S HUKSAN M IDDLE S CHOOL
12 TH E DITION
Story Corner
Continues
D ECEMBER 18, 2013
Helpful Hints for
the break
Word search and
fun facts
T HE C OUGAR P RIDE A WARDS
Last Wednesday, students
were honored at the Cougar
Pride breakfast held in the
library in the morning before school. Students are
chosen for this award by
their teachers for showing
improvement in class or for
doing outstanding work.
Shuksan Scholar Awards
Last Friday, students attended
the Shuksan Scholar Awards
in the cafeteria. Students
were given certificates in the
areas of PRIDE (Peace, Respect, Integrity, Determination, and Excellence). Students received a Shuksan
Scholar T-shirt also. Teachers handed out certificates for
perfect attendance, no tardies, and no think times in
first period classrooms.
IPad vs. Samsung
Tablets
Tamales Fundraiser
by Eugene Reva
This past weekend, students, parents, and staff came together to make tamales that were sold as a fundraiser by the
PTSA. Tamales are a traditional Mexican Christmas food
that is difficult make. This dish is prepared by wrapping
meat and spices into a cornhusk and steaming it. There are
several types of tamales like chicken, pork, beef, cheese and
jalapeño. Shuksan sold two types of tamales chicken and
sweet. The PTSA chose tamales because they’re tasty and
unusual.
The PTSA started the tamale fundraiser because they know
parents and staff who could make good tamales. The tamales
were made in the Shuksan cafeteria and cost is $20 per dozen tamales. The money goes to special events in Shuksan
Middle School. $1,000 was raised from the fundraiser which
will go to support programs at school. People interested,
needed to pre-order the tamales and then picked them up
on Monday.
Mrs. Hodge, Mr. Jordan, Mrs. Walsh, Mrs. Racicot, Molly
Anderson, and Ms. Castellon were some of the staff
participants, but they were
joined by several students as
well. Ms. Racicot said, “I
went to learn how to make
tamales and to meet more
parents.”
DIY Holiday
Projects
M ARK Y OUR
C ALENDAR
6th Grade Movie Night! Today,
December 18, we will be showing
Despicable Me2 in the cafeteria.
The movie will start at 6 PM and
will run until 7:45. There will be
pizza and pop, and maybe even
some popcorn! Bring your blanket and favorite stuffed animal
and join the fun. Tickets are free
and available at lunches starting
Thursday. Hope to see you
there!!
“Hi, Cougars! Do you have
something to do after school before winter break? Join us for
AVID’s Holiday Hoops Fundraiser. AVID is setting up a 3 on 3
basketball tournament. Grab 4 of
your friends and make a team. It
costs $20 per team and you can
get sign-up sheets from Mrs. Yost
in room 210. Don’t feel like
playing? A dollar donation will get
you in the door. You can root for
your friends, enjoy some concessions and listen to some music.
The game is on December 20th
from 12:30 – 5:00 pm.
Resources for winter
coats and gifts By Sara Afshari
The holidays are coming and
buying gifts can get tough for
some families. If your family
is having a hard time and you
are worried about how you’re
going to make this holiday
special, check out these great
resources.
Toys For Tots is sponsored by
the U.S Marine Corps and
each year, they collect toys to
give out during the holidays.
The U.S Marines collect donated toys during October
thru December of this year
and distribute them to needy
children (ages 0-7) as holiday
gifts in the community where
the campaign is conducted.
To contact Toys For Tots
program call (360)-207-0224
or [email protected] to find
directions.
Another good resource is the
Community Toy Store, open
Saturday, Dec. 14th. Donated
gifts are sold for a discount.
Refreshments, childcare and
gift wrapping will be available. For more information,
visit [email protected] .
