Sailors On the ScenenewsmagazineDecember 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 2

MONA SHORES MIDDLE SCHOOL I 1700 WOODSIDE I MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN 49441

On the InsideMiddle school wins FBI Safe Online Surfing Challenge

Canned food drive has another

successful yearVolunteer spends a decade helping students

www.sailorsonthescene.com

sai lors on the scene ~ staff

PAGE TWO2

On

The

Cover

photo by: mike phillips

Seventh grader Alicia Kurth explains that the HOPE fundraiser is to help orphans in Ghana.

staff writers:editor-in-chief:rylee georgequinn kendra

photo editor:abigail petersonzoe stenholm

section editors:nichelle hulkajoseph vanarendonkdanielle warren

taylor dewittkatherine dubucjessica gaskintyler hagnerchelsea horvathjohn huntjoeley jazdzykleyanna brownbriana klugjustin nunnerymorgan robertsmaddie stenholmemily swiatekhayley towersjoey walton

adviser:mike phillips

editorial board:marie bettenken byardshelly dykstrajacey ecclestoncheri kimballkathy miszecarol mogdismichelle phillips roxanne schanermatt schuchardtcharlotte scottcindy soyarsamy stielstralori veurink

IN THE LEAD 3

Mona Shores Middle School wins FBI - SOS Internet Challenge

Our Voice

It’s that time of year when we make a New Year’s resolution, the New Year’s tradition states that every year we should kick bad habits and start new, better habits. A New Year’s resolution is a commitment that an individual makes on the first day of the year about the things that they intend to do, or stop doing during that year. Ways to accomplish your goals are to make them

realistic, and above all you should aim for things that are important to you. You want to make it something that you feel you can achieve in about a year, hence the name New Year’s resolution. It is important to set these goals, because at the end of the year you can look back and see what was accom-plished. If middle school students started to make some realistic New Year’s resolutions,

they could easily change their grades into better ones by doing a little bit more study-ing, or actually doing homework.

New Year’s resolutions mean new opportunities

Our Voice is the opinion message selected by the editors of the Sailors On the Scene newsmagazine.

Five eighth grade students were presented with top honors in the Federal Investigation Bureau-Safe Online Surfing Internet Chal-lenge, by Veteran Special Agent King, on Thursday November 18.

This year there were 52 schools in 17 states took part in the challenge. Of the 1,150 eighth grade students that took the quiz, 163 were from Mona Shores Middle School.

“With it being the first time we have tried this lesson I was not sure what to expect,” technology literacy teacher Kristen Sailors said. “But as I watched our scores go up, I knew we could win.”

Eighth graders Logan Jancek, Ryan Sus-terich, Jake DeRemer, Devinder Kaur, and Dhanveer Singh received the top scores for the school.

“I was surprised because out of the whole school, I was one of the top,” eighth grader Devinder Kaur said. “A lot of kids are smarter and faster than me, but I was happy too.”

The assembly was started by a quick introduction to the program by middle school principal Greg Helmer. It was then followed by Special Agent King giving the eighth graders a brief description of why Internet safety is important in their lives.

“I will be more careful online when I look up things and post them,” eighth grader Miranda Shafer said.

Internet safety is to protect our per-sonal information online. It takes a ton of responsibility to keep your address, phone numbers and age a secret from basically the rest of the online world.

“Kids are getting exposed to anything,” Veteran Special Agent King said. “So if you miss type a word you can be taken to the wrong site or a bad site.”

The Sailors beat 52 other schools in this challenge, giving them the honor of calling themselves the best middle school in the nation.

“I believe that the FBI did a great job recognizing the efforts of our technology teachers, our eighth grade students that participated, and our 5 top performers,” Mr. Helmer said. “I value high performance and my hope is that our students use technol-ogy with safeguards and integrity. Respect and kindness should remain as a filter when clicking on “send”.”

