CUBS' COLUMN December 2020

Well, everyone, 2020 has been a whirlwind of a year. When I was in middle school, my biggest concern was where our next pick-up game of basketball would be or whether we had a snow day on the horizon. Now, phrases like close contact and symptomatic are part of our daily conversations. I always try to be as honest as I possibly can be, so I will be the first one to tell you how difficult all of this is for everyone. Our motto this year is "Rise to the Challenge," so I would challenge all of you to work each and every day to overcome this big ol' obstacle put in front of each of us. Everyone is fighting through this in some way, so take time to help those around you, look for help where it can be found (your family, your teachers, your friends), and continue to make the most of every opportunity. Every day, you have an opportunity to better yourself. If we all focus on moving forward in a positive, meaningful way, we can make this a GREAT school year!

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many students are choosing to do an online learning model in Jackson, and around the world. To get a more in-depth understanding of what it means to be an e-learner, I interviewed Abigail LaPole, a JMMS student who is currently e-learning, and conducted a survey of over 170 e-learners at JMMS.

Abigail says her reason for doing e-learning is to keep herself, her family and her friends safe. She says she knew she wanted to do e-learning over the summer, because this was her top priority. However she does go to school occasionally for “important things like tests.” According to my survey, the top reason for doing e-learning was concerns about getting COVID or giving it to a family member or friend, with 64.5 percent of people saying that’s why they chose the e-learning model.

Abigail thinks, “...e-learning might be easier [than in-person learning] because you don't have as many distractions and you can work at your own pace. On the other hand, it is difficult to understand the way your teachers think because last year I knew how my teachers thought and how they scheduled things, so with that knowledge I could better understand the flow of things.” She says it is nice to not have to wear a mask around her house, but a downside of e-learning is that she can’t see her friends in person. 30.8 percent of surveyees said that the best thing about e-learning is going at your own pace, and a majority of people said the worst thing about e-learning is that classes can be confusing.

This leads to the question of which is better: e-learning or in person learning? The answer seems very conflicted. One surveyee says, “I believe that e-learning is a great way to learn for certain people. I'm that kinda person. I love e-learning.” Others agree, saying things like, “I think that e learning is a fun experience to have because you get [to sit] at home and relax and eat lots of food,” and “I love e-learning. I do not like the mask in school and I think it is super easy here.” However, others surveyees say, “I've had many assignments not submitting and have had to stay up past midnight to try and get them back in,” and one says it's, “way more harder to focus and [I] lack time management.” One e-learner even warns future e-learners to not “get distracted because when I get distracted from the house, I end up finishing school at like 6 pm.” In short, it seems like people must decide for themselves which learning model is best for their personal needs.

The mental health aspect is also a big concern for e-learners. Many students are noticing a decrease in mental health because of the stress and frustration of completing their assignments, their grades, and other concerns. On top of that, many full time e-learners have not seen their friends since the last time they were at school in March. But one surveyee says “I just wanted to say stay safe and this thing is still going to hang around for a while so let's fight it and not let it win because we are stronger.”

Ever since COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, it has drastically changed the world. It currently has a fatality rate of 2.36%, which is about 1.62 million lives lost worldwide. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the best ways to protect yourself and others from coronavirus is to social distance, wear a mask over your nose and mouth, wash your hands often, and avoid crowds.

You might read the newspaper, but do you really know the newspaper? Cub’s Column began in the 1980s as a printed newspaper to showcase cartoons, stories, and current events pertaining to Jackson Memorial Middle School, and with the implementation of more technology, it has switched over to a digital version on Smore (a website for newsletters). Lots of students have been members of Cub’s Column over the years, and even more students have read and enjoyed it.

Ms. Lynn Fete, who was a language arts teacher at JMMS, began the club in the 1980s after one of her students asked her why the school did not have a newspaper. In the first year Cub’s Column was in print, only one class period of Ms. Fete’s contributed to it. The next year, Cub’s Column was expanded to include students from some of her other class periods. Then, it was expanded to student volunteers from the whole school. It was not electronic (it was the 1980s, after all) and students sold the printed version during lunch. In 2018, after Mr. Robitaille, who was the advisor at the time, stepped down, he was replaced by Mrs. Murphy. Mrs. Murphy became the advisor of the club because “I thought I would be a great way to get involved because I was a newer teacher at the time. I love teaching writing so I thought it would be a fun club to work with, and I was right!”. Mrs. Murphy also says she enjoys seeing students progress as writers and being able to provide a laid back environment for artists to be imaginative and share ideas concerning their comics with one another.

