6th Grade Star
April Edition
What is the Healthiest Choice?
By: Cael Baumgarten and Seth Hays
Fast-Food restaurants are efficient, cheap, and will be here for many generations. However, they are, for the most part, really bad for you. What’s that? You’d like a double quarter-pounder meal? Well that will only be 1,120 calories, or 5 hours of walking to burn off all of the fat and calories! This has been and will continue to be a problem. Some have tried to break this curse, and they have done a decent job. Today we will be comparing the best of the best to the more popular choices.
Panera Bread: Panera is a popular choice among many college students and other business people. It makes you feel relaxed, offers free wifi, and serves delicious and healthy breakfast items. This restaurant is not a hotspot among children, however. Much of the food is refined and would not taste good to picky children. Panera also, is expensive. Why would you want to go to Panera, and wait for about 5 minutes to get your mediocre food for 15$ when you could go to McDonalds, not even have to exit your car, wait 1 minute for (arguably) better food for only 9$? Panera is often very overlooked. Their food is only about 600 calories, tops. That is nothing! That is equivalent to about only 14 chicken nuggets, not to mention how little of nutrients and how much fat is in chicken nuggets. You could have a full, nutritious meal for lunch and feel completely famished and satisfied, or you could eat only 14 tiny pieces of unhealthy chicken, get an occasional stomach ache, and still feel very hungry and unsatisfied! Which do you think is the better choice? And just a little friendly advice, the mac and cheese is fantastic, coming in at only 450 calories for a large serving, which is a full meal and can easily fill you up.
McDonalds: McDonalds is a very popular choice to kids and grownups alike. Can you name any other businesses that have broken that universal wall? Probably. But that is not the issue we are discussing today. Although McDonalds has salads, wraps, and fruit, they put sauces on them that make the food have more fat and calories.The good part is that you can go through a drive through but at Panera you can’t. It does not have any drive throughs unlike McDonalds. Children also like to go to McDonalds because they get toys with their happy meal or sometimes there is a play place. The reason McDonalds tastes so good is because they put so much salt and fat in the meals, which can usually lead to abdominal pain. Another factor about McDonalds is that they have too much grease. Some people have sensitive stomachs and they may not be used to that much grease. This could lead to severe pains in your core.
In conclusion, Panera Bread is probably the better option if you want to eat healthily. But it is really up to you on how you eat, but you're a smart person, I believe you can make the right choice.
Restaurant Recommendations
Panda Express (Tommy O.)
Long John Silvers (Cael B)
5 Guys (Hannah Smith)
IHop (Charisma B)
Chipotle (Grace C.)
Chipotle (Denver G.)
Chipotle (Kyra S.)
Freddy’s (Maddie G.)
Noodles & Company (Madison S.)
Haru’s (Mrs.Tauer)
Joke of the Month
Student Influences
There are many different influences in your life and in many other peoples lives, such as your siblings, your parents, your coach, your church, etc. There are many people who don’t realize how much the people around them change their lifestyles, opinions, and perspectives.
Who impacts your life, your personality, the friends you choose, and the life you live? One group of people who shapes your life the most are your parents. They raised you, so you will take the information they teach you and apply it to your life. Are you more like your mom or your dad? Everyone is different in their own way because of the way their parents/guardians teach them how to act.
Some people even look up to someone who’s famous and has been successful in their job or life in general. They could be politicians, athletes, actors, singers, or they could be extremely intelligent people who are good at their profession. Everyone has someone who influences them in some way or another.
Impact of Divorce on Students
Divorce is one of several types of family problems. This can have a large impact on a child. First, the distraction caused by changes in the family may prevent a child from completing assignments. In addition, thinking deeply about the divorce could cause lapses in a child's concentration in the classroom. Children are also affected by divorce in other ways. Some children may blame themselves (however unrealistically) for their parents' divorce and later harbor unrealistic expectations that they can bring their parents back together again. This prevents them from accepting reality. Children may also be ashamed of their parents' situation. They may attempt to hide it from their friends (further pushing off reality), or they may withdraw from their classmates in an attempt to avoid embarrassment. Some parents sometimes deal with marriage problems through their child in a process call 'triangling'. This places the child in a very difficult and unhealthy situation. In extreme situations a child may witness violence between parents, often requiring police involvement.
The impact of conflict and anger may be as harmful to a child as a learning problem. Teachers and parents are doing everything they can to help with the child’s mental and learning problems.
