Issue 1 OCTOBER 2011Robin Mickle Middle School

micklecountdown.weebly.com micklecountdown@gmail.com

Page 2: Fitness room update

Page 3: Mickle Clubs

Page 4: Opinions

Page 5: Game and Book Reviews

Page 6: Freaky Stalker Story

Page 7: Art

Page 8: Sports

IND

EX

Mickle’s greenhouse now built

No fall break=longer winter break for LPS families

Park becomes eco-friendly with Mickle student input

Students help improve Mickle

Photo courtesy of Yearbook Staff

BY KAMI KUCERANEWS/SPORTS EDITOR Last year it was a layout of plans on paper, this year it’s a greenhouse! Mickle Middle School was given a $30,000 grant from Community Crops to start a greenhouse at the school. Community Crops is a nonprofit orga-nization that teaches people how to live without fossil fuel, how to grow their own food, and ways not to harm the environment. This greenhouse is a CLC club ran by Community Crops member Jennie Holt. So far this club has eight people,

and they are just getting started on this massive project. “We aren’t growing a garden, but making Mickle’s very own small urban farm!,” Holt says. The club members will plant crops both inside and outside of a hoop house. A hoop house is a covered shed that will allow them the option to plant indoors. With the hoop house, their harvesting season will last all the way through November. The green-house farmers will also be selling their crops at a local farmer’s market. All funds from the farmer’s market will go back into the project to help it expand. “We will be teaching kids ways to be green, and the study of ecology. Hopefully by doing this project Mickle will be a great role model to the com-munity and other schools on ways they can live green,” says Holt. Mickle teachers are also welcome to help on this project. They can con-tact Holt and set up times to have their classes go and farm. The club meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school from 3-5pm.

BY NICK FULLERTON Many of you may en-joy spending time at Tyrell Park, just north of Mickle. However, you may not know that Lincoln will soon be renovating parts of the park to make it more eco-friendly. The city of Lincoln is very interested in help-ing rain water soak back into the ground. Underneath the ground is the Ogalala Aquifer. The aquifer is like an underground “sponge” made of sandstone. This “sponge” holds and cleans the water in Nebraska so we can use wells to drink this water and water crops and farms. Right now, rain water in Tyrell Park is washed away through the ce-ment drain at the bot-tom of the valley in the park. This means that there is not much wa-ter going back into the aquifer in the ground. If we can get more wa-ter in the aquifer, then we won’t run out of water for drinking and farms. Last year, a city repre-sentative approached Mr. Rousseau and asked what could be done to improve Tyrell Park as a place for teaching environmen-tal topics to students.

Mr. Rousseau select-ed Rachel Jarvis and Taylor Kassebaum, to brainstorm ideas for the city’s project. They submitted their ideas to Mr. Rousseau, and he gave the ideas to the city. Their ideas were used to receive a grant to pay for this project. Jarvis and Kassebaum spent the last week of school researching on-line and talking to local experts. “We visited websites of local nurseries and made phone calls to learn more,” said Jar-vis. Work on on the park is expected to start in summer of 2012. The following changes to the park are planned, based on the girls’ work: 1) parking lots’ will be remade with per-meable materials.

This means that water will be able to seem through the parking lot and into the ground 2) Large land areas will be returned to their natural prairie state. 3) removing concrete liner in the valley. 4) Circular areas on the west areas of the park, will be turned into an outdoor class-room with water pumps so students can learn how permeable concrete and pavers works. 5) The largest circu-lar area will be turned into an outdoor perfor-mance area. The girls were happy to have a chance to work on such an impor-tant project. “I learned that eco-friendly doesn’t have to mean inconvenient,” said Jarvis.

8th graders, Taylor Kassebaum and Rachel JarvisPhoto by Mrs. Jorgensen

Seussical: the MusicalBY ELANOR JORGENSENThis year’s All School Choir will be per-forming Seussical the Musical, songs that have taken their lyrics from Dr. Seuss’s lovable books and added music! “So far, Green Eggs and Ham is their favorite song. It’s got a good rhythm and a good melody,” Johnson said. “We’re also going to have a choreographer come in and teach the kids a dance for a certain song; We’re having Dr. Seuss hats, and a finger-cymbals part as well.” You can watch the performance at Mickle on October 27th at 7:00 p.m in the auditorium.

BY KAMI KUCERANEWS/SPORTS EDITOR This year, LPS will be taking its fall break out of the school schedule, and will be replacing it with a lon-ger winter break. This school sched-ule will still contain the usual 178 school days, but instead of having two shorts breaks in the first semes-ter, we will only be having one long break at the end of second quarter in December. Last year schools had five days off in the fall, and seven days off in the winter. This year however, we had one day off in the fall, but will have

eleven days off in the winter. It may seem like less days off, but it’s ac-tually the same amount of days as every other year. LPS decided to change schedules this year so first semester could end before winter break. In the past years we have always gone on win-ter break before the semester ended and had to come back from break and finish the rest of the semester, and hard for high school students to take finals after such a long break. Mickle’s associate principal Mr. Deutsch thinks that switching sched-ules was the right thing to do. “With the semester ending before

winter break students, will be able to finish out the semester even stron-ger than before. It will also be eas-ier for families to plan for one long break instead of planning for two small breaks.” In a random survey taken of both students and staff, about half of the people surveyed like the new sched-ule, and the other half like the old one better. “I like it better now with the one day off in between the quarters [in Oct.]. It is easier for everybody to come back and for a new quarter after winter break,” Mickle’s library secretary Mrs. Smith says.

