The PulseBy: Charla Preston If you were here last year, you know we had a news show called The Rant. They got stories on things from sports to clubs to classes. But now, the 8th graders from last year who ran The Rant have moved on to high school, and now we have a new one. It’s called The Pulse, and I am here to give you the inside scoop. What is it? The Pulse is a news show that posts a new video every two weeks. In the time between, they work on making the show the best it can be. They film anything cool, new, and interesting going on in the school, and gives all the information you need about the topic. For example, during the volleyball season, in the sports section, they filmed some games and told you how our resident Lady Jays did. Another example, they sometimes report about a club going on at the school, and interview some of the participants about their thought, as also done with sports. I talked to Mr. Siedl about his thoughts: He says it is important to have The Pulse because, “Our show helps keep students, staff, and community members informed on what's happening around here. It also provides another creative outlet for students who want to tackle projects a little different than typical course work.” Who makes it? The Pulse wouldn’t even happen without the hardworking, talented team behind it. This team consists of nine eighth-graders. I talked to Kaci Vanlaningham about her team. I asked her how it feels to work with these people on this project. “It’s really fun, the entire group is just super awesome!” Kaci says. I then asked her how they came up with the idea of every episode’s Jaywalking, which if you don’t know, is a fun snippet at the end of each episode, including students and teachers from the school. One time, the Jaywalking was to sing a line from the student or teacher’s favorite song. “I think of it as a tradition. We shoot out ideas, think about what we did on the last episode, and whether we want to do a short answer question or yes or no,” says Kaci. I asked Mr. Seidl about what he thinks about working with this group of students. “This group of students has done a great job of learning and acting quickly. We basically have to cram a semester of news writing, filming tips, and editing skills into a two-week crash course to begin the semester so that we can start cranking out shows. Why does it exist? It is a way for information to get around the school for people who don’t have access to the school newspaper or the weekly bulletin. Some people might not know about the school’s bowling team (I didn’t until just recently) and if The Pulse does a story on it, that would increase knowledge of it. The Pulse has already done quite a few stories on things some students don’t know, and sometimes, that discovery can be really cool for the student. “The Pulse, much like the Rant at the high school, is the modern version of a school newspaper. While there is a place for both video journalism and print, we are able to reach a large audience through YouTube and social media. It has generated a lot of buzz over the past two years and we expect it to continue,” says Mr. Seidl. The Pulse is a good way to get across information and promote teamwork. If for some reason you haven’t been able to watch The Pulse, then you can find it on the Bluejay Digital YouTube channel. Here’s to many more amazing episodes from The Pulse.
Biztown Review by Cooper Steeples There were a lot of good things with Biztown! One good thing is that all the businesses were staffed. Another good thing was all of the Junior Achievement Staff were always helpful! However, there was one challenge. For some efficient workers, there was too little work to do. A lot of kids had finished everything halfway through the day. So it would have been more fun if we had more work to do. There was lots of ways to spend money at Biztown. The Book Store, The Family Foundation, The Stock Company, The Restaurant, and the Farm Store. It was a lot of fun to teach kids about economics!
Middle School Worries By Skylar Smith A lot of people worry about middle school, and they worry about a lot of different things, but also some similar things. I asked a couple of 6th graders some worries they had coming to middle school and a fifth grader about things they are worried about. I got three responses from three sixth graders. The first person wanted to stay anonymous, so here are the worries this person had: not getting to the bus in time, not being able to open her locker, getting all the problems wrong, not asking questions, teachers posting assignments and homework without her knowing, sitting at lunch, an overdue book, getting an F in math and science, not getting work and homework done in time, drama, getting detention and power hour, getting in trouble, getting 3 tardies, losing friends, and she was worried about getting sick because she was so anxious. She worried about her anxiety, missing a choir lesson, singing out loud and by herself, presenting in front of the class, and getting panic attacks because of her anxiety.
The next person is a girl in sixth grade also wanted to stay anonymous. She worried about getting her locker open, getting to class on time, missing school, balancing school life and personal life, not being able to make up lessons, getting up on time to be able to get to school, wearing the right clothes, getting good grades, being well respected, gaining friends, losings friends, having friends, people in general, overdue library books, drama, finding time to do homework, doing homework, finishing homework on time, tests, and fitting into the stereotype. Another person I interviewed is a boy named Jackson Andersen. He was worried about getting lost the first week.
