Student of the Week!

Congratulations to Gina Polencheck, who has been selected as the first recipient of the Eighth Grade Student of the Week Award for the 2002-03 school year! Gina is an excellent student and works hard in all of her classes. She did a great job on her Qualities of Character poster for social studies. Gina volunteered to write an article for the 9/11 remembrance ceremony held in the middle school, which is posted on the district’s website. Way to go, Gina, and keep up the great work!

         Congratulations to Shawn Miller, who has been selected as the 8^th grade Student of the Week for October 7 – 11!  Shawn is a hard worker in all of his classes. He has the courage to ask questions when he doesn’t understand something. He is respectful to others and works well in groups. Shawn also did a wonderful job on the social studies objective test. Keep it going, Shawn!

Congratulations to Allie Anderson, who has been selected the eighth grade Student Of The Week for October 21 – 25, 2002. Allie offers a lot to her classes through her positive participation. She shows respect for all of her teachers and classmates, works very hard in all classes, works very well in groups, and asks questions when she doesn’t understand. Allie is a polite, respectful, friendly girl who is a shining example of what an eighth grader should be. Keep it up, Allie!

Congratulations to Cory Drewry, who ahs been selected as the 8^th grade Student of the Week for November 11 – 15! Some of the terms that come to mind when you speak of Cory are courteous, polite, helpful, friendly, and respectful. He is always willing to participate and does a good job of expressing himself. Cory also did a wonderful job in the musical, as Friedrich. Keep up the great work, Cory!

Eagles’ ‘Students of the Week’ for December

          As December is a hectic month, the eagles Team was unable to select a Student of the Week every week. So, we selected two students whom we feel are the most deserving of the honor to represent the entire month.

          Austin Legler is a hard-working, conscientious student. He participates in class, and asks questions to further his understanding. Austin  reliably delivers the mail - and copies - to and from the elementary office in the mornings,  doing an admirable job every day. Also, Austin has assisted the varsity wrestling team as a manager, preparing the balcony, washing mats, and cleaning up after practices, for which the coaches and wrestlers are very appreciative. Congratulations Austin, and thank you for being an outstanding citizen!

          Russell Popp has also been working hard in all his classes. Russell participates in class discussions avidly, making many contributions to his and his classmates’ education. Russell had one of the top overall grades in math for the 2^nd quarter –way to go, Russ! He is also very polite and respectful to all his classmates, as well as the faculty and staff in the middle school. Russell’s hard work, enthusiasm, and excellent citizenship have earned him the respect of his peers and teachers. Congratulations Russ, and thank you for being an outstanding citizen!

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Eighth Grade Awards Program

          Each year, eighth graders shine in and out of the classroom. On the last day of school (Thursday, June 12, 2003), the faculty acknowledged certain eighth graders with much – deserved awards and recognition. These honors ranged from attendance to classroom honors to school – community honors. Some were bigger than others, but they were all great accomplishments. Congratulations to all who were recognized!

          Attendance is extremely important in any job. When your job is to learn, missing even one day can mar your experience, and leave a gap in your knowledge. The following students did not miss even part of a school day during the 2002-2003 school year: Katie Burant, Mark Kruis, Molly Meinen, and Jason Otte. Way to be there!!!!

          English is often considered a difficult class. All the writing!! However, some people do enjoy (more than would admit it) and even have a flair for it. Mrs. Gonwa was pleased to honor the following people for their writing:

          Most Eloquent Writer: Allie Anderson

          Most Creative Writer: Cory Drewry

          Most Creative Team of Writers: Gina Polencheck   and   Dani Schwabenlender

          Every year, English teachers submit student work that they think is worthy of being published. Mrs. Hoftiezer is the one to whom the teachers submit work. She compiles the writings into a publication called the Young Author’s Anthology. This year, five eighth graders had their work published: Steven Guererro, Katherine Hildebrand, Liza Keller, Nathan Wallingford, and Lucas Young. Congratulations to you five!! (Look for an autograph signing date in the near future.)

