Cubs' Column
The Voice of Jackson Memorial Middle School
Principal's Message
"Make gentle the life of this world."
You see, each and every day, there are temptations to do and say things that could be hurtful to others. It can be challenging sometimes to be kind to people who maybe aren't doing the same for you. It can be a struggle to turn the other cheek and ignore some of the negativity surrounding you. Each and every one of us - students, teachers, custodians, cafeteria workers, principals, parents, community members - we all face bumps in the road. Everyone is battling with something.
The challenge from Senator Kennedy was to, in the face of all of these challenges, be someone who helps instead of hurts. Work to help others and to strive to do what is right. It's often very difficult to do this, but you'll be glad you did. There are people all through our school who do the right thing every day, and often that goes unnoticed. Even though there isn't huge recognition for their deeds, those individuals have a tremendous sense of pride knowing that they are working to help those around them.
So, take some time to think about how you can be a helper. Think about how you can build up others rather than tear them down. Put a smile on your face - even in the tough times - and start with a warm hello. Each and every positive action you take will help to "make gentle the life of this world."
Student Life
Students Celebrate Love For JMMS During Spirit Week
Through the week of November 11th to the 15th, JMMS celebrated our school spirit in many amazing ways. There was the themed clothing days, the food drive, and the Spirit Party for the 7th and 8th graders. Both the staff and students had a wonderful time embracing our strong school spirit.
The week started off early, with 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students coming into decorate walls Friday night. Although each grade gave a very good effort, 8th grade, whose color was purple, ended up winning the competition in a very close call. The following week then started off with students wearing red, white, and blue in honor of Veterans Day and the Veterans Day assembly, where JMMS honored our veterans, like teachers and relatives of students. The next day, Tuesday, had students wearing pajamas, and the following day, teams day, was team spirit day where students wore their teams colors. Then, the following day, Thursday, was decades day where students dressed up in clothes from their favorite decade. Then it was Friday. All week long, students brought in food to donate to help those in need.There was lots of food at the end of the week, and in turn JMMS got to give back plentifully to our community. The essay winner was also announced to be Taylor Wake of 7th grade, who won Airpods.
At the end of the school day, the 7th and 8th grade students got to celebrate their Jackson spirit at the spirit day assembly, in which students got to congratulate our amazing fall athletes, see a performance by our JMMS cheerleaders, and participate in friendly competitions between grade levels. Then after school, the 7th and 8th grade students had the opportunity to go to the Spirit Party. At the Spirit Party, there was lots of JMMS Spirit and fun, and students got to really show their love for JMMS. Says the head of the PATT, which planned the party, “Celebrating School Spirit is a great representation of unison in school, sports, and community pride.”
JMMS Honors Veterans
Club Feature: IMPACT
By Grace Hurd
In 1998 at Jackson High School, Pastors Bill and Mary Pat Gokee, the founders of Frontline Ministries International (FMI) decided that they wanted to sponsor JMMS for a new Bible club. They have been sponsoring JHS Impact for the past 20 years. In 2018 FMI decided to sponsor JMMS once more in order to reach out to the student community at the time. A few students wanted to see a Bible Club start and now a number of JMMS teachers serve as weekly facilitators. They each want to be able to encourage and inspire those who are present to live out their faith at JMMS and beyond.
The club meets in Room 102 starting at 3 and ending at 4 pm every Thursday. As Tory Larson says “It is a great place for friendship and growing in or starting a relationship with Jesus. Every week there are fun games and opportunities for students to get to know each other better”. Impact will be open to all who are interested in knowing more about Jesus.
Several times a year the JHS and JMMS Impact Bible clubs have the opportunity to get together for fun events and service opportunities. One of their most recent events was a Back to School get-to-know-you event, in which food, games, and a short devotional were held. These events are enjoyed by all and are an amazing way for the students from other Jackson schools to communicate and learn about God at the same time.
