Welcome to the second edition of Goodpasture Upper Middle School’s new,
digital newspaper, THE COUGAR CHRONICLE! The newspaper staff will
rotate quarterly.
Mission Statement: THE COUGAR CHRONICLE will always uphold the
highest standards of journalistic integrity. We will always try to be a postive part
of Goodpasture Christian School. Our news is for students and is written by
students.
Winter 2016 Staff:
Co-editors: JK Eklond, Sean McConnell
Copy editors: Ian Clark, Chloe Winters
Layout/Design: Ari Lambert, Noelle Molette, Grace Parks
Staff: Gabe Corley, Eli Edwards, Mason Gifford, Gavin Gomez,
Cole Dotson, Caleb Horton, Aaron Menees, Brady Sullivan, MJ Trotter,
Kyle Walker, Trey White
Faculty advisor: Mrs. Darlene Sweet & Ms. Katie Sealy
Published March 4, 2016
Goodpasture Christian Upper Middle School,
Madison, TN
Mr. & Miss GMS 2016!
Monday night, January 25, was very
exciting for Goodpasture seventh and
eighth grade students. Tucker Lovell
and Teddi Solon were awarder the prestigious titles of “Mr. and Miss GMS.”
Other members of the court were eighth
graders Ella Whinnery, Carissa Surber,
Eli Edwards, and Mason Gifford. The
seventh grade representatives were Kaylynn Corum, Taylor Elrod, Cooper Pennington, and Zimin Gu. On this night,
the Goodpasture boys and girls basketball teams played against their rivals,
Friendship Christian School’s basketball
teams. Both Goodpasture Middle School
teams triumphed over Friendship Christian School, giving Goodpasture Middle
School students, teachers, and parents
another reason to celebrate. Congratulations to all of these students who represented Goodpasture Middle School so
well!
by: 2016 Winter Staff
From left to right: Kaylynn Corum and her escort, Zimin Gu; Ella Whinnery and her escort, Eli Edwards; Teddi Solon and her escort, Tucker Lovell; Carissa Surber and her escort, Mason Gifford; Taylor Elrod and her escort, Cooper
Pennington.
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Middle School Football
2015-2016
Cafeteria Clean-Up
by: Sean McConnell and Aaron Menees
by: Gabe Corley & Caleb Horton
1. The Upper Middle School football team
started the season July 1, 2015.
2. The team worked all summer to achieve
greatness.
3. Workouts started very intense for many
players
4. Fortunately the team worked hard and
were in shape after a few weeks.
5. A couple weeeks later, the team started
off with a challenging season.
6. By mid-season, the team began to gel
and really come together as a team.
7. Results began to change, and it really
shows how determination, hard work
and effort pays off in time!
8. The team enjoyed a winning streak
and continued to bond as friends on and
off the field.
9. The last game was very emotional for
the boys as everyone was happy they
won.
10. The GMS Football Team would finsih
the season going 4-3.
11. After their last game, the team dumped
water on their head coach, Dustin
Patton. It was great!
12. This is the year of that theGoodpasture
Middle School Football team will
always remember. We wish the 8th
graders good luck in high school, and
look forward to next fall!
At the beggining of the 2015-2016 academic year, Goodpasture students were very excited to see that the
cafeteria received many changes. Most recently, the cafeteria services were turned over to the Black Eyed Pea, a
resturant located in Hendersonville. Along with the managment change came several additional renovations. The
original changes were renovations that included new seats, tables, flooring, and even TV’s and more. Channels
displayed on the TV’s are ESPN, CNN, and the Weather Channel. The smaller changes were made to the buffet
and drink options following the shift in managment. Besides the physcial changes to the cafeteria, the Black-Eyed
Pea has expanded the staff, so they are not as understaffed as before. The menu has been expanded, offering a
wider variety of food and drinks to choose from. Students have agreed that the new food is much better than
before. There have been a few complaints about prices, however. Many have stated that the food prices have increased since the Black-Eyed Pea came in. According to some students and teachers, they believe if that they get
more food with the price increased, that would be reasonable; however , they are receiving less food, and they
are still getting charged more than what it’s worth. Nevertheless, the new cafeteria has surprised many students
with its changes.
