the clay classic - Carmel Clay Schools

issue 5, volume 10
the clay classic
“the road to success travels through clay middle school…”
Carmel Clay Schools affected by winter weather
by Victor Mai
disrupted. The weather has even affected
January and February of this year have been ISTEP+ testing. Originally scheduled for March
some of the snowiest on record. They have also 3 through the seventh, the State Department of
been some of the coldest temperatures Carmel Education decided to delay the ISTEP+ testing
has seen in years, causing Carmel Clay schools for a week’s time in order to give teachers and
to close for a total of 5
students time to
days, with numerous
cover material. The
This winter has been one of the
two-hour delays.
middle schools will
snowiest on records. Photo by
In order to make
take the ISTEP+
David Hansen
these decisions, Dr.
during the week of
N i c k
W a h l ,
March 11.
S u p e r i n t e nd e n t o f
This
weather,
Carmel Clay Schools,
however, has not
has to check with
given Dr. Wahl any
various people to make
reason to question
sure that students can
whether students will
arrive safely to school.
be ready.
The district has to check if the roads are void of
“It’s a team effort between students and
snow and ice and also check the temperature teachers to get through [the material]. I believe
and the wind chill to see if the buses can run.
that students can rise up to that challenge,”
The school days aren’t the only things Wahl said.
Teachers ride stationary bikes in
support of Heart Healthy Day
Teachers participate in
Heart Healthy Day on
Friday, Feb. 14. Stationary
bikes were placed in the
main hall and teachers
signed up to ride for 15 min.
increments. (Left to right)
Mrs. Jackie Dorman, Mrs.
Jen Dotzert, Mr. Travis
Ramsey. (On bottom, left to
right) Mr. Andy Simon and
Mr. Craig Dragash take
time out to ride.
The district has also increased the amount
of time spent at school to 3:20 p.m. for the rest
of the year. This change will start on March 6.
Clay itself has also looked for ways to help
with the lost time. The school recently
implemented an alternative two-hour delay
schedule to help equalize time between different
classes.
“The new [two hour delay schedule] is
definitely better, but it’s still two hours less and
that is just not good,” Mr. Dan Patane, seventh
grade social studies, said.
On an individual class level, teachers have
also attempted to figure out how to cover
material. Patane had to cut out extended studies
and projects to condense the material.
While spring is approaching, Indiana
weather leaves room for more delays and
cancellations. Whatever may occur, this winter
season will remembered as one for the record
books.
Clay Way changes to every
other week, more prizes
By Cole Pergal
The Clay Way has gone under some
construction recently. The PBIS team has
updated the way the wheel works. It won’t
be spun every Friday.
Instead, the Clay Way wheel will be
spun every other Friday, but there will be
differenrt prizes such as snack and ice cream
passes, movie tickets, t-shirts, and gift cards.
“We asked a sample of students during
lunch of what prizes they would like added
to the Clay Way,” Mrs. Erin Naas, guidance
counselor, said. They did this to know
which prizes they should add.
"Biggest changes are more gift cards as
prizes, and the opportunity to place your
ticket in grand prize drawing," assistant
principal Mrs. Lori Harmas said.
All of this is to get you excited about
the Clay Way.
"The grand prize is a pair of Beats
headphones at the end of the year," Harmas
said .
They also are getting teachers to sign
up to announce the spinning of the wheel
during lunch. Teachers that participate are
rewarded by being given the option of a
jeans day or have a task done by an
administrator.
“We make announcements at staff
meetings, and share incentive or rewards
with them,” said Mrs. Jenny Kovach,
humanities teacher and also a member of
the PBIS team.
So get ready to Spin. That. Wheel!
page 2
the clay classic
Miss Dorsey, student teacher, joins Clay, teaches with Mr. Patane
By Ashley Witucki
There is a new face at Clay in the seventh
grade hallway. Her name is Miss Page Dorsey,
and she is student teaching in Mr. Patane’s
seventh grade social studies class.
It’s his first time having a student teacher.
“I enjoy having her here,” Patane said.
Dorsey, a senior at IU, wants to become a
teacher because of her learning experiences. “I
really like social studies, and I really like to
learn,” Dorsey said. “I hoped to get a job to
encourage people to love to learn just like I do.”
