Winter 2014 Jericho Middle School, Jericho, New York Issue 1

Red Ribbon Week By Tobi A. and Samara J.

October 31, 2014, was not just Halloween at Jericho Middle School! This was the start of Red Ribbon Week. It

was a week that expressed the importance of not taking drugs and the impact of drugs on your body. The im-

pact of drugs on your body is not positive. During Red Ribbon Week, we express how we feel about drugs and

we come out for the things that we are against, that we are for and what we are an ally for. Here at JMS we

strongly are against doing drugs. So the next time you think about doing drugs, think about the negative impact

that decision will have on your life.

Colonial Day By Fahad K.

In Ms. Vevante and Mrs. McDonough’s class, the teachers acted like teachers in

the colonial days.

First Mrs. McDonough made us list the 13 colonies. She called on 2 people and

both of them got it wrong. She made them stand in the corner, a punishment used in

colonial days. Then she made us write vocabulary words 3 times each. We had to

write them as quickly as we could. After that, we had to do arithmetic. The arithmetic

was very easy.

We finished all the lessons, so we were able to play a game called Jacob and Ra-

chel. There had to be 1 boy and 1 girl chosen. Luckily, I wasn’t chosen. The rest of

the class had to hold hands around the boy and girl. The boy was blindfolded and had

to try and catch the girl. In the first round, the boy couldn’t catch the girl. Then the

second round started and 2 new people were chosen. This time, the boy caught the

girl.

We learned how to churn butter, make corn husk dolls, and make pomander balls.

We also created horn books, books that colonial students would write their lessons in

and wear around their necks.

In conclusion, Colonial Day was a fun and interesting event at school.

Donate to El Salvador: A Dollar a Day

By Rachelle L. / Shannon H.

Last year, the principal of a school in El Salvador came to Jericho Middle

School to thank us for donating money to their school. They used the money that our

school donated to buy instruments for the students which was an experience that

they never had before. This year, we will continue to help our friends in El Salvador.

We aim to do just as well as last year, maybe even better. You can donate a dollar a

day, or more. We hope that at the end of each week, every student will have donated

five dollars. It may sound like a lot, but every dollar counts in El Salvador.

Ryan Halligan Assembly By Christian H. and Andrew R. Recently, we had an assembly that was about a father who lost his child due to bullying. His son’s

name was Ryan and the name of the bully stayed anonymous.

The bullying started in 4th grade. This continued for the rest of grade school and into middle school.

During the summer, he was tricked into thinking that he had a relationship with a girl over the computer that

went to the same school as him but it turned out she was just trying to make fun of Ryan. Ryan even decided to

take karate classes to defend himself in case he got into a physical fight. He got good at fighting and one day,

the bully hurt Ryan and Ryan fought back. Ryan won the fight. He taught the bully a lesson that day, but the

bully still harassed him afterwards.

When he was a middle school student, Ryan sadly took his own life. His father was devastated and

wanted to know what caused this because he thought the bully stopped bullying Ryan a while ago, and didn’t

know that Ryan was still undergoing stress. Ryan’s dad then found out that the bully was STILL bullying Ryan

even though Ryan already was deceased. Ryan’s dad was infuriated and wanted to beat up the bully. On his

way to the bully’s house there was a red light, and it was red for a long time. While he was waiting, he thought

to himself, Am I doing the right thing? Should I really beat up this kid? The light turned green and he reached

the bully’s house. He was invited in and sat down with the bully’s parents, and then the bully came and had to

sit next to Ryan’s father because it was the only seat left. Ryan’s father got mad and asked why the bully would

do this to Ryan and kept on speaking, until the point that the bully started crying. The bully then said that he

was terribly sorry and that he would never talk or make fun of him again. Mr. Halligan left feeling that he

taught the bully a lesson and spread his son’s story with many schools like ours.

I was crying during this presentation because I felt very bad for Ryan and his family. Hopefully, taking

Ryan’s story to schools will help reduce bullying.

