Marianne Herbst -

Chief Editor

Rylee Simons—Editor

Assistant

Joe Barkie

John Bosco

Dylan Evarts

Bliss Weston

Devin coon

Talon Barke

PJ Bosco

Mackenzie Sutton

Giovanni Cassella

Grace Stone

Gabby Flaherty

Crystal Lentz

Malone Revis

Patrick Dennis

Michael Coleman

Dan Parker

George Dinapoli

Joseph Formica

Nicole Bredefeld

Dear Math,

I’m not a therapist, solve your

own problems.

Sincerely,

Anonymous Group

2+2=22

Join newspaper club!

It is super fun, we release a newspaper

every trimester!

You will be able to see your own work and

others work and everyone

in the school will even see

it!

Malone Revis

The Water Cycle By: Rylee Simons

In 4th grade we did water cycle posters with just precipitation, condensation,

and evaporation we really didn’t go into full definition. Well it’s time we do.

The water cycle is made up of these key processes that are stated at the

first paragraph.

Well here’s my explanation:

The water cycle is pretty easy to memorize. Let’s start with the sublimation

cycle.

Sublimation is a gas to a solid never passing through the liquid phase, it’s locat-

ed in high altitudes like in mountains.

Now evaporation, precipitation, and condensation.

Evaporation is when water is heated from the collection point which is where

water is held like oceans lakes, and reservoirs. Then the heated water is

turned into water vapor, and the gas is mixed in with dust particles and is

cooled by cold air and condenses into a cloud. When the cloud gets filled with

too much water it starts to precipitate.

Now some pictures of posters in our 6-2 Mrs. Greene Science class:

New Year’s Eve*

DC Cup Cakes

By. Crystal Lentz

DC Cupcakes is an

American reality tel-

evision series that

follows sisters and

business partners So-

phie LaMontagne and

Katherine Kallinis as

they run

Georgetown Cup-

cake, a small cup-

cake shop located in

Washington D.C.

Georgetown Cup-

cake has many fla-

vors. A few of their

flavors are, Chocolate

Sundae, Chocolate

Spider Web, Straw-

berry, and More. I

recommend watch-

ing D.C Cupcakes on

TLC. Watch them

make, bake, and dec-

orate the cupcakes.

Swahili

By- Marianne Herbst

The Swahili language is one of the main lan-

guages in Africa, along with English. The origin of the Swahili language

is regarded as being the language of certain areas of Tanzania. But the

Swahili language was made before people began to write down/

record events. So when people started writing down Swahili, they

wrote it as it sounds. So it has become one of the easiest languages to

write. Swahili, unlike French, is a very cut of and choppy language. For

example, the word of “a little bit” in Swahili is “Kidogo”. The pronun-

ciation is a ki at the beginning, like is the word Kiwi. Then you say do

like in Dodo. Lastly when you say go; say it with the voice in the back

of your throat, like saying the word “go” in a really low voice. Pronun-

ciation in Swahili is key. When you ask a question, you don’t raise your

voice in the end, like in English. In Swahili, if you were to ask how

someone is, which in Swahili literally means “how is the

news?” (Habari Gani). You would raise your voice

where the word is made bold is this example be-

low.

(Habari Gani) As you can see, you raise your voice

for each word, not just at the end of the sen-

tence. So if you pronounce something wrong, you

would go from asking if you’re sick, to saying to

the person “you’re sick”. This can be taken to

offence.

Greetings

Greetings in Swahili are a little bit different than in English. In Swahili,

when you greet someone, you are literally saying “is something

wrong?” (Hujambo) How you pronounce this is you say “Hu” like

“who”. Then you say jambo, like jumbo, but with an a, and an almost

silent j, but still hearable. How you respond to the greeting is literally

saying “Nothing’s wrong”. (Sijambo) How you pronounce this is you

say “si” like the Spanish word for yes. Than you pronounce “jambo”

just like in “Hujambo”.

