In the Middle (2019-2020 v3)

INSIDE 6th Grade Trip

ISSUE 3, 2019-2020

Middle school has Spirit B Y A LEX POOL

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Miami Cultural Trip

This year, Spirit Week was from January 7 through 10th. Spirit Week this year started on Wednesday for sixth and seventh grade. They did mini games to start up the fun spirit! Then, Thursday night was the party. Finally, the full day was on Friday with all the games. Spirit Day is a big event for the entire middle school.

Every year in the middle school, there is a week called Spirit Week. There are three teams which are red, blue, and white. Those are also our school colors!

Everyone dresses up in their team colors, plays games like sports, and cheers for their team. For all three years of students' spirit day experience, they stay on the same color team.

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Legally Blonde

One of the students?favorite activities during Spirit Day is the big dodgeball game with the whole middle school. In a close match, the blue team won that game. One student who enjoys the dodgeball game a lot is Johnny Port. He says, ?I was my favorite because it was one of my favorite sports to do with my friends.?

Students were asked how they felt about the activities during Spirit Week. Zoe Terry, an 8th grade student and a team captain for blue, said, ?I feel like we had more creative activities other than just sports activities this year. Like the mystery challenge was different from last year. And the charades activity was fun too.?

Spirit Week is similar each year but students thought there were more activities this year other than just sports. There was the mystery challenge that students had to build something as tall as they could using pipe cleaners. Other activities that weren't sports were charades and a scavenger hunt.

Spirit Day has so Bella Smilowitz and Natalia Tor res tr y PHOTO BY A LEX POOL much excitement. and build the highest tower dur ing the leadership teacher, Alba Haw says it myster y event. helped plan a lot of gives the students Spirit Day. Ms. Greenfield said the a day to go outside and have fun with purpose of Spirit Day is to ?build a friends instead of only being in classes. sense of comradery between all of the A question students had was what they grade levels. It gives students a chance would want to change. Students either to meet new people and spend time said nothing or they all said Spirit Week getting to know students outside of their should actually be a week. Maya Tafur, friend circle.? said Ms. Greenfield. a 7th grader, said that if Spirit Week was a full week she thinks that each class should be 25 minutes and then in the Continued on page 11 afternoon we would have Spirit Day. On Friday, it would be the full day.

Alison Greenfield, 7th grade teacher and

7th Grade cleans up B Y MAYA TAFUR MARTINEZ I have lots of experiences with Oleta Park since my dad and I used Page 12 to live very close to the park. We would always go to the beaches with friends or just go mountain biking.

This trip opened my eyes and let me see beyond just the activities, but the nature and beauty of the park. The park has many features to it, but one of my personal favorites are the beaches and the

butterfly gardens.

The day started just like every other day by coming to school and checking in with advisory. We then went to the Center of the Arts with our grade to wait for the busses to arrive.

worked on was near the beaches and the butterfly gardens. There were benches where we sat for lunch and a small playground where we hung around.

Once the buses arrived we all went to our assigned bus with our advisory and a few other advisories too. During the bus ride, I was talking with my friends and was also waiting patiently to arrive.

As I looked out of the bus window, I noticed that we had finally arrived at our destination. I was so happy that we finally arrived since I couldn't stand just sitting in a bus for such a long time.

We all were told to get out of the bus and wait for the teachers to head count us before we can go to our ?assigned spots.?

We walked on a small narrow trail to get to the spot where we would do all our work. The trail was really pretty, Yoel L evin having many flowers pulls invasive and plants on the species at Oleta side of the trail.

River State The spot that we Par k.

PHOTOS BY MRS. GREENFIELD

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Around MCDS 7th Grade cleans Oleta River

CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE

L EFT: Ben Rosas wor ks har d at Oleta River.

RI GHT: M aggie Houser helps our local environment by cleaning up invasive plants.

in a group with my advisor and a few other students in my advisory class.

Each job in Oleta was divided by group, but then we would rotate to switch the jobs. So, in the end we all did the same amount of work and we all did the same jobs just in a different order.

The first thing my group did was dig a bunch of trenches for some hoses that will later be covered with dirt. We worked on that for quite a while since we had to first dig the trenches then put in the hoses, cover them up with dirt, and then put a bunch of stones over that.

My group then took a small break after our hard work. That durated about 10 minutes until we had to go back to work.

The next thing we were told to do was to dig out some invasive plants (plants that are not native to the area and harm other plants around them) pull them out and have to replace them with native plants that are better for that area.

My advisory teacher said that we must get into groups for working and that each group will be divided by what work they wanted to do first. I was

We worked on that for quite a while until I believe we had an actual break for all the other groups.

That lasted for about 15 minutes.

7th grade on the ropes

After the PHOTOS BY MRS. GREENFIELD break we worked on some more planting and gardening. My group focused more on gardening than plants. After we finished with all of that we did some work on the beaches which was to plant a new plant on the sand.

Finally we had a very long lunch that lasted all the way till we left to go back to school.

PHOTOS BY MRS. PEKOC AND MRS. PASQUALIN

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Yule Log Celebrates the holidays B Y CHLOE SHAPIRO

The Yule Log is a ceremony MCDS does to bring the community together. Every year around the festiveness of wintertime, the Yule Log is held before winter break. During the Yule Log, many of the school?s music programs get to perform holiday pieces that they have been working on.

This year, the Yule Log was held on the 12th of December, and it started around 7:00 pm. Many people attend the Yule Log, considering the fact that it is a school-wide performance.

Mariandl Hufford, the head of our school, attended Yule Log for the first time because this is also her first year at MCDS. ?I thought that the Yule Log was a wonderful experience,? said Mrs. Hufford. ?I think that it is a great tradition. I really enjoy how we celebrate many different holidays and cultures, it is something that definitely ties us together as a community. There were some points where it would get serious, and then times where I would laugh.?

There are some things in Yule Log that make it the most special. When Ms. Hufford watched the performance she said, ?I think that what made the entire evening special was the sense of community.

We all may come from different backgrounds and perspectives and traditions, but when we come together as one community, we celebrate each other equally and it?s just magic.?

Yule Log also goes way back into MCDS history.

Teresa Alfonso, the chair of the Arts Department,

L EFT: M r s. Huffor d celebr ates her fir st Yule L og. Wicker. I love seeing the RI GHT: The middle school thespians per for m outcome of all the scene from the hit Broadway musical, Elf. planning during the Yule Log.? said, ?Yule Log was instituted as a tradition here 35 years ago, and The students that participate in the Yule Log Dr. Rogers, who was the head of the US at the couldn?t make it as far as they did without their time, decided with the rest of MCDS staff that it teachers. Russell Mofsky, an MS Music Teacher, was a nice night to bring people together and said, ?My students played outside after the celebrate everyone?s different ways of celebrating ceremony. In particular, my students in Beginning for the holidays.?

