Lower School News

Sydney Thaxton Shares Experiences Writing First Book

Sydney and her mom Amy greet students during the book signing January 25. Sydney Thaxton encouraged students who attended the reading and signing of her book to write about something they like. The fifth grader did just that when she wrote Dusk, her first published book. She selected a story about a dog that was […]

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Little Dribblers Perform

The Little Dribblers took the court last week in an impressive and entertaining performance of ball-handling skills, timing, and working together. Check out the above video of their performance.

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Alpha and Omega Cheer for Teachers and Students

Seniors and kindergarten students in Alpha and Omega attended the faculty-student basketball games together this past week. They cheered and watched games between female faculty and Upper School girls and male faculty and Upper School boys. The games were competitive and close in score, which made the event all the more exciting! Ultimately, getting to […]

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Lower School Teams Code in Global Competition

This year, a systematic coding curriculum has been added to the Lower School STEM program for grades first through fourth. Using various age-appropriate robots and apps, the students learn programming, predicting, and problem-solving skills. As part of their learning experience, the fourth graders participated in the global Wonder League Robotics Competition along with 5,200 schools […]

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On Your Mark, Get Set, Go…Raider Racer!

When the STEM crew finished production this week, the Raider Racer sported a blue and white exterior. Of course, what other colors would do? Jackson Academy fourth graders are designing, building, and racing an electric car. The new program at JA is one way of fostering interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. […]

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National Geographic Bee

Bo Barbour, a JA fourth grader, won first place during the school level National Geographic Society Geography Bee on January 8 in the PAC. Regan Felder came in second place, and Ty Usey came in third place. Runners up were Bryan Eubank, Bailey Berry, Reese Anderson, Chase Rush, Joseph Ciaccio, Thomas Antici, and Ethan Hill. […]

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STEM Students Build Amusement Park

Mr. Power’s fourth grade students are building an amazing project in Lower School STEM lab. Mrs. Gnemi’s class made “Powersland” during their Amusement Park Design mission using LEGO and K’NEX products. Each team made a working attraction and either a concession, game, ticket booth, or bathroom. This project encourages creativity, fine motor skill use, and […]

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Lower School STEM Students Explore Forensic Science

This week our fourth graders will begin a Crime Lab mission in STEM. During the next few weeks, students will rotate through five unique crime scenes which the crews will have to investigate and solve. These include “The Field Trip Forgery” (handwriting analysis), “The Vandalized Van” (footprint and tire impressions), “The Locker Room Larceny” (fingerprinting), […]

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Pitsco Taps Cliff Powers for Advisory Group

Pitsco Education, the company that is the provider of STEM equipment at JA, has selected Lower School STEM instructor Cliff Powers to serve on an advisory group for the company. Members of the Teacher Advisory Group (TAG) serve a yearlong appointment. The acceptance letter noted that “The Product Innovation team at Pitsco Education reviewed all […]

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