Gehmans Mennonite School
Laila Martin
8th Grade
Laila is the 13-year-old daughter of Brandt and Gina Martin. She attends Lincoln Mennonite Church with her family. Laila’s favorite Scripture Passage is Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” When asked what her favorite part of school is, she said, “P.E. and hanging out with her friends.” Laila’s favorite class is P.E. because she gets to do what she loves, running. Along with running, Laila likes to listen to music, playing the PS5, and playing flag football and basketball with her 3 brothers. After she graduates, Laila is planning on going to Schaefferstown Mennonite for high school. Some of Laila’s favorite hobbies include going to New York to visit her biological siblings and shopping at her favorite store, Main Street Exchange. Her greatest accomplishment so far is running a 5K and finishing 6th in the B division. If she were to change anything in the world, it would be abortion. If Laila could travel anywhere in the world, she would go to Dubai. She would like to travel to Dubai because she wants to ride a yacht and because there are really pretty beaches. Laila’s role models are her mom and dad because they love her and encourage her when times are easy and hard.
Written by: Emma Horst
Kristin Martin
8th Grade
Let me introduce you to Kristin Hope Martin. Kristin is a 13 year old girl who goes to Gehmans Mennonite School and attends Green Terrace Mennonite Church. Her parents are Ben and Jo Martin and her siblings are Renee (16), Eddie (9), and Ava (7).
Kristin is a great friend and I don’t know what I would do without a friend like her. If I had to choose three words to describe her, I would choose loyal, talkative, and positive.
I chose the world loyal because Kristin keeps her promises and is always there for her friends. She’s always there for me and if you were her friend, she would be there for you, too. I chose talkative because she loves to talk to her friends and I chose positive because she is almost always positive and never negative. She always seems to find the good in most things.
Kristin admires her sister Renee because she always seems to be there for Kristin when she’s having a bad day. She’s also a great friend and sister to Kristin.
Kristin loves school because of her teachers and P.E. class. Her favorite sport is volleyball.
She plans on going to Terre Hill High School and getting a job after she graduates middle school.
Kristin’s favorite thing to do are sketching, reading, being outside, and playing with her siblings. She said that if she could change something in the world, she would drop taxes.
Her favorite restaurant is Five Guys and her favorite class is science because of the way her teacher, Miss Horning, teaches it. Kristin told me that her greatest accomplishment was getting through sleep apnea. If you need a good friend, you should get a friend like Kristin.
Written by: Karli Hursh
Kendalyn Zimmerman
8th Grade
Kendalyn Zimmerman is very likable and a kind person. Her parents’ names are Kenneth and Linda Zimmerman. Kendalyn has three younger brothers and one younger sister. Their names and ages are Brady (10), Chadrick (7), Logan (5) and her sister Lexi is two years old.
Kendalyn’s family attends Pequea Mennonite Church. Kendalyn and her two younger brothers go to Gehmans Mennonite School.
In her spare time, Kendalyn enjoys horses and going to horse sales. Her hobbies are riding horses and just being outside. Kendalyn’s favorite sport at school is softball. Some people that she admires is her parents. She admires her parents because they are good role models and a good example.
If Kendalyn were to change anything in the world it would be that she only goes to school three times a week instead of five times a week. Kendalyn doesn’t really enjoy school, but if she had to choose a favorite class it would be science. She likes this class because of how her teacher, which is Miss Horning, explains it.
When Kendalyn graduates her eighth year at Gehmans Mennonite School she would like to work for her grandparents. She also thinks that landscaping would be fun to try. One place Kendalyn would like to travel to in the future would be to the west.
Overall, Kendalyn is a great friend and a very nice person.
Written by: Aliyah Eby
Polina Filippova
8th Grade
Polina Andreevna Filippova is the amazing daughter of Yelena and Andrey Filippova. She was born June 9th, 2010, which makes her 14 years old. Polina has 6 sisters and 5 brothers.
She has been attending Gehmans Mennonite School (GMS) for all of her 9 years. She also attends a church called Slavic Baptist Church.
She has a passion for sports and art (she’s amazing at both). Her dream job is to work for her sister Kristina as a nail tech and play soccer professionally.
Polina has an awesome personality. She’s funny, talkative, and very extroverted. Her favorite subject is science because she loves learning about stars and galaxies. She looks up to many people, but mostly she looks up to Jesus, Ronaldo, and the BMW Company in Germany.
Her favorite Bible verse is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life”. Her favorite book is the Bible, because she’s a Christian and enjoys reading God’s Word. Her favorite hobbies are sports, baking (then eating it of course), and art. She’s amazing at all of those things. Polina also would one day want to travel the world. She especially wants to go to all of Europe, Germany, Portugal (to meet Ronaldo), and explore every state. She also wants to go to Russia, because she’s Russian.
