Student Newspaper
January 2017
Edition 4 Volume 2
DID YOU KNOW?
S.S.O
By: Alex Clymer & Andrew Shin
In S.S.O (Student Service Organization for
Morse), we discuss how we could make the school
more fun. We asked students their opinions and
then shared it with the group. After sharing, we
vote on which events are better. We most
recently discussed the canned food drive. Each
grade has a specific item to bring. For example,
in 6th grade people had to bring pasta.
Every other Thursday, we meet and eat our
lunch while sharing our ideas. Also, others
have taken their own ideas and shared them.
S.S.O is a way to help your school and still
have fun with your friends. Morse Elementary
-according to History.com
By Nicholas Sandoval
Many people report feeling
drowsy after eating a Thanksgiving
meal. Turkey often gets blamed
because it contains tryptophan, an
amino acid that can have a
somnolent effect. But studies
suggest it’s the carbohydrate-rich
sides and desserts that allow
tryptophan to enter the brain. In
other words, eating turkey without
the trimmings could prevent that
post-Thanksgiving energy lull.
Turkey or no turkey, the first
Thanksgiving’s attendees almost
certainly got their fill of meat.
Winslow wrote that the
Wampanoag guests arrived with an
offering of five deer. Culinary
historians speculate that the deer
was roasted on a spit over a
smoldering fire and that the
colonists might have used some of
the venison to whip up a hearty
stew.
is lucky to have students with such good ideas
to make the best school there is. Students are
encouraged to express their ideas to help their
school. With the students
expressing their ideas, it makes
it easier to teach us pupils so
we can have a great future.
Page 1
Staff Writers
Andrew Shin, 6th grade
Michael Tang, 6th grade
Ethan Pham, 6th grade
Cory Johnson, 6th grade
Estella Fritz, 6th grade
Alex Clymer, 6th grade
Christian Agama, 6th grade
Nicholas Sandoval, 5th grade
Jack Rivera, 5th grade
Noemi Mejia, 5th grade
Aaron Rivera, 4th grade
FIRST THANKSGIVING MEAL
Abridged version by Nicholas Sandoval and Jack Rivera
This article is provided courtesy of History.com
Also Abridged by Mrs. Skokan
For many Americans, the Thanksgiving meal includes seasonal dishes such as roast
turkey with stuffing,cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. The holiday feast
dates back to November, 1621, when the newly-arrived Pilgrims and the Wampanoag
Indians gathered at Plymouth for an autumn harvest celebration, an event regarded as
America’s “first Thanksgiving.” But what was really on the menu….
TURKEY
While no records exist of the exact bill of fare, it was noted that the colony’s governor sent
four men on a “fowling” mission in preparation for the three-day event. It is just as likely that they
returned with other birds, not just turkey, such as ducks, geese and swans. Instead of
bread-based stuffing, herbs, onions or nuts might have been added to the birds for extra flavor.
FISH AND SHELLFISH
It is believed that much of the Thanksgiving meal consisted of
seafood, which is often absent from today’s menus.
POTATOES
Whether mashed or roasted, white or sweet, potatoes had no place at the first
Thanksgiving. After encountering it in its native South America, the Spanish began introducing
the potato to Europeans around 1570. New England’s native inhabitants are known to have eaten
other plant roots such as Indian turnips and groundnuts, which they may or may not have brought
to the party.
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Local vegetables that likely appeared on the table include onions, beans, lettuce, spinach,
cabbage, carrots and perhaps peas. Corn, which records show was plentiful at the first harvest,
might also have been served, but not in the way most people enjoy it now. In those days, the corn
would have been removed from the cob and turned into cornmeal. The Pilgrims might have been
familiar with cranberries by the first Thanksgiving. Cooks didn’t begin boiling cranberries with
sugar and using the mixture as an accompaniment for meats until about 50 years later.
PUMPKIN PIE
Both the Pilgrims and members of the Wampanoag tribe ate pumpkins and other squashes
indigenous to New England—possibly even during the harvest festival—but the fledgling colony
lacked the butter and wheat flour necessary for making pie crust. Moreover, settlers hadn’t yet
constructed an oven for baking. According to some accounts, early English settlers in North
America improvised by hollowing out pumpkins, filling the shells with milk, honey and spices to
make a custard, then roasting the gourds whole in hot ashes.
