The Jaguar`s Roar Upcoming Events

March 2014
The Jaguar’s Roar
the official newsletter of Orlando Junior Academy
OJA
Mrs. Miler’s Class
Uses iPads for
Interactive Math
Tutorials
The students create an original
math word problem then they
make a tutorial on how to solve
the problem using the Educreations app on the iPad. Once
completed they can share their
tutorial online.
Head. Heart. Hand.
Orlando Junior Academy exists to develop a love for learning
and a joy of service while following Jesus.
Spelling Bee
written by
Leanne Andino
On Friday, January 10, the Fourth Annual OJA Spelling Bee was held at
the Florida Hospital SDA Church. The streets of College Park literally swarmed with
student and teacher “bees,” who were dressed in black and yellow to celebrate, as
they walked the few blocks from the school to the church that morning.
After a devotional, the Bee for the first through third grades began.
Twelve participants walked to the microphone one by one and spelled their given
word. For the first few rounds, hardly any one missed a word. Then, slowly, as the
words reached the third and fourth grade levels, the students began to miss their
assigned word. After 45 minutes of spelling, three students remained. They were
now spelling sixth and seventh grade level words! Olivia Nelson claimed the $75
first place prize by spelling the word “entrance.” Glenn Melnichenko placed second,
and Lexy Zepeda placed third.
Later, 15 students from grades five through eight lined the stage to begin
their spelling battle. Words such as: prognosticate, ostracism, portmanteau and
carcinogen were either missed or spelled correctly. After approximately 40 minutes
and over 15 rounds, eighth grader Jimmie Boatright withstood the fight that fourth
grader Ethan Tran gave him and won the first place prize of $100 and the right
to compete in the Central Florida regional in March. The winner of OJA’s fourth
through eighth grade bee will compete with the winners of all local schools in the
55th Annual Orlando Sentinel District Spelling Bee in March. The winner of the
Orlando Sentinel Bee will then go to Washington, D.C. in June for the National Bee.
Upcoming Events
March 11th-14th WrAP Testing
The WrAP provides a direct measure of writing ability via a writing sample
from each student based on grade level
March 18th-21st Billie Swamp Outdoor School
The kids get back to nature with this outdoor school experience.
March 31st Parent Teacher Conferences begin
Students on the “Big Screen” with Chef Emeril
Imagine OJA student faces on a 40x20 foot screen surrounded
by bright lights, cameras and a good-hearted celebrity. That’s
what greeted the approximately 40* attendees at the Edible
Schoolyard Town Hall as they viewed the Cooking Channel
segment of Emeril’s Florida reporting on Chef Kevin Fonzo and
the good things happening at OJA.
The event was kicked-off by Principal Agbonkhese who welcomed the audience and explained how the Edible Schoolyard aligns with OJA’s mission and philosophy of experiential
learning with the results of this teaching method being highly
engaged students who are becoming creative problem-solvers.
Janice Banks introduced OJA’s ESY Team, highlighted the work
of the ESY Committee, and recognized four years of individual and company partners whose support, so far, has totaled
$40,000+.
Chef Kevin Fonzo made a strong case for why dedicated classroom space is needed, in the form of a Kitchen House, in order
to teach nutritional science. The audience was quick to sympathize with Fonzo’s description of professional chefs trying to
teach nutrition and life-skills in a make-shift space with no hot
water, no oven or stove and less-than-ideal sanitary conditions.
With support for OJA’s educational philosophy and having
demonstrated the need, John Monday and Jose Venegas concluded the town hall session with the ESY Orlando story and
design concept drawings for the future Kitchen House and Nutritional Science Classroom. Mr. Monday spoke of God’s abundant provisions related to this project, the relevance this project
will bring to the Orlando community, and encouraged the OJA
family to watch for exciting partnership announcements.
Students Learn about Morse
The 4th grade class made a visit to the Morse
Museum in Winter Park. The Charles Hosmer
Morse Museum of American Art is the world’s
most comprehensive collection of Tiffany stained
glass in the world. We saw beautiful stained
glass windows and a collection of Tiffany lamps
and then went inside the original Tiffany Chapel
that has been reconstructed in the museum.
Grades 1-2 were treated to an art class visit by a Docent
named Mrs. Gaffney, from the Morse Museum. She
talked about tsubas which are Japanese discs decorated
with nature themes that were used by Samurai to sheave
their swords and protect their hands from the sharp
edge. They were each unique to ones family, somewhat
like a coat of arms is. Tiffany collected thousands of these
because he liked the nature designs on them. The art
classes had the treat of designing their own tsubas!
Stay Informed
For regular updates on school events“Like” us on Facebook:
fb.com/OrlandoJuniorAcademy
follow the school on Twitter:
twitter.com/DiscoverOJA
follow our website:
www.DiscoverOJA.com