The winners stand with middle school principal Greg Helmer as well as Special Agent King and Allyson.

photo by: abigail peterson

by: abigail peterson / co-photo editor

During the month of November students at Mona Shores Middle School did some-thing generous. They helped raise money for the Fritz family to adopt a child from Ghana, Africa.

Students could participate in raising money by purchasing t-shirts for ten dollars or a wristband for two dollars.

“I felt good (about donating) because I knew I was making a difference in some-ones life,” seventh grader Kentrel Eason said.

To date the school has raised over $600 dollars for the Fritz family.

“I feel our school would make a great dif-ference,” seventh grader Alicia Kurth said.

The Fritz family plans to adopt a sev-enteen month old girl named Mercy. The adoption process was started in March and

now they are eagerly waiting for everything to unfold.

Every fourteen seconds in Africa, a child is orphaned because their parents die from AIDS. By the age of eight, seventy percent of children in Ghana are working for less than ten cents a day. One third of Ghana’s population will die because of malnutrition. All statistics that will be passed on to this child if the students, and the community don’t do their part to help.

The slogan for Hope is, “163 million orphans minus one.” Hopefully with this project and donations from the student body, this can be made a reality for Mercy.

“Just knowing people are praying and people are there, keep me patient,” sixth grader Katey Fritz said.

Tom Tyler has been helping out in the Mona Shores Middle School wood shop for 10 years and hopes that there are more years to come.

Mr. Tyler first learned of the opportunity to volunteer at the middle school when a lady at his church mentioned it and thought he would be a great fit.

He would be able to work in the shop which is something that he loves and was good at and the students would benefit from having someone else in the classroom to help give them a hand.

“It’s been good because if you need help sanding, he’ll sand it and take a look at it,” seventh grader Collin Vaughn said. “He’s helped me the most to get my project done and get an A on it.”

Before volunteering with Chris Pesch in the wood shop, Mr. Tyler owned and oper-ated his own sheet metal business out of Grand Rapids for four years.

He hopes to continue to be able to help out in the wood shop until he can’t do it anymore.

“Mr. Tyler helps me out by being an extra set of eyes and makes sure the kids are do-

ing things right and using the machinery right,” Mr. Pesch said. “He helps me out by helping the kids out.”

Mr. Tyler enjoys working with the kids and being able to do something he loves at the same time.

“It’s a big part of my life right now,” Mr. Tyler said.

by: hayley towers I staff writerVolunteer spends a decade helping students

Top: Seventh grader Michel Susor gets help from Mr. Tyler making his car.Above: Seventh grader Aaron Ervin listens to advice from Mr. Tyler to complete his project.

photos by: hayley towers

by: jessica gaskin I staff writerHope for the Fritz family

Seventh grade students listening to seventh grader Alicia Kurth as she explains the importance of the project.

photo by: mike phillips

FEATURES4

During the week of October 20 through

29, Mona Shores Middle School partici-

pated in a canned food drive to give food to

people in need.

Both students and staff competed in their

first hour classes for the week to collect a

total of 1,700 cans.

Mr. Buboltz usually collects the most

cans in the whole school every year and did

so once again this year collecting 600 cans

altogether for a 30 can per student average.

“We talked about how this is a tough

economic time and we need to help people

in need,” Mr. Buboltz said. “It’s not about

winning, it’s about helping.”

Seventh grade physical education teacher

John Brainard collected the most in seventh

grade with a 6 can per student average and

sixth grade science teacher Beth Cotner col-

lected the most in sixth grade with a 5 can

per student average.

Food collected during the drive is donated

to the Muskegon Rescue Mission for fami-

lies who are in need of a little help. Espe-

cially during the holidays.

“I was very proud knowing I helped

people in need,” eighth grader Rhian Wil-

liams said.

This year there is a new environmental project called TerraCycling, which is the recycling of garbage, manufactured by Terra-cycling Inc.