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Is Activity
period
>
Class?
by: Eli Edwards, Kyle Walker, & Brady Sullivan
Each Thursday, Goodpasture Middle School students look
forward to activity period. Activity period gets people on
their feet to have fun with their peers. It’s a time where people who may not know each other well can get to know one
another. To determine whether or not activity period needed
to be improved, we conducted a poll of how many students
enjoy activity period, and all students gave us positive feedback, though people would like to see more variety in the
games we play.
Some student suggestions for activity period were:
1. Dodgeball. Dodgeball is one of the students’ favorites, and
they would like to see this happen more often.
2. Volleyball. Volleyball is another activity that many students enjoy.
3. Cougar-ball. Cougar-ball is a fun, fast-paced game that
students enjoy playing.
4. Fast-break basketball. Fast-break basketball is an intense
and thrilling game that gets you moving.
5. Gotcha. Gotcha is an exciting game that is fun for everyone.
Though the students already enjoy activity period, these are Disclaimer: No one was injured during the taking of this
photograph.
just some of the ways activity periods could be improved!
40 Minutes with God
by: Aaron Menees, Caleb Harris, & Gavin Gomez
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What do students actually think about devotional?
Though seventh through twelfth grades have devotional
every day, the students have mixed feelings about devotional.
So what do we do at devotional? There are many different kinds of speakers who lead devotional. Sometimes
we have seniors talk, sometimes Mr. Bixenman talks, and
other times we bring in a speaker from nearby churches.
In addition to speakers, we have small groups and split
devotional. Though the students generally enjoy split
devotional, some students do not like small group devotional because only a handful of people talk.
To better understand what students think, we conducted
a poll with the students from Journalism class, and fourteen people said they liked devotional everyday and two
said they don’t like devotional every day.
In conclusion, devotional is enjoyed by most students,
but they feel that some changes could be made to improve it.
Teacher Feature: Fun Facts with Coach Patton
by: Mason Gifford & M.J. Trotter
One of the funniest teachers at Goodpasture is Coach Dustin Patton. Coach
Patton teaches Bible and Computers, and he coaches middle school football
and basketball. Some fun facts about Coach Patton are:
We found Coach Patton hanging out in the
gym, taking over for Coach Purkey.
1. He has been teaching at Goodpasture for three years, and he plans to teach
forever!
2. He’s been coaching basketball for ten years, and if he could swap places with
someone for one day, it would be Jeff Capel, so he could learn from Coach
Krzyzewski at Duke.
3. He enjoys teaching Bible because he likes helping students, AND he
believes he is a much better teacher than Coach Edwards! (LOL!)
4. His favorite subjects when he was in school were PE and lunch (Wow!); the
first sport he ever played was soccer when he was three years old, but he
also played basketball and football in high school.
5. Basketball is his favorite sport to coach.
6. The Yankees are his favorite MLB team!
7. He predicts that 2016 will be the year that the Tennessee Vols win a
championship!
8. His favorite food is chicken and rice from La Hacienda.
9. His favorite hobbies are golf, remote control helicopters and flag football.
10. He dated his fiancé for 8 years, waited a long time before proposing so they
wouldn’t be so poor that they had to live in a tent!) (They are getting
married on June 17th, and they are going to Mexico on their honeymoon!)
Teacher Feature: Ms. Sealy Speaks
Would you ever go back to middle school? While we wouldn’t, that is exactly by: Chloe Winters & Noelle Molette
what Ms. Sealy - Mrs. Sweet’s student teacher - has done! For the first eight weeks
of the semester, Ms. Sealy observed Mrs. Sweet’s teaching, interactions with students, and she even had the chance to teach several times, including a lesson on
how NOT to give a Keynote presentation, and she also taught a unit on Julius Caesar. Before she left, we had the chance to sit down and chat with Ms. Sealy, and we
asked her several questions.
Q: You told us that you like to study video games for education; if you could be stuck
in any video game, what would it be? A: I would definitely choose Until Dawn or
Undertale - I love that Until Dawn is based on the Butterfly Effect and that your
choices change the characters’ personalities!
Q: If you weren’t teaching, what would you be doing and why? A: I would be writing
or working for a publication like HuffPost or Buzzfeed - writing has always been a
huge part of my life. I also love creating interesting content. Or I’d be working for
YouTube or Google.
