Eighth graders completing civil rights research project

Eighth graders in Mr. Randy Turner's communication arts class will complete the third quarter civil rights research project next Tuesday, when the final draft of their paper is due.

The students are required to write a 1,000 word research paper on some aspect of the civil rights movement, make an oral presentation, and a multi-media presentation.

Two students in the fourth hour class, Taryn Parker and Adison Wright conducted a telephone interview with Rita Schwerner, widow of Michael Schwerner, one of three civil rights workers murdered in MIssissippi in the summer of 1964.

The interview and many of the research papers will be posted on the Room 210 Civil Rights website, a site established for the project.

(Photos by Stesha Hiebert and Kiefer Fortuck- Top, Adison Wright and Taryn Parker interview Rita Schwerner Bender, Taryn's Mississippi Murders poster, Cayley Hardison and Sabrina Randles put up civil rights posters in Mr. Turner's room, Mackenzie Shamblin plays while Cayley does the work.)

East Middle School sweeps Elks Lodge Essay Contest

East Middle School took first, second, and third place honors in the seventh and eighth grade division of the annual Elks Lodge Essay Contest.

This year's topic was "The American Dream: What is It?"

Eighth grader Taylor Caldwell took first place, seventh grader Mitch Woods; and the third place winner was Laela Zaidi.

Laela Zaidi, Celeste Graves named EMS Journalism Club co-editors

Intelligence, energy, positive attitude and a strong work ethic.

The description fits eighth graders Celeste Graves and Laela Zaidi, the new co-editors of the East Middle School Journalism Club.

"These two young ladies' energy and enthusiasm has helped us take the Journalism Club in some new and exciting directions," Mr. Randy Turner, co-sponsor of the club, along with Mrs. Angel Mense, said.

Those directions, Mr. Turner said, include putting the Journalism Club on Facebook and Twitter, adding a YouTube channel, and live-blogging of school activities on this blog.

"The Journalism Club is in good hands with Laela and Celeste," Mr. Turner said. The two eighth graders have not had to carry the work alone. We have a solid group of eighth graders," Mr. Turner said, "and the best group of seventh graders we have ever had.

"This a great group. I can't wait to see what ideas they come up with the rest of the year."

East wins 49-18 in home finale

East Middle School eighth graders closed out the home portion of their schedule in style tonight, defeating Neosho 49-18.
The outcome of the game was never in doubt after Eli Taylor nailed two three-pointers and Quantal Brown nailed another one in the opening period, which ended with East leading 12-4.

The home team built its lead to 24-7 at halftime and 38-11 after three quarters.

Chase Hall and Dillon McVey shared scoring honors with 12 points apiece, doing their damage in completely different ways. Hall scored all of his points form under the boarda and at the free throw line, while McVay found the range for four three-pointers.

Scoring- Hall 12, McVay 12, Charlie Brown 9, Taylor 7, Q. Brown 6, Wesley Hooks 3.

Downtown Dillon, acrobatic Quantel helped build East lead

It was enough to give Neosho's coach a permanent case of heartburn.

Qunntal Brown picked a Wildcat's pocket, scooted around two defenders and tossed in an underhand shot facing away from the basket, bringing about an immediate timeout from the visitors.

Joplin East led 24-7 at halftime and after Neosho scored the first basket, two Dillon McVay three-pointers and Brown's acrobatic shot enabled East to go on a 14-2 run and lead 38-11 after three quarters.

Action from eighth grade A game

Joplin East leads 24-7 at halftime

Joplin 8th leads Neosho 24-7 in the final home game.

Eli Taylor and Chase Hall each have seven points, with Taylor ripping the nets from downtown and Hall working the boards. Dillon McVay and Qunatal Brown each nailed a three-pointer and Charlie Brown added four points.

In the B game, Terrell Gilmore was on fire, scoring 18 points as East won 31-22. Also scoring were Malachai Poling with 11, and Oswaldo Gomez and Jonthan Ponce had one apiece.

East builds lead to 21-6 late in second quarter

East Middle School eighth grade appears to be well on its way to winning its final home game, building a 21-6 lead over Neosho late in the second quarter. The Eagles grabbed the early lead and have never looked back.

The score was 12-4 at the end of the first period.

Less than minute remains in the first quarter.

EMS leads 12-4 after first quarter

Thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Eli Taylor and one by Quantal Brown, East Middle School 8th grabbed a 12-4 lead over Neosho after the first quarter in the final home game.

THe quarter ended with Chase Hall sinking one of two free throws.

The B team won the first game 31-22. More information about that coming in a later post.

ems eighth grade

East Middle School- the land of the tall, tall threes.

Eli Taylor hit two long range missiles in a row and Quanal Brown nailed a nothing-but-net shot from the corner has East built an 11-2 lead late in the first quarter and forced Neosho to call a timeout.

8th A takes 5-2 lead

An Eli Taylor three-pointer and a steal and layup by Charlie Brown put the East Middle School eighth grade team up 5-2 with 2:52 left in the first quarter.

Photos from the 8th Grade B game

EMS eighth grade B leads Neosho 18-17

It's another live-blogging night at East Middle School.
The East 8th Grade B team leads Neosho 18-17 early in the third quarter. This is the last home game for East's teams.

Honor roll field trips scheduled

Second Quarter Honor Roll! These lucky ones who got an A and B average are able to go to the second quarter honor roll. This quarter we are going to go to lunch at the mall and then go to Lazer City. Lazer City is sponsoring this trip and has graciously given us a discount of the admission price. The admission price is $3.to play lazer tag plus students will need money to eat lunch at Northpark Mall.
Field trip days are as follows: sixth grade will go on Tuesday, February 9, seventh grade will go on Wednesday, February 10, and the eighth grade will go on Thursday, February 11. We will leave East Middle School at approximately 11:20 and return around 2:15. Make sure you turn your permission slips in.

