Union-Scioto Local School District

ATTENTION CHOIR PARENTS: Call time for choir members for tomorrow's Homecoming game performance is 3:45. If transportation is a concern, students will be welcome to stay after school in the choir room. If unable to be here by 3:45, all students must arrive no later than 6 PM. The UMA will be feeding the choir members with the band. The dress for the performance is Black pants or skirt with purple and/or gold top. This is a graded performance and attendance is expected. Any questions, please call Mr. Elliott at the high school extension 4162. Go Tanks!

All Unioto students' admission is free for Friday's Homecoming game vs. Piketon compliments of Ray Braden, Chillicothe Truck and Accessories. Your free ticket to the game will be given to you at the gate. Thank you, Ray Braden and Chillicothe Truck and Accessories. All Unioto students get in free this Friday. Please support your team as they play on Friday. Hope you enjoy the game. Go Tanks!

Our campus has undergone many updates and improvements over the last year! Check out a video detailing the projects here: https://youtu.be/5zp1CNqazVg

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! Go Tanks!

Check out the breakfast and lunch menus for October!

Congratulations to Cameron Jones, a UMS student, and Kaylynn Menendez, a UHS student for winning the All-Call drawing by listening and replying correctly! It pays to listen!! They both won Airpod Pros compliments of Ray Braden of Chillicothe Truck and Accessories. Great job students!! Go Tanks!!

Reminder: fall pictures are tomorrow, Wednesday, September 13 for middle and high school students. Order forms were sent home last week. Online orders are also accepted at www.downtownphotos.com. Please use access code UNIOTOMS or UNIOTOHS and begin typing your student's name. A percentage of the proceeds from picture orders is returned to the school, which in turn, benefits our students and school. Capture your student's smile this school year while also supporting our school!

All-call for 7:30 am today! Our Vision: By inspiring greatness, all students will realize their worth and potential. Our Mission: At Union-Scioto School District, students will learn, lead, and make a difference. Our Motto: Today’s Learners, Tomorrow’s Leaders Dedicated this all-call to our superstar teachers at Unioto. Over 25 years ago I was introduced to the Starfish story and it continues to be the greatest reminder of what our profession is all about. It has served as a lighthouse in my journey as a person, leader, and educator. I would characterize it as symbolic of a truly devoted, genuine, and caring teacher’s mission. Allow me to share. One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a figure in the distance. As he got closer, he realized the figure was that of a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?” The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll all die.” Son, the man said, “Don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?” You can’t possibly make a difference!” After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, “I made a difference for that one.” Our teachers have one of, if not, the most challenging and greatest responsibilities - educating our youth. It is tough. It is work. It is time-consuming. It is exhausting. It is demanding. It is relentlessly taxing. It is hard. To do it right is unbelievably hard. But let me say this unapologetically. Helping a child realize their worth and potential transcends any and all of the hardships inherent in being a teacher. Just this week in a conversation with one of our staff members whom I respect tremendously, I was reminded that there is nothing, nothing more rewarding than genuinely helping another person, but even more so, a child! Unquestionably, serving as a teacher can be the most rewarding, meaningful, and fulfilling possible human experience. “Children are our future. Teaching them important values and helping them make the right decisions is a priority. There is nothing more vital than guiding children down the right path on their journey through life.” So, allow me to shine a light of gratitude, respect, admiration, and genuine appreciation for each of our teachers at Unioto for their service and commitment to the betterment of our most precious resource, our children. Teacher appreciation week…are you kidding me?? One week? Being a teacher ranks up there with being a mother. I have said for years and will continue to say, we should celebrate Mother’s Day every day! Same with Teacher’s Appreciation Week - it should be every week! Thank you, Unioto teachers! I encourage all of us to let a teacher or teachers know how much you appreciate them. Take a moment and thank them. They have and will continue to earn it! Students - reply to this all-call in the subject heading of your email “Thank you, teachers”. I will enter all students replying correctly and by the deadline of Tuesday, September 12th by noon in a drawing for a nice prize! Carry your own weather!! Go Tanks!!

All Unioto students' admission is free for this Friday's home football game vs. Westfall compliments of Sean Knight, Quality Builders of Ohio. Thank you Sean Knight of Quality Builders of Ohio. All Unioto students get in free this Friday. Please support your team this Friday and hope you enjoy the game.

Fall pictures will be next Wednesday, September 13 for middle and high school students. Order forms have already been sent home. Online orders are also accepted at www.downtownphotos.com. Please use access code UNIOTOMS or UNIOTOHS and begin typing your student's name. A percentage of the proceeds from picture orders is returned to the school, which in turn, benefits our students and school. Capture your student's smile this school year while also supporting our school!

Drama Club Reminder: Today, Wednesday, September 6th, the Drama Club will be holding an important informational meeting that all student participants and parents should attend! It will be no more than an hour and will be held in the Auditeria at 6:30 PM. Again, the Drama Club informational meeting is to be held today in the auditeria at 6:30 pm. Any student participating in the middle school/high school drama club and their parents should plan to attend! Thank you and GO TANKS!!

