Congratulations!
Our 2008-2009 JMS literary magazine, Our Piece of Mind, has received an "Above Average" rating in the 2009 NCTE Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines. Congratulations to all of the students who worked hard to create last year’s literary magazine.
Students Published
Several students from JMS will have their poems published through Creative Communication. All students took advantage of the writing enrichment opportunity advertised through the Writing Lab and their English teachers and met with success! Special thanks to Ms. Carris for encouraging them. Their names and the titles of the poems which will be published follow. We look forward to seeing their creations in print. Way to go!
Brendan Carse, “The Moment I Will Never Get Back”
Brittany Cole, “Ode to a Softball”
Ashley Durr, “Waiting”
Ryan Dustevich, “The Game of the Century”
Zoe English, “The World of Snow”
Isabella Eson, “Rain, Rain Go Away”
David Friedman, “Grief”
Nate Good-Twigg, “Game-Winning Shot”
Anna Grunewald, “Ode to the Mountains”
Shane Hackett, “Moonrise”
Ben Herbay, “Ode to a Peregrine Falcon”
Lyvia Hurst, “Ode to Rainbows”
Jeremy Laun, “Suspenseful Night”
Roosha Mandal, “The Tale of the Ice-Breather”
Mara Milner, “Nervousness”
Michael Oxenreiter, “Ode to a Candy Bar”
Olivia Pelicano, “From New to Old They Are with You”
Veronica Radin, “Ode to Duct Tape”
Mira Shenouda, “Equality Is Key”
Isaac Silverman, “Ode to Surfing”
Alyssa Smith, “Ode to My Sandwich of Slenderness”
Nate Steinhauer, “Snow”
Isabel Sund, “The First Goal”
Lauren Towner, “Ode to Fear”
Sarah Twinney, “Ode to Gummy Bears”
Amanda Vosburgh, “Ode to Fire”
Cavan Wallace, “A Game To Be Remembered”
Chris Westover, “Defy Ordinary”
Jonathon Winegarden, “Ode to My Black Dark Dog”
Our Piece of Mind Cover Contest—March 1st —26th!
Interested students are asked to design both a front and a back cover for this year’s literary magazine. Entries will be accepted during March. Literary magazine staff members (artists, typists, and selection staff) and JMS teachers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite cover entry. Our Piece of Mind will be published at the beginning of June. Students with questions should see Mrs. Kelly in the Writing Lab, Room 102.
ü Students MUST design both a front and a back cover for the magazine.
ü Entries MUST be done neatly in a medium or fine black marker. All stray pencil marks and smudges MUST be erased before handing in the cover design.
ü A one-inch margin MUST be on the left side of the design. A half-inch margin MUST be on the top, bottom, and right side.
ü Entries MUST be designed on plain, white, 81/2'' x 11'' paper (no lines or holes).
ü Entries MUST include the following (no particular order required):
Our Piece of Mind, Literary Magazine
Thomas Jefferson Middle School
2009-2010
ü The illustrator's name and homeroom teacher must be written on the back.
ü The entry MUST be neat, not wrinkled or torn.
ü The entry MUST be an original student illustration. NO may be computer-generated.
ü All entries MUST be given to Mrs. Kelly in the Writing Lab.
ü Entries will be accepted from March 1--March 26.
April’s Poetry Month Plans
April is National Poetry Month, and, once again, we will join schools across the country to celebrate poetry. Our theme this year revolves around “art.” The two go hand-in-hand; poetry is an art form, and art inspires poetry! We hope students and their families will share our enthusiasm as we create our own poetic art gallery.
ü Identify the Poet Contest
During the week of April 12-16, Ms. Gray and Mrs. Kelly will organize a daily poetry trivia contest via the morning announcements. Each day a “celebrity” reader will share a different, well-known poem. Then, students will be asked to identify the poet. Ballots and clues can be found right inside the library! At the end of each day, the first four students whose correct answers are drawn will receive a prize.
