ELECTION COVERAGE
An interview with Co-Presidents Vanessa Weber & Allen Worthington
Interview by Ferdo
We have interviewed both of the Presidents this year. They have some pretty thorough plans about what they want to do for each grade level. In this article, you will see their goals and how they plan to achieve them.
Each grade level is getting a lot and the plans will have you surprised. They both have pretty much the same view on all the problems that we have given to them. They first want to raise money through fundraisers. One possible idea for a fundraiser is to get foster puppies and have students pay to play with them -- this will also promote puppy adoption as well. In addition, they are considering getting food trucks as fundraisers. With this money, they plan on arranging dances for all grades and adding fun field trips everyone in all grades can enjoy.
The presidents also want to open a suggestion box for things they should do during their year in office. They want the students’ ideas instead of just keeping all the ideas and choices to themselves.
When both the presidents were asked about why they ran, they said they wanted to see what the students wanted because of all the hard times due to the pandemic. In addition, they know that this year is crucial to all grades because of the fact that it is their first year back.
Both presidents were asked why they ran together. They think they have similar views, and they they think that they will get along during their year in office.
Both presidents feel that the masks are a good precaution for this year; however they feel like the students should get more mask breaks because of how annoying they can be sometimes.
Finally, the Presidents hope they can have a good year with the other fellow council members and make this year one that all the students at Peirce can remember!
An interview with Co-Treasurers Sean Dillon & Max Detwiler
Interview by Brandon Clark
The Herald recently sat down to briefly speak with Co-Treasurers, Sean Dillon and Max Detwiler, in order to talk about their vision for Peirce Middle School. Here is what they had to say about their goals as Co-Treasurers.
Hello PMS! I’m Brandon Clark, and I’m reporting on the Co-Treasurers of Peirce, Sean Dillon and Max Detwiler. Let's get started!
Peirce’s Co-Treasurers would like to help the school, have fundraisers and possibly get Homeroom Representatives back. (If you do not know what Homeroom Representatives are, I'll tell you! Homeroom Representatives serve to represent their homeroom in the Student Council.)
Exciting, right? Well, that’s not all! Max and Sean also want to have Number 2 pencil sales for the PSSA testing as well as movie nights for each grade. Because their goal is to do things that EVERYONE will enjoy, they plan on having polls to get students’ input.
You might be wondering what their campaign strategy was. Max and Sean said that they just wanted to get the campaign done and win. They believe that this year is full of promise! They are open to any suggestions from any and all students and will try to complete as many suggestions as possible. While in office, Max and Sean want to make Peirce even better. Finally, they want to make themselves better in the process.
With their enthusiasm and sense of caring, we feel confident they will achieve great things this year!
Thank you for your time, Max and Sean, Peirce Middle School’s Co-Treasurers. Go Chargers!
New Teachers at Peirce!
If you haven't noticed, there are some new faces around Peirce Middle School -- and we don't mean the sixth grade class! The Herald reporters, Ellie Boyle and Alyssa Tryniszewski, recently sat down to interview two new teachers at Peirce. Read on to learn more about our new staff!
MEet Ms. Costello
Interview by Alyssa Tryniszewski
Ms. Costello is a consumer studies teacher here at Peirce Middle School. Last year, she was a teacher at Fern Hill Elementary School. This is Ms. Costello’s first year at Peirce. She teaches in room A132, right at the bottom of the ramp down to the A-Pod. Stop by and say hello if you get the opportunity! And now, The Herald interviews Ms. Costello.
Reporter: Good afternoon Ms. Costello. How has your day been?
Ms. Costello: Wonderful!
Question 1: How has your time at Pierce started off?
“Very good. There is a lot to learn because it is different from elementary school.”
Question 2: Is teaching at Peirce more complicated than teaching at Fern Hill?
“Yes and no. Learning new stuff here has been challenging. I’m learning how to connect with older kids, which is different, and I’m getting used to the school because it is much bigger. It can be challenging to learn names since I have so many more students.”
Question 3: How long have you been teaching?
“This is year 15.”
Question 4: What has been your favorite part of working at Peirce so far?
“That’s hard. There are two things: One is meeting all of the students and two is getting to be creative and come up with ideas for my lessons.”
Question 5: What was your favorite class when you were in middle school?
“English”
Question 6: Have you had opportunities to connect with other new teachers?
“Not yet. It has been hard; we’ve all been trying to learn how to get used to the new school, but I'm hoping that soon I will be able to talk and get to know the new staff members.”
Question 7: With Halloween coming up, I need to ask: What is your favorite candy?
“Kit Kats”
Question 8: Lastly, what are you looking forward to this year at Peirce Middle School?
“I would say getting to know as many students as possible and creating a safe space for kids to come and enjoy learning in my room.”
Meet Mr. Hurley
Interview by Ellie Boyle
Peirce is chock-full of a wide variety of amazing and wonderful teachers and subs. There is always interesting stuff that you can learn about your educators. This article focuses on Mr. Hurley, a long term substitute covering all of the chorus classes. We hope that you get to learn a lot more about him!
Mr. Hurley was first asked about his experience with teaching...
Mr. Hurley has not been teaching for that long; this is his first year as a teacher, and he actually started his first year here at Peirce. He said that the most challenging part about being a new teacher was finding out how everything works, doesn’t work, and finding fun ways to teach class and get the content across. When asked what he loves most about teaching chorus, he answered with an “Everything!” Mr. Hurley loves sharing with Peirce students the experiences that he had with middle school music. He also enjoys being able to spark a love of music in kids. The thing that made Mr. Hurley want to be a chorus teacher was his middle school chorus teacher, Mrs. Rocky. About this teacher, Mr. Hurley shared, “...[S]he was an amazing music teacher. She inspired me to want to do the same things she did.”
Then, we questioned Mr. Hurley about other school related topics...
Mr. Hurley was asked what his favorite thing about Peirce Middle School was. He said that it was the students, how supportive they are, and “...how much energy and life and joy they bring into the school every day.” He said that his favorite middle school subject, other than chorus, was math class. Mr. Hurley said that he found it really fun. Then he was asked if he had set a goal for this year. His answer was: “To get better and improve every day that I teach… .” He is interested in learning ways to become a better teacher.
Finally, Mr. Hurley gave us a few fun facts about himself:
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His favorite Halloween candy is Take 5 bars.
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He has a black and white cat named Panda whom he adopted after she showed up at his back door. Panda’s favorite activity is sleeping.
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Mr. Hurley’s favorite animal is either the tiger or the turtle.
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He’s vegetarian, and he has been for his whole life.
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Mr. Hurley not only teaches music, but makes it as well. He’s not yet on Spotify, but maybe someday he will be!
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Peirce’s wonderful long term chorus substitute, Mr. Hurley!
