Hello, Titans!

We had a week full of celebrating diversity, with Up with People students from around the world visiting EPMS as well as our Kizuna Program Monday night and student visit on Tuesday. As I walk into our atrium each day and see all of our flags, I am so proud of our diversity and the opportunities it provides to all students. We are truly empowering our students for tomorrow's global society.

Since this week was short, Titan Talk will be a bit brief as well, but we always want to take a moment to stay informed and celebrate.

Celebrations:

• Our Kizuna program Monday night was spectacular. The presentations from our EPMS alumnae and the Japanese students were quite moving and inspiring. Over 300 guests attended, with honored guests including Consul General of Japan Mr. Joji Miyamori, Senator John Albers, and Ms. Walker from the Carter Center, who presented a letter from former President Jimmy Carter. Ms. Miyuki Johnson worked so hard to make this event special. Thank you, Johnson Sensei!
• We are proud of Mrs. Hale, Ms. Tatum, and Ms. Ward, who will be presenting at the 2013 MWP Literacy Conference on Saturday, March 23rd. Their presentation will be titled Using Technology to Create Summative Assessments, or Goodbye Stack of 100 Five-Paragraph Essays! We know they will make us proud.
• Cassandra Manrique won 2nd place at the State Technology Competition this weekend. We are so proud of her and all of our students who won regionals and moved on to state.
• Good luck to our Science Olympiad students who compete this Saturday at the state competition. We know they will make us proud!
• This week we celebrated our Teacher and Employee of the Year on Wednesday morning. Thank you to all of the parents who brought in breakfast items, helped set up, and our Dads' Club members who covered teacher duty posts so that all could enjoy. A special thank you to Lisa Cowles and Lee Fox for making this event extra special for the staff.

Be in the Know:

• Help us appreciate our staff this coming week! For Staff Appreciation Week, please be sure to have your student(s) send in cards and notes of thanks to the teachers. Small things make such an impact, and our teachers love to hear from their students.
• Don't forget that the 8th graders attending Roswell HS next year must return course verifications by Tuesday next week.
• Be sure to sign up for volunteering and/or attend International Night this coming week, March 21st from 6:00-8:00 p.m. EPMS Cafeteria & Gym. We need your help to make it special. If you would like to volunteer or cook a dish, be sure to send a note in to Johnson Sensei as soon as possible, as there are only a few days left. More information can be found on our website.
• The Battle of the Titans is coming!!  Our annual spring event will be held on Friday, March 29th. If you are interested in helping with setup/cleanup or manning first aid and water stations, please sign up at www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F4AA9AF29A20-battle. See the website for more information.

Did You Know?

• 32 teachers received their iPad Minis this week and have begun using them in the classrooms! They will be trained by Kennesaw State University on the workday this Friday, and next week students will start using the iPad carts in the classroom. We hope to add even more student-use iPads before the end of the year, but we are very excited to see our iPad Pilot get under way.

Enjoy your three day weekend, Titans. Let's come back ready to focus and prepare for the CRCT which is just four weeks away!