Brandon Bell and Karolina Kearns Talk About Their Experience in State Competition
Jasper Middle May 17, 2017
By Sadie Phillips, 8th grader at JMS
Brandon Bell, 6th grade at Jasper Middle School, achieved his position at the state Science Fair competition this school year. The following are his thoughts on the competition:
What was one of the hardest challenges to overcome?
It was hard to overcome the responsibility of having to wake up every morning and get my project and start working, I had no free time, but it really helped.
What were some of your competitor’s topics? Were they tough competition?
There were some like wind turbulence and earthquakes, and there were about 5 or so I thought were tough competitors, but I tried to remain humble through the competition.
How did you work through the competition and stress?
I tried to make friends and keep my cool. When the interviewers asked me questions, I kept my answers simple and straightforward.
Will you do this again?
Yes, it was a fun experience, and I hope to go to state again.
Karolina Kearns, 7th grade at Jasper Middle School, worked her way to the top in the State Geography Bee this school year. The following are her thoughts about the competition:
How difficult was it to remember some of the facts you knew?
A first I did really good and they were pretty easy and as it went on it got harder, but it wasn’t a matter of recalling, but of knowing the questions really.
What were some of the hardest questions?
The ones about capitals and the weird but true facts were difficult.
Did you study a lot or were you able to recall everything from memory?
I studied a little and going through 6th grade geography and 7th grade improved my knowledge about the countries.
Will you do this again next year?
Oh yeah! It was so much fun.
Jasper Middle School and Pickens County School System are extremely proud of these two competitive and determined students! Fantastic job to Brandon Bell and Karolina Kerns!
JMS 8th Graders Hold a Court Trial
Jasper Middle April 17, 2017
By: Rose Finney 8th Grader at JMS
Recently, eighth graders in the JMS Learning Academy program reenacted the 1988 Supreme Court case of California vs. Greenwood. Greenwood had been convicted of illegal drug possession. However, for the police to receive a search warrant, they used evidence found from searching his garbage. Greenwood argued that it was unconstitutional for the police to have searched through his trash, while law enforcement stated that he had no reasonable expectation of privacy. Students prepared by researching information about the trial and working in their groups to share thoughts and write arguments.
The reenactment began when the Supreme Court Justices, played by students, entered the room. Then, the students selected to represent the lawyers gave their opening statements. Next, came the meat of the case – the arguments. The defense argued that people could not see into the trash bags and that the trash was Greenwood’s until he gave it to the trash collector, while the prosecution argued that an animal could have easily torn the bags apart and that Greenwood willingly gave up his garbage when he left it out on the curb. In the end, the Justices decided in favor of the prosecution with a 7-2 vote. The case was closed by Sadie Phillips, who played the role of Chief Justice. The students enjoyed the hands-on activity as a boost to their studies of law and court proceedings. A huge thank you to Anda Olsen for her hard work and dedication to the Learning Academy at Jasper Middle School.
From left to right, the students in the picture are: Peyton Johnson, Layne Wendt, Michayla Pickett, Jada Cline, Brett Menard, Colton Smith, Seth Densmore, Matthew Campbell and Sadie Phillips.
Rose Finney
Jasper Middle School BETA Club participated in a new fundraiser
Jasper Middle May 1, 2017
Written by: Sadie Phillips
8th Grader at JMS
At the beginning of March, the Jasper Middle School BETA Club participated in a new fundraiser called Pennies for Patients. This fundraiser created friendly competition between classes to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by earning their class the title of most dollars per student. The reward for the winner would be a breakfast for the classroom that collected the most change. This was a fun way to help address the issue of leukemia and lymphoma today.
This fundraiser not only raised hundreds of dollars but helped many students earn their BETA points for their eighth grade year. Eighth grade students Sadie Phillips, Ansley Parks, Michelle Pickett, Sarah Parks, Cassidy Richards, Reagan Harwood, and Heather Vincent took time out of their connection classes and clubs to count the collected change. After the fundraiser, the students achieved a total of around $613!
Many hearts were inspired to give as the fundraiser continued. One student had a personal experience of having a loss in the family due to these diseases and gave her birthday money for the fundraiser instead of purchasing something for herself. Students set their personal boxes out to collect at restaurants and other local locations to earn the most they could for their class. Whether it was pocket change or twenty dollar bills, students gave to the cause to help those in need.
Fantastic job to the Jasper Middle School BETA club for raising over $600 for the children and adults needing help with these life-threatening diseases, and thank you to the students who gave and counted the Pennies for Patients.
JMS Students Celebrate pi Day with Pie
Jasper Middle March 31, 2017
JMS Students Celebrate pi Day with Pie
By: Heather Vincent, 8th grade student at Jasper Middle School
How many digits of pi do you know? Most could only make it to 3.14, but why try to memorize a number that goes on for forever anyway? Math is supposed to be boring, right? On March 14th, Jasper Middle School’s Accelerated 8th Grade Math class decided to dive straight into pi activities. They celebrated pi on March 14th, because the digits of pi are 3.14 and the date was 3/14. Now most would say how could pi be fun, isn’t pi just supposed to be the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet? Well, the teacher of the class, Mrs. Hermann, came up with a brand new twist for the students. She asked every student to bring in a homemade edible circular food. The students were confused on how food could correlate to pi, other than pie! Then they realized how circles were the geometric shape that had almost everything to do with the irrational number. The decimal equivalent of pi, 3.14 deals with finding the circumference and the area of circles. The students were thrilled to take on the new task of looking at math in a different view. When the time came for everyone to reveal their treats, the students were amazed at the many different circular foods. There were donuts, pizzas, cake, and of course pie! After many delish foods and math problems, the day had finally come to an end. What a well rounded way to finish pi day!
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