REDefined Press
March 2016
TSA Today
What is TSA?
If you don’t know what TSA is or haven’t ever heard of it, then this will clear things up. The Technology Student Association (TSA) is a non-profit organization that is focused on STEM related projects for kids in grades 5-12. The club is also incorporating some business education into their activities as well. TSA spans over four countries with over 250,000 members.
TSA Competition
Along with having a multitude of other activities, TSA has a big state competition. This competition with around 33 different events. Some of the events include: Biotechnology, catapult design, digital photography, dragster, environmental engineering, forensic technology, and website design. These are just a couple of the amazing activities that TSA students participate in. TSA students will compete with other students in their respective age groups and win as many categories for their team as they can.
CiMS TSA
Would you like to know more about TSA club and how you can get in? You’re in luck! Cimarron has a TSA club of its own! The club fee is $90. The current sponsors of this club are Mrs. Waller and Mrs. Manzanares. If you are interested, the club is closed for this year, but they are accepting application for next year’s TSA club in April, so get ready!
Select Choir
Select Choir 16-17
-Abigail Miller and Gracie Heilbrun
The select choir at Cimarron Middle School is an honor it takes a lot to get in and there are only a select few that get in. This club is mainly for 8th graders but if certain 7th graders are good enough they have a chance to try out. There are very big requirements if you even want to try out you have to sign up, be there on time, dress nicely never skip a practice. You need to be very passionate about choir/singing to be able to even sign up you also have to put yourself out there.
At Cimarron we have a very talented choir teacher. Mrs. Alexander is passionate about her job and has always wanted to be a choir teacher it was her dream job. Mrs. Alexander said “Being a choir teacher is my dream job - I am lucky to do what I am passionate about!” . Cimarron’s choir teacher makes kids enjoy singing because they know their teacher will help them become a better singer and become more passionate about what they do.There are three different parts those are Alto 2, Soprano 1, and Soprano 2. They do many unique warm-ups. This year we are going to have 46 lady’s who have made the cut.Mrs.Alexander was inspired to be a choir teacher because she had an amazing choir teacher as a child. Her childhood choir teacher was very passionate as well and was always helping make students better. Our choir teacher describes her inspiration like this “Two main things influenced me to be a choir teacher - one is having an amazing choir teacher when I was a student, and the second is how much I loved sharing stories through music and bonding with others to make powerful and moving performances.”
Select Choir is a Basic choir except it is only women. There Are four voice parts Alto 1,
Right now our 8th grade select choir students are singing a variety of songs like Tango to Evora and Dirait-On. In class these women rehearse songs do sight reading and continue reading keynotes and signatures.
Though Mrs.Alexander is very serious she always knows when and how to have fun. Mrs.Alexander has a book in that book are things she thought she would never have to say to any kid. 2 of these things are "please take that bag of Oreos out of your pants" and “keep your pants on during the fire drill.” She also doesn't mind jokes or a little bit of talking. She also is very good at relating to middle school life as she is very much like a kid inside..
Running a song called They Can't Take That Away From Me.
Mrs.Pease playing the piano to They Can't Take That Away From Me.
Mrs.Alexander conducting They Can't Take That Away From Me.
Hoops for Heart
--Brogan J. and Blake L.
Hoops for heart is a association to raise money. It gives the money to people who have heart disease so they can get a procedure. On average, yearly revenue is between $600,000 and $750,000.
Today The American Heart Association has helped save many kids with heart conditions. Kids such as Vivian who was born with a heart condition called Truncus Arteriosus. She had a surgery when she was two weeks old and another when she was two years old. she is now eight and has fun dancing and jump roping.
Many people get the donations. They send the money to the hospital to give to the patient. The people who get the money often would have died if they hadn’t gotten the donations and help. For instance, Nick Zerwas was born with a three chambered heart instead of a four chambered heart. He was only supposed to live until he was seven. He is still alive today because of the money.
If you can’t donate money, you can donate your time. Even if you aren’t qualified. American heart association will find a job that suits you. From jobs performing CPR to Stroke Support.
Overall hoops for heart is a foundation working towards a good cause. “I think hoops for heart is a great charity” says Jack Wiley of Cimarron Middle School. Hoops for Heart works hard with many other associations to help save the lives of kids and let them live a normal life like any other child.
Cimarron Middle School held an entire basketball tournament to raise funds for Hoops for Heart. To participate, you had to pay a small fee but all the money went to the American Heart Association. The event was put on by Team Mustang from Cimarron Middle School. They had a couple of weeks preparation to get students ready and to let them find their teams. After school on Friday February 26th, Cimarron held the competition where many people played and attended.
Furry February
by: Elizabeth Mazzarello and Roeyn Szumilas
Furry February is a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. Male teachers at our school are growing mustaches to raise money for people suffering heart conditions and to improve research. We talked to some teachers around Cimarron about their mustaches and what this project means to them.
When Mr. Cramer and Mr. West were asked to grow a mustache to raise money for the American Heart Association they were glad to help. At first they felt goofy, weird, and out of place with their mustaches. But, they wanted to support people that are in need of help and team Mustang, the people who put this fundraiser together. “My wife's dad died from a heart attack”, said Mr. Cramer, “I am happy to help them, (the American Heart Association) in any way I can”. The American Heart Association is a worthy cause and many people suffer from heart conditions. 787,000 died from heart diseases in 2011 alone.