The Ebola Epidemic By Danny L. The Ebola virus is a deadly and severe illness that originated in West Africa and has ravaged the conti-

nent, killing thousands of humans. The average fatality rate of the Ebola virus is around 50%. Ebola mainly

spreads from human to human through bodily fluids like blood, sweat, saliva, feces, and vomit. Due to these

conditions, Ebola is highly infectious. The virus circulates in the blood, but it attacks the liver and kidneys and

perhaps other organs as well. Soon after the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the Ebola virus traveled to the U.S.

and killed a man in Dallas, Texas. The Pentagon then ordered a 21 day quarantine for any person who had con-

tact with Ebola-infected patients and were entering the United States. There are currently no vaccines for this

deadly virus.

First U.S. Ebola Patient Dies By Sohil D. On October 8, 2014 the first person diagnosed in the

U.S. with Ebola died. The person was Liberian citizen Thomas

Eric Duncan and he was in Texas when he died. Thomas Eric

Duncan came into the United States from Liberia.

Ebola is a disease also known as Ebola virus disease

and Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Ebola is a disease of humans and

other primates caused by an Ebola virus. The symptoms for

Ebola start with a virus, a fever, sore throat, muscle pain, and

headache. Typically, vomiting, diarrhea, and rash follow,

along with decreased function of the liver and kidneys. Around

this time, affected people may begin to bleed both within the

body and out of the body. Ebola can result in organ failure.

Countries that have Ebola are Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone,

Nigeria, Senegal, and now, the United States of America, ac-

cording to the latest World Health Organization report.

Florida State University Shooting By Jonah E. At approximately 12:30 A.M. on November 20, Florida State University police received a telephone call about

an armed subject in the Strozier library on campus. The officers heard that one person had been shot by a gun-

man. The officers arrived at the library and located the gunman near

the building entrance. They went into the building and ordered the

gunman to drop the weapon. Instead, he fired at the officers. Police

returned fire, killing the gunman. Students claimed they heard a loud

sound that they did not think was a gun. A few seconds later they

heard a man scream “I’m hit.” A teacher ran screaming when he saw

a guy with a gun. Meanwhile, upstairs, the students took cover and

barricaded the hall with chairs. Three students were injured and are

in stable condition and expected to recover.

Winter 2014 World News Issue 1

Winter 2014 Student News Issue 1

Thanksgiving with a Persian Twist By: Jasmine S.

When you’re at your Thanksgiving table, what do you usually eat? Turkey and stuffing with mashed

potatoes, if I’m not mistaken. Have you ever had turkey with extra seasoning and green rice? It will surprise

you to know that most Middle Eastern people have.

At a Persian Thanksgiving dinner, one family invites about 10 other families. When we eat there’s

always a kids’ table with children from ages 1-17. The turkey has seasoning [most of the time too much] and

there is no stuffing or mashed potatoes. Don’t even think about putting gravy on anything! 20 different rice

dishes, all different tastes are served with all different colors. Chicken is always served but probably not the

way you are used to. 3-4 chickens with different seasonings are set on the table. Then, when dinner is finished,

the kids go downstairs and play, while the parents and/or elders talk for 2-3 hours.

Who doesn’t like dessert? I know I do, because when it comes to dessert there’s plenty to choose

from. From fruit to chocolate cakes, people always eat some of it. There are usually 5-6 different platters of

fruit with around 5 cakes [flavors may vary]. Cookies come in all shapes and sizes, from chocolate chip to rain-

bow cookies. No one can resist them. Every person likes their

own type of treat for dessert so go ahead and mix it up. Usually

every Persian has their own taste of yummy dessert so it does

vary, and I just stated the main things. The kids usually take

their desserts with them to play, and the adults stay and talk

while they eat. Normally people will leave about 1-3 hours later

[some people might leave according to schedule]. This is a gen-

eral idea of what it is like to have Thanksgiving at a Persian’s

house.

Dance By Kyra H. Dance is an essential part of my life. With dance, I can express my feelings, and reveal my talent to

the world. Dancing can relieve stress, help you lose weight and stay flexible and strong. I take ballet, jazz and

hip hop.

