Message from the PrincipalDear Parents,

In this day and age of easy access to ever mind-blowing technological advancements, it is more important than ever to stay aware of how and when your children are weav-ing these into their everyday lives. Students caught up in the heat of “love”, the passion of payback, or the infectious humor of the moment, often fail to realize just how vulner-able they’ve made themselves with a posting.

As a people, we seem to like impressing one another. Facebook provides a big stage. Outrageously mean or vulgar strikes many as funny, and therefore impressive, especially when you perceive what you are writing as private en-tertainment between “friends.” People have it tough these days! Thanks to technology, private ranting and joke making to blow off steam about a teacher or a peer is rare, and conflict is carried out in a public forum. The benefit of the doubt has been replaced with the benefit of mass communication. “Notes” go viral in a split second. The hurt felt as a result of someone saying something cruel about you, quickly skyrockets with the hurt of seeing that so many people thought it was funny and “liked it.”

How can you help? No one can make their way into your child’s heart better than you can—especially if that edging is during a time of social calm for your child. If you are going to allow your child to have a facebook or instagram account (or whatever next month’s social media flavor happens to be), then I recommend periodically reviewing the page with them. Tell them this is one of the conditions of allowing them to have the account. Find the teachable moments in a strand of conversation that your child hasn’t responded to. Try not to be preachy, but rather to provoke thinking and discussion through thoughtful and calmly posed questions.

Kids sometimes think posting mean things about someone else is ok because they’ve “otherized” that person and deemed them deserving of the treatment. Helping them to see that on any given day we ALL have it in us to do or say something we regret, is vital. How would we want to be treated on that day? How would we want others we love to be treated? Would we want the benefit of the doubt? Would we want to be able to sincerely apologize and move on, or would we deem ourselves as deserv-ing of mean and cruel words that our entire friend base publically said they “liked”, leaving us feeling completely alone? Can we feel the severity of that pain? Who would we talk to, who would we eat with, who would want to partner with us in class, who would we hang out with after school? Do we recognize that some people may be dealing with horrific things in their lives and therefore more vulnerable than we are? Is there another way? Can compassion and empathy start with us? Is there something we can do to help friends in conflict, rather than to jump into their conflict as a form of entertainment?

THE JAMS GAZETTE Be the change you want to see in the world - Gandhi

JOHN ADAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL PTSA

OCTOBER 2012

Phot

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PTSA President’s Message: by Joan Krenik

On Thursday, October 11, 2012 we had our first PTSA Parent Educa-tion Night coordinated by our wonderful Parent Education Chair Helene Von Schreiber-Morgan and presented by Alyson

Dearborn of the UCLA Rape Treatment Center. The topic – “What the Tech – The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents and Familes” is important and timely. I have four children who are very involved with technology and digital media and know much more than I – I just have to turn to my 10 year old to get help with my phone! According to our speaker, this “gap” in knowledge and technical skills often results in a “disconnect” between parents and their children. This disconnect can create the problem by either causing us to have a negative perception of the time our children spend involved with digi-tal media or causing us to avoid the issue all together. Our presenter encouraged us to “recognize the benefits of social media” and to be involved in helping our children navigate and understand the potential risks in a positive way. Basically, we are not going to be able to “fight it”- social media is here to stay - so we need to become aware of the issues and involved.

Some of the benefits of engaging in social media include enhanced communication, social connection and technical skills. Most of the risks are associated with our children’s limited ability to self-regulate and understand consequences, and their susceptibility to peer pressure.

(Both articles continued on next page...)

