The Dawg Pound

Pep Club meets every Thursday after school in Mrs. Johnson’s room (portable 4). Pep Club puts on sports banquets and makes team posters, locker decorations, and special “keep sakes” for our student athletes.

Once every couple of months Pep Club is in charge of putting on activities at our Pep Assemblies, such as the student-teacher relays.

Pep Club also is in charge of the Valentines Day Social and Candy Gram sells. Also, Pep club puts on a winter (Christmas) party and an end-of-the-year party for its members. You can see these members in the picture above.

At Huntington Middle School Mrs. Dieter will be offering a new program, “Anger Management”. This group will be helping kids control how they use their anger. Mrs. Dieter will also be offering a group called “Girl’s Circle”. The group will basically cover all the things girls like to talk about. Mr. Emmerich is going to do “Boy’s Council” for whatever guys feel like talking about. Any 6^th, 7^th, or 8^th grader can join.

“The goal of Girl’s Circle is basically for girls to leave Huntington with a strong sense of who they are,” says Mrs. Dieter. The things they will be discussing in group will be different for each grade level. In 6^th grade things will come up like friendships, drama, boys, and self esteem. In 7^th grade Mrs. Dieter will go over drama and boys mostly. Eighth graders will get the chance to talk about boys, peer pressure, and learning how to use your strong voice to make long term life choices.

There will be 2 groups for each grade level that will meet once a week in opportunity period. Even if you are assigned to a teacher you can still go to group. One of the things the girls will be doing is having guest speakers.  Also a couple times the girls will be able to bring their lunch into group and eat in the councilor’s center. The last thing this group will be participating in are making posters and hanging them up around the school.

Boys will also get the same opportunity the girls do; it’s called Boy’s Council. There will be a group for 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders. They’ll also meet one time a week and will last the whole year. But unlike girls, boys will talk about girls, peer pressure, sports, and all sorts of other guy-type stuff.

Anger Management will be taught by both Mr. Emmerich and Mrs. Dieter. The goal is to get kids to understand their anger and what rolls it plays on each other. They plan on doing this by encouraging the belief that it is always okay to get angry. It is just the way you respond to it and act on it that counts. Anyone can join if they sign up in one of the two councilor’s offices. This group is also during opportunity period.

Now you know at Huntington there’s always help. Whether it is for anger problems, girl stuff or guy stuff. Mrs. Dieter says it’s not too late to join either of the groups but you must see one of the councilors. This is a great way to learn about yourself and each other. Also, nothing ever leaves group so you’re safe about what you say staying private. If you’re worried about not joining because you’re a guy and you have Mrs. Dieter for a councilor, it won’t matter you can still go to Boy’s Council with Mr. Emmerich and vise-versa goes for the girls.

When asked if she would want to join Girl’s Circle Nichole R. said, “Yeah probably, because it sounds fun and we get to hang out with our friends and stuff.”

Eian L. said, “I might do Boy’s Council.”

Seventh grader Eriq L. said, “I wouldn’t do anger management because I don’t have anger problems.”

By Adria Stratton

At HMS you will find students shouting “Go Obama!” or “Go McCain!” Students are talking amongst each other for whom they want to be the next president. On Friday, October 31, HMS students had the choice to vote for whom they thought should be the next President of the United States. This was an opportunity to experience the electoral process. The voting was held in the HMS cafeteria. Students would mark a ballot with their choice of whom they wanted for President.              

Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. As of October 2008, he is 47 years old. His first name comes from the word that means, “Blessed by God” in Arabic. John McCain turned 72 on August 29, 2008. If he is elected, McCain will be the oldest newly elected president.             

Barack Obama is a Democrat. A Democrat is a person belonging to one of the two major political parties. According to Wikipedia, “The Democratic party, prior to the election of Franklin Roosevelt in 1930, primarily represented a belief in a centralized and active federal government that had a responsibility to ensure the safety, health and well-being of the public through enacting regulations that were to be enforced uniformly in all the states, rather than rely on the judgment of business to determine what was best for the consumer.”

