The Echo.O
THE ECHO.O
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE:
Boys Game
2
Cyber Monday
2
Girls Basketball Game
2
Alex’s Fashion Tips
3
Fruit Profit
4
Senior Spotlight
5
Winning
power ball
6
V O L U M E
1 ,
I S S U E
1 3
N O V E M B E R
3 0 , 2 0 1 2
Black Friday By: Kayla Brown
Black Friday is the day
after Thanksgiving. It is
when people get up extremely early to go
Christmas shopping. On
Black Friday most stores
have really good deals
on things that parents
would buy for their kids.
Sometimes stores start
their sales at midnight
and some start them
super early in the morning. Some stores even
start their sales thanksgiving evening. People
stand in line hours before store is opened, to
get the deals of the year.
In some cases,
Black Friday shopping
gets a little out of hand.
Crowd of people shopping
for the holidays.
There are stories of people being trampled by
tons of other people,
and people breaking out
in fights over items they
want to buy. It’s even
been said that some
people have died.
The name "Black
Friday" has to do with
businesses recording
their losses in red ink
and gains in black. However, this is not the most
successful seasonal
shopping day for stores.
The days they get the
most business for the
holidays are the last few
days before the actual
holiday.
Zoo Lights By: Morgan Moon
The famous Wild Lights
have returned to The
Columbus Zoo to help
spread the holiday
cheer. Starting November 16th all the
way to January 3rd you
will be able to experience the enchanting
light shows and holiday celebrations. With
more than three
million twinkling
lights, activities
for children, Santa
and a variety of
festive activities
available for the
family, there is
something for
everybody at this
year’s Wild Lights.
The only nights that these lights will be closed is November 24th
and December 24th and 25th. So any other night during this
winter, drive on up to the zoo from 5:00p.m.-10:00p.m. and
walk around experiencing the wonderful display and visit Santa’s workplace to make holiday cookies and other crafts for the
family. Also be sure to stop for a picture with Santa himself!
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2
Cyber Monday By: Amanda Curry
Going black Friday shopping has been an American
tradition since around
1961. It is the day after
Thanksgiving, marking the
beginning of Christmas
shopping. Another shopping day is Cyber Monday.
The term "Cyber Monday"
was created by marketing
companies to persuade
people to shop online. The
term made its debut on
Cyber Monday
Website.
November 28, 2005. It was
thought as one of the biggest online shopping days
of the year. According to
the Shop.org/BizRate Research, "77 percent of
online retailers said that
their sales increased substantially on the Monday
after Thanksgiving. In 2010,
reported that consumers
spent $1.028 Billion online
on Cyber Monday
(excluding travel, 2009:
$887M), the highest spending day of 2010. Cyber
Monday is used in many
places such as the United
States, Canada, the United
Kingdom, Portugal, Germany, Chile and Colombia.
Predictions are that it will
spread further in the next
few years.
Girl’s Basketball Game By: Ally Tracy
Kelsie Robinson
makes a pass
On Tuesday, November 27, the lady Mustangs played a non-league game against
West Jefferson High School. The Mustangs trailed 23-19 early in the third quarter
but had a big push to win the game. Kelsie Robinson had two three-pointers and
scored seven of her team-high 15 points. The girls took the lead 36-26. The Mustangs held the Roughriders to only three of eleven attempted shots and forced
nine turnovers. Other girls who contributed a lot to the win were: Kelly Fuchs,
who had eight points and eight rebounds, Jessica Miller, who also had eight
points, Kelsie Robinson who had seven points and Paige Swaggerty trailed with
three steals. Westfall pulled out with a win, 45-37. The girls have another nonleague game at Madison Plains on Thursday, November 29, 2012.
Boy’s Basketball Game By : Randi Bivens
This Friday, November 30, 2012 is the boy’s first SVC
game at Zane Trace and they play Eastern Brown. The boys
would love to have everyone come and support them in their
first SVC game. The theme for the game is a red out. Wear your
red and support your team at Zane Trace High School. The game
starts at 6:45 p.m. Hope to see everyone there and good luck to
the Westfall Basketball team.