Band played Jingle Bells, and I also had lots of Music teacher Kathyrn Pelletier said, ?When the Yule Log is in the fire pit, and branches of holly are taken and thrown into the fire, it?s like getting rid of any bad luck and bad experiences of the year.?

Yule Log also takes tons and tons of planning. Ms. Fulford, the assistant to the head of school, constantly worked hard on planning for Yule Log. ?Planning for Yule Log is a lot of fun and a lot of detail,? said Ms. Fulford. ?For Yule Log, I organized the program and took care of any purchasing that needed to be done, I organized the trees that were coming in, and this year we added photography backgrounds so that everyone could take photos and selfies. I coordinate everything with Ms. Alfonso, Ms. Pelletier, and Mr.

people who played solo piano pieces, or singing solos, and all of that source. For Yule Log, we don?t necessarily do it by classes, but we also do it by kids that would just like to participate. So, a lot of our practices for Yule Log would be held at extra-help or after school.?

Yule Log celebrates different holidays that occur usually around wintertime. Zoe Terry, an 8th Grader, helped out with the Kwanzaa ceremony.

She said, ?We light the Kinara, and it?s based on every day, so it?s unity, determination, and much more for different days and we just lit the candle representing a day.?

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6th Grade Trip BY A NGELINA B ELIN I woke up at 5:30 to get ready for the 6th grade trip to Orlando. I packed everything that was on the Miami Country Day packing list, and I also added some extra things. I left the house at 6:15 to be able to get to school at 6:30.

I could see everybody standing there talking to each other and waiting to get on the bus. I saw my friends and signed in with my advisor, Mrs. Holcman. We waited until 6:50 to start and get on the bus to leave for Orlando.

were real! They were very cool to look at and think about how these enormous things could fly up into space and land on a planet.

The teachers called us in, and we split into our advisories. My advisory went to a ride that we thought would be open but it was closed and you had to pay extra so, unfortunately, we couldn't go on that ride.

We walked towards this big building and they were Once we got on the bus and made sure everybody hosting a short movie about was here we hit the road. The bus ride was fun, but spacecrafts. The movie had it was also very long. We stopped when we were a lot of facts and halfway through the trip. The teachers gave us information about the doughnuts, goldfish, and a spacecrafts that " The r ide was past juice box. We went back to have been in space. The the bus and then we had really fun and it movie screen opened another 2 hours until we felt like I was in a up and there was this reached Epcot. huge spaceship. real rocket that We went on all of the rides We went to this space that we could possibly do in was taking off." cafe and ate lunch. I the time that we had at Epcot. had chicken tenders, After we went on all of the chips, water, and rides we had a tour for about an hour and a half. On cookies. After we ate the the tour, we had activities to do: a Nemo ride, food we went on this rocket manatee lesson, and chickpea activity. We also had stimulator. a couple of lessons about the ocean and about some of the turtles.

The rocket simulator is a ride would make it seem After the tour, we headed to a corner for check in. like you were on a real We started heading towards the countries. the rocket that is taking off. I countries were areas where they would make it got off the ride very dizzy seem like you were in that exact country. In the and happy. The ride was countries in Japan, I bought a soda drink. Once we really fun and it felt like I were done with the countries we headed off to go was in a real rocket that was eat dinner. taking off.

We ate dinner at this Mexican place. My friend and After that, we left the I shared two meals. I got the chicken tacos and she building and we started to got the nachos. When we were done with our meals walk to the bus, but we they gave us a Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwich. decided to stop and eat Once everyone was done with eating their dinner Dippin Dots. Once we were and their ice cream we headed towards the bus. finished eating we saw all The bus ride to the hotel was about two hours long. of the other advisories lined Before the trip, we took a survey on who we up so we also went there. wanted to be in the hotel rooms. We got to the hotel When we had everybody we at around ten o'clock at night. They told us who we went on the bus and started were going to be in our hotel rooms with. I got heading back to Miami. The Michelle Pontchek, Alicia Finn, Camilla Ramirez, bus ride to Miami was about and Maria Polikarpova in my hotel room. We had a 3-4 hours long because fun time and stayed up until 1 in the morning. there was a lot of traffic, When we woke up we had to be downstairs as soon because it was Superbowl as possible. We ate breakfast and went straight to weekend. the bus. We were heading to the Kennedy Space We got to school at around Center. When we arrived at Kennedy Space Center 9 pm. When I saw my we got organized and went straight through the parents in the car, I said goodbye to everyone and park. Our first activity was a 3D video about space. checked out with my advisor and headed home.

Next, we spent some time at the park in Kennedy Overall Space Center which had a lot of spacecrafts that the trip

was very fun and I learned a lot from it

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6th Grade Trip I woke up at around ended up eating in Japan. I got a B Y CHLOE 5:30 in the morning. I soda and a California Roll. The SHAPIRO took a shower, got sushi was actually really good. dressed, ate breakfast, My friend and I also split a and brushed my teeth. I felt that I chocolate chip cookie. After was almost about to fall back asleep. I hopped in dinner, we visited a couple of gift the car and started my 25-minute drive to school. I shops but I never got anything. was extremely tired but also really excited. When I After many times of losing arrived at school, I was about 20 minutes earlier people, our trip to Epcot was than the time I was supposed to be there so I just over. Everyone met up at the sat and waited for more teachers to show up. After Epcot exit and about ten more minutes, tons every group " M y favor ite r ide was once of people started to show up was there, we all and we started forming Soar in' because we got got on the bus and groups for the busses. our ride to to go on a vir tual tr ip started Soon as I knew it, I was the hotel. The ride through all the already on the bus. The bus to the hotel was ride was really long but it was about an hour but countr ies. " also really fun. Everyone it was still pretty made a TON of Tik Toks. fun. Everyone was Anyways, halfway through the bus ride, we took a really tired because we all had a VERY stop and our teachers gave us juice, doughnuts, and eventful day. Once we arrived at the hotel, goldfish. After that, we hopped back on the bus we got our room assignments and headed and proceeded our trip to Epcot. There were two to our room. Hanging out in the room was more hours! very fun and we stayed up till like one in the morning.

Once we arrived at Epcot, my group started off with a 90-minute tour. On the tour, we went on the Unfortunately, staying up till one didn?t do Nemo ride, visited the aquarium, and saw and us much good for the next day. We all had learned about manatees. to wake up at 6:45 and we were all extremely tired considering the fact that After that, the groups rotated and it was now our the past two days we got no sleep. turn to go on the rides. We went on the Spaceship Everyone went downstairs and had a really Earth ride which got stuck many times. My quick breakfast. After that, we got back on favorite ride was SOARIN because we got to go on the bus and started driving to the Kennedy a virtual trip through all the countries. Although we Space Center. Once we arrived, we split by waited in line for that ride for about an hour, it was advisory into groups. only a five-minute ride!

