The Scholastic Book Fair is coming! SAVE THE DATE for October 21 & October 23 and get your reader psyched to pick out their own books! Start exploring together.
Create your child’s Book Fair eWallet so they can shop cash-free, worry-free, and independently! It’s easy to set up and easy for others to contribute funds!
Start here: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/highlandelementaryschool3


📸 MJHS Sports Picture Day!
Sports pictures for Boys Basketball, Cheerleading, and the Academic Team will be taken after school on Wednesday, October 15th!
Order your photos online at 👉 inter-state.com/order
using code 0270NFA.
Sports pictures for Boys Basketball, Cheerleading, and the Academic Team will be taken after school on Wednesday, October 15th!
Order your photos online at 👉 inter-state.com/order
using code 0270NFA.
Here is this week's bus safety tip!
Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14Jpx2gCHQvwSQG62DUmfyzxHKj57m2fg/view?usp=drive_link
Mrs. Fore's 7th grade ELA class put the new Stem room at MJHS to excellent use today, collaborating in small groups to give peer feedback and edit their work.




Dear Meridian 223 Families,
SAVE the DATE! Highland is hosting a Scholastic Book Fair! Click the link below for more details.
LINK: Highland Book Fair Homepage

🌟 Huge shoutout to our Meridian Jr. High students who are crushing the Million Word Reader Challenge! 📚✨ We're celebrating milestones at 250,000, 500,000, 750,000, and even over 1,000,000 words read! 🎉 We are so proud of your hard work and dedication! 📖✨





🎉 Congratulations to our incredible students at Monroe Center School for reaching amazing Million Word Reader milestones! 📚 From 250,000 words to a whopping 2 million, your hard work is inspiring! 🌟 We can't wait to see who will join this elite group next! 🏆✨





🏐Congratulations to our MJHS 7th and 8th grade volleyball teams on wrapping up their season this weekend at the Rt. 72 Conference Tournament in Oregon! Our 8th grade girls earned 4th place, and our 7th grade girls finished 5th. Great job, Cardinals!





Spirit week this week as we approach the big homecoming game Friday night "Go Cards". All information went out in the parent newsletter Friday for Monroe Center, but just to be safe, we wanted to share out!

Meridian Families,
Highland Elementary School is preparing to host their annual Scholastic Book Fair! This is a perfect time to start or grow your family's home library.
For more details and to create your eWallet, visit our school's Book Fair homepage: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/highlandelementaryschool3
Highland Elementary School is preparing to host their annual Scholastic Book Fair! This is a perfect time to start or grow your family's home library.
For more details and to create your eWallet, visit our school's Book Fair homepage: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/highlandelementaryschool3


Thank you, Lucas, for helping us kick off Challenge #2 for One Book One School. Your reading nook looks like a great one.
Week 2: This week, get to know Vita and the characters in the book. Consider your team and imagine if you could choose a team of four people to accompany you on an adventure. Who would you select and why?
This past weekend, we witnessed a fantastic team coming together with the Village of Stillman Valley, the Meridian School District, Fire Departments from all over, and many wonderful groups that contributed to a very successful Fall Festival. Thank you so much! That was teamwork! They say teamwork makes the dreamwork!
MC Students, feel free to draw a picture or write a story about your great team of 4, and we'll hang them in the hallway this coming week.
Week 2: This week, get to know Vita and the characters in the book. Consider your team and imagine if you could choose a team of four people to accompany you on an adventure. Who would you select and why?
This past weekend, we witnessed a fantastic team coming together with the Village of Stillman Valley, the Meridian School District, Fire Departments from all over, and many wonderful groups that contributed to a very successful Fall Festival. Thank you so much! That was teamwork! They say teamwork makes the dreamwork!
MC Students, feel free to draw a picture or write a story about your great team of 4, and we'll hang them in the hallway this coming week.

Remington and Hattie, from third grade, took a moment to demonstrate their leadership by joining Mrs. Simpson in a video to share with parents how to play Blast Off from Bridges Math Workplaces. They did a great job and earned a book from the vending machine. Way to go you two!!

