This essay was written as part of a class assignment in Mr. Heck's 8th grade ELA classes. The author edited the essay especially for the MVM blog. Pros, Cons, and Opinions of 8th Grade Dating by Phaedra The dictionary definition of dating is, ‘ going out with (someone in whom one is romantically or sexually interested).’ But MVM students’ opinions on what dating is defined as in middle school agree and disagree with the dictionary definition of dating. Opinions for when one should start to date differ for what 8th graders think is an appropriate age. The majority of students interviewed believe students should start to date, if they’re going to date, between 12 and 13. A student in MVM, said “12 or above is a good age because at that age your parents will let you go to the movies or something, so you can actually spend time with the person you’re dating instead of just seeing each other at school, which I wouldn’t really consider dating even though people say it is.” Some students believe people should start dating later than 12 or 13. Another student in 8th grade, has said “I’d say really after you get your driver’s license because it’s not actually dating if you can’t go on a date.” Not all students think that one should date later than 12, such as a male student, who claims “Whenever the kid feels right and whenever they want to because you can’t put a clock on love.” 8th graders have varied thoughts on dating in middle school and earlier. A male student in 8th grade, said that in middle school you start to know yourself, can start to understand your feelings so you can date then, but it can also be confusing to date. But opinions differ. A female at MVM, said you date when you’re with “Someone that you would say you’re in a relationship with, and you would spend time with them”. Breakups come in different forms in middle school. A few teenage daters interviewed have broken up via text, such as an 8th grader in MVM, who said “She texted me at the end of the weekend that she wanted to break up with me,” when asked about one of his former girlfriends. But some broke up in person. A male at MVM, claimed his former girlfriend broke up with him right after he asked her to the dance, face to face. How some people start dating isn’t well known at Monument Valley. Lots of couples got together in a series of different events such as a couple “So they came out to me as gay, I didn’t even know my sexuality, and I was like ’Cool, whatever’, and I had been saying ‘I love you’ a lot to them because they had been going through a lot of struggles, you know, like a friend ‘I love you, stay strong’, and so one time, I was texting them at night and I said ‘I love you’, and I was like ‘Hold up, hold up, hold up! This love isn’t a friend love!’. So then I texted another friend and said ‘I want to ask (*) out’, I didn’t even know my sexuality at this point, and so my other friend said ‘do it!’. So we ended up face-timing, and I said that I liked them, and they said that they liked me,” as claimed by one of the people in that relationship. Certain couples just got together because they wanted to. “I talked to her at the 8th grade play, went home and thought damn I like her, and I asked her out eventually, as claimed by an 8th grade student, when asked about how he got together with his current girlfriend. Students in MVM date for months, years, days and sometimes even hours. A student who is currently dating another student, says she’s been dating her partner for “Ten and half months, a year on April 2nd”. Several students have dated for a few weeks. “I dated her for a week and then she broke up with me” as told by an 8th grade student. ‘What do you do on dates when you ‘date’?’ was one of the questions asked to 8th grade students at Monument Valley Middle School. The majority of students asked this question say they have gone to movies with people they dated. A person, remaining anonymous, said when they dated it “was nothing new, really, besides being friends, but we danced together, and went to movies.” Others vary their dates. “Typically we’d go over to each other’s houses sometimes, we’d go on walks… we went on dates to pizza and other places like that usually,” was claimed by an 8th grader in MVM, when asked about his dates with one of his former girlfriends. Another young person said “I didn’t really hang out with him that much, we went to movies a few times, we didn’t really do much, we talked and texted and facetimed.” when she was asked about one of the people she previously dated. What people feel about each other changes to the person. Various students who believe that they’re capable of love claim to love their partner such as a certain male in a relationship, who stated “I’d say I love her, I’m not saying it generally as something stupid, I actually really care about her and what she does,” about how he feels about his girlfriend. A few students who believe that they’re not in such emotion as love, like a different student, who claimed “It’s hard to say that you love someone, because we’re still so young and I just believe that I don’t know what love is, but I consider him my best friend,” when she was asked to describe her feelings for her current boyfriend. A small amount of students don’t even think a few of the ‘relationships’ they’ve had were actually considered dating such as a handful of students interviewed. “I sort of went out with a girl at the time of Semi last year, but I kind of didn’t, and kind of did, it was confusing.” was stated by one of those people. Last week a series of teams participated in the Dodgeball Tournament. Here are some pictures from the exciting days! We'll post more as we get them.
The 7th Grade Hallway has a new bulletin board! They have pitched the idea of the 7th grade students bringing pictures of their pets! So far there is a decent amount of pets up there, but we need more! Here are some pictures of the pets.
by Abby Z We asked Sr. Heath about the upcoming Spain Trip for a few select eighth graders. He told us they are going on June 10th to the 25th, last week of school on a Friday. The kids go to to a language school in Salamanca, Spain for 2 weeks. Every morning from 9 am to 1 pm, they have two different Spanish classes. Live with host families, and after Spanish class, they have lunch with their host families, and in the afternoons, they will be visiting different places, like the University of Salamanca.
17 eighth graders and 2 adults, including Mrs. Gillis will have the opportunity to go on this fabulous trip. They get to meet different people, and see different attractions. They will go to dance lessons, and cooking classes, and they will visit different Spanish museums, and get an up close and personal time with the culture of Spain. They have raised a couple $1000 dollars for the trip so far. On the weekends they will go to different cities, including Segovia, where they will see a 2000 year old Roman aqueduct. They will also go to a fighting bull ranch, and get to see a cepea, which is a fighting bull calf, and the kids that are going can get into the ring with the calf and try to dodge it, just like the professionals in the real ring. This is an amazing opportunity to improve their Spanish skills and learn about the culture of the Spanish, and to spread out their interests in life and have a better understanding on the world. Hope the kids that are going have fun! (Thanks to Sr. Heath for the information!) Abby :) Dodgeball: A fun time for all and helping to offset the costs of the Spain trip. More pictures to come! Thanks to Sr. Heath and his students for organizing this for everyone.
