Moorhead Junior High News

Students will take major exams the last week of the fall semester. It is very important that students be present for these important tests. To help your child do his or her best, plan vacations or health care appointments around test dates. Final exams count ten percent of the semester grade for junior high school courses and fifteen percent for high school classes.

Any missed exam must be made up with the specific instructor the week of January 7 - 10.

Final exam dates are listed below.

First Semester Exam Schedule:

12/18: 1st, 3rd, 5th Period Finals

12/19: 2nd, 4th and 6th Period Finals

12/20: 7th Period Final / Early Release Day at 1:00 pm

For planning purposes, second semester exams are from May 21, 2025 to May 23, 2025.

Join the Moorhead Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) Program!

Complete the registration form HERE!

Join Watch D.O.G.S.

This form is to join the Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) Program at Moorhead JH. We are so glad to have you! Once you complete this form, follow the link at the bottom and complete the volunteer application through the District website. You will be notified if you DO NOT clear the background. Please sign up for any days that you may be able to volunteer. You will get an email reminder the week before you are to volunteer on campus.

docs.google.com

Thank you to the amazing dads that have already begun volunteering on campus, for being a positive male role model for our students!

Our Chamber and Electric Orchestra will perform at the Woodlands Pavilion at the South Pavilion stage on December 5th, from 6:25-6:40pm

All Orchestra will perform our Winter Concert at CCHS Gym on December 12th.

3rd and 4th period Orchestra performs at 6:00pm.

1st and 2nd period Orchestra performs at 7:15pm.

Picture retakes are December 3rd and only for students who were absent or have enrolled since picture day.

I am excited to announce that Moorhead Junior High School students are traveling to Washington, DC and Colonial Virginia, to engage in history and government firsthand this coming summer on May 28th-May 31st.

Throughout our journey, students will:

• Visit historic landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial, Capitol Hill & Mt. Vernon

• Learn about our heroes and the sacrifices they made while visiting Arlington National Cemetery and all the Monuments and Memorials around DC

• Travel back in time to discover the shaping of Colonial America and the excitement of gaining our independence

Space is limited and filling up quickly. You can go online and register your child now with a $99 deposit at SchoolToursOfAmerica.com. You will need the following information to register: Dates 5/28/24-5/31-24 and School Code: B141

Email if you need an application for financial aid.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Dawn Smith

dasmith@conroeisd.net

Our next band concert is at Caney Creek High School on Thursday, December 5th at 7:30pm.

On October 29th we held our fall NJHS induction ceremony for 8th grade. We will hold our spring ceremony on May 8, 2025.

Home Depot from the Woodland send a team to build new raised beds for the Life Skills future garden!! Please share in the newsletter! We are excited! An amazing gift! A heartfelt community project!!

The 7 B girls basketball team brought home a consolation trophy today from the Willis tournament. They played Brabham yesterday and lost a close game by 2 points to put them in the consolation bracket for today. They beat Stockton this morning 14-8 and at 1:00 played Magnolia Jr High and heat them soundly 18-2 to win the trophy. These girls have learned so much basketball in the past few weeks and will continue to grow. Please congratulate them on Monday.

Our campus will have an early release on FRIDAY, December 20 at 1:00 p.m. Buses will depart at approximately 1:05 p.m. In this day. Please plan for the potential for heavier traffic on the pickup lines.

Down through generations, parents have read bedtime stories to their children. Aside from the bonding experience between them, numerous studies have shown that reading to young children has serval benefits, including:

1. Helping them develop their vocabularies by introducing new words to them via the story;

2. Helping children become risk takers when it comes to learning new words in a book;

3. Developing their imaginations when exciting parts of the story are dramatized by the parent (using different voices and/or actions);

4. Impressing upon children the importance of reading;

5. Developing their critical thinking skills by asking them questions about the characters, their actions and motivations/consequences, evaluating the end of the story, etc.;

6. Contributing to their writing abilities (there is a direct correlation between good readers and good writers);

For all of these reasons, and more, it's very important that children get support in their reading efforts at home. Completing this questionnaire will give us important feedback we can use here at school to make a plan to help support your student's reading habits.

Please complete the SURVEY linked here.

Por favor complete la ENCUESTA vinculada aquí.

“The 12 Days of School”

Twas the 12 days before the holidays

and all through the school….

