The students worked about three weeks on creating these marvelous master pieces. They put a lot of effort into the jugs. Here is what one of the students said about the jugs. Toniyah said “I did enjoy making the jugs, but I went through a lot of trouble to get it to stay in the right angle. I tried to be as ordinal as possible and not do what most people would.”

The current projects that the students in Carolina crafts are making are baskets. It’s a lot harder than you may think. Let’s look at some of the students’ opinion. Loren: “It’s sort of difficult.” Reem said “It’s fun because it’s difficult and you have to be patient with it and I like challenges.” Hannah: “I love making baskets, but it takes work and it isn’t easy.”

First the students will make paper baskets and then they will make reed baskets. I wish all the students good luck that their baskets are successful. They really seem to enjoy the art class.

Were also doing the skits to get some fun in the news. We have lots of skits we have and will do. Some future sketches involve the office, glee and many more recent and exciting skits. I hope are skits will live up to your expectations. Our new teacher Mr. Velarde puts a new twist in the game. He decided that we should have more recent topics in the news. He decided to use Macs instead of the equipment from the 90’s. He real has improved everything we know about the news. We try to act professional and appreciate while were developing the news. We also think you the students should just leave comments so we can improve our announcements. By the poll I developed the students enjoy this year’s school news than last years.

She said that she always knew she wanted to be a teacher because she loves the childhood imagination. Teaching enables her to be around a lot of kids. She chose teaching language arts because she didn’t want to teach any other subjects. Also, when she was in school, she liked language arts. She says that it was particularly fun in 6th grade, when her teacher was awesome. Her favorite part about teaching is making her lessons creative and just hanging out with the kids. Her least favorite part is paperwork and checking e-mails. The behind the scenes part of being a teacher. She can’t imagine being anything but a teacher. Although she does not play an instrument currently, she used to play the clarinet. She says she could have been better if she had put more effort into it. In her free time, she likes to make her lessons creative, read, watch movies, and play with her two ferrets and two cats. Her ferret’s names are Abu and Sandwich. (She calls him Samich.) Her cats are named Lita and Riley. Her favorite musical artists are Eminem and Ben Harper. I asked what her favorite songs by they were, but she said she couldn’t decide.

If she could be any character from any book, she would be Alice from Alice in Wonderland because she truly learns from her experiences. Currently, she is reading Eclipse, the 3rd book in the Twilight series. She says it is her guilty pleasure because it is trashy, but good. Her favorite thing about Eclipse is that when something happens, it seems logical. She calls it “logical drama”. Her favorite book is either Peter Pan or The Catcher and the Rye. Ms. Certo’s room is always fun. If you want to meet her, she will be teaching Folk Tales and Myths next semester in room 2105.

Mrs. Barham has a good heart and wants everyone to be safe and healthy and she has been working to try and help kids with this in all different grades. Gabby, an 8th grader says “I love Mrs. Barham’s concern for the school. I make me happy to think that someone is watching our school, the place where learning is endless.” She has taught 6th grade L. A., 6th grade math and 7th grade social studies but that was a long time ago. All the class periods she has she loves. I quote “we have a wonderful team this year!” Emmy thinks Mrs. Barham is responsible for “taking her pills.” Mrs. Barhanm went to UNC because (I’m not a UNC fan so I disagree with this) apparently it is the “Southern Part of Heaven.” I hope Mrs. Barham stays at mms for much longer, so that the kids can have a wonderful 6th grade dolphin teacher.

I also talked to the women’s basketball coach, Coach Vickery, and one of the returning players. Coach Vickery also said that there is a lot of talent and experienced returners from last year. He said that he and the assistant coach made new offensive plays that are nearly unstoppable. Almost half of their team is returners, with a total of five. Lily (8th grade) said that, “the team is going to grow, and is a lot better than the teams in the past”.

MMS is looking forward to these great seasons. We have a great crowd here so it will make it difficult for all of the visiting teams to concentrate. I think that the players and coaches will do their part.

We hope to see all of the readers at the MMS games. The price is only four dollars, and we all would appreciate your support for MMS. The schedule for the teams are below.

First I interviewed Laith, an eighth grader here at MMS and I asked him if he enjoyed his bus rides. Laith said, “Yes and no , In the morning I don’t like the ride because I want some quiet but I’m constantly hearing noise.” After that I asked him if he found the bus more efficient than alternate transportation and Laith said, “Yes because if you have friends on the bus you have more fun and have the opportunity to make new friends.” I was also wondering if our students all had the choice between carpool and the bus which would you want? Laith said, “The bus because my friends ride my bus and its great and a ‘thrill ride’.”

