The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Dessa Rodeffer, Quill Publisher/Owner
Mr. Jeff Nichols, West Central Middle School Principal, recognized Austin Pullen and Jessie Pullen who both competed in the double A Sectional track meet last week and qualified for the weekend's state track meet. Austin won the high jump while Jessie took first in the shot, and second in the discus, while competing against larger schools.
They both stood and were congratulated for their feat, then Mr. Nichols continued, "This promotion is not just about athletics, but about the accomplishment of all of these (graduating) students. They have competed in the classroom on state tests, numerous IESA events, and even a dance challenge to kick off our anti-bullying program."
Mr. Nichols reminded the audience that this is the first class to finish all three grades at West Central Middle School.
"Following the consolidation these students came into a different building with many new classmates, teachers and staff."
"This group has shown the ability to turn just about anything into a contest and thrives on competition! I have to say they have made us proud of how they have handled all those competitions."
The eighth graders passed the "Explore" test that measures a students' readiness for high school and their average score surpassed the average scores of students nation wide in every area tested!
"You guys have set standards pretty high for the classes that follow you."
As for high school, Mr. Nichols said, "I have faith in your ability to accomplish some outstanding things."
Student Council Co-Presidents Ali Postle and Gretchen Higgins extended the welcome for the 8th Grade class.
"We have had a fantastic year with our awesome student body and our crazy, but helpful teachers. We would like to give great thanks to every wonderful staff member for everything they have done for us," said Ali.
"The Consolidation was a huge change for all of us but it brought us great friendships, amazing teachers, and more sport opportunities," Gretchen said.
"We are all anxious to go to high school, but will miss the middle school and staff greatly."
Hannah Brueck and Trevor White talked about the interesting years at West Central Middle School. Together they took their class down memory lane using the ABCs.
"A Anti-bullying-this year we started a program that started with a kickoff dance and it was sort of fun.
"B Blank books- a year long project in language arts class where we wrote our own stories.
"C Constitution test - a test that would test our Constitution knowledge.
"D Dissection- during dissection my partner Wesley accidently flipped fish juice in my mouth!
"E Election for student council:we learned popularity didn't always matter.
"F Friendship- we made new friends in our three years here.
"G Going on a transportation trip. We rode a bus to Macomb where we got on a train that took us to Quincy where we were suppose to go on a boat ride but ended up in the mall!
"H High school tour - it turned out to be bigger than I thought.
"I Internet- we have many ways to communicate:bebo, myspace, facebook, zanga, MSN, runescape...
"J Jessie Pullen kickball-state shot and disc 2 years in a row.
"K Kristen Rankin did an amazing job singing the National Anthem along with other chorus members.
"L Learned to annoy teachers
"M Middle school - we finally made it all three years.
"N Note passing
"O Octopus tag in P.E.
"P Pumpkin patch trip
"Q Quizzes, quizzes, quizzes!
"R Respecting in the years we have been here, we've learned how to respect others.
"S Springfield trip in 7th grade.
"T Theater, after the play, the cast went to this awesome theatre!
"U Ultimate Frisbee:P.E.
"V Valentine's Day Dance
"W West Central becomes a Middle School the end of our 6th.
"X X-rays, many sports injuries.
"Y YMCA, we skated about every day for two weeks.
"Z Zillions of laughs and memories of our friends.
Hannah and Trevor ended by thanking teachers for teaching and encouraging them to give their best effort and to coaches for pushing them a little harder and to classmates for being there. "We love you.
"But most importantly, to our parents for taking us to all of our practices, working with us on our school projects, paying for things we don't need, and loving us unconditionally!"
Straight A students were recognized as well as those having perfect attendance.
Receiving Good Citizenship Awards were Allison Lafary and Daniel Moore.
After graduation, the graduates lingered outside with family and friends before departing to celebrate.
Gretchen Higgins, Ali Postle, Co-Student Council Presidents and Hannah Brueck
Trevor White
WC Middle School Good Citizens, Allison Lafary, Danny Moore.