The Annual Newton Car Race By: Jayde Teacher of Month 2 It All Started with Isaac Newton… Isaac Newton Invented the Three Laws of Motion

Volume 1 issue 2 9/15/14 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: The Annual Newton Car Race By: Jayde Teacher of Month 2 It all started with Isaac Newton… Isaac Newton invented the three laws of motion. The first one is „every object in motion tends to stay in motion until an unbalanced force is acted Harry Potter 2 upon it.‟ The second law is „acceleration is produced when a force acts on mass.‟ The third School tips 3 one is „for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction.‟ For the Annual Car Race that Mrs.Rankin has every year, her students are to build a car out of materials that they Spelling Bee 3 find. There wheels can be off of a truck or homemade…. of course some people were creative and did make homemade wheels, but most just took wheels off of a toy truck. For Sports 4 this car race we do two races. The first race is where you have to carry an egg down the Dodgeball 4 ramp safely to the finish line without killing it. The second race, I have to say is the hard- est, is where you have a line of eggs at the finish line. You then have to take your car Meet the students 5 down the ramp, and it has to make it to the finish line without cracking or knocking over any of your „fans‟ at the end! Our results were unbelieveable! The results over all were, in App Reviews 6 third place Ryan Lumbeck with the Estus Egg and in second place was Elizabeth Oetken Food and Cooking 7 with Mr.Lady. *drum roll*.... And in first place with the Fetus Crusher... Sarah McVey and Jayde Henry. Animals and Pets 8

Spot the Difference 9

Horoscopes 9

Switched at Birth 10

Old School Trucks- Mr.Nichols By: Jayde, Collin, and Noah On February 17 we went down and interviewed Mr. Nichols on his truck. Mr. Nichols‟ truck is a 1950 Chevy 3100. The Chevy belonged to Mr. Nichols‟ dad. Mr. Nichols decided to take it out of the weeds in 1988. Mr. Nichols started going to car shows last summer. He has awards from 3 car shows. It was elected as the Mayor's Choice Award in Galesburg. The restoration project has been going on for 10 years and still going. Mr. Nichols said he would never sell his truck. The size of the engine in his truck is a 396 cubic inch. We asked Mr. Nichols how much he pays for gas and his exact words were, “Too much, but its worth it for the fun!” It‟s not very good on gas mileage. It get 9 miles a gallon. Mr. Nichols restoration has been a project for his family. It has taken a long time for him to be able to drive his truck. He says it‟s not finished yet, but he can drive it. Page 2

By:Jayde Henry

On February 10, I went around to each classroom, and took votes for teacher of the month. That day in seventh hour I counted the votes. Mrs.Rankin got in second place with 21 votes. But the winner was……..Miss.Fitzgerald with 23 votes!! The next day on February 11 I went down and interviewed Miss.Fitzgerald. She started teaching in August of 2014. I asked Miss.Fitzgerald why she became a teacher, she said “To inspire students to become well-rounded individuals, and to show them how cool math is!” She went to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. I then asked Miss.Fitzgerald what her dream job was, her exact words were “Own a bakery…*whispers* I love dessert!” Miss.Fitzgerald has several aunts and cousins who are teachers. She likes to hang out with her family and friends, explore, and play music. West Central Middle School is Miss.Fitzgeralds first teaching job. Congratulations Miss.Fitzgerald! You deserved this win!

By Ryan Lumbeck

Welcome Harry Potter fans, do you like to be in a club? Well, here is your chance. If you want to join, ask Mrs. Rankin to sign up. Also, to be in Harry Potter club, you must pass the test. On the test, you must have a good grade and must have read all of the Harry Potter books. Mrs. Rankin‟s advice is you have to be silly, active, and enjoy yourself. She started doing the club in 2013. If you don‟t have a club to be in, you can sign up for her club. She does it every Wednesday at 5C. It has 13 kids in the club. UPCOMING EVENT, Quidditch is like dodge ball, but you‟re on a broom. this year they made potions and wands. We also meet with Monmouth College once a year to do a competition. They are doing Quidditch and a trivia challenge. All they do is have a really good time. School Tips Page 3 By: Haven Simmons & Reagan Garber & Courtney Torrance

Go to Mathway.com for help with math homework.

Use cinnamon flavored gum to stay awake in class.

You will find more relevant information at scholar.google.com than google.com

Up late studying? Listen to Hans Zimmer Pandora. It has no distracting lyrics.

