8th Goodbyes

We gave all 8th grade students the opportunity to say good bye to Strickland by giving advice, saying thank you, or sharing memories.

Middle School was like a roller-coaster; at first you get scared, but then you have so much fun that when it ends it makes you kind of upset. Middle school was a one of a kind experience. -Aileen Trejo

Thanks for making me lose all my friends ;) <3 - Hailey Belcher

I'm gonna miss this place had a lot of good memories. -Shawn Karanja

Middle school is never a good time for anyone, no one in the world looks back on their years in middle school and says "Ah I was great and amazing and so smart and not awkward at all!". So, do what you want with the time you have left, and enjoy being a kid. Sometimes you might feel stuck, or sad, or just set in your ways but remember that sometimes the only way to go is to just go on. <3 -Shula Armintor

I know I will miss middle school, but I'm also excited about the great things high school will bring! I've learned a few things that I would like to pass on to those of you who are still in middle school. Number 1) Don't get involved in drama. There is no need for it, and getting yourself involved doesn't help anybody. The best thing to do is to stay out of it altogether! Number 2) Spread kindness!! Middle school can be tough, so we can help make it better by being positive and helping each other out. A good way to do this is to follow the Golden Rule: "Treat others the way you want to be treated." Number 3) Don't be afraid to make mistakes. An anonymous person once said, "No one is perfect; that's why pencils have erasers." Number 4) Do the work. You can't be upset with a bad grade if you didn't put in the time and effort in the first place. Number 5) Most of all, have fun!!! You should make the most out of middle school since it doesn't last very long. Goodbye Strickland! -Holly Peeters

I wanna say thank you to all my teachers for encouraging me, never giving up on me, and for help through out the years but I would like to give a special shout to Coach Earle for always lifting others up, for always believing in them when no one else dose, for being really funny and making school bearable so if you get coach as a teacher or a coach just now you'll have fun. So to very one stressing about what will happen, who will be a good teacher, I'm not even gonna pass, its going to be okay you'll get through it, stop stressing. Live your life; we only have one so enjoy it, the rest will figure its self out. -Keren Benavides

Strickland looks cool. - Jose Quiroz

Well at first middle school seemed very scary to me. I felt unprepared in a whole new environment with tons of new people and very different teachers. I wasn't very sure how I was going to get through 3 years of middle school but here a I am an 8th grader waiting to be a freshman soon. I've made so many great friends here as well as meeting some great teachers. I'm really grateful for my elective teachers though, Mrs. Koneman and Mrs.Thomas, they brought me into the world of music where I've learned many new awesome things and they introduced me to some of my new family which are all the people in band and choir with me. I'm going to miss middle school because it brought a lot of great memories to me but now it's time for high school. -Enid Delgado

I am going to miss Viking Day because of how much fun it always is. -Alex Parker

Bye! Remember guys don't let anyone try to change you and make you into something you're not, just be yourself. I was myself, and of course maybe I only had very few friends, but I was happy. Always remember it's better having 2 loyal friends, than 200 fake friends. Don't look for popularity because it's just going to be bring you nowhere in life. Look for success and (positive) change! Be wise with the friends you pick and if friends are just not your thing, that's fine. Just focus on school! :) God bless each and every one of you! [Oh and shout-out to the best teacher ever! Mr. Dandron!!!] - Geanelle

I love experiencing my 8th grade year with my family. "If you're gonna be two-faced at least make one of them pretty." - Marilyn Monroe. I get to have more freedom. -Dez'Tynee Baza

Goodbye everyone one, I will miss the lunch table. -Kimberly Torres

Don’t let everything get you, it’s middle school, you should also ignore rumors <3. -Xayna Garcia

See yuh. -Joshua Rockett

In 7th grade, Mr. Feuerhelm asked me what kind of art books I would like in the library (because I always kept checking out all of the art books) so he let me make a list of books that he would get for the library (I only put one book on the list though.) Now there's an Art/Architecture book in the library that he got because I asked for it!! -Lillian Laremore