She’s not sure where she wants to teach yet,
though.
“I like World History and U.S. History the
best. If I teach high school, I might like to teach
sociology or psychology,” shared Dorsey. “I am
more knowledgeable about high school social
studies subjects, but I like the ages in middle
school better.”
Gracie Nichols, a student in Patane’s second period, said, “I like having her in class
because when Mr. Patane is gone, you can ask
her questions.”
Nichols said that Dorsey is engaging in
class and working hard. She thinks Dorsey will
be a great teacher. “I asked her to help me with
my station work, and she explained it very
well,” she said.
“I had her observe for one day, because of
past experience. Then we moved right into coteaching,” said Patane. “Soon, she will be coming up with the lessons and teaching the class
on her own. She will have the direct hand in the
planning of every unit going forward.”
Currently, Patane’s students are working on
the India unit, and Dorsey is very enthusiastic
and excited about it.
(Left) Miss Shelbi Burnett leads the eighth graders in the lab during science. (Right)
Miss Dorsey helps teach Mr. Patane’s seventh grade class. Photo by Ashley Witucki
Clay welcomes student teacher, Miss Burnett
By Elise Hogarth
On January 13, students
walked into their science classroom and saw a new face. This
new face was Miss Shelbi Burnett,
who is now student teaching sixth
and eighth grade science with Ms.
Gretchen Smiley.
“I want to become a teacher
because they are responsible for
teaching every job out there,”
Burnett, a senior at Butler, said.
She was inspired by her grandmother who was a teacher and
many other great teachers that she
had while she was in school.
“Although I was in classrooms in college, this is more
intense. It’s a lot more responsibility because I have to plan five
classes a day,” Burnett said.
Burnett is now taking over in
teaching the class. She plans lessons, grades papers, and does labs,
“It’s very busy,” she said. Burnett
likes the students because,
"They’re a lot of fun and always
have something to say.”
“Ms. Smiley has been a great
mentor. She has a lot of skills and
taught me to consider the needs of
my students,” Burnett said.
Sarah Qu, sixth grade, said, “It
was fun when she told us a story
about how she started liking science."
Burnett chose to teach science
because her grandparents were
both scientists and she grew up
learning it from them. She wanted
to make science fun for kids to
learn.
Burnett is one of two student
teachers at Clay this year. They
will be here until March 7.
Qu also said that this is her
first time having a student teacher
and she likes it because it makes
learning more fun.
"She's doing a great job. I
think the kids like having her,"
Smiley said.
One of Dorsey’s favorite parts of teaching
is the kids.
“I like getting to work with kids of multiple
ages,” she said. She also likes the historical part.
Dorsey remarked that she really likes it at
Clay.
“Everybody has been really friendly and has
helped guide me in the right direction.”
However, she won’t be here forever.
Dorsey will only be teaching until the week
after spring break, which is in April. She has
done some student teaching, or field experiences, at some high schools, but this is the last
student teaching experience she will have.
Patane wishes her the best. “I hope her
experience is positive enough so she can be a
teacher like she wants,” he said.
Clay raises money during Pennies for Patients
Caroline Ramsey, sixth grade, sells suckers during the Pennies for Patients campaign. After two weeks of sales, Clay raised $4,645.55 (in sucker sales alone) for
the Leukemia and Lymphoma society.
Zach Gish and Caroline Ramsey, sixth grade, help raise money for Pennies for
Patients by working at the “Pie in the Face” table.
page 3
The clay classic
Eighth graders raise money for Hurricane Sandy victims
By Cameron Bacon
One morning, during the physics unit about
roller coasters, one of Mr. Andy Simon’s students, eighth grader Will Platt, wore a t-shirt of
a coaster that had been destroyed by Hurricane
Sandy.
Simon was in the middle of an explanation
about the physics of roller coasters when he
noticed the shirt,. He went on telling the class
about how he wished he could continue to help
provide support, since it had been almost a year
since the hurricane struck, and people were
beginning to forget about it.
This spurred a discussion.
Hurricane Sandy struck on October 22,
2013. It left destruction and many wounded or
dead in its aftermath.
Recently, students at Clay found a way to
help those in need.
