By Susie Rogers, 5th-8th ELA

This wonderful community service by our 7th and 8th grade classes has now become a fabulous, and highly anticipated tradition with Life House Church and their Kidz Club for Kindergarten through 5th grade children. We were able to provide a delicious dinner, make a reindeer cocoa mix, praise Jesus through song and dance, and give each child a Christmas present filled with gloves, blankets, socks, toys, and yummy treats! The interaction between our students and the children brought smiles and some tears to everyone who witnessed the complete joy and goodness that was shown. The experience truly emphasized the true meaning of Christmas!

By Susie Rogers, 5th-7th, ELA

Expanding your vocabulary is one of the most valuable skills you can develop. Words allow us to express ideas, emotions, and thoughts with precision and power. Let’s ponder why vocabulary learning is so critical and how different tools can make the process engaging and effective.

Strong vocabulary skills can transform communication. Imagine trying to describe your ravenous hunger for success or feeling feeble after a challenging day—specific words bring clarity and depth to your messages. Words like prostrate convey exhaustion in a way simple terms cannot. A well-developed vocabulary also gratifies the desire to understand and be understood, creating meaningful connections with others.

Learning vocabulary also enhances creativity. Words like impetuous can inspire dynamic writing, while having the language to describe abstract feelings like rapture helps refine your storytelling. Building a strong vocabulary takes effort but yields incredible rewards. Whether through workbooks, apps like Quizlet, or games on Blooket, you can find a method that suits your style. Take advantage of these tools and immerse yourself in the joy of language—you’ll find it to be an enriching privilege. (words in italics are 7th grade vocabulary words for this week!)

Our wonderful middle school students have done it again! The 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders came together to pull off another successful pumpkin patch experience for our very own preschoolers. The event kicked off with the 7th and 8th grade students reading to them the stories they created, all the while dressed as one of the characters from their story. Then, they taught them all about the life cycle of pumpkins with a song and illustrations they had made. Next, our 5th and 6th graders hosted them for some fun carnival-style games in the open field next to the patch. Lastly, before hopping onto the trailer for a hayride, the preschoolers were able to pick their very own pumpkins from the patch to take with them. Our middle school students were involved with this project from start to finish. There was responsibility and teamwork that went into planting and caring for the pumpkins. Overall, their efforts made the event even more special for the preschoolers. Kudos to them all!

By Susie Rogers, 5th-8th ELA

It’s that time a year again where my 7th and 8th graders become published authors! Every October our students brainstorm, plan, and execute a fun Pumpkin Patch event for our K-3 and K4 students. They look forward to this wonderful tradition each year, and incorporating an original children’s short story is the focus in ELA class. We review the parts of a plot diagram, analyze sample short stories, and then students must apply their own short story to a plot diagram. Once the basic elements are identified, students create a rough draft of a kid-friendly story, which has an encouraging theme and amazing characters. They use their creativity to produce a one-of-a-kind book that they will read to their ‘little’ partner, and then gift them the laminated book to take home. Enjoy the pictures of our very own authors in the making!

Did you know?…

• The first S’more recipe was published in 1927 - the snack was called “Some Mores”.

• The largest S’more ever made weighed 267 pounds!

• There is enough milk chocolate produced each year to make more than 750 million S’mores.

Our seventh grade students recently learned these fun facts and “S’more” with a lab they conducted during science class in conjunction with their unit over Physical and Chemical Changes. They were tasked with investigating, observing, and identifying whether physical and/or chemical changes occur during the process of making S’mores. This was a fun way to have them think about these changes that occur all around them every day, even with something as simple as setting up and making a yummy dessert. This was one lab they were happy to see all the way through to the end!