BY CHRIS RUSSERT The nine members of the student advisory committee meet with Mr. Thompson at different times in dif-ferent places to discuss how to make Mickle a better place.Mr. Thompson said it is good to have the committee, “because students should have more say in ideas for the school”. He said some of their ideas have been healthier food options such as less fat in foods and more fruit op-tions and they want to make people have more school pride with activities such as the 6th grade social. This is the first year of the Student Advisory Committee and Thompson said he hopes it continues, “We hope

to continue for many more years, but the hard thing is to find times that don’t conflict with other activities.” They are considering holding meet-ings at lunch and providing lunch for students advisers. So far there has been only one meeting of the com-mittee. Thompson hopes we will have more school spirit and help make Mickle the most Sixth grader, Taylor Morgan, joined so she could have input at Mickle. “ I could tell the principal things I might want to change or might want to know”. If you would like to join, sign up in the main office, and when the group meets again, you will be able to join them.

BY SKYLAR NICKLES On October 1st, students, teach-ers, principals, and even some parents, from all around the dis-trict decided to volunteer 2 hours of their time and effort around their community, in an event called LPStudentServe. Their goal was simple: to help. While elementary school and middle school students did gardening projects around their schools, high school students helped out at local businesses. LPStudentServe was created by a high school senior named Hope Edwards. She had a idea that one day, LPS students all over the city would come together to help their communities. She and a group of other students first met in a coffee shop in Ma, 2011, and soon, the idea of LPS Student Serve was up and running. This distict-wide activity was the first one of its kind in the United States. The group’s mission statement is: “LPStudentServe is a student-

led, district-wide initiative commit-ted to instilling civic responsibility and preserving democratic ideol-ogy in students by promoting be-haviors of good citizenship in their local, national, and global com-munities.” The goal is to make LP-StudentSeve an annual event. The sign-up started in September, and the actual date of service was October 1st, 2011. Over 40 kids signed up to serve here at Mickle. Together, Mickle students accom-plished weeding and raking the garden by the front entrance, and some work in the new greenhouse at the back of the school.

NewsPage 2

Issue 1 OCTOBER 2011Robin Mickle Middle School

Mickle students join inLPStudentServe day

Fall bookfair successful

Gym classes using fitness roomBY ELANOR JORGENSEN The fitness room is once again open, but this time, there is less ping-pong and more fitness. Starting this school year, the fitness room will be used for warm-ups on Monday-Wednesday for physical education classes. The new activities include exercise bikes, weight balls, mats, jump-roping, barbells, and stairs. This provides teens with professional equipment in a very nice en-vironment similar to a home-gym. “We chose the equip-ment,” said McVay, “be-cause as a department, we decided that we should pro-vide equipment that would offer students a variety of cardiovascular and muscu-lar endurance activities. We sometimes think that exer-cise needs to be one activity for an extended amount of

time, but that isn’t necessar-ily always the case.” She says that a class is usually only in the Fit Room for 15 minutes at a time, but the short and intense bouts of exercise is great for the body! Ms. McVay says the fitness room is a great ad-dition to P.E. class because not all students enjoy team or cooperative sports/ac-tivities, so the Fit Room pro-vides exercise to students as an individual activity. The P. E. teachers are also thinking of new ideas and ways to improve the fitness room’s uses. “Students are more than welcome, and even encour-aged, to offer their ideas as to how the Fit Room could be improved,” said McVay. “As a department, we are big fans of new ideas, tech-nology, and fun!”

BY CHRIS RUSSERT On September 20th and 22nd during conferences and September 21st after school, the Mickle book fair was held in the fitness room. Mrs. Jorgensen, the school librarian, said, “The Media Center gets a percent-age of profits for the Media Center and the book fair gives kids a chance to tell me what they want me to buy for the Media Center collection. The book fair is also a great way to get kids reading and excited about reading.” Jorgensen said there were many great books at the fair and she purchased many of them for the media center. She recommended “Notes From The Dog,”a book about Finn, a boy who is terrified of meeting new people until he meets his new neighbor, Joanna, a breast cancer survivor who inspires him and he finds his voice. Jorgensen also recommended Girl, Stolen, a Golden Sower nominee, about a blind girl named Cheyenne who accidentally gets kidnapped while waiting in the car for her mother, and Heroes Of 9/11 is a book about true stories from people who helped out when our nation was under attack . Jorgensen said the book fair turnout was good. “I absolutely thought this was successful,” Jorgensen said. “We have a lot of supportive teachers and parents.” 6th grader Isabel Kettler visited the book fair and said she liked the book Code Orange. This is a story about a