My advisory first went on this rocket After going on many rides, it was time to eat simulator that took you through a rocket blast-off. dinner. My advisory was first going to eat dinner in It was so cool. Then, we heard information about Italy, but it was much too far of a walk. So we NASA from a special NASA astronaut. Next, we all had lunch.

I had chicken tenders, a bag of cookies, and a soda. Overall, it was a pretty good meal. We then got to walk around more through the Kennedy Space Center. We watched a cool movie that was talking about a special aircraft that flew through space. We also

got to see that aircraft in person! Overall, the trip was pretty cool. I learned a lot from it and had fun at the same time.

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8th Grade meets survivors B Y A LEX POOL going there everyone learned something including me.

What was really hard to see was the walls with all the people who died in the Holocaust. So many innocent people died because of being jewish. It is important to have these memorials so nothing ever happens like this again.

When we got back, we had lunch and then got to meet with survivors of the Holocaust. They each told their story and how the Holocaust affected them and their family. The students were divided into groups and each in different classrooms.

The eighth grade and I spent a day reflecting on the tragedy of the Holocaust. The grade and I spent half the day at the Holocaust Memorial and the other half listening to holocaust survivors. It was a really sad day to learn and hear about all of the terrible things that happened during that time.

The grade first went to the Holocaust Memorial.

We all got a sheet to help us reflect by looking for certain things. I first started along the wall that gave overview of the Holocaust from beginning to end. Reading it was very sad but important for us to know. It showed images that were very deep.

At the memorial, there were lots of statues. I felt that with one glace, it was hard to understand the meaning of them. But, after looking at them for longer I started to understand what they meant and what they represented.

When walking around, there were so many things to see about the Holocaust. I had a lot of previous knowledge on it from this year and last year, but

In my room, I met with a woman. When the Holocaust started, she was only three. After a year she was able to escape with her mom but not her dad. She and her mom lived but not her dad. Her story was much longer than that but that is a short overview of what happened in my room.

Her story touched everyone in the classroom and so many people cried and got emotional. It is hard to hear these things happen to someone right in front of you, and hear how it affected her for the rest of her life.

Overall, seeing the memorial was sad to see but important for the grade to do. And hearing the survivors was so sad, and its important for us to recognize how hard it is to share their stories as well.

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Exploring Miami's cultural history B Y B ROGHAN MUHLIG The 8th grade went on a trip to explore Little Havana and to learn about the Haitian culture. This trip was chosen because it goes along with what 8th grade?s theme of immigrant roots and their effects on our community. Little Havana definitely looked different than Miami. Miami looks very modern and fresh. Little Havana, on the other hand, looks rundown and polluted in comparison. There is trash all over the place and it is somewhat overwhelming. Just going off looks, I thought that citizens living in Little Havana are not as fortunate as those living in Miami.

After we were separated into groups, I saw stores that didn?t have windows or even a door. It kind of looked like an open-air market but it was in between many other indoor stores. My group first went to a lane which had many displays that had historic importance. There were heads of historic figures, a torch honoring the Cubans lost during the Bay of Pigs invasion, a big wall with Cuba on it, and much more. During the tour, there was this huge tree that had a lot of trash around the bottom of it. We learned that people make sacrifices and put it below the tree for religious practices. They leave something important to them in front of the tree, then walk around the tree while praying. Supposedly, this prayer is heard by God, and he will make your wishes come true.

Our tour guide said that people also sacrifice chickens! There were so many chickens around Little Havana, so it made sense why someone might sacrifice them. I asked the tour guide why there were so many chickens and she told me that no one knows. She thinks that a family had them for religious reasons but they escaped, and now they are everywhere around Little Havana.

After we finished going down that lane filled with historical importance, we broke off the path to go to look at the houses. A lot of houses did not look like they were in good condition. The sidewalk and road had many cracks and holes in it. On the side of the roads, there was a lot of trash like cigarette boxes, empty alcohol bottles, and papers. Gates and fences were bent and had some poles missing. Seeds and dead leaves were placed absolutely everywhere. In conclusion, the neighborhood did not look like it was taken care of well.

Eventually, we got to our destination, an old wooden house. It looked just like haunted houses look in movies. Our tour guide talked about the architecture of Little Havana. Obviously, the architecture was very Spanish, but some older houses had a feature designed specifically for the Florida heat. The houses were a bit raised, and below were little holes. We learned that these holes were the old A/C vents. The cold air is denser than hot air making

it sink, and when it sinks it goes through the holes below the house. I thought that was pretty cool.

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Around MCDS Monks visit MCDS B Y DANIELLA Earlier this year the very A RANGO special Monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery came to our school and shared their culture and teachings with our community, as they have done in previous years. Before the monks came students learned about Buddhism and its teachings. We also learned about different Buddhist traditions and had discussions about meditation and the art of creating a mandala.

The monks were at the school for a week and one of the main activities they did was to create a beautiful mandala from colored sand that they had brought with them. They spent days at the Franco Center carefully placing the sand creating a colorful, beautiful, and geometrically perfect mandala for students, faculty and school guests to see.

This visit of the Monks was not only for the Middle School, it was also for the Lower schoolers. A lower schooler, Sebastian Arango from fourth grade, was asked if he liked the activities that the monks did with his class, to which he said: "Yes, the monks came to our classroom, we talked a lot about their activities and believes and I got a lot of my questions answered. We talked about what they do, how they live and what they believe in. I learned that they live in a monastery and they do a lot of things there."

Ms. Linfield, a sixth grade teacher, was asked why the monks visited our school and she said, "They are invited so that is a simple answer; but I think the other reason is to help inform us about their traditions and about an incredibly valuable philosophy and attitude towards life. Even if we are B Y DAVID B EJAR

not Buddhist we can benefit from it."

"I think they realize that all of us benefit from slowing down, especially in the hyper active culture of the West, and the type of concentration and stillness that they find through meditation, through the beautiful creation of the mandala, and through living as presently as possible," continued Ms. Linfield. "This is something you hear a lot about in the West and now we're trying to kind of build on that philosophy of being more present and not always rushing in to the future, where we are always kind of dwelling on the could have, should have, I wish I had thinking about the past. Tibetan Buddhism has a wonderful message of peace and tolerance and also of stewardship of the environment and kindness towards the world and every living thing, not just between peoples."

One of the Monks who visited our school was asked what it is like to be a Monk and he said, "Being a monk is choosing a spiritual path, mostly studying about the Buddhist philosophy and about meditation." He was also asked what he enjoyed the most about his visit at the school and he said, "Yeah, I really feel very happy when I see the children. They are very beautiful and they meditate

in the morning which is very impressive."