The dress code will deviate

Quite a bit from the rule!

Please come on Thursday (Dec. 5)

In snowman attire.

Let it snow

We’re getting down to the wire.

On Friday, (Dec. 6th) Wear antlers and/or animal print.

because Rudolph is here

With his reindeer prancing

And everyone dancing.

On Monday, (Dec. 9th) it’s Tannenbaum…

Decorations adorn a Christmas Tree

So wear your favorite ornament

For all to see!

On Tuesday, (Dec. 10th) brings Santa,

The jolly old man.

Dress in this manner…

Everyone can.

On Wednesday, (Dec. 11th) Jingle Bell, jingle bell,

Jingle bell rock.

This brings us to Wednesday….

Tick tock goes the clock.

On Thurs, (Dec. 12th) The star atop the Christmas tree has a TWIN-kle!

Select a friend and make a decision

how you’ll dress up as Twins!

Partner up and make folks see double vision!

On Friday, (Dec. 13th)

Don’t run out of steam!

Winter vacation is drawing near

Wear you elf attire,

To spread more holiday cheer!

It’s almost finals,

Monday (Dec. 16th) is insane with review.

A crazy Christmas sweater,

Would look great on you!

On Tuesday, (Dec. 17th) Hark the Herald,

The last week is here.

Wear your angel attire

To give us added cheer.

On Wednesday, (Dec 18th) we all like sweets,

And candy canes are best.

Look through your closet,

In red and white you should dress.

On Thursday, (Dec. 19th) “Deck them halls y’all!”

Wear your Cowboy/Cowgirl gear

Let’s stomp them boots down the hall.

The holiday break is near!

When Friday (Dec. 20th) arrives

Any Christmas attire goes

Have a holly, jolly Christmas

From your head to your toes.

This past weekend we went to UIL One Act Play and had a marvelous time! The students did an incredible job and we got amazing feedback from the judges! We walked away with five awards!

Best Technician: Kayla Hudgins

Honorable Mention: Aiden Pinto

Honorable Mention: Aiden Edwards

All-Star Cast: Madison Pelley

All-Star Cast: Jett Banes

Please join me in congratulating these talented students!

Communities in Schools and the Moorhead Junior Honor Society would like to thank all of the parents and guardians for donating food for the Thanksgiving Food Drive. Your generosity helped make Thanksgiving a little brighter for families in our community.

Our collection bin is located right outside the front office. Thank you!

PSAT 8/9 scores are now available for viewing through the College Board. Directions for students to set up their account are below.

Go to the College Board website. www.collegeboard.org

Click Sign Up

Follow the prompts

Now create an account to view and print your detailed scores. Some students have reported a delay in retrieving scores after creating an account. If you do not see your scores right away, sign out, await 3-4 hours, and then try again.

You may print hard copies of your scores from your account. Please do not email teachers with PSAT questions, they do not have access to the necessary information. If you have question or concerns, please contact your child's assigned counselor.

If you have issues access your scores, the best point of contact to use for question si College Board's customer service number. 1-866-433-7728.

Classes resume on Tuesday, January 7, 2024!

Our next PTO meeting for this school year is December 20 at 9am in the Moorhead Junior High conference room.

Congratulations to the following students for being selected by faculty and staff as Moorhead's November Students of the Month!

Jordan C.

Rylee R.

Kayla N.

Milagros G.

Each student received a cane box lunch from our sponsors at Raisin' Canes at 105 in Conroe.

Tutorials are held Monday through Friday mornings from 8:15am - 8:55am.

Protect your child from the dangers of the Internet on their phones by following these simple steps:

IOS/Apple I-Phone Users go to:

SETTINGS

then scroll down to USE SCREEN TIME PASSCODE (it's in blue) Set a passcode only you know.

Then go back up to:

SCREEN TIME

CONTENT AND PRIVACY RESTRICTIONS (Set restrictions here)

CONTENT RESTRICTIONS (Set more restrictions here)

You are done!

You can always invest in a monitoring app!

Pew Research, 2018 states:

• 95% of teens have access to a smartphone
• 45% have non-stop access
• 10%+ cannot control online behavior
• If you can't control yourself is it an addiction?
• “Digital Heroin”
• the term created based on brain research showing the dopamine levels in the brain when using social media
• Gaming has also shown similar effects

Is Social Media Positive or Negative? - what do kids say?

