The DC trip was awesome! On the first day, as we settled into our accommodations for the next six days, the boys at our house prepared a really good dinner. In the evening, we started the night tour, during which we saw many monuments and buildings, such as the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, and the White House. Then we returned home and rested.

The next few days were packed with fun. After breakfast, we kicked off our days by visiting the National Air and Space Museum, where we learned a lot about planes and space. We participated in various fun activities, including watching a planetarium show about space. Later that day, we visited the National Archives, where we saw the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

The following day, we explored the Natural History Museum, where we learned about animals and their evolution. We even got to hold some cool insects and observe a tarantula hunting for prey. In the afternoon, we split into two groups, with one visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the other going to the National Art Museum. At the African American History Museum, we saw many historical artifacts, including cars and Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther suit. At the National Art Museum, we admired various paintings and sculptures and learned about their creation.

After lunch, we visited the International Spy Museum, where we learned about espionage and played interactive games. The next morning, we took a few hours to relax before heading to the National Holocaust Museum. It was a somber experience, seeing the hardships endured by the Jews, especially with the Anne Frank exhibit, which resonated with our class reading.

After the museum, we took the metro to the National Harbor, where we enjoyed a meal at a nice restaurant before riding the Ferris wheel. The view from the top, especially at sunset, was breathtaking. As we returned home on the water taxi, the city lights made the evening magical.

The next morning, we packed up quickly and headed to the National Zoological Park. But first, we stopped at a local pastry shop for some delicious treats. At the zoo, we split into groups and explored, seeing animals like elephants, birds, flamingos, monkeys, and cheetahs.

Afterward, we took our final metro rides to Union Station. While waiting for the train, we grabbed some food and chatted. During the train ride, we gathered in the dining car, reminiscing about our trip and how much fun we had. After 19 hours, we arrived back in Birmingham, tired but happy. It was bittersweet to leave the train, marking the end of our trip.

This DC trip taught us many things, from navigating the metro to appreciating the city’s architecture and history. It was a memorable journey, fostering a deeper awareness of our country. For the students of the 2023-2024 JBMA middle school year, it was a beautiful and meaningful experience.

We had yet another fun-filled week at the JMBA middle school. On Monday we were invited by Upper Elementary to visit their living wax museum. It was great getting to support our younger schoolmates. This week in math we progressed our graphing to learn all about slope. In science we buckled down on viruses and bacteria, discussing the best ways to prevent diseases. We also all got to do a little bacteria sleuthing and swabbed different parts of the school to see where the most bacteria would grow from. Then with Ms. Hallie, to prepare for our trip to Washington DC, we started reading “Diary of a Young Girl” to get some real insight into the events of the Holocaust. Then on Friday to wrap it up we watched the movie “Life is Beautiful,” and there may have been a few tears shed. All in all it was a great week and we are counting down the days to our big DC trip!

The middle school did so many cool things this week. We started the week off with a BANG and got to watch the coolest event, the SOLAR ECLIPSE. In math we switched gears to plotting points on graphs with Mrs. Regina. With Mrs. Hallie, we read a chapter from the book called Braiding Sweetgrass. We read the chapter called The Council of Pecans. The author talked about her grandfather, and how lived his life. Also in that chapter, we learned about Mast Fruiting, and how it works. We started learning about bacteria and viruses in Science, which was fun! Midweek the drama crew gave us all a sneak peek of the Lion King play, which was very entertaining. We had a blast cheering on our fellow classmates who were in the performance. In Humanities we learned about The Bill of Rights, and we then played a cool game about it. This week was such a blast, and we cant wait for what comes next!

This was such an interesting week. So earlier in the week with Mrs. Hallie, we started to learn about Native Americans, Jamestown, and land acknowledgments. With Ms Regina, we studied for a math test, wrapped up our current science study on cells, and started getting ready for our science test. Later, we all gathered and did a fun activity where we learned about the branches of government, and how they work. We also created cell models for science and people made them out of awesome things. On Friday, we had our seminar on our land acknowledgments for Native Americans, and all of the students created their own questions to discuss. Later in the day, we broke into 3 groups and started planning things for the DC trip and the spring dance. This week was super a blast and we had a great time doing teamwork-related projects.

