October Puma Pride Winners

Puma Press
South Meadow School
November 12, 2015
Number 4
Thanksgiving
Poem
By: Reagan Riffle
Once every fall
Comes a day to thank all
While we all get to eat
Not everything’s sweet
The history underneath
Lies under the leaf
As the stories unfold
Of cold struggles untold
We all start to think
As we sip the sweet drink
That if not for the people
Who prayed in the steeple
We wouldn’t be here
Or anywhere near
So just pause for one second
And bow down your head
To think of the people who thought way ahead
The people who served you; the armies, the saviors
The ones who corrected your imperfect behaviors
Think of the small things this perfect fall day
The people who helped you in every which way
Make sure to thank them! Every which one
So that they all know the deed they have done
Happy Thanksgiving!
October Puma Pride Winners
Puma PressNovember 12, 2015
A VOLLEY OF CHEERS
by Gabby Oja
On October 24th 2015, the South Meadow School Girls’ Volleyball Team (SMS) coached by Paul Simpson, marched into the second annual Connecticut Valley Junior High School Volleyball Tournament. After coming off a week of three strong wins, the girls’ volleyball team felt very confident. They came out strong in the first
game, beating Vilas, but lost, however, to Walpole in the second game. With a record of one win and one loss the
girls moved on to the semifinals to face the undefeated team from Sunapee. In one of the most exciting games
of the year SMS’s
Volleyball Team
beat Sunapee!
Winning
the semifinal game
was the only way
to get to the finals and the South
Meadow School
Girls’ Volleyball
Team did just
that. They won
by two points,
and everyone was
screaming! Walpole and Charlestown played to see
which team would
make it to the finals with South Meadow. Walpole ended up defeating Charlestown and the South Meadow team had to play
against them to win the finals. It all came down to South Meadow and Walpole.
In the finals there were three games, the best two out of the three games was the winner. During the first
game Walpole won against South Meadow; but South Meadow had beaten them before, and they could do it
again! During the second game the tension was high. If South Meadow won against Walpole during the second
game they had a chance to win it all. South Meadow ended up winning the second game, and they were tied.
The last game was crazy! If SMS won then they would win the championship and would become the best junior
team in the Connecticut Valley. During the last game South Meadow came through with the win! Everyone
was overjoyed. The crowd went wild, cheering and screams filled the gymnasium! The South Meadow team
was presented with a plaque, and each player received a medal. In the end none of the girls gave up, and it was
truly a team win!
Food Drive
By:Ella McCullough
The seventh and eighth grade band has been holding its annual food drive, which goes from November ninth
to November nineteenth. The band is looking for non-perishable food items for the SMS Food Bank. Canned
items are great, and everything that is turned in is appreciated, but it would be amazing if kids could bring in
items that are needed for Thanksgiving like boxed stuffing, boxed potatoes and gravy. There will be an advisory
winner for bringing in the most food, but it’s not about winning. It’s about providing food for the people who
need it during the holidays.
Puma PressNovember 12, 2015
What is Happening in 7th Grade!
By Erin Meiklejohn
First, Language Arts: In Language Arts we
are reading a true story book called So Far From The
Bamboo Grove. So Far From The Bamboo Grove takes
place in the final days of World War 2. The author of
the book is Yoko Kawashima Watkins. The main character of the book is also the author, Yoko, but in the
story everyone calls her “Little One”. Now Yoko is
around 80 years old and still remembers everything
from then. Yoko dedicated her book to Ko, which in
the book is Yoko’s older sister. November 18, 2015,
is going to be a big day for all of the 7th graders and
Yoko. On that day Yoko will be visiting SMS. All of
the 7th graders love this book and are exited to see
Yoko.
Second, Social Studies: In Social Studies we
are doing a whatever you want map. Whatever you
want is a map, but you can do whatever you want to it,
create your own islands, cities, states, Mountains, forest, rivers, ocean, and you can name it what ever you
want (That’s why it’s called the whatever you want
map.) This project was due October 28, 2015, which
is pretty soon. My friends and I did an island called
Parkminastan.
