Fitting in the Middle
As we walked back through the doors of Station Middle School, Prairie Middle School, and St. Anne Catholic School, we were surprised at how sophisticated the children are. Although they are only 12-14 years old, their dreams and aspirations are large. Interviewing these eight exceptional children opened our eyes to how lucky we are to be in a community with such inspiring youth. Like us, we know you’ll enjoy meeting them, too!
Paige Smith
6th Grade-St. Anne
iddle school is a time when younger students are shaped and changed into who they want to be when they grow older. No one has embraced this more than St. Anne 6th grader Paige Smith. “I like middle school because I have a lot more friends than I ever had at school. I’m not as shy as I used to be,” she said. With that drive in mind, Paige joined the school’s volleyball team. Paige also dances at Bataille Academie and plays the violin. However, with all those new friends, Paige thinks that middle school should have “more fun stuff and less work”. She admits that middle school can be stressful and that kids worry about “making time to be with their friends and being safe—feeling like no one can hurt them”. In fact, the thing she would change about the world is to have no wars. “I find it weird that people fight over stupid things. Fighting never solves their problems, it only makes things worse.” ¶ Ever since she was younger, Paige has wanted to be a fashion designer. “My mom taught me how to sew when I was young, and I just love it.” Her family has also influenced her in her love of the outdoors. Every year her family and her dad’s side of the family take a bike trip in Wisconsin for two days. Paige spends a lot of time with her family so her role models are her cousins because they “like to have fun”. ¶ After everything Paige has learned this year in middle school, her advice to kids her age reflects her experiences. “My advice is don’t be shy or too self-conscious.” —Danielle Elliott
Pat Hogan
7th Grade-Prairie
It is hard to believe that Pat Hogan is only in seventh grade. His level of knowledge, wisdom, and maturity is equivalent to someone of a much older age. Pat first gained deeper insight into his life when a previous teacher sent him a letter inviting him to a leadership presidential conference. “That teacher saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I now know that I can have a good future if I can see all my values and talents I have and use them,” he said. In the future, Pat sees himself in the Navy serving for his country and seeing the world. “I wish for freedom forever. Thinking about people being oppressed by their governments all over the world isn’t pleasant. I want them to be free.” Pat’s inspiration to join the Navy came from his Great Uncle Tom who recently passed away. “He served in the Navy during World War II and was a role model for me. His death made me realize how good of a guy he was, and I promised myself to follow in his footsteps.” After his Great Uncle Tom’s death, Pat realized the importance of religion for himself and the world. “Things in life can be hard, and we all need something to hold onto. Religion is something to stand on.” Pat first learned about world religion in church and in class. Pat is a history buff who loves the class. “History is like kindergarten story time: it’s very easy to get caught up in the stories.” —Danielle Elliott
Sutton Rettig
7th Grade-Station
It all started with a cell phone camera in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sutton Rettig snapped a couple pictures of the wildlife and showed his brother, Hardy. Hardy was inspired by his brother’s beautiful pictures and started to get involved in photography. Once Sutton saw how passionate his brother was in photography, he started capturing moments with a camera, too. “It’s like art. There are so many different ways of seeing something,” said Sutton. ¶ In some ways, Sutton is a typical 7th grade student at Barrington Middle School Station Campus. His favorite subject is history. He likes comedy, classic, and sports movies including his favorite, “Sandlot.” He enjoys sports, running outside, and visiting his hometown, Trout Valley. What sets Sutton apart from the rest of his peers are his big dreams. “I want to end the war, there is always an easier way to solve a conflict besides fighting, ” he said. Sutton is also capable of seeing past the pressures of middle school. “Sometimes school can be intense and overwhelming, but you can always get help to enjoy it more.” This is exactly what Sutton advises to students his age who are having problems with school. “Don’t get too worried about school or something going on at home because you can always get help from counselors if you are having trouble.” ¶ Sutton’s passion for photography and his big dreams are all products of his family’s influence. His older brother Hardy has taught him everything he knows about photography. “Hardy got a camera for his birthday and I started using it and he taught me all the crazy lenses and frames,” he said. However his biggest role model is his Grandpa Phil. “He was a really inspirational guy. He always had a positive attitude towards my family, my community, and me. He passed away when I was nine, but he taught me all about peace and how to be a good person.” —Megan Santoro
