Category: Family Friendly

Six SMHS Students Are National Merit Semifinalists

10/18/2018

by Melissa Barrett

Six juniors at Signal Mountain Middle High School are National Merit Semifinalists. This is the largest group in the school’s history and also the most of any school in our region.

Congratulations to Jack Poss, Max Burk, Jake Little, Emily Perez, David Cornea and Paolo Patrick Iacoponi!

It is a huge accomplishment for these academically talented students to become a Semifinalist and thus be eligible for a National Merit Scholarship. To earn this honor, one must meet criteria that includes scoring in the top 1 percent among juniors across the country on the Preliminary SAT/National

Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, often shortened to PSAT.
SMMHS Principal Shane Harwood complimented the school’s staff and students’ parents for supporting these students. “It is through a collective commitment to excellence in teaching and learning that our students aim for and reach the very highest of goals,” he said. “We’re so excited to see what the future holds for them.”

Most of these students are expected to move on to become National Merit Finalists, winning scholarship money for college. Good luck to our Signal Mountain Semifinalists!

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Author Chris Grabenstein to Sign Books at Library

7/24/2018

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Chris Grabenstein stopped by the Signal Mountain Library recently to sign copies of his books. He will give a program at the library at 2 p.m. on July 26 at 2 p.m. for children of all ages. Pictured here areLisa Garbee, Karin Glendenning, Chris Grabenstein, Wade Rittenberry and John Atkinson.

Author Chris Grabenstein, a Signal Mountain native, will visit the Signal Mountain Library on July 26 at 2 p.m. He will talk about his newest book, answer questions and hold a book signing. All are welcome. If you can't make that event, stop by Barnes and Noble in Chattanooga on Saturday, July 28, to meet the author and get your books signed between noon and 2 p.m. Both events will be packed, so plan on arriving early.

Below is an article that ran in the July 2018 Signal Mountain Mirror about Chris, his life on Signal Mountain and his career.