Want to learn how to speed read? Go to spreeder.com helps with speed and comprehension.

When you're studying use green, yellow, and red highlighters. Green for the things you know, Yellow for the things you‟re learning, and Red for the things you don't know.

Use a planner to keep your assignments organized.

Chewing the same flavored gum you did while studying as you are when you take the test will help improve your memory.

Keep water next to your bed and drink it when you wake up. This will help you wake up for school the next day.

Spelling Bee By Tucker Peterson

After the West Central Middle School Spelling Bee, the two alternates were Annamae Brown and Dylan Spiker. The runner-up was Bradon Annegers and the winner was Tucker Peterson. On Tuesday, February 10, 2015, Tucker and Bradon then participated in the Henderson and Warren county spelling bee. The winner advances to the Peoria Journal Star Spelling Bee on Friday, March 20, 2015. There were ten spellers overall, two from each school including West Central, United, Monmouth-Roseville, ICS, and Central Intermediate. The rules of the spelling bee are, you get a word, you can ask to hear the word again, the definition, use it in a sentence, language of origin, and part of speech. Once you are ready to spell the word, you say the word, spell the word, and say the word again. You have to say the word so many times so the judges can tell if you heard the word right. The order the spellers went is was predetermined when the names were drawn out of the hat. Tucker went last and Bradon went next to last. Tucker, who was hoping for redemption after misspelling the stethoscope at last year’s Bi County Spelling Bee. He and one other kid went out on the first round. Tucker was so nervous that when he got the word orchard, (A word he knew.) he forgot the r after the o at the beginning and then after he spelled it, he said “I forgot the r at the beginning.” But spelling bee is mostly based on the luck of the words you get. But Bradon was just getting started, he spelled three words right, but then on the 4th round, he got the word cabana and messed up. When the judges said it, it sounded like cabanya. But that is the actual pronunciation of the word. Tucker got next to last, and Bradon got third overall. The final two contestants were Stella Narkiewizc a 7th grader from Monmouth-Roseville, who spells first out of the two, and Thomas Trout-Young, a 6th grader from United, who spells after Stella. Once you get to the final two, if one person get a word right, and the other one misspells a word, the move onto the Championship Round, where if they spell one more word right they win. It went on for around 10 more rounds. But finally, Thomas Trout- Young won. (I do not remember the winning word.) So Miss. Reynolds encourages everybody to go out for the Spelling Bee. Page 4

NBA Dunk Contest By Nate Bigger Saturday night at 7:30 the NBA had its All-Star Chicago cubs player review slam dunk contest. There were 4 contestants competing. By Ryan Lumbeck They were Zach LaVine, Victor Olandipo, Mason Plumlee Welcome back to Chicago sports review part 2 to- and Giannis Antetokounmpo. We will go over all 3 rounds and the winner. Let’s get goin’. day we are going to talk about Starlin Castro, Anthony Riz- zo and Travis Wood to tell you about these three cubs Round 1. Mason Plumlee did a reverse dunk off the side of the backboard. He got a 40 out of 50 total points. players so let‟s get started Next was Victor Olandipo. He did a 540 degree spin and reverse slammed a dunk for a 50 out of 50 points. Next was Am going to start with Castro he is #13 and plays short- Giannis Antetokounmpo. He attempted a full extension stop. Can you guess how tall he is? You got it he is 6‟0” ally-oop to himself but couldn’t throw it down and got a and weighs 190 lb. He was born in Monte Cristo. His full low score of 30. Lastly was Zach LaVine. He did a between the legs ally oop to himself and reversed slammed the dunk. name is Starlin Dejesus Castro. Next, he has hit 51 home And to sum up the first round LaVine and Olandipo were in runs and his batting avg is .284. Also had 846 hits and has the lead with each 50. batted in 294 runs. Next, he has stole 70 bases in the Round 2. Mason Plumlee used his brother Miles 2014 season. last Castro has 339 runs off a hit. as a prop who is 7 ft tall. He jumped over him and threw Second we are going to talk about is Anthony Riz- down the dunk. He got a rough 36. Giannis Antetokounmpo zo he is #44 and plays first base. He was born August 8 had his brother also ally oop a double clutch reverse dunk. 1989 at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He has been in the MLB He got a 35 for his second round score. Victor Olandipo had his teammate throw the ball of the side of the for 3 years. Also his batting avg for 2014 is .254. He is backboard and did a 360 and had another thunder dunk. taller than Castro he is 6‟3” and weighs 240 lbs. he has 405 Olandipo got a solid 39. Last in the 2nd round was Zach hits. Rizzo has 71 homeruns, that is more than Castro. LaVine. He also used his teammate as a helper in his Also in 2011 he played for the san Diego padres. last he attempt. He had Andrew Wiggins hold the ball while LaVine grabbed the ball and did a between the legs left has hit 215 players into home handed dunk. LaVine got a 40. He and Olandipo went on to the final round. last but not least Travis Wood Travis is a starting During the final round Olandipo attempted a pitcher he is #37. Wood played for Cincinnati Reds in between the legs dunk from grabbing the ball from his (2010-2011) than was draft to the cubs. His win-loss rec- teammate sitting in a chair. He couldn’t pull through and ord is 34-48 Wood his 571 strikeouts. Travis Wood is right missed and got a low score of 31. And last but not least was LaVine. He got the Barkley’s Center roaring with a behind handed. Wood is 5‟11‟ and weighs 175 lbs. He was born on the back ally oop to get a 50. Both got one last dunk. February 6 1987 Wood is the shortest out of all three of the Olandipo bounced the ball off the backboard from behind player we review. and did a windmill dunk for a score of 44. For the last dunk join us on the next Chicago sports review see you later of the night LaVine had a player from the Cavs bounce the hope you enjoy it. ball of the State Farm support pad on the hoop and did a between the legs dunk for a final score of 49 to end the night!!