Ballet is a type of classical dance. Ballets are very fun to watch. I go to Lincoln Center all the time to

see the New York City Ballet. My grandparents always take my sister Erica and me. There are always graceful

dancers that tell a story through movements rather than words.

Jazz is extremely fun, especially when dancing to

songs that you know and love. I have performed many jazz

dances with our dance company. One of the jazz dances I took

part in was an Elvis dance. Our whole dance company traveled

to Disney World about last year to dance in Downtown Disney

on the Performing Arts stage. It was a great experience.

Hip hop is a very cool type of dance. There are dif-

ferent types of hip hop. There is jazz hip-hop, and also

breakdancing. I always like to dance hip-hop with my sister

and we always dance in unison. My sister and I just started hip

-hop last month, and we love it! My sister and I believe that

once you learn one type of dance, you can usually pick up any

other type of dance. In January, my sister and I will be per-

forming at Madison Square Garden with the Harlem Globe-

trotters. We can’t wait!

Through the Eyes of an Actor By Natalie P.

Hello. My name is Natalie Palmer and I’m in the school play, Peter Pan. I’m here to tell you about experiences

connected with the play. This part of the paper is a journal and I will describe my experiences in rehearsal, dress

rehearsal, and finally, the play. If you don’t already know, the play dates are on Thursday, December 11 th and

Friday, December 12th. Later on I will list the exact times of the plays. I am in 6th grade and I am actually kind

of nervous to be in this play. I’ve been in plays before, but this is my first play in front of such a huge audience.

I play Skunk, one of the lost boys. All of the cast members have been really nice to me and I am happy to be in

the play

I was in the Ensemble at first, but they moved me up the part of Skunk. I was very happy to have a speaking

part. Today, we also had to sing the song, “Following the Leader.” I felt a little embarrassed when I was singing

the song because it’s kind of silly in my opinion..

I will be reporting over the next several months about progress of the play. See you next time!

*****************************************************************************************

Hi! It’s Natalie. Today was another play rehearsal. We practiced some of the songs today. Something I

didn’t mention earlier is that being in a play is a commitment. You always have to attend rehearsal because then

you will miss out on the experience and you won’t know what to do. We also had rehearsal yesterday and this

past Monday. Monday we rehearsed scenes 5-6 and yesterday we rehearsed 7-10. Yesterday was the longest

practice so far. It took about half an hour to do.

****************************************************************************************

Hello again! Today was once again, play rehearsal. Today, we rehearsed scenes 7-10. I had quite a few lines

and sang a song. This upcoming Monday, we have to have ALL lines and songs memorized. That’s kind of

easy for me, but I can only imagine how stressful for the people who have larger parts with more lines.

****************************************************************************************

Hi everyone! I’m back with another update of the play. Today we rehearsed scenes 1-6, which was an hour long

practice. I found out some very exciting news! I was designated dance captain for the song “Following the Lead-

er.” That means that I help everyone else who is in the dance and if they get stuck, they look at me. I am very

honored to be dance captain. Well, that’s all for now.

****************************************************************************************

Hello everyone! This will be my last update on the play because it has already happened. The play was a success!

On the week of the play, we had rehearsals Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday until 5:30. The Little Theater was

full on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, the 6th graders saw the play. It was tons of hours but it was worth it.

It was so much fun! All the costumes were beautiful, the acting was amazing, the dancing was incredible, and the

singing was phenomenal. I had so much fun acting, singing, and dancing on stage for Peter Pan and I will defi-

nitely be auditioning for the next play at JMS.

Winter 2014 Editorials Issue 1

Could humans land on Mars by 2035? By Brian W.

Dr. Ellen Stofan, the chief scientist of NASA, believes the answer is yes, humans could land on Mars

by 2035. Stofan learned that NASA had successfully landed a probe on a comet 310 million miles away so she

began making plans for the “logical next step.” She says, “it's our

destiny to move beyond this planet and Mars is the logical choice.”

Stofan thinks that life could have evolved on Mars, and being able to

have a laboratory there is “critically important.”

