The Turkey Song: A Funny Thanksgiving Song

Junior High Thanksgiving Poem:

Thanksgiving Day is finally here!

We are all so happy we may shed a tear.

Vacation and no school,

So much fun that we might drool.

We can’t wait to eat the turkey.

It makes us all so gosh darn perky.

Now we taste the pumpkin pie,

We’re so emotional we could cry.

We ate so much we just might die.

Just like the lady who swallowed the fly

Happy Thanksgiving from the Junior High!

 

Thanksgiving is great for EVERYONE,

Except for the Turkey!



Welcome!

Guess who is in our class for the next 8 weeks?! That’s right! Andres. He is a student from Guatemala working on perfecting his English here at TMA. He likes to be called Chino. He helps in Spanish class and is on the Junior High basketball team.  He’s doing a great job! He is a fun person to be around and likes to play soccer. His favorite player is Cristiano Ronaldo! He has the same classes as us and the same homework. He is learning what we learn and is taking tests with us. We are happy to have the opportunity to get to know him and have him in our class. We will all be very sad when it is time for him to return to Guatemala.

 

Please come by and say hello to our newest classmate, Chino!

Books & Burgers

What: Fundraiser

When: Friday, Oct 26

Where: Five Guys & Barnes & Noble (University Park Mall)

A percentage of all sales that day come back to school! ANYONE can participate!

See special codes below:

FIVE GUYS - Just tell them you are with TMA

BARNES & NOBLES: Either provide B&N coupon

(found on website, in weekly memo or at front desk)

OR

for online sales, use code 10906824.

(online promotion extended to Oct. 31)

Don't forget to pick up your Scrip at the front office before you head over.

It provides the school an additional percentage!

Supreme Court

Hey guys, guess what our class did last Wednesday? We got to argue Supreme Court cases! Mrs. Drendall’s husband, Mr. Drendall, came in to act as the Chief Justice, while four fellow students, Lua Derakhshani-Stockman, Josephine Barber, Emilee Ludwick, and Phillip Yang got to act as associate judges. The cases argued were New Jersey v. T.L.O. and Wisconsin v. Yoder.

The class was divided into four groups, with two groups to a case. Each group presented excellent arguments and it was tough for the justices to decide on a final verdict. In the end, though, New Jersey and Yoder won their cases. Overall, the experience taught us all about the court system and how the Supreme Court works. Thanks to Mr. Kelly and Mr. Feferman for coordinating the whole activity and ensuring that we would be prepared for it. Also, a special thanks to Mr. Drendall for reserving time in his busy schedule to come in and assist us. Thank you!!!  

 

 

Camp Tecumseh

Camp Tecumseh was great! We had so much fun, and participated in many activities that were very challenging and allowed us to bond together as a class. These activities included climbing Mt. Wood, carrying people through a “spider web,” and going through a low ropes course blindfolded. This experience was definitely one this Junior High class will fondly remember! 

 

Hey kids in Upper El, this trip was a blast, and you will definitely want to go!

 

Oh yeah, kids in Lower El, you have a while, but it’s worth the wait!

 

The Prairie at the Academy

Our JH prairie is becoming a beautiful place that has various colors and is just a great addition to our classroom. Unlike many schools, we have many indigenous plants that are very well equipped to the unique climate of Indiana. The use of these native plants helps us learn about our natural surroundings as well as habitat restoration. This helps create a self-sustaining and low maintenance place that is good for our environment. Our prairie was established by the 2004 class and now, many flowers are blooming. One of the most recognizable blossoms are the Blue Indigo which have been used by native Americans.

Submitted by: The Junior High Class at The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes

Interview at the South Bend Center for the Homeless

            Tom has been living at the South Bend Center for the Homeless for 22 months and just moved  into the men’s house. He said that the move went well, and he also said that he has accumulated a lot of things in the short two years he spent there. All of the support that the Center provided really helped him out. I could sense almost a kind of pride that was emanating from him as he spoke about the different programs that he took. Such programs include the Sosh and Star programs. The Sosh program is a program that teaches people about themselves and about how to fix what they got into. The Star program is more about getting jobs and keeping jobs. Another program helps residents get there GED.

             Tom began his life in a pretty poor situation. His Dad, who was an alcoholic, abused his mother very much and he witnessed it. His dad, when he wasn’t drunk, was a pretty good guy who loved his children. He worked at Studebaker while his mother was a cook. When Tom was a teenager life got a lot better, he and his family went to a cottage that his family owned and really enjoyed the summers spent there. For 35 years Tom worked for ESP which was a plastic factory that was based in Elkhart.