Polina is a great person and if you haven’t met her already, you should.
Written by Kelana Sensenig
Braden Martin
8th Grade
Braden Martin is a student in 8th grade at Gehmans Mennonite School and he has been attending since 5th grade. His parents are Eric and Saranne Martin and he has one younger brother in 6th grade.
One reason why he likes school is because he has a lot of good friends that go there. After he graduates from GMS, he plans on going to Terre Hill Mennonite High School and to work for his dad part-time.
Things he does to pass time at his home include watching TV, reading books, and playing video games. He is also a member of Cornerstone Mennonite Fellowship and he and his family attend church there every Sunday. Some of his favorite things to do are fishing, hunting, and swimming.
When asked what he would do if he could change anything in the world today he said, “I would want world peace and wars to stop.”
One of his greatest accomplishments was that he won a free TV from a drawing. His favorite class in school is science because he likes to do experiments.
When Braden grows up, he wants to learn how to fly, buy a plane, and then to become an experienced bush pilot in Alaska.
The person he said that he admires the most in life is his dad and he wants to be like him because of his honesty.
Written by: Trenton Sensenig
Karli Hursh
8th Grade
Karli Hursh is a likeable person. Her parents are Jeremy and Ruth Hursh and she has two younger sisters, Emma who is 9 and Addalyn is 4. Karli and her family attend Parkview Mennonite Church.
She has been going to Gehmans Mennonite School since Kindergarten and is on her way to finishing eighth grade.
Some things she likes most about school are P.E. class and art. Karli’s favorite class is English because she likes the way Mr. Stoner, the teacher, explains it. Her favorite sport is volleyball.
Some of her hobbies are thrift store shopping and doing crafts. She also likes reading, being outside, and biking in her spare time.
One of her greatest accomplishments in life is teaching herself how to play piano. Karli plans to be homeschooled and do Penn Foster for high school.
She also wants to get a job taking care of people’s pets after she’s done with middle school.
Karli says if she could change anything in the world today it would be dropping prices on groceries.
Someone Karli admires the most is her aunt because she is always there for her and almost like a second mom. She’s also a great mentor to Karli when she needs someone to talk to. Karli is a great person and a really good friend.
Written by: Kristin Martin
Emma Horst
8th Grade
I want to introduce you to a lovable, energetic, and fun girl named Emma Horst. Emma is the only daughter of Matt and Sheila Horst. She also has two brothers to keep her entertained. Her home town church is Heritage Mennonite Church in Stevens, PA. When Emma has spare time she enjoys riding the four wheeler, going thrift shopping, and hanging out with friends.
Her hobbies include going camping, karaoke, running, and playing sports. Emma’s favorite food is cheese pizza from Papa John’s. Her favorite restaurant is Chick-fil-A because she loves the chicken tenders, waffle fries, and their milkshakes. Emma’s favorite class at school is P.E. because she loves sports, especially softball and volleyball. She plays softball with Daughters of God in Gap.
After Emma graduates she will homeschool and get a job. Her dream job is to work at an ice cream shop because she loves ice cream. If Emma could travel anywhere in the world it would be Paris to see the Eiffel Tower. The person who Emma looks up to is her mom. Why she looks up to her mom is because her mom encourages her when things are hard. Emma’s favorite Bible verse is Romans 8:31 which says, “What then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (NIV)
Written by: Laila Martin
Dennis Nikitiuk
8th Grade
Dennis is an energetic boy in the eighth grade class at Gehmans Mennonite School. He is 13 years old, and his parents are Yana and Gennadii Nikitiuk. Dennis gets very good grades in all classes, but his favorite classes are science and social studies. What he enjoys must about school is Phys. Ed. because he likes to play sports.
When he gets home from school, in his free time, he enjoys making up songs on the piano or riding his E-bike. Dennis has played the piano for more than seven years and is talented in any kind of music. He also enjoys reading in his free time.
Dennis plays all the sports in school, and is on the school team in soccer, basketball, volleyball, and softball. Although he is only 13, he can read, write, and speak three languages. Dennis has visited Ukraine multiple times, and hopes to go again. If he could visit any place he wanted, he would travel to Belgium and Luxembourg.
After high school graduation, Dennis plans on going to college and getting a full-time job. He admires his parents because they set very good examples. Dennis actively attends Evangelical Christian Baptist Church.
These are just a few of the many interesting facts about him, and I hope you will get to meet this amazing teenager someday.
Written by: Judson Burkholder