If you rode down the streets of Downtown Rock Hill, you might have seen some of the banners drawn by four Wildcats.  Joshua McClure, Cooper Lane, Raseac Myles, and Ally Ferguson, all 7th graders, entered designs for the Arts Council of York County Banner Project. According to the Arts Council, this project creates colorful lamppost banners, designed and painted by York County students, highlighting the imaginations and creativity of the youth across York County.

This was the 8th year of the project, and the theme was The Civil Rights Movement. All schools were open to enter this competition. Mrs. Copley, Saluda Trail’s art teacher, said all of the students in her art classes were eligible to enter this contest. “The judges looked for the idea behind the art and also how the art piece related to the theme,” said Copley.

Cooper Lane is a 7th grader whose art work was selected. “It feels good knowing that I did just enough to be one of the winners,” said Cooper. The young artist said the inspiration behind his work was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Joshua McClure was another 7th grade student whose art was chosen. His drawing was of Malcolm X, a social leader of the Civil Rights Movement. “I figured everyone would do somebody like Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks so that’s why I decided to do Malcolm X,” McClure said.  “The hardest part about his drawing was drawing the face of Malcolm X.”

Raseac Myles was also proud to have his work selected. Myles’ art was a tribute to  The Friendship Nine.The Friendship Nine was a group of African American men who went to jail after staging a sit-in at a segregated McCrory’s lunch counter in Rock Hill, South Carolina in 1961. Myles said he loves drawing in his free time. “I started drawing from watching the cartoon Dora,” he said. “Drawing runs in the family.”

Ally Ferguson took a totally different approach to her project.  Instead of images, her entire project was full of words. Ferguson included words that are associated with Civil Rights. The banners were hung in Clover, Fort Mill, Tega Cay, Rock Hill, and York from February 20 – March 15, 2015.

Joshua McClure shows off his banner depicting Malcolm X.

From Troops to Teaching. That’s just what Mrs. Lengel, one of the newest teachers at The Trail did. Lengel, is the science teacher on Team 7-3. Before moving into the classroom, she served in the Air Force. “I was on active duty for 5 years and in the active Reserve for 10 more years,”Lengel said. “When I separated from the military I was a Lieutenant Colonel.”

Lengel said she is relishing her new job assignment. “The transition into the classroom has been great and I am thoroughly enjoying it,” she said.

Lengel added that what she enjoys most about teaching is sharing her excitement for teaching with her students. Her advice to her students is, “Do your best every day.” Her motto is, “Attitude is everything.”

When Miss Lengel is not busy with school work, she enjoys reading and watching her girls, Madi and Lizi, dance in competitions.

Like the military, Lengel found that teaching takes hard work and dedication.

“The greatest misconception about teachers is that they work from 8:30 to 3:45,” Lengel said.

This year STMS cheerleaders took their Wildcat spirit up a level. Not only did they show their spirit on the side lines, cheering on the players, they competed in 2 cheer competitions, participated Cheer4Children, and was recently awarded a $500 community service grant.

“We are extremely proud of our girls this year,” said Coach Dantzler.” We wanted to take our cheer program up a level and we believe we did just that.”

This was the first time STMS cheerleaders competed in a major competition in more than six years. In their 1st competition of the season, the wildcat cheerleaders placed third. That competition was held in October at Northwestern High School. The cheerleaders went up against Columbia’s Dutch Fork Middle School and Gaffney’s Granard Middle School. Dutch Fork placed first and Granard came in second. Saluda Trail missed out on second place by 8 points. Although they didn’t do as well as they wanted at the first completion, Lexi Haggerty, a 7^th grade cheerleader said wasn’t extremely disappointed. “I think we did well considering we didn’t have our own mats to practice on,” said Haggerty about her first completion. “I felt good about it, but our stunts didn’t go all the way up.”

Coach Dantzler agreed that the performance wasn’t bad for their first time.“When we looked at our judges sheets, we knew what we had to work on,” said Coach Dantzler. “We knew it wouldn’t take much for us to improve. Coach White analyzed the comments and made some significant changes to our routine. We were determined that by the next time we competed we were going in for the win.”

