Hauser’s Cool Clubs

This month the clubs we will be focusing on are Spanish Club, Sunshine Society, and Student Council. Mrs. Hedrick runs the Spanish Club and you can contact her by email at ([email protected]). The club has meetings every other Wednesday. In the club, you will discuss upcoming events club members can volunteer to work at and what the Spanish Club wants to spend the club money on. The club meetings run from 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. During this time, you can also get help on anything you’re struggling at in Spanish class. The second club I will be focusing on is the Sunshine Society. This club is ran by Mrs. Voyles and you can contact her by email at ([email protected]). Sunshine Society is for girls In grades 9-12. While someone is a part of this club, they will do acts of kindness for faculty members, people in their community, and family members. There will also be projects for the whole club to complete. The last club I’m going to be telling you about is Student Council. Mrs. Tom runs Student Council, and you can contact her by email at ([email protected]). When you are a part of this club, you make decisions on pep rallies and dances, just to name a few. In Student Council, you also get to pick the things the school does for spirit weeks. Another thing you can do in this club run in an election to be a class officer.

-by Faith Moss Hauser Health and Nutrition

Most students sleep schedules are all over the place because they are going to bed late and waking up late. Sleep specialists say that the average teenager gets between 7 and 7 ¼ hours of sleep and that’s not enough. As growing students, our bodies need exactly 9 ¼ hours of sleep to function properly. Growing up, most of our parents taught us that 8-10 hours of sleep was sufficient, but as we grew older, we disregarded those recommendations. We find ourselves reading, doing homework, or watching YouTube until 1 a.m. With an early school starts, you may have to start getting back into to the habit of going to bed at a much earlier time. While going to bed before 9 p.m. is a challenge, there are steps we can take to get more sleep and to be more productive at school and work. First, we can limit blue light exposure, which comes from phones and other electronic devices. Blue light tricks your brain into thinking that it is still daytime. By limiting blue light intake, we can increase the hormone melatonin, which helps us relax and get a deeper sleep. Second, we can reduce lengthy or sporadic napping throughout the day. Not sleeping during your classes can also improve grades and understanding of the subject. Lastly, we should try to have a consistent sleep schedule that your body runs well on. Studies have shown that people with no sleep schedule have reported poor sleep and that a routine actually helps your body get better rest. Irregular sleeping patterns can also cause you melatonin levels to fluctuate. Remember also that eating the right food is important for your body to perform at its highest levels and so is your water intake, but without restful sleep at night, you won’t be awake enough to eat your nutritious breakfast and prepare for school.

-by Addy Barriger

FFA Events and News

This week in FFA events and news, I’ll explain the livestock judging and parliamentary procedures. Livestock judging has started. In livestock judging, you evaluate goats, sheep, hogs, and cattle. You also judge them based on a breeding standpoint and a market standpoint. Parliamentary procedure practice is every Monday and Thursday from 3-4.

-by Chase Harker

The Real Gods of Olympus

With the New Year hitting us full force, it’s only natural that this article is about the god’s importance in our celebrations. Contrary to some belief, celebrating the New Year is something that happens worldwide; Americans aren’t the only ones to follow the tradition. Greeks started following the tradition of each New Year from the Mesopotamians, who began by worshipping the sun. Before this, the Greeks were not known to celebrate the New Year holiday. However, the Greeks had something rather close, known as “the sickle of the moon”, in which they celebrated a new face of the moon. The Gods celebrated in “the sickle of the moon” which involved Selene, the Goddess of the Moon, and Apollo (Apollon), the God of the sun and light. Despite the Greek’s lack of celebration towards the New Year, there was a celebration held on the last day of the year, or New Year’s Eve, in which they would sacrifice people to Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, and Zeus, God of the sky. However, most connection with the holiday ends there until more recent times.

-by Anna Kute

Save the Date

Mon, Jan. 13 Winter Music Concert

Wed, Jan. 15 FFA Meeting

Fri, Jan. 17 Homecoming! (Pep session at 2:40 pm)

Mon, Jan. 20 MLK Day- eLearning Day (1st snow make up)

Mon, Feb. 17 Presidents Day- No School (possible snow make up day)

Tues, Feb. 18 Parent Teacher Conferences (with this P/T conference, teachers will contact the parents of students they wish to speak to, but if a parent was not contacted and wishes to attend the conferences, please contact one of your child’s teachers to set up a time.)

-by Bella Kilps

Raising Awareness about the Australian Wildfires

In September of 2019, forest fires started spreading across the horizon, burning their way through whatever they could. Since the fires started, 25.5 million acres of land have burned. The size is greater than a large amount of countries across the globe. This is also significantly larger than the Amazon forest fires (2.2 million acres), or the California wildfires (2 million acres). However, this damage doesn’t just affect the land. It has also killed at around 25 people, and has destroyed well over 1,500 homes. An estimate by Australia’s government found that an estimated one billion animals have been affected by the wildfires, and as many as 1/3 of the koalas in New South Wales have died. The fires are also making the air practically unbreathable, and researchers don’t know when the air will be clear again. Firefighters are working long shifts, reported to be as long as 24 hours at a time. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised to help with the impact of the fires, but it will not be enough. However, there has been evidence of plant life growing back, and wildlife rehabilitation facilities are working on repopulating the koalas.

