To enhance the social studies curriculum, the eighth grade attended the Evergreen Cemetery Discovery Walk in Bloomington on Thursday, Oct. 9. This program is sponsored by the McLean County Museum of History, which is part of the McLean County Historical Society. Individuals dress up as people, both famous and ordinary, that are buried in Evergreen Cemetery. They tell us about their lives and their impact on McLean County and the state of Illinois. They also discuss American burial customs and practices. It is a very popular program and several schools attend each year. Hopefully this will be followed up in the spring by visiting a local cemetery and doing some activities. Special thanks to Jill Seal, Mark Boden, and Patti Zehr for helping chaperone the trip.

On Friday, Oct. 17, the seventh and eighth grade heard an excellent presentation by Beverly Long from the U of I Extension Office on the Food Pyramid. She told the students about the need for good nutrition and proper exercise for healthy development and growth. Mrs. Long is going to return for more presentations on nutrition at a later date.

The eighth grade just finished a chapter in religion on "Prayer". To complete the chapter the class put together a prayer service on this topic. They were divided into groups and put together the complete prayer service themselves and presented it on Thurs. Oct. 16 at community prayer. They did a marvelous job and Mrs. Hoke was extremely proud of their efforts! I think we all pray more now!

Also, it is the time of year for eighth grade cake raffles and 50/50 raffles at all home girls and boys basketball games. The class is busy raising money for their class trip in May to Chicago. Please help support their efforts if you attend one of their games. They will be very gratefulJ

CONSEQUENCES

Second offense – 10 minute detention during noon hour.

Third offense – 30 minute detention and student will write how his/her behavior can change to fit the rules.

Fourth offense and/or grievous matter – Call parents!

The name on the board lasts one week and all students will start with a clean slate the following week.

A journal entry of one notebook page (front and back) will be required of each eighth grade student each week. The prompt (topic) will be given on Monday and the journal will be due on Friday. (These days could change with days off.) The front page will be written on the prompt and the back page will be whatever the student wants to write about – preferably their thoughts and emotions.

Each journal entry is worth 10 points. Each journal entry will be one daily grade for either Literature or English. It will alternative each quarter. The grade for the each journal entry will be based on what is said (content); not how it is said (grammar.) The purpose of this journal is to give the students experience writing so they are comfortable with it.

The seventh grade will present a Cultural Fair on Friday, Dec. 5 from 12:30 until 3:00 in the Parish Hall. They have been doing research papers on different countries of the world and will now have displays, costumes and ethnic foods at the fair. This has been a cross-curricular project involving social studies, language arts and computer. Everyone is invited to attend.