While the process of writing a story varies from writer to writer, there is usually a basic way that we (well, at least I) follow. First, we brainstorm topics. Sometimes people have specific topics that they want to write about, which is fine. After that, if it is necessary, people make interview questions so people can give them more insight into their topic. There are many different ways to conduct an interview, but I mostly do them over email. Lastly, we compile all of our information to make an article. In an article, the beginning, or lead is supposed to introduce the reader to the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the article. The body, or the middle, is supposed to introduce the reader to the information in the article. This usually spans across multiple paragraphs and topics. The end, or the tail, is supposed to leave the reader with an interesting fact or extra info about the topic of the article.

Cub’s Column is a very beneficial club for students to join. Many students who join are interested in sharing their work with others. Feature writer and cartoonist Julia Holmes says that “I enjoy making/writing things that kids in JMMS will get to see”. Cub’s Column is also a good way to improve your writing skills. The process we learn and the skills we gain are beneficial not only to the quality of our articles but to our grades as well. Many of the techniques we learn can be transferred over to language arts to help make better writers. Julia also states “you have to challenge yourself to make sure that the writing sounds interesting and you have to make sure it has that wow factor”. Some students may even wish to further pursue a career in writing. An interesting story that Ms. Fete shared with me about a former Cub’s Column student was “I was out to dinner a couple of years ago and there was a huge celebration in the next room. This man won a TV award for Ohio news reporting. He came over to our table and thanked me for getting started when he was at Jackson Middle School!”

Any student who wishes to join Cub’s Column (it is never too late!) is encouraged to contact Mrs. Murphy through her email.

Have you ever wished you were in The 6th Grade Running Club. Many people didn’t join or haven’t been to any of the races the 6th graders have done. This writing is about what it’s like in the front seat and the backseat of The 6th Grade Running Club. The 6th Grade Running Club has done their practices at Jackson Memorial Middle School where the 6th grade football team practices. If you see those flags in the corner or a white streak on the grass then you can guess that is where the 6th graders train. The 6th graders warmed up by doing high kicks and jumping jacks and then they ran a mile and a half. If they didn’t do that then they’d just run a mile or more depending on what coach Matt tells them to do. They have done four races this year on four Sundays and they had to be at the location of the race at 2:15 PM so they could warm-up to get ready for their race. They have won 3-4 of the races which is pretty good for a 6th grade running club. Their first race was at Jackson Memorial Middle School where they practice and the last race was at one of StreetsBoro’s parks.

Their coach Matt Sidel says “The kids need to improve on their consistency with running. Right now they run two maybe three days a week, if they want to become better runners then a more consistent program is needed. The good news is that this is just the beginning for them, so they can make the commitment to get better.” Coach Matt wants kids to improve their consistency because it may help them in the future with 7th and 8th grade cross country try-outs and for competitions later on.

Hannah Altier, a kid who participated in this club when it started states, ``The team is improving every race we have done, and we will continue to improve throughout every practice as a team.”. This is true. I have seen the kids improve big steps from their first meet to now. I have seen many people lead the runs from running with them and watching from the sidelines. Hannah and all the other 6th graders are tough competition. These kids should be a part of the 7th grade cross country team next year. They are all amazing runners.

The 6th Grade Running Club was made for 6th graders to get the feel of running to see if they maybe want to participate in running for 7th grade or to find out if running is or isn’t the sport for them. The club started September 8th and ended October 4th of 2020. It was also made to help them develop friendships and develop a strong running spirit and pace themselves throughout the club and races. The 6th Grade Running Club impacts Jackson Memorial Middle School because it allows more 6th graders to join in running for 7th and 8th. This is important because running helps build your leg muscles and running can encourage you to eat healthy and train harder in order to achieve your goal. Matt Sidel, the 6th graders’ running coach, wanted to be the coach because, “The club was important to our varsity head coach Kevin Walsh. We were having difficulty finding a coach so I told him since my son wanted to run I would take it on this year to keep the club going. We know how important it is to get kids involved in running if they want to join the cross country team in middle school.” The 6th graders coach was super happy to be informed that he was going to be in charge of this year's running club that when he got informed this was his reaction “I was excited when they told me I was going to be the coach. Looking back now, I am even more excited as I have watched a group of kids come out and enjoy running. We have a lot of talent in this team and I can't wait to see what they do in the next few years. If I get the chance to coach them in high school I will be extremely lucky.” I am sure many of the 6th graders were happy to have an amazing coach to train and prepare them for 7th grade. This will help the 6th graders get prepared for the greater challenges that await them.

