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7th Grader students Make Clay Mugs in Art Class

11/17/2015

 
​Story by Eads Fouche

In Mrs. Michelle Proffitt’s ceramics class, students have been learning how to create mugs. In the process, they learned techniques like slab construction and how to use a paper template to create pieces of a mug. The mugs took three classes to construct.
           
In the process of making the mug, there were multiple steps. At the start, students created a template to cut the slabs of clay. Proffitt said the hardest part was “rolling out the big slabs for the side of the mug.”
           
The second step was to create the sides of the mug and put it on the base. Most of the shapes were simple cylinders, but according to Aidan Simoneau, seventh grade, one student made a mug with a curved lip and another made a mug with a wide bottom, skinny middle, and a wide top like a vase.

Simoneau envisioned his mug to be big and thick so he could drink out of it, but it turned out to be small and thin.

Jagger Albert, seventh grade, a student from first quarter ceramics, made his mug based on a football theme and the handle looked like laces.
           
The next step is to create the handle. The handle must be thick and secured well to the side so that it does not fall off in the kiln.  Simoneau wanted his handle to look like the McDonalds “M.”

After finishing the handle, the mug gets fired in the kiln, and after that, the next step is to glaze.
          
The glaze is the layer over the clay that gives it its color. Albert chose yellow and black. Once he got the glaze, he shook it for five minutes. This gets the glaze ready to be spread on the mug. To get a good overall color, Albert suggested “double check the glaze for a good thickness.”

Albert glazed his football-themed mug yellow and black, while Simoneau glazed his mug orange because he likes the Florida Gators.                                                                                                                                        
The final step is to put the mugs in the kiln to harden the glaze. They then are fired and given back to the students.
​
“I really liked this project and would do it again,” Albert said.

Science, technology, engineering and math all in the tech ed classroom

11/14/2015

 

sixth Graders jump head first into Invasive Species project for science class

11/14/2015

 
Story by Sami Magee

As the second quarter of this school year began, sixth graders prepared for one of the most exciting science projects of the year: The Invasive Species group project and presentation.

This month-long project began with the groups -- finding group members and choosing species

“My group is so much fun to work with,” Daniel Tanner, sixth grade, said.
Tanner was excited to start this project, and has loved every step so far.

He studied the Feral Pig, which is also referred to as a wild hog, which are from Spain originally. “The Feral Pig is really cool. It has a large population, making it very hard to destroy,” he said.

The project must include a form of presentation. The most common, a PowerPoint, is what Tanner and his group has chosen to work on. Another necessity for a good presentation is a brochure, or something to give away to their audience.

“The Powerpoint must include important information like its habitat, food source and how to stop them [from overpopulating more than before],” Tanner said.
Once Tanner’s group was finished with their work, they were excited to present.

Kathleen Lemme, sixth grade, is also excited to present her final project.

“Right now we are doing research on our species, but I’m really excited to present,” she said. Lemme studied The Brown Headed Cowbird. They have been working on this for roughly two weeks.

​Mr. Ellington, sixth grade science teacher, is excited for his students to participate in this group project.

“This is the second year doing this,” he said. “The students really seem to enjoy working together and choosing the presentation [they want to work on with their group].”

Ellington believes it’s easy to get a good grade on this project, if you do it right. “Knowing your information and being able to present well will get you the grade you want,” he said.

“I’m very excited for this project, it has been a really fun experience so far, and I’m excited to see how it turns out,” Tanner said.

seventh graders race into track unit in wellness

11/14/2015

 
Story by Leila Antony

Feet thump and hearts race as out-of-breath students rush past the finish line, trying to beat their classmates.


In the track unit for gym, there are a total of eight events.

“The events are 200 meter dash, 100 meter dash, 400 meter dash, 800 meter dash, 1600 meter dash, shot put and the long jump,” Emily Weed, seventh grade, said.

The track unit in gym is preparing some students for track season, which takes place from March to May.

“The gym track unit makes me want to do school track because I like to compete with my classmates,” Caroline Shepherd, seventh grade, said.
    
Some students like seventh grader Alaina O’Rear love to run track. She said she really likes the competition and having fun while she’s getting her own exercise.


There are different types of track runners, some like the shorter distances, while others enjoy the longer distances.

“I like the 200m race because I am a sprinter. I am not as good as long distance,” Shepherd said. On the other hand, O’Rear said she is more of a long distance runner than a sprinter.

O’Rear also ran track for clay last year. She ran a variety of events like the four by eight relay, the mile, and the 400m. She said that track for gym was a warm up to get back into running track.
    