TerraCycling is a new invention that makes new products from recycled garbage materials, such as Capri-Sun juice pouches and candy wrappers, and turns them into new products such as purses or picture-frames.

“The TerraCycling stuff would be awe-some to have and it would help the environ-ment,” sixth grader Maci Shermeta said.

The goal of TerraCycling at MSMS is to help the students understand that humans impact the environment and need to be conscious of increasing positive impact and decreasing the negative.

“The goal of TerraCycling is to raise awareness of keeping the environment clean and keeping trash that would usually be in landfills out of landfills. ”~ Mrs. Brink, 7th grade Science teacher

The school is participating in TerraCy-cling to keep trash out of landfills. If people can find ways to use the resources over, they do not need to rob the earth of any more natural resources.

“I recycle to help the Earth, so the world

doesn’t look ugly.” eighth grader Cole Rol-lenhagen said.

Students are promoting TerraCycling and setting up places during lunch for students to put their juice boxes, plastic bags, and other recyclable material to sell to Terra-Cycle to earn money for the school.

TerraCycle Inc. is determined to find more ways to reduce the trash found in landfills that does not decompose, which can help the environment tremendously.

by: chelsea horvath I staff writerDoing a little can have a big impact

Above: Seventh grader Linda Wu is putting a plastic bag in the TerraCycling box.Left: Seventh grader Brynne Wilcox is helping to contribute to TerraCycling.

photos by: chelsea horvath

by: joey walton I staff writerCan food drive is a sucess

Above: Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students carry cans collected to The Muskegon Rescue Mission truck.

photo by: leah kern

FEATURES 5

Mona Shores Middle school should have a school news program.

A Mona Shores Middle School news program could be a great substitute for channel one and the an-nouncements. Channel One does not feature

middle school students. If the school had a news show, students could be featured in topics like sports and news. Some of the topics on Channel One could also be briefly mentioned in the MSMS news broadcast in the news section. Announcements could easily be replaced with this new idea simply by saying everything on the announce-ments, in the news.

It would be more entertaining and students would want to watch it more than Channel One because they have a better chance in seeing someone they know or seeing themselves in it. That would make students more interested and also could influence them to do better in school and sports to try and make it on to the news program.

At Lincoln Park Elementary School the students have a very smart way of going about producing their news program. The students can sign up to be a reporter for the news, sports, and weather. The reporters stay on the news for a week, but they rotate positions. This could be a great way to run our news program if we had one.

A school news program would be great for Mona Shores Middle School.

Allowing cell phones during middle school students’ lunch period could improve their school lives both so-cially and academically.

During the hectic mornings before school, students are always forgetting homework

and books, one after the other. If one of the administrators decided phones should be allowed at lunch, middle school stu-dents’ academic lives could be improved. By bringing their cellular devices into the lunchroom, they can contact their parents and notify them about after school activities and books they forgot for upcoming classes. This could bring students grades up, bring down missing assignments, and make their grades rise.

Phones are one of the most popular devices that most teens can’t put down. This can lead them to bringing them to school, and being tempted to bring them into their classes and lunch period. Middle school students’ social lives could be im-proved by letting them go online and check social networking sites, instead of running around because of excitement, resulting in punishment. Dean of students, Mr. Byard, informed me that the reason why phones

are not allowed during lunch or classes is because they are a disruption to the learn-ing process. The learning process would not be disrupted, though, if they sat in one seat during lunch.

During lunch, middle school students get hyper and excited. Although they are not in a class and do not have to stay quiet, it can surely get out of hand. When the lunch staff has to warn them for running around,

it makes the whole lunch experience ten times more hectic. Instead of expressing the excitement through running around, they could use their mobile devices to play games and take their excitement out on that.

Cell phones would improve students lives by helping their social and academic activities.

Cell phones being allowed at lunch could change students’ lives for the better

illustration by: abigail peterson

School news

Students at Lincoln Park elemenatry report the school news in their classroom.

courtsey photo

MorganRoberts

QuinnKendra

OPINIONS6

Mona Shores Middle School students have too much homework and have no time to be outside and hang with friends.