Also vital is that students fully recog-nize that the internet holds NO Privacy. What is shared by friends, is also shared by friends of friends, and mere acquain-tances of friends, and random people no one has ever met that were somehow “befriended”, and so on and so on…in short, it is impossible to know who all of those people are. What reputation are you carving out in the world? In every group there will always be peers who are disturbed by something that appears to be out of hand. The threshold for this will vary from student to student. We admin-istrators deal with postings not because we are trolling the internet, but because students bring in the posts. How will you feel if you “liked” something inappropri-ate posted about your teacher and your teacher found out? How would you feel if someone hurt him or herself based on something you “liked” or something you said in anger or to get a laugh? What would happen if everyone decided not to “like” anything mean or hurtful? What if no one thought mean was funny?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had students tell me that they didn’t really “like” something, they were just going along with everyone else, or weren’t re-ally paying attention to what they were “liking.” Meanwhile, the victim of the post not only has to deal with the meanness of the post, but also the “100++” other people who said they “liked it.” This is overwhelming to student and adult victims alike. Students feel friendless and hated by “everyone”, adults who work hard and are committed to kids every period of every day feel betrayed, unvalued, and unappreci-ated by “everyone.” No one believes the likers didn’t really like it. Help your kids be discriminating about what they publi-cally (and permanently) post they like.

Lastly, helping your child to see that what seems funny while you are with a group of friends you are trying to impress, no

longer holds that humorous edge when you’re sitting in the office trying to ratio-nalize an inappropriate post. While there is freedom of speech, the minute that off campus speech serves to undermine campus safety or the learning or teaching environment, then the school must act. What seems to one student and parent to be something another student “deserved,” seems to another student and parent to be bullying. Together let’s help students to deal with conflict in less hurtful and more socially appropriate ways. I’ve found most kids don’t readily cross the line of civil-ity or appropriateness when face to face with another person, even when there is disagreement. Helping students to use those same self-boundaries for their postings is vital. Civility and community depend on it, as does worldwide reputa-tion as more and more college acceptance committees and employers go to the internet to get a “true” sense of compet-ing candidates. Ask your child: Who will the internet say you are?

With Compassion, Eva

(Message from the PTSA President - continued from page one...)

We need to help with this, keep the lines of communication open and “encour-age them to be responsible, sensible and respectful digital citizens.” Some of the resources for parents shared by Alyson include: clips from the “What the Tech Conference” at http://dgsom.healthscienc-es.ucla.edu/dgom/streaming/therapefoun-dation/; “Talking about Sexting with Your Kids” at http://www.comonsensemedia.org/advice-for-parents/talking-about-sex-ting; and “The Impact of Social Media..” at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/con-tent/early/2011/03/28/peds.2011-0054.

I encourage you to be an active, educated parent in this important area! Our next PTSA Parent Education Night is Thursday, December 13, 2012. Please join us.

DIA DE LOS MUERTOSFall is here and dia de los muertos (day of the dead) is just around the corner! Come out and support the John Adams 8th grade advanced visual art students as they exhibit work alongside SAMO AP art students. The annual dia de los muertos celebration and art exhibit at Santa Monica High School will serve free refreshments, have a dance performance, and will showcase amazing artwork making it an evening to remember! Looking forward to seeing everyone at Roberts Art Gallery, Santa

Monica High School, 601 Pico Blvd., Friday, November 1st from 6:30pm-8: 30pm!2

(Message from the Principal - continued from page one...) ATTENDANCE

Message from Assistant Principal, Florence Culpepper

Are you a parent that has received a phone call or email informing you that your child has been absent or tardy from class? You are not alone. This automated system is one way the district maintains contact with you regarding your student’s attendance. Sometimes these messages come as a surprise or a cause for con-cern to a parent that knows their child was at school. There is no need to worry when this happens. If you get a message that says your child was absent and your child assures you they were there, then check with the teacher. Sometimes it is a mistake that can be fixed with a phone call or email. Other times, your child may have been late to class and was marked absent when attendance was taken. In these cases, the automated message may have been sent before the teacher has had a chance to update their attendance. Finally, while I’m sure your child would never skip a class, this system helps you find out if they did.

While we all know that it is very impor-tant for a student to be in school every day, we understand that sometimes illness or other factors prevent them from attending school. Remember to always contact the school to let them know the reason by either sending a note with the student when they return, calling the attendance office (ext. 72212 or 72211) the day of the absence by 3pm, or sending an email to kmcgrath@smmusd.org or bstout@smmusd.org. Even if you have contacted the school about your child’s absence, you may get an automated mes-sage due to a delay in the inputting of the information. Please be patient and trust that if you have contacted the school, we will clear the absence.

