Mrs. Barnes’ 8th grade career class is getting ready for their upcoming mock job interviews! Students participated in peer interviews earlier this week to practice answering questions, communicating confidently, and making a great first impression. We’re excited to see them put these skills into action next week!

Want your OCMS dance ticket paid for? A student from each grade will be pulled from a drawing from those with $20+ donated in their name by 8:00 AM Friday morning for a FREE DANCE TICKET to Friday nights OCMS dance. Get a donation by 8:00 AM tomorrow morning to get to wear a hat Friday, 9/25. We’re still working together to reach our fundraising goal of $6,000, and so far, we’ve raised $4,200! Amazing progress! Remember, if we hit our goal, we’ll earn the chance for an OCMS staff member to KISS A PIG! The student that earns the most donations gets to pick which staff member!

Something else new we’re doing at OCMS this year—We’ll be featuring a male and female Athlete of the Week each week. Our first Athletes of the Week were 8th graders Ellie Klaire Huff who plays softball and Joseph Bailey who plays on the football team. EK (as she’s called by her fans, friends, and teammates) is a leader on and off the field. She’s known for her positive attitude and the way that she controls the things that she can control. EK is a natural encourager and builds up everyone around her. She also has a great work ethic in and out of the classroom. Joseph Bailey is an excellent student-athlete. He maintains an A average in his honors-level classes and performs well as a starting offensive lineman for the football team. Jospeh is a leader on the team and looks for ways to help other players to play to the best of their abilities.

Great Job, OCMS! We’re already half way to our goal of $6,000! Get registered if you haven’t yet. And share some contacts to get the word out to get us to our goal. Those that have donations in their name by 8:00 AM Friday morning will be eligible for a HAT DAY this Friday! And those that have $50 or more raised in their name by next Tuesday morning will get an ice cream picnic at lunch. ICYMI—OCMS was recognized as a Title I Reward School, an honor that places OCMS among the top 5% of Title I schools in Georgia making the most progress in improving student achievement. Much of those accomplishment lies on the efforts of our students and teachers. But much of their motivation comes from rewards, events, & motivational initiatives paid for from funds gained through our PTO fundraiser. So, keep it up! Let’s make the money meant to spend on the fun stuff!

OCMS is off to a great start this Wednesday morning with "See You at the Pole" sponsored & led by students from the FCA. Students joined others nationally to participate.

Have a minute? That's all it takes to share about our Oglethorpe County MS Patriot Color Run and help us raise $6,000. Register TONIGHT at MyBooster.com. Don’t forget your student will need to raise $10 in order to participate in the Color Run on event day. Donate $30 for a Color Run T-Shirt! Any student that registers by 8:00 AM on Sept. 23rd can wear PJs to school Wednesday! View our school’s progress toward our $6,000 goal on MyBooster.com!

LET'S GO! Our OCMS Patriot Color Run starts TODAY! We're raising $6,000 for club activities, student behavioral incentives, softball field enhancements, & more AND we need YOUR help - it only takes a minute to sign up and share your page with friends & family! (Register under your 1st academic block teacher on M/W). Donate $10 on MYBOOSTER.COM and your student will be able to participate in the Color Run on October 2nd! Register by 8:00am on Sept. 23rd for a Pajama Day on Sept 23rd! Get a donation by the night of Sept. 24th and get a Hat Day on Sept. 25th!

It was a great race at the Apple Hawkins Invitational! This 2 mile, hilly course brought challenges, but all the runners gave it their all. For the boys, Reeves H. came in at 7th, with Levi S. in 21st, and Leo D. 37th. Peyton F. finished 29th out of all the girls! Our boys team finished 10th out of 14th. Great effort was given by all of our athletes.

This year at OCMS, teachers have been told to recognize the achievements of students by sending them to "Ring the Bell." Any achievements by students, teams, and even the teachers are celebrated when students clang our new OC-etched Achievement Bell. From the big things like winning games or getting awards to the little things like getting a good grade on a quiz, helping others, or just meeting a personal attendance goal--there are countless celebratable achievements to be recognized by all OCMS Patriots everyday! Here are some of our bell ringers so far.

