Last day of School! - Creative Story

by Addie E.

It was May 18, the night before the last day of school. Tomorrow when it was just the last hour of school I wanted to give all my 6th grade teachers a gift. I was preparing them, putting on bows and ribbons for each one of them. As I was doing that I made a list of what teachers were getting what. The day before I went shopping for all the gifts. I got a necklace for my music teacher, a bag of gummies for my math teacher, a new book for my English teacher, flowers for my art teacher, chocolate for my computers and P.E teacher, and a picture frame for my science and study hall teacher.

The next morning I stuffed all my gifts in my backpack and headed to school. I was nice out and I was wearing a short sleeve shirt and some shorts. When I got to school I saw my friend Mia. She was only holding her water bottle, no back pack or anything.

“Why do you have a back pack?” She said, “ It is the last day of school!”

“I have things in here for the teachers.” I explained.

The day went by so fast I could barely keep up. It felt like every five seconds the bell would ring for our next class. We ate lunch and then we were free to go. I rushed to my locker and took my back pack out. I wanted to start with my English teacher, then math and social studies, science, computers, study hall, art, music then P.E. When I got to my English class my teacher waved.

“Hi, I have something for you!” I said, and handed her my gift.

“Thank you!” She said, “ I’ll have to open it later though if that's okay.”

“Of Course!” I said and headed for math.

One by one I gave the gifts to my teachers. It made me so happy when they received it. Some of my teachers even gave me a piece of candy because they were so touched. I politely said thank you for the candy kept going my way. When I finally reached my P.E teacher I had realized that I had forgotten to check my list of which gift was for which! I hoped I was lucky and would have given the right ones to the teachers. I opened my bag, took out my folder and got out the list. It was no use, I had totally mixed up the gifts. There was only half an hour left of school and I wanted to give the teacher the correct gifts. I had to work backwards. I would do it as fast as I could.

I went back into the gym and asked if I could have the gift back and that I would give him another one in a bit. My teacher looked confused but still gave it back. I told him thank you and rushed out. When I got to my music teacher she was about to open the gift!

“No!” I screamed.

“What is wrong?” She asked.

I told her all about my mix up and asked if I could have the gift back. She agreed and asked if she could help me grab all the gifts. I told her that I would love that and gave her instructions to go to my English, Math, Science, and Social Studies teachers. She nodded and left the room. I headed for my art classroom. It smelled like paint. My teacher was at her desk and I hurried over there. Once I had explained to her she quickly gave the present to me.

“You better hurry, there is only 15 minutes left of school!” She said.

I nodded and rushed to my next teacher. The last teachers were quick so I met up with my music teacher with ten minutes to spare. I collected all the gifts and told her thank you, and gave her her gift. She nodded and said she will see me next year. I rushed to my English class, and gave my teacher her gift. I did that for all my teachers upstairs in just five minutes. Then I skipped all the stairs and fell. I didn’t care though. When I finally made it to the gym my teacher wasn’t there!

“Oh no!” I screamed. I thought as hard as I could, where could he be? Then the completely obvious idea came to me. He was probably in his computer classroom upstairs!

With only one minute left of school until summer break I rushed up stairs down the hallway dodging all the other kids and teachers. I flopped down on the floor, right next to my P.E teachers desk, out of breath.

“Hear you go!” I say standing up.

He takes the gift and opens it. “My favorite candy!” He says, “ Sorry I wasn’t in my gym.

“It’s okay!” I said, still out of breath.

I smiled, and then the bell rang. It was summer break! I waved goodbye and went downstairs. When I got outside I saw my study hall teacher.

“See you next year!¨ I said, running to my house.

All About Chickens

photos and story by Sydney S.

Chickens are intelligent birds, and we’re lucky enough to have the chance to get to know them. I asked two YMS students about their opinions on chickens. From the best things about them to the color of their eggs, you can learn more about these outstanding birds.

Aria, a 7th grader, said that her favorite thing about chickens is how their personality differs so drastically from chicken to chicken. Some can be curious, while others can be more docile. Kora, a 6th grader, noted that her favorite thing is their feathers. Other good qualities are that they will eat anything because they’re omnivores and they’re natural bug control.

Aria also said that her least favorite thing is the constant cleaning of poop and the flies that come with bug season. Kora said that she hated their loud sound. These are both true, and chickens are also very high-maintenance animals.

Kora would definitely encourage others to get chickens because you can get free eggs daily. Aria agreed, saying you should get them to learn about owning an outside animal and to learn responsibility.

