Shadowlawn Middle School

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Shadowlawn Middle School is one of (14) middle schools in the Shelby County School System in Tennessee.

Contents 1 School Information 2 Student life 3 Community Involvement 4 Sports 5 Instructors

[edit] School Information

Shadowlawn has an enrollment of approximately 1200 students in grades six through eight.

Shadowlawn has 45 classroom teachers, (1) librarian, (2) guidance counselors, instructors in fine arts, physical education, Foreign Language and APEX. Also available are (5) full time special education teachers. Our classrooms are technology equipped, and the faculty and staff are encouraged to make fluent use of computer technology.

Along with the academic excellence at the school, Shadowlawn offers many clubs and activities for its students. Our Choir and Band programs, which consists of 6th-8th grade students, have won several awards over the years. The Art Club, Black History Challenge, Chess Club, Drama Club, Environmental Club, National Junior Beta Club, National Junior Honor Society, Pep Club, Pride Club, Peer Mediators, Student Advisory Council, Students for Christ, Science Olympiad, Technology Club, The Newspaper staff, Yearbook staff, Girls and Boys Basketball Teams, Cheerleaders and Dance Team are also available for students to express their talents.

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[edit] Student life

Shadowlawn students are very active at their school and in their community. Shadowlawn Middle School encourages the students to explore their personal strengths by being active in clubs, volunteering for community service and participating in sports and the arts. Some opportunities for growth are offered during school such as Choir, Band, and Art classes. Other extracurricular activities are offered immediately after school to meet the diverse needs of the student.

Choir This past year the choir at Shadowlawn made great strides with its director, Calvin Ellis. Now there are four choirs which rehearse during the school day, 6th grade mixed choir, 7th grade women's choir, 8th grade women's choir, and 7th and 8th grade mixed choir. After school the Shadowlawn Show Choir meets at least 4 hours a week. This is a choir which requires the students to be able to sing and do choreography. All choirs perform in the Christmas and Spring concerts along with several competitions throughout the year. In addition to these performances there are many opportunities for students to audition for solos and the annual talent show. There is a rental fee for the students uniforms.

Band Shadowlawn proudly displays trophies from the best middle school band in Shelby County. Beginner band is offered to 6th graders. Advanced band is offered to 7th and 8th graders. Students are required to furnish their own instruments with only a few available through the school. Rental/purchase information will be made available to parents. Students are expected to practice and develop their skills so that they can make a meaningful contribution to the band. They are expected to attend all performances as part of their grade.

Art Club In order to be selected for the Art Club, prospective members must submit a portfolio filled with different aspects of art to Mrs. Wilson and current Art Club members. If selected, these students must then submit a still life picture for evalualtion. Students are selected based on the submitted final drawings. Art members meet weekly depending on competitions and participate in many local, state and national art competitions. These competitions include the annual Arts in the Park and Junior Scholastic Art Competitions.

Builder's Club Builder's Club is the largest service organization for middle school students. It is sponsored by Kiwanis International and the local Bartlett Kiwanis Club. They are a part of the Kiwanis family which include the Key Clubs at the high school level and Circle K clubs at the college level. Builder's Club is a student led community service organization whose objectives are to provide opportunities for working together in service to school and community; to develop leadership potential; to foster the development of strong moral character; and to encourage loyalty to school, community, and nation. The Builder's Club at Shadowlawn will be working with Special Olympics, LeBonheur Children's Hospital, and the local Kiwanis Club in their book drive. The Builder's Club will also sponsor a canned food drive in December. Any student may join the Builder's Club as long as they have the recommendation of their homeroom teacher.

Black History Challenge Shadowlawn's Balck History Challenge team competes with twelve other schools across Shelby County. With the leadership of Mrs. Jones and Mr. Webber, these students compete and have the opportunity to win a trip to Washington D.C. and Nashville, Tennessee each year.

Chess Club Chess club member learn the basic skills, more strategic moves, compete in the school wide tournament and receive up to a national ranking.