Dodgeball tournament Brenna,Dermer,Brayden

On the 15th of February there was a dodgeball tournament. There were 3 teams from West Central. The Dodgefathers lost. Dermer and Brayden say they went against mammouths. However, they got an award for the best dressed. They were the only team that had matching shirts.They never went against 7th graders, the team only played against 8th graders. The players were Wesley,Brayden, Dermer,Gibby,Nathan,DJ,Eric and John. They went against a team from monmouth roseville. The guys they went against were really tall and buff. Dodging Devil Donkeys- Asa, Blake Howard, Damien, Tucker, Matt were the players. Asa got an award for doing a flip and not getting out. Ruber Truckers-Dylan Rankin,Blake Stuber, Jason, Joey, CJ ( sorry if we missed anyone) Sir Dodge A Lot -Corrine, Nathan Sherman,Brayden Anngers, Luke, Skippy , Riley,Emily, Payton Clark, Lacey were the players. Corrine got an award for the last man standing. (sorry if we missed anyone) This was the highest placing West Central team, achieving 3rd place in the tournament. VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 Page 5

By: Adrianna Almaguer and Courtney Torrance

We interviewed Emma Schar and we asked her a bunch of questions. She is 12 and her birthday is October 8th. Emma‟s hobbies are arts and crafts. Emma‟s favorite color is blue. Emma‟s favorite food is pizza, and her favorite pizza topping is sausage. Emma favorite song is “I don‟t dance” by Lee Brice, her favorite artist. Emma love‟s country music. Emma‟s favorite movie is The Fault in Our Stars. One of our final questions we asked Emma was, what kind of books do you like? She didn‟t have a certain type but she did have one that was called, “Alternator.” Our final question was how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? She replied with, “1,000.”

By: Adrianna Almaguer and Courtney Torrance

This week, we interviewed Tyler Collins a 7th grader. Tyler is 13 years old, and loves to draw cartoon characters. His favorite food is pizza, and his favorite topping is just plain old cheese. Tyler‟s favorite color is blue, and he really en- joys listening to Nickleback. Tyler‟s birthday is September 28th, and he likes cele- brating with his friends. When we asked Tyler what his favorite movie is, he simp- ly said he couldn‟t choose just one. Tyler loves all the Marvel superheroes. Tyler also likes to repeat lines for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ,and SpongeBob , and likes to watch T.V. He laughs when he says certain lines. Last he love the Chica- go Blackhawks and likes Captain America.

