If you would like some insider to the perspective of a 7th grader then continue reading. For the information that is disclosed below is straight from the mouth of Aaron Thomsen, 7th grader. Trust me you will not regret reading the rest of this article.

First after meeting Aaron, we sat down and I asked him some questions. Where were you born and how long have you lived in Emporia was the first question. His answer was, “I was born in Topeka and I have lived in Emporia my entire life.” Also if you don’t know where Topeka is it is the capital city of the State of Kansas. Aaron also told me that his favorite and least favorite thing about middle school is, “My favorite thing is probably the sports. My least favorite thing is learning knowledge.” This past year at Emporia Middle School, we have 3 new administrators, so I asked Aaron his opinion on them and he replied, “ Um I mean they’re cool.”

As we continued on with the interview, I got to ask him some questions about the lunches and cafeteria. The first question on this subject I asked him was, on a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest how would you rate the lunches served at school and why? Aaron didn’t sugar coat his answer and said “I would rate them a 4 because they taste very, very, very, very bad.” Continuing on this subject next I asked him what he thought about the point system at lunch, and if you weren’t aware, here at the Emporia Middle School at lunch we get rated on how we behave and follow the rules at lunch and once you get a certain amount of points you get rewarded and the opposite happens when you earn very few points repeatedly. Aaron’s opinion on this subject was “Um well I think it’s dumb, because they shouldn’t judge us on some numbers.”

Next I asked his opinion on some changes around the school this year, such as; Do you think it was a good or bad decision to start the 6th graders at a different time?  Why? “Yes, I think that it is a good idea because if we had all the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in one hall it would become really chaotic.” This is how Aaron answered my question and I completely agree. Another change that happened at the Middle School this year was that we have 3 minutes to get to our next class and there used to be a dismissal bell, a 1 minute warning bell, and a tardy bell.  Now they have removed the 1 minute warning bell, so I asked Aaron if this change was helpful or harmful to him personally as a student and he replied, “Probably harmful because usually if I hear the one minute bell I stop what I’m doing and go to class, but now I don’t know when I only have 1 minute.” I love his point here because sometimes you get right outside your class and talk with a friend or do something similar, and once you would hear that bell you would go to class.

Aaron told me about some of the hobbies and activities he does around school, first he told me about football. “Well I play football, I think the athletic program here at the Middle School is pretty great because they can teach you a lot of new things about sports and make some new friends.” Also he told me about what he thinks about Spartan Xtra, our after school program here at EMS. “I don’t participate in Spartan Extra, but I do think that the Spartan Xtra Clubs are good.”

Some general questions I asked Aaron about EMS included: What are your favorite classes and teachers and if there was one thing you would change what would it be? His answer to the first question was “My favorite class is World Studies, my favorite teacher is obviously Mr. Hawley.” and as for the second question this was his answer, “Better lunches definitely,” and I do agree with the second answer for sure.

This group of questions I asked Aaron were some of the last ones. First I asked him if he experienced much of a change from 6th grade to 7th grade, his answer was “Not really, the only change is new teachers, new classes, a new team, a new hallway, a new notebook, a new binder, and more friends.” Also, I asked him would you rather redo the 6th grade or move on to 7th grade without taking the 6th grade? Why? I understand this question is more of a fun one, but I still was wondering what his response was going to be and it was, “Probably redo 6th grade, becuase so I can get my grades better and I will be a better student.” The last question I asked Aaron on this topic was would you rather have longer class periods and no advisory or keep the schedule the same and why. “I would keep the schedule the same because I like the idea of a class that you can just do homework and hang around.” Is his answer.

Finally, the last question I asked Aaron was just a random question; Is there something you would like to be when you grow up if yes what career and why? Aaron answered by saying “That’s hard. [I would] probably be an astronaut because you get to explore the outer worlds.”

If you made it all the way to the conclusion then you have just read what it is like to be a 7th grader at the Emporia Middle School from Aaron Thomsen. He answered some questions that I presented to you above. I hope you enjoyed reading this and have a good rest of your day!