What Should I Read?

Picking a book - for some of us, it's easy to choose - for others, it might be more difficult. Here are some resources to help you find a book that matches your interests!

Probably the best way to get recommendations for good books is to ask a friend whose taste you like. You've talked about movies and music, now ask what they've read and loved.

Next stop - talk to our librarians. They love books, and they love helping you find books! Tell them about you and your interests, and they can help direct you to a good read!

Listed below are some other resources for you:

For books written by authors close to home, try these Vermont book suggestions from our own Secretary of State.

This is a list of some stone-cold classic book reads. Try 'em; you'll love 'em. Top 100 Books

Good Reads is another helpful resource, and here is a list of their Top 100 Middle School Must Reads. 

If you're interested in non-fiction, here's a helpful list for you: Best Books for Young Adults Non-fiction. 

Some great Classics can be found here: Middle School Suggested Classics

The DCF Book List for this has some great reads - feel free to ask your Humanities teachers. We have read some good ones: DCF Book Site

Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games, and Divergent fans, here is a list of GoodReads Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction

If you have recommendations of how to find good books, let your Humanities teachers know, and we'll update the list!

Hiking Mount Mansfield

Tomorrow - Thursday, September 4 - House C will be putting our Habits of Mind to the test as we endeavor to hike the Sunset Ridge trial to the highest point in Vermont: the "Chin" of Mount Mansfield! Remember to bring:

• A water bottle - 24 oz minimum
• Proper footwear - sturdy, close-toed shoes/boots, socks
• Clothing layers - t-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, light jacket, light pants, shorts
• Lunch and snacks
• Sunscreen
• Bug spray
• Backpack for carrying it all!

Middle School Fundraising

Dear Families

At the end of your student’s middle school experience, he or she will have the opportunity to participate in the 8th grade field trip to Boston.  This field trip is three days and two nights and for many students it is the highlight of their middle school years.  During this trip, students get to witness the culture of Boston, visit a few of Boston’s best museums, and they get to stay at Emerson College.  This is a unique opportunity that every student should experience.  In order to make this trip affordable for all families, we offer numerous fundraisers throughout the school year.  Each student is given a field trip account.  Students earn money for this account by fundraising.  This money will be put towards the cost of the Boston trip and can also be used to fund other school based field trips as well.  I have created these accounts so that students can earn their trip to Boston. This year the cost of the trip is $325, if your students participates in a couple of fundraisers each year, they will not have to fund raise all of the money during 8th grade.   I cannot stress enough the importance of fundraising early so that your family is not stuck with a $325 bill at the end of 8th grade.  Also, this account can be used for other field trips in the middle school.

I will be getting out a list of fundraisers that we will be doing shortly.  I just wanted to alert you to this excellent opportunity to earn money that does not involve selling something.

Christine Vaughn has given us a fun opprotunity for parents to earn money for their students fundraising account.  If you help out for the 6.5 hours you will get $65 for you students account. Here is the information:

For groups of 10-20 adult volunteers before or on event day, we will donate $10 per volunteer hour back to the field trip fund.  Our day begins at 6:30, and lasts about 6.5 hours.  The work is easy, either monitoring the course for fair play, working merchandise tables, or registration.  We also have some opportunities for set up and tear down.

Possible donations:
10 volunteers X 6.5 hours X $10 = $650 total donation
20 volunteers X 6.5 hours X $10 = $1300 total donation

If you are interested in running in the Zombie Run, you can get $10 off runner registration - and for each time the coupon is used, we would donate $5 back to the Field Trip fund.  The code for registering is MMS.

To register for the run https://zombierun.webconnex.com/register

Please contact Mr. Smith <jsmith3@mtsd-vt.org> with any questions about fundraising or the Boston trip.