Story by: Stephanie Ryder
Here at Ridgetop Middle School we have a special and unique program that recognizes students for their growth. The program is called ERA. Today I will be interviewing the founder of this program, one of our own teachers, D.J. Sweet. Stephanie: What does ERA stand for? D.J. Sweet: It stands for effort raises averages. Stephanie: Why is ERA so important? D.J. Sweet: It's important because it allows kids to get recognized that wouldn’t be recognized in a traditional environment. We have a lot of kids that work hard in the classroom but don’t receive the best grades. Stephanie: How did ERA get started at Ridgetop? D.J. Sweet: It was started 9 years ago when I was at a Tacoma Rainiers game and I was thinking about how boys were falling behind; and I wanted to create a recognition program that appeals to boys. Stephanie: How is ERA encouraging students to improve their grades? D.J. Sweet: It encourages them to improve by recognizing and rewarding the small things, all you need to improve 1 class. It also recognizes 75% of students throughout the school, either by improving their grades or already having good grades. Stephanie: What is one of the greatest ERA success stories? D.J. Sweet: All of the students that are in the hall of fame, we have our ninth one this year. They are all so inspiring. Each student had to overcome a challenge. For some, it was illness; for others it was a family tragedy; for many it was just learning how to overcome the normal struggles of moving into a middle school. The common thread of all of them is that they worked hard. They didn’t let their previous struggles define who they were as a person or as a student. Stephanie: How does ERA connect to baseball? D.J. Sweet: The program uses a baseball theme to connect with classroom performance. Our awards take their names from baseball and all of our rewards are related to America’s pastime. By Kylie Deerwester
SILVERDALE--- Susan Brooks’ English language arts honor students gave presentations about the different types of natural dangers of the world, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and landslides.They had three weeks to complete their projects and last week they gave the presentations. The three different options they could choose from to present where they could make a website, give a speech, or make a video. Instead of taking finals they were able to research their natural danger and make the slide or website and present in front of the whole class. “It actually wasn't my idea” said Mrs.Brooks, “ The idea was Mrs Robinson's and she told it to me when we were talking.” Librarian Jennifer Robinson used to be an eighth grade language arts teacher. One student by the name Stephanie Ryder made an an actual volcano for her presentation. Students also were able to pick a partner for the assignment. Some of the options that they could choose for their natural danger, were volcanoes, landslides, or earthquakes. By Madison May Saunders
Hello Raiders! This is an exclusive interview with Ridgetop’s finest new librarian Mrs. Robinson. This is Q and A with May! M: “Hello Mrs. Robinson, thank you for joining me, would you mind if I asked you some questions about our library?” R: “Sure go ahead.” Q: “What’s new at the library this year?” A: “We have a lot of new books this year.” Q: “Is there a way students can request new books for RMS to buy?” A: “Yes, we have a suggestion box, or they (students) can talk to me.” Q: “What is different about the library this year than last year's library?” A: “I didn’t try to change a lot, I’m new this year with this position so I wanted to learn more about it before I started to change things. But I did move myself completely into the library, so I’m never in the office.” Q: “What made you want to be a librarian?” A: “ Well, I didn’t give it a lot of thought before, until someone told me that I would be a good fit. I really like books and technology so I thought I would give it a try.” Q: “Is there anything you feel RMS should know about their library?” A: “The library is a good place to get stuff done.” You heard it here folks, if you need to get some work done, or if you need a new book you can get into, come to the library! Thanks for reading, this has been Q and A with May! |
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June 2017
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