Yohan Jr. News
Vol. 45, No. 1 October 30, 2012
Great start to great year……………..
It is hard to believe that we have finished the first quarter of the 2012-2013 school year. Boy, have there been a lot of changes! Mrs. Scheuneman is our new assistant principal taking Mrs. Neeley’s position. We said good-bye to Mrs. Babick and welcomed Mrs. Albertin in her place. Mr. Turley transferred to the high school and Mrs. Hughes transferred to the middle school. Mrs. Stack became the ELL coordinator and Mrs. Kistler moved from eighth grade to sixth.
This year everyone has a homeroom where FastForword is scheduled. Choir and band are part of the Related Arts times. Late-start Wednesdays are giving all of us students an extra hour of sleep and given teachers time to work on state requirements.
Everyone has taken SRI twice, Acuity, and Explore (or something similar). We have a new science program and the English department is using Expert 21, Read 180, or System 44 as their curriculum.
This is going to be an interesting year…I think it is going to be fun…
Without planning it, several students in
Mrs. Mast’s 2nd
hour wore pink one
day.
Activities in Full Swing
Students have an unbelievable number of activities to join this year. It seems like every day after school there are three or four different groups meeting. Organizations meeting include Newspaper Club, Student Council, Builder’s Club, Robotics, Drama Club, Yearbook, Band, Choir, Spell Bowl, Natural Helpers, Team Lead, National Junior Honor Society, Cardio Lab, Volleyball, Football, Gymnastics, …..
Builder's Club;
Building a Better Community
By Nadia Polizotto
When you hear the name Builder’s Club what do you think it involves? Well, it has nothing to do with building bird houses! Builder's Club is a community service organization that started in the fall of 2007. Builder’s Club’s goal is to better our school, our community, our nation and our character, to aid those in need while enhancing leadership capabilities, and to encourage the fellowship of all mankind. Many of these words are in the Builder’s Club pledge.
You may be wondering what members do at these meetings. Well, on Monday, October 8th, I had a chance to talk to Mrs. Kistler and speak to her about Builder’s Club. “Members sell butter braid, work at the food pantry food drive, buy Christmas presents for a needy family, and collect pop tabs to donate to the Ronald McDonald house,” said Mrs. Kistler, the sponsor of Builder's Club. Mrs. Kistler also guides the meetings and the Builder’s Club officers.
There are quite a few upcoming events that this club will be taking part in. Members are presently selling butter braids. The money they raise will go towards buying Christmas gifts for a needy family in Hobart. Builder’s Club will also be helping out at the food pantry's food drive on Saturday, the 13th of October. Builder’s Club also sponsors the pop tab fundraiser. These are just some of the many things Builder’s Club does to help our school and community.
National Junior Honor Society
By Nadia Polizotto
On Wednesday, the 26th, I was able to meet up with Mrs. Mast and talk to her about National Junior Honor Society (NJHS). “It’s an organization that recognizes students who excel academically and promote the traits of a good citizen,” said Mrs. Mast, the sponsor of NJHS. As the sponsor she also tries to guide our officers in leading the group. In order to qualify to be in NJHS, students must have a designated grade point average, usually 3.8. They also have to do service learning (volunteering) and show exemplary character.
National Junior Honor Society meets the second and fourth Tuesday after school in the Media Center. “During meetings we discuss projects we can do to help students. We do community service, we discuss the promotions of education endeavors, and we work on projects,” Mrs. Mast told me during our interview. Some of the many projects NJHS will be working on this year are helping out at the elementary school and doing seasonal activities with the Early Learning Center. They will also promote academic competitions. Currently, the group is collecting food items for the Food Pantry and will sponsor a Mitten Tree during the weeks prior to Christmas.
Anyone wishing to help with the food drive is asked to bring items to Mrs. Mast’s room. The group is collecting brownie mixes (11/1-9), instant mashed potatoes (11/12-16), canned soup and vegetables (11/19-23), and paper goods (11/1-23).
