JH Journal - Metamora Grade School

METAMORA
GRADE
SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER
5/18/2015
Volume 2 Issue 8
The Junior High Journal
State Track
Inside this issue:
8th Grade Newspaper
Staff
2
3
8th Grade Newspaper
Staff
Swing Dancing
4
Dodgeball
4
Dance and Cheer
Greek Week
5
8th Grade Last Will and 6-7
Testament
8th Grade 6 Flags Trip
7
8th Grade Questions
2006 Facts
8
Both boys’ and girls’ track
teams will be well represented at the 2015 State
Track meet to be held this
coming weekend at Eastside in East Peoria.
Carly Tucker is ranked
among some of the top high
jumpers in the state and
will compete on Friday.
The 7th Grade Girls’ 4x200
relay team, consisting of
Carly Tucker, Aurora
Wolfe, Phenix Wolfe , Eliza
Fletcher and Belle Symmonds won sectionals and
will run on Saturday morning.
The 7th grade boys’ team
had 5 athletes make it to
state. Adam Glaub qualified by winning both the
800 and 1600. The 4x400
team of Owen Farquer,
Ethan Shoemaker, Barrett
Gatton, Adam Glaub and
Jed Smith ran a state qualifying time.
The 8th grade boys’ team
won the sectional title.
There will be seven 8th
graders representing MGS
at the state meet. John
Gatton placed first at sectionals at both high jump
and hurdles. Drew
Damery won the 100 and
200 and also set school
records in both events.
The 4x200 team of John
Gatton, Mason Hohenbery,
Andrew Springer, Drew
Damery and Alex Blackburn
qualified for state by coming
in first at sectionals.
The 4x400 relay team of John
Gatton, John Geier, Andrew
Springer, Drew Damery and
Mason Hohenbery not only
won sectionals, they took 9
seconds off their best time
and beat the old school record by 3 seconds.
Eric Reinertsen will be representing MGS at state in
shot-put.
Good Luck Running Red!
Graduation Speakers to Reflect on MGS
Congratulations to this year’s graduation speakers! It was a difficult decision to narrow down
this year’s great speeches to the deserving young men chosen to represent the Metamora
Grade School’s Class of 2015.
Scott Bates
Connor Bernitt
Michael Rego
Page 2
The Junior High Journal
Grace Simpson
Grace Simpson has been going to
Metamora Grade School for the past
nine years, and her favorite teachers
are Ms. Rhodes, and Mr.Dotterer, because she feels connected with them
and has enjoyed learning from them.
She has been involved in volleyball as
Co-Captain in 8th grade, Co-Editor of
the newspaper, art, student council,
and band (fifth and sixth grade).
Grace’s favorite memory from school
was meeting friends for the first times.
Her favorite field trip was Six Flags,
and her favorite lunch is quesadilla.
Her favorite subjects are history and
lit. She is nervous for high school, but
is looking forward to the future.
Grace’s favorite quote is “Today
knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement.” –Peter Drucker. Her favorite
part of eighth grade was meeting new
friends and making new memories.
- Chloe Bowald
Evan Matthews
Evan Matthews was the Co-Editor in
Chief of the Junior High Journal during
his 9th year at MGS. He was an excellent worker and always put time into
his work. Evan has been attending
MGS since he was in kindergarten.
Since then, he has been involved in
Chess, Track, Newspaper, Band, and
Art. His favorite memories of grade
school are going to Chess Club during
lunch and playing at Band concerts.
His favorite field trip was to the Chicago Art Institute for art. He really
loved his extracurricular activities.
Evan’s most memorable experience of
8th grade was Swing Dancing. He had
hopes it would be fun from the begin-
ning. Evan’s favorite teacher was Mr.
