The Eagle Eye
JUST A SMALL SCHOOL PAPER
WELLINGTON MIDDLE SCHOOL
New Blood at WMS
Energy Production
at WMS
By: Dillon Terry
Have you ever
noticed the odd pin-wheel
looking tower in the
Wellington Middle School
field? Well it’s actually our
very own energy producing
wind turbine. During the
school year so far, the
turbine has produced over
19 kWh of energy. That’s
enough to power 292
desktop computers for an
hour. The most energy
we’ve produced on a windy
day is 5 kWh. Mrs.
Holman’s advisory class
records all of the data. You
can find all of this data on
the sidewall of the science
hallway just off of the
rotunda. For any additional
information, just check in
with Mrs. Holman, she can
most likely answer any of
your questions.
By: Grace Knox
Many teachers who are at Wellington have been teaching for here
for a long time. But this year, we have some new blood. This is the first
year at WMS for Mrs. Fuller, Ms. Layfield, Mrs. Armon, Mrs. Kelly, Mr.
Lamoreaux, Mrs. Genson, Mrs. Rodriguez, Mr. Grosso, Ms. Hogan, Ms.
Carlson, Mr. James, and Mrs. French. New teachers seem to be adjusting to
WMS well. Students and teachers have tried their best to welcome them.
Mrs. Fuller, in particular, loves Wellington Middle School. She
teaches eighth grade English, sixth grade Drama, and is an eighth grade
advisory teacher. Mrs. Fuller went to middle school here, back in the late
1990’s. “It was great to come back to the middle school where I was a
student,” she said. The first time she walked into the school this year, Mrs.
Fuller thought that it was really interesting to see how the school has
changed and grown since she was a student here. “A lot of things are still
the same, it’s still a great place,and it’s neat to see how much it’s grown.
With the additions of the outside classrooms, Wellington is a bigger place
and a great place still.” Mrs. Fuller really likes the small community that
WMS is, “it’s not like a Fort Collins school where it’s just a part of the
community.” It’s great to have a veteran back at Wellington this year.
Our new teachers were brought onto the staff this summer to
accommodate the growing population of Wellington Middle School. New
teachers at Wellington have been welcomed and are great additions to the
WMS family.
Our new teachers at Wellington Middle School have been adjusting
very well this year. Already, they have caught on to our routines.
Wellington students are glad to have new faces and have been happy to
help our new teachers whenever they need it. We are glad to have new
teachers and hope they feel welcome at our school.
WMS Celebrates Being Drug Free with Spirit Week
By: Sophia Hess
At Wellington Middle School something spectacular happens the week on Halloween, called Spirit
Week! Spirit week is one of the most exciting weeks of school.
Spirit week is when you dress up crazy on every day of the week. Also we have certain themes for
each day, in the past we have had nerd day, 80’s day, or even camouflage day! Remember, you have to
stay in dress code so you can’t wear shorts shorter than you finger tips, or clothes with holes in them, or
tank tops, and clothing that is not for school.
Why do we have spirit week? The main reason is that it is Red Ribbon Week. Red Ribbon Week is
designed to inform students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, and it challenges students to be drug
and alcohol free. Listen to the announcements for more information.
Officials Visit WMS
By: Christian Lehmann
On Wednesday September 17, Wellington Middle School was selected for the green strides tour.
Officials came from Washington DC and other departments to tour our school. Josh Lurkins and Lexi Eckes
started off with talking about the wind turbine. They also showed the school garden and the outdoor learning
center. They discussed eco plans for the school and a new STEM (Science Technology Engineering and
Math) lab. The STEM lab would cost around one million dollars. The officials who toured our school came
so other schools can take small steps to become green.
More than Just a Place to Check out Books
By: Christian Lehmann
The Wellington Middle
School library is located in the
North East side of the school.
Even though the library is on the
side of the school, you can say it
is the heart of the building. This
is because it is used by the
students and staff before, during
and after school.
