Joseph City School District

DNA Extraction Lab When you aren't sure if a Biology Lab is difficult or not, you have the Chemistry Class try it. These Chemistry students are excellent with their lab techniques and understanding how different lab equipment works. They were handed the lab sheet and proceeded with the lab without any help from Mrs. Bushman. They also took the DNA that they extracted from the Wheat Germ and were able to look at it under the microscope. In the next few weeks a few will come in a do this lab as a demonstration for the Biology class. The ultimate goal of Chemistry is for all the students to have lab independence.

Today in Anatomy & Physiology, students started to become familiar with normal heart sounds, normal lung sounds, and how to take a manual blood pressure.

Reminder for JC Schools bus riders.... Today is a 3-Bus day!

Proportionately speaking, how do the planets distance out from the Sun? If 1AU equals 4 squares of toilet paper, then Pluto (Arizona has such a hard time with Pluto being demoted to a Dwarf) is 156 toilet paper squares away from the Sun and the Keiper Belt is 200 toilet paper squares away from the Sun . . . . . . . that is more that 1/2 a roll of school toilet paper. The inner planets look squished together, but really Venus is a bright tiny dot in the sky right now. Andromeda Galaxy (the closest galaxy to our Milky Way Galaxy) is 160 BILLION AU's away from our Sun - that is 640Billion toilet paper squares - I don't think I want to count that high, I don't know if I could count that high and I don't think we have that much toilet paper or even that much room.

Chemistry is not always logical (unless that you understand deeper concepts). When mixing a certain amount of one pH with the same amount of another pH, you would think that they would average out . . . . . that is LOGICAL . . . . . . but when it doesn't work, you learn about Molarity. This lab involved the use of Burettes with Hydrochloric Acid and requires the careful use of fragile equipment . Our students worked brilliantly and who doesn't like see the colors that different pH's produce. This lab was written by Mrs. Bushman and can be found on ASU's Arizona STEM Acceleration Project website, titled Logical Chemistry.

The Gummy Bear Lab is a hard one in Biology since everyone wants to eat the Gummy Bears. The Gummy Bear lab demonstrates Osmosis and how water shifts from the lesser sugar concentration to greater sugar concentration. Our Biology students created different percentages of sugar water to see how much sugar is in a Gummy Bear; not 5%, 10%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35% or even 40%. Mrs. Bushman then made a 90% sugar water solution and the Gummy Bear stayed the same size. Easy eating Gummy Bears - that is a lot of sugar!

Joseph City Wrestling would like to thank the entire community for your help in hosting the Joseph City Wrestling Invitationals over the weekend. We hosted 23 boys' and 23 girls' teams from all over AZ, with teams from NM and CA. Well, over 1,000 wrestling matches were contested. We could not have done any of this without the outstanding support of this community.

Food distribution OPEN TO ALL. Every 2nd Thursday of the month at Winslow Indian Heathcare Center parking lot (500 North Indiana Ave, Winslow, AZ); 1:30 pm until 3:30 pm. Next event Thursday, January 9. Sponsored Flagstaff Family Food. Center.

Joseph City Arts Children’s Theatre program announces auditions for Finding Nemo Kids NEXT WEEK on Wednesday January 15 and Thursday January 16 between 5 and 7PM. Students in Joseph City and surrounding communities grades 2-7 are invited to come. At auditions each student will be asked to sing a short acapella song (This can be as simple as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”), read a short part of the script, and participate in a group improv activity. Students are free to leave after they have completed all three parts and do not need to attend both days. Students will be cast shortly after auditions and we will hold a mandatory parents/student meeting on Tuesday January 21 to talk more about the program and expectations. Similar to other JC programs, there will be a small fee for participation: 1st Child, $15, Each additional Child, $5. This fee will be due at rehearsal Jan 28, 5:30). Households and/or multiple children means a group of kids who share a guardian. Not a group of kids that live at one address. To qualify for the reduced rate, all fees for each student must be paid at the same time. (If a parent pays for 2 students on Jan 21, and then a 3rd student decides to participate on Jan 23, the 3rd student pays $15.00). No refunds. Help spread the word! Questions: email JasonWhetten@jcusd.org

Congratulations to the boys basketball team. They came away with the championship of the SFE Chinle Basketball Tournament this past Saturday!

The "Silver Tree" Experiment is a displacement reaction where the copper is replaced by the silver to form "Silver Crystals". As this displacement is occurring, the clear Silver Nitrate becomes Copper Nitrate and the liquid turns blue in color. 2 AgNO3 + Cu → Cu(NO3)2 + 2 Ag While these would be cool Christmas ornaments, they are very delicate and breakable.

The Joseph City Wrestling Invitational will be on Friday and Saturday, 10-11 January. We are rightfully proud of this event in Joseph City as it was one of the Premier wrestling tournaments in the state that weekend. If you are interested in helping with the tournament, please get in touch with me at the school for more information. ~Coach Fischer

Last weekend, the Joseph City Wrestling Teams competed at the Jim Wayman Memorial tournament hosted by Lee Williams High School in Kingman, AZ. The boys' team went 3-3 in dual competition and had several medalists in the individual portion. The girts medaled several wrestlers in the girls' tournament as well.

The home HS Basketball games scheduled for tomorrow (12/17) against Hopi HS have been rescheduled. They will now be played on January 4th.

Molar Playdough! What is the best way to check your calculations? To see if you end up with the product you should end up with. Recipe for playdough given in moles - students had to calculate the grams/ mole for flour, salt, oil, and cream of tartar and then calculate how many grams they needed. If the playdough worked out, their calculations were correct!

We invite you to attend the JCES Christmas Program tonight at 6pm at the B.G. Bennett Auditorium. Students should arrive between 5:30 and 5:45 dressed nicely. Merry Christmas.

Look at what we received today just in time for the Joseph City Wrestling Invitationals! A big thank you goes to the Joseph City Schools Students, Staff, Administration, and patrons. This community's support is fantastic!

The Joseph City Schools K-12 Academic Calendars for 2025-26 and 2026-27 have been released. You can view them at www.jcusd.org on either the School menu or the Parent Resources menu.

Yesterday, Joseph City JH/HS , Junior Achievement in Arizona, and community volunteers teamed up to provide the Money in Motion program to our students. The program uses realistic simulations to teach students how to plan for their financial futures. Students are given a career and a monthly income and have to budget their income in 12 different categories (education, transportation, personal care, etc). to learn about the cost of living and the importance of planning. Thanks to Junior Achievement and our community volunteers!

Merry Christmas from JCHS! Thanks to Jennifer Westover for setting up an incredible JCHS themed tree!