J. M. S. News. . . by Donald F. Gately

May 2015

Jericho Middle School’s Chinese Festival

Wu Laoshi’s Chinese Language Students Celebrate Chinese Day on April 1st!

Celebrating Chinese culture from dumplings to calligraphy, this day enriched Jericho Middle

School students and staff with knowledge of Chinese culture through food and activities.

Please click on to the following link to view our pictures: http://web.jerichoschools.org/ms/library/chineseday.htm

The Jericho School District Budget Vote and Election will be held on May 19th, 2015, in the

Gymnasium from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. To find information go to the Jericho Website,

please scroll down to bottom of the page and on the right hand side you will see a link with

complete voter information.

Theme of the month: Attitudes and Values

Attitude, according to Hal Urban, is the most important choice we’ll ever make because if affects

everything we do in life. Research done at Harvard and Stanford state that attitude is far more

important than intelligence, education, special talents or luck. The research studies concluded that

80% of our success in life is due to attitude, while the other 20% is due to ability.

As Viktor Frankl said:

“The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives

by altering their attitudes.”

Classroom News: Team 6A: D. Gilbert – J. Kuehn

Students on Team 6A complete a Power Point

presentation about Ancient Greece. Samara's

presentation focused on the women of

Ancient Greece.

Team 6B:B. Riccuiti – K. Varga Team 6B explored many different world religions through researching in the library. The students

then collaborated in groups to put together google presentations that they will use to teach their

classmates.

Clemente/J. O’Brien – L. Diehl/J. Fernandes

Team 6C had a visitor, Mr. Grossman, demonstrated how to separate water molecules using

hydrolysis. After separation students learned how to test the resulting gasses to prove that they

were actually hydrogen and oxygen. Students also saw sugar being broken down into carbon and

water vapor. They were surprised to see the exciting reaction and excited to touch the left over

carbon.

Team 6D: S. Aubrey – B. Schisgall – D. Lambe

Team 6D is Pop/Prepping for the New York State Assessments. Happy days ahead...the future is

looking bright!!!

Team 7A: B. Brill – M. Vevante – S. Theotokis – D. Kahn – L. Trojanowski – A. McDonough

On team 7A, while studying the skeletal system, students in science class labeled each other to

identify bones and joints. If you say to your child who participated in this activity, "I have a

bone to pick with you," they may reply, "there's no bones about it!"

Team 7B: C. Dell’Erba - P. Travis - M. Panayiotou – S. Sharma

During a recent unit on chemistry, students on Team 7B learned about how metal compounds are

used to produce different-colored fireworks. The students observed the color that each compound

produced in a Bunsen burner flame. They were then asked to put their heads down while a random

compound was placed into the flame. Later, they inferred the identity of the compound based on

their previous observations. The favorite, by far, was the brilliant white light produced by

magnesium, which was able to make the darkened room appear illuminated!

Team 8A: C. Snyder – T. Cantwell – D. Schwirzbin – T. Lucher – D. Stile – J. Lawlor

Team 8A Students in Ms. Cantwell's and Mr. Lawlor's Eighth Grade Social Studies Classes

took "The History Comes to Life Series Art Gallery Walk" using Jericho custodian, Andrew

Calo's authentic World War I patriotic paintings. The librarian Ms. Minikel helped facilitate

21st century visual literacy skills.

Please click on to the following link to view these inspiring posters:

http://web.jerichoschools.org/ms/library/social/andrewposters2015.htm

Team 8B: R. Scalera – J. Alder – T. Catalano – J. Smith

Students on Team 8B recently

completed a unit based on 15 rules of

the comma. As a culminating activity,

students competed for the title

of Comma King and Queen. In order to

win the title, students had to earn a

perfect score on the Team 8B Comma

Quest. Winners of this competition

included Samantha Balko, Emma

Baskind, Catherine Sang, Aaron Lam,

Angie Li, and Jerry Zhang. Students

were awarded crowns, certificates, and

gift cards to Ralph's Ices.

Team 8C: J. Han – K. Kovoros – G. Berry – J. Stiegert

Team 8C students modeled low pressure systems by using propellers. When the students spun the

propeller counterclockwise, they rose up, just as a cyclone (low pressure system) does!

Quote of the Week

May 4-8: Morality is doing what is right even when you don’t like it.”

Robert Schuller, Minister, author, b. 1926

May 11-15: “Don’t throw away time-tested values because they are old.”

Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States, 1981-1989

May 18-22: “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

Mark Twain, American author and humorist, 1835-1910

May 25-29 “It is never too late to give up your prejudices.”

Henry David Thoreau, American author, poet, philosopher, 1817 1862

Dates to Remember

May 7 MS PTSA Mtg./Our Fifth Annual Principal’s Family Book Talk!

“A Fish in a Tree,” by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, an uplifting novel that

will speak to anyone who’s ever thought there was something wrong

with them because they didn’t fit in. 9:00 am-10:30 am

May 12 MS Evening Guidance Hours – 7:00-9:00 p.m.

May 19 MS Spring Concert I – Chorus/Orchestra – Auditorium – 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

May 19 Budget Vote and Election – Gymnasium – 6:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

May 19 Board of Education Meeting – Gym – 9:15 p.m.

May 22 MS Progress Reports Posted Online

May 22 Personal Best Awards – Middle School Library – 2:15 p.m.–3:15 p.m.

May 25 Schools Closed

May 27-28 Grade 8 Science Performance Assessments

May 29 Grade 6 Mini-Olympics