The coaches said they told the girls that they had what it took to bring back the trophy. The next week the cheerleaders competed at Rock Hill High School. They were up against Granard again and two new teams – Cheraw’s Long Middle School and Lancaster’s South Middle School. Coach White said their hard work paid off, landing them first place.  “The girls worked extremely hard on every aspect of their cheer routine from stunting to tumbling,” said Coach White. “These ladies did a super job!”

The STMS cheerleaders didn’t stop showing their spirit on the competition mats. They participated in the annual Cheer4Children community service event that was held Nov. 8^th at South Pointe and were a big hit. They also showed their Wildcat spirit by cheering on the football players at each game.

“I’m glad that we were able to show spirit for our team,” said Carly Spikes, one of the 8^th grade cheer captains.

After an outstanding football season, Coach White said the cheerleaders have just recently switched gears to basketball season with new cheers, stunts, and routines.

One of the most exciting things the coaches said they are looking forward to is their new community service project which will be made possible through the Rock Hill Youth Council. The Rock Hill Youth Council awarded STMS cheerleaders with a $500 grant for the project. The Youth Council Grant is a program that encourages, trains, and provides financial supports to young people who are interested in helping their community. The STMS cheerleaders are using their grant to create crafts & memories with local senior citizens. “Our cheerleaders have adopted the senior citizens in Willowbook Crossing Seniors Residence,” said Coach White. “The residences there have a craft room that only consists of a few jigsaw puzzles. The Cheerleaders will be teaching them some new crafts!”

Spikes, who presented the grant proposal to the council on behalf of the cheerleaders, said the cheerleaders need to do more community services projects. “We were the first girls from Saluda Trail to earn a grant from the Youth Council,” Spikes said.

The coaches said Spikes represented STMS well. “Carly did an outstanding job,” said Coach White. “I hope this will be a memorable year for the ladies, as they have showed off their talents and account for all their hard work.”

STMS cheerleaders enjoyed participating in Cheer4Children.

This year you can say bye-bye to all of your favorite canteen snacks we had last year. No more rice crispy treats, high-fat chips, Hot Fries, full-calorie soft drinks or Slim Jims.

When you go to the canteen you will no longer find any of those fatty foods and sugary beverages because they are not allowed to be sold.

The new guidelines are a part the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Smart Snacks in School nutrition standards, created as a result of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The rules, required under a child nutrition law passed by Congress ,are part of the government’s effort to combat childhood obesity.

So this year you will find only find healthy snacks such as cereal bars, whole grain Poptarts and oven baked chips. The only drink you will find is water.

Alyssa Sruggs, a 7th grader, is upset about the new rules.

“I used to buy soda and now I can’t so I don’t like it,” said Scruggs who added that there is very little variety now in the canteen.

“The only reason that I used to eat at school was because of  the canteen,” said Rachel Pierce, an 8th grader. “Now I just bring my own lunch.”

Some kids who are upset about the changes are even sounding off on Twitter via a new hash tag: #BringBackOurSnacks.

Emily Watson, however, doesn’t really mind the changes.

“I don’t want the old food back because it is bad for you,” said Watson who doesn’t visit the canteen often.

One principle of the new rules is not just to cut down on unhealthy foods but to increase the number of healthier foods sold.

Aaliyah Robinson, a 7th grader, likes the changes.

“It’s  better and It’s healthier,” said Robinson. “I admit I miss the sodas, especially Sprite.”

Robinson said her favorite snack this year is the strawberry yogurt Cheez-its.

Annah Chisholm, a 7th grader, said she also misses sodas. ” I used to buy Coke and Sprite,” she said.

Chisholm, who also misses  Slim Jims,  said when she first visited the canteen she was devastated.

” I was like oh my gah!” she said.

Vicki Davenport, who manages the canteen, said she sees both pros and cons to the new regulations.

Davenport said kids are making healthy choices, however, the lines have changed drastically since last year. “It has gone down,” she said.

Aaliyah Robinson, a 7th grader, said although she misses some of the snacks that were in canteen last year, she likes the new strawberry yogurt Cheez-its that are now being sold.

