Jonathan Alder Junior High
October 29 , 2021
Message from the Principal
JAJHS Families,
I hope you have had a great week and enjoyed the cooler temperatures and beautiful changing leaves!
Things have been busy around JAJHS this week! Unfortunately, the rain caused us to postpone the first-ever Great JAJHS Pumpkin Drop until next Friday. Be sure to see some of the pictures below of the pumpkins that were decorated by homerooms for this activity!
Here are a few important items:
There will be no school for students this Tuesday, November 2nd. Teachers will be in professional development meetings and trainings all day.
Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for this Monday, November 1st and Thursday, November 4th. If you have any questions about conferences, please contact your child’s teachers or the school office.
Students will now be in-person for school on Wednesday, November 10th and there will be no Remote Learning Day this day.
1st Quarter Grades are now finalized on Canvas. Be sure to change the drop-down menus to 1st Quarter. Instructions for accessing Canvas can be found here.
Please be sure to review the newsletter below for important updates and events.
Sincerely,
Ryan Malany
Principal
Jonathan Alder Junior High School
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
11/01 Parent-Teacher Conferences
11/02 Professional Development Day/No School for Students
11/04 Parent-Teacher Conferences
11/05 Great Pumpkin Toss
11/24-11/26 Thanksgiving Break
7th Grade
*Mr. Woolley's and Mr. Whitt's Science classes are finishing their unit on electricity. Students are making series circuits and parallel circuits in class. Next, students will be studying waves, sound, and light.
* The 7th grade Math classes have started their new unit “Stretching and Shrinking.” Students have been introduced to the Wump family- a fictitious video game family from our math curriculum. We learned the difference between congruent and similar figures while describing our Wump characters. Non-similar figures were considered Imposters! We also uncovered how to find the scale factor between two objects
The 7th grade Math department will also be conducting two labs during the month of November: a ratios investigation and a proportions investigation! These lab will allow students to experiment with various lemonade recipes to compare and scale their ingredients, as we will be learning in our unit on ratio and proportions. If you would like to donate lemonade, soda, or cookies for the lab, please look for an upcoming e-mail from your child's math teacher in the coming week.
8th Grade
* Mr. Alexander's Alder Pioneer Network class had a guest speaker! Multimedia journalist Olivia Wile from Spectrum 1 news spoke with APN students about her career in the news industry. Wile's presentation gave students a better understanding of a "day on the job" of being a "general assignment" reporter. She also gave students encouraging advice to keep working hard and to remember " it is a marathon, not a sprint race" when developing your craft as a reporter. When asked her favorite assignment to cover, she replied, "The Buckeyes!"
* Mrs. Hall's Science students are beginning our Plate Tectonics journey; it should be an interesting adventure!
JAJHS Library
Brains are growing in the library with our Makerspace Activities! From robotics and coding to legos and design, it's a busy and productive space!
Follow us on Twitter @JALibrary to keep up with all the fun!
You can also follow us on Instagram! alder_library
JAJHS Athletics
Parents/Guardians - If your 7th or 8th grader is interested in participating in:
Wrestling - There will be a parent meeting for anyone interested in junior high wrestling on Wednesday, November 3rd from 6:30 - 7:45 pm in the high school library. The high school library is located on the second floor. If you have any questions, please contact Coach Tony Watson (614-206-1258).
Winter cheerleading, please email Coach Donnelly: JAJHScheer@gmail.com .
If you have not done so, please login to Final Forms and click on a sport your son/daughter is interested in. This will attach you to the roster of that sport so you can receive emails from the coaching staff or Mr. Moyer.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Mr. Moyer at 614-873-4635 or email moyersc@japioneers.org
Pumpkin Fun!
One of our PBIS values is “Be Connected” and as a way of celebrating this, our students decorated pumpkins this week during our homeroom time. The theme was “One School: Our School!” and students did a great job coming up with creative ideas together!
On Thursday, Student Council helped students vote for the best grade-level pumpkins during lunch. Congratulations to Mrs. Heinig’s and Mrs. Lostumbo’s homerooms for winning doughnut parties!
Veterans Day
JAJHS Wall of Honor
This year, the Junior High would like to recognize the service of JAJHS family members by creating a “Wall of Honor” as a part of our Veterans’ Day activities. If a member of your family is a veteran or in active service and you would like them to be recognized on this day, please complete this Google Form. If you would like to submit a photo of your family member(s) please email it to Megan Brar at brarme@japioneers.org. We are excited and honored to pay our respects to those who serve or have served our country!
Ruling Our eXperiences (ROX) at JAJHS
The mission of ROX is to equip girls with the information and skills needed to live healthy, independent, productive and violence-free lives. ROX is an evidence-based and responsive program. Mrs. Lupia created a Loom video posted on her Canvas page with more information about the program at the Junior High. Feel free to also visit the ROX website: https://rulingourexperiences.com/
If your daughter is interested in participating in ROX, please have her stop by the office and grab a permission slip. Please be advised that spots are limited.
For more information, please contact Kati Lupia, Jonathan Alder Junior High School Counselor at lupiaka@japioneers.org.
Alder Basketball Gear!
https://jabball2021.itemorder.com/
Go Pioneers!
Community Resources
The We C.A.R.E Coalition of Madison County is holding a Community Conversation to provide education about what support efforts are in place for substance use and mental health wellness. Please see the following link for information.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AXrRAw5FwLBNgPifDGlTOgHs1y1oe3_8/view?usp=sharing
D.N.A. LIFT Learning Center
D.N.A LIFT Learning Center has started Tutoring Services for Students in grades 5-8 from 3:00-4:30, Mon-Thurs. The program started on Monday, October 18th. There is a limit on the amount of students who can attend, so students interested will need to Pre-Register at: lift.dnaplaincity.org Transportation from school to D.N.A will be provided. Masks will be required. For additional information, you can contact Janet Lanka @ lankajanet@gmail.com.
Substitute with us!
Are you interested in joining our JAJHS community as a substitute teacher? We would love to have you!
Information and applications are available online. Education requirements are simply a Bachelor’s Degree in any area. Please consider applying or sharing with anyone who may be interested!
Note from District Nurse
Parents/Guardians: Just a friendly reminder to turn in your 7th/8th grader's updated immunization records either to the office or via Final Forms. Thank you! -Nurse Cici
Reminders from JAJHS Office
Medications at School
Sometimes parents ask that school personnel administer medication to their child during the school day. When this is necessary, we require written permission and instructions from the parent and in some instances from the doctor.
The required form “Distribution/Student Use of Medicines/Medications” must be completed and turned in to the junior high office with the medication to be administered.
School Fees
The school fees for 7th and 8th grade can be paid online using MyPaymentsPlus or you can bring cash or check to the school office. The fees are $30 per student for the 2021-2022 school year.