Famous Author Visits His Elementary School Alma Mater
by Melissa Barrett

To be a comedian or a writer – that was the eighth grade dream of Chris Grabenstein.
Turns out he did both.
And his career as a best-selling children’s author allows him to include childhood experiences on Signal Mountain in his rollicking tales of adventure and mystery.
His father, a chemical engineer at Dupont, moved the family from New York to a house on Glamis Circle on his 10th birthday in September 1965. Grabenstein and his four brothers had fun playing in woods across the street and making boats to sail on a little pond. He performed with the Signal Mountain Playhouse, which was quite natural considering he was often creating imaginary stories in his head and putting on plays at his home.
Probably the most significant episode during his Signal Mountain years though was when Grabenstein won his first writing award. That happened when he was a fifth grader at Wilkes T. Thrasher Elementary School. The Signal Mountain Lions Club presented him with a medal for his citizenship essay.
Since then, Grabenstein has racked up several writing awards for both adult and young adult books. He is arguably most well known for “Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library,” which is among the more than 50 popular children’s books he’s written, either by himself or in collaboration with James Patterson, such as the “I, Funny” or “Treasure Hunter” series.
Yes, that James Patterson.
After graduating from Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga, Grabenstein went to New York to do improv comedy, and he once shared a stage with Bruce Willis and also worked with Robin Williams. Then, in 1984, he answered an ad in The New York Times that landed him a job at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, where Patterson was both creative director and his boss. He wrote ads and jingles for many products, met Jim Henson and wrote for “The Muppets,” and he even worked as a screenwriter for “The Christmas Gift,” a 1986 movie starring John Denver.
It was fun work, but Grabenstein quit his advertising job in 2001 to focus on writing a book.
He spent one year writing and then submitted his first book to publishers, only to have it rejected. He did the same a second time with same results. He finally succeeded with his third book, “Tilt A Whirl,” which was the first in an adult mystery series and won an award.
Grabenstein used that experience when he visited with current students at his former elementary school.
“Fall down seven times, get up the eighth time,” he told them at an assembly in May. “I succeeded only because I refused to take ‘No’ for an answer.”
Grabenstein told members of Thrasher’s Breakfast Book Club that much of his successful writing career “had to do with teachers right here on Signal Mountain.”
At the assembly, he showed a paper where a Signal Mountain Junior High School seventh grade teacher (Mrs. Garrett) wrote a note telling him, “You will make your living as a writer some day.”
He advised Thrasher’s young aspiring writers to both “read a lot and write a lot.”
One thing Grabenstein emphasized to students was, “Don’t write a novel. Write a story between 2,000 and 3,000 words … and kind of fool your readers.”
Remember, he said, “You’ve always got to have a good guy and a bad guy in your story. Your protagonist has gotta go up against an antagonist.”
Another tip was to “make sure your characters are completely different by the end of the story.”
Grabenstein said he is always looking around for ideas of new characters, but admitted in a Q&A with this reporter that “one of the bullies who picked on me when I was a student at Thrasher has appeared in numerous books.”
Taking a cue from his improv days, Grabenstein asked students at Thrasher’s assembly for various words and phrases and then illustrated how to blend them into sentences and then a short story. Students were delighted with the author’s comedic, interactive presentation that entertained as well as educated.
“Everything a writer does starts with words,” he said. “The first job of any writer is getting the reader to keep reading … The first sentence hooks you and pulls you in.”
Grabenstein said, “Every story starts with a ‘what if’ followed by an ‘and then’ and another ‘and then.’ You get the general idea. If you want to write and tell a story, you start with ‘What if’ and watch the ripples go out from that one idea.
“Keep your eyes open and look around for something a little bit out of the ordinary, something a little different,” he told a student who asked where he got ideas.
Grabenstein grew up watching episodes of “The Twilight Zone” and said those were good for structure because each episode includes a beginning, a middle, and an end … with a twist.”
He suggested budding authors create a story map that includes four steps: “Oh;” followed by an “Uh Oh;” then, an “Oh No!”; until finally you provide an “Ohhhh,” where everything is resolved at the end.
Grabenstein celebrated the book birthday of “Sandapalooza Shake-Up,” the third book in his humorous “Welcome to Wonderland” series, at Thrasher, where he has fun memories of playing with Super Balls in the halls before Christmas, performing talent shows on stage, being terrible at kickball, and listening to 45 rpm records on a classroom record player during recess.
Thrasher librarian Pam Johnston arranged the visit as a reward to students for reading nearly 2 million minutes this year. Grabenstein read the first chapter of his new book at assembly and signed pre-ordered copies of the book all day.
Members of Thrasher’s book club enjoyed breakfast with the author, while members of Mrs. Garvich’s class shared lunch with him as reward for being the top fifth grade reading class.
A splendid spread of food and beverages, including “Pond Scum Punch,” was provided by Thrasher parents. Johnston also provided some Krispy Kreme donuts (the author remembers selling them to raise funds) and the local Southern Star staff baked a cake, complete with caramel icing and brown sugar sand castles, to commemorate the new book’s birthday.
The University of Tennessee added a special touch. UTK’s Dean of Communications Michael Wirth came to Thrasher to notify Grabenstein he is a 2018 Distinguished Alumni recipient and showed him the award he will receive at an awards banquet this fall.
During his short visit back to Signal Mountain, Grabenstein also enjoyed stopping by the Signal Mountain Pharmacy, where he used to buy comic books. “Alas, no more spinning comic book rack,” he opined on his Facebook page.
“Then I visited the Signal Mountain Library, which was just being built when I was leaving for college,” he wrote. “It is at the top of what my brothers and I called water tank hill, the steepest hill we had to climb on our bikes to get home.”
Grabenstein is spending the summer promoting his new book across the country, but will return to our area in July for a high school reunion at Notre Dame. During that trip, he will visit the Signal Mountain Library at 2 p.m. on July 26 for a talk and book signing.
This fall, Grabenstein and Patterson will introduce a new book and series centered on “Max Einstein, the Genius Experiment,” that centers on a young female genius. Also, a new boxed set of the Lemoncello books will be introduced just in time for the holidays.
Be sure to check out his website. And, the author is very responsive to messages from fans on his Facebook page.

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"Shrek the Musical" Opens July 6

7/2/2018

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SMPH's summer production is "Shrek the Musical."

The Signal Mountain Playhouse is excited to present “Shrek the Musical” this month. There will be eight performances of this show about the beloved green ogre and his quest to free his home from pesky storybook characters that have taken up residency. The show will run at 8 p.m. on July 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 and 28.

Directing for the Playhouse is Joel D. Scribner in a debut turn. Joel’s theatrical resume includes directing, producing, acting, and playwriting for over 30 years. He has directed many top shows for the Fort Wayne Civic Theater and other venues. Playing major roles nationally, including Tevye at the CTC’s recent “Fiddler on the Roof,” where he won his third “Miss Annie” award, Joel is the founder and artistic director of Yellow Dragon Theater locally, a company with a full schedule on its lineup. Dr. Jennifer Arbogast Wilson will choreograph the musical, and she will hit the trifecta with the local troupe this summer as she has starred as Anna in “The King and I”; directed two shows, “Peter Pan,” and “Willy Wonka”; and now is choreographing “Shrek!” She is a professor in the music department and professional actor training program at Chattanooga State. Returning as musical director, Michael Huseman brings his years of experience as a Grammy winning composer and lyricist. On the conductor’s stand for his second summer, Nick Hartline, also of the Chattanooga State faculty, has assembled top local musicians for the Playhouse Orchestra.