Megan Moyer
6th Grade-Prairie
A typical sixth grade student is not very concerned with college or his or her future. Megan Moyer, a sixth grader at Barrington Middle School Prairie Campus, is the exception. She is only twelve years old, but she already knows that to achieve success in life she needs to focus on her academic work. “To get success, you need to get good grades so you can go to college and help your whole life,” she said. Right now Megan’s goal in life is to help others, and when she grows up she wants to be a teacher. “I want to be an elementary school teacher because I like working with kids and teaching them things.” She recently helped tutor a younger student in math who was having trouble; she was proud to say that this student got A’s in math. Megan advises students her age to do the same. “Work extra hard in school so you get into a college and have a good career that you personally enjoy.” ¶ When Megan isn’t focusing on her schoolwork or on her favorite subject of language arts, she enjoys hanging out with her friends at her house and swimming. Her favorite movie is “Avatar” because she was captivated by the mystical places in the movie. She also likes to go to Marco Island where her family has a home. “On the beach you can see the most magnificent sunsets ever.” Although Megan likes the same things as sixth graders her age, her maturity level sets her apart from the other students. —Danielle Elliott
Janani Sivakumar
6th Grade-Prairie
Your average sixth grader worries about the usual things like what hairstyle they should wear, where should they buy their clothes, or what is the coolest phone to have, but this is not the case for Janani Sivakumar. Janani is different from other kids her age because what is important to her is not just clothes or accessories, but rather music and the environment. ¶ Janani has been playing the violin since she was eight years old, taking private lessons and playing in the school orchestra. “My Dad first suggested the idea to make a music group with all my friends who play the violin,” she said. ¶ This idea has now come to fruition because Janani plays in a violinist music group with all of her friends. They hope to perform in nursing homes, hospitals, and churches. They recently played at a service for St. Michael’s Church in May. Janani’s musical group met through McHenry County Youth Orchestra, where they all play the violin. “Playing together has made it easier to fit in middle school,” she said. ¶ Along with music, the environment is also important to Janani. “My mom is big on environmental things, and she tries to remove some of the invasive species in our area,” she said. Spreading the message about these invasive species in our area is one of her goals as well. ¶ If asked to give advice to other kids her age, Janani would say, “Do what you want to do and do not try to be someone else.”
—Megan Santoro
Angelica Alvarado
8th Grade-Station
It is important to be yourself, and not pretend to be someone else,” said Station Middle School student, Angelica Alvarado. This was a lesson Angelica learned early in middle school. “In the sixth grade, it was hard to meet new people and fit in,” she said. ¶ After acting like a person she knew she wasn’t, Angelica finally found her niche in singing and acting. Being in High School Musical 2 helped Angelica realize how much she loved to be on stage. “I like how you can find your own voice and the way the music just seems to relax you,” she said. Angelica has enjoyed singing since the fourth grade where she started choir, and the drama program at the high school has caught her eye for next year. ¶ “I have always said that if I became famous I would donate half of my money to charities and children in Africa,” Angelica said. Along with singing and acting, she also values the importance of school. “I have done progressively better during my years in middle school because I want a good education,” she said. After having a bit of a downhill turn in middle school, Angelica has finally found the right people whom she loves and knows are always there for her. —Megan Santoro
Quinn Kelch
8th Grade-Prairie