Finally, it is the law that students attend school. As a school and district it is our legal responsibility to inform parents when their child has reached a certain number of unexcused absences (truan-cies) from school. You will receive a letter with the dates of the absences or tardies. Sometimes the dates on the letter may include dates you previously contacted the school about. However, all absences are not considered excused absences. The state defines every absence that is not due to illness, bereavement, religious holiday or natural disaster as unexcused.

I hope this information is helpful as the year progresses. Please do not hesitate to contact me at fculpepper@smmusd.org or ext 72206 if you need additional information.

ELECTION TIME NEWS – Sorting Out The Issuesby Lori Whitesell – JAMS PTSA Legislative Representative

November 6th is quickly approaching and as we excitedly look towards the presi-dential race, there are several “back of the book” elections our community must learn about and consider carefully before we enter the polling booths. Although the ballot will be filled with propositions and measures, we want to draw your attention to those that most impact kids this elec-tion cycle. Proposition 38, Proposition 30 and Measure ES. Below is a brief descrip-tion of each, why they matter and how to find out more!

PROP 38 Proposition 38 is a tax to fund education and early childhood programs. It increases taxes on earnings using a sliding scale for twelve years. Revenues go to K-12 schools and early childhood programs, and for the first four years to repaying the state debt.

What does that mean to us?

Prop 38 would raise approximately $988,000 for JAMS in 2013-2014

Prop 38 would raise approximately $1,719,000 for JAMS in 2017-2018

Prop 38 would raise approximately $2,325,000 for JAMS in 2023-2024

Funds would be provided to our school site based on enrollment and are subject to local control, audits and public input. The Legislature cannot touch this money and cannot use this money to replace the funds schools currently receive.

This money MUST go to every school on a per pupil basis and be spent at the school.

The money CANNOT be spent to increase salaries or pensions of school personnel. Prop 38 also prohibits spend-ing more than 1% on administration.

Spending decisions will be made LOCALLY following public input.

School districts will be ACCOUNTABLE for improvement at each school based on established annual educational improve-ment goals.

Prop 38 is the education initiative that invests directly in every child and every local school site to improve educational outcomes for the entire state of California. For more information and to learn what other schools in our district would receive go to www.prop38forlocalschool.org

PROPOSITION 30 Many are asking about Prop 30. State PTA has voted to remain neutral on this propo-sition but we encourage you to research this by visiting their web site: www.yeson-prop30.com. It is critical to our students locally and throughout the state that one of these propositions passes November 6.

MEASURE ES Measure ES is a local $385 million general obligation bond to improve classroom-learning environments in the SMMUSD and repair 100-year-old buildings that exist in our district. It will allow us to improve technology district wide and invest in our infrastructure to insure a 21st Century classroom experience for our kids. It will allow us to improve school safety and address current earthquake and fire safety requirements.

Measure ES is the ONLY way the district can secure funds to make these neces-sary safety and technology upgrades. The state provides NO money for this type of investment.

Measure ES addresses urgently needed repairs and upgrades to the 100-year-old buildings at Santa Monica High School, including the 1906 History building and the Language, English, Business, Music, and Administration buildings built in the 1920s.

Measure ES will help teachers teach and students learn by creating permanent classrooms to replace badly outdated temporary classrooms that have exceeded their recommended lifetimes.

Measure ES will remove hazardous materi-als, asbestos and lead paint from older school sites.

Measure ES monies will be administered locally and the District will have an independent oversight committee that will ensure funds are spent properly and effectively, as required by law.

Measure ES will benefit each school in the district and committees will be formed at

each site to participate in the decision-making process.

To learn more please go to www.better-saferschools.com.

SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS

And last but certainly not least; at the very back of the ballot, our school board candi-dates will be looking for your vote. Learn about these people, talk to your friends, and cast an informed vote!