“Since we were studying physics and roller
coasters,” Mrs. Susan Fulp, eighth grade science
teacher, said. “this would’ve been the perfect
time to help the Hurricane Sandy victims.”
Soon, the students had morning meetings,
and during those meeting, students came up
with ideas for relief.
These morning meetings were all studentdriven, Fulp and Simon only guided them.
The meetings consisted of students ideas
and efforts.
The group, so far, has raised money at different home basketball games by selling suckers
and having a free throw contest. In March, by
working with the math department, students will
be selling the numbers of Pi with a treat for $1.
So far, they’ve raised about $1,650 and each
dollar Clay raises will be doubled by the local
business Access Mortgage.
“So far,” said Fulp, “we are happy with the
results, because even $100 donated to help is
better than none at all.”
Donations are still being accepted. Any
checks should be made to Clay Middle School.
Eighth Grader Stephen Abshire wins
Clay Middle School geography bee
By Jillian Zalewski
Stephen Abshire, eighth grade
student, won the geography bee
and will represent Clay at the finals.
Sometime in the middle of
January, Abshire competed against
other Clay students to see who
would be going to the
finals.
To first get into the
geography bee, students got
to compete against others in
their own social studies
classes, then those winners
went on to compete in the
all-school bee.
Abshire
won the all-school bee and will
continue on.
In April, Abshire will go
against other winners from many
different schools down at IUPUI.
During the the final round for
Clay, Abshire said he competed
against a sixth grader, a strong
competitor.
"Finals are about U.S.
geography, with the questions
made up by National Geographic,"
Abshire said. "If I win finals, I will
go to Washington D.C. to
compete."
The rounds were either really
short or really long, and once a
student missed two
questions that student was
“out.”
All the of the questions
were middle-school level
until the finals.
The geography bee was
meant for middle school
kids. This will be Abshire’s
last year competing in the
geography bee because when he
goes to high school he doesn't have
the same opportunities as he does
now.
"While answering the
questions, the answers normally
will just come to me," Abshire said.
Abshire looks forward to April
when he will compete again.
Braedy Smith and Patrick Fletchall shoot baskets for the Hurricane Sandy
Fundraiser. This was one of the many activities the fund-raising team came up with to
help out Sandy victims.
Performing arts students compete in ISSMA
By Leah Roebuck
Early in the morning on Saturday, February
1, the halls of Westfield Middle School were
filled with anxious middle school performing
arts students from across the state, gathered to
compete in the Indiana State School Music
Association competition for solos and small
ensembles.
Some of these students, like seventh grade
cello player, Selin Oh, performed as soloists,
and in a small ensemble. Oh performed in both
of these groups as well as in the Advanced
String Ensemble (ASE) which is a group made
up of skilled orchestra players at Clay.
“It is fun to work with an ensemble. It’s
just another experience to help me improve my
skills,” Oh said.
She competed at the ISSMA competition
last year as a soloist, achieving a gold rating
both this year and last year.
“The judges score us on the details," said
seventh grade choir student, Caroline Frawley,
who also received a gold medal at last years
competition. “How well we know our pitches,
our posture, how we sound, and stage presence
are all big parts of the judge’s final score.”
Mrs. Gretta Pote, one of two band directors
at Clay Middle School, has been directing performances for the large group ISSMA for 19
years and has consistently earned gold ratings.
Her students will perform again at the large
ensemble competition on March 15.
“We prepare our songs by breaking the
music into sections, breaking the band into
sections and learning the parts separately. Then
we begin to put it all back together,” Pote said.
She will be directing alongside Mrs. Rhianna
Allen. Together, on March 15, they hope to
come back with another gold rating for this
year's band.
As far as this year’s large group performance goes, the students are feeling good.
“I feel confident that we know our pitches,
we have great stage presence, and we sound
good together,” Frawley said.
The teachers’ have similar states of mind.
For her bands, Pote hopes to get gold ratings with distinction. She is also looking forward to the benefits the competition brings to
the students.
“It helps them to learn how to accomplish a
performance at an extremely high level.” she
said. “Their skills on their instruments advance
to a much higher level.”
page 4
The clay classic
Students find success playing at ISSMA, prepare for March contest
By Alice Wou & Maddie Pittler
Music filled the hallways of
Westfield High School on Saturday
February, 1.