8th Graders Explore Civil Rights!

By. Laela Zaidi

Emmett Till, a fourteen year old boy, was slaughtered and murdered in 1955, and his complicated case, as claimed by historians, sparked the Civil Rights movement. He was murdered for doing something common, whistling at a girl…or at least that’s what the rumors were.

This famous case in history is just one of the many topics that students in Mr. Randy Turner’s 8th grade communication arts are diligently working on. Every year, Mr. Turner gives his classes the famous “Third Quarter Research Project” that everybody has been dreading about, or at least that’s what they thought. Though the research paper is to be 1,000 words long, students have been reconsidering their original “UGH!” thoughts on the paper.

“It’s really not that hard, and it was actually interesting. Like how the people who killed Emmett Till were boasting over their murder in the Look magazine. I found this as a very interesting fact,” commented Preston Carpenter on his paper.

Celeste Graves has a more emotional side to this paper. “I feel that doing this project has enlightened me in a way that nothing else can, and it has help me connect with my past family.” Celeste Grave’s great-grandma was the counselor at the Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas, when the famous Little Rock Nine were the first black students at the all white school.

So, all in all, students are finding this paper to be more enjoyable then they thought. Coincidentally, the third quarter research project is in February, Black History Month.

Unsats go out Friday

By PRESTON CARPENTER
Staff Writer

Mid-quarter grades will be sent out on Friday. Everybody should receive his or her grades. You can still change them for the final grade so don’t give up.

East 8th defeats South 58-20

East Middle School eighth graders continued their stellar season tonight with a 58-20 win over South.

Charlie Brown led the home team with 25 points, while Quantel Brown added 12. The Eagles scored the 12 of the first 13 points in the game, keyed by Q. Brown's three steals, and led 14-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Strong defense kept the momentum going for the team as it allowed only the first basket of the second period and a two-pointer with one second left to go up 33-8. C. Brown had 15 points in the first half.

East increased its advantage to 48-18 after three quarters, and both teams scored 10 points in the final six minutes.

East- Points- C. Brown 25, Q. Brown 13, Chase Hall 4, Eli Taylor 3, Dillon McVay 3, Malachai Poling 2, Wesley Hooks 2; Rebounds- Q. Brown 5, C. Brown 4, Hall 3; Assists- Q. Brown 5, C. Brown 4, Taylor 2, Hall 1; Steals- Q. Brown 4, Hall 3, C. Brown 3, Taylor 3, Poling 1, McVay 1; Three-Pointers- C. Brown 2, Taylor 1, McVay 1

East leads 48-18 after three quarters

The East Middle School eighth grade A team outscored South 15-10 in the third quarter to take a 48-18 lead going into the final six minutes.

WIth a little help from our crowd

East leads 33-10 at halftime of A game

After South scored the first basket of the second quarter, East has gone on a tear, holding the visitors scoreless for nearly five minutes, while scoring 19 straight points, including three-pointers by Eli Taylor and Charlie Brown. East has a 33-10 halftime lead.

C. Brown has 15 points to lead all scorers.

South scored the first basket of thes eecond period, then did not score again until nailing a putback with one second left.

After that opening basket, East went on a tear, starting with a steal and layup by C. Brown, who scored eight straight points, adding two more baskets and a pair of free throws.

After Quantal Brown scored from inside to improve the margin to 24-8, he picked up the assist on Eli Taylor's nothing-but-net three-pointer. A Taylor steal led to a Q. Brown free throw. The remainder of East's second quarter scoring came on C. Brown's three-pointer and a Chase Hall follow shot.

East 8th builds lead to 22-8

An 8-2 run to start the second quarter has enabled East to build a 22-8 lead over South Middle School in the eighth grade A game.

Charlie Brown, who has 12 of East's 22 points, has scored all eight points, on three baskets and a pair of free throws.

Early lead, but foul trouble for East 8th A

Quantal Brown, Charlie Brown and Chase Hall stole everything that wasn't tied down as the East Middle School eighth grade team jumped to a 14-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Quantal picked up two quick steals, both resulting in layups, and three overall in the first period, Charlie Brown had a steal and four points, while Chase Hall also pilfered an errant South pass.

East also received two-pointers from Hall, Dillon McVay, and Malachai Poling.

Poling was forced into action after Wesley Hooks and Hall both picked up three fouls.

East misses third snow day

East Middle School students had an unexpected three-day vacation last week when the Joplin R-8 School District canceled classes Friday because of snow and ice.

The three days that have been missed due to weather conditions will be added at the end of the year.

Poling paces East B past South

Malachai Poling scored 24 points, including 12 in the first quarter as the East Middle School Eighth Grade B team trounced South 46-29, in a game that ended a few moments ago.

The home team grabbed the early lead and never looked back.

POINTS- Poling 24, Terrell Gilmore 7, Jonathon Ponce 6, Trevor Walker 6, Tyson Hardee 2, Spencer Layne 1, Sam Bellnap 2, Oswaldo Gomez 2, Brian Jones

East 8th B builds lead to 36-23 after three quarters

8th Grade B leads South 28-12 at half

Live blogging again.

The East Middle School eighth grade B team leads South 28-12 at halftime. South scored the first basket of the second half, but East quickly got the points back on a Malachai Poling shot from a Tyson Hardee assist.