Category: Middle School News
HPAC to host the ‘Black Legacy Project Live’
Hurleyville Performing Arts Center will host “The Black Legacy Project Live,” a free musical celebration of Black History created by the nonprofit Music in Common.
The show will be at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, at HPAC, at 32+ Main St., in Hurleyville. Concessions will be available.
For more information, visit the event page at the HPAC website.
All Liberty wrestlers place in boys Section 9 D2 Championships
Each member of the Liberty Redhawks boys wrestling team earned spots on the podium at the Section 9 D2 Championships last weekend. Liberty finished ninth in the team standings and officially closed out the season.
Misael Juarez Perez placed sixth at 144 pounds; Miguel Guzman placed fifth at 157 pounds; Tarek Benadim placed third and Shawn Bickham placed fourth, both at 190 pounds; and Elmer Son Vicente placed third at 215 pounds.
Liberty BOE to meet Feb. 24
The next Liberty Central School District Board of Education meeting will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, in the HS Media Center at 125 Buckley St. in Liberty. The board anticipates to enter into executive session (not open to the public) immediately. The regular portion of the meeting, open to the public, is expected to resume at 6 p.m. The agenda will be available on Monday, Feb. 23, at Board Docs.
LCSD investigates actions in social media post
Liberty Central School District has been made aware of a video social media post by a former employee of the district’s transportation partner, Rolling V, reporting that Liberty Central School students making derogatory comments toward each other.
The district does not condone this behavior and is investigating the incident, and it will be handled according to the LCSD Code of Conduct.
“We appreciate the diversity of our community and take our commitment to the Dignity for All Students Act seriously,” Superintendent Dr. Patrick Sullivan said. Students who feel they are being targeted or bullied can reach out to the DASA coordinator in their building or fill out a DASA complaint form and the district will investigate. Concerns from students, staff and community members may also be filed through the district’s Anonymous Alerts reporting system.
Those with questions may email questions@libertyk12.org.
Two excel at challenge, earn books at LMS
Two sixth-grade students in Ms. Sarah Davis’ ELA WINN (What I Need Now) class were recognized for their exceptional achievement in a recent IXL challenge.
Dominique Banks and Estiven Baquedano both exceeded the challenge goal by correctly answering more than 200 IXL questions focusing on ELA text-based learning. Dominique accurately answered 274 questions, while Estiven correctly completed 255.
“Their dedication, perseverance, and commitment to learning truly set them apart,” Ms. Davis said.
As a reward for their hard work, both students earned the opportunity to use flex seating of their choice for the week and select a book from the school’s book vending machine, which was dedicated late last month.
Estiven said it was fun to use the book machine, a sentiment echoed by Dominique who stated: “The challenge was cool, and being able to use the book machine was amazing! It gave us encouraging words as we used our coin.”
The book vending machine helps promote literacy, rewards positive behavior, and hopes to inspire a love of reading among Liberty Middle School students.
IXL Leaderboards are friendly competitions built into IXL, a website used by Liberty Middle School, that can track progress on things such as total questions answered, number of skills mastered or proficient and time spent learning.
Teachers can customize what the competition is based on when they set it up to motivate students. Leaderboards show student or class rankings in real time, which can make learning feel like a game or a challenge to climb the ranks.
These may be individual or team/class-based competitions depending on what the teacher sets.
Students can check their current ranking via their IXL dashboard, which updates as they work. The dashboard also shows progress toward awards, goals, and other accomplishments.
“Congratulations to Dominique and Estiven on this well-deserved accomplishment!” Ms. Davis said. “We are incredibly proud of their efforts and continued growth.”
LMS, LES Drama Club to present plays
Liberty thespians will provide back-to-back weekends of entertainment, with the Middle School Drama Club presenting “Willy Wonka Jr.” on Saturday, Feb. 21, and the Elementary School Drama Club taking on “101 Dalmatians Kids” on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27 and 28.
LMS Drama Club
Willy Wonka Jr. is a high-energy, larger-than-life musical adventure starring our incredibly talented LMS Drama Club students in Grades 5–8! The audience will join the mysterious Willy Wonka and a cast of unforgettable characters as they journey through a magical chocolate factory filled with dazzling surprises, catchy songs, colorful costumes, and plenty of sweet (and sometimes sticky!) life lessons. From the golden tickets to the whimsical Oompa Loompas, this show is bursting with humor, heart, and nonstop fun for the whole family.
