Patton 8th Grade Newsletter
February 3, 2023
Dear Families,
It's February! Here's hoping Kansas's false spring sticks with us for a little while. We enjoyed seeing all our student leaders at our first Student-Led Conferences. We hope you enjoyed learning more about their Leadership Notebooks and all their progress this year.
This week, mid-quarter grades were posted on Wednesday, February 1. Please check Skyward to view the most current grades.
Next week we will have another VOICES day on February 8. Students will meet with their Student Action Teams. The Project Sunshine Action Team is requesting donations for their canned food drive. Project Sunshine is a student-led committee that was created to help the community. Any donations would be greatly appreciated. ONLY NON-PERISHABLE ITEMS, like boxes or cans of food, will be accepted. Your student can drop their donations off in their grade-level pod. Donations boxes will be marked with Project Sunshine artwork created by the committee.
Monday will kick off Chiefs Spirit Week. Check out Mr. Fowler's Patton Junior High newsletter for more details on the daily themes.
Have a great weekend!
Respectfully,
The 8th Grade Team
MATH 8 NEWS
Mr. Bottom, the 8th-grade boys' basketball coach and substitute extraordinaire, will be teaching the class for a bit while I’m out on medical leave.
If you have any questions, concerns, or celebrations, please email him at cbottom@usd207.org, or Mrs. Davis at amdavis@usd207.org. Mrs. Davis and Mr. Bottom will be working together to update grades once a week in Skyward and will keep the Google Classroom up to date.
Respectfully,
Tina Faught
Email bfaught@usd207.org
ALGEBRA/GEOMETRY NEWS
ALGEBRA: Algebra students completed Unit 6 and took a test on Friday. There will be a vocabulary quiz on Tuesday and we will complete sections 7-1 and 7-2 before moving on to Unit 8.
GEOMETRY: Geometry students continued working in Unit 6 this week and took a midchapter quiz on Tuesday. We will complete Chapter 6 this coming week and take the Vocab quiz Wednesday and the Test on Thursday.
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Staci Blount
Email sblount@usd207.org
ELA 8 NEWS
This week in ELA we finished our previous text, "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" with a summative assessment. After our assessment, we began our next text from Collection 3, "Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis." In Mrs. Davila's class, our student teacher, Mia Thomas, will be leading the lessons until April. Please look for an email introducing Ms. Thomas!
Anna Davila/Mia Thomas & Kelly Funk
Email adavila@usd207.org and kfunk@usd207.org
SCIENCE NEWS
We finished our Bird Beak Lab which reinforced natural selection and adaptation. Our focus this week was on natural selection and the early study of evolution. Next week, we will continue to discuss the natural selection and the process of evolution.
Sincerely,
Natasha Johnson
Email njohnson@usd207.org
SOCIAL STUDIES NEWS
History students began studying the industrial revolution by reading 7.1 from our textbook. We discussed evaluating online sources for research for our Shark Tank Research Project, which we will complete in steps, before presenting to our classmates next week over inventions of the Industrial revolution time period. Each student will take on one of four roles: Inventor (Who invented it), Engineer (What it does) Economist (How will it change America), and Media Specialist (collaborating with group members to create a handout for the Sharks and helping arrange the presentation).
Sincerely,
Jeremy Hurla
Email jhurla@usd207.org
BROADCAST TECH/MAGIC OF ELECTRONS/ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT NEWS
Broadcast Tech: Students should have completed their Some Good News story. Students will be working through some skill-building camera work in the week ahead.
Magic of Electrons: Students are researching careers in engineering. They are working with a partner to create a brochure to share information about it.
Energy and the Environment: Students have tested their wind turbines. Ask them how it went!
Katie Rolf
Email krolf@usd207.org
MEDICAL DETECTIVES NEWS
Students completed the effectiveness of antibiotics lab this week! It was a great exercise in culturing bacteria using an aseptic technique. Next week, we will begin diagnosing patients using the disease dictionary.
Nikki Elder
Email nelder@usd207.org
DRAMA NEWS
What a busy week in Drama! On Monday, the back curtain on the stage was installed. Then on Thursday, the lights were adjusted to better illuminate the stage. On top of all of that, we have received approval for students from the elementary schools to come for the Dr. Seuss show. Show dates will be set later this week.
Penny Paradies
Email pparadies@usd207.org
SPANISH 1 NEWS
Students will be taking their next speaking test using their own written script describing their daily routine and answering questions about it. We will continue our units expanding our speaking abilities.
Friendly Reminder as we head into Week # 6 of 3rd Quarter: Students are expected to charge their computers at home each night and to bring their earbuds or headphones to Spanish class every day. Thank you in advance for reminding your son or daughter of this expectation.
Karla Ford
Email kford@usd207.org
FCS NEWS
We will continue learning about Sanitation and Safety in the kitchen as we prepare to cook. Students can expect food to make its way into the kitchen as early as next week! With food arriving in the kitchen, it is crucial that your student turns in their signed Allergy Form/Lab Contract and any missing assignments for my class. Any student who has not turned this signed form in by lab day or has missing assignments will be unable to participate in the lab. If you have any questions, please reach out!!
Email kcox@usd207.org
ART NEWS
Art students will be introduced to the Art of “Pop Art” and package design learning how artists around the world are designing packaging and logos for different products and companies. Students will first view a slideshow presentation of the objectives, directions, video clips, and examples of the Artwork they will create. Students will choose a food package that is already in production or create their own package to draw and paint in an oversized manner to get their design to look as realistic as possible using the Elements of Art they have been learning this year.
Emily Sipp
Email esipp@usd207.org
BLOCK 2 NEWS
We are beginning our formal argumentative essay in Block 2 this week. Students have studied rhetorical devices and the characteristics necessary in effective argumentative essays. We will take these essays through the full writing process to a finished, published work.
Kelly Funk and Anna Davila/Mia Thomas
Email kfunk@usd207.org and adavila@usd207.org
PE NEWS
All is well in PE. Both Mr. Amon’s classes have just completed their weight room unit and Mrs. Dreiling’s ball handling/basketball. This week both groups will switch. Mr. Amon’s classes will be doing ball handling and Mrs. Dreiling’s classes the weight room. Both 9th grade classes will begin a fitness unit. Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have for your student!
Please help us in reminding our students to bring water bottles, a jacket, and tennis shoes every day they have PE.
Tricia Dreiling and Pat Amon
Email tdreiling@usd207.org, and pamon@usd207.org
ESOL NEWS
KELPA testing is going well. Students are confident with navigating the test on the computer. We will be testing all of this week.
Nina Hewitt
Email nhewitt@usd207.org
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
ALL cell phones must be turned off and stored securely in lockers during school hours (7:40-3:00). If you need to contact your student, please call the front office.
All visitors must enter through the front office. Masks are now optional when entering the building.
Remind your students to charge their Chromebooks overnight!
Patton Junior High School
Email: tfowler@usd207.org
Website: www.patton.usd207.org
Location: 1 Patton Loop, Fort Leavenworth, KS, USA
Phone: (913)651-7371