OJ DeJonge Middle School
DECEMBER 2022
From the Principal's Desk
Greetings Oriole Students and Families,
We have had an excellent start to the second trimester of the school year! Students have been able to get used to their new schedules and engage in new learning opportunities in their new classes. We are already engaging in our second of three NWEA testing windows so that we can have a better understanding of what students know and are able to do and we’ll use the results of this test to help us help each student grow to the best of their potential.
Every Monday we talk about the You Matter Theme of the Week for our students. During the month of November, all of the themes involved being thankful and here in December each week’s theme will involve bringing joy to our school community. There are many things to be thankful for here at OJ and many more things that bring great joy to our community! During this season of giving, our school community is second to none in all that is done for students and families. The LASD Giving Tree, orchestrated by our amazing school counselors Steve Hull and Jennifer Shaw, helps families during the holiday season. The Shop with a Cop event, led by School Resource Officer Morris, recently raised a record amount of money during the annual pie auction before Thanksgiving to help fund this program. Before Thanksgiving, we held our annual food drive and our students brought in a record 1,600+ food items to be donated to the Lakeshore Food 4 Kids program. Thank you to the OJ Student Council, led by Julie Keson and Danielle Luce, for leading this effort. The sixth grade won the food drive competition and were rewarded with the opportunity to pick the outfits for staff prior to the Thanksgiving break and also picked the TikTok dance that Ms. Schaperkotter and I had to perform (and let’s just say that our dancing abilities are not exactly the greatest!) which students viewed on the Monday Message last week. I am always grateful for the giving spirit of our OJ team and seeing this giving spirit brings me great joy!
As always, seeing our students and staff be successful also brings me great joy. We are lucky to live and work in a community where our schools are supported. The students and staff here at OJ do amazing things every single day and it is my hope that our community is proud of the work that is done here on a daily basis.
I wish you all a joyous holiday season and look forward to an amazing end of 2022!
With Oriole Pride,
Mike Hart
OJMS Principal
OJ Wreath Fundraiser A HUGE Success!
TytoCare Virtual Doctor Visits
Team Sports and Fitness Class
CANVAS LMS
The Canvas Learning Management System is a game changer for families to understand what is happening in classrooms at OJ DeJonge Middle School! Families are able to see the learning targets and assignments for each class each day. Here at OJMS, all of our teachers use a similar home page for each of their courses and each course is organized so that the Learning Modules button takes students and families to what they need to know! Below is an example of what a Canvas home page looks like from Mrs. Keson’s ELA class.
Our school is committed to helping students and families understand this amazing learning tool. The LASD tech department has created a number of helpful videos for families, available at this link, to assist in learning more about Canvas.
Please reach out to your child’s teacher or to the main office if you have any questions or need help with this amazing tool!
News from LASD Athletics
Please check the lasd.net website/athletics or lasd.net calendar for the most up to date information. Things change daily. Please call the athletic office at 845-3811 with any questions or concerns or email us at athletics@lasd.net.
There is a new athletics website - www.lasdathletics.com - with a great calendar feature and lots of information regarding Oriole Athletics!
Contact OJMS
Email: OJnewsletter@lasd.net
Website: www.lasd.net
Location: 706 East Tinkham Avenue, Ludington, MI, USA
Phone: (231)845-3810
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/OJMSParentInfo
Twitter: @OJ_Orioles