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The Impact of Moving
Staff Member: Hailey Charfauros
For many students, moving to new places can be challenging, but it also provides the opportunity for growth, making new connections and experiencing new things. There are many things that can cause people to move, like being in a military family, new job opportunities, and sometimes financial situations. Moving is both a positive and negative thing. Moving is difficult for many reasons, it can be overwhelming and full of so many unknown emotions, and leaving things and people behind not knowing what is coming next is very difficult. Although moving could be hard at times, there are many positive attributes that come with moving. Moving pushes you to explore new opportunities, meet new people, make new memories, experience new and different things and shape you to become a better person.
With our school being next to the Ellsworth Air Force Base, we have many military students, so I talked with a student, Maci Voskuil, who has a parent in the military and asked her about the hardships and also the positives about moving. Maci Voskuil states, “Moving has made me mature faster and learn to be stronger emotionally and when you move, you lose and gain new friends, the long distance friends that stay are the friends who will be there for you throughout your moving journey. And a positive of moving is getting to explore and see so many things other people haven’t had the opportunity to do, and a negative would be holding on to memories with certain people without being able to make new ones”.
In the end, moving can be both good and bad. Our school district as a whole welcomes many new students every school year, always remember it is important to welcome and show kindness to those new students to help their moving journey become a little easier for them!
8th Grade Graduation
Staff Member: Valentina Grubic
Pre-school is the beginning. Some of us were excited and others were nervous. Kindergarten: getting used to going to school and making new friends. Elementary: knowing yourself more like style and speech. Middle school: a time when you liked school, but also hated it. These are all 10 years of your life maturing and growing up. But, now it's the big graduation to release you into high school, a bigger school, more kids, and more maturity. This is a big step in your life since you're having to leave your favorite teachers behind, inside jokes, and that one lunch table that you never changed. Getting the honor to walk across the stage, maybe shedding a tear or two, and it will become a memory of you taking a big leap forward into your upcoming future.
This graduation occurs on May 20th and it’s an important event for many of us by walking across the stage and receiving a certificate that you can treasure forever. Audree Zollman commented, “I feel like I'm gonna feel mainly nervous and definitely excited knowing that I made it throughout middle school and I'm moving to High school. I think I’m gonna miss the teachers and staff because we are moving on to different teachers. All the teachers here are very nice and it's easy to build a teacher/student relationship”.
Zach Finnegan added, “I’m going to be happy and excited but also a little bit bummed because I’m leaving a bunch of people behind and I will miss middle school a lot. One thing I will be missing would be the people. The teachers' personalities and the people I have met through middle school”.
Both responses show that middle school was a time of happiness from the teachers and a time of sorrow having to leave this place behind. A place where everyone matured a little bit more every year. Middle school will definitely be a heartwarming memory for almost all of us. Remember, this graduation occurs on May 20th. Be prepared to dress up and enjoy the last moments of your 8th grade year.
Thank you to Bosselman Boss Truck Shop!
Staff Member: Audree Zollman
Mrs. Leigh’s ELA classes from Douglas Middle School want to give a huge thank you to Bosselman Boss Truck Shop for supplying our school with snacks for the upcoming SBAC testing. They will be supplying a variety of snacks like fruit snacks, cheeze-its, veggie straws, and more! We tend to focus a lot on the fact that we need something to satisfy our hunger, especially on a test. Research shows that, “It’s no secret that what you eat affects how you feel. When it comes to exam days and study sessions, you want to be alert, energised and, most importantly, not hungry.” This shows that having snacks during a stressful test, will be beneficial to all students who focus better with a snack in reach!
Since SBAC testing is coming up, there are a lot of things to think about. There will be 4 tests (5 for 8th graders) that will be taking place during the week of April 13th-17th. These tests consist of the Math test, Math performance task, ELA test, ELA performance task, and lastly, the 8th grade science test. Douglas wishes you all the best on the SBAC testing period of the 2026 year!
Source: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/students/food-for-thought-eating-your-way-to-exam-success
Moving on to High School
Staff Member: Zack Finnegan
This is going to be a big year for many students at DMS. Moving to high school is a big change because of freedom, course management, and expectations. High school brings many new opportunities such as more sports, more electives, and more clubs. However, with great opportunities comes great responsibility. In high school, your grades start to matter a lot more if you want to get into a college, honors or have a chance at a well paying job. Many high schools across the US have honors or advanced courses that some students can take to help improve their chances at getting into a college.
Students at Douglas have mixed feelings about high school but don't just take it from me, Colter said “I am excited about Band and also PE but not excited about geometry”, which I get, new things can be scary but high school should be a great experience. Another thing about the high school that many students are excited about is the lunch options. Not only does our high school offer regular lunch, but also a-la-carte. As we move to high school we are also leaving things behind such as teachers, friends, clubs, and even activities. However, it’s not just going to be the students missing things, the teachers will miss their students as well. 8th grade math teacher, Ms. Baker said that she will miss, "Their bubbly personalities and faces. You guys have a great giving spirit and you're very caring and show generosity. I see a lot of genuine concern about each other and I find that very daring and inspiring”. Even though we are leaving behind a lot of activities, teachers, and friends, high school is going to be a new and exciting experience for all the 8th graders here at DMS.
DHS Theatre
Staff member: Emberly McCann
The spring show at the Douglas High-school this year is Charlotte’s Web. They are bringing up elementary school students to be the baby spiders and possibly pigs. This is a very set heavy show. There are few roles in the show. Including Wilbur (a young pig), Charlotte (a loyal spider), and Templeton (a gluttonous rat), Fern and much more. The directors Mr and Mrs. Hamer are great directors. They always create a great environment for the theatre kids. They also always put together a great show. Mr and Mrs. Hamer always give us middle schoolers great critiques and comments. The high-schoolers in general are all amazing and positive. I can’t wait to work with them next year.
Track and Field 2026
Staff Member: Maci Voskuil
On your marks, get set… We have sprinted through the school year and have recently started our middle school track season. Track could be a fun and productive school activity to spend time with friends, stay in shape, and even miss school as well as start your summer tan. Track is a sport with many benefits: it's very good for health, it's a sport that everyone can do, and so much more. If running isn't for you, don't worry, track has many different parts to it, like shot put, and discus for throwing, long jump, triple jump, and high jump for jumping. If running is your thing, there are sprint hurdles, long distance, and even relays.
I interviewed two students who do track and asked them what their favorite part of track is, and here are their response: Mackenna Collins commented, “My favorite part about track is going out and spending time with friends, doing what I love (which is running and doing hurdles), and also being able to stay in shape while also having fun”. Valentina Grubic added, “My favorite part of track is spending quality hours with my friends. We always find something fun to do, like tanning, listening to music while doing each other's hair, and going on side quests”.
Coach Kowaleski said, “My favorite part of being a track coach is even when someone doesn't win, or doesn't do that great in one meet, by the next few meets, they are getting so much better and showing so much progress. I think that growth is the best thing to see as a coach”. Coach Elder added, “The best part of coaching track is watching athletes learn how to keep pushing when things get difficult. Once an athlete realizes that the harder they work, the better the results will be, nothing can stop them. The growth and maturing of athletes is so rewarding. Coaching kids that want to work hard and have fun is about as good as it gets”.
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