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.

Time For Track!

by Addie E. 

It is finally time for 6th grade track! Whoever wants to join will be training either on Mondays and Wednesdays, or Tuesdays and Fridays! Then at the end of the year they will have their one meet! Let's wish them good luck with their season!

The coaches for the middle school track team are Jamie Tramp and Nikki Iwan . Coach Tramp is going to split the students who sign up into two groups. The first group will be practicing on Mondays and Wednesdays, while the second group will have their practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The two groups will also alternate with Friday.

There will be one meet, on May 12, Tuesday. Jamie Tramp says it is an “Intramural track meet.” If the track would like to participate in track they must keep up with their homework or Mrs. Tramp will have to send them to their teachers to work on whatever they need to.

The track team will start practices on Tuesday, March 24, the day after the meeting to sign up in the lecture hall. So track is finally here! Let’s wish the YMS track team a great season! Good luck Bucks and Gazzels!

Student Feature: Reader Extraordinaire: Sydney!

by Aria H. 

Some people scroll for hours on their digital devices, but Sydney S. doesn’t; instead, she uses her time by reading and doing other fun activities! Sydney S. is a 7th grader who loves to read and just last year, read about 178 books, and this year so far, about 21 books! According to an article by Dimitrije Curcic, the average person reads about 12.5 books a year, including books they started but didn’t finish, meaning Sydney just last year read about 14 times more books than the average person, which is pretty impressive.

I interviewed her to get deeper into her world and to learn more about how she can do this! First, I asked what she does in her free time, unlike how others go on digital devices. She answered, "I read and spend time with my animals in my free time.” Then I asked her if she had a favorite genre or book, and she smiled and said, “My favorite genre is mystery, and my favorite book is Twilight.” I also asked her, since she reads so many books, whether she buys most of them, and if so, where she keeps them, or if she donates them. She replied with, “I buy lots of books, but I also go to the library a lot, and I have a bookshelf in my room, but I read so much and buy so many books that I can’t keep all of them. I get rid of any books that I don’t want to reread and keep all the books I love enough to reread.”

Other than reading, I asked, What are your hobbies? She answered, “Other than reading, I enjoy writing my own stories, scrapbooking, drawing, hanging out with my sisters, and playing with my animals outside.” Then I lastly asked whether you would change anything about how you read or your efficiency? She answered, “No, I love having every story I read be a part of me, and I think I’m efficient enough.” If you’re lucky enough to work with Sydney or pass her in the hallway, make sure you ask her about what book she’s reading right now because she goes through them a lot!


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Creative Corner: Last Day of Winter

by Addie E.

It was the night before the last day of winter. I was super excited for spring. I was definitely going to miss winter though. All the snow days and activities and hot cocoa. It was supposed to be very snowy and icy the next day and I was hoping for a snow day.

Mom walked into the room and said, “ Well, it is a two hour late start.”

“ Yay!” I said. It wasn’t a snow day but I got some time to do my list of winter activities.

The next day I woke up really early. Probably around six thirty( It was still dark). I put all of my snow stuff on and went sledding on the hill right next to my house. I climbed the hill and sled down on my new sled. It was bright red and had a white string connected to it. I did this for about a half hour. I came to my yard and started making an army of snow angels. After ten minutes my little sister came out. We built a snow man then came inside.

“ Great idea to wake up early and enjoy the last day of winter Addie” Said my mom as she made us some hot cocoa and got us some poptarts.

“Thanks! I want to get everything done on my list before school starts. It will be tricky, but I can do it!”

My mom took my list and said, “ Well I love your enthusiasm but you really think you can get this all done.

I took the list back and looked. I checked off sledding, snow angels, build a snowman, and hot cocoa. All I needed was ice skating, winter crafts, and snowboarding.

“ yup!” I said with even more enthusiasm.

“ Okay then let's go to the ice rink!” My mom said putting on her coat.

At the ice rink I was working on a jump. My sister was just skating with my mom. We were there until eight o-clock. After that we went to the dam hill and did a little snowboarding. I was just going down the hill a few times while I let my sister use my new sled. It was fun!

