Hoofprint

A recent poll was made to 30 students from MMS, 15 girls and 15 boys about where they most like to shop. Our options were North Hills, Crabtree Valley Mall, Walmart, Burlington Coat Factory and Cameron Village. They were asked why they liked to shop there and what their favorite thing to buy is. Over all, most people at MMS like to shop at North Hills. Walmart and Burlington Coat Factory are tied for last place.

The girls mainly voted for North Hills and Cameron Village, but some voted for Crabtree as well. There were 0 votes for Burlington Coat Factory and only 1 vote for Walmart because most of these girls don’t particularly like their merchandise such as clothing. 3 votes went to Crabtree Valley Mall mostly because of their delicious food and popular clothes. Cameron Village had 4 of 15 girls like them because of their fashionable styles. North Hills had 6 female students vote them the best. This is because of their multiple choices in clothes , a movie theater which is unique for a mall, and their options for food.

Most of the boys at MMS chose North Hills and Crabtree as the best place to shop. 0 people voted for Walmart and only 1 person voted for Burlington Coat Factory because their stuff doesn’t appeal to teenage boys. 2 students thought Cameron Village was there favorite place because of their stylish clothing. Crabtree Valley Mall got 5 votes because of all the choices of clothes and food. North Hills had 8 boys think that it is the best out of all of the options. This is because it’s a great place to hang out, go to lunch, shop or even see a movie.

North Hills was over all the best place where most people like to shop. They like it because they have so many choices for what people like to do such as shop, eat, or see a movie. Crabtree Valley Mall came in 2nd place for where Middle School students most like to shop because of their fashionable clothes and yummy food options. Cameron Village was 3rd place because of their stylish outfits provided. Out of 30 boys and girls at Martin, the majority of them like to shop at North Hills and Crabtree.

Ever wonder what MMS looks like from the inside? Several interviews were conducted of one boy and one girl from 6th, 7th, and 8th grade to see what they thought. The sixth graders were asked what their general thoughts were of MMS this past year, their initial expectations of MMS, and whether MMS lived up to those expectations. The seventh graders were asked how seventh grade was different from sixth grade, and what they are expecting for eighth grade. The eight graders were asked about their favorite and worst memories of MMS and what year was their favorite.

In the sixth grade, Aaron and Pippa were interviewed. When Pippa was asked how MMS has been her first year she responded by saying that it was annoying but better than DMS. Pippa said that her initial expectations of MMS were that you wouldn’t get in very much trouble but she realized that that was not true. When Aaron was asked about his first year at MMS he said that it was really good and very fun. Aaron initially expected MMS to be extremely big and scary but it wasn’t.

From seventh grade Milton and Kaiya . Milton was asked how his seventh grade year was different from sixth grade and he replied that the work load was different. He expected that in eighth grade he would have even more work but better teachers. The seventh grade girl said that she thought the biggest difference between sixth and seventh grade was the order of classes. She added that she expected eighth grade to be even more difficult and have more work.

Finally, from eighth grade, Maddie and Max were interviewed. Maddie said that her favorite memory was the sixth grade field trip to the beach. She said that her worst memory was getting bad math grades. Maddie’s favorite years were seventh grade because of her small groups of friends on team and her least favorite year was eighth because of the work load increase. When Max was asked about his favorite memory, he said that it was saying hi to Ms. Fuller for the first time. He added that he also liked Mustang Madness and the end of the quarter parties. His worst memory was being humiliated doing embarrassing things. His least favorite year was sixth grade because he didn’t go to MMS and his favorite years were seventh and eighth grade.

Most of the individuals that were interviewed commented that they thought MMS would be scary, big, and the work would be hard, increasing through the grades. They all mentioned that MMS had been a very enjoyable experience so far. Overall it seemed like all six students interviewed had very positive views about their school.

MMS is a gifted and talented middle school which catches the eye of the community of the whole city. It especially catches the eye of upcoming 6th graders going to MMS. Some 6th graders were interviewed and this is what they had to say.

