Invasion of Baby Paw Prints: Panther for a Day

Baby paw prints covered the sidewalks of Palmetto as potential students from Palmetto Middle School, Southwood Middle School and Vineland K-8 School visited MPSH to learn what it is like to be a Panther. The prospective students walked the halls as if they were already Palmetto students, heading to an assembly in the auditorium and then experiencing their first official Panther pep rally.

Panther for a Day showcases all of the resources and opportunities Palmetto has to offer. From a performance by the Thespians to a video of MPSH’s greatest moments, future students even got to recite the alma mater, holding up all five fingers representing the amount of years left they have until graduation. The eighth-graders also caught a glimpse of the variety of sports Palmetto has to offer when MPSH student-athletes participated in the ‘Olympic Athlete Walk’ during the Pep Rally.

“[Palmetto is] welcoming. Everybody’s cheerful, and everybody’s happy,” Southwood Middle School eighth-grader Matthew Hamburt said.

With four exciting years ahead of them, students were also introduced to the responsibilities and stress that come along with participating in sports, challenging classes, extracurriculars and college admissions. Students of different clubs, classes, magnets and programs represented their fields in spirit wear, as they led groups of future Panthers through the halls answering questions and building excitement. Some students saw the opportunities at Palmetto and have already acknowledged their allegiance to Palmetto.

“[I’m going to be involved in] baseball. I’m already on the team and I’m waiting to play for JV,” Hamburt said.

The students that took part in Panther for a Day now have only nine months until they become Panthers and start their four year journey, as Palmetto awaits for its newest panthers, the Class of 2020.

“[Palmetto] looks like a really good school,” Palmetto Middle School eighth-grader Michael Milian. “ It looks really cool and I’m super excited.”