“ What's left on your list Addie. “ Asked my mom helping my sister with her goggles.

“ I just need to do some winter crafts. I said. Looking at my sheet in the car.

“ Okay lets go bye some at Hobby Lobby.”

At Hobby Lobby we found snowflakes, snowmen, and sled crafts. We got two of each and paid for them. When we were walking to the car I dropped the bag with all the crafts and the wind picked them up and they started flying away!

“ Oh no! “ I screamed.

Those were the last ones in the store, so we chased after them. They got too high and were gone.

“Aw.” I cried.

“ I’m sorry Addie. Maybe we could get them somewhere else.” My mom said thoughtfully.

“ School starts in half an hour and there is no time.” I said.

“ Well we should go home and get ready for school then.”

So we left and went to school. I was disappointed that I couldn’t do any winter crafts, but as the day went on I started to feel better. The day went on and on, 1st period, 2nd, 3rd, all the way to seventh. When it was finally eighth period I walked into the room and saw that we had a sub. I greeted her with a smile and sat down.

“Good Afternoon! I am Mrs. Gluten. Today we are going to just draw instead of a huge project. When your teacher is back you will do something cooler.” The woman looked around 50 years old and had a blue sweatshirt on.

“Before we begin, do you want me to tell you a story?” She said, grabbing her bag.

I loved when subs told stories of their life. They were always so interesting. Especially ones about dogs.

We all said yes and she began, “ Well this morning obviously was a late start and my daughter brought her children to my house because she had to work. My grandchildren wanted to do some crafts so we went to Hobby Lobby. Sadly they were all gone. “

I flinched. I was the one who took the last one’s. I felt terrible.

“ We decided to go to Dollar Tree so we went to our car but saw some crafts in a tree!” She exclaimed.

My eyes opened wide. I raised my hand slowly.

“Yes dear.” Said Mrs. Gluten.

“ What did you do with the crafts?” I said, shocked.

“Well we took two, but didn’t use the other ones.”

My jaw dropped. “ What did you do with the other one’s”

“ Well they are right here.” She said holding the snowmen and snowflake crafts.

“ I had the same idea as you so my family went to Hobby Lobby to get some crafts. They were the last ones.” I said cautiously.

“ Oh, so you got the last ones!” She said with a smile on her face.

“ Yes, I was so excited but I dropped them and they blew away.” I said slowly.

“Well these must be yours then. Would you like to have them?” She reached them out to me.

“Yes, if you don’t mind.” I said, trying not to yell with excitement.

She handed them to me and I put them in my folder. When the bell rang for us to go home I rushed to my locker and put the crafts in my bag. I tried to get out of school quickly so I could have the crafts safe and sound at home. I was not losing them again! I rushed home so I could tell my mom everything. I got home at 3:45 and went into my momś room where she was reading and my sister was playing a game. I told them everything.

¨ That's great! Would you two like to do them?¨ Said my mom taking the crafts that were in my hands.

¨You bet I do!” I said.

The rest of the afternoon my sister and I did the crafts. I made a snowflake and snowman and so did my sister. We watched a movie before we went to bed, and had cookies. When I got in bed I thought to myself, this was the best last day of winter ever!

The End.

Science Olympiad Update

by Kenley S.

Science Olympiad, or SO, is an academic track meet with 23 events. Each member competes in 3 science majors. SO is for 6th through 9th graders. For SO, I interviewed Remi Stoddard and Mrs. Mehlhaff, who is our 6th-grade science teacher and a SO coach. The first thing I asked was, Are they excited for the state and why? They both answered yes, but Remi said, “because she has never gone,” and Mrs. Mehlhaff said, “ Because she has a good team and they are ready.” I also asked what they will be doing for the state, and Remi said, “Machines, entomologies (bugs), helicopters, plants, and a ping pong parachute.” Mrs. Mehlhaff said, “She will be attending coaches' meetings, be there for building events, and cheer on her team.” 15 kids compete for SO, with 4 alternates. Also, this is year 44.