Homework is very important to your edu-cation, but when you have it every night, five

days a week, and in every class, students get frustrated that they can’t finish it and they don’t try. Some students wonder why we even have homework. Homework to some students is a waste of time, but to the teach-ers it’s practice to help students understand for a test or quiz. I think that we should have more time during class to start homework. Teachers take too long in class for instructions and other things. I think it should be mandatory that we have at least 15 minutes to start or finish homework.

This will help because then students can ask questions when they don’t understand a problem or have a question. When you are at home and you don’t know what to do its hard to finish it.

To me homework is okay, not all of it is that important but sometimes homework can be very helpful and important. There are kids in the school though that don’t do their homework because they don’t take the time out to do it. I think that for kids to do homework and not stress all day because they have homework in this class and that class and they don’t know if they will have it in their next class. Every night students should have two subjects of homework a night. One night science and english. One night math and social studies. I think that this will help many students.

Most students at Mona Shores have to much homework, and have no time to be outside and hang with friends.

Mona Shores Middle School should have more pep assemblies at the beginning and end of each semester to allow the students to celebrate their accom-plishments.

To start the new school year, pep assem-blies would be a great way to get everyone pumped up and excited for the year. With

sixth graders being new to the building, a pep assembly would be a great way to welcome them to the middle school.

During the year many stu-dents join sports

team and are not recognized for their team and individual performances. If the middle school allowed pep assemblies at the end of each semester, athletes would be recognized more.

Students and staff work hard during the school year and deserve a pep assembly to

celebrate their success through-out the year. Having one at the end of the year would also be a

great way to send the eighth graders up to the high school.

If Mona Shores Middle School had more pep assemblies it would make the year more exciting.

Pep assemblies help add excitement and recognition to the school year

Top: The photo shows the crowd at the pep assembly from last year trying to do the wave across the stands. Above: This photo shows the gymnasium filled with students from a pep assembly from two years ago.

photo by: courtsey photo

Too much homework, no time for friends

Students struggle to finish their homework at night.

photo by: emily swiatek

MaddieStenholm

Emily Swiatek

— Chase Ledsworth ~ 7th

“ It would help recognize athletes for what they do and everyone loves attention.”

— Megan Amrhein ~ 8th

“ I think that having a pep assembly at the end of each semester would help students on sport teams be more recognized because then every student would have a chance to be called and everyone could know that their on a team. ”

— Brandy Forton ~ 6th

“ Having one at the end of each semester would help recognize sport teams.”

OPINIONS 7

I would have people.

I would bring wishes to it.

I would bring a whole lot of milk.

I would have vegetables.

I would bring air so I could breathe.

I would bring PIZZA! - Jennie Peter

son -

7th

Gra

de

Mr. Bush - Staff

Leah Weller - 8th Grade

Cody Schotts - 8th Grade

Makayla Denson - 6th Grade

I would bring my cat.

Lots and lots of pomegranates

Connor Sturr - 7th Grade Mrs. Prentice - Staff

Emily Riehl- 6th Grade

CENTER SECTION8

If you were stuck on a planet, but

could bring a unlimited supply of

anything, what would it be?

Worldly Wonder

Samuel Land - Samuel Karl - 7th G

rade

I would call my planet Anualspace

.

I would name it Gondie.

If you discovered a planet, what would you name it?

I would name m

y planet ADIDAS. - Logan Dusen - 8th

Jack Schumacher - 7th Grade

Ryan Wasilewski - 8th Grade

I would name my planet BLUE. - Cal

Peliot

es -

7th

Grade

I would name it Rocksey - Cassi

e J

ones

- 6t

h G

rade

My planet would be Tardizzle - Sam

Tard

ani -

8th

Gra

de

Joel Land - Joel Dvoursney - 7th G

rade

CENTER SECTION 9

by: joseph vanarendonk, tyler hagner,

taylor dewitt and katherine debuc

StaffThis Secret Sailor’s favorite color is blue and she likes chick flicks and action/adventure movies. If she was a school supply she would be a stapler so she can keep things together. If she wasn’t a teacher she would be rich and she likes eating at Handsome Henry’s. She drove a Chevy in high school went to Reeths-Puffer High School. Who is this Secret Sailor?