• 31% say it is mostly POSITIVE
• 45% say it has no effect
• 24% say it is mostly NEGATIVE

Hashtag Trends to be aware of:

• #sue: suicide
• #deb: depression
• #ana: anorexia
• #thinsp: thinspiration (photos/messages that “inspire” an effort to become thin)
• #svv: self-harming behavior

Helpful Text Sites:

• www.netlingo.com
• www.urbandictionary.com

How is it Affecting the Teen Brain? - (is it reversible?)

Physical Issues (not reversible):

• Vision: vision loss, at-risk for macular degeneration
• Increase: Teen migraines
• Finger/wrist pain
• “Text neck” (premature degeneration of neck and spine)
• “Phantom Vibration Syndrome”

Mental Health Issues (reversible):

• Decrease in self-confidence
• Peer Pressure increase
• Anxiety increase
• Depression increase

Increase in Suicidal Ideation (SDSU study 2019):

• Teens spending 5+ hours daily online (social media):
• 71% more likely to have at least one risk factor for suicide
• Risk decreases exponentially for teens spending 1 hour daily or less

Increase in Social Isolation (American Journal of Preventative Medicine 2017)

• Teens on social media more than 58 times per week:
• 3x’s more likely to feel socially isolated
• Less feelings of isolation if less than 9 times on social media per week
• Teens equate # of SM friends to reality

Brain Issues (may or may not be reversible):

• Decrease in ability to multi-task and memory decline

• Inability to regulate emotions

• Reading "likes" and "shares" vs. gestures or facial expressions

• Psychological addiction and impairment in hippocampus and amygdala

Social Media is constantly activating our Fight, Flight, or Freeze (survival) response:

THIS can eventually lead to:

• High blood pressure

• Hypertension/cardiovascular disease

• Diabetes

• Cancer

• More frequent illnesses

• Eating issues

• Mental health issues

SO WHY are teens doing this??!

• Because a social media notification=“digital heroin”. Facebook creators admitted that they created the "LIKE" notifications because they are addictive. People begin to crave "LIKES" and post more content. Then the brain sends dopamine along a reward pathway which ​feels good. Before we know it the behavior becomes a habit.

So...What is the Effect of Social Media on Student Population?

• Source of distraction

• Herd mentality

• Degree of anger by teen victims of bullying associated w/increased exposure to media

• Lack of EMPATHY/Sociopathology

• Working memory and selective attention issues

• Sensory information and response issues

• Emotional reactivity

• Lack of cognitive control over emotions

• Increased anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation

The reality is this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to research on Social Media and the Brain. When we are wondering why anxiety and depression are on the rise we can't ignore the research. Are kids able to use social media during their school day? If so, they are activating their fight, flight or freeze response which is known as the emotional brain. When kids are in their emotional brain they can't access their thinking part of their brain which affects learning.

Students today are always looking for an advantage to push them to the top.

I wonder how things would change if they knew the two easiest ways to get an advantage are:

• Getting 9 hours of sleep a night.
• Collect all household electronics before bedtime.
  
• Limiting Social Media

Conroe ISD will continue to roll out the Anonymous Alerts - anti bullying app. Anonymous Alerts is a proprietary student anti-bullying app that helps combat bullying and other negative activities in schools by empowering students to volunteer to help themselves and other students. Social and peer pressures are some of the toughest obstacles for students to overcome, now they can report bullying and safety issues quickly using the Anonymous Alerts mobile app. Students or parents in the school community can anonymously submit alerts about suspicious activity, safety threats, intimidation, alcohol or drug use, bullying, family issues, bullying, campus safety concerns, and self-harm issues to school administrators or counselors. The app is free on the Apple Store, Google Play Store, and Chrome Store. Students will still have the option to call Kid Chat to report anything at 1-888-kid-chat.

The Conroe Independent School District (District), as an equal opportunity educational provider and employer, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, or disability in the educational programs or activities it operates or in matters labor. . The District is required by Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as the Board's policy not to discriminate in that manner. For information regarding Title IX rights or Section 504/ADA rights, contact the Title IX Coordinator or Section 504/ADA Coordinator at 3205 W. Davis, Conroe, TX 77304; (936) 709-7752.