At JBMA Middle School, students had another action-packed week packed with fun experiences. Early in the week, they journeyed to the heart-pounding, fan-shouting excitement of a Birmingham Squadron basketball game. They had a blast in the stands with fellow students and joined in a charged atmosphere of cheering fans. In science class, they delved into the curious world of genetics. The remainder of the week, diligent efforts were poured into crafting the initial drafts of their Q3 essays, demonstrating their commitment to academic excellence. Additionally, the school middle school rallied together to nearly finalize their community project for Lion King for drama. All in all we had a fun-filled week with lots of screams and tons of accomplishment!

This week was such an engaging week! To start off with Mrs. Hallie, we finished a book that we were reading called The Outsiders. The book was awesome to read and had many twists and turns, and maybe at the end, even a few tears. Also, we started to dive in and talk about an essay assignment that we are going to write, which is going to be such a great tool for us to learn. In science with Mrs. Regina, we extracted some DNA from a strawberry, it was really fun, and the concoction looked like pink lemonade. In math, we are learning about how to do fractions and division with polynomials which was a unique puzzle of its own. On Thursday we all gathered and watched a movie called The Sandlot which was SO good. It kept us laughing the entire time! With that, we also enjoyed some pizza, soda, and dessert. This week was a blast and we can’t wait for what comes next!

Last week was awesome at JMBA Middle School! We had a lot of fun doing different activities that were super engaging. With Ms. Hallie, we learned how to break down sentences with diagramming. It was challenging, but we all got the hang of it.

Ms. Regina taught us about genetics and reproduction. It was fascinating to learn about the creation of new life. During the lab session, we propagated vegetables and learned about their reproductive process. It was fun to get our hands dirty and learn about how plants can make more of themselves.

Also, a special thank you to all of our parents who joined us on Parent’s Night and volunteered their time and energy to our upcoming dance!!

This week was so exciting! To start off, with Mrs. Regina, we finished our study of the human body and its systems. Later, with Mrs. Hallie, we were introduced to the TIDE paragraph. Learning about this paragraph was really cool because it follows a specific format, and we connected it with “The Outsiders.” Speaking of which, this week, while reading “The Outsiders,” we finished chapters 5 and 6, which was very exciting. In math, we also learned about fractions and how they mix into other math operations. We also analyzed a poem by Robert Frost, “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” It was a beautiful poem. Additionally, we engaged in a lot of self-reflection. This was an amazing week, and the middle school can’t wait for what comes next!

This week we have started many new adventures! On Monday with Mrs Hallie, we learned about Human Rights and its values to the world. Also in STEM class, we did a cool experiment on connecting two strings to a hanger, and then you hear the vibrations when the hanger is hit at some object. The next day with Mrs Regina, we dove into a very cool science class. We learned about different systems in the body. We also created a lung model made out of soda bottles and balloons! We all celebrated Valentine’s Day with a board game party and little treats. In the days following, we started a humanities project that is about a violation of Human Rights, and what you could do to help it. But the real excitement started on Friday (isn’t Friday always the BEST). Cooper’s family brought in their kangaroo and wallaby for the entire class, which was so exciting and very nice of the Reynolds family. This week has been a wild amount of fun!

We learned and started so many great assignments at the beginning of the week. In math, we have a test next week, so Mrs. Regina, made it a review week. This is when we review all of the things that are going to be on the test and if we need help on any specific part. With Ms. Hallie, we read The Outsiders! With this, we learned some really great skills like note-taking, how to color code well, and some other very fun things. With that, in the coming days, we also went over sentence diagramming and a few super fun papers with Mrs. Hallie. On Wednesday, we dissected frogs. It was so awesome, exploring the body and connecting that through what we learned for anatomy. The next day we practised our memorizing skills by learning the first 5 articles of Human Rights. Then in Ms. Hallie’s class, we learned about how Human Rights is appliyed the diffrent parts of the world. Which is really cool because it showed us how the world needs to help and support each other. Then in Humanities, we dove into our new theme, Agency!