If you are interested in joining, Impact is open to anybody so there is no need to sign up to be able to attend. It is held every other Thursday after school from 3 to 4 in room 102. You do not need to notify the supervisor; you can just walk in and they will get you settled in. You don’t have to attend every meeting and there will be new topics discussed every week.
6th grade Halloween dance
Story and photos by Claire Riordan
On October 10th, the JMMS 6th graders had the opportunity to participate in the 6th grade Halloween dance. Students enjoyed themselves as they talked and danced to the music of the DJ.
The DJ of the party, Brian, states that the event is “Lots and lots of fun every year.” saying that he had been doing the dance for the past 8 or 9 years. He also says that this year the 6th graders favored the song “Truth hurts” by Lizzo. He goes into explaining how his equipment works, stating that it is “Just like a record player.”
When asked if he thought the dance was a good experience for the 6th graders, Brian agreed, stating that “I enjoy entertaining the 6th graders every single year. It's always a good time.”
Some of the students enjoying the dance were interviewed. One of those people being a girl named Reigan. I asked her many questions, one of them being “How would you describe the dance?” to which she replied “It’s a lot of fun and it’s a good chance to make a lot of friends.” I asked the same question to Kalynn Anderson, who replied stating that it was crowded, energetic, and loud. Also, that this was because of the music, which she described as a lot.
If there was one thing that everyone at the dance agreed on, it was that the experience was fun, crazy, and loud.
In the end, the 6th grade dance can be described as energetic, exciting, a good experience, and most of all, a great way to have fun, and make friends.
Sports
Jackson Football
JHS Homecoming
Entertainment
Minecraft's Comeback
By Audrey Mathes
Minecraft is one of the world’s most popular games! Mojang, the company that owns Minecraft, has sold over 154 million copies of Minecraft, and has an average of 91 million monthly players! It was released on May 17th, 2009. Currently, Minecraft is very popular. But around 2017-2018, the game began to die out. There were not as many Youtube videos coming out that were Minecraft related because it just wasn’t that new hit at the time.
But now, why is it so popular again? There are a few reasons, and in this article, we will be talking about Minecraft’s Comeback.
The first thing we need to talk about is why did Minecraft die in the first place? There are two main reasons why it began to die out. The first one is that Minecraft is an old game. Minecraft is 10 years old which is a pretty long time for a game not to be forgotten. After a while, games do die, or sometimes a new game that everyone loves replaces the game that was trendy. The other reason is because of a new game that was released… Fortnite. Fortnite became so popular after it was released. It became the new hit. It was the thing everyone was talking about.
The main reason Minecraft came back into popularity is because of the Swedish YouTuber Pewdiepie. Pewdiepie currently has around 101 Million subscribers, but when he started playing Minecraft, he had around 98-99 Million subscribers. He is the second most subscribed Youtube channel on Youtube! So if you have a really popular YouTuber, and if he/she plays a game, people usually catch on. I’ve done it myself. I remember a year or two ago, a popular YouTuber DanTDM was playing Roblox. I then began playing because it looked so cool when DanTDM was playing! So when Pewdiepie began playing five months ago, the downloads started to rise up!
Another reason Minecraft came back was because of the new updates! Before Minecraft 1.13 came out, the game was the same for a while, just a few blocks added every update. But the Minecraft 1.13 update just took it to the next level. The Minecraft 1.13 aquatic update. Before this update, the oceans and lakes of Minecraft were boring, no aquatic animals, plants, or anything like that. When Minecraft 1.13 came out, it brought Minecraft fans back. It made the oceans full of life, seagrass, dolphins, fish, coral, different types of water, and a swimming animation. It also included new items to go along with the aquatic update, like the heart of the sea, the trident, and much more! So much was added, and it brought Minecraft back. A month or two after it was added, Minecraft 1.13.2 was added, adding even more stuff to the game! Then shortly after that, Minecraft 1.14 was added, enhancing villagers, and adding pillagers. Then, now it is the latest version, Minecraft 1.14.4. Through Minecraft 1.13-1.14.4 it has changed the way Minecraft is played. And it brought back Minecraft players. It was a well-played card by Mojang.