On their very first ever race at Jackson Memorial Middle School they brought it home and won their first race! Against 3-4 other teams! This is what Hannah stated about what she felt like after her first race. “I was really tired and proud of myself that I made 4th on my very first race, because the girls that beat me were older and had more experience.” This was all true. The girls and boys at The 6th Grade Running Club didn’t have as much practice as the other teams at their races but they pushed themselves and managed to get 3-4 of the awards! This shows how talented kids can be if they push themselves and rise to the challenge. The 6th graders at this running club have pushed themselves a far amount to get where they stand in the club. There has been so much growth. On the 6th graders third race that I went and participated in we had to do a mile and a half and we had to push ourselves up two huge hills that were almost similar to hiking hills if you have ever been hiking or seen huge hills. My mom and my friend Hannah’s mom were cheering us on at the side lines and Hannah placed 3rd on this race. Abby, another girl on The 6th Grade Running Club, placed a couple numbers behind Hannah. I had gotten 11th in this race because the hills took a huge amount of energy off me while I was running so I didn’t quite make the place I was hoping for but I did beat my time and that to me counts as something. It’s lucky that the hills weren’t in the sun instead they were in the shade which helped preserve energy for many of the runners participating in this race.

The 6th graders at this running club have shown huge amounts of perseverance and they have figured out the positive when they faced negative challenges such as those hills and ditches at other race locations.. This was a huge amount of time for the 6th graders' speed and strategies to improve and this allowed them to get a feel for running and what it’s like for the 7th and 8th graders who do running. I am proud to have friends that did The 6th Grade Running Club who will be trying out for 7th grade running. Now a lot of 6th graders over this summer will want to join the 7th grade running team and they will maybe practice over the summer to become better and faster runners too! This is what The 6th Grade Running Club is about and how it helps 6th graders get ready for upcoming years ahead of them.

There are over 7,117 languages in the world today and there are billions of people. All of these people have something in common, they all speak a language. According to the Washington Post, only twenty percent of Americans speak more than one language, and only half of the world's population speaks at least two languages. With this being said, over 58% of the schools in the U.S. offer a world language education, but a lot of these schools don’t allow students to take another language until middle or high school age. It has been researched thoroughly and been proven multiple times, that when students are taught a different language at a young age they are more likely to be fluent in that language before they become adults. And, when kids are taught another language it not only gives them a better understanding of the world, but it also gives them a better chance of getting a career.

For example, any student that takes a language class and then becomes fluent in that language will be able to translate and talk to other people. This helps professionals by leaps and bounds and also saves money because this way the company doesn’t have to hire translators. It also helps to be able to tell someone something clearly without miscommunication between a translator. It makes it so that colleagues can discuss anything without having to have another person involved.

Mrs. Kerr, a former Spanish teacher stated that, “There is lots of research out there that shows that people tend to learn languages much easier as children than as adults, so I think that it is really important to introduce foreign languages as young as possible. In European countries, middle school students often speak multiple languages by the time they get to high school.” Mrs. Kerr also elaborates on how she has had family members not learn languages until they were adults, and that she definitely thinks that learning the language as kids would’ve helped them. Mrs. Kerr thinks that it is also important to learn new languages because it builds skills that are vital to be successful in school. She says, “ You learn appreciation for other cultures and ideas and I feel like that helps people be more tolerant and understanding of people with different backgrounds.” Mrs. Kerr brings up many great points that help us to understand how important it is to start teaching languages to children in elementary school, instead of waiting until kids are in their preteen and teen years.

Mrs. Repphun, another language teacher, agrees. She said, “In 2014, I served with AmeriCorps where I helped run a preschool and after school program to disadvantaged youths. During the preschool program, I taught the children Spanish. We learned colors and shapes and at the end of the program the students performed a song demonstrating their knowledge of colors in Spanish. They had a blast!” Mrs. Repphun helps to explain that young children enjoy learning new languages at young ages, and that at times it may be difficult, but in the end it is a fun experience for the kids participating. Mrs. Repphun also brought up a valid point when she said that many people worry that when a child is young they may get confused by learning more than one language. However, these children are only confused for a small amount of time. She said that this was a negative affect, but learning a new language was the best thing that she had ever done for herself.

In conclusion, while learning a language may come with some difficulties, it helps the wellbeing of a person. It creates happiness and it allows for more communication between people. It helps to spread the culture of our world and allows all people to be connected. We should be teaching students in elementary school world languages, to better their understanding of the world and to widen their knowledge of communication.

Welcome to Sport Flirt today lets talk about the JMMS 8th grade football team. Why you may ask? Well in my opinion even with COVD-19 they had a pretty good season.

