Head down and grinding it out . . .

Do you feel like a bulldozer? I know I sure do! There is so much to do and very little time to do it, especially this time of the year. You simply get out the heavy equipment (bulldozer) and push your way through!

I know many of you are gearing up for your EOG reviews. The test begin in 11 days! You have worked hard all year to get to this point. Just like the last few minutes of a ballgame, finish strong. Your team of students are prepared - they will do great!

Congratulations to Dave Jenkins and Jeremy Shearer on a great girls soccer season. They are undefeated and will play for the county championship next Thursday at Mount Tabor. Come out and support the lady Patiots to bring home another championship!!

The staff member of the week is Gena Loflin. The note said, "She is an awesome example for her students and did a great job with the Flight of Honor. Is a "tropper" - feels bad a lot of days, but rarely shows it." Congratulations Gena!

It is going a be another beautiful weekend. Get outside and enjoy the weather! 28 more . . . Go Patriots!!!

Count your blessings . . .

This one is going to be brief but to the point. Don't take for granted what you have in life. It is easy to get caught up in "your own life" that you forget about what and the people who really matter. I know everyone has and will be thinking/praying for Kathy Fox and her family.

Hug your loved ones a little harder this weekend. Go Patriots!

Celebrate the successes . . .

"Celebrate good times, come on"! Who can tell me the group that sang that song? I bet Kirby Carespodi will know! If you don't know, that's okay. The message is when something good happens take the time to celebrate!

Today, the school recognized and celebrated our scholars. Students that have maintained a 3.75 GPA and have participated in community service were inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. Thank you to Kathy MacDonald, Denise Francis, Candi Fernandez, and Susan Riddle for their efforts with these students and the program. This was a fabulous program. The officers delivered wonderful speeches and the guest speaker Jim O'Neille (our County District Attorney) was great. I know students and parents walked away from this event feeling very good about TJMS!

Also, this week our entire 6th grade visited the Planatarium in Chapel Hill and Life Science Museum in Durham. All students enjoyed the trip. It was lots of fun and very educational. Big "THANK YOU" to Daniel Bryant for being the man in charge of this event. In house leadership, so important in our school!

Oh yea, my little "dramatic moment" for asking Mr. Moon to send out the survey question if you want a new principal . . . Well, it looks like you are stuck with me. Over 95% of the staff that responded, said you want me as principal. I guess I just needed some validation that I'm what you want in a principal. You know what you have . . . I will continue to listen and do the best I can to move TJMS in the right direction.

Our TJMS staff member of the week is John Downs! "John Downs is patient and wonderful working with all levels of technology users." Congratulations John - he is definitely another silent cog in our great school!

Find something to "celebrate" this weekend! 38 more days . . . Go Patriots!!

The Ant Bully . . .

Have any of you read the book "The Ant Bully" or have seen the movie or played the video? As you know, bullying can be a real problem at the middle school level. I feel we have put an emphasis on this topic and are making a difference. The videos and discussions that follow the videos are giving students an opportunity to think about what is right and wrong.

In school this week, I've been in and out of most 8th grade classrooms. Michele Hamby, Susan Sullivan, Leigh Humphrey, Kaye Hunter, Brent Atkinson, Mark Mercer, John Garwood, Cindy Neininger, and Marty Tedrow all had students actively engaged in actvities and educational discussions. Also (on the dark side as they call the Annex building), Mark Schnably, Jan Sullivan, Gail Frank, Gena Loflin, Lacey Brigman, Kim Pickell, Kirby Carespodi, and John Cardarelli were relentless in their strategies of putting knowledge into their student's brains! Thanks for your efforts with our Seniors! A formal observation of Jennifer Holland validated why I hired her. She was organized and prepared for a lesson on China that involved all students actively participating and enjoying the lesson. No, I didn't hire her JUST because she is a HOKIE!! = but didn't hurt :)!