While their ultimate goal is to train for a 5K-run, Girls on Track offers Saluda Trail Middle School students much more than that.

Girls on Track is the middle school program for Girls on the Run. It is designed especially for middle school girls. Currently, there are 13 girls who are a part of Saluda Trail’s program which focuses on enrichment, social development and friendship. It is open to girls in the 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grades.

Emma Watson, a 7^th grader who participates in Girls on Track, said she enjoys being a part of the group. She said Ms. McAndrews, one of the group’s three sponsors, invited her to participate.

“The reason I joined was to get more active,” said Watson who recommends it to other girls. “I wanted to get healthier.” Watson said what she gets out of Girls on Track is “feeling good after you do something good.”

Gracie Hilton, a 6th grader also enjoys Girls on Track.

” I like that I can be who I really am when I am there,” Hilton said.

This is the 3^rd season of Girls on Track at Saluda Trail. A new season will begin in January.

“My favorite part of Girls on Track is hanging out with the girls, and getting to know them and seeing how accomplished they are after the 5K,” said Ms. McAndrews.

Ms. McAndrews said she decided to sponsor Girls on Track because she wanted a fun place for girls to talk and exercise.

The girls meet twice a week after school and participate in a lot of fun activities like games, discussions, and a community service project. Running is incorporated into the activities. While there is a cost involved, Ms. McAndrews said there are scholarships available.

Ms. McAndrews said there are a lot of benefits to being involved in Girls on Track. “They become stronger women and realize they can accomplish anything they put their mind to.”

To find out more about Girls on Track, see Ms. McAndrews, Ms. Carter or Ms. Sechrist.

The excitement and the nervousness in Mrs. DePinto’s voice was very noticeable as she and Mr. Moton were preparing to take Saluda Trail’s Ice Bucket Challenge. Those sounds turned into a ” high pitched squeal ” soon after the large tub  of ice was dumped over their heads.

Mrs. DePinto jumped up and ran.

“It was cold,” said Mrs. DePinto. “Right before the ice water was dumped, I was getting nervous as I saw the volleyball players fill the tub with lots of ice, then water,” she added. “I knew it was going to be cold, but I had no idea how bad it would be.”

Mr. Moton, however, barely budged.

“The water was not cold to me, because I am an athlete,” Mr. Moton said.

Mrs. DePinto and Mr. Moton were among several STMS teachers and staff members who completed the challenge – which involved people getting doused with buckets of ice water, creating a video and challenging others to do the same. Students were able to vote on those they wanted to accept the challenge and donated money for the ALS. Often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain.

Coach Margie Clark, a P.E  teacher at STMS, organized the challenge which promoted the awareness of the disease and encourages donations to research.  Saluda Trail raised $400 for the cause.

“I thought this was a great way to raise money for ALS,” said Coach Clark. “I feel it is my responsibility as a parent, a teacher, a Christian and a citizen to always be looking for better ways that I can help the environment and world I live in a better place for everyone.”

Coach Clark said the challenge was dear to hear heart. “ALS is what my father died from, and I could possibly have the gene,” Coach Clark said.

The ALS challenge began sweeping the nation during the summer. Peter Frates, a former Boston College baseball player who was diagnosed with ALS in 2012 is credited as the creator of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Millions of dollars have been donated. People everywhere seem to have been doing it including NFL and MLB teams, other schools, parents and even students.

“This was a fun and exciting way to raise money for ALS,” said Gavin Bennett 8^th grader at Saluda Trail Middle School.

Mrs. DePinto agreed.

“It was all for a great cause, and I am glad I could help in a small way,” she said.

Felt like the pictures you took weren’t good enough? Wrinkled shirt, baggy eyes and a crooked smile? Well, on Tuesday November 18^th you have the chance to get your pictures retaken! If you didn’t come to school on the original picture day, then you can get them taken tomorrow also.  Hopefully you’ll get at good night’s rest. Be sure to put your hair in a nice and pretty hair style, bring your favorite shirt and your biggest smile so your picture comes out great!