underachieving student who is more in-terested in Olivia, his friend, than his school report about an infectious dis-ease which could keep him from flunk-ing the class. That is, until he finds a smallpox scab in a medical book.Then a terrorist group kidnaps him and want to use him as a human biological weap-on against people in New York . Kettler also liked Kaleidoscope Eyes, about Lyza who finds an envelope with her name on it in her grandfather’s house when he passes away. In the en-velope are vague clues about one last adventure for her. She gets help from her friends who end up getting ground-ed in their search for Captain Kidd’s lost treasure. Seventh grader Maddie Walton, said she wanted to read In A Heartbeat about 16 year old Eagan, who dies of a fall on ice and Amilea who finally re-cieves the heart ansplant she needed. The heart transplant has driven these two lives together. Walton also recom-mended The Eleventh Plague, where after a war, a large spread of Influen-za leaves two thirds of the population dead. Quinn and his family are some of the very few survivors. The bookfair also included it’s annual “Candy Guessing Jar.” The ten people with the closest guess won a free book. This semester’s winners were: Mrs. Adler, Rose Olsen, Madelyn Walton, Dylan Young, John Bradley, Harry Pip-er, Jordan Malcolm, Ethan Karr, Riley Bader, and Jocie Towers.

Watch the All-School Choir and the 8th Grade Choir perform!October 27th7pmMickle Auditorium

Photo by Yearbook staff

http://bogglesworldesl.com

WORD FIND FUN

BY MORGAN RIEF Mickle student, Elanor Jorgensen, an 8th grader, will be competing to be named the best middle school musi-cal talent at the Talent for Teammates Competition on Oct 23rd. Talent For TeamMates is a city-wide musical talent com petition open to ANY middle & high school stu-dents in Lincoln. Acts go through many rounds compet-ing with Vocal soloist (or groups), instrumental soloist (or groups), and bands or small ensembles. Two acts from each school are invited to represent and compete in a final competition at St. Mark’s Church on October 23rd. Tickets to the finale are sold to raise money for the TeamMate program, a program that connects LPS students with adult mentors. After two rounds of auditions, Jorgensen was chosen as the Mickle finalist to perform with the other middle school finalists on October 23rd at St. Mark’s. It was Jorgensen’s violin rendition of Concerto in D by Vivaldi that sealed the deal. If Jorgensen wins the final competition on Oct 23rd, she gets to perform at the Lied Center. “I am excited to be a finalist, but I am nervous,” said Jorgensen. “I’m afraid of messing up under pressure, but I’m happy to have a chance to raise money for TeamMates.”

Wanna see the show?Where- St. Mark’s Church, 8550 Pioneers BlvdCost- $10-Student /$15 AdultWhen- Sun, October 23rd 4pm-6pm

Mickle LifePage 3

Issue 1 October 2011Robin Mickle Middle School

Edited by Mikara Feit

Spotlight on Ms. Pilney

Get involved with clubs at Mickle

Jorgensen is Mickle finalist in ‘Talent for TeamMates’ competition

STORY AND PHOTO BY LANEY FREDERICK She looks left and right making sure that no one in her way that she could run into. Then she quickly slips into the classroom and looks around. She smiles and walks to her desk. This may sound just like you or maybe your best friend or any other student, but for new teacher Miss. Pilney this is her first day of school! She teaches French 7, French 8 and is our new Drama 8 teacher. She liked foreign language class and when interviewed for a new job at Mick-le she was also asked to teach Drama 8. She chose French because it is “hands on work.” Plus, she spoke French and enjoyed it. She explained the reason she also chose to teach Drama. “ Before I wanted to be a teacher I want ed to be an actress.” She also spent 7 years at a local Renaissance Festival. Since it has been about a month since school began, I asked how she was lik-ing Mickle. “I like my classroom and students.” Miss. Pilney says. “I’ve learned so much here!”

BY TAYLOR MORGAN

Homework ClubWho runs it: Mrs. AinslieWhen:Mon-Fri 3-4pmWhere:In room 109If you are interested: It can give you a chance to finish your homework at school where you can get help so then you can have your evenings free.Note: This isn’t a club that you attend daily. Just come on days you want to or need help.FREE!

Caucus: This year all caucus groups will be joining to-gether into one big caucus group. Anybody can join, so bring your friends!Who runs it: Mrs. Davis, Dr. Shuman, and Mr. Rousseau When: 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month from 3-4pmWhere: In the Media CenterIf you are interested: You can have a voice at school and have a sense of ownership and unity. You will also talk about the Circle of CourageFREE!

Math ClubWho runs it: Mrs. Bettis, mentor, who teaches math and scienceWhen: 3:15-4:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and ThursdaysWhere: In the classroom on the right side of the stageIf you are interested: You will learn shortcuts and easi-er ways to solve math problems. Also, you will do fun games and puzzles and neat things that you will learn you can do with numbers.Neat Fact: Mickle Middle School won 4th place nation-ally in math competitions!FREE!

Urban FarmingWho runs it: Jennie Holt, VolunteerWhen: 3:00-5:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and ThursdaysWhere: In the garden If you are interested: You will go to a farm, a restaurant, and grow, harvest, and sell vegetables at the Farmer’s Market. You will also make compost and learn more about the environment. Neat Fact: It is the biggest garden in Lincoln that is con-nected to a school!Cost: Free for CLC members, $5 for YMCA members, and $7.50 for non-YMCA members

ChorusWho runs it: Mrs. Johnson

When: Look for signs in NovemberWhere: Music Room 142If you are interested: You can practice choral music and perform once per quarter!FREE!