While Stofan acknowledges that it will be expensive and

difficult to land a human on Mars, she thinks the real challenge is

surviving once they get there. Mars’s climate is much colder than

Earth’s, and there is lots of radiation.

NASA’s goal is 2035. “I think we could land a human on

Mars by the mid-thirties.” Is that possible? Only time will tell. But

NASA is aiming for 2035, and they won’t be stopped.

Animal Abuse By Alp T. In many countries, people who are not educated, especially in small towns and villages, abuse dogs

and other animals. These abuses include cock fighting, dog fighting, kicking dogs and using them as slaves.

They use farm animals like cows and horses badly. In these places people think that animals are tools, not liv-

ing creatures. Circuses are also places where animal abuse happens. They shock animals with electric shock in

order to get them to do tricks. We all like to go to the circus so we may want to rethink this type of entertain-

ment.

In the United States it is not as common as in other parts of the world, like Asia and the Middle East,

to treat animals poorly. This abuse of animals is widespread in Africa too. A book in our middle school library

tells about a man who kills an average of three African manatees a week. This should be a crime because mana-

tees are endangered. This man should be arrested but some governments don’t want to fight these abuses. You

can help by adopting an animal from “World Wildlife Foundation,” or you can give money to Greenpeace and

“WWF” and other nature organizations.

Animal abuse still continues so if you see a person hurting animals please warn them, and if they don’t

listen tell the local police station. I am not doing this for myself; I am doing this to inform students of JMS to

be better citizens of the world.

Should We Honor Christopher

Columbus? By Jai J.

Many people argue that Christopher Columbus was not the first person to arrive in

America. He didn’t even arrive in America; he arrived at modern day Canary Islands.

He forced the people on the islands to mine gold and sent them to Spain to be slaves.

Before Columbus, there was Leif Ericson and the Native Americans who came here.

People have a special day for Christopher Columbus but not for Leif Ericson or the

Native Americans who were here first. I think that we should not honor somebody

who was so cruel. All he did was destroy the lives of indigenous people of the islands.

Taliban Attack in Pakistan By Jonah E. The Taliban, a terrorist group, killed over 150 people in a Pakistan school on December 16 th 2014. This

was revenge on the government for targeting their families. First, about half a dozen people from the Taliban broke

down the door to the school and started free firing at students and teachers. Then, the army arrived and exchanged

gun fire with the gunmen. Two bombs went off outside the school. The army killed all of the gunmen and cleared

the school.

This was a very tragic event. I think that the Taliban must be stopped and that all schools should upgrade

their security.

Winter 2014 Editorials Issue 1

Winter 2014 Entertainment News Issue 1

The Blood of Olympus By Julia L.

The thrilling conclusion of The Heroes of Olympus series, written by Rick

Riordan, has millions of readers on the edge of their seats. They’ve waited a long

and fretful year for this book, and they’re definitely satisfied. The seven demi-

gods of the prophecy are in Greece, battered and exhausted from their long jour-

ney. They are very aware that they have less than 2 weeks to defeat Gaea, known

also as Mother Earth. Leo has his own personal quest, a promise to fulfill; an

impossible one that we don’t want to give away. Meanwhile, Reyna, Nico and

Coach Hedge have the much more dangerous than it seems job of bringing the

Athena Parthenos to Half Blood Hill, where it would supposedly bring peace and

stop the war between the Greeks and the Romans. If you are a fan of The Heroes

of Olympus, you will love this book.

Artemis Fowl & The Eternity Code By Julia L. The third book of the Artemis Fowl series starts off with our heroes, Artemis

and Butler entering a restaurant to meet with Jon Spiro, an overly ambitious, shady

character. Artemis is all relaxed and Butler is suspicious of everyone in the restau-

rant, even an old lady. But a sudden twist needs Artemis to resort to drastic

measures in order to save his friend’s life. After that, he’ll need to steal back some-

thing that could lead to the People’s destruction in the wrong hands—which it is.