By: Adrianna Almaguer and Courtney Torrance

We interviewed Sloan Fisher and asked her a couple of questions. Sloan is our Student Council president here at West Central. Sloan is thirteen and her birthday is July second. Sloan‟s hobbies are reading and listening to music, her favorite artist is Ed Sheeran. We also asked Sloan about her favorite foods. Sloan‟s favorite food is mac n cheese, and her favorite pizza is breakfast pizza. Her favorite Pizza topping is cheese if she is not having breakfast pizza. Sloan‟s favorite color is purple, and her favorite movie is The Fault in Our Stars. VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 Page 6

By Tucker Peterson Hello, and welcome to the 3rd installment of the App Review. Today, we will be reviewing Jetpack Joyride. On September 1, 2011, the company Halfbrick released the game Jetpack Joyride on iOS devices. In this game you play as a man named Barry, he breaks into a lab, steals their experimental jetpack that has a sign that says “DO NOT STEAL”, and takes it on a joyride. Now you know why it is called Jetpack Joyride! This is yet another endless until you lose game. On your ride on the jetpack, you have to avoid zappers and missiles. You can also collect coins and ride in vehicles, and let’s not forget the S.A.M. (Strong Arm Machine). To get the S.A.M., you have to collect 3 shards that say S, A, and M. There is a store in this game called the stash, where you can buy jetpacks and costumes. Also, you can use gadgets and head starts during your joyride. You can accessorize the vehicles with a coin magnet, gold paint, and one special costume for each vehicle. You can complete interactive missions on your joyride and get coins in return. When you complete a certain amount of missions, you obtain a rank, you go up ranks throughout the game At the end of your joyride, if you collected spin tokens, you can take part in a final spin which you can get a head start, double coins, coins, and a final boost to go extra meters. It is now available on iOS and Android devices. This game scores a 7/10 on the App Scale. Everything in the game is perfect, but the music in the background ruins it.

Tanki Review By: Collin Hennenfent & Noah Grawet

The majority of West Central students play Tanki in study hall, breakfast, homeroom or other free times. There are many types of gun barrels on Tanki and also a lot of track styles. There are also many ranks and upgrades. Some of the ranks take forever to get full but the first two or three ranks don‟t take very long, the other ranks take for ever. Also, when you level up you get gems. This is used as currency to purchase things in the store. The gun barrels along with the tracks cost gems. You can also send friend request and they can send them to you, and you can either like them or decline them. If you like them you can also join their battle. Also some times during the night or the day they will put in a software updates. There are also many maps, and 4 styles of games. There are also many paint colors. Also when you de- stroy tanks you get points that go to your rank points to level up. There are 30 ranks and the top two are Commander, and Generalissimo. The middle two are Warrant officer 4, and 5. The lowest two are Recruit, and Private. Tanki is an awesome game and I encourage you to play it! Page 7

Courtesy of Dylan Gibbs

Since spring is coming soon you’re probably going to go outside to enjoy the weather. You might even enjoy the crisp air on your porch. Here’s a dessert that is as crisp as the air and as sweet as the spring flowers.

What you will need: Preparation 1. Butter a 9x13 pan 2 whole Granny Smith apples 2. Peel and core your apples then cut each apple into 8 2 (8 oz. cans) of crescent slices rolls 3. Open up your crescents and wrap an apple slice in each 2 sticks butter of them 1-1/2 cups sugar 4. Put each crescent in the buttered pan 5. Melt your butter and add in your sugar, then mix lightly 1 teaspoon vanilla 6. Add in your vanilla, and then stir Cinnamon, for flavor 7. Pour the sweet blend over the crescent 1 can of Mountain Dew 8. Add the Mountain Dew, and then sprinkle the cinnamon generously

Put in the oven at 350° for 45 minutes and let cool for 5 minutes. Another way to enjoy this is to serve it ala mode (with ice cream).

Restaurant Review This weekend I went to Texas roadhouse. I got a grade A 8 ounce USDA sirloin steak. For my sides I got a sweet potato, and French fries. We were served relatively fast for a very busy restaurant also. Our waiter was nice and served us nice. It took 10 minutes to get my steak and sweet potato, but I had to wait for my fries. This was OK because I had time, but I never got them. The steak was very juicy and was packed with flavor, and my sweet potato was loaded with marshmallows and brown sugar. I never got my fries, but the service was great, and the steak were delectable; so I rate my trip to Texas Roadhouse 3 stars out of 5 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 Page 8