Now we know the story, the great adventure of a few month’s time, of Minecraft’s comeback. Minecraft has risen once again into the status of great games. It has gone from a simple game in 2009, to becoming one of the world’s greatest games in over 91 languages. It has become extremely complex and very well known. Very few games come back into popularity after fading. But Minecraft has come back and shall become the ruler of games, once more.
Creative Corner
Meet the Team
Slime Time
Final Battle
Happy Birthday!
The Adventures of Softy and Herbert
Christmas Parent Shennanigans
The Cube
The Game
The Slatkin Chronicles
Chapter 1: Introductions
Today was a momentous occasion for my people the Slatkins. The eldest of our people would be changing into the next stage of our evolution. Sorry I suppose I forgot to introduce myself. I am called Alpha among my people I am in the second phase of our evolution what was once thought to be the final stage until today. I suppose you would be interested in what I look like I am essentially a giant upright lizard spikes on its forearms. A bull skull as part of my chest. Blood red reptilian eyes that can glow. I have a blood red stripe that runs down my head. I stand at 16 feet with two large bat like wings on my back. I am also 100 and a half years old. The people at the first stage of our evolution look exactly like me but without the wings, red stripe, and they are only eight feet tall. The time it takes to evolve between the alpha stage(phase 2) and the base stage(stage 1) is about 100 years of living in the first stage. Then either you will die (or at least we think that's what happens most just disappear) the day of your 100th year or turn to stone and in a week go to stage two.The eldest his name is Bob he has been in stage two for a thousand years last week he turned to gold.
Chapter 2: Evolution
Almost everyone in town was at Bob's house.Which was a nice banana yellow on the outside and inside no one ever asked why, it was two stories as well. Bobs golden form was sitting on his super sized bed. Including our leader the Slatkin Omega Prime they looked like me but with a tophat and monocle. Surrounded by stage one paparazzi and stage 2 body guards. If your wondering why Bob isn't our leader it's because of the Slakin Omega Primes great sense of morality and ability to know when something is wrong. Everyone was gathered around even my stage one buddy Roogus.
He looked looked a lot like a normal stage one but a stage 2(which is technically called an Alpha) I could tell he would be changing into an alpha soon. If you’re wondering how I know I can see through him just a little to see that some of his organs were starting to turn to stone. Which really isn't surprising considering he has about two months before his 100th birthday.
“Hey Roogus how's it going,” I called.
“Good Alpha but I'm getting nervous about my hundredth birthday I don't know if im going to change or disappear,” he said nervously
“Its alright I can see that you are starting to change,” I said happily.
“Wait no one can tell that. Are you just trying to make me less nervous?” he asked confused.
“Um no I thought that was normal for Alphas,” I said confused.
Roogus opened his mouth to say something but then a piercing light appeared. As Bob's golden form cracked open. Revealing the new Bob at first he was wrapped in light in such a way that no one could see him or anything else. Then the light dimed and I could see him he was standing at thirty two feet tall with four orange wings like mine that nearly touched the floor. Instead of the usual bull skull in his chest was more wolf-ish per say. He had a thirty foot tail that ended in a sharp steel point. I didn't get to see more since the paparazzi shoved myself, Roogus and basically everyone who wasn't the Slatkin Omega prime or his bodyguards.
Click here to continue reading!
Funny Chucky
I am one of the most famous cereal killers. Yes … I eat cereal and I enjoy it. You may be thinking this is the wrong Chucky but, I am the original Chucky . I don't like that other dude named chucky he is mean. Very mean, we were once best friends but now he is a serial killer. Then I decided that I should try one - upping him and I then became one of the most feared cereal killers in all of the land of lucky charms. I ate them all, and you have probably eaten what about 100 boxes of cereal well I have eaten over 1,000 boxes of cereal and I am a doll.
