PBJHS MASS MEDIA NEWSLETTER

Have you ever heard the expression, “all about that jazz?” The PBJHS Jazz Band literally is all about that jazz. Two weeks ago, on Friday, January 25 the Poplar Bluff Junior High Jazz Band headed over to the Ag-Expo and played some smooth tunes. Some of the songs our band played were Impact Zone, Tight Shoes Blues, and The Funkster. One of our jazz band members, Kirstyn Millner said, “It was a really fun once in a lifetime experience”.

By: Maura Dill, 8th Grade

Poplar Bluff Jr. High School Life Skills students were happy to share some Ravioli and Root Beer with ROTC. Friday, February 8th, the ROTC from the Poplar Bluff High School came to PBJHS for a good breakfast. They got to sit with our life skills class and talk about thing they have to do in ROTC, including the difficult task of repelling down a wall. I asked one student from the life skills class, Julie Watson, what she enjoyed most from this event and she said, “Interacting with new people and them telling about ROTC makes me wanna join it next year when I’m a freshman." We hope ROTC enjoyed their time at Junior High as much as Life Skills enjoyed hosting them!

By: Quinlan Grable, 8th Grade

Slide! Turn! Jump! These are all moves the Lake Road Dance Team is being taught during their dance lessons by the PBJHS Pom Squad. Students from Lake Road that are part of the schools dance club have been coming every two weeks for the past month to the Junior High so the Pom Squad can teach them different dances and techniques to help improve their dancing abilities. Dance is a very good way to help children and people express themselves. Pom Squad member Emma Reeves says, ”The kids get excited to learn new dances every time they come and enjoy having older kids (Pom Squad) have the same interest as they do in dance.” By letting the Lake Road kids come and learn new things about dance PBJHS students are having more opportunities to show their true colors and gain confidence when they dance in front of their fellow peers.

By: Abby Murphy, 8th Grade

What started as a team project, has led to an even bigger endeavor. Last month Team Ma Luo began a project to collect donations for the Foster Connect program. This led to Mrs. Davis, the librarian, and PBJHS sewing club students sewing pillow cases for the foster care children in Poplar Bluff, Mo. There are approximately 77 foster children in our district alone. Currently Mrs, Davis and her sewing students are working to make at least 100 pillow cases to donate. These pillow cases also become knapsacks for carrying clothing and belongings between homes. Mrs. Nicolini donated a sewing machine to the library to help them out, and many students have donated fabric. The sewing club asks for donations of at least one yard of fabric to create a pillowcase. If you want to help out, join, or you just need more information, stop by the library and ask Mrs. Davis about her project. Let's get to making pillows for foster care children.

By: Ashtyn Reese, 7th Grade

Have you ever thought of having to measure lengths, heights and solve problems to build a roller coaster?

Robotics at the Poplar Bluff Junior High has! The robotics team broke into to groups and started solving equations for their own roller coaster that a robotic ball must roll down. Their teacher Hilary Taylor says, "They are having to do lots of problem solving and collaboration to achieve a certain list of requirements for their roller coaster. There is lots of measuring of height, length, and angles. This looks like fun and they are enjoying it a lot, but it is very difficult and several students/teams have had to start all over several times. This is very challenging, but it's fun frustration!" This is a great activity for a great group of students! These students are very intelligent and have a great future ahead of them.

By: Jordyn Ridens, 8th Grade

Beta is a club kids can join to do service projects and help their school become a better place. Beta is a very important club, and we at PBJHS are glad so many kids enjoy helping their community and school. Poplar Bluff Junior High recently attended the State National Beta Convention in Springfield Missouri. That competition was held in December. We had a few students stand out, from the rest. Those students are Bailey Williams, Deuce Shumate and Nya Cram. Cram ran for National Beta President. Although she didn’t succeed, running for such a high level job is a huge honor, and can also be very stressful. Shumate submitted a picture he took in a photography contest, and placed 1st. He will be heading to Oklahoma City to submit this picture at Nationals. Williams competed and won 5th place in the Social Studies contest. She will also advance to Nationals.
The National BETA Convention in Oklahoma City is much larger than the state convention. Winners from states all over the country compete in the category they previously won at state. It is much harder to win at nationals, but we wish them him the best of luck!