Next, I interviewed a fifth grader named Charley Smith. Skylar: so Charley you’re going into sixth grade next year how do you feel about that? Charley: Kind of scared. Skylar: And why would that be? Charley: Because I might forget my locker combination. Skylar: And is that the only reason? Charley: I might get pushed around by seventh and eighth graders because I am tiny, in fact, I am the smallest kid in my class. Skylar: Why do you think they would push you around? Charley: Because I am tiny and there is a lot of them. Skylar: What are some other things you worry about? Charley: I worry about not getting to class on time. Skylar: Anything else? Charley: I might get stuck in my locker for some reason. Skylar: Why would you get stuck in your locker? Charley: Because I might get pushed around by seventh and eighth I might be putting my stuff in my locker and they might shut the door. Skylar: What are some positive things you are excited for? Charley: I want to do writer’s club, cooking club, we care, the battle of the books club, art club, and chess club. Skylar: Well thank you for letting me interview you. Charley: Thank you for interviewing me. Middle schoolers this article shows that fifth graders are scared to come here, I was too. We need to help them feel less scared. Please help me stop the fear.
8th Graders Sparking Up Questions in Social Studies Debates By Devin Rinehart Debates are one of the best ways to spark up conversations and meaningful arguments. Bondurant eighth graders are wrapping up their interesting social studies debates this week that contain some interesting topics. These ranged from the FCC and FTC in movies to topics about gay marriage. They debates started Friday, April 13, and ended Thursday, April 19. These debates were used to help students get the feel of what they were like and how to present one. “I feel that these debates taught how to work together to present one idea and they taught us how to improvise under pressure if we didn't have a proper rebuttal already planned,” said eighth-grader Ethan Osborn.These debates started multiple weeks before they were actually presented though. Students had to come up with ideas in Social Studies class and transfer those to Language Arts where they started to write them. Most people had partners to work with on it which made it easier. Ethan said the research was hard to complete between the March 7 assignment date and the April 3 due date. “For me, it was a bit of a stretch just because I was by myself, but if I had a partner, it would have been a lot easier.” The research was lengthy and took multiple different websites to visit in order to get all the information needed. Eighth-grader, Sam McClintock said, “Researching was a waste of my time because the subject I chose got changed anyway.” Some students debated for the affirmative side and others for the negative/arguing side. Working with others was easy for some and hard for others based on whether their partners worked. Whatever the partner/s did could help make or break a student’s grade for social studies and language arts. Eighth-grader Carter Engelbrecht said the most frustrating thing about working with other people was, “Someone didn’t pull their weight and didn’t do their work.” There were many varieties of topics spoken about during social studies. Some notable ones were things like abortion, gay marriage, and if the bombing of Hiroshima was justified. There were also ones like whether the Emoji Movie was illegal and if the drinking age should be lowered. Ethan said, “I enjoyed the debate about minimum wage.” Sam said the best debate topic talked about in his class period was, “armed teachers.” Some of these topics may have been controversial, but that is what happens with debates and like TED talker Margaret Heffernan once said, “For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate.” Every student also got to vote on each topic and say who they thought won the debate, but the winning wasn’t what the whole thing was about, rather to teach about how to write and present one. Like a British author, David Gemmell said, “The purpose of debates is to explore issues, not end them.” These debates overall were a success and have shown students how to present arguments properly and work with others on it.
Curse of the Goat Cameron Barnett
Did you know that the Chicago Cubs used to be cursed:, a curse that lasted almost 71 years. The Cubs, Murphy the goat, and William Sianis the goat's owner were all involved the curse. William Sianis said that they wouldn’t win any more World Series’ after what happened. It happened in game 4 of the 1945 World Series at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were cursed for several decades because William couldn’t bring Murphy, his Goat into Wrigley Field.
“Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.” - William Sianis says after being removed from Wrigley Field Mr. Wrigley wouldn’t let the goat in because “He stinks.” The Cubs received a telegram from William Sianis after the cubs lost the World Series saying, “Who stinks now.” The Cubs, after that day, didn’t to win or make any more World Series’. The curse was broken in the 2016 World Series against the Cleveland Indians .
The Problem With Student Council Elections Cooper Steeples Student Council Elections have a huge gaping problem. There is practically no use for Student Council, all the use for it is for party planning in Junior High. I can see the argument for kids party planning but adults have been party planning longer so they are usually better. Also, Student Council is a terrible way to introduce kids to democracy. Giving kids the right to vote is also a problem. They only vote for the loudest and popular one. You have to bank on something to win that you can not get done. Who would also trust students with power.
Another reason is, the only people who run for Student Council Elections are people who get Advanced Placement classes or the popular kids. That's the problem with real life politics. I could probably guess five people and three of them would be running.
This does not mean I will not run for student council. Quite the opposite I am. I just want to notify you about the Student Council Election problem!
