I nside 2017-2018
M ovi n g to the M iddle
6t h Gr ad er s Ad ap t
BY I SABEL L A GAL OFRE
iBelong expands to advisory Page 2
Every year kids have to transition from 5th grade to 6th grade. Everyone has different feelings: some kids are excited while others are nervous or they have mixed feelings. This year there are 128 sixth graders, 45 come from outside of Florida. This year it was my turn to transition. I was nervous, but excited about it. I was excited to meet my new teachers and my advisor. Making friends is one of the most challenging things that happens when you transition from 5th grade to 6th grade. At first I thought that the transition was going to be very hard. Changing materials in your locker for each class and changing classes in seven minutes was nerve racking. For the first three days, I would grab the wrong binders and drop things along the way.
Spanish students visit MCDS Page 3
Swim Team makes a splash. Page 11
This year we have grades that you can access daily. I have never before thought that teachers would post your grades for the class on My Country Day each week. Receiving my grades after each week has been exciting because I get to know what my class average is.
Issue 1
classes are and knew who my teachers are. And by the middle of the second week, I was rocking everything. I had completely memorized where the classes are, and I also knew what the colors of each class are without having to have them labeled. For my elective I have Journalism. In Journalism, we write the Middle School newspaper, (In the Middle, the Students Voice), as you are reading right now. The job of a Journalist, is to tell the news that is happening. Not news that happened four months ago. With the people in Journalism, you choose a story you want to write about something that is happening soon or going on now. As a journalist, we have to get interviews for our stories and what it is about. For example I had to interview Mr. Mathes for this story that you are reading right now.
Walking to each class without a teacher taking with you was very weird because I was used to being with a teacher by my side all day. Even walking to lunch by myself felt weird.
Getting interviews for me is the hardest part because you have to email the person that you want to interview on time. If you do it too late, then they might not be able to get interviewed, and you might not get the information you need. After we have got all of our interviews, we then need to make a story about it.
?The transition from 5th to 6th, is the hardest transition in your academic life,? said Mr. Mathes, the middle school director. Many students can agree to this because it's the first transition that you?ll remember.
I know this sounds like a lot of work, but once you get all the information from your interviews, that you need for you story. I promise that it makes writing the story a piece of cake.
Mr. Mathes and his assistant director Ms. Cabrera, meet with every new family that is coming into the school, to make them feel welcomed before school starts.
After being in middle school for 2 months, I have felt like I have been in middle school my whole life. I get to class on time and I get the right materials.
As the week went by, I started to get the hang of things. I had half memorized where all the
I know this is going to be a great year and I will never forget it.
M CDS welcomes new teacher s
PHOTOS BY ALESSANDRA DI CITALDO
By Alessandra di Cataldo This year we have a lot of new teachers the Middle School Program. Ms. Abreu-Grondin, who teaches 8th grade science. Mr. Gracy, who teaches drama. Ms. Rodriguez, who teaches 7th grade English and Spanish, and then Ms. Muhlig, who teaches 6th grade math. So far all the new teachers like this school. They all feel very welcomed by the faculty, by the staff, by the students, and by all the smiling faces in the hallways. They all see themselves working here for a long time, and all have been teaching for a long time.
Mr. Gracy has been teaching for over 13 years. Mrs. Abreu-Grondin has been teaching for 16 years. Mrs. Muhlig has been teaching for 23 years, and Mrs. Rodriguez has been teaching for 12 years. Mr. Gracy had to move from Bradford, Massachusetts. It?s a town that on the border of New Hampshire, and it?s 1,500 miles away from Miami. Most teachers agree that one of the most memorable things that happened the first week or two was Hurricane Irma. One thing that they all agree on is that they think this school
is very good. They all like the open campus, the fact that the students here are so free, and how nice everyone is even though they don?t even know each other at all. Two of our new teachers have children that go to MCDS. Ms. Muhlig has a son in sixth grade, that?s also new this year. Ms. Rodriguez has a daughter in eighth grade, and a son in seventh grade. Mr. Abreu-Grondin has two daughters, but they do not go to MCDS. Both of the moms are actually really excited for their children to be here. They love the environment.
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PHOTO BY ALESSANDRA DI CITALDO
M r. Gr acy (in pink) is the new M S dr ama teacher at M CDS.