Middle School News

Read about some of the events that have happened here on campus. Our writers have selected events they are connected to and share something about them.

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Check out the newly published Middle Earth! It has tons of writing and art from many middle schoolers. Click on the link to see it for yourself! http://www.providenceday.org/middleschool-middl

Science Olympiad Success with Largest Team Ever

by Taylor Gerlach

       So how does Science Olympiad work? PDS has three teams that middle school students can join. There is a sixth grade team, a seventh grade team, and a Varsity team consisting of mostly eighth graders and a few ninth graders. There are 23 events, and each student can sign up for one to four events. Some events require building and testing a device, such as a bottle rocket. Other events are testing events in which team members learn information, put together “cheat sheets” and practice skills they will need for the “test” at the competition. The regional competition is held each year on the campus of UNC Charlotte. The teams with the top five scores advance to the state competition on April 26-27th at NC State University.

       The Science Olympiad regional competition took place on March 2nd. The competition was a blast, especially running through the snowflakes in between events! All team members did an amazing job and had fun doing it!

       The results? Please note that the JV and Varsity teams are graded and placed separately. In other words, the 6th and 7th grade teams compete against each other but not against the Varsity team. The 6th grade team (JV2) had a great first taste of competition and placed 9th out of 18 teams. The seventh grade team (JV1) stepped it up and placed 6th out of 18 teams. Varsity placed 5th out of 27 teams and competed in the state competition on April 26-27. Congratulations to everyone on all teams!

Varsity

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Black History Month Quiz

By Olivia Comer

In the month of February, 2013, PDS’ Middle School celebrated Black History Month by having the advisees participate in a Black History Month Quiz! The winner of the quiz was Mrs. Tilson’s 7th Grade girls advisee! This advisee received a Bruegger’s Bagels breakfast at break on Friday, March 15. Congratulations to this advisee! Also, all of the advisees that came in second place received on dosen of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Thank you to all of the advisees that participated in the quiz to learn more about black history!

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Getting Ready for Spirit Week

Next week, our Charger Middle School will celebrate the annual Spirit Week where we will dress up and show our love for PDS! This fun week all starts on Tuesday, January 29 with a Charger Spirit Day and a no homework night. Each middle school student will be encouraged to go to the Charger varsity basketball games. Also, on Tuesday during assembly, the Student Council will host PDS’ first annual Rubics Cube Contest. On Wednesday, we will have our first dress up day with a theme of decades. The 8th Grade will be the 80s, the 7th Grade will be the 60s, and the 6th Grade will be the 70s! Next, on Thursday the whole Middle School will participate in a Clothes Drive to help gather winter clothes and dress children in need. This is the first year that the Middle School has participated in a clothes drive for Spirit Week, and it is going to be great to know that we are going to help others! Finally, on Friday, we will have our final dress-up day with a theme of music genres. The 8th Grade is country music, the 7th Grade is techno music, and the 6th Grade is pop music. Also, on Friday we will have our second annual Middle School dance!!! The Middle School 2013 Spirit Week will be the best yet!

Pumpkin Patch

6th Grade

Although all the 6th grade pumpkins were great, there had to be a winner… the judges chose Mrs. Scully Advisee’s pumpkin as the best 6th grade pumpkin! This pumpkin was decorated as Horton the elephant. They got their idea from the movie Horton Hears a Who.  The pumpkin was an excellent idea!

 

7th Grade

The 7th grade winner was the Cinderella Pumpkin Carriage by Mrs. Tilson’s advisee! This Advisee’s idea was very imaginative! The pumpkin was the carriage with Barbies as the people and plastic horses to pull the carriage. This Advisee group must have worked hard to make such an artistic pumpkin decoration!

8th Grade

The winner for eighth grade was Math Monster! It was made by Mr. Li’s Advisee and was a very creative pumpkin! To make their pumpkin, these advisees decided to carve the pumpkin with teeth, and later put “math homework” inside the mouth. This was a great pumpkin!

