Hi, I’m Kimberly McCage, and I couldn’t be more excited to be your new Junior High Principal! I believe school should be a place where energy and fun go hand-in-hand with hard work and big goals! You’ll see me working right alongside our teachers and students to make sure we don’t just coast through junior high—we rise to our highest potential. Around here, “mediocre” isn’t in the vocabulary (and if it is, I’ll happily send it to detention). I can’t wait to get started and to make this year our best yet! Lets Go Lions!
Lions
Mrs. McCage
A Letter From The Principal
First Day of School Pics
Lunch Bunch
Ready For School
First Day With a New Principal
Ponder Junior High Student Council
Student Council is always there when you need them. They were a huge help the first day of school.
Inside the Classroom
By:Triston Sands, Parker Jackson, Logan Mueller, Kendall Custy, Maddie Wright, and Katelyn Starr
Mrs. Jarrat's AV class working hard
Hexagonal thinking with Mrs. Akins and Mrs. Thedford
Students in Computer Science reviewing problem solving skills!
Editing the newsletter in GT!
8th period flute class learning the basics!
Coding in GT!
Student Spotlight
By:Liam Lapinski, Cooper Moore, Truitt Laney, Eddie Jones, Andison Smith, Andrea Soto
Bryson Simas
This is Bryson Simas. He is in 7th grade. His favorite thing to do in his free time is playing sports and hanging with his friends at the park. His favorite subject is math and he succeeds in his classes by studying and staying focused. The main thing that keeps him going is remembering his family. He is a great athlete and student and continues to work hard.
Alejandra Sandoval
Interview Questions with Answers
What is your favorite subject? Spanish
What are you interested in? Track
What is your favorite food/candy? Sea food
Who is your role model, and why? Her grandpa because he fought in the Vietnamese war.
What is your favorite color? Navy blue
Boys Athletics
By: Kannon Barksdale, Beau Penland, Levi Davis
The new football turf looks awesome.
Add these football games to your calendar and pack the stands!
Football Weather Meeting
Football practice was cut in half because of the heat!
Boys running in pre-athletics.
Boys Athlete of The Week
By: Truitt Morris, Mason Garcia, Parker Calhoun
Name
Interview questions
1 How did your hit feel? “It felt good”.
2 What is your favorite part about athletics so far? “Being with friends”.
3 What’s your favorite sport? “Football”!
4 What do you think is the hardest part about football? “Defense”!
5 How many years have you been playing football? “6 or 7”.
Girls Athletics
By: Madi Reid, Georgia Angeley, Cori Johnson
Please come out and support our 2nd game on Monday at Boyd at 5pm to watch our A teams and B teams.
Come and support our Jr High XC!
Girls Athlete of the Week
By: Lilli Allred and Kaylee Martin
Hadley Rilea
Interview Questions
What does leadership mean to you? Hadley said always try to be your best even if you don't want to.
What does sportsmanship mean to you? Hadley said to always be kind no matter the situation and always cheer on your teammates.
What's your favorite sport and why? She said cross country because of the community it builds.
What do you do outside of school? She likes to walk her goats for FFA.
Happenings at PJH
By: Mason Hanes, Easton Nordie, Tucker Dishman, Rozalee Sanchez, Iker Carcia, and Jesus Jimenez
In 7th grade ELA, they are reading Rouge Wave by Theodore Taylor.
Rylin having a good day!
Having fun at lunch!!!
Breakfast was a pop tart.
PJH is looking different this year!
Beginning of the year MAP test is complete. It is time to set goals for the middle of the year.
All About Books
By: Braxton Wood and Eve Raymond
Author spotlight!
Rachel Renée Russell: Rachel Renée Russell is the author of the popular "Dork Diaries" series, And The Misadventures Of Max Crumbly FUN FACT!: She is also an attorney
Shel Silverstein was a famous author in the 20th century, making famous books like “Falling Up” and “The Giving Tree”, which many children (and probably you at some point) have read.
The Giving Tree is about a book where a young child spends a lot of quality time with a tree, treating it as a family or friend. As the child grows up, he progressively spends less and less time with the tree, later only visiting the tree for various resources or with another person. As a teenager, the tree lends apples for him to get some money. As a man, the tree gives its branches so he can build a house. As a middle-aged man, he uses the trunk for a boat. With every time the tree gave to him, she was happy. However, both the tree and the man felt their consequences of repetitive giving or taking. Finally, when only a stump in the ground remains, the boy (now an old man) comes back, but the tree cannot give anything more. The old man asks the tree for a “quiet place to sit and rest”, and the tree happily provides. With the final gift of the tree, both of the characters were happy.
Weather
By: Ethan Johnson
Hurricane Erin:
Hurricane Erin is currently a category 3 major hurricane with wind speeds of 105 mph. This huge storm,which is one of the most rapidly changing hurricanes ever,is currently bringing storm surge warnings to North Carolina and threatening the east coast.
Global News
By: Jackson Fairbanks
About like 6-7 years ago, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France burned down due to an electrical fire. They think. The cathedral holds thousands of years of history. It was built over hundreds of years between 1163-1345, and has made it through wars, revolutions, and now a fire. The cathedral is one of the most recognized examples of French Gothic architecture across the world. Several relics are housed and displayed there, including the Crown of Thorns and lots of important artwork across the centuries. Most of these relics were quickly moved to the Louvre and other safe locations for safe keeping during the fire. After the fire almost everything was mostly intact but the roof and spire. The cathedral’s stained glass windows, specifically the Rose Windows, survived the fire. Good news! They are almost done reconstructing it. After a $900 million dollar restoration, the main cathedral was reopened to the public in December of 2024, but the famous twin bell towers have taken more time to restore. The towers are set to reopen in September after reconstruction is finished. The bell towers were once the tallest structures in the city. They are also considered to be iconic parts of the Paris skyline. The cathedral is widely recognized as a symbol of resilience and enduring peace in France. Pictures of the fire are below.There is also a new pope, in fact he is the very first American pope.
Teacher Spotlight
By:Madeline Hunt, Charlie Chappell, Saylor Nightengale
Mrs. North
Mrs. North - 6th Grade Advanced Math
1-What is your favorite unit of math to teach? Answer- Equations and Inequalities.
2-Why did you pick math to teach? Answer- She had an amazing math teacher and she would love to be that to someone else.
3-When did you start teaching at Ponder? Answer-It’s her 3rd year at Ponder, and 9 years teaching total.
4- Will you ever move out of Ponder? Answer- “No, because my husband has farm land out in Ponder. If I were to move it would be because something crazy were to happen.”
5-What college did you go to? Answer- "University of North Texas”
6- What is one of your favorite aspects of Ponder? Answer- The small towns welcoming community.
Ponder Junior High
940-479-8220
501 Shaffner Street. Ponder, TX 72259