So let’s look into everything. I spoke with Coach Willamson about the changes with covid and he went on to tell me how the hardest part was having to separate the players. In case you are unfamiliar with football he explains how huddles with the players and high fives are very common in football but this year it was just not allowed. I could only imagine the difficulty in this as my self has played a sport and it couldn’t imagine how hard it was to not give out high fives as that is a huge thing in sports. He also explained how the sidelines had white dots to keep the player distanced and to also remind them. This one shocked me he said that the players had to bring their own waters. Now you may say well of course it would only make sense that is how sports work. Well in football there is what is called water tough that you may have even seen out on the field. A lot of players will use that to drink from when not on the field. Another thing is a lot of times players have team water bottles and at time outs someone will bring it out and it would be squirted in your mouth so you don’t have to take off your helmet. This would not only change how timeouts work but practices too as many times players never needed their own water.

I went on to ask what he thought was the biggest challenge this year. He felt that it was Canton city due to the fact that “They have a lot of very big players and a very athletic”. Now for him to say that is big that is saying that he realizes that Canton city is not to be taken lightly. This also shows that he understands the opponent and knows how to get his team ready which is very important as a coach.

After that, I wanted to ask who he thought was the player with the best game. What he answered was very nice he said “We have a lot of great athletes on the team that are going to be very good in the future” this was good to hear because it shows that he is proud of the whole team and will support them all the way through till the end.

When I asked if he could change anything about this season what would it be and he was very straightforward when he said “If I could change one thing it would be COVID-19”. I couldn’t blame him when he said that because I think that would be anyone’s answer. I know it would be mine.

The last question I asked was what his favorite part of the season was. He responded with “Seeing the player learn and grow their football knowledge this year” This shows me not only is he proud and wanting his team to grow is that his team is willing to. Which is more important than wanting them to because the greatest coach could teach someone everything they know but only they can choose to be great.

With all that being said I think we all can come to the conclusion that our 8th-grade football team is pretty great well at least I think that. What about you?

By Sri Gowravajjhula

Awards: The complete winner list of the Will Eisner Awards 2017 has just been released and author Raina Telgemeier has received the award in the category “Best publication for kids (9 to 12)” for her graphic novel GHOSTS.

Summary: The book “GHOSTS” is about a family moving to the coast of California and Catrina isn't happy about the move but they are moving. Cat knows that they are moving because there is a chance that Cat’s little sister named Maya will get better from her Cystic fibrosis, or will it get worse?

Review: Overall the book is really good because it is full of Mexican culture. Like the day of the dead and they have the National Dia de Muertos. It has all of the troubles of being a new kid in school. I think this book has an amazing art style. One of the few flaws that I found was that the font changes every few lines which make me think that someone else started talking. A problem that I found with the art was that some accessories appear and disappear. ln page 65 Cat isn't wearing any accessories and in page 66 she is wearing a dark purple headband and she did not even put it on. It magically appeared. This is what I think about the book Ghosts my rating is...

Rated: PG-13

Genre: Romance/Fantasy

Length: 1 hour 38 minutes

Release Date: 2004

The movie 13 Going on 30, is a movie about romance and fantasy. The main character Jenna, is light hearted, funny, and sometimes mean. She is a great character and she helps to carry the movie in an interesting way. The movie starts out with Jenna at her house preparing for her thirteenth birthday party. All Jenna wants is to be popular, so she invites the popular group over to her house. They are not nice to Jenna and they tell her that they can’t come to the party because they have to work on a group project. Knowing that Jenna would do the project for them, they acted shocked when she said that she would do it. Jenna’s best friend Matt came over to her house before the party to give her his present. He created her a Jenna dream house, because she was always talking about the perfect life and she often tells Matt about how it isn’t fair that Barbie gets to have the perfect life in her dream house. Matt also gave her wishing dust. Jenna quickly put Matt’s gift inside her closet once Tom-Tom, the leader of the popular kids, arrived. Tom-Tom isn’t nice to Jenna and tricks her. She convinces Jenna to play seven minutes in heaven with her crush. Tom-Tom blindfolds Jenna in the closet and then leaves. Jenna is surprised when Matt comes into the closet, and then she realizes that everyone else has left the party. Jenna was very upset by this and blamed Matt. Jenna sat on the floor of her closet for a while thinking about how much she wanted to be thirty. Her favorite magazine, Poise, had a cover with a woman and a caption that said, “Thirty and Flirty: The Best Years of Your Life.” Jenna, not realizing that her wishing dust was above her head continually bumped her head into her closet wall. The wishing dust fell upon her as she said that she wanted to be thirty over and over again.