Up coming MMS students might want to know why middle school is better than elementary school. According to 6th grader, Caroline, “you have more independence, like lockers; get to pick out your own classes ”. She said the difference between them is that, “we have crazy class changes which we didn’t have elementary school. Another response was from two 6th graders Henry and Daisy Grace both on the Dolphins team. Henry said that he likes middle school better than elementary school because we have more opportunities to meet new people and have a variety of classes. Daisy Grace said that we have electives which we didn’t have in elementary school, and we can meet new people by having electives. Ruth said,” I think middle school is better than elementary school because we have more freedom than in elementary school.

The results of the survey most people said that they like elementary school better than middle school because it was easier than middle school and in middle school you are challenged more than in elementary school. Tays stated that he likes elementary school better because it’s easier than middle school and get to have recess.”

Overall, the transitions from elementary school to middle school are hard for some of the MMS students because some of them can’t get over the fact that they have grow up sooner or later…It might be a struggle for some MMS students but for most the transition is easy. When we first came to middle school we both thought it was going to be hard and there would be huge amounts of homework. But it was surprisingly easier than we thought even though we thought it was going to be hard. There are definitely differences between middle school and elementary school. Such as more freedom in middle school and being more confined to one room in elementary school. Most students say that elementary school is easier than middle school and MMS students think that middle school is just plain boring.

Overall, MMS students think that people liked elementary school better than middle school. MMS students are not surprised by these results because elementary school was easier. Most people should know by now that not everything in life is going to be easy so just face the challenges as they come and don't give up.

We all came here as timid little sixth graders cowed by the older kids and the school’s raw size. Little did we know, we would soon embark on a journey where we would learn about the world and ourselves. Now here we are as fully fledged eighth graders, ready to fly off to high school.

We have all finally made our choices about what school we will attend for the next four years of our lives. What is high school, exactly? In high school, which usually consists of grades 9-12, students are given the opportunity to take advanced, college-level classes (known as AP), participate in clubs, performing/visual arts, sports, and other extracurricular activities. Students are given more freedom and responsibility. However, schools vary from each other quite a lot, each having individual strengths, weaknesses, and character. These contribute to each student’s choice of school. So which schools are MMS students going to?

Some of the high schools in the area include Broughton, Enloe, Sanderson, Leesville, Green Hope, Cary, Apex, Panther Creek, Athens Drive, Raleigh Charter, the Women’s Leadership Academy, the NC Early College, and Southeast Raleigh High School. According to recent statistics, of the 92 people interviewed, 35% are going to Broughton, making it MMS’s most popular high school. Next is Enloe, with 17% of students. 11% are going to Leeseville, 7% to Green Hope, 4% to Cary, 9% to Sanderson, 5% to Southeast, 3% to Raleigh Charter, 2% to Panther Creek, 2% to Athens Drive, and 5% to other varied high schools. Why? Most students replied that they have siblings that go to the school, or it’s their base.

However, the reasons varied from school to school. For the most part, rising Broughton students chose the school because of siblings, location (base), and friends. “My sister goes there, and it’s my base. Plus, a lot of my friends are going there,” Sidney elaborates. On the other hand, most rising Enloe students said they chose their school because of the many programs Enloe has to offer. “They’re Magnet, and they have extra AP classes and the IB Program,” Hunter says. “And they’ve got a really good arts department too.”

A few teachers were also surveyed. They were asked which school they would choose if they were rising 9th graders in the WCPSS area. The general consensus leaned towards Enloe, but answers varied. “I would choose Broughton because that’s where I went,” Ms. Bonham West replied.

As you can see, MMS eighth graders are going to various high schools all around the county for a variety of reasons. We all have hopes, plans, and expectations, along with a couple worries too. “I hope I won’t get lost!” Jenna said. “I just want a fresh start,” Alex stated. “I think I’m going to try my best and hopefully be successful,” Joseph adds. Now you know what MMS students are doing. What high school are you going to? Respond in the comments below.

