Johnnie Carr Middle SchoolInternational Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme

December 2016 VOLUME 2, Number 51610 Ray Thorington Road Montgomery, AL 36117 Phone: 334-224-4005

Dear Parents:

On behalf of all of us at Carr, we want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season. Thank you for all you do to support your children and for helping to make Johnnie Carr a fantastic school! We encourage you to continue to check your child’s grades and progress through INow and contact teachers if you have any questions or concerns. This month’s IB Learner Profile trait that characterizes Johnnie Carr students are “thinkers.”

What is a thinker? A thinker will exercise initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively to recognize and approach complex problems. Thinkers make logical and ethical decisions.

Ways you can strengthen thinking skills at home: Encourage your child to think of solutions to problems

independently. Pose different real-life problems and questions to your child. Ask your child questions when they are working on a

problem such as: “Do you have any ideas about how we can begin?” “How can we do this differently?” “Are there any other solutions?” or “I had never thought of that. Tell me more about it.”

Calendar of Events

December 1Basketball at Carr at 4:00 PMDecember 5Dress for SuccessDecember 6Carr at Floyd at 4:00 PMDecember 8Carr at McKee at 4:00 PMDecember 9Winter Dance 6:00 – 8:45 PMDecember 12Band Concert 6:00PMDecember 13Basketball at Carr at 4:00 PMDecember 15Choir Concert Aldersgate at 6:00PMBasketball at Carr at 4:00 PMDecember 16End 2nd QuarterPBSPTSA LuncheonDecember 17Wrestling at GoodwynAll dayDec. 19- Jan. 4 No School/ Winter Holiday

PrincipalDr. Brittany AarestadAssistant PrincipalsMr. Joshua Farrow

Mrs. Deidre McCray

Newsletter Editors: Mr. Joshua Farrow

IB Coordinator Jisselle Hidalgo

In Ms. Beaulieu’s class, 7th grade Language Arts teacher, the students have been reading Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in preparation to see the play production at Alabama Shakespeare Festival. They have also been making paper chains to represent the chains that Scrooge has built during his life. They also did posters as a representation of Scrooge's growth from the beginning of the book to the middle of the book (where they are now).

Last November 4th Carr celebrated our annual Veterans Day Program organized by Mrs. King. All students were be able to bring at least one Veteran to School for a Veteran day program and to eat lunch. 7th grade students did in their Geography classes Veteran’s T-Shirts exclusive to Veterans’ Day. In Art class, the students made a big soldier poster where they wrote their names and different patriotic messages.

In the Art class, sixth grade students are working on drawing the proportions of the face and drawing complex shapes.

Sixth grade students did a community project called “Mi Escuela y Yo” for their Spanish class. They cleaned as a team different sites in school and made a poster reflecting the importance of keeping Carr clean.

In Mr. Bradley class, 7th grade Social Studies teacher, the students were working in the development of a free choice topic to demonstrate their understanding of concepts.

Congratulation to our choir and Mrs. Moore, choir director, for their excellent performance on the Peanut Festival at Dothan, Alabama. Our choir will be featured on Charter Cable TV over the Christmas Holidays for a show to be announced soon. The advanced choir of 7th-8th grade choral students with a minimum of 2-3 years of experience, will perform at the Nutcracker Ballet at the Davis theatre as well as the holiday concert on December 15th.

Carr raised $ 784.05 for United Way

Carr 8th graders and their families attend GEAR UP day at Troy University! On Saturday, November 12, Troy University invited all GEAR UP students in the state to attend GEAR UP Day on their main campus in Troy. Students and their families were invited to take a tour of the campus, and then were treated to a Tailgate party and Troy’s football game against Appalachian State University. Seven Carr students and their families were among those who attended.

The day started with an assembly. Students and families listened to Troy administrators, faculty members and students share about the University. GEAR UP Director Dr. Veronique Zimmerman Brown welcomed GEAR UP participants and thanked Troy for reaching out to GEAR UP. She shared about some of our programs that can help students with academics. Dr. Earl Ingram shared that the letters in the word “Troy” stand for “Tradition, Reputation, Opportunity, And YOU,” and encouraged participants to attend Troy when it is time for college, and find out what it’s all about. Current Troy students ended the assembly by speaking about what they love about the University, and answered questions from the audience. They answered questions about why they chose Troy, how to get into Troy, where to live, how to pick a major, and even what to eat on campus! This was the most beneficial part of the program, as it allowed students and parents to get first-hand knowledge about what students need to know about college, how to be prepared, and how to succeed in college, not only at troy, but where ever they choose to go. Students were then led on a tour of class buildings, dormitories and other sites on the campus. They finished at a tailgate party, where they were served a delicious lunch, and ended the day by attending the football game…Troy won the game 28-24 in an exciting finish, a victory that allowed them to make history by becoming the first Sunbelt Conference team to ever be ranked in the TOP 25 of the AP football polls. And Carr’s GEAR UP students were there to witness it! All in all a great time was had by all!

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To You and Your Family