If you would like to learn more on the Swahili Language, don’t hesi-

tate to research it, as it is a very interesting language. If you would like

to learn it, I suggest the Pimsleur on Swahili, as it focuses more on

speaking the language in conversations, and not on just learning

words that can’t be put into a sentence.

Source- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swahili_language#Origin

HKMS PTO movie night

By: Devin coon

The HKMS Winter

Band Concert will have

amazing music that could

only happen with the great

group of band teachers.

The 5th and 6th grade band

students’ concert is Tues-

day, January 14 that starts

at 7pm and the 7th and 8th

graders’ concert is Thurs-

day, January 16. Come to

the concerts to see the

astonishing students play

music that was hand-picked

by the band teachers, Mr.

Sousa, Mr. Spinetti, and

Mrs. Tazzo.

By Joseph Formica

This January, at the

start of the New Year,

HKMS started serving

breakfasts. It costs

about $2.00, and it’s

worth the money.

Breakfasts here are main-

ly healthy. Your meal

comes with the main

food, such as a bagel or a

muffin, milk, and some-

times some extra snacks.

This idea is well thought

out, because some stu-

dents wake up late, then

they notice “Uh Oh, I

have to go to school!” As

you noticed, they did not

have breakfast. For par-

ents, it’s good to know

that your child has actual-

ly had a real breakfast.

Though the pricing is a

little too expensive for a

bagel and some milk, it’s

a great idea.

By Joseph Formica

Breakfast at School?

On Friday, January

10, Mr. White

hosted the annual

HKMS Geography

Bee. There were

several rounds,

and the winner

was Chris Sacci. He

only had one

wrong answer.

This is the 4th year

in a row that he

won, in other

words, he won

every year that he

was at the HK Mid-

dle School. In se-

cond place was 6th

grader Charlie

Cancroft!

Geo Bee

By Joseph Formica

BOO!

T H E C U T E S T D O G I N T H E W O R L D B Y : G R A C I E !

GOOD VIDEOS TO WATCH WITH BOO IN

IT

Maybe most of you have heard about the

popular “Boo Dog”, if you haven't let me in-

troduce you to this precious breed of

dog. This is well-known dog among in-

ternet users and dog owners. It is fre-

quently called as the World’s cutest

dog. Some singer’s mentioned this dog

in their songs or on stage.

Now eight years old, Boo be-

came an Internet sensation as

the “World’s Cutest Dog” on

Facebook, gaining over 5 mil-

lion fans, and used his online

popularity to produce two pic-

ture books and his own line of

toys and also secure product

endorsements.

Boo the puppy and buddy's first time trying out peanut butter

Big Vacation: World's Cutest Dog Takes San Francisco

Boo - The World's Cutest Dog

He started off as a shaggy, energetic and

lovable Pomeranian puppy, he was born

on march 16, 2006.

Lung Cancer

By- Marianne Herbst

Symptoms of lung cancer

Early symptoms of lung cancer can in-

clude little things such as a light cough,

or shortness of breath. But this all de-

pends on which part of the lung is

affected.

One the cancer develops; symptoms can

become more severe and intense. Such

as loss of appetite and general fatigue.

Risks factors of lung cancer

Smoking tobacco can increase the risk,

as well as second hand smoking, but

even this considered people who have

never smoked can still develop lung can-

cer. Another risk factor for lung cancer is

age. Two to three lung cancers are diag-

nosed to people over the age of 64. But

the average age of diagnosis is 71.

Source- www.cancercenter.com

Interesting facts about lung cancer

Source-http://abcnews.go.com/Health/OnCall/

story?id=643073 (written in 2005, results may

have varied)

About 170,000 people in the U.S.A are diag-

nosed every year

In cases on lung cancer, results show diagnosis

of lung cancer to grow among women and

shrink among men

Tumors in the lung can come from cancer else-

where in the body

Where does cancer come from?