We are counting on you!!!!!

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JAMS PTSA MEMBERSHIP

Thanks to all the parents, family members, students and teachers who have joined JAMS PTSA, WELCOME!

We are 727 members strong! It’s never too late to join, so if you would like to, or if you are unsure and want to confirm, e-mail the PTSA Chair,

Yolanda Lewis. ylewis123@gmail.com. Membership is only $8 per member. Membership comes with perks if you

activate your membership card. To read more about membership perks, visit http://www.capta.org/sections/

membership/perks.cfm

Wondering how Science Seminars work?During the school year, our Science Mag-net teachers, par ent volunteers, and local science professionals offer after-school and weekend seminars on many different science-related subjects. These interac tive seminars are intended to expand our stu-dents’ knowledge of various fields of sci-ence that may not be emphasized in the regular curriculum. Seminars are typically limited to 25 students, and are usually three hours long. Here’s how it works:

The seminar schedule/request sheet is is-sued ap proximately every six weeks. It is distributed about a week before the end of the current grading period.

Students must return the seminar re-quest sheet (par ent signature required) to their science teacher by the due date.

Once seminar assignments have

been made, teachers return the seminar request sheets to their students.

If a student either failed to turn in the request on time or didn’t get the desired seminar, he/she can sign up for any un-filled seminars by contacting the seminar instructor directly.

If a student finds he/she cannot attend a seminar for which he/she has been sched-uled, the student MUST give the seminar instructor (not their science teacher) at least 24 hours notice so that the student doesn’t get penalized for non-attendance.

7th & 8th Grade Magnet Students must complete SIX seminars per year (one per grading period), to comply with SMSM policy.

6th Graders who want to apply for the Magnet program must complete FOUR seminars by the application deadline in March.

Magnet students can complete up to one, alternative seminar, each semester.

Magnet teachers have a list of grade-level choices that are appropriate for alter-native (or self-designed) seminars. To receive credit for an al ternative seminar, a student must get pre-approval from his/her teacher, provide proof of attendance, and sub mit a one-page report of the sci-ence observed. Please note that students may receive credit for a maximum of ONE alternative seminar each semester.

Parents are welcome to attend most sci-ence seminars as bystanders or chaper-ones. If transportation is required for a specific semi nar, parents must arrange to transport their child. The instructor may try to match students with rides when possible, but it is the student’s responsi-bility to inform the instructor if transpor-tation might be an issue. Most seminars are free, but some special excursions do have an admission or materials fee.

Check the Magnet website for current seminars and other information! www.SantaMonciaScienceMagnet.org

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JAMS THEATRE PROGRAM ROCKS!JAMS Theatre Company’s 52 actors and stage technicians put on four amazing performances of GREASE last Spring. Enjoy these highlights! If you are interested in becoming part of the Company, look for announcements in December. No experi-ence is necessary. As a result of the ongo-ing generous support of the PTSA and the Education Foundation, this program is free to participating students! Members must make a strong commitment and enjoy cre-ating art, forming a tight community, taking risks, and collaborating! Members must be available to attend rehearsals every Monday, every Wednesday and many Fridays. To receive email announcements about the December 10th start-up of JAMS Theatre Company, email Patti Braun, Producer, at pattibraun@aol.com.

JAMS MUSIC

INSTRUMENTAL MUSICby Angelea Woo

It is hard to believe that we are well into the fall season! Our band and orchestra rehearsals have been filled with hard work and focused learning while demonstrating proper practice habits, good character and supportive ensemble dynamics. We are off to a memorable year!

Happy wishes to Mrs. Apryl Garcia, Assis-tant Director of Instrumental Music, who is on leave as she and her husband prepare for the arrival of their new baby! She is doing very well, and greatly misses every-one at JAMS. We welcome Ms. Jessica Swift who will be teaching for Mrs. Garcia in the interim. Ms. Swift was a former Instruc-tional Assistant with the JAMS Instrumental Music program, and is currently on faculty with the SMMUSD Elementary Music divi-sion. In addition, she is also the Director of Jazz Band II at SAMOHI.