By Nathan, Reagan and Haven Today we asked our class what their favorite dog breed. It was out of Labs, German Shepherd and Beagles. The most votes went to the labs with 7 of the 15 votes in our class. Next came the German Shepard with 5 of the 15 votes. Not to forget those beagles with a stoutly votes with 3. To start with labs got the most votes so we shall start with them. Labs were originally from New- foundland. They were mainly used for water dogs. Most labs weigh 55-70 and stand at 22.5 to 24.5 inch- es. Labs come in all different colors including black, yellow and chocolate. Most labs live to be 11 years of age. Next German Shepherds came next in the voting poll. German Shepherds are originally from Ger- many. German Shepherds most known for being police and watch dogs for being aggressive. German Shepherds are normally 2 feet tall and weigh about 66 to 88 pounds. Most German Shepherds are brown with a black snout, but they can be white, black and all brown. Last but not the least the Beagle. The Beagle was originated in Great Britain. The beagle was used as a tracking dog. Beagle normally weigh 22-25 pounds. There height is 33-40.6 cm. Most of the Beagle colors range from black, white, grey, brown and spotted.

This weeks cutest pet belongs to Grant Sibley. This pet is a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon named Sadie who is 4 years old. Sadies favorite toy is her soccer ball. The tricks she can do are sit, shake, lay down, and sometimes speak (Still working on that). She eats Beneful dog food and her favorite animal is a cat. She chases them around, and likes to bark at them. She has been abused but Grants family saved her from the pound. Sadie likes to sleep at the foot of his bed or his brothers, depending on her mood. Sadie loves baths, and loves to play in the water and slam her paws down to make a splash. Lastly, she is afraid of tissue paper...which they just found out recently. Do you want your pet featured in the paper? Just send a picture in through a flash drive, or from a mobile device, and in- clude your name, your grade, your pets name, what kind of pet it is, what breed, how old your pet is, what your pet‟s favorite toy is, and what your pet‟s favorite hobbies are! To get your flash drive or picture to us, just show either Reagan Garber, or Court- ney Torrance, your picture, and we will let you know if you won! Thank you for your participation! SPOT THE DIFFERENCE CAN YOU FIND ALL 15 DIFFERENCES Page 9

Zodiacs at the Circus- What would you be? Libra, September 23-October 22: Tightrope walker, this person has experienced Aries, March 21- April 19: many broken bones. The crazy freak artist, that swallows knifes and jug- gles chainsaws. Scorpio, October 23-November 21: Taurus, April 20-May 20: The fire breather, this person will will singe your The knife thrower, that isn‟t that good...you‟ve been eyebrows :) warned. Sagittarius, November 22-December 21: Gemini, May 21-June 20: The clown, kind of similar to IT. The magician that will turn your parents into rabbits. Capricorn, December 22-January 19: Cancer, June 21-July 22: The contortionist, this person can pick their nose The puppet master...if this person asks for your with their toes! socks, don‟t give them up. Aquarius, January 20-February 18: Leo, July 23-August 22: The acrobat, this person is the only normal one... The ring leader. You control this mess that they call a circus. Pisces, February 12-March 20: The ribbon dancer, the only person in the circus Virgo, August 23-September 22: with grace, and class. The stilt walker. Push this person...I dare you.

Switched at Birth! Page 10 By: Jayde

Mrs. Lox- Jane Lynch Mrs. Lox and Jane Lynch are like identical! They have the same personalities, too!! They are both very very funny! It‟s so amazing how much those two act alike!! their hair, too, is exactly the same, just Mrs.Lox‟s hair is a little longer.

Mr. Harris- Leonardo DiCaprio Supposedly if you find a picture of Leonardo when he was young that he looks exactly like Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris told me a story about one of his teachers who always said that he looked like Leonardo when he was in the movie “Basketball Diaries”.

Mr. Hennings- Olly Murs If Olly had glasses he would look exactly like Mr. Hennings!! I don‟t know if Mr. Hennings can sing like Olly Murs, but they sure do look alike! Not sure if Olly Murs is as funny as Mr. Hennings either…

Mr. Steben- Jason Segel I‟ve heard that Mr. Steben is pretty funny so him and Jason are pretty alike. They even look alike, and I mean alike! I think the only difference between them is that one is on hit TV shows and the other is working at a middle school being a band teacher.. :-)

Ms.Halcomb- Melissa McCarthy Melissa McCarthy and Ms.Halcomb, I swear were separated at birth!!They are both funny and creative!! They look exactly alike, too!! They both have that curly, wavy hair, too. They‟re probably are sisters and just don‟t know it.