By Mandy Huberty and Jess Reichert
A new year ushers in a group of unfamiliar new faces into the Mini-School family. This year brings in 35 new students ranging in grades from sophomore through senior year, all coming from different places and backgrounds. So what could be a better way to pry into the minds of our new Mini-Schoolers than through a new kids’ interview? Our interview consists of a few short answer questions concerning opinions on current issues and happenings around the school. With this, we gathered a variety of unique answers. Here’s what they had to say:
First of all, we wanted to find out how old the new kids were. The majority of kids were 17 (10 of them). There were six 18-year-olds, five 16-year-olds, and three 15-yearolds. A part-time job is a great way for high-school kids to earn a little money. Fifteen of our new kids had jobs; some places they worked were at gas stations, grocery stores, auto repair shops, or restaurants. Seven of the kids didn’t have jobs. Playing musical instruments is a good past time for kids. Nine of our kids play instruments. Some of the instruments they play are guitars, drums, and piano. The majority of the kids (14) didn’t play instruments. Another good past time is playing sports. Football, basketball, and snowboarding are just some of the sports Mini-Shoolers did. Eight of the kids played sports, fourteen didn’t.
Next we asked them which bands they liked most out of a few choices. The choices were Korn, Zeppelin, Green Day, Justin Timberlake, or 50 Cent. Zeppelin got the most votes (9), Green Day got seven, four people liked 50 Cent, and Korn and Justin Timberlake got the least votes with one each. Two people wrote-in other bands.
What kind of cars the Mini-Schoolers prefer was the next question. The options were import or American. Fifteen people said they preferred imports, 7 people said they liked American cars.
In the next question, kids had to choose their favorite Mini-School teacher. The choices were Ramona, Pauline, Scott, Paul, and Merlin. Merlin got the majority of the votes. Paul got 5, and 2 votes were for Ramona. (It should be noted, that Merlin led the 2-week orientation class for the new kids, so he was the only teacher some of them even knew.)
Every year, Mini-School kids get the option to go on wilderness trips. We asked the new kids if they had ever been on a Mini-School or Independent Study wilderness trip before. Only 2 kids had been on a Mini-School trip, 21 hadn’t.
I’m not gonna lie, our new group of a Mini-Schoolers have an array of interests and opinions. They look like a pretty… neat bunch of kids. Judging by their common choices of music, and other interests, our new kids should blend in just fine with the veterans.