Clay Center Community Middle School

Today's Bengal Way Call of the Day is Ericka Johnston! "Ericka is a very positive, hard-working student. She comes to class ready to work every day. She's always a great student ready to work with others. She's also on the volleyball team and is a good teammate!" ~Ms. McClure Way to stay Balanced Ericka keep living the #bengalstrong way!!!

Reminder tomorrow is an early dismissal

Here is a link for the team store for girls basketball and boys wrestling, it is a short window for ordering, as all orders must be in by Next Thursday, October 20. https://claymsgirlsbballboyswrestling.itemorder.com/shop/sale/

Adam Sandler? Nahhhh, it's just Mrs. Koster's PAWS class! This week's PAWS class spotlight is Mrs. Koster's PAWS Class! They are a great group of students. They enjoy playing "Guess That Song", cheering others up by playing pump up songs, and playing Uno. Their goal this year is to be competitive during challenges. They are trying hard to win Sonic drinks this year!!!!!!!

Run hard today Bengals!! Good Luck at NCKL Cross Country! #bengalstrong

Last chance to catch these Bengals in Action Tonight!! Come cheer them on for their final game!

Way to Go Bengals!!! 8th Grade NCKL Champions!

Tomorrow morning is going to be busy for our Volleyball and Cross Country Athletes as they hit the road bright and early... Good Luck Bengals!

8th Grade Band Night at the Clay Center Community High School Football game tonight at 7 pm. They will be performing with the High School Band during the first half then join them for their half time performance.

This weeks Bengal Spotlight Department is the coaching staff. Clay Center Community Middle School is very fortunate to have some amazing coaches for the 2022-2023 sports season. Below is a little bit more about a few of our coaches. Randy Walling has been working in USD379 for 12 years-  coaching football -basketball and track thru the years. He's been in education for 49 years. He went to Kelly Walsh High School in Casper, Wyoming, and Ottawa University, Ottawa, Ks.  Fishing and camping are his two favorite hobbies.   His wife, Michelle is a 1st and 2nd-grade teacher in the Hanover Public Schools, Hanover, Ks.  She coaches volleyball and track.   Brandon Pigorsch is starting his 14th year as a wrestling coach at CCCMS and CCCHS. 10th season as a football coach at CCCMS. Jarrod Wynn is in his 1st year as a CCCMS football coach.  His wife's name is Tina, he has 2 kids who both were previous students at CCCMS Jake & Jadyn. He coached CCFA football from 2010 - 2019, he also coached the Clay Center B’s 16u & 18u. He's very proud to say that he is a United States Air Force veteran. Halle McClure is in her 2nd year coaching 7th-grade volleyball, and her 1st year as the head coach. She played volleyball from 3rd grade to college at Bethany. She loves helping athletes develop as not only volleyball players, but as people. Christa Baumann has coached over 8 years of basketball seasons ranging from 7th grade to HS varsity and 2 years of MS/HS Track & Field but this is her first year coaching for CCCMS as the 7th grade girls basketball head coach and assistant Track & Field coach. She competed at the collegiate level for 5 years at Fort Hays State University where she is a school record holder and was a 2x NCAA All-American and National Champion. Go TIGERS! She is married to Kaid Baumann and all 3 of their children attend LES - Kash (1st), Callie (K), Clara (K). They are expecting their 4th child in April. She is a preschool teacher at LES. Alisha Brownell is a first-year boys and girls assistant wrestling coach. She has been involved with Tiger Wrestling Club since 2016. Craig Rickley has coached volleyball, football, cross country, and basketball at the middle school. He is currently an assistant wrestling coach at CCCHS, head boys’ wrestling coach, and head girls’ wrestling coach at CCCMS. Marah Koster is in her first year of coaching cross country. She ran cross country in middle school and high school. Fun fact– she was a member of the first CCCMS cross-country team in 2003! Kari Stratton has coached Track & Field for 10 years and is in her 4th year coaching girls' tennis at the High School. She teaches math at CCCHS and also plays piano for the high school choirs. Her family includes her husband, Shawn, and 3 kids, Tegan, Jael, and Abram. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, working out, playing piano, baking, and reading. Ben Last has coached Track and Field at CCCMS for 2 years. He is in his 13th year as a football coach at CCCHS.  Previous coaching experience has included coaching Football and Track and field at Hasting College as a graduate assistant.  He coached 10 years of High School track and field. He has done a lot of coaching with youth sports.  He currently works as the USD#379 Director of Technology. We also want to recognize all our other coaches, Audrey Keim, James Gordon, Ashley Snyder, Megan Griffiths, Jennifer Begnoche, Dick Ahlberg, and Megan Siebold. Thank you all for the time you put into our students!

