4th Graders Become Social Media Experts

A few JCSD 4th graders have signed up to become social media specialists. This role is one of our school-wide leadership jobs. This month, our social media specialists are Cian Hansen, Bentley Johnson, and Tamsyn Ledtje. They will be working to document and post about all the cool things happening throughout the Janesville Elementary.

The fourth grade "Social Media Specialists" put their first post together last week. They collected pictures of the 2nd graders sharing their reading celebrations, and the kindergarteners sharing their writing celebrations.

This is a unique opportunity for the students to share things with families and community members, and it gives the students a voice over what should be shared and talked about.

The students hope to continue to go around to classrooms to post other learning, celebrations, birthdays, etc.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in Concert

The Janesville CSD high school band attended the Harry Potter Live in concert featuring the Waterloo Symphony Orchestra on November 4th. The students watched the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" on a big screen at Gallagher Bluedorn while the orchestra performed the musical score from the movie.

This event served as a high school band bonding activity. The Janesville PTA graciously agreed to purchase the tickets for this event. Around 30-35 students and parents attended the event.

Band director Katie Limyao states, “The kids had such a good time at this event that they asked if they would get to go to the second movie in concert.”

Edgar Allan Poe Poster Contest

The JCSD English 3 class read “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Pit and the Pendulum”, both by Edgar Allan Poe. The students then had to pick one word that they felt had the largest impact on one of the texts they read. English 3 students designed posters depicting the word they chose from the Edgar Allan Poe short story.

On their posters, students had to include the word itself, the definition of the word, and images/symbols from the text. The entire English 3 class voted for each other within the categories of “Scariest”, “Funniest”, “Most Creative”, and “Grossest”.

Congratulations to the following winners:

Most Creative: Jack Weekley and Ashleigh Panning

Grossest: Aleah Limkemann and Jamin Reeves

Funniest: Jack Lindaman and Ethan Hjelmeland

Scariest: Trevor Forey and Hayleigh Heiser

JCSD History Goes Digital

Over the spring and summer months, students and staff were preparing to take Janesville CSD history digital. Superintendent Meaney said the staff had seen several local schools and colleges purchase a touch screen television, and had been able to to see how they were being used in those communities. Additionally, the school was facing several challenges with the senior class wall composites, both in space and with deterioration. The school looked into the possibility to refurbish them, but the cost was too great. The school also realized that they did not have a database of the school yearbooks. The school had several, but not all of them. So.....with the financial assistance of the Booster Club, JCSD purchased the Touch Board.

The school connected with the community and was able to acquire every yearbook but one, and had them digitized. You can find all of those on the Board now. The Wildcat Multimedia class worked on digitizing all of the class composites. This is still a work in progress but Meaney hopes to have this finished soon.

The school would like to expand the athletic pages on the Touch Board, and will be working to do so in the near future. They will be adding records, historical teams, videos and more to fill out those pages.

If you haven’t experienced the Touch Board, you are encouraged to stop by the school and check it out!

JCSD 5th Graders Visit Fort Atkinson Rendezvous (Copy)

In an effort to bring the traditional history textbook to life, the Janesville 5th grade students traveled to Fort Atkinson in late September to visit the organized frontier rendezvous. The annual rendezvous began in the late 1970’s and has continued every year since. The students were able to see first-hand how life was in 1840. Rendezvous participants were dressed in authentic costumes and recreated life of the frontier. Students were able to see general military life, hunters, trappers, and traders.

JCSD Offers Student Support Center

The intent of the Academic Support Center is to provide students with the opportunity to improve their academic standing and performance. McCormick and Giraud are available to provide help with assignments and projects in all curricular areas and assist students with studying for assessments.

Any student who is academically ineligible per the two-week grade check may also attend the ASC to shorten their ineligibility. Students need to see Mr. Monroe for the required forms and must attend the entire session if working toward correcting athletic eligibility.  Any student who is voluntarily attending ASC or coming based on teacher referral may leave at any time.

