Middle School Book Club Shows Great Success

Every two weeks a small group of 12 Middle School students gathers to discuss popular novels during USJ’s Middle School book club meetings. This group was founded in September of 2022 and consisted of four sixth-graders, one seventh-grader and two eighth-graders.

“Book club encourages a love of reading,” said faculty advisor Rachel Vivio. “Members try book genres that they normally may have not read, and they get to discuss the books in a safe and welcoming environment among peers that are also passionate about reading! The camaraderie of book club has been awesome to watch.”

At the first meeting, Vivio asked students how they wanted to select the books the club would read. The students suggested picking books by genre (fantasy, historical fiction, dystopian, drama, etc.). Vivio wrote all of the genres on separate pieces of paper and put them in a cup for students to draw at random to select the next genre. She then selected six books that fit that genre. Students were given a google form with pictures, descriptions, Amazon links, and Goodreads links to each of the six books, and they voted for which one they prefer to read. The book with the most votes is read next.

The club has two different types of meetings. The first is a discussion meeting that takes place during lunch. The students eat together, discuss the book they just read, reveal a new book, and participate in an activity, game, or snack that relates to the book.

The second is a check-in and discussion meeting that happens during the students’ break period. The primary goal is to see what kind of progress everyone is making regarding the current book selection.

Students have read Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon (horror), The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (classics), Refugee by Alan Gratz (historical fiction), The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (action), The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan (graphic novel), I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter (romance), and I Know Your Secret by Daphne Benedis-Grab (mystery).

Some of the book-related snacks students have enjoyed include ice cream for our book Hide and Seeker (one of the bad guys drove an ice cream truck), Turkish Delight and tea for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Edmund asks the White Witch for Turkish Delight and the Pevensie siblings enjoy tea with the Beavers), and cans of soda for The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Grover the satyr loves to eat soda cans).

Some of the book-related activities they’ve participated in include a tea party for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Wink Assassin for The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Pictionary for Refugee, and a spy game relying on undetected observations for I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You

This year’s Book Club had four officers: President Berkley Bledsoe, Vice President Caroline Brandt, Secretary Elizabeth Sue Barnes, and Activities Director Mary Mac Hise.

Question: What do you think led to an increase in book checkouts?

If a student asks about a book that the library doesn’t have, I almost always order it right away and add it to the library’s collection. I want to encourage reading any way I can, so if they are asking for something specific, I want to get it in their hands.

I try very hard to order books I know the students will like. I pay attention to what’s trending on TikTok, Amazon’s bestseller list, books that have been made into new/popular TV shows or movies, Goodreads ratings & reviews, new releases, etc.

I always have at least one book display set up! Displays help bring attention to books that may not be new releases but are still great reads. Some of my past displays have been Read It & Weep (sad books), football books (for football season), Spooky Books (for Halloween), Hispanic Heritage Month books, BookTok books (books that are popular on TikTok), Anti-Hero books (for when Taylor Swift’s latest album came out), Blind Date with a Book, and Black History month books.

The Blind Date with a Book display is not an original idea; it’s actually quite popular in the library world! I chose books I thought the students might like, wrapped them in brown kraft paper, wrote a vague description about the book on the outside, drew

Igniting a Passion for Lifelong Reading in Middle School Students - An Interview with Rachel Vivio

Book checkouts at the Middle School library have increased 449% from 137 checkouts the previous year to 752 checkouts during the same time period this year. Here’s what Middle School and Upper School Media Specialist Rachel Vivio said about the positive trend.

some decorations, and put the books out for the students to see! That was a crazy successful display; I had students who had never checked out a library book before check out a Blind Date book! I think the mystery of which book they were getting was really fun to them.

My first month here, I created two “New Books” sections; I have one section that’s for new middle grade/ juvenile books and another section that’s for young adult books. Any new books that the library gets go straight into these sections. During passing periods, students will pass through the library to get from the Middle School side to the Upper School side (or vice versa), and they pass by the “New Books” section. I think that has helped with checkouts because even though they might not be looking for a book, a new book will catch their eye and they may ask to check it out.

If the library gets a new book that I know a certain student will like, I tell them. For example, I have a student that loves romance novels, so whenever we get a new romance book, I send her an email or make sure to show it to her when she’s passing through the library. I also order books with specific students in mind (as long as it’s a book I know will be a good fit for the library in general).