Having the opportunity to see the Monks, learn from them about their traditions and their philosophy was a fantastic opportunity for the students. Learning from them about love, compassion and kindness was very special.We look forward to seeing the monks around campus next year!

COEPstudents try paintball

On January 17, 2020 COEP went to Paintball: Extreme Rage Field on a trek. This trek is a great experience for sixth and seventh graders. They have been going on this trip for five years according to Ms. Bruno.

Ms. Bruno is the head of COEP, and she is the reason the students get to go on these great treks. ?It?s a lot of fun,? said Ms. Bruno. ?They really build a sense of comradery after. It?s a really good team building exercise. Kids that don?t really know each other get to know each other better.?

Seventh grader Justin Williams said, ?I really liked the trip because of the people who worked there. They were super nice and it just really made my experience better.?

Sixth grader Asher Evans said his favorite part of the trip was the fact that it was his first time playing paintball, and now he knows that he likes paintball. Another thing that he found fun was that they all got to play against each other and compete.

Seventh grader Riley Richards said if she could change anything she would probably change how the paintballs feel.

According to Ms. Bruno, ?It was initially recommended to me by a friend of mine who had played paintball professionally. Since then we have come back because they are great with kids.?

Justin Williams also said, ?I would change the date because when you play paintball you need to wear long sleeves and pants. But it was really hot so if we could change the trip date to a colder time that would be great.?

To go along with what Ms. Bruno said,

Riley Richards said her favorite part of the trip was that it was a team building activity. She also enjoyed meeting new people and being on a team with them.

Ms. Bruno commented ?Once we get there we check in, all the students get their gear, we have a designated referee, and then we just start playing.?

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8th Grade explores Miami CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 had metal plates in the shape of animals and wooden sculptures of animals were hanging from the wall.

After being seated, a lady came into the room and talked to us about her history and how she embraces her Haitian culture. I found it very inspiring, and she seemed very passionate about Haitian culture. She talked about how Haitians embrace their culture through music and dance. She then concluded her presentation telling us about her program where she raises money to help children in Haiti have a better education.

When the presentation was finished, we made our way out, making a quick stop at the art gallery. One piece I remember seeing had a ladder coming out from the ocean leading to nothing. I asked the guide about the piece and she thinks it represents the climb to heaven and how you need to reach out to God through prayers. From the art gallery, we went towards a theater.

We then moved on and went back to the city streets. From there, we walked down the sidewalk towards Domino Park. During the walk, I decided to look around and saw a lot of art on the side of the walls. One wall had many political figures and The theater was interesting, and I would go as many other people who are important to Little far as to say that it was the highlight of the trip.

Havana. Eventually, we got down to Domino Park.

We were given a presentation of Haitian dance This park is a place where and music and its senior citizens, who are " I lear ned a lot about significance. They would do residents in Little Havana, Haitian culture and the dances with their body to can play dominos with others symbolize the elements in their community. I feel that histor y of L ittle Havana. I (earth, fire, water, and air) the idea of having a place for and many other things. They enj oyed the tr ip ver y older folk to hang out and would sing prayers to god in much..." meet others their age is their language. The music actually very smart and nice. would be a quick and strong - Broghan M uhlig bongo beat. I enjoyed the We were allowed to go in and watch games for 2 minutes, presentation a lot, and it was but then we had to leave. amusing to see them include students and After visiting Domino Park, it was time to leave Little Havana and go eat. We ate at a restaurant called La Carreta. Our school made our orders beforehand. I chose chicken breast with plantains and yellow rice, while everyone else at my table ordered beef with plantains and white rice.

Something about the lunch I found to be funny was when somebody asked me how I could eat chicken after seeing so many chickens running around in Little Havana. We also were given salad for an appetizer and flan for a dessert. I really enjoyed the salad, but I could not say the same for the flan. At first, the flan tasted nice and the texture felt good to the tongue. But after a while, the taste didn?t hold up and I started not enjoying it.

Once we were done with lunch, we went to the Little Haiti Cultural Center. As soon as I got off the bus, I saw a big stage and a giant space in front of it. To the side, there was a windowed wall where I could see statues and displays. We went inside of the building and sat inside a big room. The room

teachers to try and teach them how to dance.

I fondly remember how enthusiastic Malik Nunez was to get on stage, and seeing him attempt to do these movements with his body was hilarious. I also found it funny how the students pressured Mr. Dearacama to go upstage and try the dance. Needless to say, the presentation was very enjoyable.

With the conclusion of the music and dance presentation, our trip came to a close. My favorite parts would have to be the dance presentation, Domino Park, and La Carreta.

I learned a lot about Haitian culture and the history of Little Havana. I enjoyed the trip very much, and I think anyone can find something they liked about this trip.

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Middle school adopts new midterm schedule B Y A NGELINA B ELIN

The midterm schedule this year was very different from last year's midterm schedule. Mr. Mathes, the director of the middle school, said, "Spreading out the midterms was important for the kids."

Miami Country Day wants the kids to have a good midterm and have the midterms spread out. This year's schedule is different from last year. It is different because last year they had one midterm every week during the block period on either Tuesday or Wednesday, while this year we had a midterm every day and didn't have classes after the midterms.

If students finished eating lunch and their parents would pick you up later, then they would go into a study room where they would study for their midterm the next day. Miami Country Day decided to change the midterm schedule this year because the middle school students during those 3 weeks where they had their midterms still had their own quizzes, homework, test, and assignments for different classes after the midterm schedule for that week.

This became overwhelming for middle school students because they had to layer everything on top of each other and still have to study for the midterms and other things that other teachers assigned. Many students liked the midterm schedule from this year more than last year's midterm schedule. Even the sixth graders liked this year's midterm schedule and when they found out what the midterm schedule was last year they definitely preferred this year's midterm schedule.

Evelyn "Evie" Brown Lagrandeur, a middle school sixth-grader at Miami Country Day said, " I like this year's midterm schedule because we didn't have to focus on anything else except the midterm we took that day, and because we were able to go home after we were done. I also liked that we had study rooms where you could wait and study for your next midterm while you wait for your parents to pick you up."

Juliana Kolc-Dass, a middle school seventh-grader at Miami Country Day, said," I like it better because we got to go home early and study more in

the study rooms and at home. Another thing I liked was that I did not have to feel stressed about other classes, and having quizzes in other classes."

The majority of middle school students at Miami Country Day liked this year's midterm schedule more than last year. Melissa Brauer, a sixth-grader at Miami Country Day said, " I think if we would have had the midterm schedule from last year where we had classes after the midterm and more assignments to do, I think it would have been way too stressful for me and other people in middle school."

