Comet families! As you have probably heard, we have been in talks about a potential athletic conference change to the Cascades conference. This is something that has been, loosely, discussed for years but a formal invitation was sent out to JCS on June 10th. We have had committee meetings that included community members, coaches, board members, principals, etc. so that we can hear all the perspectives. We also held a community engagement meeting last night.
We know the history of the Big 8 goes back many decades and has a proud tradition, so why even have this discussion? With declining enrollment amongst schools, other Big 8 schools have had to cut athletic opportunities altogether whether it's golf or JV sports to name a couple. This has limited the opportunities for our students and has made finding make up games very challenging. In meetings with the Big 8, they have said they will work to bring those programs back but there is uncertainty with that due to enrollments and budgets. Please take a look at the attached form to see offerings of the Big 8 and Cascades to get a better idea.
A couple of questions from the community have been about the history and the distances. History is important and tradition matters no doubt about it. However, it doesn’t solve the opportunity issue for our kids today. If that history deprives our kids of what could be a better future then we have to think about that. As for the distance difference, the average distance increases from 28.71 in the Big 8 to 37.2 in the Cascades Conference.
I know this is no small decision for our community. The other schools in the Big 8 have good people and kids and want what is best for their students. This is not a reflection of them at all. However, we also have to advocate for our kids and when you remove all other aspects, this is what is best for them. The coaches, JCS staff, and community members we have engaged with have all been supportive but with good questions. The board will vote on whether to make this switch on Monday, June 27th. If it passes, this will take effect in the ‘23/24 school year. Whether it passes or not, we look forward to great things from our Comet athletes. Go Comets!
The Jonesville Community School Board will have four openings this year. There are three trustee positions and one secretary position. The deadline is July 26th by 4:00 pm. You can either come to JCS central office at 115 East st. to get a petition and signatures, or go to the county clerk's office and pay $100. Be sure to check the terms because they are different. Come be a part of the great things going on in JCS! Go Comets!
Comet families! Jonesville Community Schools has been in conversations with the Cascades Conference about moving to their league. Last week, they extended a formal invitation to the Cascade Conference. I am well aware of the history that Jonesville has with the Big 8 and this is not a decision to be taken lightly, so we have had small committee meetings with community members and staff about this potential move.
We would now like to extend an invitation to the larger community about this. We will be holding a Q&A on Tuesday, June 21st for families interested at the Jonesville High School at 6:00. Please come with any questions you may have.
This is an exciting opportunity for JCS, but I want to be sure that all questions and concerns are answered before a formal decision is made. We hope to see you then! Go Comets!!!
After 25 years of dedicated service, Mr. Eyre retired today. He will be sorely missed by staff and students. We wish him the very best!
Today, we had six very qualified nominations for our schools highest honor, the Brad Boyle award. This award is given to a student athlete who excels in academics and citizenship. This year's nominees were Grant Broesamle, Ryder Cornett, Brookie Lewis, Meah Prater, Grace Soltis, and Cody Udzik. They were all very deserving of this award, and it was a very hard decision to make.
This year's winner of the 2022 Brad Boyle Award is Grace Soltis.
Congratulations Grace!! And thank you to all our nominees. We're very proud of all of you.
Congratulations to Maddie Tracy for breaking the middle school records for the 100 meter and 200 meter dash. Maddie placed 1st in both events at the Mid Michigan Megastar Meet in the small school division. Maddie broke the 100 meter dash record from 2011 with a time of 13.35 and the 200 meter dash record from 2004 with a time of 27.9!
Even though it can get crazy during last weeks of school, Mrs Mandrelle’s 6th grade science class didn’t spend Friday afternoon counting blades of grass to keep busy! 😅 We were taking random samples in an area to extrapolate data for estimating the dandelion population! Definitely more complicated than simple counting for our ecology unit!
#OneComet
CONGRATULATIONS GIRLS!
