Eagle Eye JMS Parent Newsletter #20

Hello, Jefferson Middle School families and parents!

To all the family members of our school children, we extend our warm wishes during this holiday season, as it has certainly begun! In the midst of hustle and bustle, our wish is happiness, peace, and joy for you all! We have caught a spirit of celebration here at JMS this past week. We celebrated goal achievement across subjects, we celebrated our new students with donuts or pizza and a platform for feedback, and our staff celebrated success among departments and grade levels. We encourage our family members to find ways to celebrate each other and recognize "good things"! Research consistently shows that celebrating and recognizing success leads to greater productivity:

Our student Eagles continue to press, push, and excel as they are completing assessments and engaging in experiments, activities, and assignments. We are so excited for our upcoming holiday concerts, basketball games and cheerleading, and our club events.

We want to highlight our musical and vocal performances:

• Tuesday: 5th/6th Grade Chorus Holiday Concert JPAC 7:00 PM
• Thursday: 6th-8th Grade Orchestra Winter Concert JPAC 7:00
• Thursday: 5th & 6th Grade Chorus Performance 8:15-2:30 The Island, Pigeon Forge

We appreciate and encourage all of our families to reach out with any needs, questions, or concerns.

Have a wonderful week!

Phil Cox, Principal, pcox@ortn.edu

Ben Fowler, Vice Principal, bjfowler@ortn.edu

Brian Tinker, Dean of Students, bjtinker@ortn.edu

Elizabeth Leavitt, Instructional Technology Coach, ealeavitt@ortn.edu

Friday, December 16 is an Early Dismissal Day. We will be dismissing at 12:45pm like we do on Wednesdays.

5th Grade: Perspectives

6th Grade: Stress Strategies

7th Grade: Making Habits, part 2

8th Grade: Practicing Teamwork

Week of: December 12-16 , 2022

Monday, December 12, B Day

• Winter Benchmark-Math/Social Studies
• PTO Meeting Zoom 7:45
• Japanese Video Pen Pal Club
• Chess Club Library 2:45-3:45
• Atomic Eagles Meeting Science Wing 2:45-4:30
• RadioActive Brix Meeting Rm 223 2:45-4:30
• Master Builders Meeting Rm 102 2:45-4:30
• Basketball Game vs. Norris at JMS BJV – 5:00, GV – 6:00, BV – 7:00
  

Tuesday, December 13, A Day

• Winter Benchmark-Math/Social Studies
• Girl Scouts Meeting Rm 208 3:00-5:00
• Atomic Eagles Meeting Science Wing 2:45-4:30
• RadioActive Brix Meeting Rm 223 2:45-4:30
• Master Builders Meeting Rm 102 2:45-4:30
• Girls Basketball Team Christmas Party Cafeteria 4:30-5:30
• Girls Basketball Practice Gym 3:00-5:00
• Boys Basketball Practice Gym 5:00-7:00
• 5th/6th Grade Chorus Holiday Concert JPAC 7:00 PM
  

Wednesday, December 14, B Day

• Garden Club 1:00-2:00
• Ski Club Meeting 1:00
• Girls Basketball Practice Gym 1:00-3:00
• Boys Basketball Practice Gym 3:00-5:00
  
• NO Wednesday Homework Help!

Thursday, December 15, A Day

• 5th & 6th Grade Chorus Performance 8:15-2:30 The Island, Pigeon Forge
• Girls Basketball Practice Gym 3:00-5:00
• Boys Basketball Practice Gym 5:00-7:00
• 6th-8th Grade Orchestra Winter Concert JPAC 7:00

Friday, December 16, B Day

• Early Dismissal 12:45
• Youth for Christ Band Room 7:10 AM
• Student Council Winter Party Cafeteria 6th period
• Basketball Christmas Tournament at Coalfield Varsity ONLY Girls vs Glen Martin 8:30 PM
  

Saturday, December 10

• Basketball Christmas Tournament at Coalfield Varsity ONLY Boys vs winner of Berean vs Wartburg 3:30
  

We are so proud of our Eagles, JMS FIRST Lego league teams. They competed at the Marble City Qualifier on Saturday, December 3, 2022. The JMS Master Builders won 1st Place Robot Performance, the RadioActive Brix won 1st Innovation Project, and the Atomic Eagles won 1st Place Champions. Julie Hartye, a parent volunteer and mentor for our teams, won the Mentor Award.

Congratulations to the following students:

Atomic Eagles:

Eleanor Adamson

Ella Bradburn

Halie Campbell

Finnley Mindrup

Hannah Rieger

Samantha Rieger

Tommy Sauer

Harry Shanafield

Natalie Shanafield

Vladik Puchalsky

JMS Master Builders:

Lucy Kilpatrick

Andrew Martin

Larry Nichols

Emmett O’Meara

Norah Price

Ruby Price

Calvin Sizemore

Ethan Schmitt

RadioActive Brix:

Moira Davis

Ava Hartye

Skyla Hartye

Anna Pickel

Gabe Sherman

Brayden Williamson

Joscelyn Williamson

Nina Vasquez

The Eagles continue regular season play as they host Norris on Monday evening for their last home game of 2022. The boys JV game will tip at 5pm, followed by girls varsity at 6pm and boys varsity at 7pm. On Friday, the Eagles and Lady Eagles will begin competing in a Christmas Tournament at Coalfield. The Lady Eagles first game of the Tournament will be on Friday at 8:30pm against Glen Martin. The Eagles first game of the Tournament will be on Saturday at 3:30pm. The JMS basketball teams will continue competing in the tournament through Tuesday.