Good Luck today to our Bengal Athletes heading to Rock Creek!!

National Custodian Day was October 2nd, so how could we not Spotlight our amazing Custodian? Jeremy Lund has been wandering the halls of the middle school for 14 years. Jeremy not only serves as our CCCMS Custodian, he also is our go-to when classroom technology projects. Installing new computer projectors, and troubleshooting when a teacher's technology doesn't work correctly. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring backroads in his classic Toyota pickup. Thank you for all you do for everyone in the school Jeremy you are the true MVP!

Good Luck today at Home Bengals!! #bengalstrong

Check out our menus on Nutrislice. You can view by the building and sort by breakfast/lunch. Pictures and nutrition information is all provided. #usd379 Download the nutrislice app or go to: https://www.usd379.org/page/food-service-wellness-policy

Ms. McClure's PAWS kiddos enjoying the beautiful weather and playing some basketball this morning!

Hello! We have been learning lots of songs during Choir the past couple of months and wanted to share a virtual concert with you! Here is our CCCMS Sept Virtual Concert! https://youtu.be/U9fHwjAxbNw We hope you enjoy all of our songs. Just a quick reminder we have a concert on December 8th at 7:00 pm in the CCCMS Commons Area. I've really enjoyed each of my choirs this semester and it's been a joy to teach them. Thank you Kara Bergsten

Good Luck today on the road Bengals! #bengalstrong

Tomorrow Thursday, September 29th, is Picture Day!

This week's featured Department at CCCMS is our ELA (English Language Arts) Teaching Staff. Our ELA staff works diligently to teach our students all aspects of reading, writing, novel studies, and grammar. In addition, our ELA Department does a variety of State (KITE Testing), and AimsWeb testing during the year. These tests measure our student's growth with reading fluency and comprehension; two skills which are essential for success beyond CCCMS! We appreciate the efforts of our ELA Department! Below is a little bit more about each teacher. Marah Koster- Mrs. Koster has been teaching 6th grade ELA at CCCMS for 3 years. She previously taught 2nd grade in Wakefield and Manhattan. She lives in Clay Center with her husband and 2 children. Mrs. Koster enjoys reading, watching tv, spending time outdoors, and listening to classic country music. Karla Fickes- Has been teaching at CCCMS for 22 years. She lives on a farm in Clay County with her husband and two children. Her daughter is in high school and her son is in college. Her hobbies are being outdoors, reading, walking her dog, and traveling. Jon Kelly - This is his second year at CCCMS. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and son who is a high school sophomore. His daughter is enjoying her junior year at a college in Chicago, IL. He enjoys reading, movies with his kids, and reminiscing of cold and snowy winters in upstate NY as a child.

This week's Bengal Spotlight is on the 7th Grade Football Team. Despite having lower player numbers, this team is hard working, improving each day and each game, and is proudly representing CCCMS by living the Bengal Way every day! Every player is giving excellent effort on both sides of the football, and most of the boys had perfect attendance at the CCCMS Summer Conditioning program. We are excited about what the future holds for these Bengals! Keep up the great work!