UL ATHLETIC PROJECTS: PHASE I
Superintendent Dr. Larry Derico and the Thomaston-Upson Board of Education are excited to inform the community that Phase I of the T-U School System Athletic Facilities Projects has begun. Phase I involves upgrades to Matthews Field, home of the Upson-Lee Knights football and soccer teams. Brickwork and some minor electrical work are ongoing, but things will kick into high gear following ULHS graduation on May 24. Over the summer, major changes will occur:
• Artificial turf (See art rendering of field.)
• Stadium lighting + entertainment package
• Fencing around field
• Minor construction to the visitors’ stands
The tentative completion date for Phase I is August 30, 2024. This will not mark the completion of Matthews Field renovations, but most work will pause at that site for the duration of the 2024 football season.
Phase II begins on September 2, 2024, and includes ULMS Baseball & Softball Complex (north side of Matthews Field), Upson-Lee Athletic Complex (behind ULHS, to include Track & Field facility, etc.) and the completion of Matthews Field. More information about Phase II will be released as Phase I nears completion. The tentative completion date for Phase II is December 31, 2025.
Information about Matthews Field sod giveaway:
Once graduation celebrations are completed on Friday night, May 24, crews will begin removal of the sod from Matthews Field. Pieces of sod will be cut and stacked and available to the public on Saturday morning, May 25 (1st come, 1st served, 1 per person while supplies last). If you would like to pick up a piece of Matthews Field, we will have detailed information about this process as we get closer to the date.
Dr. Harbour, Mrs. Carter and Mrs. Colbert put together this awesome chip wall today for Teacher Appreciation Week!
On Thursday, Coach Wells and Mrs. Chandler took their classes to Savannah to visit the Savannah College of Art and Design! Students in the audio/visual classes and graphic design classes got see all the opportunities that SCAD has to offer!
Mrs. Duke realizes after Milestones testing, students might struggle to focus during a traditional lesson. Yesterday, Mrs. Duke had her class play a game called 31-derful. The students received a deck of cards and had to use 25 cards to arrange in a 5x5 pattern. Each row and each column had to add up to 31.
It was such a beautiful day, they also got to learn outside as well
The Georgia Milestones start tomorrow at Upson-Lee High School. Students please make sure you are present on the days you are scheduled to test and on time to school. Additionally please try to eat a nutritious dinner, get a good night sleep and have breakfast.
No cell phones, smart watches, or other electronic devices will be allowed in the testing environment. Come ready to try your best.
American Literature tests on Monday and Tuesday, April 29th and 30th.
Algebra Concepts and Connections tests on Wednesday and Thursday, May 1st and 2nd.
Biology and US History will both test on Friday, May 3rd.
Freshman Chastin Haynes received his certificate today for being the 9th grade Regional Winner of the 2024 Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition! Congrats again, Chastin!
The Traveling Knights are selling donuts this Saturday starting at 8am to raise money for their trip to Greece during Spring Break 2025! Students will be selling Krispy Kreme donuts at the 5 Way stop near the GHSA, Dollar General, and Armstrong School of Dance. Another group of students will also be near Longhorn Steakhouse, across the street from Chick-fil-a! Krispy Kreme Donut boxes are $8 and all proceeds go to the costs for the students to make this once in a lifetime trip to Greece!
Some of our students got to tour the Kia auto plant yesterday!
The yearbooks have arrived! Yearbook distribution will begin on Friday April 26th! You can pick up your yearbook before school, during all three lunches, and after school in room 203, Mr. Matt Norris's classroom. Check back on Facebook tomorrow for a sneak peek at the yearbook!
The 2024 ULHS prom was this past weekend and was a wonderful success! Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Clark, Mr. and Mrs. Van Houten, Mrs. Knight, Mrs. Hinson, Mr. Canady, Mrs. Daniel, Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland, Mr. Evans, Mrs. Colbert, Mrs. Page (ULPS), Sgt. Kirshman, Deputy Wheeless, Deputy O'Neal, Deputy Salter, Sgt. Cochran, Deputy Sanders, Mrs. Murphy, Dr. Harbour, Mrs. Hausman, Coach Puckett and all those that helped along the way. We would also like to thank the juniors for doing a wonderful job decorating.
We should have more pictures to post as the week goes along, so make sure to check the Facebook page for more photos
Last week, these ULHS students traveled to Albany to tour the campus of Albany State University.
Yearbook update! We have been notified that our yearbooks have been shipped from the factory early! This means if all goes well, we can begin distribution of yearbooks by the end of this week instead of the originally scheduled May 5th!
We currently have 3 copies of the yearbook left for preorders. If you are interested, bring $80 cash or check to Mr. Matt Norris in room 203 asap. The only way to guarantee a yearbook at this point is to purchase one of these final 3.
Normally, the yearbook company ships 10-20 extra copies in case of damages in shipping. Once we have inspected every yearbook and completed distribution, we will put any extras up for sale. There are no guarantees of extras. Stay tuned to this page and school announcements for any leftover yearbooks!
Thank you again to the yearbook staff for their hardwork!
This year's Art & Soul Fest T-shirts were designed by Mrs. Chandler's graphic design student, Kenya Montfort.
Samuel Dean, Stephanie Nipp, Markenzie Banks, Kingston Allen, Kamiya Batiste, have been working all week to produce them for the kick off at Lazy J’s Mercantile tonight.
Thank you so much Kenya for the amazing shirts and to everyone in Mrs. Chandler's class. For more information about the Thomaston Art & Soul Festival, check out thomastonartandsoulfest.com .
ATTENTION SENIORS! There is a MANDATORY senior meeting Friday April 26th at 9:20am in the Fine Arts Center. Please make plans to attend and to arrive on time!
Graduation is not that far away!
ULHS and ULMS are looking for more band members! If you are interested in joining the Upson-Lee Marching Knights, you still have time to join. Don't worry if you have never played an instrument. Our band programs have had great success with new members who thought it was too late to learn.
Use the link below to express interest in joining either the middle school or high school band!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScM7JsoUIAPJaIHD50QA6pQWs_xLKvFfFOdGzi_jmB7kK-Gow/viewform?usp=sf_link
This Friday is the deadline to sign up for the May 4th SAT that will be held at Upson-Lee High School. The SAT costs $60 and students can register for the exam at collegeboard.org. This is a great opportunity for juniors to get a jump start preparing for college!
A underclass UL student, who wishes to remain anonymous, wanted to update the UL in front of the school as a service project. What an awesome job. We Are UL!
Congratulations to our ULHS March superlatives!
Staff Member of the Month-Logan Gulley
Teacher of the Month- Rebekah Busby
Student of the Month- Nytraevion Jones
Class of 2020 Valedictorian Colby McRae and current senior at The United States Air Force Academy recently visited our NJROTC classes and spoke about what life is like being at a service academy and balancing college life with military service. Colby shared with students the admission process and how a service academy appointment differs from most military enlistments. While at The USAFA Colby has been a member of the USAFA cyber competition team. Colby considers a 6 week internship at the Air Force's software company in San Antonio, Texas the highlight of his time at USAFA. Colby is a computer science major. After graduation Colby will be commissioned as a 2nd Lt and will be stationed in Mississippi for additional cyber training
Upson-Lee High School schedule changes for Thursday April 4th and Friday April 5th:
Thursday we will follow the Homeroom schedule.
Friday we will be on the Assembly schedule to accommodate our Spring Pep Assembly - do not miss out on this celebration of our spring sport seniors.
