MHMS Jr.  Pawprint      Issue 4 June 2017   

 

By Mackenzie Cassidy, grade 6 

 The weather’s getting warmer, and that means people will be going on vacations 

and being outside. But be aware, summer isn't always sunshine and rainbows(but it mostly is, let's be honest). Safety comes first, always. I'm going to cover some of the things that can make summer scary. 

Hot cars kill! I can't say that enough. On average, 37 children die from heat related deaths every year. According to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), on a mild day as low as 57 degrees, the temperature inside a vehicle can reach 110 degrees. If a child’s body temperature reaches 107 degrees, that child will die.  

But that’s not all; pets have also died from being left in cars. Risking an animal’s or child’s safety to “I’ll just be a minute,” or “The windows will be left down,” is ridiculous. Do a check, make sure you haven’t left your child or pet in your car. Because this car ride might be their last. 

Like I said earlier: people will start heading to vacation areas. But beaches also bring risks. No, I'm not talking about sharks, although that’s part of it.  

Only go in deeper water if you're sure you can do it! About 332 people die on average from drowning.  Only 5 people die from shark attacks every year.  

So hearing all this, be very careful of what you do and make sure you take precautions to stay safe.  

Heat strokes, heat cramps, and  heat exhaustion are extremely likely this time of year. Stay hydrated, stay cool, and stay safe.    Works Cited natgeotv.com/ca/human-shark-bait/facts. Web. 07 June 2017. http://www.walb.com/story/35193728/warm-weather-brings-hot-car-warnings. Web. 07 June 2017. 

 The Great Escape                 By: Elena Haberland, Sixth Grade 

 

At the Great Escape, you could be twisting upside down, bumping in the cars, or riding in a blow up down a racing pool - you always have an excuse to not attend a boring family barbeque. Or you can go with your family and have the time of your life swimming in Splashwater Kingdom.

I’m pretty sure in one point in your life you've visited the fun, and colorful park. If not, I'll tell you how much fun it is, and how much it is.

You first enter with a big opening gate, and a huge sign with the words “Great Escape” placed on top. Posters of new rides are beside the park, and across the way is “Great Escape Lodge” which is a indoor waterpark.

It’s filled with multiple selections of rides, and great deals for season passes. One of the virtual reality effects is “ Drop of Doom VR” which is the park’s

first ever virtual reality effect on a drop tower ride. It features the fear of heights, and spiders.

A golden pass for the regular package comes as the price of $78.99. A regular pass is also $78.99.

A membership is $6.58 a month. A great Father’s day deal is going on during the park where if you buy four memberships or four passes the park will gift you with a 2017 pass that is good for the year, which the pass also includes admission to “Fright Fest” with free tickets for friends, and $300 worth discounts in the park.

When you visit I hope you have fun on the twisty, whirling rides, and stay safe. It’ll be the time of your life.

Work Cited :https://www.sixflags.com/greatescape. Web. 01 June 2017.

SUmmer Fashion! By S.L Rosenberger              Goodbye bitter cold, (6th grade)                                 hello summer!

Flip-flops, short-shorts, and tank tops are now in season! Girls are heading to their favorite name-brand stores to pick up some spectacular clothing. Boys are getting their sportswear at their favorite stores.

Flip-flops were always an all time favorite from since 1950 to present day! And shorts seem to keep getting shorter! Swimsuits and Bikinis have been around just as long as the flip flops or even longer. Swim trunks have been either floral designed, or just plain blue or black or more!

Cut-outs are this summer’s trend, especially shoulder cut-outs, so hit the stores and get shopping!

Lollapalooza By:Elena Haberland, Sixth Grade 

  Have you ever heard of “Lollapalooza”?

Well, if you haven't I'm going to fill you in. Lollapalooza is a cultural music festival that takes takes place in the month of August. It has been called a “Cultural force”. It had all started when Perry Farrell created Lollapalooza in 1991 for last tour for his band called “Janes Addiction.” Bands “Living Colour,” “Nine Inch Nails,” and a rapper named Ice- T also performed during the colorful concert.

