Well, sorry it’s taken us so long to update. We’ve been busy getting back into the school routine after our winter vacation, but we’re back and ready to blog. First thing on our agenda: the John J. Harris Wrestling Tournament.
This past Friday and Saturday Corning hosted the tournament, bringing in a lot of schools from around the state. Matt Haley gained a victory for Corning, but Atlantic took the overall win.
The high school is preparing for their next musical, Back to the 80s. Auditions took place two weeks ago and the Monday after that, and the cast list is posted.
Winter Homecoming was on January 9, with Derek Nicholson and Michelle Anderson taking Winter Homecoming King and Queen. Both basketball teams won their games that night. The dance followed the games on the tenth. Parents’ night for the basketball teams and the cheerleaders was on Januray 20.
On January 22, the high school basketball boys had an exciting win against Martensville/St. Mary’s, winning with an impressive score of 103 - 29. Sadly, the girls lost their game.
That’s all for now, folks. See you next week (hopefully)!
Last night (Thursday), December 4, the Junior High Band and Chorus performed their Christmas concert. The band began at 7:30, playing “The Runaway Sleigh,” “The Christmas Song,” and “The Dance of the Slippery Slide Trombone.” The Chorus then preformed the songs “A Glad Noel,” “The Candle in the Window,” and “A Festive Fa La La.” All of this happened during the varsity girls’ basketball game, followed by the varsity boys’ game. Both games were against Griswold; both Corning teams unfortunately lost, but they played hard! The Junior High’s next girls’ game will be next Monday against Villisca at home starting at 4 P.M.
Last Tuesday, November 18, sixth through eighth grade students who wished to go traveled to Graceland Unviersity in Lamoni for the annual Writers in the Middle conference. This meeting is designed to help young writers better improve their skills with a variety of workshops, including a session with a guest author or illustrator; the only requirement is a story or poem composed by the student. This year’s guest author was Avi, who has written over seventy books for young people and has recieved a Newberry Medal. In his presentations, the audience was allowed to ask him any questions they had. We were able to purchase some of his books, including Crispin: The Cross of Lead, Poppy, The Book without Words, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and others, and most of us chose to get our books signed by him.
All students were required to attend an Author’s Chair session at one of three class “blocks,” where they would share their stories with ten or more attendees from towns and cities across the state. Other workshops were Stormy Writing, Hieroglyphics in 2008, Concrete Poetry, Dramatic Plays, Craftng Characters, Sing Fantastic Fantasies, R.A.F.T., Radio Broadcasting, Guest Author/Illustrator, and a Harry Potter session. After the third and final session, everyone gathered together once more for the Keynote Presentation with Avi, where he answered more questions and read passages from two of his books, The End of the Beginning and Iron Thunder. All students who attended enjoyed the experience and hope to go again.
Welcome to the Corning Junior High’s youth blog! 
This is brought to you by two main writers, Andrea Boswell and Sarah Clark, representing the Corning Junior High. We will be posting our views on upcoming activities and the main events in the Corning school district. We hope that you enjoy our posts and please feel free to drop in and check on us.
Thanks!
Andrea Boswell
Sarah Clark