St. Johns Public Schools - Nov 2010 - Spotlight

8/8/2019 St. Johns Public Schools - Nov 2010 - Spotlight

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/st-johns-public-schools-nov-2010-spotlight 1/15

November 2010

Inside the Spotlight

Damn Yankees encore... 2

Construction News Update... 3

SJPS Foundation... 4

Technology, Online Safety... 5

East Olive... 6

Eureka... 7

Gateway... 8

Oakview... 9Riley... 10

St. Johns Middle School... 11

St. Johns High School... 12,13

CCRESA Career Connections... 14

Calendar... 15

www.sjredwings.org • 501 W. Sickels • PO Box 230 • St. Johns, Michigan 48879 • (989) 227-4001

St. Johns SpotlightLearning Today ... Leading Tomorrow

Damn Yankees High School Musical



2

Damn Yankees




Addition

No Work

Remodel

Student Commons

New Academic Wing

Media

Gym

Cafeteria

Courtyard

Kitchen

Serve.

Aud.

Aux. Gym

Pool

3

Construction News Update

High School layout now complete

Individual spaces and roomsnext planning step

At the November 8th Board of Education meeting, our planning

and design rm Kingscott Associates presented the Schematic

Design for our High School. The Schematic Design is the space-

organizing phase of the project. Spaces and rooms that will be

added onto the existing school have been determined -- their

location, size, and use. Additionally, relocations of rooms within the

existing school that will be moving have also been determined.

During the rst two weeks of November, the designers have

been meeting with our staff -- teachers, administrators, coaches,

maintenance staff and community users -- to plan the individual

spaces and rooms in greater detail. Each space and room is

examined for xed equipment such as technology, cabinetry

and casework, electrical outlets, countertops, ooring, and more.

Kingscott’s architects are also working on the exterior design,

and will soon have 3-D renderings for the Board to review.

Roy Piggott, our district’s

Business Manager, reports that

the High School renovations are

tracking on budget.

Project on budget




4

SJPS Foundation for Excellence

Find-It Game

To mark the Foundation’s establishment 25 years ago in 1985, we

make a special request to alumni, staff and the families connected toour schools to make a donation to the Foundation for Excellence for

St. Johns Schools. Your tax deductible gift can be made in memory

of a loved one, or to honor someone special today. Please call the

district ofce, or visit the Foundation online at http://sjsffe.org.

25th Anniversary


Aiming to spark curiosity and observations skills, the Foundation issupporting all 250 students in our seven kindergarten classrooms

with sets of the Find-It Game -- hands-on manipulative tubes

lled with hidden objects. This grant also includes the purchase of

materials for each child to create his/her own miniature Find-It to

use at home.

Using Find-It encourages practice in visual perception, attention to detail,vocabulary development, communication, and perseverance. The home-made

version encourages connections between home and school, as well as continued

practice with visual motor skills and memory. Writing, counting, listening, and

following-directions skills are enhanced when they create, construct and use

their own Find-It.

Learn more by visiting the Find-It Game website at www.nditgames.com. Ms.

D.J. Logan, a kindergarten teacher at Gateway Elementary leads the Find-It

project, and can be reached at [email protected].

The Find-It Game is the most recent example of how the Foundation supports

classroom instruction that goes above and beyond the required curriculum.



www.sjredwings.org • 501 W. Sickels • PO Box 230 • St. Johns, Michigan 48879 • (989) 227-4001 5

Online Safety Online Safety … Be the same person online and o There are really two types of online safety issues parents should discuss with their children. In our September issue, we reviewed how to

interact safely with others, and in this issue we’ll review how to be the same person online and off.

We highly recommend that you not only talk to your children about these issues, but establish concrete expectations and boundaries. For

some families writing a family contract is great for everyone. Your children notice your behaviors and will want to model what you do!

This is perhaps a more subtle danger than an online predator. The internet and electronic devices in general enhance our lives, but they can

also cause us to develop habits that are bad for our mental and physical health. Talk to your kids about being the same person online as they

are in the real world.

• When communicating online, ask your children to only say and do things they would do in a face-to-face situation. Personal integrity is about

being a good person even when no one is watching.• Ask them to think about how much time they spend “plugged” in and to intentionally set aside real time with their friends and family.

It might be a good idea to set limits for your household and make sure that the adults in the house are enjoying some time away from

technology too.

• Remind them that how they treat electronic material should be the same as how they treat physical material. Would you take someone’s

CD or picture or book without asking?

• The internet is forever. Remind your child that they don’t control what happens to an online post, picture, or text once they’ve submitted it.

It can be copied and republished without their control. There are real-world ramications to your online life. Aside from being detrimental to

future employment and school application processes, it could just be plain embarrassing. Think twice before you post!• Be aware of warning signs. If your child is receiving phone calls or mail from people you don’t know investigate! If they turn off a computer

or close a program when you walk in the room, talk to them about what they are doing. If your child is using an online account that belongs

to someone else or becomes withdrawn from the family it is good to ask questions.

