International Biblical Studies Class Goes to Costa Rica

I have started receiving pictures from both chaperones and students of our most recent International Biblical Studies (IBS) trip to Costa Rica. I was reminded of the sacrificial giving by so many family and friends of SBEC to make this trip possible. I was reminded of how so many of the students worked extra to raise money to help pay for their trip. The pictures reminded me of the projects and ministries we were blessed to be involved in during our seven days in Costa Rica.

I recall students touching so many different lives with the message of hope, hope that is only found in Jesus Christ. Some of our students prayed, some shared, some sang, some painted, some gave, but whatever they did, the message was the same, hope. Hope is a great word! Maybe the best word in all of the English language. With no hope, what’s left? What do you do? Hopelessness is sad, but hope on the other hand is completely different. Everything changes with hope.

That’s what our students were doing this past spring break. They were sharing hope with a hopeless world. As a result of this past Easter season, the cross, and the empty tomb, we should all be reminded of the hope we have because we know and serve a risen Savior. His name is Jesus, and Jesus is Lord!  

Coach Mark Duggin

SBEC 6th Grade Band

The SBEC 6^th grade band has been making huge strides this year in and out of the classroom.  The group has been working out of a new method book titled “Measures to Success” which has pushed the students to perform at a very high level.  This past week the class has been working on many new pieces that can be performed as a soloist or as a duet.  We have also introduced a new program called “Smartmusic” that they can play along with.  This program acts as an accompaniment for the student and can also show them what mistakes they are making in the piece.  The students are really buying into this new system and the results have been amazing.  The group will be performing three more times this year for the 5^th grade class, 6^th grade promotion, and for their big spring concert with the Jr. High Band in May.

Mr. Berryhill

Director of Bands

Pi Day Celebrations at SBEC

All students in SBEC’s math department celebrated Pi Day on March 9 along with thousands of other schools across the United States (Since SBEC was dismissed for Spring Break on the actual Pi Day, March 14, we celebrated it a little early.).

Students learned the significance of pi in Mrs. Smith’s class as they wrote the value of pi to 8000 decimal places. Mrs. Smith also invited her students to find their birthday within the digits of pi. 

In Mrs. Cloud’s Algebra 1 class the students talked quite a bit about Albert Einstein whose birthday is on March 14. Students also enjoyed eating a variety of pies. Mrs. Clayton and Mrs. Fox’s students also joined in the fun of having lots of sweet round treats. Mrs. Clayton challenged her students to learn as many digits of pi as possible. Josh Kimberlin and Megan Filka learned the first 100 decimal places of pi! The AP Calculus students also enjoyed pi day by eating pizza pies that were homemade by Mr. Wrigley.  

Debra Cloud

SBEC Math Teacher

SBEC National Honor Society Service Project

On Wednesday, February 22, seventy-seven National Honor Society members had the opportunity to perform service projects for two Boys and Girls Clubs of Memphis.  Cleaning walls, reorganizing bookshelves, raking leaves, picking up trash, cleaning out and reorganizing storage closets, scraping gum off of the gym floors, sweeping and mopping, and moving furniture were just some of the projects the students performed.  The Boys and Girls clubs of Memphis provide children and teenagers a safe place to stay after school where they can play, eat, do homework, use computers and interact with good role models.  It was the National Honor Society’s privilege and pleasure to be of service to this highly beneficial and productive organization.

From Our 3rd Grade Classrooms

The 3^rd grade classes recently had an exciting day using the laptop computers in the classroom. Students used the computers for several subjects during the day. Spelling is more fun on the computer!In Science we are studying weather. The classes participated in a web quest created by the teachers. Students had several tasks to complete. There were videos to watch and questions to answer. The weather videos were informative and fun to watch. Everyone could move at his or her own pace and learn in a variety of ways. After the first class was able to use the computers, the other classes were anxiously waiting for their classes’ turn too! Technology is great. The third graders can hardly wait for another chance to use the computers again.

Delayne Morris
3rd Grade Teacher

Social Studies at SBEC

One of SBEC’s diversified departments is Social Studies.  Students participate in a number of different courses and activities.

Elaine Jenkins, government teacher, took 21 students to the YMCA sponsored Youth in Government Conference held on February 9, 2012, at Getwell Road United Methodist Church.  Schools from the Desoto County area wrote and submitted bills to be considered by the Mississippi State Legislature. Three bills from SBEC were voted Outstanding: Carly Miller’s bill “De-Criminalizing Mental Illness,” Wesley Pena’s bill “Voter Registration in High Schools,” and “Personhood” submitted by Sebastian Galante, Matt DeBerry, and Jakin Delony.  Additionally, three students were chosen as Outstanding Delegates-Sebastian Galante, Charlie Moser, and Chase Waldrip.

Abby Johnson and Will Matheson represented SBEC at the presentation of “Pennies for the Holocaust” at Horn Lake Middle School.  The memorial to the children who lost their lives will be constructed at this location using the actual pennies collected.  The Social Studies Department led the drive to collect pennies.

This month the seventh grade has learned about the Industrial Revolution in America.  At the end of the month students will present three paragraphs and a visual on a topic of their choosing from the chapter.  The eighth grade is completing the study of World War II.  Coach Daniels and his father were invited to share the story of the coach’s grandfather who stormed the beach at Omaha Beach on D-day. Students then passed around the bible that he carried during the war.  At the end of the month these students will present their Decade Projects.  This is a group project that students have worked on since early January.  They were assigned a decade from the 1920s to the 1980s to research.  On the day of their presentation, they will have a class period to share the fads, fashion, presidents, headlines, music, tv or radio programs, movies, food, and sporting events of the decade.

Brad Gentry’s economics class has begun the personal budget project; Sam Pearson’s world history class is studying the Ottoman Empire and the Muslim religion; and Brad Kimberlin’s  Mississippi Studies class is investigating antebellum society.

Eleventh grade American history students are preparing posters to honor African Americans for Black History month.

Ann Tapp

Social Studies Department

The 100th Day of School

Thursday, January the 26 was the 100^th day of school at SBEC!  There was a lot of excitement as the first grade participated in many fun activities using the number 100! The students colored a headband and silly glasses that had the number 100 on them and got to wear them all day.  They made a funny booklet that had all sorts of sentences they finished concerning 100 items. Throughout the day we did activities like doing jumping jacks counting by 5’s and 10’s to 100, estimating how long 100 seconds was and sorting 100 small objects they had brought from home to sort into groups of 5’s and 10’s. Each class made a 100 piece snack by counting out 10 different items to put in a trail mix. In the afternoon, the classes rotated to each first grade teacher’s class to do a math activity.  Mrs. Hall had the students build structures with 100 pattern blocks, Mrs. Camp had the students work 100 piece puzzles, Mrs. Vanderford had the students draw what they might look like in 100 years and where they might be in 100 years and Mrs. Quinlan had the students connect unifix cubes together to estimate how long 100 inches would be.  Overall, the students had a fun and educational day using the number 100!
Bridgette Quinlan
1st Grade Teacher