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4B • Spotlight on Education
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Each week during the school year The Reporter spotlights activities and achievements of students,
faculty and staff at a different Monroe County school. Thank you to Randi Mullis, English 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
Advice to rising
8th graders
By Cassy Phillips
Going into 8th grade I was so
excited to start my last year of
middle school. I had all these
high expectations, and I was
trying to plan everything for
the upcoming year. Of course
life never goes the way we plan.
The first thing I would say
for upcoming 8th graders is to
go into this year without any
expectations. Just let things
happen, and don’t put pressure
on yourself for certain things to
happen. This is a very impor
tant year for many different
reasons.
This is the year before you
go to high school, which means
this is a very crucial time for
your academics. This is crunch
time to crack down on your
grades and focus on bettering
yourself as a person. I really
hope the Class of 2023 goes into
8th grade with a calm head and
just a lot of determination to
get your work done and focus
on yourself and what’s best for
yourself.
EIGHTH GRADE, YOU ASK?
What was my
favorite part of
eighth grade?
By Emily Matthews
Eighth grade year was,
to say the least, crazy! So
much has happened in
what seems like so little
time. But amongst all the
mountains of homework
and the skyscrapers of proj
ects were the rare, albeit
random, diamonds in the
rough.
One of said ‘diamonds’
would be the Spring Fling
that occurred on March
30th at the Bank Stephens
Middle School Campus.
The Spring Fling is an in
centive that comes around
every year for the seventh
and eighth grade students
that have maintained a
clean record of having no
office referrals or write
ups. Many students look
forward to this occasion
every year as this incentive
has many fun events rang
ing from face painting to
karaoke!
My personal favorite
event of my eighth grade
experience is my being in
the Mary Persons Bulldog
Brigade Marching Band.
Marching Band was by far
the highlight of my eighth
grade year, through all
the anxiety and mental
struggles. As a big part of
the Friday night football
game experience and the
countless middle-of-the-
school-year competitions,
I would say that band has
an enormous impact on
the way people feel during
football games and pep ral
lies as well as the multiple
music events that we have
performed this year.
I’ve made many friends
in band and have count
less memories of the times
we shared together, some
funny, some sad, and some
frustrating, but over all
joyful. All in all, my eighth
grade year was a big mess
of emotion and work, but
aside from all the hard
times there were many
of times I missed being
around my friends at the
end of the day and wished I
was back.
A Great Tip for
Upcoming Eighth
Graders
By Haley Baswell
Monroe County Schools
take great pride in provid
ing resources and helping
students achieve their
scholarly goals. As an
eighth grader with first
hand experience, every stu
dent wants to make good
grades and pass all of their
classes.
Some tips for academic
success for upcoming
eighth graders would be
to focus on your grades
and study all of the cur
rent topics in your classes.
Extra curricular activities
may get in the way, but you
should always try to spend
at least 10-15 minutes
studying each night. It
may not seem like a lot of
time, but it can help you
comprehend the informa
tion so much better, rather
than in a classroom with
20 other students. This tip
will be extremely helpful to
upcoming eighth graders
and help them prepare for
success at MCMS.
My Favorite Part
Of The 8th Grade
By Megan Mdeod
My favorite part of 8th
grade has been getting to
know my teachers. This
year I was so excited to
start the school year be
cause I already knew most
of my teachers. In my past
years of school I never re
ally got to know my teach
ers that well. Even though
I always did my work and
never got in trouble, my
past teachers never pushed
me to my limits or chal
lenged me.
But this year has been
completely different than
other years. I feel like I
could go up to any one of
my teachers and tell them
something that is very
personal to me. I had one
experience in particular
that really impacted me. It
was when Mrs. Coleman,
my 8th grade alpha math
teacher, conferenced with
me and told me that she
knew I had the potential to
push myself. It was in that
moment that I knew I had
one of the best teachers
ever.
This was all because I had
never had a teacher who
would conference with me
and tell me that I could do
better and to push myself.
It’s really hard for some
people to have confidence
in themselves, and when
Mrs. Coleman noticed that
I didn’t have confidence
in myself, she pulled me
aside and told me she had
confidence in me and that
she believed I could do bet
ter. That is why my favorite
part of 8th grade has been
getting to know my teach
ers.
What has been my
favorite part of
8th grade?
By Kayla Matthews
My favorite part of 8th
grade has been the new
experiences that I’ve had as
an older kid. What I mean
is there was a load of things
that I never got to do last
year as a 7th grader that I
now have done in my 8th
grade year.
For example, this year I
got to be a part of an extra
curricular activity that isn’t
offered to upcoming 7th
graders, marching band.
