Barton Junior High School

Welcome to the Wildkitten Way!

Here is the month of February's layout:

Principal's Note: Mrs. Henry

News Articles:

• National Motivation and Inspiration Day

Feature Articles:

• Mental Wellness Month
• El Dorado Promise Week

Editorials:

• Chocolate Cake Day

Yearbook Information

Calendar

WHEW! This South Arkansas weather is no joke! I believe we have already experienced ALL of the seasons just in the month of January! It is definitely never boring! We will announce how our students will make up the snow/ice days soon. Be watching for announcements via Facebook and text alerts!

Barton students took their middle of the year STAR reading and math assessments when we returned from Christmas break. Our students are working hard and making improvements!! We will be rewarding our students who increased their scores or who scored ready/exceeding and did not decrease their score from the beginning of the year. Ask your child how they did! Our teachers are having conversations with the students so students understand their performance.

Our Wildkittens are showing out in the classroom and in extracurricular activities! Our athletes are doing a great job as well as our QuizBowl and Robotics teams. Our students represented Barton well at the annual Union County Math competition also! Mr. Nooner is gearing up for our spring musical, James and the Giant Peach. All of these activities make me a really proud principal!

Just a reminder about our ATLAS Testing dates as follows...

ATLAS (Writing) testing:

8th graders - March 7

7th graders - March 12

ATLAS (English, Reading, Math, Science) testing:

8th graders - April 22, 25, 29, May 2

7th graders - April 23, 26, 30, May 3

Remember that Barton will allow exam exemptions for the 2nd semester exams. ATTENDANCE will play a large part of the exemption in addition to grades. ONLY students missing 5 days or less will be eligible for exemption from exams. This includes excused or unexcused absences. The attendance record for exam exemption began on Monday, January 8.

We will also be out of school for FEBRUARY 16TH for our winter break. However, we WILL have school FEBRUARY 19TH, as it is one of our make-up days!

Thank you for sharing your child with us each day and for trusting and partnering with us!

National Motivation and Inspiration Day is an annual celebrated day where people can motivate and inspire people. This day took place on Tuesday, January 2nd and is observed as National Motivation and Inspiration day in the U.S. The reason we celebrate this day is so we can all have a day where our minds can reset and take notice of all the things that help us stay motivated and inspired.

It is a day that is designed to help find the motivation they need to make serious changes in their life. We interviewed two coaches and asked them a question. The question that we asked was, “If you could give every kid a piece of motivation or to inspire them what would it be?” Coach Eric Cisneros. He said, “ What are you going to do today to make yourself better.”

We interviewed another coach. Aaron Smith, this is what he said “Not everybody's opinion matters in this world.” Both coaches had one thing in common. They both were centered around self worth which is what this day is mainly about. This day has given many people opportunities and life changing moments where people can take the things they have held back for so long.

Mental Awareness Month is in January this year. I interviewed the BJHS Counselors Christa Lyons and Gina Taylor and I asked them a few questions about January and what it means to them. The first question I asked was “What does January, being mental wellness month mean to you?” Mrs. Taylor said “We love that there is a month dedicated to mental wellness because it is a rising need amongst our students and we love to see the community get to a place where there is no stigma associated with needing mental healthcare.”

Mrs. Lyons said “I think its important to have a spotlight on mental health. I also like that we have a month to focus on mental health, Its an opportunity to bring attention to others about the importance of mental health.”

I asked Mrs.Lyons and Mrs.Taylor ``What is the most common thing you deal with as a counselor (mental health wise)” Mrs.Taylor replied “I think as counselors a lot of our conversations with students evolve from issues at home, we have a lot of family issues, every family has their own unique sets of circumstances and needs and a lot of times students are impacted by those changes that are going on financially and within marriages, and all kind of family happenings that affects students.” Mrs. Lyons added “ I think students, trying to figure out who they are as a human being

What if someone told you that you could go to college for free? Students given the El Dorado Promise can achieve this or close to it. The El Dorado Promise is a scholarship for students so that they may go to college with financial help. Murphy Oil Corporation provides the money for students that are in the El Dorado School District.

The El Dorado Promise started in 2007 with 50 million dollars. Over 3,544 students have benefited from the El Dorado Promise. Money has gone out in 35 different states for the students in the El Dorado School District.

The Promise is not need based, instead, the amount of money received by each student is dependent on how long they have attended the district. Requirements include, enrolling in a two or four year university, be working toward an associates or bachelors degree, and maintain 2.0 grade point average while enrolled.

January 22-26 was Promise week in the El Dorado School District. Many classes did fun activities to learn about and explore the details of the Promise. The eighth grade Career Development classes at BJHS did an activity that compared tuition for public, private, and out of state universities. After finding out the price of tuition, many students showed gratitude for the Promise.

On January 29, Barton students competed in the school wide spelling bee.

Hello all! Join Barton Media in celebrating a fantastic school year with a signing party! It will be held in the cafeteria. Refreshments will be provided and... YOU GET OUT OF CLASS FOR PART OF 6TH PERIOD! The only thing you need to do to get into this fun event is purchase a yearbook by February 25th, 2024! We can't wait to create some memories with everyone!

YEARBOOKS ARE OFFICIALLY ON SALE! They start at $27 plus taxes. You can either place an order in person with Ms. Smith in room 114, or online at jostens.com/ybk or jostensyearbook.com! PLEASE FILL OUT A FORM PRIOR TO PURCHASING AND GIVING YOUR PAY! Get yours by February 25th, 2024!

Week of February 1st:

• First day of Black History Month
• Pep Rally for Basketball
• Parent Resource Meeting at 6pm in the cafeteria

Week of February 5th:

• 3rd Quarter Progress Reports

February 13th & 15th

• Parent/Teacher conferences 3:30-6:30