JC McKenna Newsletter
December 2019
J.C. McKenna First Quarter All S.T.A.R.R.S.
J.C. McKenna recognizes outstanding students each quarter who are positive representatives of the core character traits that make our middle school a great place to learn. They are called J.C. McKenna All S.T.A.R.R.S. (Students That Are Respectful, Responsible and Safe). We are so proud to celebrate these amazing students at our school. All S.T.A.R.R.S. and their families are honored at a celebratory breakfast. Teachers present each student with a certificate and a letter describing their achievements. Staff members also have the opportunity to speak about each student and the wonderful things that they bring to J.C. McKenna. Please take the time to commend these outstanding young people on their achievements when you see them in the community.
Congratulations to our first quarter All S.T.A.R.R.S.: sixth graders Braden H., Naomi R., and Vincent L.; seventh graders Sam D., Devin F., and Taylor J.; and eighth graders Trista B., William D., and Makiya G.
6th Grade Travels to the Overture Center
Honor Choir
The Rock Valley Conference Middle School Honor Choir met on November 8th for an awesome day of singing. Students learned two songs on their own, giving up their lunch recess multiple times. Then on November 8th, we met our director and rehearsed with students from other districts to put on a performance in the afternoon. Below is a link to their performance.
A Message from the Principal
Families of JC McKenna,
A lot has happened over this last month in terms of construction. The steel structure in the grade level areas is complete, the elevator shaft is no longer standing alone and we can see the entire perimeter of the new build. The band and music walls are up. The office and cafeteria spaces are going up next which is the closest structure to First Street just south of the band and music area. The concrete trucks will be making frequent stops as are floors will be poured next. It’s exciting to see the progress! Bray Architects are working on creating a video to share with the community which will include a “walk through” of the new building. Please continue to check the ECSD website for updates on the referendum.
Boys’ basketball started in November. All of their home games will be played at Theodore Robinson Intermediate School (TRIS). Many people know it as the “old high school”. Please remind your family members as we have several people knock on our door on game nights only to learn that they are in the wrong place. Wrestling will be coming up soon and then onto girls’ basketball. Come support our teams if you get a chance. It is a fun atmosphere!
Blue Notes are spending December 5 on tour. J They will be throughout our community as well as traveling to Stoughton to help spread some holiday cheer. Thanks to Mrs. Proper for planning community outreach options for our groups. It is a great way to give back to our community and show that our kids are great.
Three busloads of students 7-12 attended the Folk Fair on November, 22 through Spanish Club. The kids had a great time! Thank you to Mrs. Hoffman and Ms. Fanta for organizing and chaperoning the trip.
Each of our grade levels are helping to raise money for Toys for Evansville. The 8th grade challenged their team times in a penny war and ended up with a total of $833.86 at the end of last week. Amazing! 7th grade held a successful bake sale on Friday, November 22 and 6th grade is feeding the sweet teeth of each of your children by selling jolly ranchers. We don’t have the total amounts for 6th or 7th grade yet. All monies are used to purchase gifts for families in our community. YAY to JC McKenna students for supporting our wonderful community!
Mr. Bethke is once again organizing two Ski/Tube trips. The first one is January 24 skiing from 1:30-8:30 (half day of school so the bus would leave by 12:15 and be back close to 10) and the second is February 21 skiing from 10-5 (bus leaves around 8:20 and returns around 6:15). Forms will be available soon but we wanted you to know the dates now so you can plan ahead.
Also, in December, we will be doing a food drive for our local Care Closet. The student council is organizing it this year and will be sharing information with students once they (the students) figure it out. J This may be last minute, just like the organization and communication of school dances since the students do the organizing and planning. Many middle school aged kids are perfectly fine with last minute things and making parents rearrange without much notice. Our apologies in advance but we are helping them gain some skills with independence.
Happy Holidays to all of you from the staff at JC McKenna Middle School. Thank you for sharing your child(ren) with us each day! We are thankful for your support.
Mrs. Joanie Dobbs, Principal
8th Grade Boys' Basketball
FutureQuest
Eighth graders went on a field trip to FutureQuest at the Alliant Energy Center on Thursday, November 21. Over five thousand students and one hundred businesses from the Dane County area participated in this career expo. Students had the opportunity to interact with professionals and engage in hands-on activities to learn more about the education and skills needed to be successful in the sixteen career clusters.
JCM travels to the FolkFair
Seventh and eighth grade Spanish students had an opportunity to attend the Holiday International Folk Fair in Milwuakee on Friday, November 22nd after school. There they got to try foods, buy goods, and watch dance and music performances representing different countries and cultures from around the world.
"Bucky Book" Fundraiser Summary
Your Evansville PTO wants to send out a HUGE thank you to everyone who purchased Bucky Books and supported our 2019 fundraiser.
Together we were able to raise almost $2,500!
As stated in the flyer, each school set a specific need that Evansville PTO could help fund through this fundraiser. We are proud to partner with each school to coordinate improvements.
Levi Leonard – Playground/Recess Improvements
TRIS – Playground/Recess Improvements
JC McKenna – Classroom Books and Student Outings during construction
**If you earned bonus certificates – they will be coming home with your child soon. Watch for an informational email to notify you of their distribution.
There are still orders coming in via web order! If you missed the purchasing window, but still want a book, you can order Bucky Books online and Evansville PTO will still receive $15.00 for each book purchased. Better yet, the book will be mailed directly to you.
Simply visit https://www.buckybook.com
· Click on the “SAVE MONEY NOW!” Bucky Book
· Continue to “checkout”
· Under the Organization section it will ask “Were you referred by an organization?” Click YES. In the “Name of Organization” field enter: Evansville PTO (no phone number or name needed).
· Finish checkout and start saving!
We look forward to partnering with Bucky Books again next year. We are already planning for next year’s fundraiser. Again, thank you so much for your continued support!
Sincerely,
Evansville PTO
Legonology team
Thank you to the Evansville Education Foundation for sponsoring the middle school robotics team, LEGONOLOGY, which competed this Saturday at the Wolfpack-Badgerland LEGO League Tournament at Madison College. The Evansville LEGONOLOGY Team won the Research Award for their innovation project regarding a new community youth center,. They competed against 30 other teams in completing a series of robotics missions.