By John Schilling You will be amazed by this teacher’s story. She has survived chemo, dealt with sixth graders, and will soon be retiring. Dur-ing the 2011-2012 school year Mrs. Sumner was diag-nosed with cancer and has made a healthy return. Sadly she will be leaving us and retiring. When asked why, she re-plied with “I’m going

to help with my son’s wedding.” After her son’s wedding she plans on spending a lot more time down at the lake. Her favorite part of working here was all the people and the fishing field trips. Emma Bennett, 8th grader, class of 2018 remembers Mrs. Sumner saying, “Don’t let your pants sag, or you will make Mrs. Sumner gag.” We even had a sign for it.

Volume 4. Issue 6

Mrs. Rola’s Retirement

By Aditi Seetharaman

For the past 31 years, Mrs. Rola has brought joy in the learning of music (and sparkles, of course!) to youg children as they learn to play orchestral string instruments. How-ever, this is Mrs. Rola’s last year of being one of Lindbergh’s orchestra teachers, for she will be retiring at the end of this

school year.

Mrs. Rola has been an orchestra teacher for about 31 years. She

taught all instruments in all levels of education. “One of my favorite memories from orches-tra is going to the Mis-souri Music Educators’ Convention,” says Mrs. Rola. “I also loved travel-ing with Strolling Strings to New York City. I just love being with the kids.” Mrs. Rola herself started to learn to play the violin in the fourth

grade.

The interviews for a new orchestra teacher

are still going on. Many people from all over the country are apply-ing for the job. The pan-el consists of around half a dozen people, which includes Ms. Howard. “We’re looking for someone enthusias-tic, innovative, plays their instrument well, and really relates to and cares about kids,” says Ms. Howard. “We’ve had so many good memories togeth-er,” Ms. Howard says.

May 2014 T h e N e w s p a p e r f o r S p e r r e n g M i d d l e S c h o o l

Sperreng Scoop

Inside This Issue

Moonlight Ramble

Book Challenge

Snack Machine

Herp-oholic

Coding

ISS

Mrs. Gloss retires

Goodbye Mrs. Sumner

She also remembered which one of us was a ‘otter’ or a ‘lion’ from the activity we did in Flyertime the first year we had it. If someone was acting crazy a cer-tain day, she would say, ‘Looks like our ot-ter is up to it again!’” – Mrs. Sumner, you will be missed. Enjoy your retirement!

By Zach Tesch At midnight on Au-gust 9th, 2014 more than 5,000 bike riders will line up at the start-ing line in downtown St. Louis. Thousands turn out for this amazing event. The ride begins at 12:00 at night, and continues into the morning. You can either try a 10-mile route, or go all out and take on a huge 20-mile loop

through the city. The route changes every year. In the past, riders have cruised by the Arch, the Botanical Gar-dens, Powell Hall, the Fabulous Fox, and through Forest Park. The ride can be very unique. People dress up their bikes with odd accessories. At the 2013 Ramble, there was a very…interesting

bike that launched fire-balls into the night sky. This ride is open to everyone. You have to sign up, though, before participating. The route is kept top secret until the ride, but the route may be found on the site. For more info, or to sign up for this year … www.moonlightramble.com

people always think we’re sisters.” “We’re definitely going to miss Mrs. Rola,” Mrs. Howard contin-ued. “But the truth is, her retiring will actual-ly make her come visit us more. Mrs. Rola

Cont. from page 1 … “Yeah,” agrees Mrs. Rola, “the very first time we went shopping together, we went to buy tuxedos! It was a lot of fun. We do almost everything together,

will come to help us with sectionals and to help me with other work very often. I’m also excited for her to get to see her family, and I’m looking for-ward to the fact that I get to see her more.”

PAGE 2

The Moonlight Ramble

Mrs. Rola’s Retirement cont.

SPER R EN G SC O O P

By Jenna Darr

Eighth Grade Green Team students, Maggie Parker, Clara Rush, and Christina Collins are do-ing a 30 day book chal-lenge. I sat down with these girls and asked them some questions

about.

They said that the 30 day book challenge is an activity in which you are told to read a book every day, or possibly more than one book in a day for 30 days straight. The reason they started the

Are You Up to the Challenge? challenge was that Mag-gie introduced it to them and they thought it looked fun and they liked to read, so they began. They say it has been pretty difficult so far. Each of them have made mistakes in their challenge. They have already read most of the books that they are cur-rently reading in the challenge. “There is one day where you get to read a book that makes you cry, and other days where you read books

that you hate.” Said Maggie Parker when asked what kind of books they are sup-posed to read. Christi-na Collins answered with, “There's one day where you have to read a book that you love but you hate at the same time.” I think these students are enjoying their challenging challenge.