Alek Stonerock going for a shot
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VOLUME
1,
ISSUE
13
PAGE
Alex’s Fashion Tips By: Kayla Brown
As we all know Alex Sartin is the king of dressing nice. I thought
it would be nice to let everyone in on some of his secrets, so all you gentlemen out there could look as nice as him.
Alex thinks you should never wear too many light colors all together. He says it doesn‟t hurt to go dark and light. Light shirts always
look good with dark pants. Four to five colors are the maximum amount
of colors you should wear together in one outfit. As far as Alex is concerned, chinos (khakis) are back in style and you should never be afraid
to, “break „em out”. If you are going to wear shorts, it‟s best not to wear
them any shorter than just above the knee.
To dress things up even more, Alex likes to wear bowties. He really enjoys his Oxford shoes. He says chukka boots look good with everything. Also, in his opinion, boating shoes are always nice. If you are
going to wear them; however, wear them without socks unless you are
wearing pants. Loafers are always a plus as well.
He thinks vests look nice with button-ups or a nice colored v-neck. Banana Republic and Polo Ralph Lauren make comfy undies in his opinion. He says Burberry and
Brooks Brothers make the best jackets. Tan jackets go with light colors, according to
Alex. He also prefers black blazers with a black vest. He says the ladies love it!
As far as men‟s jewelry goes, Alex says medium-sized watches are nice. He also
likes stainless steel bracelets and rings, “are a go-getter”. He says never to be afraid to
spice it up with a tiny bit of gold.
I hope you all find this helpful. I know I enjoyed learning about all of the different things Alex likes to put into his daily attire.
Alex all
dressed up
Winning Power Ball by:Mary Roush
The winning Powerball tickets were purchased in Missouri and Arizona. Susan Goedde, Missouri lottery official,
confirmed that the winning ticket was sold there. They will not, however, release the name of the town where it
was sold. Arizona says they have no information on their states winner, but they will announce later where the
ticket was sold. The winning numbers for the jackpot were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29. The Powerball was 6. According
to lottery official Sue Dooley, the jackpot had reached $587.5 million. The two winners will split the jackpot,
each receiving $293.75 million, with a cash payout of $192.5 million. The jackpot had rolled over sixteen times
already without a winner. In January the jackpot had been changed to be a two dollar ticket instead of one dollar
ticket. "When it gets this big we get inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can
buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money" says Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman for the game at its
headquarters in Iowa. The previous record for a jackpot was $365 million and was won by a group of workers at a
Nebraska company. Over eighty percent of players chose to receive computer generated numbers instead of picking their own. Officials say that there is no way for people to increase their chances by picking certain numbers.
The odds of winning this powerball were one in 175 million, which made it 25 times more likely for players to
win an academy award. This week‟s Powerball is starting out at $40 million.
3
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4
Prom !!! By: Sierra Harr
The 2012-13 prom will be held at the Columbus Zoo this year. There will
be a dinner, a dance, and an after prom. Parents will be able to drive up to the
zoo and see their kids walk in but will not be able to enter the zoo. During dinner
there will be prime rib or pasta and will also include other food. Then the dance
will start, and after the dance will be an after prom where we will be able to ride
carousels, along with other carnival time of activities. We need to figure out how
many students would like to ride a bus to the Zoo instead of driving, and if so
how many busses will be needed. The prom theme has not yet been chosen so
ideas are needed. There is also a need for people to help set up and clean up
afterwards. If you would like to help clean up before/after or have any other ideas or questions feel free to ask Mrs. Hook or Mrs. Oney.
Prom Queen and King.
Fruit Profit By: Ryan Krysty
There are a few people that have wanted to know what the FFA fruit sale
profits go towards each year. So to find out what the profits are used for, I went
to Mr. Metzger and asked him. He told me “The profits go towards the FFA banquet, and any chapter activities that we participate in.” He continued to tell me
that “the profits are used for state and national conventions along with the Ag
contests that the chapter teams compete in. If there are any class expenses for
any major projects, the chapter will pay to buy the materials.” The last thing that
he told me that the profits are used for is “anything that has to be paid for.” So
the profits go towards a lot of different needs for the chapter.
