The Tusker Tribune The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School Issue Number 18 http://somersschools.org/domain/995 Winter 2019 Ski Club Off to Jiminey Peak It’s Penny Wars/ Food Drive Time! By Will Underkoffler just want to buy snacks and oth- Tusker Tribune Staff er stuff during check-ins. This year the 4. Don’t miss the check- Somers Ski ins. Mr. Savastano is and Snow- serious about being By Olivia Soto board Club is banned and it’s for your Tusker Tribune Staff bring its members own safety Bring in loose change to Jiminy Peak, 5. Don’t stray and non-perish- Massachusetts. from your friends; you able items to your Advi- Last year the will probably be found sory class between now members went to and banned and February 14. Not only on Mount Snow and 6. Have Fun! Tuesdays, but also we all had loads of Jiminy Peak is a rather throughout the week. fun. I have a few small and easy ski Any money will be accepted. The tips for everyone who is going mountain with loads of green class that brings this year: circle and blue square slopes in the most money and/or food 1. Always bring extra (green is easy, blue is intermedi- will win a cookie cake! The mon- chargers (slim power cases or ate) and not many black dia- ey will be donated whatever). mond slopes (expert). to an organization. Remember, 2. You’ll want and need Basically, all the blacks have fun and Good Luck! earbuds or headphones (You and double blacks are in the could even listen to music on the middle of the mountain, so for all slopes). you people who don’t like hard 3. Always bring at least trails, stay away from the middle 20 dollars if you’re buying lunch of the mountain! or 10 dollars if you are not and The trip is on January 26, 2019! Bye! Consistent Hydration Key to Good Health By Patrick Mullins sports to not become dehydrated. Tusker Tribune Staff Your body can get water in a variety of All living things need water to live ways—by eating fruits, vegetables and drinking a healthy life. Water is the most im- any type of liquid like juices and milk. The portant ingredi- amount of water ent for your body. With- your body needs out water, your body will depends on your not work properly. age, body, size, Water takes up health, and ac- half of your body weight. tive level. When Water is also in lymph, your body don’t which is a fluid in your have enough immune system. Your water, it be- immune system helps comes dehydrat- you fight off illnesses. ed. when your You also need water to break down your body doesn’t have enough water, it can't perform food and get rid of your waste. Water is also need- as good as you want it to. ed for each cell to work. Doctors recommend Bring a water bottle everywhere you go drinking water before, during and after your and stay hydrated. The Tusker Tribune Page 2 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School The Tusker Tribune Commentary: What’s With the Inaccurate Weather Forecasting? By Joseph Melillo pecting no school or at least a delay. We Tusker Tribune Staff were all expecting a huge snowstorm, Winter Storm Harper. It was but no. This has happened before. The a huge storm, or at least that’s what “forecasters” were expecting a huge they said. snowstorm, but they were wrong. They It turned out to be some over- are even getting PAID to be wrong, and night flurries that resulted in only 3 inches we’re the ones in school getting math of snow. During the day we got some rain, and ELA problems right, and are we get- freezing temperatures, and freezing rain. ting paid? NOPE. The surface of the snow pretty much froze, so it Do you think it is right to get paid if you’re became icy (good for sledding, by the way.) Why wrong? Remember, if you think any of this is is this such a big deal? Well, we were all ex- wrong, at least I’m not getting paid to be wrong. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer By Natalia Tellez everything is alright and finds out that Tusker Tribune Staff when she puts herself in danger, she I recently finished can hear Edward’s soothing voice. reading a fictional book Her friendship with Jacob is called New Moon. I got inter- going great until he stops visiting and ested in it because I had just finished taking to her. Bella realizes that Jacob the first book of the series, Twilight, isn’t just a boy, but a werewolf! Soon and really enjoyed it. enough they become buddies again, I would rate this book 8 out of but Bella decides to jump of a cliff, in 10 because almost halfway into the an attempt to hear Edward’s voice, book it was so fun to read but the be- which causes more trouble than you ginning was a bit slow. can imagine. Edward goes to a city New Moon is about a girl with a goal to die on his mind, Alice, named Bella Swan who, after moving Edward’s psychic sister, comes think- in with her dad, a police officer, met ing she’ll see Bella’s lifeless face. Jacob Edward Cullen and fell in love. She and Edward is forced to stop coming to see a Bella, and much have been dating for over eight months and have more. had wonderful adventures. Pretty ordinary plot, After Bella survives her jump and learns right? But what if I told you that Bella is in dan- all of this, she knows that she must go, find Ed- ger every single second she’s with Edward because ward, and save him. This is how she gets pulled he is a vampire? Now that’s different. Bella is over into a dangerous trip, family, and place. Will Alice the moon, happy to have her beautiful vampire come back to her beloved Jasper? Will Bella sur- boyfriend with her until one day, Edward tells her vive? Will Edward? Read New Moon to find out. his family is moving and leaves taking everything Overall, New Moon is a really good read for that might remind Bella of him. She becomes a middle school students and has a very good plot. It zombie, for months staying in bed, crying herself kept me hooked and wanting to read the next to sleep, and waking up screaming. That is chapter every single time. I recommend you read until two things happened that changed her life. New Moon and fall in love with the characters, be One, she met Jacob, a boy who makes her feel that excited every page, and enjoy yourself. The Tusker Tribune is the online Somers Middle School Student Newspaper. It is published weekly (except during school vacations) on the Somers Middle School Website. It is entirely student-written by 6th, 7th and 8th grade students from: Somers Middle School 250 Route 202 Somers, NY, USA. Any SMS student is eligible to write stories. If interested, please e-mail Advisor Dean Pappas at [email protected] The Tusker Tribune Page 3 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School A Positive Outlook Can be Beneficial By Joseph Melillo term that is easy to dismiss. In the real Tusker Tribune Staff world, it rarely carries the same weight as Before I even start, words like “work ethic” or “persistence.” what even is positivity? Science is actually beginning to Well, positivity is the reveal that positive thinking leads to more practice of being, or the tendency to than a smile on your face or some laughs. be optimistic in attitude. Yeah, Positive thinking actually can create real you’ve probably heard those coaches value in your life and help you build skills talking to you and saying, “Nice job, that last much longer than a smile. stay positive”. That’s usually what I know at first it won’t be easy, but they do because they volunteer to help you practice if you can train your brain to think positive then it sports. will become a habit, and soon enough you will be But is positivity really the key to life? Posi- able to experience the benefits that come with pos- tive thinking is actually very useful, according to itive thinking. James Clear, author of the book, Atomic Habits, So ultimately, positive thinking isn’t neces- that describes how to develop positive habits. sarily the key to life, but having positive thoughts “Positive thinking” is also a soft and fluffy makes life a lot easier and enjoyable. Vine Leaves Lasting Mark on Hip Hop By Noah Volkman claimed Thugger stole her song, Tusker Tribune Staff “That’s My Best Friend,” which was In 2013, the Inter- based on a Vine of her own. On Young net was introduced to Vine, Thug and 6LACK’s 2018 track a 6-second video-sharing “Climax,” we hear a sample from Vine app that quickly became an singer Shiloh Dynasty, whose original international phenomenon. But song “Losing Interest” first went viral just how often do hip-hop and Vine in 2015. Shiloh’s voice can also be hear end up going hand in hand? on the late XXXTENTACION’s track “Jocelyn Flo- From the minute Vine first started blowing res.” up, we not only saw rappers making their own A lot of songs (and rappers) got big with the Vines, but we heard them referencing them too.