The Memories of 8th Grade

Just last week, our 7th and 8th grade students participated in All Saints Academy’s annual “passing of the torch” ceremony during the Leadership Mass. Both grades led the mass by reading the Scripture passages, writing speeches, and passing or receiving a candle, symbolizing the transition of the 8th grade out of the leadership role while the 7th grade takes up their new responsibilities. All of this would not have been possible without the challenges and memories that lead them to this point.

Most of the current (but not for long!) 8th grade students have been attending All Saints Academy since kindergarten or preschool. Many of them have a hard time remembering all of the things that come with being little students in the Lower Campus. But, there are a few things they have remembered over the years, taking their memories with them as they move to bigger schools.

One of the most popular memories was a “field trip” to Hawaii in kindergarten, while others remember more recent activities. Some students remember their favorite activities as the Lansing field trip or time at the farm. The current 8th graders had to wait until 6th grade to go due to COVID. Other students remember their time at ASA divided into pre-COVID, during COVID, and now.

Many changes came during their 6th grade year, just a few months after the COVID epidemic began. Students were able to come back to school but everyone had to be in masks. There were two new teachers in the middle school and all teachers rotated between classrooms. Students were then isolated to their one classroom for a majority of the day, besides lunch, recess, and a handful of specials, eventually. A lot has changed since then, thankfully, for the better.

As the current 8th grade entered into 7th grade, they were able to regain some normalcy and get back to a “regular” middle school setting. Students were able to rotate to different classes for different subjects, masks were no longer mandatory, and we welcomed a new student into the class just before Thanksgiving. Things are starting to look up! There were field trips again, band concerts, even a musical that students could audition for and perform in! Even though 7th grade had many new challenges and achievements, their 8th grade year was coming up quickly.

Now that their 8th grade year has started and is coming to an end, the students have reflected back on the good (and bad) of their last year at All Saints Academy. The students suggest that this post was not all “sunshine and rainbows,” but we do share some wonderful memories together, whether they like it or not!

This year they got to go on even more field trips! Artprize was one of their favorites, as well as their trip to Camp Manitou-Lin, the Day of the Dead exhibit, amongst their more “traditional” field trips and activities like Via Dolorosa and Alleluia Day. The students even managed to pull off a win against the staff in the Students vs. Staff Basketball and Volleyball games at school during Catholic Schools’ Week.

Some of their favorite activities happened to also be academic! They were able to share a cup of tea with Fr. Chung while studying the Boston Tea Party in social studies, dissecting frogs in science, participating in Jazz Band and performing in the Jazz festival, and learning a few cool things in math. While unsure at first, the 8th graders were also able to research a topic of interest to them, write a paper, and present their findings and facts to both their classmates and other students in the building. They ended up teaching and exposing other students to a wide variety of topics, sharing what they learned, how they went about gathering the data and information, and what skills they gathered along the way. Although this was a challenging assignment, their growth as learners has become evident through projects like this.

Even though their year is quickly coming to an end, there are many things that have not been mentioned that the 8th grade students will take with them. They will remember and maintain their friendships, as well as use their knowledge from ASA into their futures at their various high schools, including Catholic Central, West Catholic, Northview, and Innovation Central. Their experiences will lead them, guide them, and help them as they navigate the future, from high school and beyond.