We are excited about science. In science we
used the Chrome books and did Lure Of The Labyrinth. Yes I know what you are thinking “ What the
heck is Lure Of The Labyrinth? “Well, I am going to
tell you: Lure Of The Labyrinth is a game made by
people at MIT, and it was developed around 2008, and
Mrs.Van started to teach it about 2009. Basically it’s
where you get to create your own avatar and pet, and
then one day your pet gets stolen and you are trying
to get it back. So you wander about doing mind puzzle missions. Everyone in the class is working as a
team. If one person gets stuck, another person come
right in to help them. Trust me, some of these puzzles
are hard to figure out. Over the course of the game,
you get to save a pet, and over all you save many pets
world wide, which is insane! Really overall this game
is mostly about team work, mind puzzles and over all
having fun!
Fourth Math: Well you know Math... always
trying to help you understand the meaning of life. But
I really like math. I think math is very interesting. So
me people do not like math, and I do not hate them. I
just simply think they’re insane (just kidding). But really what we are really doing in math is we are adding,
subtracting, multiplying, and dividing negative and
positive integers; pretty much it’s the same old math.
But really, I like math. Some things are fun and some
things, not so much. But in all seriousness, I think math
should be enjoyed, because at least it’s not reading.
Fifth, P.E: In P.E we are doing a thing called
a “fitness gram.” A fitness gram is where you just do
push ups, curl ups, sit and reach, and finally running.
You probably already know all of these, like push ups
and curl ups, but you may not know the sit and reach.
It’s where you sit and you extend your leg them you
reach for it and see how far you go. I’m pretty flexible-I got all the way to my foot, so I guess that’s a good
thing? But the running in the fitness gram is the worst.
They make you run up and down the gym until you
pass out. I think I went back and forth like 45 times.
It’s harder than it looks. But in the fitness gram they
grade you on whether you’re a boy or a girl. So they
say if you are a girl that you should run up and down
the gym 28 times, and if you are a boy that you should
get to about 40. This is just my opinion, but I think
that is really sexist. In the first round my friend was
the last girl standing, and in the second round I was the
last girl standing, too. But I like P.E when we are not
doing a fitness gram, because when we are not we get
to hang out with the 5th graders!
Finally, C & F: Personally I LOVE C&F because we get to cook. I started to bake over the summer, and I love it! Now that I am in FACS, we get to
bake all the time. Read all about what we do in this
class by reading Belle’s articles.
Community Service Opportunity
The Peterborough Lions Club is looking for students in the 8th Grade to help them unload and count Christmas Trees on Monday, November 23rd. If you are interested, please have your parents contact Roland
Patten at: 924-6421 for further details.
Puma PressNovember 12, 2015
Family and Consumer Science Cooking
by Bella Schwabe
This week in Family and Consumer Science we are continuing with our last week of cooking. For our first cooking assignment, we broke into new groups and chose a cookie recipe. We had
the choice between a banana chocolate chip cookies and “aggression cookies,” which we have made before. Aggression cookies are
cookies with lots of butter, and they taste better with lots of mixing.
Next, we got to look through many different cookbooks to find a
bread recipe. Everyone chose very creative and different recipes.
Lastly, we are going to make ABC vegetable soup. This is going to
teach us about knife cuts. We are going to eat the finished bread
and soup together. In conclusion, we are going to be learning a lot
and having a lot of fun in our last week of cooking in Family and
Consumer Science.
What is Sixth Grade Up To?
By: Jack McLaughlin
Wow, this quarter was a crazy one for the sixth graders!
