One of the nice things about going to a small school like Morgan is that there is always the opportunity to congratulate and award others after reaching success on a more personal basis. In our elementary, students have the opportunity to participate in Reading Counts. This is a program that encourages students to read as many books as possible and then take a ten question test about the information they obtained.
Reading Counts promotes positive competition to challenge students to gain as many points as possible by reading books and passing the tests. The elementary has responded to this challenge with enthusiasm and shows a great amount of involvement in Reading Counts.
In order to reward those who have received a very high number of points, the elementary staff planned a very unique celebration. Mrs. Gass, who works in the elementary office, showed off her dancing talent as she taught elementary students new dance moves. It was such a great sight to see so many students having a blast while celebrating their great achievements. With the help of volunteers, teachers, and even the principal, Mrs. Friesen-Carper, the students could successfully pull the dance moves together, and perform the dance with ease.
While the elementary students were practicing their dance for fun, students in the German program were practicing their short plays for the German Theatre Fest at Valparaiso, University. The students participating in this competition ranged from one to five years of German experience in class. The second year Germans performed a skit about three young teenagers whose parents went out for the evening. As soon as the parents left the party began. The skit was filled with action and ended with the cool uncle helping them clean up minutes before their parents returned. The students performed so well that they brought home a second place trophy.
Also bringing home a second place trophy, were the fourth year Germans. These students created their own revision of the Grimm's Cinderella fairy tale. Both skits required practice and memorization of lines.... All in German!!! It was a fun filled day at VU and ended with a tour of the campus and the German House. It was a German-filled experience for all.
The German students weren't the only ones who had been busy working on a skit. Every year the Morgan Hustling Hoosiers 4H club writes a script to perform at the county level “Share the Fun Talent Show”.
This year’s competition was held at the Memorial Opera House in downtown Valpo. The various stage acts contained singing performances as well as group acts. Since 4H is open to students in grades 3-12, the Morgan Hustling Hoosiers skit contained a variety of parts that required different levels of experience. The skit was based on Channel 4H news and their cover of the Porter County Fair. As the broadcaster went around the different parts of the fair, they met various farmers and their animals.
As the broadcast came to a close, everyone in the act came together and performed the chicken dance. The act performed so well that they advanced to the next area contest at La Porte County, which will be held on May 9th.
There is a lot going on at Morgan Township. Students are excited for May to be here as it means prom is just around the corner as well as graduation. One of the coolest things about Morgan is that students of different ages and grades have the opportunity to be in contact with each other, whether it is in sports, academics or fun dance lessons.
Even though Morgan is known for being a smaller school, it is full of big opportunities.