The concert was such a success they turned it into an “Annual Touring Festival.”Music and Tattoo artists came along with “Jim Rose Circus Sideshow.” They were merchandise sellers who set up tents at every single show.

The colorful festival started to increase in size. In 1992 they had gone from 9 bands to 28. Seattle bands, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam etc. were some of the bands found in the show.

1996 Perry Farell did not perform in the show, he wanted to focus on other projects. The rock band Metallica was the new addition to the lineup of talented bands, and music and that year. Which the band drew in many crowds. In 1998 the show was canceled because they couldn't sign a headliner for the show.

2003 Perry tried to boost the festival back up again by performing with his band again, along with bands “Incubus”, and “Queens of the Stone Age”. The next year was also canceled because of poor ticket sales.

In 2005, Lollapalooza returned as a three day festival taking place in Grant Park in downtown Chicago. Ever since then Lollapalooza has been up and running.

It's been being enjoyed by many people around the world with the expression of culture, color and the way music makes us feel. Lollapalooza had its ups and downs but never stopped working hard for it wanted to - make people happy with the music it shared. So, that's what it was doing.

Invitation from the Castleton Public Library

You are all invited to the CPL on Main Street for the

Summer Reading Kickoff Party!

Friday, Jun. 23, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. School is out and Summer Reading is in! Sign up for our Summer Reading Program and enjoy some free ice cream. Can’t make it to the party? You can sign up for SRP all summer long! Go to the library's website today!

The Summer Book Club Pizza Party is Thursday, Aug 3, at 6pm.

    

Inside Out and Back Again Poem Project By Thomas Gorman, grade 8

In eighth grade English class, we read a book titled Inside Out and

Back Again, written by Thanhha Lai. The book is written from the first-person perspective of a 10-year-old Vietnamese Refugee named Kim Há. Unlike other books, this novel is written as a series of diary entries written by Há, in free-verse poem.

Free-verse poem takes use of a lot of metaphors, similes, and symbolism. After we finished the book, we were tasked with the job of writing two free-verse poems about a fictional refugee, using real information of what the lives of refugees are like around the world today. So, using metaphor, simile, and symbolism, we wrote stories that captured the true lives of a refugee. This is mine.

Inside Out Hayyan Mikhail Was my name But now I’m Just another number One of 6,300,000 Number 4,232,111 is hiding, scared of the bombs Number 101,234 is crying, uncertain of their future Number 1,234,843 is littered with shrapnel, An impossibly scarred look, Stuck forever, On his bloody face In school, I was the top of my class. My parents gave me gifts For each good report. But suddenly, my gifts, Became the gift of life, From surviving, Another day, Of a thunderstorm of mortars.

A ceasefire, finally, they said, But the bombs dropped once more, And then came the explosion, On the other side of the city. And then another, closer, Another shell, Interrupted dinner. A delicious homemade meal, Of Kufta Kabab, Now with an extra serving, Of fear, Of pain, Of screams, As the bomb, with the sound of thunder, Tore my father apart, Lightning splitting limb from limb, Tearing my life apart, As my ears rang, and the bombs rained. What happened? I ask, as I open my eyes, Morning sun, burning them. I lay on the ground, On a mat, Next to my family, Including a body, wrapped in a tarp, The same color, Of my tears. The pain I felt from losing my father, Was so great, That I hardly had time to realize, The blistering pain in my right hand, Was caused by the crippled remnants, Of my fingers. I fainted. I woke up to my mother, Walking around the room, On a makeshift crutch. I was too preoccupied with my emotions before,

I had neglected to notice, That the storm, Had also taken my mom’s leg. We need to get out of Kobane! She said to my brother, sister and I. My siblings were lucky enough to have been at a friend’s, far away from the buildings that were bombed. So we left, Without hope, Without help, Without Father, And we became numbers, With no age, No name, No past, Just a refugee, A number. We walk through the barren land of Syria, Ducking in the desert, Constantly, Every time we hear gunfire. My sister, Only eight, Walking many miles, Without shoes, Now tasked with the reverse role, Of helping Mother walk. Five days, And we arrive, At Gaziantep, A Turkish refugee camp, Where people are constantly pushing for water, Like thousands of dogs trying to eat out of one bowl. We stay, As it’s the only place to go, But soon, It becomes unbearable, Fighting each day for your rations.