Right off the bat, we had a team building field trip to Camp Takodah. This was tons of fun! Kids started to know each other better,
and it was an awesome field trip for everyone. After that we started
to pay attention to the presidential election. In science we learned
the scientific method and took a test on it. During P.E. we did the
pacer test. The pacer test is when you line up on the black line
closest to the stage, then when you hear the horn, you run to the red
line then stop and wait for the next horn and you do that over and
over again until you can’t go any farther. Some kids struggled, and
some kids got up to 50+ rounds. The Dublin kids are now fitting in
the group.Every Dublin kid has at least two friends that aren’t from
Dublin which is awesome. In the end we finished the quarter with
NWEA testing. Again, this was a crazy quarter for the sixth grade.
The Pipe Challenge
By Nicky Dinino
Right now in our music class we are learning about sound
and how it is composed of many little sound waves that we can’t
even see. As a part of this unit, we are doing a fun project. We
are taking all sorts of piping and putting them together to make
an instrument. We are working as a team, and we have to at least
be able to play a song on the instrument. The team then has to
figure out where the vibrations are coming from. The teams were
created by Mrs.Fortin, so you end up working with some people
that you would not usually work with. This has to be one of the
most fun and interesting things we have done in music class.
New Art Teacher
by Jade Tarango
South Meadow School has a new
art teacher. Her name is Ms. Russell. She
decided she wanted to be a teacher when
she was in high school. Both her mom and
grandma are teachers, and she comes from
a family of artists. She has been interested
in art ever since she was little and studied
art in college. Ms. Russell is so interested
in art that she has traveled to France twice
just to study art and has her own website:
http://sarahartheart.wix.com/eagleeyespofford7. Some of the many projects she plans
to do with her classes include making paper
mache jungle animals, learning about art
history, making Chinese dragon paintings,
and making your own beverages. She loves
SMS so far. Some of her favorite things are
the wonderful art materials, the kiln, and
roller skating. Her favorite form of art is
watercolor outdoors. Ms. Russell is excited
to start teaching and can’t wait! Welcome
to SMS Ms. Russell!
We Hope You Enjoy Reading
The Puma Press
Puma PressNovember 12, 2015
Eighth Grade Poe Plays
By:Ella McCullough
Edgar Allen Poe was a very interesting man. His countless short stories and poems are read by students all over the
world. He is most famous for a few like The Tell Tale Heart,
and The Raven. The eighth grade has been learning about
Edgar Allen Poe lately, and in December they will be going
to see some of his short stories put on as plays. They will be
going to see six plays two of which are Edgar Allen Poe stories. The plays they will be going to see consist of The Raven,
The Tell Tale Heart, The Necklace, The Monkey’s Paw, The
Legend Of Sleepy Hollow, and The Celebrated Frog Of Calaveras. The kids will be going to the Capital Center For The
Arts in Concord, NH. The theatre is very elegant and fancy,
so the eighth grade students should dress fancy. This event is
going to be a lot of fun for all of the eighth graders. Although
Poe was a bit strange, he was an amazing writer and will never be forgotten.
Veterans Letters in Sixth Grade
By Sarah Knowles
On November 11, we honor the Veterans who served
our country and risked their lives so we may have peace in our
country. Here at South Meadow Middle School, in sixth grade
we honor local Veterans by writing them letters and inviting
them to a celebratory breakfast to honor them for what they
have done for our country. We will send an invitation around
Thanksgiving time. We all either will or have done this before.
It can be a lot of fun writing to a Veteran, because sometimes
you and the Veteran write for a while back and forth. Also if
they come to the breakfast you can meet them face to face and
get to know them better. It is really neat to get to know a little
history about the Veteran and which war he/she served in or
the branch of military they served in. This is a fun and honoring thing to do. You never know if your Veteran will become a
friend of yours. Thank you to all Veterans for your service.
