At the end of every race, no matter the distance, there is the sprint to the finish line. June in schools is that sprint. Everyone wants to have "their last thing of the year" and when you start putting them all into a calendar it can seem overwhelming. June is always a time of excitement and dread for many of our students. Its exciting to look forward to summer days, with no "have to's" but it is also a time where students worry about losing touch with friends and adults that have become part of their lives. Its a time of closure, and closures can be bittersweet. Because there is so much happening all at once, this will be a rather abbreviated version of the newsletter, this month. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns that we need to be aware of. Our office phone number is 360-538-8220.

June is a busy month for our 8th graders, getting ready to make the transition to high school next year. Here are the 8th grade events coming soon:

• HHS Class day-June 11. HHS holds their annual Class Day at 1:00 pm on this day. Our 8th Graders attend and when they move the classes up at the end become unofficial Grizzlies. It is a chance for them to see some of the awards that are available to graduates.

• 8th Grade Visit to HHS-June 12. Our 8th Graders will spend the entire day at HHS meeting students and staff, and getting acclimated to their new surroundings. They will return to HMS before the end of school, so pickups and busses will be as normal for them.

• 8th Grade Moving Up assembly-June 13. This is actually two events crunched into one. There is a mandatory practice during the morning of June 13. Please have your student come to school as usual, and we will travel to the HHS Gym for practice. At the conclusion of practice you may pick up your student, or they can return to HMS. Students taking part in the ceremony are to be back at the HHS gym by 10:45 so that we can get them organized for the entrance which will start the assembly at 11:00 a.m. At the conclusion of the assembly and slide show, your student is finished and may depart for the day.

• HMS Field Day- June 16. During the 6th-7th Grade awards assembly, 8th graders will be doing their locker cleanout and in classes for the first part of the morning. After that, they will be part of the Field Day activities. School is dismissed at 1:15 pm that day.

• Last Day-June 17. School is dismissed at 11:20 a.m.

We get that getting your child to read during the summer months isn't easy. But you can't beat it for helping them put their active minds to work doing something that can only help them. Whatever grade your student is in, here is a list of recommended new reads for this summer. Check them out, and see if something aligns with what your student is interested in!

https://www.weareteachers.com/summer-reading-list-for-kids/#middle

Our music Program has had the good fortune of someone who has given blood, sweat, tears, and a whole lot of her time over the last 30 or so years. This year, sadly, we bid a happy retirement to Ms. Brenda McCoy who has been the assistant to our music department that whole time. She actually did the majority of that time as a volunteer!

There are a lot of unpleasant tasks that go with running a music program: Instrument repair, keeping uniforms organized and inventoried, rounding up said uniforms at the end of the year, countless hours of practices, keeping the library of sheet music organized, planning trips all over the place, corralling students at performances, loading and unloading the trailer for band trips, working with the Color Guard...this is just the tip of the iceberg, and Ms. McCoy has done it all, and done it all well. If the music department were a single living person, then Ms. McCoy has been its beating heart. There is no way the many years of students and staff that Ms. McCoy's hard work has benefitted can ever truly thank her enough, but we hope that the citizens of Hoquiam take a moment and offer her their thanks, and wishes for a very happy retirement. Thank you so much, Brenda...you will be greatly missed!

We would also be like to give a very big THANK YOU to former director of band and choir, Susan Peters who has given so much of her time in helping Mr. Shipman and Ms. Messenger navigate their first year in Hoquiam. Ms. Peters retired last year as the Band and Choir Director at HHS. But she has helped with mentoring, volunteering her time at countless events, playing piano for the choir, and filling in in the classroom when needed. Ms. Peters is still leaving her mark on our community in retirement, and we are so grateful for her!

Thank you to both of these amazing ladies, and the memories they helped to make for so many Hoquiam students.

Here are our students for the month of May who had perfect attendance with no tardies! Thank you all for doing things right!

6th Grade: Avery Smith, Cassidee Matsen, Cloe Spellman, Dimitri Cruzan, Eden Park, Layna Bozich, Maggie Johnson, Mason Dhooghe, Mason Ounsted, Mathias Bentley, Nation Davies, Ryan Quigg, Serena Matthews, and Zayleigh Boggs..

7th Grade: Andrew Hagen, Ash’lynned Donovan-Iverson, Carter Granberg, Charles Montoure-Hathaway, Davyn Stewart, Emmanuel Ortiz, Grace Whitespeare, Grayson Black, Kenzie Stankavich, Kruz Calloway, Lyric Ramstein, Mackenzie Rice, Maria Gum, Nolan Roberts, Paisley Shaw, Tallon Leamer, Thaddeus Koth, Zayden Grant, and Zoey Shope

8th Grade: Akeakamai Kendall, Carson Baller, Iza Frye, Jacob Matsen, Kenny Canel Huinil, Kylie McCoy, Makalah Haskey, Owyn Golder, Seth Andrews-Lisle, Sphynx Leverying-Perry, Tanner Shaw, Taylor Graham, and Teagan Bradshaw Pigott..