REDefined Press
April 2016
Art Show 2016
By Abigail Miller and Roeyn Szumilas
Thousands of kids from Douglas County School District (kindergarten through 12 grade) were selected to be in the art show. Our school entered about 50 art pieces. Mediums ranged from drawings to sculptures, and paintings to ceramics. Each was selected by Ms. Tong and Ms. Obrecht because of the craftsmanship shown and artistic ability in the piece.
On March 9th through March 14th kids were selected for the art show. Students were able to show their art at the Lone Tree Art Center. They got to see other's pieces, show off their hard work, and get inspiration for their next masterpiece.
The Cimarron Middle School art teachers have been preparing for the Douglas County Art Show all year. The Cimarron teachers have a little over 500 kids in each grade, this resulted in over 7,000 projects to choose from for the art show. Out of 7,000 pieces only 50 were chosen to represent Cimarron.
There were many prizes handed out to schools in the Douglas County School District. Cimarron Middle School won quite a few awards. Isabel Otteson got a 2nd place prize for a drawing, Caleb Ramsey got second place sculpture, Rylie Kade got a 3rd place painting, Mandy Fleetwood got a 3rd place ceramics. Also Abigail Miller and Katie Roberts both got a mixed media honorable mention, Isabelle Ludka got a sculpture honorable mention, and Jackson Attwood got the largest award of them all an Air Academy Federal Credit Union Award, (AAFC). When you get an AAFC you then get a cash prize plus a ribbon.
Tin Foil Mask
Thermal Self Portrait
Air Academy Federal Union Prize
Foil Mask
Mixed Media Honorable Mention Prize
Digital Drivers License
By: Blake Leffler and Jack Wiley
A digital driver’s license or DDL is a license that students can get for their Personally Owned Device (POD). This license allows students to freely use their POD. However, the teachers have the ability to make you put your phone away.
The DDL will allow students to use phones and IPODs in the halls and lunch, they can even use it in class but they must have the teacher's consent. Students can look and send messages, listen to music, use the interweb, and take appropriate pictures (with permission from the student).
The DDL was made by students in Tech Ninja. They made them because of students wanting more freedom with their PODs. They got what they wanted. The freedom to use your phone is only three tests away.
In order to get the DDL, you need to pass the tests. You go to the DDL website. Once you’re there, you just pass the first three tests by at least 80%. There is no due date, you can get it whenever. “It would help keep you safer on the internet,” Mr. Casper states. The tests will tell you how. However, the DDLs are active after spring break.
Once you complete the tests you can print out a certificate. Once you have the certificate you can give it to your advisement teacher. They will then give you a sticker that you can put on your POD or student ID.
DDLs will be replacing iPOD Fridays. The new DDLs are allowing you to use your PODs while at school. You will need one to use the POD but you will be more free with it.
Cardboard Arcade
BY: CLARK AND BROGAN
On March 17, 2016, team Nokota held an event called the Cardboard Arcade. The students were able to raise money for a charity by creating a game out of cardboard.
We interviewed Mrs. Thompson and found out more about this interesting event.
She said the person who started this was a boy named Caine. Caine started making his own arcade at his Dad’s store. He would wait every day at his dad’s shop waiting for a customer to come to his arcade. When he went to school he would tell everybody that he had an arcade. No one believed him. Caine would never wear his “Caine’s Arcade” shirt because kids would make fun of him. Then one day a customer came to his arcade and asked, ”how much to play?”. Caine said, ”One dollar for one turn or two dollars for 500 turns”. His customer got a fun pass and he started playing these games. This man was then talking to Caine’s dad. Nirvan was surprised to hear that he was the very first customer.
Nirvan then sent a message on his facebook page and more than 200,000 people wanted to see and play Caine’s arcade. There were people from different countries that really wanted to go to this arcade. Then one day his dad and his first customer surprised him with a bunch of customers that have wanted to play at his arcade. He was as happiest as a little boy can be.
The students of cimarron started doing this in January. These students had a chance to make their favorite games from recyclable materials. The students from team Nokota were very excited about this. They were also excited to play other students games. The students of Nokota been also doing this to raise money for charity. The prizes at the Cardboard Arcade will be the top money earning games.Their game day was on March 17. The tickets cost $0.25 each. They hoped to raise $500 but they actually raised $1200. The money has been donated to multiple charities.
