Parent Newsletter
Feb. 18th - 22nd
It's STEM Week 2019!
It's hard to believe but there are only three weeks left in the third nine weeks. Also hard to believe that is officially the week of STEM Night! Check out the following information below for this week's newsletter:
- STEM Night
- Why STEM?
- Teacher Feature
- 21st century learning and skills
- 7th and 8th grade dance
- Finishing the Nine Weeks Strong
- Counselors Corner
Thanks for all that you do to support JMS,
Phil Cox, Principal
Chris Layton, Vice Principal
Jenifer Laurendine, Dean of Students
A Look at the week ahead
Monday-18
A day
Book Fair
Homework help for 5th/6th graders 7:00-7:30-Room 219 (Corrigan)
Environmental Club 2:45-4:00
Chess Club 2:45-3:45 Library
Tuesday-19 - STEM NIGHT
B day
Book Fair
STEM Night
Homework help for 5th/6th graders 7:00-7:30-Room 219 (Corrigan)
Library Club 2:45-3:30
Science Bowl 2:45-4:00-Room 317 (Little)
Homework help for 5th/6th graders 2:45-3:30-Room 319 (Martin)
Homework help for 7th/8th graders 2:45-3:30-Room 301 (Hondorf)
Wednesday-20
A day
Book Fair
Parent Conferences
Homework help for 5th/6th graders 7:00-7:30-Room 219 (Corrigan)
Talent Show Practice 1:00-2:30-JPAC
Thursday-21
B day
Book Fair
Homework help for 5th/6th graders 7:00-7:30-Room 219 (Corrigan)
Math Club Practice 2:45-4:00-Room 203 (Tracey)
Homework help for 5th/6th graders 2:45-3:30-Room 319 (Martin)
Friday-22
A day
Book Fair
8th grade registration forms due to Counseling Office
Homework help for 5th/6th graders 7:00-7:30-Room 219 (Corrigan)
Youth for Christ 7:00-JPAC
Saturday-23
Interact Club 9:00-11:00-Blossom Center
STEM Night is Tuesday 2/19/19 6 pm - 8 pm
STEM Night is 2/19/19 - Free Event for students and families
Tuesday, Feb 19, 2019, 06:00 PM
200 Fairbanks Road, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
Black History Month: STEM edition
Learn more from the information below from Dreambox, which is an amazing tool to help support reading for students.
George Washington Carver
Scientist, inventor, botanist, and chemist, Carver invented over 100 products derived from the peanut. Born into slavery, he became one of the most prominent scientists and inventors of his time. A teacher at the Tuskegee Institute, the agricultural department achieved national renown under his leadership. A monument showing him as a boy was the first national memorial erected in honor of an African American.
Benjamin Banneker
Son of a slave, this mathematician was also an astronomer, inventor, and writer. Acclaimed for the almanacs he published between 1792 and 1798, Banneker was appointed by President George Washington to the District of Columbia Commission and helped map out the new national capital. In 1980, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in his honor.
Euphemia Lofton Haynes
Academic, social activist, and the first African American woman to receive a PhD in mathematics. Not only a mathematician, Haynes was a distinguished educator, activist for school desegregation, and a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Science.
Valerie Thomas
This physicist and inventor invented 3D TV. Thomas received a patent in 1980 for inventing an illusion transmitter that extends the idea of television and makes images look three-dimensional. From 1964 to 1995, she worked in a variety of capacities for NASA where she developed real-time computer data systems, conducted large-scale experiments, and managed many operations, projects, and facilities. Thomas’ team spearheaded “Landsat,” the first satellite to send images from space.