To begin with, the library
is used by students for research,
writing papers for classes,
finishing up homework, doing
book talks, playing chess or
other thinking games such as
baffler puzzles. That you can
play before school hours.
Equipment such as
cameras and camcorders can be
used for projects.
All of the equipment can be
used for academic purposes.
The Wellington Middle
School library also can be used
as a meeting place for staff and
the library has a computer lab
for students. The WMS library’s
hours are 7:30am to 3:00pm.
The WMS library is run by Mrs.
Parks and Mrs. Swanson who
have some help by parent
volunteers. Mrs. Swanson is the
librarian media specialist and
media teacher with 27 years of
teaching experience on her side.
Mrs. Swanson has been working
at the WMS library for 15 years.
Mrs. Swanson said her job was
to help with class research and
work alongside other teachers,
she also has students come to the
library to research class assignments
in the computer lab. In an Interview
with Mrs. Swanson, she said she
became a librarian because, “It
combined two of my loves,
Literature and writing and with my
tech side.”
In the Wellington middle
school library there are tons of
different books. Mrs. Swanson
commented, “There was a big surge
in about the last six years in fantasy.
The popular series are the
Fablehaven series, the Magic series,
Dragon series and The Last
Apprentice.” Mrs. Swanson also
said, “I love that kids can come in
and can use our resources and let me
get them hooked on a good book.”
Compost 101
By: Malia Baratta
Have you ever wondered, “Is the way I sort my garbage in the lunch room important?” Well fear no
more because I have all the answers to that questions.
What goes in the compost?
What goes in recycling?
What goes in trash?
 Food
 Paper
 Plastic bags
 Wax Paper
 Aluminum Cans
 Chip Bags
 Dirty Cardboard
 Plastic Bottles
 Fruit Cup Lids
 Milk liquid
 Fruit Cups
 Paper wrappers
 Empty Milk Containers
Lead Your own Conference
By Ariana Faulkner
Conferences are coming up soon, are you nervous? I
wouldn’t be. WMS hosts student-lead conferences.
It’s a very easy process. As you all have heard from
your advisory, you gather your best quality work
from each class. Choose work that you are proud of.
You want your parents to be proud, but your
happiness is your number one priority.
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Okay, so it’s the night of the conference.
You’re feeling pretty confident. You and your
parent or parents go to the cafeteria. There is a
portfolio with your name on it in a bin with all the
other kids from advisory. You sit wherever you
want. You show your parent(s) your work with an
explanation why it’s your best piece of work. If
they have questions then you answer their
questions or you go to the teacher it applies to and
ask them.
See you on October 23rd for conferences.
Stay After the Bell
By: Stryder Kettner
Are you falling behind and getting flustered with homework? If so, check out Eagle After Hours
from 3-5 pm. You can grab a snack, then choose a class to attend. There is a bus at 5 o’clock to take you
home. How about you go to after hours for help. It is ideal for kids missing a bunch of homework to go
and get help.
After hours is for you to catch up on homework. Also, it has lots of fun activities, such as
dodgeball in the gym, cooking, arts and crafts, MASH (which stands for music after school help), and
teachers are here to help too.
4: Mrs. Holman’s least favorite thing about
teaching is the politics based around it.
5: Her favorite movie at the time is the Lego
Movie, but her all-time favorite is the Goonies.
6: Her favorite color is yellow.
7: She loves the Lord of the Rings series, and has
read it more than 5 times. (The entire series!)
8: Her favorite topic in science is everything,
“Because science is fun!”
9: One subject that she could teach besides science
is math; which she has already taught before.
10: Mrs. Holman says that it is “exciting” to be a
teacher.
11: The highlight of her teaching days is when her
students say that science is fun.
12: Her motivation to come to work every day is to
inspire her students and make a lasting difference
in the world.
13: Things she does besides teaching are running,
rafting, hiking, and more.
14: One example of a scientific mess-up that
happened to Mrs. Holman is that she electrocuted
herself while teaching a class.