The week following Winter Break will be Spirit Week! The dress up themes are as follows:

Wednesday, January 4th: Snow Day (White Out!)

Thursday, January 5th: Throw Back Thursday

Friday, January 6th: Blue/Gold Day

Dress code applies and face paint and hair dye cannot be brought to school!

Go Eagles!

Coach Katie Bolling

December Focus: All the 4 Cs working together!!

As we peer into classrooms all across the building, we see, hands on, the reward of our 4 Cs rubric elements working all together! Students critically think, communicate, collaborate, and create!

This week, we wanted to share this happening in Ms. Easterday's 6th Grade Science.

Students rose to the challenge as "teachers"! They are teaching their peers about weather. Students were presenting, explaining, directing, questioning, and allowing their "classmate students" to learn from them. Students even provided checks for understanding, objectives, and formative assessment!

We want to congratulate our Student of the Week winners, nominated by their teachers. We are so proud!

• 6th grade: Theo Christian

  Bryson Brewer

• 7th grade:Gage Pellegrin

  Danylo Smolkin

  Hunter Miller

  Destiny Estremera

• 8th grade:Emmett O'Meara

  Dahlia Maples

  Brennon Rosario Lee

Leadership is how we influence others. It’s a powerful way to positively impact the world around us. This month we will help students build their leadership skills while practicing Perseverance. One way to think about Perseverance is “pushing yourself through challenges and obstacles.” We all experience challenges in our lives. We all have moments when we feel like we can’t do it or that we want to give up on a big task. It is important to develop tools that help us work through those challenges in order to grow in those moments instead of giving up. How might you practice Perseverance as a family this month?

Family Fun Activity:

Here are some fun was to connect as a family while practicing Perseverance.

• Consistency is hard. Have each person in the family commit to ONE thing they will do each day this week. Maybe it is flossing, drinking a certain amount of water, getting to bed at a certain time, limiting screen time, or exercising. Create a place where each person can tally their progress and see who can keep their streak going the longest!
• Review Perseverance as a family! Remember that Perseverance is pushing yourself to work through challenges and obstacles. Here’s a fun challenge: Can you fit your whole body through an index card? While it sounds impossible, with the correct folding and cutting technique, you can make it happen! Give each family member a 4x6 index card and a pair of scissors.
• We have all demonstrated Perseverance in our lives. Many of us have seen people practice Perseverance in ways that have inspired us. Stories are powerful tools for connecting as a family. Protect time this week to share stories about Perseverance with each other. At the end of the conversation, think of ONE way you can practice Perseverance this week.

Emotional Support through the Winter Months

Although the holidays are a wonderful time of year, the winter months can also bring more frequent emotions like depression and anxiety. If you have seen an increase in these emotions in your child and need further support, please visit the website below from Kids Health. There are many helpful parenting tips of how to support your child during this season!

Please know the JMS School Counselors are always happy to help as well.

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/sad.html

We Need Your Help!

Our After School Homework Help Program is in need of nutritious, prepackaged snacks. All donations can be dropped off in the School Counseling Office. Thank you for your willingness to support this wonderful program.

Mental Health Resources

For mental health support, please feel free to reach out to the Jefferson Middle School Counseling Department at (865) 425-9301.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please refer to the information below:

Mobile Crisis/Youth Villages: 866-779-9225

Ridgeview Behavioral Health in Oak Ridge: 482-1076

Statewide Crisis Hotline: 1-855-Crisis-1 or 1-855-274-7471

Statewide Crisis Text line: Text TN to 741741

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-273-8255

School Counseling Support Team!

Ms. Price - 5th and 7th Grade Counselor - clprice@ortn.edu

Mr. Sudderth - 6th and 8th Grade Counselor - pwsudderth@orth.edu

Ms. Myers - Registrar - amyers@ortn.edu

Click on each picture to enlarge!

Wednesday Homework Help is in FULL SWING. If students have questions about an assignment, need guidance about their homework, or are looking for a quiet place to work, Mrs. Huddleston and Mrs. Ozcan will be available in the Innovation Center on Wednesdays after dismissal. Students will need to be picked up by 3:00 pm. All grade levels are welcome to attend. Please e-mail Mrs. Huddleston (cdhuddleston@ortn.edu) or Mrs. Ozcan (mozcan@ortn.edu) with any questions.

Remember when dropping off/picking up your student:

• JMS's weather policy is to load busses and release car riders during most weather events EXCEPT lightning or severe rain/wind. When lightning is present we will push our students back to the building and delay releasing students. We have had three major lightning issues and a major wind/rain events during our releases over the first term, and we wanted to reiterate what our hold policy is. We thank our parents for their patience as we do our best to keep our students safe.
• DO NOT enter the bus loop when buses are present!
• Please pull your vehicle all the way up so we can keep as many cars as possible off of Fairbanks Road.
• When dropping off AFTER 7:30am, students will be directed towards the main entrance. Go ahead and pull all the way up.
• Make sure your child is ready to exit the vehicle and doesn't have to access the trunk for items, as this holds up the line.
• DO NOT park or leave your vehicles in the neighborhoods across the street from Jefferson. Traffic is heavy during pickup and drop off and parking on those streets only increases the danger to our students and parents attempting to navigate the traffic.