Fore!!! Coach Gabriel's 7th grade PE class enjoyed one of the cooler days this past week outside by hitting the recess field driving range for some practice golf swings.

🎤 Putting Career Skills into Practice! Our 8th grade Food, Nutrition & Wellness students wrapped up their career unit by participating in mock job interviews! Students put their learning into action as they practiced answering interview questions and were evaluated on professional appearance, communication, quality of responses, and other important workplace skills. It was a great opportunity to build confidence and practice skills they’ll use well beyond the classroom! 💼🌟

This week, students in Mr. King’s 7th grade life science class have learned how to use a compound microscope. They’ve made observations of various specimens and recorded their observations during the lab. Mr. King's 8th grade physical science students constructed and investigated pendulums to better understand potential and kinetic energy.

Ask your student for the flyer they were given Thursday at school! We’re thrilled for this year’s main fundraiser — Oglethorpe County MS Patriot Color Run! Our goal is to raise $6,000 for club activities,softball field enhancements, and student behavioral incentives to benefit our students at Oglethorpe County Middle School.   Why are we excited?  ✅ Easy-to-use fundraising platform ✅ Character-building program ✅ Fitness celebration event for every student!   Families will gather donations through MyBooster.com by simply sharing your student’s page with friends and family. $10 must be raised to participate in the Color Run on event day. Every share makes a difference!   ⭐ Key Dates: 💻 Sign up opens at MyBooster.com – 09/17/2026 🎉 Kickoff in school – 09/21/2026 👟 Event Day – 10/02/2026   Stay tuned for more details and follow us on social media for updates!

These students did outstanding on their Read-It sheets last week in Mrs. Grogan's class!

8th Grade Volleyball players were recognized at our last home game Wednesday night.  We’ll miss these gals & look forward to watching them more in high school.  The team has one more day of competition at Saturday’s League Tournament!

Ms. Denney's & Mrs. Kirk’s class has been working hard on using the Scientific Method to complete experiments. The students have become great at following each step of the Scientific Method. They are doing an even better job at putting their scientific thinking skills into practice.

OCMS is excited to announce that our Teacher of the Year is Mr. Darryl Brese & our Support Professional of the Year is Ms. Annie Murphy!!! Mr. Brese is a dedicated 7th grade Science teacher of 18 years total with 6 years at OCMS following his first 12 years at OCHS. He was nominated for “never hesitating to reach out when he is concerned about his students, being a constant presence at after-school activities, and greeting everyone sincerely each time he sees them.” Mr. Brese is known to volunteer to serve the duties of other teachers when they are in need. And Mr. Brese has an exceptional gift of teaching life sciences in a way that relates to the students of Oglethorpe County. Simply put, one colleague said of Mr. Brese, “He makes our OCMS world better.” Ms. Murphy has served as the guidance counselor at OCMS for the past four years and is also the assistant coach for our middle school volleyball team. When nominated, it was said that Ms. Murphy “genuinely cares about the well-being and success of every student and consistently goes above and beyond to support them.” Regarding Ms. Murphy, it was also said that “her dedication to her job is evident in everything she does. She is empathetic, dependable, and truly makes a positive difference in our school and community.” Ms. Murphy is also known as the designated OCMS DJ known to play all of the hip, new songs, tracks, and beats at OCMS dances! OCMS is proud to have them both as part of our OCMS Family!

❤️ OCMS FCCLA is discovering what leadership is all about! ❤️ On Friday, September 11, our OCMS FCCLA took three students to DISCOVER Training in Covington, Georgia. Our students learned more about running FCCLA meetings, competitive events, fundraising, member recruitment, and much more while networking with FCCLA members from across the state! We are so proud of these three students for representing OCMS FCCLA so well! 🌟❤️ #OCMSFCCLA #FCCLA #DiscoverYourLeadership

The OCMS XC Team had a great race this past Saturday. The Boys team tied for 5th out of 8th. Individuals who placed high include Reeves H. in 6th place, Levi S. in 9th, Wade B. in 29th, Carson R. in 33rd and Grayson P. in 35th. It was another race with lots of personal bests for several runners!