

Llano Junior High News
Llano JHS - 400 Hwy 71 E - Llano TX - 325-247-4659
February 5, 2024
@LJH
Our Mission
The Mission of Llano Junior High is to improve the academic performance of all students.
Our Vision
Llano Junior High will empower learners and leaders to positively impact the world.
Our Core Beliefs
1. Kids come first.
2. Continuous learning is essential to success.
3. A student's success is the shared responsibility of the student, family, school & community.
4. Learning is influenced by environment.
5. Learning is required here.Mark Your Calendars
Looking Ahead
Thursday, February 8 - Boys Basketball @ Florence
Friday, February 9 - Student Holiday
Saturday, February 10 - Boys District Basketball Tournament @ Home
Monday, February 12 - U.I.L. Awards During Advisory
Wednesday, February 14 - Reading Challenge #4 Due
Thursday, February 15 - UTSA Tour/Field Trip (EB)
Thursday, February 22
- Bus Driver Appreciation Day
- Track @ Ingram
Friday, February 23 - Student & Staff Holiday
Planning Ahead...
March 22 - Spring Formal "A Night in Paris"
Announcements
8th Grade News
Llano Junior High School will be offering the PSAT 8/9 to any 8th grader who is interested in taking the test.
The test date is April 4th and will be given during the school day.
The cost to take the test is $14.00 and all money is due to Mrs. Magadance by February 16th .
If you are interested in taking the test, please reach out to Mrs. Magadance to sign-up and pay the $14.00 fee.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Magadance.
Library
Reading Challenge #4 - January 9—February 14, 2024
Library Classes
7th Grade
7TH GRADERS READ THE PICTURE BOOK BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN NEWBERY THIS WEEK IN THE LIBRARY: BALDERDASH!: JOHN NEWBERY AND THE BOISTEROUS BIRTH OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS.
GO TO THE LIST OF ALL NEWBERY WINNING-BOOKS HERE:
AND SEE HOW MANY YOU HAVE READ!
2023 Winner
2024 Winner
U.I.L. Results!
Llano Junior High 2nd Place School!
Gifted & Talented - Mrs. Grassan
Today, 8th grade GT met to complete the Pringle Ringle challenge. The objective: to build a standing ring of Pringles with nothing but physics, a can of Pringles and hope. What seemed to be a simple task turned out to be a challenge that not all of us were able to conquer. We laughed, we cried, we ate a lot of Pringles. In our reflections, we were asked, “if you were to do this challenge again, what would you do differently?” Students answered: “develop the base differently,” “use more chips,” “actually complete it,” and one suggested, “get a different flavor.” What a humbling, yet tasty, lesson in gravity!
On This Day in History
February 5, 1883 - Southern Pacific Railroad Completes New Orleans to California Route
The Southern Pacific Railroad completes its transcontinental “Sunset Route” from New Orleans to California, consolidating its dominance over rail traffic to the Pacific.
One of the most powerful railroad companies of the 19th century, the “Espee” (as the railroad was often called) originated in an ambitious plan conceived in 1870 by the “Big Four” western railroad barons: Collis P. Huntington, Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford and Mark Hopkins. A year earlier, the Big Four’s western-based Central Pacific had linked up with the eastern-based Union Pacific in Utah, creating the first transcontinental American railway. With that finished, the “Big Four” began to look for ways to increase their control over West Coast shipping, and decided to focus their efforts on extending the California-based Southern Pacific southward.
By 1877, the Southern Pacific controlled 85 percent of California’s railroad mileage. Huntington, who now dominated the company, saw an excellent opportunity to create a transcontinental line through the southern United States. Huntington had to act fast if was to beat the competition. The Texas and Pacific Railroad was already pushing westward toward the Pacific at a fast pace. Marshalling his awesome energy and financial resources, Huntington began driving his Southern Pacific line eastward. He won the race in 1881, when he linked the Southern Pacific to the Santa Fe Railroad at Deming, New Mexico, creating the second American transcontinental railway. Two years later, on February 5, 1883, Huntington gained full control of a number of smaller railroads, creating the Southern Pacific’s “Sunset Route” from New Orleans to California.
With the “Sunset Route,” Huntington confirmed his domination over California rails. He had taken considerable financial risks to build the Southern Pacific system, and he collected very considerable financial rewards. The Southern Pacific had a near monopoly over rail service to California, and Huntington and his associates took advantage of the situation by charging high shipping rates.