Miami Country Day also provided us with an extra hour of advisory which was used for studying for your midterm that day. The middle schoolers at Miami Country Day appreciated that because in the morning students tend to need to study again for a test. Overall the middle schoolers liked this year's midterm schedule more. Next year Mr. Mathes said that we would be keeping this schedule which will probably make the middle school students happy.

Miami Country Day has done a great job with this

Students win Fairchild competition B Y MAYA TAFUR MARTINEZ

Eighth graders Azaryah Cartagena, Tyler Sastre and Mackenzie Behlman placed first in the annual Fairchild Tropical Gardens Green Cuisine Challenge. The Miami Country Day eighth graders had the opportunity to experience the ways of being an astronaut. For their Physical Science class they had to complete a project where they had to create a meal that was able to be brought and made in space.

The purpose of this project was for a competition that Fairchild Tropical Gardens held for south Florida schools, and whoever had the best meal was going to actually be in use for astronauts.

The eighth graders were in charge of being in groups and working together to create the meal and present a PowerPoint about it. They also had to show how the astronauts had to make it by showing the process of the growth of the ingredients such as plants that must be grown. In conclusion, the eighth grade had a lovely experience to open their eyes of being able to experience a small part of an astronaut's life.

PHOTOS B Y MAYA TAFUR MARTINEZ AND MR. FALLIK

Page 11

Spirit Week

Mr. Fallik agrees that Spirit Day is to bring the middle school community together, and it's important to have a day for the students to come together and meet new people.

Ms. Greenfield?s favorite part to plan for Spirit Day is the party. She loves to see the students together and having fun. The turnout this year for the party on Thursday, the day before the full spirit day, was 240 students!

Leadership and student government helped Ms. Greenfield with planning Spirit Day. It took a lot of effort and time so it's important to give credit to their hard work.

Each year, Spirit Day has a theme as well. This year it was movies. Some examples are Grease, The Goonies, Space Jam, Jaws, and more. Each team dressed for their movie and color. It was fun to see all the teams having fun spirit!

The winner of Spirit Week this year was the red team, in second was the blue team, and in third was the white team. It was close but this year red is the winner!

Spirit Day is a fun day for all people in middle

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

school to enjoy. It is people's favorite part of the year and what makes middle school different from upper and lower school. It is a good experience for 8th graders to be leaders for the middle school and soon, it will be the 7th graders who will lead!

Spirit takes a lot of work to plan, but it is great in the end!

Page 12

Arts Spartan Dance goes to bottom of the sea B Y MAYA TAFUR MARTINEZ

Every year at Miami Country Day School the dance department always puts on a production for the Middle School. There are always a few productions that occur for an event, but one main one that happens for the Middle School only occurs once a year.

Last year they did Spiderman, but now they are doing the dance production Spongebob. Spongebob is a cartoon series in Nickelodeon that features critters that enjoy life in the sea. The dance still has the feeling of many of the episodes including songs from the actual series and include content from the episodes too.

Alex Mendelson, who played as Spongebob, said that he loved Spongebob all his life growing up. He also said that he remembers watching every episode so he can relate the dance to the actual series.

Mr. Johnson, who is in charge of the dance department as the dance teacher, said that one of the reasons he chose this play was because he loved the idea that this show is about having fun and being optimistic. He also mentioned how he allows his students to come up with ideas of what the production will be.

Mr. Johnson said, ?Spongebob is all about fun, being different and optimistic, and just being positive. I wanted that to be used as an opportunity to show my students that they could be us."

For the dance shows, you must be a part of the dance elective to be a part of the show. For the auditions they had to was practice some certain dances that they must perform with Mr. Johnson and as the days go

B Y MAYA TAFUR MARTINEZ

on less people are chosen for the role they want until all of the roles have been assigned.

For the days they had to go to rehearsals, what they did was practice during their elective time, sometimes during lunch, on the weekends, or even sometimes after school.

Something else Mr. Johnson mentioned was, ?I didn?t choose them based on personality, but on leadership and whether or not they have the requirements to be a lead,? another thing he said to add on to is that he wanted them to be available for weekend rehearsals and he wanted them to have the time to dedicate themselves to the production.

One of the people who got a role in the production, Preston Boucher, said, ?That it was fun to do it since it was the exact same to the one on TV.?

Another person who got a role in the play, Azzy Cartegna, said that it for sure compares the show with the dance and that both have that fun and energetic feel to it.

The organization of the play was also phenomenal with all the crew members helping backstage and knowing exactly what to do. Including the people in the control booth with all the lights and sound cues.

Mr. Johnson also mentioned how he felt confident and was pleased with all the hard work from the people backstage and more.

That is what has been going on with the dance production that ended with a great and hilarious show with many family members, friends, and teachers attending the show to watch. With all their hard work, they definitely deserve to feel proud of themselves.

"Oh My Gosh, you guys!"

Legally Blonde is a blast!

This school year the drama department presented Legally Blonde to the Middle School. It was a show that was available to watch on a Wednesday or a Thursday.

Last issue, In the Middle, wrote a story about the auditions and the process of getting into the play for Legally Blonde. This story for this issue will be about the play and how the performers, teachers, and students felt about the show and the real story about what happens during the performance.

One of the reasons Ms. Rizzo wanted to do this play in the first place is because of the inspiring meaning it has about women or overall empowerment to a person and that no one should ever feel that they can?t do something.

Ms. Rizzo said, ?I would like to think that people

were inspired, Legally Blonde has such a positive message," To add on to that she also mentioned how the play has the moral of that appearance doesn?t affect how you look on the inside and that you can be whatever you decide to be.

Miguel Escobar, who played Warren, stated, ?We were really surprised because it was really good and we didn?t expect it to be this amazing since it was only our second time running the whole

show non-stop.?

Continued on next page

Page 13

Legally Blonde continued A lot of people ask how it is like backstage or how stressful are the practices just right before the play?

Here are the responses of some of the actors themselves.

Cat Serrano Bigles said that the difference between the rehearsals from the beginning to the practices in the end was the level of intensity and focus. In the beginning of the rehearsals, practices weren?t as intense, but more as a review and just reading our lines. She also mentioned how during the end, closer to the play, the practices were more stressful and everyone was more serious.

Trinity Stanislas said, ?Makeup and hair was very chaotic because everyone had to have their hair and there were a lot of people in the dressing rooms going in and out of the doors and boys knocking on the doors for girls to do their makeup. It was really chaotic but in the end it was worth it since the makeup and hair looked amazing on stage.?

In the end, the show ended up being phenomenal and absolutely show stopping. Through all the hard work and chaos through the last practices and backstage, it was all worth it in the end.

Another frequent question many people ask about is how the actors feel when they perform on stage, especially the leads who have a lot to memorize and learn?