VO L UME 4, ISSUE 6

This year Mrs. Gloss will be retiring after 27.5 years of teaching. She has many fond memories of Sperreng. When asked about one of her favorite times teaching, she shared the story about going with students on a retreat to learn leader-ship skills and trust building. When asked about her worst year teaching, she recalls the time when her house burned down and her nephew and best friend passed away. Mrs. Gloss started out as a computer sci-ence major in college, but always liked math, so she switched. Watching her brother teach is what con-vinced her to go into teaching.

When asked what she thought the kids would remember most about her, she immedi-ately said “my Gloss bucks” and the auction. Many former students comment that they re-member how she taught them to do “real world” stuff by writing checks, paying taxes, making catalogue purchases, and calculating the tip on a meal. So, what is Mrs. Gloss going to miss the most about teaching? She said her friends and her purpose. “Sperreng is like family to me. I’ve become close with everyone.” Teaching math has been her life, now she has to adjust to having time for other things. When asked what she will do with all that

time, she said her goal was to visit every base-ball stadium in the coun-try. She would also like to research her genealo-gy, travel, help more with Angels’ Arms, escape St. Louis in the winter, and most importantly: stay out on a school night, go to the bathroom when-ever she wants, and eat a lunch that takes longer than 20 minutes. She is planning on subbing, so we might see her around next year. I have a feeling that she is not going to stay away for long.

PAGE 3

Mrs. Ball Rolls Out of Here

Mrs. Gloss Calculates Her Future After Sperreng

As Dr. Eggers’s sec-retary, Mrs. Ball types up the newsletter than gets emailed out every Friday in the eNote to our parents. She handles the pur-chase orders for the building and all of the money that comes and goes into keeping the building running smoothly. If someone wants to reserve the gym, cafeteria or field, she is the person to talk to! Also the teach-

ers go to her to request supplies for their class-rooms. Twenty-four years ago a young, single guy came into her office to paint it, and she ended up marrying him! He retired last year as the district painter and lock-smith. He had worked for the district for 29 years! Thank you for your years of service, Mrs. Ball! Enjoy your retire-ment!

By Lelah Schneider Mrs. Ball, Dr. Eggers’s secretary, is retiring this year after working for the Lindbergh School District for 27 years. She is hoping to spend time with her husband, their four children, and eight grandchildren. Mrs. Ball worked at the high school for 23 years as a secretary to the assistant principal and as a secretary in the Guidance Office.

6 Grade

7 Grade

8 Grade

By Caleb Hiers It is May, the last month of school! How lucky you are! So this article is about the opposite. Which means that this article is about the number 13 (If you couldn’t tell by the pictures)! As you most likely know, 13 is con-sidered unlucky in American culture. But is it really un-lucky? I hate to break it to you, superstitioneers, but it just isn’t. However, there is a fair amount of proof that it just might have a relation-ship with that dark feline that crept under your lad-der. Thirteen might have gained fear from that dad-gummed number 12. The ancient Sumerians treated 12 like it was the best num-ber ever. 12 is the number of half of the day, 12 is the number of months in a year, 6+6=12, 12 this, 12 that. So when you say twelve, people are like “OH YAY! HURRAH! WOW!” But when you say 13, they’re like “*yaaaawn* When will something exciting actually happen?” So 13 became an

underling and underlings become FEAR! WOOO! DUN DUN DUN! The fear of thirteen is called Triskaidekaphobia (Tris-kay-dee-uh-pho-bia). Yes, sadly, some people actually have Triskaideka-phobia. And yes, sadly, people with this case will freak out if they even see the number 13. For their convenience, floor 13 is skipped on elevators.

That’s why elevator music is so relaxing! Another thing about buildings- as skyscrapers were first be-ing developed, 13 floors and above were thought to cast unseemly shad-ows. Now we go to things much higher than hotels- space. You might know about the successful fail-ure- the Apollo 13. Ever

heard the phrase “Houston, we have a problem”? That originat-ed from the “problems” of the Apollo 13 rocket. Planned to be the 3rd moon landing, a mere mistake in the engineer-ing of oxygen tank #2 turned everything in the mission upside-down. The astronauts went through freezing temperatures and grueling conditions. Instead of landing on the moon, they hand to sling-shot around it to barely make it home. That’s why it’s called the successful failure. But whether this part is lucky or not is up to you: first, the Apollo 13 crew went the farthest any human has gone into space and, more im-portantly, they made a film about it conveniently named Apollo 13. So this May, just be glad that you are not the underling of the number 12- or the thirteenth floor of a hotel- or the thir-teenth mission to the moon.