Speaking of jazz bands, our very own JAMS Jazz Band has begun its first rehears-als in full swing (no pun intended!). Ms. Swift and Mr. Sean Garnreiter, Teacher and Instructional Assistant, are serving as Co-Directors of the 2012-13 JAMS Jazz Band. Congratulations to the following musicians who auditioned and were selected:

Alto Saxophone Alec Apter, Naveen Bahadur, Isaac Izquierdo, Derek Wen

Tenor Saxophone Brian Mendez

Baritone Saxophone Ben Terry

Trumpet James Apter, John Blodgett, Ines Flack, David Gotler, Louis Heine, Caleb Kim

Trombone Max Dorf, Joey Ricard

Piano/Keyboard Eli Chenevert, Ronan Gunn

Percussion Joshua Garbuio

Bass Kyralai Duppel

Hopefully, you are hearing the wonderful strains of daily practice in your homes as

we are all preparing for the annual holiday concerts. Please mark your calendars: Thursday, Nov. 29th at 7pm – All Or-chestras; Wednesday, Dec. 5th at 7pm – All Bands - ticket information will be given to your child in mid-November.

The invaluable support and encouragement of our young musicians from our JAMS community continues to be greatly appreci-ated. A hearty thank you to all!

VOCAL MUSIC by Cecile Blanchard

We’ve had a smooth and exciting start to our year in the Vocal Music classes. Our students have been busy learning about teamwork, proper vocal production, music terminology, and improving their rhythmic and melodic note reading skills, all while preparing for solo auditions, honor choir auditions, and refining their performance pieces. We are in full swing with rehearsals and preparations for our upcoming events: Friday, Oct. 26th : Yearbook Photo Day (All Choirs, in respective classes); Tuesday, Nov. 6th at 4:30pm: Fall Festival at Barnum Hall (Norseman Honor Choir, Madrigal Sing-ers); Thursday, Dec. 6th at 7pm in the JAMS Auditorium: Winter Concert (All Choirs).

Congratulations to the following singers who passed the rigorous audition and were selected to be in the 2012-2013 Madrigal Singers:

Soprano I Emma Brown, Camille Can-daele, Maya McComsey

Soprano II Lily Fabian, Maggie Heiderman, Gabriela Hernandez, Cyara Pinkos

Alto Ilana Cohen, Jade Ipina, Jacqueline MacKenzie, Eryn Mitchell

Tenor Justin Braun, Noah Inatsugu, Chase Odening, Andrew Pringle, Sunny Selak

Baritone/Bass Judah Hogan, Parker John-son, Josiah Lax, Joey Recinos

Thank you to all parents, staff, and commu-nity members for their continued support of JAMS Music. I look forward to seeing you all at our various musical events! Feel free to contact me if you have any ques-tions.

Notes From The Podium

Welcome from your Community Service Liaisons As we begin the 2012-2013 school year, Nancy Gutierrez and myself would like to extend a warm welcome to you and your middle school chil-dren. We are eager to serve you as your JAMS community liaisons. Our school district is genuinely committed to building partnerships between home and school, which simply put means: JAMS + Parents = Happy, Healthy, Aca-demically Thriving Students!

Community Liaisons are an additional resource utilized to meet this goal. We help parents stay informed about school activities and events, arrange conferences for parents with teach-ers and administrators and advocate for students and families via a wide array of supportive services. Finally, we coordinate parent-education work-shops with topics that are relevant to your interests about the middle school student and adolescent development.

We look forward to developing a solid relationship with each of you and your children, whether it is your first year at John Adams or you are a returning family. If you have any questions or specialized requests please feel free to contact Nancy, who is bi-lingual, or I via email, phone call or personal visit.

Donna McCoy, Community Liaison 310-452-2326 x 72-218 dmccoy@sm-musd.org

Nancy Gutierrez, Bi-lingual Community Liaison - 310-452-2326 x 72-222 ngutier-rez@smmusd.org

JOIN JAMS PALS an informal mailing list for the

JAMS community. Contact: jamsmoderator@yahoo.com

to have your name added to the list.