I am the prettiest doll in all of the land of earth and my owner she is really nice. Like once she decided to only let me eat cereal and it really isn't that bad. The only thing I dislike about her is that she hasn't told me her name. Then I knew that she would never tell me until I turn 3, but she has already told her parents her name and then I ran away , to then become the most famous cereal killers in all the land of cereal so... I headed down to Target and eat all the cereal all the kids cried because the donuts were gone but I did Not have anything to do with that… I still feel that I did a bad job eating the cereal because it took me a few second per box and I had to go to all the Targets in the world and there are way too many Targets. On the bright side of things I am now homeless so yeah.
I saw a toys R us and I saw all of my brothers. I then realized that they spelled cereal wrong they spelled “Serial” and in that moment I saw a KNIFE instead of a SPOON. seriously they really need to start paying attention... Well about a week ago I got a new spoon from the trash can in front of the White House and I wondered why they threw away all the spoons. I then decided to eat all the cereal in the white house then I caught… At least I tried to eat all the cereal but there was no cereal boxes that drove me insane. I really can’t help myself I mean I ate the whole kitchen and that was a bad move because I was shot on sight. Like a shot from the doctor which I was confused at first but then I vomited all the kitchen supplies out, It was not fun.
I think I should stop eating cereal ,so I guess that wraps up my life.
The Star Above
I got out of bed. I couldn’t believe it is St. Patrick's day! The day before there was a shooting star! I wished to find a four-leaf clover. I went outside and looked everywhere. No luck. I couldn’t find one. Better luck next time, I said to myself. But as I was going up the stairs I saw it, a four-leaf clover! The four-leaf clover was a greenish, purplish clover.
So, of course, I had just had to take it. I carefully brought the clover up to my bedroom. Then, I cupped it in my hand, and I made my wish. When I cupped it in my hand, it glowed were the purplish part was. Things starting flying out of It my hand was getting warm. And then It vanished. My wish was to find a leprechaun. I looked and looked but no luck, but suddenly, I had an idea! “Bang”,” clump”,”bzzzzzz...bzzzzz” I built and built and built. There it was, my trap!
The next day, I ran downstairs as fast as I could and checked my trap. The leprechaun, my leprechaun, was in my trap! The leprechaun was a short little thing, with a green hat, red hair, and green clothes. I asked the leprechaun how many wishes do I have? The leprechaun said only three. I need more wishes. As my first wish, I want to wish for more wishes. “I'm sorry, I can't do that for you, said the leprechaun. Let me tell you the rules of the wishes. You have three wishes. but you can't wish for more. If you do, then you lose one.”
I ran up to my bed, and I was blue, what did I just do, I lost one wish, but I guess could work with that. As my second wish, I want to make my family not poor, And as my third wish, I would like to set you free. The leprechaun said thank you, you are so generous and big-hearted to think of your family and me. Your wishes will come true!
The next day, my doorbell rang. I ran downstairs to see what it was. It was a huge and I mean huge package. It was at least a couple of tons. I brought it inside, opened it, it was all stacks of money, and at the very bottom, there was a gift that looked like it was rapped for christmas., I opened the gift and there were a bell and a note. The note said, thanks if you ever need me again to ring the bell.
The Princess Named Natalie
By Alyssa Large
Once upon a time, there was a very nice, kind, beautiful, and generous princess named Natalie. She lived in The most enchanted kingdom of all, Lunaris. Natalie is very cool and popular at her school, Lunaris Academy. Her Best friends are: Lori, Ami, Sadi, and Sofi. Lori is into art, anime, and music. Ami is into music, Shoes, and art. Sadi and Sofi are twins. So… basically they have the same interests. Sofi and Sadi are into art, fashion, and blogging. Last but not least, Natalie is into Art, fashion, and music. Everyone at Lunaris Academy adores Natalie! Natalie is very kind and friendly to everyone! She is very advanced in ELA. In 6th grade, Natalie had done so well in ELA, she had to go to the 7th grade level! Since then, Natalie has remained advanced in ELA. Natalie is currently in 10th grade, so she is taking 11th grade ELA. Her friends are also in 10th grade. They are not advanced like Natalie.