Finished the week off with the recognition and presentation of the money raised to the veterans from WWII. I know I have mentioned it several times but Gena Loflin put her heart and soul into this project. It is one that students/staff will remember for a LONG time! Thanks to everyone!!

Remember, we are making a difference in addressing students about bullying. Stay the course and I promise we will see the results in our school - we already are!!

Staff member of the Week - Cathy Blevins - "because she does a vital yet thankless job everyday". Congratulations Mrs. Blevins and yes "THANK YOU" for what you do each day!

Have a great weekend. Enjoy the weather! Go Patriots!!!

Spring Break . . .

I know it's hard to remember a couple of months ago when we had all that beautiful snow and you were enjoying being home drinking hot chocolate, making a snowman, and sledding - but it did happen. Now, with spring break upon us, it's easy to wish we didn't get snow this year. Oh well . . . it was fun and we still have a few days of r & r!

We now have completed 3/4 of our year and have 6 weeks left before EOG test. Enjoy the time away from school next week but know things should be in "high gear" until May 14.

We did lots of testing this week. Thank you to ALL the staff for their efforts, patience, and teamwork this week. A big thank you to Benika Thompson. Benika has been working extremely hard this week and I'm sure has "learned" a whole lot from this experience. I feel this week was a good practice for EOGs. There will be much reflection/discussion to make EOG the best they can.

Take a deep breath . . . enjoy the break and your families. Come back ready to finish the year strong!

Linda Dawson-Levy is the lucky staff person of the week! The comments about Linda was "creates the most creative and hands-on activities and shares w/all".

Congratulations Linda - thanks for what you do to help these children!

Go Patriots!!

March madness . . .

March Madness, especially in this part of the country, means college basketball tournaments. As you know, I am a sports fan, and when I hear "March Madness" that is what I think of. March madness, to educators, can mean - "starting the stress of preparing students for their EOG test"!

With 70% of our year completed, you are now starting the home stretch of the school year. Just like a good coach, you are continuing to prepare your students for the championship game - EOG test.

I want to mention a couple of things that stood out to me this week. First of all, the ICON students were working on a reflective project about the DC trip. Mr. Atkinson, Mrs. Humphrey, Mrs. Sullivan, and Mrs. Hamby have adjusted the assessment of the students to contain a reflective project. The students were using a variety of technology (powerpoint, photo story, and prezi) to display their knowledge. All students (including the ones that didn't go) were diligently working on this assignment. This shows a reflection, from teachers,about evaluating/selecting assessments - thank you!

I also want to recognize the Trailblazers (Laura LeMay, Dave Jenkins, Charles Jones, and Jami Jones) and Roadrunners (Amy Newsom and Meredith Ebert) for their efforts with the Iditarod project. I saw students excited about this project especially ones that are normally not very happy to be in school. They were thoroughly engaged in learning. They brought in a guest speaker to talk about the dogs that are used for the race. An Alaskan Husky was even brought in with the speaker - what a cute pup!

So . . . enjoy the "March Madness" of basketball and/or school. They both can be stressful but they both can provide much fulfillment :)

The lucky staff member of the week is Diana Westmoreland. The statement on the card was "she does so much for all of us. I find her easy to talk to. She is very understanding."

Congratulations to Mike McDowell on being selected as one of eleven semi-finalist for the WS/FCS Teacher of the Year. We are all proud of you!
Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend. Go Patriots!!

Walk the walk . . .

In the school business, we are in the position to give directions quite often. Think about the rules for your classroom. There has been much discussion about school rules/discipline lately. I applaud all of you that want improvement within "your house". But, I will caution you about expecting students to follow rules that you don't . . .

A few examples could be - dress code, food, and tardiness to class (students are assigned detention or are written up often for these offenses). Before you get too upset about the student (11 to 15 year olds) who is chewing gum in class, think about yourself. Do you chew gum or eat/drink while students don't get that opportunity? How about students reporting late to class? Do you ever come to school late? Finally, the question of student dress code often arises. Do you set a good example of what students should follow? We are professionals and should set a higher standard than our young people.

