By Mary Nethaway

McKenzie Elementary School students have had an exciting week. On September 26, a school-wide Writing Day was held. Throughout the year, there will be several Writing Days. This is an attempt to focus school wide on improving students' writing ability.

In addition, several classes are planning special activities. In Mrs. Jill Warren's class, students have been studying the environment. They will be planting daffodil bulbs, tulips, and hyacinths in mid-October. In science, they have been studying the water cycle and oceans. Students will make an ocean habitat. This project is due November 12.

Other fourth grade classes have been studying owl pellets. They studied the sanitized owl pellets. By using a chart they were able to look at the bones and identify what animal the owl had eaten.

Kindergarten students had a special treat Friday. The new fire truck and rescue vehicles were at school. Local firefighters came and talked to the students about fire safety.

K-Kids will meet on October 10 at 7:30 a.m. Their first project will be collecting aluminum tabs for the Ronald McDonald House in Memphis.

Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated at McKenzie Elementary School on Tuesday October 23 through Friday, October 26. Tuesday will be Team Shirt Day, Wednesday is Sock it to Drugs Day, Thursday is Stomp Out Drugs Day, and Friday is Put a Cap on Drugs Day.

The winner of the Scholastic Book Fair drawing was Quentin Cunningham, father of Drake Cunningham. The prize was a $25 certificate for the book fair.

Other coming events include the Fall Festival which is scheduled for October 27 from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. PTO is planning many fun events and needs parents to volunteer to help with those activities. Students will be given a signup sheet next week for parents to indicate their preference.

This week's announcer was T.J. Gipson from Mrs. Tiffany Smith's homeroom. He did a great job with making the announcements. This month's theme is Always Do Your Best.
Congratulations to the students who are on the honor and merit rolls. (See list printed elsewhere.)
          

Jennifer is the daughter of Robert and Rita Ross. She attends Bethel Baptist Church and is active in the youth group there. She enjoys reading, talking to friends on the phone and watching T. V. She has one older sister Chastity, a younger brother Matthew and a younger sister, Jordan. She also enjoys helping her mom with her baby brother Matthew by taking him outside to play.

Jennifer says, "School is fun" and you can tell on her face that she enjoys school very much.
 

by McKenzie High School Principal, Terry Howell

Last Monday, Ms. Tina Winkler spoke in Ms. Jackie Carr's World Geography class. Her topic of discussion was the Middle East and an explanation into the dynamics and psyche of the Middle Eastern, Arabic mind. Ms. Winkler provided first hand accounts based upon her childhood and experiences in growing up and associating in the Arab world. She provided a fascinating glimpse into the role of women in the Arab world; and an overview of the Islamic faith. With her spell-binding speaking ability, Ms. Winkler held the students' attention as she recounted personal stories based upon conflict between the Arab and Western worlds. The presentation was a topical one as it gave students a more comprehensive view of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the mentality that caused those senseless acts. I noted that Ms. Carr has understandably focused on Middle Eastern geography and current events to make learning more relevant.

As I mentioned last week, we will have our mid-term exams this week. Test over First and Third Blocks will be Thursday. Second and Fourth Block tests will be administered on Friday. These tests count 25% of the grade for the first 9-weeks and will be comprehensive. I encourage all students to set aside study time and for parents to assist as needed in preparation for taking these exams. Report cards will be issued on Wednesday, October 17.

Our girls' Cross Country team competed in the U.S.J. Cross Country meet last Monday with positive results. Out of 14 teams, our first-year program finished 8th. Out of over 100 girls in the meet, all of our girls finished in the top half. Amber King was our top runner with a time of 24:07 over the three-mile track. She was followed by Robyn Winkler (30th place), Julie Smith (50th place), Naomi Street (52nd place), and Lucy Snead (58th place). Four of the five girls improved their scores from the last meet. Their next competition will be October 16 at the Best of the West meet in Jackson at the UT Agriculture Center.

The week of October 15-19 marks National School Lunch Week. The theme for this year is "School Lunch by the Book." The high school will join thousands of school systems nationwide in celebrating and promoting nutritional school lunches. School cafeteria manager Sue Baker and her staff will promote several nutritional and literary trivia contests during the week to promote increased lunch participation and to emphasize that well-fed, properly nourished students do better in the classroom. The winners of the contests will receive prizes donated by many of our local businesses and Partners in Education. I ask that you promote this week and encourage participation in the school lunch program.

The B-team football group maintained their perfect record with a 27-0 thrashing of Decatur County High School last Monday. The young Rebels now have a 3-0 record with Monday games against Dresden (October 8), Huntingdon at home (October 15), and Bruceton at home (October 22). The B-Team is coached by Jason Driggers and Randy Thomas with assistance from Bethel student and former McKenzie player, Paul Carroll.

The Marching Rebel Band competed in Union City this past Saturday with the results unavailable at the time of this writing. This week they will travel to Obion County to compete in their festival and then to Brighton for their competition. The band works many hours in its preparation for the Division I State Competition at LaVergne on October 27. The Band Boosters will hold its annual barbecue supper on Tuesday, October 30. The public may buy tickets from any band member or call the office for directions on how to get tickets. All proceeds go to the Band Boosters which helps to fund our overall band program.

Last week senior quarterback Taylor Holland received recognition as the Jackson Sun Player of the Week for his play against Decatur County High School. Taylor rushed for over 160 yards with four touchdowns and threw for over 125 yards. Taylor has started at quarterback for the past three years. He has truly developed as a player and as a leader. Taylor would be quick to praise his teammates as integral parts of his personal success. I suppose what is as impressive as his athletic ability is his character. Taylor possesses a stringent set of values, which I think augment his football ability. Congratulations to Taylor for this worthy honor.

The State of Tennessee mandated several years ago that teachers would teach character in some way in the classroom. Many subjects lend themselves to this, such as English literature and social studies. Others are a stretch to do. We do activities as a group including Project Wisdom, our before-school reflection, and Character Counts. I read somewhere a list of things parents can do to teach values and character. First, parents can talk about values in small doses. As issues arise, parents should talk about them to strengthen values and point of view. Second, parents and all adults should model the values that they want young people to develop. Action speaks much louder than words, and young people key on the action of others in regard to values. Third, parents and teachers can look for ways to put values into action. The true worth of values is how they are maintained in a difficult situation. Fourth, parents can reinforce positively young people who display a strong value system. As young people get older, that reinforcement may be verbal, rather than extrinsic rewards. Verbal reinforcements for young people go far in value development. Finally, parents and other adults may talk about other people they see who possess good values. They may include local people, national or international figures, or historical models. As a parent, I know that character and value development are imposing tasks. These reminders may serve as a reminder for all of us about this crucial responsibility.