The show will be presented at 2 and 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, in the David E. Panbaker Auditorium in the High School at 125 Buckley St. Because of inclement weather, the Friday performance was canceled. Tickets purchased for Friday night’s performance will be honored at either of Saturday’s performances. Tickets are available for purchase at www.ticketsource.com/lmsdrama.
LES Drama Club
The LES Drama Club’s show will be presented at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, and 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, in the LES gym.
The audience will join Roger, Anita, Pongo, Perdita, and their pups as they race their way through madcap adventures and thwart the villainous Cruella De Vil. Based on the novel by Dodie Smith and the Disney films and adapted especially for young performers, this musical includes favorite Disney songs including “Cruella De Vil” and “Dalmatian Vacation.”
Music and lyrics are by Mel Leven, Randy Rogel, Richard Gibbs, Brian Smith, Martin Lee Fuller and Dan Root. The book was adapted and additional lyrics by Marcy Heisler, with the music adapted and arranged by Bryan Louiselle.
Admission is free.
Both shows are presented through special arrangement with, and all authorized materials are supplied by, Music Theatre International.
Sports schedule, and results, for the week of Feb. 16-22, 2026
Our athletics schedule is quite busy this week, with basketball, indoor track and field and wrestling, including sectionals, scheduled.
Here are the schedule and results, if available. Livestream links are included where available.
The schedule is subject to change. Check the Liberty schedule on the Section IX website for the latest.
Monday, Feb. 16
9 a.m.: Girls Varsity Wrestling Sectionals vs. multiple schools at Mount Saint Mary College. For tickets, click here.
6 p.m.: Boys and Girls Varsity Indoor Track & Field Invitational vs. multiple schools at Armory Track.
Tuesday, Feb. 17
4:30 p.m.: Boys JV Basketball vs. Beacon City at Liberty High Schoo;
6 p.m.: Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Beacon City at Liberty High School
Wednesday, Feb. 18
4:30 p.m.: Boys JV Basketball vs. James I. O’Neill at James I O’Neill High School Kaplan Gymnasium Main Court
6: p.m.: Boys Varsity Basketball vs. James I. O’Neill at James I O’Neill High School Kaplan Gymnasium Main Court
Thursday, Feb. 19
4:30 p.m.: Boys Modified Wrestling vs. Monticello at Monticello Middle School
5 p.m.: Girls JV Basketball vs. Sullivan West Central at Sullivan West – Lake Huntington.
6:30 p.m.: Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Sullivan West Central at Sullivan West – Lake Huntington
Friday, Feb. 20
All events canceled or postponed.
Saturday, Feb. 21
8:30 a.m.: Girls Varsity Basketball vs. John S. Burke Catholic at Burke Catholic High School
12:15 p.m.: Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Monticello at Monticello High School
Sunday, Feb. 22
No events scheduled.
Threat determined to be unfounded at MS
Earlier today, Feb. 13, a middle school student was heard to make a threatening statement against the school while in a classroom. The student was escorted to the principal’s office where the threat was investigated by Assistant Principal Katlyn Rusin with the assistance of the Liberty Police Department and was determined to be unfounded. The student is being disciplined in accordance with the Liberty Code of Conduct.
“Safety of our students and staff is of utmost importance, and all threats are taken seriously and investigated,” said Middle School Principal Heather Cheh. “We thank Liberty PD and our School Resource Officer Tim Vogler for their immediate response.”
No injuries in minor bus accident
This morning, Feb. 13, two buses, the black cat and blue plane, were involved in a minor accident off school grounds following drop off at Liberty Elementary School.
As a precaution, all students on the buses have been evaluated by the school nurses, and no injuries were reported. Families of all impacted students have been notified.
The incident will be reviewed by the Liberty Central School District and transportation partner Rolling V as they continue to work to ensure the safety of Liberty students.
More than 175 students named to honor rolls at Liberty Middle School
The following students at Liberty Middle School were named to the second marking period honor rolls. Honor Roll students have an overall average of 90-96. The Principal’s Honor Roll requires an average of 97-100.
Eighth grade
Principal’s Honor: Mya Davis, Claire Ferguson, Antoni Klys, Harper Matuszak, Americus Newhall, Angelick Rivera and Brycen Smith.
