On Tuesday evening, the National Junior Honor Society held a work meeting to count the money from the Pennies for Patients boxes. They learned that counting pennies and rolling change is a tedious job. At this point, we have $261.51 collected to help cure these kids. We can do better! To date, Mrs. Barrett’s class leads the pack in the race for the coke floats with a total of $35.90, followed closely by Ms. Gladden’s homeroom who has donated $35.46. Rounding out the top 10 are Workman, Burch, Abbott, Grube, Hayter, Mishnick,  Peace, and Fletcher. Come on guys, let’s get going to make Ft. Stockton Middle School a shining example of service to others.

They also held a bake sale on Saturday, November 7 for Cole. These very eager and caring students raised $454.04 to help out Cole and his family. Extra thanks go to the parents that guided them as well as Lowe's Supermarkets and Miller Meat Co. for their donations. Good work NJHS!

-- Story submitted by Mrs. Duarte

     Fort Stockton Middle School's Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society held its fall induction ceremony on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 in the Middle School auditorium under the direction of Nancy Hayter, NJHS advisor. Jake, NJHS President, served as Master of Ceremonies. The Invocation was given by Victoria, and the Pledges to the U.S. and Texas flags were led by Brian and James.

     Mr. Ralph Traynham addressed the members and inductees about the qualities that an honor society member should personify.

     After the MC gave a brief history of the NJHS, the officers and members led the candle lighting ceremony. Here a large lighted candle symbolized the eternal light of knowledge. Grace, Vice-President, lit the large candle that symbolized Scholarship, a commitment to learning. Holly, Vice-President for Publicity, lit the candle symbolizing Service, a commitment to volunteering of time and abilities without compensation. Cassie, 8^th Grade Member, represented Leadership, a commitment to lead class and school activities to make the school the best it can be. Cristian, 7^th Grade Member, represented Citizenship, a commitment to protect the freedoms and rights that have been granted to us and to prevent injustices from entering our lives.  Finally, Joanna, 8^th Grade Member, represented Character, a force within each individual which distinguishes that person by bringing self-respect as well as respect from others.

     The President then led the recitation of the Chapter Pledge before inductees were recognized by Mr. Gil-Rey Madrid, Assistant Principal. Inductees were then presented their honor stoles by current members. Inductees include 8^th Graders Ariana, Luis, Franchesca, and Erica along with 7^th Graders Abril, Jasmine, and Heather. The attendees were then dismissed for pictures, cake and punch.

-- Story submitted by Mrs. Duarte

The Texas Department of Public Safety is warning parents across the state to be aware of efforts by Mexican cartels and transnational gangs to recruit Texas youth in our schools and communities. These violent organizations are luring teens with the prospect of cars, money and notoriety, promising them if they get caught, they will receive a minimal sentence.

The Mexican cartels constantly seek new ways to smuggle drugs and humans into Texas are now using state based gangs and our youth to support their operations on both sides of the border. 

For example, Laredo natives Gabriel Cardona and Rosalio Reta were recruited in their teens to be hit men for the Zetas. The Zetas, composed primarily of former Mexican military commandos, originally served as the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel, but have since become their own cartel.  El Paso teens have been recruited to smuggle drugs across the border, many with the packs taped to their bodies.

While such recruitment is growing across Texas, juveniles along the Texas-Mexico border are particularly susceptible. In 2008, young people from the counties along the Texas-Mexico border accounted for just 9 percent of the population in Texas, but 18 percent of the felony drug charges and gang-related arrests.

“As these dangerous organizations seek to co-opt our children to support their criminal operations, it is more important than ever that parents be aware of these risks, talk to their children and pay attention to any signs that they may have become involved in illegal activities,” said Steven C. McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

To protect our communities and our children from these powerful and ruthless criminal organizations, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and the District Attorneys in Texas border counties are working together to detect, disrupt and deter Mexican cartel-related crime along the Texas-Mexico border.

-- Submitted by Mrs. Espino

Fort Stockton Middle School students now have the option of taking a Spanish class as one of their electives. Mr. Hector Soto has been coming to our school each morning to teach two classes of Beginning Spanish. Mr. Soto also teaches at the High School and is the Head Diving Coach and Assistant Swimming Coach.

In addition to learning how to speak Spanish, students in Mr. Soto's classes are studying Hispanic cultures. During the last week of October, they are learning about "Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) which is a holiday celebrated in many countries on November 1st and 2nd. It is a time for family and friends to get together to pray for and remember their loved ones who have died.

Mr. Soto took his classes to Mrs. White's computer lab to do research and develop PowerPoint presentations on what they have learned.