Common exams are basically EOGs, but with social studies and science. A difference between these is that the social studies common exam is based on skills, not on knowledge. 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are required to take these new tests, but 8th graders will have their science EOG and no science common exam. Common exams are supposed to be as challenging as EOGs, but that can be decided by each student. Many people dislike EOGs, so the similar common exams will likely have the same response.

Some of the students at MMS were interviewed and the question was, “Do you know what common exams are”? One student, Tays stated, “Yes, they are like EOGs”. Lauryn, another student mentioned, “Yes, new EOGs”. Jaden said, “Like EOGs, but really boring”. A few boys that were asked, replied, “Yes, yes, and yes”. Daisy, Kayla, and Htoo said, “Yeah, sort of, no”.

The next question was, “What do you think about common exams”? Tays said, “I think they might be harder than EOGs”. Lauryn said, “They’re just really, really, boring and will make me more stressed”. Jaden said, “A little harder than EOGs, it depends on the subject.” The same group of boys that were asked, said,”They’re pointless for honor roll students”. Daisy, Kayla, and Htoo said, “I don’t like to take them, EOGs are better.” Ruth said, “They will help us in school, but they will be boring”.

The third question was, “Do you think common exams are a good idea? Why”? Tays said,” No, because you have to do social studies and science, it’s more work”. Jaden said,”No, they’re too much stress”. Daisy, Kayla, and Htoo said,” No, benchmarks would be a better idea”.

The final question was, “Are you stressed about common exams ”? Tays said,”Not now, but I might be later”. Ruth said,” Yes”.

One problem with common exams is the integration of teacher evaluation. This is basically when new teachers are told they can get raises if their students get good common exam graders. Some teachers in Atlanta, GA have been faking their student’s answers so that they can get more money . A while back in the news, a school district in Atlanta followed this path. 35 educators were said to be involved in this, at least 27 of them turned themselves in. Testing is changing now, with more standardized tests and more students and teachers cheating . What if we were to eradicate testing altogether? Would this help us or hurt us?

Lots of things happen at MMS in the spring, and one of them is track. Many students participate in track here at MMS in the many events. Here is the scoop on the 2013 season.

Losing to NGMS on our first meet, the MMS track team had improved a lot. There were several events in one game and many games in the season. We had a game against our rival team DMS, and won several events. Unfortunately, we lost all our games , and the team got many things out of it like good exercise and made a bunch of new friends. “The season was really fun!” 8th grader Mary A. says. “The coaches were really nice and overall, it was a great season”.

With long practices after school almost every day, the runners completed many drills. “We do lots and lots of drills in practice,” a student said. Lee, a member of the team said “we run and run and run.”

The team was full of sprinters and distance runners. Each meet was filled with many events , so the team required many members. It’s nice to see so many people at our school that love to run. All of the events weren’t just running. The meets also included the shot put, the high jump, and the long jump.

“It’s really fun to coach track.” Coach Thomasson says. “I’ve been coaching track for a long time and out of all the events, I love the girl’s relay!”

The meets had great weather (mostly) and we always had good scores on the mile. One of the best runners, Liam, won the mile against DMS by less than a foot! 8th grader Savanna won the mile at almost all the meets! In one of the meets, Chase, won the 800 leaving everyone behind him halfway across the track! Also, the MMS girl’s relay wins almost every time.

The team this year was great! When asked what their favorite event was, many students said the mile, which makes sense, because so many people run it. “I like the 60 because it’s short” says Janie Grace. “The long jump is really fun” a student said.

People from the team really liked staying after school and they said the sport provides great exercise. It seems like a very fun experience and if you like to run, tryout for the track team next year because it’s really fun!

Although the US had their presidential elections last fall, recently MMS held its own democratic student council elections! On Friday, April 19, the student council position elections were held for the 2013-14 school year. The rising seventh and eighth graders voted on their recording and corresponding secretaries, vice president, and president. In the end, two rising seventh graders and two rising eighth graders were chosen to represent MMS in student council. Throughout the election process, we followed candidates Abby F., Abby M., Hannah and Tays as they prepared for the election.

