Guest Speaker Rick Bender, (aka the man without a face) spoke to students today at JMS about the effects of tobacco use.  The assembly was sponsored by Putnam County Safe & Drug Free Schools and coordinated by Victoria Smith and SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) Coordinator Dave Powell.

Rick Bender gave an account of his ordeal with oral cancer caused by using what he calls “spit tobacco” or more specifically Copenhagen Snuff.  At age 26 he was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo surgery to remove it.  From it, he lost a third of his tongue, half of his jaw and suffered nerve damage that caused him to lose mobility of his right arm.  He spoke about what influenced him, much of which students at our school could relate with.  His appearance is a testament to what tobacco can do to you and students listened intently to his words of wisdom.

For more information on Rick Bender you can visit his web site at www.nosnuff.com

I know this is a late post, but I wanted to share our videos of this event.  Mrs. Wilkinson, our reading coach, came to see me about possible ideas for the Celebrate Literacy Week.  My first thought was using video to create interest in the events and my second idea was to do a commercial similar to the Publisher’s Clearinghouse ads where people are running to deliver the good news.  I thought that a good way to promote Celebrate Literacy Week was by having students bring and share the books they were currently reading.  The class who had the largest percent of students with books for the morning was recognized the next day and taken to the cafeteria for breakfast.  I called it Bring a Book to Breakfast! Take a look at the results on http://jmsreads.com.

On Thursday, April 9th, students picked their favorite Sunshine State Young Reader Award title.  On arrival at school, the student media assistants, along with Mrs. Gastelum’s first period Language Arts class,  immediately went to work setting up the media center for the day’s voting. 

Ballots, voting stations, and goody bags were generously provided by our Putnam County Supervisor of Elections Office.  Mrs. Pam Keene was our contact and the one responsible for ordering specially designed ballots just for the occasion.

At the end of first period, the three classes of students who had teachers that read out-loud to them began to arrive.  Because these teachers read at least three titles, each student in their classes was eligible to vote in this year’s contest.  Those teachers were Ms. Barnett, Coach Bennett, and Mr. Gastelum.  During the next three periods, students from 6th through 8th grade arrived in the media center to add their votes. 

When students entered, the voting procedure was explained and names were checked for eligibility.  Each qualified student was given a ballot and sent to a voting station.  After voting, the ballots were collected at another table and a goody bag was made available to each voter.  Then students moved on to the cookie table.  After getting cookies, students were able to relax and socialize while enjoying their cookies.

In all, we had 210 ballots submitted.

Our top pick was The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson.  Our second place winner was Peak by  Roland Smith, and our third place winner, with only 4 votes fewer than Peak was Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings.

Jenkins is just a small part of the vote.  So far over 18,000 middle school students across the state of Florida have cast their votes.  We are the only middle school in Putnam to participate this year, however, and right now, the plan is to have even more eligible students next year!  Dr. Surrency is already trying to find ways to provide teachers with classroom sets of the newest Sunshine State Reader titles for the upcoming year.  We’ve also been lucky enough to receive a $350 donation for new titles.  This will buy almost three sets of books!

A special thanks is extended to Mrs. Pam Keene who made it very special by providing real ballots and real voting stations and the goody bags,  to Coach Bennet, Ms. Barnett, and Mr. Gastelum for finding the time in their busy schedules to read three of these books to their students, and to the students who provided all of the support for the day and who made sure everything worked so smoothly.  These are the days that make me proud to be the media specialist at Jenkins Middle School!

Don’t miss the Spring Yearbook Sale!

Get your yearbook reserved by putting $10 down to hold it at the sale price. Take advantage and save MORE than a buck or two! Send check, money order, or cash to Mrs. Gastelum in the Library Media Center. Please make checks or money orders payable to Jenkins Middle School. Receipts will be provided at the time of payment or sent to your child’s first period teacher ASAP.  This is the best and biggest yearbook yet!  Don’t miss out on the memories!  Supplies are limited so don’t wait. 

Spring Sale! - Month of April- $38

May Arrival- $42

Questions or comments? Email Debra Gastelum, yearbook advisor.

Don’t miss out on the LAST book fair of the school year!  Open from 7:30 until 2:30 in the Library Media Center, there’s something for everyone!  Great new releases are available and there are some wonderful sale items too!  Each Language Arts class has been scheduled to attend and teachers will release students to visit again if they want to return to buy something else. 

Please help support your Library.  This is one of the few way we have of getting new books and every dollar you spend helps us add new books!  We can’t do it without you! Visit us before it’s gone.  Last day is April 9th!