Mae C. Jemison
The first African American woman to travel in space, she is also a physician, professor, and entrepreneur. Jemison joined the space program after she completed her medical degree, maintained a general practice, and served in the Peace Corps. After working at NASA from 1987 to 1993, Jemison founded The Jemison Group, Inc., which developed a satellite-based telecommunications system to improve health care delivery in developing nations. A professor in the Environmental Studies Program at Dartmouth College, she directed the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
This astrophysicist, writer, and television personality is bringing a love of science and information about the cosmos into our homes. A writer, Tyson has authored 10 books, and co-wrote and hosted the PBS-NOVA series, Origins. The recipient of eighteen honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, he is executive editor, host, and narrator for Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. He heads the Hayden Planetarium in New York City and is a research associate of the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.
Why STEM? The skills our students need
The principles and ideas behind the acronym STEM may stand for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, but we want our students to have a better idea as to the skills to succeed in these fields. Our goal is to help students understand more about 21st century skills including the 4 C's (Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, and Communication) along with Grit, and Growth Mindset. We work through our classes, clubs, and building a school culture to help promote not only the academic skills students will need for success, but also skills they will need to pursue college and career readiness.
We hope to see you on Tuesday Feb. 19th from 6 pm - 8 pm to learn more at STEM Night. We also hope to inspire our students and their families as they learn more about skills, requirements and opportunities for their futures. We want this event to be designed to inform, educate and potentially inspire our students and also provide resources to help support students.
Ms. Gardner - ELL
Ms. Scott - Special Education
Ms. Gregoriou - School Counseling
Teacher Feature
Leandra Gardner
I grew up knowing that I wanted to be a teacher because school was my favorite place! To this day, there are former teachers of mine that I have a relationship with, and I keep them in mind every day in my classroom.
Upon graduating from UTK with an undergraduate in Linguistics and a Master's in ESL Education, I started my teaching career in 2011 at an elementary school in Knox County. After two years there, I began teaching in Oak Ridge Schools, where I have now taught the past 6 years. Although my license allows me the freedom to work anywhere in the K-12 spectrum, middle school is where I prefer to be.
Growing up, I saw many of my classmates and friends make poor decisions about their future. My life outside of school was chaotic, and I was responsible for my own learning much of the time---there was no one else to hold me accountable. Thankfully, I understood that the way out of that chaos was to preserve with my education and to keep moving forward and staying on track with my goals. Based on my own experiences, I strive to provide a classroom environment where students know I am there to support them in any way I can, but also that I intend to challenge them and hold them to standards of excellence.
My message to students would be that you are a lifelong learner, and the more you learn, the better your life will be. It's important to stay current, and not simply be comfortable with living in the past. The skills and knowledge you acquire after leaving school are just as important as the ones you acquire while in school. It is important to never stop growing as a human being!
Outside of the classroom, reading is and always has been one of my primary joys in life. In addition, I enjoy playing board games, working puzzles, and cooking a diverse array of foods. On breaks, my husband and our English Bulldog, Tatum love going to the lake and traveling. In fact, as a lifelong learner, one of my goals is to learn German before taking a European vacation in the coming year!
Lexie Scott
I entered college with many interests completely undecided on a major. I began volunteering through my sorority and found myself volunteering extra hours in an elementary school resource room. Working with students who learn differently was so fun and exciting that I knew that is what I wanted for my lifelong career. I graduated from University of Tennessee with a B.S. in special education as well as a M.S. in special education k-12 modified/comprehensive.
I began my teaching career at Anderson County High School where I taught resource math and life skills. I continued working in Anderson County Schools as an inclusion teacher and behavior teacher. After several years, I accepted a position as an elementary CDC teacher at Karns Annex in Knox County. In Knox County I also worked as a split school resource teacher. I traveled to West Haven Elementary, West High School, and West View Elementary. As I grew as a teacher, I began to realize that my true calling was teaching within a self-contained classroom. I began teaching at Jefferson Middle School in 2009.
I find the challenge of thinking and teaching in alternative ways very exciting. To me, there is nothing more exciting in education than having educators and parents come together to develop a specific plan for a student so they may succeed. I believe that every child can succeed. It is not only the job of the teacher, school, and parents, but the whole community to provide meaningful opportunities that encourage education and personal growth for students.