8TH GRADE FUNDRAISER Menchies Frozen Yogurt will be on the JAMS campus Thursdays at lunch to ben-efit the 8th grade class! Cost is $4 for the frozen yogurt and up to 3 toppings in accordance with our district-wide “Wellness Policy”!

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Friends of John Adams Spanish Immersion The Spanish Immersion program started off the year with a Welcome Dinner fundraiser hosted by FOJASI (Friends of John Adams Spanish Immersion) on September 27. We enjoyed wonderful food and the company of our Immersion community and were in-formed about the curriculum for the com-ing year by our Immersion teachers and Vice-Principal Regan. Many of the Spanish Immersion program students and families have been together since early elementary school and at JAMS we strive to keep not only our students’ language fluency strong but also the muilticultural education, tradi-tions and connections they have developed over the years. We are thankful to have so much support from the JAMS administra-tion for the Immersion Program and for our wonderful Immersion Faculty who consistently bring energy and creativity to our students’ curriculum. We look forward to our annual Holiday Dinner and Tamale Sale in December. This year we are excited to be able to offer delicious holiday tama-les for sale to the entire JAMS community; look for our flyers in November! Parents who would like to help with FOJASI can contact Traci Wallace (traciwallace@earth-link.net/310-351-7555).

ASB Update by ASB Co-Presi-dents: Savannah Burcham and Julia Tung

So far this year, the 2012/13 leadership class has been busy! We had Breast Cancer Awareness Day on October 12, Stripe Day on October 17th and our annual gift wrap drive. This year we raised almost $8,000! While we didn’t reach our goal, we im-proved from last year’s $6,000. We appreci-ate all of the student and parent support of our annual fundraising drive.

We are excited about our upcoming events including: Red Ribbon Week, the Halloween Costume Contest, Twin Day, College Day, and Crazy Hair Day. Red Ribbon Week will be 10/22-10/27 and is designed to raise drug awareness. Throughout the week there will be multiple activities includ-ing assemblies, dress-up contests and a student pledge to not use drugs. For our annual Halloween Costume Contest on October 31st, students can dress up and win halloween themed prizes. Twin Day will be on November 2nd. On College Day, November 16th, students can dress up in clothes supporting their favorite college and participate in a USC vs. UCLA basket-ball game.

National Junior Honors Society at JAMS

The National Jr. Honor Society is a nationally recognized organization whose purpose is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, stimulate a desire to render service, promote leadership, develop character, and encourage excellent citizenship. The students selected must maintain the highest standards in academics and citizenship.

Congratulations to the 2012-2013 members of the National Jr. Honor Society: Nico Balderamma, Karla Hanna, Andrew Pringle, Riley Benson, Alex Henderson, Matthew Proft, Rayna Berggren, Gabriela Hernandez, Joey Ricard, Tiana Binns, Isaac Izquierdo, Anabel Robertson, Justin Braun, Jodie Jepson, Sadie Safrit, Emma Brown, Emily Katz, Carlos Salazar, Ca-mille Candaele, Kyle Kennedy, Victoria Salazar, Andrew Davanzo, Candie Khoe, Skyler Sam, Max Dorf, Emily Krenik, Luis Sanchez, Josias Escobar,

Brian Mendez, Ben Segal, Matthew Espinoza, Ava Metz, Matthew Smith, Anya Fitz-patrick, Eryn Mitchell, Marisol Solano, Angus Fletcher, Uma Nesis, Ela Suvak, An-gela Gomba, Kimberly Ng, Zoe Tucker, Hannah Gratch, Nathaly Orozco, Julia Tung, Naomi Gruner Domic, Cyara Pinkos, Ma’Kaya Washington, Raffaella Gumbel, Clara Pitsker, Jenna Wholey, Jacob Hammersly

During the school year the NJHS participates in many service and learning projects. On Sunday, October 14th we participated in AIDS Walk Los Angeles. Our members have collected over $3,300 so far and forty-five of them walked the West Holly-wood route to show support for this cause. All donations go to “AIDS Project Los Angeles”, which provides direct services to thousands of men, women, and children living with HIV and AIDS in Los Angeles County.

