Middle school dance is Friday

By ELAINA WARREN
Room 210 Staff Writer

The Joplin middle school eighth grade Christmas dance will be held on Friday, Dec. 12, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Admission to the dance will be a small amount of $3. The theme of the dance is “black light” and South Middle School Student Council leader Mr. Rocky Biggers recommends wearing “either really bright clothing so that you glow, really dark clothing so that no one will be able to see you, or a mix of dark and light so that people can see the glowing part of you but they can’t see the part that doesn’t glow.” He said that what he would he would wear is “all black clothing with white tennis shoes and white gloves.”

Principals, student council leaders, police officers, and some parents from all three middle schools will be at the dance to “keep track of everything.”
Food and beverage items such as punch, soda, and cookies will be available. Polaroid will also be at the dance taking group photos, couple photos, and individual photos, as well.
The Memorial Middle School Student Council has decided to take a count of everyone who attends the dance and then take the count times three and give the right amount of money to the right school. Mr. Biggers thought that this was a perfect example of “no taxation without representation.”
Most of the money that the Joplin middle schools make from the dance between concessions and admission will be used to pay for dance expenses. These expenses include food, beverages, decorations, and the police officers. After the expenses have been paid, the middle school student councils will know exactly how much money they have left and then they can make their choices on what to do with it.

Seventh grade basketball team selected

By ELISABETH HEIMBERG
Room 210 Sports Writer

The South Middle School seventh grade basketball team was chosen following two days of tryouts last week.

Team members are: Charlie Brown, Quantal Brown, Keantavious Burns, Khaled Graham, Lane Grimes, Chase Hall, Tyson Hardee, Wesley Hooks, Colton Johnson, Dillon McVay, Preston Miller, Jesse Sammet, Eli Taylor, Michael VannSlyke, and Trevor Walker.

Twilight falls on SMS

By CARSON JONES
and MADISON BRIGGS
Room 210 Staff Writers
Recently, all you hear about at South Middle School is Twilight, Twilight, Twilight! Everyone has read the book, seen the movie, or at least heard the books and movie are amazing.
All the girls are in love with either Edward Cullen or Jacob Black, to popular characters in this story. One seventh grader referred to Edward as “spicy”. Fans of the movie and books agreed that all the characters looked just like they pictured them in the books.
Students at South who have not seen the movie are very excited to see it. It is definitely the talk of the school. Thanks to the great movie and non-stop talk about Twilight, you can see the books being read everywhere. “The Twilight books are always out. I have a ‘reserved list’ going all the way to February!” says Mrs. Turner, the school’s librarian.
Everybody’s favorite scenes from the movie are the baseball scene, where Edward takes Bella to his family’s baseball game out by the woods, and the fight scene, where Bella and James meet and Edward has to save Bella and kill James. Also, Twilight fans’ favorite character is Edward followed by Jacob, of course!
So Twilight has been a huge hit! Fans can’t wait until December 2009 for the sequel New Moon. Hopefully that will be just as good as the first one!

Biggers takes lead in Penny Wars

By CHELSEA HARRIS
Room 210 Staff Writer

As the Penny Wars continue at South Middle School, Mr. Rocky Biggers has taken the lead with $ 37.98, Mrs. Barbara Rooker is second with $ 28.26 and Mrs. Jamie Washburn is last with $ 25.43.

The rules have been changed this year, however. Now all the money you place in a jar is counted as a vote. This upsets a lot of students who have placed a lot of silver and paper money in the jars of people they don’t want to see dressed up as an elf. Hurry everyone put money in for the one you want! The last day is Dec. 18th at 3 p.m.

You may be wondering where the money is going. On the last day of school before Christmas Break, Student Council takes the money to go buy toys for kids. Then, they hand the toys over to the Fire Department. Student Council has no idea who gets the toys.

Boy`s Basketball Tryouts

On December 4th and 5th, South will hold 7th and 8th Grade Boys` Basketball Tryouts.
They will be in the Gymnasium at 5:00 p.m. Come out and do your best to join our team and bring home victory! Go Eagles!

Lunch menus for December 9-12

The Lunch Menu for Monday is Mozzarella Cheese Sticks or Pizza Bar,
Tuesday is Nacho Grande or a Burrito,
Wednesday is Baked Potato Bar or a Chili Cheese Dog with Cinnamon Roll.
Thursday is Finger Steaks,
Friday is Nachos or Enchilada Casserole with Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Funeral services set for Stormy Hinklin

(The following information was provided by Parker Mortuary)

Stormy Lynn Hinklin, age 12, Joplin, passed away at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, November 30, 2008 at Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, after a sudden illness.
Stormy was born September 10, 1996 in Joplin to Peggy J. Williams and the late Charles E. Hinklin and had lived in Joplin all of her life.

