Middle School News

L-R Ilias Mamea, William Pounds, Grace Castleman, Ava Rose Weber, Bailey Conner

Student Council Elections Held

Middle School Student Council Elections were held September 1, 2021 and included candidates Bailey Conner ’27 for Historian, Ilias Mamea ’26 for Vice President, and, for President, William Pounds ’26, Gracie Castleman ’27, and Ava Rose Weber ’26.

All of the candidates gave excellent speeches to their peers in St. Johns’ Performing Arts Center, with elections following in homerooms.

The results were: Historian Bailey Conner, Vice President Ilias Mamea, and President William Pounds. Congratulations to all of the candidates and to the newly elected officials.

Regolith Grant Fuels Future Scientists

NASA scientists currently believe that in order to get to Mars in the future, spacecraft will need to make a pitstop at the Moon. Thus, NASA will likely establish a lunar operating base on the Moon. This year, Grade 7 Earth Science teachers received two grants that provided about $400 worth of lunar regolith (simulated Moon soil) and Mars regolith (simulated Martian soil). Mrs. Wagstaff’s Grade 7 science classes have been studying whether specific percentages of lunar regolith and mixed compacted Earth additives will affect the growth of dandelions. Mrs. Sachs’ Grade 7 classes are studying the same concepts, but are using Martian regolith. As part of the grant, students have also had the opportunity to participate in webinars with scientists and astronauts who are providing information about the best ideas for growing food on the Moon or Mars.

“This experience was a great way for students to experience designing a solution for our future society,” said Science Department Chair Jennifer Wagstaff. “It helps them see the practical applications of what we’re learning in the classroom, and may pique their interest in possible future careers. We might even have the next NASA astronaut or astrobotanist in the classroom!”

Middle School Spelling Bee

In October, Middle School classes held qualifying rounds for the Middle School Spelling Bee. From these, class bees selected students (right) to advance to the final.

Then, on December 9, all the class bee winners competed in a Middle School Spelling Bee, held in St. Johns’ Performing Arts Center.

In a total of twelve rounds, the spellers competed with words including Juneteenth, conkers, tartan, and sustenance. For the final five rounds, Grade 8 students Pamela Hernon and Wyatt Hollingsworth battled it out with words like instinctive, ransacked, trodden, and swankiest before Wyatt stumbled on oft-misspelled ‘mantelpiece’ and Pamela was able to pick up the round with parole. According to the rules, Pamela had to spell one more word correctly, which she did, sealing the win. Pamela will represent St. Johns Country Day School at the Clay County Bee in January 2022, with Wyatt as the alternate.

Congratulations, spellers!

Grade 6 Spellers (left to right): Asher Hendrix (alternate), Luke Mooneyham, Sophia McClellan, Caris Morgan, Cayden Ingram, and Brennan Rowzee

Grade 7 Spellers (left to right): Jordan Bliffen, Essie Melicharek, Madeline Finke (alternate), Liam McNulty, Ian Mamea, and Jamal Scott

Grade 8 Spellers (left to right): Emily Steckler (alternate), Calli Berrang, Pamela Hernon, Wyatt Hollingsworth, Deavyn Coleman, and Alyssa Walker

Middle School Faculty Amp Up the Fun, Science

This fall, faculty members Jennifer Wagstaff and Denise Fountain created a new way for Middle School students to explore their love of science through FUSE (Fun and Unique STEM Enrichment) —a series of field trips and other exciting activities that help St. Johns students get an up close and in depth look at some exciting science, hands on!

The first field trip took place in October and was to Marineland, where they participated in the mock rescue of a stranded dolphin on the beach, interacted with dolphins one-on-one, and learned from Marineland staff about marine science and dolphin behavior and biology.