New Horizons Finds Blue
Skies and Water Ice on Pluto
By: Kylie Johnson
Pluto. The planet that isn’t considered
a planet. Recently, something very exciting
was discovered on the planet of Pluto--or to be
more specific, the dwarf planet of Pluto--and
that just happens to be how blue hazes or a blue
sky was found in its atmosphere. The first color
images of Pluto’s atmospheric hazes were returned by NASA’s New Horizons investigator.
“Who would have expected a blue sky in the
Kuiper Belt? It’s gorgeous,” said Alan Stern,
New Horizons investigator. According to NASA’s workers, the haze particles themselves are
likely gray or red, but the way they happen to
scatter blue light has gotten the attention of the
New Horizons team. “That striking blue tint
tells us about the size and composition of the
haze particles,” said science team researcher
Carly Howett. “A blue sky often results from
scattering of sunlight by very small particles.
On Earth, those particles are very tiny nitrogen
molecules. On Pluto they appear to be larger —
but still relatively small — soot-like particles
we call tholins.” In a second significant finding,
New Horizons has detected numerous small,
exposed regions of water ice on Pluto. Water
ice is what they call what happens to water once
in space. If you take a water of glass into space,
and take it out into the darkness, it will begin to
freeze, then boil and end up being a gas.
Puma PressNovember 12, 2015
Robotics Competition
by Belle Schwabe
On November 14, the Robotics team will be traveling to Merrimack High school to compete in a local FIRST
Lego League competition.
They will have to get there
very early and will be working all day. The team will be
judged in four areas: core values (team building), points on
the challenge board, mechanical design (this is how their
robot is built and runs) and on
a project. The project that the
team has done was on computer recycling. The students
have created three games out
of materials from keyboards,
flashdrives and mice. The
games have been played by
the peer mentors and the fifth
grade students to test them
out. Good luck Team!
Roller Skating
By: Lorien Tyne
Roller skating has started on Fridays in the SMS gym! There is a disco ball and lights and music, too.
Come with a permission slip that you can print off from the SMS website. If you can’t print a slip, go to the
office and you can get one there. The fee for getting in is $7 per session. So if you want to go to both sessions
you should bring $14 That’s all you have to bring besides your shoe size! Hand in your shoes, and they will
give you back roller skates. You can buy snacks and water and glow sticks there. Glow sticks are $2 each, two
for $3. There are two sessions, and each one is open to everyone. In first session, however, there are more little
kids that are learning to skate, and in second session there are older kids. In second session the lights are turned
off, and the disco lights are turned on. Roller skating is very fun, and you should try it out next Friday!
One day at a Puma
Pride Assembly....
Boo I hate the Red Sox!
Ha Ha I was
just joking
guys! Ha...
I.....love the
Red Sox...
Ew.
Laser
Beam
Yeah!
So sad!
Puma PressNovember 12, 2015
Turkey Trot
By:Ella McCullough
The S.M.S annual Turkey Trot has come to an end yet again. The boy and girl who came in first place for
each grade level received a gift certificate to Shaw’s market so they can buy a turkey. The top five boys and girls
for each grade will
get a special Turkey
Trot t­-shirt.
The top thirty kids
that made it through
the finish line counted towards which advisory won the Turkey Trot. In the gym
there are banners
that hang up for each
grade for the Turkey
Trot, and whichever
advisory gets more
kids for the top thirty wins and gets to
have their name hung
up in the gym. Advisories Winners are
Mrs. Decibus for 5th
grade, Mrs. Jones for
6th Grade, Mrs. VanValkenburg for 7th
grade and Mrs. Morash for 8th grade.
Graffiti
By:Ella McCullough
Along with countless other art projects the eighth
grade has been doing, graffiti is one of them This project is very fun and unique. You’re allowed to chose any
word you want, or you can just use your name. There are
many different lettering styles to look at until you find
the one that you’d like to use for your graffiti. Then you
trace out your word on a big piece of paper in any desired
style. After that the kids cut it out and start spray painting!
