On Thursday, November 8th and 9th, NMMS Student Council held a bake sale at parent-teacher conferences. The baked goods were sold by donation. All of the donations, over $150.00, are going to the Wounded Warriors Project. Some of the baked goods were cookies, pumpkin bars, apple pie, brownies, cupcakes, and Rice Krispies Treats.The students who helped out at the bake sale were Whistler Broome of Alexandria, Skyler LaCasse of New Hampton , Izzi Braley of Alexandria, Lily Karkheck of Bridgewater, Taylor Mooney of Hebron, Gretchen Reynolds of Bridgewater, Mia LeBrun of New Hampton, and Mia DiFilippe of New Hampton. Then on Tuesday, November 13, the Student Council gave thank you cards for the teachers who are veterans. The teachers also received puff pastries.

By: Lydia Bartlett and Brian Barnes

Published: 11/1/18

On October 2nd, students gathered at Southern New Hampshire University for the New England League of Middle Schools meeting for the students involved in student leadership in this school. At the event, the speaker, Jessie Chris, a country western singer and composer came and spoke about bullying and the struggles and unfairness of it.

The question that The Growl asked the NMMS students who attended were “what did you do at the NELMS event”.

Adelaide McGowan, an 8th grader, explained, “At the NELMS meeting, there were over 250 students from all over New England from different schools and we were split into groups where we did many group activities while getting to meet the other students. Some activities we did involved building towers, and a bag full of objects related to being a leader. After a few activities, we eventually got into a group with students from our own school and debated how we could improve the climate and culture of our school.”

Teagan Gilpatric, also an 8th grader, described “At the NELMS meeting, we were given breakfast and were able to settle down for a while until a country singer named Jessie Chris gave a motivational speech about bullying and we got to take pictures with her, then after that we were split into groups with kids from different schools and got to talk with them. After a while of working in our groups, we eventually talked with students from our own school and talked about how we can improve our school.”

Trevor Sanschagrin 8th grader, added, “There were over 60 administrators and over 250 students from all over New England who came to work on leadership skills and teamwork. It was fun for the students who had their friends with them because it was a great bonding experience. We did some group activities which included doing conferences on how to change the school environment and did a survey on it. There were over 20 groups participating in the activities. Some other activities we did were building a tower with materials brought to our groups in an envelope, the tallest tower was 6ft standing! We also did another activity with a bag full of 9 cards and we had to do whatever it said on the card, along with that we sang songs.”

Finally, James Paratore, 8th grader clarified, “It was exciting to meet lots of students throughout the region, it was fun to get in groups and do building activities with the others. Then we had a lunch break, and that was about it.”

Overall the students who went there found it to be a fun and enlightening experience when it came to the socialization activities and the people there. It could be an exciting opportunity for those who are considering being a part of student leadership and based on these quotes is a fun experience for all.

On September 21, 2018 the Harlem Wizards came to NMMS, though they didn’t come from Hogwarts, they came and performed their skill and charm for the school during Core+. They arrived at around 2:25 and introduced themselves before they hollered up a student to show a teacher some modern day dances AKA a couple of iconic Fornite dances. After that they began asking the students who was the “funniest” male and female and called them onto the court, where they each chose two teachers of their choice to be on their team in the game of shootout against one another. Malina Bohlmann, 8th grader , who was voted ‘funniest girl’ and Brady MacLean, 8th grader, who was voted ‘funniest boy’, chose teachers to play basketball alongside with. After that, the battle for the win was almost as intense as Harry fighting Voldemort in the last book. In the end though, everyone was glad to have been entertained by the Harlem Wizards on that Friday.

On Sunday, the Harlem Wizards returned to play once again against the Newfound Allstars (a group of Newfound staff and members of the community). It was an enjoyable game with lots of crowd interaction, family games, and earning prizes (including giving merchandise to those who participated). Despite all this, they also had time to actually play some basketball and shoot some hoops. They didn’t just play against the Newfound Allstars, they also brought people from the crowd onto the court and invited them to also play basketball along with them. In the end, they really expelliarmus us away with their talent.

Hat Day is a chance for people to wear hats in school, but it costs a dollar. For the first Hat Day, the school raised over $70 to Bristol Community Services.

On Friday the 14th of September, Newfound Memorial Middle School’s Student Council’s committee of Community Outreach baked cookies for the local fire department. The committee of 3, Savannah Muzzey, 7th grader, Rylee Barney, 7th grader, and Lily Karkheck, 8th grader, wanted to thank the Bristol Fire Department for all their service, especially after the Beech Street fire. The Bristol firemen were very appreciative of the thank you and enjoyed their cookies.

On September 13, 2018 there was open house at Newfound Memorial Middle school from 5pm to 8pm. Everyone went to have a cookout, they had hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and salads. After that the kids went into their classrooms on green days and white days. The people went because they wanted to have fun with their families or to talk to teachers and some kids went to talk to friends and hangout.

Nick Mazur, a 7th grader went to Open House and ate, then he did a tour of classes with his family. Molly Hunewill, 6th grader, said the dinner was good. Devin Towne said his parents could see what kids do everyday and the parents could schedule a meeting. Mia LeBrun, a 6th grader, said she went to classes and asked questions. Vanessa Frasca, a 6th grader, said she liked the food and liked most classes. Lastly, Izabella Monroe, a 7th grader said that she had a great time, she liked eating and having fun with family. So the Open House at the Memorial Middle School of 2018 was a success.