Student CouncilWho runs it: Mrs. Weimer and Mr. BartelsWhen: 2nd and 4th Wed after schoolWhere: room 216If you are interested: Join us if you want to make Mickle the most, plan fun events and volunteer.Neat Fact: They are planning separate fun events for each grade level this year.FREE!

Newspaper ClubWho runs it: Mrs. JorgensenWhen: Wed. 7:20amWhere: room 125If you are interested: You will learn to write and inter-view people for our school newspaperNeat Fact: If you join, you will see your writing pub-lished, just like this article!FREE!

Art ClubWho runs it: Mrs. GablehouseWhen: TBAWhere: Art roomIf you are interested: You can do different crafts and art activities each time.FREE!

Card ClubWho runs it: Mrs. Petsch (volunteer)When: starting on Oct, Thursdays 3:15-4pmWhere: TBAIf you are interested: You can play any card games you like. Most people like Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic: the Gathering or PokemonNeat Fact: They would like to organize tournaments too.FREE!

Book ClubWho runs it: Mrs. Petsch (volunteer)When: starting on OctWhere: TBAIf you are interested: If you want to read good books,share and talk with other people, you can joinFREE!

Spotlight on:Ms. Tipkin

STORY AND PHOTO BY CARLA SERAVALLI Mrs. Tipkin is new to Mickle this year and teaches Family Consumer Science. She has also taught age newborns all the way up to 18 year-olds. This may be her first year at Mickle, but Mrs. Tipken is no stranger to the classroom environ-ment. “I’ve learned so much here” says Tip-ken, “It’s definitely been a learning ex-perience.” After coming to Mickle, she’s found that the students and staff are especially helpful and interesting. With her experi-ence of teaching younger children, she believes it has come in handy for the transition. “Some of the skills carry over to middle school” she says. Mrs. Tipken makes a good addition to our staff at Mickle, and her seasoned teaching skills make her a favorite of her students. Although she gets benefits from teaching here, having her as a teacher also definitely helps make Mickle the

Elanor Jorgensen is the Talent for TeamMates winner for Mickle Middle School. The final will be on Oct 23rd.Photo courtesy of Dr. Charf

BY BREEZY HELDSTAB

Uggs

These shoes are warm and good for winter. You don’t have to zip them or or tie them. They come in many col-ors and styles. You can also get them with designs, such as a peace sign.

Nikes

Sneakers like these are per-fect of sports and for gym class. You can customize them any way you want. You can pick the colors, the designs, and the writing. You can even put your name on the front!

All-Stars

All-star shoes such as Con-verse, are also good for gym

class and sports. They come in different heights. They are made out of a cloth-like fabric that make them comfortable. They are made for adults, kids and even babies.

Toms

These shoes are good for walking around, dressing up or just for having a good time. They good with dresses, or jeans. They come in all sizes and colors. They can be flow-ery, striped or just plain. Peo-ple also really like to decorate them themselves once they buy them.

Tony Hawks

Tony Hawks are shoes any-one can wear. It doesn’t mat-ter whether you are a boy or a girl, you can wear them! They have them in different colors, styles and sizes. They even make them in infant sizes.

(All images courtesy of Wiki-media commons)

OpinionPage 4

Issue 1 October 2011Robin Mickle Middle School

Ask Auntie Marge An advice column

for life’s puzzling questions

Edited by Skylar Nickles

Breezy’s Best: Top 5 Shoes

Dear Auntie Marge,How do you write into Auntie Marge? -Confused

Dear Confused,Well, first, you think of a question. Then you write it down and put it in the box marked “Auntie Marge” outside of the Media Center. Then Auntie Marge’s little elves empty the box and deliver the questions to the North Pole. Or is that Santa? Oops, sorry. But the first part is right. Sincerely, Auntie Marge

Dear Auntie Marge,Why don’t pigs fly? -Curious

Dear Curious,Because if they get too close to the sun, they might turn into bacon! Sincerely, Auntie Marge

Dear Auntie Marge,I’m getting behind on my work. What should I do? -Lazy

Dear Lazy,Go to Homework Club after school! It’s every day after school in room 109. You can go and get your homework done so you don’t have to do it at home. Sincerely, Auntie Marge

Dear Auntie Marge,Why do people like Sesame Street all of a sudden? -Elmo Hater

Dear Elmo Strongly-Disliker,Maybe they’re embracing their inner child. Or they just like the Cookie Monster. Either way, “Om nom nom!” Sincerely, Auntie Marge

Dear Auntie Marge,My hamster’s pregnant. Is this a problem? -Non-Midwife

Dear Non-Midwife,This one is tough. If you don’t like your hamster or hamsters in gener-al, then it’s a problem. Otherwise, the more, the merrier! Sincerely, Auntie Marge

Dear Auntie Marge,Is it true that on Saint Patrick’s day, some people eat whole roasted leprechauns? I read that in a book once... -Hungry...