            Things began to go downhill when he became increasingly more depressed. He became divorced from his wife and started on the road to homelessness. When he was kicked out, he took shelter at the Center for the Homeless. Again, he has had much support from the staff and his coach. Coaches are people who volunteer to help the guests on the road to turning their lives around. They inspire the guests and check up on them so that they are not slacking off.

            The center also has a plethora of personalities. That can sometimes be a good thing. The guests interact with each other and begin to build long lasting friendships. People can clash and become bitter towards each other. The staff is kind of like the mediator of all of these personalities. They are nice, but can also be tough. They need to be so the guests don’t become accustomed to it. A word of advice that Tom offered me is to stay in school and never think you’re above any job. I will keep that in mind for the rest of my life. Altogether, I believe that the Center for the Homeless helps people, in more ways than one, more than any other regular old shelter could. 

Submitted by: James- A junior high student at The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes

The Ducks Have Arrived!

An exciting thing happened in the Junior High classroom; we had a baby, duck. Its name is lil’ Sheldon. It is rapidly growing and becoming a nuisance. We are all sitting in the room, quietly trying to learn when a few peeps were heard from the corner of our classroom. We all stop and are immediately enthralled in the adorable, cuteness of baby Sheldon. We are trying to learn about embryotic development when we observe the ducks, even when they are in their eggs for this goes along with this cycle in health which is reproduction. Learning about this and watching the ducks grow promises to be a very interesting endeavor. We would like to thank Mrs. Hill for organizing this by getting us some of the ducks, the incubator and leading us in this experiment.  

BOOK FAIR LUAU

There will be some changes coming to TMA’s Library in the next few weeks!  The Book Fair Luau will be making a festive stop at our school from Wednesday, May 9^th, to Tuesday, May 15^th.  Hours during school days will be 8:20am to 5:00pm.  Saturday, May 12^th, will be family day, with the Fair being open from 10:00am to 4:00pm.  Parents will have the chance to choose books with their children for their summer reading enjoyment.

The Library will be turned into a fun beach-themed luau with tikis, surf boards, and hanging palms.  One of the books being offered with this theme will be Pig Kahuna. In this picture book, two little pigs discover some beach fun with a surf board.  Froggy and his family have a warm Aloha when Froggy Goes to Hawaii.

Since this year marks the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, several Titanic books will be available. There will be a special two-book set from Magic Tree House: Tonight on the Titanic and a companion nonfiction “Fact Tracker” book to answer all of your Titanic questions.  Remembering the Titanic follows specific people who worked on the Titanic or were her passengers.  It starts with her building, tells of her crash and sinking, and finishes with the eventual rescue of the survivors.

These and many, many more books of different reading levels and on a wide range of subjects will be available under the swaying palms.  There’s sure to be something for all the readers in the family.  See you at the Book Fair Luau.  Mahalo!

Submitted by: Linda Meyer- Assistant Librarian at The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes

Interview with Mrs. Miri Johnson of Sulam Tsur School, Israel

Mrs. Johnson is a school teacher in Israel who came to visit our classroom on Friday, March 23rd. She lives on a Kibbutz in Rosh Hanikra near the Lebanese border. This of course is under constant threat of attacks from a terrorist group called the Hezbollah that is stationed in Lebanon. But, other than this the kibbutz that she lives on is a very nice place to live located near the shores of the Merditerranean. A kibbutz is a very close knit community.  They work on it together and everybody helps the community in some way. Because of this she is very close with her students and is able to watch them grow up. A little bit more about Mrs. Johnson is that her husband is the dairy man and raises cows for milk. He then delivers it around the kibbutz. She then has two daughters who are around our age. The reason that she came to our class is that last year, we did an art project on the Holocaust. We sent our art projects to Israel while the students in her class sent theirs to us. This experience was pretty cool because it was interesting seeing the point of view of a different country about we were studying. Anyway, the school is considered a green school. This means that they have solar panels, the main recycle drop off is at the school and they have a really awesome gardens. We had a really good time with Mrs. Johnson, and she even taught us a few Israeli folk dance moves. We are very much looking forward to keeping in touch with her and her class.

