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Cortland Junior High Newsletter

March 2023

Cortland JuniorHigh NewsletterMarch 2023

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PB&J Drive

Barry Primary, Smith Intermediate, Randall Middle, CJSHS & the Kaufman Center, teamed up with Kiwanis of Cortland in an effort to collect 250 jars of PB&J for our local food pantries. Students and staff collected over 300 jars, bringing our total to 560 jars! The PB&J was distributed amongst 12 food pantries in Cortland County in time for the February break. Thank you to all who contributed & collected!

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PBIS Program

The Junior high officially kicked off their PBIS program (positive behavioral intervention system) on February 27th with an assembly in the gym. Students will be awarded Tiger Tokens for exemplifying the attributes of the ROAR matrix (Respectful, Open-Hearted, Acting Safely, Responsible). When awarded a Tiger Token, students will be entered into a drawing once a week for a gift card and have their name displayed outside the Junior High Office.

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Math 7

Math 7 is finishing an algebra unit (solving equations).

We will then begin geometry work.

Pi Day is coming.

Math 7A is beginning a Probability Unit. They will work on geometry.

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Team 3 Health

Students will begin a unit on Nutrition and Wellness/Diseases. During this unit, students will use their knowledge of signs, symptoms, pathogens, and transmission to diagnose various patients. We will finish up TGFD and Erin’s Law this month as well.

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Team 4 ELA

Team 4 ELA will begin reading the graphic novel titled Maus by Art Spiegelman next week in class. Beforehand, students will be completing research projects based on topics that will be seen throughout the book such as concentration camps, the Great Depression, Hitler, and Art Spiegelman. They will present their projects in the form of a podcast!

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Home and Career Skills

Students have started Unit 2, Personal Care. Students will learn about hygiene and grooming and clothing choices. Students will learn how to do the laundry, iron, and sew a button. To finish the unit students will learn to sew a fleece hat! An email will come home explaining more about the project.

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Student Senate

Student Senate just wrapped up our cookie dough fundraiser and kids did a great job selling! Thank you to all who supported Student Senate. Student Senate is working on getting more information out about our Hershey Park trip which is now on Tuesday, June 20th due to high school graduation being on the original date. Please be on the lookout for information coming home with students about when the non-refundable deposit is due.

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8th Grade Tech

Students are hard at work on their Spanning Structures project. In teams, they learned manual drafting skills and introductory engineering processes to develop their own bridge blueprints. They are now building prototypes of their designs, which will be tested in a competition for highest structural efficiency!


We are hoping to defeat last year’s record, measured at an efficiency of 82.2:1 (82 times its own weight)!

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8th-grade Science

Students are currently wrapping up our Weather and Climate unit. We have been collecting weather data, learning about fronts, pressure, and causes of various weather patterns. We are trying to figure out why hailstorms occur in certain areas.

This spring, the 8th-grade science team was awarded the CPEF grant and has started to use meteorological instruments to collect weather data and forecast upcoming weather events.

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8th-grade Math

Students have just finished our solving systems of equations unit. This was a huge unit for kids and an essential skill for them which they have shown success with! We will be starting our unit of functions this week which will take us all the way to spring break. Please be sure to check SchoolTool and Google Classroom to see what assignments students are completing or need to complete. Practicing math makes for perfecting math!

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8th-grade Social Studies

Students just finished our Black History Month Project, and we are now starting our new unit on Imperialism. We began with the policies of Isolationism and Imperialism and the meaning and causes of each.

At the beginning of March, we are starting our Women’s History Month Project. Each student is selecting one person to present (Google Slides) and we will be sharing one of these presentations at the start of each class sharing the influence each woman has left on society for the entire month of March.

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Library & MakerSpace

Battle Bots are Back! Students are designing their bots, making them with 3D printed parts and lots of interesting recycled materials. Battles will commence in a few weeks.
Students expressed an interest in a Chess Club so they’ve been gathering a few days a week to play in the library.

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String Orchestra

The String Orchestra did a fabulous job at the PRISM Concert! Their hard work definitely paid off. A special THANK YOU to everyone who came out and all the students who took on roles to help the concert run smoothly! You are appreciated!


Several students will be performing solos at the NYSSMA Solo Festival on March 25th. Good Luck to all the participants!

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Junior High Band

March is a busy month for Junior High Band! We will have a guest conductor, Mr. Terry Cavaness come work with the band on Tuesday, March 7th during the school day. The band council will be planning a fundraiser to fund the band bucks store, NYSSMA solo fest will take place Saturday, March 25th and our trip to NYC to see the Lion King is Wednesday, March 29th!

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