Natural Helpers
By Vivika Garcia
What do you learn in Natural Helpers? “You learn about yourself and who you are. You learn how to deal with situations. There are many activities that help you make wise decisions.” After participating in the Camp Tecumseh retreat, the group returns with a better understanding of just how important it is to be a Natural Helper, someone others can count on for help.
To help solidify the bounds formed during the retreat, these Natural Helpers may visit Wolf Den and Ghost Cabin or go canoeing or hiking on the trails.
If you ever have the opportunity to be selected as a Natural Helper, take advantage of the invitation. Natural Helpers is a lot of fun.
This fall’s 8th grade Natural Helpers are Spencer Massey, Garry Hall, Joey Tosch, Noah Hickman, Zach Wasniak,* Cade Tipold,* Jennifer Hayden, Maranda Grissom, Sydney Benton, Jewel Scott, Brianne Turner, Selena Flores,* Kori Schavey, Katie Knudson, Courtney Runk, Selena Ornelas, Olivia VanNieulande, Alaina Richter,* Shelby Long,* and Mianna Ruiz.*
Seventh grade members are Gerardo Lozano, Drew Gearhart, Jeremy Somerville, Maxwell Vance, Dante Colza, Brock Cooper, Scott Monroe, Mia Solivais, Alexis Torres, Alyssa Hicks, Emily Johnson, Jillian Sherrard, Hannah Benoit, and Luz Martinez. Adult Natural Helpers are Eric Stoelb, Erin Lams, Scott Swanson, Tom Martin, and Kelly Rehlander.
“What is Natural Helpers? Peers Helping Peers.”1
Natural Helpers is a nation-wide program that is based on the fact that when adolescents have problems, the people they turn to first are usually other adolescents.
Seventh and eighth graders from Hobart Middle School are asked to whom they would turn if they had a problem. From those results, a mixture of students from the two grades are chosen to go on the Natural Helpers retreat. The middle school students are taken to Camp Tecumseh for a weekend of leadership, team building, tips for dealing with difficult situations as teens, as well as activities to promote self-confidence and growth as individuals.
Peers provide a natural source of support, so the program focuses on peers helping peers and is led by the Star Staff of eighth graders who have attended previous retreats, along with the sponsors and student-chosen teachers.
Natural Helpers is not a club that meets regularly. There are two retreats each year (fall and spring), with different students invited to each retreat. The hope is that each student who participates in a retreat will return to Hobart Middle School with a little bit of a different perspective on their fellow classmates their school and their family.
1 Natural Helpers Website
Back to School 2012
By Jasmine Willis
In September, Back-to-School events were scheduled at each grade level. What a great day to interview the teachers and parents. The first parent I talked to was Mrs. Candice walker, mother of Taylor Walker who is currently in sixth grade. She loves Hobart Middle School and its excellence in teaching. This is a school she’ll recommend to all parents young and old. She also stated that Taylor is the 3rd sibling to attend HMS. Thank you, Mrs. Walker, for choosing this school as your school of choice!
Paws for Reading
Calling all Cat Lovers! Do you feel strongly about your cat being the best pet in the world? And Dog Lovers...Do you think dogs are the only pet you would ever want? Then it is time to put your passion to the test. The NJHS is sponsoring the perfect competition. Sign up for the Scholastic sponsored “Paws for Reading.”
Now through December 14, kids everywhere are siding with the Cats or the Dogs in a pledge to read every day and help make their team reading champs—while also helping to donate 1,000,000 books to kids in need. Reading at home for 20 minutes each day is all it takes to get in on the fun!
Students – (1) Register at Paws for Reading (see below)
(2) Pick a team: the Cats or the Dogs
(3) Log your reading minutes each day. For every 20 minutes of reading that you log, Scholastic will donate a book to one of their literacy programs—up to 1,000,000 books!!
After you register, have some fun. There are contests and cool downloadable posters, bookmarks, and activities at the site.
Look for the “Paws for Reading Picture Contest.” You could win 100 books.
On the Fence Quiz - Cat or Dog
(http://www.scholastic.com/ups/campaigns/paws)
College Go Week!
“College Go Week” Activities continue at the Learn More Indiana website. Plan your future.
Students in the Voyagers team are ready to go as they proudly display college choices.