Benjamin because he told funny stories and made learning fun. Although
the lunch ladies only served it twice
during Evan’s time at MGS, his favorite school lunch was Waffles. Everyone has seen that Evan was superior at
his favorite subject, Algebra. A quote
that Evan lives by is, “You’re living
life in a fog.” His 6th grade science
teacher, Mrs. MacKenzie said this to
Evan. He is looking forward to more
advanced math courses, as well as
extracurricular activities like L.A.N.
Club, Wind Ensemble, Chess Team,
and Track. Because of this, Evan feels
that graduation is one step closer to
his career, and that we can look back at
ourselves and see how we started school,
and where we are now. The Junior High
Journal would like to thank Evan for his
valued time as an editor and would like to
wish him luck as a Freshman next year.
-Grace Simpson
Chloe Bowald
Chloe Bowald has been attending
Metamora Grade School for nine
years. Her favorite teacher is Mr. Benjamin because he always took time to
get to know his students well enough
to get on their nerves. Chloe had been
involved in Dance, Color guard,
Newspaper, 5th grade Band and 6th
grade Volleyball. Her best memories
are of the High School football games
and having Grace Simpson fall on her
in kindergarten. Chloe’s favorite field
trip was the 8th grade trip to Six Flags. meeting new people, Driver’s Ed, and
more memories in High School.
Her favorite school lunch was Quesadilla and Tomato Soup. Literature
and Language are her favorite sub-Grace Simpson
jects. Chloe feels bittersweet, but excited about graduating 8th grade.
“Life’s a dance, you learn as you go”
by Michael Montgomery is her favorite quote. Chloe’s favorite 8th grade
memory is going to the dance with her
friends. She is looking forward to
Page 3
Maddie Schaffer
As an eighth grader, I interviewed
Maddie Schaffer to see her best
memories of her nine years at MGS.
Maddie replied to the questions very
well, and her answers came easy, as
the memories in this school sure are
big ones. Her favorite teacher was
her second grade teacher Mrs. Brown,
because she got to push her around in
a wheel chair when she was pregnant
twins. Maddie started school here in
kindergarten and has been involved
in dance, volleyball and newspaper.
Her favorite subject has been math.
She has had some really fond memories of 8th grade, including the bean
club and going to Chicago and seeing
“The Mother Bean” sculpture in Millennium Park. She also enjoyed the
field trip to the Lincoln Museum in
third grade. Since we were on the
subjects of favorites, I asked her about
her favorite school lunch and she answered “spaghetti”. She is very ex-
cited about graduation and is looking
forward to meeting new people in
high school.
-Kaitlyn Adami
Sam Vogel
As the end of the year winds down for
all the students of Metamora Grade
School, the 8th grade students look
forward to heading to high school in a
few short months. During this time,
some of our staff members from the Jr.
High Journal are leaving as 8th graders, passing on their helpful advice to
the 7th and 6th grade writers. Sam Vogel, a writer for the Jr. High Journal
since its first year, is one of the students graduating on May 20th. Having
been at Metamora Grade School for
eight years, Sam has been a part of
many of the school’s extra-curricular,
from Speech team, to Track and Field
and Chess team. In all his years as a
student, he found History to be his
favorite subject, as well as Mr. Dotterer to be his favorite teacher, as he
respected Mr. Dotterer’s no-nonsense
attitude about teaching and turning in
assignments. Along with his time in
the 8th grade, Sam’s favorite school
field trip, along with his favorite 8th
grade memory, came from the recent
Six Flags Trip the 8th grade took on
May 8th. However, when it comes to
moving on to high school, Sam believes that his graduation is simply
“One step closer to adulthood,” and
will always remember eating his favorite school lunch, Cheese Quesadillas and his “accomplishment” of calling Mrs. Koppenhoefer a ”witch”. Going onto high school, Sam Vogel is
Kaitlin Adami
Kaitlyn Adami is one of the graduating
eighth graders who participated in the
MGS Junior High Journal for two years.
She is very happy to be graduating
and getting out of this place. Her favorite teacher was Mrs. DuBois because she made 1st grade very fun.