I decided to get some more information out of a few more students just to see if anyone else thought anything else of it. I decided to interview Nic a seventh grader and these are the answers to my questions. He said, “I sometimes enjoy the bus, because some kids are mean and other times they are nice.” This was a bit of a surprise to me so I decided to learn more about this. I then asked if he thought the bus was more efficient and he said, “Yes I think it helps prevent pollution because multiple people are riding in the same vehicle.” I asked whether he would choose carpool or bus and he said, “The bus because I have a long drive home and I’m with my friends so I have people to talk to.”

I decided to interview one more student named Sarah. She’s a sixth grade and is just starting the MMS bus experience. When I asked if she enjoyed the bus she said, “Yes but sometimes it’s slightly boring but most of the time we start talking.” When it comes to the efficiency question Sarah said, “Yes because it saves on gas and transports more kids in the same vehicle.” I finally made it to my last question and asked her preference and she said, “Bus because the one time I rode carpool I was late. Plus it’s more efficient for me.” Fellow MMS students conclude that the bus is an efficient way of transportation.

The bus is a good way to get from place to place in the mornings and afternoons. If you rode the bus in Elementary School than I would definitely ride the bus in Middle School because you will be with familiar people from your neighborhood. If you’re new to the whole “bussing” situation then I might recommend taking it slowly and getting yourself used to it.

I feel that I agree to some extent with the students I have interviewed but I would certainly rather be in carpool. Despite the fact that the bus is more energy efficient I still find my bus far too chaotic for my taste. That’s just my honest opinion but maybe you have your own.

The key points of the student assignment policy are if a family is happy with the school they child is in, they can stay within their current transportation. Families who have a child moving from elementary to middle or middle to high can stay in the newly approved feeder pattern of their child’s existing school. Each school will be part of a defined feeder pattern that will provide students with a predictable, stable path to senior year of high school. In this plan, the magnet program will not change. Therefore, all magnet schools and programs will continue. The people participating in this plan are families with rising kindergarteners and families new to the system. Also, existing families who want to change school assignments. Lastly, families who have a child moving from elementary to middle or middle to high would like to choose a different school from their list rather than staying within their newly approved feeder pattern of their school.

According to Mr. Martin, the school assignment policy mostly affects eighth graders. If the eighth grader is a magnet student, they will go to Enloe. However, if the eighth grader is a base student, they will go to Broughton. This policy helps families that have moved to Wake County and that need to know which school they will be assigned. The policy also exists so families have more choices in terms of schools and so all schools in the county will be filled with children. In Mr. Martin’s opinion, the school assignment will work, but may take some time to make it work.

To change the subject to some more personal questions such as “what are some of your hobbies?” she simply replied “Running.” And “what is your favorite animal?” she replied “Cats”. Then we want back to the subject of school. “How is middle school different today than when you were a kid?” I asked “It’s very different structurally but the kids are the same” she responds. “Where did you go to Middle school?” my question was, she politely responded “Talley Junior High in Wilmington Delaware.” I asked her “What careers did you have before I coached for soccer, field hockey, and basketball?” “I have been a teacher for 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade, and a fashion merchandiser, advertising sales.” I also asked “Mrs. Cleveland where did you go to college?” she replied “University of Chapel hill (UNC) and Arizona State University (ASU).”

Also two other questions I asked were “Is there any advice you would like to give to rising 6th graders and/or other students?” and “What are some tips for excelling in your class?” she took these two questions very seriously. Her response to them was “Take responsibility for your choices.” And “actively participate and be respectful” I then asked “what is the nicest thing a student has done for you?” she politely responded “I got a really nice card from a student saying how I had changed her view of school.” How sweet! Do kids who you taught in middle school ever come back to visit you from high school and/or college?” she responded “No because none of them live in North Carolina, I just moved here from Arizona.” Who I didn’t know that! “Mrs. Cleveland how was your thanksgiving?” I asked she responded with enthusiasm “Wonderful! I got to spend a lot of time with my family and even some of my friends. I loved it!” Now do you still think you know Mrs. Cleveland?

Hannah’s Take: I disliked it, and did not like the rude humor at all. I found all of the jokes to have rude humor and politically incorrect parts in them. Though some parts were funny, the beginning and end had disturbing depictions of twin babies. The message the movie got across was very sentimental. Though how they sent, I did not like. I GAVE IT 1 MUSTANG!!!

The gum policy exists because the teachers and janitors don’t want to have to clean up the gum on the desks or anywhere on school property. Some people love the gum policy even though they love to chew gum! Mr. Cox, the assistant principal said, “On the breezeway you can see where the students put their chewed gum.”