Honor: Madison Allen, Hailey Conkling, Dania Gisselle Duque Enamorado, Makayla Fuentes Serapio, Michael Garzon Valle, Chase Golzak, Gavin Grant, Jacob Grossman, Lilly Kehrley, Oakley Kelder, Sidra Koen James, Matthew Kolarik, Corinne Lake, Madison LaMantia, Noel Leonardo Valerio, Jessica Loftus, Adner Mejia Aguilar, Valeria Ponce Vazquez, Myla Rielly, Aiden Satz, Namarpreet Singh, Angel Terraza Raymundo, Erick Torres Garcia, Nakai Toscano-Gardner, Evan Vidalis and Ethan Zheng.
Seventh grade
Principal’s Honor: Elisa Barragan, Owen Brust, Farrah Conklin-Degraw, Dia D’Agata, Delilah Flores-Serapio, Mia Grant, Aubrie Keating, Karen Mosso, Randy Panchana,, Scarlett Ratner,, Katherine Valdez Calle and Sophie Zayas.
Honor: Muhammad Awais, Guiliana Birkett, Genesis Caiza Viracocha, Katarina Card, Riley Church-Bradley, Avery Decker, Madelyn Garcia Cuellar, Dariana Gonzalez Suarez, Astrid Guardado Diaz, Genesis Harrison, Isabella Intranuovo, Dylan Joya Reyes, Tyler Kavleski, Mateusz Klys, Alexandria Lyden, Paul Odior 2nd, Denali Owens, Makaela Parsons, Milsi Ramirez Martinez, Jordanno Rivera, Kailani Rivera, Aaliyssa Rodriguez, Sherlene Romero, Caleb Rusin, William Schauerhamer, Reinier Stanton, Sarah Steingart, Marjorie Tejada Servellon, Raegan Wagner, Delanie Yupanqui and Zahra Zia.
Sixth grade
Principal’s Honor: Darius Dawkins, Anastasia Kelly, Lilith Lynker, Caleb McNett, Henry Vogler and Audrey Yaun.
Honor: Chase Blume, Amaya Burton, Jerin Burton, Annabella Buryiak, Paul Cando, Karla Castillo, Gisselle Colon, Alannis Flores, Willis Gamble, Bryan Garcia Romualdo, Joseph Geoghan, Parker Gissentaner, Savannah Gonzalez, Dean Harte, Bryson Hendrickson, Ana Hernandez, Nayeli Hernandez Soperanez, Damaris Jadan Pangolo, Ryleigh LaMantia, Keylin Lopez Nunez, Elvis Lucero Guzman, Axel Malaga Lopez, Ivanna Malaga Ventura, Jace Martin, Nicholas McPhillips, Tierney Meddaugh, Logan Moore, Alieska Perez Perez, Levi Poley, Isabella Puente, Josemiguel Ramirez-Alvarez, Camila Reyes Cortez, Esmeralda Santiago Sharpe, Masharib Uddin, Karter Velde, Joseph Wilson Jr, Linnise Young and Ivan Zheng.
Fifth grade
Principal’s Honor: Christina Allen, Ava Diehl, Kate Dworetsky, Viviana Frasier, Jayden Green, Elizabeth Klein, Henry Krum, Indigo Love, Aarit Patel, Aarohi Patel, Jordana Ratner, Jayden Thomas, Katelyn Vasko
Honor: Yandriel Aliers Amparo, Marc Alvarez, Iker Amador, Adriana Ayala Ochoa, Brody Beach, Eva Beaupierre, Zaynab Benadim, Blake Beseth, Graciela Birkett, Caleb Blume, Emeli Bonilla Izaguirre, Elisa Brust, Greydis Bustillo Martinez, Serenity Card, Jewelacie Castro, Daniel Crespo Jr, Braeden Danzilo, Michael Davis Jr., Colin Duncan, Riley Edwards, Elias Elao Sojos, Emmy Galeas Aguilar, Wil’akai Gamble, Amelia Gerwer, Ashton Golzak, Alejandra Gomez Lopez, Rylin Henry, Alex Ines Leon, Isaiah Jackson, Alayna Kearney, Camden Lake, Alicia Maldonado Paz, Scarlett Manamon, Keily Martinez Zelaya, Cora McConnell, Romina Morales Romero, Aiden Murillo Saenz, Brantley Olivo, Mahally Orantes Hernandez, Carilyce Perez, Juan Rodriguez, Shaleigh Santiago, Jackson Schwartz, Joseph Skinner, Joshua Tejada Servellon, Eliab Torres Garcia, Kevin Valencia Bamac, Laura Velez, Mattisyn Walker, Liam Warren and Jordan White.