15: While although she would not share all of the
pranks that she pulled while here at Wellington
Middle School, she did share that she took all of the
chairs out of Mrs. Jordan’s room.
Even though almost everyone at WMS
knows about the funny and talented science teacher
Mrs. Holman, there is more to her than just what
she teaches in class.
15 Things you didn’t know
about Mrs. Holman
By: Devin Terry
If you go to Wellington Middle School, and
you have walked down the Science Hallway, you
most likely know about Mrs. Holman. Mrs.
Holman is an exceptional science teacher with an
exceptional personality; as most of her students
already know. However what most people don’t
know about Mrs. Holman is that aside from her
teaching life she also has a very unique and
hilarious personal life as well.
As she was growing up, Mrs. Holman knew
that she was very eco-friendly, and she wanted to
help teach and inspire others to do the same. Her
next task was teaching an AP Physics class which
also prepared her for her current position. Mrs.
Holman has also taught 7th grade math, health, and
an SAT prep class.
Mrs. Holman was very open to the idea of a
quick interview based strictly about her life, and
she was courteous to answer, in detail, the 15
questions I had to ask her about herself….
1: Mrs. Holman is inspired by her students and the
world around her.
2: Mrs. Holman feels uninspired by trash, waste,
and pollution.
3: Mrs. Holman’s favorite thing about teaching is
the creative process.
School Mascot
By: Josh Lurkins
Who is that prideful hero who soared high above the clouds? Well, it’s the Wellington eagle of
course. Our mascot here is a respected icon who shares many traits with the school.
The Wellington eagle was adopted from the old high school that used to be here. We were not
informed much about the mascot, because it’s history was lost but, we do know that it was a great choice.
Jessie Harrel in 8th grade says that Wellington is like a solitary community so it fits in awesomely
with the eagle. There have been many great traits associated with our mascot such as freedom, strength,
and fearlessness. Mrs. Bradshaw, the Vice Principal, says, “Our school gives a lot of freedom to the
students.” That is one unique aspect to our school.
Next time you see that glorious creature of beauty, remember that the eagle and humans are both
at the top of the food chain.
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The Eagle Eye
Sports
Softball Season Success
By: Jessie Harrell
This Wellington Middle School softball
season was a success. The coaches and players all
worked hard and it paid off. The season began
two weeks after school started. The varsity team
has won seven games and lost three games. The
junior varsity team has won seven and lost only
one game. Both the varsity and junior varsity
teams worked hard every game and learned to
work together as a team.
The girls practiced hard every day after
school to get better at the sport. In fact, all of the
junior varsity girls that were surveyed said they
played excellently this season. 75% of the varsity
girls that were surveyed said they played really
well, and 25% said they did excellent. Overall,
the team knows that they’ve had a spectacular
season.
Everyone is passionate about something,
and it’s clear to see that softball is what these girls
are passionate about. They all play because they
love the game, and they find it fun and enjoyable.
83% of the girls all thought they played really
well and only 17% thought they just did well. No
one thought they did a bad job or even an OK job.
That means that the coaches must have done an
amazing job at coaching and making sure the girls
knew how good of a job they did.
At our small school, it’s hard to find
athletes, but these girls are an exception. They all
practiced hard, worked hard, and tried their
hardest in games and in practice. The girls on the
softball team are obviously true athletes. They’ve
beat tough teams and even though they’ve had
some hard losses, they don’t give up. That’s what
makes them true athletes.
Dogs can’t catch this one
By: Josh Lurkins
Tennis was a great lot of fun this year WMS,
even though they only tied once. The tennis team is
still very proud because they all tried hard and had
so much fun. The tennis team consisted of these
great athletes: Eva Meyer, Alexis Chismar, Joshua
Lurkins, Sarah Keiss, Jordan Piesner, Garret Brent,
Regan Hodston, Kylie Auch , Kelly Seal ,and Brylee
Brumboloe. Ms.Berkner was said to be a great coach
who had a perfect mix of fun and seriosness. She
always made sure that her team was ready by
creating many vigorous warmups. Some of them
included lunges, grape vine, running, and high
4
knees. All in all, the Tennis team was a success!