By: Lanie Robertson, 8th Grade

Do you like the idea of our school being improved? If so, you're in luck. Mrs. Warren has decided to create a leadership team for school improvement. This team is made up of a group of seventh graders. Those students are Ian Pierce, Nya Cram, Brennen White, Addison Shell, Parker Hicks, and Maddie Payne. They had to fill out an application and get recommended by a teacher to join the team. The Improvement Team's first meeting was canceled, but will be rescheduled soon. They will have a discussion about how to improve the school and brainstorm other ideas. The leadership team already has some ideas such as improving locker rooms, bathrooms, and the hallways. We look forward to seeing what changes the PBJHS improvement team will bring to our school.

By: Jarryn Anderson, 8th Grade

The VFW State Teacher of the Year award is an amazing accomplishment for a teacher to get, but did you know our very own Mrs. Pattillo from PBJHS won this award this year? On February 2nd Mrs. Pattillo accepted the award in Jefferson City. The VFW Teacher of the Year contest recognizes exceptional teachers for their outstanding commitment to teaching Americanism and patriotism to their students. Mrs. Pattillo explained that she had to first be nominated in Poplar Bluff, then she had to go to districts in Cape where she won against 17 other teachers. Finally, she was presented the award for the Middle School division which is for teachers of grades 6-8th. Mrs. Pattillo said that she was amazed at how nice and kind the Veterans Association was during this process. One line from her speech that stuck out to me was when she stated she hopes she can instill a love our great country into her students. This shows that even though she is getting this award for being a great teacher, she is still thinking about her students. We are proud of Mrs. Pattillo for earning this highly deserved award.

By: Draydenn Ray, 8th Grade

‘Summer Takes Flight’ and ‘Badge of Honor’ are the two songs that the Poplar Bluff Junior High School will be performing at the Six Flags Music Festival competition. The Jr. High Band will be going to this event in St. Louis on Friday, April 12th. The park will be closed to the public and open only for the bands competing. This music festival is for bands all throughout Missouri and the surrounding states. All band students participated in a fundraiser to have the opportunity to lower the price of the trip. The PBJHS performance time will be released in April. Parents with children in the band are welcome to come along on this trip. Hope to see you there!

By: Hannah Spencer, 8th Grade

This month we are spotlighting two great 8th grade students at PBJHS. Jeridon Young is 14-years-old, and he played on the Mules basketball team. He was number 3 and he thought the season went well. He likes science, pizza, and the color yellow. His best friend is Amare and his favorite teacher is Mrs.Lawson. He would describe himself as athletic.

I also interviewed River Rowland. She is also 14-years-old, and is in SINGS. She likes the color purple, science, the book Life as We Know It, and Chinese food. Her best friend is Lily Johnson, and her favorite teacher is Mrs.Yarbro. She would describe herself as responsible.

By: Katy Cram, 7th Grade

On Friday, February 1st Ms. Dawson and one of her classes set up science experiments for students who attend Lake Road Elementary to learn about chemical and physical changes. They all had a blast and the children learned many things while having fun at the same time. For one of their experiments, Ms. Dawson put polymer in a cup and then poured it over PBJHS student, Daine Dugas’s head. This was such a great experience for the kids and gave them a great opportunity to have fun and learn!

By: Emma Hick, 8th Grade

Can you build a house that can beat the winds of 296 miles per hour? Mrs.Berry's class did a tornado tower challenge in science. Mrs.Berry said, ¨This challenge was to design and build a tower out of straws, craft sticks, index cards, string, and tape, that was as tall as possible and able to hold a tennis ball during strong high winds.¨ The tower that won in Mrs.Berry´s class was named Dr.Weave and it stood 51.2cm tall. The winning tower also withstood high wind speeds. The group that created this awesome tower was composed of Kyndal Powell, Taylor Moss, Britney Moore, and Ashleigh Cooksey. Mrs.Berry also quoted,¨I am so proud of the creativity and ingenuity of this group of girls!¨

By: Alyssa Whitmer, 8th grade