Barret Life

History of the Hill

by Gurleen Pandher

Barret 1930-1986

Barret was first built in 1930 by the Louisville Board of Education. Barret’s first original name was Alex. G. Barret Junior High School. Before Barret even became a school, the school was first a hospital for refugees during the flood of 1937.  Barret had officially closed in the year 1986 during summer, then later on reopened as, “Barret Traditional Middle School.” 

Recognition

Barret has been best known for being a Blue Ribbon school as well as a magnet school. Barret is located on a hill in Louisville´s Crescent Hill Community. Barret is best known for being a well-mannered, traditional school, as well as being one of the middle schools that scored really high on the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System. 

Blue Ribbon School 

To some people a blue ribbon school could just be described as a school that had a fancy blue ribbon that just shows that the school is good for studies. The actual meaning of a blue ribbon school is that the school provides for the students, having good academics, and being a good school for kids to make sure they have a good education overall.

Traditional   

Barret has been a traditional school since 1986. Traditional to BTMS is showing respect, responsibility, and citizenship. Barret being a traditional school emphasizes the importance of a shared culture through our uniform. 

Barret Through the Years

Barret’s history is ever-changing. But Barret remains a great place for kids and their studies with kids learning new things as well as then all meeting new people. As we explore Barret’s history and future, please feel free to share any topics or information on Barret.  By emailing: gurleen.pandher@stu.jefferson.kyschools.us

Mastery-Based Grading

By: Natalia Garza

The board of education for Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) has enforced a new method of grading. Barret TMS started to use this in the past two years. Mastery-based grading (sometimes called Standard-based)  is focused more on the growth and progress of students. Before this grading system was introduced, the past system focused on effort and participation. With this new change students are able to show what they know and have more opportunities to demonstrate understanding.

A number of JCPS schools  are now more concerned with students understanding the assignment than a score. This new grading system was to help build up what COVID-19 and Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI) destroyed. NTI caused students to face a new challenge: back to school with new teachers, classmates, and for some people, schools. Being pressured into finishing everything, and sometimes not understanding what to do on top of that, didn't help. The way of grading is allowing students to improve off of  feedback.

JCPS leaders are adapting, changing to be flexible with the students. There are going to be times when they can’t always finish it all. Where there's too much pressure and the mind goes blank. They won’t be punished for it anymore, unless you miss the deadline (usually end of term). Students can turn things in late because sometimes we have to.  The Hilltoppers won’t always understand what the assignment is or maybe the wording. Mastery-based grading allows resubmissions until the Barret students are satisfied with their work. By redoing and resubmitting, there is a learning opportunity from what went wrong and show improvement. Understand what is being taught and do better. Students strive to make a mark; to make progress. The world changes, people are more open to what is happening, and how the future generations aren't perfect, just as the past weren’t.

As we have a new grading system, it’s important to remember students have to care for their grades. The system is fair, you have the chance to bring your grades up. Hilltoppers are realizing how important it is to take control of their education. Choosing how to do on the test and whether to pass or fail. The choice of wanting to study, asking questions, and in the end, if time moves on to the next grade level. Barret’s students  are the people responsible for their learning, but need help from peers and staff. As humans, we all make mistakes, but you could put in your part by making it more obvious where you changed your answers for our teachers. Teachers give so much to us, it might be small, but, also, a simple “thank you,” might help. 

The new way of grading can be a challenge but it improves scores. It works to help the Hilltoppers show growth and not worry about effort. Effort is still needed, but it is no longer the main focus. The goal is to move with the times -- not travel to the past. A new way of grading could help the Barret kids feel safer in the halls and less weight on their shoulders. Change happens as the years go by and the earth revolves. The way of grading must change with it; where it can be different and taught in a new perspective. The world was made great from different ways of learning. Why stop now? “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was looking to the future in equal rights, Barret is looking into the future in education.

Barret Black Student Union

Have you heard about the Black Student Union ? Ever wonder what the BSU is about? Well, letś talk all about it!

At the BSU, we meet every other Thursday to do mini-lessons on important subject and discuss key topics through the lens of the Black experience. In these mini-subjects we talk about subjects  that feel important to us, for example code-switching and microaggressions. That’s because our goal as a BSU is to learn more about topics that affect Black students and share this information with our Barret community. 

We also want to share our ideas and experiences as Black students at Barret. This year, we are working on an important culminating project. We are looking at Barret’s behavior matrix through the lens of a Black student. The behavior matrix focuses on Barret rules and we want to see if they affect Black students differently. This project is very important because it can help shape our school for Black students as we at Barret pursue justice and help strengthen the Barret community. 

Does this sound like something you’re interested in? We’re always looking for new members! Though we focus on Black experiences and issues, every one is welcome here at the BSU. We strive to be a strong and safe community so every one can share their experiences. See Ms. Nelson in room 316 for more information on joining the BSU. 

Article by: Joshua Nazarkewich, Adrianna Deleon, And Sophia Angilella

Junior Achievement Field Trip

One thing that students have been raving about is the JA field trip. The Junior Achievement Field Trip (also known as BizTown)  is supposed to inspire middle schoolers to have future success with the help from volunteers and donors in our community.  According to the JA site this field trip is supposed to teach the students about taxes, bills and other finances. The Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana allows the student to work a job such as being a cashier, salesman and food preparer. You can also do things like vote for mayor. This is supposed to teach the students how to be responsible with their money and life in general. 

