Counselor's Corner

Ms. Cashel's WCT class hovers around the 300+ cans they collected in the food drive competition.

Student Council sponsored their annual canned food drive the last two weeks (ended Wednesday, December 7).  Students brought in food items and stacked them in their Wildcat Time classes for a final-day count.  The WCT classes were then able to compete to see who could bring in the most food items; the winning class would receive a pizza and pop lunch, with one WCT class period spent in the gym.  Second place would win a single WCT in the gym.  Students in the third place class would each receive a can of pop.  Mr. Roszell’s students placed 3rd with 175 cans, Coach Gragg’s group cashed-in at a 178 items, and Coach Cashel’s class brought in a total of 312 food items!  It was the first time in recent memory that Mr. Roszell’s class didn’t win the friendly competition.  It was reported that the kids hid cans around the room so no one could keep an accurate count of Cashel’s cans.  Later, Coach Cashel commented, “It’s amazing what a little candy will do to motivate kids!”  In all, the Student Council, sponsored by Mrs. Elisa White, collected over 1,170 food items–the most ever by the middle school–all of which will be donated to Newton County’s Food Basket Brigade.

The Middle School wrestlers concluded their season at Seneca’s season-ending tournament.  First year head coach Mikel Gragg said that his wrestlers “performed exceptionally well over the course of the season.”  Colton Renfro finished the season without losing a single match all year, as well as easily winning his weight-bracket in Seneca.  Almost equally as impressive an endeavor was Cooper Cianci & Ethan King–only two times during the entire season did they not find victory. In the tournament at Seneca, Renfro, King, Triston Shepherd, and Nathan Jones all won their respective brackets.  Jeremiah Bridgewater, Logan Hopper, and James Hobbs each took 3rd in their bracket.  Congratulations on a successful season!

November -- STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

Students were recognized Friday during an assembly for displaying the character trait COOPERATION during the month of November.  The students can be seen here displaying their certificate just after the assembly.  Students recognized for their accomplishment are as follows:  Nancy Vang, Macie Seward, Madasan O’Flanagan, McKenzie Jones , Whitney DeGonia, Waylon Mahan, Haylee Austin, Lauryn Macy, Tyler Coady, Jordan Cook, Tailor Holden, Molly Langford, Cooper Cianci, Tristen Shepherd, Grace Donnel, Rachel Hymer, and Colton Morgan.

The character trait for the month of December is Compassion.  Compassion is defined as caring and showing concern for others.

Kirsten Eden awaits an outlet pass before a contest versus Miller.

The Diamond MS Girls Basketball team, under the leadership of first year head coach Jarad Hansen and second year assistant Sheilla Littlefield, notched another victory against a Spring River Valley Conference opponent on Monday.  The Wildcats led 28-0 at half time with Ashley Cook’s 17 points leading the way, and cruised to a 40-8 victory over the visiting Miller Cardinals.  Macy Seward added 9 points, Kelsi Eden chipped-in with 5 points, Liseth Rangel had 4 points, while Kirsten Eden & Megan Thomas each scored 2 points, and Paige Dresslaer made good on a 4th quarter free-throw to round out the scoring.  The second game of the night saw a much closer contest; Miller was able to parlay a 1-point halftime lead into a ten point margin of victory, 28-18.  Rangel hit 2 three pointers and tallied 8 points on the night, as Kelsey Ball scored 6, and Rachel Hymer ended the evening with 4 points.

In the previous game against Lockwood, Diamond — after only leading 16-8 at halftime — scored 17 points in the 3rd quarter while holding the Tigers scoreless in the 4th for a lopsided 47-14 victory.  Macy Seward scored a team-high 18 points for the Wildcats.

The latest win puts the Lady ‘Cats winning record at 6-2 in the conference, and 8-3 overall.  The Wildcats will next play on Thursday at McAuley and conclude their season in the SRVC tournament on December 10th-13th at Sarcoxie.  Congratulations on a fine season, and good luck as you enter the tourney next week!

Mrs. White’s 7th & 8th grade social studies classes have been studying Medieval Europe and Colonial America.  Students, working in teams, used part of class time to create replicas of castles and colonial villages…all to better understand how the structures were created to protect the inhabitants and provide for shelter, safety, and functionality.  Pictured below are students working on their castles and villages…coupled with a sampling of some final projects!

Middle School cross country runners, donning their new team t-shirts, prepare for their outing at Southwest by gorging on some delicious Casey’s pizza at lunch!

Middle School Students were treated to a building-wide school assembly during 6th and 7th hours on Friday.  During the month of September, students who had exhibited the character trait RESPECT during the school day (and witnessed by a faculty member) were honored at the assembly by receiving a certificate and a gift card for Taco Bell!  Members of the athletic teams were also recognized, as well as the winners for the box-tops contest (who received ice cream bars as a reward!).  The day ended as students were given mid-term reports for their classes!

A local Diamond Middle School Teacher is rumored to have been the latest recipient for the Garden Group’s prestigious YARD of the MONTH club!  In recognition of his unwavering dedication to his yard’s appearance, the Garden Society placed in the south-east corner of the property an honorary poster board for all on-lookers to witness.  Fellow teacher Mr. Kutz added that the display is truly an eye-popping experience…a MUST see!  It is rumored that the recognized teacher is none other than Mr. Amos Dickson!  [no grass was trampled in the placing of the celebratory banner]

Ms. Thompson’s 7th and 8th grade language arts classes gave presentations on their writing projects using the Smartboard. For the project, students chose a topic they were interested in and developed a paper through the
five stages of the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and presenting.
Taylor Haskins wrote her paper about the rodeo lifestyle. For her presentation, she brought in belt buckles she had won for the Zach Haskins Memorial Barrel Racing and Team Roping Competition and the Missouri Junior
High Rodeo Association.  Taylor stated, “Winning the Zach Haskins buckle made me feel accomplished because it has my brother’s name on it and it’s something I can cherish forever.” Trenton Barnes wrote his paper about his father and gave a touching presentation about the dynamics of their relationship. “It was a very emotional topic to write about,” Trent says, “but it helped me realize how I feel about my father.” Ms. Thompson proudly claims, “My students put a lot of effort into their writing and presentations. It was neat to see their work progress from the initial to final stage of the project.  Because students got to choose a topic they felt passionate about and got to use the Smartboard, their presentations were both fun and interactive.  “Ms. Thompson is also teaching the 7th grade elective Speech class for the first time this school year.