They both agreed that they would want colored eggs. Chickens can lay blue, green, olive, cream, and pink-tinted eggs. Aria said her favorite color of egg is ruby red and Kora’s favorite is brown.

They both quickly noted that their favorite colored chickens are black chickens. Aria described their feathers as ‘almost rainbow in the sunlight’. Other good breeds include Buff Orpingtons who are friendly, Black Australorps, Rhode Island Reds who are hardy, and Barred Rocks who are steady!

Chickens are amazing creatures,and I hope you learned something new about them today!


Sources:

https://greenamerica.org/green-living/many-benefits-backyard-chickens

Med Camp

by Kenley S.

Med Camp is a program for 7th graders. It is a day set aside to learn about health and make healthy decisions. It is held in the school gym. This program that makes this happen is called Area Health Education Center. They teach students how to perform CPR and other medical procedures. I interviewed Mrs. Schaffer, and she said the students enjoy it, it is very interactive, and it is cool to be around. Med Camp is scheduled for this Wednesday, April 22, 2026.

YMS Drama Performance Selection

by Hattie H. 

This semester, the Drama classes are doing “The Twelve Angry Pigs.” The play is about twelve pigs convicting a person accused of blowing down two houses. A movie was made after the play called “The Twelve Angry Men.” The play is full of arguments, jokes, and confusing characters. The play teaches you the importance of critical thinking, looking beyond prejudice, not jumping to conclusions without evidence, and not following the crowd unless you truly believe in it.

Being on the Newspaper Staff - One Reporter's Perspective

by Sloane H. 

The Yankton School System has a good way of providing students with quality clubs, programs, and extra classes. One of which includes the YMS Newspaper class. My experience was definitely a fun one, with meeting new friends, exploring new topics, and improving my public writing skills. It truly has been a fun roller coaster of unique stories from all points of view.

Since joining in my sixth-grade year, every month has been a different experience. It's like everything is planned out, yet exact opposites, all at the same time, every time. Most are about topics that you can pick, so it's not exactly like homework you don't want to do. The one thing you can’t pick, is that everything you write about has to be related to either YMS, stuff happening in Yankton, or things around South Dakota.

Making friends has never been easier this way. Picture this: You're able to partner up with anyone who's willing to be in the Newspaper community. If you want to do a solo project, you can still make friends that way. For example, every month there are work days to visit Mrs. Andrews’ room to work on assignments for Newspaper, most people go to those. You can make contact on similar topics, and have deep connections even in different grades.

To add to this, Newspaper has improved my day to day life in a lot of ways. It has me double check on what I'm writing and fix mistakes when writing it. I feel free when typing whatever comes to mind, but it's alright to write things down on paper first. Having a rough draft for informational topics is a clever way to redraft my work and make it the best it can be to post to the public. All of these have led me to understand story structure and opinion writing better.

In conclusion, the experience is very fun and helps you in countless ways. This very article would have been very different if not for the stuff you can learn at YMS Newspaper. Every memory made, from attending meetings, to publishing projects, will be remembered and loved. Even if it has to end in a couple months from now, if sure has been fun, can't wait to get to work on more articles soon!

Easter Myths!

by Cate H.

Easter is a very treasured holiday in history. I have 10 crazy myths to tell you!

1. The Easter Bunny came from a Germanic tribe myth.
2. 1.5 MILLION Peeps are consumed each year.
3. American’s eat over 16 MILLION jelly beans a year.
4. Before chocolate, Prentzelts were originally gifted to others.
5. An old German custom involves dancing around eggs without cracking them.
6. In Germany it is common to hand painted eggs on a tree.
7. The most expensive egg was bought for around 7,000 euro in the UK.
8. In Greece eggs are usually dyed red to symbolize the blood of Christ.
9. The world biggest chocolate egg is about 33 feet tall and 15,000 pounds! Imagine being crushed by a chocolate egg!
10. The first ever chocolate egg was in 1873, Bristol, UK.

State Testing Season

by Saige N.

Sorry to say it, people, but State tests are coming up. I know seventh- and eighth-graders just took some big tests, but those didn’t count. Let's hope you remember all the things you learned this year in math and ELA, but you eighth-graders have to take a science test, too. It will include things from the past 3 years, so you might need a refresher. I’d get on that if I were you. I personally remember nothing from sixth grade. At least we have different periods to go to, unlike elementary kids, who pretty much have to sit there for 5 hours. Let's all get through this together. Good luck to you all.