All-call for 4:00 pm today! Our Vision: By inspiring greatness, all students will realize their worth and potential. Our Mission: At Union-Scioto School District, students will learn, lead, and make a difference. Our Motto: Today’s Learners, Tomorrow’s Leaders I wanted to announce some bad news in advance to help our students begin their mental preparation for not having school on a Monday! Take a deep breath students and know that you can do it! No School Monday, September 4th due to Labor Day. Focus on the positive that school will resume on Tuesday, September 5th! Good News: Our student winner for listening and following directions properly by responding to Friday’s all-call and email from me is Elizabeth Trout, a 5th grader! Congratulations on winning the 2nd Generation AirPods Pro! A special thanks to Ray Braden and Chillicothe Truck and Accessories for sponsoring the gift and to my secretary Beth Smith for drawing the winner! Many students were eliminated due to not properly following my directions. So, learn from your mistakes and try again! It pays to listen!! Parents, I can personally and professionally attest to the challenges and real real difficulties in raising and guiding children. As parents, we continually reflect, think, and I would say worry about how we can be the best parent for this child I love, cherish, and care so so much for. One area, in particular, I have observed consistently over my 30 years in education that parents struggle with is disciplining their children. Maintaining consistent expectations and following through with consistent consequences or even consequences at all. Know that it is tough. It is hard. And you will make mistakes. I think everyone knows this to be true. I applaud and admire parents for accepting the challenge of good, solid parenting. Allow me to encourage you to stay strong, and work to be the best parent you can be for your children. They deserve it and need it more than ever. Most importantly, remember, it is love to correct a child heading down the wrong path, making poor decisions, associating with the wrong crowd, adopting and demonstrating a bad attitude, and making excuses and blaming others all the time. It is love to correct them. Hold them accountable and maintain high expectations and they will rise to meet them. I heard an interesting rule to follow when parenting your children. “Don’t let your children do anything that will make you not like them”. The inevitable discomfort that comes with disciplining your children and holding them accountable will be secondary to how you will feel if your children are not equipped to handle real-life difficulties as adults. Learning to deal with and experience criticism, being corrected, told no, and being held accountable will prepare them for being an adult. So, don’t be afraid to exercise your authority as a parent with your children. They will thank you for it someday. I guarantee it. Guarantee it! And if by chance they don’t thank you, they will be thankful. Children are an investment that will pay us back in ways we can only imagine. They are counting on you to be the parent they may not like, but will love, for the love you give to them! You may not want to be nicer to them than the world is going to be. So, hats off to each and every one of our parents!! Know you are appreciated and I am thankful for you accepting the most rewarding challenge you will ever encounter! Students, you should thank your parents or the loved ones in your life for taking on the great responsibility of raising and supporting you. It may feel a bit awkward the first time you do it, but look them in the eye and thank them. Thank them! Parents need encouragement too and there is no better place to get it than from their children. I have attached a short clip from one of the best TV shows of all time that is always packed full of good solid wholesome parenting concepts and a great show for all to watch! https://youtu.be/Pv4Uhqbta0M?si=6739F0SdLGa90v5e Any student in grades 5-12 to reply to this email with “Thank You” in the subject heading will be entered into a drawing!! This week it is not the first 10 students to reply. I will include all the students who reply correctly by Tuesday, September 5, 2023, by 9:00 a.m. 4 days til Monday and carry your own weather!! Go Tanks!

All Unioto students' admission is free for this Friday's home football game vs. Waverly compliments of Ray Braden, Chillicothe Truck and Accessories. Your free ticket to the game will be given to you at the gate. Thank you, Ray Braden and Chillicothe Truck and Accessories. All Unioto students get in free this Friday. Please support your team as they play on Friday. Hope you enjoy the game. Go Tanks!

There will be no school on Monday, September 4 in observance of Labor Day.

Boys Tennis Announcement: Unioto boys open tennis starts Sunday, August 27 @ 12:30-2 @ Yoctangee Park. Any questions can be directed to Brandon Hanes at 740-253-0003. Go Tanks!!