Kaitlyn has been at MGS since kindergarten, and her best memory was pulling the chair out from under Connor B.
She has been involved in soccer and
newspaper at Metamora Grade
School. Her favorite field trip was going to the Lincoln museum in 4th grade,
and her favorite subject is Language
Arts. Kaitlyn’s favorite memory of 8th
grade was Barb, and she is looking
forward to meeting new people in
high school. Her favorite quote is,
“You cannot dwell in dreams and forget to live.”
-Maddie Schaffer
also looking forward to sports and
extra-curriculars in high school, while
leaving behind his favorite quote to
Metamora Grade School, “The only
problem from learning by experience
is that you never graduate”. (Anonymous)
Evan Matthews
Page 4
The Junior High Journal
Bryce Lehn
Bryce Lehn has been attending Metamora Grade School for nine years. He
first walked through the front doors
when he was in kindergarten. Throughout his years at MGS, Bryce has been
involved with Band, Art, Scholastic
Bowl, and Newspaper. His favorite
teacher is the 7th grade History teacher
and 7th and 8th health teacher, Mr. Benjamin, because he is good at teaching
and seems like a nice guy. Because of
this, Bryce’s favorite subject is History.
Bryce’s favorite school lunch was the
Cheese Quesadillas because they make
him laugh. One of Bryce’s favorite memories of grade school was when he ate Green
Eggs ‘n’ Ham in kindergarten. His memorable experience of 8th grade was the Six
Flags Trip in St. Louis, which was also his
favorite field trip. Bryce is excited about
graduation because he cannot wait to join
clubs in High School such as L.A.N. Club.
He was a great addition to the newspaper
and made everyone laugh.
-Grace Simpson
Swing Dancing Fun for 8th Graders
Will Bachman
Clare Campbell
It is that time of year
again, when the 8th
graders get to learn how to swing dance in
history class! Some of the dance moves
were difficult, but they seemed to catch on
quickly. The 8th graders are paired up
boy/girl and learn steps to put together to
form a routine. You could tell they were
having a lot of fun just by watching them.
Grace Simpson said “I had a ton of fun and
would definitely do it again” when we
asked her what she thought about swing
dancing.
Tessa Schwarzentraub and Andrew Thomas
Dodgeball Fundraiser a Success for Student Council
Grace Simpson
On April 24, 2015, Student Council hosted a
Dodgeball Tournament for the Junior High. Each paying $2 a person,
5 teams entered to win. These
teams included: The Chicken Nuggets, Average Joes, Dolphins, Pur-
ple Cobras, and Redbirds. After a
fierce battle, the Dolphins won the
tournament. The Average Joes came
in second. Everyone who attended
had a great time and a ton of fun.
Student Council is hoping to host
another Dodgeball Tournament next
year.
Page 5
Dance and Cheer
Ashley Strehlow and Bryn Bates
It is the season for Cheer and Dance! We are interviewing Ms. Uhlman and Mrs. Bachman. First we asked Ms.
Uhlman, “Are you excited about Cheer?” Ms. Uhlman replied, “I am so excited, I cheered when I was in
grade school and high school.” Then we asked, “What grades are involved in Cheer?” She answered, “Girls that are going
into 6th, 7th, and 8th grade.” Next, we asked, “How many girls are trying out for Cheer and how many make it?” Ms. Uhlman
said, “21 girls try out and 12-14 make it.” Finally, we asked, “Are you encouraging girls to try out for Cheer?” “I am. I want
many girls to try out. I love cheer and I want to share that with my students,” Ms. Uhlman stated. Next, we interviewed Mrs.
Bachman.