Students from all over Indiana
came to perform and be judged at
ISSMA which stands for Indiana
State School Music Association.
At ISSMA, students were able
to participate in many kinds of
events, they can perform a solo,
trio, quartet, quintet, and a small
group.
Once they finish performing
an event, students are ranked from
gold, silver, bronze, and participation. If a student participates on
Level 1 and gets a gold, they can
choose to move on to state
ISSMA.
In one room, there’s the sound
of a violin concerto, while in other
rooms trumpets could be playing
or voices could be heard singing.
"I am excited to perform as a
soloist in ISSMA because I like to
sing and I enjoy proving my brother wrong about my singing voice,"
laughed seventh grader, Shannon
Boylan, who received a gold medal
in 2013 and 2014's competition.
est level to participate.
Other than impressing siblings,
“I got a high score on Level 1,
students find that ISSMA helps so now I’m going to state which is
them.
a higher level of competition,”
“It’s a good learning experi- Bruns stated.
ence,” Avisha Karuman, seventh
Soloists had arrive about 15 to
grade, who performed a cello solo. 30 minutes before performing to
“When you participate in ISSMA, practice a couple of times before
you get a good experience of playing on
“It’s a good learning
your own, while in
orchestra or band,
experience,” Avisha
you can’t do that,”
Karuman said.
Karuman said. “When you
Students filled
the hallways with participate in ISSMA, you
their instructors and
accompanists.
get a good experience of
“At first I was
nervous, but after I
playing on your own.”
was finished performing, I was hopeful to see my results,” Claire Bruns, seventh grade they were ready to sing in front of
said, who played two solos: the judges.
“Liberta” on the trumpet and
The soloist will then wait for a
“Telmon” on the flugelhorn.
couple of minutes to see which
At ISSMA, participants had to medal they will receive.
choose from level 5 which is the
Performing arts students will
easiest, to level 1 which is the hard- also perform in March.
Claire Given sings her way
to ‘America’s Got Talent’
By Libby McGuire
Claire Given is a seventh grade
choir student who recently auditioned for the hit series on NBC,
“America's Got Talent.”
It’s no secret that Claire's got
vocal skills. She’s sang the
“National Anthem” multiple times
at Clay sporting events.
“She has amazing
skills, and I definitely
think she could go far
in the competition if
she applies herself,”
Miss Miranda Macgregor, choir teacher, said.
Given has been
singing since she was
about seven years old,
and she absolutely fell
in love with it.
“I love singing because I have
a special connection with music,”
Given said.
Given would like to pursue a
singing career, but only if she is
financially supported.
Given said she has never had
any other experience like auditioning for “America’s Got Talent” so
she is very nervous.
Given was accepted, but she
doesn't know yet if she made it to
Vegas week, which is her ultimate
goal because it will be broadcasted
on TV.
If Given is invited to
go to Vegas, she said
“I would first hug my
dog, and think about
how grateful for this
opportunity.”
“My singing inspiration is Ariana Grande.
I admire her because
she has such an interesting range of notes
and she is an amazing singer.”
Given said.
Claire looks forward to many
things in the competition. She is
especially excited to meet the celebrity judges and the talented
contestants.
“The judges are looking for
intonation, blend, passion, articulation, and many other qualities that
will form a successful ISSMA performance,” said choir director Miss
Miranda Macgregor. “They want
different genres and traditional
songs incorporated into their music.”
The seventh and eighth grade
choirs will perform on March 15th.
“My favorite song that we will
perform is ‘Ride the Chariot’,” said
Stephen Abshire, a current member of the school’s eighth grade
choir with five years of experience.
“I think the judges will like it because of all the different parts and
dynamics.”
Each choir gets 15 to 20
minutes to share their performance
with a panel of judges. Based on
their opinions about the performance, each choir will receive a
bronze, silver, or gold plaque. If
their performance is executed with
efficiency, they will receive a gold
plaque with “distinction” written
across it.
Band students work with college director
Band students work with Mr.
Randall Coleman, the associate
direct of bands of the University
of Alabama. He was at Clay to
give a clinic for the band students
on Thursday and Friday,
February 20 and 21.
page 5
The clay classic
Avery Sims, eighth grade, shows llamas throughout country
By Gracie Field
On Thanksgiving, after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, the Westminster Dog Show
airs, but did you know that, like dogs, you can
show llamas, too?