PAGE 4

Lucky 13

SPER R EN G SC O O P

What The Heck Is That?!

Krispy Treats, Cheesy French Fry Crisps, Pi-rate’s Booty Cheese Pop Corn, Small Soft Cookies made with whole wheat flour, and Pop Chips. Students are allowed to buy from this machine after regular school hours. Prices range from $0.75 to $1.25. The ma-chine accepts $1 and $5

bills. There are 27 choic-es to choose. Who says healthy can-not be tasty!

By Matthew Fletcher Have you won-dered what is in the snack machine in the cafeteria? The snack machine is near the outside doors and the school store. Supposedly it contains healthy

choices. Some of those choices include Rice

VO L UME 4, ISSUE 6

By Matthew Fletcher Streaming Stick: Have you wanted to stream on the internet on your TV? Or watch TV on your device without using the Dish™ Hop-per? The new Roku Streaming Stick is for you. Priced at $50, this flash drive-shaped de-vice can plug into a USB port anywhere. For the Google

Chromecast, you’re not the only stick in town. Science: Scientist De-clares this the “Funniest Joke Ever” Scientists studied what makes people laugh (what they show humor for.) People posted jokes on the internet, and scientists chose this one;” Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them col-lapses. He's not breath-

ing and his eyes are glazed, so his friend calls 911. "My friend is dead! What should I do?" The operator re-plies, "Calm down, sir. I can help. First make sure that he's dead." There's a silence, then a loud bang. Back on the phone, the guy says, "OK, now what?"

PAGE 5

Herp-oholic

Space and Technology Update

By Caleb Hiers

Everybody has a hobby! Some people collect cards or stamps. But team 6 Gold’s Chris Kirchofer finds and studies herps! After he photo-graphed herps that he found in multiple glades, he presented

them to the St. Louis Herpetological Society so that they could have an update on herp pop-ulations. I interviewed him to find out more. What is a herp?

A reptile or amphibian.

Why do you find and

study herps?

It is really a hobby. I might possibly do it for

a career.

Why do you present to the Herpetological Soci-ety? I show what kind of ani-mal I saw, and how many of the same spe-cies I find in one day. What do you do during herp searches? It’s basically flipping a rock, catching the herp, taking a picture, and releasing it. I usually find either nothing un-der the rock or skinks. How long have you loved herps? They’ve always fascinat-ed me. When I first went to the Herpitarium at the Zoo, once someone had told me the name of the herp, I could iden-tify it immediately, even

though I couldn’t read! What are some of the glades you go to? Victoria Glades- that’s one of my favorites- Valley View Glades, St. Francis State Park, and Danville Glades. What are some kinds of herps that you find besides skinks? The fence lizard and the lined snake. One of my favorite ones I see out there is the speckled king snake.

Find out more at http://www.stlherpsociety.org/.

By Ben Schraut Many believe that coding a website or simple game is very tough. But making the next Flappy Bird is actu-ally pretty easy, with the right help. You won’t be able to make a game like NHL 14 with the 1st few courses, but

codecademy.com will help you get started with coding. With basic lessons like HTML & CSS to the advanced JavaScript, you can educate your-self to a fairly reason-able level, and make fun apps that might get onto the App Store if you can spend the

time to make it really appealing to Apple. That being said, the lessons are very tough. However, it is like a pattern, and once you figure it out, you can do nearly anything.

PAGE 6

Coding Isn’t as Hard as it Seems…

SPER R EN G SC O O P

As Ye Old Saying Goes

By Zach Tesch and Kari Moore

A Bone to Pick (someone who wants to discuss a disagreement)

A bad apple spoils the whole barrel (one corrupt person can cause all

the others to go bad if you don't remove the bad one)

All’s well that ends well (Bad things are okay if they have a good out-

come. The accuracy of this statement is debatable.)

At sea (lost or not understanding something)

Bad Egg (someone who was not a good person)

Barking at a knot (meaning that your efforts were as useless as a

dog barking at a knot.)

Bee in your bonnet (to have an idea that won't let loose)

Been through the mill (had a rough time of it)

Cattywampus (Something that sits crooked such as a piece of furni-

ture sitting at an angle)

Double-Cross (When someone is working for the opposite side, and

tricks you into gaining your trust.)

Feather In Your Cap (to accomplish a goal. This came from years

ago in wartime when warriors might receive a feather they would put

in their cap for defeating an enemy)

Getting the Cold Shoulder (being constantly mad at a person and

completely ignoring them at the same time)

Hold your horses (Be patient!)