Not just lung cancer, but all cancer comes from

the cells in your body over-multiplying out of

control. Every living thing is made out of cells.

Each cell multiplies in its own time, this is how

you grow. But what happens when you get

cancer and a tumor forms is when your cells

start to multiply more than is needed.

Looking

Forward to

the Rest of

the Year

By-Joseph

Formica

As the end of the year approaches, the summer is the one big thing to look

forward to. Leaving school, and not returning for almost three months.

There are some fun days on the way there, though. Here are some random

days that you wouldn’t expect to see…

April 1st and 2nd are Half Days

May 14th is a Half Day

The Snow Leopard

By– Marianne Herbst

The yellow represent current snow leop-

ard ranges

Snow leopards are a type of leopard that

live high in the mountains of central Asia.

Unlike their cousins in Africa, and snow

leopard is build for frigid weather. A snow

leopards fur is very thick, and they have

splayed paws that act like natural snow

shoes. The snow leopards famously long

and bushy tail that allows some extra

weight, which the snow leopard can swing

around to help keep the leopards balance.

They can range in weight from 60 to 120

pounds (27 to 54 kl) and are currently en-

dangered. The snow leopard feeds upon

the wild mountain sheep in the mountains,

such as ibex and the baharl. But, like leop-

ards, they have a wide range of food they

can consume, from the wild mountain

sheep to a tiny hare, and even the small

birds that inhabit the mountains. The rea-

son for the massive decline in snow leop-

ard hunters are for multiple reasons, some

of the most popular are poachers and

farmers. The poachers illegally sell the

snow leopards pelt for money. The snow

leopard’s land has been decreasing, so it

has been getting closer and closer to hu-

manity. This means that the snow leopard

is more likely to acquire a taste for domes-

tic animals, and more likely to get shot and

killed by the ranchers.

Source-http://

animals.nationalgeographic.com/

animals/mammals/snow-leopard/

Things to do in the third marking peri-

od

By Joseph Formica

The new marking period is a chance

for students to fix any issues or prob-

lems they’ve had in the last term. Be-

low are ideas to help you be more or-

ganized than before:

Clean out your locker. Get rid of all of

the useless items.

Organize your binder. Throw any un-

needed papers away.

Create goals for yourself. Plan out

the whole term, and try new

things.

These things will not only help you

get more organized, but they will

help you be a better student.

Marianne Herbst

Claim Essay Project

February 4, 2014

Deadly Dinner

The mouthwatering flavor engulfs your taste-buds as the greasy juices squirt into

your mouth and drizzle down your chin. The enriching smell of sizzling burger mixed with

herbs and special spices. But the taste isn’t the only thing you’re getting from your fast-

food meat. Hormones, pesticides, deadly bacteria, and diseases are packed into the seem-

ingly innocent burger at almost every fast-food establishment and big meat corporations.

But turning Vegetarian or even Vegan doesn’t have to be the answer; all you have to do is

eat “free-range meat”. Health defects, and diseases, even death can come from eating the

regular meat that has spread rapidly throughout the nation, and around the world. Eating

free-range can help fight breast cancer and tumors, which the regular meat can cause!

Many breakouts have caused tragedy due to the way they process meat, including the

“Jack in the Box” breakout. We don’t have to live like this, eat free-range to live a better

life.

McDonald’s is supposedly the kid friendly fast food restaurant where you can take

your children to eat, but when your kids have a famous McDonald’s hamburger, they

aren’t just having beef. The managers from most fast food establishments, including the

popular McDonalds get their meat from factories that have scary secrets about what they

put inside your beef. On their way in, the cattle are compacted into minuscule waiting

areas, awaiting their turn into the slaughterhouse. While waiting, many cows get manure

on their coat, so when they have the skin stripped from them, the workers tend to spill

manure on the meat. According to pbs.org, the workers are hired and trained for efficien-

cy, or stripping the cattle as quickly as possible, so they are more prone to mistakes. Once

