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H’Wood North Middle School Students Make Their School, Community Better Places
You cannot hide that Panther Pride! Students at Hazelwood North Middle School proved that and more recently as approximately 100 of them assembled for activities meant to ensure their new school gets a good start and becomes a good neighbor in its community.
“This group of students is wonderful,” said North Principal Laurie Birkenmeier. “They have just worked and worked. Both students and teachers have been working here on their own time this summer.”
The students, who are all part of the school’s student council, divided into groups to accomplish their tasks. Some headed out to the school’s back field, where they painted wooden locker organizers in the school’s colors – yellow and blue. Parents had worked together on them as well, first cutting the boards to size.
Student council members will be selling the completed organizers to students during the first day of class to raise money for student council activities throughout the school year.
Another set of students spent time in the cafeteria, wrapping boxes of starter school supplies for their teachers, some of whom will be new to the district as well as the school.
In the school’s media center, a large chunk of students broke into three smaller groups to work on storyboards for the school’s Positive Behavior Support (PBS) video with teacher Scott Cornett.
“When new students come in, we can show them how a typical day at North should work,” Birkenmeier said of the PBS video.
Cornett explained to the groups what they would be doing – scripting and storyboarding. He emphasized they did not have to be artists to make good storyboards. He said stick figure drawings would be just fine. He showed them a video clip of some of the Shrek storyboards to show that storyboards communicate ideas, not perfect drawing techniques.
He also told the students their storyboards must be done entirely in pencil and concentrate on the video’s message. He then discussed video terms – wide shot, close up, camera angles and explained how they all are used in videos and movies.
The trio of groups later voted on which topic they wanted to create storyboards on.
More students sat at the bank of computers against one wall, where they designed signs and other ideas for the new school year and across the room, a small knot of students brainstormed with art teacher Shannon McCarthy on creating their mascot.
Papers with various sketches covered the table among the students and McCarthy as they tried several versions of a panther.
Student Ashley Caldwell thought up the mascot’s motto – Preying for Perfection. Yes, it is true – the students at Hazelwood North Middle School cannot hide their Panther Pride. (story courtesy of Hazelwood Communications Dept.)