We go to school, Even mother, To learn English, It’s hard, But it’s so much easier than staying at home, So much safer, Than the constant sound of thunder, Crashing to the ground as lightning, Tearing lives apart. A man comes into our tent, And says, Come to the school tomorrow, we have a special announcement. We wonder why, As tomorrow is Saturday, But we go, Waking up early to get water before we go. At the school, They tell us that we have a chance to leave the camp, And find a real home in a safe country. Murmurs start in the crowd, If you are sponsored by a willing family, You will be allowed to leave to a safe country, America. Mornings after, we are told, A man by the name of Richard Gatten has sponsored you, You’re going to America. We pack the little belongings we have left, And board a plane with some other refugees, None of whom we recognize, But they were in that camp just like us, And now they were sponsored, Just like us. At the airport, He meets us, Mr. Gatten is short, chubby, and has a beard down past his neck. He took us to his house, In a car, Shiny, like it was brand new, My brother, obsessed with cars since he was 10, Almost had trouble getting out of the car when we arrived,

As it was like luxury, Nothing we could have gotten in Syria, Where the bombings destroyed all of the cars we had. Dinnertime, The first formal family dinner, Since the dinner, Where my meal was death, And an endless helpings, Of pain. We eat a weird combination, Of bread, With melted cheese. I can hardly eat it. It’s not the same, As the succulent taste, Of the garlic beef of Kufta Kubab. It’s even harder to eat, Only using my left hand, While my bandaged right Screams in pain. My right hand was amputated, The doctors said it was infected, So they had to remove it if I didn’t want to die, Our sponsor paid for it all. At my new school, I have to learn to write again, But this time, With my left. The other students, Hold up their right, And shake them, Sticking out their tongues, Why? Everyday, The teacher ignores them, Everyone laughs, Except one.

Why can’t I be back home? Why did this happen to me? Why does everyone hate me? My life has turned inside out, And I hate it.

Back Again Everything sucks, I stay home from school, When the pain gets Too much to bear, When the other kids, Yell, Almost louder Than the sound of thunder That changed my life. My mom says I have to go to school today, Or else I will never be accepted, Reluctantly, I go, Hoping to make my mom happy, At a time where she is always crying. First period, And they start, Laughing, Shaking their hands in the air, Yelling. All, But one. This time, She stand up, And walks to the student Who always starts the chants, The popular one. She tightens her fist,

Standing in front of the kid, Until, Her arm goes up and back, And her fist goes into his face. He’s on the ground, The teacher is holding the girl back. I cry, Thank you. Quietly comes through, My tears. Two weeks, And she’s back in school. Her name is Alissia, My only friend. I’m happy with even only one. The food, Has become more bearable. Fish and Chips are okay, But it’s not the same As the Sayadieh, I cooked at home, With the tender, Savory taste, Of the fish and caramelized onions. Mother is getting better, Crying less now, And my siblings seem happy, But not the same, As in Syria Nothing is the same, But my life seems to be going back to normal, It might finally be turning back again. For information about refugees and how to help, see UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency.

School Plus Phones and Social Media By Amanda Nebral, grade 7

In some schools, phones have been banned, but not here, yet.

Phones and social media have been an issue in our school. Apps like Snapchat and Instagram have been banned in our school, due to the things kids say about each other online and inappropriate content. Sometimes when kids get mad at each other, the first thing they do is go say bad things about each other online. After our school thought those apps were gone forever at our school a new secret was revealed. Students have been downloading their own VPNs so they can check Snapchat and Instagram.