All of the participating teachers ended up having a Fu Manchu or Horseshoe mustache. “I didn’t even know what a fu manchu was, I had to look it up” said Mr. West.
Both Mr. Cramer and Mr. West have family members that have either had a heart attack or suffer/suffered from other heart conditions. It means a lot to them to participate in Furry February and collect money for a worthy cause such as the American Heart Association.
Mr. West hoped to make at least $50 and Mr. Cramer hoped to make at least $100. They both made over $100 and all together the school made $1,140.57. They are happy that so many students donated money to help others in need. Mr.Cramer says that he is very proud of his students that brought in money.
Battle of the Books
An Honorable Induction
By: Jessie Wenner and Amber Younge
“I pledge myself to uphold the high standard of the National Junior Honor Society to which I have been selected; I will be true to the principles for which it stands; I will be loyal to my school; and will maintain and encourage high standards of scholarship, service, leadership, character, and citizenship.”
This is the pledge of the National Junior Honor Society. The advisors of this amazing chapter here at Cimarron Middle School are Mrs Gillespie and Mrs. Haid. We have interviewed Mrs. Gillespie to get more of an insight on NJHS. Mrs. Gillespie decided to advise because she has never done it, and she wanted to try something new. She also realized that she has some extra time now that her kids are nearly grown up, so she wanted to take the opportunity to bring kids together to learn about scholarship, service, leadership, character, and citizenship.
Mrs. Gillespie was never in NJHS herself, but she was in NHS(National Honor Society), although it was very different then it is today.
To get into NJHS you must have a GPA of 3.73 and have gone to Cimarron for at least one semester. NJHS meets once a month, and the officers, meet twice a month together.
The officers are Alyssa Reed, Tommy Hasler, Jessie Wenner, Emma Kirschbaum, Sarah Sams, and Ryan Cordova. They run this chapter, and were elected by all NJHS members. They do all contacting, recording, and scheduling.
Before the induction that took place, the chapter had about 140 members.
The faculty council consisted of five volunteers. The teachers (Mrs. Doyle, Ms. Carnahan, Mr. Hackman, Ms. Alexander, and Mrs. Hassett) hand selected 85 kids out of hundreds.
On Wednesday February 24, 2016 at 6:30pm here at Cimarron Middle School, an induction ceremony was held. Students of all three grades here at Cimarron were inducted into this honorable group of what is now 225 members, and It is now the largest chapter in all of Douglas County.
.The induction ceremony was a formal ceremony with a script that was followed. All together the ceremony cost about $200 with roses, cookies, cake, table cloths, and utensils.
Some things they are looking for in an eligible NJHS member are kids with good grades that are generally good people. They are also looking for kids willing to commit to the group and share their ideas.
This is such an important group to take part in. It helps you get into a good college, and it heightens your chances of getting into NHS in high school, which adds points to your record. Not only does it also help you meet new people, motivates you to keep your grades up, and it helps you become an active and honorable citizen.
7th Grade Science
7th grade science is coming together with many things to learn about, and the end of the year will end very well. All this ties into life science. Right now the students are learning about the human body systems,specifically about the muscular system. Before they were learning about the human body they learned about cells. Next, they will be learning about the skeletal system and evolution.
Ms. Rogers has been teaching for 7 years. 2 in P.E., than science for 5 years. As a teacher Ms. Rogers would describe herself as laied-back and humorous. Even though she comes up with a lot of original stuff she also bounces ideas off the other science teachers once a week. She is also able to keep all the students interactive by doing a variety of different activities. She loves to teach science because she loves the topic and how much fun it is.
She originally wanted to be a PE teacher because she loved working with the kids and she also had practice teaching in a private school then she found out how easy it was to change teaching professions in colorado and was able to become a science teacher and still get to do what she loved. Out of all the teaching options science really stuck out to her because she she is passionate about it and enjoyed it.
Favorite Staff
BY: CLARK R. AND JACK W.
We Interviewed many different people on their opinion on their favorite teacher and class.
Jack
Clark
One student we interviewed was Blake Leffler. We asked if it was difficult to choose one teacher and his answer was “Yes, because I like all of my teachers and it is hard to choose just one.” His favorite teacher is Mr. Rinkert. He chose Mr. Rinkert because he is the easiest teacher to connect with. Mr. Rinkert teaches French and 6th grade World Cultures.Although Mr. Rinkert is his favorite teacher, French is not his favorite class.
Another person we interviewed was Henry Magill. His favorite teacher is Mr.Cramer, 7th grade Social Studies teacher on Appaloosa. We asked if it was hard to choose a favorite teacher. He said “Yes and no.” He chose Mr. Cramer Because “He is a fun teacher.” It is also his favorite class.
Another student we interviewed was anonymous. Their favorite teacher was Mrs. Hassett who teaches math on team Lipizzan. They said “It was hard to choose a favorite teacher because they are all good at teaching what they teach.” They also said “ I chose Mrs. Hassett because she always cares about how students are progressing.”
Our last person we interviewed was also anonymous. Their favorite teacher was Ms.Rogers a 7th grade Science teacher on Lippizzan. They said that there was more than one teacher to choose from. He likes Ms.Rogers because “she is the most interactive teacher and is fun.”
Out of the four people we interviewed nobody chose any teachers that teach the same class. So obviously the class they teach doesn’t fully determine their favorite teacher. Some things that could impact their decision are how they interact with students and maybe students know those teachers from before this year. Overall there isn’t really a common favorite class or teacher.