Our next project will be assisting with the Partnership Walk to help end Global Poverty. This event will take place at the Santa Monica Pier on October 28th. Be-fore the winter break we will conduct our annual Thanksgiving Food Drive, volun-teer at the Santa Monica Civic Center Thanksgiving Day Dinner, and conduct our annual Toy Drive for the Westside Children’s Center.

Mr. Brown and Mr. Silvers – Advisors for NJHS6

JAMS FAMILIES SHOW TREMENDOUS GENEROSITY! 204 families have donated to JAMS’ Annual Giving Campaign in the first two months of the school year, and it’s not too late to give.

Listed below are the names of those who have contributed. “Some families gave early in the year and some like to save their donations for year-end giving in December. It’s all greatly appreciated and moves us closer to our goals!” Annual Giving Chair – Patti Braun

Though PTSA is happy to receive checks, donors are now being encouraged to go onto the JAMS web site adams.smmusd.org and go to the PTSA page and click on the DONATE button.

FUNDS RAISED BY THE ANNUAL GIVING CAMPAIGN MAKE THESE PROGRAMS POSSIBLE:

Enhanced school climate, community building and student recognition, academic coaching and tutoring, arts programs including the JAMS Theatre Company, parent communication including the JAMS Gazette, staff develop-ment, program enhancing field trips and assemblies, campus maintenance, beautification and refurbishment, class-

room supplies, academic enrichment and assistance.... for all students, including high achievers and those at risk...

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING GENEROUS JAMS FAMILIES AND DONORS FOR LEADING THE WAY!

Abrams Davanzo Goddard La Duke Ng Sellers

Admassu Davis Del Piccolo Gomez Laclotte Niven Shaw

Amer DeLeon Goren Lamel O’Brien Sikes

Amidelfan Delgadillo Gruner Domic Lang Odening Smith

Aquino Derby Gunning Lares-Huerta Ostrin Spanier

Ardran Deutsch Guo Levin Oyman Staib

Arnold Diaz Guzman Lewis Paulsen Stillo

Auerbach Diaz Hadfield Lewis Pavan Tellez

Bana Doctor Hallinan Locke Phillips Tenhouten

Bawn Donis Hammersly LoMonaco Proft Toro

Beeman-Solano Dorf Hart Long Ramirez Town-Lee

Befekadu Duppel Herring Luneng Ramirez Tung

Befekadu Dykstra Hirji Lysy Ramos Van Cott

Ben Abdallah Escobar Hugo Tanya Madrigal Reyes VanOver

Benson Evangelista Hutsell Maquire Richardson Vasisht

Blodgett Facenda Inatsugu Marcial Rietta Vasquez

Bordal Farley Inglis Hosbein Martin Robertson Verba

Brady Farre Ison McDoniel Rocha Villafuerte

Brand Felstiner Izquierdo McDonnell Rodriguez Jr. Villalobos

Braun Fitzsimmons Jamieson Mead Rogers Von Schreiber-Morgan

Brown Flack Jimenez Mejia Ronstein Wallace

Bruno Fox Joffe Melendez Rugh Watson

Burham Fragoso Keene Mendoza Sadler Watts

Burton Franco Keith Mendoza Safrit Weber

Button Furlong Kelley Millar Salerno Welch

Carr Gabel Kennedy Mirabal Sam Welser

Casillas Garcia Kesden Mirabal Santiago Westergaard

Chenevert Garcia Kilroy Morin Santini Wheeler

Chesler Gardner Kirschbaum Morley Sassoon Wilson

Cheung Garland Krenik Moss Savage Wong

Cohen Gaudet Krop Moul Schab Yanz

Cooper Gaudry Krstic Nahass Schlang Yaple

Cruz Gerlach Kruis Nakamura Schneider Young

Cushing Geshke Kwon Nava Seizer ZJ Boarding House7

REFLECTIONS – The Magic of A MomentReflections is a National PTA sponsored art contest designed to inspire creativity in students. This year’s theme is “ the magic of a moment.” We want to encourage our JAMS students to submit entries. Last year a JAMS student entry went all the way to the state level!