Teacher Spotlight
By: Chase Wilm and Tommy O'Leary
This teacher is one of our favorite teachers. Let’s see if you can guess who we interviewed for the teacher spotlight this month. Here are 9 things that are important about this person:
I believe in a strong work ethic.
Three stooges are my favorite.
I like to sew.
I want to learn as much as possible about local and Kansas history.
Family and friends are the most important.
I like scrapbooking/papercrafts
I went to school in Spring Hill for grades 1-12.
My birthday is on the “Ides of March."
I collect Depression Glass (Iris) Pattern.
Below are some questions and his/her answers.
Q: How many cows do you have?
A: I run 30 head of gelbvieh cattle (beef cattle)
Q. Have you ever taught anything other than Social Studies?
A: I've taught Elementary/High School PE, Middle School Health, KS History, and World History.
Q: Have you ever coached any sports, which ones?
A: Yes: volleyball, basketball, and track.
Q: Which college did you attend?
A: Emporia State and KCK Community College.
Q: Do you have a 2nd Job?
A: Funeral Service.
Mrs. Hecke
Track and Field
By: Denver Gardner and Tommy O'Leary
As you all know, track has started up again this year. Tommy O’Leary, Denver Gardner, Blake Bramble, and Matthew Scoma are the boy managers for track. The girl managers are Jalyn Stevenson, Grace Carson, Rachel Williams, Shaelee Philgreen and Bella Price is the head manager. These coaches are hoping to get the season off to a superior start. Mr. Brown, and Mr. Pope are the boy coaches and the girl coaches are Mrs. Tauer, and Miss Von Stein. We are also very excited to announce that we will be having three home track meets. Sixth graders will be able to go out for track next year in seventh grade. If you would like to participate next year some events you might like are discus, shot put, 100 meter dash, 1 mile, 2 mile (8th grade only), pole vault, and the 400 meter dash. That's just a few. For the schedule click the link below.
Cafeteria Conversation
By: Grace Carson and Kyra Schmuhl
We interviewed the Cafeteria Manager, Donna Christy, to see what working in the lunchroom is like. We asked her the following questions:
Grace: Do you enjoy being a lunch lady?
Ms. Christy: Yes, very much. I enjoy working with you children.
Grace: Do you have any other jobs?
Ms. Christy: I do work part time, I’m retired. I work part time cleaning apartments. I chose to come back to the school to work with you kids though.
Grace: What are some things you dislike about working in the cafeteria?
Ms. Christy: The only thing is I don’t get to feed you kids what I want to feed you since there are so many restrictions. But really that’s the only thing.
Grace: What are some things you like about working in the cafeteria?
Ms. Christy: I really like working with you kids. That’s my favorite thing about my job.
Grace: How do you get our food? Is it hard to make? How do you make it?
Ms. Christy: We get it from a delivery truck in Topeka. I order all of the food every Monday and Thursday. The food is really easy to make, we just put it in the oven and cook it. All of our food is already pre-made. All we do is cook it.Riddle of the Month
By: Grace Carson and Kyra Schmuhl
Same rules apply as last time. Good luck.
The man who invented it, doesn’t want it.
The man who bought it, doesn’t need it.
The man who needs it, doesn’t know it.
What is it?
A Principal's Life
Have you ever wondered what the principal does during her day, besides meeting with students and teachers? We have interviewed Mrs. Jones and we asked her some questions and got the answers. She tries to get to school between 7:30 and 7:40, but she has two small children so sometimes she gets here later than she wants to. The first thing she does right when she walks into the building is she checks her email and does whatever is waiting for her in the office. Sometimes this may be paperwork that needs to be done, a student or teacher that needs to talk to her, or sometimes a parent waiting for her. When it gets to her lunch time she eats in her office. She always brings her lunch.
Being a principal means you are very busy all day. Mrs. Jones usually has six or seven meetings a week and on Wednesday she may have up to four or five meetings. She does go over to Middle School South every Wednesday to have meetings with Mr. Sprague and Mr. Todd. She works with all of the principals for the middle schools and they do everything together even though they are from different schools. For her free time (which she does not get a lot of) she likes to go into the classrooms and observe the teachers and students. On average, she meets with 10 to 12 students a day, they may not all be there for disciplinary reasons though. She usually leaves the school between 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. Although sometimes she might stay at school until 6:30 if there is some sort of a game that night.