The 4x200 relay team of Maddie Tracy, Miley Dunlap, Amelia Means, and Payton Nichelson broke the middle school record from 2003 with a time of 1:54.34 at the Onsted Relays.
Jonesville Mission will be providing their fresh food boxes tomorrow at the Carl Fast Memorial Park at 4:00.
Jonesville Middle School students will once again get the opportunity to travel to Washington, DC. The trip is planned for June of 2023. Please join Mrs. Rowe and Mrs. Merz for a short informational parent meeting on Monday, May 16th, at 5:30 in the Middle School library. If you are unable to attend, but would like information please contact Mrs. Rowe RROWE@JONESVILLESCHOOLS.ORG or Mrs. Merz KMERZ@JONESVILLESCHOOLS.ORG.
JMS Band Concert
Thursday, May 12th, 6:00PM
at Jonesville High School
Thank you Ms. Vander Hill for arranging our annual "Bike to School" event this year, and thank you Mrs. Rice and Mr. Maxwell for riding along with the kids. It was a great event with almost 40 people in attendance this year!
Thank you to all the JMS students supporting Domestic Harmony today.
#DHdenimday
The Jonesville Mission Church will have their fresh food giveaway at 501 Olds St. tomorrow (4/27). All community members are welcome!
Our 6th, 7th, & 8th grade students in Scientific Research have been working on group study projects. Two groups have been studying mechanical engineering by taking apart weed whips to see how the motors worked. They broke it down to its basic components during the last weeks. Today we had help from one of our Jonesville staff members, JMS custodian Dan Overmyer. He brought his expertise to help the students learn how all the parts work together in a 2 cycle engine. It was a great experience for everyone as our janitor helped us learn even more. #OneComet
Our Jonesville Middle School Research class had a great day Friday. We have been working on a basic small business plan based off of the show “Shark Tank.” The students set up a food truck by researching various costs such as ingredients, equipment, trucks, etc . They also had to determine cost, customer price, and profit for their meals. They all made wonderful presentations to our “sharks” of Jonesville. It was great seeing how the kids responded under pressure.
Thank you to our “sharks,” Mr. Wittigen (our instructional assistant), Mr. Kennard (our principal), Mrs. Phelps (our food service director), Mr. Babcock (our local businessman ), Mr. Gray (our city manager), and Mrs. Smith (our school counselor). They were a great audience who asked great questions that challenged our students to think deeper!
The final winning group was “Super Sweet Smoothies & Shakes” created by Grace, Harper, and Julia. They had the most sound business plan.
As part of our class, we also had a chance to present our business models to the original Shark Tank food truck winners, Cousins Maine Lobster executive team. The students had a chance to pitch their ideas to the Southern California based company and heard compliments and advice from the members! What a cool opportunity to get Jonesville "on the map" and show off our amazing students across the country!
The final winning project from this presentation was "Breakfast Bros" created by Jacob and Caleb. The sharks would have invested in their company!
Congratulations to all of our students for developing lifelong skills.
Jonesville Mission is now adding another day for their food baskets. In addition to the second Friday of every month, they will now be handing out food baskets every fourth Wednesday which is tomorrow. There is a location change for this pickup though. The location for this pickup is at 501 Olds st location in front of Martinrea. It's from 4-6.
QUIZ BOWL:
This past weekend, our 8th grade had two teams competing. The team of Marshall Baker, Joey Wells, Grant Broesamle, and Lucas Griffiths came in 5th place (out of 11 teams) after they had to do a tiebreaker for 4th.
The 7th grade also had two teams compete. The team of Grace Maddox, Harper James, Colton Masta, and Brant Nichols placed 3rd (out of 11 teams).
CONGRATULATIONS to our participants and all their hard work!
6th grade students are ready to begin building for their engineering unit! Thank you to all the wonderful families who supported our learning by donating supplies! We have the best community at Jonesville Schools. Stay tuned for pictures of our projects!
Reminder about our Special Education Millage discussion tonight at Jonesville High School in the cafetorium at 5:30. See you there!