeers - 87%, Atomic FireBall - 13%

Lemonhead - 82%, Cow Tales - 18%

Snickers - 89%, Dum Dums - 11%

PEZ - 83%, Strawberry Candy - 17%

Costumes can be worn to school on Wednesday, October 28th. There is testing going on Thursday and Friday is a remote day.

Once again Hemlock High School is a drop-off location for Toys for Tots. New, unwrapped toys can be brought to the front lobby of the high school during office hours, 7am-3:30pm. The collection is through December 11th.

Wednesday, October 21st

- Volleyball @ MLS -JV - 5:30pm, V - 7pm (Bus 4:30pm)

- Both Teams Report

Thursday, October 22nd

- JV Football vs. Laingsburg - 6pm

- Soccer District Final @ Bullock Creek vs. Alma - 6pm (Bus 4:30pm)

- Both Teams Report

Friday, October 23rd

- V Football @ Laingsburg - 7pm (Bus 5pm)

- V Cross Country Pre-Regional @ Meridian - 11am boys, 12pm girls (Bus 9:15am)

- All Students Remote

Saturday, October 24th

- Nothing Scheduled

Sunday, October 25th

- Nothing Scheduled

Monday, October 26th

- V Volleyball @ Garber Quad - 5pm (Bus 3:40pm)

- JV Volleyball Quad - 5pm

- Both Teams Report

Tuesday, October 27th

- TBD Soccer Regional @ Flint Powers - 5pm

- Both Teams Report

Wednesday, October 28th

- Volleyball @ Ithaca - F-5:30pm, JV-5:30pm & V-7pm (Bus 4:20pm)

- TBD Soccer Regional

- Both Teams Report

Important Upcoming Dates:

- October 29th, PSAT/NMSQT Testing for Sophomores & Juniors

- October 31st, Halloween

- November 2nd, Volleyball District @ Ithaca vs. Merrill - 5:30pm

- November 4th, TBD Volleyball District @ Ithaca - 5:30pm

- November 5th, TBD Volleyball District @ Ithaca - 7pm

10/14/20 - V Soccer District vs. Swan Valley - W (2-1) We fell behind early giving up a goal to the Vikings with 12 minutes remaining in the half. The second half was all Hemlock. The offensive attack started early with Nolan Finkbeiner scoring just 2 minutes into the half with an assist from Jake Funka. Jake continued his distribution finding Ethan Vietti just 3 minutes later on a cross that Ethan played perfectly to score the winning goal. Cayden Stark finished the game with 10 saves in goal.

10/14/20 - F Volleyball vs. Millington - L (17-25, 19-25) Madison Penny led the team in passing and hits. Great passing and setting by Brooke Swanson, Kylee Miller, and Lexi Ladrig.

10/14/20 - V Volleyball vs. Millington - L (16-25, 20-25, 14-25)

10/15/20 - JV Football vs. Millington - L (14-15) The huskies suffered a hard fought loss Thursday evening to a tough and disciplined Millington Cardinals team. The cardinals jumped out to an early lead, but Hemlock refused to stay down and out. A late first half touchdown pass from Caiden Larkin to Luke Zastrow, and a short 3rd quarter run from Anthony Zechmeister tightened things up, but in the end, the huskies ran out of time. The huskies defense was stingy all night, and great individual improvement was evident from many players. It was a great team effort, and even in a loss, the best showing of the season from the entire team.

10/16/20 - V Football @ Millington - W (12-6) The Hemlock Huskies are the 2020 Tri-Valley West Tier 1 Champions. In a game of undefeated teams, the Huskies prevailed against Millington, 12-6. Corbin Larkin had a couple very big plays that sealed victory. An interception followed by an 86 yard Dylan LaGrow bomb for the go ahead TD late in the 3rd quarter. Brayden Green and Espin Miller combined for 43 tackles, 6 TFLs, 1 INT, and a fumble recovery from their inside linebacker positions, truly a dominant performance. On to Laingsburg to go after the first undefeated season since 1974.

10/17/20 - V Volleyball @ BC Quad - L vs. Central (18-25, 12-25), L vs. Western (14-25, 14-25) and L vs. Valley (12-25, 9-25)

10/20/20 - V Soccer District vs. Shepherd - W (2-1) The Boys Soccer team advances to the District Finals by defeating Shepherd in a shootout. Jake Funka Scored in the first half with an assist from Colton Marino. The Blue Jays tied the game in the second half with 14minutes left to send the game to overtime. After two scoreless periods the Huskies won on PK goals by Ethan Vietti, Jake Funka, Nolan Finkbeiner, and Clay Urbaniak. Cayden Stark Had 13 saves in the game along with 2 critical stops in the shootout. The Huskies will play for the District Championship Thursday night against Alma.

10/20/20 - V CC @ Ithaca - TVC Overall Championship. In the Blue Division, the Hemlock girls' team placed third and the boys placed sixth. For the girls, Chloe Watson placed 3rd, Alex Grzenia 6th, Kyrie Rames 14th and Reagan Keyser 16th. For the boys, who ran without their top two runners, Dennis Schaffer placed 16th and Xander Nichols placed 20th. Setting new personal records were Hayden Rondy, Alex Grzenia, and Kyrie Rames. Setting new season records were Nathan Scherzer, Reagan Keyser and Hailey Scherzer.

Please return your shirts to Mr. Ludwig by next week.

JV Football vs. Laingsburg on 10/22: We are allowing free entry for spectators this last game. No limit per participant. We will check people in at the gate to stay within our capacity. Everyone must wear a mask and stay socially distant.

Varsity Football @ Laingsburg on 10/23: No extra tickets will be sold. Only pass holders will be allowed in for the 2 person per participant limit. The game will be available to view online via Facebook on the "Burg Sports & Beyond" page.

Click here to vote.

Email: galbraith@hemlockps.com
Website: www.hemlockps.com
Location: 733 North Hemlock Road, Hemlock, MI, USA
Phone: (989) 642-5287
Facebook: facebook.com/HemlockHighSchool
Twitter: @MIHemlock_High