Dear Hungry,I’m not sure, but I think that’s can-nibalism. Isn’t it? Hmmm... But, I’m going to say no. I don’t think people eat leprechauns. Hopefully. Sincerely, Auntie Marge

Dear Auntie Marge,Do you think it’s possible to make clothes out of cheese? -Cheesehead

Dear Cheesehead,I guess with some sewing, and a LOT of determination, you might be able to. Just ask Lady Gaga for the recipe. Sincerely, Auntie Marge

Would you rather...

by Kami Kucera

*be as red as a lobster or as pale as a ghost?

*turn left when nothing else is right or right when nothing else is left?

*be rich from doing a job you hate or be middle class from doing a job you love?

Healthy tips for studentsBY KAMI KUCERA, NEWS/SPORTS EDITOR

1) Be active for more than a hour a day. 2) Eat from all of the food groups to give your body all the nutrients it needs. 3) Get as much calcium as you can in your body now because when you get to be 25 your body will stop ab-sorbing it into your bones. 4) Eat foods that aren’t from a bag, eating fresh and grown foods helps not only you feel good but the environ-

A day in the life of: Mrs. CovingtonBY BRITTANY CLARK

5:30am—Wake up—keep hitting snooze until she receives coffee!6:30am—Wake up and dress her son7:00am—Drive son to daycare be-fore he goes to kindergarten7:15am—Arrive at school to prepare for the day8:00am—Teach English classes

9:50am—Plan period (work with students, meetings, and grading)11:40am—Teaching more English classes3:30pm—Pick up son5:45pm—Go to Taekwondo or Kick boxing8:30pm—Read books with son9:00pm—Finally go to sleep!

EntertainmentPage 5

Issue 1 OCTOBER 2011Robin Mickle Middle School

Edited by Trevor Murphy

Thirsty: a creepy poem

Caile’s Game Corner

BYTREVORMURPHYENTERTAINMENTEDITOR

Sorry,guys,butmybrother,TylerMurphy,has...fallen to the Zombies. So sad. So, I’vetakenhisplace.This isawise lessonforyouguysandgirlstolearn--BECAREFUL!Any-ways,here’ssomemorerulestoobeytonotbeazombie’sappetizertomorrow.

Rule1)Shoot ‘emin theheadand they’llstaydead!(Zombies,thatis!)Thisisrule#1forareason,youknow.ITSTHEMOST IMPORTANT ONE! No matterwhatyoudo,azombiewillnotdie...well,dieagain,unlessyoudosomesortofseveredam-agetothezombiebrain,likeabullet,oranaxetothehead.Ifyourstillabitiffy,justaxemeaquestion.

Rule2)Bepreparedforanything!!! Ifyou’veplayedDeadRisingand/orL4D,Youknowwhat I’mtalkingabout.Youneverknowwhenagiantover-sizedBEASTisgoingto come around the corner and smashyou tobits.Alwayscarryaheavy-dutyweapon,espe-ciallyaDesertEagle.Oh,andifyouwantare-liablemeleeweapon,Useacrowbar.Thetype

youwant isa redcoloredone. It looksgood,trustme,I’manexpert.

Rule3)Don’tabandonyourcompanions!NomatterWHATyouMUSTnotabandonyourcompanions!Ifyoudo,well,don’tcomecrying to me when your old companion hasjust destroyed your home base, and is eatingyourothercompanionlikeahumanwouldeatroast.Hey, if you save them, theymight justsave your brains a few times. (You’ve beengiveninfoonwhatmighthappenifyourlunchistakenawayfromyou,Zombie)

Rule4)Scavenge!!!Youshouldscavengesmallareasatatime.Don’tthinkofscavengingtheentireWal-Mart,and don’t scavenge JUST the candy aisle!!!Youneedtogetammo,andfood.Eatthestuffthatwill expirewithin the nextweek.Throwawayanyfoodthatispast1.5weeksold.Wa-terdoesn’texpire.Youjustneedtoheatitup,toahighertemperaturethan120degrees.Thisshouldkillanyremainingbacteria,orviruses.Youmuststicktogetherwithyourcompanions,refer back to the last rule if you don’t knowwhatI’mtalkingabout.

BY CAILE BIRDWELL

Well, since Kameron had to leave the game corner last year and head off to 9th grade... The game corner was thought to be dead. NO SUCH WORRY, MY FRIENDS! For I am Caile! And I shall save the game corner!

GAME REVIEW

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is ex-tremely popular. I bought Super Mario galaxy 2 this year, which shows just how hard it was to get. And in other ways, I don’t do any-thing to earn money, so I just ride on my Christmas and birthday

money all year long. Whoop. What I noticed in this game is it started very much like the other one, but with more HUGENESS! Nintendo REALLY wanted to show off their 3d animation skills. Which, I feel I should add, was successfully shown. The game was exciting at the start, but towards the middle, I felt a little bit disap-pointed. The final boss (SPOILER ALERT) was a HUGE disappoint-ment to me. The level leading up to it was epic, so naturally I ex-pected an epic final boss. I was wrong, Bowser’s fights were the same. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Every time! There was only one thing that I noticed that changed in the fight, and that was there were two phases. The last one has AMAZING music to it, but the fight was so short, I didn’t hear much of it before Bowser died! This game in my opinion only deserves a 3 Nintendo Wii remotes out of 5.

