MS Corner

I've learned a great deal about Ukraine and their culture, and I learned about professional music artists and about painters. My Journalism class and I have been writing pen pals back and forth to a class in Kyiv. The school is called Lycée Anne de Kiev. I learned about different aspects of their culture, like their types of food and drinks.  We met a musician named Brett Hill from Dayton and he has a friend named Amedee Royer, and he talked to us about his music, Ukrainian culture, and the war. He sang us a few songs and we took…

In middle school Journalism class with Ms. Ripple, we have learned many things and have made new connections with others. Something we have been working on for a long time is our Ukrainian pen pals.  There are seven people in their class and each of us has one pen pal. Their students' names are Valeria, Anastasia, Andre, Maxym, Ivan, Maria, and Kyrylo. Every week we exchange letters with them. We mostly ask questions and answer them. We talk about food, family, culture, and much more.  Earlier in the year we wrote to them and we made presentations about our school…

Since January, the students of Ms. Ripples' journalism class has been writing to students in Ukraine. Sounds crazy, right? While there are frequent air raids, they will write to us in bomb shelters. And we will make new connections, and learn what life is like across an ocean.  “I’ve learned to have a lot of sympathy for our friends. It makes us realize how lucky we have it,”  King said. When they have shared information about the war, they talk about how it is always scary during air raids. Even one of the student’s dad is 3-D printing missiles to…

In a war torn and foreign country, you’d expect everything to be different, but some things in Ukraine are more similar to here than you’d think.  Federal Hocking’s MS Journalism class has been writing back and forth with students in Kyiv, which is Ukraine’s capitol.  “This experience has been really eye-opening,”  Sebastian, who is a pen-pal of Maksym and Andrey, said.   Beginning in January 2024, Ms. Ripple’s MS Journalism class began writing back and forth with an English class in the Lycée Français Anne de Kiev, a French language school in Kyiv. Students have exchanged both written and typed letters,…

Summer is essential throughout any time of life, it’s where the memories are made. But could you imagine spending summer in a foreign country? For Guadalupe and Rayko Pustavrh, no imagination is needed. Guadalupe (15) and Rayko (13) Pustavrh are Argentine exchange students from Mendoza in Federal Hocking Middle and High School. You might be confused on the “summer” part, and that is because our winter is actually summer in Argentina, and so they are visiting us on their summer break. They’ve been coming to FH for four years now, after meeting the former FH superintendent and being persuaded to…

Mikayla Rhodes is an intervention specialist at Federal Hocking Middle School. Rhodes originally wanted to be a physical therapist, but later changed her mind and started down the path for early childhood education. She is now getting her masters in educational leadership. She is inspired by people and that's what keeps her going. “I think people are such interesting creatures,” Rhodes said. Rhodes plans to stay in special education and doesn't plan on becoming a principal. She hopes to move to central Ohio as her boyfriend lives in Johnstown. An Intel plant is opening there and she feels it will…

Lori McNabb is a math teacher at Federal Hocking Middle School in 7th grade. McNabb had worked at Belpre before and she started teaching social studies, but eventually went to teach math. Her old math teacher inspired her to become a teacher. McNabb was inspired because one of her teachers wouldn't move on from a subject until everyone knew what they were doing and understood it. McNabb loves her students, she thinks the kids are hard workers and cares about what they are doing and what they are learning. When she had her first interview to be a teacher for…

Rebecca Castelino is a 6th grade teacher at Federal Hocking Middle School. Castelino teaches social studies. In past years of her career, she has taught science and math. She said she enjoys teaching social studies because it is a subject that is so in depth and interesting. Her favorite era in history is the Revolutionary war.  In her spare time, she enjoys nice peaceful walks. This is because at home she lives with her mother and father and they constantly have errands for Castelino to run or some type of task. Her house is always full of noises and sounds…

Chuck Robinson, the middle school health class teacher, absolutely loves his job. Robinson used to coach football, and enjoyed being a positive influence.  “I helped them become their best selves.”  Robinson adores working with kids and this influenced his career choice because he wanted to help others. Besides coaching, Robinson loves to play sports himself. In high school Robinson played football.  And now Robinson gets to recruit his own football team because he is one of the FHHS football coaches. Robinson gets joy from a lot of things but mostly from “watching kids compete.”