But luckily, it’s impossible to access the cube because of the code Artemis had put

on it: the eternity code, which takes an eternity to solve. Jon Spiro has already out-

smarted Artemis Fowl once, and nobody’s outsmarted him before, ever. He might

just outsmart him again.

Movie Review: Big Hero 6 By Tobi A. “Hello I’m BMAX and I will be your personal healthcare provider.” Critics are saying Big Hero 6 is the #1

best selling movie of the year.

The story is about a hero named BMAX. He is a warm and cuddly kind of

guy. His brother dies in a fire and he upgrades to a super hero that his brother creat-

ed in order to fight more evil from happening. When he puts on his new armor, he

is able to defend people. This movie was action packed and I really enjoyed watch-

ing it. I give this movie a 5 star rating. I recommend it to children and adults of all

ages.

Nickelodeon New Shows By Jacob Schwartz Are you ready for two new action packed shows? Well if you like two superheroes fighting crime or four

crazy kids who are quadruplets, then you are sure to enjoy this article. These two shows are called Henry Danger

and Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn.

Henry Danger is about two superheroes named Henry and Captain Man. In every episode of Henry Dan-

ger these two superheroes are always fighting crime. So far they fought a big baby, a burglar in a Jamaican bottle

shop, a crazy bald guy with these fake, but sick teeth at a wedding, and an evil professor who made beetles cry.

The other characters are Henry’s friends, Jasper and Charlotte, and his annoying and dumb sister Piper. In the third

episode after they defeated the bad bald guy with fake teeth, Henry brought Charlotte down to his lair and made

Charlotte part of the team. Jasper is probably a little dumb, but still very kind. If you want to see how awesome this

show is, start watching Nick’s new Saturday night.

Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn is a very funny and cute show about four kids who are quadruplets. In

every episode the kids and their family come across a problem, but in the end there’s a solution. In the first episode

the kids don’t get along in the beginning, and later they get a new dog. They come across another problem when

the dog goes to the bathroom on their dad’s new jersey. At the end, they tell their mom, but she isn’t mad at them

because she realizes that they finally did something together. There are three other episodes with crazy-packed

action. For example, in the second episode Dawn was getting tired of her brothers’ pranks, so she gets her own

room, but eventually she moves back with her brothers. In the third episode, the kids’ parents finally meet with

their past ice skating rivals. Meanwhile, the kids meet their daughter Tess, who starts out to be nice, but later she

starts to be mean like her parents. Lastly, in the fourth episode the kids’ parents don’t let them see a zombie movie,

but they do it anyway. After they watch the movie, they go downstairs, look out the kitchen the window, and see

that their parents turned into zombies. I can tell this show is going to turn out to be a great hit.

I’m very thrilled that Henry Danger and Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn have joined the Nickelodeon

family on Saturday night. If I can, I always either go to my kitchen TV, dad’s office TV, or living room TV and

turn them on. Hope you enjoy these shows!

Winter 2014 Food News Issue 1

Pecan Pie Recipe By Natalie P. Are you having people over and don’t know what you want to make for dessert? Well, last year my

mom made a delicious pecan pie for Christmas and I’m here today to share that recipe with you.

Ingredients:

Dough: 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold butter (1 stick), diced

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Flour, for rolling the dough

Filling: 5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

2 cups chopped toasted pecans

1 to 2 tablespoons bourbon

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Using your fingers, work the butter into the dry

ingredients until it looks like yellow cornmeal mixed with bits of butter. Add the egg and stir the dough togeth-

er with a fork. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at

least 1 hour. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough with a rolling pin into a 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch

thick. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan and trim the edges. Freeze the pie for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to

400 degrees. Bake about 20 minutes or until dough is set. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium

heat, and stirring constantly, continue to boil it for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts, bour-

bon, and the vanilla. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly. Whisk the beaten eggs into the filling until smooth.

Pour the filling into the hot crust.

Bake in the oven until the edges are set but the center is still slightly loose, about 40 to 45 minutes. Cool on a

rack. Serve warm or room temperature. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies By Michelle W.

