Parent Newsletter
Nov. 11th - 15th
Midterm Week is here
- A Look at the Week Ahead
- Happy Veterans Day
- Using your resources to Finish Strong
- Working to help Students Understand Growth
- PTO News
- STEM Night
- Helping Students Develop 21st Century Skills
- Counselors Corner
Thanks for all that you do to support Jefferson,
Phil Cox, Principal
Chris Layton, Vice Principal
Jenifer Laurendine, Dean of Students
A Look at the Week Ahead
Monday-11
HOME basketball game
A day
Environmental Club (McCullough) Rm 310 2:45-5:00
Chess Club-Library 2:45-3:45
Atomic Eagles Lego League Team Meeting (Shanafield) Science Wing 2:45-4:45
RadioActive Brix Lego League Team Meeting (Davis) Rm 223 2:45-4:45
Master Builders Lego League Team Meeting (Scott) Rm 102 2:45-4:30
Basketball vs. ESK—HOME GJV—5:00, GV—6:00, BV—7:00
Tuesday-12
B day
5th/6th Grade Morning Homework Help (Martin) Rm 319 7:00-7:30
Aspire Test Meeting 8th grade teachers Meeting—Eagle’s Nest 9:35-10:25
Interact Club Meeting (Painter) Rm 311 2:45-4:00
5th/6th Grade After School Homework Help (Martin) Rm 319 2:45-3:30
Atomic Eagles Lego League Team Meeting (Shanafield) Science Wing 2:45-4:45
Master Builders Lego League Team Meeting (Scott) Rm 102 2:45-4:30
Boys Basketball Practice 3:00-5:00
Wednesday-13
A day
ACT Aspire (Reading & English) 8th Grade ONLY 7:50-11:00
Midterm 2 grades are due by 3:00 PM today
Atomic Eagles Lego League Team Meeting (Shanafield) Science Wing 12:45-3:00
RadioActive Brix Lego League Team Meeting (Davis) Rm 223 12:45-3:00
Cheer Practice 1:00-3:00
Talent Show Practice-JPAC 12:45-2:30
Ski & Snowboard Club Interest Meeting—Library 1:00-2:00
Girls Basketball Practice 1:00-4:30
Boys Basketball Practice 1:00-3:00
Thursday-14
B day
5th/6th Grade Morning Homework Help (Martin) Rm 319 7:00-7:30
ACT Aspire (Math & Science) 8th Grade ONLY 7:50-11:00
Superintendent’s PTA/PTO Council Meeting—SAB 9:00
Library Club (Haverkamp) Library 2:45-3:45
Math Club (Tracey) Rm 203 2:45-4:00
RadioActive Brix Lego League Team Meeting (Davis) Rm 223 2:45-4:45
Robotic Sumo Bot Team Meeting (Franco) Rm 316 2:45-4:30
5th/6th Grade After School Homework Help (Martin) Rm 319 2:45-3:30
7th/8th Grade After School Tutoring (Hondorf) Rm 301 2:45-3:30
Vaping & Our Teens Presentation by ASAP—JPAC 6:00-7:00
Basketball v. Norris BJV—5:00, GV—6:00, BV—7:00
Friday-15
A day
Youth for Christ 7:00 JPAC
Boys Basketball Practice 3:00-5:00
Midterm grades distributed to students during 7th period
Girls Basketball Practice 5:00-6:30
Happy Veterans Day
We want to take time to honor those who have served in our Armed Forces throughout their lives. We will spend time at school utilizing our lobby tv's and cafeteria tv to highlight the importance of honoring our veterans. We would like to extend our thank you to anyone in your family who has served and is a veteran. We appreciate their sacrifice, dedication and commitment to defending our nation.
In addition, we would like to recognize the JMS staff members who have served including:
Captain Brian Wilson
Sgt. Bill Byas
First Lieutenant Nicholas Corrigan
Staff Sergeant Matt Reed
We thank them for their service and dedication to help support our nation.
Midterms go home Friday Nov. 15th
1. Remember, the midterm is just an update for progress at that point in the nine weeks. It means that at this point, this is your grade. The goal is to help students get a better idea of their grade and work to improve their grade over the remainder of the nine weeks.
2. Most failing grades are because of failure to complete assignments. Talk to your student about effort and submitting every assignment. We will continue each week on our TVs and through the newsletter to emphasize how a 0 on an assignment carries a big impact on a grade.
3. Check Skyward for grades weekly. The midterm is simply students grades as recorded in Skyward at the 4.5 weeks mark. Check Canvas weekly to see what assignments, major tests, quizzes, projects etc. your student has upcoming.
4. Contact teachers and work to get feedback on how your student can work to improve their skills. What steps can they take at home? What routines can they have to immerse themselves into the learning process outside of school?
5. Spend time speaking to students about the importance of YET! Promote a growth mindset and work to help them understand Grit. The resources below are great reminders as to how important our effort can be in the learning process. As stated above, it is often the lack of submitting work that penalizes students. Often students who are failing do not submit any work. Keep in mind, teachers want and need the work as a way to assess, "do they understand?" To simply omit this step in the learning process is cheating yourself. Give it your best effort and if it's not perfect, learn from those mistakes.
