Osage Trail Middle School
Fort Osage School District May 2016 Edition
Our Grand Ole Osage Trail
In this newspaper, you will find issues and information concerning the best middle school around: Osage Trail of the Fort Osage school district. You can buy t-shirts and merchandise listed towards the bottom, or read the intriguing articles about what a day at OTMS is like or how to take control of your time!
Longer Breaks or Longer Summer?
For most schools, the decision of how long the school's winter and spring breaks are is up to the school board. Most schools use the 'traditional' calendar including three months of summer. But a calendar that is becoming more known is the 'balanced' calendar, which means that summer break would be cut down to about eight weeks, but with the adaptation of longer winter and spring breaks. The difference between these two schedules can impact students in various ways, some positive and some negative. Now, obviously it would still be the same amount of days spent at school, since both schools would have been in session for the same amount of time just in different time periods. Even so, I would prefer that my school had shorter breaks in the school year so us students would be able to get out of school a bit earlier in the year and stay out for longer.
The benefits of having shorter breaks in school, other than getting out in early May, are quite numerous. If school breaks were shorter, it would become easier for the kids who tend to forget things over holidays to remember what was taught to them before they left. Also, if we kept the length of our summer breaks to three months, it is most likely that the students would have more desire to have a schedule again and in a sense, miss school. During the three months that we take off during the year, it gives students time to relax and not stress about anything. This is one of the most important things about summer because the school year can always be very stressful and overwhelming when you're in high school and junior high. This is why having 'shorter' holiday breaks and 'longer' summers would be more beneficial than vice versa.
Time Management
Being a middle schooler and rising freshman can sometimes be very overwhelming, and with all of the paperwork and brainpower it entails, you can frequently find yourself drowning in a pool of stress! But do not fret- there is a magical element that when added to your daily life can make everything seem a whole lot easier: Time Management!
To better manage your time, there are various things that you can do. First, find a calendar in a style that works best for you. It could range from a hand written calendar you write on to simple reminders in the notes of your mobile phone. Once you have found a good and efficient calendar, the first thing you should jot down are the things of highest importance and priority. The list of things that are necessary for you to do day to day should be first on your handy dandy calendar. After creating a list of all your important priorities, you should set up time frames in which those will be done.
Another efficient way to manage your time in the most beneficial way is to postpone all recreational activities until you get done what you need to. Doing what you want before doing what you need to is a form of procrastination. Procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished. When you procrastinate, it can almost feel as if the task being avoided is entirely impossible. Avoiding procrastination by strictly doing what you need to first can boost morale and help increase your brainpower and focus.
A new school year can become stressful for any student during any point in time, whether they manage time well or not. But something that always makes a big impact on your day and your stress level is your attitude. Don't count the days- Make the days count!
Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice- Gabrielle Vaoifi
Going to school is like eating a quite large and potent Sour Patch Kid candy. If you do not know what kind of candy Sour Patch Kids are, they are candies that first taste very sour and make your lips pucker, but as you keep eating them they become sweeter and sweeter. I relate this to school because like the candy, it hits you dead in the face bright and early with a sour taste in your mouth, waking you up and forcing you to get past the tiredness in your eyes, the desire to go to sleep, and all of the curse words you want to spew out. But inside you know that the sour candy's flavor will become sweeter over time.
Towards the first half of the day (class periods one through six), you start to get over the sour, tart taste in your mouth and begin to taste the sugary elements. During these first 6 hours, things progressively get better, such as going to lunch with friends and laughing about the things that happened yesterday or sitting in class and socializing while you tell yourself that you'll do the project at home. In my experiences, middle school was always funnest on P.E. days. Those were the days that my best friend and I would yell, laugh, and run across the gym and not get scolded for it because that was mostly the point of the class. And when we would go back into the locker room, the surrounding girls would make funny noises that were too hilarious not to laugh and chuckle at, and the flinging of gym clothes across the floor would leave us ducking for temporary cover.
Now, with just seventh hour left in the school day, there is no mistaking the fact that most students do not want to be at school anymore. By seventh hour, the 'candy' has lost it's beloved flavor, and you must deal with the sad truth that you cannot spit the candy out nor swallow it and waste the money you spent on it. For me, I try to pay attention to the details, I try to listen and focus, but I find myself bored and staring at the clock, waiting for when the now bland taste in my mouth to subside. As the time get closer to when us students can finally be free of this uninteresting taste, the students around me become restless. Finally, the bell rings, and our 'administrative intern' speaks for a minute that no one will remember, and we are unbound.
It feels great to finally be rid of the rollercoaster of sensations, the constant change of emotions that will not be remembered tomorrow. But as always, I am left wanting another piece, and I am stuck with having to wake up to the bittersweet taste of school on my tongue again the next morning.
Fort Osage Merch!
Have you ever gone to a Fort Osage district sporting event or gathering and not had the gear to show that you were a proud Indian? Not to worry! With this merchandise, you will never be asked what team you cheer for and love again!
Fort Osage Beanie
Osage Trail Long Sleeve
Black Fort Osage Tee
Lunch Guidelines
When most students arrive at school, they do not want to be told what they have to eat at breakfast or lunch. But because of some school lunch guidelines, students must have certain foods or drink on their trays to reach the required criteria for a 'healthy lunch.' In my opinion, I do not like the idea of school board members or local government telling students what they can and cannot have on their tray to eat during lunch, but in retrospect I understand the motives behind it and support them completely. I believe that school lunch guidelines should always require the nutrition that students need during the day. Even so, students should still be able to eat whatever kind of nutritionally balanced meal that they and their parents see fit.
No matter how pesky these guidelines may seem, the intentions behind them are always rightly just. In 2013, the rates of obesity for students who ate school provided lunch versus students who did not was double the rate of obesity for students who did not eat school lunches (26% against 13.9%). With the current year being 2016, this information may be a little outdated, but it only furthermore acknowledges that fact that we should learn to control what our kids eat. If the rates of child obesity were not good three years ago, what lessons have we learned and what actions have we taken to have made it better today? In my mind, I worry about the world that my future children may have to live in, and the difficulties they might have to face day to day. It may not be the most popular option at the moment, but it the most beneficial tactic that we could use to help fight against childhood obesity, and that is why school's need to have guidelines on school provided lunches.