Welcome back Jr. High!

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome all new and returning families back to St Jerome for the 2012-2013 school year. As with each new school year, so many new adventures and opportunities lie ahead. I wish all the students great joy and success as they embark on a new school year.

"History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us tidings of antiquity."

-Cicero

Summer Reading

Congratulations on finishing the 2011-2012 school year! I’m excited about the opportunity to get to know you.  I hope you have an enjoyable summer and come back in late August re-energized, alert and prepared for the challenges of Jr High. Part of the preparation for Jr High students is summer reading.  Each summer students are encourage to read what they enjoy, whether that be the Classics, mysteries, nonfiction or comedy.  The goal is that students are reading.  I ask that all students return in August with a list of at least two books they have read: including title, author, pages, date started and date finished.  I ask that parents sign off each book as the student finishes (Reading log is provided).  There is also a suggested reading list posted on the school website using the Junior High link (www.stjeromewestchester.org). You may download a reading log template from EdZone.

            In addition to the books each student chooses to read on his/her own, I am requiring that every 6th grader read the novel Hatchet by Gary Paulson.  The book will be used to develop student’s reading, writing, thinking, listening, and speaking skills through a variety of assessments that will include exercises, activities, quizzes/tests.  Furthermore, students will be introduced to the writing process and will be writing assignments, each with the purpose of informing, persuading, or expressing personal opinions.   
The Borders at the Howard Hughes Center and the Barnes and Noble in the Marina have books in stock.  Both stores’ websites have easy ordering capabilities as well.  You may also be able to purchase a used copy of the book through “amazon.com.”
            To be completely prepared for the start of the school year, the students need to arrive at school with informal notes about the main character (Brian Robertson) and complete the plot outline.  The students have been briefed on these requirements and understand how to complete the plot questions.  The students will use their notes on the character to aid them in their writing assignment once they return to school.
            Thank you for your time and support.  The students will enjoy the novel and the analysis we do in class.  The theme of the story is relevant and the novel is a great opportunity to prepare the students for the upcoming year.

Sincerely,
Mr. Ortega

Catal Hoyuk

Today we learned about Catal Hoyuk. Catal Hoyuk was one of the very first towns that developed from an agricultural community.

We began by watching a video which gave us a basic idea of how the people of Catal Hoyuk probably lived on a daily basis. We took notes on this video and were able to analyze these notes with an online interactive game. The website has a variety of activities where you can see how it was like to live in a Neolithic town. For example, there was this game called “Make a Neolithic Dinner.” I made lentil stew with wild greens. To play this game you had to click and drag the food items on the list. When you click and drag the proper items a short description of the food will pull up. As you read the descriptions, you will find out the ingredients of the food and why it was used. In my personal experience, I would say the tour was the best activity to help you learn about the life of Catal Hoyuk. On the tour we were able to examine the dig site and the archaeological records. We were able to find out how people were able to dig up Catal Hoyuk. The last activity I participated in was the artifacts activity.

I was highly interested in the Catal Huyuk, and I wanted to see what types of artifacts and information that they have found in the city. There were many categories that you can look at for artifacts. There were murals, pottery, human remains, obsidian, animal bones, figurines, chipped stone tools, worked bone, and ground stone tools.
The class discussion and the online activities allowed us to understand how the people of Catalhoyuk lived. Also, you could picture how long and hard the work was when some of the archaeologists had to dig up the whole entire city.

What I have learned about the people of Catal Hoyuk is that they were an agricultural town that did not need to rely on hunting and gathering. In conclusion I have to say that I loved all the information about Catal Hoyuk,. Thank you for reading I hoped you enjoyed it.

-By Sarah

Dust of Snow by Robert Frost

"Dust of Snow" by Robert Frost has changed my heart. This poem showed me that even if your having a bad day don’t take it out on other people. When people are trying to make you feel better, have a change of heart so that when they go through what you are going through, they won’t lash out on you either. I enjoyed reading and re-reading these three poems because it taught me about doing better. “Saying Yes” taught me to be proud of my heritage and what I look like because the only person I need to please is myself. “My Picture-Gallery” taught me that my mind is my most powerful resource. Lastly, “Dust of Snow” taught me that even if I’m having a bad day, I should try to have a change of heart and not try to take frustrations out on other people. Diana Chang, Walt Whitman, and Robert Frost have inspired me.

-by Camille

7th activity Due Friday

Hello 7^th graders,

We have been going over connections we have with the Roman Empire today. Remember to keep in mind that our goal is to compare and contrast modes of travel in 150 A.D. with those of use today, and assess the impact of modern technology on communication.

Please make sure to bring your pictures to class tomorrow as we will be using those images to begin working on the following activity:

Create an illustrated flow chart showing how communication and transportation technologies connect people and places all over the world.

Requirement:

-Will be graded using the assignment rubric guidelines

-You will need to have at least 6 pictures for communication and 6 for transportation.