The advice I share to students is to never give up. Success is measured by reaching your potential. Everyone has a challenge in life and learning is about navigating those challenges.
After school hours, I coach the FIRST Lego League team JMS Master Builders. I also am a co-sponsor of the JMS ski club.
Away from school, I believe in giving back to my community. I am a charter member of the Oak Ridge Civitans as well as a board member for the Oak Ridge Sister City Support Organization.
For family time, I value spending time with my husband and two children. Our favorite family activities are: Camping, traveling, and supporting our children’s interests in music, robotics, dance, and sports. You will often find us enjoying a community concert, festival, or recreation league.
Maria Gregoriou
I began my journey to be an educator at a young age. I was adopted in the Island of Cyprus and was brought to the United States at the age of 6 months. I grew up in a small town in Virginia and had an older sibling that was 3-years older than me and was also adopted. As my brother and I grew up my parents found that he was not maturing and learning at the same rate as his peers. My parents were given the social history of his biological mother and found that his mother drank alcohol and participated in recreational drugs while pregnant. At the age of 6 my parents took my brother to get tested for a learning disability and found that he indeed had learning deficits. During this era ADA and IDEA had not been in existence for a long time so there was not much that could be offered.
As I grew up there was a lot of aggression from my brother due to the lack of educational supports for him. My mother, brother and myself moved back and forth from Clintwood, Virginia to Knoxville, Tennessee on three different occasions to find the best schools for my brother. My father stayed in Virginia to practice medicine and worked to help the coal miners to keep their health insurance and gain more benefits with black lung. We would travel to Virginia every weekend to visit my father and get up at 3:00 a.m. on Monday mornings to go back to Knoxville to attend school.
We did this off and on for 7 years until my parents realized that my brother was receiving the same lack of educational support than the placement before. I knew at this point that I had to advocate for my brother and go into a profession that would allow individuals with disabilities to be cared for and given the educational knowledge and supports that was needed to be productive citizens. I stood by my family’s side and never gave up on listening to what they wanted for my brother. I would stand up for my brother when others would bully him in school.
I went to college at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas where I received a B.S in Special Education (K-12). I moved back to Knoxville, Tennessee where I had I had a full time job as a Probation Officer, a part-time job as a House Manager for Individuals with Disabilities and a Pre-school teacher. I had three jobs because I could not pass the Praxis test in order for me to be a Special Education teacher.
Two years later I became a make-up artist at Estee Lauder to give myself time to refocus and gather my thoughts for what other career I may be qualified to apply for. One day, I helped a lady with a makeover and she told me I was very patient and told me she was a principal at an inner school. I shared with her my obstacle of not being able to pass the Praxis and she told me I could receive an interim license and to apply to Knox County schools. The next week I applied and was hired on the spot. I felt that a dream came true and I was ready to turn a new leaf and give 100% every day to make a difference.
I worked for Knox County school for 6 years (2003-2009), Carter High School for 1 year where I asked for a transfer to live closer to home and then Farragut High School for 5 years. My last year in Knox County school I went back to school and received a M.Ed. in School Counseling (PreK- 12). I picked this area of study because I had to determine every day at my job if a child behaved the way they did due to environmental conditions, medication interactions and/or inherited biological mental health concerns. I applied to Oak Ridge City Schools in 2009 and was offered a job at the high school as a Resource Math Teacher to teach Algebra. I worked as a Math teacher for 4 years until I was asked if I was interested to go to a Jefferson Middle School to do the same job. I accepted the offer and I was in this position for 2 years until I applied to be considered as the 7th and 8th grade school counselor at Jefferson. I was offered the position and I feel that I can do the best of both worlds, advocate for students that attend our school and provide every support that I can to allow them to fell loved and cared for. My favorite thing to do with my students when I was a special education teacher was when we had “Mental Health Day”. Students would go around the classroom and talk about their lives and any student could give advice, give a positive compliment for making the right decision and/or state they had gone the same experience and how they overcame the obstacle. What advice I give to students these days are, "do you do today lays the ground for your future tomorrow".