The cast of “Shrek the Musical” is also stellar, with Greg Glover as Shrek. A familiar face, he starred as Willy Wonka in last summer’s hit production. Paul Corcoran will play the young Shrek. Fiona will be played by Finlay Burnette as young Fiona, Molly Baggett as teen Fiona, and Kara Funke as the adult Fiona, a character who harbors a secret. Donkey will be played by Austin Massey, and the villain Lord Farquad will be played by Richard Nicols. Gingy will be Lorien Maddux, with Pinocchio played by Maddy Meier. Papa Ogre will be Mark Oglesby, and Samantha Teeter plays Mama Ogre/Wicked Witch. King Harold will be Dennis Parker, Queen Lillian will be Jennifer Baggett and Dragon will be Rebecca Gilmore. In addition to these, there are a host of supporting players, familiar faces you’ll recognize.

Tickets ($5 for children 12 and under and $15 for those 13 and above – cash or checks only, please) are available at the door on the evenings of performances with the box office opening at 6 p.m. Traditionally, people come with their lawn chairs and wait for the box office to open. Then they buy their tickets and place their chairs. Some folks bring picnics, and that’s fine, but alcohol is not allowed. The Playhouse amphitheater is located on the corner of Rolling Way and James Boulevard, and parking is around the Town Hall Complex. Concessions and porta potties are available on the grounds.

“Shrek the Musical” was originally produced on Broadway by DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions and directed by Jason Moore and Rob Ashford.

For more information about “Shrek the Musical,” go to smph.org, find the Signal Mountain Playhouse page on Facebook, email signalmountainplayhouse@gmail.com, or call (423) 763-7219.
by Anne Rittenberry

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VBS at Signal Crest Kicks Off on June 10

5/31/2018

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SMUMC's Vacation Bible School is June 10-14.

Signal Crest United Methodist Church is hosting Vacation Bible School for children from ages Pre-K through rising fifth grade. The week will kick-off with Family Night on Sunday, June 10, at 5 p.m. in The Crest Center with games and a bike obstacle course. VBS will continue for the children on Monday, June 11, through Thursday, June 14, from 9 a.m. to noon each day. Drop off takes place in The Crest Center.

Do you know what it means to live fully alive in Jesus? This summer, your kids can experience "Amped." This awesome, one of a kind, nitro-filled VBS program will have your children living to the extreme for Christ.

Volunteers Needed: "Amped" is not only for kids. Anyone who is now in middle school up to age 99 can enroll as a leader to help ignite a passion for Jesus in the children. Volunteers will have a ton of fun leading children to know Christ on a whole new level. Volunteers must be trained and follow Signal Crest Safe Sanctuaries Policies, there will be many training opportunities prior to VBS.

Registration is now open: http://www.signalcrestumc.org/145.137

There will be a limited number of VBS T-shirts available to purchase at VBS for $20. These shirts are a 50/50 blend and available in youth small to adult 3X sizes.

For more info, email Chrissy Gray, director of children's ministries.

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Summer Reading Program Starts June 5

5/31/2018

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The theme of the library's summer reading programs is "Libraries Rock." The program runs June 5-July 17.

The Signal Mountain Library’s 2018 Summer Reading Program will run on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. from June 5 through July 17. "Libraries Rock" is the theme for this year’s program, which is part of the national collaborative Summer Library Program. All events will be held at the library, except the visit to the Signal Mountain Playhouse, which is located next door.

The summer reading program provides enrichment events for local children, age 2 through rising fifth-graders. Our presentations feature music, drama, dance, art, magic and animals and typically draw big crowds. Parents are asked to stay with their children during the events.

Registration for the program will begin June 5, immediately following the kickoff by the Bandana Babes’ Sing-Along. Children are provided with logs in which they may record the names of the books they read over the summer. Lake Winnepesaukah offers all participants in the summer reading program 2-for-1 coupons that may be used for admission to the local amusement park on August 12, 19 or 26 of this year. At the final event of the program, a visit from the Tennessee Aquarium, there will be a drawing held for two complimentary passes to Lake Winnie. Winners must be present to win.

The schedule for the Summer Reading Program is as follows:

June 5: Join the Bandana Babes for a rousing sing-along, followed by registration.
July 12: Noah’s Little Ark Petting Zoo and Pony Rides will return with its menagerie of animals.
July 19: GPS Terpsichord Dancers will perform and teach movement to the children, who are encouraged to wear tutus or leotards.
June 26: Magician Jacob Cornell will entertain and amaze us with his sleight of hand.
July 3: Join us for a visit to the Signal Mountain Playhouse where we will be treated to a preview of the summer production, “Shrek: The Musical.”
July 10: Local artist and teacher Augusta Webb will help each child create a piece of art to take home.
July 17: Mr. Bill from the Tennessee Aquarium will present “Tropical Treasures” for our young audience. A drawing for free passes to Lake Winnie will also take place, with winners required to be present to win.

Please mark these dates on your calendar for a fun-filled summer at the library!

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Signal Mountain Happenings

Six SMHS Students Are National Merit Semifinalists

Author Chris Grabenstein to Sign Books at Library

"Shrek the Musical" Opens July 6

VBS at Signal Crest Kicks Off on June 10

Summer Reading Program Starts June 5

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