The next morning when Jenna woke up she was in a new house, she was thirty, and she worked for Poise magazine. She was no longer friends with Matt and she is best friends with Tom-Tom. At first she is extremely confused and she goes to find Matt. He explains to her that she became popular in high school, and that she went to prom with her crush and was the queen. Jenna was excited until Matt explained that they were no longer friends. Jenna was devastated by this and decided to turn her life around. She goes through a journey of confusion but in the end she is happy with her decisions and builds a great life.

In a survey completed by middle school aged students, all of the participants said that they liked the movie. More than half of the surveyed people said that their favorite character was Jenna and that their favorite parts of the movie involved her. On a scale from one to ten, it averaged at a 9.5, I would rate this movie a ten because it was a really good movie, and it was hilarious as well! The movie is rated PG-13, a majority of people agree with this rating, however a lot of them think that it is suitable for people who are ten and up.

In conclusion, this movie is perfect for the family and is great for anyone who likes drama, romance, or comedy movies!

Once upon a time, in a small village by Silver Lake, there were twin girls by the names of Casy and Kara. They grew up hearing stories about the ancient bonding festival, and the notorious Masked Bandit. They never thought that one day, they would meet him. When they came of age, 12, their mom took them to the bonding festival. It was customary for the father to take the child, but seeing as they had never met their father, their mom had to take them. They had very little excitement while going there because no one in their family had ever bonded with an animal. There was no chance that they were going to be the first ones. However, they had no clue how wrong they were. When they got there, they were overwhelmed by the amount of color, festoons, and banners everywhere! “Wow,” Casy breathed, “It's beautiful.”

Her sister though had a more mundane answer: “It’s okay I guess.”

“Can’t you ever be excited about something?” Casy grumbled.

`“Can’t you be less Excited?” Kara shot back.

“Hush girls! The bonding is going to begin. Go put yourselves on the stage, and pleeeeeease... try to look happy” their mother begged. Although they both had the same pale skin and freckles, the two sisters' personalities could not have been more different. Casy was always happy and bubbly, while Kara was more calm and melancholy. They both got onto the stage, and prepared themselves to not be bonded. The priest slowly bonded every child with an animal. First a young girl with frizzy hair, and a bear. A young freckled boy with a hippogriff. And the one right in front of Kara was paired with a lion. The priest came to them... he tried many animals, unsuccessfully, until…

Squawk squawk

Casy found herself holding a small phoenix and Kara was holding a small dragon. The dragon was bright white with piercing dark blue eyes, but the phoenix was blood red, and its eyes were bright orange. Casy named her phoenix Wildfire and Kara named her dragon Frostbite. The entire way home, was a shocked silence, only penetrated by the occasional squawk from Wildfire, and deepthroated rumble from Frostbite . They knew they had to safeguard their animals, otherwise the Masked Bandit and his henchmen would steal the animals and make them his slaves.

When they entered their home, it looked like a tornado had hit. Towels and clothes were strewn on the floor, and books were scattered all over the house. “What happened here!” Casy shrieked.

“Look here, a scuff mark!” exclaimed Kara.The family looked closely at the mark, “they are not scuff marks, they are words!” said their mother.

Meet me under the bridge, bring the animals…. Or else- unknown

“ You have to go, girls, no animal is worth this danger!” whisper-screamed their mom.

“All right” sighed the girls “we will go”

Later that night the girls went with Frostbite and Wildfire to the bridge, they thought they knew what was coming. When they got there, something unexpected happened, a man was standing under the bridge… that wasn't the shocking part, what happened next was.

“How are my two little girls doing?” the man asked.

“What do you mean, your little girls?” Kara asked?

“Let me explain” the man sighed “ I am your father, but the world knows me as the masked bandit.”

To be continued . . .

Can you hear that? Can you feel it? The sound of family and friends cheering as the basketball goes closer to the net and then, SWISH! I’m talking about the feeling of accomplishment and pride. The feeling that you get when you make the winning basket. It isn’t like I would know how that feels since everything changed. Hi, I’m Keylee. I was living the best life with lots of friends, a great family, perfect grades, and was on my school’s Basketball team! That is until I had the biggest change smack me in the face. That change had destroyed my life, or so I thought.

Yes, summer is finally here! You know what that means, don’t you? Well, just in case there was any doubt Summer means no school for 2 months! This summer isn’t going to be just any summer though. This summer will be the best! I am going to be going to a girls basketball camp! If you didn’t know already I love basketball! I just love being on the court, you feel so alive when you are dodging the running opponents. I have been looking into basketball camp for years and I think that I have finally found the perfect one! The grounds are beautiful, there is a huge gym, and we have scheduled practices and scrimmages almost everyday! Don’t even get me started on the menu! Everything looks delicious! The cabins look so immaculate and big! I even think that the Bathhouse is cleaner than my bathroom. I need to stop gawking at these pictures, I’m going in a week. I need to start packing! Oh, who am I kidding I started packing weeks ago, I am so excited!

