FALL SPORTS

6^th, 7^th, 8^th Grade Football:

The football program is an intramural program where players are divided into four teams each having a “heavy” and “light” team.  After six regular season games the teams are then seeded for a “Superbowl” and consolation game at Trojan Field.  Through the intramural program players will develop the skills and fundamentals necessary to compete at the high school level.

7^th and 8^th Grade Boys and Girls Soccer:

During the season, we focus on getting the players in good enough condition to play for a full game.  We work on fundamentals, such as passing the ball, shooting the ball, and dribbling the ball and making cuts. Practice is 3:30-6:00pm at the high school soccer field on Mondays-Fridays. Besides working on sports, we stress the importance of school work, team work, and making sure they make wise choices.

Soccer starts in mid-August and usually goes to the beginning of October.  JV usually has 8-10 games a year.

7^th and 8^th Grade Girls Tennis:

Our tennis program involves 7^th through 12^th grade students.  Each student is taught all the necessary skills along with rules and etiquette for tennis.  The Girls Season starts in the middle of August and runs until the middle of October.  Our practices and matches are held at Minnesota West Tennis courts (hiding behind the new YMCA).  Practices take place at the college and in summer run from 8am to noon.  When school starts the practices run from 3:30 to 5:15pm.  We are a part of a non-cut program, so everyone who comes out gets to play.

WINTER SPORTS

7^th and 8^th Grade Boys and Girls Basketball:

During the season, we focus on the fundamentals of basketball.  We do many drills that involve dribbling, passing, shooting, setting screens, and defense.  Practices are from 3:00-4:50 Monday through Thursday at WMS.  We also stress the importance of teamwork, sportsmanship, and hard work.

Basketball starts the end of November.  We play about 10-12 games throughout the season.  Half of them will be played at home and half will be played on the road.  We host a tournament at the end of January. 

7^th and 8^th Grade Wrestling:

The Worthington wrestling program is a seventh through twelfth grade program for any student who is willing to work hard, have some fun, and enjoys a challenge.  The program focuses on teaching the basic skills and rules of wrestling, and getting the athletes into physical condition for matches.   Sportsmanship, working as a team, and setting personal goals are also stressed in our program.

Practice begins on Monday, November 23 and run through the month of February.  Students ride the bus for practices which are held in the Worthington High School wrestling room from 3:25 to 5:30.

SPRING SPORTS

6 ^th,7^th and 8^th Grade Boys Baseball and Girls Softball:

Baseball and softball get started in April of 2010. The teams practice fielding, hitting, base running, and pitching.  Practices are from 3:00-4:50 Monday through Thursday at WMS.

We play 12-15 double header games, which consist of two games that are 5 innings long.  The 8^th grade participates in a Saturday tournament at the end of the year.  Teamwork and sportsmanship are held in high importance.  

6^th 7^th 8^th Grade Boys and Girls Track:

Track gets started in the spring.  The boys and girls ride the bus to practice at the high school track.  We introduce the athletes to running, hurdles, relays, and field events.  Practice is from 3:15-4:30 Monday through Thursday.  We have five track meets during the season.  One of them is our home meet.  All the athletes need to be picked up at the field house next to the high school track after practice and meets. 

7^th and 8^th Grade Boys Tennis:

   Our tennis program involves 7^th through 12^th grade students.  Each student is taught all the necessary skills along with rules and etiquette for tennis.  The Boys Season starts in the end of March and runs until the end of May (state is in June).  Our practices and matches are held at Minnesota West Tennis courts (hiding behind the new YMCA).  Practice runs from 3:30 to 5:15pm.  We are a part of a non-cut program, so everyone who comes out gets to play.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

6^th, 7^th and 8^th Grade Choral Ensembles:

The ensemble groups are another opportunity for our students to sing.  They are smaller groups than the choir and perform at our spring concert.  Each group learns a piece of music, which is either in 2 or 3 parts, choreographed, and students wear costumes.  Each grade has 2 ensemble groups, one for the ladies and one for the guys.  At times, we have also done an ensemble with a mix of both.  The ensembles meet once a week at 7:30 in the morning in the choir room.  The schedule is as follows:

