Gehmans Mennonite School

Brayden Shirk

8th Grade

If you were ever to walk into the 8th grade room at Gehmans Mennonite School, you would probably hear Brayden before you saw him. He would probably be telling a joke or laughing loudly at a joke his friend said. Brayden’s friends like him for his good sense of humor, his jokes, and his bold attitude. If you ever needed anything done, Brayden would be the first to volunteer.

Brayden’s hobbies include playing video games, playing sports, working with wood, and most of all hunting. Brayden loves to play basically any video game. Although he likes all sports, baseball is his favorite. He played for the Bowmansville Red Sox, where he played third base. Brayden really enjoys taking shop class at school because of his love for working with wood. Brayden loves to hunt. Last season he shot a five point buck with the crossbow and a doe with a flintlock.

Brayden is the son of Marlin and Arlene Shirk. He is the youngest of four siblings, with two sisters and one brother. Brayden attends Martindale Mennonite Church with his family. He loves spending time with his family whether it’s hunting, camping, or talking around a campfire. Brayden is a great guy who enjoys doing many things with family and friends.

Written by: Clark Wenger

Kylie Hoover

8th Grade

When you arrive at school and hear someone laughing, I can almost assure you that it would be Kylie. Kylie is very bubbly and outgoing. She is 13 years old, has two sisters Madison and Scarlet, and her parents’ names are Dean and Emily Hoover. One of her family’s favorite past times is playing board games.

At school, Kylie enjoys socializing with friends, and the fun and excitement of field trips. Because of the activeness of sports, Kylie enjoys Phys. Ed. Kylie is very good at basketball. She can dribble the ball up the side of the court and shoot and most times get it in. One of her favorite classes is science because of all the fun experiments we have. Her favorite experiment was when her teacher added water to dry ice causing it to overflow with a smoke-like substance.

One of Kylie’s dreams is to be an artist or author. She can draw lots of different things. When she draws pictures, she will often put faces onto it. She loves writing and is good at creating stories.

Kylie’s favorite vacation place is Florida. She enjoys going to the beach and walking along the shore and watching the waves, or wading in the water. Kylie enjoys listening to contemporary Christian music in her spare time, and also taking pictures. Kylie’s favorite color is blue. Her favorite kind of food is Mexican so her favorite restaurant is Alebrije.

I enjoy having Kylie in our class because of her great personality. Even though she is the youngest of our class, her joyful attitude can have a strong impact on us as a class.

Written by: Kayla Landis

Alicia Martin

8th Grade

Alicia is a very good friend to be around. Alicia goes to Gehmans Mennonite School. She is in 8th grade and is 13 years old. The most exciting thing for Alicia is not having any homework on the weekend. Her favorite sport is volleyball because she likes how you work as a team.

Her favorite class in school is Home EC because she would like to work in a bakery someday. She loves baking cookies, cakes, cupcakes, and brownies for her brothers. She loves teasing them and saying that they cannot have any, though she knows her brothers really appreciate it. Alicia’s dream is to work with dogs. Their family has two Yorkies.

Alicia has two older brothers, Jadon and Jevon, and one younger brother Tyrell. Her parents are Jeff and Theda. She loves to go to her grandparent’s cabin with her family. Alicia loves going to her friends’ houses. She says that you can be bored and have fun at the same time. She also likes to go hunting because she loves to compete with her brothers. She killed a couple birds with her BB gun and one four-point buck last year.

Alicia is a member of Martindale Mennonite Church. The person she admires the most is her cousin Kara because she is older than her, but she stills hangs out with her. Alicia is a fun, bubbly, polite, and very sociable person. I am so glad that she is in my 8th grade class.

Written by: Isabel Reiff

Chelsea Martin

8th Grade

Sometimes when I’m having a bad day, all I need to do is look at Chelsea and my troubles fly away at the sight of her smile. She can always make people smile when they are having a bad day. She cares about people, their feelings, and their problems.

Chelsea really enjoys school, and that might be why she is always smiling. When she’s at school, she enjoys being with friends and learning new things. If you asked Chelsea what her favorite class is, she would probably say math. Some people think math is hard and complicated, but she thinks it’s fun to put all of the numbers together and get the answer, kind of like the way people put together a puzzle to get the big picture. Chelsea is also good at spelling. She was in three spelling bees since fifth grade.