Question: Why do you think students were overlooking books in the past?

I think the students were in the habit of going to the library regularly when they were in Lower School, but they sometimes grow out of that habit. (I’m trying to get them back into the habit, though!) They have more homework and are often involved in more activities in Middle School/ Upper School, so they don’t have as much time to read as they did in the past. There were few new books in the library collection when I started this position. The students seem especially inclined to check out the new stuff, so I’m sure adding lots of new books has helped!

Question: How do you plan to keep students interested?

I try to think of creative ways to connect students to books, and the checkout numbers keep growing!

Vivio began working at USJ in August 2022.

Student-Athletes to Continue on the Collegiate Field

Congratulations to the following college sports signees!

USJ Athletics Department Proudly Adds Another Mr. Football Finalist to the School’s History

USJ Senior Kevin Finch was named a 2022 Mr. Football Finalist for Division II Class A. A committee of statewide sports writers selected winners based on performance in the 2022 regular season. Academics and character were also taken into consideration. High school head coaches and members of the media nominated the finalists.

A ceremony was held at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on December 7th. This is the 38th year that the Mr. Football Awards have been presented to Tennessee’s best high school football players.

Two USJ Athletes Receive Prestigious Heisman High School Scholarship

Congratulations to USJ’s Berkeley Pettigrew and Madeline Miller for being recognized as school winners in the Heisman High School Scholarship Competition. From an applicant pool of thousands of high school scholar-athletes graduating with the class of 2023, only 5,700 have been named School Winners. These students continue on for the chance to become State Winners, National Finalists or National Winners.

The Heisman® High School Scholarship was created in 1994 through a partnership between Wendy’s® and The Heisman Trophy Trust. From its inception, the program has leveraged the reputation of the Heisman Memorial Trophy as a symbol of great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work.

The Heisman High School Scholarship program extends the Heisman prestige to the nation’s most esteemed high school seniors by celebrating and rewarding outstanding male and female scholar-athletes who understand that the most important victories happen not only on the field, but also in their schools and communities.

Lady Bruins Back to Back Soccer State Champions

The USJ Lady Bruins did it again with an exciting victory against Battle Ground Academy, winning 2-0 at the Division II-AA Soccer State Championship held in October in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

This marks the second straight year that the Lady Bruins have defeated the Lady Wildcats in the state championship game.

In the 2022 final, Betha Pucek scored on an unassisted goal in the 65th minute. Pucek then assisted on the second goal, dishing it to Ava Barham for the score in the 70th minute.

Morgan English had four of the Lady Bruins’ seven shots on goal, while teammate Lilly Kate Varino had seven saves to preserve the shutout.

English, Varino, and Pucek have all signed to play soccer at the collegiate level.

USJ Bass Fishing Team @ Bass Nation Tournament

USJ took three Junior teams (John William Bond, Garrett Steele, Graham Goolsby, Cooper Scallions, Jaxson Wagner, and Sawyer Hutchison) and two Senior teams (Ben Buchanan, Chris Raines, Sam Hines, and Jackson Hays) to the September Bass Nation Tournament at Pickwick Lake on 9/17/22. It was our first tournament of the fishing year. Ben Buchanan and Chris Raines finished 18th out of 121 boats.

Danny Giles Leads Bruins on the Baseball Diamond this Spring

On September 6th, The University School of Jackson announced Danny Giles as the new head baseball coach of the Bruins. A formal meet and greet was held for Coach Giles on Monday, September 12th at Overton Stadium. Upper and Middle School team members, parents, and alumni attended to hear a few words from Giles and welcome him to the USJ family.

“With hard work, attention to detail, and putting your team before yourself to create a winning culture - this team has the possibility to make a deep run in the postseason,” said Giles.

Coach Giles is a native Jacksonian and seasoned head coach, and we are confident his wealth of experience and positive energy will build on the strong Bruins baseball legacy and grow our student-athletes.

He was named the District 13AA Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2021 during his time with the Westview Chargers in Martin, Tennessee. He led the Chargers to win the 2019 district championship, make a 2021 sectional appearance, make a 2022 sectional appearance, and he was selected as the 2022 sectional coach of the year.

Giles also coached baseball at Liberty Technology Magnet High School in Jackson.

He has been married to Laura Giles for 18 years and they have three children - Ryland (17), Beckett (15), and Bella Jewel (12).