15 Super Fun Things To Do at Home by Emmie Schwab and Ellen Woodruff

#1. Write something- This can be a narrative, an essay, a play, or really just some kind of writing that you're unfamiliar with.

#2. Try origami- Don’t be intimidated by the crazy pictures on the internet. There are lots of fun and simple tutorials online to help you figure it out.

#3. Do a puzzle- When you’re bored it’s better to get your hands busy. Completing a puzzle  takes a long time, but it's not necessarily boring. Also in the end, completing a puzzle feels really good.

#4. Go for a bike ride- Take a much needed tour around your neighborhood, and get in some exercise!

#5. Paint a picture- There are SO MANY youtube tutorials, and you can pick up a paint set for less than $10.00.

#6. Listen to an audiobook- There are tons of audio book sites that will let you listen to an audiobook for free.

#7. Bake something- This could be something new, something from a cookbook, or just an experiment. If you don’t have a cookbook you can look up plenty of good recipes online.

#8. Go for a walk- Walking is fun and calming, but it is also good exercise. Walking is great for you, and it is a great thing to do when you're bored.

#9. Read a book- Do you have one of those books that you’ve just not had time to read? Well, now is a perfect time to do it.

#10. Listen to music- Music is calming and there’s thousands of music apps on the app store. You can put together a new playlist, and that will keep you busy and entertained.

#11. Color in a coloring book- Studies show that coloring can help relieve stress and anxiety, and you can buy a good coloring book for under $5.00.

#12. Play solitaire- Not only does it take a long time, It’s fun to play, and it only requires one thing: a deck of cards. Also, If you don’t know how to play, you can surely learn on the internet!

#13. Scrapbook- Making a scrapbook is super fun, calming and it’s very creative. Plus, you will smile looking back on old pictures of yourself and your friends.

#14. Redecorate your room- Whether this is just moving a couple of things around, or completely changing up your furniture, it’s a fun activity and you will be able to enjoy your new room for a long time. 

#15. Have a photoshoot- All you need is a camera- whether this is on your phone, computer, or an old fashioned polaroid camera. Invite your friends over, and you will be sure to have a great time.

Ranking Some Random Candies (Because, Why Not?) by Sam Rockmore

Disclaimer: Nobody reads my disclaimers, so I’m going to put the whole disclaimer in Kazakh. Жауапкершіліктен бас тарту: Егер сіз менімен келіспесеңіз, жақсырақ нәрселерді істеу керек. Отбасыңмен бірге бол. Жаңа достар табу. Қазақстанға саяхатты жоспарлаңыз. Жеміс тағамдары үшін қарызыңызды төлеңіз. Бірақ газетке айқайлап уақыт жоғалтып жатырсыз.

Do you understand me? No? Go boot up google translate. (Yes, I did make sure that it translates well).

15. Reese’s Cups:  Mmmm mmmm mmm, the delicious taste of Anaphylactic Shock! I may be slightly biassed due to the fact that I’ve never tasted one, and if I tried, it would literally kill me. Also, they have THE MOST annoying advertisements ever! Instead of trying to be funny or memorable, they’re just like “yOu KnOw yOU wAnT iT!” If the guy who makes Reese's advertisements happens to be reading this, I have some words for you: You may think you’re cool, but all you are is a disappointment to your family. Get a life.

14. Skittles: fake M&Ms. These are like raisin cookies, so I won’t bother writing a new paragraph. Skittles are a crime against humanity; the devil’s M&Ms. These are horrible. Imagine you wake up on a snowy December morning to the heavenly sound of M&Ms. One is waiting for you on the coffee table; you take a bite of this delectable candy and realise; it’s not M&Ms, it’s Skittles. You spiral into a homicidal frenzy. Skittles are the birthplace of murderers.

13. Tootsie Rolls:  Simply gross. These aren’t candy, they’re for kidnappers to clump together and shove into the mouth of their victims to gag them.

12. Candy Corn:  Yum, flavoured wax. If you melt down candy corn and put a wick in it, boom! You now have a candle! Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk.

11. Smarties: They are okay. Not bad, not great. Although, I read something about high-schoolers smoking smarties? That? That’s just weird.

10. Dum-Dums: Very variable. There are good flavours like Bubble Gum or Orange, but then there are also the bad flavours like Butterscotch or Root Beer. But with the bad flavours, they might not be good candy, but they are mighty fine projectiles!

9. Starburst:  Also variable. It would be seventh if it wasn’t for the Red and Pink flavours. Also, don’t eat these if they’re older than a month.

8. Swedish Fish: Pretty good. Actually, just today I learned there’s more than one flavour. Huh.

7. Hershey Bars:  Okay. The main reason they’re so popular is just because they’re nearby.

6. Crunch Bars: Pretty good. Not really much to say on these other than a nice crunch.

5. M&M: Very nice. They taste good, they don’t melt in your hands, and you can eat a bunch of them at once.

4. Mr. Beast Bars: Actually quite good. Dark Chocolate is always better than milk chocolate, and if you feel like arguing on that, well, Өмір ал.

3. Jolly Ranchers: They are pretty good. They’re also very variable. I’ve had six flavours, and I’ll rank them:

3F. Cherry: These things are awful. So bad. Mmmmm, cough medicine!

3E. Watermelon: Still cough medicine, but more bland, which in this case is a good thing.

3D. Blue Raspberry: pretty much the whole characteristic is sour. Minimal flavour. 

3C. Green Apple: same thing as blue raspberry, but slightly more sour.

3B Grape is good. 

3A. Orange is very good, and underrated. You can’t get it in a normal bag.

