Headmaster’s Message

By LTC Feathers

Did you know?

Hatcher Hall was

built in 1916.

Inside this issue:

Eagle Eyrie Trip Resource Tip

2

Miamie Lewis Remem-brance

3

Exploratory Spotlight: Juggling

4

Drama Operation Christmas Child

5

Parents’ Weekend 6-7

Soccer 8

Swimming 9

Basketball 10

Wrestling 11

Word Search 12

Fork Union Military

Academy Middle School

Volume 19, Issue 2

October / November 2013

Canned Food Drive FUMA Middle School cadets and faculty are accepting donations for our annual Alpha Co. vs. Beta Co. canned food drive. The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is in dire need of food, including:

Cereal Peanut Butter (all sizes)

Jelly Rice

Dried beans Peas

Muffin mix Spaghetti and spaghetti sauce

Canned tomatoes Canned tuna

Canned fruit Canned beans (all kinds)

Canned corn

Please donate. Help your son’s company win this competition while helping those in need in our community.

“O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His mer-cies endureth forever (1 Chron. 16:34).”

I pray that all of you enjoy the upcoming Thanksgiv-

ing break with your family. Take time during this

season to reflect on all of the blessings that God has given you. All

of us are blessed beyond measure. Over the holiday break, make an

effort to share these blessings. Begin by sharing kindness with

those around you, especially to your family. Offer to babysit your

little brother or sister. Be a help around the house. Offer to rake

the leaves. Set the table. Clean up after meals. Keep your room

clean. Take one day and do some volunteer work in your communi-

ty. Spend quality time with your family. Go out of your way to ex-

press gratitude to those who have done so much to support you

through your F.U.M.A. experience so far. And remember to take

time to thank God for the many ways He shows His love to you eve-

ry day. Enjoy your vacation!

Middle School Students Attend “Ignite” Weekend

During the weekend of October 11-13, sixteen of our Middle School cadets, chap-eroned by COL Todd Giszack and LTC Rob Feathers, enjoyed a fun, Spirit-filled weekend retreat at the Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Retreat Center, close to Lynchburg, VA. The program, attended by over 500 middle school students and their leaders from across the state of Virginia, focused on the theme "Ignite". The pastor for the weekend was Jeff Walker, a Christian author, evan-gelist, and the youth minister at Peace Baptist Church in Decatur, GA. He in-spired the middle school students with his energetic and challenging messag-es. The students were also inspired by "Declared", a Christian band, that had the crowd on its feet during the praise and worship sessions. Several of our ca-dets made decisions during the weekend to commit to a deeper relationship with God and to have a greater witness to their fellow cadets on campus.

Page 2 Volume 19 Issue 2

Ms. Payne’s Resource Tip:

Learn from your mistakes. Keep your old test/quiz papers and review them for future exams.

Miamie Lewis By Brennan Stone, Bayonet Reporter

In remembrance of Miamie Lewis, Captain Butt’s 6th grade English class planted a weeping cherry tree in front of the infirmary. Mi-amie Lewis was a nurse at FUMA for a great number of years. To remember her, we bought a 10 gallon weeping cherry tree at the local Lowes Hardware Store.

There are five jobs related

to caring for the tree:

planting the tree, facts

about the tree, where to

buy the tree, proposal to

maintenance, and inter-

views about Mrs. Lewis.

My partner, Justice Ty-

ler, and I worked on

where to buy the tree.

So whenever you walk

by the Infirmary stop

and look at the beautiful

weeping cherry tree.

Page 3 Volume 19, Issue 2

The beautiful weeping cherry tree

planted in remembrance of Mrs. Lewis.

CPT Butt’s 6th grade class pictured with relatives of Miamie Lewis.

Page 4

Exploratory Spotlight: Juggling

Interview by Brennan Stone

Exploratory periods are designed to give cadets the opportunity to choose what they want to learn. Typically, they feature an activity that is outside the scope of a normal school day, such as archery, gardening, weight lifting, robotics, and juggling. Juggling? Staff reporter Brennan Stone interviewed CPT Butt, FUMA’s own resident juggling expert, to see what juggling is all about.

Why do you like to juggle?

CPT Butt: “I enjoy juggling because it allows me to escape from thinking about the rest of life, and

focus on keeping some balls in the air. It gives me good hand-eye coordination, and I love the challenge of learning a new trick.”

How did you become interested in juggling?

CPT Butt: “When I was in middle school I had a friend who was interested in juggling, so we both learned together. We spent hours outside endlessly throwing balls in the air, and dropping them most of the time.”

How do you teach others to do it?

CPT Butt: “I start with a video put out by a professional juggler, who walks through some of the fundamental steps in juggling. We talk about stance, eye focus, hand placement, and breaking down the steps into smaller chunks. It is important to master each step before moving on to more complicated throws.”

What is the hardest part of juggling?

CPT Butt: “The hardest part of juggling is breaking bad habits, and retraining your mind to throw the balls with correct form. It is also hard to learn to control the throws, and not move around in a constant state of panic.”

