Seventy-four middle school and ninth grade high school students have earned the opportunity for a field trip to Atlanta Saturday. These students turned in qualifying essays about their career aspirations as part of a $5,000 grant from Communities in Schools (CIS) of Georgia obtained by the Wilkes County Community Partnership to enhance connections between CIS, school graduation coaches, students and the community. The students will begin their trip with a tour of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Visitor Center and other facilities of the National Historic Site, followed by a historical scavenger hunt and dinner at Underground Atlanta and culminating with the annual Morehouse/Spelman Christmas Carol concert.

The partnership grant will also underwrite the "Career Explorations- Fields of Opportunity Day," featuring speakers and exhibitors representing various occupations on Friday, December 19, in the gymnasium.

The Junior Beta Club is sponsoring a canned food drive November 24 through December 5 to benefit God's Marketplace. The homeroom that collects the most cans will earn a pizza party. Second and third place homerooms will be rewarded with treats.

In basketball, the Lady Tigers played against Warren County on November 13 and took a loss. The Lady Tigers took another loss against Warren County on November 17. The great effort that was shown in these games paid off in the contest against Taliaferro County on November 15, when they won 21-16. The play of the game was when Lauren Chafin shot a three point basket, giving the Lady Tigers a lead in the game.

"This is just the beginning of a comeback", stated one of the players. However, a winning streak was not to be held, as the Lady Tigers accepted a three-point loss with the score, 24-21 against Elbert County on November 24. The highest scorer of the game was Tiare Tatum, with 10 points.

The boys' basketball team played at Oglethorpe County on November 22 and won 53-50 in double overtime. The Patriots shot a three-point basket from the half-court line to tie it up at first overtime. Christian Keiser shot a two-point basket to put the Tigers in the lead. One free throw was shot to make the score 53. On November 24, the Tigers beat Elbert County 37-35. It was an awesome game down to the wire. Now the Tigers have four wins and two losses. Congratulations on another win!

W-WMS had Thanksgiving holidays November 26-28. We hope the students, faculty and staff enjoyed time with family and friends.

Every Tuesday during the month of October, Pizza Hut hosted a benefit for our school and raised $306.12. We thank Pizza Hut and the community for supporting W-WMS! Over the last couple of weeks students have been selling cookie dough to raise money for W-WMS. Our profits from this fundraiser were about $1400.

The band had a very successful fruit sale. Those who placed an order will receive their packages on December 13 or a few days afterward. The money raised will go to fund bus fuel to carry the Marching Tiger Band to and from football games and other band needs.

The W-WMS Student Council has many things planned over the next several months. On December 18, the student council will visit the Heritage Healthcare nursing home to sing Christmas carols. On February 13, the student council will hold its annual Valentine's dance in the cafeteria from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tickets will go on sale the week of February 9 for $3.00.

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) met November 10 and discussed a chapter t-shirt design and their future community service work. The chapter will launch a recycling initiative in the school and community as a part of the state organization's PEACH (Policy Environment Action credit Health) Project. Also with this initiative, students will be collecting used ink cartridges to recycle for credit to purchase ink for the school's computer lab. FBLA held a membership drive in October and now has 39 members.