We asked Mrs. Bachman, “Are you excited about dance?” She answered, “Yes, my two of my daughters have danced for 16
years each and they are going to help.” Next, we asked, “What grade or grades are included in dance?” She replied, “Girls
going into 6th, 7th, and 8th grade if they make it.” Then we asked Mrs. Bachman, “Are you encouraging people to try out for
dance?” She answered, “Yes, I would like more to do dance, it is always nice to have a lot of people in dance.” We asked her,
“How many are trying out for dance?” She replied, “Fourteen girls are trying out.” The last question we asked was, “How
many people made it on the team?” She said, “ 10 girls this year.”
Greek Week in 7th Grade
Clare Campbell
Ms. Koppenhoefer's and Mrs. Buerkett's seventh grade literature classes have been studying their Greek gods and
goddesses and it is time for them to show their classes what they learned. Students chose a god, goddess, titan, or monster to dress up as, give an oral report on, and write an essay about. They had to tell the class things like the symbols of
their chosen figure, who their family was, any big events involving them, and other important information. Everyone had such
creative costumes and really seemed to know a lot when giving their presentations. Some people used things like sheets for togas, wooden swords and weapons, handmade props, and many other creative objects for their outfits. All of the seventh graders
did an amazing job with their projects.
Page 6
Newsletter Title
8th Grade Last Will and Testament
I, Kaitlyn Adami, leave behind my
sass to Clare Campbell and Faith Adams.
I, Audrey Armstrong, leave behind
everything boring I did in school.
I, Austin Asbury, leave behind my
terrible procrastination.
I, Ben Bachman , leave behind my
pencil to someone.
I, Laura Bachman, leave my support
to the dance team for an awesome
season.
I, Alexis Barnes, give my seat in history to Ashton Roe.
I, Connor Bernitt, leave behind my
dodge ball tournament team, The Average Joes, to the Dolphins.
I, Steven Blunier, leave my large
amount of military knowledge to the
highest bidder. (Bid starts at $4,000)
I, Chloe Bowald, leave my coordination to Olivia Ehlers, good luck.
I, Reid Brockhouse, leave behind a
pen I lost.
I, Emmie Brockhouse, leave behind
my ability to fail every history test to
Carly Tucker.
I, Zach Brown, leave my endurance to
the track team.
I, Bridget Bryning, leave my ability to
come up with funny, sarcastic and
sassy comebacks.
I, Joe "Swag" Burch, leave behind
Evan Jones.
I, Maddie Burris, leave behind my
annoying laugh to anyone.
I, Shelby Cole, leave my ability to do
whatever I want in history to Carly
Tucker.
I, Kevin Cull, leave my #23 basketball jersey and my skill to Malachi
Rooks.
I, Noah Curless, leave my drumming
skills to the upcoming 8th grade class.
I, Drew Damery, leave my hops to the
basketball team.
I, Maggie Dean, leave the endless
knowledge discovered in the Olan
Rodger videos. Eat a slice. "I am the
Master Commander"
I, Logan Huff, leave behind my
memories of Senor Jordan to everyone.
I, Cole Hunt, give my ability to remember and create humorous sayings
to Evan Charlier.
I, Kara Hyde, don't know what to
leave for the 7th graders.
I, Brennan Derr, leave behind the
struggles of diagramming.
I, Connor Ingold, leave the amazing
song "All-star" by Smashmouth.
I, Alivia Edwards, leave behind my
love for Barb for anyone.
I, Anthony Jenkins, leave behind my
determination to do my absolute best
at what ever I do.
I, Kayla Ernenputsch, leave behind
my amazingness to the 7th grade
class.
I, Gabby Foiles, leave my ability to
get all of my homework done before
the class its due in.
I, Jenna Johnston, give my ability to
procrastinate heavily but still get
things done to Clare Campbell.
I, Evan "Danger" Jones, leave behind Joe Burch.
I, Torrie Ford, leave behind my
friends that I have now and so to be
more friends but I hope that I am still
friends with my friends now.
I, Colten Kahler, leave behind my #4
baseball jersey to Andrew Guth.
I, Travis Fortner, leave my spot to get
homework done to everyone.
I, Elizabeth Keenan, leave my spot in
chorus to Elizabeth Emery.