​
“I enjoy sprinting in track because it is fun and I like to race my classmates,” Weed said.


Seventh graders decided if there can be peace between Palestine and Israel

11/14/2015

 
Story by Alan Bettner

Can the seventh graders make peace between the two countries?

Well that’s what Mr. Ryan Snyder, seventh grade social studies teacher, wanted to see, putting his seventh graders to the test.

The argument between the two countries has been going on for decades, and a lot of people want this argument to stop and the two countries to make peace – including Evan Neukam and Nicholas Edwards.

“Mr. Snyder split the class between yes and no,” Neukam said. Edwards wanted to be on the ‘yes’ side because he said “Down the road, I think they will make peace”.

​Snyder said, “I wanted to show my students how hard it is to settle agreements in the Middle East, and what their take is on the conflict.”

He wanted to get the students more interested in the topi, and it looked like it worked.

“I’m glad that Mr. Snyder brought me into this topic and I was very interested to see if we could solve this conflict,” Edwards said. “I think it is important to learn more about the Middle East then we already know.”
 ​

students mold clay in ceramics

11/14/2015

 

Students work in mixed media & drawing and painting

11/14/2015

 

Students work with tint, hues and houses in drawing & painting

11/14/2015

 
Story by Isabella Fallahi

​From castles, to beachside getaways, to modern day houses, all the way to the Taj Mahal. These are some of the various types of architectures being painted by seventh graders taking drawing and painting.


In order to paint these houses to absolute perfection, students can’t just pick up a brush and start painting, they need to follow specific instructions given to them by Mrs. Gwen Daddario, a Clay art teacher.  

Even though there are instructions, students still express themselves through the colors, types of architecture, tints and shades they choose.

“We take her instructions and combine it with our creativity, and with that we go further,” Lilly Branks, seventh grade, said. Branks sketched and painted a victorian styled house.

Before all the students began painting, they went through a process. First, the students studied different types of architecture and house styles. Next, they looked at previous students artwork, as well as learning how to use a “T” square to draw. Then, they learned about proportions and size relations. After that they sketched their house, and then drew the final copy.

“The reason why we do this project is because students need to learn the color theory. And the color theory is how to make and use tints and shades, as well as how to be monochromatic,” D’Addario said. “It teaches them about proportions, and this project also uses math skills.”   

Students say that in order to get your picture framed there are certain things you need to keep an eye out.

Seventh grader Aidan Brown said, “I think the most important thing to getting your picture up on the wall is craftsmanship, as well as focusing on your lines.”

Brown painted the orange Taj Mahal that is currently hanging up just outside the art rooms. Seventh grader Shannon Xie said, “It is important to have fun, but in order to get your picture framed, you need to keep in mind craftsmanship and painting something unique.”


Seventh grade students study layers of the Earth

11/6/2015

 
Picture
Story by Aidan Brown

The students in Mr. Sean McVey’s class got a sweet treat this week when they got into studying the Layers of the Earth.

The Layers of the Earth is the second science chapter of the year for McVey’s class.

Students enjoy this subject because they get to understand the layers of the earth “through the model of candy,” McVey, seventh grade science teacher, explained.​

“I think that students should know about the layers of the earth because we have never been passed the crust (surface) of the earth,” McVey said.
Braden Smoker, a student from McVey’s science class, said that he believed knowing what was down below the Earth’s surface was a big part of our lives because we lived on the earth. He explained that it was our job to know.

The Earth is broken down into four sections, the crust (surface), the mantle, the outer core, which is melted metal, and the inner core, where pressure is so great that it’s a dense chunk of solid metal which still hasn’t cooled down since the Earth’s beginning.

To understand the layers better, McVey handed out pieces of Pretzel M&M’s to his students. Each student took the candy and bit straight into the pretzel, making the Pretzel M&M a tasty model of
Earth’s Layers, with the pretzel as the Core, the chocolate as the Mantle, and the hard outside as the Crust.

The Layers of the Earth included learning about tectonic plates, convection currents, and how volcanoes were created.

Smoker said that he liked learning about the layers of the Earth because it was interesting to learn about something he had no experience with.
​
“I think that learning about the Layers of the Earth is important to everyone, not just students, because we live on Earth,” McVey said, “It’s our home.”


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    All stories, photos and video footage by the seventh and eighth grade newspaper students. 

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Clay Middle School
5150 E. 126th St.
Carmel, IN 46033


Todd Crosby, Principal
Mark Smith, Assistant Principal
​Brooke Cole, Assistant Principal
John Corcoran, Jr., Activities Director
Michael Beresford, Superintendent
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