Mrs. Jones’s favorite time of the school day are third hour because she gets to meet with every core teacher, and seventh hour because that’s the time where she sees a lot of kids. This is why she wanted to become a principal because she loves interacting with the teachers and kids. She decided that she wanted to be a principal when she was in college. At first she was a teacher and then she wanted to be a principal because you interact with more teachers as a principal. That is how she became our Vice Principal! Mrs. Jones wants us to do well in school but most importantly she really want us to be kind to one another.
Popular Colleges
Funny Baby Video!
Video Games: A Virtual Drug
by: Cael Baumgarten and Charisma Butler
Video games! A large part of our modern-day society that has serious effect on our younger generation. But, is this good influence? Well, yes and no. There are perks but it is very easy to get immersed into a virtual world. Give it time, and you will not be able to tell what’s real and what isn’t. Are they good things? You decide.
The Good
1. Games improve critical thinking skills and reading comprehension.
Teaching children about the relevance and importance of literature can be difficult. Students have grown up in a constantly-changing environment and paper is becoming quickly obsolete. Why is Moses’s long journey away from Egypt even matter if you can travel instantly via Google Earth. ARGs (Alternate Reality Games) put the kids into someone elses’ shoes, and helps children empathize and actually care about other people and their experiences. They are immersed into different cultures and a (usually) different time period.
2. Video games relieve stress.
The point of videogames is to distract you from the real world and let you relax for just quick periods of time. This may not be very relevant for 6th grade, but it might. Video games help to relax if a test is imminent, or some other big event is coming up.
3. Games teach new technical skill sets
Video games can teach children many helpful things at a young age. Games can also help your knowledge for many technological careers, or even occupations that are not involved in machinery or anything. Video games help children in memory, reasoning, spatial thinking, perception, and problem solving.
The Bad
1. Too much video game playing can make you feel isolated
Playing single player games without company can lead to depression and will quickly cause your grades to slip. The only thing you will know how to do properly is play the game. You won’t even be able to sleep well, almost as if the game has some sort of gravitational pull on you. You will feel addicted and forlorn.
2. Games can confuse reality and fantasy
If you play too long, especially if you don’t have anybody to play with, you will be lost in virtual worlds and will not care at all about reality. All you will care about is getting back to your game.
3. You can pick up bad language from games
Most games have language, no matter how mild it is. The more you hear it, the more you will want to be that character and the more you will become that character. After a while, all of your words will be profanity, and you will get in a lot of trouble.
All things considered, video games can be good in small doses, and with someone to play them with. Just, be careful with your gaming sessions.
April Fools Day...
by: Cael Baumgarten
April Fool’s Day is coming soon and you know what that means: friendships ruined over dumb and useless little pranks. Eeeeeeeverybody’s favorite. But what everyone forgets is where it came from and why. Well, it’s kinda complicated so get comfortable. I personally think it is weird that we even celebrate it, but whatever, here it goes!
Ancient cultures like the Romans and Hindus, celebrated New Years around April 1st, probably because of the vernal equinox (March 20th to 21st) that comes close before it. In Medieval times, Europe celebrated New Years at about this time too. On March 25th, they celebrated the Feast of Annunciation, as a mark of the new year. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII created the Gregory Calendar to replace the Julian Calendar. The Gregory Calendar celebrated New Years on January 1st. This tradition spread to France and other random countries. Anyone that didn’t celebrate New Years on Jan. 1st either refused to, or just didn’t hear about this tradition. Other people began to make fun of the traditionalists and laughed at them for believing in false traditions, fool’s errands, as these were called. The Europeans then began to also make fun, and on April 1st every year, they would laugh at each other and bully younger children. This tradition spread all the way to the U.S, and was dubbed April Fool’s Day. This originally was a tradition practiced by adults who would pull quite a bit more serious pranks on friends, family, or sometimes even complete strangers. These so called “pranks” were often very lethal, or hurtful. As the years went on, children began to start pranking their friends, too. However, they only were children and just did pretty basic things like “You’re shoe is untied” and other little tidbits like that.
April Fool's Day is a rather, questionable holiday, to say the least. It literally celebrates people who didn't understand modern traditions. It does seem a bit unnecessary to even be a concept, but it is a thing. Boy is it a thing. Wait... look behind you! If you just looked behind you than you failed. If you didn't, congratulations! You passed the test. You are a guru at life and also my new compadre'. :o