Monday:  8^th grade ladies

Tuesday:  8^th grade guys

Wednesday:  7^th grade ladies

Thursday:  6^th grade ladies and guys (they split their time, one group comes at 7:30, the other at 7:45)

Friday:  7^th grade guys

8^th Grade Festival Singers:

This is an auditioned group for 8^th graders only.  Students wanting to be a part of the Festival Singers must try out with Mrs. Anderson.  These students will be representing our school at the Luverne Choir Festival in March and will be singing at our spring concert.  The group consists of 4 sopranos, 4 altos and 4 guys who learn 5 pieces chosen by the festival clinician to perform at the festival.  I am allowed to take 2 singers from each part but all 12 singers chosen sing at our spring concert.  Auditions take place in the fall of the year.

2009-2010 Worthington Middle School Bands (Grades 6, 7, 8):

The Worthington Middle School Bands rehearse during the school day, with an emphasis on tone, style and musicianship.  The 6-7-8 grade marching band participates in the King Turkey Day Parade (September 19) and performs at the Worthington Indoor Marching Show (November 5).  The bands also perform a Holiday Concert with the WMS Choirs and Orchestra (December 21), a Winter Band Concert (February 23) and at the “Band Bash” with the WHS Band and the Prairie Elementary Band.  Students may also participate in the Jazz Bands and Percussion Ensemble.

History Day:

This year the theme is innovation.  If your student enjoys history and likes to research, this is the activity for him/her.  During our season we meet twice a week from 3-5 to research, write our thesis, and put together our information.  Students can choose to complete exhibits, documentaries, performances, or even a research paper.  Our regional meet is in March and our state meet is sometime in April.  Dates have not yet been decided.  Our speaker will come October 21^st and we will begin the week after.  Come enjoy the fun!

Yearbook Staff (Grades 6, 7, 8):

The Yearbook Staff is in charge of designing the yearbook. Students who are interested can sign up to be on one of three committees:

1) Editors—Two representatives from each grade that help the Advisor with making sure pictures and pages are completed on time, proofreading the yearbook when it is finished, and helping put the final yearbook together. They may also need to help with the Photography and Design Committee, when needed.

2) Photography Committee—Students on this committee will take pictures of various school events. They will sign up for events to take pictures of. For example, they may sign up to take pictures of girl’s basketball and will need to attend one or two basketball games. The school provides a camera for the student to check out and use.

3) Design Committee—Students on this committee will design the pages that will appear in the yearbook. They will use the pictures taken by the Photography Committee and create a “scrapbook” of pictures for each event. Students will sign up for one or two pages to be in charge of creating and designing.

Meeting times:

The Editors and Design Committee will meet on Tuesdays after school from 3:00 to 4:00 (usually every other week). The Yearbook Advisor will put an announcement in the Student Bulletin the week before the meeting so that students know about the upcoming meeting.

The Photography Committee will also meet on Tuesdays but not as often as the Design Committee. They will meet to sign up for events to take pictures of. When the event is coming up, they need to see the Yearbook Advisor the day before or day of to check out the camera. They will need to return the camera immediately after use.

SADD=Students Against Destructive Decisions (Grades 6, 7, 8):

SADD's mission: To provide students with the best prevention tools possible to deal with the issues of underage drinking, other drug use, impaired driving and other destructive decisions

At the WMS we focus on the destructive decisions the students encounter and have questions about. We also provide at least one community service project per year that will benefit kids at the WMS age.

2009 - 2010 Student Council (Grades 6, 7, 8):

This school organization consists of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students who help coordinate activities and fundraisers throughout the year at WMS. The students use their leadership skills to organize and implement a variety of activities. A few activities that the Student Council helps with, include, three school dances, penny wars, Renaissance programs, and helping with the Community Christmas baskets. Some fundraisers that they do are, selling brain suckers in the fall, raising money for the food pantry, and selling lip suckers in the spring.