          As you all know, Social Studies can be a difficult course. Mr. Hatfield does a wonderful job of making it manageable – even enjoyable, but it is still challenging. Therefore, he recognizes those who earn an “A” in his class for three out of the four quarters of eighth grade. For 2002 – 2003, those people were: Allie Anderson, Katie Burant, Kyle Cohenour, Cory Drewry, Dan Noster, Kaylee O’Connell, Jackie Obbink, Gina Polencheck, Mara Risseeuw, and Eric Weyker. Hey! All that hard work paid off!!!

          For many people, math can be the most challenging subject. Thankfully, Mrs. Gee enjoys the challenges of math. While a few people readily understand it, most work hard to succeed in math. Mrs. Gee likes to honor the person who really works the most to understand the concepts. Her Hardest Worker award went to Brandon Lemke.

          Getting an “A” in math is not easy. Those that averaged in the “A” range were also recognized:

          A+ average: Allie Anderson, Cory Drewry, Mike Villarreal.

          A Average: Kaylee O’Connell, Caleb Acker, Mark Zimmer, Kim Slotman

          Congratulations to you all – a very impressive accomplishment!!

          As far as my own class, I think science is more manageable than other subjects. While there are many facts to know, it’s all logical. Science makes sense. And it’s fun. So I don’t have any special recognitions for academic achievements. Instead, I look for the scientific spark in the eye, and improvement of scientific thought processes. I call my “Science Student of the Year” Award the “Mad Scientist Award”.

For 2002-2003, my Mad Scientist was Allie Anderson. 

          The student that I observed show the Most Improvement in scientific thought was Claire Wirtz.                

  I am so proud of you two!!!

          Learning a second language is always difficult. However, Miss Weidner makes Spanish enjoyable. She recognizes students in two categories: Participation and Excellence in Spanish.

          Participation: Liza Keller, Kayla Schulz, Joe Burton, and Lucas Young.

          Excellence: Gina Polencheck, Cassie Paulus, Shawn Miller, Kaylee O’Connell.

          Congratulations to you all!!

          Mrs. MacRae had a wonderful first year teaching our middle school band. She especially enjoyed the Trumpet Section, naming them the Best Section. The Trumpet Section included Caleb Acker,  Cory Drewry, Justin Duncklee, Dan Herzog, Krista Klas, Jordan Peterson, Jake Regner, Mike Villarreal, Nick Wendt, Lucas Young, and Mark Zimmer.    

          Play on in Florida!!!

Mrs. Hammond just loves to hear young people sing. She also loves guiding and training those young voices to perfection. And, in eighth grade, voices continue to change. So she didn’t award a “Best Singer”, or anything like that. But she did honor those that served the choir above and beyond their vocal duties. Mrs. Hammond was pleased to recognize the class officers:

          President : Gina Polencheck

          Vice President : Cory Drewry

          Secretary : Aimee Large

          Treasurers: Nick Wendt & Ross Obbink

          Sunshine Personnel: Lucas Young & Elliot Smith

          Even though the Great America trip is over, I hope you all continue to contribute to the school choir, and always find the joy in singing.

          Although Mrs. Rodgers was the Student Council Advisor, Mrs. Gonwa had the pleasure of recognizing the Student Council members.

          Honor Reps were: Allie Anderson, Kaylee O’Connell, and Gina Polencheck

           Instead of having a set student council, Mrs. Decided to have volunteers help the Honor Reps on the various projects throughout the year. So, we recognized our Student Council Volunteers: Katie Ansay, Liza Keller, Amanda Kostuch, Jackie Obbink, Russell Popp, Kim Riley, Elliot Smith, Claire Wirtz, and Lucas Young.

          The faculty, staff, and your classmates owe you all a huge “Thank – You” for making so many activities a success!

