Opinion: Book Review for Out of My Mind

by Aria H. 

Imagine you are an 11-year-old girl who is disabled and in a wheelchair who can't talk, eat, drink, walk, or do anything alone. If that's not bad enough, think about having a photographic memory. You could remember everything you hear, see, feel, taste, and smell, but you couldn't tell anyone about it because you can't talk! That is what Melody feels like all day, every day. So you ought to think about how hard it would be without being able to speak when she has all these thoughts or feelings that she wants to say but can't. Ever since Melody was little, she remembered everything. Her parents were waiting for her to be like any other kid, to start crawling at the right age, and to start talking and walking, but she never did. Her parents tried to help and prop her up with pillows on the couch to sit up, but soon after, she would fall straight down to the shaggy green carpet and had to sit there face down, waiting for someone, anyone, to help her and pick her up. Melody was more brilliant than almost all the kids her age, but no one knew it except for her. Melody's parents would bring her to tons and tons of specialists who pretended to know what was wrong with her.

Melody's parents also had it rough, having to dress and help her do anything and everything. Still, as Melody got older, she became heavier and more complicated to carry and hold, but when Melody was ready, they brought her to a specialist named Mr.Hugely. He was supposed to figure out how brilliant Melody was, but he was the farthest thing from helpful. Mr. Hugely, on chapter 4, page 22, states, "He began by clearing his throat. "Mrs. Brooks," he then said, "it is my opinion that Melisy is severely brain-damaged and profoundly delayed." As soon as Melody was old enough, her parents enrolled her in school like any normal kid, but instead of going to recess and playing and walking to each class with her friends like science, math, music, and more, she stayed in room 5-H, the special ed class. This was nothing like Melody expected from school. She hated how she was stuck in this room that was more suitable for babies than 9 to 11-year-olds. The walls were painted yellow and pink; one was covered in suns with smiley faces, and the other was painted with happy bunnies, kittens, and puppies. Melody hated this room just as much as she hated Sydney the snowman.

Sydney was a snowman, and every year during Christmas time, the teacher would bring it out. The kids would decorate it with paper stars and other decorations. Every. Single. The year was all the same: the same room, kids, and Sydney. The only thing that changed was that a new teacher would come in every year and teach them the SAME thing as last year. However, one year later, Melody was invited to try inclusion classes, and when the 5-H room got to go to regular classes like everyone else except the scene, it was a new idea. They only went for a couple of classes each day.

Melody went to music and social studies and then returned to her room. 5-H. When Melody attended the inclusion classes, Molly and Clair laughed at her. They thought they were so much better than everyone else. But one day, Melody got a Medi-talker. This was a talking device so Melody could finally express her thoughts. Her schedule never changes until one day in Mr. Dimming's class (social studies), he announces that it is Whiz Kids season. Whiz Kids is a club that goes on live to go against other schools, answering quiz questions. Melody was very interested in this topic. She was dedicated to making the team.

No one believed she could do it, but when she took the test to see who would participate, she got the highest score, 100/100. She was on the team! They practiced every night for a couple of hours. It was the day of the competition in town, determining if they would go to Washington, D.C., to go against the most challenging competition yet. She was terrific at the competition and got almost all the quiz questions right in the first round. In the second round, they barely won and were cut very tight to nearly losing, but that didn't matter because they were going to go on a plane to D.C! They even started practicing on Saturdays almost all day to prepare for the competition in Washington. Finally, it was the day of the competition. They drove to the airport to meet her team at 11 o'clock, but when she arrived, she learned that the flight had gotten canceled because of the weather. But the team was already on the plane because they had breakfast but didn't invite Melody because she had to be spoon-fed, so they managed to get on an earlier flight that didn't get canceled. Melody was devastated that they would do such a thing. She lay in bed for the rest of the day, but she was scheduled not to be at school the next day because she would have been in D.C. Melody wanted to go to prove she was strong. But when she was leaving, something happened. Read Out of My Mind to find out!

Cartoon: Fat Cat's Band Concert

 by Sophia and Peyton

Meet Mr. Ohlendorf!

by Emery L.

I interviewed Mr. Ohlendorf and this is what I found out.

Mr. O said his first year at YMS was busy but exciting! Isn’t that great?!

Turns out Mr. O’s favorite instrument to play is the baritone. I thought he was the orchestra teacher…

No shock to anyone but he teaches Mon.-Fri.

He also teaches 5th-12th. Looks like he ended the Fourth grade orchestra. Sorry 4th graders you’ll have to wait till next year.

Last but not least Mr. O is the worst at playing violin and clarinet. I always thought that he was the same level at all of the instruments that he plays but I guess not.

And that's a wrap of an interview with Mr. O

STEM Update

by Jerry L.

In Stem the 6th graders were making handmade basketball courts. While 7th/8th were creating a wrecking ball. Now it looks like 6th graders are creating wind turbines and 7th/8th are creating igloo. The 7th/8th are trying to create an igloo made out of pink small foam balls.

Cartoon: The Scream

 by Aria H. 

Holiday Survey!

Videography by Aaliyah S. 

Interviews by Jerry L. and Kerianne P.

Survey created by Aria H. and Emery L. 

Take the survey yourself by clicking on this link. We will publish the survey results for the whole school at the end of next week!

News: Veterans Day Assembly

by Jerry L.

Veterans Day is the day when we have to honor the people who help protect and serve our country. Each grade was given a color. 6th grade - white, 7th grade - blue, 8th Grade - Red. The Veteran's Day program was hosted on Friday, November 8th, at 9:00 A.M in the south gym. The public was allowed to attend the program. Once all the grades were in the gym the color guards began putting up the flags. The YMS bands began playing; they did a wonderful job and so did the choir and Orchestra. Then finally YMS special guest gave her speech about how Veterans day is important because people served for our country and how many lives were lost. After that YMS students and staff saw people's family members that served for our country. The YMS thanks everyone for participating in the wonderful 19th Annual Veteran’s Day Program and honoring all who served for us and all who are serving.