Other resources include Interfaith and Blue Skies for
Children, both located in
Bellingham. These resources
have winter coats for families
in need. Interfaith has been
collecting coats from dona-
tions in Bellingham, Everson,
Ferndale, and the foothills
area. Blue Skies has been getting their donations from Bellingham and Burlington. The
Blue Skies for Children started the winter coats program
in 2010. The program provides children in need with a
gently used coat, hat, gloves,
scarf, hooded sweatshirt and/
or blanket. This program is
100% dependent on donations of new or gently used
items. The program is generally available in the fall each
year. For more information,
v i s i t
h t t p : / /
www.blueskiesforchildren.or
g/. For more information on
Interfaith winter coat program visit http://
www.interfaithcoalition.org/.
If your family is having a hard
time buying gifts or clothing,
please visit these great resources.
How to Give Back in the Community This
Holiday Season By Kaelin Raymond
Has the holiday seasons become a chore for you? Many
people are feeling frustrated with shopping and fighting
crowds this season. Instead of focusing on spending money this holiday, why not take a moment to give back to
the community? There are many ways that you can volunteer your time and donate to others that may be less
fortunate and could use a helping hand. Being with your
family while helping others in our community is an excellent way to give back to your community. It’s also a
great way to celebrate the true meaning of the holiday
season.
How can you give back in this holiday season?
One way to give back is by providing gifts for children in
need. If you go to the mall by Target, there is a table with
people at it for “The Giving Tree.” At the station you get
a tag for a child in need. The tag provides the gender and
age of the child. You can purchase gifts for specific kids in
the area and can personalize it.
Another great way to give back is through the Salvation
Army. The Salvation Army has many different programs
that help foster kids, kids with a parent in prison and so
much more.
At the food bank in Bellingham you can volunteer time,
help by donating money for baby food or fresh milk,
do a food drive, or educate others about the food bank.
Their address is 1824 Ellis Street. Their number is
(360)676-0392.
At Dollar Tree you can buy a toy for a local organization that will help kids who need gift the toys only cost
a dollar. Their address is 300 Telegraph Rd.,(360)7344139.
At Family Christian Book Store you can fill a shoe box
with non-violent toys and niceties for children who
need gifts this Christmas season. You can choose if you
want to do it for a boy or a girl in a certain age range.
For
more
information,
go
to
www.samaritanspurse.org. Their address is 3560 Meridian St., (360)-676-0490. A drop location (or where
you drop off your shoe box) is Bellingham Christ the
King church. Their address is 4173 Meridian St.,
(360)-734-4139 (this number is available MondayThursday 9-4).
No matter if you choose you can always give back in
your community who are in need.
A.L.T.O. By Caressa Maldonado and Sydney Glover
If you like being in afterschool activities then ALTO is the
place for you! A.L.T.O stands for A Latino Team Organization and is an after school club that meets on Thursdays
from 3:45 to 5:15. ALTO is an opportunity to learn
about Spanish speaking cultures and to participate in activities such as games, field trips, snacks, parties, etc.
ALTO started in 2008 where Shuksan students identified
there was a need for students to come together and share
a Latino similarity. Students from Western Washington
University join together with Shuksan students to make a
positive connection between Latino students and the
school community. Activities ALTO will be doing this
year is going on a field trip to WWU to watch a soccer
game, trips to the Mexican bakery, cooking traditional
Latino meals, and practicing different dancing styles
such as salsa and bachata. ALTO will also be working
on team-building activities and community service.
There will also be plenty of games and celebrations at
the meetings! Seventh graders Ruby Maldonado said,
“I like that we learn something new each time and I like
playing games, too.” Itzel Ortiz said, “We get to learn
Latino culture and get to meet new friends.” Nayeli
Rosas said, “Jacqui and others are awesome.” So if you
haven’t checked out this club, come out after the winter break and see what it’s all about.
ART and ENTERTAINMENT
How to keep up with school During
winter break By Wendy Zheng
DIY Holiday Decorations
By: Araceli Suarez And Abby Dorr
If you are looking for easy DIY projects for your room or for a holiday, this week
we have ideas that would work great for either. The first project is how to make a
Holiday Hot Cocoa Snowman kit that is a great treat for anyone on your gift-giving
list. The second project is a Mason Jar Sow Globe.