Cross-Country: Across the County
By: Sierra Jamison
Saturday the 27th of September in Fort Collins, our
Wellington cross country students met up for the annual cross
country meet. There were many schools participating in the meet.
The Wellington Cross Country Team got an amazing second place
win!
The nervousness floating around the bus on the way to the
meet didn’t even compare to the way they ran. Every single person
on the cross country team has worked extremely hard and ran even
harder. The WMS team, placed second out of many schools. It was
one amazing turn out. 8th grader Destiny Watson responded with,
“Our team did very well!” This was the best meet of the season. The
team has had practices every day after school from 3:45-4:30 for
weeks. This was a very well deserved win for Wellington Middle School.
The championship meet on Saturday, October 11th was the last meet of the season. It seems like the
cross country season went by so fast. They have had 6 meets in all and have done pretty well on all of them.
Football, is there any hope left?
By: Calvin Skelton
The football season for 8th grade started off
rough. The first game against CLP middle school
wasn’t our best. The first play of their drive the
Pirates scored around the outside. That was the
beginning of the end of the game against CLP. Our
defense played the best they could against the fast
running back that lead CLP in their win over the
Eagles.
The second game, against Lincoln Middle
School was a much better game for the Eagles. We
started out strong, but the Lincoln team had the edge.
They scored on quick runs up the middle that proved
too much for our defense.
Boltz, however, wouldn’t be the team we beat
on that Tuesday. As we went up to the line, we
realized just how big the Boltz defense was. Our
running game never got going. The passing game
was our only option. It was hard to keep them back
when they ran around the edge. It was another hard
loss to Boltz.
Our 4th game was against Webber. Our
offense started off first like we always do. Our first
drive didn’t get many yards. We were forced to punt,
and then it was a defensive game. We held up strong
at first, then slowly they began to wear us down with
constant runs up the middle by their star fullback.
The kicker kicked it a good 40 yards, and Rudy
Medina went to pick it up. He ran around the edge
toward our sideline. He broke one tackle after
another, and then with a final key block by Brayden
Brewster, he was gone.
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Rudy had returned his first kick of the season. That
was the highlight of the game as we took another
hard loss against Webber.
Our 5th game was Lesher. Our strong
defense held them on their first attempt at scoring.
Our offense struggled to move down the field when
Lesher’s fierce defense held them back. Our most
recent games were Blevins and Preston. It was an
exciting game against Blevins. They put up the first
points on us and in the 2nd quarter we were losing
14 nothing. Then once again Rudy Medina ran it
around a defender. Sadly after a good 1st half,
Blevins went on to beat us 32-8. Preston was a
tough loss. We started strong and couldn’t keep the
lead. Preston beat the Eagles 28-8.
The Eagle Eye
Entertainment
How well do you know your jokes
Q1. What did the bully have for lunch?
Q2. I usually wear a yellow coat. I usually have a black tip and wherever I go I make marks. What am I?
Q3. Why was the broom late for school?
Q4. Why are school cafeteria workers cruel?
Q5. What can you call a math teacher?
Words of the day
crossword puzzle
Switching Faces
Word Bank
ABBREVIATE
ABERRANT
ABSURD
ACQUISITION
ACROPHOBIA
ACROSTIC
BUREAU
COMPREHENSION
CONCIERGE
Joke Answers
A1. He had a knuckle sandwich!
A2. A pencil.
A3. He over swept.
A4. Because they batter fish, beat eggs,
and whip cream.
A5. A ruler.
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LOGORRHEA
MALADY
MALICIOUS
NEOLOGIST
PARAMETER
PERIMETER
POSEUR
PROLOGUE
THERMOMETER