JMS 7th and 8th grade winter formal
STEM Girls
PTO News
Come Visit the Spring Book Fair! The JMS Spring Book Fair will be February 18 - 22. Come check out the latest titles available from Scholastic Book Fairs. In addition to being open each day this week, the book fair will also be open from 6 – 8pm Tuesday during the STEM night event at JMS. The book fair will be held in the Eagles Nest Conference Room this week (go to the second floor and follow the signs).
Send in Your Box Tops. If you have been clipping Box Tops, it’s time to turn them in! Please turn in to the Student Council rep in your home room. Each Box Top is worth 10 cents for JMS so please check your pantry for participating products such as Ziplock, Nature Valley, Lysol and many more!
Fundraiser Spotlight: Are you curious about how your fundraiser dollars are being used? Each week, the PTO section of this newsletter will feature a different department or classroom from JMS that was helped with money from our annual direct drive fundraiser! This week the spotlight is on Mrs. Laurendine’s “Caught You Doing Something Right” program. Throughout the school day, Mrs. Laurendine keeps her eyes out for students doing good deeds such as helping out a fellow student who dropped all their materials in the hall. Those students are presented with a card they can use in the cafeteria for a free dessert. Thank you JMS families for helping to promote kindness!
If you have questions about how you can get involved with PTO at JMS, please contact Sandy Pelletier sandy@issi.net
Finishing the Nine Weeks Strong
1. Your overall grade for the school year is cumulative. The first nine weeks through the fourth nine weeks completes your overall grade. This means a really bad nine weeks could have a major impact on your overall grade. So for example, if you have a low F right now (30% or lower) it may still say F on your report card by the end of the nine weeks, but if you could make that a 63% it would make a HUGE difference in your overall grade.
2. We talk about Grit all the time in our newsletters. Now is the time to be gritty! You have 15 days left in this nine weeks to do your best, submit ALL of your assignments and give your best efforts. Grit is the intangible skill that our students will need to be successful as they move into their futures.
3. Promote a growth mindset. You need to continue to work hard and grow through the next three weeks. As we enter the fourth nine weeks much of the information you learn now will still be vital in the next nine weeks. We want to see you give your best efforts and grow to be a better learner and student. ALL students are capable of learning and growing but sometimes it takes extra efforts and continued focus to want to learn and grow.
21st Century Learning and Skills
The advancements of technology has made many of those concepts more and more obsolete and is quickly creating a world with more of a need for skills rather than memorized knowledge. This is a great challenge to education and educators because the advancement of technology coupled with a diverse population of learning styles and learners has changed our approach to education. Many experts in education are trying to provide for this rapid growth of education and change in education through the diverse models and concepts of STEM education. To help broaden the influence of STEM, the Oak Ridge schools have adopted the 4 C's of STEM as a guiding practice for students and staff. Our goal is to help facilitate lessons so that students can learn critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration.
Education is seeing major changes in tools, strategies and resources that teachers can use including virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality (check out Microsoft video below). These tools, ideas and strategies are geared towards helping engage learners into the learning process. However, just like school of our past students still have to work hard, complete assignments, study for tests and quizzes and put forth effort. The 21st century student needs the skills of the 4 C's, soft skills and also learning how to be a problem solver, communicator, innovator to name a few traits. It is vital for the 21st century learner to have these skills for success because the speed of information, technology and competing in a global economy will impact the realities of jobs we know today that may or may not exist tomorrow.
Home Depot Partnership Continues
Understanding Social Media: Instagram
"Kids and teens love using the photo-sharing app Instagram because it lets you apply cool effects and captions to your photos and videos and easily share them across a number of social media platforms. The ability to quickly change the look of your pics by adding anything from borders to blurring to brightness not only unleashes kids' creativity, it kinda makes their lives look a little more awesome.