Avery Sims, eighth grader, and her llama, Sassy
Lassy, do.
She has been showing
llamas at competitions since
third grade.
She became involved
through her mom. When her
mom was younger, she
showed cattle and pigs with her brothers. She
told Avery that she should show an animal, so
Avery thought showing llamas would be fun.
She said she loves to do it because it's
unique and not many people do it. She said she
also has fun with animals.
When asked about her favorite and least
favorite part she said, "My favorite part would
probably be winning first or second place and
knowing that all my work paid off. My least
favorite would be having to wake up really early
to go to shows and being in long car rides to
get there."
She and Sassy Lassy have gone around the
country for competitions. Avery usually shows
in Noblesville, but has shown Sassy Lassy in
Michigan, Ohio, and Oklahoma. Sassy Lassy
and Avery recently entered a competition in
Oklahoma in December of 2013.
When she goes to a Llama contest, there
are different events that she and Sassy Lassy
perform.
Avery said, there are three types of events
she and Sassy Lassy must perform.
Eighth grade tennis player plays
in tournaments across country
By Andrew Jones
Few student-athletes
at Clay have an opportunity to compete world-wide,
but Max Wild, eighth
grade, is well on his way.
Long car trips every
day, followed by hard
work, and balancing tennis
with school has been the
key to success for Wild.
As well as participating on Clay’s
own
tennis
team, Wild is
ranked 14th in
the nation, and
has competed
in almost every
state. He is
currently working on qualifying for an international
competition in Germany
by the end of this year.
“My favorite tournament I’ve been to so far is
the USTA Spring Nationals in Florida,” Wild said.
He finished fourth
overall last year.
He works on qualifying for tournaments
across the nation. Each
tournament has 128 of the
best tennis players of their
age, all competing for the
One of them is called obstacle. This is
where the llama goes through ten obstacles
such as backing up, jumping over hurdles,
weaving, and lifting up its feet.
Another event is called Showmanship.
This is when Avery presents her animal to the
judge, and at some point, the judge will talk to
each person individually and ask questions
about the llama. Participants are placed by how
well the questions are answered, as well as the
presentation of the llama.
Lastly, there's Halter where the Judge
looks at the bone structure and wool of the
llama.
In her last contest, Sassy Lassy and Avery
won third place overall champion, nationwide.
This spring, Avery will show Sassy Lassy in
another contest in Michigan.
Mrs. Sander’s wellness classes
celebrate winning pedometer challenge
top spot.
Every day after
school, Wild travels to
Greenwood to practice.
There he works with
coach Bryan Smith.
“I want to go pro
someday,” Wild said.
He also mentioned
that he has set goals that
he can achieve today in
order to help get him
there.
He is slowly
working his way
to the top tier of
national rankings
for his age, and
he would like to
win the Junior
U.S. Open.
“I’m not too far
away from doing well in a
Junior U.S. Open, especially since it’s for 18 and
under,” Wild mentioned.
Since the tournament
is for people 18 eighteen,
he has time to get there.
For now Max Wild
will keep practicing, preparing, and competing
across the nation.
Mrs. Jamie Sanders, seventh grade wellness teacher, set up a red carpet-style celebration to
honor her classes. They won the pedometer challenge where they measured the number of steps
it took to get from Indiana to California. Her classes achieved the goal first.
page 6
The clay classic
Seventh grade hockey team takes trip to Quebec, Canada
By Charlie Breedlove
Have you ever gone out of town for a
sport?
Carmel’s Indiana Junior Ice Hockey team
has traveled everywhere around the continent
like Michigan and Maine, but now their biggest
and longest trip is to Quebec, Canada.
"It's one of the biggest tournaments of the
year for our age group," Matthew Lapel, seventh
grade, one of players on the team, said.
This team has worked very hard to get to
this tournament, the Quebec International Peewee Hockey Tournament.
They have been playing games this whole
year, including last year, trying to qualify for this
tournament.
"There is about 100 teams in the tournament, but only twenty (teams) in our age
group," Nathan Tripp, seventh grade, also a
member of the team, said.