I, Peyton Grantham, give my ability
to listen to my stomach grumble in
history class to Devin Little.
I, Clay Kiesewetter, leave behind my
locker to Kaleb Kieswwetter. 732.
I, Kassidy Griffith, leave behind
some of my love for 5 Seconds of Summer to another destined fangirl.
I, Gill Guerrero, leave behind my
serving and spiking skills to the 7th
grade volleyball team.
I, Thomas Hall, leave behind the fun
and boring times I had in class.
I, Haleigh Hassinger, leave behind
my basketball jersey, #45 to Belle
Symmonds.
I, Jared Hearn, leave my track skills
to 7th graders to do well in meets.
I, Mason Hohenbery, leave behind
the boring times in class.
I, Jack Kasten, want to be buried with
all of my stuff, even my homework.
I, Braden Love, leave my procrastination to everybody.
I, Cyndi Mahan, leave all my courage
to be myself to my beloved sister,
Jackie Mahan.
I, Turner Mann, leave behind my
skills to Parker Johnson.
I, Jason Martin, leave my gym locker
#113 to Kaleb Kruz.
I, Lexi Mata, leave behind my lucky
basketball to Alex Bishop.
I, Evan Matthews, leave the Ultimate
Algebra Binder of Knowledge, the
most powerful binder in the history of
mankind, to Cade Matthews. To
Cade, use the binder wisely!
Page 7
I, Brooke McCormick, leave my
negative attitude and sparkling personality.
I, Pualani Nguyen, leave behind my
shortness to Brianne Roley, Chloe
Delond, Faith Adams and Franchesca
Fosdick.
I, Shazain Noorullah, leave nothing
to the 7th graders.
I, Michael Rego, leave my stories to
whomever remembers them.
I, Eric Reinertsen, leave behind the
memories of watching Speed Racer on
the Band/Art field trip.
I, Dathan Reynolds, leave behind
some pocket lint to Barrett Gatton.
I, Maddie Schaffer, leave my passion
for dance to the members of the dance
team.
I, DJ Schmidt, would leave behind my
education.
I, Marty Schmidt, leave behind my
locker.
I, Tessa Schwarzentraub, leave behind my captain position in Cross
Country in hopes that the next person
will lead the team to victory in the
2015 season.
I, Andrew Springer, leave behind my
basketball skills to Dylan William/Blackhawk.
I, Kali Shaidle, give my ability to
write an essay in one night to Devin
Little and DJ Smock.
I, Mark Swain, leave behind the fact
that jet fuel can't melt steal beams.
I, Irina Sherwood, leave behind my
fun times in band.
I, Tracy Shirer, leave behind my
ability to draw to the whole 7th Grade.
Have Fun.
I, Joel Shoopman, leave my running
skills to the upcoming track teams and
I also leave a deflated football with a
hole in it to the upcoming baseball
teams.
I, Grace Simpson, leave my place as
Co-editor of the Junior High Journal to
Klaudia Krei and Clare Campbell.
I, Dylan Steffen, give my ability to
stink at PE to Blake Leeper.
I, Andrew Thomas, give my skillness
to Malachi Rooks.
I, Braden Thomas, leave my junk
folder to Ashton Roe.
I, Samuel Vogel, leave behind nothing of great value, so that people can
think I left something great.
I, Carmen Whitby, leave behind my
ability to memorize songs to the whole
7th Grade.
I, Olivia Wright, give my ability to
stay awake in history class to Oliva
Ehlers.
I, Dalton Smith, leave behind my
very good looking good looks to the
whole 7th grade.
8th Grade’s Rainy Day at 6 Flags
-Maddie Schaffer
The graduating class of 2019
travelled to Six Flags in St.
