Walnut Grove Middle School
Spotlight
Walnut Grove students enjoyed the fun, friends, games, activities and snacks on each of the grade level field days!
Recent Spotlight Stars!
The WGMS 8th grade boys and girls basketball teams took on staff members in the annual Student vs. Staff Basketball game. The packed gym enjoyed the game and cheered on their favorite players. The students made a run to get within 4pts but in the end, the staff claimed the victory, 18-11. Great game by all! GO CATS!
For the first time, several of the WGMS yearbook students submitted photos in the annual photo contest sponsored by Jostens. This year, there were about 8,000 photos submitted in this nationwide contest for high school and middle school students.
In the middle school division, Emma Germany's photo "Golden Note" placed 4th & her photo "The Music Plays On" took 5th. Taylor Tewalt's photo "Carrying the Load" and Roger Ward's photo "Fight Like A Girl" were both recognized with Honorable Mention awards.
First through fifth place and five Honorable Mentions were awarded for each division. Each photo entry was judged for its ability to tell a story relevant to the high school, junior high or middle school experience; its composition and artistic qualities; and its technical quality. First place in each division is awarded $500 while 2nd to 5th place in each category receive photography related prizes.
All the winning photos in each category can be viewed online here.
A video from Jostens about the contest
In honor of 7th grader, Brendan Husfeld, WGMS had "Breathe For B" Day to support Brendan's Great Strides team to raise money to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. "Fighting so that one day CF will no longer stand for Cystic Fibrosis but for CURE FOUND!"
Students in Mrs. Faudree's art class recently participated in the Ellis County Art Show. Students were able to enter artwork in many different competition categories such as sculpture, painting, drawing, etc. Walnut Grove students brought back many awards in their categories!
- 6th Grade: Caitlyn Harris 1st place, Logan Rickabaugh 2nd place, Caroline Williamson 3rd place, Stenson Cole 4th place
- 7th Grade: Courtney Cook 3rd place, Rachel Holley 6th place
- 8th Grade: Trace Ridlehoover 4th place, Nick Miller 6th place
Congratulations to the WGMS iAchieve winners! Andrew Catala won the iPad grand prize in the drawing for the whole school. 8th grader Logan Davis, 7th grader Caroline Moran and 6th grader Caitlyn Harris each received an iPod Touch as the grade level winners. Thanks to all the students and staff members for making iAchieve a success!
Walnut Grove students review and prepare for the upcoming STAAR test with the new two week iAchieve program. Students in grades 6 & 7 attend Math & Reading iAchieve while 8th graders attend Social Studies & Science iAchieve. Students stay in the same group for the 30 minute iAchieve time and a different teacher comes to their room for a different activity each day.
The WGMS track season came to an end with the district meet at Mansfield Legacy High School. The athletes had many personal achievements and set many school records. We are incredibly proud of their performance at the district meet! They truly gave everything they had to pull for the team. Great job!
7th Girls: Maddie Davis – 100m Dash 4th Place – 13.03 School Record; Brooke Boisvert – 400m Dash 3rd Place - 1:05.86; Taylor Howell – 400m Dash 4th Place – 1:06.05; Taylor Howell – Pole-vault 1st Place – 7’6’’ –School Record; Sky Reynolds – 800m 2nd Place – 2:32.59 School Record; Sky Reynolds – 2400m 2nd Place – 9:03.31; Sky Reynolds – High Jump 3rd Place – 4’6’’; Angelica Kremer – 1600m 5th Place – 6:00.47; Angelica Kremer – 2400m 4th Place – 9:28.04; Stepney, Boisvert, Wiens, Davis - 4x100m Relay 4th Place – 54.02; Tanguma, Klor, Hendrix, Smith - 4x200m Relay 6th Place – 1:58.40; Tanguma, Davis, Reynolds, Boisvert - 4x400m Relay 3rd Place – 4:23.99 – School Record; Kyra Stepney – High Jump 6th Place – 4’6’’; Makenzie Thorne – Discus 4th Place – 63’04.5’’
8th Girls: Elisa Patzig – 800m 1st Place – 2:35.06; Elisa Patzig – 1600m 1st Place – 5:47.05; Sage Boteler – 800m 6th Place – 2:39.72; Joely Henderson – 1600m 5th Place – 6:10.17; Joely Henderson- 2400m 5th Place – 10:01.84; Amanda Penwarden – 2400m 4th Place – 9:52.28; Ayaunee Williams – 100m Hurdles 5th Place – 17.47; Abby Blood – 300m Hurdles 6th Place – 52.97; Castro, Boteler, Madison, Bernard - 4x200m Relay 6th Place – 1:56.15; Boteler, Henderson, Skinner, Patzig - 4x400m Relay 5th Place – 4:31.81; Ashton Lackie – Pole vault 2nd Place – 7’6’’ –School Record; Cheyenne Castro – Long Jump 6th Place – 14’6’’; CeCe Madison – Discus 5th Place – 70’03’’