The Bayonet

Cadets Cainon Miles and Andrew Estes

practice juggling. CPT Butt juggling pins.

Volume 19 Issue 2 Page 5

Drama By Dave Walker

Drama is fun. We make the script come alive with our actions, and how we carry out our scenes. The 8th grade drama class is rehearsing a play called Area 51. Area 51 is about two FBI agents named Dea-con and Brock that solve crimes and protect the planet. Slade is a geolo-gist. Ernie is a nerd. Through all the hard work that eve-rybody put into this play, we actors have formed a bond that can’t be explained by words. We don't com-plain about whatever we have to do; we just go out there and say our lines. When somebody forgets his line or lines, we help him remember them. I play Brock and the alien of Area 51. Come see our play! Cast: Brock-Dave Walker Deacon-J.D. Yescas

Slade-Nathaniel Strickland Ernie-Elie Shaw

Walker, Shaw, and Yescas in a scene

from Area 51.

Operation Christmas Child FUMA Middle School cadets are once again participatong in Operation Christmas Child. This is a program through which needy children around the globe can experience God’s love and magic of Christmas. For more information on the program, visit

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/ . Our students are still collecting items to stuff the shoeboxes. An update, including number of boxes, completed will appear in the Christmas edition of The Bayonet. Thanks to all who have contributed to this worthy cause.

Page 6 The Bayonet

Parents’ Weekend 2013

FUMA’s annual Parents’ Weekend was held October 18-21. Over the course of the weekend,

most parents of Middle School cadets were on campus meeting with teachers, watching a foot-

ball or soccer game, enjoying the Parents Association dinner, or watching the parade. highlight

for the cadets was going on leave from Saturday afternoon through Monday evening. For some,

this was the first leave since Opening Weekend, and they were excited to have some “civilian”

time out of uniform with the Xbox.

Som

e Pa

rent

s’

Wee

kend

pict

ures

Page 7 Volume 19 Issue 2

What did you do while you were on leave

Parents’ Weekend?

I went home on leave after

the parade on Parents’

Weekend. I visited my old

school to talk about FUMA.

I told them about the uni-

forms we wear every day

and all about my classes.

While I was at my home, I

played with my little broth-

er, played the Xbox all day,

and played basketball with

my friends. I had to come

back to FUMA Monday af-

ternoon so I could get pre-

pared for study hall. It

was a good weekend.

~Elie Bracy

I played on the farm and on my iPod. ~Hunter Johnson

On Parents’ Weekend, I went to North Carolina to see some cous-ins that we hadn't seen in a long time. We also went to the state fair and went on lots of roller coasters. After that, we ate. I had a big chili cheese dog, and boy, was it good. We went back to the hotel and watched a movie. The movie was called “Pacific Rim.” It was really confusing, but really cool. After that we went to bed. My parents were really glad to see me. They had missed me. It was good to see them. The next day we went back to Fork Union. That was what I did for Parents’ Weekend.

~Corey Lawrence

I went to the UVA football game.

~Chase Kaufman

I went to the river with my family.

~Nick Johnson

I went to the movies.

~Eli Shaw

All of my friends came over and stayed at my house.

~Irie Little

I didn’t really do much, but I did go visit my old teach-ers at my old school.

~Trevor Lee

Absolutely nothing.

~Nathaniel Strickland

My grandparents came down from New York and spent the weekend with us.

~Blake Chiovaro

I spent the weekend at home getting ready for hunting season.

~Hardy Pemberton

We had my sister’s birthday party.

~Brennan Stone

I went to see my grand-pa in the hospital.

~Zach Vance

I spent time with my family and relaxed.

~Scott Boyd

My brother came in from LA to see me, we went out to eat, and then I just messed around.

~Joseph Pham

My family came down from New York and Nashville and we went go-cart riding.

~Cainon Miles

Watched TV and relaxed.

~Ben Gary

The Bayonet Page 8

On Tuesday, November 22, FUMA Middle

School team beat Collegiate 5-0. Julian Yes-

cas scored three goals, and Justice Tyler and

Alec Durr each scored once. The whole team

played well. Peter Cagnina had some beautiful

centers and crosses. Steven Tidman and

Hunter Johnson had some nice touches. Alec

Durr made an awesome sliding shot but

missed the goal just slightly. Over all it was a

good game for everybody, especially Julian

Yescas, the MVP of the game.

Soccer: Collegiate vs. FUMA

By Brennan Stone, Bayonet Reporter

Bring it on! Graves-Marchand is ready for action!

Volume 19 Issue 2 Page 9

Swimming is one of the sports that is

available to cadets during the winter

season. When we first get to the pool,

we do thirty minutes of dry land exer-

cises which include stretching, jumping

jacks, and medicine ball exercises.

Once we are in the water, some of us

do 25 free swim laps, then we do a lot

more water exercising. Twenty-five

free is just doing any stroke two times

around the pool. Our pool is 25 me-

ters long, quite a distance to swim

from end to end. When you join the

team, you are telling the coach that

you won’t quit, and it is on your hon-

or that you are on the team.