ü Poetry Happening
This year’s Poetry Happening will occur on Thursday, April 22, from 6:30-7:30 p.m., in the JMS library. Students, teachers, administrators, parents, grandparents, and friends are invited to attend. The event will be taped and later aired on the Mt. Lebanon cable channel. Students wishing to participate will read either a favorite, published poem or an original poem they have written. Those students interested in participating MUST sign up with Mrs. Kelly on April 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9. At that time, students MUST commit to the poem that will be read and provide the title if it is a published poem or a copy of the poem if it is the student’s original work. Student participation will be limited to the first 8-10 students in each grade; no two students will be permitted to read the same poem. Once again, we’ll enjoy delicious refreshments as well as casual entertainment by our own Mr. Young!
Volunteer Program
Thank you to our dedicated volunteers who graciously give their time to our students. But, more volunteers are needed to conference with our young writers! Please sign up to conference with our students. At the beginning of the year, we had so many folks interested in volunteering, but, recently, we’ve had difficulty getting enough volunteers to help. This makes it increasingly hard to guarantee an adult conference for each child in sixth and seventh grade and often discourages teachers from utilizing this important part of our writing program. An hour or two of your time is greatly appreciated and truly does make a difference in the life of a child. Please consider coming in; you will be amazed by what our young writers create!
A schedule of dates and times when volunteers are needed will be sent to you via e-mail. You can sign up for conference times by emailing the JMS Writing Lab Volunteer Coordinator Mrs. Cahssey Augenstein at jmiddleschool@yahoo.com.
Our Piece of Mind, Jefferson’s Literary Magazine
All students are encouraged to be a part of Our Piece of Mind.
ü Students can submit their original writing to be considered for publication, illustrate accepted pieces, type/edit accepted selections, or be a part of the selection staff. Poems, essays, stories, articles, etc. are welcome. Submission forms for writing are available in the Writing Lab or from the English and literature teachers.
ü The selection staff meets weekly on Tuesdays to read, discuss, and determine which pieces to accept for publication.
ü Several pieces are waiting to be typed and illustrated. Interested student typists and artists should stop by the Writing Lab, Room 102 to help.
ü Student typists are needed to help during team time and after school on Thursdays!
ü Students interested in helping with the literary magazine should see Mrs. Kelly.
We will continue to accept pieces through the end of the year, so please, keep encouraging your students to submit their writing, to join the Tuesday selection staff, or to type and illustrate for us!
Tissues Needed
Sending in an extra box of tissues with your child to the Writing Lab, Room 102 would be greatly appreciated. We are constantly running out of tissues in the three labs, and we cannot keep up with the demand, particularly during the cold and flu season.
Enrichment
A bulletin board advertising all current writing enrichment opportunities can be found in the Writing Lab, Room 102. Mrs. Kelly will conference with any student concerning his enrichment entries. In addition, she will take care of submitting the student’s writing. All young writers are encouraged to take a risk and to explore writing enrichment.
Ø National Middle School Association’s Month of the Young Adolescent Poster Contest—Capture the theme, “Expressions in the Middle,” and show how today’s youth are making a positive difference, must include brief artist’s statement—deadline, March 12.
Ø Scholastic’s Kids Are Authors Contest—students work in groups of three or more to create a non-fiction or fiction book complete with original illustrations 21-29 pages—deadline, March 15
Ø Ligonier Valley Writers’ Student Poetry Contest—deadline is March 19.
Ø Breaking Barriers Essay Contest—write an essay “that chronicles the personal struggls of Jackie Robinson” or a poem that explores courage, determination, teamwork, persistance, integrity, citizenship, justice, commitment, or excellence. The deadline is March 26.
Ø City Theatre’s Young Playwrights Contest—winning plays will actually be produced for the spring festival—deadline is March 31.
Ø Kids for King—essay, art, or video entries—details at KidsForKing.org—deadline March 31.
Ø Creative Communication's poetry contest—no longer than 21 lines—deadline is April 13.
Ø The VSA arts Playwright Discovery Program—examine how disability affects your life and the lives of others, comedies, dramas, or musicals accepted, one-act plays fewer than 40 pages—deadline, April 15.
Ø The Almanac, students in grades 7 and 8 interested in writing for the paper's Youth Life page (news, features, and commentaries of interest to teenagers)—contact Patricia Van Horn, 724.941.7725 or pvhorn@thealmanac.net
Ø The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, young writers 13 years and older who are interested in expressing their views on pop culture and more in the My Generation’s “Hot Topic” column can send a 300-word sample review (CD, movie, book, or concert) or an essay of
the same length on an issue of concern to mygen@post-gazette.com
Ø
