Wilmette Junior High School - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Wilmette Junior High School, abbreviated WJHS, is a school serving seventh and eighth grade students in the Wilmette, Illinois

Wilmette, Illinois

Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located north of Chicago's downtown district and has a population of 27,651. Wilmette is considered a bedroom community in the North Shore district...

public school District 39. When the school opened in 1962 it was called Locust Junior High School, but its name was changed in 1979 upon the closing of its counterpart, Howard Junior High School, in the eastern part of town. WJHS is located directly west of Highcrest Middle School

Highcrest Middle School

Highcrest Middle School is a middle school in Wilmette, Illinois. It teaches grades 5-6 from 4 main grade schools, Romona, Harper, Central, and Mckenzie,-Academics:There are sixteen teachers for fifth grade and sixteen for sixth grade...

, which serves the district's fifth and sixth grade students. The two schools are separated by a large complex of recreational fields used by both schools' physical education classes and extra-curricular programs, including soccer, football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, cross country

Cross country running

Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, and field hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

. A bicycle path

Segregated cycle facilities

Segregated cycle facilities are marked lanes, tracks, shoulders and paths designated for use by cyclists from which motorised traffic is generally excluded...

crosses the fields and connects the two schools for bicyclists

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

and pedestrian

Pedestrian

A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...

s. WJHS students are required to wear a uniform during physical education classes.

Organization

At any given time the school has around 800 students, with a population bubble experienced by the New Trier Township

New Trier Township, Illinois

New Trier Township is a township located in the northeast corner of Cook County, Illinois, north of Chicago. As of the 2000 census, the township had a total population of 56,716....

High School district effecting WJHS between 2002 and 2005. This has resulted in a student population of 950 during the 2007-2008 school year. The students are separated into four teams per grade, with three main teams consisting of 5 teachers and between 75-150 students(named A, B, and C). Teachers individually specialize in the subjects of Reading

Reading (process)

Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing or deriving meaning . It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas...

, Writing

Writing

Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...

, Social Studies

Social studies

Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...

, Science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

, and Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

. All eight teams also have a faculty member functioning as a Learning Behavioral Specialist (LBS). Students are additionally required to take a Modern or Classical Language (French, Spanish, Latin, and German are offered), Related Arts (photography, drama, music, 3D art, 2D art, and economics (used to be public speaking)), and Physical Education (which includes units on health and sexual education; all other units are electives). In seventh grade, students participate in six related arts sessions, each lasting for six weeks, that allows them to sample what the school has to offer. In eighth grade students pick four sessions each lasting nine weeks. The day is organized into 9 periods: the five core subjects, lunch, physical education, Related arts, and Foreign Language.

The school has a number of student clubs, and conducts many fund raising activities such as Relay For Life

Relay For Life

Relay For Life is the main volunteer-driven cancer fundraising event of the American Cancer Society. Originating in the United States, the Relay For Life event has spread to 21 countries. Relay events are held in local communities, campus universities, military bases, and in cyberspace...

. In the 2005-2006 school year, WJHS raised over $50,000 to aid Hurricane victims. During the 2008-2009 school year, students at Wilmette Junior High and the rest of district 39 raised over 41,000 dollars for Kirathon. Students also participate in food, book, pet food, and clothing drives. Students can also participate in WJHS's sports programs, which include girls' and boys' basketball, coed soccer, girls' field hockey, girls' and boys' volleyball, track and field, boys wrestling, and cross country. The eighth grade girls' basketball team went undefeated throughout their season, and in general, WJHS sports are competitive. The seventh grade A team won 13-1. WJHS also has a stellar band and orchestra program that often has many concerts throughout the year. This year the band has been offered to play at the entrance of Six Flags Great America.

Each school year, the school has a Holocaust Remembrance Day where two Holocaust survivors come and talk to the eight graders about their experience. Each year there are less and less Holocaust survivors and WJHS students are very lucky to be able to learn and hear about the Holocaust from a person who actually experienced the wrath of Hitler and the Nazis. Aaron Dubnow's grandfather, Leo Melamed

Leo Melamed

Leo Melamed is a former chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange , current board member of CME Group and chairman of the CME Group Foundation. He is a longtime executive in the field of global derivatives....

, a holocaust survivor, and Mr. Walter Reed came to speak during the 2008-2009 school year.

2008-2009 classes and clubs at WJHS are participating in Kirathon, an event that benefits the art therapy program at Children's Memorial Hospital. This fundraiser was an amazing success with many schools participating and thousands of dollars raised.

Organization

See also