North Judson-San Pierre 6th Grader Spreads Kindness with Her Award Winning Design

A North Judson-San Pierre middle school student was chosen as a finalist in a nation-wide charitable design contest. At last night’s NJSP School Board meeting, sixth grade teacher JoAnn Gappa and her student Hailey Wright spoke to board members about the Wonder Kind Project.

Mrs. Gappa told board members that her students have recently been reading and working with the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio. One activity she provided to her students was to create a visual representation of kindness and inclusion for a design challenge. GAP Kids started the Choose Kind Challenge inspired by the book, which centers around a child with a Craniofacial condition.

Wright explained the challenge to the members of the board saying, “We all had to design a t-shirt and bunch of other teachers around the world did it and they only picked 8 finalists.” She said her inspiration for her design was to show how we are all different but still “fit in” Continue reading

Adventure Island Preschool to Lease Space at Former N.J.-S.P. Middle School

NJSP Middle School
Adventure Island Preschool will join the Starke County Community Foundation as a tenant of the former N.J.-S.P. Middle School

The former North Judson-San Pierre Middle School building will have another new tenant come January. The school board voted last night to lease the former family and consumer science classroom to Adventure Island Preschool through May for $350 per month. Continue reading

N.J.-S.P. Superintendent Backtracks on Elementary School Closure

NJSP Elementary School
North Judson-San Pierre Elementary School

The North Judson-San Pierre School Board will revisit plans to close the current elementary school building at a future meeting, according to Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin. It will open as a kindergarten-6th grade facility when school starts next week following action by the board at a special-called May 9th meeting. Seventh and 8th grade classes will meet at the high school. Continue reading

Area Academic Team Gathers State Championship

 
 

North Judson-San Pierre Middle School students participating in the Social Studies Academic Team has a seventh state championship.

The eight-member team recently competed in the Indiana Academic Super Bowl Junior Competition at LaPorte High School on May 2 and answered 21 out of 25 questions correctly. The topic was “The Grandeur that was Rome” which included questions in the areas in Math, Science, Social Studies, and English.

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Local Student to Compete in National Geographic State Bee

National Geographic BeeA North Judson-San Pierre Middle School student is a semifinalist in the 2015 Indiana National Geographic State Bee. Eighth-grader Cameron Kolasa finished first in the school level competition. School bees took place at schools with 4th through 8th grade students. Winners at the school level took a qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. Up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories were invited to compete in the state bees. Indiana’s will take place Friday, March 27 in Indianapolis. Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre Middle School Principal Makes Good on Promise

One lucky student got the first chance to shave Principal Kelly Shepherd's head. The assembly took place on Friday, September 30th

Students from the North Judson-San Pierre Middle School recently held the 6th annual Walk for Wellness and they were able to raise $9,070. Middle School Principal, Kelly Shepherd, said that if the students raised $10,000, students could shave his head. Mr. Shepherd said that even though they didn’t raise the $10,000, the students did such a good job and he would let them shave his head. Mr. Wes Radtke and Mr. Phil Shabi allowed the students to color their hair. Mr. Shepherd was nice to send us the pictures of the fun the students had as part of this fundraiser.  Continue reading

North Judson-San Pierre Students Raise $9,070 in Walk for Wellness Fundraiser

Students from the North Judson-San Pierre Middle School recently held the 6th annual Walk for Wellness and they were able to raise $9,070. Middle School Principal, Kelly Shepherd, said that if the students raised over $8,000, Mr. Wes Radtke and Mr. Phil Shabi would allow the students to color their hair. Mr. Shepherd has agreed to let the kids shave his head, even though the students did not reach the $10,000 mark. Mr. Shepherd said the students did such a great job, he’s going to let them do it anyway. All of the fun begins at 2:15 p.m. this afternoon.

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Drug and Tobacco Free Starke County Awards Grants

Drug and Tobacco Free Starke County recently awarded $18,000 in grants from the Drug Free Starke County Fund. Grants were awarded in three categories: Prevention, Treatment and Justice.

The recipients include North Judson-San Pierre Middle School and High School, City of Knox for National Night Out, TAR WARS “Beware of Tobacco”, Knox Middle School for two programs, Porter-Starke Services for the Prime for Life Program, and Starke County Probation for the Substance Abuse Evaluation Supplementation program. The Knox City Police Department received a thermal imager and money for drug and evidence lockup.

North Judson-San Pierre Students to Participate in Walk for Wellness

North Judson-San Pierre Middle School is holding their 6th annual Walk for Wellness on September 23rd.

The walk and other activities are on Friday, September 23rd and all students will participate in the educational part of the day. Raising $10 allows the student to participate in the walk-a-thon on our track. $15 allows the student to take part in other fun activities provided by each grade level team. Past activities have included swimming, minute to win it, and an obstacle course.

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