You can install software that tracks computer usage and connections. Consider openly utilizing these tools as a way of helping your family

be accountable to what they agree too. Let your children know that the online world tempts us to be someone else, or spend too much time

away from family friends, but you’re there to help them grow into a healthy individual with the self-control to be safe. For more in-depth

information and strategies to talk with your kids, visit http://www.onguardonline.gov.

How to be the same person online and o



www.sjredwings.org • 2583 E. Green Rd • St. Johns, Michigan 48879 • (989) 227-4800 6

Making W.I.S.E. Choices

East Olive Elementary School

(alphabetically) Noah Devereaux,

Breanna Pifer, Oscar Ramirez,

Makaylah Voisinet, Abbey Woodruff,

Elizabeth Young

East Olive staff members have been working together building a

consistent, positive behavior plan to emphasize a safe and happy

learning environment for everyone.

During the rst two weeks following summer break, staff members

were busy explicitly teaching behavior expectations specic to each

area of the building. These expectations were developed last school

year as part of East Olive’s participation in Michigan’s Integrated

Behavior and Learning Support Initiative. (All ve St. Johns PublicSchools elementary schools are

participating in this initiative.)

The East Olive Owls are expected

to make WISE choices by:

W orking responsibly

Inviting respect

Showing positive attitude

Ensuring safety

Special W.I.S.E. East Olive owl t-shirts were created, and our East

Olive’s PTO generously purchased a W.I.S.E owl t-shirt for every

child in the school. Children and staff wear these t-shirts on spirit

days and many other days! Signs, posters and t-shirts remind

students of the behavior expectations.

East Olive uses a “white card” system throughout the building to

monitor inappropriate behavior and the related consequences for

breaking school rules. Students are recognized for making goodchoices with positive notes sent home

and through a large hallway display.

Three times a year all students who

have consistently demonstrated

good behavior can participate in a

Celebration of WISE Choices. We

hope to see all of our students at

the Celebration of WISE Choices inDecember!



www.sjredwings.org • 7550 N. Welling Rd • St. Johns, Michigan 48879 • (989) 227-4900 7

Eureka Elementary School

First, thank youWe extend our thanks again to our parents and grandparents for your

assistance with our annual Halloween parade and classroom parties.

Rocket CardsWe celebrated our second S.T.A.R. assembly to recognize

our students who have earned Rocket Cards for exemplary

behavior in and around Eureka.

Please take the time and ask your child how she or he can

earn a Rocket Card.

Book FairJoin us at our annual Book Fair Tuesday, November 30th –

Friday, December 3rd in Eureka’s Media Center. All proceeds

from the Book Fair purchase new instructional resources for

our Media Center.

And thank you Deputy Worthington Our 5th-graders have been working with Deputy Worthington

and the D.A.R.E. program during this semester. Project

D.A.R.E. is a police ofcer-led series of classroom lessons that

teaches children from kindergarten through 12th-grade how

to resist peer pressure and avoid involvement in drugs, gangs,

and violence.



www.sjredwings.org • 915 N. Lansing St • St. Johns, Michigan 48879 • (989) 227-4600 8

Gateway Elementary School

SOAR to Stay Safe As a means of motivating positive

student behavior, the staff of Gateway

has developed the phrase SOAR:

Stay safe

Offer help

Act Responsibly

R espect everyone.In staying with our Redwing mascot,

we created a dragon with red wings --

drawn by art teacher Mrs. Brearley --

as a reminder of how Redwings SOAR

to new heights.

When students are seen making good

behavior choices, they can earn a

“scale” to ll the dragon’s wings on themain bulletin board.

Once the wings are lled, the student

body can earn a celebration. Our

students have already earned a frozen

treat and extra recess, and are on the

verge of another celebration.



9

Oakview Elementary School

Force and Motion This trimester, fth-graders at Oakview are investigating concepts related to forces and motion in science.

Throughout this unit, our fth-graders hypothesize, plan, investigate, explore, discover, and draw conclusions based on the following

principles:

• Motion is the result of contact and

non-contact forces.

• Constant motion is due to balanced forces.

• Objects that are at rest have balanced forces

acting on them.

• Changes in motion and position are due to

unbalanced forces.

• Forces and motion can be measured.

www.sjredwings.org • 1400 S Clinton Ave • St. Johns, Michigan 48879 • (989) 227-4500



www.sjredwings.org • 5935 W. Pratt Road • St. Johns, Michigan 48879 • (989) 227-5100 10

Riley Elementary School

Constitution Day with Riley Buddies

“We were celebrating Constitution Day with

our buddies by reading Scholastic News and

doing a paper. I think my buddy is nice. I

like having buddies, it’s fun.”

