by Susie Rogers, 5th-8th ELA

• In spite of outward differences, people want the same things: love, acceptance, and respect.

• Being street smart is more important than being book smart.

• Teenagers everywhere face the same problems.

• You can tell a lot about a person by the friends he/she has.

• Everyone has felt like an outsider at one time or another. 

These thought-provoking statements caused much discussion and debate among my students, and though they did not agree on all of their answers, one statement resonated true with all of them. When discussing their responses to, “Everyone has felt like an outsider at one time or another,” my students unanimously agreed that they have all felt like an outsider at a point in their life. 

This anticipation guide opened the door to our next class novel, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. We continued with our pre-reading activities by exploring the 1960s. Each student was assigned a topic such as music, movies, and television during this time period. Other topics included the greaser subculture, slang, and fashion. They created a mini-poster displaying their findings. By researching and presenting their information from the 1960s, they will be able to immerse themselves into the lives of Ponyboy, Sodapop, Darry, and Johnny in this classic coming-of-age book. 

By Susie Rogers, ELA- 5th-8th

Fun. Festive. Food. What a fabulous way to end 2020! These past couple of months have been extremely trying times for everyone. With Covid affecting traditional Thanksgiving plans and upcoming Christmas traditions, a positive atmosphere is essential for our students. Though the world is not normal, our students walk through the doors (after their temperature checks, of course) and know that everything is the same within. We have continued our love of learning about Christianity, humanity, and academics. Daily morning devotionals help set the perfect framework for all of us to have a wonderful day. Students are more stressed now more than ever, so it was only fitting to end this semester with a Sensational Secret Santa pajama-themed homeroom celebration. Fun gifts, delicious food, Christmas songs, and loud laughter were on the lesson plans today. The genuine Christmas spirit was alive and well and kept any bah-humbug attitudes away. Our 7th-grade class wishes you all a Merry Christmas. May the gift of love, peace, and happiness be yours!

by Susie Rogers and Nicole Ayers, 7th and 8th Grade Homeroom Teachers

We may be a small school, but we do BIG things on campus! When our pre-school’s annual pumpkin patch field trip was canceled, the middle school students decided to step up and provide the experience themselves. First, they brainstormed, researched, and devised a plan to build and plant a pumpkin patch. They built a set of four raised beds and planted two types of pumpkin seeds: Small Sugar and Mammoth Gold. Students cared for their plants from seed, to sprout, to flowering vine. At first, the flowers were withering without developing into fruit, so the students researched and learned about hand-pollination. Thankfully, area bees found their garden and took over the task, and yellow or green pumpkins started developing left and right. It was so exciting to watch the pumpkins grow!

To expand on the science experience, English, art, and technology were also incorporated. The students each painted a pumpkin and created an original short story starring their pumpkin. Students reviewed the elements of a short story, completed a storyboard, and then wrote and illustrated their story. Copies were made and laminated and given to the preschool students along with a pumpkin that they “picked” from the patch at the end of their excursion.  On the beautiful sunny Friday,  Mrs. Denise transported each class on a hayride to their field trip where the children were greeted with fun Halloween music, silly dancing, storytime, and seed planting with 7th and 8th graders dressed in costumes. Each middle school student gave their preschool buddy a tour of the pumpkin patch explaining the life cycle and showing them the growing pumpkins underneath the masses of vines, had them pick a pumpkin to take home, and read their own original story. The middle school students also recorded and videoed themselves reading their stories so that everyone could enjoy them anytime. When students work together, priceless learning experiences are made.

by Nicole Ayers, 7th & 8th Grade Math and Science

We are studying the flow of energy through ecosystems. To simulate how energy changes forms within an organism and to quantify the amount of energy in various foods, students each built a simple calorimeter. With much emphasis on proper lab safety, they burned an assortment of snack foods and measured the resulting temperature increase for 100 mL of water. Qualitative observations showed that cashews burned the longest, and quantitative analysis is still in progress. After proper cleanup and handwashing, students of course got to enjoy a sample of the remaining snacks.

by Jennifer Jordan, History and Latin

Today, the 7th grade class presented the fourth annual Renaissance Academy Awards. Upon completion of our Renaissance history unit, students delved into some project-based learning by further studying some of the great Renaissance figures. Each student was assigned an award category, such as Best Writer or Best Artist, and given two notable people to research as nominees. This project offered the class the opportunity to practice their notetaking skills, as the students were required to take detailed notes on their nominees and then convert those notes to a Google Slides presentation. Students also engaged their evaluative skills by weighing the achievements of their nominees and using this evidence to determine a winner. Ms. McCarley added a cross-curricular element by helping students in Art class to design an award representing each assigned category. These awards are lavish and truly reflect their winners. Finally, the class dressed in costume to walk the red carpet and present their nominees and their winners. What an excellent speech each student delivered! This project proved to be the ideal culmination of learning as it combined research, review, evaluation, creativity, and reflection.