Lost Boy Speaker
Lost Boys Of Sudan
By: Gracie Heilbrun and Jessie Wenner
In 1987 a brutal civil war drove about 20,000 boys, most ages seven and six out of their South Sudan villages and away from their caregivers. These boys fled to Ethiopia to escape death. A little more than half of these boys died on their journey due to natural causes or they were murdered.
Cimarron Middle School had a chance to hear a surviving Lost Boy’s story speak about his journey. The Lost Boys Name was Nor. Nor spoke a lot about his life in America and the difference between America and Africa. He also had an interest in talking about food. Nor said that there were many hard things to adjust to, but explained that the thing that marveled him most was the cheeseburger.
The whole school had the privilege of listening to Nor speak. These teams have been reading A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park which is about a boy named Salva who was a Lost Boy, and was a real person. He was one of many who made the incredible journey to Ethiopia.
Nor had also talked about how he was one of the few who made it to Ethiopia and one of even fewer who got picked to go to America.
Nor is part of an organization called Project Education South Sudan. The Project Education South Sudan(PESS), with a board of directors of eight people, helps South Sudan girls recive an education.
Mr. Whitehurst (Cimarron 6th grade Vice Principal) was interviewed. When he worked at Sierra Middle School, Lost Boys also came to visit. Sierra is a sister school with Project Education South Sudan. They, and other schools make generous donations for this group.
When asked about how many the Lost Boys this cooperation rescued, Mr. Whitehurst says, “When I last contacted them, it was roughly around, I want to say, just about 20 rescued”. This organization is changing lives every day.Gods of Lipazzan
By Danica Whipple and Amber Younge
Strong, powerful gods and beautiful, amazing goddesses filled Mrs. Ellis’s room on Tuesday March 15, 2016. The students of Mrs. Ellis dressed up and portrayed a god or goddess from ancient greek mythology. They picked from millions of gods and goddesses, wrote a toast that their character may have toasted, and brought in food they may have eaten. Even the room was decorated to look somewhat like ancient Greece with symbols and structures.
They ate a lot of different foods including apple cider, apple juice, pita, bread, hummus, veggies, fruit, cheese, baklava, dried fruit, and greek yogurt. This food helped Mrs. Ellis’s class seem more like real ancient Greece.
This banquet has helped students gain a much better understanding of ancient Greece and Greece today. By dressing up students could understand what people believed their gods and goddesses looked like. Also it is a fun way to help students understand what they believed in ancient Greece. This activity helps students express their creativity in a more interactive way than an essay, they have more freedom as well.
Students can also express creativity in what they wear. Some people bought costumes online or at the store. Others found items around their house that could represent something their god or goddess wore or had. Most people though, used creativity by finding a cloth, folding it, and wrapping it.
In order to gain a better understanding of the god or goddesses they were assigned the students wrote a toast in their god or goddesses place.
Overall this project was a fun interactive way for students to learn more about Greece in a more interactive way. It was also a good way for all of Lipizzan to put themselves in the shoes of a god or goddess.
Band & Orchestra
By: Ben Bixler & Henry Magill
The Cimarron band and orchestra concert was on Thursday, March 10th.
We interviewed Mrs. Moon, the Band & Orchestra teacher, and she gave us information about the Band and Orchestra class and concert. This is a full yearlong class. Both classes accept all grade levels, but their are differences.
“The class is offered to all grade levels, but the songs get more difficult as you go higher in grade level. An eighth grader who has never picked up an instrument would have to work really hard to catch up,” said Mrs. Moon.
All students need is a desire to work hard, and they will succeed in the class. A 6th grader usually takes a couple days to learn the basics and they are playing pretty well by the holidays. Mrs. Moon also said that the majority of the students come back to play for second and third years.
We asked Mrs. Moon what the classes are like just before the concert. “We usually spend most of the time right before the concert fine-tuning everything. Nothing too big, since the students should know the songs pretty well by now. If something sounds too high or too low, this is the time to fix that,” Mrs. Moon said. There are around 200 children that participate in the concert. 7th and 8th grade play together on the concert, while 6th grade has their own concert.
There is a large variety of instruments For band, all woodwind, brass, and percussion are played. For orchestra, the instruments are the four strings: violin, viola, cello, and double basses. The concerts include all types of music. styles like jazz, classical, traditional, pop, and marches all in the same concert.
Along with using her voice as an instrument, Mrs. Moon plays the saxophone. She also has been teaching for 9 years. Mrs. Moon loves her students and wants her students to have perfection. Mrs. Pease is the second coordinator with the concerts. She helps whenever there is a concert about to occur.