Congratulations to Mackenzie Leach who won the InvestWrite Essay Contest. Her essay won 1st place in Massachusetts and 8th in the United States! She wrote about why Tesla Motors is a good company to invest in. She also carries on the family winning streak, since her brother Keegan won two years ago. Here is Macknezie's essay:
Tesla Motors Tesla Motors Incorporated is a very high end car manufacturing company (ticker symbol: TSLA). Cars made by Tesla are only electrically powered. This is great for the United States as a whole. For example, having electric powered cars is great for the environment and economy. Electrically powered cars decrease the amount of pollution in the United States and this protects animals and our environment. For people that invest in Tesla, as the stock price goes up, it increases their chance to retire earlier. For people that work for Tesla, when Tesla does well, they are able to keep a steady income, which is good for their family and community. It is clear that Tesla is helpful for our economy. Tesla cars are made in the United States (Fremont, California), and this increases job opportunities for Americans. Although you may not live in or near California it can still help you out, because if California does well the rest of the U.S. does well. This is because if Californian’s do well, they buy products in other parts of the U.S. Tesla cars are also very safe; they have the highest safety rating in America. They have performed very well in numerous crash tests. This can help our society by keeping drivers and their families safe. One reason Tesla Motors is so successful is because they have an exceptional leader. His name is Elon Musk. Some people say he is brilliant or a genius. After I bought this stock, I learned a lot more about this company and its leader Elon Musk. This made me feel secure about holding this stock in my portfolio. The real reason why I bought Tesla is because I thought it was a great foundation stock for my portfolio. Tesla is a pretty consistent stock and grows a lot. Although Tesla is expensive, I do not mind because the outlook is so strong. One reason the outlook is so strong is because they have great reviews. Another reason the outlook is so strong is because they have lots of new products coming out, such as a new car. Sales have grown tremendously for Tesla in the course of the last few years. In 2012 they were not even in the millions, in 2013 they were around two million. In the last year they were at 3,198,356, and are expected to grow even more throughout this year. Tesla is a high performing stock. Over the course of the last three years it has had some ups and downs. Tesla was selling at a low point of $37.23 a share on March 25, 2012. On July 20, 2015, Tesla hit an all-time high of $282.26. The low point this year was $185.00 on March 27, 2015. That is approximately 757.95% higher than its low in 2012. The 2015 high of $282.26 is approximately 52.6% higher than the 2015 low. Tesla is very good for investors that have held the stock in their portfolio over the past three years. Overall Tesla would be a great stock to invest in long term. It has very high growth opportunities, and since the cars are electrically powered it is great for the environment. Another reason Tesla Motors would be a great stock to invest in is because the leadership is exceptional. Elon Musk has great ideas that lead to great products, which eventually turn into a great investment. From Greta Luf, Student Council President:
Next Thursday, March 24th, from 6:30-8:30 pm, is the Night Under the Stars dance. One-half of the proceeds from the dance will go to local charities. The dance is for 6th-8th graders, and it has a $5.00 admission price. On April 1st, a movie night is planned for grades 5 and 6, in Mr. Naventi's and Ms. Cormier's room. The movie choice is Mr. Peabody and Sherman! Movie time is 2:45-5:45pm. On the horizon for future events is a fundraiser of some kind, either for the Airforce or Pennies for Patients. On June 14th, 2016, the seventh grade will be taking a trip to the Boston Museum of Science for the day. The trip will involve a opportunity to visit the Museum of Science exhibit Hall, two presentations in the Omni Theater and the Planetarium, and will conclude with a tour of Boston on the Duck Boats. The total cost of this trip is $100.00 dollars, so 7th graders, get your money in! Itinerary for the Boston Trip (copied from the permission slip) 6:30am- Arrive at MVRMS 7:00am- Bus leaves MVRMS 10:00am- Arrive at Boston Museum of Science 10:30am-11:30am- Charles Hayden Planetarium Presentation 11:30am-12:00pm- Bagged Lunch at the Museum 12:00pm-1:00pm: Exhibit Hall Tours 1:00pm-2:00pm- Omni Theater Presentation 2:00pm-2:30pm- Prepare for Duck Tour 2:30pm-3:40pm: Duck Tour 3:40pm-4:00pm- Load Busses for return trip 4:00pm- Leave Boston 5:00pm-5:45pm- Stop at Charlton Plaza for dinner 7:45pm- Arrive back at MVRMS The 7th grade team is very excited for this trip, and hopes for everybody to go, so make sure to get the money in for this fun day! By Abby Zeik Sponsored by the Spain Trip, and Senor Heath, a dodgeball tournament is being held. For the seventh and eighth graders, it will take place on the 17th of March. For the sixth and fifth graders, it is being held on the 16th of March. There needs to be a team of 5 players, with mixed genders, (boys and girls), for fairness.
Cheetah
The running, sprinting, patterned cat The dotted, sneaky, queen On a rock, in a tree, the growling creature can’t be seen Nature It’s a rock sitting quietly It’s a leaf falling down It’s the grass in the wind, br the silent pond It’s the stream near the wood It’s a howl in the air It’s the trees standing still, in the sweet morning song It’s a flower swaying in the breeze It’s the sun giving us warmth It’s the sounds of nature calling us in It’s the sound of nature coming us in The sound of nature coming us in Calling us in |
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