Stormy was currently a sixth grade student at South Middle School and was a member of the student council. She was on the ‘A’ honor roll and was a four year academic all-star; played viola and was a member of the school orchestra. She was a member of Crossroads Baptist Church in Carthage and was active with the youth bus ministry there.

Stormy is survived by her mother, Peggy Coleman; her dads, Carl Coleman and Gary Garde; seven sisters, Autumn and Mary Moorehead, Joplin, Dixie Moorehead, Neosho, Jennifer Phillips and husband, Shannon, Joplin, Shannan Adams and husband, Chip, Carthage, Karen Hampton and husband, Barney, Ft. Smith, Arkansas, Sherry Stegall and husband, Johnny, Steel, Missouri; one brother, Charles Hinklin, Blytheville, Arkansas; fourteen nieces and nephews; and numerous aunts and uncles.

Stormy was preceded in death by her father, Charles E. Hinklin; and maternal grandparents, Jack and Judy Williams.

Services will be Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at Southside Baptist Church. Rev. Bob Morgan will officiate. Interment will follow at Fairview Cemetery. Pallbearers will be John Jett, Marshal Daniels, Joe Groce, Lonnie Michael, Justin Williams, and Mike Massengill. The family will receive friends from 7-8:00 p.m. Friday at Parker Mortuary.

More photos from Nov. 15 benefit

(From top: first two pictures, Mr. Rocky Biggers, eighth grade history teacher, sings with his group, the Victorymen; Storm Whittington and Lynn Shepherd; Haley Bowers and Hannah Cady; Mr. Randy Turner, eighth grade communication arts teacher, sings with his group, Natural Disaster; Mrs. Clara Ervin, resource teacher; Ms. Lara Stamper, sixth grade science and drama teacher. Room 210 photos by Raycee Thompson)

Dealing with the death of a student

(The following article is reprinted from eighth grade communication arts teacher Mr. Randy Turner's blog, The Turner Report. Stormy Hinklin, 12, a sixth grader at South Middle School died Saturday.)

Nothing is more difficult for a school than dealing with the death of a student.

It was a story I had to cover numerous times during my days at The Carthage Press. Many times it was the result of automobile accidents, some involving drunk driving.

I have only had one time during my 10 years as a teacher when someone who was a student of mine died during the school year. Sixth grader Kelsey Anderson was no longer in my writing class at Diamond Middle School when she died in a trailer fire, but that did not make things any less difficult. Especially considering that school officials did not think it was necessary to call in extra counselors or to prepare students and staff.

Despite the fact that Kelsey was no longer enrolled in my class when she died, I kept thinking of how she rarely spoke in class, and I knew I had not done enough during the nine weeks she had in my class to make an effort to get to know her.

One of the misconceptions about the death of a student is that it will only affect those who knew the student well, those who were his or her friends.

That is not the case.

It is a shattering reminder to students that not even their youth is a guarantee that they will be here tomorrow. For some, it is their first time dealing with death.

Students and staff at South Middle School, where I teach eighth grade communication arts, return from the holiday weekend today to face a sad task. Though staff have been informed, many students are not aware that sixth grader Stormy Hinklin, a Student Council member, is no longer with us.

We knew before the break that despite her youth, she suffered an apparent heart attack several days ago and was in critical condition at a local hospital. Students were working on cards for Stormy before we left for Thanksgiving...cards that she will never see.

My heart goes out to Stormy's family. I cannot even imagine having to go through the death of one so young, one who had been so full of life, and had so much to contribute.

I also feel for her teachers and for the sixth graders and Student Council members who will deal with her death today and for quite a while to come. We have a staff meeting scheduled for 7:30 this morning, and counselors will be available for students and staff members who need them.

And even though my eighth graders, for the most part, did not know Stormy, judging from my experience at Diamond when Kelsey Anderson died, I know it is not going to be easy for them.

I never had the privilege of meeting or talking with Stormy Hinklin, and that is my loss.

Her death, a loss for South Middle School and for those who knew her, is a reminder that we need to appreciate life and take advantage of every moment we have on this earth.

(Information on Stormy Hinklin's funeral services and more about her life will be featured later on Room 210 News.)