Old News (Previous News)
Here you will find the news once posted on the front page that is no longer timely.
Sally Ride Science Festival
(Girls 5th — 8th grades)
In case you have a daughter in grades 5 - 8 , Exxon Mobil is presenting the Sally Ride Science Festival. It will take place on Saturday, April 26 from 11 am to 4:15 pm at SMU.
We are working on setting up carpools for McMillan, and if you are interested in carpooling, and willing to allow me to give your contact information to the parent(s) working with me to set this up, please send your informatio to me, JoAnn.Elliott@wylieisd.net .
Advance registration is required and is $18.00. You will need to register on your own.
- Street Fair: music, food and exhibits
- Discovery workshops with local scientists
- Hands-on science activities
- Bring Friends
More information at www.SallyRideFestivals.com
1.800.561.5161
2007-2008 7th Grade Duke Talent Search State Recognition
Congratulations to Christian Frederick for his mental prowess! He received state recognition in the Duke talent search. In order to receive state recognition, the student must score in the top 30% of the Talent Search pool. This is a significant achievement since the pool of students tested is itself highly selective.
8th Grade Math TAKS Practice
Practice TAKS Math Test available for 8th grade students! Saturday, April 5th, 10:00am - 2:00 pm, in the McMillan Junior High library/computer lab. Come and take a practice test online, get results right away. Math teachers will be on hand to help you with any problems that you miss. You may leave when you are finished. FREE PIZZA AND DRINK, PLUS A BONUS 100 FOR ALL WHO PARTICIPATE!
One Act Play a Winner!
Congratulations to the McMillan Junior High students who participated in the UIL One-Act Play Festival yesterday at Wylie East High School. The McMillan play, US AND THEM, received 3rd place out of the five participating schools.
Caitlin Osborne and Ali-Stolar Franklin received All Star Cast Medals!
The judge praised several aspects of the production including precision with movement, staging, pantomime and combat. He lauded the cast for great voice and diction and for working extremely well as an ensemble. He described the choice of play as bold and loved the music that the cast incorporated.
Other students who participated were: James Anderson, Kimberly Bell, Sarah-Grace Crocco, Luana DaSilva, Emily Flowers, Kayla Harris, Cory Heflin, Tiffany Ing, Amanda Reimer, Amanda Scarmado and Hayden Volker.
McMillan Dazzler Tryouts
Is your daughter interested in trying out for the McMillan Dazzlers Drill Team?
Please plan on attending one of these two informational parent meetings:
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 5:30 p.m.
Information regarding tryouts, costs, events, and other general information will be covered at these meetings. The Dazzler Director, Ms. Kincaid, as well as the Principal of McMillan JH, Mr. Peters, will be there to answer any questions. It is imperative that you attend if your daughter intends to tryout for the team.
Tryouts Clinic: April 1-3rd 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Tryouts: April 4 beginning at 4:00 p.m.
If you have any questions please contact Ms. Kincaid at brooklyn.kincaid@wylieisd.net.
Click here to view and print the flyer with the information on it.
Cheerleading Tryouts for MJH
Reminder that paperwork for cheerleading tryouts is due no later than Friday, February 29 at 3:15 pm. Cheerleading tryout clinic will be held Monday, March 10 through Thursday, March 13 from 4pm to 5:30pm. Tryouts will be held Friday, March 14 starting promptly at 4pm. Students must have passed all classes the fourth six weeks to be eligible to tryout for Cheerleader or Mascot. Also in order for a student to be eligible to tryout, the student and a parent/guardian MUST haven attended one of the MANDATORY meetings that were held the second week in February. For additional information, please contact Sharla McCrary at sharla.mccrary@wylieisd.net.
Mockingbird Poetry Winners
8th grade students, Dylan Schvaneveldt, Kimberly Miller, Kathleen Howell, and Ashley Craig, from McMillan Junior High presented and read aloud their award winning poems before an audience of family, friends, and members of the Mockingbird Chapter of the Collin County Poetry Association at the Recitation Ceremony in McKinney this past Sunday, March 2nd.
First place - Dylan Schvaneveldt
Second place - Xavier Jackson
Third place - Kiet Lam
Honorable mention - Kimberly Miller, Kathleen Howell, Ashley Craig
Mr. Behne's Technology Classes
Students who have Technology Applications with Mr. Behne will receive an incomplete for the 4th sixth weeks due to unavoidable circumstances. The incomplete will be cleared before UIL eligibility is affected.
TAKS TESTING March 5
On Wednesday, March 5, all 7th and 8th grade students will take the first round of TAKS tests. Seventh graders will take the Writing Composition/Revising and Editing test. Eighth graders will take the Reading TAKS. During the test, students will remain in the assigned testing room for the entire day.
Students may bring approved snacks (peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers, pretzels, peppermints and bottled water) for energy during the test. Students will remain in the assigned testing room for lunch. Students may either purchase a lunch from the cafeteria or bring a lunch to school. In addition to snacks and lunch, all students are encouraged to bring a dress code appropriate sweater, sweatshirt or jacket.
Mockingbird Poetry Winners
8th grade students, Dylan Schvaneveldt, Kimberly Miller, Kathleen Howell, and Ashley Craig, from McMillan Junior High presented and read aloud their award winning poems before an audience of family, friends, and members of the Mockingbird Chapter of the Collin County Poetry Association at the Recitation Ceremony in McKinney this past Sunday, March 2nd.
First place - Dylan Schvaneveldt
Second place - Xavier Jackson
Third place - Kiet Lam
Honorable mention - Kimberly Miller, Kathleen Howell, Ashley Craig
Mr. Behne's Technology Classes
Students who have Technology Applications with Mr. Behne will receive an incomplete for the 4th sixth weeks due to unavoidable circumstances. The incomplete will be cleared before UIL eligibility is affected.