Kids who are still in middle school: just stay happy. What I miss about middle school is the fun, but what I won't miss is that sometimes some kids are rude. What I will remember about my teachers is that they care about me and look out for me and want to help me. From William Mulford

SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH!!!!!! -Aadiyah Russell

A couple things I would say... go to class, be quiet, and do your work. Some teachers are nice and there are some not so nice. Another thing, there is a lot of freedom. If you get into trouble, it take a bit for teacher to trust you and you have to work to get stuff back. If you make a mistake, do the consequence and get it over with it. You will meet a lot of nice teachers that will be there for you if you are having a bad day or you just need to talk. Trust me, Miss Duck is one of the out going, kind, loving teachers that take time out of her day to come find you and check on you. If you are having a bad day, she's going to put a smile on your day. A bad attitude is like a flat tire; you can't go anywhere until you change it. -Kaley McCormick

Some of my favorite memory's were... Viking day that was always so much fun. We got to hang out with friends. Another good memory was going on field trips with choir and orchestra. I liked my first 6th grade dance because I went with friends. It was so much fun. I'm going to miss middle school. One of my all time favorite memories was in 6th grade when we sang Blackbird Fly at the end of the year; I hope we can do it this year. -Zoe Gilhome

I have many memories of Strickland! 6th grade teachers were the best specifically team 6-2. I loved all the teachers I had. I made the most memories that year thanks to them. One of my favorite memories is my 6th grade lunch table! We used to laugh a lot but we would always would argue over the silliest things. Something I'm going to remember about every single teacher I had is how hardworking they are. They always plan something for us and be patient with us. I hope that in 10 years I'm either in college or doing something I love. Advice for the kids that are still in middle school is: enjoy it! Believe it or not middle school goes by really fast. You might be in 6th grade now but as the time passes you'll already be in 8th grade. Make friends with people that you feel comfortable with. Being normal is very boring in my opinion. Be unique and do stuff you want to do! My hopes for high school aren't that high to be honest. I just would like to find new friends and try new things. A quote that I believe describes middle school is "Happiness is a choice. You can choose to be happy, there's going to be stress in life, but it's your choice whether you let it affect you or not." -Jacky De La Rosa

I've only been at this school for my 8th grade year but I've made amazing friends with people here. It's kinda hard to say the same thing from my last school. -Amaya Thomas

Have fun in the new school. -Ariza Flores

"Sheeeeeesh" -Natalie Encio

My advice to the middle shoolers is: DO YOUR WORK and STOP SKIPPING CLASS! Trust me it's not worth it. To Mrs. Burke, Mrs. Singleton, Mrs. Martinez, Mr. Rhodes , Mrs. Alonzo , Mrs. T(6th grade ), Mr. Lane, Mr. Snow, Mrs. B, Ms. Tanner, Mrs. Denzlinger, and Mrs. Baker who were all my favorite teachers in my whole entire middle school years, I still do appreciate all of my teachers but those where my favorite ones ever! They taught me a lot and I had a good relationship with every single one of them. If I had to redo a grade with anyone of them, I would! I had great middle school years before the pandemic, I'll miss all the memories I had but it's time to move on. Bye bye Strickland! I had a great 3 years with you! -Roniel Mongo

Middle school can be fun but you need to learn how to be mature because you need to be independent. Something fun about Strickland is Viking Day. I don't know when the next Viking Day is going to happen because of Covid, but it's really fun and it's a great time to hang out with your friends from other grades. -Dalia Villalobos

I had a good time a Strickland Middle School, and I won't forget the time I spent here at Strickland Thank you for taking the time to make school fun for everyone. -Aydan Morrison

Just keep swimming. -Angela Ramirez

Always remember that nobody ever got anything great done in the world by following the rules. -Mia Self

This isn't trash, this is my fish! - Soundsmith, 2020 -Linus Matheson