Daphne Middle is down in attendance from a high of about 1,200 a few years ago to 624 (seventh and eighth graders) this semester, but administrators are expecting another growth spurt with more families moving into the school's attendance zone again.

DMS principal Tiffany Irby Kalakheti sees her job as that of a motivator-in-chief for not only the students, but also the teachers and staff. She started as an assistant principal at Daphne Elementary East before taking the helm at DMS two years ago.

“At first, it was more of a learning curve than I expected,” she said. “To jump from elementary to middle — because it's quite a difference in those ages. It was kind of scary, but I love a good challenge. Now, I get up every morning loving it. Because these are my kids and they are awesome. I love all 624 of them.

“And I want to see them be excited about the future, excel in all areas of a well-rounded education and be prepared for the high school experience that is just around the corner.”

Kalakheti believes a good middle-school experience is key to preparing successful high school and college students as well as those who don’t pursue a four-year degree.

"In middle school, you are trying to understand who you are, where you want to be and how you are going to get there. In high school, you have to run with it. You have to work on your G.P.A., keep up with service clubs and other extra-curricular hours and also build that college resume.

“I want to motivate them and help bring out leadership qualities that they can take forward and take charge of their own future. Whatever they decide to do, I want them to have the tools they need.”

Guidance counselor Dena Caldwell applies those ideas in her daily and ongoing interaction with the students.

“Well I wear a lot hats,” she said. “Some days I change hats more than others. You don’t really set a schedule in middle school. You have to be flexible and just roll with it. I might be a counselor today on academics, goal setting and career paths.

 “But then, I will have to deal with students in a social conflict situation. Then I put on the conflict-resolution hat and work with them and our peer helpers (fellow students trained to deescalate disagreements and arguments) to get to the main issue and help work to resolve it. Peer interaction and socialization problems are often areas of concern and of course emotional issues come up as well. So we stay pretty busy.”

One of her roles is assessment, identifying strengths and areas that need support and steering students to the right program(s).

“Those who are excelling and may need the right kind of direction into advanced classes, I will help them in that way,” she said. “We have students who are struggling and some may need more support in math or reading than others.”

That remedial support may be temporary or long term.

“It’s a very diverse group. Some like to work on their own more and others are happier being part of a team. Some do better with a teacher being right there for them and others are fine on their own without that teacher over looking every detail. Their teachers and I try to assess what environment works best for each individual student.”

Cafeteria manager Becky Waller has headed up food services at DMS for 20 years and started in 1983 at W. J. Carroll Elementary in Daphne.

Waller and two cafeteria assistants prepare and serve about 350-400 meals per day at lunch. At breakfast about 80-100 students are served, depending on the menu.

“We feed about 80 for breakfast every morning,” she said. “Unless we have the breakfast pizza. Then we usually have around 100 or more for that. That’s popular.”

 There is a five-cycle menu in place at DMS with the winter menus starting in November. Waller said the rotating style offers more variety and seems to work well.

“We get local produce through FDA and the kids can get it if they want it. If they don't it doesn't go to waste. The favorite item on the lunch menus is probably taco day, but also the hamburger and fries days are pretty busy, too. Holiday meals are pretty popular, too.

“I think it's a good diet and better for them than some years past,” she said. “But I do miss the homemade cinnamon rolls we used to make.”

About 100-150 students bring their lunch and have an outdoor area with picnic tables donated by the PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) available.

Ideal personnel ratios for a middle-school cafeteria would be one manager plus one worker for each 100 students, Waller said. But with budget cutbacks, they still manage to get the job done.

“We feed a lot of children. And we’re short one (employee), so we do the best we can. I love these kids. They are kids, of course, and they can be aggravating sometimes, but I love them, I really do.”

Assistant principal Azure Joiner-Johnson starts her day arriving on campus about 6:30 a.m., and heading home around 4:30 p.m., depending on extra-curricular activities.

 “I get in, check email, do anything that needs my attention, then grab the radio (two-way) and head out to the car-pool lane and bus lane to welcome the kids. Some days are more challenging than others, but I love it. Greeting students in the morning and making sure they are headed in the right direction and just getting the day started for them.”

She also supervises the student announcements.

“We used to do the announcements on the intercom, but this year we have gone to letting the students do it themselves on the TVs that are in all the classrooms. And they seem to pay more attention and enjoy it this way. I also deal with discipline issues, call parents, sometimes check bus videos if I need to.”

Joiner-Johnson is often the last to leave and turn out the lights.

“Just depends. Sometimes it’s more of me finding out what the day has in store for me, rather than the day finding out how I expected it to go," she said with a little laugh. "Last night we had a football game so it was around 8:45 p.m. So I typically stay through the athletic events, football and volleyball and pretty soon basketball is starting. So, it can be a full day for sure, but I wouldn’t trade it.”.

Red Ribbon Week representative Jordan Casey was nominated and elected to that post by her classmates in a school-wide vote.

The eighth grader helped plan and coordinate the weeklong (Oct. 24-31) activities aimed at promoting a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. Part of which includes a skit she helped stage. Casey and other students also did research on drug abuse and related fatalities across the nation in preparation.

“One day we have everybody dress in all red. Then because 105 people die every day because of drugs, we have 105 students who will change into all black and then they will stay silent the rest of the day,” she said.

“And they will represent those people who die everyday. Some will change in the morning and then every few minutes, so however many per hour, will change and stay silent.”

National Red Ribbon Week is an annual awareness campaign to alert and educate students to the dangers of drug abuse. The 2016 theme is, "YOLO. Be Drug Free,” with YOLO an acronym for: You Only Live Once. DMS is also having a survivor of drug abuse speak to the students about the dangers of all drugs including alcohol.

For more information on National Red Ribbon Week, visit: RedRibbon.org.