Ok, lets see t-shirts, sweatshirts, socks, shorts… I think that's it! I think that I’m finally done packing. So I told my mom that I was ready and she grabbed her purse. Then directed me to turn off the light in the living room to signal to my dad that we were ready to go. We grabbed my bags and packed the car then we were on our way. We finally arrived at the Campground and I have to say that it is exactly like the pictures on the website! Once we got my bags to my bunk we said our goodbyes and then my parents left. I wasn’t that worried about missing my parents because every so often there is a visitors day so that your family can come visit. I am so happy to really be here! I can’t believe that we start practicing tomorrow!

The next morning I woke up surprisingly refreshed. The surprising part was that it seemed like I was the only one that got a good night’s sleep. Everyone else woke up dreary eyed and sleepy. I forgot to mention that I have a bunk-mate, I think her name is Brianna but everyone abbreviates it to Bri. I haven’t introduced myself yet but I will soon. I really think that we could be best friends. I think I also forgot to mention that I don’t know anybody that is at this camp so I really need to make some friends. First, I need to go eat breakfast, I hope the food is good.

There is no question about it. This is the most delicious waffle I have ever tasted, they gave us a fruit bowl, one waffle, a carton of milk and we got to choose what fruit we put on our waffle! This probably has to be the most gourmet meal I have ever had! I’m going up for seconds! I wonder what activity is next. Alrighty, I looked at our schedule and it turns out that we are going to the gym for some stretching and exercise. I can’t wait to get started!

I have never seen this much exercise equipment in my life. I was told to do whatever felt needed for today, so when I’m done I will tell you how it was. We all just finished the work-out and we are on our way to the basketball gym and we are going to run some drills. The coach’s name is Mr. Horno but we are to call him Coach. I stood in front of the coach and watched him lay out some drills for us to repete and I was super excited to finally try them. After we finished the drills we had a scrimmage. I don’t mean to brag, but we absolutely crushed the other team! The drills we learned come in super handy! I think that next we are going to the cabins to change and wash up before lunch.

Mmmm! That has to be the best looking salad ever! Ooo and those potatoes look so delicious, but the best part is probably going to be the grilled chicken! I was so right, the chicken was the best part but the salad and potato weren’t far behind. Lunch was so good! We have cabin time next, and I think I’m going to try and make some more friends. On second thought, I just found out that you can do your choice of activity around the camp so I think that I will do that instead. Although you never know, I might make a friend there.

I decided to go to the challenge course! I have to do a series of obstacle courses to make it to the last stage. I wonder if I will make it! The first stage is the dodge ball balance. The goal is to work on balance while you try to cross a tightrope when the other players throw dodgeballs at you. I think that I have pretty good balance so I should be fine. I guess we are about to find out because I’m next. As I hopped up on the rope I got a feeling that I was about to make my first friend, although I didn’t understand how. All I remember from that point on is the word “Go!” Then suddenly my brain rushed back to the present with a panic. As I made my way across the rope I hoped and prayed that I wouldn’t look like a fool. Thankfully I made it across without any problems. I stood next to what seemed to be the most popular girl at camp, and thought to myself “How is she the most popular?” None of that mattered to me anymore because that is when my thoughts were halted and told to go figure out what everyone was laughing about. I forgot to tell you, you know how there is always that one person that nobody seems to like? Well, I had finally figured out who that person was. Her name is Jessica, and little did I know she was about to be my best friend.

I quickly found what everyone was laughing about, but I never started laughing. While I was daydreaming Jessica had fallen off the rope and into a patch of mud. She was covered in mud and seemed to be really embarrassed. I never was able to control my instinct to try and help a person hurting, so there I was running over to Jessica. I helped Jessica out of the mud, getting myself muddy too. Even though I was getting muddy I kept focused on getting Jessica out of this muddy mess. I had finally gotten myself and Jessica out of the mud. All of the girls were still laughing even as we made our way back to the bathouse to wash off all of the mud. That was when I made my first friend.

Jessica and I started talking about little things like where we’re from, how long we have been playing basketball, etc. Then, after we talked for a while we realized that we had a lot in common! So from then on we hung out and talked a lot.

