There is something really gratifying in running down a flying disk to score a point for your team. Just ask any of our middle school students who enjoy playing Ultimate during our lunch breaks. Ultimate is a fast paced game that is a hybrid cross of football, Frisbee and handball. One of the really cool [...]
BY SARAH BESSEY, ACS PARENT I didn’t realize how much I had internalized the lie that I should be all things to my tinies until I was unable to do it all. I spent a fair bit of tears as a young mother on the fallacy that I had to be the one who provided [...]
BY CARRIE LOCKWOOD, GRADE 7 TEACHER As if bragging, my Dad claimed that he got the strap 27 times in grade 7. I do wonder what he was doing that was so bad as to warrant such punishment. Fast forward 75 years. I have been supporting Mrs. Barthel in band class. This one particular class [...]
BY TRACY RAHN, ACS PARENT I didn’t expect to start my Saturday morning off by being jolted out of bed at 7:30 am to dive headfirst into a discussion about defusing bombs. But here we are. To be clear, the subject matter at hand was actually how to defuse a situation with our words, but [...]
BY JACQUELINE BUSINK, ACS PARENT I am a mom of 2 middle school kids; my daughter is in grade 6 and my son is in grade 7, putting us right in the thick of middle school. Over their school years, we’ve endured some rather interesting trends! Our kids find joy in all kinds of strange [...]
BY LINDA HOWARD, MIDDLE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT It never ceases to amaze me the mountains of t-shirts, sweaters, jeans, shorts, jackets, lunch kits, water bottles, and myriad other miscellaneous items that end up in the lost and found each and every term of each and every school year! Braving the stink One would think that [...]
BY DAN VERBEEK, GRADE 7 TEACHER Being a teacher has its perks from time to time. We receive many gifts and goodies from students and families at Christmas and the end of the year. We are showered with cookies, baking, candy and gift cards. It is really wonderful…but only temporary and only confined to those [...]
I have always been good at recognizing faces. When we are watching movies, my husband and I spend a lot of time wondering, “What else was she in?” and then looking people up on Wikipedia to figure it out. When I started teaching at ACS, 13 years ago, it was fun for me to go home [...]
I am an admitted “neat freak” and I am okay with that. Regularly, I get razzed for how organized my office is. “You can’t be very busy because your office is always neat and clean.” The truth is, I just cannot work when there is disorganization. By the way, if you ever come into my office [...]
Being in the middle school is an opportunity to see students grow and change almost daily. My favourite memory this school year was sailing with one of the grade 8 classes. I was witness again, to students growing confidence and a willingness to try something new and difficult. Some students climbed higher in the shrouds [...]