6th GradeThis Secret Sailor’s was born at Hackley Hospital. She likes R&B music, Michigan Tech, and chocolate ice cream. She likes pepperoni and bacon on her pizza and her favorite type of cheese is Parmesan. Her favorite type of soda is Chery Coke Zero and her favorite color is black. Who is this Secret Sailor?

7th GradeThe Secret Sailor’s favorite class in the middle school is Life Management and her favorite animal is an elephant. Her favorite color is blue, she loves G & L food and her favorite singer is Ke$ha. This Sailor’s middle name is June and she loves Christmas. Her idol is her big sister and she likes watching Disney Pixar films and likes American cheese. Who is this Secret Sailor?

8th GradeThis Secret Sailor’s most memorable moment was when she first met her nephew. She does not like country music and her favorite animal is a lion. This Sailor plays the violin and the piano. If she could go anywhere on vacation she would go to Australia. Her favorite movie is The Blind Side and her middle name is Elizabeth. Who is this Secret Sailor?

S e c r e t - S a i l o r s

Secret Sailor Answers: Teacher: Mrs. Brink / 6th Grader: Haley Wiewilra / 7th Grader: Tabitha Burns / 8th Grader: Abby Bryson

S e c r e t - S a i l o r s

e c r e t - S a i l o r

e c r e t - S a i l o r

If you won a million dollars, what would you do with the money?

voices

ERIN BORDEAU6th GRADE

“I would donate it all to an animal shelter.”

“I would go on a shopping spree with my mom for shoes and clothes.”

TY MILLER 7th GRADE

“I would put about a fourth of it in my bank account , give some to charity and use the

rest to buy a house.”

“I would pay off all my expenses, buy a Ferrari and

travel around the world.”

hallsfrom the

HOLLY JOHNSON8th GRADE

MR. PESCHINDUSTRIAL ARTS TEACHER

TYLER LAPORTE6th GRADE

“I would buy a professional hockey team.”

“I would fly to Antarctica to save the penguins.”

MEGHAN LAWTON7th GRADE

“I would buy tons of gum! Then put some in savings.”

“I would take all of my students on a vacation to

Disney World.”

MITCHELL WHITE8th GRADE

MRS. HALL8th GRADE ENGLISH TEACHER

ALEXIS KRAFT6th GRADE

“I would buy a horse and a cell phone.”

“I would give it to my family after I bought a sports car.”

CHARLIE SMITH 7th GRADE

“I would buy every game there is for X-Box 360.”

“I would buy a bigger house, spoil my family members and

donate to charity.”

JORDYN VILNEFF8th GRADE

MRS. PHILLIPS7th GRADE MATH TEACHER

SAILOR DAYS10

Students of the Month

Student-Athletes

of the Month

Competitive Cheer

Basketball

8th Grade

7th Grade

Kelsey WolffisJoel Friday

Brynne WilcoxLinwood Lee

SAILOR DAYS 11

cartoon by: zoe stenholm

cartoon by: nicole gagnon

cartoon by: abby olsen

Middle School Cartoons

On Monday, November 24 the Mona Shores eighth grade boys basketball team lost to the Bunker Bulldogs for the second year in a row.

Right from the start Jamel French at-tacked the basket for a layup and the crowd was going crazy. The score at the end of the first quarter was Mona Shores six to five.

“We had a timeout to regroup and take a breather,” James Duncan said.

Noah Dykstra started off the second quarter with a much needed layup, and later a free throw. There was one timeout in the middle of the second quarter called by shores, down nine to ten. The score at the end of the second quarter was 10 to 33 Bunker.