7th Boys: I. Rangel - 100 Meter Hurdles 3rd Place - 17.21; Wayland, Traylor, Smith, Calvery - 4X200 Meter Relay 5th Place - 2:05.74; R. Smith - High Jump 3rd Place - 5'2"; J. Bannick - Pole Vault TIE 3rd Place - 8'0"; K. Allen - Triple Jump 5th Place - 34-10; J. McMahan - Discus 4th Place - 80-09;
8th Boys: B Gardner - 400 Meter Dash 5th Place - 56.21; D. Callaway - 400 Meter Dash 6th Place - 57.31; B Gardner - 800 Meter Run 3rd Place - 2:12.66; T. Tewalt - 800 Meter Run 5th Place - 2:18.96; C. Khanhkham - 800 Meter Run 6th Place - 2:23.97; R. Ward - 1600 Meter Run 2nd Place - 5:04.93; R. Ward - 2400 Meter Run 2nd Place - 8:07.96; T. Tewalt - 2400 Meter Run 6th Place - 8:45.18; Z. Humphreys - High Jump TIE 5th Place - 5'6"; C. Calvery - High Jump TIE 7th Place - 5'4"; C. Harris - Triple Jump 4th Place - 37-11; Z. Humphreys - Triple Jump 5th Place - 37-10.5; G. Hopgood - Shot Put 5th Place - 41-02.5;
All the WGMS bands received Superior ratings at the Sandy Lake contest on March 29. In addition to this award, each WGMS band was also awarded Best Band of the Day in each of their divisions as well. WAY TO GO BAND CATS!
The Walnut Grove JV Treble, Varsity Treble, and Varsity Tenor/Bass choirs competed in the annual UIL choral/sightreading competition at Greiner Middle School in Dallas and brought home 3 sweepstakes trophies for each earning superior ratings on both their stage and sight-reading performances. Furthermore, they earned 18 Superior Ratings - more than any other school in the region. The Tenor/Bass choir earned special recognition as one of the judges deemed them the best choir out of the 78 choirs that competed in the 3-day competition. We are very proud of all the choirs and their hard work and achievements!
Congratulations to the WGMS Symphonic Band on their exceptional performance at the UIL competition. For the 2nd year in a row the band came home with the Sweepstakes award for receiving the highest judge's ratings in their prepared music performance & in their sight-reading performance. GO BAND CATS!
Congratulations to the 26 WGMS choir students who were selected for the All-Region Choir! Some notable mentions are Ashlyn Byars, Savannah Wheeler, and Jonathan McDonald who each earned 2nd chair in their section and Julianna Rothermel, Kaitlyn Martin and and Cameron Landon who each earned 1st chair. Landon Chamberlain, for the 2nd year in a row, earned 1st chair in the Tenor 1 section beating out 94 other singers. We are very proud of all who auditioned and the hard work that they put in preparing for this honor!
Front Row: Emma Beard, Julianna Rothermel, Kaitlyn Martin; Middle Row: Jonathan McDonald, Cameron Landon, Brayden Gray, Eli Lackey, Jonathan Anderson, Colin Toon, Dylan Byars, Landon Chamberlain, Cooper Harris, Brady Womack; Back row: Lainey Valenta, Ashlyn Byars, Courtney Dunn, Sydney Leverette, Claire Rodgers, Savannah Wheeler, Rebecca Anderson, Courtney Harrison, Taylor Howell, Griffin Culbreth, Tanner Whitehead, Vincent Brigance, Cane Wilson
In preparation for the frog dissection lab, 7th grade science students completed a virtual frog dissection. After completing the real frog dissection, the students will compare the procedures and outcomes of the real and virtual dissections to determine the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods.
6th graders in Mrs. Wischnack's science class completed a review game scavenger hunt using mobile devices to scan QR codes.
6th grade students in Mrs. Mueller's science class conducted a lab in which they used sugar to represent rock sediment in their study of rocks, weathering and erosion. The students recorded observations throughout the lab as they applied different elements such as heat to see what effect it had on the sugar.
The members of FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at Walnut Grove recently held a Pencil Drive to collect pencils and pens to be sent to three schools in Zimbabwe. In the spirit of friendly competition, each 3rd period class was challenged to donate pens and pencils for two weeks. A total of 11,027 pencils and pens were donated campus-wide. The top five classes were: Cat News (1585),
Bouldin (1378),
Floyd (1233),
Stovall (898) and
Melton (621).
7th grade Texas history students brought their studies to life recently by reenacting key battles in the fight for Texas independence from Mexico. Students were assigned roles of the key figures of each side and made speeches and commands based on their characters.