Ingredients:

1 cup of canned pumpkin

1 cup of white sugar

½ cup of vegetable oil

1 egg

2 cups of all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of milk

2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder,

ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin

mixture and mix well.

2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips (and nuts).

3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately

10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

4. ENJOY!!!!!

FOOD NETWORK NEW SHOWS By Jacob S. If you like mouth-watering Christmas desserts or red-hot new game shows then you’ll love these two

new cooking shows, called Holiday Baking Championship and Kitchen Inferno. I love almost every show on

this channel, but these will probably rise to the top of my favorites. Chefs Curtis Stone and Bobby Deen, who

host these new shows, are sure to rock this first new season.

From gingerbread cookies to fruit cake, 8 bakers make delicious Christmas treats in order to win the Hol-

iday Baking Championship. In this series premiere the bakers in the first round have to make the best cookie they

can. In the second round they must use holiday ingredients to impress the judges with three different kinds of

cookies. That’s not all I saw from this show so far! On a commercial, I saw a woman check on a cheesecake

which was raw, and a man trying to unsuccessfully frost a cupcake. Can these competitors save themselves to stay

in the competition? Go to Channel 66 to find out what happens.

In the red hot new game show Kitchen Inferno the game is simple. The competitors need to out-cook a

chain of increasingly skilled chefs to advance, but the stakes are red hot. When the competitor wins, their option

either is to take the money and leave or to stay and compete to win up to 25,000 dollars. If they lose, their money

goes up in smoke and they leave with nothing. Can these competitors work their absolute hardest to stay and win

this competition to take the grand prize with them? I hope you go turn on your television and watch each of these

amazing shows. Go ahead and watch them!

Rugelah Cookies By former student, Lindsay T.

This recipe makes approximately 40 or so cookies

Dough:

½ lb sweet butter

8 oz cream cheese

2 cups flour (dough should be stiff so you can use up to 2.5 cups of flour if needed)

Roll into a ball and cut into quarters-wrap in a dish towel in the fridge for 1 hour (dough can be mad the night be-

fore just needs to be thawed to be workable)

Filling:

In a bowl, mix:

½ cup raisins (I prefer white)

2 tablespoons cinnamon

½ cup sugar

½ cup chopped walnuts

Roll one quarter of the dough out at a time- try to make a rectangle or square (measure against cookie sheet)

Cut 1-1.5 inches vertically (about 5) along the square/rectangle

Cut 1 horizontal line down the middle

Fill each slice with the mixture at one end (stuff as much as you can) from the full end, fold over until closed

(repeat for the other 3 quarters)

Baking:

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (they will harden after about 10)

Sprinkle powdered sugar cooled

Simple Vanilla Milk Shake Recipe By: Jacob S. One of my favorite dairy treats is a really luscious vanilla milkshake. Here’s a recipe for this smooth, velvety,

piece of heaven.

Ingredients

4 cups quality vanilla ice cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 tablespoons sugar

2 cups milk or a little less for thicker milkshakes

Directions

Use a blender or milkshake machine

Blend all ingredients together until smooth.

Serve in tall glasses with a straw.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!!!

0 5 10 15 20

Cat

Dog

Guinea pig

Horse

Panda

Fish

Mouse

Lion

Other

8th

7th

6th

Polls Away By Tiffany H. and Ananya B.

We polled a number of Jericho Middle School students on differ-

ent topics. Here are the results!

Winter 2014 Polls Issue 1

Favorite Animals

Our Favorite Seasons

0 5 10 15 20 25

Fall

Winter

Spring

Summer

8th

7th

6th

Winter 2014 Fun Page Issue 1

Dragon, Dragon II -A Sequel By: Jyotleen D. They cried, they laughed, they smiled and they celebrated! Everyone was there when they stuffed their

faces! The only living creature that wasn’t there (not so living anymore) was the dragon.

“Oh, how I love this place!” said the creature. “The jewels, the recipes! All this beautiful stuff!” The

scaly monster picked up a spell book. “Bimble, Wimble, cha, cha, CHOOMPF!” he chanted. One of the treasure

chests lying next to him turned into a rose bush.