GAME NEWS Two big Mario games are sup-posed to be released around 2012. The first one is supposed to be called Mario Kart 7, but I’m not sure if that’s the official name or not. As Mario Kart Wii set most fans up for, Nintendo will choose some courses off of the old games. You might be familiar

with Airship Fortress from Mairo Kart Ds, and some new courses will be added as well. Somehow, you car can turn into a plane and then back again when you land on the ground, or turn into a mini submarine... The cars are odd. Nintendo logic. Lastly, I would like to point out Paper Mario 3Ds. We all thought it was going to be a copy of the original, but for the 3D’s, but it is actually supposed to be a whole new game! Not much has been revealed about this game, only some very short clips of gameplay and the fact that it will be released in 2012. The release date on both of these games is unknown, just an estimate on mario kart 7, which is planned to be released some time this december. I’m going to go straight for that one... Hopefully you guys can find something in this article that can get you hooked and read next is-sue’s Caile’s Game Corner. I will be making different game reviews on games other than just Mario. So non-Mario fans, if you some-how made it all the way down to here without throwing your paper at one another out of rage, good for you! You know I will be cover-ing some other game franchises, so hold tight, for the next issue.

BY ELANOR JORGENSEN

Stale bread.One bite.Jug of water.Completely dry.Bread is old.Crust is cracked.Old dry bone.Meat is gone.Marrow sucked.There is no light.There is no sound.Only the steady thumping of my heart.Thump-thump.Thump-thump.My trembling hands runOver the cold walls.It is oh, so cold.But there is no moistureTo soften my dry lips.My tongue is aSwollen bloated balloon of a whale.My throat is parchment--Pale, cracked, dusty.I have no wish for light.It would blind me.I have no wish for food.I cannot hold it down.I have no wish for friends.I have nothing to say.Nothing to share.All I want is water.Thump-thump.Thump-thump.My eyes roam desperately.I cannot see.There is nothing but blackness.If I fell into a well, it would be

heaven.Pitch black.Full of water.My wish is to dieIn a streamOr a pond.Surrounded by life.No.My captors have greater punish-ments.They do not drown me.They do not stab me.They wait patiently for me to dieOf thirst.Underwater.Yes--I am held here in a cellUnderwater.At the bottom of the ocean.Enough air to last me for years.There is a windowMade of unbreakable glass.I have tried.It shows the currents. It shows the ripples.It shows me life.At the bottom of the ocean here,the pressure is not enough tocrush me.It is not that deep.It is deep enough to take away light.And so I await my death.To die of thirstIn a land that knowsNothing but waterAnd life.Thump-thump.Thump-thump.Thump-thump...There will be no escape.

BookReviewsWithCorbin

BY CORBIN RIX

I read a lot, so I’ll be writing a column about book reviews now. This month I focused on four books that I highly recommend.

1) The Alchemist: The Secrets of The Immortal Nich-olas Flammel by Michael Scott.This is the first book in a series. It’s about twins who are “the one and the two that are one”. One of them is to save the world, one to destroy it. The main characters are Josh, Sophie, Nicholas, Per-nelle, and John Dee.

2) Witch and Wizard. by James PattersonIt’s about two teenagers named Wisty and Whit Allgood, who can use magic, but they don’t know they can, yet. They get taken away from home by these police like people. They’re taken to this jail/institute, then they escape and meet other people like them.

3) Raven’s Gate by Anthony HorowitzThis book is by my favorite author. It’s the first book in a series, about 5 teenagers from different countries and they are all 14, but they don’t meet until the last book. In this one, the main character is Matthew (Matt) Freeman. He lives in Ipswich, England, with his aunt Gwenda Davis.

4) Eragon by Christopher PaoliniThisdescriptive book is set around medieval times. The main character, Eragon, is a farmer/hunter that lives with his uncle Garrow and cousin Roran. The book starts out where Eragon is hunting a herd of deer in the The Spine (a mountain range). As he’s hunting, a dark blue “stone” appears.

EntertainmentPage 6

Issue 1 October 2011Robin Mickle Middle School

BY TREVOR MURPHYENTERTAINMENT EDITOR So sad... This is my 3rd and final insallment of “My Freaky Stalker Story”. Okay, it all started one morning, during the summer of 2010. My stalker had come over to play with my sister. I was used to her coming over just about every other day. THIS day, though, was VERY different. After swimming at the YMCA, Lily Murphy, and my mom decided to go to Dairy Queen. This is when things started to get funky. Stalker, Lily, and I were sitting at the round table in the corner. Suddenly, Little Miss Lovey Dovey wanted me to sit RIGHT BY HER. So, being the kind gentleman I am, I did as I was told. Then, suddenly, she put her arm right around me. I was all like: “YOU LIKE ME?!?!” Not a big surprise, though, I mean, WHO COULD RESIST THIS?! I

rest my case. On the drive home, she decided to make her move, big time. She decided to chase me through the back yard, cornering me, and kissing me. Big problem, She loooooooves me, and I hardly even know my own stalker. See what I mean??? That’s kinda typical, though... A few weeks later, something ELSE happened. Let’s just say Tyler and Lily both forced me to do this. This was not of my own will. Miss Lovey Dovey once again came over, and she told me she wanted a hug. I said, sarcasti-cally: “Yes, master.” Well, Tyler, Lily, and My Stalker took it seriously, so they forced my arms around her, and let’s just say it was a rather unromantic moment. Once again, a few months later, she wanted another hug. I gave her one, and it lasted about 30-40 seconds (what? I’m a gentleman, I DO NOT LIKE MY STALKER!!!). She decided she was then deeeeeeply in love with me, no big surprise there, either. The same thing happened over and over. Then, JUST LAST MONTH, she decided she loves me so much, that she gave me a present. Not just any present. I will NOT tell you what it is. Well, that is the end of my STALKER’S FREAKY FINAL FORM!!! Sadly, you 6th graders don’t know my stalker too well. Everyone, I thank you for being nice and helping me through this.....hard time. Your sympathy is loved. This is the last freaky stalker story I will write...for now.