Louis, Missouri on May 8th,
2015. On the way down the St. Louis, the
girls’ bus watched “Footloose” and the
boys’ bus watched “Shrek”. Everyone
enjoyed the bus ride, whether they
slept or watched the movies. When we
arrived at the amusement park, the sky
was a little cloudy, but promising. The
kids split off into their groups with their
chaperones, and most groups rode a
couple of rides before it started raining.
No one was going to let the rain stop
them from riding the rides, but the
lightening caused the park to shut down
the rides for a while. Many kids hung
out by the arcade, browsed the shops,
or played games set up outside. We all
Everyone met up at the water fountain at
gathered together around 11:30 to eat
4:45
and headed back for the buses. The
lunch in the gazebo. We had the options
girls’ bus watched and sang along to
of hotdogs, chicken strips, baked
“High School Musical 2”, and the boys’
beans, chips, potato salad, soda, and
bus enjoyed “Toy Story”. Even though
popsicles. Most of us hung out in the
the
rain and lightning kept us from riding
gazebo until the rides opened up. The
rides the entire day, we all enjoyed the
rain didn’t stop us from playing on the
playground or dancing in the rain. Sev- rest of the day and the last field trip as the
Metamora Grade School class of 2019.
eral kids performed their state-of-theart rain dances, which worked. The rain
stopped and the rides opened back up
around 1:30. We all hustled to the rides,
and we jammed in as many as we could.
The rides Six Flags, St. Louis included
“Mr. Freeze”, “The Boss”,
“SkyScreamer”, “Screamin’ Eagle”,
“American Thunder”, “Ninja”,
“Pandemonium”, and “Batman: The
Ride”.
The Junior High Journal
The Junior High Journal is the student newspaper of
Metamora Grade School. It is researched, written and
Metamora Grade School Newspaper
published by 5th-8th grade students. The content is
decided upon by the students involved in the newspa-
Metamora Grade School
815 E Chatham
Metamora, Illinois 615485
per club, which is a volunteer after school activity.
Any questions or comments about the paper can be
directed to the sponsors of the paper: Gail Simpson
(gsimpson@schools.mtco.com) and Amber Brown
(abrown@schools.mtco.com).
Kaitlyn Adami
Find us on the Web
The graduating eighth graders this year began school at MGS in
2006, so we are time traveling back to ’06 to see exactly what the big
whoop was! First of all, I know that I would watch Zoey 101 and Drake and
Josh when I was a six years old. Even though it said “Y7” and I was only
six, they were truly great shows. For music, Avril Lavigne was sure a hit. I
remember everyone in my kindergarten class singing the song
“Girlfriend” with teeny tiny voices that sure were great compared to
Avril’s powerful voice. “Billboard” states that a few top charts songs in
2006 were Over My Head (Cable Car) by the Fray and You’re Beautiful by
James Blunt. The Nintendo Wii came out in 2006, along with Ice Age. Fear
Factor, CSI, and Doctor Who were a few of the other popular TV shows.
This year seems like it wasn’t even that long ago, right? Well nine years
sure is a long while, and sometimes I wish I could go back to kindergarten
singing Avril Lavigne and watching TV shows that I was far too young for.
http://mgs.metamora.k12.il.us/
8th Grade Question of the Month
Klaudia Krei
Since the eighth graders are graduating this month, I decided to ask them a
question. The question that I decided
to ask them why the Earth spins. Some
of the answers I received are:

God made it so… actually it’s
the gravitational pull.

Because it’s tilted.

It can do what it wants.
●
Someone is spinning it like a
basketball on their finger.

I was running too fast around
the Earth, and when I stopped
it kept spinning.

Supposedly an asteroid hit
the Earth and made it spin.
That… that is a scientific fact
to why the Earth spins.
●
Because of hippos. Allow me
to explain, one day I was
walking down the street
when all of a sudden I saw
my nemesis, Tim Blombo.
And so I said, “ Tim Blombo
what are you doing here?”
he looked at me and
scowled “You…” he said
then I launched a hippo at
him hard and it flew into
space and spun the Earth
around.