FFA Symbol
Bowling By: Natasha Mumford
On November 17, the girls won the Pickaway County Tournament in
bowling. Allison Meek and Madison Herd won three medals. On November
22, the girls won against Logan Elm and Hali Schwalbach scored a 145. For
the boys, Chris Curtis scored a 186 and Ben Fultz scored a 163. December 4
is their next match against Unioto. On December 8, they have a tournament in Columbus for both the boy’s and girl’s teams.
Allison Meek & Dymond
Francisco
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Senior Spotlight By: Randi Bivens
Senior spotlight is on Doug Hardin. The first question I asked him was, Can you cry
under water? He answered, “No I cannot. I don’t think anyone can.” Then I asked him if you
were food, what type of food would you be? He replied, “Ketchup to go with Cameron’s
hamburger.” A police officer was Doug’s reply when asked what he wanted to be when he
grew up. If Doug could have any super power he would, “Fly, because he is gravitationally
challenged.” The next question was if he could be a brick on a wall which would he be? His
answer was, “The top left one.” I asked him what the last movie he saw was and he said, “21
Jump Street.” The last question I asked him was if someone was going to write a bio about him,
what the title would be? Doug said, “Fat man on a diet.”
Doug Hardin
Echo.O
Hostess By: Mary Roush
The famous brand, Hostess that
makes goodies such as; Twinkies,
cupcakes, and wonder bread, is
going out of business after nearly
seventy six years. The CEO of
Hostess blames recent union
strikes on the closing of the company. Ironically, all of the workers
in the union are now out of a job
due to their own striking. “We
deeply regret the necessity of the
decision, but we do not have the
financial resources to weather an
extended nationwide strike,” says
CEO Gregory F. Rayburn. While
there have been no offers to buy
the company, researchers say
that there should be no problem
selling the most major of the thirty brands associated with Host-
ess. Luckily, most employees being laid off of Hostess can receive
unemployment benefits. “You put
in the time, you put in the years, I
mean, we all have dedicated our
lives to the company and they
just don’t appreciate it,” one
worker said about the company.
The workers say that the blame
doesn't fall solely on them. Hostess has had poor financial capabilities for a while now and should
have gone out of business a while
ago. The unions also blame poor
management for the closing of
the company. They say that the
management treated them unfairly and they were forced to go on
strike in order to receive better
treatment. No matter who the
blame falls on, I think we can all
agree that we will strongly miss
the wonderful taste of Twinkies
and wonder bread.
Twinkies
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6
SSCC Test By: Alison White
The students here at Westfall High School are being enrolled at the Southern
Community College in Washington Courthouse on November 30 th, 2012. At the
end of the year it shows the students Chemistry credits and they will earn a credit at Westfall and five semester hour credits from SSCC for the chemistry course.
On December 1st, 2012 they will complete application on process by taking SSCC’s
placement test and are tested in English and Math, fifty-one students applied for
it.
Westfall Swimming Team By: Alison White
Westfall High School swimming team goes to different swimming pools at local YMCA’s or community
colleges, to compete with other schools. Macheala Kaiser the only Westfall swimmer and hopes for no one to
forget about the swimming team after she graduates.
Westfall mustang senior, Machaela Kaiser, was asked a few questions about the Westfall Mustang
Swimming team. They have a swimming meet on December 15, 2012. The Westfall swimming team has seven
to ten meets a year and they practice at the YMCA under the advisory of Melanie and Alice.
What awards have you won so far?
Mustang Award, helping out in the library, french award, honor roll, but no swimming awards because it’s not a
competitive sport.
What is your shortest time and longest distance?
My shortest time was 32 seconds in 50 yards and my longest distance was 50 and 100 yards.
How long do you practice and what do you do to practice?
We practice for an hour and a half, then we stretch, dry lands, and then we swim about 1,000 yards to 5,000
yards.
*Dry lands are: where they go out and do sit-ups, push-ups, crunches etc.:
How overwhelming is it to be the only Westfall swimmer?
It’s not really overwhelming because I swim with other girls from different schools and we actually get along
really well. We talk to each other and sometimes even go out to eat after we get done practicing.
What do you like to do on your free time?
I like to read, listen to music, practice piano, draw or paint, and watch cartoons on YouTube.
What is the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to you?