They are playing two games for sure. If they
win, then they will keep going up the bracket,
and eventually get to the championship. They
stayed in Quebec for nine days.
"It would be a great team win if we won.
Hopefully, the whole team can pull together and
get the win," Tripp said.
"The trip is very expensive. It cost about
$1,200 per person,” Teddy Munn said.
Munn doesn't play for the team normally,
but they needed him this tournament, because
they didn't have enough people.
This team just won the Central State Tournament.
"The championship was one of the best
games our team has ever played," Lapel said.
"It would be great if we can carry the momentum from the (Central State) tournament
win and use it to win in Quebec," Lapel said.
All the boys on this team are very excited
about going to this tournament. This is a big
opportunity for this team to show people how
hard they have worked, and how committed
they are to this team.
Seventh grader finds dinosaur bone over summer
By Victor Mai
While a paleontologists dreams of
discovering fossils, this seventh grader
got to experience that dream.
Jonathan Dibbern was able to take
part in a project for the Children’s
Museum. Dibbern got the chance to go
to South Dakota to participate in a large
dig site.
His mission was to try to get some
dinosaur bones to take back to
Indianapolis to put in the Children’s
Museum.
Dibbern was successful and brought back
multiple dinosaur bones to show.
Dibbern mainly found one
species of dinosaur, the
Hadrosaur, which means strong
lizard. This dinosaur was mainly
known for its duck-like bill.
Because of this unique feature,
the dinosaur is also known as
the “duckbill” dinosaur. The
bones that Dibbern found
include an intact skull of the
Hadrosaur.
The process for digging out bones was not
a simple one.
Sixth graders make
Leonardo Da Vinci projects
By Christopher Mitchell
Humanities teachers Mr. Karl
Knerr and Mr. Brian McGuckin
handed out a project about Leonardo Da Vinci's inventions to the
sixth graders in their classes.
For the past two years, Knerr
and McGuckin have assigned this
project to the students while they
have learned about the Renaissance.
There were many inventions
that they could choose from, including the helicopter, the parachute, the glider, and the submarine.
This project took two to three
days for the six graders to finish.
During these days, the six graders
researched and made a model of
the invention they chose.
Nick Katsis, sixth grader,
chose Leonardo's parachute for
his project. He choose this project
because "it had a big impact on
the improvement of air safety.”
Katsis said that Leonardo's
parachute was made out of a
wooden frame covered by a cloth.
He said "this project was fun because you got to choose your project."
Mizuk Taira, sixth grader,
chose Leonardo's helicopter for
his project. Mizuk chose this because "it had a big impact in air
travel."
This helicopter was shaped
like a corkscrew and was powered
by four men at the base of the
helicopter pushing levers.
Unfortunately, this invention
of Leonardo da Vinci did not fly
or work at all, but did help the
idea of air travel today.
This project was fun and creative way for the six graders to
learn about Leonardo da Vinci and
his many inventions.
“The project was a great success,” Knerr said.
If one digs too hard, they could fracture the
bone or even break it. Because of this, Dibbern
had to use hand shovels and brushes to
carefully dig out the bones and brush away the
fine particles.
The bones that he found are in various
places. The skull is being prepared for museum
display while the smaller ones can be found in
the seventh grade hallway in a display case. The
rest of the bones Dibbern kept for himself.
Dibbern has been allowed to showcase and
talk about his findings in South Dakota for the
Children’s Museum.
Eighth graders study dominant, recessive genes
(Above) Andy Pagan,
Will Platt and (Left)
Reagan Ney, eighth
grade, study all the
different drawings they
came up in regards
dominant and recessive
genes. All three science
classes had the chance to
work together. Photos by
Tess Nihill
page 7
The clay classic
Winter Warriors stuck running inside due to cold weather
By Katie Gibbons
So far the Winter Warriors haven't
been able to live up to their name. At this
point, it's been too cold to even think
about running outside.
Mr. Scott Kenney, one of the coaches
of Winter Warriors, has set a minimum
temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit for
running outside.
Recently, the temperatures have been
below zero with windchills of 15 degrees.
Unless there are clear sidewalks and
above 20 degrees, the Warriors are stuck
inside, running laps around the halls.
"We've been in the hallways a lot with
all this goofy weather," Kenney said.