6. Take advantage of your resources early and often. In many cases, we will have students ask "what can I do to help my grade?" two or three days before the nine weeks ends. Often the answer is, nothing! It is important for students to take advantage of resources and opportunities as they are given to them. For example, will the teacher allow for corrections on a test or quiz to earn more points? Does the teacher allow you to submit work late? Does the teacher offer help before school, during lunch or after school? Ask those questions and find out how you can empower yourself to improve.
7. Use the picture below with your student to help motivate them to work on resolving their understanding of their school work. The steps below allow students to take reflection steps and learn and understand how to go through the learning process.
Using Your Resources to Finish the Nine Weeks Strong
You have probably heard about Canvas or Skyward, but you may not know how they are used by teachers. Both are incredible tools that work to help both students and teachers keep up with their classes. Below are some brief descriptions for each tool and how you can utilize them at home to help your student stay organized and on top of their work.
Skyward -
For the 2019 - 2020 school year parents will be able to check out student grades in Skyward. Teachers will work to keep the grade book up to date weekly. This will help to have a better idea of student's progress weekly. Around 4.5 weeks into the nine weeks, students will get a midterm report sent home and at the end of the nine weeks.
Canvas (video below)
For 2019 - 2020 Canvas will serve as the place to get information about your child's class. For example, "what did you do in school today?" or "what did you learn about today?" etc. Canvas allows teachers to post announcements, links to resources, videos, PowerPoint notes, links to OneNote and other information that will help students in the class.
We ask our teachers to work to keep the announcements section updated each week in Canvas. This will allow parents to see a glance at the week ahead. Please keep in mind that some assignments, quizzes, tests, projects etc. may be subject to change and that the look at the week ahead is a tool to help students and parents have an idea of what will be discussed each week.
Vaping and our Teens
Thank you for a successful Book Drive
In our system wide professional development groups for teachers, the Community Involvement and Family Engagement in Literacy strand is a little different. Not only are the teachers seeking to improve their understanding of how a community and families can affect literacy, they are working to empower our community and families to create positive change. As part of the strand, Glenwood Elementary and Jefferson Middle hosted book drives. Glenwood asked for book donations from the community; for Jefferson’s book drive, students participated by bringing in their previously-loved books. Jefferson students donated over 850 books! Way to go, Eagles! Glenwood gathered over 2,000 books from our community. Wow! The teachers belonging to this strand sorted books this last week; some will go to pre-school kids, some to elementary, and some to middle schoolers; books we can’t use will be traded for credit at McKay’s to purchase more amazing books for our students. These books are being distributed through various ways throughout Oak Ridge (one of which is by the Food for Kids program) to ensure our students have books of their own at home.
Thank you for your support for the Thanksgiving Food Drive
Helping Students Maximize Growth and Effort
Step 1: Create Goals for yourself
Create a goal and make it one you know will challenge YOU. It's YOUR goal, not your friends goal. Make it personal, share it with a friend, your parents or keep it to yourself, but make a goal.
Example: "I won't make less than a B this nine weeks" or "I won't have any missing assignments this nine weeks" etc.
STEP 2: GIVING YOUR BEST EFFORT CONTINUOUSLY
You have your goals, now it's time to achieve. It will take work, true hard work and it will take time to continuously work to reach your goals. This is Grit! A continuous pursuit of your goals and constantly adjusting to new goals once you reach your first goal.
What does "Best Effort" look like?
1. For no reason, should you allow yourself to NOT submit any assignment. You should care more about yourself, your grade, your success, and your goals than to have a ZERO in your academic progress.
2. You should try EVERY SINGLE PROBLEM, QUESTION etc. EVERY SINGLE TIME! You may fail, but remember to FAIL is to have a "First Attempt In Learning"
3. Don't use Excuses because you fear Failure. Take a chance and have a "First Attempt In Learning". This means you have to try, you have to ask questions, you have to take responsibility.
STEP 3: TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
In order for YOU to achieve, YOU have to start with taking responsibility. Here are a few tips to get you started:
1. If you have a zero for an assignment YOU never turned in, it's on you! Not your teacher, not your device, not Canvas, not your laptop.....You have to begin to focus on you. What can you do to submit that assignment? How can YOU remind yourself? Can I write it in my planner? Can I check my Canvas Calendar?
2. Ask for help, it's okay, you will probably find something someday you will need help with. Who do you ask?
- Your teachers
- Your parents
- Your friends who you KNOW understand the topic
- Find Educational resources to help you understand
- Communicate what you don't understand
- If you don't understand or you have a question, take the time to find an answer. This is a part of Growth Mindset
3. When you FAIL (First Attempt In Learning)....figure out why and try it again! If you have a teacher who allows you to make corrections, DO IT! Don't dwell on how "your teacher didn't teach it the way you like it!" or talk about "how it's someone else's fault you didn't prepare or study". Roll up your sleeves, study your mistakes, put in effort to make corrections, ask questions, seek answers and give it another try. GRIT! Never Quit!