The worst thing was when I was swimming with my knees instead of my legs and it tightened my leg muscles
swimming. I straightened my leg out and I was back to swimming after two to three days. The best thing is
hanging out with friends and getting the opportunity to do things and go places.
How did you get motivated or figure out that you wanted to swim?
My sister motivated me to do this. While swimming you don’t sweat, you get exercise, you get the opportunity
to do things, and meet new people. I love the feeling that I get while swimming, it is just you and the water.
THE
ECHO.O
Senior Spotlight By:
Randi Bivens
senior spotlight is on Doug Hardin. The first question I asked him was, Can you cry under water? He
answered, “No I cannot. I don’t think anyone can.” Then I asked him if you were food, what type of food
would you be? He replied, “Ketchup to go with Cameron’s hamburger.” A police officer was Doug’s reply
when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. If Doug could have any super power he would, “Fly,
because he is gravitationally challenged.” The next question was
if he could be a brick on a wall which would he be? His answer
was, “The top left one.” I asked him what the last movie he
saw was and he said, “21 Jump Street.” The last question I
asked him was if someone was going to write a bio about him,
what the title would be? Doug said, “Fat man on a diet.”
We’re on the Web!
example.com
Hostess By: Mary Roush
The famous brand, Hostess that
makes goodies such as; Twinkies,
cupcakes, and wonder bread, is
going out of business after nearly
seventy six years. The CEO of
Hostess blames recent union
strikes on the closing of the company. Ironically, all of the workers
in the union are now out of a job
due to their own striking. “We
deeply regret the necessity of the
decision, but we do not have the
financial resources to weather an
extended nationwide strike,” says
CEO Gregory F. Rayburn. While
there have been no offers to buy
the company, researchers say
that there should be no problem
selling the most major of the thirty brands associated with Host-
ess. Luckily, most employees being laid off of Hostess can receive
unemployment benefits. “You put
in the time, you put in the years, I
mean, we all have dedicated our
lives to the company and they
just don’t appreciate it,” one
worker said about the company.
The workers say that the blame
doesn't fall solely on them. Hostess has had poor financial capabilities for a while now and should
have gone out of business a while
ago. The unions also blame poor
management for the closing of
the company. They say that the
management treated them unfairly and they were forced to go on
strike in order to receive better
treatment. No matter who the
blame falls on, I think we can all
agree that we will strongly miss
the wonderful taste of Twinkies
and wonder bread.
Twinkies
PAGE
Police Office Buy Boots for Homeless Guy By: Mary Roush
8
Police Officer give the homeless man the boots.
On November fourteenth New York City police officer Lawrence DePrimo was pictured giving a
pair of boots to a homeless man. He was on counterterrorism duty in Time Square when he noticed the
man without any shoes sitting quietly on Forty Second Street. Without hesitation, DePrimo went to a
nearby Sketchers store and bought a one hundred dollar pair of boots for the man and rushed back to
give them to him. Lawrence Deprimo is a three year member of the New York City Police Department. He
is twenty five years old and is living at home with his parents on Long Island. "It was freezing out, and you
could see the blisters on the man's feet. I had two pairs of socks, and I was still cold." says Deprimo. The
picture, taken by Jenifer Foster; a tourist from Florence, Arizona, shows the kindness of Deprimo's act.
Foster emailed the photo to the New York Police Department with a letter commending him for his random act of kindness. "The officer said, 'I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let's put
them on and take care of you,'" Jenifer Foster wrote in her letter. "The officer squatted down on the
ground and proceeded to put socks and the new boots on this man." She continued by saying, "I have
been in law enforcement for 17 years, I was never so impressed in my life. ... It is important, I think, for all
of us to remember the real reason we are in this line of work. The reminder this officer gave to our profession in his presentation of human kindness has not been lost." Foster says the officer had no idea she'd
taken the photo or that she was watching.
Gun Seasons By: Ryan Cline
Gun season started November 26, 2012 and it ends December 2, 2012. During gun season you are required to wear orange on your body so the deer hunters can a see you and so they
don’t shoot you. You are allowed to hunt with the following weapons: muzzleloader, shotgun, or
pistol. Then muzzleloader season comes in January 5, 2012 and then it end January 8, 2013. If you
are under the age of 18 then you must be with an adult. You will also need a hunting license and a
tag. They have several different tags you can buy: doe tags, buck tags and either sex tags. You are
only permitted to kill one buck and six does.