On the 1st day of school, Natalie realized all of her friends are in all of her classes. At lunch, Natalie was talking to Ami about the newest trending shoes and Ami was surprised about the research that Natalie did. Natalie said tom Ami: “Ami, It was an assignment that we had to do.” Ami said “Natalie, why do you get to do so many fun projects?” Then, Natalie said “ Ami, it is really so much work! We have to do SO MUCH research!” Lastly, Ami muttered to herself “So unfair!”
2 days later, Sadi asked Natalie “Will you go to the store with me to find a polaroid camera?” Then, Sadi asked Natalie “Will you go to my house later to take polaroids with me?” Of course, Natalie said yes to both questions that Sadi had asked.
Later, after Sadi and Natalie took the pictures, Natalie texted her mom and asked her if she could spend the night with Sadi. Sadi asked her mom “Can Natalie spend the night at my house?” Both Natalie and Sadi’s moms said yes!
Happily ever after!
Special Feature: JMMS spirit week essay contest winner
We Support Our Community
At Jackson Middle School, we have a responsibility to be active participants in our community. Through different activities such as the pancake breakfast, food drive, Veterans Day Celebration and support of the 33JordynStrongFoundation, our school has the opportunity to give back to the community.
Although the pancake breakfast is held at Jackson High School, JMMS staff and students participate by setting-up, cleaning up and making the delicious food. The staff help make pancakes,sausage,and bacon while the students come in and eat. To get into the pancake breakfast you have to pay five dollars. The over 9000 pancakes served to our students help raise money for Jackson families in need, pay for scholarships and give money to the Jackson Foundation. The time and effort our staff and students give helps make this event successful. What else does JMMS do to support our community?
JMMS are proud participants in a food drive every year that helps bring in can goods and other non-perishable items. Items such as noodles, beans, soap,and shampoo are brought in by staff and students. These items go to families from our community who are in need during the holiday season. The food drive usually has enough items to fill the entire wall opposite the gold gym at the middle school. By bringing in food and delivering it to the families it brings joy not only to those who receive, but for our school to give. Nothing is more important than supporting students in our school and the families in the community.
Last year, one of our students passed away from Leukemia. In honor of Jordyn Myers and in support of her family, our school supports many of the activities run by the 33JordynStrongFoundation. One of Jordyn's favorite things were fuzzy socks. Students and staff collect fuzzy socks and donate to the bins located throughout the hallways, in the commons and in classrooms. The boxes are collected and delivered to childhood cancer patients. This is one way JMMS not only promotes Unity in Our Community, but allows our staff and students to bring other communities together.
Last, but certainly not least, JMMS is very proud of our Veterans Day Celebration. This is a day where we recognize local veterans, including our own staff, who have served in the military. Our veterans are served breakfast and then taken into the gym to be honored for their bravery. This is one day we are able to say "Thank You" to these men and women, bring them into the school and show them the respect they deserve. This is one day we can invite the community members who were in the military into our school. This is one small way we can show these service people our thanks for serving our country and how proud we are that they are in our community.
It is our job to be active members of the community. It is our job to be strong supporters of the community. It is our job to show people in our community that we care. By volunteering for and supporting the pancake breakfast, food drive, 33JordynStrong Foundation and celebrating the veterans, JMMS helps promote unity in the community.
The Polar Bear Poll
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Cubs' Column
Email: jem2jc@bearworks.jackson.sparcc.org
Website: https://www.jackson.stark.k12.oh.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=6497
Location: Jackson Memorial Middle School, Mudbrook Street Northwest, Massillon, OH, USA
Phone: (330) 830-8034