President's Letter

 Evergreen Junior High has been a busy place since the last newsletter.  Students have begun their second semester of electives, enjoyed their third school dance, attended an assembly on bullying, taken part in monthly Teen Wellness and Library Book report activities, and prepared for last month’s Electives Open House.  Ninth graders took part in a “Making High School Count” program, teaching them how to compute their GPAs.  Members of the National Junior Honor Society have pitched in and mulched, planted and weeded the garden beds, in addition to sponsoring a food drive for Northwest Harvest that resulted in 4795 pounds of food items!  Third quarter sports and the school musical rehearsals are in full-swing. 

Parents have also been working behind-the-scenes to make our school such a special place.  Some chose to get involved in “Focus Day” in Olympia, talking with legislators about the importance of education funding.  Cindy Swanson and Pam Brown (Staff Appreciation chairs) coordinated a Valentine-themed breakfast for the teachers.  Parent Ed chairs Wendy Kettering and Sonia Ingles continue to offer educational evenings for adults.  Programs held earlier this year on Internet Safety and teen-parent relationships were well-received, and on March 13 we will be treated to a thought-provoking evening devoted to teen peer relationships.  Shari Newton and Lori Simms (chairs for Teen Wellness) continue to bring in entertaining and informative guest speakers on a monthly basis, covering a myriad of topics concerning fitness and nutrition.  Theresa Funaro, Kim Axelrod and Vicky Broback (chairs for the theater production) have been devoting countless hours to getting kids ready for this year’s school musical, to be held later this month.

As parents, one of the most important things you can do is become involved in your child’s school.  Judy Russo, Denise Scott-Markley and Kim Erlandson, elected as members of the Nominating Committee, have been hard at work seeking candidates for next year’s PTSA Executive Board.   If you are interested in being more involved in PTSA, please let one of these ladies know, using the contact information listed in the nominations article in this issue.

Recent PTSA expenditures for the EJH community include funding to sponsor a dance specialist to visit the drama classes, support of a field trip to the Pacific Science Center for several classes, and a “coffee house” evening program for Ms. Smith’s LA/SS classes.  We are in the process or buying cricket equipment for the Phys Ed program, due to the popularity of the “Teen Wellness” speaker on that sport.  Finally, a carpet steamer has been purchased for use by our custodian, Kevin McAllister. 

              I want to extend a warm welcome to our current 6^th grade families who have been added to the

              Eagle newsletter circulation list!  I enjoyed meeting many of you at the Sixth Grade Information

              night on February 13.  We hope you find this issue an informative “snapshot” of the many

                programs and activities going on at Evergreen Junior High.