Buck
Student Council By: Alex Sartin
This year, the Student Council will be holding a winter lock-in for the Westfall Elementary.
It will be open for 3rd-5th grade students who want to come and watch movies, dance, eat popcorn
and do many artistic activities. The price this year will be set at fifteen dollars per student, unless
they bring in canned food items or have more than one family member attending; this will make the
price ten dollars per person. All the proceeds will help support the student council in making
Westfall the best it can be. Right now the money will go to help support the West-X which is an idea
seminar, and also help a few organizations that want to get started at the school. The student council will help support them and get them started on their ways.
This lock-in not only allows the students to get away from a school atmosphere, but see
the joys of the school, and to help the parents get a full day to go and do their Christmas shopping.
Snowman
THE
ECHO.O
Biggest Buck Ever Killed in Ohio
By: Ryan Cline
The biggest buck ever killed in Ohio was a breathtaking 39
point monster. It was killed by deer hunter Mike Beatty in Greene
County last fall on November 8th, 2011. This buck was officially the
biggest non-typical deer ever killed in the world, which means his
Biggest buck ever
antlers are unsymmetrical and abnormal in shape. This bucks official
score was 304; this was a huge buck.
Wal-Mart By: Mary Roush
For the past six months Wal
-Mart workers have been striking.
The protesting workers complain of
low wages, long hours, and poor
working conditions. The union says
that today our Wal-Mart is, "its own
nonprofit organized by Wal-Mart
workers and funded through dues
that are voluntarily contributed.” The
organization is calling for a strike in
over one thousand more stores,
which will take place the day after
Thanksgiving, also known as Black
Friday. Wal-Mart has filed a complaint with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union
because our Wal-Mart has not taken
the proper steps to begin a strike
and, therefore, is participating in
illegal actions for the unions association. It is the first complaint filed by
the company in a decade, showing
the necessity of the complaint to the
business of the company. "Wal-Mart
is doing everything in its power to
attempt to silence our voice," said
Colby Harris, who has worked at a
Lancaster, Texas, Wal-Mart for three
years and was making eight dollars
and ninety cents an hour. Wal-Mart
employees have files over twenty
unfair labor complaints since August
of this year with the National Regulations Board. Several of the charges
have been dismissed, but a few are
still being reviewed in the regions
that they were brought up. Wal-Mart
is doing everything that it can in order to assure costumers that Black
Friday will go on as normal. However,
don't be surprised if your Black Friday
shopping is disrupted by striking
workers!
Wal-Mart strikers
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10
Incredible Investing By: Alex Sartin
Randi Bivens, Ally Trace,
Kayla Brown , Morgan
Moon.
This year as many of us face college, one big question is being raised. How much will
four years of college cost me and my family? While reading many books and studying Bloomberg and the stock in general, I figured out what the best investment is. Many people may
laugh at this, but it’s ourselves. Nothing in the stock market or any solid investment is worth
investing in at this moment. While stocks of all kinds inflate and decline so vastly, it’s hard to
trigger the best investments. Not only that, many of us are fledgling and don’t really fathom
how the stocks work. I’m not here to explain that portion - Mr.Miller does an outstanding job of
that in Current Events, if you wish to learn about that- I’m here to explain that, capitalizing
one’s time in scholarships, grades, studying for that big final exam, or even volunteering, it all
helps raise money for yourself towards college.
You Forget 90% of Your Dreams
Within 5 minutes of waking half of your dream is forgotten.
Blind People also Dream
People who became blind after birth can see images in their dreams. People who are born blind do not see any
images, but have dreams equally vivid involving their other senses of sound, smell, touch and emotion.
Everybody Dreams
Every human being dreams. If you think you are not dreaming, you just forget your dreams.
In Our Dreams We Only See Faces That We already Know
Our mind is not inventing faces, in our dreams we see real faces of real people that we have seen during our life,
but may not know or remember.
Not Everybody Dreams in Color
A full 12% of sighted people dream exclusively in black and white. The remaining number dream in full color.