Students can submit entries in the following categories: photography, visual arts, litera-ture, music composition, film production and dance choreography. In addition there is a new Special Artist division which is a non-graded division limited to students whose physical, cognitive or mental health challenges meet the guidelines in the American Dis-abilities Act.

If your child is creative, please encourage them to enter! ALL submissions must be received by Friday, Novemeber 2nd @ 3p.m. in the school office and should include the students name, ID #, grade and phone number ON THE BACK of the entry. Please contact the JAMS Reflections Chair, Sarah Casey at

sarah@sarahcaseydesign.com for questions about size, rules, etc.

The JAMS GAZETTE is a publication of the John Adams Middle School PTSA. Santa Monica Malibu School District PTA 33rd District/

CCPTS

Principal: Eva Mayoral

PTSA President: Joan Krenik

Editor: Joan Krenik Layout/Design:

Katherine Inglis Hosbein

Contributors: Joan Krenik, Diane O’Brien, Traci Wallace, Janie Buenlow,

Lori Whitesell, Angela Woo, Cecile Blanchard, Donna McCoy, Dan

Brown, Florence Culpepper, Patti Braun, Sarah Casey, Gina Garcia and

Yolanda Lewis

Please send comments, questions and/or submissions to: Joan Krenik

at mkrenik@yahoo.com

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JAMS CONSTRUCTION UPDATEWhen students left for summer break, the 80’s east wing classroom buildings and new attendance office appeared as a skeleton-like frame. Throughout the summer, the con-struction team installed the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, exterior drywall, and framed the walls of the classroom buildings, main office and attendance office. The team ordered furniture and over 150 new computers for students to use in the new classrooms! Throughout the next couple of months, the construction team will apply the finishing touches including installing windows, stucco, interior drywall, and preparation of floor tile installation.

Once construction is complete and students and staff return to their new learning and support spaces, they will see how much the campus has improved! Additional upgrades to the 80’s east wing classroom buildings include new teaching walls featuring white boards with shelving space behind them conserving space and improving earthquake safe-ty. The new solar chimney system provides an environmentally friendly alternative to air conditioning and improves the natural ventilation of the buildings. The installation of the system is 40% complete. The new art classroom will include modernized skylights, a new outdoor studio space and kiln and a display case to exhibit student’s completed artwork. The attendance office was relocated to the front of the campus to improve supervision at the main entry and make it easier to welcome guests at the main office.

The targeted completion date for the 80’s east wing classroom buildings, the new atten-dance office and the new art classroom near the front entry is now late December 2012. The delay is a result of many unforeseen conditions including restructuring and replacing termite damaged walls. The site improvements and tennis courts are expected to be complete in April 2013.

The new 80’s east wing classroom buildings will feature solar chimneys, an eco-friendly alternative to air conditioning

The attendance office has been relocated to the front entry to offer better supervision and make it easier to welcome guests

UPCOMING SCIENCE MAGNET FUNDRAISERS Just in time for the holidays, the Sci-ence Magnet is holding their annual See’s Candies fundraiser. Look for the flyer and order envelope to be handed out during your child’s science class on October 29-30. The last day to turn in orders is Friday November 30 with orders delivered the week of December 10. Monies raised benefit all of our students and go towards scholarships for the Catalina, Yosem-ite and AstroCamp field trips as well as Science classroom supplies and equipment. If you have any questions, please contact either Celia Welch at 310-569-7527 or celia.reservations@scenicwonders.com or Diane O’Brien at ddobrien0328@gmail.com.

Science Magnet also will be having an Ice Cream Parlor Day at Cold Stone Creamery. Keep an eye out for more details coming via JAMSPALs and the Science Magnet e-newsletter.