Grade six. The year that you go from being the oldest, big kids of junior school, to the little babies of middle school. Middle School. Last summer, it seemed like the two scariest words ever. However, I quickly learned that all those stereotypes that “Middle School is the Worst Years of my Life” kind of thing is all a lie. This year was actually one of my best years at school I have ever had. In this post, I will be writing about the highlights of this year.

The first day of school. The day when all my questions I had formed over the summer about this new school were answered. Who are my teachers? What are lockers like? Who is in my homeroom? What happens if you are late to a class? I was very curious, but at the same time more nervous than I every have been. When I took my first step out the car door, and into the pool of uneasy grade sixes, I felt a sensation of home. These are my friends, it will be okay. Then, the WEB leaders showed up. WEB stands for Where Everybody Belongs. Over the course of the year, a group of Grade Eights WEB leaders helped us “Weblings” or “Sixies” feel more welcome. That first day we spent with them, learning our ways around the new campus. That day was the day I first step foot into a place that seemed foreign to me, but now feels like home.

Track. I have always loved to run, but never have taken it seriously, as in joining a track club or train every day. I have always known I am good at running, but never knew I was good enough to come in the top three for every race I ran, qualify for the Island Championships for every event I did, and break two Island records. The events I ran in for the qualifiers were the 400m, 1200m, 800m, and 100m. Overall in the qualifiers, I came first in the 800m, second in the 1200m, third in the 100m, and first in the 400m. Sadly, we were only allowed to choose three events to participate in.  I chose the 400m, 1200m, and the 800m.  Finally, after restless nights, The Island Championships came.  The 1200m race. This is my favourite race.  I ended up winning that race by 50m and broke the record by eight seconds. Next race, the 800m.  I won that one as well. After a lunch break, I had my 400m race. A short one lapper that most people can’t quite sprint the whole way, but I can. I won that race by 100m. This years track season was quite the accomplishment for me, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my fantastic coach and teacher, Mrs. McQueen.

They always make the students choose a favourite class and teacher at the end of each term in our “Student Survey”. Every single time I chose the same teacher. My Humanities teacher, Mrs. Lee. I don’t exactly know why I like her so much, but she treats us as friends as much as she treats us as students. She always wants our opinion on issues in the world, or even in our classroom. I enjoyed every millisecond I spent in that classroom, even when we were getting scolded for talking when we weren’t supposed to. This is why Mrs. Lee was my favourite teacher this year.

The Wizard of Oz was quite the experience for me this year. I have performed before, such as the opera last year, but this was a whole lot different as there were only 40 kids in the Opera, and over 250 in the musical. If you want to read more about The Wizard of Oz, click here.

This post was pretty difficult to write, as this past year has been really interesting. I can’t wait for Grade Seven!