Middle School Minutes

Welcome to another edition of Middle School Minutes. Spring Break and the Solar Eclipse are long gone, but the end of the school year is fastly approaching.

Attention North Clay Middle School cheer fans: The 2024-2025 middle school cheer season is quickly arising. Sign up sheets were posted on April 1, 2024 for any upcoming seventh or eighth grade girls.

The deadline for the sign up was April 10th. The workshop will be held April 16th from 6:00-7:47, followed by tryouts on April 18th from 6:00-7:30. Parent meeting will be held on April 25th at 6:00 p.m in the NCMS upper gym.

Coaches Susan Maurer and Courtney Wise are very excited for this upcoming season. Coach Maurer states, “Cheerleaders get to represent their school and showcase their talents while bringing spirit and fun to school events!”

The coaches would also like to remind everyone that you must have a physical on file to try out! Physical forms can be picked up in the NCMS front office. Physicals used for other 2023-2024 sports seasons are still usable for tryouts. Good luck!

North Clay students had a once in a lifetime view. On Thursday, April 5th, students’ eighth hour teachers handed out solar eclipse glasses for the eclipse the following Monday. Many students and staff enjoyed the rare experience, along with many others throughout the country. Eighth Grader Aidan Maurey said, “ My family went on our roof to watch. It was just so cool. I can’t explain it in words.”

North Clay would love to share the experience of seeing such a phenomenon with others. The school will be donating extra solar eclipse glasses for less fortunate schools across the world for an eclipse in October. These will be collected by science teachers for a couple weeks before being sent to the schools.

So, please send your extra glasses in this week!

With Springtime in the air, many people are out planting flowers and doing landscaping. North Clay Student Council will be doing the same for the school. On Friday, April 19th they will be de-weeding, planting flowers, mulching, and assisting with overall landscape maintenance of the building. Sponsor Heather Keyes said,

“Our Director of Extended Services, Mr. Aron Hammond, allocates funds for this project and our students are the hands and feet behind the operation. It’s a very fun project, as our students get to spend some time outside in the sun and enjoy seeing the before and after pictures of their work.”

There is a very important person behind the scenes at North Clay. However, what he does everyday makes the school successfully run. Chris Drake is the Head Custodian. He has worked for Clay Community Schools for thirteen years.

Ten of those years have been here at North Clay. Prior to working here he was a restaurant manager. He has also held the role of Northview Bowling Coach for ten years. Mr. Drake said, “ I love the atmosphere here at North Clay. I want the kids to have a nice building to come to everyday.”

In his free time, he spends time with his wife and two daughters. He also enjoys bowling. Chris Drake makes North Clay a special place for students and staff !

Mrs. Courtney Shaw is one of the 6th grade science teachers. Mrs. Shaw has been teaching for four years here at North Clay. Mrs. Shaw previously went to Clay City, and she wanted to stay in the county, so she believed North Clay would be a good fit. Whenever the job vacancy opened, Mrs. Shaw took her opportunity and applied for it .The 6th graders are currently finishing up the life science unit, so they can prepare for the ILEARN test.

Mrs. Shaw enjoys working with Mrs. Sims here at North Clay because of the fun times they have together. They both appreciate the little enjoyable aspects of each of their unique students. Shaw says, “I enjoy working with the kids; they always keep me on my toes.” North Clay is very lucky to have an excellent science teacher like Mrs. Shaw.

For the last time in the school year, eighth graders have an incentive to earn. The Bogey’s Field Trip will be an ideal impulse for middle school students.

The no missing assignments goal starts on April 1st and will be tracked up until April 30th.

With the goal in mind, many students will be diligent, striving to get all their assessments turned in so they too can go on the trip May 10th. Eighth grade teacher Mrs. Nuckols stated,” This last month of school can be like pulling teeth to get students to keep working. Hopefully, this field trip will motivate students to turn in assignments.”

The boost to keep pushing through the school year should be just the motivation needed to sustain students on the journey to high school.

The PBIS party is an iconic part of any quarter here at North Clay, but even better is that at the end of the year party there are prizes to go along with it. The prizes range from Apple Watches to flat screens. The PBIS party is on the last day of school, May 21st, 2024.

Mr. Anderson, Dean of Students, states,“We’re still in the planning stage. The thing about the end of the year is the drawings for the prizes for the different grades for a chance to get their shield tickets put in and can win specific prizes. Each grade has different sized prizes; eighth grade has the most prizes, but every grade has large prizes and small prizes.”

Students have collected shield tickets all year to turn in for rewards!

Another incentive for students is a dance. Unlike last year, this year’s dance will actually be two dances: one specifically for the eighth grade and the other for the sixth and seventh grade.

Both dances take place Friday, May 17th.

The dance for the sixth and seventh grade part will be after school until 5. The eighth grade dance is 6-8 o-clock.

“We are excited to bring back dances again this year. We had one last year after several years due to Covid. We look forward to celebrating a great school year with our students and staff in a fun atmosphere,” Principal Mrs. Jones states. The dance is something every student is looking forward to!

Recently, North Clay’s jazz band went to contest on March 1st; they received a gold rating.

Along with the gold rating, two soloists received an award for their solos during the competition. 7th Grader, Makayla Duncan, received one for her outstanding trumpet solo in the song “El Tigre” by Carl Stommen.

Another award was handed out to 8th grader Charity Rodgers for her Alto Saxophone solo in the song “Jazz Hero” by George Vincent. Jazz Cafe is right around the corner; tickets are going on sale on Thursday, April 11th. Jazz Cafe will include both North Clay and Northview’s Jazz Bands.

Both bands will also be accompanied by guest composer Steve Synder. North Clay’s band director Mrs. Clevenger says, “I am super proud of the progress the group has made since last year.” The community should come out and support this hardworking group of students.

On April 17th, the Northview Indoor Percussion is traveling to Dayton, OH, for WGI. Northview’s indoor percussion program is in open class.

They were bumped up from A class after one of their competitions last year. There are three rounds of competition with only a certain number of groups moving on. Each round is on a different date: April 18th, April 19th, and April 20th.

The first round is at the Nutter Center in Fairborn, OH.

If a group moves on to the next round, they then perform at Truist Arena in Kentucky. The final round is then held at the University of Dayton Arena.

Last year, the Northview Indoor Percussion made it as far as the second round. North Clay has multiple students who participated last year, and even more students this year. Hopefully, they’ll do even more amazing things this season.

The performers have worked very hard this season, so let’s cheer our fellow Northview and North Clay students on!