-by Grace Hattabaugh

Indiana 21st Century Scholars Program

-by Bella Kilps

Indiana’s 21st century scholars program is the early commitment-to-college promise program offering Hoosier students up to four years of paid tuition at an eligible Indiana two-year and/or 4 year higher education institution. This program helps students who thought college wasn’t an option due to financial reasons, now open their eyes to new opportunities. As middle school students, college seems far away, but it’s going to come faster than we know it. You can enroll as a 21st century scholar when you enter into your 7th grade year of school to up June 30th after your 8th grade year. As long as you keep your grades up and meet the requirements, you are good to go! If you haven’t enrolled already, I highly recommend that you take the time to do so.

Click the following link to learn more information: https://learnmoreindiana.org/scholars/

Sign up for the 21st Century Scholars Program at http://scholars.in.gov/parents/enroll/

Obscure (but Fun) Video Games

Welcome back to the obscure (lesser-known) video games series of articles. In this month’s edition, I will be discussing the series, Animal Crossing. Animal Crossing debuted on April 14, 2001. It was created by Nintendo, and was produced for the Nintendo GameCube and the Nintendo 64. The series now has seven main games, with the eighth coming on March 20, 2020. The Animal Crossing games have no set objective (other than 2015’s, Happy Home Designer), so you can run around the virtual world, fishing, catching bugs, digging fossils, or talking to the towns folks. You can do tasks for the towns folks, which can earn you bells (Animal Crossing currency). You can use the bells that you earn to buy furniture and appliances for your house. You have to pay a mortgage with bells for your house. The mortgage amount is based on the amount of money that is spent making your house appeal to your tastes, but is usually 10,000 bells. In the game, you are charged for things by the character named Tom Nook, who runs businesses and stores. The mayor, and most popular character, Isabelle, was introduced in 2011, in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Animal Crossing has also made some cameos in some other games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is coming in March for Nintendo Switch, so if you’ve never played a game in the series, you should consider buying the newest addition to the series. It’s fun to go out and try something new, or in this case, play a new game. Will you be next to play?

-by Colin Kistler

Dear Frabby, What should I do about a toxic relationship?

Knowing if you are in a toxic friendship or relationship can help you mentally and sometimes even physically. If a friend or significant other is telling you who you can or cannot hang out with or what activities you can or cannot do – this is one of the warning signs that you could be in a toxic relationship. Sometimes, people we’re in relationships with do these things because they want control over your life, which they shouldn’t have. You are in control of you! You should be allowed to live your life without having to worry if you’ll get “in trouble” with your best friend or significant other. If they are always putting you down, if they are always telling you that you are worthless, or making you feel worthless, they aren’t good people to be friends with or be in a relationship with. When you spend time with friends, you shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not you are going to cry or break down because of someone who is trying to control you. That is emotional abuse and you need to take it very seriously because sometimes, emotional abuse can lead to physical abuse. Even if it doesn’t become physical abuse, emotional abuse is still abuse and causes you harm. Regardless of what someone trying to control you might say, control isn’t love; it’s about someone wanting to control another person for their own selfish reasons, which is wrong and is a toxic relationship. The sooner someone starts to realize that they are in a toxic relationship and the faster they deal with it, the better.

-by Frabby Blair Valentines Day Candies Word Search

M S D R E N P K C F F S E

S A A E Q C V G H U I O A

I A N P T T X Q O N S A S

I W H D U A D Q C D H Y K

C O G H M L Y J O I M J G

T U L V R S R J L P Y U Z

J E T U T E D Y A K H J Y

Z J G F E F O E T Y F I L

S E S S I K Y E H S R E H

O H E Z X F I H R E X S J

Z S Y S V U S Z O F Q U M

X I P U A R W W S N C S A

G F H Q E I T G E B M O N

G B V H G O W L S S O X P

S W E E T H E A R T S U L

Hidden Phrases: ~by Kendrick Crowder Fun Dip Hershey Hugs Hershey Kisses M and Ms Nerds Reeses Sweet Hearts

Springtime Shoe Review

As spring arrives, you’ll want a shoe that you can run in, or a shoe that you would be comfortable in for your daily life. The best shoe I would recommend for you would be the Saucony brand of shoes. These shoes are comfortable and are made for running and walking comfortably. Although Saucony isn’t a very well-known brand like Nike or Adidas, they are very comfortable and fun to wear. Then the best part about these shoes is that they have a range that meets many different price points. So, even if you are trying to save money, you can still wear some very nice, comfortable shoes. Prices may vary from $30-$150 depending on which shoe you choose. These shoes even come in many different colors and shapes creating a variety of shoes to fit your needs.

-by Sam Estes

The Liftoff Newsletter Staff consists of Ms. Hardy’s 8th grade honors English class. Staff writers are Chase Harker, Abby Blair, Sam Estes, Grace Hattabaugh, Will Walters, Anna Kute, Sarah Brenneman, Addy Barriger, Bailey Cheshire, Bella Kilps, Colin Kistler, Kendrick Crowder. The staff editors this semester are Lilly Combs & Faith Moss.