Since we’re not allowed to use real spray cans the kids
use spray bottles that contain paint. You can use whatever
colors in whatever pattern you’d like. The kids also make
a background and can make many different backgrounds
and different layers. Once the kids finish with their graffiti
they can stick up on the walls throughout S.M.S. It is a
fun art project and a way for kids to express themselves in new and different ways.
Puma PressNovember 12, 2015
Puma Press Staff
MUSTACHE DAY
By Meara McClusky
On a past Friday, the student council held an
event called mustache day! The cost was one dollar for
a mustache. You could bring your own mustache, or
make a donation. The money went to David’s House.
David’s House is a non-profit organization at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. It is for families who
have a relative in the hospital and want to stay near
them without going to a hotel. David’s House was the
dream of a little boy, David Cyr, who died when he was
five years old from leukemia. Mustache Day is for a
great cause. Thank you to everyone who participated!
Ella McCullough
Quinn Wilson
Grace Christensen
Lorien Tyne
Bella Schwabe
Kylie Johnson
Erin Meiklejohn
Adam Brace
Kendall Larson
Gabby Oja
Maddy Cilley
Madeline Anderson
Reagan Riffle
Jade Tarango
Sarah Knowles
Jack McLaughlin
Meara McClusky
Nicky DiNino
Donations for Homeless Needed
Don’t forget the Boston Homeless Project our 8th graders Jaylin, Tracie, Maddie, Hayley, and Emma are holding. Please
bring clothes, coats, shoes, and gloves and drop off in a box located by the lost and found by the 20th of November.
All donations would be greatly appreciated!!!
Recess, A Perspective
by Kendal Larson
Recess for fifth and sixth graders has some positives and some negatives. Although there is much space
for us to run around and have fun, I, as well as fellow students, feel that recess should have more elements and
should be longer. With the basketball hoops, available soccer balls and wall (for wall-ball), that the area provided for fifth and sixth grade students, recess should contain some more things to do, such as some swings.
Another element we could add is a gaga pit. On the sixth grade field trip to the amazing Camp Takodah,
we learned a game called gaga, a game that requires a ball and an octagon-shaped wood-fenced pit. We could
teach this game to the fifth graders by leaving instructions or having the teachers on duty explain the game.
These inexpensive elements could happen with proceeds from fund- raisers such as rollerskating. If we earned
enough money and built these things, recess for fifth and sixth grade recess would be a million times better.
Plus, when recess is more fun, students would want to do it for longer. This is why we should extend recess
time. Extending recess time would give kids more much-needed fresh air and important physical activity. This
could be accomplished by cutting small parts of morning advisory and plus block. By cutting five minutes off
of advisory, making advisory twenty minutes long, and ten minutes off of plus block, making plus block thirty
minutes long, would mean recess would last over a half hour, which is fifty percent of needed physical activity
for kids our age. However, if it is not possible to cut time off of advisory or plus block, extending recess may
mean extending the school day, as well.
Puma PressNovember 12, 2015
Sixth Grade Turkey Trot Winners
“To Be Proud”
Puma Pride Tickets
To be proud of your colors
Is really quite rare
But at SMS, that’s all we wear
SMS is bringing back Puma Pride Tickets. For the following
two weeks South Meadow School is focusing on respect. If
you do something respectful around the school, one of the
staff members will give a blue ticket. You will fill out the ticket with your
name
and
grade,then
give it to
your teacher
at the end of
the day. Your
ticket will be
entered in a
raffle that is
drawn at the
end of each
week.
By: Reagan Riffle
To be proud of your mascot
Is really quite rare
But at SMS, our puma shows flair
To be proud of your teachers
Is really quite rare
But at SMS, they all really care
To be proud of your programs
Is really quite rare
But at SMS, we’re happy to share
To be proud of your school
Is really quite rare
But at SMS, no other schools compare!
by Gabby Oja
Puma PressNovember 12, 2015
Turkey Trot Winners - 7th Grade
Turkey Trot Winners - 8th Grade