Studies from 1915 through to the 1950s maintained that the majority of dreams were in black and white, but
these results began to change in the 1960s. Today only 4.4% of the dreams of under-25 year-olds are in black
and white.
Dreams are Symbolic
If you dream about some particular subject it is not often that the dream is about that. Dreams speak in a deeply
symbolic language. Whatever symbol your dream picks on it is most unlikely to be a symbol for itself
Emotions
The most common emotion experienced in dreams is anxiety. Negative emotions are more common than
positive ones.
You can have four to seven dreams in one night.
On average you can dream anywhere from one or two hours every night.
Animals Dream Too
Studies have been done on many different animals, and they all show the same brain waves during dreaming
sleep as humans.
Body Paralysis
During REM (Rapid eye movement) sleep the body is paralyzed by a mechanism in the brain in order to prevent
the movements which occur in the dream from causing the physical body to move. However, it is possible for
this mechanism to be triggered before, during, or after normal sleep while the brain awakens.
Men and Women Dream Differently
Men tend to dream more about other men. Around 70% of the characters in a man‟s dream are other men. On
the other hand, a woman‟s dream contains almost an equal
number of men and women. Aside from that, men generally have
THE ECHO.O
more aggressive emotions in their dreams than the female lot.
Musical By: Kylie Thoma
Westfall High School’s musical this year is called “Thoroughly Modern Millie”, and is about a small town woman from
Kansas moving to New York City to become a “modern” or a young woman who marries for money not love! This
musical takes place in the 1920’s and was originally a movie from the 1960’s, but was adapted for Broadway in 2002.
Auditions for this musical will be held on March 22-24, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. To get the
part you will need to know how to dance, sing, and line read. Kory Adam’s will be the choreographer for Thoroughly
Modern Millie.
Mr. Moss is super excited for the musical ahead. He says: “I
think it’s energetic, fun, and comical. Students will love it because it’s very
relatable.” This play is mostly about young adults so teens and young
adults at Westfall High School will hopefully get into the musical spirit!
So, let me ask you this question… Are You Interested?
Mr. Moss
Echo.O
Outdoor Track vs. Indoor track By Morgan moon
Most people think of the sport of Track
and Field as one sport, but in reality
Outdoor Track and Field and Indoor
Track and Field have enough differences to be classified as two different
sports. The obvious difference is that
one takes place outside and the other
takes place inside. However, there are
more comparisons than just the location. Comparisons can be made concerning the season, track specifications, events, and weather conditions.
In the United States, the indoor track
and field season traditionally takes
place during the winter months, December to March. This is a practical
solution for most of the U.S. to escape
from the cold temperatures outside.
Indoor track is often thought of as
preparatory to the outdoor season.
Outdoor track and field takes place
during the spring and summer months,
March to July. Another difference is
that an indoor track is usually 200
meters long while an outdoor one is
400 meters. Also indoor has up to six
lanes while the outdoor consist of the
normal eight lanes. Indoor tracks
usually have banked turns which is an
overall advantage over the flat typical
track. Times usually are different between the two seasons since runners
typically master at one environment
instead of both indoor and outdoor
conditions. Though Westfall or any
other schools in Pickaway don’t have
indoor tracks a lot of schools in Ohio
do.
Indoor Track
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12
Going around the school: By Alyson Bretthauer
If you went around the school today and asked anyone what they do
when they get home the answer they give is easy. They play Xbox or Playstation
3, watch T.V., or get on Facebook or Twitter. Not many people would say, “When
I get home, I read,” or “When I get home, I run or exercise.” All over the world
people are saying the world is becoming less focused on school or exercise. The
reason behind this is that people are too worried about the latest game or the
newest tweet or post.
Playstation 3
Twilight Book Series
Some groups and people have started to talk to teens and children into
exercising or buckling down in their studies, but that works only until the newest
game or when a movie they wanted to see comes out. I believe that if people really wanted to get the youth to stop worrying about electronics, those people
would try to stop parents from purchasing the big name game systems. Those
groups would try to persuade the child by showing how much fun a nonelectronic game can be. Groups could also try to talk to the parents into getting
their kids involved in organizations like the FFA and/ or 4H, where groups work
with students to get them to see the agricultural side of the world.