On April 10, these four students and several more possible candidates gathered in Mrs. Thomason’s room. "My friends tell me I'm a good leader," Abby F. said when she was asked why she wanted to run. Along with looking good on a high school resume (of course, this is a definite plus!), a lot of students wanted to have the experience, leadership, and "fun" of being part of the student council.

Another candidate, Abby M., notes the fun she had being Vice President this year-- "It was a really good experience." But no, D-average students with poor conduct and no sense of school spirit cannot join student council for the fun of it-- at the meeting, kids learned that to be eligible to run, they must be a C- average or higher and get ranked on conduct, school spirit, etc.

"Scream and shout and vote for Trout!" Tays, a sixth grader, writes on fish-shaped paper to hand out. The candidates had five days to win votes from their fellow students using only handmade buttons and one poster. A total of 10 posters decorated the wall near the cafeteria, bearing messages like "Vote C.J. or don't vote”. One Vice Presidential candidate, Emma, even created a Twitter account- to support her idea of MMS having social media. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, speeches were being written, forms were being signed, and teacher evaluations were being turned in. Probably the most common question asked in the hallways during this time was, of course, "Who are you voting for?" "I can't promise to fulfill all needs...but I can promise to try." "I'm not just here to impress you with cool tricks like this..." "I'm a good leader who knows the school." "Make it a great day... or not. The choice is always yours." On Friday, April 19, MMS's sixth and seventh graders had the opportunity to vote for whom they thought would be the best secretaries, Vice President, and President.

Each candidate was required to write a running speech- then they recorded them and got to watch themselves making speeches on Election Day! Hannah’s approach was to be honest, noting how although she might not be able to fulfill every single need, but Tays went for the funny angle, making his speech short and sweet with a cool slogan. Abby F. impressed the audience with a cool hand trick, and Abby M. described her own great characteristics and experiences.

Eventually by the end of the day, Tays had become next year's recording secretary, Hannah became our corresponding secretary, Abby F. was voted Vice President, and Abby M. was voted MMS's 2013-2014 President. Already, the four winners are busy being excited and making their plans for next year. Each candidate was asked what they thought now that they’d been elected.

Abby M.: “I want to listen, help out, and be the best I can.” Abby F.: I’m a little scared and nervous. ” Hannah: “I’m looking forward to next year.” Tays: “I’m excited!”

So, if you visit MMS next year, Abby M., Abby F., Hannah and Tays will be spending their afternoons making sure MMS runs smoothly. Congrats to these four students—student council members of the 2013-2014 school year!

The MMS end of year formal just happened and MMS students were very excited! The formal occured in May on the third. The dance started at 7:00 pm and ended at 9:00 pm. The well chosen theme of the dance was Rolling in the Deep! It was decorated with lots of under the sea decorations such as blue glitter, anchors, sea horses, octopi and more. Let’s see what MMS students have to say about the dance.

Lots of people were excited to go to the dance. 96% of people interviewed went to the dance. Elizabeth and Grace were excited to see their friends and danced the night away! Eric enjoyed seeing the skinny security guard and had looked forward to dressing up as a warrior merman. Many students were excited to have drinks like Sprite, Coke and Mountain Dew and food such as cookies, brownies, and donuts.

Hannah, a student council member in 7th grade is excited to dance with Dr. Kearny, although she is required to go because of student council, she is very excited. Dean is looking forward to the dancing to the catchy, cheesy music. Noah likes that there aren’t many rules and that he can have lots of fun! Elizabeth, a 6th grader, loves the theme- it was her idea!

28% of the people interviewed like the theme and are excited to see the decor. Lara and Scottie are excited to dance with their friends. Sam, a 7th grader, says he goes to the dances because of peer pressure, kidding of course!!! Mrs. Bivins, a 7th grade Language Arts teacher, is excited to see her peeps and fellow teachers. Josh and Alexus are most excited about the music! Antwon is looking forward to dancing with girls! Jack is looking forward to seeing his buddies and chillaxing. All these people love the dance with good reason- the dances are super fun!