Hot cocoa snowman: First start by taking 3 “flat” mason jars and fill one up with
hot cocoa powder, one with marshmallows, and the
last one with peppermints. Take a black Sharpie and
draw 2 eyes and a mouth (make them look like rocks).
Then take an orange Sharpie and draw a carrot nose.
You can also cut a long strip of fabric and hot glue it
to the jars. For the hat you will need black construction paper. Cut a square piece approximately 3 in. X
3 in. Cut a strip of paper an inch wide and form a
ring. Place the ring on top of the square and glue them together. Hot glue will
work the best. Glue the hat to the lid of the top jar (with the marshmellows). Then
stack them on top of each other, and you’re done.
Snow Globe: For this project you will need a Mason type jar, mini-items such as
trees and houses found at craft stores (or from an old Monopoly
game), a sharpie (optional), hot glue gun, and glitter. Start by
taking the inside of the lid and glue on your mini item on (you can
choose to make scenes or keep it simple by just gluing a tree).
Then fill the inside of the jar with glitter (use silver glitter so it’s
like snow. You can also choose to sprinkle so on the mini items).
Then screw on the lid and you’re done. But if you want you can
write a message on the outside with sharpie and then you’re done!
Winter Break
CANDYCANE
COLD
COOKIES
DECORATIONS
FAMILY
FUN
GIFTS
HOLIDAY
HOTCHOCOLATE
NOSCHOOL
RELAX
SCARVES
SNOWANGEL
SNOWBALLFIGHT
SNOWFLAKES
VACATION
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After winter break many students find it difficult
to remember what was covered before the huge
break, causing teachers to “rewind” and taking
time to review rather than moving ahead right
away. This is also true for Shuksan students as
they also forget some knowledge no matter how
great of a student they are! Here are some ways
to stay up to date with school!
Review your work and notes: When it’s
almost time for a huge break (summer and winter), most teachers return previous assignments
for you to keep in your binder. Review these before returning to school to remind yourself of
what you learned before the break.
Use the internet to review: The internet has
great resources of education practice games! Practicing basic math skills is an important way to
keep up with current work and to improve in
areas that you’re expected to know by middle
school. Seventh grade math teacher, Mrs. Stephens, recommends these math websites that her
EL class uses:
http://www.coolmath-games.com/
http://xtramath.org/
https://www.khanacademy.org/
Reading: Students in Shuksan are expected
to read 30 minutes per day and this also applies during winter break. Teachers recommend that you continue reading 30 – 60 minute per day throughout the break. Mrs.
Strommer, a reading specialist at our school,
recommends that we should check out books
we love and a new book that deems of interest
to us. She also recommends checking out the
newspaper, such as The Bellingham Herald,
online (or The Cougar Times). When asked
about titles for winter break she said, “Books
that were made into movies [such as Ender’s
game, Catching Fire, Book Thief, Dairy of a
Wimpy Kid [and] older movies like Flipped,
The Fault in our Stars and The Outsiders [now
finished by the 7th graders].” Grab your favorite books from the school library before break
or get books from the Bellingham Public Library!
Winter break will starts Friday
and your brain will start rotting next week so start keeping your brain in good condition!
S TORY C ORNER : A N A CCIDENTAL T HIEF
by Emma Jones
PART IX:
Most people when they’re running in PE or whatever kids do, they try to envision themselves in a
chase of some sort to make them go faster. But whatever you do, nothing can replicate the panic
that you feel, rushing down the hallways forcing your legs to go faster and faster. It’s like being in
a corn maze running at top speed, trying to get out in as little time as possible, but there are people trying to kill you at every turn. No one can prepare you for the sense of urgency that you feel;
the need to get out and escape. I can’t explain it. My life is something that I would never wish on
anyone else, no matter how much they deserve it.