Submitted by: The Junior High Class at The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes

Junior High Windfall Project

The Junior High did yet another push-pin project. This year it was an idea by Mrs. Hill: the Notre Dame leprechaun. The leprechaun is very colorful and looks awesome. Completing the project was a challenge as we kept running out of push-pins. The project required lots of patience and hard work. The myth of the leprechaun originated in Ireland in 1604. According to legend, It had lots of gold which it hid behind the rainbow. We chose this particular picture because many of us support the Fighting Irish in all their endeavors. GO IRISH!!!!! 

Submitted by: Bob Feferman- Junior High Teacher at The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes

Science Fair

This year science fair went very well. The topic for the Junior High was an environmental impact study. All of our projects had to do with environmental problems in our area. Some projects dealt with bacteria growth on the school phones, food waste at our school, and if lead can still be found in soils at historical sites.  We had to find out how our experiment could help the environment and raise awareness for a certain cause in a good way.

This year's attendance was very high. It seemed as though many people enjoyed our experiments and left with new knowledge about the world around them. We would like to give a shout-out to Mrs. Hill for helping us with our experiments. Without her help, our experiments would have been a lot less cool and would have not have been as great as they were.

Submitted by: Bob Feferman- Junior High Teacher at The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes

The True Meaning of Sports

Many would be believe that the only thing that matters in sports is winning. Actually, winning is the least important thing. Do not get upset, there is more to the story.

Let us consider this small example of a sporting event I love. I love March Madness! Let's say that 64 teams are invited to the tournamet. Well, if winning was the only thing that was important then we could say that only one team is a winner and 63 teams are losers. This is far from the case. First of all, if the other teams did not show up to the tournament, who would play?  Secondly, we must also applaud all the hard work each team displayed throughout the season to be invited to the tournament. (Plus, all the hard work all the other teams demonstrated who were not invited to the tournament.)  And lastly, we can not afford to overlook the personal satisfaction that each of the men and women achieve by improving each game, learning to work together as a team and learning life lessons. They learn about committment, displine, dedication, perserverance and desire just to mentiontion a few. These lessons are far more important than the game itself.

So, is it the winning that matters? I would say no. Winning is only the decoration on the cake. Preparing the cake is what is important. (Although, we do love the icing!)

Submitted by: Michael Poole- Junior High Teacher and Athletic Director at The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes

A Year in Review- Books!

January is traditionally a month when we review the previous year, remembering highlights and favorite things. In many fields, awards are given to the “best of the best.” The field of children’s literature is no exception: two of the most famous awards in children’s literature are announced in January. The Caldecott Medal is given to the illustrator of the “most distinguished” picture book, and the Newbery Medal is awarded to the author of the book with the “most distinguished” writing. Both of these medals are awarded by the American Library Association. Both medals have a first-place award, as well as a second-place honor award. Most years, several books share the honor award; with the wealth of children’s literature available today, it’s not hard to imagine how difficult it would be to narrow the list of award winners! Requirements for both awards include that the author or illustrator be a U.S. citizen or resident. Also, the book must have been published during the year previous to the award.

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 The Caldecott Medal was first awarded to an illustrator in 1938. The award is named for 19^th-century English children’s book illustrator Randolph Caldecott, a beloved illustrator and early advocate of children’s literature. Caldecott Award winners from the past include such favorites as Make Way for Ducklings (1942), Madeline’s Rescue (1954), Where the Wild Things Are (1964), and Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears (1976). More recent winners include Snowflake Bentley (1999), The Hello, Goodbye Window (2006), The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2008), and The House in the Night (2009). All of these titles are a treat for the eyes, and provide an easy way to introduce young children to fabulous art. The stories in these books also happen to be ones you don’t want your child to miss. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (recently made into a movie) is a rare exception—it’s a book for older readers, but the art work is integral to the story.

The Newbery Medal was first awarded to a children’s writer in 1922. This award is named for 19th-century English children’s publisher and bookseller John Newbery. Like Randolph Caldecott, John Newbery was one of the earliest supporters of children’s literature. Still-popular Newbery award favorites from earlier days include The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1923), Rabbit Hill (1945), King of the Wind (1949), and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1968). More recent Newbery winners include Shiloh (1992), Holes (1999), The Tale of Despereaux (2004), and When You Reach Me (2010). These are stories that bring inspiration and enjoyment to generation after generation of young readers. These are stories by writers who are passionate about the art of literature and passionate about having a positive influence on the lives of their young readers.

Watch for official announcements of the 2012 Caldecott and Newbery Award winners on Monday, January 23, 2012.

Submitted by: Lin Brooks- Librarian at The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes