November 4, 2019
Administrator's Corner

Parents and Guardians,

A few reminders as we move into November:
  • AP Payments were due November 1st. If you haven't made the payment yet, please log into "myschoolbucks" and do so.
Padres y Guardianes,

A pocos recordatorios a medida que avanzamos en noviembre:
  • Los pagos AP vencen el 1 de noviembre. Si aún no ha realizado el pago, inicie sesión en "myschoolbucks" y hágalo.

Paula Hammel
Assistant Principal
Quick Links
Week at a Glance - Week of 11/4-11/8
Monday
  • Please click here (or see the above "Athletics Schedule" quick link) to see athletic events for the week
Tuesday-
  • Challenge Day (Juniors with last names A-J)
Wednesday -
  • Challenge Day (Juniors with last names K-Z)
  • Office Hours - 2:14-2:55 p.m.
  • Class of 2023 Parent meeting: 6:30-8:00 p.m. in room 111 
Thursday-
  • Panera Interact fundraiser: 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. (details below)
  • TJ Open House: 6-8:00 p.m.
Friday
Kudos Korner






























On Saturday October 26th the Thomas Jefferson High School Robotics Design 2 students competed in the Rocky Mountain Best Regional Competition at Metro State. The competition was extremely close but
TJ Robotics ended in 4th place after the seeding rounds, made it to the semi final rounds, through to the final rounds and ended up placing in 4th place overall.  This earns the students a chance to compete against the top 40 teams from Colorado, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota on December 7th and 8th. Way to go, Spartans!
SkillsUSA Food Drive for TJ Families

From  November 1st-20th there will be boxes in every classroom in the building. Students can bring non-perishables to contribute to TJ families in need for the holidays. Stay tuned to the Spartan Edition for more information. The class that collects the most food will win their choice of pizza, donuts or ice cream. The goal is to collect enough food to feed 20 families for Thanksgiving. 
Thanks for your support, TJ!
TJ Laptop Fundraising Opportunity
Help Wanted at TJ!
We are in need of two paraprofessionals for our Special Education students. If you are interested, please contact Paula Hammel at paula_hammel@dpsk12.org
Interact Fundraiser
PTO News
The monthly PTO meeting is normally on the second Tuesday of the month; however, the Screenagers documentary part 2 (The Next Chapter: Uncovering Skills for Stress Resilience) is being shown at South High School on Tuesday, November 12th  from 5:30-7pm. In order for everyone to attend the documentary, the PTO's November meeting has been moved to the following week on Tuesday, November 19 th  at 6pm. More details about the meeting agenda will be available soon.
 
Building a stronger community is important at TJ. When someone needs help, Spartans show up. A current TJ family is facing some serious health issues and could use some financial support. Please check out this link to see how you can help.  BOO to Cancer!  

Questions? Looking for ways to get involved? Email  TJHSPTO@gmail.com  or visit the  PTO page  of the TJ Journal.
Service Hours and Volunteer Opportunity
Are you in need of service hours or just looking for an opportunity to volunteer? A Little Help -- an organization that supports older adults in remaining independent in their homes -- has an upcoming Service Saturday on November 9th in Denver.
Volunteers will help mostly with raking leaves for neighbors in the vicinity of TJ on November 9th, you will meet at South High. 
Individuals, group volunteers, and teams from schools and organizations are welcome and encouraged.
For more information and to sign up to volunteer, go to  https://www.alittlehelp.org/ServiceSaturdays  or call 720-242-9032 or contact  tanya@alittlehelp.org!
Youth Mental Health Educational Event
Join our inspiring presentation and resource fair for parents, teachers, and school employees!
Thursday, November 14, 2019 from 5:30-9:00 p.m. 
STEM School Highlands Ranch
FREE Registration at www.healingouryouth.org

Healing Our Youth: Get Educated! is a mental health educational program that educates schools (teachers, administrative staff, school employees), parents, and community members who work with youth about mental disorders. Each event includes a 2 hour panelist presentation ( click here for more details ) and a resource fair. The presentation is from 6:30pm-8:30pm and the resource fair is from 5:30-6:30pm and 8:30pm-9:00pm. For teachers and other professionals, 2 contact hours are awarded for continuing education. The exhibitors at the resource fair include: local mental health hospitals/clinics/networks, suicide awareness programs, nutritionists, private practice counselors and therapists, nonprofits that provide a variety of therapies for mental health issues, eating disorder clinics, local mental health support groups, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Crisis Intervention Team officers from local sheriff and police departments, and many more valuable community resources and support.
Our goal is to educate the adults who are most involved in the lives of our youth so these adults have the knowledge and tools to identify mental health concerns in youth early, which will then hopefully lead to earlier treatment of mental disorders to improve outcomes for our youth with mental health issues.
Spartan Spirit Store
Our store inventory has been moved upstairs and therefore we'll be selling at various events throughout the year. We'll be out cheering on the Spartans at fall sporting events and hope you'll come and purchase spirit wear from us.

Please email  tjhs.store@gmail.com  if you would like to purchase something & we would be happy to get the spirit wear for you. We can arrange to have items picked up.  
Yearbook News
Yearbook Announcements:

Price: The earlier you buy your book, the more you save! Please see the discount schedule below. Buy your book now for the most savings!

Purchase before:
9-27-19 = $50
11-1-19 = $55
1-31-20 = $60

From February 1st on, the book will be $65 until sold out.

Senior Recognition Ad To purchase an ad, please visit the yearbook website.

All information about the yearbook can found on the journal under the News & Events tab or by clicking here.
King Soopers Fundraiser
King Soopers just made FUNDRAISING for TJ even EASIER!
 
All you need to do is register your King Soopers loyalty card number or alternate ID (e.g. phone number) to earn money for TJ. After you register for the program,  a percentage of ALL of your King Soopers purchases will go to TJ.
 
Important: At the point of purchase, you must swipe your loyalty card or type in your alternate ID in order for your purchases to count toward TJ's fundraising.
 
In order to get benefits from the use of your loyalty card/alt id you MUST:
2. Click on Enroll Now
3. You will then see a page where you can choose your organization
4. Search for Thomas Jefferson High School Partners either by name or UT036 and then click Enroll. New users will need to create an account which requires some basic information, a valid email address and a rewards card.
 
That's it! You are now enrolled and can help raise EASY MONEY for TJ's classroom grants, student events and staff appreciation.  Thank you!
 
Questions? Email TJHSPTO@gmail.com
News from the Future Center

12th graders:
Please sign up for College Admission Representative Visits in Naviance:
Sophie Vogel
College Advisor, Thomas Jefferson High School 
Denver Scholarship Foundation | a 501(c)(3) Public Charity  
3950 S. Holly Street  |  Denver, CO 80237 
O 720.423.7134   F 720.423.7098
   
Mental Health and Social/Emotional Tips
Did You Know...?

Many adolescents struggle to regulate their screen time?
 
Does this sound familiar? "I try to get stuff done, but I keep being distracted by screen stuff."
Here are 10 tips to reduce and monitor screen time for your family:
  1. Use tech to manage tech. Young adults are using a web extension to stay on track. "It's calledSelfControl (https://selfcontrolapp.com/) and is helpful for staying on task as it completely blocks any site you want (i.e. Facebook) for an allotted time you set. This is quite helpful for reducing temptation."
  1. Unfollow things that are a time sink for them. They'll stop following "satisfying videos" sites also known as "oddly satisfying videos." Soap cutting, baking, playing with slime, eggshell crushing, paint mixing, etc. fall into this category. 
  1. Make themselves accountable. They may do this by telling a friend or a parent or posting on social media about a new goal for the week - then promise themselves they will report back how they fared that week in attaining the goal.
  1. Turn off notifications. They'll turn off post notifications on Instagram or Snapchat.
  1. Decide not to get social media in the first place. When a student was asked why she had neither Snapchat or Instagram, she said, "I don't want that time sink." She added that it was not a parent's decision but truly her own. Another teen girl told reported she is not going to download Tik Tok for she is sure it will be "too much of a time suck."
  1. Remove their devices at night. We know that accessing our phone at night affects our sleep. Make it a family plan to remove technology from bedrooms at night, and have an ongoing conversation about how sleep patterns change without that interruption.
  1. Put their own limits on their phones. Teens often report that with setups like "ScreenTime" on their phone, they only use social media for 1 or 2 hours a day - and they are happy to have that hard-set limit.
  1. Remove games from their tablet or phone. This simple action reduces temptation.
  1. Replace "online" with "in-life." In Screenagers NEXT CHAPTER we hear from a sweet middle-schooler who talks about playing a lot of video games in 8th grade and one day he stopped and asked himself, "Am I really enjoying this, am I happy?"  which prompted him to call a friend and go out and skateboard which he now does a lot more and it makes him really happy. 
  1. Purposely get grounded from their phone. No joke, teens and tweens have pushed their family screen rules in part to get their phone taken away (for a few days) so they could have a break from their phone but could blame not being able to respond to friends on their parents. Yes, this is rare but it is good food for discussion.

Need ideas for how to start the conversation:
  1. When you realize that you have spent too much time on your screen, what gives you the power to stop?
  2. Let's all pick one of the ideas above to try. But first, try to measure how much time you spend on the screen now. Then, compare that to the amount you spend when you try one of the hacks.

Want to know more? Join us for our next TJ Talks event!

Mental Health and Social Emotional "Did You Know": Compiled by Samanda Davis, LCSW, MSW and Natalie Koncz, Ed.S., NCSP. 
Transition to Higher Education Course - Apply Now!
Please see information attached and information below about the 2020 spring semester of the  Transition to Higher Education Course.   The application is live now!
 
Help 11th grade and 12th grade students with IEP and 504 Plans get connected to learn the essentials for making a seamless and successful transition from high school to higher education!  The Transition to Higher Education course is a free spring semester course for DPS and Cherry Creek School District taught on Auraria Campus by campus faculty and staff on Wednesday evenings from 4:30-6:30 from January 22nd-April 22nd.  See prerequisites and help students apply at the application linked HERE
 
Your student is perfect for this class if they:
-are in 11th grade, 12th grade with an IEP or 504 plan,
-have the ability, skills, and motivation to access college level coursework upon high school completion
-have a postsecondary goal to attend a 2yr, 4yr, or vocational school after high school and 
-meet requirements as outlined in the application
   
Only 15 spaces are available for DPS students, so support eligible students with applying now to be considered for acceptance into the class. We are looking forward to seeing applicants from your school! The application window closes November 21st.  

Food and Nutrition Resources for Families
  • Click here for Food Resource Hotline information
Class News You Can Use
All Classes 
  • Remember - TJ gear is available in the Spartan Store. If you would like to make a purchase, please contact tjhs.store@gmail.com.
Class of 2020 - Seniors
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Megan Perkins ( megandperkins@gmail.com ) or Lisa LoJacono ( lisalojacono@gmail.com ).  
Class of 2021 - Juniors
If you would like to make a donation to the Class of 2021,  please contact   colley_moe@comcast.net
We're looking for volunteers to host future events for our class parents. If interested, please come to the next PTO meeting, or send an email to thetzel@comcast.net ; or colley_moe@comcast.net to find out more. Class sponsors are Jason Klimczak and Elizabeth Lynch. Parent sponsor is Jen Abram - she can be reached at  jenabram18@gmail.com.

CLASS OF 2021 SHIRTS ON SALE
Long sleeve $15 Short Sleeved $10
See Mrs Lynch in Room 11
Class of 2022 - Sophomores
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Julie Rubin (rubin_j@comcast.net) or Marlene Talavera (TJSpartans2022@gmail.com). 

The class of 2022 has two faculty sponsors,  Jillian Gleason and Maggie Kennedy, but parents are needed to work with the staff to plan fundraising activities. Parent sponsors also plan community building activities for the parents of the class of 2022.  Each  class is expected to raise money needed to host their Prom, After Prom and other activities senior year.  The sooner the fundraiser get started, the more choices there will be for events senior year. The time commitment can be as little or as much you can share.   Your involvement in any capacity is important and appreciated. We are successful because of your behind-the-scenes contributions, large and small. It all adds up to a stronger community. An engaged parent body shows our students that we care about them!
 
If you need more information, contact tjhspto@gmail.com, Julie at rubin_j@comcast.net or Marlene at (TJSpartans2022@gmail.com).
Class of 2023 - Freshmen
Attention Class of 2023 Parents!  We had to postpone last week's 2023 Class Fundraising and Kick-off Meeting because of the weather! Please join us THIS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2019, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. in TJ Room 111 instead! Thank you for supporting 2023! 

For more information, send a great idea or if you want to be part of TEAM 23 please contact Christy Jordan:   christy.jordan@comcast.net   OR Catherine Poirier:  cpoirier@bodybark.com

Can you paint?  Build? Organize? Decorate? Volunteer your time to  staff an event? Ask for a donation?  Host a parent party at your house? Help plan an event? Keep track of a budget? Have a matching corporate donation from your company? Set up a table? Help arrange a meeting?  Work a volunteer shift? Just have great ideas? We need you! 
 
Class of 2023 - they need  you & me!