The club meets after school on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and sometimes Fridays.
Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders gath-
(Top left) Students have to run
through the halls for Winter Warriors because of the extremely cold
weather. (Top right) Zane Williams, eighth grade, runs. He ran
cross country and will run track
this spring. (Bottom Left) Mr.
Scott Kenney and Mr. Todd
Stewart get the students ready for
the day’s run. (Bottom right)
Photos by Keita Arakawa
er around, ready to run. The Warriors usually run around three to five miles when
they meet. They do relays, continuous running, or intervals which are laps with a
break in between.
"I like when we do continuous running," Claire Abdellah, seventh grade, said.
Most of the returning Warriors said
they like running outside rather than inside.
"I like running outside, only if it's a
little warmer. When it's warmer outside, we
go on the track or do road runs,” Emerson
Dykstra, seventh grade, said.
Halle Welch, sixth grade, said she liked
Winter Warriors because, "It's really fun
and a lot of my friends do it, so it's fun to
see them."
Dykstra agrees with Welch. She said,
"It allows me to run and hang out with my
friends."
Most of the Winter Warriors want to
get in shape for the upcoming track season.
Thomas Gastineau, seventh grade, is doing
Winter Warriors to get in shape for the
1600 or the 2400 meter race in track.
Gastineau describes Winter Warriors as
"a long distance training club, where you
can train for any sport, like cross country,
track, and soccer."
"We just try to get students and athletes
in shape for the upcoming spring track
season. It doesn't have to be members on
the track team, it can be soccer players or
anyone who wants to get in shape or stay
in shape over the winter," Kenney explained.
page 8
The clay classic
Wrestling team kicks off season
By Tristan George
The Clay Middle School wrestling team
began their season on December 2, 2013. They
practice two hours a day on average, and they
practice five days a week.
Ryan Mahoney, Cameron Bacon, and Miles
Hoxie all agree that even though practice is long,
it makes them better.
“Practice makes perfect,” stated Bacon.
Also, Miles Hoxie said, “I think practice makes
me better because I learn a lot, and I become a
lot stronger.”
Ryan Mahoney added, “I build up a lot of
endurance at practice.”
“Our coaches have taught us some really
great techniques,” Bacon said. Some examples
of these techniques are the double-leg takedown
and the power half.
“My favorite takedown is the double-leg,”
Hoxie said. Cameron Bacon agrees. Mahoney
said his favorite move is the power-half because
it is quick and simple.
The team will have about 13 meets this
season, so they still have some time to change
course.
Most people think that wrestling is for boys
only, but here at Clay, all genders are welcome to
wrestle.
“There are four girls on our team, and they
all compete well against any opponent,” Mahoney said.
The majority of the matchups are fair for
(Top) Brianna
Smith, sixth grade,
wrestles a student
athlete from Hamilton-Heights. Photo
by Ryan Mahoney
(Right) Jack Williams, eighth grade,
gets hand raised
after winning his
match against Westfield. Photo by
Cameron Bacon
The Clay Classic is Clay Middle School’s student
newspaper. It is written, photographed, edited, and
designed by the students in Mr. Evan Williams’
newspaper classes. The newspaper comes out twice
a quarter. You can also find updates about Clay from
Clay’s journalism program on Twitter:
@Clay_Journalism
the wrestlers. The participants are divided up
into weight classes, and they only wrestle against
other competitors that are in their weight class.
“The weight classes work by splitting up the
wrestlers by how much they weigh, in increments of 5,” Bacon said.
All of the wrestling team members enjoy
wrestling for many different reasons.
Mahoney said, “I enjoy wrestling because I
just like the sport.”
“I like wrestling because I enjoy the competition of the sport,” Bacon said.
Ever since December 2, 2013, the Clay Trojans wrestling team has been training hard to win
as many matches as they can.
Caleb Vahle, seventh grade, gets hand raised after winning against
Hamilton Heights. Photo by Ryan Mahoney
Clay Middle School
5150 E. 126th St.
Carmel, IN 46011
Administration:
Mr. Todd Crosby, principal
Mr. Mark Smith, assistant principal
Mrs. Lori Harmas, assistant principal
Mr. John Corcoran, Jr., activities director