As part of School Board Appreciation Month, Walnut Grove Middle School honored MISD School Board member Jay Roberts with a catered luncheon.
Congratulations to the WGMS Dodgeball Champs! The team of Landon Chamberlain, Charles Hoard, Cooper Harris, Conner Henderson, Thomas Halcomb and Andrew Catala were crowned the new Dodgeball Champions of Walnut Grove as they went undefeated in the double-elimination tournament held at Cat Night. All the teams and players were very competitive throughout the three hour tournament but only one team came out victorious in the field of 28 teams entered in the competition. WAY TO GO CATS!
Congratulations to Jonathan Anderson on winning the WGMS campus Spelling Bee. The word "acquaintance" was the winning word this year. Noah Blair & Jaida Spencer took 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. Jonathan will represent WGMS in the Ellis County Spelling Bee in the coming days. Great job by all the participants!
Over the winter break, WGMS band teachers Justin Wood and Laurencio Arroyo delivered a check from the WGMS Band, who collected donations from students and parents for the KLTY Christmas Wish. The band collected $1200 to help a family in need have a brighter Christmas. This makes the fourth year that the band has donated to this worthy cause. This is a great lesson for our band students to learn in helping those who are less fortunate.
The Walnut Grove bands performed a Christmas concert for their family and friends. The Beginner Bandstarted the evening with some classic holiday favorites. The Symphonic Band continued the melodious cheer and the Honor Bandwrapped up the evening in grand fashion.
The WGMS Choirs entertained parents and friends at the annual Christmas dinner & dessert theater. The performance included many solos and group performances by the Varsity Treble Choir, JV Treble Choir, Tenor/Bass Choir and the 6th Grade Show Choir.
8th graders in Mrs. Miller's Reading/Language Arts class practiced and reinforced vocabulary skills by playing Words With Friends.
WGMS sent two robotics teams to the FLL North Texas Regional Qualifier Tournament. Each team had to program their robot to accomplish various missions that are worth different amount of points based on difficulty. They had 2.5 minutes to complete as many missions as possible for points. They competed in three rounds and took their highest score of the three. The teams performed well and made adjustments throughout the day to improve their scores. In addition to the robotics challenge, the teams each had to do a research project and presentation for the judges and also had to explain their robot design and programming techniques to a different set of judges.The teams received high marks for mechanical design, strategy, teamwork and programming. Robocats Team II finished 11th overall, narrowly missing the top ten by just a few points. Both teams did a great job representing WGMS!
Members of the Cat News Crew traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to present a session titled "Get Out From Behind the Desk" at the National High School Journalism Convention. The students also entered the carry-in and onsite competitions to put their skills to the test. They held their own in each of their categories competing against high school students.
Amanda Penwarden participated in the Broadcast Sports category while Max Wilson and Carolina Caballero entered as a team in the Feature Story contest. The team of Becca Robbins and Jojo McDonald competed in the Broadcast Package competition in which they had 4 hours onsite to script, shoot, edit and submit their video about the Minneapolis skyway system.
The team of Jared Nix & Rachael Boudreaux received one of only 4 awards given in the the Commercial/PSA division and were the only middle school students to receive an award of the nearly 1700 students entered in all the Write-Off contests.
The WGMS choir and theatre departments will present "Beauty and the Beast" on Friday at 7pm, Saturday at 2pm and Saturday at 7pm. Tickets costs $7 for each performance and can be purchased at the door. All performances will be in the WGMS cafe.
WGMS students and staff honored local veterans at the annual Veterans Day Assembly. The program included the posting of the colors by the Arlington Jr. ROTC, a performance by the Lancaster Orange Crush Precision Drill Team, a three-screen video presentation by Cat News, the WGMS Choir singing "Mansions of the Lord" and leading the attendees in a rendition of "God Bless America". A moment of silence for all fallen heroes was dedicated as Mr. Steve Pruitt played "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes. The WGMS Honor Band played "Marches of the Armed Forces" while veterans stood as the flags for each branch of service were brought in by students. The program concluded with individual recognition of each veteran in attendance. The veterans and their spouses were treated to a catered lunch following the assembly. Thank you, veterans!
Pictured is Mr. David Kersh and his brother. Mr. Kersh works in the maintenance department at WGMS
Students in Mrs. Benesch's classes had a "Words with Friends" competition in the library to stretch their vocabulary.
As part of Education: Go Get It! week, WGMS students dressed in theme for each day. Tuesday was "Say 'Aloha' to your future" day and also the Beach Bash pep rally.
6th Graders Are Scientists!
The students in Mrs. Davis' 6th grade science class completed a classification assignment and presented them in the form of lab coats.