Overall Winner

The most creative pumpkin was chosen as the best overall pumpkin. This pumpkin had a real fish inside! Mr. Sienk’s Advisee group  carved the pumpkin to hold a fish bowl. This idea was new and unique, so the judges chose this cool pumpkin as the overall winner!

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You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown

by Katie Barton

Who loves Charlie Brown? The real question is, who doesn’t? In November, the Fine Arts building was crowded with Charlie Brown fans to see the middle school play, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. There were many actors involved in the play, all with a specific part to fulfill. Some parts were bigger than others, but in the end, every character counted! One big role was Snoopy, the lovable black and white beagle owned by Charlie Brown. This pooch was played by Madison Brading of the sixth grade. “We had many dances to practice,” she said. “We had to know when and where to be at the right time. We also worked on movements. Each movement counts, because the more real it is, the more the audience will believe that what’s on stage is real!” Snoopy, though important, is only one of the large group of main actors. Another big role was Lucy,  played by two people, Jane Vaughan and Tessa Giordano, both from the seventh grade. “If I were to describe Lucy in one word,” Jane said. “It’d be ‘crabby, crabby, crabby’! Lucy thinks that everyone should respect her.” Lucy is in many scenes, but as Vaughan says, “I think the audience will really enjoy the scene where Lucy asks people to tell her why they think she’s crabby. It has some hilarious answers that will have the audience cracking up!” Lucy might have annoyed Charlie Brown, but not nearly as much as his younger sister, Sally. “I think Sally is a lot like me,” Caroline Beason, of the seventh grade, said. “I wanted to get the part of either Snoopy or Sally. When I found out I was playing Sally, I was so happy.” Many of the actors in the play have incredible talents, such as singing and dancing. “I’ve taken ballet,” Caroline stated, “and I have recently started to take singing lessons.” Sally, being four, had much to think about. “She looks up to her brother,” Beason said. “Charlie is like her hero.” “If I were to say one word about my character,” Beason says. “It would be outspoken. She has lots of ideas, as she states in the ‘My New Philosophy’ song.”
And of course, the biggest role in the play was Charlie Brown himself. “I originally was going to try out for Linus,” Chris Melton, of the sixth grade, said. “But my friends told me that I should try for Charlie Brown. I never thought I would actually get it, since there were many more experienced actors trying out.” There were many big surprises in the play. “A big surprise is in the Red-Haired girl scene,” Chris said. “In all, Charlie Brown is a depressed character. He doesn’t know what to do with his life.” Chris definitely had a lot to prepare for. “I’ve been in two plays before,” he said. “They were The Aristocats and Cinderella.” Knowing we had experienced actors to play the parts, it was no surprise that You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown was a huge success!

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Homecoming Week 2012

By

Olivia Comer

This year Providence Day School’s homecoming became a huge event for the whole school. Instead of just Upper schoolers participating in homecoming activities, the Middle school and Lower school were also able to dress up each day of the week in a different theme.

On Tuesday Oct. 16 the themes were:
8th Grade and Juniors – pajamas
7th Grade and Sophomores – sporty
6th Grade and Freshman – western
Faculty – nerdy

On Wednesday Oct.17 the themes were:
8th Grade and Juniors – blue
7th Grade and Sophomores – pink
6th Grade and Freshman – orange
Faculty – purple

On Thursday Oct. 18 the themes were:
8th Grade & Juniors – Mardi Gras
7th Grade & Sophomores – St. Patrick’s Day
6th Grade & Freshmen – Valentine’s Day
Faculty – Arbor Day

On Friday Oct. 19 the theme was:
All school Spirit Day!

The week was so much fun, and on Friday, the whole school got to participate in a pep rally before the game against Country Day’s Buccaneers. Sadly, the Chargers lost the football game, but it was a fun half time when Guille Henegar and Mackenzie Busby were announced as the Homecoming 2012 king and queen. There were also some great photos taken all week that are posted below. I hope that you all enjoyed this fun Homecoming week and enjoy the pictures!

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