Esther Ohev-Zion, who played the lead Elle Woods, stated that she was nervous at first, but as soon as she began all her fear and nervousness just melted away, and in the end she was extremely proud and happy with herself. She also stated that the hardest part for her was memorizing her lines, but the easiest was learning the songs.

Spartan Dance Honors Black History

PHOTOS BY B ROGHAN MUHLIG AND MR. FALLIK

Page 14

Arts MCDShosts Honor Band concert B Y A NGELINA On Friday, January 24 and Saturday, January 25, MCDS B ELIN hosted for the first time the District 20 Honor Band. Mr. Mofsky describes it as ?an all-star team of middle and high school students from many of the schools that comprise our District (Miami & FL Keys).? About 180 students, band directors and two guest conductors attended.

high-pressure situation for the kids, but of course, they already know their music. It is also a situation where everybody has to be on their best behavior and where everybody has to be ready to work very hard at the concert.

"You almost can't even imagine how well the kids pull it off but they did.", said Mr. Mofsky, a beginning early bird orchestra The honor band is when each " This concer t was a lot teacher and band teacher. This is school?s musical director the first time MCDS has hosted of wor k and effor t to chooses one or two top dthe event, and they did a good job. performers from each school to make it sound nice."

Miami Country Day will keep on assemble a band that will being the host of this wonderful - Sofia Cataldi concert until the end. perform together at one concert.

There are about eighty kids in the band that performed at the concert. The kids got their music that they have to play for the concert around the middle of November to Thanksgiving.

The kids that are in the honor band concert have to practice the music on their own time because it is not something where the school has rehearsal or has practice.

Most of the kids have personal teachers that help them with the music since they don't do it with the school. The first time that the students of the honor band concert rehearsed is on a Friday and then the concert is on the next day, Saturday. This is a very

The concert was really impressive, as it took a lot of work. Sofia Cataldi, a seventh-grader at Miami Country Day who is in the honor band concert, said, "This concert was a lot of work and effort to make it sound nice. I practiced a lot and eventually the piece that I was playing turned into a beautiful masterpiece."

The honor band piece of music was amazing.

Everyone collaborated beautifully. Camila Ramirez, a sixth-grader who watched the honor band concert, said, "This concert was one of the best concerts I have ever seen and heard. I loved how everything sounded together and conjoined."

The two-day rehearsal that they had was the time where they had to make the music fit together and practice for the concert. They had to make sure that the music would sound good together when they all play the music. The kids that were performing were very good at making sure they had every bit of music and notes at the same time and same pitch as all of the others.

The kids that performed in the honor band concert must have a lot of nerve to go up on a stage with other kids and perform a song that they had very little time to practice on. Eleanor "Ellie" Merrill, a seventh-grader at Miami Country Day that was in the honor band concert, said, "The honor band concert was a very fun experience to have. I liked that we got to play with other schools from the district."

The honor band was a good experience for the kids who played in the concert to play with other schools and meet new people. Miami Country Day hopes that all the people who had the chance to play in the concert had a good time and come back next year.

Thespians win awards in Orlando B Y B ROGHAN MUHLIG After Miami Country Day?s Jr. Thespians?success at the previous Districts competition, they had the honor of participating in Florida?s State Competition in Orlando. The troupe is lead by Laura Rizzo, the Middle school drama teacher, who has partaken in thespians competitions for 25 years.

Renan Mond-Ramos, 8th-grader and thespian for two years, received one of the two total superiors given to MCDS for his monologue for Bang Bang You're Dead. He said, "I did a monologue where I have killed my parents and I?m explaining myself, and so I make my confessions and I scream at it a decent bit.?

Ms. Rizzo explains the ratings at the competition.

She said, ?It goes poor, good, fair, excellent, superior, and critics choice.

Ms. Rizzo said that her favorite piece would have to be Renan?s monologue, but according to Renan, he expected better. ?I put in not as much as I wanted to, but definitely enough to get people on the edge of their seats and with sweaty palms.?

Renan said, ?Everyone was prepared, but not everyone was ready.?

Renzo Carbonell would agree with that statement.

He said that he was extremely nervous and stressed out before the piece, but while performing it, he started feeling more confident.

Renzo was feeling confident in his piece until a little incident happened. ?So there is this one scene in which this girl has to eat something from this jar full of goo and smile,? he explained. ?When we

were finishing up and clearing the whole stage, we tipped over the jar and some of the slimes fell on the stage. That really brought down our score to a good rather than getting excellent or a superior.?

Another incident occurred that Renzo said actually resulted in a piece receiving a superior. Brianna Sabogal, 6th-Grade thespian, was performing her solo musical when the music accidentally cut out.

Brianna had to continue on and improvise without the music, and according to Renzo, it sounded perfect. Her ability to think on her feet and continue on even with this technical error won her a superior.

On the subject of great achievements, Andrea Bravo-Contreas, 8th-grade thespian, won a critic?s choice for Best Backstage Crew. Renan said, ?This critics choice we earned for the crew shows that it?s not only when you're performing, it's also a group act. So you aren?t only there for yourself; you?re there for other people.?

Ms. Rizzo explained why she feels Andrea received a critics choice. ?She was extremely efficient, very organized, and polite backstage. I think that it showed because she was in and out within 2 minutes of her takedown.?

When MCD?s Jr. Thespians were finished with all their pieces, they had the opportunity to relax on a long bus ride back. Ms. Rizzo said, ?On the way home, we sang a series of karaoke songs together and we sang "We are the Champions? when we first got back on the bus together. It was one of those moments where you have to be there, but it

was pretty amazing and special.?

Renan would describe the bus ride to be joyful and says it went by fast, but he also learned something.

Renan said that he got to see another side to some kids on that bus ride and also got to meet new people. When describing the bus ride overall, Renan said, ?It definitely was something that showed how we are as a school.?

In t he Mid d le St aff David Bejar - Ed it or -in-Chief Br oghan Muhlig - Phot o Ed it or

Rep or t er s: A lex Pool A ngelina Belin Chloe Shap ir o Daniella A r ango Lucas Bacar d i Shr ift m an Maya Tafur

Page 15

"Sonic" Speeds into theaters B Y B ROGHAN Sonic the Hedgehog is an alien from another planet who has super speed.

MUHLIG After continuous attacks from enemies wanting his speed, he uses rings to teleport to other planets until he found himself on earth. He settles in the forests of Green Hills, Montana, and finds a liking for the townsfolk. He especially is humored by the town sheriff, Tom Wachowski, who is played by James Marsden.

The main story kicks in after Sonic decides to play baseball by himself. The scene itself is very comical and is sure to get a few laughs in. After hitting the baseball, he starts running the bases but starts going so quickly that it sends a supersonic boom, cutting off all power in the United States.