Q: Looking back, what advice would you give your eighth-grade-self? A: Enjoy high
school, do well, and start looking at all the different things you could do early in
your high school career. Though I loved college and my major, I wasn’t very creative. People underestimate their potential all the time - don’t! Go for what you
Ms. Sealy, in a rare shot of her smiling for
want and be honest about it!
Q: What was your favorite part about being back at Goodpasture? A: Definitely my the camera. Notice the “get me out of here”
eighth graders - you guys are smart, funny, and you have more potential than you expression.
realize. I’ll miss you all!
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Introducing: Girls’ Ministry 2016!
by: Ari Lambert, Grace Parks, JK Eklond
A new Girl’s ministry group began this year for
Goodpasture 7th and 8th grade girls. Mrs. Applegate
and Mrs. Sweet, who want our girls to grow closer to
God and to one another, sponsor the ministry. This
year’s theme is based on John 8:32, emphasizing the
happiness that we receive when we seek God’s ultimate truths for us. Small group studies with middle
school female teachers have given valuable lessons
on various situations we may face in life. The girls are
growing closer to God because they are bonding together in and out of school. Social events for this
year have included “Eat, Drink and Be Ugly,” an ugly
sweater party during the holidays, and a Valentine’s
Mother/Daughter dinner downtown at The Old Spaghetti Factory.
Student Feature:
Carissa Surber
by: Grace Parks, Noelle Molette, JK Eklond
Some of the girls had great comments about the ministry:
- “I like doing things the boys don’t get to do!”
-- Chloe
- “ The spaghetti factory dinner was such a wonderful event! I loved it!” -- Lydia
- “I like the fact that the girls are able to see us
(female teachers) as real people. We understand the
by: Ari Lambert, Chloe Winters, Ian Clark, & Cole Dotson things that they go through because we’ve been there
ourselves – although MANY years ago!”
School uniforms. Students either love them or hate them. Good- -- Mrs. Sweet
pasture adapted a standard uniform dress code several years ago
for a variety of reasons.
The next Girls’ Ministry event will be the “Spring
Some interesting facts about school uniforms are: first, that re- Smile & Serve” Day on April 24th. Stay tuned for
search indicates that a school uniform teaches students to dress more information!
smartly and take pride in their appearance; secondly, school uniforms also decrease peer pressure when it comes to clothing. If
everyone is dressed in a similar fashion, worrying about what you
are wearing is less important.
In a recent poll by The Cougar Chronicle, the majority of students voiced a strong opposition to wearing school uniforms.
Knowing that the uniform standard is not going away, students
polled had several suggestions to improve student approval of
uniforms.
Several suggestions the students had about school uniforms
were: that khaki shorts could be added to the boy’s dress attire,
that khaki capris could be added to the girls’ choices. Additionally, some students have voiced interest in being able to wear black
or blue pants (not bluejeans). Perhaps the GCS administration
will consider these ideas in the future! In the meantime, wear
your uniform proudly!
Uniforms!
To be or not to be?
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Some schools have star athletes, actresses and actors, but
Goodpasture has a “star” ballerina who is on “pointe”. Carissa
Surber has been attending Goodpasture since third grade, and
ballet is her life outside of school. She has performed in many
productions, including multiple years in “Nashville’s Nutcracker,” our city’s version of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite.
Carissa gave us some insight into her love for ballet:
Q: How old were you when you started?
A: Three years old – or younger.
Q: How long are the practices?
A: Saturdays 10-4 and weekdays 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Q: How long have you been attending Nashville Ballet?
A: 8 or 9 years.
Q: What made you audition for Nashville Nutcracker?
A: Older friends tried out, and I thought it would be
fun.
Q: Why do you like dancing so much?
A: It’s really fun.
Q: What other performances have you done?
A: Midsummers Night Dream, Peter Pan, and Gizelle.
Q: In how many many productions of this ballet have you
performed?
A: Seven, or more!
Q: Did you have to miss school to go to practice for this
ballet?
A: All the time.
Q: Do you plan to become a professional dancer and
continue this as a career?
A: Definitely!
Student Feature:
Zimin Gu
by: Trey White, Brady Sullivan, & Kyle Walker
Seventh grader, Zimin Gu, is a really interesting young
man. Zimin is an exchange student from China, and he
lives with 8th grader, Nolan Abraham’s family. Zimin also is
part of the Goodpasture soccer team. Zimin gave us some
insight into being here at Goodpasture:
Q: Where do you live in China?
