Yearbook Field Trip

On Tuesday, October 25th, the Yearbook class attended a field trip at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee hosted by Josten's Yearbook Company. Students participated in various workshops including Yearbook Basics, Design Trends, Photography and Photo Selection, and much more. More than 12 different schools from Wisconsin also participated in the workshop. Overall students learned many new skills and generated great ideas to incorporate into our school's yearbook. (posted by Ms. Gruepink)

Go Orange: UNITY DAY!

On Wednesday, October 19th, students and staff joined other communities and schools in the nation to celebrate Unity Day. Students and staff wore orange, recognized each other for random acts of kindness, and united together with friends for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. It was a day that we all came together against bullying, and showed that Asa continues to be a safe and supportive school environment.
(posted by Ms. Bartoszewski)

Preparing for Competition

Asa Clark Middle School decided to transition from the FIRST LEGO League to the VEX Robotics Competition this year. This transition provides our middle school students an opportunity to apply STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) principles to a more rigorous competition that mirrors working in a related industry. Robotics has thirty students all progressing through the VEX Robotics Competition. Students are applying gear ratios, mechanisms, and stability through their builds. They are then using a C-based programming language to both autonomously drive their robot and maneuver their chassis through user-controlled tasks. Ultimately, all four teams are preparing for their first competition on November 12 at Xavier Middle School in Appleton. Advisors for Robotics Club are Scott Roehl and Ron Johnson. (posted by Ms. KBD)

"I decided to join robotics because I want to be an Engineer, and I like that we have the opportunity 
to practice and learn these skills in the Robotics Club." - Evan R. 

An essay about tolerance, as a country, and as a school

by Valerie W.

Everyone gets that feeling of butterflies flapping in their stomach, palms sometimes start sweating buckets, you start shaking and that one thing is all you can think about. It can happen to anyone, not just in a sports game. It can be waiting for a test result, finding out what part you get in a play, or going to present something in front of your class. When you win or get the grade, or part you wanted, you just want to celebrate. Celebrate with your friends, teammates, or new cast. A whole layer of stress just lifts off your shoulders. No matter who you are around when something amazing happens, you are ecstatic. Even if you show it to someone that you aren’t that great of friends with, it still is exciting. Leroy Butler explains this in his piece that he wrote. It is all about how sports can bring us together. “You and anyone around you might be all but blood enemies. Yet here at the game, you’re all in it together. You’re on the same team.” Throughout the whole piece, he talks about how sports can bring people together and teach them things about life as well. I feel like Leroy Butler is trying to show teens around the world that we need to stop focusing on why we don’t like some people and more about putting ourselves in each other's shoes.

Our world has changed so much with people judging others about more and more things that shouldn’t matter. For us teens, we don’t like some people because they did something that was totally rude in 3rd grade, or possibly spread some secret rumor about you in 5th grade, or maybe that person just isn’t in your group of friends. Why can’t we just go back to how it was in kindergarten: be friends with everyone, have a kind heart, and just be curious about everything? As we get older almost every teenager either gossips or just makes fun of one another. Leroy Butler stated that  “We’re all God’s kids, and I think He wants us to play nicely together on this playground called Earth, and not hurt one another.” We need to take this into consideration and live everyday as if we were young.

 I have talked to so many different people from different schools and almost every one of them said that there is a ‘popular’ group of kids that just seem like they have no heart. I am not saying that teens need to be best friends with everyone 24/7, just that they should remember that they are humans too and have feelings. Another thing mentioned in that piece of writing was how in a football game, people cheer together and laugh together for about 3-4 hours. None of that gossiping and talking behind people’s backs matters anymore, because we are all in the game together. With just this little bit of time in your week, this time should show how you should act at school, at practice, and at home.  Wherever you are, just don't forget about the time that you can share together.
As you can see, even just a small getaway like a sports game, or a trip to the past could change how you see things. We shouldn’t dwell on the past because today is in the present. Each year that I have gone to school, there seems to be more and more drama. I understand that some believe this is just how life goes, but why can’t all teenagers learn that it isn’t right. Life goes on, and I know that gossiping will never go away completely because it is something natural that some people do. However, people need to understand what it feels like to get talked about behind their back; it hurts. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is something very difficult, but it will help limit the amount of mean things that are said at school. (submitted by Mrs. Whelan)

Cross Country Team - Catch 'em if you can!

This year our cross country teams are being coached by Abby Bartz, Christina Callies, and Cathy Walz. You still have one opportunity to watch these young athletes challenge themselves to achieve their personal best time. Their last meet is the Waukesha Invite (Minooka Park)  - Wednesday, October 12 at 4:25 p.m. Go Pirates! (posted by Ms. KBD)

"Just Breathe" by Izzy Y.

Authors Note:  This short poem is my story about running cross country at Grant Park, where lake Michigan is right beside the course in the cool woods. This is one of my favorite courses, because it is so picturesque and the lake’s spray keeps you refreshed.

Left, right, left, right
My feet fall softly in front of each other
In, out, in, out
I breathe deeply through my nose

Leaves drift around me
As dirt loosens under my tired feet
In the distance I can hear waves
And Lake Michigan’s wind sweeps up it’s spray onto my face

Nature outlines my path
But it is beginning to blur as I grow weary
Mostly green with hints of red and yellow
Is the bleary picture that I see

I beg to stop, but I won’t
Controlled stubbornness is the only thing that drives me forward
Aside from my aching feet
I must keep on moving

I see a girl ahead
Our athletic shirts matchup
I pick up the pace
And she does too, pitter pat pitter pat

It’s me, I exhale
And she begins to slow down
Together we run through the trees
As we here cheers ringing in the outskirts of the woods

I continue running
And I see a mass of people ahead of me
I go a little faster now
The terrain is beginning level and only about 100 meters in front of me is the finish line

Faster and faster I run
Rapidly picking up speed as I zoom past the crowds
Closer and closer the finish comes
And I fly to the end and with nothing left...

I breathe
Just breathe.

(posted by Mrs. Whelan)