Sports and Leisure
Winter Sports Begin Soon
I pad vs. Samsung tablet
Wrestling
All Grades
January 23rd – March 18
th
th
Girls Volleyball
7 & 8 Graders
January 23rd – March 14
Start getting in that paperwork! The paperwork deadline for these sports is January
17th. All paperwork is to be signed by parents/guardian and the student. All paperwork, payment, and ASB including a physical is required for participation.
Samsung tablet
by: Tinee Chea
•
•
Fees are based on the student’s meal status as follows:
Full Pay:
$50.
Reduced Pay: $35.
Free Lunch:
$20.
H UNGER IN THE U.S.
By Grant Sipsey
Everybody has probably heard about undernourished people, but have they really thought
about it? 50 million people are hungry in the U.S. One out of 6 children go hungry each
day. More than 100 men and women in Bellingham alone call The Light House Mission and
Agape House their home. Friends of mine, maybe friends of yours don’t have sufficient
money to pay for their lunch or breakfast. Some of those people don’t have dinner when
they come home. Does that make you think?
If you want to help, you can donate cans of food in your grade common rooms or you can
go to a website called feedingamerica.org. You can give $1.00 to equal 3 meals for undernourished people. Dryw Hopps, a 7th grader said he would donate. Seventh grader Allan
Nguyen said he would donate. Will you?
IPAD Air By: Chazden Galloway
The new IPad Air came out November 1st
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 came out in and was presented by Timothy D Cook the
August of 2013 and has more than 4 million new CEO of Apple. This new pad has the
pixels, and has a Dolby 5.1 surround sound. A7 chip (increasing its speed and App capaThe Galaxy Note 10.1 comes with an S pen, bility) and a 9.7 inch display. This new I
which is a pen that you could use for writing Pad is 28% lighter and 20% thinner and
and drawing. It has an 8 mega pixel camera weighs exactly a pound. It has 10 hours of
on the back. If you have to do a PowerPoint battery life and has twice the internet perpresentation for class, you could edit it on formance. It also has 2 microphones so the
the Note. You can use the Note as a univer- device can understand what you’re saying
sal remote and a TV Guide. The Galaxy when you’re talking to it or asking a quesNote has a 4-cell lithium-polymer battery tion. IPad Air is $499 which is $50 cheaper
which has a 9.6 battery life. The Note comes than the Samsung tablet and in my perspecin either black or white and costs $546. Sev- tive the Apple tablet is better than the Samenth grader Cameron Sparman says, “I don’t sung. Alex Newton said, “I think the tablet
looks cool and is better than the others.”
think it’s the best
Gabe Korsmo said, “I
tablet in the world,
think this tablet is the
but it’s good.”
same as the others.”
H ARVEST OF THE M ONTH T HIS T HURSDAY
This Thursday, December 19th, is the Harvest of the Month lunch in the school
lunchroom! The feature item in this month’s lunch are local Apples from
BelleWood Acres on the Guide Meridian in Lynden. Every year, the Bellingham
School District purchases over 20,000 pounds of fresh, school sized apples for the lunch
program from BelleWood Acres! They are the biggest provider of local produce to the
district!
The hot lunch on Thursday is Chicken Caesar Salad with a whole wheat roll and a half
cut “Star” apple! There will also be sample slices of the Gala apples handed
out by volunteers in the cafeterias for the cold lunch students to taste.
Try out the local fair in the school cafeteria on Thursday!
Fun Facts Compiled by: Sydney Glover
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Over 12% of Earth’s land is permanently covered in snow and ice!
About 1.8 billion candy canes will be made for this winter holiday season!
The shortest day of the year is December 21st! The Winter Solstice.
The coldest temperature ever recorded was -128 degrees Celsius and was
recorded in Volstock Station in Antarctica
The world’s biggest snowflake was 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick!
Snow isn’t white; it’s clear and colorless!
The world’s tallest snowman was 113 feet tall and took 5 months to build
The average snowflake has 180 billion molecules of water!
Each year an average of 105 snow producing storms affect the continental
U.S.
The world’s largest ginger bread house is located in Texas. You can actually walk through it!