I know this blog isn't my normal (great job!) keep it up sermon. And, please don't misinterpret what I'm saying. You should have high expectations for your students but your actions will say much more than your words. If you expect it, then model your expectations . . . walk the walk.

I do want to recognize, Mike McDowell, and the SIT for their continued efforts to improve this wonderful school. We are blessed with good students and supportive parents but I really feel that caring teachers who have HIGH expectations will make TJMS continue to be the best middle school!

Hope you get some rest this weekend. 64 more days . . .

Go Patriots!!

We are the champions . . .

Thought I would throw a little Queen "We are the Champions" your way. If you stayed Friday afternoon and watched our 8th grade girls play, you know what I'm talking about. Yes, we beat Northwest and won the county championship. This is a special group of girls. They only lost 1 game in two years. There is no doubt that many of these girls will go on to play high school basketball. Mark Schnably did a great job with these girls. Thanks for his efforts along with Dave Jenkins.

This atmosphere was great. I estimate that we had 300+ students in attendance. They were wearing blue/gold and extremely enthusiastic! We have worked hard to employ our students to display positive comments. I'm very proud of how our students represented TJMS. I also want to recognize our cheerleaders. Mrs. Peverall and Mrs. Schmidt have prepared our squad of cheerleaders to be the best in the county also. Our girls look and cheer as well as any JV high school team.

We have now finished the winter sports season and will proceed to the final Spring season of girls soccer and boys/girls track. We have won county championships in boys soccer, girls and boys volleyball, and now girls basketball. 4 out of 5 championships so far . . . not bad! We are definitely "The Champions"!

Four weeks left in the 3rd quarter. Thanks for your hard work with your students! We ARE THE CHAMPIONS . . .

Go Patriots!

Doing service for the community . . .

With such a tough economy, you would think people would NOT be so willing to give . . . but they are! So far this year, Student Council & National Jr. Honor Society(sponsored by Mrs. Vannoy and Mrs. MacDonald) have helped to raise money for children of Africa - over $3,500, money for people of Haiti - $900, and canned food for local shelters. Ms. Francis sponsored a toy drive before Christmas and Ms. Barfield ran a coat drive. Now, Ms. Loflin (plus the efforts of the Surfer students) are running a campaign to raise money to send Veterans to Washington to see the WWII memorial. Over $500 has been raised so far!!

These activities can be extremely meaning for our students and staff. I'm very proud to tell others about all the caring things our teachers and students do for others. We also have several staff members that have experienced unfortunate events. You all are the first to take up money, make dinners, and send special notes.

Thanks for doing your best each day to teach these youngsters the curriculum but more importantly teaching them that doing something nice for others is a good thing to do!

It is supposed to be in the 50's this weekend . . . will feel like summertime:) Enjoy the sunshine.

Go Patriots!!

Have some fun . . .

Now that we have been in school for a FULL WEEK (well . .. almost - 2 hr. delay Wed.) today was a good day to just have "some fun"! The student/staff basketball game was just that. With all the serious "stuff" that we do, it is important sometimes to just release and laugh!

I thought the band, cheerleaders, players, and staff were great! Mrs. Fox and her band students added some "game atmosphere" to the event - thank you! Mrs. Peverall and Mrs. Schmidt prepared their cheerleaders wonderfully and their half-time routine was "high school like"! And . . . the "he-shes" were really . . . . not sure of the adjective - would "pretty" be fitting? I'll let you be the judge . . .

Students will not remember your "curriculum" that was taught in a few years (maybe days for some) but they will always remember the "fun" activities that they were involved with in school. You definitely made today a FUN day at TJMS!

Enjoy the weekend and dare I say they are calling for more . . . snow!

Go Patriots!!