Staff writer
Marion Pizza Hut has had to stock their lunch buffet in preparation for hungry Marion Middle Schoolers two weeks in a row.
MMS principal Tod Gordon treated new middle school students in a group — Nicholas Stuchlik, Tyler Neufeld, Miran Stephenson, Kayle Stapleford, Layne Nienstedt, Katie Frye, and Connor Embre — to a free pizza lunch the week of Nov 1.
“It felt kind of welcoming,” eighth grader Miran formerly of North Carolina said.
Gordon said usually there is only one new student each year. He was not sure exactly why more students were moving to Marion but thought parents changing jobs because of an unstable economy was part of the reason.
The students come from a variety of backgrounds including students who re-entered public school from a home school environment, students who have only moved once, as well as students who have moved several times.
“We’ve had some really good kids move in,” Gordon said. “A lot of times we don’t have a lot of kids move in during the year. It’s funny; we had two in the same week.”
The purpose of the lunch was to see how students are acclimating to MMS. Gordon said all of the students have made friends and so far like the school environment.
The MMS principal noted a difference between students who moved in during the summer and students who moved to Marion during the school year. Gordon gave an example of a boy who played football and swam during the summer, building a collection of friends before the school year began.
One student who moved from Herington after school began was hesitant the first day; the student only knew one other middle schooler in the whole school. However, that one contact was enough to eventually ease the anxiety.
“The first thing we do is try to find a buddy to show them the school,” Gordon said. “Some of the kids, they’re still friends with that initial contact.”
The other goal of the lunch was to ask the students about school and gather their opinions.
“They’ll tell you what’s working and what’s not working,” Gordon said.
Comments Gordon fielded were generally positive. Students said they like their teachers and some said they like MMS more than their previous school. One student said he was at the top of his class at a previous school but is not at the top at MMS. The student viewed the difference as a positive, saying it spoke to the school’s emphasis on academics.
“It was a good experience,” eighth grader Tyler Neufeld formerly of Goodland said of the pizza lunch.
Gordon also took 19 middle schoolers to Pizza Hut on Thursday to reward students involved in the middle school leadership pride group. The pride group cleaned up after four home high school football games. Students who participated in three of the four cleanups received a pizza lunch.
“These kids, in a matter of minutes, get it all cleaned up; after homecoming there is a lot of trash,” Gordon said. “It’s a huge help.”