John McCain is a Republican. Also according to Wikipedia, “A Republican is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers, the Republican Party quickly surpassed the Whig Party as the principal opposition to the Democratic Party. It first came to power in 1860 with the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency and presided over the American and Reconstruction. Today, the party supports a conservative platform (from an American political perspective), with further foundations in supply-side fiscal policies and social conservatism.”                                                                          

Huntington’s history classes made posters about each candidate, with a picture, and slogan. For example: “Vote McCain and stop the pain” or “Mama says vote Obama”. Some classes also did debates. Each class talked about some of the issues: Education, The War in Iraq, Global Warming, Health Care, National Security, Immigration, and the Economy.

After a long week learning about the candidates, HMS students got their chance to vote. ASB officers counted the votes. The final tally was Barack Obama who won with 177 votes. McCain only tallied 68 votes in total.                                                                                                    

Three students were asked who they voted for to be the next president and why.                                                                                                                                                                                           

Sixth grader Abby B. said, ”I didn’t even vote.”                                                                                                                                                                                  

Seventh grader Julie Z. replied, “I voted for Barack Obama because he is not another Bush and he will help bring the soldiers home.”                                                                            

Eighth grader Natalie M. happily said, “I voted for McCain. GOOOO McCain.”

By Rebekah Moreno 

The 7^th and 8^th grade volleyball and football athletes had a special event. This was the Huntington sport banquet held on Wednesday, October 29^th and Thursday, October 30^th in the cafeteria. This was to honor the players by handing out awards, certificates, cake and punch.

Awards are one of the main parts of a banquet. For volleyball the awards were MVP, Most Improved and Most Coachable. For eighth graders Nicole P. won MVP, Kayla S. won Most Improved, and Brianna S. and Ashley S. won Most Coachable. Seventh graders Jenny J. and Cassy L. won Most Improved and Stasi M and Jenny Z. won Most Coachable.

Football teams had MVP and Most Improved. Eighth graders Jake C. and Tyler C. won MVP, and Alex P. won Most Improved. Seventh graders Tyler B. and Chris H. won MVP, and Mack M. won Most Improved. These awards are special for the players and coaches.         

The snacks that were available at this banquet were cake and punch. There were three cakes…two chocolate cakes with strawberry mousse and one vanilla cake with chocolate mousse were set out and ate. The punch was fruit punch.

The Pep Club decorated and put on the banquet. The tables were covered with purple and yellow paper. Streamers were hung off the poles. On the wall were laminated papers with player’s names for athletes to keep as memories.

When asked what was their favorite part of the banquet eighth grader Dylan R. said, “The cake…yum!”

Kailynn R. replied, “I liked the part when they introduced us and talked about us.”

Chelsea H. said, “The cake was good.”

By Amy Anderson

Huntington Middle School students are having a pep assembly October 21^st. The assembly will be held in the gym to show what Huntington school spirit is all about. The pep club puts the event on and has a fun time doing it.

Pep assemblies are to show school spirit and recognize our student athletes. It is meant for students to have a great time.

Pep club is a club that you can have fun doing. It is a fun club that you can still join.

When asked how they liked the pep assembly eighth grader Courtney P. replied, “It was fantastic.”

Sixth grader Adreanna M. said, “It was a cool first pep assembly.”

Eighth grader Celina D. replied, “It was very cool.”

By Ariana Marshall

The sixth graders of Huntington Middle School went to Randle Washington for Cispus on October 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th. This was to bond with nature and learn more about the creatures within it.

Cispus is a campsite with cabins that are used for sixth grade each year for three days. Cispus is a place to learn about nature. It is for exploring the great outdoors.

There are very good reasons why we visit Cispus each year. For instance, students get to experience nature up close and personal. The sixth graders also learn more about wild life like what certain plants and animals look like, where they grow, and about their habitat. Students also learn how to survive in the wild, like using a GPS or compass if they get lost in the woods.