Jamel French started the third quarter with a layup, also a free throw closer to the

end of the third quarter. Justin Crawford had two layups, one at the beginning and one at the end of the third quarter. There was only one timeout, called by Mona Shores. The end of the third quarter score was Bunker 20 to 37.

“Felt good when we were winning,” Duncan said.

Tyree Jackson scored two of the four points for Shores in the fourth quarter. Jack Zuidema scored the last two points of the game, ending with a score of 24 to 50 Bunker.

“We practiced hard and long,” Glen Kastelic said.

Though it was a close game until half-time, the Mona Shores Sailors lost by 26 points.

Mona Shores Middle School’s seventh and eighth grade competitive cheer team has performed extremely well over the past five years, winning over half of the compe-titions that they’ve performed in.

During this time span the competitive cheer team has taken first in their division 22 times, usually competing against five schools during each competition.

“We work really hard, we know our goals, and we set them high,” eighth grade competitive cheerleader Julia Mocere said.

The program started seven years ago, but it really started blooming five years ago, which was the same time Shelly Dykstra took over the program.

“If you don’t have a good attitude, you won’t improve or learn anything,” sev-enth grade competitive cheerleader Chloe Grigsby said.

Dykstra started coaching competitive because she was in charge of youth club cheer, and enjoyed it very much. There was an opportunity to coach the middle school team, so, because of how much she liked it, she took the job.

When asked what makes her want to keep coaching, she smiled and said the kids.

“I’m excited for the season and I think the girls will do really well,” coach Dykstra said.

Carrying on the legacy, the MSMS seventh and eighth grade competitive cheer team took first place at their first competi-tion on Saturday, December 4th.

by: danielle warren I section editorCompetitive cheer and their success over the years

Top: Cheerleaders Abby Zuidema, Nilla Dowdell, Danielle Warren, and Brynne Wilcox prepare to go up into a stunt on the competition mat. Above: Seventh and eighth grade competitive cheer team holds up their first place certificate after their victory was announced.

courtesy photos

by: justin nunnery I staff writerThe devastating loss

Eighth grader Jamel French jumps for the pass coming from across the court.

photo by:emily swiatek

SPORTS12

Almost every middle school athlete who makes a team has to tryout, pay to participate, practice, and show effort, so why shouldn’t every athlete have the same amount of playing

time during the games.Athletes love to be a winner, but in

middle school, playing and working as a team should be more important than win-ning. Equal play time during games could improve winning as a team and winning as team could benefit everyone from the strongest player to the weakest link. Every young athlete deserves a chance to play, but they need to show responsibility and effort in practice in order to earn that time. Athletes can learn from their mistakes

Coaches should help players work on individual skills knowing that not every-one is at the same athletic ability level. Some kids grow as early as eight years old while others don’t grow until they are in their teen years. And while height and build are important in sports like basket-ball and volleyball, middle school students should earn play time with hard work, dedication, and responsibility.

Although players who get an opportuni-ty to play more than others might not like it, working as a team should come first. With equal practice and play time, athletes could improve working together. If play-ers feel that coaches play others more than them, they may stop trying their hardest. When players feel everyone is treated fairly, they are more likely to focus on working together and playing as a team.

The experience of equal practice and equal play could benefit young athletes by teaching them how to work together.

On November 18 the Mona Shores Middle School swim team had their first meet against Wayland Middle School, but came up short losing 175 to 104.

The Sailors lost the meet not because of their lack of effort or determination, but because Wayland brought more swimmers which resulted in them having the ability to score more points during each of the events.

“Having a much larger team allows them many more choices in their line-ups,” head coach Meghan Barnett said.

Leading the Sailors was seventh grader Chase Ledsworth with two first places in the 200 Freestyle and the 100 breaststroke and one second place in the 200 Medley Relay. He also set a personal best time of 2:35.01 in the 200 Freestyle.

