On November 10, 51 eighth graders began writing for the NCTE Promising Young Writers Program in response to the theme they were given. Of those, 34 students put forth the necessary effort and time, completed the writing sample, and turned in a copy for evaluation. We are especially proud of them for their motivation and effort in seeing this opportunity to completion.
This year’s prompt was both challenging and open-ended. Of our 34 participants, 4 deserve recognition for their excellent work. The following students deserve an honorable mention for their performance:
Conner Baird, Molly Kuhlman, Gabrielle Prasad, and James Quisenberry.
Of the 34 participants, three finalists from JMS have been chosen. These students will spend from now until early February revising their papers which will then be sent in for evaluation in the state competition. This year’s finalists should be very proud of themselves. With a challenging prompt, they composed insightful, original pieces that showed authentic voice. This year’s JMS Promising Young Writers Finalists are Julia Antunes, Allie Miller, and Pamela Yang!
Congratulations, Julia, Allie, and Pamela!
The recording of the first in a series of four webinars for families is now available. The YouTube link to the video can be found here.
This and all future webinar recordings will be made available as part of the Schoology for Families Webinar Series (22-23) playlist.
We're trying to add a new video each week. Check out this PLAYLIST for past tips!
The district will be providing families with this series of 30-minute informational sessions about Schoology.
(Jan 2nd @ 4PM) Communication and Notifications
(Jan 9th @ 4PM) The Schoology Mobile App
Please complete this brief form to register for the webinars you would like to attend. Zoom webinar information will be shared with families who register. Live Q&A will be moderated during the informational presentation. All sessions will be recorded.
Families In Need of Technology
As we prepare to start the 2022-2023 school year, we are asking families who need to borrow student technology to please visit www.mtlsd.org/families/technology/one-to-one
Middle School Athletics
You can learn everything you need to know about Middle School Athletics, including starting dates, by visiting the MS Athletics Webpage.
SHOPPER & SCHOOL REWARD PROGRAMS
Amazon
If you haven’t used AmazonSmile Before:
- Go to smile.amazon.com and sign in with your regular Amazon username and password.
- You will be prompted to choose a charity. You should enter "Jefferson Middle School PTA Inc” into the search box that appears. It will say "Pittsburgh, PA" as the location for the charity.
- Make sure whenever you check out, you always go to smile.amazon.com on your browser.
If you already use AmazonSmile:
- Go to smile.amazon.com and sign in with your username and password
- Make sure the charity you’ve selected is "Jefferson Middle School PTA Inc." This information is located under the search bar where it says “supporting”.
- If it isn’t, you can change it by clicking on the charity and selecting “change”
- This will bring you to a page where you can search for “Jefferson Middle School PTA Inc” and allow you to switch charities.
Make sure whenever you check out, you always go to smile.amazon.com to checkout.
If you shop on the Amazon app. Please activate Amazon Smile on your mobile app by opening the app and finding ’Settings’ in the main menu (☰). Tap on ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone.
Box Tops
Scanning Box Tops is an easy way to earn money for our school. See Box Tops for more information on how to scan Box Tops and to download the app. Receipts must be scanned within 14 days for the Box Tops to be scanned electronically.
Office Depot/Office Max
Office Depot/Office Max has a school rewards program. When shopping, remember to ask the cashier to tag Jefferson Middle School. For online orders, enter our school ID (Thomas Jefferson Middle School ID:70088453 Pittsburgh, PA) on the Thank You Confirmation page.
Safe2Say Something is a youth violence prevention program run by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. The program teaches youth and adults how to recognize warning signs and signals, especially within social media, from individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others and to “say something” BEFORE it is too late. With Safe2Say Something, it’s easy and confidential to report safety concerns to help prevent violence and tragedies.
Here’s how it works:
- Submit a report through the Safe2SaySomething system
- Crisis center reviews, assesses and processes all submissions
- Crisis center sends all submissions to school administration and/or law enforcement for intervention
- If needed, crisis center may contact tipster anonymously through the app
Jefferson Middle School
The Jefferson Middle School learning community has an exceptional reputation for its dedicated teachers, staff and parents working together to provide learning experiences for our children that include high expectations, a challenging curriculum and a shared commitment to provide the best education possible for each and every student.