The activities at Cispus loads of fun. The Husky pups got to go on plenty of fun hikes such as Angel Falls and The Night Hike (The Brail Trail). Students also got to stay in cabins with other members of their class and their counselors…boys in one, and girls in the other. Another one of the many things students enjoyed at Cispus was campfire. It happens every night and it’s when everybody gathers under the covered area and sings songs, hang-out with friends, and give out awards to cabins for various reasons.

When asked what their favorite part of Cispus was sixth grade student Gabby C. replied, ”Angel Falls hike.”

Hunter H. responded with,”The Brail Trail.”

Dakota S. said,”The Night Hike.”

By Morgan Wilkins

Project Northland is a project about drugs and alcohol done in eighth grade Physical Education (P.E.) classes. This project tells you what drugs and alcohol does to the body. Also this project is to help kids who are using drugs and alcohol understand the affects and damages they are doing to their body.

Huntington is doing project northland because the government wants to know the population of kids under aged doing drugs and alcohol. Also, if students know the affects then they might not think drugs sound or seem cool. So the main point of this project is to make you so disgusted about drugs and alcohol that people will quit using them.

The process of project northland first has students take a survey about what they think of drugs and alcohol. There are also some questions about their friends and home life, but no names are to be mentioned. This is a safe test from exposing any of your friends and family members. Afterwards students do a series of worksheets and quizzes. Students then get in a group discussing drugs alcohol and chose a leader to lead the group through all the group activities. Over all it’s a really fun and a great way to learn about drugs and alcohol.

Eighth grader Hayden H. says, “It’s a new twist for physical education.”

Ashley K. says, “It’s a good idea because it teaches students to not use drugs.”

By Jamie Simpson

Do you smell that delicious aroma drifting through the hallways of HMS during first period? It’s the eighth grade advanced home economics class. They are cooking they’re first project. Fourth week of school every year is when the ovens fire up. In room 102 is where this amazing challenge takes place. This project is to demonstrate the student’s skill in the kitchen. Students in the advanced class use recipes for their food.

Home economics is a class in room 102 where you cook, learn to sew, and do other family life skills. In this class you can bake cookies, cake, brownies etc. Students also do a project where they have a choice on what to sew.  Ms. M is the teacher of this great class.

The students use receipts and pre-setup stations to cook. After they are done the students have to wash their own dishes and clean up their messes. This class gives students the ability to be an all round person and learn some real-life skills. In this first baking project the student’s can choose what they would like to cook…most chose chocolate cookies.

Ms. M grades the project by senses. The projects are tasted, smelled, and of course seen if they are burnt. Students receive better grades if they have good tasting and smelling food. Students are also graded on following the receipt correctly.

Blake of Ms. M’s first period said, “My favorite part is eating the food.”

Candace said, “I love this class because I love to cook and it’s a lot of fun.”

Adria said, “I love to make food.”

By Zane Hogue

In room 112 there was an experiment of such a magnitude that there was only one person that could supervise such a class. Her name is Mrs. Driscoll. Some of her students say, “She is the best teacher ever.” The experiment that could possibly change agriculture for all of time is to prove if grass will grow upside down! This amazing experiment took place during Mrs. Driscoll’s 4^th period class. Students used a sock to grow the grass in.

The students that are doing this exciting experiment are part of Huntington’s Special Education Program. They are a group of students that learn in a different way than many other students do at HMS, but are usually some of the nicest students at school.

There are many steps in this experiment. First students placed the grass seeds in the sock. Second the students slowly pour the soil until it fills the bottom of the sock. When the sock is all set up, Mrs. Driscoll ties yarn at the end of the sock and hangs it up on a coat hanger.

After about 4 weeks of studying the grass and recording the data. The results were in! Eight out of ten upside down plants grew grass.

Russell W. said, “It was gross.”

Dorothy B. said, “It was fun.”

Dustin D. said, “The socks smelled funny.”

By Zach Ennis