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More HJH students qualify as Duke Scholars
This year, more Halls Junior High School seventh graders were
honored as Duke Scholars than ever before, with about one-third
of the class qualifying for the prestigious national Talent
Identification Program sponsored by Duke University.
To qualify as a Duke Scholar, students are judged by selected
subtests of the Terra Nova tests from their fifth- or
sixth-grade years. Students who perform in the top 3 percent of
the nation on their achievement tests are invited to participate
in the program, which allows the junior high school students to
take the ACT test along side high school juniors and seniors.
HJH Duke Scholars for the 2005-2006 school year include; Shawnee
Burris, Logan Campbell, Martha Chavez, Katye Cherry, Kirby
Cherry, Corey Clevenger, Andria Cooper, Corey Crihfield, Madison
Davis, Brenna Deaton, Katie Farley, Blake Fitzhugh, Dalton Gean,
Jeremy Goforth, Krista Hardy, Hunter Harrison, Emilee Hartman,
Robert Hewes, Christopher Hutcherson, Corey Irbe, Taylor Jacobs,
Barbara Joyner, Hannah Kelley, Dakota Kiestler, Kelsey Layne,
Jerry Levels, Nicholas Madison, Ebone Pearson, Michael Rivera,
Courtney Robbins, James Smith, Cory Sparks, Joseph Staggs,
Brittany Ward, Thomas Wright, and Katrina Yarbrough.
Four of HJH’s Duke Scholars went on to score high enough on the
SAT that they will be recognized with state honors. Those
students were Hannah Kelley, Kirby Cherry, Dakota Kiestler, and
Krista Hardy. They have been invited to Nashville for a
ceremony.
HJH proud of new sign
Halls Junior High School is sporting a new sign in front of
its building with money raised by the HJH Spirit fund and a
little help from the Bank of Halls.
HJH instituted the Spirit Fund to pay for decorations and items
the school did not have a budget for, including graduation
expenses and Christmas tree and other seasonal decorations.
The Spirit Fund has also paid for a new sign-in desk in the
front hall, benches, and floral arrangements, as well as a table
for the front hall, T-shirts, and items to help teachers begin
their school year. Other items included a podium with sound in
memory of Ms. Polly Bryan, a Green Thumb worker, and memorials
to students.
Students have helped with fundraisers, including two spaghetti
dinners and concessions at the various school sporting events.
HJH science lab – state-of-the-art
This year, Halls Junior High School students are living the
long-standing dream of the school’s science department when they
spend time in the school’s new state-of-the-art science lab.
With the help of the county’s Project L.E.A.D. Program and its
director, Tommy Durham, the school was able to turn an old
locker room/teacher work area into a $30,000 state-of-the-art
laboratory with instruments that allow investigations into the
areas of physical, biological, and earth sciences. All three of
these areas are stressed on the State Terra Nova tests each
spring.
“It really concerned me that our HJH students were not
privileged to have a working ‘hands-on’ science lab in which
they could explore the basic principles of nature and see
first-hand how the method of scientific inquiry operates,” said
Durham, who himself had a 17-year background as a science
teacher in the Union City School System. “(It has) been used
extensively by both the seventh and eighth grades in its first
full year at HJH.”
The tables in the lab are fitted with water, gas, and electrical
outlets and drains. There is now discussion between Project
L.E.A.D. and the University of Tennessee at Martin for an
additional grant that would provide funds to provide the
introduction of “forensic” science at this level.
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