“In the 200 Freestyle I dropped five seconds.” said seventh grader Chase Led-sworth.

Coming in second in points was eight grader Brooke Studebaker who finished the meet with a first place in the 200 Medley Relay and the 100 Individual Medley, and one third place in the 50 yard Butterfly.

“It was not exactly my first event that keeps me going, it is all of my events com-bined.” said eighth grader Brooke Stude-

baker.Mona Shores had only 23 swimmers at

the meet which is not a lot compared to the 43 swimmers that Wayland brought.

“For the program to be successful, we need to increase the number of swimmers,” head coach Meghan Barnett said.

The swimmers brought back good scores and many points while competing against Wayland and many students were pleased with the outcome.

“I thought the team swam pretty good,” seventh grader Sarah Baker said.

by: john hunt I staff writer

Shores swimmers fight hard, but came up short against Wayland

Seventh grader Chase Ledsworth pulling ahead in his 100 breastroke.

Equal practice and effort should mean equal play

Seventh grader Chase Ledsworth takes a breath during his 200 freestyle.

photos by: john hunt

NichelleHulka

SPORTS 13

Silly Bandz are the new craze sweeping through schools and communities nation-wide.

Kids as young as kin-dergarten are wearing Silly Bandz. Celebrities

have worn them such as singer, song writer and actress Demi Lovato who was caught wearing them at the Kids Choice Awards.

Since the bandz came out, many compa-nies are starting to come out

with their own versions of the bandz and ad-justing the prices to fit everyone’s budget. Silly Bandz usually come in packages of 24 and cost about $4.95 a pack.

Many students wear silly bandz like any other accessory. They are innocent and have no other meanings unlike their ancestors, Jelly bracelets which were wildly popular in the 1980’s.

With more than 8,000 stores in Michigan alone that sell Silly Bandz ,you never have to worry about not finding that special one.

Thanks to technology,

new ideas, and every-

one who is contributing

towards the environment,

the earth is becoming a

“greener” place.

Because of new tech-

nology, there are more ways to recycle, and

“go green.” For example, energy conserving

light bulbs and

fuel efficient cars

are newer ways

that we can help

our planet. Cars

such as the Nis-

san Leaf are battery powered so they don’t

burn fossil fuels that would pollute our

environment.

Recycling and

reusing items are

important steps

towards going

green. Mona

Shores Middle

School is taking part in a program called

TerraCycle. This program takes used items

and turns them into something new. In our

case, the school takes used juice pouches

and plastic baggies and sends them in to be

recycled into new products that consum-

ers can buy. The recycled juice pouches

are made into things like backpacks, bags,

purses, wallets, clipboards, and more.

There are many small things you can do

to help the environment. Bringing reusable

bags with you when you shop, or taking

shorter showers, can help save the earth one

step at a time. Another easy way to con-

tribute is to car pool. Car pooling reduces

carbon dioxide pollution in the air, which of

course, will lead to a cleaner environment.

Going green helps the environment by

cutting back on pollution and limiting the

garbage that goes into landfills.

Steps towards a greener earth

illustration by: rylee george

Silly bandz take the nation by storm

Students trade Silly Bandz at lunch, trying to find a special one.

photo by: leyanna brown

— Corianna Pulaski ~ 6th

“ I think Silly Bandz are wicked awesome and they make really good gifts too.”

— Jack Eyke ~ 7th

“ If we don’t help the environment it will become a mound of garbage, and we will have no living space.”

— Nathan Durham ~ 6th

“ The Terracycle program will be better because we aren’t throwing away baggies and hurting the environment.”

— Hannah Enstam ~ 7th

“ I think you definetly get your money’s worth, plus the shapes are cool.”

ENTERTAINMENT14

LeyannaBrown

RyleeGeorge

The very popular social networking sites Facebook and MySpace are competing to see who’s top dog.

