National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence awarded by U.S. Dept. of Education

Middle School Participates in Spirit Week!

If you happened to walk around Pioneer's Middle School wing this week you would have noticed something a bit, well, different.In an attempt to, "increase school pride and spirit among the 5th to 8th grades", according to Mr. Benevenga, the Middle School participated in what we are calling, "Spirit Week."Spirit Week was a fun way to involve students in their grade and classroom communities. The students participated in such fun events as Wacky Wednesday, Dressed to Impress Day, Crazy Hat Day, Wear your Favorite Sport's Team Jersey and Dress like Twins Day."Students are having fun being creative and being silly so they are enjoying the opportunity to participate in each day's theme as well as the opportunity to compete with other grade levels. It is not just the students, but the teachers are having fun, also," said Ms. Kelly Ginart, ELA teacher for grades 5-8.In addition to participating by dressing up, there was another element to spirit week, Ms. Ginart explains. "Penny wars. Students are separated by their homerooms. The only coin of value is a penny. Whoever wins gets a pizza party and all the money will be donated to a local food pantry. How it works is that students put pennies in their own bucket to add their own points. One penny is one point. However, if a student from another class puts in money, that is extracted from their points. One student put a 10$ bill in Mr. Benevenga's bucket, so right now, his homeroom is down to like -10,000 points."We're looking forward to the announcement of the winning class and are so proud of our students for participating in a way that will benefit others less fortunate.