A: Huai Hua
Q: What do you miss about China?
A: Food
Q: Where is your favorite place to eat here?
A: FUJI
Q: What’s your favorite thing to do?
A: Play (LOL)
Q: How hard was it to learn English?
A: It was kind of hard.
Q: What is your favorite sports?
A: Actually basketball, even though I play soccer.
Q: What do you like about the U.S?
A: Friendship
Q: How is a Chinese school compared to school in the
U.S?
A: Very different; nothing similar.
Q: What’s your favorite subject?
A: Math
Q: Who is your favorite teacher at Goodpasture?
A: Mrs. Kuykendall
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Shrek: The Musical
When Goodpasture gets creative, nothing stops
students from putting on a fabulous show! For
Shrek: The Musical, there are fifty cast members,
seventeen crew members around fifteen members
of the orchestra. That’s over seventy-five students
invloved! When asked about 7th and 8th grade participation, Mrs. Thames said, “...I am so proud of
them! They have really jumped in and are doing a
great job of keeping up with the more experienced
high schoolers. It is a big time commitment and requires a lot of dedication and they are handling the
responisbility very well.” The GCS Fine Arts Department presents Shrek the Musical in the Ruhl
Fine Arts Center Friday and Saturday, March 11th
and 12th at 7pm and Sunday March 13th at 2pm.
Reserved Seating tickets are $10 and General Admission tickets are $8 and are on sale now in the
Cougar Corner. Don’t miss this opportunity to see
all your favorite fairy tales come to life on stage!
GMS Presidential Caucus 2016
by: Chloe Winters, Kyle Walker, Ian Clark, Noelle Molette, and Sean McConnell
What is a caucus? What does it have to do with electing Republican and
Democratic presidential candidates? We have certainly heard the word
on the news lately, but many of us probably are not familiar with it. A
caucus is a meeting of political party members to select candidates for
the upcoming election.
The first major caucus of any presidential election is held in Iowa, and
the 2016 Iowa caucus was held recently. The results for the Iowa caucus
showed that the top Republican candidate was Ted Cruz, while the Democratic race was much closer, with a narrow victory by Hilary Clinton
over Bernie Sanders. Three more caucuses and primaries in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada will lead the candidates to Super Tuesday, March 1, 2016, where primaries will be held across the country to
determine the official presidential nominees for both parties.
The Cougar Chronicle staff created a caucus of its own for Goodpasture 7th and 8th graders with Republicans Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and
Marco Rubio running against Democrats Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders,
and Martin O’Malley. The overall results of the unofficial Goodpasture
UMS caucus were . . . (drum roll, please!):
SNOWPACOLYPSE!
The Cougar Chronicle staff loved our snow days! Each staff member composed a poem about
the snow! Here is a compilation of some of the best lines from their work!
Enjoy!
Snow! Snow! Snow!
And off to school we do not go!
Oh, how GCS students love️ the snow!
Wintertime is in the air –
Snow is falling everywhere –
What about school? We don’t care!
The snow is pretty for a day –
And all the children come out to play –
They make the pretty snow go away.
Snowball fights, and sledding down hills—
Falling off the sled, taking some spills—
The snow brings us so many thrills!
Yummy cookies and hot cocoa –
They make us go loco!
Why does the snow ever have to go?
A blanket of snow covering the lawn –
All we do is watch NetFlix and yawn –
And sleep all night – from dusk til dawn!
Waiting and watching for the Snowbird to fly—
If we have to go back to school, We’ll sit down and cry!
But alas, we will – So long, snow.
Goodbye!
Total Votes for Republicans110 Winner: Donald Trump
Total Votes for Democrats 30 Winner: TIED – Hilary Clinton (15)
Bernie Sanders (15)
8 Will our election reflect the voters of the nation? Stay tuned!
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Coming Up Next...
in The Cougar Chronicle
1. Basketball Re-cap
2. Spring Break Fun
3. Student Feature: Ethan Lyle
4. Student Feature: Austin Applegate
5. Washington, D. C. Trip
6. 7th and 8th Grade Banquet
7. Teacher Feature: Mrs. Cao
8. Teacher Feature: Mrs. Bass
9. Soccer!
10. Baseball
11. Softball
12. A Day in the Life of Mrs. Temple
13. And much more!
Stay tuned!
The Winter 2016 Staff of The Cougar Chronicle
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