Lauren is an MSE “Lifer,” having attended since preschool.

8:29 am “Phew; that was close!” Lauren exclaims as she finds her seat in first period Math class. “Math is one of my favorite parts of the day. I like that everyone in the middle school has math at the same time. Mornings are good for me because I feel awake and I can concentrate really well.”

11:25 a.m. Lauren drops off her language books in her locker and heads to Spanish class. “I’m excited about Spanish Class today because we’re having a Day of the Dead celebration. We’ve been studying the celebration for the past week. People in Mexico, the U.S. and South America honor friends and family who’ve died by building these really fancy altars that have food and beautiful decorations. They have special dances and visit their loved ones’ graves. We’re going to decorate wooden skulls which represent peoples’ deceased relatives.”

The seventh year students celebrate at the top of Vail Pass.

What do you love most about MSE?
I really love the freedom we have here to be ourselves. Because we have small class sizes, the teachers get to know us very well. They also really like us. The kids here are like brothers and sisters to me. I also like being able to hang out with different ages. I have as many friends in sixth and eighth grades as I do in seventh! We also get to go over to the lower school to work with primary students. That’s so much fun! They are so cute!

What is your favorite part about seventh grade?
Oh, a lot of things! I loved our Vail Pass bike trip last month. It was really hard work and it made us feel great when we all made it to the top. My core teacher, Jesse, has a great philosophy: Work hard, play hard. We definitely did that that day! I also liked when we made batiked Himalayan prayer flags with our C.A.R.E. motto painted on them with wax. We passed them out to different classes all through the school.

Lauren steps off the MSE bus at the end of the day.

4:30 p.m. Most days after school, Lauren heads to the gym. “I admire Shawn Johnson. She has worked really hard to make her dreams come true. I hope to make the varsity gymnastics team when I get into high school. But I also like to do chorale or Broadway Club at MSE, so I think I have some pretty good options!”