When I first started our middle school club program a few years ago, I pictured students gathered in a room, discussing topics that interested them with little action. Not because I doubted their follow-through, but because that was the model I had seen at other schools. After the very first year, I realized that our students had something different in mind. They brought new energy, creativity, and urgency to clubs. They weren’t just talking, they were acting. They saw clubs as a way to create and shape our middle school culture, and they continue to rise to the challenge each year. It is always inspiring to see what happens when we give our students autonomy and trust. They are truly amazing citizens!
Here’s a glimpse of what our clubs are up to this fall:
- Media Arts Storytelling
Students are producing Halloween podcasts with roles as writers, engineers, and readers. Jason set up an impressive studio with Macs and podcasting equipment, and students are learning everything from storytelling to audio editing to produce polished, spooky episodes. - Spirit Club
Spirit Club is planning a middle school talent show! They’ve set the date, are gathering sign-ups, and will emcee and manage the entire event. This year, they’ve even expanded the audience to include the whole school. - Talking Club
Through Toastmasters-inspired activities, Talking Club members are writing speeches designed to engage an audience. They are preparing to present their work, with feedback and revisions from peers, building both confidence and skill. - Craft Club
Craft Club is exploring watercolor painting techniques. Right now, they’re focusing on pumpkins—bringing a festive, fall spirit into the middle school hallways.
These clubs remind us that when students are given voice and trust, they rise to the occasion and often go far beyond what we imagined. I am so proud of the way our students dream big and then follow through. Their energy and creativity continue to shape a vibrant middle school culture.
-RC
ELA- 8th grade continued reading The Outsiders, learning how to take notes on the fly about power distributions and symbols in the story. These notes were used to begin developing our first “synthesis pages” where we synthesize our notes and ideas about a novel in a neat, visual page of our journal. Students also took a vocab test on 9/25, so be sure to ask for those grades!
Next week, 8th graders will start unit 2 of grammar, present synthesis pages, and finish the novel!
Science- This week in science 8th graders explored potential and kinetic energy. Students recorded data related to kinetic energy, mass, and speed to determine the trend in the relationships between those factors. Students also began exploring Newton’s laws of motion. Next week students will continue that investigation using marble billiards and start planning for the end of unit activity – protecting a “bean brain.”
Social Studies- Eighth graders have begun our study on the federal government and how it operates. This is an important unit, especially with them going to Washington D.C. later this year! We ended this week with a fun class assignment in which they attempted a practice citizenship test, which is a great tool to see all the different aspects of citizenship. We will continue next week the separation of powers as well as the roles of each branch in the federal government.
Math- This week in math, 8th graders began proving triangles and corresponding parts by exploring, using, and proving the side-angle-side theorem. We connected back to our previous unit and mastery of rigid transformations to help us with our proofs.
Next week, we’ll begin proving, understanding, and using the side-angle-side theorem, the side-side-side theorem, and angle-side-angle theorems using parallel lines, transformations, congruence, similarity, and corresponding parts to evaluate.