the meat is stripped of their hide, then they are converted to a huge grinder where most,

if not all of the meat in the factory gets grounded. If one cow gets manure on its meat,

once it is grounded down with the rest of the meat, the manure could contaminate the

whole batch. Not only that, but the meat is drenched in hormones, and antibiotics, with

dangerous bacteria growing on them and are most likely already sick from the factory at-

mosphere. Plus, the cows are fed plants drenched in pesticides. Outbreaks of diseases and

plaques are just on add-on to this colossal list of dangerous, even lethal draw-backs to reg-

ular meat. One example of a lethal outbreak is the “Jack in the Box” outbreak in 1993. Ac-

cording to www.ou.edu bacteria made its way through the huge industrial slaughterhouses

and made its way to a Jack in the Box establishment. When the epidemic was over, 3 chil-

dren died, all fewer than three, and in total 400 people were infected in the states of

Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. All in all, eating regular meat can result in possibly lethal

consequences, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Health problems aren’t the only thing wrong with the regular meat. The ani-

mals being processed are wrongly abused. How the manure factor came into play was

cramming multitudes of cattle into minuscule pens, hearing the dying screams of the oth-

ers in the slaughterhouse. Eating free-range isn’t just about us. How would you like to be

crammed into a moist, muddy pasture with the concept of a personal bubble all but disin-

tegrated with the reek of the throngs, and your waste drifting through the air, along with

the rhythmical chorus of dying gasps and screams from a fatal blow soon to be yours? Not

only that, but the cows are most likely sick from the poor conditions of factory fumes and

moist and eerie surroundings. Could it get any worse for these innocent cattle, who did

nothing wrong to deserve this, other than existing? Think again, it gets much worse. Even

before the waiting line to being mercilessly slaughtered, the cows were being fed plants.

These plants were most likely sprayed with pesticides and the cows were injected with an-

tibiotics. But antibiotics kill ALL the bacteria on the cow’s body, and most of the bacteria

are good, and helps fight off the bad bacteria. So dangerous, even deadly bacteria can

start to grow on the cow, making it suffer with sickness even before it enters the slaughter-

house. But antibiotics isn’t the only thing the cow is being given. The cattle are being in-

jected with hormones and fatteners, making the cow an unnatural weight, and filled with

hormones. How would you like to be forced to be unnaturally overweight and stuffed with

hormones making you feel unnatural even more. The animals don’t have to be neglected

or cope with this abuse, just so we humans can eat the meat and get sick ourselves, all be-

cause it tastes like a delicacy -- it’s a shame.

Eating regular meat is a bad choice in itself, but there are also more benefits than

you think when you eat free-range meat. Not only are free-range cattle more healthy than

the cattle in the large corporations, but they have big pastures to roam in, and eat natural

plants that aren’t sprayed with pesticides. Plus, the cattle aren’t fed antibiotics; all

combined the make the cattle have a better immune system, to actually fight off diseases

and illnesses more efficiently. Free-range meat also isn’t injected with hormones and

fatteners, so you don’t gain as much weight and gain an unnatural amount of hormones in

your body. America’s obesity problem is partly due to the fast-food meat and the unnatu-

ral amounts of fatteners added for taste, but you gain a lot of weight for eating them.

Eating free-range meat is like eating healthy, no need to go on a diet, just eat free-range to

help lose weight! The regular meat is proven to be able to cause breast cancer and tu-

mors, while free-range meat contains ingredients of omega-3 and other ingredients that

can actually fight breast cancer and tumors! But eating free-range meat isn’t just about

your health; it actually tastes better as well! It doesn’t have all that gooey fat in it, and

when cooked properly, free-range meat is proven to be drastically more rich and savory in

flavor. “It’s worth the search” as stated by Corby Kummer on www.honoredprarie.com.