Termed “the Octopus” for its tentacled stranglehold on much of the California economy, the Southern Pacific inspired Californians to create some of the first strong public regulations over railroads in American history. But despite the anger and outrage Huntington’s exploitation inspired, few would deny that the mighty Southern Pacific Railroad played an essential role in fostering the growth of a vibrant California economy for decades to come.
February 6, 1952 - King George VI dies; Elizabeth Becomes Queen
On February 6, 1952, after a long illness, King George VI of Great Britain and Northern Ireland dies in his sleep at the royal estate at Sandringham. Princess Elizabeth, the older of the king’s two daughters and next in line to succeed him, was in Kenya at the time of her father’s death; she was officially crowned Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953, at age 27.
King George VI, the second son of King George V, ascended to the throne in 1936 after his older brother, King Edward VIII, voluntarily abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. During World War II, George worked to rally the spirits of the British people by touring war zones, making a series of morale-boosting radio broadcasts (for which he overcame a speech impediment) and shunning the safety of the countryside to remain with his wife in bomb-damaged Buckingham Palace. The king's health deteriorated in 1949, but he continued to perform state duties until his death in 1952.
Queen Elizabeth, born on April 21, 1926, and known to her family as Lilibet, was groomed as a girl to succeed her father. She married a distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten, on November 20, 1947, at London’s Westminster Abbey. The first of Elizabeth’s four children, Prince Charles, was born in 1948.
From the start of her reign, Elizabeth understood the value of public relations and allowed her 1953 coronation to be televised, despite objections from Prime Minister Winston Churchill and others who felt it would cheapen the ceremony. Elizabeth, the 40th English monarch since William the Conqueror, worked hard at her royal duties and become a popular figure around the world. In February 2022, Elizabeth celebrated her Platinum Jubilee—marking seven decades of her service to the Commonwealth. She died on September 8, 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96.
The queen’s reign, was not without controversy. She was seen as cold and out-of-touch following the 1996 divorce of her son, Prince Charles, and Princess Diana, and again after Diana’s 1997 death in a car crash. Additionally, the role in modern times of the monarchy, which is largely ceremonial, has come into question as British taxpayers have complained about covering the royal family’s travel expenses and palace upkeep. Still, the royals are effective world ambassadors for Britain and a huge tourism draw.
In the final years of her reign, she continued many of her official duties, public appearances and spent plenty of time outside with her beloved dogs and horses. Two days before her death, she officially installed a new prime minister, Liz Truss.
February 7, 1775 - Benjamin Franklin Publishes “An Imaginary Speech”
In London on February 7, 1775, Benjamin Franklin publishes "An Imaginary Speech" in defense of American courage.
Franklin’s speech was intended to counter an unnamed officer’s comments to Parliament that the British need not fear the colonial rebels, because “Americans are unequal to the People of this Country [Britain] in Devotion to Women, and in Courage, and worse than all, they are religious.”
Franklin responded to the three-pronged critique with his usual wit and acuity. Noting that the colonial population had increased while the British population had declined, Franklin concluded that American men must therefore be more “effectually devoted to the Fair Sex” than their British brethren.
As for American courage, Franklin relayed a history of the Seven Years’ War in which the colonial militia forever saved blundering British regulars from strategic error and cowardice. With poetic flare, Franklin declared, “Indiscriminate Accusations against the Absent are cowardly Calumnies.” In truth, the colonial militias were notoriously undisciplined and ineffective at the beginning of the Seven Years’ War. New Englanders, unused to taking orders and unfamiliar with the necessary elements of military life, brought illness upon themselves when they refused to build latrines and were sickened by their own sewage. During the American Revolution, Washington repeated many of the same complaints spoken by British officers when he attempted to organize American farmers into an effective army.
With regard to religion, Franklin overcame his own distaste for the devout and reminded his readers that it was "Zealous Puritans that had rid Britain of the despised King Charles I." Franklin surmised that his critic was a Stuart [i.e. Catholic] sympathizer, and therefore disliked American Protestants, “who inherit from those Ancestors, not only the same Religion, but the same Love of Liberty and Spirit.”
February 8, 1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots Beheaded
After 19 years of imprisonment, Mary, Queen of Scots is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England for her complicity in a plot to murder Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1542, while just six days old, Mary ascended to the Scottish throne upon the death of her father, King James V. Her mother sent her to be raised in the French court, and in 1558 she married the French dauphin, who became King Francis II of France in 1559 but died the following year. After Francis’ death, Mary returned to Scotland to assume her designated role as the country’s monarch.
