Trojan Times
January 2021
By Madison Boatright
Eight Interesting Facts In January
By Chloe McGowan
2020 was one difficult rollercoaster of a year to get through, and I think we can all agree that we’re glad it's over. From the start of the pandemic to the crazy politics happening all across the U.S., January was a refreshing month to be in. Not only is January perfect for beginning our New Year's Resolutions, but it also has a lot of history within its time period of thirty one days. Unfortunately, history gets overlooked a lot, especially when it happened in months like these.
Therefore, I would like to share eight interesting January history facts worth remembering for the first month of 2021.
1. January 3, 1959, Alaska was finally admitted as the 49th U.S. state, and its land mass was almost one fifth the size of the lower 48 states put together.
2. January 15, 1870, is the date of the first use of the Donkey to represent the Democratic Party in America. It appeared in a cartoon in a newspaper titled Harper’s Weekly, which had the purpose of criticizing former secretary of war, Edwin Stanton.
3. On January 20, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated to an unprecedented fourth term as president of the U.S.. Roosevelt had served since 1933.
4) January 24, 1848, is the day the California gold rush began with an accidental discovery of the gold near Coloma during a construction project of a Sutter’s sawmill. An announcement was made later in the year, and it quickly became a national sensation.
5) On January 28, 1915, the U.S. Coast Guard was established by an Act of Congress, which combined the Life Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service.
6) January 31st, 1919 is the birthday of baseball legend, Jackie Robinson. He was born in Cairo, Georgia, and was the first African American to play professional baseball.
7) January 7, 1782 is the date that the first ever U.S. commercial bank opened as the Bank of North America in Philadelphia.
8) January 18, 1966 is the day that Robert Clifton Weaver was signed into the cabinet, becoming the first even African American cabinet member. He became President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
There are many, many more facts hidden in every month and day, and it is a shame that they get overlooked. Hopefully, this encouraged many others to learn about history, and how a seemingly normal date could be important.
In School or Remote: Which is Better?
By Amber Lohman
When it comes to school, the most important thing is that kids are learning in a way that works best for them. Not only should students be understanding lessons, but they should be enjoying themselves while they do so to cause less stress. This will, in turn, help them learn and remember lessons more efficiently. We sent out a survey to students at Chesterton Middle School about their experiences in school and remote. This survey showed that about 79% of students prefer in school learning to remote learning. Similarly, a majority of people, about 65%, said that they also get better grades in person. It is easy to see that in school learning is better for education, and is more liked by students. But when it comes to a world-wide pandemic, the most important thing is safety.
We know that remote learning is safer than in person learning, but by how much? To know that, we will have to look at the statistics. Since the beginning of the school year, there have been 339 Covid-19 cases in the school district. Only 52 of these cases, or 15%, were from remote students. The amount of in school students contracting the virus is massively larger than those remote students, with 266 cases throughout all of the schools, or 78% of the total cases. (The rest of the cases being from other circumstances). Remote learning is definitely the safest choice to keep students from contracting Covid-19.
Hot Coco Bombs
By Phoenix Bridegroom
The History of New Year's Resolution
By Logan Arthur
The new year brings many different things to mind. People may think about what they did last year or what they could do better next year. For most people, new year’s resolutions are a big part of the new year. Ambitious goals that everybody makes that they try to make happen during the next year, but does anybody know who started them. Here is the history of new year’s resolutions.
New year’s resolutions started a very long time ago. The ancient Babylonians are said to be the first people to create new year’s resolutions. They were also the first people to hold a new year’s celebration, but it wasn’t in January. They celebrated New Years in March! They celebrated it in March because that was when all of the crops were planted. During the 12 day festival that they had, they would make promises to their god. If they kept their promises, the god would give them favor. If they didn’t keep their promises, they would be on the god’s bad side which they didn’t want to be on.
Something similar also used to happen during the rule of Julius Caesar. He was actually one of the first people who made January first the beginning of the new year. January was also named for a Roman god so it was very important to Julius Caesar and the Romans. The Romans, like the Babylonians, made promises to their god for the next year. Also like the Babylonians, if they didn’t keep their promises, they would be in big trouble with their god.
Even though new year’s resolutions started off being strictly religious, they have grown into a thing that is used all over the world. Here is a fact that might shock you. Results from a recent study have shown that 45% of Americans make resolutions but only 8% actually complete them! So if you are wanting to make a new year’s resolution, keep the simple and something you can do. Good Luck!
Source: https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-new-years-resolutions
Inauguration, What is it?
By Megan Hartley
Who is going to win the super bowl CMS?
Dr. Martin Luther King in Indiana
By Mr. Tudor
Not quite directly related to MLK, but below you will find a preview of a documentary on the legendary Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis. An eye opening tale of the life struggles of a people in our State Capital in the 1950's. It kind of gives context to why so many people were hopeful for change. A change that was spirited by a great man.
Chesterton Middle School
Email: jtudor@duneland.k12.in.us
Location: 651 W Morgan Ave
Phone: (219) 983-3776
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chestertonmiddleschool/
Twitter: @MrTudorSci