The chance to get one major role in a play would be phenomenal for some kids, but Quinn Kelch has had the opportunity to have a major role in every single performance in middle school. Quinn has been singing and performing since the third grade, so the stage is nothing new to him. ¶ Just this spring Quinn took the lead in Prairie’s spring production of “Bye, Bye Birdie.” In the sixth grade he was also the lead in “Pirates of Penzance.” “I started playing the piano in the first grade and then I began to sing along with it,” he said. ¶ Not only does Quinn act and sing, but he is also a member of the band and the jazz band, he plays the saxophone. “I like music, especially alternative and indie,” he said. ¶ Before singing, acting, and performing, however; Quinn values school work over anything else. “What is important to me are friends, family, and school. I put a lot of effort into my schoolwork,” he said. Quinn’s dream job in the future is not to be a famous actor, but rather to be an environmental architect. “I like designing houses especially now that you can build them with green architecture that can help global warming,” he said. —Megan Santoro
Tristen Becker
7th Grade-St. Anne
Your average middle school student dreams about making it big as a famous basketball player or baseball player, and for seventh grader Tristen Becker, his dream is no different. For Tristen, however; this dream is more like a lifestyle. “When I grow up I want to play basketball in the NBA,” he said. ¶ Tristen has been playing baseball and basketball since the age of three, and when he was in the fifth grade he began to play travel for both sports. “My ultimate role models are Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns and Chauncey Billups of the Denver Nuggets,” he said. This summer Tristen plans on going to Phoenix for a vacation and hopes to see the Suns play. ¶ Since his family is so busy all the time, his sister ice skates and plays softball, they try to make time to all be together. “My family is more important than anything,” he said, “we try to eat dinner together, and my Dad and I watch sports games together.” ¶ Besides playing sports, Tristen values school as well. “My favorite subject is geography; I like learning about other countries and getting different views on them,” he said. If Tristen had to give advice to other kids his age he would say, “Stay in school because if sports does not go your way, then you can always have another option to fall back on.” —Megan Santoro
Danielle Elliott | The rain started pouring right as we reached the one-mile mark in our run. We had to take shelter in the trees and run back, getting completely soaked. We still had an hour left of practice, but instead of leaving, our now small track team stayed for a game of football inside the gym. I sat against the wall with my sister, Erika, and my friend Molly Pfeiffer. We sat there laughing as we watched the boys play the coaches and ‘trash talk’ each other. ¶ That was the day before the IHESA State Track Meet in Peoria. I qualified in the 800 meter run at sectionals the weekend before. I actually ended up placing third to last at the meet, but that didn’t matter to me. That whole week of practice and the meet were my favorite memories of middle school. I can still remember sitting in the stands at the state meet betting tic-tacs and fruit roll-ups on mile times with Molly and Erika. That track memory sums up my entire middle school experience: simple joy. That is what middle school is all about, good, clean fun. Writing a story on middle school students brought back all of those memories. High school can be so stressful and hard sometimes that it can be hard to truly have and appreciate pure fun. The eight middle school students Megan and I interviewed knew of the challenging road that lies ahead. Those students were chosen because they weren’t caught up in middle school drama, but were focused on their futures. Pat Hogan’s advice to students his age was “Don’t worry at this age. Just enjoy life because life will get harder. Enjoy the little things. Enjoy childhood.” I don’t think I could have said it any better.
Megan Santoro | For me, middle school was a transitional stepping stone. It was a time for me to find out who I was a young adult. As I look back at my own experience in middle school, I fondly remember the friends, teachers, and memories that I had. ¶ Some people may agree with me when I say that middle school was a period in life that took determination and struggle to get through. It was more about learning to become the person you would be later in life. ¶ Being new to Barrington in the sixth grade, I knew no one on my first day at Station Middle School. I trace this moment back to my eighth grade graduation, and believe that I had come far in being the person I was to become after the eighth grade. ¶ Station offered me such a variety of extra-curricular activities as well as some of best people I have ever met. Throughout my years I was a part of track, soccer, and basketball. It was through some of these activities that I met my closest friends and had some of the most influential coaches. ¶ As I traveled back to the middle schools in this unique journey that was presented to me, I was simply amazed at what I saw. Not only did I encounter some of the most well-spoken, kind kids, but I also was awarded an opportunity to realize how grateful I should be to have attended school in Barrington. The experiences and memories I had in middle school will stay with me a lifetime and for that I am so deeply thankful.