MADD MUSIC

My freaky stalker story continuedThe victim: Me. The perpetrator: a six-year-old.

Edited by Trevor Murphy

BY MADIE BERLIE

Here are my favorite songs right now.BREAKING BENJAMIN - DIARY OF JANE & GIVE ME A SIGN -Breaking Benjamin is a band that was previously up and coming, but now is a very popular band for all ages, ecspecially teens. The band was started by benjamin burnely, Aaron Fink (guitarist) and Mark James Klepaski (bassist), are “ex-mem-bers” of Lifer, a band that eventually dis-appeared. To find out more about Breaking Benjamin, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/BreakingBenjaminOFCL or Pandora by searching Breaking Benjamin.LADY GAGA - PAPER GANGSTA -

Known worldwide, this artist is known for her crazy outfits, and being a girl from New York, dating some one from Omaha, Nebraska mentioned in her song “You and I” from the album, ‘Born this Way,’ and being called Stefani Germanotta as a child (yes, Stefani Germanotta is her real name)This song is more along the lines of a pop-dance beat than rap or anything else, nor-mally something Gaga would be expected of write.ENYA - ADIEMUS - “A beautiful song for nature,” some one on youtube said, I think they are right, this is a truly calming and serene song, you can do work with it, and it can fit many themes. Please listen to it!!!!

BY LILY CRAIG

Hey! I’m Lily and I love music especially GLEE! I love watching Glee and I also love listening to all of the music covers. I also love reading Teen Vogue that always has a music section with unknown artists. I am always searching for new bands to listen to. This issue I have 3 awesome lesser known bands and artists that you oughta know and should listen to!

The Summer Set - A great rock and roll band is The Summer Set. The are from Scottsdale, Arizona and started in 2007. This band writes some awesome dancing songs. My favorite is Chelsea that always gets me up and dancing. A great band for people who like We the Kings and Hey Monday!

Best Coast - Best Coast is an awesome pop band that formed in California in 2009. I love their music because it is catching and calming. My favorite song by them is called “Crazy For You” which is a very upbeat song and I keep on clicking repeat! It is a great band for people who are fans of Lykke Li!

Zee Avi - Zee Avi (otherwise known as Koko Kaina) is one of my favorite singers of all times. She is an awesome soft rock singer! I love that her songs are very acoustic and sweet. My favorite song by her

@RocknRollGirl

Bonkers The ClownA creepy story

BY ELANOR JORGENSEN “Happy Birthday, Amy!” yelled the clown as he walked in the door. “Yay! My clown is here!” I yelled. The clown bowed in front of me, but he tripped and fell in the process. My friends at the table laughed. The clown popped up and asked me how old I am. “I’m five. My name is Amy. Do you have a name?” I asked. “My name is Bonkers the Clown. Do you know why they call me Bonkers?” he asked. “No,” We said. “Because I bonk people!” Bon-kers pulled out a beanbag on a stick and bonked me on the head. I giggled. Mommy and Daddy smiled, then went back into the kitchen while Bonkers entertained Bonkers looked at us, with a determined look on his face. “Do you kids want balloons? I have balloons in my truck.”

“Yay!” I screamed with my friends. This clown was so nice! We ran outside to his van. It had red splotches. They were darker than the ones on his shirt. “Get in the van!” Bonkers said, bonking us with his beanbag stick. We all leaped up inside. He shut the door. There was only a driv-er’s seat. The back was all empty. There were strings hanging down in our faces. This was the best par-ty ever! “Hey!” yelled a friend. “Where are the balloons?”“Look up!” said Bonkers, start-ing the car. We all looked up. There were hundreds of little kids head’s duct-taped to the ceiling with strings tied around them. My friends screamed. “That’s why they call me Bon-kers!” yelled the clown as he drove off with us in the back of his truck.The End...?

Awkward TurtleLife’s embarrassing stories

**I was at my Great-Aunt’s funeral when it happened. My finest, most awkward moment came when we were singing a sad, slow song. My little sister, barely two, suddenly burst out in song—but it wasn’t the mournful tune she was singing. She was singing “You are My Sunshine” at the top of her lungs. Everyone could hear it. My Dad couldn’t get her to be quiet, so we were forced to take her out of the sanctuary, still singing her little heart out. It really was an awkward turtle moment when the pastor afterwards came up and told us how much he liked her singing.

**I once tried to leave the doctor’s office and I accidentally walked into another patient’s room! It was so em-barrassing! Luckily no one saw my face!!

