Newspaper Page Text
November 23, 2016
^Reporter
PAGE 5B
Monroe County Middle School
Each week during the school year The Reporter spotlights activities and achievements of students, faculty and staff at a differ
ent Monroe County school. Thank you to Randi Mullis, language arts teacher and journalism club advisor, for providing news
from Monroe County Middle School. Email school-related news, including news for ‘Monroe in College,” to Diane Glidewell
at news@mymcr.net
Mr. Wiggs
is truly missed
BY OLIVIA WELCH
n the month of
October, sixth
grade science
teacher Timothy
Wiggs took his
final breath. I was
in Mr. Wiggs’s
class in his very
first year teaching
at Monroe County
Middle School. He
always had a con
nection with his
students not just
academically, but
emotionally. He was
an understanding
teacher who loved
teaching and all of
his students.
Mr. Wiggs was unlike
any other teacher I have
ever had, in a good way.
Most people passed his
class not because it was
easy, but because he
was a good teacher. He
was great at explaining
the answers to those
students who struggled.
He had a wonderful per
sonality, and students
loved being around him.
I remember his room
was always cold. Mr.
Wiggs said it was so cool
because he was in the
room.
His quizzes were hard,
however. Mr. Wiggs
would say, “Grab a
sticky note and answer
the following questions.”
When we finished, he
would tell us to stick
them on his bulle
tin board or his door.
Everyone loved the way
he ran his classroom. He
made sure each student
had what they needed
and that they understood
the material.
On Oct. 28 at the Mary
Persons football game, a
balloon release was held
before the game to honor
Mr. Wiggs and his three
years of teaching at
MCMS. His favorite color
was green; so, the bal
loons corresponded with
his personality, bright
and bubbly. The week
of the game was spirit
week. Instead of wearing
Star Wars themed out
fits, students wore green.
All throughout the week,
students wore different
colors to show support
for Mr. Wiggs’s family.
Mr. Wiggs may be gone,
but he will never be for
gotten. He really touched
the lives of many stu
dents.
Timothy Wiggs
Gone but
not forgotten
BY MICHAELA MULLIS
O n Oct. 22, Monroe County Middle
School lost an amazing teacher, Mr.
Timothy Wiggs. He was a sixth grade
science teacher at William Hubbard
campus, and everyone loved him. He
will forever be loved and will never be forgotten.
On Sunday, Oct. 23, our principal sent us all a
call about the tragedy. We wanted to honor him, so
we came up with “We Wear Green and Crazy Socks
for Wiggs.” This meant that we were going to wear
green shirts (one of his favorite colors) and crazy
socks (which he wore everyday) all week for him.
This spread so far, it reached 13 WMAZ News, so
a lot of more people heard about it. Even people at
the Banks Stephens Campus (7th and 8th grade
campus) wore green and crazy socks also.
When we went back to school on Monday, most
people had been notified about the tragedy. Some
people did not get the call and had just heard. It
was not an easy day for anyone at the school. We
had to have counselors come to our school to talk to
us about what had happened. People cried all day,
and class time wasn’t the same either.
We all remember Mr. Wiggs from his amazing
projects and assignments. He would bake cook
ies, go outside to study rocks, make science arcade
games, and many more fun projects. If his students
didn’t like science before his class, they definitely
did after it!
Even though we lost an amazing person, we will
honor and celebrate his life and the time that we
had with him. We will miss you, Mr. Wiggs!
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Middle School Cross
Country has great season
BY CONNOR BATTLES
The Mary Persons Middle
School cross country team’s
season ended Oct. 19, and
we had a year to remember.
Our last race was the middle
school state championships at
Bleckley Elementary School,
There were 85 teams in total
and about 900 athletes in
total, and we did great at the
the race
Justin Wachtel came in 3rd
with a time of 11:09 minutes
in the two-mile competition,
and Keith Posey came in at
12:12 and got 23rd place. The
race of the season, though,
was the Bulldog Classic home
meet, which took place at the
Monroe County Recreation
Department. At this meet Amy
Devane was sponsored as a
cancer survivor. (Amy is the
3rd from the left in the pic
ture. Congrats Amy!)
