2Nd Marking Period Edition Linglestown Middle School
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Linglestown Middle School 2nd Marking RAMpages 16 Period Edition Eric Belfanti wins LMS National Geographic Bee for Third Straight Year By Mrs. Sterbinsky Eric Belfanti, an 8th grade student at Linglestown Middle School, won the school competition of the National Geographic Bee on December 14th for the third straight year. No student has ever accomplished this difficult achievement. The school bee, at which the students answered questions on geography, was the first round in the 29th annual National Geographic Bee. Eric placed first by answering all three of the championship round questions correctly. In the LMS Bee, Kasi Loser, a fierce 6th grade competitor, placed second. A tie for third place included Timothy Dao, an 8th grader and Ty Elbertson, a 6th grader. Thousands of schools around the United States are participating in the 2017 Geographic Bee. The school champions, including Eric, will take a qualifying test; up to 100 of the top scorers on that test in each state will then be eligible to com- plete in their state Bee on March 31st, 2017. Congratulations to our Congratulations to the 10 students Spelling Bee winners. who participated in the 2016 4th-Jaden Sutch American Mathematics 3rd-Tiffany Chen Competition. Results are in-1st is 2nd-Lydia Gonzalez Jason Chen, 2nd is Lawrence Chen 1st Place-Joshua Hicks and 3rd is Callie Ritter. These students will represent LMS at the next round. Eating Competitions: Delightful or Deadly? By Avelina Zirkle Eating Competitions are a pastime that we’ve all most likely seen, whether on TV, or at a local fair or carnival. Heck, even our OWN SCHOOL had one last year for Pi Day. For years upon years, men and women stuff their faces in the name of entertainment. It’s all fun and games, right? Maybe not, because choking, waste of food, people eating their own vomit, and even death have occurred at competitions like these. There are also long term effects, such as weight gain, stomach problems, and heart disease. However, fans of the pastime have defended competitions such as the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition, saying that people who enter know the risks, that there are medical staff in case of an emergency, and that you win fame, not to mention copious amounts of cash. Staff vs. Students Basketball Game The basketball game was a very fun event! Tensions were high and the score was always very close. I was a photographer so I stood on the sidelines and got slammed into a couple times, but it was fun! As sweat was dripping and muscles were beginning to weaken, the game was coming to an end. The score proved that students had won, but teachers were convinced that they should have walked away with the trophy. We all know that students were better though. Ha-ha, just kidding. Everybody did a great job and the basketball game was a success. 2 Middle School Drug Testing Kaiya Hutchinson I believe middle school students should be drug tested for sports. One reason to do drug tests would be to decrease the amount of students abusing substances. Also, using drugs not only interferes with a student's ability to learn, but it can also disrupt the teaching environment. It affects other students as well. If you decrease the amount of students using drugs it will help the school's grade point average. Tests have shown that drugs affect a person’s learning ability. It will also benefit students health. This is why drug tests should be conducted in middle schools. Adolescent brains and bodies are still developing. This makes them vulnerable to the effects of drugs. Repeated drug use could affect academics, mood changes, paranoia, anxiety, and more. Testing methods are easy and do not harm the student. One method of testing is sweat. A sampling of sweat can be collected and tested. Another method is by taking a hair sample. The root of the hair can be tested. Are students able to “beat” the test? Many times when students do use drugs they have a way to detoxify themselves of the drugs to avoid being caught. Some people ask if it is legal to drug test students. In June 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court broadened the authority of public schools to test students for illegal drugs. Voting 5 to 4 in Pottawatomie County v. Earls, the court ruled to allow random drug tests for all middle and high school students participating in competitive extracurricular activities. The ruling greatly expanded the scope of school drug testing, which previously had been allowed only for student athletes. Pearl Harbor Do you know the history behind Pearl Harbor? Not many people know the deep roots of this famous holiday. The bombing of Pearl Harbor took place on December 7th, 1941. Germany wanted to prevent the United States from entering the war and persuaded Japan to attack Pearl Harbor. Japan used their bombers to attack Pearl Harbor. The attack lasted 110 minutes from 7:55am to 9:45am. 2335 US servicemen were killed. 1142 US servicemen were wounded. 68 civilians were killed and 35 were wounded. Americans used Anti-Aircraft guns to take down some of the planes killing a total of 65 men and capturing 1 alive. Pearl Harbor is on the south side of the Hawaiian island Oahu. It is home to a US Naval base. The attack on Pearl Harbor brought the US into World War II. This is exactly what Germany was trying to prevent. 3 Just Around the Oil Pipe By: Crystal Echeverria Recently, a story about a pipeline passing through Standing Rock Sioux Tribe territory hit the headlines. Why is this such a big deal you ask? This territory is all that they have left after the near genocide centuries ago. The land is precious to them, and it’s precious to agriculture as well. The land is pure, untouched by chemicals, and contains so much beauty. The government has claimed that the pipe is safe, but when asked why they cannot have it cross a nearby city, Bismarck, they said that it could possibly leak. They rerouted the pipe under the Missouri River. Right next to the Sioux Tribe. There is not a vital need for oil in the area. The “safe” pipeline is under the main source of water. There could be trouble. Protesters have said, “We can live without oil, we can’t live without water”. The government has reasoned this route change by saying that there is a smaller population in Standing Rock than in Bismarck. By putting the pipe on the Native territory, fewer people will be in danger. Before you agree with the government ask yourself, “why is the population low?” The plans of the pipeline continued on the edge of the Standing Rock instead of through it, but not without a struggle. A group of 400 were hurt, pepper sprayed, tear gassed. Protesters even waded in water below freezing. It was like Bloody Sunday all over again. The Native Americans have been pushed around for centuries. Many feel it is happening again. There are two ways to look at this issue. The government was trying to go through the property, or the Natives were not willing to let the government use the land. It would have been dangerous to send the oil with any other way of transportation other than a pipeline. Whatever side you chose, look for more facts and reason first. 4 Super Moon is Not from the Comics By Victoria G. All Stargazers were looking up at the sky on November 13th and 14th. Why? To witness the biggest and brightest moon in almost 70 years-the Super Moon! What is a Super Moon? It is neither technical or astronomical, it refers to the moon’s proximity to the Earth. The Super Moon is 15 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than normally seen for an average full moon. This is the first Super Moon since 1948. The next one will be in 2034. Meet Mrs. Brubaker Mrs. Brubaker is a new 6th grade teacher on the Lions team. She came to us from Swatara Middle School. Mrs. Brubaker went to Millersville University and then on to Penn State for her Masters. She really wanted to be a nurse. Her favorite subject is math. Mrs. Brubaker played softball and basketball. Her oldest son began college this year at Messiah College. Welcome Mrs. Brubaker. Stop by and say “Hi”! THE NATIONS’S REPORT CARD AND YOU Soon you may notice some of your classmates receiving hall passes to excuse them from class on February 8th. You will probably wonder: What are they for? And where are these students going? These students have been chosen to participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as NAEP. You may be thinking that NAEP is just another test, but it’s not. NAEP is different from our state assessments because it represents students across the country. Ever heard of The Nation’s Report Card? That’s NAEP. The assessment results are released as The Nation’s Report Card, and they help the President, Congress, and all of our educators make decisions about how to improve our education system. NAEP is what the general public will hear about on the news when reporters discuss what students are learning. The actual assessment takes about 120 minutes. During that time, students will take an assessment in mathematics or reading on tablets or in paper booklets. All students will be asked questions about their educational experiences that may be related to performance, such as homework and reading habits.