I believe that Face-book is a safer web-site when it comes to Internet safety. Face-book is safer because

of the safety settings and the ability to limit what people see on your profile. When on MySpace there are sometimes ways someone could get your personal informa-tion. One of the first steps toward starting a Facebook is that you have to set your profile safety settings. When starting a MySpace they do recommend it, but they don’t make you, so anyone could see your profile and all your information.

Facebook applications keep people very entertained while MySpace does not

provide the opportunity for applications. Applications are not the only thing that’s good about Facebook. The chat on Face-book is great way to communicate with other people. MySpace does have chat, but the messages don’t always send, so it makes everything confusing. Both Facebook and MySpace use posts or status updates.

So many people left MySpace for Face-book because Facebook is more popular, and MySpace doesn’t want them leaving. To solve this problem MySpace started copying ideas form Facebook. Facebook started the groups that you can “like,” formally known as “become a fan.” MySpace also took the idea of three or four way chat that Face-book came up with. Facebook has attracted more people with all these opportunities as chatting with more people, “liking” groups, applications, and posting status updates.

Many students are

rushing to the the-

aters hoping to catch

a glimpse of the new

movie, “Unstoppable”.

In the movie, a

slacker employee of

the Pennsylvania train station makes a

major mistake causing a giant ,thirty cart,

un-manned train to hurdle toward the major

city of Stanton. Packed full of danger-

ous chemicals, diesel fuel and without air

brakes, this train

could destroy the

entire city unless

it’s stopped.

I liked this

movie because it is full of suspense and

keeps you on the edge of your seat the

whole time. Every moment of this movie

brings you clutching your seat hoping the

next moment won’t end in terror. One mo-

ment you think they have the train under

control and the next moment it’s speeding

away. If you’re looking for a movie with of

suspense this is a great movie to see.

The dangerous stunts pulled off in this

movie. It seemed

like in every

scene there was

another person

performing a

very danger-

ous stunt to try and stop the train before

hitting Stanton. In many other movies there

is one major action scene, but in “Unstop-

pable” the action just never stops coming. It

seemed like I could feel the wind rushing

by me as the train whipped by.

If you like being entertained with exciting

stunts and edge of your seat moments you’ll

never regret seeing “Unstoppable”.

“Unstoppable”, the new movie that has students crowding theaters

Top: Chris Pine stumbles and falls between two trains and struggles to survive.Above: Denzel Washington jumps from cart to cart racing toward the front of train 777.

www.imdb.com

Leaving MySpace for Facebook

Seventh grader Robert Poll uses Facebook to post status updates.

photo by: joeley jazdzyk

— Kelsey Wolffis ~ 8th

“ I liked the movie because it was intense.”

— Nick Brown ~ 7th

“ I really like the end when they are trying to stop the train.”

ENTERTAINMENT 15

BrianaKlug

JoeleyJazdzyk

16 PHOTO STORY

Shores Shoots and Scores

The boys seventh and eighth grade basketball teams fight

hard against Grand Haven teams and Bunker

Above: Jared Pittman jumps for the ball, trying to steal it from a Grand Haven player.

Below: Coach Jeremy Andres gives the seventh grade team some instructions during half time.

While holding off a Bunker defender, seventh grader Linwood Lee drives hard to the basket.

Seventh grader Kobe Burse shows great form at the free throw line.

Above: With the ball in his hands Tyler Trovinger fights off a Bunker player.

Below: Hunter Broersma runs to get in front of Bunker players.

Above: Eighth grade boys get ready to start the game against Bunker.

Below: Simon Karel and Noah Dykstra help fight off the other team.

Eighth grader Tyree Jackson shoots a free throw that re-sults in a basket.

Deontay Moffett, and Jamel French defend their hoop from Grand Haven.

Above: Bailey Brown, Jamel French, Dugan Dieselberg run to meet their team at the hoop.

Below: The eighth grade team huddles together before the game, chanting, “Whose House, Blues House.”