This, of course, concerns the government and try to get to the bottom of the situation. In the process of trying to find the solution, they get the help of Dr.Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey, who is the film?s antagonist. Dr.Robotnik takes the persona of a crazy, mad scientist who is over-enthusiastic with his robots and tries to take Sonic?s power away from him. When Sonic tries to escape the planet on to a boring planet of only mushrooms, Tom shoots his leg with a tranquilizer dart. While in a groggy haze, sonic reads Tom?s shirt, which says San Francisco and accidentally drops his rings into a portal on top of the San Francisco tower.

The rest of the movie is a story of sonics journey to San Francisco with Tom and him enjoying all the

things Earth has to offer. They do all this while trying to escape the evil grasp of Dr. Robotnik.

The best moments of the film would be when it shows and expresses Sonic?s power. One of these scenes would be the Bar scene when sonic stops a fight by stopping time and joking around with the still bodies, pulling pranks and putting them out of or into harm?s way. The scene is very well-done and it just shows how grand sonic?s power is. And, Spoilers, the film takes a very interesting route.

Dr.Robotnik was able to get a hold of one of sonics spikes and use its power to go the same speed as Sonic, even during a time stop. This scene is really great because it makes Sonic feel powerless. Its forces sonic to not rely on his power, but instead has to care for himself.

great film. This movie does a good job showing that the video game industry is not only good for making video games, but they can also make great movies with enough work and effort.

The movie is mostly directed towards a younger audience but anyone can find this film enjoyable, especially ones who are fans of the Sonic videogame series. The movie?s theme of friendship is a common theme in child movies, but this movie does a great job of showing the theme. The movie is very nice and it shows how many things we have on Earth to appreciate. It also is slightly comical, even to an older audience. The movie is just a feel-good movie and it is a fun movie to watch.

Because of the great success of the Pokemon movie: Detective Pikachu, some did not feel a Sonic movie could hold up to that movie?s success.

But, it turned expectations and came out to be a

Enjoy a taste of Asia at 1-800-Lucky B Y CHLOE SHAPIRO The restaurant 1-800 Lucky is located in Wynwood, Miami. This restaurant was founded by Alan Drummond. When you first walk into the restaurant there is a record shop called Lucky Records, which holds vinyl records and LPs. This was how the idea for the name of the restaurant came to be. Along with the records, the restaurant?s walk-in store sells soft drinks, Asian snacks, and T-Shirts with the restaurant?s name featured on it. I would rate the store a 7/10 because the products were nice but the service wasn?t the best for me. I stood in line for a while there was only one employee working the shop with tons of people waiting in line to purchase their treats.

At 1-800 Lucky there are seven different Asian restaurants. The idea of having different Asian varieties is what makes this restaurant so special.

Sometimes the line for each of the restaurants can take a while, but mostly on busy days.

One of the restaurants featured in 1-800 Lucky is Hayato. Hayato sells a special Chiran- Cha Green Tea which can be served hot or cold. Their most famous dish is the Hayato Miami Special. This dish features noodles topped with specially sauced meat (of your choice) and vegetables. Hayato also offers varieties of rice bowls and different flavored edamame. I would rate Hayato a 9/10. The food was really good but I waited in line for a while.

My favorite two restaurants at 1-800 Lucky are Lotus + Cleaver and YIP. Lotus + Cleaver has an amazing ?Crispy 5 Spice Chicken Wings.? The chicken wings are covered in tons of different spices that make it taste like an explosion in your mouth. It?s

so good! Lotus + Cleaver also serves a dish named ?The Peking Duck? which is $78! The Peking Duck Special is a whole roasted duck served with steam buns, cucumber, scallions, sliced apple, and topped with housemade hoisin sauce. I would rate Lotus + Cleaver a 10/10 because the food was extremely delicious.

YIP mainly serves dumplings or as they call it, ?Dim Sum.?My favorite dumpling is the ?Shanghai Dumpling.?

The Shanghai Dumpling is filled with lightly salted pork and savory soup. It?s basically pork soup in dumpling form. I would rate YIP a 10/10 as well because their food is also really delicious.

Page 16

Sports B Y DANIELLA A RANGO

MSBoys enjoy basketball David Bejar, a JV player, got asked how he feels when he and his team win a game and he said, "Well, it's a great feeling after you win a game because last season we were one and twelve, and this season I think we won six or seven games. So just knowing that us as a team, came together to beat another team just feels really good."

When Coach Terry was asked what is his favorite part about being a Basketball coach he said, "Teaching the kids is my favorite part. Also having the kids come together as a team, so I like to get all my kids to come as one so I love that."

When trying out, players gave it their all and made it on the team. Alexander Ben-Shmuel, a JV player, got asked if it was hard to get into the team and he said, "During tryouts I had many doubts but I also knew I had a really good chance. It was not easy but not too difficult."

T he Miami Country Day school boys basketball teams finished their seasons on a high note. Playing different teams from all over the Miami area, they faced stiff competition and had many close games.

When Coach Terry was asked what advice he would give to someone who didn't make it on the team this year he said, "Continue to work hard, try hard. You know Michael Jordan didn't make it on his team at first but he tried hard, he kept at it for next year and he made the team. So continue to try and never give up, never give up on anything you do." Perseverance and dedication is critical to success in basketball.

When asked about what makes a good Support for the team included proud parents and basketball player, Coach Terry said: "A good students from MCDS. When Gerald Terry, Middle basketball player is someone who comes in and School Varsity Head Coach, was asked what his works hard, loves his teammates, respects his main goal was for the team this teammates, respects his year he said, "As always I want " We do a lot of exercises coaches, respects to win as many games as including stretches, the referees and possible and finish undefeated, dynamics, statics, and we respects the but my main goal was to teach school." the kids, and to get them ready also have winning thoughts, Boys basketball is for the next level which is high good ener gy and we j ust a great sport at school." pr actice a lot."

MCDS and the "Basketball is a competitive - Par ker Zaron players are sport and it gives the kids a learning a lot chance to come together, about sports and workout and have fun. We have fun, sometimes we life while having a good time and have bad times, we have good times, but most of exercising. Soon another season all we have good times and that's one of the will be here and we will have all reasons why I really love it. I just really love being the MCDS basketball athletes around the kids and the sport.? playing hard to represent their school well.

The most exciting games for some of the players, in both Varsity and JV, were the second to last game of the season and the Spartan Invitational.

Parker Zaron, a JV player, got asked how his team prepares for a game and he said, "We do a lot of exercises including stretches, dynamics, statics, and also having good winning thoughts, good energy and we just practice a lot.

Practice, practice, practice works!"