The nice spacious farms where the free-range cattle grow up in produce little to no air and

water pollution, while the slaughter houses and big corporations produce masses of

clouds of pollution every day. Most importantly, the cows blissful in this tranquil environ-

ment. When I went to Montana, I saw many free-range cow farms, and even went onto

one. The scenery for the cows was perfect, wide open plains with wide rivers, lakes, and

grass to graze on for miles around. A free-range cow is not only a tasty or healthy one, it’s

a pleased one.

Free-range meat is the only meat we should eat. Next time you eat a burger, or a

nice chicken nugget from McDonalds, imagine the hormones, pesticides, deadly bacteria,

, fatteners, and possibly manure stuffed into

the juicy burger we call dinner. When you

eat a burger from Burger King, imagine the

pleading eyes from the cows being horribly

mistreated in the stuffed, pens filled with ill-

ness and manure, all for just existing. We are

not invincible, don’t say “this can’t happen

to me”, because it can, and it will. Health

benefits will come your way once you sink

your teeth into a free-range burger. Live a

healthier life, and help the cows live a better

one as well, eat free-range meat, and be de-

void of the regular processed meat now.

Drumline

If you are an experienced drummer

and in grades 6th-8th, this is the

perfect club for you! We meet

EVERY OTHER Thursday. Start-

ing March 20th from 3:00 pm to

4:20 pm in the auditorium. All you

need for this club are drumsticks.

We will play music from the mov-

ie " Drumline " and drumlines

across the world. Also we MIGHT

perform in townmettings.

Michael Coleman

The Design of Apple Products

By-Joseph Formica

From iOS to Mac, Apple rede-

fines the way we think of

technology. For example, the side of the iPad Mini is as small as

the side of a pencil, yet it is still only 0.68”. Also, the side of iPad

Air is the same as iPad Mini, and the screen is 9.7 inches. How do

they do it? Well, it starts with the design, hardware and software

teams working together so the final product will not only look

great, but work great. When the product is almost ready to be re-

leased, Apple usually leans towards last minute changes, such as

some of the software features or buttons on the product. All of

this combines to make a wonderful product, which only Apple

could make

Playing Video Games have consequences. By: Rylee Simons

Did you know video games have a tremendous impact on

health?

Obesity is in fact a problem; you indulge in high-

calorie snacks such as chips and high sugar soda. Child-

hood obesity in the U.S has tripled in the past 30 years.

More than a third of the nation’s children are over-

weight. Researchers are focused on now playing video

games contribute to obesity. A 2010 a study found

games to blame, because children especially boys, tend to

eat more while gaming. This study was from the eastern

Ontario Research Lab.

Your vision is also in danger when playing video games.

Some games take in a lengthy time to complete any goals.

You are focused on the screen at all times just like tele-

vision. This can lead to blurred vision, and headaches.

Your eyes can get tired and start to itch; these problems

may lead to wearing glasses.

Playing video games cause violent behavior?

Studies shown that violent video games do impact

many people badly. Video games contain unsuitable

graphics for children, and teens.

Examples of rated R graphics-

Killing

Weaponry

Poison/concoctions

May, 2010, a test led by Iowa State University found

that violent gaming can increase feelings of aggression

and antisocial behavior. Over exposure to violent games

can cause conflict.

Example suicidal and violent acts-

A 17- year- old male killed his mother and wounded his

father after they took away Halo 3.

A 13-year-old boy jumped off f a 24th story building af-

ter playing Warcraft 3 for 36 hours straight.

Further evidence is on CNN news.

Gaming can cause loss of memory and loss of relative

and friends?

Anti-social behavior will occur when playing video

games. When you are attached to a video game so

much you loose many of your friends or even your

relatives. Studies led a test that has shown that

children loose many friends and suffer low grades

when gaming constantly; they even loose contact in

reality. They even seem to have loss of memory to

what is happening right now. When a new game is re-

leased a great amount of people will purchase it, and

will lock themselves in their rooms, or even skip

school.

People have become so engaged to gaming it

is said that gaming is one of the disgraces of

the US, and it’s time we change that.