When you put food, music, drinks and lots of friends no one can resist going to the dance! Rolling in the Deep is going to be a popular after school event for MMS students on the third of May! So if you like drinks, friends, food, colorful decorations, awesome music and a fun atmosphere come on over to MMS for the time of your life.

Students at MMS don’t just pay attention to brand name clothes; brand name electronics are also very popular with middle school students.

One question that was asked was what electronic brand is your most favorite”. Most people say Apple. Two people from Mr. Hill’s eighth period class that said Microsoft. One person from Mrs. Mitterling’s class that said she likes Samsung the best because it runs really fast to her.

Another interesting question was “what electronic brand do you think was most successful?” A handful of people said apple because the iphones are very popular. A couple of people said Microsoft because it’s very popular with computers and every computer in the school is Microsoft. We had one person that said that they like Dell because it works very well.

A good discussion question was “does electronics affect you in a positive way or a negative way?” Most people said positive because it makes them very happy and you can read on thinks like nooks and kindles. They also said positive because some people work with electronics like a computer programmer and a professional gamer. A few people said electronic brands affect them negatively because it takes away from study time and it makes kids not focus on school. Also electronics affect you in a bad way because it makes kids obese because there playing on phones and computer and not getting any exercise.

A question we asked MMS students was “Are electronics used in your household?” Chase out of the eight grade said yes. He also said that they use electronics often because they like to read off of their iphones and they like to listen to music from their IPods. Zaria out of Mrs. Dunston eighth period said that they do not use electronics that much because their parent doesn’t agree with that idea. She also said her parents said that it makes kids fat and doesn’t help them at all in life. An interesting question we had was “why do most teens prefer apple?” Davis said he prefers apple more because everyone else has it and he would probably get picked on if he didn’t use the brand apple and used some other knock off brand. Shaquan said he prefers apple also because he thinks it moves faster and the apple products look better. Tynesha said she thinks most kids prefer apple because everyone else has it but in her opinion she thinks all of the electronic brands work the same and the only thing that makes it different is the logo.

In conclusion, Apple seems to be the most popular electronic brand here at MMS.

The Grammys; world renown for having the biggest names in the music industry attending, whether they are performing or presenting.

The four Grammys that don’t have a specific genre is album of the year, record of the year, song of the year and best new artist. Gotye’s “Somebody that I used to know” won Record of the Year. Babel, from Mumford and Sons won Album of the year. “We are Young” by Fun. won song of the year and Fun also won best new artist.

Did you know The Grammys were originally called The Gramophone Awards; according to Wikipedia?

Did you ever think the event had a dress code? In fact, they do and it’s very strict. This year, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, and Kelly Roland found some loop holes in the dress code. Fortunately Katy Perry wasn’t so lucky, as the event staff made her change out of her low-cut gown.

This year’s Grammy Awards was hosted by musician, actor, and two-time Grammy winner LL Cool J. Here are the people who performed at the Grammys: Travis Barker, Chuck D, LL Cool J, Tom Morello, and DJ Z-Trip Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert

The Black Keys

Zac Brown, T Bone Burnett (as musical director), Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, Elton John, Mumford & Sons, and Mavis

Staples, who will pay tribute to the late Levon Helm of the Band

Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea and Kenny Garrett in tribute to Dave Brubeck

Kelly Clarkson

Dr. John and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with the Black Keys

Fun.

Elton John with Ed Sheeran, performing together live for the first time

Juanes

Alicia Keys and Maroon 5

The Lumineers

Bruno Mars, Rihanna, and Sting

Miguel and Wiz Khalifa

Mumford & Sons

Frank Ocean

Rihanna

Taylor Swift

Justin Timberlake

Carrie Underwood

Jack White

According to Bostinno.com, the trio of Bruno Mars, Rihanna and Sting was the most buzzed-about performance. Since the start of The Grammys on May 4th, 1959 there have been 55 Grammy Awards ceremonies. The Grammys were also first televised live in 1971. Over the years they have gotten much more popular and it is an honor for any actor to receive one.