The Academic Support Center is available to middle and high school students on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Morning sessions run from 7:15-8:00, and afternoon take place from 3:25-4:15. Please check the daily announcements for specific availability.

Nationwide Recognition for Janesville Teacher

Tara Osborn, middle school writing teaching at Janesville CSD, received nationwide recognition for an article she wrote for her Master’s Degree. The article, called “Text Complexity and Fluency in the Elementary Grades” was posted in the literature magazine, Illinois Reading Council, which has subscribers throughout the whole country.

After a few years of writing, researching and revising the article, it was finally published for others to read and learn from. The article was a literature review that examined different definitions of text complexity, key elements of fluency, and the relationship between text complexity (text level) and fluency. Osborn also provided some teacher feedback (her own research) that provided her own input on how using different leveled texts can improve or deplete the fluency of students.

Parent Sarah Sanderson says, “We are beyond lucky to have you teaching writing and having such a passion for our girl to look up too.”

Congratulation Tara!! We are proud of your accomplishment and lucky to have you on staff.

8th Grader at JCSD Participates in Civil Air Patrol

Janesville CSD 8th grader, Jason Westendorf, has been a member of the Civil Air Patrol for about 2 years. The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded membership that includes people from all backgrounds, lifestyles, and occupations.

Jason joined the Civil Air Patrol with the intention of just getting his pilot license. Being a Cadet in CAP, he has now decided that he may want to join a branch of the military after high school. He has learned about aviation, ground search and rescue, and air search and rescue. CAP cadets are trained to help in case of natural disasters or searches.

Some of the benefits of being in the Civil Air Patrol include: flying a plane, glider, or hot air balloon. They learn discipline, how to do drill exercises, and how to stand in formation. Each cadet gets personal training and receives several benefits.

A few of Jason’s favorite things include glider flights, orientation flights, encampment, ranking up, making new friends, and joining Color Guard, which marched in the Janesville Days Parade this summer.

Anyone (12 years or older) interested in learning more about Civil Air Patrol can attend an open house on October 30, 2022, from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at the Livingston Hanger in Waterloo.

Snack Shack is Now Open

The Small Business Operations class, taught by Ms. Katie Johnson held a grand opening on Monday, September 12. To promote the business, the class held a poster contest amongst elementary students. The winning students received $5 in Snack Shack Cash.

The Snack Shack is open daily from 7:45 - 8:15 am. They serve a wide variety of products including fruit & yogurt parfaits, muffins, granola bars, peanut butter crackers, flavored waters, and juices. Ala cart recently opened during middle and high school lunch shifts.

Although an exact decision has not yet been made, the group agrees that all profits will be spent beautifying and promoting JCSD.

Ms. Johnson states, “I am SO impressed with the work ethic of this group. There are some who can’t be there as early because of prior engagements, but they make it up in other ways. Everyone is there and working together so well.”

Building Project Update

Construction continues in the Courtyard and Middle School Wing. The windows have been removed and filled in with masonry block. All excavation and grading has been completed and a moisture barrier has been installed. The wall in the elementary gym has been cut for new door entry into the courtyard.

The batting cages have been demolished. Work will continue after the completion of the courtyard.

In the weeks to come, concrete will be poured in the courtyard, rubber tiles will be installed, and grading for the baseball/softball batting cages will take place.

All these projects will surely enhance the aesthetic and functionality at JCSD. The finished projects will be great!

HS Students Promote Recycling

The 10th grade students in Integrated Science II are responsible for the recycling in the building throughout the year. They are responsible for picking up recycling from classrooms every Monday. In an effort to try to get everyone in the school to recycle and know the importance of recycling, students were broken into groups to present to each class PK-8. They presented what recycling is, the importance of recycling, what can be recycled at school, and what can not be recycled at school. The younger students really seemed to enjoy the presentations and the interaction with high school students. Mrs. Giraud, the high school science teacher, states, “I feel it is important for every student and teacher to know the why, what, and how's of recycling to make this as impactful as possible.”