The Library and Makerspace have had lots of students enjoying the space. Here are some of the things they’ve been doing: Halloween window painting, checking out the newest books, sticker mosaics, tutoring sessions with NHS tutors, board games, reading, geocaching, 7th-grade library orientation, and much more!

Music Boosters is always looking for volunteers. Please consider coming to the next music booster meeting on Wednesday, November 2nd in the band room at 6:30. A free pep band t-shirt to all first-time attendees will be provided!

The String Orchestra students are working on a new piece for the December concert. Students are also attending lessons and many students come in during Learning Block to practice. Several students are also going to Randall after school on Mondays to play with Randall Orchestra students. Eighth-grade violinist, Dorothy Kilmer, was selected to participate in Junior High Area All-State November 4th-5th. Congratulations, Dorothy!

Please encourage your children to bring their instruments home to practice! Students who take responsibility for their own growth and improvement, become well-rounded individuals and positive contributors to their band and overall music program.

We have a concert December 13th at 7:00. Students are to wear black on the bottom and white on top. There is a concert clothing closet currently under construction and concert clothes will be available for any student in need of concert clothes. Likewise, if your student has outgrown their concert clothes, please feel free to donate any clothes that are solid black or white, especially black shoes!

JH Student Senate is up and running! We are planning our first Spirit Week and pep rally. Make sure to ask your students about it! We also are doing a Halloween costume contest for teachers and students! Pictures to come. The 8th-grade trip this year is to Hershey Park, and information was sent home. If you did not receive any please reach out to either Jen McNerney or Penny Pomeroy.

All health class students are learning how their nutritional choices impact their health. We are watching the classic documentary SuperSize Me and looking at the many factors that contribute to the obesity epidemic. We will be talking about the many health conditions related to poor nutrition and other risk factors that lead to illness and disease.

In Home and Career Skills, we are in the middle of Unit 2, Personal Development. Students have learned about friendships, peer pressure, addiction, and the negative consequences of using tobacco products. In the next couple of weeks, students will learn about the dangers of alcohol, marijuana, and street drug use. Officer Reyngoudt will teach a lesson about sexting and the HIV/AIDS state-mandated lesson will be taught.

In art, we are finishing up our color theory unit with monochromatic paintings which will be on display at the Kaufman center in November. We have completed pinwheel color wheels and graffiti name designs as part of the unit as well. They are both on display in the junior high hallways and art room. Our next project will be optical illusions.

Our guinea pigs continue to be a classroom favorite. The students voted on the name for our second guinea pig whose name is now Walnut.

In Math 7A, we are in our 2nd Algebra Unit.

The next unit will involve proportions using scale maps and drawings.

In Math 7, we are continuing our study of proportional relationships. Our culminating lessons on proportional relationships will help us discover pi, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.

Tech 7 students have been building rockets, which we launched at the end of October! We learned about aerodynamics, forces of flight, and how to take advantage of these forces to solve a problem using basic tools and materials.

We also took a deep dive into safety and the safety mindset! We want to be able to approach any situation in life with safe approaches in mind.

“How can this hurt me? How can I avoid that?”

In November, we are beginning our Engineering Drawing unit to create pictorial views and orthographic plans for our first wood projects!

Team 1 students took a trip to Lime Hollow Nature Center. With beautiful weather, counselors taught them to build shelters and to make safe campfires!

In Team 1 ELA, we are right in the middle of our A Long Walk to Water unit. We are exploring character development and theme while unraveling the hardships that the Lost Boys of Sudan faced. If you want to learn more information about the book and Salva’s journey, click on the link below!

Link: https://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/salvas-story

In Team 4 English news, we have begun our Short Stories Unit. Students are reading The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell and practicing analyzing details. Some other stories are John Mortonson’s Funeral by Ambrose Bierce, A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury, and The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe. Spooky stories for the spooky season! We have also started learning about our “Big 20” Literary Terms.

In 8th-grade social studies, we have recently begun our unit on Westward Expansion. Fun topics we will cover include: cowboys, Native American culture, leaders and tribes, the Transcontinental Railroad, and the Homestead Act. We will also cover Native American issues today, specifically the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota.

Our 8th-grade CTE, students have been learning about being informed consumers. Topics such as reading receipts, comparison shopping, checking accounts and types of payments have been discussed. CTE students have also been fulfilling their volunteer requirement for the 1st marking period. Learn more about the volunteer requirement here!

8th Grade math just finished their first unit of geometry-rigid transformations. Kids did incredibly well! We are continuing geometry in our second unit and building on those previous skills. This unit will focus on dilations and angle relationships. Please be sure to check Google Classroom for updates and SchoolTool to make sure students are up to date with their assignments.

On Friday, 10/21, the Cortland JH had its annual Battle of the Teams, the students had a great time, and every team did a great job!