Page 2
Our 45th President: Donald Trump
By Nicholas Sandoval
Who’s a Better Basketball player:
Stephen Curry or Lebron James?
Page 3
Previews and
Reviews
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life
By Cory Johnson
This movie is about a boy named Rafe who is facing a few challenges in
life. First, the new school he was transferred to has the biggest bully
ever, Principal Dwight. He takes over the entire school with his “code of
conduct”. Unfortunately, it does not get any better at home with his
mom's new boyfriend, Carl, whose nickname is Bear. He is a crazy,
mean, and unstable man. At least Rafe has his two friends, Leo and
Gina, to get him through middle school. Later in the movie, one of his
friends ….
If you want to know the rest, then you have to see the movie.
The Lost Hero
By Ethan Pham with Brandon Pham
The main characters—Jason Grace, Piper Mclean, and Leo Valdez—
race from exciting, deadly puzzle to exciting, deadly puzzle using tricky powers
and powerful tricks to overcome evil gods, more evil giants, and even more evil
earth monsters. If you like hidden rooms, there are hidden rooms. If you like lastminute escapes, you can't spit without hitting twelve. If you like big bosses, they
just about crawl over each other to get at you. In true video game fashion, the characters'
weapons and other items always seem to come out of nowhere. Jason has a coin that can turn
into a sword or a spear; Leo has a magic belt from which he pulls all sorts of random tools. The
only thing lacking is a soundtrack full of bleeps and bloops—but you can add those yourself if you
really want to. Just try shouting boop bloop bloooooooooppppp bloop every time someone
plummets from the sky in the The Lost Hero, and see who gets tired of it first—you or your mom.
My money's on your mom, but we'll keep our fingers crossed for you.
Ideally, if you can, you should do all that blooping in Greek or Latin. Every video game
needs a gimmick or theme, and The Lost Hero's is Greek and Roman mythology. All those big
bosses the heroes battle are drawn from mythology. Much of the fun of the book is plugging those
myths into a video game context. The book even has a tricky Greek myth explanation for why
monsters reform in video game fashion to come back and attack after they've been killed. The
Greek underworld where monsters are supposed to go when they're destroyed has been opened.
Monsters don't die—they just turn to dust and reform….which means more fun fighting for our
heroes.
If you want to find out what else happens, read the book.
Page 4
Science Camp
By Alex Clymer and Ethan D. Pham
Edited by: Andrew Shin
Outdoor Science School is located in
the San Bernardino Mountains in Running
Springs. The 6th graders from Morse
Elementary and Tynes Elementary schools
will be in attendance.
The 6th graders go because it
provides real world experiences in Earth
Science, which is a California standard. It is
$430 for camp. There are fundraisers to
help raise money for camp. A sleeping bag,
winter clothing, boots, toiletries, and a snow
jacket are essential items to bring to
Science Camp. Things you should
absolutely not bring are food of any kind,
money - there is nothing to buy, and any
electronic systems. If you you break a rule or
misbehave, you get a strike. If you get three
strikes, then you have to be picked up by
your parents and leave camp. Sixth graders
stay in cabins of eight with one counselor.
Teachers are there 100% of the time.
Students are encouraged to write to their
families, but there are no phone calls home.
We are looking forward to camp.
Page 5
Video Game
Tournaments!
By Michael Tang
The tournaments are held at
lunchtime and are for 6th grade kids
who have
completed their JiJi
goal for the
month.
Every tournament’s
game is
different;
and the
winner of that
game gets an award, whether it is a
coupon for a free game of laser tag or a
coupon for a free slice of pizza. The
reason that we do this is because it
supports the progress and growth of
JiJi.
Christmas
By Christian Agama
Edited by Mrs. Skokan
Christmas is an annual holiday that
celebrates the birth of Jesus (in Christian
religions) on December 25 among billions of
people around the world. In Mexico
Christmas is celebrated through January 6.
Some Christmas traditions in my
family are: that day we open all our gifts from
under the tree; this day is the day that people
give gifts to their family; it is also a great day
to spend time with family.
Usually this is a favorite holiday,
because it's the day kids get what they asked
for from Santa and from their parents. Some
kids will send Santa a letter asking him for
Christmas gifts.