Every person on the Cross
Country Middle School team
cut at least a minute off their
time since the beginning of the
season. Our best score went
from 29 to 16 (perfect score is
15). We practiced every school
day from September through
October.
We won every meet except
the State Championships, and
all of our trophies are stacked
up at the entrance of the Bank
Stephens Middle School. All of
the athletes trained incredibly
hard to achieve what we have
done as a team, and we are
extremely proud of what we
have done. Thank you to all
the people that came out sup
port us and help!
The Nerd Herd works
to succeed at challenges
BY CHLOE
MYERS
The robotics team
is a fun team. All
Monroe County
Middle School stu
dents were given
the chance to join
the team. The mem
bers for the 2016
Robotics team are:
Chloe Myers, Sydney
Stapleton, Ella Miller,
Ziambria Slaughter,
Lizzie Maddern,
Jeremiah Ochieng,
Zachary Acosta,
Jordan McCord,
Daniel Boyer, Chance
Wiggins, and Lawson
Harris.
We have all nick
named this club “The
Nerd Herd!” The
instructor is Mrs.
Susan Adams-Curtis.
She is part of our
team, and she helps
us for the challenges.
She gets us the table
of the year.
Students in the
sixth grade technol
ogy classes know what
I am talking about
when I say the robot
ics team is quite the
challenge, especially
the table. The table is
this wood table that
has the challenge of
the year on it. The
table helps us do the
challenge.
The kids that are
in the Robotics team
build the table out of
Legos and instructions
they give you that
come with the place
mat. The table for
2016 is Animal Allies.
It is a very fun way
to get in the Robotics
Team. The first part
is that the instructor
gives classes a form.
You must fill out
this form to go to the
next part. If you get
accepted, which is by
the instructor reading
the paper you filled
out, you go to the
second part of getting
robotics. The second
part is that you go to
a meeting and you do
these team building
exercises.
One example is that
the instructor tells
you to get everybody
in order by their
birthday. You may not
talk to one another so
you have to find a way
to get in order. These
levels are the ways
you get in the robotics
team.
During the summer,
the instructor lets you
practice programming
robots and design
ing them. There are
Lego pieces you use to
design the robot. You
program the robot on
a computer.
Competitions are
important to the mem
bers of the robotics
team. Your first com
petition is a county
competition. It is like
a scrimmage. It helps
you compete for the
regional, national, and
international.
You do not just pro
gram and play with
the table, you also
present a presentation
how you used core
values and ways you
programmed.
Core values are also
important to members
of the team. This lets
you earn more points
in competitions. The
more points you get in
competitions, the more
you have a chance
to go to regionals,
nationals, and inter
national competitions.
Core values include
you are nice to your
self and others and
have fun.
The best part about
robotics is that you
get to design a shirt to
wear to competitions.
You must design the
shirt during the sum
mer and with your
other teammates.
Robotics team is fun,
so if you are thinking
about joining, it is a
good choice. It also
looks good on your
future resumes!
Teacher Feature
Candice Ellis loves being a teacher
BY CARLY
LANGFORD
Candice Ellis is an eighth
grade Georgia studies
teacher at Monroe County
Middle School. She has
been teaching for 10 years.
Ms. Ellis got her
Undergraduate degree
at Georgia State College
and University and
her Masters at Troy
University. From a young
age she has always wanted
to be a teacher.
While she was in high
school, she ran track and
field. Before she taught
in Monroe County Middle
school, she taught at Jones
County where she coached
cheerleading.
On weekends and on her
time off, she likes to spend
time with her daughter.
Ms. Ellis is fair, kind,
and she works very hard!
Ms. Ellis is an amazing
teacher, and her students
are truly blessed to be
taught by her!
Candice
Ellis with
student
Carly
Langford