Interview with Mrs.Murley by Kylie Wissler Why did you choose to teach reading? I really enjoy reading and discussing different types of writing. What's your educational background? I have a Bachelor's of Arts: Education with a minor in Special Education, a reading endorsement, and a Masters in Education Where do you see yourself in five years? In five years I see myself still teaching middle school, but maybe teaching in college as well. What are your strengths as a teacher? I feel that my love of reading is my biggest strength and being creative with how to teach. What's your biggest weakness as a teacher? My biggest weakness is that I am easily distracted, so my to-do list can get quite big. How much do you want to know about your students in order to be most helpful to them? I want to know most about how they learn. This is the most helpful. What do you find most frustrating about teaching? Lots of talking when students should be listening. How do you manage your time to get all your teaching duties done within schedule? Lots of lists and just time management. What’s the biggest challenge? Balancing my school with things outside of school Describe your worst day in class. I am not really sure...I try not to focus on the negative, so I don’t think I have a worst day. How do you motivate students to learn? Learning about them, letting them know that I am enjoying what we are doing too, and candy! What did you want to be as a child? An athletic trainer or a teacher What in your life brought you to teach? I have always wanted to teach and I had one really amazing teacher in high school that really lead me into teaching.
Fidget Spinners Kaley Brockett The new big thing is Fidget Spinners. They were created for people with ADHD. Now everyone is using them for fun. People say that it helps them pay attention. They became popular around April 21,2017. Everyone is using them all around the world. People thought that it would be fun to try.
People say that they help them pay attention. However, teachers are fed up with Fidget Spinners because they say that it is too distracting for kids when they are teaching. The reason people like Fidget Spinners is because they are fun to spin, and they are fun to balance on one finger, and many other things.
Mrs. Wilson says, “Fidget spinners are frustrating to teachers because it is taking their attention from learning to Fidget Spinners.”
Being a Cheerleader at BFMS By Emma Bruce My name is Emma Bruce. I interviewed Kelsey Krueder, a high school cheerleader. Kelsey thinks cheerleading is fun and loves to cheer. Most of the time, the girls on the squad are friends. There are a lot of options for cheering. She cheers for football and basketball. Remembering cheer routines is hard, so she puts in a lot of practice. Kelsey loves learning new routines, though! Also, she says practices are time-consuming, and they have to go over and over routines. Practices can be tiring, but it is worth showing off at the games! Kelsey has a lot of favorites, but the Go Big Blue chant is at the top. The crowd gets really excited and cheers with them, and she loves that. Kelsey plans on cheering next year, and doing all of the great things that cheerleading has to offer!
Springbrook Advice The 6th grade will be going to Springbrook in May. At springbrook we will be needing to bring about 19 things and you can put them in anything from a small suitcase, a duffel bag, a normal bag, to really anything that will fit all of the things. I guess you’re wondering what to bring so here it is:
tennis shoes - a must (No flip flops)
1 jacket or heavy sweatshirt
1 drawstring bag to carry water bottle,sunblock,gloves,etc,
1 bug spray and sunblock
1 water bottle- VERY IMPORTANT
If you are wondering where Springbrook is at it is about 1 hour and 12 minutes away.
Fan Quakes by Skylar Mullen
According to tweentribune.com the grounds around Centurylink field have shaken from all the stomping, jumping, and roars of the fans. They noticed the signs of shaking during the 2011 playoff game. It happened when Marshawn Lynch broke 8 tackles and ran 67 yards during a 13 second play against the New Orleans Saints. Because of Lynch’s nickname, it became known as “The Beast Quake.”
A new tool called the “QuakeShake”, is expected to display vibrations within 3 seconds. That is 5 times faster than the tool with the sensors last year. The collective energy of the quake is created by tens of thousands of people. They were stomping, clapping, and jumping and that is the “Fan Quake.” For more information on this story go to the link below.
Camelback Vision by Chase Perry The multi-million dollar company Google has many helpful programs and apps that are useful for daily life. One of these programs is Google Earth. Made in 2007, they are still constantly adding on to it. One of the most recently added feature is Google Street View. They have people driving around the world in a small car that has a 360 degrees camera strapped to the top of it. This allows the the viewer to enter the streets and feel like they are driving around in any country that the Google car has been!
Google has recently ran into a problem though. The Liwa Desert stands for miles on end with no roads as far as the eye can see. So Google thinks that camels are the answer. Yep camels. For the next few weeks, if you're randomly walking the Liwa Desert, you might just run into a camel with a camera on its back!
Homecoming By: Gabby H. and Alyssa F.
As you know, homecoming week for the Bondurant- Farrar Community School District was here. The date of the homecoming football game was September 12th, this Friday. The game started at 7:30 pm, and our rivals were the Nevada Cubs. The head coach, Brad Kjar and the assistant coaches for our football team were very nervous, but excited. They ended up winning the game!
If you were not at the coronation on Monday, It was awesome. The 3rd-6th grade cheerleaders did excellent! You could tell they had worked hard, and were proud of themselves. After the jr. cheerleaders were done performing, the homecoming king and queen top ten nominees came out. Once the nominees were announced, and were ready to hear the winners, the crowd went silent, and they were announced. The 2014 homecoming queen is Olivia Denim. The 2014 homecoming king is Kyle Kipper. The crowd cheered, and the winners were smiling. That was Olivia and Kyle’s special day The last home game will be Friday October 24th. Come and show your school spirit! Go Big Blue!