We have interviewed our own 7th grade teacher, Winsbert Ansine, to see what he thinks about the upcoming field trip. Mr. Ansine is the one who has scheduled and planned the field trip. It is important to know what he thinks about the field trip. Here is what we asked,

Q: What will this field trip do to help students?

A: The field trip will teach children about financial management and spending / saving money.

Q: Why is this field trip mandatory? 

A: It’s mandatory because it is in the curriculum to go and it is an  important experience to have to get you ready for when you are an adult and have income.

Q: What is your general opinion on the field trip?

A: This is one of the best field trips we could go on. This will teach you how to budget and real world knowledge.

We also have a 7th grade student we have interviewed, Rosalyn Thomas. We want to hear what a fellow Barret student would have to say about the trip so we told her to be as honest as possible. This is what she has to say.

Q: How will the trip benefit our education? 

A: I believe that this trip will give me life experience in ways on how to be an adult ; managing money, managing children, etc.

Q: Do you think you use this experience as an adult? 

A: Kind of… I think it will be a fun experience but one I might not remember. I don’t think that when I’m older I will be able to remember the trip I went on in 7th grade.

Q: How do you think Barret will act on this trip?

A: I think we’ll be fine. We will probably be a little bit loud but I think overall we will behave.

In conclusion this field trip will hopefully be a massive success and I think that students and teachers will benefit from this experience. 

Thank you for reading!

Griddy

Writing By: Maxwell Stearns

Interview from: Mithun Kumar

Kids everywhere are starting to do this new dance called “The griddy”. To school to vr games, kids and adults alike have together been hitting the griddy.

When did this happen

The griddy skyrocketed in 2021 and has lingered ever since. It was created by famous football player Allen 

Davis. Allen was inspired by another popular dance 

“the nae nae” and wanted to make his own dance. He then filmed himself doing the dance on youtube and it has been popular ever since. 

Interview

I interviewed

my good friend Mithun. Here are his thoughts on the griddy. “Hi, I got interviewed by Max to express my thoughts on the Griddy.

 The Griddy in my opinion is like a victory dance. Mostly my friends use it as a sign of victory. I saw a group of people hit the Griddy on the 1st floor of our school. I was pretty surprised but I liked it. Overall my thoughts on the Griddy are that it is just another I guess cringy dance.” 

The Griddy Spread

After a few months of the griddy, it somehow made it to Barret. Whether it was through memes, or just something to do when you're bored, more and more people around the school started hitting the griddy. Much like an infection, people spread the griddy to the point teachers even knew of it. In one of my classes my teacher spun a wheel for points. One day when the wheel was getting ready to be spinned, a new chance hit the board. “Griddy for 50”. And what a treat griddy for 50 was. You land on it and you can do the griddy for 50 points. What a bargain.

The Sturdy

Like a wise man once said “good things must come to an end.” The griddy is now slowly meeting its demise with the new dance named “Sturdy”. The sturdy was everywhere. Tik Tok, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, even Vine! Like who even uses Vine anymore?

And even though the griddy is now a thing of the past, we must move forward. I even made a quote. “Even though now it's weird not having the griddy, don't be sad or loath self pity.”

Barret Cares is A Part of you

Natalia Garza

“Barret Cares is not something you join. It’s part of being part of the Barret Community.” Mr. Morris has repeated that message, yet it doesn’t fully sink into everyone. Whether you are in Barret or were, you will always be a part of Barret Cares. With those words, there is a planning committee that helps organize events. We know Barret, but we need to show the world who the Barret Hilltoppers are.

The “Barret Cares Cool Club” organizes school/grade-level projects and opportunities to help the local, state, national, and international communities. From small ways to changing lives, we strive to make a difference in our futures. It began with Mr. Morris and Andrew Dunn in 2013. Around 10 years later, the spark has faded a bit; we have the power to strengthen the spark again. It has been glowing brighter with each act we do, by opening the door for someone or volunteering at an organization. Being part of the planning committee, we try to find ways to make it easier to make a difference.

The world is learning how to listen to the next generations. We are children, whose minds are still forming, and who are still experiencing a lot of “firsts.” We are making mistakes allowing us to see the world from a different perspective. Mr. Morris shared with me, “We haven’t even scratched the surface--not even close--of the great things that our young people can do for our society and our culture, and it’s desperately needed because my generation, understandably, we're kinda locked into how we see things cause we’ve been seeing it for so long, and we need fresh eyes, fresh ideas, fresh thoughts. That’s where you come in. That’s why it’s always important to get the young people involved as soon as possible.” We have thousands of ideas; we are more in touch with our creativity than several adults. We can do spectacular things, but you need to put in the work.

Barret Cares Planning Committee is always looking for new, innovative ideas. Every other Friday from 2:30 to 3:30 in 114. Talk to Mr. Morris if you are interested/have any questions or just show up, either way, you'll be welcomed.

 “I want the kids to say, ‘Hey adults this is what we think we should be doing.’” -Mr. Morris