-- Story ideas and pictures submitted by Mrs. White

The Fort Stockton Middle School Student Council raises money each year at school concession stands to donate to local charities, especially those that help people in need.  Last year, the Student Council donated money to help with a local student's medical bills.  They have also worked with the Salvation Army as Wal-Mart bell ringers, made Christmas cards for the Fort Stockton Nursing Home residents, held a school-wide toy drive, worked on a school clean-up project, and helped out with Drug Prevention Week. Lyndsea Hoard, Student Council sponsor, reports, "Our students love helping out their community and are always eager to do whatever it takes to make Fort Stockton a better place."  Students interested in being a part of FSMS Student Council should contact Mrs. Hoard.  In general, students must have good behavior in school and out of school and must maintain a 70 average or better in all subjects.

Student Council members Sabrina, Alex, Hannah and Delia work at the concession stand during an FSMS Volleyball game. Photo by Mrs. Duarte.

-- Story submitted by Mrs. Espino

The young 8th grade Cubs battled the Seminole Indians on Thursday, September 17th at Panther Stadium. The Blue Team played a much better game than the score revealed but still ended up with a loss 14-38. The Cubs gave up two big interceptions close to the Indians' goal line with the score 14-16 which resulted in two touchdowns for the Indians. Joel scored on a 60 yard kickoff return and after a 43 yard punt return by Victor, Damaine  scored again on an end around from 7 yards.  The defense played tough and had a chance to score some points but after nearly sacking the quarterback for a safety, he bounced around and raced 96 yards for a Indian touchdown which help seal the game for Seminole.

The White Team lost 0-40. All the kids played their hardest.

The Cubs' next game will be on Thursday, October 1st. The Blue Team will face Alpine and the White Team will play Greenwood. Both are home games and will be played in Panther Stadium at the High School.

-- Story written by Coach Daggett

The Blue and White Gyms were busy places on Saturday, September 19th as Fort Stockton Middle School hosted our annual volleyball tournament. All the coaches would like to thank the FSMS Student Council for providing concessions, our administration for their supervision and the parents for their help with the hospitality room and their support through the tournament.

8th Grade: Andrews Middle School was the winner in the 8th Grade bracket with the FSMS Blue Team coming in second. St. Ann's of Midland and Alpine Middle School took home the awards for 3rd Place and Consolation Winner, respectively.

The FSMS Blue Team opened tournament play against Marfa and came out ahead 25-9, 19-25, 25-17. Game 2 for the Prowlers was against Presidio. We overpowered the Lady Blue Devils 25-23, 25-23. The Prowlers then faced a tough Andrews team for the championship. We were unable to contain the Lady Mustangs, losing 21-25, 22-25.

The 8th Grade Blue Team did an outstanding job throughout the tournament. The team's performance improved every game. Coach Gonzales is very proud of the team's accomplishments.

A Silver Team was put together for the tournament by pulling members from both the Blue and White teams. The Silver Team lost the first round set to St. Ann's 12-25, 15-25. In the next game, the Prowlers went up against the Alpine Lady Bucks losing 17-25, 23-25. It was a tough loss for the Prowlers. The team did a wonderful job.

7th Grade: For the 7th Grade, the Prowlers would defeat Pecos Team 2: 25-6, 25-5. Our leading scorer was Brittany with 21 points. The Prowlers also defeated Alpine 25-12, 25-10. Kelsey was the leading scorer with 11 points. The Championship game would be between the Prowlers and Pecos Team 1. The Prowlers had a late start in the first match but recovered quickly. The Prowlers would go on to win the game 25-20 and 25-19. Leading scorer was Kelsey. The Hustle award goes to Abby, the Fighting Prowler award goes to Victoria. Great Jobs girls!

For the Silver Team, the Prowlers would go 2-1 losing to Marfa with wins over Andrews and Presidio to take Consolation. High scorer was Holy, Hustle award goes to Raquel, and Fighting Prowler award goes to Emma. Coach Fish is very proud of the girls' improvement over the past weeks.

What's ahead? The Prowlers will take on Presidio on Monday, September 21st in Presidio. Game times are 5:00 PM for the White Team and 6:00 PM for the Blue Team. Go Prowlers!

-- Stories written by Coach Gonzales (8th Grade) and Coach Fish (7th Grade)

Additional Statistics

Eighth Graders have the option of taking a Robotics Class at FSMS this year for the very first time. Mrs. Jane E. Woodward is the instructor and she has 2 classes of students who are learning to build and program their own robots. All building materials are supplied by the toy company Lego.

While the classes this year are small, Mrs. Woodward expects more students will be enrolled next year as more students become aware of the program. At the beginning of the current school year, students built their robots using a set of universal instructions meant to be used by students throughout the world regardless of their native language. These instructions use only pictures to lead students through the steps in assembling their robots.

Next, the students learned to program their robots to do increasingly more difficult tasks. One of the first assignments was to have the robot continue in a straight line for 5 feet, turn around and return to the starting point, make a 90° turn and continue for another 5 feet.

After accomplishing this feat, the next task was get a robot to follow the route of a perfect square as outlined on the classroom floor. Many factors are involved that must be considered. It will be exciting to see what comes next!

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