Hannah of 6th grade said, “I think that the gum policy should be that you have to get your parents signature on a sheet of paper and if the teacher catches you with gum you have to show the signature or else you would get lunch detention, and would stay after school to clean up any gum in the classroom under desks.” Others say they like the way the gum policy is. Ms. Peckham said she doesn’t miss gum at school at all. “It was everywhere,” said Mr. Cox, “Mostly the breezeway.” Over all, The Gum Policy is needed!

What is B.o.B.? B.O.B is a competition where students read from a list of books. Then on 1/4/12-1/6/12 there will be a competition. During that completion two opposite teams will be asked questions. They will have to give the answer by saying the title of the book. They may get 2 points if they get the title right and one if they get the author correct. How does B.O.B work? There will be one team of 12 students. That team will be broken in two. One team of the two will play against another team. That will narrow the team that had 12 to now being 6. There will be 12 questions the two teams will be asked. They will have 20 seconds to answer each question. Only one person may answer the question, but in your 20 seconds they can discuss the answer with their team. They must wait until they hear the person that is going to answer the question’s name is called a second time. If they don’t they will be warned and the second time they will have to give the question to the other team. If they get the answer wrong the question will go to the opposing team, but if they think the answer is right they may challenge the judges by raising their hand and saying “time”. They will have 3 minutes to prove their answer is right. How can you get ready? The first way they can get ready is to read the selected books (no brainer). As they read each book try & memorize the author and pay attention to the details. Think about questions they might be asked. Write the question on an index card. Organize each book by the genres (science fiction, myth). It will help them when they have to say the answer. They can practice memorizing the author and thinking of the questions with a friend. Make sure that each member of the team reads the book he/she is assigned to read.

Go MMS B.O.B team!

Toniyah Allis Kush Emir Kathrine Addie Laurd Taylor McKenna Emily Anna Lydia Anvita Lucy Joshua Liam Vivek Sharient Eloise Sofie Shreya Selena Dillion Sydney Patrick Luke Natalye Jay Lainey Stacy Athena Lauren Faizan

Even though he looked very happy when I interrupted him in the middle of his floor hockey and appears to love his job, he says that he would like some jobs more than the one that he has currently the job he would like the most would be a college coach or becoming a doctor. The MMS teachers are all pretty close but he says that he is best friends with the PE teachers at MMS; Coach Hill and Coach Calabrese. From time to time when for some reason, we cannot do our real electives, we play games. These games usually involve throwing dodge balls as fast as you can at or near another player. His favorite of these games is called Greek Dodge. This is pretty much like regular dodge ball, except you play for points, by achieving certain tasks. His favorite elective to teach, he says is probably flag football. His favorite NFL team is the Giants (hence his birthplace).

He has been teaching at MMS for seven years. That is at least twice as long as any students have been here at MMS. He has also been teaching two years longer than our principle. He chooses to teach P.E because he likes kids and he enjoys sports. Finally, I asked him if his name was Mary Jane, he never answered. Coach Castro, the former average middle school students and professional soccer player, obviously has lots of teaching and coaching talent. He is also a very nice man and a very fun PE teacher. I hope that that after reading this blog you know coach Castro more than you did before.

Coach Hill, the men’s basketball team coach said that he has an older team with six returning players, and wants hustle, hustle, hustle. The team has a lot more experience than previous years and expects to win. MMS is looking forward to a long energetic season because this is one of our best teams in a while and we can easily produce points whenever we want. Coach Hill likes the hard work from the players which will give them momentum to win their games. To sum it up everyone is expecting a pretty good season for the Boys Mustangs team.

I also talked to the women’s basketball coach, Coach Vickery, and one of the returning players. Coach Vickery also said that there is a lot of talent and experienced returners from last year. He said that he and the assistant coach made new offensive plays that are nearly unstoppable. Almost half of their team is returners, with a total of five. Lily (8th grade) said that, “the team is going to grow, and is a lot better than the teams in the past”.

MMS is looking forward to these great seasons. We have a great crowd here so it will make it difficult for all of the visiting teams to concentrate. I think that the players and coaches will do their part.

We hope to see all of the readers at the MMS games. The price is only four dollars, and we all would appreciate your support for MMS. The schedule for the teams are below.

WINTER SPORTS BASKETBALL (GIRL’S AND BOY’S) December 5 – Martin at Ligon December 8 – Martin at East Garner December 12 – North Garner at Martin December 15 – Martin at Carnage December 19 – Carroll at Martin January 5 – Dillard at Martin January 9 – Martin at Daniels January 12 – Ligon at Martin January 19 – East Garner at Martin January 25 – Martin at North Garner January 26 – Carnage at Martin January 30 – Martin at Carroll February 2 – Martin at Dillard February 6 – Daniels at Martin