-Colored

-heading and # written on the back of the flow chart

-flowchart is labeled

-Paragraph explaining how communication and transportation technologies connect people and places all over the world

Jr High Update

Dear students and parents,

Our start to the new school year is fast approaching and we here in the Jr. High are excited to get started with the new school year. We are happy to welcome two new dedicated teachers to our Jr. High faculty. Mr. Bradlin will be the 6^th grade homeroom, Jr High Math, and 6^th and 8^th grade Religion teacher. Ms. Cordero will be the 7^thgrade homeroom, 7^th Religion, and 7^th & 8^th Language Arts teacher.

Summer Reading

All students in the Jr. High are encouraged to read over the summer in order to build good readers. To assist parents and students with the selection of appropriate materials, links were placed on the St. Jerome Jr. High page and on EdZone. There are no test/projects with summer reading for the 7^th and 8^th graders; however, I ask that all students complete reading logs for each book they have read and at least one plot outline from one of the books that is on the reading log.

For your convenience, I have placed the links below in the event that you have not been able to locate the summer reading lists, plot outline, and reading log.

Summer Reading list from the St. Jerome Jr. High page

Summer Reading list from EdZone

Reading Log template

Plot Outline template

Enjoy the rest of your summer,

Mr. Ortega

Race for Success

Race for Success

Please consider registering for this worthwhile event! Student participation helps raise money for our school!! The more St. Jerome students the better!

To register for the Race on line....

Go to raceforsuccess5k.org

Click on "Register Now"

Choose...."Register Now" or "mail-in registration form (PDF)"

If registering online....

1. Choose "Team Member"
2. Choose "Team member-ages-12 and under"
3. Choose "I agree to the above waiver"

1. Put one of your parents birthdays and their name in the next agreement column
2. Click "Agree and Continue"
3. Select "St Jerome 5-6-7

1. Type "sjs567" as the team password
2. Type the rest of the required information INCLUDING the last line which asks which school you are supporting

1. Choose method of payment
2. Pay online with credit card

You are done

If using Mail-in registration fill out form

1. Choose St Jerome 5-6-7 as the team name and James McClune as the team captain contact phone 310-641-0669
2. Be sure to mark St. Jerome as the school you are supporting on the right hand column of the form.
3. Mail in or bring to the office of the school by Wednesday May 18th.

Please note, only the first 10 kids can register for the team, after that they will have to set up their own team or race as an individual.

Ancient Egyptian activities

Students created fun and creative ways to learn more about Egyptian culture. Students invested a lot of time with their finished products and wrote a reflection that summarized the process and connection to Egyptian history.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ARE A+ FOR AMERICA

Jan. 30 through Feb. 5, 2011

The theme for Catholic Schools Week 2011 celebrates the fact that Catholic schools are an added value (“a plus”) for the nation. Because of their traditionally high academic standards and high graduation rates, all supported by strong moral values, Catholic schools and their graduates make a definite contribution to American society.

The logo designed for the week displays the words “A+ For America, Catholic Schools” beneath a stylized banner of stars and stripes in red and light blue.

The 7,094 Catholic elementary and secondary schools make up 44.4 percent of all private schools in the United States.

A Catholic-school education is available in all regions of the nation. Urban schools represent 30.7 percent of the total, suburban 36.5 percent, rural 20.5 percent and inner- city schools 12.3 percent. The five states with the highest student enrollment are California, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio.

Catholic Schools Week is a joint project of NCEA and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Veteran’s Day

Hello everyone,
Here is a speech I saved from a former SJS student.

Everyone needs a hero to look up to. Whether it’s Spider Man webbing his way across town, Super Man flying in the skies above us, or an ordinary individual who is caring, bold, and brave, we depend on them in times of need.

Veterans have done a lot in order to be named our heroes. They served our country through the sacrifice of joining a branch of the armed forces, which can become rough, frightening, and in worse cases, life threatening. They are loyal to our country, through the good and bad times. Regardless of the situation, they have the strength in them to make it through, and carry on. We would not be here today, honoring our veterans with pride if they had just given up. They have done so much for us, especially here in America, where we once fought long and hard years for our freedom and independence. Must we still honor our veterans from so long ago? The answer is yes, because their sacrifice, hard work, and dedication will ultimately have a lasting affect on our society. Not all people are as courageous and humble as our veterans.

Because of veterans, we are proud to call our country’s name “Home of the Brave”. Veterans truly do have bravery, or else they would not have been known as our heroes. But being a hero has nothing to do with just flying across the skies or defeating a country. To find a hero, you must look deep into the heart of someone and find goodness. You must look deep into the heart of a veteran or current members of the armed forces, and find not only goodness, but love, care, courage, loyalty, perseverance, and friendship. Many things in our world display different figures that we look up to as our hero, We must always remember that when most of these displays are false, distorted, and just not right. To look for a true hero, we can turn and look to our veterans.

We must not always dwell on fantasy. When we need a true friend to be there, someone loyal to our land, and a hero that truly saves your day, we can certainly always look to the work of our veterans and to those who are currently serving our forces.