All call for 4:00 pm today! Our Vision: By inspiring greatness, all students will realize their worth and potential. Our Mission: At Union-Scioto School District, students will learn, lead, and make a difference. Our Motto: Today’s Learners, Tomorrow’s Leaders. A special thanks to our custodial staff in each of the buildings for all their hard work and dedication over the summer to prepare our facilities to welcome our students and staff back to school. It takes a great deal of time and hard work to ready our buildings each year. Thank you! I would also like to express appreciation to our transportation department and bus drivers for their efforts in the beginning days of school transporting our students. They cover thousands of miles with our students throughout the school year and we are thankful for their commitment to their role in educating our students. And of course, our cafeteria staff is very much appreciated for preparing meals each day for our students and staff. It can be terribly difficult to focus, listen, and learn if you are hungry! So, thank you cafeteria staff for your part in helping our students learn. Thank you!! Parents interested in latchkey please know we are currently full but do have a waiting list. The application can be downloaded from Final Forms or picked up at any of our buildings and submitted to be placed on our waiting list. Again a reminder all open enrollment applications need to be turned in as soon as possible. Athletic passes are still available at our administrative building. See Julie Pierce in our treasurer's office. Students, I read this a few weeks ago and thought I would share: 10 phrases you may need to hear at least once in your life! 1. People are not against you, they are for themselves 2. Climb mountains, not so the world can see you but so you can see the world 3. You learn more from failure than success. So don’t let it stop you as failure builds character 4. Go where you are celebrated, not where you are tolerated 5. The person you will spend most of your time with is yourself. So, you better try to make yourself as interesting as possible 6. If you accept your limitations, you will never go beyond them 7. People often say motivation doesn’t last, well, neither does bathing and that is why we recommend it daily 8. Everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something 9. Comfort is the enemy of achievement 10. Don’t resent what you don’t have and be grateful for what you do have. The first 10 students to reply to their email from me on this announcement that lists sentences #1, #6, and #10 will be part of a drawing to win a really nice helpful gift! Simply reply to the email with the 3 above-mentioned sentences included for a chance to win! 3 days til Monday and Carry your own weather!! Go Tanks!

Good morning! I would like to invite all 5th grade parents and students that are interested in joining the Unioto Orchestra program to a quick informational meeting Thursday August 24th at 6:00pm. This meeting will be held in room 502. In this meeting we will discuss what we do in the Unioto Orchestra program, the different instruments that are played, and how to rent an instrument. If your student was in the orchestra program last year, then you do not need to attend. If you are unable to attend the meeting but your student is interested in joining the Unioto Orchestra program, please send an email to Mr. Jonathan Thorne at jthorne@gotanks.org. Thank you and Go Tanks!

Save the date for fall school pictures!

All call for 4:00 pm today! Our Vision: By inspiring greatness, all students will realize their worth and potential. Our Mission: At Union-Scioto School District, students will learn, lead and make a difference. Our Motto: Today’s Learners, Tomorrow’s Leaders. As expected we had a very smooth and successful opening of the new school year and really enjoyed the first few days and are excited about the days to come! We hope parents have enjoyed and appreciated the utilization of Final Forms for all registration and paperwork required this year. The benefits will be even more next year as the information will be already populated in the system and only minor changes will be necessary for parents each year. A special thanks to Michelle Bowdle our technology coordinator for pushing me to incorporate this service for our families and leading the implementation process. We understand and expect a few snafus with the transition but it has been a relatively smooth process and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. A big thank you to our secretaries as well for ensuring the process went well for everyone. Thank you, Secretaries!! We appreciate everyone’s patience with the morning and afternoon traffic issues. It has actually been relatively smooth and uneventful. All of us are aware of the potential for frustration and we have experienced it on occasion. Just remind ourselves a little congestion and waiting to drop off is a very very low-level problem in your life and should be treated as such. Unioto drop-off and pick-up parents have been very patient, courteous, and respectful to each other and to staff, especially in the mornings and it is appreciated. So a big thank you! Let's keep this going! Again a reminder all open enrollment applications need to be turned in as soon as possible. I plan to schedule many of my all calls to link directly to our students' emails so they will have access to them as well this year. I expect our students to learn to become disciplined with organizing and utilizing their email system and want to ensure they are included in our communications. I have been told many of our students do not have access to the all calls and are not in the habit of checking and maintaining their emails. They have thousands of unread, spam, advertisements, etc. and simply don’t stay on top of it. Students, you may ask yourself if you are not able to “take out the trash” in your emails with a few simple clicks how are you ever going to manage to take the trash cans to the curb once a week? I know you have the skillset as all of you are proficient with technology as it relates to social media platforms! And aside from being in the know and aware of school announcements and information, up to date and current with any school expectations or responsibilities, exposure to some content that could prove to be beneficial and thought-provoking from your superintendent, you may have some surprising opportunities come your way if you read and/or listen to the emails from me! So for starters… Students - remember to bring it each day. Bring your best. Be focused and disciplined. Pay attention in class and be motivated to learn and grow. Listen to your teachers. Listen to your parents. Make good decisions. Decisions that are good for you today. Decisions that are good for you tomorrow and into the future. Anything less than that is cheating yourself two, three, four years from now. That person deserves the you today to be doing good things for yourself. There is a new you every day and over the days you can become the best you a year from now. Give yourself your best. Nobody else has more of an opportunity to help you than you do. No one knows you better than you. You are responsible for you. So, start with good decisions. Good decisions are good for you. Good for your friends, your family, and for us all. It matters. What you do…matters. It really does. Anything less is a disservice to yourself and those around you. If you don’t learn to do things right and to a high standard and make good decisions, you will get to watch those that do celebrate! So, bring it each day!! 3 days til Monday and Carry your own weather!! Go Tanks!

Breakfast and lunch menus for September!