Twilight Series By: Alyson Bretthauer
A series that has been big in the box offices, just released their last movie.
During the opening weekend, theaters all over the world sold over three million
dollars worth of tickets for Breaking Dawn part 2. While most of the other movies
made millions on opening weekend, this was an all-time high for the series. The
books helped with the popularity of the movie by hooking young and old readers
all over the world. The books started a phenomenon.
Christmas By: Cheyenne Slater
Santa
THE
ECHO.O
December 25, Christmas Day, is a federal holiday and has been since 1870.
Christmas is celebrated in two different ways; one way is Christians celebrate the birth of
Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus is a spiritual leader. Another way Christmas is celebrated is
waiting all night for Santa Claus to come with the presents, getting up in the morning going to church, coming back home opening gifts and sharing a meal with friends and family.
The earlier Europeans celebrated a day called light and birth, which is when the worst of
the winter is over. In Scandinavia they celebrate something called Yule from December 21
to January. Yule is a time of recognizing the coming of the sun; father and sons would
bring logs home to set in the fireplace to be burnt. Christmas is a holiday celebrated everywhere around the world with friends and family.
Christmas Gift Cards
By: Natasha Mumford
Gift Cards
Christmas is coming and many people buy gift cards. Most holiday
shoppers spend $27.8 billion on gift cards last year alone. That adds up to about $155.43
per shopper. The highest amount spent on buying gift cards since 2007 would be $145.61.
80% of all shoppers bought gift cards last year compared to 77.3% in 2010. Average gift
cards normally are worth $43.23. They year before they were normally worth $41.48. They
make great holiday gifts if you aren’t sure what to get a friend or loved one.
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Hanukkah By: Sierra Harr
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and
eight nights. It starts on the 25 of the
Jewish month of Kislev, which coincides with late November and late
December on the secular calendar.
It’s said to celebrate two miracles, a
great Jewish military victory and a
miraculous supply of oil for the Temple. Although Hanukkah celebrates a
military victory, its major symbol that
Hanukkah reminds us of the miracle
of the oil. As the Jews purified the
Holy Temple, they found only one
flask of the oil for the eternal lamp
enough to keep it burning for just one
day. But a miracle occurred, and the
oil lasted eight days and nights until
more oil could be brought from afar.
That miracle explains why we celebrate Hanukkah for eight days and
also why Hanukkah is called the Festi-
val of Lights. The Hanukkah Menorah
holds nine candles, one for each of
the eight nights and an additional
candle that’s used to light the others.
One candle is lit on the first night of
Hanukkah, two on the second night,
until all eight candles are lit on the
eighth night. They light the menorah,
one candle each night representing
the miracle of that day, so that by the
end of the eight-day holiday they have
eight candles lit. Hanukkah is a time
to celebrate with family and friends,
to eat yummy holiday treats, to give
gifts, and to remember how the oil
lasted!
Hanukkah Menorah
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Teacher Spotlight By Megan Johnson
Teacher Spotlight: Madame Kern, By: Megan Johnson
Mrs. Kern
Was there an interest you had before teaching?
A: Worked on art, storytelling, raced family, and travelled.
Between CP. English, and French, which one do you prefer to teach?
A: There is an equal likeness.
What topic did you start teaching first?
A: Started both about the same time, but probably started French just right before CP. English.
Do you find either French or CP. English a challenge for the students? If so which one?
A: Both can be a challenge.
How long have you been teaching? Is Westfall the first school you have taught?
A: About 22 years, and no it isn’t.
On your trips to France, what are a few of your favorite things you have done?
A: Going to smaller villages, talking to French people, getting to understand, and know them
Is there anything you haven’t done that you would like to do?
A: Parasailing, going to Australia, and to live in another country for at least a year.
How do you plan to spend the holidays?
A: Travel job to job, visit the family; and do some reading, sewing, and painting.
Do you have a “Plan B” after retirement? What are your plans after you retire?
A: Not sure (maybe do work with other people).
Finally, what is the main goal for your students in both French and CP. English?
A: For her French students, to love the French language and to appreciate and understand the
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