In 1565, she married her English cousin Lord Darnley in order to reinforce her claim of succession to the English throne after Elizabeth’s death. In 1567, Darnley was mysteriously killed in an explosion at Kirk o’ Field, and Mary’s lover, the Earl of Bothwell, was the key suspect. Although Bothwell was acquitted of the charge, his marriage to Mary in the same year enraged the nobility. Mary brought an army against the nobles, but was defeated and imprisoned at Lochleven, Scotland, and forced to abdicate in favor of her son by Darnley, James.
In 1568, Mary escaped from captivity and raised a substantial army but was defeated and fled to England. Queen Elizabeth initially welcomed Mary but was soon forced to put her friend under house arrest after Mary became the focus of various English Catholic and Spanish plots to overthrow Elizabeth. Nineteen years later, in 1586, a major plot to murder Elizabeth was reported, and Mary was brought to trial. She was convicted for complicity and sentenced to death.
On February 8, 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded for treason. Her son, King James VI of Scotland, calmly accepted his mother’s execution, and upon Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603 he became king of England, Scotland and Ireland.
February 9, 1971 - Satchel Paige Nominated to Baseball Hall of Fame
On February 9, 1971, pitcher Leroy “Satchel” Paige becomes the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame. In August of that year, Paige, a pitching legend known for his fastball, showmanship and the longevity of his playing career, which spanned five decades, was inducted. Joe DiMaggio once called Paige “the best and fastest pitcher I’ve ever faced.”
Paige was born in Mobile, Alabama, most likely on July 7, 1906, although the exact date remains a mystery. He earned his nickname, Satchel, as a boy when he earned money carrying passengers’ bags at train stations. Baseball was segregated when Paige started playing baseball professionally in the 1920s, so he spent most of his career pitching for Negro League teams around the United States. During the winter season, he pitched for teams in the Caribbean and Central and South America. As a barnstorming player who traveled thousands of miles each season and played for whichever team met his asking price, he pitched an estimated 2,500 games, had 300 shut-outs and 55 no-hitters. In one month in 1935, he reportedly pitched 29 consecutive games.
In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier and became the first African American to play in the Major Leagues when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. The following year, Paige also entered the majors, signing with the Cleveland Guardians (then known as the Cleveland Indians) and becoming, at age 42, baseball’s oldest rookie. He helped the Guardians win the pennant that year and later played for the St. Louis Browns and Kansas City A’s.
Paige retired from the majors in 1953, but returned in 1965 to pitch three innings for the Kansas City A’s. He was 59 at the time, making him the oldest person ever to play in the Major Leagues. In addition to being famous for his talent and longevity, Paige was also well-known for his sense of humor and colorful observations on life, including: “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you” and “Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
He died June 8, 1982, in Kansas City, Missouri.
February 10, 1763 - The French and Indian War Ends
The Seven Years’ War, a global conflict known in America as the French and Indian War, ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by France, Great Britain and Spain.
In the early 1750s, France’s expansion into the Ohio River valley repeatedly brought the country into armed conflict with the British colonies. In 1756, the British formally declared war against France.
In the first year of the war, the British suffered a series of defeats at the hands of the French and their broad network of Native American alliances. However, in 1757, British Prime Minister William Pitt (the older) recognized the potential of imperial expansion that would come out of victory against the French and borrowed heavily to fund an expanded war effort. Pitt financed Prussia’s struggle against France and her allies in Europe and reimbursed the colonies for the raising of armies in North America. By 1760, the French had been expelled from Canada, and by 1763 all of France’s allies in Europe had either made a separate peace with Prussia or had been defeated. In addition, Spanish attempts to aid France in the Americas had failed, and France also suffered defeats against British forces in India.
The Seven Years’ War ended with the signing of the treaties of Hubertusburg and Paris in February 1763. In the Treaty of Paris, France lost all claims to Canada and gave Louisiana to Spain, while Britain received Spanish Florida, Upper Canada, and various French holdings overseas. The treaty ensured the colonial and maritime supremacy of Britain and strengthened the 13 American colonies by removing their European rivals to the north and the south. Fifteen years later, French bitterness over the loss of most of their colonial empire contributed to their intervention in the American Revolution on the side of the Patriots.
February 11, 1975 - Mrs. Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to lead the British Conservative Party.
Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party on 11 February 1975 .
In some ways, this was a more momentous event than the 1979 election, which brought the first Thatcher government to power. For a start, the 1975 leadership context (unlike the 1979 general election) produced a surprise.
