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

What would it take to grow plants on the moon? Is it as simple as dropping seeds and sprinkling water into moon dust, or is plant growth more complex than this? These are just a few of the questions students must answer as they embark upon a global challenge to Plant the Moon!

We received a shipment of simulated lunar regolith (moon dust) and have accepted the challenge of designing and conducting an experiment to grow plants in this inhospitable media. It is void of all of the nutrients, organic matter, and microbes necessary for plant growth. Can we bring it to life in a manner that could transfer to a future moon colony? If so, we have the opportunity to present our research to a panel of NASA scientists and other experts!

As part of our research, we had the privilege of an online web-conference with Dr. Wieger Wamelink, an ecologist and exobiologist at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. Dr. Wamelink was the first person to prove that plants could be grown in simulated Mars and lunar soils. It was an honor to hear about his experiments and exchanged a few questions and answers with this pioneering researcher.

We also received a special donation for our project from the AquaSprouts company: FOUR aquaponics gardening systems in which to conduct our experiments! The students have been hard at work researching and constructing mini-ecosystems on their quest to Plant the Moon!

By Susie Rogers’ 7th Grade ELA Class

Analyzing The Outsiders

The 7th graders are loving the novel, The Outsiders, and have been exploring various themes such as family unit, time period, violence, innocence, and actions. Each student analyzed a specific topic and expressed their views. 

Family by Zachary Bobo

In the novel The Outsiders, Ponyboy is living with his brothers Soda and Darry. A few months before the story takes place his parents are killed in a car crash so it’s just Ponyboy his brothers and the gang. The gang is like family to him, Dally, Johnny, Two-bit, and Steve. He even mentions that they leave the door open in case someone needs a place to sleep after getting in a fight. They’ve always had each other’s backs. Ponyboy has a family, and he has the gang.

Violence by Kaden Wells

The rumbles that the Socs and the Greasers had would always end up causing way too much violence. It was never just a one on one fight; people would get jumped by multiple people, then some would pull out knives(blades). All of the different greasers fought for different reasons Soda fought for fun, Steve for hatred, Darry for pride, and Two-Bit for conformity. The only one who needed a reason to fight was Pony-Boy and Johnny that was self-defense.

Robert Frost by Addison Bobo

We are reading the book The Outsiders in class and in this book the main character, Ponyboy mentions the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost. Ponyboy mentions this poem when he and Johnny are on the run because Jonny killed a Soc in self-defense. They talk about the line in the poem that says nothing gold can stay. At first, they don’t realize that it means nothing good can stay and that all good things will come to an end, but then Johnny realizes it. Johnny then tells Ponyboy to stay golden which means stay innocent.

Johnny by David Mayo

In The Outsiders, one of the main characters, Johnny, is very quiet, but brave. He is also extremely loyal. He is actually so loyal that he killed a boy to save Ponyboy’s life. Ponyboy thinks deeply, and he tries to find the beauty in things. Ponyboy is showing Johnny how to do that too, and Johnny is enjoying it. Johnny said he never really noticed the colors until Ponyboy showed him.

The Fire Scene by Katherine Ayers

As we were reading The Outsiders, we read about a church fire. Ponyboy and Johnny saw the fire and went to the church because they were staying there before. Fortunately, Ponyboy and Johnny were not in the church when it caught fire, but there were children in there. Johnny and Ponyboy went in to save the kids. All of the kids were okay, but Johnny, Dally, and Ponyboy were hurt. Johnny was in the most critical condition. The three of them saved the kids because they thought it was their fault that the church caught fire. Ponyboy thought that he or Johnny left a cigarette on the ground, so they saved them.

Self-Defense? By Morgan Yost

When we were reading The Outsiders, one of the main characters killed someone who was attacking him and his friend. I think that Johnny killed Bob in self-defense. He was protecting himself and Ponyboy.  They were drowning Ponyboy and had pulled a knife on Johnny. If people were about to kill your best friend, would you just stand there or would you try and protect them? If I were Johnny, I would have run away knowing I had no chance in court because I was a Greaser going up against a Soc, even if I did it out of self-defense. 

Time Period by Staten Crossland

The book The Outsiders is written in 1960. A lot of things you could do then but not in 2021. One of the things is kids could smoke. Some of the greaser kids started smoking at a young age. Johnny started at nine, and Steve started at eleven.  In the year 1960, some people would get married at 20. Sometimes they even got married after they got out of high school.

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.