Swimming

By Benjamin Gary, Bayonet Reporter

Fork Union 4-Miler The Fork Union 4-Miler was run the morning of Nov. 2. Approximately 70 runners of all differ-ent ages participated in the event. FUMA Middle School students did very well, and our very own J.D. Yescas won. Brennan Stone sat down with J.D. to find out how he was feeling about such a big victory.

Why did you want to participate in the 4-Miler?

J.D.: “ I participated because I like to run and I was trying to get ready for states in Cross Country.”

What was your 4-Miler goal?

J.D.: “I was just trying to get under 26 minutes.”

What was it like to win the 4-Miler?

J.D.: “I was tired and very relieved I finished 1st.”

Other Middle School finishers:

5. CPT Butt 8. Scott Robel 13. Jared Giszack 21. Thomas Snow

26. Blake Chiovaro 38. David Muench 40. Zac Miller

Congratulations to all who participated in this event.

Winter means it’s basketball season, and our cadets love to play basketball! Practice and conditioning kicked off on Nov. 4th. Coach Payne was excited by the number of potential players who came out, and the great work she has seen in practice. Twenty-two cadets showed up for try-outs, but the team had to be pared down to twelve. Competition was fierce as each young man gave his all in hopes of securing one of those coveted spots on the team roster.

Several cadets returned from last year’s team. They are expected to provide leadership and di-rection to the less experienced members. Congratulations to all who made the team!

Members of the 2013-14 FUMA Middle School Basketball Team are:

Date Title

Tue, 12/10/2013 - 4:30pm Home: Middle School Basketball vs. Prospect Heights Middle School

Thu, 12/12/2013 - 5:30pm Away: Middle School Basketball vs. Goochland Middle School

Tue, 01/07/2014 - 4:00pm Away: Middle School Basketball vs. Prospect Heights Middle School

Fri, 01/10/2014 - 4:30pm Away: Middle School Basketball vs. Fluvanna Middle School

Thu, 01/16/2014 - 4:30pm Home: Middle School Basketball vs. St. Christopher's School

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 5:00pm Home: Middle School Basketball vs. Goochland Middle School

Tue, 01/28/2014 - 4:00pm Home: Middle School Basketball vs. Collegiate School

Fri, 02/07/2014 (All day) Away: Middle School Basketball vs. St. Christopher's School

Tue, 02/11/2014 - 6:00pm Away: Middle School Basketball vs. Collegiate School

The Bayonet Page 10

Basketball Try-Outs

Middle School Basketball Schedule

Elie Bracy Blake Chiovaro

Larry Elder Thai Greer

Jonathan Ilori Chase Kaufman

Tyson Marlow John Meheen

Zac Miller David Scher

Cameron Smith

Justice Tyler

Volume 19 Issue 2 Page 11

DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME

Thur. 9 Jan. St. Christopher's Richmond, VA 4:00 PM

Tues. 14 Jan. Prospect Heights MS Fork Union 4:00 PM

Fri. 17 Jan. New Kent MS New Kent, VA 5:00 PM

Fri. 24 Jan. Collegiate School Richmond, VA

Tues. 4 Feb. St. Christopher's Fork Union 4:00 PM

The wrestling season kicked off Monday, Nov. 4. Practice and conditioning started with twelve hopeful cadets vying for ten spots. Each cadet worked hard to set himself apart from the oth-ers. With three strong returning members, Scott Boyd, James McMurtrie, and Steven Tidman expected to lead the team, Coach Greenspon is optimistic about the season.

Congratulations to members of the 2013-14 FUMA Middle School Wrestling team:

Wrestling Try-Outs

Middle School Wrestling Schedule

Strong abs are essential for wresting. These leg lifts are brutal.

Peter Cagnina John Graves-Marchand Joshua Henriques

Trevor Lee Irie Little James McMurtrie

David Middleton

Work out with

Upper School

team:

Scott Boyd

Joseph Pham

Nick Johnson

R P F S O P E R M K G N C Y M

T H U P R D D A E N A V C L S

L R Q M A E Y Y I T T A F I H

F B A R P F Y X O Z H T T M W

T D A V L K A A C J E G S A W

S P A O E L I O R O R A U F R

M Z W A E L R N X P I L T A T

I E P R M N X B P X N I O T L

R L L A B T O O F I G J G U U

G S T U F F I N G R E L E R A

L D W S N A I D N I G O T K W

I V C O R N U C O P I A H E C

P T H A N K S E V O L Z E Y U

S X R N C Z U O F E S M R W J

Y L A A H C K Z Y K R X J A K

CORN CORNUCOPIA FAMILY

FOOTBALL GATHERING INDIANS

JOY LAUGHTER LOVE

MAYFLOWER PARADE PILGRIM

PRAYERS PUMPKIN PIE RELAXING

STUFFING THANKS TOGETHER

TRAVEL TURKEY

Thanksgiving Word Search

“Give thanks to the Lord. Call on him. Make known among the nations what he has done.” Psalm 105:1

The Bayonet Page 12