Hunter Middle School would like to recognize the following students for their outstanding achievements and contributions.  Keep up the great work!

§        Duke TIP Recognition

     The Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) has completed another talent search season.  It is an honor for students who are selected to participate in this program.  Through qualifying, students have already demonstrated their academic ability on standardized testing.  Students who earned State Level Recognition are in the top 25% of the talent search pool.  Students who earned Grand Recognition are in the top 2% of the talent search pool.  Listed below are students from Hunter Middle who participated. 

State Recognition

Zach Anderson

Kayla Boyer

Tanner Griffith

Braden Wahl

Participants

Rachel Camp

Bryan Casey

Casey Graybeal

Tanner Harris

Hunter Lindberg

Lauren Oakes

Alexandria Richardson

Sydney Sheeley

Alexis Twitchell

Callum Wishart

Congratulations to four Hunter Middle School students for being named winners in the 2007 Young Southern Writers Contest. Noah Spurgeon and Gavin Gaither are eighth-grade students of Mrs. Schand. Erika Kilgore and Nick Mattox are sixth-grade students of Mrs. Chesnutt.
The Awards Ceremony for middle and high school winners was held Tuesday, March 27, 2007, in the Tivoli Theatre in downtown Chattanooga. Students were honored with a specially designed medal and a booklet, which contained copies of all the winning entries.
The contest is a project of the Arts and Education Council and the English Department at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The Chattanooga Times Free Press sponsors it. This year 365 winners were chosen from a record-setting total of 3,651 entries from over 50 public and private schools in the surrounding area of Tennessee and Georgia.
Erika Kilgore and Noah Spurgeon were winners in the poetry division. Gavin Gaither and Nick Mattox were winners in the prose division.
 

§        Character Education

     Congratulations to Amanda Freeman, Character Education winner for the month of January.  She was chosen from all the students in Hamilton County as a person who exemplifies self-discipline in her life.  Her winning essay is presented below. 

Self-discipline

By Amanda Freeman

      I have been through a lot in my life.  I suffered with a heart problem for eight years that was corrected one year ago this month.  The very complicated and dangerous surgical procedure was completed at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta.  The doctor who performed the procedure told us that he had never done that on anyone as young or as small as myself.  After he finished, he declared it was a real miracle.  It was important for me to learn self-discipline, because if I allowed myself to get upset, my heart would hurt worse.  So I had to teach myself to stay calm.  Also, I had to teach myself to trust in God.  I have had heart surgery, a tonsillectomy, teeth extractions, and, most recently, a very difficult oral surgery.  I was thinking when is this ever going to end?  I always questioned God, but I had to tell myself to trust Him because He knew what I was having to deal with and He didn’t want me to think I was going through it all alone.

     I’ve had to use self-discipline a lot because of my fears of everything that I was going through.  I know now that God is with me, and He is protecting me, even when I don’t realize it.  So, you see, self-discipline is very important, because without it I don’t know what I would have done!  That’s my story.

§        St. Jude’s Math-A-Thon

     During the third nine weeks, students had a chance to participate in the St. Jude's Math-a-Thon.  We had a lot happening at school at that time so our donations were down.  We still raised just under $1,000 to pass on to St. Jude's Children’s Research Hospital.  I know those at the hospital appreciated what we were able to send them.  A big thank you to all the students who participated.  The student who raised the most was Allison Merriman from the Flying Aces.  She raised $125.30.  For her efforts, she was awarded a digital camera from St. Jude's.  The camera was presented to her on our school-wide news broadcast, WHMS.

§        Spelling Bee  

      Congratulations to all students who participated in Hunter’s annual Spelling Bee sponsored by the Chattanooga Times Free Press and Scripps-Howard.  All students who participated are listed below as well as those who went on to compete in the Zone Bee on February 12^th.  Those students who placed in the Zone Bee are also listed.  Alex Standefer, Abby Daniels, and Kayla Boyer will represent Hunter Middle in the Hamilton County Spelling Bee coming up soon.     

Zone Spelling Bee

     2^nd Place    Alex Standefer

     3^rd Place    Abby Daniels

     5^th Place    Kayla Boyer

 Hunter’s Spelling Bee

                     1st Place     Kayla Boyer

                     2^nd Place     Abby Daniels

                     3^rd Place     Tanner Griffith

                     4^th Place     Addie Whitlow

                     5^th Place     Alex Standefer  

EIGHTH GRADE

 Alex Standefer

Madison Dell

Evan Hubbard

Teddy Jones

Drew Boring

Courtney Raspiller

Logan Templeton

Wes Boyd

Alexis Robinson

Brian Hatcher

*ALTERNATES*  Megan Barie and Wil Amos 

SEVENTH GRADE

 Elizabeth Ruch

Jordan Moses

Meagan Vagts

Jessica Dixon

Tyler Smith

Sara O'Rear

Abby Daniels

Kayla Boyer

Katie Ware

Cierra West

*ALTERNATES*  Joel Buccelato and Tanner Griffith 

SIXTH GRADE

 Jacob Ammons

Jamie Eubanks

Addie Whitlow

Erika Kilgore

Nick Meador

Noelle Bell

Austin Burnett

Wesley Carroll

Katie Cuttle

Jon Meadows

*ALTERNATES**  Beth Burnette and Jordan Stevens