3rd Grade Biography Project

Last week, our third graders presented book reports and dressed as the subject of their chosen biography of a famous person from history. A biography is a detailed description about the life of a person. Beyond learning basic facts like education, career, family, and death, students learned about relationships that person made and their impact on our country. We had so much fun learning about famous people!

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Top L to R: Michelle Obama, Pete Seeger, Florence Nightingale (2), Michael Jordan. Bottom L to R: Anne Frank, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Neil Armstrong, Harry Houdini.

Sacagawea

Abraham Lincoln

Amelia Earhart

Serena Williams

Queen Elizabeth

Faculty Spotlight: Mrs. Sarah Moncrief

I teach (subject/grade) or your department: 8th Grade Math

I've Taught for (length of time): 9 years (4 at STJ)

Hometown: Monroeville, Alabama

High school: Monroe Academy

College/Degree: Auburn University (BS in Secondary Mathematics Education) War Eagle!!

Favorite Book: I don't get to read as much as I would like with little kids running around at home, but anything by Nicholas Sparks!

Favorite Movie: The Little Mermaid

Favorite Food: My grandmother's homemade biscuits!

Married to: Danny Moncrief

Children: 2 (Dixon - 5 and Darby Lynn - 1)

Church: Hope Hull United Methodist Church

Fun Fact: Disney World is my favorite place to go for a vacation! 

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Welcoming our newest little Trojans

Today is the day! Acceptance letters and our famous spirit boxes are being mailed to PreK3, K4, and Kindergarteners today. We are SO excited to welcome our newest little Trojans to the STJ family for the 2020-2021 school year. It’s a great day at STJ!

Kate Bartlett, Associate Dean of Admissions; Cathy Pearson, Dean of Admissions; and Laura Hassell, Admissions Counselor, pose with the stack of spirit boxes waiting to be mailed. Spirit boxes are mailed to each newly accepted K3, K5, and Kindergarten students!

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Faculty Spotlight: Mrs. Andrea Harris

I teach: Elementary School Principal

I've Taught for: Principal for 3 years, taught in the classroom for 13 years

Hometown: Pike Road, AL

High school: Alabama Christian Academy

College/Degree: Auburn University / BS and MEd in Early Childhood Education, additional certification in Instructional Leadership. War Eagle!

Favorite Book: Jane Eyre

Favorite Movie: Under the Tuscan Sun

Favorite Food: Phad Thai

Married to: Martin Harris

Children: Zane, age 13 and Maggie, age 10...both at STJ! I also have three other children: my 14-year-old long coat Chihuahua named Spitfire (my shadow), a pound kitty named Charlotte, and a ragdoll kitty named Booey

Church: Saint James UMC

Fun Fact: I moved to UK after college and spent 3 years there teaching Kindergarten in a local village school on the south coast!  I met my husband there, we married in England, and moved to the US a couple of months later!  

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Pioneer Quilting

Fourth graders are studying pioneer times in history class. Pioneers were early American settlers who migrated west to join in settling and developing new areas in the 1700s and 1800s.

“We did a fun project involving stitching. We had to stitch four types of stitches.The first stitch I did was a strait-stitch then a back-stitch. After that, a running-stitch and a cross-stitch for the last one. I like how it turned out.”

— Rafe Sherwood, grade 4

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Pioneer women often quilted and stitched together. Students participated in a project and stitched their own quilt style square. Each student chose his or her own pattern and colored yarn to use on this project. Students used burlap, a material that the pioneers used.

“We spent a few days working on this project. We had four different stitches we had to use. Running stitch,back stitch, straight stitch, and cross stitch. First we had to make a symmetrical design. We did this because we are studying pioneers and the women would stitch.”

— Maggie Whatley, grade 4

On the Road to College

By: Zoe Tatum, junior

The anticipation of where will you spend the next four years has begun to strike the junior and senior classes of Saint James School! College visits are in full swing. This past weekend I visited the University of Georgia. The size and difficulty of this school was intimidating, but it surely did get me excited about choosing where I would thrive most in college. The question of college is something Saint James deeply focuses on. Not only do college visits give the juniors and seniors a taste of the college experience, but college representatives have been visiting from schools around the country. This helps the junior and seniors get information about the schools and hopefully inspire them to go and tour. Go Trojans!

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Los meses del año

Second graders are learning the months of the year this week in Spanish class. All elementary students, grades Pre-K3 through 5th grade visit Spanish enrichment weekly.

“We are learning the months of the year in Spanish!”

— Matilda Machin, grade 2

Will you be my Valentine?

Heart themed elementary artwork displayed in the hallways.

Happy Valentines Day from STJ! We hope your day is filled with love!

Our Kindergarten team looking lovely in their custom Valentine’s Day shirts.

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CSI STJ

by: Mrs. Whigham, 8th grade science

The students enter the classroom only to discover that there has been a murder!  Mrs. Whigham's classroom has been transformed into a bloody crime scene and an investigation is underway!  First thing on the agenda… fingerprinting! The fingerprint continues to be one of the most important and valuable pieces of forensic evidence. Fingerprints are unique for each person. There are even slight differences in the fingerprints of identical twins. By comparing fingerprints at a crime scene with a suspect’s fingerprint record, officials can establish a person’s presence at a particular location.  In this fun activity students learn about forensic science and the details of fingerprinting in a fun, interactive way.  

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“The students didn’t commit the crime, they solved it!”

— Mrs. Whigham

Famous Alabamians

Fourth graders created a poster highlighting a famous Alabamian as part of the Alabama history unit. Each student chose a subject who they admired and researched about his or her life and accomplishments. Student uploaded their work and a brief caption on the SeeSaw app, our digital portfolio. We loved learning about the diverse group of famous people from our state!

“This is my Famous Alabamian project. I did my research and poster on Jesse Owens. I think he is awesome because he was really fast and cool.”

— Royce Conner, grade 4

“This is my famous Alabamian project. I did my research and poster on Heather Whitestone. I think she is awesome because she is the first deaf Ms. America.”

— Joud Al-Ansar, grade 4

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“This is my famous Alabamian project. I did my research and poster on Mia Hamm. I think she is awesome because we have the same name... and she won 2 world cups and one gold medal!”

— Mia Zukowski, grade 4

“This is my famous Alabamian project. I did my research and poster on Tallulah Bankhead! I think she is interesting because when I grow up I want to be a actress and a comedian.”

— Kendall Dunson, grade 4