When she has spare time she enjoys playing elaborate songs on the piano, shopping at Park City, talking and being with her many friends, and being with her loving family.   She admires her Aunt Velma because she is always caring for others and she cooks amazing food for people. Some of her favorite hobbies are reading historical fiction books, coloring adult coloring books, and doing fun crafts. Chelsea gets excited about a lot of things – going on family vacations, Saturdays, and parties.

Her favorite food is white rice and delicious fruit smoothies. Two of her favorite places to eat are Olive Garden and Infinito’s, a pizza buffet. Her favorite colors are purple and magenta.Chelsea has many friends here at Gehmans Mennonite School because she has a magnetic personality. I look at Chelsea as a unique sister in Christ and I’m also very glad to call her my friend.

Written by: Kylie Hoover

Clark Wenger

8th Grade

If you are down a couple points in a basketball game or need someone to score a goal in a soccer game, you can count on Clark to lead your team. Clark is a very fun person to be around. He always has funny comments that make the class laugh.

In his free time, Clark likes to spend time with his family by camping or going to the cabin with them. Just this summer he went out west, all the way to California. He visited the St. Louis Arch and went to Yosemite National Park. He also likes to hunt, and last year he got a five point buck with a crossbow.

Clark loves playing a lot of sports or just relaxing and listening to music and reading. This past summer he played for the Bowmansville Red Sox. But his favorite sport is basketball, and he’s very good at it, especially at layups and shooting three’s. He’s a great teammate and a good team leader. If you ever miss a shot, you always hear Clark cheer you up. And if he makes a shot, you won’t hear him brag about it.

Clark attends Martindale Mennonite Church, which is where almost all of his classmates go. He has three siblings, Miranda and Bethany, who are older than him, and Blake, who is younger than him. At home he likes to sit around a campfire with them or play games like Monopoly and Dutch Blitz.

If you ever met Clark, you would want to be his friend because of his kind and funny personality and all the jokes that he tells.

Written by: Jadon Martin

Olivia Smucker

8th Grade

Olivia Smucker, also known as Livi, can be quiet when you first meet her. But once you get to know her, she’s really fun. Her friends like being around her because she is a really good friend to everyone. Another reason she’s great is because she has a very optimistic personality. Whether her team is losing or she’s feeling discouraged, you’ll nearly always see a smile on her face. One thing about her that makes me laugh is how she can have the most random blonde moments and laugh with everyone.

At school, Livi’s favorite class is Phys. Ed., but she also enjoys Language. She is very creative and artistic. She loves doodling and drawing almost anything. Without a doubt, she’s one of the best artists in our class.  Around home, you might find her playing piano, drawing, or playing sports with her two brothers. She also likes going on hikes and bike rides with her family because they make her feel happy and relaxed. Livi is really happy when she gets all of her homework done and is free to do what she wants. With her family, Livi attends New Covenant Mennonite Fellowship.

Livi admires her dad because she feels he is a great example. She loves when he spends time with her and her brothers. She is looking forward to possibly working for her dad as a secretary. She also thinks it would be cool to work in a market or be a missionary. If she would become a missionary, she would enjoy going to South America to either teach children or help take care of sick people.

Livi is a wonderful young lady and an awesome friend. I’m sure you would think so too if you ever met her.

Written by: Alicia Martin

Isabel Reiff

8th Grade

Even if Isabel scores a goal, she never brags and says she is the best. Even though she says she isn’t very good, she is one of the best and everyone wants her on their team. She is good on any sports field, and she likes soccer, softball, and basketball the best. Her favorite thing about school is Physical Education where she can play sports. When playing a game, Isabel is swift and agile with her feet and she is often one of the people that scores a goal.

Isabel is creative and she enjoys doing things that involve nature. She enjoys going on vacation with her family to Chincoteague, Virginia where she can hunt for sea glass and go shelling. She enjoys doing beach crafts like decorating seashells and sea glass. One dream that Isabel has is to start a bakery when she is old enough so she can bake for other people. Her siblings like when she bakes some goodie for them, and she feels good when her siblings thank her for making such good things to eat.

A person that Isabel admires is her grandma who is a good Christian lady. If there was something she could change, it would be abortion. Her favorite color is pink and her favorite animals are cats. Isabel’s parents are Jay and Amanda Reiff and her two younger siblings are Harrison and Eliza. She attends Martindale Mennonite Church along with her family.

Isabel is an amazing classmate, and her classmates describe her as kind, easy going, and quiet until you get to know her. She likes being with good friends and teachers. Isabel is someone you would want to get to know. She is always happy and friendly to all who know her.

Written by: Olivia Martin