A few weeks later there was a visitors day. My parents and Jess’ parents were introduced to each other and seemed to get along well! Later I had noticed that Jess and her parents were gone. I had let it go for a while but then right as I was about to start looking for them I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Jess, she waved me over away from our parents. I followed her to the dock on the lake and she told me that she had good news. She was moving, I thought that this was bad until she told me that we were going to be going to the same school! I couldn’t believe that we were going to the same school and going to be on the basketball team together! Then I remembered that she would have to try out but I knew that she would make it so I wasn’t worried. Should I be? From then on the summer was about the same as before. But all good things must come to an end and camp was definitely good. Now it is over until potentially next summer.

I was home at last and I was very eager to start school. I knew that everything was going to be normal and just like any other school year. Every year was always the same, sometimes I wished that I could change something like make my school life different. After a few days I had made it to the first day of school and I was excited but at the same time sort of nervous. I got ready, ate breakfast, gathered my school materials, my backpack and I ran to the bus stop. The bus came at the same time every day, 7:15. Then sure enough the bus came and then everything was still the same. Once we got to school we ran off the bus and to our first class. As the day went by I had everything under control and I felt like this year was going to change but I didn’t know how. I just knew. As the days went by school day after school day I still hadn’t figured out what was going to change but I still knew that something would. That glorious time had finally come, tryouts for basketball were going to be held this week! I can’t even explain how excited I was finally to be back on the team. I know that I was on the court all summer but now I would be one of the foxes! By the way the fox is our school mascot. A few days later my school had tryouts and after what seemed like forever we found out who made it on the team, I was one of those people! I was so looking forward to our first practice! It had finally come. I was finally going to meet the girls on the team that I didn’t know already. As soon as practice was over I felt so overjoyed to have found out that Jess had made the team! After a while passed I still had that feeling that there would be change. Many practices later we were about to have our first game. In that game I had made 9 baskets, 1 buzzer beater and we won the game! I couldn’t wait for the next game. We were going to face the Montana Lynx, they are our toughest competitors. While we practiced, I had my normal everyday school life going on before our practices. But then, all of a sudden the change I was telling you about happened. On the way home I was the last one on the bus just like always. Right before we turned to get into my neighborhood the traffic light turned red. I waited for the light to change and once it did a bus came flying towards the intersection. I saw the bus heading straight for my bus. A million thoughts bolted around in my head. Is the other bus going to hit mine? Will I get hurt, or even die?! What about my family? Then all of a sudden my thoughts were interrupted with a big crash.

By Sri Gowravajjhula

Quote of the day:

Nobody wants to show you the hours and hours of becoming , They’d rather show the highlight of what they’ve become - Angela Duckworth

Cock-a-doodle-doo

Oliver wakes up early in the morning to explore the woods again. He sneaks downstairs and opens the door and it goes “creak”. Oliver wanders into the woods and hears a small growl. Oh! Oliver goes, “it's a Tiny Dragon”! Oliver picked it up and said, “ I'm going to call you Spikey, because you're Spikey”! Oliver looked up. It's almost sunrise. “Better head back home”, he said and put Spikey in his pocket and started going back home, closed the door and climbed back in bed then an hour later he heard his mom say, “wake up Oliver or you will be late for school”.

Oliver puts Spikey on the counter and starts brushing his teeth, then takes a shower. When Oliver is done he slowly puts Spikey in a cup of water. He wanted to clean Spikey a little bit. Spikey flies out into Oliver’s hands then Oliver says, “Oh, maybe you don't like water”. Oliver put Spikey in his pocket and started going downstairs. Oliver's mom made him bacon and eggs for breakfast Spikey loved the smell and the grease. Oliver ate his breakfast and put some bacon in his pocket for Spikey to eat. Then Oliver put his backpack on and headed to the school bus.

Oliver got on and he sat beside his best friend Henry. Oliver whispered, “I have a secret”. Henry was eager to know and whispered back, “What is it”?

Oliver opened up his pocket and asked Henry to peek in. Henry looked into his pocket and saw Spikey. He said, “Wow! What is that? Where did you find him?” Oliver proudly said, “It's a Tiny Dragon”. While Oliver and Henry were talking about Spikey they reached the school and got off the bus and had to go to Math class. Oliver put Spikey on the table, and the math teacher said, “No toys in school, Oliver.” Oliver put Spikey in a small tray under his desk and gave him some more bacon to eat. After the class, he walks into the bathroom and lets Spikey have a drink from the faucet. Soon, it was time for recess and lunch.

Oliver just hung out with his friends on the bench and had a chat, one of his friends named Paul said at his sleepover next week he was going to do a ghost hunt and they can eat candy for dinner while Paul was talking Oliver was scared that Spikey might fall out of his pocket. During lunch, Oliver puts sandwich crumbs in his pocket for Spikey to eat and puts him in his backpack during his afternoon lessons, so Spikey can have a nap. It's time to go home, Oliver puts Spikey in his pocket again and sits with Henry on the bus and tells him what happened during the day.