          Every year, Mrs. Hoftiezer has the pleasure of recognizing those students who maintain high academic standards throughout middle school. The first category of the Presidential Academic Fitness Awards, Educational Excellence,  is for students who have maintained a grade point average of 3.5 or higher for all four years of middle school. Those people are: Caleb Acker, Allie Anderson, Joe Burton, Cory Drewry, Ben Droppers, Dan Herzog, Liza Keller, Amanda Kostuch, Mark Kruis, Aimee Large, Molly Meinen, Shawn Miller, Dan Noster, Kaylee O’Connell, Jackie Obbink, Cassie Paulus, Gina Polencheck, Mara Risseeuw, Kim Slotman, Mike Villarreal, Jon Walvoord, Mark Zimmer. Whew! That’s quite a list!

          The second category is for students who, although they don’t have the 3.5 GPA, have shown excellence in certain categories. This is the Educational Achievement Award.

          For being a great leader in musical talents: Jake Regner

          For being outspoken with an insight into music: Eric Weyker

          For being extremely hard – working:  Katie Burant

          For excellence in math, and an overall great student: Nick Wendt

For being a strong singer, and a leader on & off the stage: Lucas Young

          Harleen Nayyar was a new student to the United States in 2002, so she has no records of her performance in American schools for grades 5, 6, and 7. However, she did receive the  Educational Achievement Award for excellence in all classes under the “new student” category.

          Congratulations to every one of you. Your achievements are monumental! Don’t stop!!

          Mrs. Hoftiezer also recognized those students who had various forms of work honored in the Midwest Talent Search. Those people are Jesse DeMaster, Shawn Miller, Dan Noster, Kim Slotman, and Nick Wendt.

Congratulations – and keep letting your talents shine!

          As part of citizenship, Mr. Hatfield recognized those students that gave back to their school by tutoring younger students. Those that tutored the Third Graders  were: Caleb Acker, Katie Burant, Joe Burton, Kyle Cohenour, Sarah Groenewald, Kathering Hildebrand, Mark Kruis, Austin Legler, Stephanie Obbink, and Claire Wirtz.

          Our Sixth Grade Math Tutors were: Allie Anderson, Brian Amiot, Cory Drewry, Ben Droppers, Justin Duncklee, Liza Keller, Amanda Kostuch, Aimee Large, Caity Martin, Molly Meinen, Shawn Miller, Dan Noster, Kaylee O’Connell, Gina Polencheck, Dani Schwabenlender, Kim Slotman, Nick Wendt, Mark Zimmer.

          Thank you from your teachers, but most importantly from the students whose lives you touched and enriched!

          A special “Thank You” to our resident Mailman, Austin Legler!

          Track is a wonderful sport because there’s something for everybody. However, excelling at any sport means hard work and dedication. While we thank Mrs. Duenk for guiding our middle school track program, she wanted to recognize her Team Leaders: Allie Anderson, Katie Ansay, David Baron, Jeff Bergner, Jason Clark, Amy Croatt, Casie Dana, Ben Droppers, Dan Herzog, Jeremy Hildebrand, Ben Holle, Liza Keller, Mark Kruis, Aimee Large, Molly Meinen, Jackie Obbink, Stephanie Obbink, Kaylee O’Connell, Jason Otte, Kim Riley, Donavon Schmitt, Dani Schwabenlender, Clare TenPas, Eric Weyker, Claire Wirtz, Lucas Young, and Mark Zimmer.

          Here’s hoping you all work for success on the high school track team!

Returning to the citizenship theme, Mr. Hatfield presented our eighth grade Citizenship Awards. Each year, the team selects one boy and one girl for this honor. We verify our selections with all our colleagues – other teachers, staff members, and our administrators. Our model citizens for 2002-2003 were Allie Anderson and Lucas Young. 

          Congratulations to you two, and thank you for making us proud!

Every year, the team also selects one person who has shown the most improvement throughout the year in both academic and non – academic areas. Again, this selection is verified by our colleagues. We call it the “Soaring Eagle Award”, and for 2002-2003 we selected Katie Burant.

          Congratulations Katie, and keep soaring higher!