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Calendars & Bell Schedules / Sports Schedules

7th-Grade Families, unite! Meet with our counselors and administrators to talk through the challenges of being a 7th grader. Meet other parents, and share challenges, triumphs, and tricks!

You will walk away with something practical, or your money back.

Last week, the viral craze of bottle flipping came back, with students trying their dexterity at flipping partially filled water bottles, and landing them - sometimes even "capping" them.

Kobe Travis 11

Logan McDonald 10

William Erman 10

Hunter Brennan 32

Matthew Cruz 25

Connor Tumelson 11

Ali Yassin 15

Roman Cruz 7

Bowen Klinke 7

6th Grade

3 out of 5 (0)

Tara Monankumar (3)

Maeve McGovern (3)

Mason Nunez (3)

Aria Tijans (3)

Austin Kohn (3)

Diego Fatas (3)

7th Grade

3 in a row (0)

Adele McGinnis (4)

Jacob Landau (4)

Tairu Marong (4)

Edgar Ortiz (4)

Benji Abraham (4)

8th Grade

5+ in a row (0)

Charles Baum (5)

Ivan LeRoy (5)

Ty Arrington (5)

Ethan Hartman (6)

Aria Hafner (6)

Breck Metzger (6)

Tavi Radu (6)

August Rellora (7)

Logan Mac Donald (10)

William Erman (10)

Kobe Travis (11)

John Hanna (5)

Tyler Franklin (5)

Axel Manger (5)

Peter Rogers (6)

David McBirnie (6)

Presley Knappenberger (6)

Rowen McGraw (8)

Nico Ogletree (9)

Alexis Hammer (9)

Connor Tumlinson (11)

London Emerson (11)

Matthew Cruz (25)

Hunter Brennan (32)

Emmett Kresge (5)

Arlo Sheldon (5)

Maggie Hager (5)

Roman Cruz (7)

Bowen Klinke (7)

Ali Yassin (15)

Bottle flipping doesn't take much equipment, but it does require a degree of skill. It's all about spin. Water level and a surface to land on are also critical.

Novices took a turn at sticking the landing, experts practiced their fine motor skills and one student had a stunt of her own. (If you don't see your Panther, scroll down for more photos - of bottle flipping and other OGMS classes and events.

The governing board considers the adoption of core and supplemental materials/resources at a board meeting following a 60-day preview. The materials are available for public review from August 13 to October 12, 2025.

Amy Krauss, President

Eileen Jackson, Vice President

 

Jacquelyn Davoli, Board Member

Tom Logue, Board Member

Gina Mehmert, Board Member

Dr. Denise Bartlett, Superintendent

(please check www.azleg.gov for contact information)

 

Representative Nancy Gutierrez

Representative Chris Mathis

Senator Priya Sundareshan

Making robots dance and draw, exploring the Americas, and applying critical thinking and math to make a major purchase are among the topics Panthers explored in recent days. They flipped their lids over another popular lunchtime challenge, while the chorus prepared for a thrilling opportunity. Meanwhile, lessons learned in a schoolwide anti-bullying assembly seem to have sunk in.

Food, shelter and utilities are economic necessities. A car is also a must-have in many places. An Orange Grove social studies unit on financial literacy teaches all 8th graders basics of budgeting, saving and investing. In Ms. Willing's class, students researched used cars to recommend one to a friend. Looks aren't important but reliability is. Students calculated the total cost. The assignments build on each other and grow in complexity. Eventually, teams will play the role of financial advisers selling their clients on living within their means and building wealth.

In Ms. Pyne's classroom, students learn how to program robot to dance. STEM Coordinator Mr. Pisani runs robotics classes in the fall. Other students are designing a flag they will teach their robots to draw. Problem-solving also includes issues such as attaching markers to the tiny orange cars, using paper clips, rubber bands or whatever they find in a toolkit provided to each table.

Ms. LaChance's students watched a video on the products and perspectives of Costa Rica, then shared information about what they noticed and what they were still 

curious about.

Ms. Gaskill’s Chinese classes celebrated Chinese Valentine’s Day, known as 七夕节 (Qīxī Jié), a traditional festival that honors the legendary love story of the Cowherder and the Weaver Girl. As a reading lesson, students performed scene one of a reader’s theater play of The Cowherder and the Weaver Girl, complete with scripts and props. 七夕节, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, is often celebrated in China as a day for expressing love and romance, much like Valentine’s Day in the West.

Ms. Antista's 8th grade chorus students will have a thrilling opportunity to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a Sept. 20 Diamondbacks game at Chase Field in Phoenix. They will be joined by 8th grade chorus students from Esperero Canyon Middle School. This will be the second time OGMS has gone and fourth for the district overall. It's not an easy song - few have the vocal range to hit all the highs and lows - but with a chorus, singers can use the strongest part of their vocal range. Bats will crack but voices will not. These proud Panthers won't get rattled serenading the Snakes. Umpires, take no umbrage - "O say, can you see?" is not aimed at you!

As part of unit on the health triangle, PE students analyze an influencer's physical, social and emotional health and give tips on how they could improve. Each did. Here, Ms. Farr's students work on the project. The health triangle is a model that takes into account mental/emotional health, physical health and social health.

More images from a recent bottle-flipping challenge.

An assembly at OGMS aimed to give students the tools to recognize and call out bullying, in person and online. They learned how to speak up for themselves and their friends - and how not to be a bully themselves. Students studied examples, identified and discussed the bullying dynamic and learned about steps they can take to recognize and deal with it appropriately. The lessons from the August event seem to be sticking, judging from conversations this week.