Total Lunar Eclipse
What is the phase of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse? Did you look up in the sky last night and decide on an answer? I hope plenty enjoyed the eclipse show at their own homes. Three students and families joined me here at school. The Moon dodged in and out behind clouds but we had spectacular views of portions of the eclipse including plenty of time during full eclipse red moon! Unfortunately my camera does not capture the red moon on still photos but I tried video and it worked, click here if you want to watch the brief video (it is an avi file).
Upper left photo: Right before total eclipse we were able to see that turquiose color that shows up as the light scatters through the ozone layer of Earth. The red is caused by sunlight scattering through the atmosphere, visit this NASA site for more information.
MATHCOUNTS
The McMillan Junior High MATHCOUNTS team competed at the University of Texas at Dallas on Saturday, February 9th. MATHCOUNTS is a National Society of Professional Engineers sponsored activity, and the regional competition involved teams of advanced math students from over 30 area schools. Team members were Tyler Brandon, Marshal McClure, Cameron Pittman, Christian Frederick, Danny Kalaj, Christopher Dessert, Amanda Reimer, and Garrett Stuart.
Ratios and Proportions at Work
Last week Ms. Dillingham, Mrs. Frederick, and 50 of their students participated in a videoconference on Ratios and Proportions with NASA's Glenn Research Center. The students learned about how aeronautical engineers use ratios and proportions every day. Two of the very first aeronautical engineers, Wilbur and Orville Wright, used used ratios and proportions to design and test their aircraft. This event demonstrates real world application of math and physics principles as applied to aerodynamics and why it is so important to learn graphing, problem solving using fractions and decimals, scientific notation, and ratios and proportions.
UIL Competition Results
Thank you to all of our 7th and 8th grade students who gave up their Saturday to compete against four other schools in the UIL academic competitions. Students participated in competitions on Friday and Saturday, December 7 and 8. Congratulations to the following students for placing in their event!
Art - 7th Grade: Erik Betancourt (5th), McKenna Tilton (6th)
Art - 8th Grade: Amaris Aramanda (5th)
Maps, Graphs, Charts - 8th Grade: Hayden Volker (2nd)
Editorial Writing - 7th Grade: Jackie Galloway (4th), Jimmy Kalaj (6th)
Editorial Writing - 8th Grade: Heather Vandervoort (4th), Rianna O'Neal (5th)
Ready Writing - 7th Grade: Jamie Royster (3rd), Ben Schoenekase (6th)
Calculator Applications - 7th Grade: Amanda Reimer (4th)
Number Sense - 7th Grade: Christopher Dessert (1st), Christian Frederick (6th)
Listening Skills - 7th Grade: Breanna Collard ((1st), Christopher Dessert (4th)
Listening Skills - 8th Grade: Cameron Pittman (4th)
Spelling - 7th Grade: Kalen Winkler (4th), Eder Potisek (5th)
Science - 7th Grade: Eder Potisek (5th)
Science - 8th Grade: John Meares (5th)
Mathematics - 7th Grade: Hal Todd (1st), Amanda Reimer (4th)
Mathematics - 8th Grade: Sabrina Smith (2nd)
Social Studies - 7th Grade: Ashley Old (2nd), Karsyn Griffin (6th)
Oral Reading - 7th Grade: Kristen Bahls (1st)
Impromptu Speaking - 7th Grade: Jason Etchieson (6th)
McMillan Teacher of the Year
Congratulations to 7th grade science teacher JoAnn Elliott,
McMillan 2008 Teacher of the Year!
<---A very surprised Mrs. Elliott learns of the award!
Knowledge Masters Take 6th in State
Congratulations to the Knowledge Master Team, which placed 6th in the state in last Wednesday's Fall 2007 Knowledge Master Open, an all-subject, computer based academic competition entered by 795 schools all over the world. For more information, go to www.greatauk.com. The team will compete again in the Spring, and they hope to move up in the rankings.
"The Ghost Story"
MJH will present Booth Tarkington's The Ghost Story on Friday, November 16 and Saturday, November 17 at 7 p.m. in the MJH Cafeteria. General admission is $3 and $2 for students and senior citizens. The play runs approximately 45 minutes.
Phantom of the Opera
The Theater Arts Department is helping the Language Arts Department by producing an adaptation of Phantom of the Opera. It will be presented by the advanced theater class and will be seen by the 7th grade Language Arts students on November 20th.
Harvest Moon
Last week students learned about the Harvest Moon, the Full Moon nearest to the Autumnal Equinox, which casts enough light for farmers to harvest their crops even during the night. This is what enables them to get the crops in before winter set in, and why they named this incidence of Full Moon, the Harvest Moon, in times before electric lighting.
Here is a photo of last week's harvest moon taken by 7th grader Chandler Travis.
Lunar Eclipse Viewing
McMillan Junior High hosted several families in the early hours Tuesday, August 28. at the Total Eclipse of the Moon viewing. The early risers watched the Moon slide into Earth's shadow, watching it become a reddish black, watching as it blended into the dark night sky, observing its entrance into full eclipse.
Meet the Teacher Night
"Meet the Teacher and Curriculum Spotlight Night" PTA Meeting - 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM Monday, September 10.
Come meet your child's teachers and get a brief explanation of the student objectives that will be covered in the different courses this year. Teachers will also be available to answer any of your curriculum and TAKS questions. There will also be a PTA meeting occurring where important votes will be taken. You will be able to join PTA and participate in the election process if you like. McMillan Jr. High is always looking for interested parents to become active in our school.