Page 17

B Y L UCAS B ACARDI SHRIFTMAN

Making waves in water polo

The Middle School Water Polo team has very committed kids on the team. Head Coach Eleni Pizanias said, "I think the team has a lot of kids that are willing to work hard to have a successful season."

The team has a lot of potential and is desirable for middle school students. According to Coach Fallik, a coach on the Middle School Water Polo team, the team has a lot of chemistry. Although they lost their first match they've gained a lot of experience.

Coach Eleni said, "I have a lot of good candidates for the 8th graders.

It is just too hard to choose just one."

Coach Fallik said, "I do, I think that we've got a lot of kids, we've got some returning and a lot of new players and a great coaching staff."

Coach Falik also said "Yes, we have a lot of great teamwork everyone looks out for each other."

Leonardo Blaya said that he really likes the team and works very hard.

"We won one of our games and the others we lost, but what is different from our team from the other teams is the other teams play year-round and we don't," explained Coach Fallik. "I hope that the younger players stick with the sport and we hope to get more players."

Coach Fallik continued, "A lot of eighth-graders that will move up to varsity next year. We have a lot of good young players and if we stick with it we will have a good team."

Coach Fallik said that it's hard to tell who is the best eighth-grader, but they have a lot of players with great potential. The team has one player, sixth grader Evan Miller, who plays water polo on a club outside school.

Coach Fallik said, "I am a believer that all players have potential. We have a lot of great teamwork everyone looks out for each other."

Coach Eleni said, "For having such a small team I was very happy with how the team did last year." Coach Eleni said, "Everyone works together. Our team is Coed so the girls even play in the games with the boys. I think the team has a lot of potential this year."

Even though the team doesn't play year

round and the other schools do, they won a game, and it was well deserved with all their hard work.

Coach Eleni thinks that "the team has a lot of chemistry. All players get along and are all friends." Coach Eleni thinks that "Leo Blaya, Briana Dunn, and Fiona Niemeyer have a lot of potential as newcomers to the team and sport. Leni

Saltos has great potential to be a good hole set in the game this year."

The Middle School Water Polo team has a lot of potential according to the coaches. They work very hard and deserves their wins. Go Spartans!

Page 18

Sports MCDSlacrosse gets more popular B Y L UCAS B ACARDI SHRIFTMAN The Boys Middle School Lacrosse team has very committed kids on the team. The Lacrosse team is also very desirable for many middle school students. There are 42 kids on the team.

There are no cuts. The team is very good and works very hard.

Rainen O'Kurley, 8th-grader and lacrosse goalie, said, "I practice every day. I go to the wall before school at lunch and sometimes I get on the wall at home. Also, I'm very committed and determined."

As of now the Boys Middle School Lacrosse team has a record of three wins and one loss. The team practices every day after school for two hours on the field to get ready for matches.

6th-grader and defender for the team, Fedor Krastov, said, "First we do warm-ups, then we do line drills, then defensive and offensive drills, then maybe 6-on-6, or an up offense and man-down defense.

Coach Sennett said, ?The Lacrosse team will be better this year and a lot of the players play year-round. With their experience, they will be much better at the end of the year." Coach Sennett said that he feels the team has a lot of potential.

Rainen said, "Yes, I'm putting in the maximum

effort and I really think we have a good chance at winning districts this year." Alec Gilderman, 6th-grader and midfielder on the team, would agree with Ranien, going on to say that he tries really hard and puts in as much effort as he can.

Nickolas Jachacnco, 6th-grader and another goalie for Boys Lacrosse, said that he puts in maximum effort and contributes a lot to the team because when the other team has the ball and is about to shoot, they rely on the goalie to stop the ball from going in the goal. This puts a lot of pressure on the goalie.

Coach Sennett says, "This eighth-grade class is good. There are a couple we might consider moving up to varsity. Our middy's and our face off guys are as good as there's been." Last year they had a new coach, so they had some games they could've won but instead ended up losing.

Coach Sennett said he wouldn't be surprised if the Boys Middle School Lacrosse team won and maybe could go undefeated. Coach Sennett said next year will be tough because they will lose a few key players.

Rainen says, "I think I'm going to be a little better and I'll probably play high school later this year, so I'll get more experience." Alec says, he is going to

Serving up victory In spring time for Miami Country day, tennis is one of the sports students can play. There are nine boys on the team and nine girls. The tryouts are competitive and stressful, said coach Janet Haas.

Everyone who isn't exempt plays each other the first week. The second week, all the players who made it from the first week play the exempt players from last year.

Last year, the team was Conference Champions for the girls and Conference Runner ups for the boys.

Coach Janet said it will be tough to follow but the team is still great and working hard to achieve that again this year.

The hardest match for both girls and boys coach Janet said is Ransom and Gulliver. So far, the girls team has had three wins and two losses. The wins were against Carrollton, Doral Academy, and

improve a lot and he will get a lot better by the end of the year.

When asked how Rainen feels about his coaches, he says, "I really like my coaches because I think there's a lot more structure this year, and I think they include the younger players a lot more."

B Y A LEX POOL

Cushman. The losses have been against Ransom and Gulliver. The boys have had two wins and two losses. The wins have been against Gulliver and Cushman. The losses have been against Ransom and Doral Academy.

Being one of the only 6th graders on the team is hard said Lucas Bacardi Shriftman, he adds that the team is counting on each other and it's a lot of pressure. Lucas has already set goals. When asked what he wanted to work on he responded with, ? I want my mental strength to be better, my foot work, and to collaborate with the team more since I am not that good at that.? Even though tennis is individual, it is important to still work together at times.

Patrick Soares is in the 7th grade. He has been playing since he was seven. He has enjoyed playing tennis a lot this year on the! He says his goal this year is to do better and win more matches.

Hopefully, he will continue on the tennis team as an 8th grader!

Scout Hudson, current 8th

grader, has been on the team since 6th grade and this is her third year on the team. She has been playing for nine years, and started because of her older sister. Scout says, ?The team has been an awesome experience for me...and I hope to continue in highschool!?

As it is the same for every sport, balancing sports and academics can be hard. Players on the team agree that they try to prioritize getting homework done in the time periods they have between school and sports and then at night. Getting it done is hard but they try to manage it as best as they can.

During practice, the tennis players do different games and drills to prepare for their matches.

Before games, they play games against each other and mini matches. After matches, the team does drills depending on what their focus is.

After a loss in a match, it can be hard to come back. Lucas says, ?When I lose to an easy shot, I get really upset. Like I said, my mental strength is what I want to work on.? But, he adds that he tries to take a deep breath. After he loses a match he tries not to think about it. Those are ways he tries to come back after a bad point or match.

As the tennis season just started, there are many more matches to come and growth for the players.

The tennis team will work hard to get as many good matches as they can. Make sure to watch out for the matches and see what is to come!

Page 19

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