SMS Newsletter
December 2025
Dear SMS Families,
December always brings a special energy to Springville Middle School. The building is teeming with energy, as students and staff alike look forward to this special time of year and probably to a little break too. There’s a real sense of warmth and excitement in the air—classroom doors decorated, conversations filled with plans for the holidays, and an overall feeling of togetherness that makes this season one of the best times of the year to be part of our school community.
A longtime favorite event is right around the corner — our SMS Winter Concert! Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 10th, at 6:30 PM in the SMS gymnasium. All of our middle school ensembles will perform, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the hard work and talent of our musicians. Seeing the gym filled with proud families and hearing the applause for our students is one of the highlights of the season. Congratulations in advance to our performers and to our outstanding music faculty across the district—this concert is truly a team effort we can all enjoy.
I also want to recognize a proud moment from last month. On November 6th, the National Junior Honor Society inducted 29 new members in a ceremony attended by more than 200 family members and friends. It was an inspiring evening that celebrated scholarship, leadership, service, character, and citizenship. Many thanks to NJHS advisor Ms. Heim for organizing such a meaningful event and to all the faculty and staff who helped make the night memorable.
As we head into winter break, thank you for your continued support of SMS. Wishing every family a restful, joyful holiday season.
Respectfully,
Dr. Fisher
Recently, Mrs. Lewandowski’s 7th-grade ELA students finished reading "A Long Walk to Water." This story is about children who fled their homes without their families during the Sudanese Civil War. These children walked for years to try to find safety from the war, resulting in this group of boys being called "The Lost Boys of Sudan." Some of the boys were relocated to the United States to start their lives here.
Mathon Noi, a “Lost Boy” relocated from South Sudan to Rochester, returned to SMS to share his experiences about his journey with students to help them make connections to the novel. Mathon shared his story and how he is giving back through his non-profit, Building Minds in South Sudan, which builds schools.
This year, he brought another guest, Ted Avgerinos, who has traveled with Mathon to build schools in South Sudan.
Please join us in congratulating this year's 8th graders who were recently inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. This year's 30 inductees were chosen based on their demonstration of scholarship, service, leadership, citizenship, and character. Congratulations!
- Batterson, Layla
- Bridges, Michael
- Duerr, Riley
- Georger, Logan
- Gernatt, Kambelle
- Hill, Lillie
- Hilliker, Emery
- Jeanniton, Charlie
- Jones, Tucker
- Kellerman, Madeline
- Lemanski, Tiara
- Lightcap, Kayla
- Lightcap, Rebecca
- Lowry, Vidia
- McCrory, Lily
- Miess, Ian
- Parsons, Annabel
- Pidsadnick, Claira
- Prinino, Oliver
- Rola, Hailey
- Root, Daisy
- Rzepecki, Caitlyn
- Shufelt, Kurtis
- Sliwinski, Elana
- Sutherland, Clara
- Swope, Andrew
- Wallum, Chloe
- Wochensky, Adeline
- Woodarek, Josh
- Young, Sophia
Veterans Day Tradition Continues at SMS
Continuing the tradition, the eighth-grade class celebrated Veterans Day on Thursday with a field trip to Shuttleworth Park and small group discussions with local veterans. Social Studies teacher Drew Beiter organized the day's events, which included the singing of the National Anthem, recitation of the poem, In Flanders Fields, and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Before leaving the park, students heard from Gold Star Mother, Holly Baker. The trip ended with laying a wreath and the playing of Taps. The day continued with small group discussions with local veterans, family members of veterans and Honor Flight.
"I want students to leave my class as more engaged citizens and I think we accomplished that today," Mr. Beiter said.
Thank you to the Felton Burns VFW Post 5260, Jastry Amvets Post 219 and the Concord American Legion Post 431. A special thank you to our guests LJ Snyder, Jessica Steele, Holly Baker, Tom Petrie, Shawn Pidsadnick, David Juenemann, Tom Allen, Larry Snyder, Roy Barley, Marie Soderholm and the American Legion Post 431 Color Guard!
Middle school students in Mr. Reese's science class finished their unit on density with a project that was lighter than air! Students made hot air balloons out of tissue paper and then contributed to a massive class balloon. At the end of the week, the balloons were filled with hot air and released into the sky! Most of the balloons were caught by the students, but one got away!
