REDefined Press
November 2016
Veteran’s Day
By Jake Diede Brayden Gunias
This year at cimarron middle school we went above and beyond on this Veteran’s day celebration. This year we had a assembly in our commins and we had over 175 Veteran’s come to this event. This celebration is a big deal for cimarron and we had special guests come this year. Such as Mike Coffman, superintendent Steve Cook, and many Veteran’s. If you have a uniform for scouts you were aloud to wear it to the assembly. The boy scouts led the pledge of allegiance and they carried the flag so we could say the pledge of allegiance . During this event the Veteran’s thanked the kids and teachers with their tears and their smiles. The students are involved in this event because they are in charge of the assembly and they made speeches to share in front of the Veteran’s. Vetran’s day is a time were families and friends can get together and honor the Veteran’s that have fought for our freedom. Sorry parents because this Veteran’s day is ran only by the kids and with a little help from the teachers so relax and enjoy the Veteran’s day celebration. Clearly this year's Veteran’s day was a great time for the Veteran’s and the kids to interact with each other. It was also a time to honor our Veteran’s and fallen soldiers that have served our country.
Hat Day
By Evan Wilkins and Lukas Stoltz
Hat Day is all about raising money for “care packages” this year at Cimarron. The care packages are packages with supplies in them for people in the Military, Army, etc. People that pay even just $1 helps those people in need. We surveyed 100 kids for what kind of hat they were wearing and why, here was the outcome.
“It’s my favorite hat.”
“I like it because it’s crazy.”
“It’s cool.”
The kids have all been very happy to share their hats with the school, but only some of them realized where the money goes. The kids that know said they either donated supplies or helped pay for the shipment of supplies. The whole school should know what is going on around the world. We do Hat Day because it is a fun way to donate money to those in need. We only do this 1-2 times a year because if we did more we wouldn't have enough places to donate to. I like Hat Day personally because I get to wear my favorite hat, in school, but the money actually goes somewhere. The money is donated to different places each year. We donate about $150 a year at cimarron. Hat Day is a great way to gain money and donate all the money we get from Hat Day. Thank you to the people that pay for hat day.
Stitches
Look around. The clothes you are wearing were sewn together to make a beautiful outfit for you. That blanket on your bed upstairs fabrics sewn together to keep you warm. Sewing isn’t for everyone, however the kids in Cimarron’s sewing club get together after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays to share their love of sewing. Sewing club is more directed for girls but boys can join too. In this amazing club you can learn to sew by hand and by machine and still fall in love with sewing. When kids of all ages go into sewing club they feel excitement for participating in a cool club but they are also very scared because you have to deal with needles and stitching. It’s very scary for people who have never sewn that want to try. This year Ms.Avery wants to focus on a machine for sewing and a little bit by hand. Right now they are finishing up on sewing a bag. In the spring, Ms. Avery wishes to do project where students will use a machine to take a design off a computer onto an adorable throw pillow. Ms. Avery hopes to get enough kids interested to bring her idea to life. She is helping kids become interested in sewing. She is aware that not everyone has an interest for sewing, however she has the club open to anyone. She hopes that her 45 years of sewing paid off on the kids. She even has spent all of her free time making crafts for school and creating drapes and ice packs. We thank Ms.Avery for all of the time she has put into sewing club, inside and outside of school.She likes that it is an open opportunity for kids to craft and be creative. Overall Ms. Avery views the club as a chance for kids to realize their passion towards sewing.
Dribble, Shoot, Rebound, Score!
The ball gets thrown up into the air, and the team on the right gets it! It is a tough game out there, and the 8th grade A&B basketball coach, “Coach Diaz” is ready for anything. Right now anything could happen, and anyone could win. The scores are really close, and this game is going to end up really tough. Coach Diaz is one of the best basketball coaches at Cimarron Middle School.
Coach Diaz
Even though Coach Diaz is the basketball coach, he is also a foreign language teacher here at Cimarron Middle School. . He has been coaching for over 20 years. He has coached at Sierra Middle School, and at other clubs. He has also coached elementary, for example, 4th, 5th and 6th grade but he has coached all different middle school teams. Starting at the highest level and going to the lowest level. Coach Diaz wants his players to develop or have the sense of a competitive edge by the end of the season. He also wants his players to have a good communication out on the court. His goal for his players is to be better at the game by the time they finish the season, and to find his skill. He enjoys teaching A&B to see what challenges they give themselves to accomplish by the end.
More About the Team
Here at Cimarron Middle School, there are a lot of good players. Basketball is a strategic game, and players out on the court, our team works on defense, dribbling for the C team, and working on shooting. Winning the basketball game is a big deal, and everyone should feel good about winning. Basketball is a sport where you need to have sportsmanship and teamwork. There are about 70 8th grade girls on the team here at Cimarron. Some of our 8th grade girls have played on other club teams before.
To conclude, there are all 8th grade players on our basketball team. Even though some players might not be the best, they still have a chance of winning. Coach Diaz has an ultimate goal for his players to take away with. That goal is to just have fun and become better at what you're doing. Basketball is an ongoing sport and can be played throughout the year even though you might not be on a team.
What is so special about Thanksgiving?