Lauren Ely, 2nd-grader “Alex is a hard worker. We liked

Constitution Day. We were

practicing using our ngers to

help with reading uency about

the ag.”

Michael Olin, 4th-grader

“Preston and I were reading

about the ag. It used to have

13 stars on it a long time ago.

Preston was interested in learning

about this.”

Zeb Gazda, 4th-grader



www.sjredwings.org • 900 W Townsend Rd• St. Johns, Michigan 48879 • (989) 227-4300 11

St. Johns Middle School

St. Johns graduate Matt Hayes was recently seriously wounded in

Afghanistan while serving as a platoon leader. After several operations

and skin graphs, he is now in extended rehab in Washington DC.

Please join us in supporting the Matt Hayes family nancially and

emotionally with your thoughts and best wishes for a speedy

recovery. In the front entry of our Middle School, we have canisters

for nancial donations and a cardbox for notes of thanks andencouragement.

St. Johns Middle School asks you to

join us in supporting Matt Hayes Builders Club collecting Toys for TotsReach out and help kids and their families in need. With that

thought in mind and our Clinton County Chamber’s seasonal

Toys for Tots campaign, our St. Johns Middle School Builders

Club is collecting toys for children up to 5 years old.

In addition to the toys, the Builders Club is selling paper trains

for just $1. Write your name on the train and we’ll hang it in

our ofce windows.



www.sjredwings.org • 501 W. Sickels • St. Johns, Michigan 48879 • (989) 227-4100 12

St. Johns High School

It has been another banner year for our 144-member marching band. This year’s marching band has had many wonderful opportunities

to perform, making the most of each opportunity.

At this year’s MSBOA fall marching band festival hosted by St. Johns High School, our band once again earned straight division I ratings.

This came on the heels of an excellent performance at the Grand Ledge Invitational. As always the marching band has been stellar with

their half-time performances at this fall’s football games, including the traditional light show after the homecoming game.

The marching band also has had the

honor of playing in Michigan StateUniversity’s homecoming parade --

an honor that requires an invitation.

Our band will march in the upcoming

Thanksgiving Day Detroit parade.

This is an event that our band

marches in every other year, and

becomes an enduring memory for

our students and their families.We are proud of our marching band

and how they represent our St.

Johns community.

Marching Band Continues Performing Arts Tradition



www.sjredwings.org • 501 W. Sickels • St. Johns, Michigan 48879 • (989) 227-4100 13

St. Johns High School

They’ve come together and worked very hard to continue thetradition expected of the St. Johns Marching band!I’m proud of what they have accomplished

… as a group and as individuals.”

”

Roy Davis, Jr., band director“



14

Construction Trades OpportunitiesVia CCRESA Career Connections

www.sjredwings.org • 501 W. Sickels • St. Johns, Michigan 48879 • (989) 227-4100

Opportunities to experience careers in construction

trades and develop related skills are available to our St.Johns High School students through the Construction

Trades I and Construction Trades II classes available

through CCRESA’s Career Connections.

Students become acquainted with the procedures for

purchasing land, developing sites, securing utilities,

hiring contractors, securing permits, building procedures

and project closeout. They’re exposed to blueprint

reading, estimating and ordering materials, andinstalling materials according to codes and specications.

The classes may include a major residential building

project.

Students who successfully complete both of these

Construction Trades classes receive not only 15 Lansing

Community College credits but also their required fourth

year high school contextual math credit.

The Clinton County Regional Educational Service Agency (CCRESA) Career Education Department

provides career focused education programs. For more

information, please contact your high school counselor,

visit CCRESA’s website at www.ccresa.org, or call the

Career Connections department at 989-224-6831.

Many of the students say this is their favoriteclass because it’s so hands-on. And they may not completely realize it yet, but I know they’ll haveimmense satisfaction when they look at what

they’re now building 40 or 50 years from now and it’s still there.

“Ross Pope, Instructor

”




District Calendar

November23,24 High School exams – High School students released at 12:10

25,26 Thanksgiving Break – No School

29 Teacher record day, end of rst trimester – No school for

students

February 21 Professional development – No school for students

January 17 Martin Luther King Jr Holiday – No School

17 Parent-teacher conference week begins – conference times to

be scheduled by each school building

21 Parent-teacher conferences – No school for students St. Johns Public Schools

District Ofce501 W. Sickels StreetSt. Johns, MI 48879Phone: (989) 227-4001Fax: (989) 227-4099

15

December

20-31 Winter Recess – No School

March 1 Michigan Merit Exam given at the Middle School – No school

for Middle School students

10,11 High School exams – High School students released at 12:10

14 Teacher record day, end of second trimester – No school for

students

April 4-8 Spring Break – No School

Documents

St. Johns Public Schools - Nov 2010 - Spotlight