Since last summer I have
been a part of the Mary
Persons High School Black
and Gold Bulldog Brigade,
and I now consider it my
second home. Sadly this
isn’t offered to 7th grad
ers, so when I became an
8th grader and could join,
I was nervous because I’d
never done anything like it
before. Fuckily the people
in marching band were
incredibly nice and kind to
every rookie who joined
and treated everyone like
family.
Some memories I
enjoyed were the long
bus rides with my rookie
friends and the Friday
night football games that
we attended to hype up the
crowd and cheer on the
team. This was something
that I was glad that to have
experienced in my 8th
grade year. I would con
sider this my favorite part
of being older and encour
age younger students to
join when they are eligible.
You will find that not only
is marching band a social
experience, but it is a grow
ing and learning experience
that will better your life.
YOU’RE A GOOD MUSICAL, CHARLIE BROWN
By Samuel Kelsay
On March 29-30, the Monroe County
Middle School chorus performed the
Broadway musical “You’re A Good
Man, Charlie Brown,” starring Meghan
Bennett, Christopher Slaughter,
Dylan Garrett, Abigail Wilks, Heather
Tillman, and myself, as Lucy, Charlie
Brown, Linus, Snoopy, Sally, and
Schroeder respectively.
The show also featured Anabel
Storey, Madelyn Causey, Emily Adams,
Matthew Henderson, and Brayden
Sumner, performing the roles of
Peppermint Patty, Woodstock, Marcie,
Pigpen, and Shermy. We all faced many
challenges, such as frequent, confu
sion regarding cues and several of us
unintentionally damaging an important,
prop, Snoopy’s doghouse.
However, the majority of the kinks
were worked out. during rehearsal,
and I believe my friends and I put. on
a fantastic performance. I am honored
and humbled to have been a part, of the
show and to have had such an impor
tant. part., as pretending to play the
piano is a very daunting task.
By Meghan Bennett
The spring musical, ‘You’re a Good
Man Charlie Brown”, took place on
March 28th and 29th at 7 pm. There
were very many rehearsals that, took
place before the event, at. Bank Stephens
and the Fine Arts Center, even on
Saturdays.
The play was directed by Monroe
County Middle School’s fabulous cho
rus teacher, Ms. Stephana Miller. Ms.
Miller was very patient, with those act
ing in the musical, and she shared her
time with them to make sure this musi
cal was the best. yet..
OH THE PLACES WE GO ON SPRING BREAK
By Marissa Hollis
Over Spring break, I went, to
both Florida and Savannah.
For Easter, my sister and I
went, to our uncle’s house in
White Springs, Fla. The last,
few days of spring break, my
mom, my aunt, my sisters and
I all went, to Savannah. It. took
us almost, four hours to get.
there, but. we only made one
stop.
On the second day, which was
Saturday, we went, to Tybee
Island to go swimming at. the
beach. After we went, swim
ming, we went, to a souvenir
shop. Later that, evening, we
went, to River Street, to eat.. We
saw the ferry boat. but. didn’t,
get. on it. because we were
already headed back to the
hotel. The next, day, before we
headed home, we visited all of
the squares and even the cem
etery.
There were tombstones on the
the walls surrounding the cem
etery. This was from Sherman’s
March. After he destroyed
Savannah, people tried to clean
up the graveyard, but. they
didn’t, know where all of the
tombstones went., so they just
put. them along the wall. There
were two people that. I knew
were there: Button Gwinnett,
and Archibald Bulloch. After all
of the sightseeing, we finally
went. home.
By Sydney Riggins
Over spring break I went,
to Rosemary Beach, Florida.
I went, with two friends. We
stayed in a condo that, was
about, a four minute walk from
the beach. During the week we
stayed there, we did a lot. of fun
things. Of course, we spent, a
lot. of time on the beach, but. we
also went, shopping and out. to
eat..
We drove also along all of
the beaches in that. area. We
visited Seaside, Alys Beach,
Watercolor Beach, and Panama
City Beach. My favorite beach
was Seaside. In Seaside there
were a lot. of shops and res
taurants. Since it. was spring
break, it. was very crowded. We
even saw some friends there!
On the more relaxed days we
rode bikes around Rosemary.
By Abby Ellison
On this year’s spring break,
April 1-6, I went on vacation.
The Monday of spring break,
my friend and I went, to the
beach. We went, to Tybee
Island, and stayed for one
night.. We ate some good food
and had a lot. of fun on the
beach. The next, day we spent,
the day at. the beach, which
was also really fun even
though we got sunburnt.
For the next, few days we
were just, hanging around. At.
the end of the week, we went,
to the Georgia Aquarium. It.
was cool and fun, but. it. was
very crowded. I would defi
nitely recommend going dur
ing the middle of the week.
My Spring Break wasn’t
anything really big, but. it. was
fun and I had a good time.