Drama Club This club allows students to learn the art of dramatic expression. During their weekly meetings, the students work on their acting skills with the help of Ms. Alford and Mr. Smith.

Environmental Club This club was new to Shadowlawn in 2002-2003. These energetic students help to make the campus of ours a little but nicer by planting flowers, shrubs, and generally sprucing up.

National Junior Beta Club The Shadowlawn Middle School Beta Club is a service organization that sponsors the Alzheimer's Day Center at Kennedy Park and the Salvation Army's Angel Tree. The Club's services to the day care center include visiting the center to interact with the participants, buying presents at Christmas for the participants, and gifts for the center. Members choose three or four angels at Christmas for the Salvation Army's Angel Tree. These angels receive great gifts and the Beta Club ensures they have wonderful surprises on Christmas morning. Membership in the National Junior Beta Club are selected in the following manner:

1. The candidates for Beta Club membership are selected by Shadowlawn Middle School Faculty.

2. The candidate must have a 3.45 GPA.

3. The candidate must have good conduct grades, no N's or U's.

4. The candidates must have good teacher recommendations from each teacher on his/her team.

5. Community service is also one of the considerations.

National Junior Honor Society

Distinguishing itself as the most elite academic organizationk, club, or institution at Shadowlawn Middle School, the Ward L. Harvey chapter of the National Junior Honor Society holds the top four percent of our academically motivated students. It is a service organization and the members are selected by the Shadowlawn Middle School faculty. Members must possess high academic achievement (3.67 GPA) as well as qualities such as character, service, leadership, and citizenship. The club's service projects include: giving Thanksgiving baskets for the needy, collecting toys for the MIFA toy drive, and helping with the PTA Kids-Kan food drive. An individual from the National Junior Honor Society reads the morning announcements each day, leading the Pledge of Allegiance over the school's intercom system. Mrs. Watkins, Ms. Hill and Mr. Lloyd are the mediators and sponsors of this organization. The National Junior Honor Society induction ceremony is held each spring for any seventh or eighth grade students willing to push toward the ultimate academic and scholastic discipline.

Pep Club Mrs. Garner is the sponsors for the Pep Club. This group supports the girls and boys basketball teams on their ways to victory. they sit with the cheerleaders and chant along the sidelines, lending their voices to urge their fellow students to victory.

PRIDE Club P.R.I.D.E.... Stands for Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education. The Cougar Pride Team is open to all Shadowlawn Middle School Students and meets after school. The Pride Team meets to plan and perform skits, plays, songs, and have fun in a drug free environment. It is the goal of Pride Teams across America to spread the message that students can have fun without using substances of abuse and that friends are the strongest support to stay drug free. The Cougar Pride Team sponsors the Red Ribbon Week celebration in October of each year as well as hosting the 5th graders from feeder schools as they tour Shadowlawn's campus in the spring. Ms. Evelyn Joyner, Guidance Counselor, is the sponsor of the Cougar Pride Team.

Peer Mediators Peer Mediators help other students resolve their differences by allowing them to talk them out. Many students who were peer mediators in their elementary schools find their skills useful in the middle school setting.

Student Council Students who are interested in being leaders for their class must make a campaign poster and give a speech about why they should be elected. The seventh and eighth grade Student Council meet once a month to discuss ways to improve the school environment. This group sponsors the Snowflake Dance in which proceeds are used to serve the school. Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Ferby are the sponsors of this organization.

Students for Christ At Shadowlawn Middle School, the Students for Christ club is a group that meets once a week for approximately an hour to pray, sing, read the Bible, listen to speakers, serve others, and encourage one another. Anyone is welcome to attend at any point during the year. Usually, the group mostly consists of students who attend Baptist churches; however, many different denominations are represented, and students of any and all religions are welcome to come and ask questions. Students for Christ is students-initiated, student-led and student-run. This group is organized and led by a council of officers: President, Program Director, Service Leader, Secretart, treasurer, and Refreshment Leader. Each officer heads up a committee. The officers and committee members meet weekly to plan the meetings, create Bible study lessons, invite guest speakers, organize activities. Ms. Christ is the faculty sponsor for this student organization.

