The Comic Club (formerly known as Cartoon Club) met during Advisory with the goal of each member creating his/her own comic to put into a book.  Each member will receive a book, and several copies will be available in the media center for students to read.  The media center has copies of all the clubs’ books from over the years.

Members this year were Toni Adeagbo, Joey Behnke, Ayush Bhattacharyya, Marlee Herring, Maddyn Hutchins, Jolee Powers, Jordyn Rittenberg, Manuel Ruiz, Aleyah Smith, Alex Snowden, and Jazmine Topete.

Students explored all areas of creating a comic:  character development, facial expressions, writing with attention to the beginning, middle, and end, panel arrangements, use of text, and more.  The group used the media center white board to work on sequencing of ideas and also used comic story starters with the first panel in place to which they added a second panel and then passed their pages around the table with each student adding to the story.

The Comic Club originated as a part of media specialist Mrs. Webb’s Lilly Teacher Creativity Grant in 2015.  The grant allowed her to attend workshops at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont during the summer.  While there, she created her own book and worked on activities for her students.

On Dec. 11, 2021, the HCMS Jazz Band traveled to the Bloomington Jazz Festival. Students performed for a panel of judges from the IU Jacobs School of Music and also received a clinic with one of the jazz professors from IU.

Did you ever want to throw a pie at a teacher?  The kids at Honey Creek got that chance on Nov. 23rd at an assembly at the end of the day.  Students bought a chance to “pie a teacher” for $1.00.  The fundraiser ended up collecting around $100.00 for student activities.

Among the teachers representing different teaching areas, those with top money collected were Mrs. Teri Bennett, Mr. Paul Bennett, and Mrs. Melissa Hopper who graciously agreed to be “pied”!

When students’ names were drawn, Jena Gormong, Chloe Dawson, and Korbin Gifford received the honor of pie-ing their teachers.

The event ended with a mother/son pie fight between Mrs. Bennett and Mr. Paul Bennett.

8th grade science teacher, Brittany Vaughn became a bride recently!  “I married my high school sweetheart, Caleb Hamblen on November 20th,” she reported. “Our wedding took place at Clayshire Castle, where we first began dating after a high school choir performance.  All the nerves melted when we walked into the venue we were so familiar with from before. We are so thankful for the outpouring of love we have received and are excited to spend the rest of our lives together!”

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Mrs. April Schoffstall’s class sponsored “Hats for Tots” for the Toys for Tots program.  The class members visited all advisories to collect new toys donated for area children.  In return, those donating received a bracelet and permission to wear a hat on three Fridays in November.  The class ended up with over 100 toys to make many children happier at Christmas.

Honey Creek media specialist, Mrs. Karen Webb, was honored to be chosen as the recipient of the Indiana Library Federation’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her years of service to students and staffs.  Over a 40 year career, she has developed curriculum and lessons, served on local and state committees including the state Young Hoosier Book Award and Firefly Early Literacy Award, conducted presentations at conferences, area schools, and colleges, worked with students on international, state, and regional award winning media fair projects, started a news program at an area elementary school, and brought the Honey Creek student produced daily news program, WBTV, from an analog production to live streaming.

In spite of social distancing and safety precautions, Honey Creek Middle School was able to honor our veterans through its student-led news program, WBTV.  The program, broadcast on Wed., Nov. 10th to all classrooms and school offices, featured the Pledge of Allegiance done in sign language by Breonna Sieples, the national anthem sung a capella by Anneke Donker, a speech by Student Council President Taylor Gray, and a reading of “In Flanders Fields” by Student Council Vice President Kennidy Dillion followed by a video presenting the story of former Honey Creek and Terre Haute South student Dale Griffin as told by his father, Gene Griffin.  The video, created by media specialist Mrs. Webb, also included photos of American servicemen and women submitted by Honey Creek students and staff.

Mrs. Rector’s 8th grade Advisory class was the winner of the Student Council Pumpkin Decorating Contest!  Their entry was “Bob Ross” earning them a treat!

Mr. Speth’s 6th grade Advisory class came in second with “It”, and Mrs. Lee’s 8th grade Advisory class earned third place with “Popcorn on a Silver Platter”.

Congratulations to all of our creative winners!

Art students at Honey Creek Middle School use a lot of  colored pencils in our art projects. Unfortunately, broken or hard to sharpen colored pencils have been regularly tossed in the trash. In hopes of teaching her students about upcycling school supplies, art teacher, Mrs. Sarah Cleveland, decided to find a creative way to repurpose the colored pencils. For the last three school years, students donated the colored pencils that would otherwise have been in the trash. At the end of last school year, Mrs. Cleveland felt that she had enough to begin the Honey Creek Bee design. Students were excited to see their donations turn into art and now have a better understanding of the beauty of upcycling.