Embedded Files
Winter Poll Results
By Ella Escobar
Black History Month
Facts about Influential African Americans
By Aria Johnson
Jackie Robinson
One of the first Black baseball players in Major League Baseball
A National Baseball Hall Of Famer
Jackie also became a Civil Rights activist during the Civil Rights Movement along with his wife
“Jackie Robinson - Day, Movie & Death.” Biography, 15 Oct. 2021, https://www.biography.com/athletes/jackie-robinson.
Katherine Johnson
Performed calculations for NASA that sent astronauts into orbit
As a child, she skipped many grades to the point that when she was only 10 years old, she graduated the eighth grade
She had won multiple awards for her work including the Presidential Medal of Freedom
“Katherine Johnson - NASA, Death & Hidden Figures.” Biography, 11 Jan. 2021, https://www.biography.com/scientists/katherine-g-johnson.
Michael Jackson
As a young boy, he was the lead singer for a group with his brothers called the Jackson 5
He won 15 Grammy awards and sold more than a billion records worldwide
His album “Thriller” is the best selling album in history
He was born in Gary, Indiana and his childhood home is only about 15 minutes from our school
“Michael Jackson - Kids, Death.” Biography, 12 Sept. 2022, https://www.biography.com/musicians/michael-jackson.
What's Happening in the Library
By Malia Arce, Aowen Kiel, and Autumn Underwood
In a very stressful and hectic school, there's a relaxing place you can go to unwind, the library. It is run by an amazing and dedicated librarian, Mrs. Henderson with the help of Ms. K. The library is a peaceful place in our school where students can go to do more than just read books. In the library, we have the makerspaces. It’s where you can do puzzles, do the STEAM challenges, color on a big coloring sheet (that is usually hung up once completed), practice engineering with K’Nex, and there’s the most recent addition to the makerspace, a pin maker. Many students feel comfortable in the library. Whenever the library is open, students can come down during their lunch if they sign up or class periods with a pass.
Although the library does have a lot of different things, you can still do stuff related to reading. There are contests every so often like the Young Hoosier contest. You would read a Young Hoosier book, give a short summary on them, and then your name is put on a wheel to be spun for a prize. So far with the Young Hoosier contest, there have been 4 winners. Two 8th graders and two 7th graders. Here is what one winner had to say about their accomplishments. Aniece, the 1st 8th grade winner stated, “Well out of all the Young Hoosier books I read Scritch Scratch. The reason why is because it was an interesting scary story and it was a chapter book.” Aniece explained she was very happy, excited, and shocked that she won.
There is also a cat clue/clue cat contest. This is where you have a clue every day, you have to then find the book that all of the clues were about, read it, give a summary, and earn an awesome prize. There are only a limited amount of clues though so make sure to find them first! Pierce Middle School’s Library is more than just your ordinary library; it’s a place where you can have fun, be yourself, and also still do what it’s sole purpose is, read.
ISSMA Solo & Ensemble
By Ella Escobar
On Saturday, January 28th, 2023 students from one of the three music groups had the opportunity to participate in the annual District ISSMA Solo & Ensemble event. The Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) gives young musicians a chance to showcase their abilities as a soloist or within a small group in front of a judge. Every entrant has the choice to pick what difficulty level they’d like to perform at, with Group 1 having the harshest evaluations from the judge. These experienced judges provide personal critiques, scores, and ratings for each participant based on several categories. Students are presented with Gold, Silver, or Bronze medals respective to the rating they earned from their performance. Any recipient of a Gold award who also performed in Group 1 is given a second chance to present their talents at state level.
Overall, there were 20 students representing Pierce at ISSMA that day. The orchestra consisted of 17 of those individuals, with 3 ensembles and 10 soloists. Each group brought home a gold medal, and the soloists earned 9 golds and 1 silver medal. Band only sent three soloists to participate, but they all managed to receive gold medals for their performances. Lastly, the choir did not have any of its students take part in the event.
Ms. Edwards, the current orchestra teacher, shared with me her thoughts regarding ISSMA from a teacher’s perspective, “I was nervous for all my students because I wanted to do well. I am so proud of them, and it was great seeing all their hard work and practice pay off.”
Cold Hearted Formal Review
By Autumn Underwood
The Pierce winter formal was a fun event for Valentine's day because of all the music, dancing, and celebrating being with friends and loved ones. The DJ let students pick songs and there were slow dances for the Valentines couples. I highly recommend dances like these in the future. The DJ’s playlist was fabulously elegant. I saw the admin and staff dancing as well. The decorations came out awesome considering the fact the student council was low on staff. The dance was very lively and it was a great experience for most of the students. Aowen Kiel stated in her interview, “I rate the dance a 9/10. Only because at certain points it was kind of dry, but when good songs came on everyone ran to the front to dance.” Students also seemed to enjoy the snacks and thought they were offered at a good price. People were entertained with the 3-D photo booth which looked cool too. What’s not to like about nice music and having fun with friends? Everything was well put together and the student council did an amazing job with putting time and effort into making the dance something everyone would enjoy. Overall, it was definitely a night to remember.
Short Story
Never Go into the school basement
By Aria Johnson
One day a group of friends thought it would be a good idea to stay at school for the night. The three friends made a plan to stay in the bathroom for a couple of hours and wait for all of the staff to leave for the day. As soon as the janitor left, they left the bathroom and had the school all to themselves. They all were running through the halls, playing in the gym, and even getting a few extra snacks in the cafeteria. But there was one place they were afraid to go… the school basement. Everyone in the school was afraid to go there because a dead body was found there back in the 1990’s. One friend was insistent on going inside the school basement. Eventually, she convinced the other two to go. Once down there, it was nothing but a dark hallway. All they had were the lights from their phones. They soon found a light switch. The basement wasn’t bad. They soon started to explore around the basement, goofing off and such. Then they heard someone else opening the door to the basement. The lights almost turned off as they were all huddled together, scared for their lives. Then they felt the floor shake as they fell under the floor. The three were never found again and have now been proclaimed missing for several years. That’s what they get for bothering me when I'm trying to get some sleep in the basement. A ghost has feelings too, you know.
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