🏀 Last Call for MJHS Boys Basketball Registration!
Practice kicks off next week for boys in 6th–8th grade!
Check last Friday's Cardinal Chronicle for specific practice times by grade level.
📅 Spiritwear orders are due by Wednesday, October 1st — don’t miss out!
✅ Register now at: https://schools.snap.app/StillmanValley
Let’s get ready for a great season! Go Cardinals! 🏀🔥
Practice kicks off next week for boys in 6th–8th grade!
Check last Friday's Cardinal Chronicle for specific practice times by grade level.
📅 Spiritwear orders are due by Wednesday, October 1st — don’t miss out!
✅ Register now at: https://schools.snap.app/StillmanValley
Let’s get ready for a great season! Go Cardinals! 🏀🔥

🌱 A big thank you to the SVHS Environmental Club and their advisor, Mrs. Rogers, for volunteering their time to pick up debris after the Stillman Valley Fall Festival parade yesterday! 🎉
Your efforts to keep our community clean and beautiful are truly appreciated. 💚
👏 Way to go, Cardinals!
Your efforts to keep our community clean and beautiful are truly appreciated. 💚
👏 Way to go, Cardinals!


🌟 STEM Challenge: Build the Tallest Tower! 🌟
Our science students took on an exciting engineering challenge this week! Using only 10 sheets of paper, tape, and scissors, teams worked together to design and build the tallest free-standing tower possible.
This hands-on activity encouraged creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork while giving students a chance to apply engineering design principles in a fun and engaging way. Each group experimented with shapes, folds, and structural supports to see which design could stand the tallest without tipping over.
🏗️ The results? Towers of all shapes and sizes—some wobbly, some strong, but all built with determination and innovation.
👏 We are so proud of our students for their collaboration, perseverance, and out-of-the-box thinking!
#STEM #ScienceClass #HandsOnLearning #FutureEngineers
Our science students took on an exciting engineering challenge this week! Using only 10 sheets of paper, tape, and scissors, teams worked together to design and build the tallest free-standing tower possible.
This hands-on activity encouraged creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork while giving students a chance to apply engineering design principles in a fun and engaging way. Each group experimented with shapes, folds, and structural supports to see which design could stand the tallest without tipping over.
🏗️ The results? Towers of all shapes and sizes—some wobbly, some strong, but all built with determination and innovation.
👏 We are so proud of our students for their collaboration, perseverance, and out-of-the-box thinking!
#STEM #ScienceClass #HandsOnLearning #FutureEngineers







🌍✨ Imaginary Country Projects in 7th Grade History! ✨🌍
Mrs. Salo’s 7th grade history students recently put their creativity to the test by designing their very own imaginary countries! 🗺️
Using the 5 Themes of Geography—location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region, students created maps and detailed descriptions to bring their countries to life. From unique landforms to amazing tourist attractions, each project showed off both imagination and geographic thinking.
👏 MJHS is so proud of the effort and originality the students poured into this project!
Mrs. Salo’s 7th grade history students recently put their creativity to the test by designing their very own imaginary countries! 🗺️
Using the 5 Themes of Geography—location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region, students created maps and detailed descriptions to bring their countries to life. From unique landforms to amazing tourist attractions, each project showed off both imagination and geographic thinking.
👏 MJHS is so proud of the effort and originality the students poured into this project!





What's a person to do when they are going to their brother's football game and all they want to do is read? Well, just ask Hattie from 3rd grade for advice. Take your beach blanket, a sun umbrella, and grab your book on the go, and enjoy your time reading.

Our Flu Shot Clinic hosted with the Ogle County Health Dept. is tomorrow from 2:30-4:30pm at MJHS! Open to the entire Meridian 223 community.

Addilyn decided that not only could she read in a great space, but she was also going to be an entrepreneur at her very own lemonade stand. Talk about innovative thinking. Way to go!

Caleb has a pretty cool reading nook, and it looks like a great book, too. Thanks for sharing. Look for this week's challenge coming soon from Monroe Center, as we receive the final shipment of books, thankfully.