If you didn’t know, VPNs are Virtual Private Networks. They allow you to add privacy to the wifi. Technically, it makes it so the school can’t see what you are doing, even though you are using their wifi. But, now our school’s IT expert can track them down. If you have a VPN, you will be in serious trouble.

Social media can also be good. Back during the Presidential Election, students had to tweet during the debates. If you use social media respectfully and responsibly, it is a great place to store and share memories, stay in touch with friends and family, and see what’s going on with friends and celebrities. It only takes one person to ruin the fun for everyone.

We are having a guest speaker about internet safety on June 20.

Summer Break By: Lucienne Sherling & Bridget Soden, grade 7

Summer Break is

the time of your life! During the summer you can go on a family vacation to any cool place. You can swim in the pool at your house or a friend’s house. If you don’t have a pool or if your friend doesn’t have one, you can go to the beach and swim. Since there is no school during summer break, you can have a sleepover with your friends almost every night. Have fun!

Found on Google Images by Lucienne Sherling

  

Retirement Time For Mrs. Wood and Mrs. Pazienza! 

 We give our best wishes to Mrs. Wood and Mrs. Pazienza for their next chapter in 

their lives. They will be greatly missed.  It was a great way to say goodbye to Mrs. Pazienza with Pinwheels for Pazienza 

in honor of her Pinwheels for Peace.  Something we can be thankful about Mrs. Wood is  by remembering how much she 

helped us all in all different ways.  Good luck and goodbye from all of us here in the Newspaper Club! We’ll miss you!

Markham Daly - Maple Hill’s Magician By Bridget Soden, grade 7

Today I interviewed our very own Maple Hill Magician. I asked him how long ago did he start learning magic and he replied,

“I started learning magic about two months ago.” That really surprised me in such short time he learned so many

amazing tricks. I asked him, “Why?” He replied, “ When I was out I saw magicians and how much fun they had so I always had a itch that I wanted to do magic.”

He told me that his favorite trick was the slop trick because this trick normally got the most good reactions. I also asked if being a magician was a future career. He replied, “That or working as a magician on cruise ships.” Lastly, I asked him how long does it take to learn a trick. He said, “It really depends on the amount of sleight of hand or if I have homework but easier tricks can take up to an hour and longer can take a couple of days.”

Thank you to Maple Hill’s very own magician. Come see his tricks some time.

Boston Field Trip By: Amanda Nebral, grade 7

The seventh grade trip to Boston was so much fun! We hung out with

friends and watched movies on the bus. Once we got to Boston, we went to the Boston Tea Party Museum. We watched videos, reenacted the meeting where the they decided to throw the tea overboard, and got to go throw tea into harbor! Then, we got to have lunch wherever we wanted. Next, we went on the Freedom Trail. We saw John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adam’s graves and went to the place where the Boston Massacre took place. After that we had free time. My friends and I went to Starbucks and Sephora. Finally, we took a nice harbor boat ride. It was a great day!

7th graders on the Freedom Trail with the Old State House in the background.

Memorial Day Observations By Bridget Soden, grade 7

On May 31 was Castleton Memorial Day parade. Before I went to

participate in the parade, six other kids and I helped out at our VFW. We helped to make breakfast for the veterans before they went out to go to all the cemeteries. It was 6:00 in the morning! We had a blast serving eggs, toast, sausage, fruit and coffee!

After that I went to the parade. It was a rainy one but the parade still continued as planned. In the parade, we had kids dress up their bikes, the Castleton Fire Department, the high school band, our very own Maple Hill Middle School marching band with Mr. Streeter, and many more. Though we couldn’t play our instruments, we still had a blast. At the judges stand we sang “Sweet Caroline” and we won! Even though it rained, everybody still had fun.

Thank you to everybody who watched even though it rained and everybody who participated.

Solar Cookers are “Cool”! Mr. Nav’s 7th graders enjoyed some delicious treats

prepared in their handmade solar cookers! Yum!