Science Olympiad These students on the Science Olympiad Team study different aspects of sciencein order to prepare for the Science Olympiad Competition held every spring. Shadowlawn Middle School usually brings home 1st place prizes in several categories every year.

Technology Club Technology Team members will be trained to troubleshoot various types of Mac’s, set up Mobile labs, install software / updates and various other activities throughout the year.

The Cougar Claws Newspaper The Cougar Claws Newspaper is published four times during the school year. Shadowlawn students are the reporters. It is the reporters' job to find the stories on campus, then write the article for the newspaper. Of course, Ms. Wroblewski, their sponsor, oversees this process.

The Cougar Yearbook The Shadowlawn Yearbook Staff is for any student interested in designing and creating the school yearbook. Students learn how to produce layouts, create captions, proofread pages, and size pictures. Staff meetings begin after school pictures are taken and end at our last deadline in February. The Shadowlawn Yearbook Staff is sponsored by Ms. Smith.

G's Book Club The purpose of this club is to celebrate literature and a love of books by reading selected titles, sharing ideas, and exchanging opinions with other students. G's Book Club will meet the 1st Monday of each month from 2:15-3:30 p.m. Each month the group will discuss an assigned book and complete an activity or craft realted to the book.

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[edit] Community Involvement

Shadowlawn Middle School's faculty, staff and students are committed to helping the comminuty. Most of the clubs and organizations at Shadowlawn have a specific charity they sponsor yearly or they choose a different charity based on student input. Some of the projects include: Chunk your Change for Alheimer's, Secret Santa for struggling families, MIFA toy drive, Thanksgiving food baskets for the homeless or the Salvation Army's Angel tree.

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[edit] Sports

Shadowlawn Middle sponsors two basketball teams, a cheerleading squad and dance team that competes with the other middle schools in the Shelby County System. Students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades are eligible to tryout. Practices are scheduled after school. Students who participate in these groups have indicated a desire to contribute time and energy for the good of themselves, the team, and their school. We expect our athletes to be good representatives of Shadowlawn Middle wherever they go. All students are encouraged to attend the games and support our teams.

Girls Basketball The Shadowlawn girls basketball team is the pride of Shadowlawn Middle School. In 2003-2004, the girls basketball team won all of their regular season games. They also won six Championship titles including The Memphis Grizzlies Park Service Invitational, The Memphis Middle School Open, The Crusader Invitational Chamionship, The Memphis Athletic Ministries Christmas Basketball Tournament, The North District Tournament and the Shelby County Tournament.

Boys Basketball The boys basketball team at Shadowlawn is led by Mr. Llloyd. During their after school practices the team perfects their plays and shots. In 2003-2004, the boys basketball team placed second in the North District Chapionship and third in the Shelby County Championship.

Cheerleaders The Shadowlawn Middle School cheerleaders are a group of girls chosen to lead our basketball teams to victory. Tryouts are in May of the previous year. Girls are chosen to be cheerleaders based on their enthusiasm, coordination, spirit, and conduct. Each year the cheerleaders learn three pom routines, 38 sidelines, and four building cheers as well as several half time routines. This is a competative squad.

Dance Team The Shadowlawn Cougar Dance Team was new at Shadowlawn in 2003-2004. Tryouts are held at the end of the school year so practice can start as soon as school starts in August. The dance team practices after school throughout the week and performs at the basketball home games. Mrs. Caldwell is the dance team sponsor.

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[edit] Instructors

Principal: Jamie Baker

Assistant Principal: Amie Marsh, Yolanda Bryson

Physical Education: Bill Cannon, Gregg Miller

Band: Carol Chipman

Music: Calvin Ellis, Al Hayes

Art: Lynn Murphy, Leanne Wilson

Special Education: Trina Luttrell, Laurie Miller, Gary McCormack, Christopher Simpson, Clinton Smith, D. Bilski, J. Watson

Guidance Counselors: Evelyn Joyner, Carolyn Moss, S. Green

Librarian: Beth Gudmestad

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