One of the biggest draws of Instagram is the instant feedback you can get. Collecting a large number of followers -- and flattering comments -- is a badge of honor for diehards. On the other hand, negative comments can be really hurtful. If your kid uses Instagram, make sure she knows how to comment respectfully and deal with haters.
Parents also should know that, on Instagram, photos and videos are public by default and can contain location data. So it's important for kids to use privacy settings to limit their audience. Occasionally, negativity crops up, such as so-called "beauty pageants" where user photos are judged (and losers get a red "X" on their faces).
Also, some kids feel pressured to curate their lives to project an idealized image on Instagram. Sometimes teens create alternate accounts that they call "Finstagrams" (fake + Instagram) where they share more authentic versions of themselves (in an unattractive outfit or with a silly expression) intended for a close, small circle of trusted friends. Maintaining these separate identities indicates kids feel a need to convey their true selves but don't want to ruin their perfect image on their "real" (or, "Rinstagram") feeds. Despite these hitches, Instagram does a remarkable job of implementing a neat idea with an easy and fast interface, all for free."
Counselors Corner
Good Evening from the Counseling Office! We have 15 more school days to show our kindness to others. Please be sure to show your appreciation for others by modeling acts of kindness.
According to Psychology today, kindness is defined as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Affection, gentleness, warmth, concern, and care are words that are associated with kindness. While kindness has a connotation of meaning someone is naive or weak, that is not the case. Being kind often requires courage and strength. Kindness is an interpersonal skill.
You've heard about survival of the fittest and Darwin. Survival of the fittest is usually associated with selfishness, meaning that to survive (a basic instinct) means to look out for yourself. But Darwin, who studied human evolution, actually, didn't see mankind as being biologically competitive and self-interested. Darwin believed that we are a profoundly social and caring species. He argued that sympathy and caring for others is instinctual (DiSalvo, Scientific American, 2017)
Current research supports this idea. Science has now shown that devoting resources to others, rather than having more and more for yourself, brings about lasting well-being. Kindness has been found by researchers to be the most important predictor of satisfaction and stability in a marriage. Many colleges, including Harvard, are now emphasizing kindness on applications for admission.
There are different ways to practice kindness. One way to be kind is to open your eyes and be active when you see people in need. Do you notice when people could use a helping hand? A sense of community is created when people are kind to those who need help.
Opening your eyes means noticing when others are suffering. A kind word, a smile, opening a door, or helping carry a heavy load can all be acts of kindness. Celebrating someone you love, giving honest compliments, sending an email thanking someone, telling someone how s/he is special to you, helping an elderly neighbor with yard work or food, taking a photo of someone and sending it to the person, sharing homemade food, refusing to gossip, and donating old clothing and things you don't need are all ideas about how to practice kindness.
Kindness is a willingness to full-heartedly celebrate someone else's successes. Gottman's work shows that your response to someone's successes may determine more about your relationship than how you respond when times are difficult. Do you minimize the success, not pay attention to it, or bring up all the problems with the success? Kindness is to be openly happy for the other person.
Kindness is also about telling the truth in a gentle way when doing so is helpful to the other person. Receiving accurate feedback in a loving and caring way is an important part of a trusted relationship. The courage to give and receive truthful feedback is a key component of growth and flexible thinking.
Kindness includes being kind to yourself. Do you treat yourself kindly? Do you speak gently and kindly to yourself and take good care of yourself?
There are many ways to be kind and many opportunities to practice. Perhaps kindness is a value that could add more satisfaction to and strengthen your relationships.
Have a great week and show your ACTS OF KINDNESS!
Important Dates
1) Friday, February 22nd - 8th grade registration forms will be due to the School Counseling Office. More information on this will be coming as we get closer to this date.
2) Thursday, February 28th - ORHS Counselors will be coming to JMS to work with rising 9th graders on getting registered and looking at their 4-year plan.
3)Monday, March 11th – Thursday, March 14th – Intersession
4)Monday, March 11th – Friday, March 22nd – Spring Break
5)Monday, April 15th – Friday, May 3rd – State TNReady Testing