Thatcher was not expected to win. She had been a Cabinet minister for only a few years and the office that she had held, Education Secretary, was seen as a traditional one for women.
Most importantly, Thatcher had no experience of foreign and defence policy (crucial areas for a prime minister). The latter was particularly important because Britain in the 1970s was still governed by the generation that had been formed by the Second World War.
Edward Heath (who Thatcher had challenged for the leadership) had been a lieutenant colonel. The Conservative front bench was full of men – such as William Whitelaw or Lord Carrington – who had won medals for gallantry.
This tied in with a wider point. The political establishment in 1975 was, to an extent that is hard to recapture now, almost exclusively male. Schools (at least the schools at which Tory ministers were educated) were single sex and the political clubs in which plots were hatched were all male.
It was, indeed, this clubby, male camaraderie that made all Thatcher’s potential rivals for the party leadership reluctant to challenge Heath in the first round of the leadership election and it was this hesitation that gave Thatcher her chance.
Other, more established candidates, entered the contest in the second round, after Heath had stood down, but, by then, Thatcher had established her position.
As a female leader of the Conservative Party, Thatcher was, at first, remarkably vulnerable: she was still a long way from being the confident and powerful figure that she would become after the Falklands War of 1982.
Some assumed that Thatcher would, in due course, be deposed by the patrician men who still controlled her party. Many talked as though there was something incongruous about the mere idea of a woman party leader.
When Thatcher complained about the ‘avuncular flannel’ of Jim Callaghan, the Labour prime minister, Callaghan replied that he had difficulty in imagining her as his niece. Many of the jokes about Thatcher were nastier and less amusing.
Thatcher came to power at a moment when many talked of ‘women’s liberation’ - Thatcher herself always used the rather derogatory abbreviation ‘women’s lib’.
This was the decade in which Germaine Greer’s Female Eunuch became a best-seller. But Thatcher – always carefully coiffured, never seen in public wearing trousers and speaking with a voice that seemed almost painfully careful – seemed to be the embodiment of everything that women’s liberation was against.
Thatcher’s victory in the Conservative leadership election seems, in retrospect, like the moment when Britain turned away from governments that had attempted to manage the economy or to appease the trade unions.
At the time, though, it was far from clear how far Thatcher would be able, or would wish, to deliver on the promises of some of her radical supporters.
In the short term, the most striking thing about the new party leader was simply her sex and the way in which she presented herself in this domain was a portent of her remarkable ability to make those who dealt with her (from both sides of any debate) feel uncomfortable.
Credit: Professor Richard Vinen specialises in twentieth century history and is the author of Thatcher's Britain.
Athletics
Girls Basketball
7th Grade A Team
The 7th grade girls basketball team got 4th place overall in their tournament this weekend. In the first game we had a victory against Blanco. These girls have improved so much from the beginning of the season and it really showed. Then they fought hard against Ingram and Florence but inevitably lost.
7th Grade B Team
Your 7th grade B Team Lady Jackets played a heck of a game against Ingram on February 1st at home. They played hard and won the game 17-12.
Shooter of the Season is Miss Sophia Ingram, with over 60 points scored!
Defensive Player of the Season is Miss Kenzlee Hamm.
Most Improved Player of the Season is Miss Dorothy Knight.
I can't think of a better group of kids to spend the season with. Thank you, girls, for letting me coach you, for having patience with me and each other, and for being SO amazing! You made basketball season SO much fun!
Love you guys SO much!
- Coach Holder
8th Grade
I’m so proud of the 8th Grade Girls Basketball Teams. They showed so much improvement throughout the season. The 8th Grade A-Team came out winning the Consolation Bracket Saturday in the District 5-3A Tournament. We are proud of how these girls left everything on the floor with a big win to end the season. I have enjoyed coaching each and everyone of you girls this year! Let’s keep building your Llano Lady Jackets girls program! Want It? Earn It!
-Coach Rabb
8th Grade B Team
8th Girls B Team finished their season this past Thursday with a win over Ingram. The Lady Jackets ended with a record of 6-1. This season was full of hard work, fun, and growth. We are so proud of these girls and excited for their future as Lady Jackets.
Support your LJH Track Teams & Get Some Gear!
2024 Track & Field Gear
We have an online store to go to and purchase some items supporting our kids in athletics.
GO GET YOUR SWAG!! Support your 2024 Track teams.
You don't have to run track to be able to REP! this awesome gear.
LETS GOOOO!