Hoofprint

Mr. Cox, even though he has been here for only a month, he has a couple of things to say about MMS.

Mr. Cox is 27 years old and is the new, 6th grade administrator. He was born and raised here in Raleigh and he grew up with a sister who is 23 and a 12 year old brother who is attending MMS on the Voyagers.

During his free time, he likes to spend it with his family and play ultimate frisbee and golf. Although he is the school administrator now, he has never thought about having this job as a child. As a kid, he wanted to be a fireman, as a middle school student, he wanted to be a basketball player. As a college student, he wanted to be a sports anchor, but ended up being a Spanish teacher after college. Mr. Cox’s favorite team is also UNC.

He enjoys Martin very much; he loves the different personalities, the background and diversity of all the students, and the staff that he works with. One of the only things that Mr. Cox doesn’t like about MMS is that he has to wake up at 5:00 AM and wishes that school would start at 8:00 instead of 7:20 (maybe that will come true in the future).

Since he works with 6th graders, I thought that he might be a little annoyed with working with the youngest kids in the school but he actually enjoys working with them. He says that they are innocent but has plenty of room for improvement. His favorite moment here at MMS is the pep rally, especially throwing shirts to kids.

Mr. Martin was born and raised in Upstate New York in a very small town named Dowsville. He grew up with one younger brother who is now 36 years old. When he was in school he loved school because there is a lot of energy in terms of helping students develop who they are. His favorite subject in school was Science because he had a really cool Science teacher who was really crazy and loved to do experiments. He went to college at Oneonta State in New York. Before he was a principal of MMS he was a teacher at EHS. He decided to become a teacher because he liked the idea of running his own business which is what he’d like to do if he wasn’t a principal. On a regular school day you can usually find Mr. Martin in his office, at the Cross hall or in the Cafeteria. Now, here are some fun facts; His favorite time of the school day is Lunchtime, his favorite college football team is NC State, in his free time he loves to spend time with his family, play sports and go camping. He does sleep in on the weekends but surprisingly, only to 7:00 due to the fact he wakes up a little after 5:00 every day. Mr. Martin enjoys his job very much and is very glad to be working at MMS.

The E-Hoofprint is going to give you a digital version of Mr. Ed the Advice Horse.

Here are some samples of the sort of things that Mr. Ed might handle. If you have a question you'd like to ask Mr. Ed you can leave a comment here on the blog. No real names and please don't give any information that could identify you.

Dear Mr. Ed, A few days ago, this guy asked me out. I really like him. I am really nervous about answering this because my mom won’t allow me to have a boyfriend, and if I deny this request, I will have a total fit! I AM IN LOVE! I WANT HIM TO BE MY BOYFRIEND. LOVE, ConfusedLOVER09 – YES WE CAN!!

Dear ConfusedLOVER09, I have a few suggestions for you; first, having a boyfriend is not everything. Sometimes, he can distract you from your school work which leads to bad grades, and bad grades leads to being not successful. I hope that you would like to be successful in school. If you would like to have a boyfriend that bad, try to consider getting to know him well before you reject or accept. Having many options helps, and be ready to reject if you find out something that is bad about him. Good Luck! Mr. Ed

Dear Mr. Ed, I am having an issue with my grades. They are HORRIBLE!! I have no idea what to do to improve them. I have worked and worked with my teachers, and NONE of their suggestions work! I am so confused! What do I do? Getting D’s and F’s means my phone being taken away, and I can’t handle that! Please help me!! Peace, BetterGradeWanter

Dear BetterGradeWanter, Many people have problems with their grades, its nothing to be embarrassed about! Here are a few suggestions: study for at least 2 hours (30 minutes for every core class) each night, and if you think that it is needed, longer. Take a five minute break every 15 minutes. Make sure you use the agenda that was provided for you, and write down all of your assignments at the beginning of the class. Also, when a test or quiz is announced, you should study immediately, at least 15-20 minutes a night. At the end, make a quick overview at the end by telling yourself out loud what you have just studied. Mr. Ed

Advice on Picking Electives

OK so on Friday you got your elective selection cards, so I am here to help you decide. There are many options for you to choose. 6th Graders! Ok this year you guys are the new bees! There are many options in Martin Middle School for you to choose for your electives. You only get three electives so chose carefully. If you are really interested in arts that is Martin’s specialty. There is dance, drama, drawing, pottery and much more! But if you don’t want that you could get active and participate in physical education, keyboarding, or maybe take a core class, like Oceanography, Thrill Ride, Animal Science, Once Upon a Time, and much more! 7th Graders! This year there are much more options for you, take advantage of them! For example, Creative Cuisine, Dance 1 and 2, Special Chorus groups and much more!

8th Graders! Congrats to the 8th graders of MMS you have made it this far and are so ready to be freshmen! Take advantage of this year it is your last one, don’t waste it! Pick electives that you can look forward to every day! Good luck and have a great year!