Now, obviously you’re thinking that the dragon is talking from before he died. But the truth is the drag-

on didn’t really die. When the young son slayed the dragon, the body lay on the cave floor. After the son left, the

dragon didn’t just come back to life! He grew a second head! The dragon, of course, was very angry and was

willing to do anything for revenge.

At midnight, the dragon snuck out and hid behind the nearest building. The dragon had remembered he

could fly, and flapped his wings. He took in a big puff of air and blew out hot fire. He blew twice as much as

before he died because now he had two heads.

Very fast, the fire spread and people all over the kingdom fled from their burning homes. It was chaos.

“MWHAHAHAHAHAHA!” laughed the dragon, but the dragon wasn’t done. He had one specific target, the

king and the youngest son of the cobbler. The dragon soon spotted the king and snuck up behind him. He grabbed

the king’s felt gown and lifted him up to eye level which was about 20 stories high.

“AHHHHH!” yelled the king. But it was too late. The king was taken back to the cave and put over a

medium roast fire while the dragon went back to the kingdom. When the dragon found the youngest son, he was

dressed in bulky armor from head to toe and carried a sword. But

the dragon had learned his lesson and also had learned all the

boy’s moves (not to mention the jokes) and defended himself eas-

ily. The dragon picked the little guy up with his claw and took his

time getting back to his cave. When he got back, the king was

nice and crispy. The dragon plucked the king off, removed the

crown, (because it was sharp) and ate the king whole. Then he put

the young son over the fire and sat down while he read the recipe

for human head stew.

Sadly, the King and youngest son of the cobbler never

made it out. But at least one dead thing (not so dead anymore)

was happy and the kingdom ruled without a ruler.

Dessert Galore By Michelle W. Cotton candy, lollipops,

Ice cream sundaes, cherry on top,

Cakes and cookies, desserts galore,

All I want is to get MORE!

Tootsie rolls and swedish fish,

All these candies on a dish,

Gummy bears and apple pies,

Wow! I can’t believe my eyes!

Jolly ranchers, bubble gum,

All these desserts are yum!

Christmas By Tobi A. Snow on the ground

Christmas is here!

Santa’s coming to town!

From the presents to the candy canes

From the cookies to the Christmas tree

O how I love Christmas!

Sitting at the toasty fire

Basking in the warmth

Christmas is my season.

Winter By Tobechi A. Burr… Burr… It’s cold outside

I wish I could stay inside

I see the snow on the trees

And I change my mind

From the short days

And the long nights

From the clear skies

And the heavy snow

O how I love winter.

Winter 2014 Poems Issue 1

Gift Goodness By Carina C. and Rocco F.

Gifts, Gifts, what do I see?

I see you under my tree

Gifts, gifts, exciting and new

What’s inside? What do I view?

Nerf guns, Barbie dolls, Xbox and books

Shiny and sparkly, we love how it looks

Happy Holidays!

Winter 2014 Sports Issue 1

Philip Rivers By Nico D. Fantasy football is a way to form your own football team. It’s a

way to make your own team with all of your favorite players. You can

also add players that you may not like but know they have great talent.

This fabulous QB named Philip Rivers of the San Diego

chargers has blown people away who have picked him up on their fanta-

sy football team. Last week he got me a crazy 27 points and had the

most points on my team. After that happened so many people were try-

ing to pick him up on their team. I will keep him and continue to see if

he can break 27 points next week. If you want to win you should defi-

nitely take him on your team.

Winter 2014 Contributing Reporters Issue 1

Rachelle L. Jonah E.

Carina C. Sohil D.

Jyotleen D. Shannon H.

Michelle W. Christian H.

Nico D. Andrew R.

Ananya B. Samara J.

Rocco F. Fahad K.

Robi A. Hitomi H.

Tiffany H. Danny L.

Jacob S. Kyra H.

Lindsay T. Jasmine S.

Natalie P. Alp T.

Julia L. Brian W.

Want to help make the next issue of the

Jayhawk? Come join us in Room 205 on

Thursdays after school!