By Sophia Jasso-Cano, Kateryna Datsyshyn, and Sammit Acharjee
As 2024-25 MMS Peer leaders, this will be our final post of the school year, as it comes to a close.
Throughout the year, from October to May, we collectively wrote over 30 articles, in many different categories including recipes, world events, and cultures. We had articles about March Madness, our school’s spirit month (April), the high school orientation for 8th graders, and the annual Peer Leader field trip to the Special Olympics. However, our year did not go uninterrupted, as we had many challenges, including switching advisors in the middle, having to scrap articles based on availability, and coordination for collective articles. These problems did not stop us, since we learned how to communicate effectively with peers, and promote our website using emails and the Morning Announcements.
This year, we finally met our mascot, Maverick. Thanks to Maverick, Millburn Middle School is keeping up on our Millburn spirit with lots of fun! Our new principal, Dr. Sack contributes to every event in our school, participating in morning announcements every single day. We are really thankful for the work that Dr. Sack, along with all administrators, has done in our school.
Looking ahead, there are great hopes for future PEN Peer Leaders as they continue to grow and make an impact. Once exciting goal is the successful completion of the YouTube short, showcasing their creativity and teamwork. We hope that more people become more engaged with the website created!
All eighth graders have an exciting journey ahead filled with memorable moments and new beginnings. They can look forward to a fun-filled trip to Fountain Spring Lake, a special movie day featuring The Little Mermaid, and the much-anticipated moving up ceremony that celebrates all their hard work and growth. Most Importantly, they’ll soon take a big step forward as they transition into ninth grade, ready to begin a brand new chapter in high school.
After school on the 28th of May, our peer leader advisors hosted an award ceremony for those students who went above and beyond in their roles as peer leaders. This ceremony was dedicated to recognizing the hard work, dedication, and positive impact these individuals have had throughout the year. Whether they consistently showed leadership, supported their peers, or stood out through the recommendation of their advisors, each of these students has made a meaningful difference in our school community. During the ceremony, when we shined a spotlight on those who are receiving awards (Diya, Adit, Miraya, Sydney), it’s important to remember that every peer leader played a valuable role this year. Whether or not you received formal recognition, your efforts, commitment, and presence made a difference. Every act of support, every moment of kindness, and every step you took to lead by example contributed to the strength and spirit of our team. You should be proud of the impact you’ve made, because being a leader isn’t just about awards–it’s about staying dedicated and helping others grow.
To Mrs. Michael and Mrs. Reilly, thank you for your unwavering support and dedication that made us better. You participated in every peer leader event and helped each one of us. Thank you so much for your contribution and help this year! We are looking forward to you achieving the same and even better goals for next peer leaders!
Our articles are still available on this site, but to make way for the work of the next PEN Peer Leaders, we've archived the articles we wrote this year. Be sure to check out the Archives tab on the menu at the top of our site. For our articles, please look for publications dated after September 2024.