After Oliver gets off the bus and he goes into the woods, takes Spikey out of his pocket and places him on a big rock and says. “Goodbye, Spikey''. Spikey happily hops off back into the woods. Oliver heads back home. After finishing his homework and eating dinner, he goes to bed and falls asleep, hoping for a new adventure tomorrow.

By Sri Gowravajjhula

Quote of the day:

“You do not find a happy life you make it” -Camilla Kinbal

Oliver was having a great day at school. He can't wait to go home and play with Spikey. Soon the day was over. Oliver sat on the bus with Henry and they talked about going to the movies next week .When it was Oliver's stop Oliver got down and went inside to eat a cookie. Oliver's mom said they were moving in 2 days. Oliver was sad that he had to leave Spikey. So after he ate a cookie , did his homework and went straight to bed.

It is the night before they moved. Oliver got out of bed and went into the woods, where he saw Spikey and Spikey landed on his head. Oliver said, “Oh Spikey! I am going to move tomorrow and I can’t play with you again.” ``Never ever, forever” he said mischeviously.

“Do you want to come with me?” Oliver continued. Spikey nodded “yes”.

Then Oliver put Spikey in his pocket and his mom cooked him some homemade pizza. Oliver peeled off a pepperoni and gave it to Spikey. After dinner they both went to bed. The next morning, Oliver moped out of bed, got ready for school and hopped on the school bus. In math class, Henry asked him what was wrong and Oliver said “I'm moving today” and Henry said, ” I will visit you on weekends and will you feel better if I gave you a cookie at lunch?” Oliver said, “yes”.

At lunch, Henry gave Oliver a M&Ms cookie and Oliver felt better. When it was time to go home, Oliver's mom came to pick him up and she when they reached home said, “Sorry, I forgot to tell you to pack your things”. “So can you stay home and pack while me and your dad go and rent a u-haul”.

Oliver said “OK”! Spikey was playing inside Oliver’s shoe box with shoe lace. That is where Oliver left him in the morning before going to school. Oliver picked up Spikey and put him on his bedside table and packed the rest of things into his new paw patrol suitcase. Just 13 minutes later, after he had everything packed up, he went into the kitchen. He found some snacks for him on the counter. “Mom must have left it there to pack them for the drive”, Oliver thought.

He and Spikey sat on the boxes that were in the hallway and shared the snacks. His parents shortly came and some big men followed them and started carrying the boxes outside and put them in a big U-haul that had an orange flower on it. Soon everything was loaded and Oliver got into his parent’s car and carefully put Spikey in the cup holder. The U-haul was attached to the back of their car and they started to drive to their new home. Oliver soon got bored and fell asleep. When he woke up his mom's car was parked in front of a hotel. Oliver got out and walked into the hotel lobby with his parents, after putting Spikey in his coat pocket.. Oliver looked at the fish tank and his mom was looking at some of the brochures and she took one that said ghost stories. Soon they were checked in and Oliver decided to sleep on the guest bed. When in the hotel room, his mom told him, “Oliver, Did you know near our new home, there is a hill and at night the rocks move around?”

“The stories say that they are animals and they shift around to get better sleep at night”. Oliver decided to check it out when they were at their new home. A little later, Oliver told his mom that he will go play on the swings which he saw in the play area of the hotel parking lot. His mom said,” Alright but stay away from the cars.” Oliver went outside and took Spikey out of his pocket and they played together for a while and his parents called him inside the car, to go out and eat dinner. They went into a Taco bell and ordered crunchy tacos with extra cheese and went back to the hotel to sleep.

In the morning everyone got up, got ready and started driving to their new home. 6 hours later, they got there and Oliver and his parents started unpacking and when they finished they settled in and decided that they were going to go camp in the woods for that night. So Oliver’s mom let him buy graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate and they decided to make smores and cook hotdogs. When they drove to the campsite and put up their tents, it was night and they roasted hot dogs and made smores. Oliver really loved it, it was a while since he went camping with his parents. When everyone decided to sleep, Oliver sneaked out to go see the mountains moving and he did. It was so amazing and it looked like big elephants walking around but soon they stopped moving. Oliver went back into the campsite and settled down to sleep and wondered what other mysteries were near his new home.

To be continued...

Email: jem2jc@bearworks.jackson.sparcc.org
Website: https://www.jackson.stark.k12.oh.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=6497
Location: Jackson Memorial Middle School, Mudbrook Street Northwest, Massillon, OH, USA
Phone: 330 830-8034