VO L UME 4, ISSUE 6

By Caleb Hiers Above us, thou-sands of feet into the air, flies the Interna-tional Space Station (ISS). Orbiting around Earth more than 90 times each day, rock-ets and shuttles from all over the world con-stantly dock with it and space explorers live in it for six months and do experiments. But life isn’t exactly a stroll in the park when it comes with ze-ro gravity, the body’s reactions to space, and be-ing in a small tin can hurling through the infi-nite depths of the universe. So how do you brush your teeth on the ISS? 1. Life on the space station sure is busy! So the folks up there must get some rest. But there is no gravity (also known vacuum) on the ISS. So instead of beds, space pioneers must sleep in sleeping bag-like things attached to the wall. 2. When they wake up, they must, as al-ways, brush their teeth. Everything hap-pens the same way as on Earth (besides not letting the toothbrush float away) until it comes time to spit out the toothpaste. There are no sinks up there

(Again, living in the vacuum of space makes life hard), which leaves one thing for the astronaut to do. The toothpaste is especially made to swallow. 3.Then the person gets some free time to play in zero gravity, post things on social media (#theISS), or just adore the view of Earth from the win-dow.

4. After that, time for work! Experiments, experiments, and if you have time more experiments are some of the many jobs done at the space station. How do butterflies react in space? Can you drag race in space? How does this robot react to zero gravity? All of these questions -besides the drag racing one- have or could be an-swered on the ISS. Talk about “all in a day’s work!” 5. In case you didn’t know, humans have to eat to survive. On

the ISS, the same rule applies. Also, in the vacuum of space, all liquid floats in little spheres because of complicated physics stuff that you probably don’t want to go into. You know how almost every food has liquid as one of its ingredi-ents? Well, all that liquid would float out of the food and turn into a big bubble when taken to the

space station. So that’s why most of the food that appears on the menu on the ISS is “freeze-dried”. That basically removes all the liquid from the food. You want proof that gold-fish snacks are

awesome? They don’t contain liquid, so they do not have to be freeze-dried! Also, beverages must be stored in little packets and squeezed out of a tube.

Some websites tell you when you can see the ISS in the sky. Type “Spot the Sta-tion” on the official NASA website and see the next time you will be able to see the space station. And when you do, remem-ber that it is an im-portant step into life in space!

PAGE 7

Life on the ISS

Sperreng Scoop

Editors:

Emma Bennett

Jenna Darr

James Fitzpatrick

John Schilling

Lelah Schneider

Zach Tesch

Reporters: Lydia Burkett, Alex Christian, Patrick Donohue, Grace Egart, Claire Eiler, Timothy Fitzpatrick, Matthew Fletcher, Daisey Gotsch, Jolie Heller, Caleb Hiers, Dimitri Jones, Jimmy Keating, Matthew Meyer, Kari

Moore, Ben Schraut, Aditi Seetharaman, Dayle Zimmerman

Sponsors: Mrs. Lichtenstein, Mrs. Sears

6. This teacher was mar-ried in a castle in

Scotland.

7. This teacher, while in middle school, took care of horses in ex-change for being al-lowed to compete in the local rodeo in New

Mexico.

8. This teacher, while on vacation, was pinched by a crab and devel-oped an allergic reac-tion (pictured top

right).

9. This teacher hung up-side down and kissed the Blarney Stone in

Ireland.

10. This teacher has flown in an F-111 fighter

jet.

11. This teacher is miss-ing part of his or her

right lung.

How Well Do You Know the Sperreng Teachers and Staff?

Continued from Last Issue

Last issue, we learned many new things about the Sperreng staff and teach-ers. Ms. Darch has eaten groundhog; Mr. Meloy has survived a plane crash, and Ms. Harke was a profes-sional cheerleader. Wow! We continue this issue with all new fun facts. See if you can guess who did what! 1. This teacher was a high

school cheerleader. 2. This aide toured around

Europe with a folk sing-ing group.

3. This teacher is all about “the left”.

4. This counselor failed his or her driver’s li-cense test multiple times before passing it at the age of 17.

5. This teacher has never done a cart wheel—ever!

12. This teacher can do ex-pert impersonations of Homer and Marge Simp-

son and Donald Duck.

13. This teacher used to own and operate a restau-

rant.

14. This staff member drove cross country in an un-air-conditioned VW van on his or her honey-

moon.

15. This teacher built a ramp out of bricks and jumped his or her bike and woke

up in the hospital.

16. This teacher went to professional umpiring

school.

Answers: 1. Giesing 2. Haire 3. Finch 4. Christanell 5. Moser 6. Neimeyer 7. Laird 8. Gloss 9. Rathjen 10. Ohler 11. Scheidenhelm 12. Lewis 13. Makos 14. McNabb 15. Lichtenstein 16. Ratliff