In HKMS

The Articles In This Section are...

*(NEW)*The Newspaper Club Experience

*(NEW)*New Year, New Club (Scroll Down)

6th Grade From a 7th Grade's Perspective (Scroll Down)

8th Grade PIP [Personal Interest Project] (Scroll Down)

HKMS Toy Drive [As of 12/14/2023] (Scroll Down)

Middle School versus Elementary School (Scroll Down)

About 6th Grade, from my perspective. 

6th grade is constantly changing, from classes or new friendships. Everything is new. You have to find out how to do stuff that you've never known about. You'll get used to it eventually and you figure out your locker code or know where all of your classes are. There is no rush, and the more you rush the worse you get in learning. Middle School is for learning but also friendships. All friendships change over the years and you will learn eventually that not all friendships last. 

When you figure out your bad at something you want to learn more about it to get better grades or you may just forget about the subject and go do something else. Making sure you study and get your work done is really important, if you don't get your work done your grades will start going down and you won't accomplish anything. School is like a video game. You have 10 lives and when you lose all of them you will feel something that hurts and sadness because you think you're a failure when really you're not. You just have to focus. 

When you find a way to get through things you can start doing better things like getting homework done, getting good grades and getting work done. You will eventually get through 6th grade. There is no rush. Keep calm and get stuff done. 

Be kind to yourself and other people. Middle school or 6th grade is also a great time to work on your mindset. At the beginning of 6th grade most of your goals are like “do my best” “Get straight As” “Get good grades and study hard” those are not realistic goals. I mean yes, you can get good grades and maybe even get straight As, but the one thing you need to work on most is the stuff that you need to focus on. Something you need to focus on is the stuff that you work on and not just the stuff you don't know. 

Studying is the main point. Don't just study on that subject you failed or maybe got a bad grade on, study all of the subjects because soon you'll realize how hard you worked so then you can get better grades from that class you failed and the rest of the classes. If you need help like you don't understand question 5 then just email your teacher, they will help you and respond. And if you don't ask questions you'll never get that one question answered and then you will just be confused for the rest of the day. So asking questions is a must. And don't be all “ohhh I got a 100% on my math test what did you get, I bet I did better than you”. That is what doesn't motivate you or other people. It makes other people feel bad about themselves when really they are just doing their best they can. Instead of saying that you can say “ I got a 100% on my grade what did you get?” and don't sound pushy or braggy about it. And if they got a 78%, don't call them stupid or dumb. They are just trying their best. And you can also help them to get a better grade on the re-take. 

So please just be good enough that none of the teachers are upset about your class. Also if you're good the teachers give out candy.  

Thank you, Iliana Branda 7th grade 

8th Grade PIP

For those who don’t know, the PIP project, or personal interest project, is a project specifically for 8th graders that spans from early December to May. We have just started working on it, therefore, some people aren’t fully aware of what it is. PIP is a project that 8th graders will be working on during advisory and at home. The goal of the project is to allow students to work on something they enjoy during school hours. This project has multiple components, and will eventually culminate in a presentation of sorts. Everything is laid out on the PIP website in easy steps to follow so we can see what we need to do in each stage of the project. The goal of PIP is to get excited about learning about something you're interested in. Though we have just begun working on this project, I, for one, am already excited about starting the design phase.

Work Cited

“Serving Students » Using PIP to Re-engage Students, Accelerate Learning and Award Credit.” Connecticut Association Of Schools, 17 November 2021, http://cas.casciac.org/?p=20191. Accessed 12 December 2023.

Middle School versus Elementary School

We recently made the huge transition from elementary school to middle school. In this article, we will discuss the similarities, differences, and our opinion on which one is better. 

The first big difference between SSES and HKMS is that we FINALLY get our own lockers. In elementary school, we kept our backpacks in our classrooms. This works in the lower grades, when you stay in the same class, but in middle school, moving around all day, it is more convenient to have lockers, rather than coming back to the classroom every time we need stuff.

Another big impact that lockers have is privacy. We admit, certain lockers have problems, such as not closing, but other than that, lockers are the ultimate upgrade. Last year, everyone was looking in other cubbies, and taking things like pencils out of them. At one point, everyone was into Rubik’s Cubes, and there was a mysterious person known only as the Cube Thief. The person was going through cubbies, and taking cubes.

We’ll admit, we sometimes have trouble opening up our lockers, and we are sure that others have troubles like that, but we would much rather have a hard time getting our stuff than having someone looking through it.

The second difference between elementary school and middle school is the  computers. In fifth grade you had computers that you had to keep in school. In middle school you had computers that you bring from home to school since your charger is at your house. Also in middle school it is a bigger responsibility because  you have to make sure to bring it home to charge it and bring it to school so you will need it for your classes. Even if it is a bigger responsibility you can get assignments opened easier because you have them on this computer.

Another difference is the level of independence. In 5th grade we couldn’t be trusted to go to lunch by ourselves but in 6th grade we are trusted to go to lunch without teachers. Also we can go to other classes by ourselves unlike in elementary school where we were watched going to other classes. Even if that wasn’t enough we can bring the computers home when in 5th grade we had to keep them in school.

And the food! No offense to the lunch ladies at SSES, but the food is SO much better. In elementary school, the food tasted like cardboard, and we had terrible ice cream, and we are sure that our fellow 6th graders would agree. But here, we get so much more diversity, and the food just plain tastes better! The difference is unbelievable. We even get Snapple! The sheer  amount of different choices when it comes to meal combinations is  astounding. From burgers to salads, pizzas to nachos, the different options are astounding!

Now, we know that there are people out there that like elementary school better, and their ultimate trump card  to win any argument is this: There is no recess!!! But think about it like this. Every 42 minutes, we get to walk around the school, talk with friends, and get out of our seats. Plus, P.E. every other day ensures that we’ll get lots of outdoor time. Other FPAs such as PLTW, Art, and Music, are also very exciting.  Personally, we enjoy building and drawing things, and both music teachers are amazing!

Speaking of music, we want to discuss how great our musical experience has been at HKMS. This year, we have a wide variety of instruments to choose from, from violin and viola to trumpets and trombones. If playing an instrument isn’t your thing, we have chorus and general music to enhance your musical experience. Dedicated members can even join the Select Choir or the Jazz Band, and go to Lake Compounce. Sadly, auditions are over, but maybe next year!

We know that some people are annoyed about the workload, but trust me! The homework isn’t that bad. There really isn’t that much, and the best part is that all of the homework is designed to be interactive. We even get a whole period dedicated to finishing up homework. Books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid depict homework being a huge annoyance, but it really isn’t too bad.