Are You a Leader?
Nadia Polizotto
Do you know what a good leader needs to be? Well, you may think they need to be strong, popular, and smart, but people do not need to be all of those things to be a real leader. What a successful leader has is empathy, accountability and the ability to have a discussion, which is LEAD in Team LEAD. LEAD stands for “Leadership, Empathy, Accountability and Discussion.”
Team LEAD had its first official meeting of the 2012-2013 school year on September 14th. Before the meeting, the Team LEAD members walked to the Police Department/Community Center, where they held their meeting. At the Team Lead meeting with all of the Team LEAD “leaders” and high school members, they talked about many things. For example, they talked in small groups about how to solve problems and made posters about “How to Keep the Peace”! Another thing they discussed was how to handle situations and not be a bystander. A different topic that they talked about was that we should care more about what we think about ourselves rather, these are the things we discussed:
“Mrs. Stack, what is your role in Team LEAD?”
“I will be guiding the Team LEAD members through the meeting and working with the members to have a positive impact at HMS.”
“In your opinion, what is Team LEAD?”
“Team LEAD is a bystander leadership approach to safer schools.”
“What is the goal of team LEAD?”
“Challenge the upperclassmen in the school to model and support positive social relationships.”
“Why is important for students to join Team LEAD?”
“The majority of bullying occurs around other students, not adults. The kids that are involved in Team LEAD have to decide to support the students that are being bullied and make a positive impact here at HMS.”
“At Team LEAD meetings, what do Team LEAD members do?”
“Team LEAD members will be discussing issues at HMS and how to best handle these issues.”
Mr. Albertin and Group
FACS Club
Afterschool 2:45-4:00
Where: Room 1210, FACS
First Date: November 1st
Making Carmel Apple Bites
There is a signup sheet for 15 students—any grade level is welcome
Meet the Teams
Mrs. Kistler’s 8th Grade Team
By Nadia Polizotto
In Mrs. Kistler’s team, a couple of things are coming up. During an interview with Mrs. Kistler, the team leader, she said that they are going to have free reading time in language arts so everyone will get a change to read for Timeout for Reading. Also, during the interview, Mrs. Kistler told me that there are no field trips coming up soon, but they may possibly go to the water park at the end of the year with all of the other 8th graders.
(Mrs. Kistler recently moved to the sixth grade to teach math and science.)
Mrs. Germann’s 7th Grade Team
Maggie Hill
Mrs. Germann’s seventh grade team is called the Superheroes. They chose the name many years ago because they wanted to represent something cool. The teachers in the team are Mrs. Germann, Mr. Swanson, Mrs. May, and Mrs. Hill.
Christmas Carol
The seventh grade teams will be going to Merrillville High School on November 29th to see Scrooge. This is the stage adaptation of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Parents will be invited to accompany the group.
Latin American Roots
Students in the Spanish class went on a field trip on October 16th. They went to the Latin American Roots Dance Show in Chicago to watch dancers from Latin American countries. Over sixty students attended. The group had a great time and were complimented on their behavior.
Department News
Physical Education
The Physical Education Department provides the students and staff many opportunities to “get fit.” Five years ago, the Cardio Lab opened as a free health club for them thanks to a grant written by Coach Funkhouser. They received $158,000 for equipment at two schools. It is open for an hour after school Monday through Thursday. There is a TV to watch and/or music to listen to while exercising. Those who use it save money and become more fit. It is a proven fact that the fitter the body, the better the brain works!
They, also, have the pool open from 7:00-9:00 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It costs $2.00 per person.
English Department
While the PE department helps us with our physical fitness, the English department focuses us on our language skills. Recently, the Scholastic Book Fair was held, and over $2800 in books and materials were purchased. New releases, old favorites, and fun supplies were available. Based on these purchases, the department received almost $800 in books from the fair. Two more books fairs are scheduled this year, one in March and a Buy One Get One Free Fair in May.
Mrs. Mast would like to thank Mrs. Halstead and Mrs. Ellenberger for allowing us to use the Media Center to hold the fair. Also, she would like to thank the parents who helped with the fair.
Common Core Curriculum Alignment