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The universe will tell our sixth graders some of its secrets this month as they complete a project devised by teacher Katie Chustz. To complement their McGraw Hill Inspire Science Earth and Space curriculum, students will use the Sky Walk application to track moon phases for 29 days. Tomorrow they will begin this month-long study, just in time for Saturday night’s blue moon.
JA cheerleaders, dance teams, and drumline demonstrated their skills at inspiring audiences during the MAIS Spirit Competition held at the Mississippi Coliseum yesterday. The newest addition to spirit competition is a drumline show, this year held as an exhibition. JA’s drumline delivered a lively, crowd-pleasing performance. JA spirit teams brought home four championship titles, three runner up positions, and two All-Star recognitions. Congratulations to all of JA’s spirit teams!
Bronwyn Burford’s financial management students are out on a special assignment to research, record, and produce a podcast! Students will use the application Anchor to record and edit their findings on topics related to personal financial management. They’ll also be working together in groups of two or three, practicing collaboration, and interviewing friends and faculty for their episodes, a great way to hone communication skills. This project is so full of learning opportunities it’s categorized as an educational superfruit!
To a three-year-old, a box of dress-up clothes is a portal to a world of possibilities. Last Friday, the K3 classes stepped through such a portal to imagine the world of the community helpers who keep us safe. The students arrived dressed up as firefighters, police officers, nurses, doctors, and many other community helpers and paraded through the playground for all of their Preschool and Lower School friends to see.
Colleen Jones and Lynda Morse are new to Jackson Academy this year, but not new to success with differentiated learning. Each brings a special set of skills to JA as our school’s newest Academic Resource Center facilitators.
Middle School students gathered in the PAC yesterday morning to hear a presentation from guest speaker Jay Houston on online safety and cybercrime. Houston is a certified forensic computer examiner and commands the Internet Crimes Against Children unit within the Attorney General’s office of cybercrime division. He has served as an investigator for 13 years with the ICAC unit, and uses his experiences in the field to inform and encourage students.
The year 2020 has been interesting for high school students, counselors, and college admissions offices, all of whom have had to navigate a challenging course in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jackson Academy’s Upper School Counseling Office has steadily adapted to provide students with guidance and clarity as they prepare to make a college decision.
If you’ve been to a JA Raider athletic event (and who hasn’t?), you have glimpsed a gray figure that seems quiet and still amid the raucousness of pep rallies and games. Mr. Wolf, who accompanies the boys spirit team known as the Rowdies, is a stalwart supporter of the Raiders. But why?
Normally, choreographers Kevin Chase and Nick Quamme spend a week at JA teaching Encore and Showtime the dances for their upcoming competition season. But 2020 isn’t a typical year. Instead of visiting Jackson, Chase and Quamme taught choreography via Zoom from their studios in Iowa and Wisconsin as students watched from the Performing Arts Center’s choral music room.
Sissy Spence, a senior vice president with J.F. Smith Group, Inc., has become quite familiar with Jackson Academy in recent years. She and her colleague, Richard Hood, are spending time on campus this month interviewing JA families to determine JA’s readiness to pursue a capital campaign.