**I was at the children’s museum and there was a little girl that came up to me and told me she was lost. I got my mom and we went on a cru-sade to find the missing family mem-bers. I finally asked the little girl what her mom looked like. She looked at

me in horror then started to scream and cry and point at me like I was try-ing to kidnap her. She ran off and hid behind a woman who stared at me. We were gawked and glared at un-til we left. I still don’t know what that girl’s problem was, but it truly was an awkward turtle moment.

Did you know...1) Putting a “4” at the end of the Facebook URL will take you directly to Mark Zuckerburg’s wall.

2) McDonald’s sells 75+ hamburgers per second.

3) Apples are more efficient than caffeine at waking you up in up in the morning.

Bands You Oughta Know!

Art Page 7

Issue 1 OCTOBER 2011Robin Mickle Middle School

Edited by

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Sports Page 8

Issue 1 OCTOBER 2011Robin Mickle Middle School

Edited by Kami Kucera

Sports around the world

Charf, Rowe split athleticdirector position

Kayak PoloBY KAYLIE HILLWho’s up for a game of kayak polo?! Do you even know what kayak polo is? Kayak polo is an unknown sport to many people, but is actually popular in some states and countries. It has been played since the early 1980’s and it is loosely based on the sport of basketball, but it is played in water, also referred to as the “field”. Games can be held indoors in a swim-ming pool or outdoors in a lake or other body of water depending on the weather. Two teams of five oppose each other. Each player must be in a kayak. To win, your team must get the ball into the opposing team’s goal the most times. You can hit the ball with your hand or your paddle. You can only take control of the ball for five seconds at a time. Usually, a game of kayak polo will last about thirty minutes unless extra periods of play are needed. Kayak polo world championships happen every two years. The 2010 Kayak Polo World Championship was held in Milan, Italy. There are open teams that include both men and women and there are teams for only men and only women. There is a Lincoln Kayak Polo team if you are interested in signing up for this intense sport. Games for the Lincoln league won’t be too far away because mainly, the games are in and around Lincoln, Nebraska. In fact, the Kayak Polo Nationals were held in Omaha this year. Visit lincolnkay-akpolo.com for more info. If you are looking for a fun and truly unique sport, try kayak polo.

Frisbee GolfBY HAILEY DAVIDSON Frisbee golf, also known as disc golf, is a sport where individual players throw discs into baskets or targets. This sport is only about 50 years old. Modern Frisbee golf started in the early 1960s. Players in Pendleton King Park in Augusta, Georgia would toss Frisbees in 50-gallon barrel trash cans used as targets. The object of the game is to have as few of throws as possible when trying to reach the target, just like in regular golf. Disc golf is almost ex-actly the same as “ball” golf, but disc golf is using Frisbees and baskets, instead of clubs, balls, and holes. There are different types of discs used for different purposes, much like ba golfers use different clubs. The 3 different types of Frisbees are: putter, mid-range, and driver. The putter is the largest, the driver is the smallest, and the mid-range is in-between. The putter is used for shorter distances and the driver is for longer ones. The mid-range is for in-between distances. The player begins by ‘driving’ from the starting tee area and continues to-ward the target, throwing each shot from the spot where the previous throw has landed. Finally, a successful ‘putt’ sends the disc into the target. Most Frisbee golf courses are usually 18- 24 baskets, but you’ll find some nine-basket courses too. Lincoln has two Frisbee golf courses, one at Tierra Park near 27th and High-way 2, and another one at Roper Interstate Park near N 1st St and Fairfield.

The Canadian “A” team plays at Lake Cunningham near Omaha in Sep-tember.Photo courtesy of Nikki Bates, Lincoln Kayak Polo Club

BY KAMI KUCERA, NEWS/SPORTS EDITOR This year Mickle has a new co-athlet-ic director, Mr. Rowe. Rowe will be sharing his new position as athletic director with Dr. Charf. For the last two years, Rowe has been a cross country and track coach for Mickle, and has always been a big sports fan. “I’m so excited to be doing this job with him. He is a charismatic, energetic, and a student-focused col-league,” said Charf. After school Rowe is usually found down by the gyms supervising the sports practices. Besides just super-vising, he also helps Charf with hir-ing and talking to all of the coaches, communicating with all of the par-ents, and collecting the athletes medi-cal cards and grade sheets. This year Rowe will also be running all of the cross country meets too. At the meets he will be making sure everything is going okay, and will be talking to the other coaches from the different schools.

“It’s very fun and exciting being a co-athletic director,” says Rowe about the job. “This year started out being very busy, but it has helped a lot having some of Mickle’s teachers help coaching some sports.” The goal is that by next year Rowe will be the athletic director all by himself. To prepare for this big com-mitment, Charf will be teaching him all of the duties this year, and will be helping him out until he gets the hang of how to run things. “It’ll be hard work next year, and I’ll miss having the help. However, I think the year will go great if we have the same coaches, and if the athletes are willing to learn,” Rowe comments.

A typical frisbee golf basket. Golfers aim at the chains and the frisbee falls in the basket below.Photo courtesy of WIkimedia Commons, Creative Commons license

Fall Sports PhotosVolleyball In Action

Cross Country Team

Football In Action

All photos cour-tesy of DR. CHARF!

Photo by Mrs. Smith