By: Sophia Ohmart and Isha Singh
Thanksgiving is a very special day that was made solely on giving thanks to all that we have, Most people stuff their mouths with food. In September of 1620, the Mayflower set sail to Asia from Delfshaven, the Netherlands, to Southampton, and England. They did not bring enough food for everyone and people started to get sick and starving. Finally they hit land but it was not Asia it was what they called the “the new land.” In November 1621, the Plymouth Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is known today as the first Thanksgiving celebration.They ate corn, berries, and pigeon. It was not until 1863 that we ate turkey. This feast lasted 3 days. It wasn’t until 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday called Thanksgiving Day that would be celebrated each November. We took a survey to see the different ways people celebrate and here are the results. Most people spend time with their family. Not a lot of people go out to dinner. The food is one of the most important thing about Thanksgiving, most of the people eat about the same stuff but mashed potatoes are the most popular. Kids tend to stay at there house or go to a family's. Thanksgiving is so special because we get to spend time with family and be thankful for all that we have!
Canned food drive
Ari Jacobs Hunter Oakland
Ari
Hunter
Canned Food Drive
This year at Cimarron we NJHS hosted a canned food drive for Parker Task Force. The two teachers who ran the canned food drive were Mrs. Gillespie and Mrs. Haid. We interviewed Mrs. Gillespie and she said that it was a success. She also told us that the only thing that she would want to change for next year is that kids would bring in a lot more cans. I think that we did exceptionally well. Cimarron donated one-thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine cans to people in need at the Parker Task force. We Colts feel that it doesn’t hurt to help someone who has less than you.
I feel that this didn’t only help the people who are struggling, it helped the students at Cimarron learn how to give back to their community. It also helps kids understand that when you feel that you have nothing, there is somebody out there in the world that hasn’t eaten for days and is very grateful for what they have.
According Mrs. Gillespie, we at Cimarron didn’t start the food drive. The food drive is county wide. Legend High School actually hosted the canned food drive. Last year, Legend’s crosstown rivals, Chaparral, collected the most cans out of the district. Yes, the kids love the prizes, but you're helping somebody else, and that is the biggest prize anybody can receive.
Mr. Davies
Aiden Cochran
Nathan Reilly
Mr. Davies is a 8th grade football coach and a health teacher at Cimarron middle school. He has been working at Cimarron middle school for a couple years.
Mr. Davies has been working at Cimarron, saying his favorite part of his job, also his main goal,“I want to watch kids succeed,” said Mr. Davies.
He became a coach because his dad and his grandfather were all coaches at some point in their lives, which persuaded him to be a coach.
He originally wanted to go to school to be a doctor or an architect, but later changed his mind. Mr. Davies went to college, dropping in and out for seven years. Another one of Mr. Davies favorite things about his job is that he gets to see his students smiling faces whenever they walk into the classroom. He never has a bad attitude and always gives good advice.
Mr. Davies loves his job at Cimarron, and his students love him too. He never gives up when teaching a kid, and always finds new ways for kids to succeed.
The Trip of A Lifetime: The Belize Trip
By: Kellie Heath, Michelle Pisqui, Kairi Blackwell'
If you’ve ever dreamed of going to the beautiful country of Belize, or a bustling country of China, then you should come on the spring break trips that our teachers are organizing and planning to bring us along on.
Cimarron Middle School is hosting a trip to Belize. The trip is to provide students to adventure the one and only Belize. Our lovely 7th grade science teachers and foreign language teacher, Mrs. Mac, Mr. Diaz, Mrs. Petersen and Mrs. Rogers are hosting this trip. They decided back in last spring that the next school trip would be to Belize. They thought of Belize because it is very safe and most people speak English. It was also decided because they thought it would be something different that the kids would enjoy.
So if you’re looking for a little adventure, you should join the Belize trip! You’ll end up having the time of your life! Mrs. Mac, the Blazer science teacher says that this is an opportunity for students to become great citizens and interact with kids from different places.We plan to do this by exposing them to different cultures and activities. Some of the activities we plan to do is to go ziplining. This will impact the other kids in our school because students will come back and share the different activities that they did and the different cultures they saw.
Belize is a time to enjoy different cultures and different ways students do school in different places around the world, by immersing yourself in the culture on the trip, and trying different foods and cultural activities!
Canned Food Drive
Justin Whitehead
Redefined press interviewed Mrs.Degroot about the canned food drive, and the first question we asked her was Why are we doing the canned food drive, “to help the less fortunate” she answered. Where are we going to put the food “we are going to give the food to the parker task force, and they might bring a few trucks to pick up the food. When are we doing the canned food drive, “We are doing it now through friday”. Then we asked who started the canned food drive, “ Either student council or NJHS”. How much food are we planning on getting, “200,000 non perishable canned food between us and legend”. How often do we do canned food drives, “we do them in the spring and about this time of year” . Another thing we asked her was if she liked canned food drives, “I love them, I love doing them because I love helping the less fortunate ”. Some other questions we asked her were, what does the Parker Task Force do for parker, “They help the less fortunate with when they need something to eat”. What are some other ways we could support the parker task force, “Community service, like helping to organize food or helping to Load food out of someone’s car for the parker task force”. Do you think we will beat Chaparral, “I think we can, but everyone has to do their part”. How many cans of food is each class supposed to collect, “each class is supposed to collect 250 non perishable foods”’.