STEM Night is 2/20/20
STEM Night: 2/20/20 We hope to see you there
This is a message to Save the Date for STEM Night which will be from 6 pm - 8 pm on Thursday February 20th at Jefferson Middle School. The goal of STEM night is to invite our families and students in to our school to learn more about STEM, careers in STEM and applications both at JMS and the world in which our students will work, live, and thrive in their futures.
If you have any resources or you work for a group that may want to be a part of the STEM night, please contact either of our STEM coaches Callie Painter at clpainter@ortn.edu or Alex Goldberg at agoldberg@ortn.edu.
We will keep reminding everyone of this date as we hope to have a HUGE turnout like we did last year!
Counselors Corner
Dates to Remember:
November 13th: Midterm
November 13th and November 14th: Aspire test for 8th graders
December 20th: Last day before winter break
Good Evening! We hope that you had a great week before we begin this week and hope for snow on Tuesday! This week we will continue our discussions on career planning to help our student(s) to begin to think how their grades, motivation and focus do help to determine their future. This week we have 5 Essential Career Planning Resources for Students
Children start thinking about their career as young as seven, but they plot their future objectives more strategically in high school. During these formative years, students can take advantage of internships, which give them a chance to gain experience and exposure to various career fields. The more information students receive about career opportunities, the better informed they can be in making decisions about their future after high school.
1.What Color Is Your Parachute? For Teens
“Discover yourself, design your future and plan for your dream job,” reads the subtitle on the cover of this teen guide to career success. This book covers everything from higher education to job interviews, with step-by-step exercises that help students measure their skills to transition from high school to college or a career seamlessly.
ISBN-13: 9781607745778 DISCOVER YOURSELF, DESIGN YOUR FUTURE, AND PLAN FOR YOUR DREAM JOBBy CAROL CHRISTEN and RICHARD N. BOLLES
Category: Teen & Young Adult Nonfiction
2. Career Outlook
(Click on) Career Outlook, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is a government career portal designed for teens. There are various resources available on the website, including career planning tips and interviews with recent high school graduates. Students can browse national and state data to find the most popular and (click on) highest paying jobs across a range of industries—and discover what skills they need to land their dream role. The site is updated on a regular basis and focuses on a different occupation every month.
3. Teen’s Guide to College and Career Planning
ISBN-13: 978-0768939903
This comprehensive guide features interviews with teens, parents, career experts, with a focus on post-high school training. There is information about choosing a college major, obtaining financial aid, and embarking on a career in the military, as well as resume and interview tips.
4. Corporation for National and Community Service
The(click on) Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal government agency that supports service and responsibility. Its educational initiatives help students discover the skills they need to flourish after high school, and the (click on)nationalservice.gov website includes a directory of trade schools, where students can discover training programs from a range of disciplines. There is also information about volunteering, mentoring, and tutoring programs.
5. Now What? The Young Person’s Guide to Choosing the Perfect Career
This guide is like a career planning workshop for students, with useful techniques that let readers design their perfect career from scratch. Now WHAT? is a book that includes charts, quizzes, and worksheets that match students with jobs based on their personality type.
Visit https://www.k12.com/ learns about many online schools that offer career education for high school students.
Aspire Set for November 13th and 14th
The ACT Aspire Test for the 8th grade students will be taken on Wednesday, November 13th and Thursday, November 14th beginning at 7:50am. The ACT Aspire is an assessment system that measures academic achievement in English, math, reading, and science in 8th grade. ACT Aspire is linked to the ACT College and Career Readiness Standards, research-based information that makes test results meaningful by connecting a student’s ACT Aspire score to specific skills and knowledge important for college and work success. In our district, we use these scores to assess student progress up to 8th grade and properly place students in classes as they transition to the high school. This test will be administered on hard copy this year. Also, please make sure that your 8th grade student gets a good night sleep, has had an opportunity to eat breakfast, and is to school on time so testing can begin promptly at 7:50.
Again, Jefferson Middle School will be conducting the ACT Aspire Test on Wednesday, November 13th and Thursday, November 14th beginning at 7:50am. We look forward to a successful morning for all involved. If you have any questions about the ACT Aspire, please contact the Counseling Office.
Community Resources and Information
- Family Resources Fair (flyer below) November 18th 5 pm - 7 pm at Oak Ridge Boys and Girls Club
- CASA of the Tennessee Heartland is a non-profit that provides court-appointed special advocates for children in the court systems of Anderson, Blount, and Scott counties. CASA has fundraising events every other month so they can to raise more money for our organization so that we can reach more children that are in need. They are having an event on December 14th this year called Waffles with Santa at the Centennial Golf Course in Oak Ridge.
The event is run by our non-profit organization CASA of the Tennessee Heartland that advocates for children in the juvenile court systems of Anderson, Blount, and Scott County. The event we're hosting is called Waffles with Santa and is on Dec. 14th from 10am-12pm. There will be waffles with tons of toppings, as well as Santa that parents can have their children take photos with. It will be held at Centennial Golf Course here in Oak Ridge. Tickets for children 5 and older will be $5.