2. Mallo Cups: These are Reese’s Cups for Gigachads. That’s all I’ll say.

1.  Hershey Hugs: One of the few good uses of white chocolate. Seriously, try these.

Interview with Mr. Zimmerman by Isabella Doliana and Vivienne Conroy

0. Have you ever had a student who tried to eat a piece of wood?

Not that he knows of

1. Would you rather be an ostrich or an emu? 

Emu 

2. What is your favorite wood to work with?

Cherry wood

3. Have any of your students hurt any part of their body while in the woodshop?

A student got their hair cut in a drill before

4. Favorite painful childhood memory?

When he was first starting to ride a bike - he went straight down a hill into jagger bushes

5. What would you do if you made a table and one of your students bit it and broke all their teeth?

 Cry because of his table

6. If you ate a table what would you do with the chairs?

Probably eat them as the side

7. Are you more of a chihuahua or a really old great dane?

Really old great dane

8. Is your favorite color wood?

 YES

National Humiliation Day 1/3/23 by Carolyn Frank

If you’re all by yourself,

In a room full of people,

Or you say something dumb,

Like,  “what does 2+2 equal?”,

Everyone laughed,

Your cheeks turned bright red,

The bell rang just then,

Kids all flushed out,

And I stayed there frozen,

Until I had to leave,

I got home and…

I STILL DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER!

Ranking a Bunch of Random Drinks by Sam Rockmore

Disclaimer: If you disagree with me, drink some choccy milk while sitting in the rain, contemplating your life choices. Also, coffee is gross and tastes like mud. Fight me.

If you’re reading this, chances are you know me as the dumb ranking guy, if you don’t know that about me, by any chance, do you live under a rock? But as a literary genius, I was just mindlessly colouring in art class and I was thinking about what I’d write for the newspaper.

“Huh, I’m thirsty… WAIT! Ranking a bunch of stupid drinks would do very well!” And then after that I accidentally knocked over my water bottle. Where was I? Oh, right, ranking drinks. I could come up with fifteen off the top of my head.

Honourable Mention: Carbonated Milk. I talk about Carbonated Milk a lot, so ranking it too high or too low wouldn’t feel right.

Fourteen: Chunky milk. Glug glug, Squishy white chunks! This has a horrid taste that a paragraph can’t describe. I’m just gonna head to the next one, because this is making me ill.

Thirteen: Coffee, bitter mud. Upon first pouring this horrid concoction into your mouth, all you’ll taste is bitterness, then suddenly, dirt joins the party! The vile concoction even looks like mud! Yuck. Why do people drink this stuff? I know it’s to keep them awake. They claim it’s the caffeine, but really, it’s the unholy taste keeping them awake.

Twelve: Mud. Mud is just thicker coffee, just without the bitterness.

Eleven: Chocolate Water. Chocolate water doesn’t actually taste good. Oh, fun fact, they sell chocolate water! Not in East Asia like its brother, carbonated milk, but in the USA under the name YooHoo. I know you don’t believe it, but the next time you drink YooHoo, look at the ingredient list. I promise that I’m not a liar. 

Ten: Coke. Not good, not bad. Overrated? Of course. This is so incredibly overrated! Not the best soda. Fight me.

Nine: Orange Juice. OJ is okay. It’s a similar case to coke. Coke is okay, but super overrated. But since OJ is slightly less overrated, I’ll let it beat Coke.

Eight: Lemonade. Same case as the two before it, but I like it a bit better.

Seven: Lemon juice! Straight up lemon juice is actually better than lemonade in my opinion; I really like some sour things, and lemons are one of them.

Six: Water. Water is only this high because humans need water to survive and it’s really good at 3 am.

Five: Tea. Tea is actually pretty good; fantastic for writing. It could be better, but for me, it’s a solid fifth place.

Four: Milk. Milk has my respect. It’s very good for a lot of other things and is actually pretty good on its own. It also makes your bones stronger, which explains why I have literally never broken a bone.

Three: 7-Up. 7-Up is easily the best soda. Don’t even bother arguing or crying out, “oH, 7uP iS oFf bRaND sPRiTe!!!!1!!” It’s really not. See a psychiatrist.

Two: Hot chocolate. Hot Chocolate is spectacular. This happens to be the perfect season for it, and it’s also a really good writing drink year-round. Easily second place. Also, if you feel the temptation to cry out, “yOu’Re a fREaK!1! hOT chOCOlAtE iS oNLy fOr wINtEr!1!” You’re probably one of the people who also thinks 7-Up is off-brand sprite; while you’re seeing your now necessary psychiatrist, I’ll be drinking my hot chocolate on my porch in mid-july. 

One: Chocolate Milk. Choccy Milk. What else is there to say? Just go read my choccy milk article. I have a day of the week designated for going to the farmer’s market to get the best chocolate milk ever.

Top Ten Worst Christmas Presents by Josh Saintus

You wake up on christmas morning you run downstairs to the tree.You look under the tree you see the most gifts you ever seen gift you open whats in side a great gift or or the worst thing you've ever laid your eyes on we've compiled these bad thing into a list of ten READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

10. Ugly Christmas Clothes

Who actually wears these? I mean I know that for some people having to wear a sweater which feels like you just got poked by a cactus a thousand times every second is tradition but when you take it out of the box the only thing you’re thinking is “what is this?”

9. Gaming Shirts

These monstrosities make me wish my grandma fell down the stairs because she was probably the one who bought it.These make me cringe to death and for good reason too.

8. Gift Card Under $10 

WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU GONNA BUY WITH 10 DOLLARS, A PACK OF GUM!?!?!?!?

7. Decor

Who wants decorative pillows?Who wants lamps?Who in the world wants a two inch cactus?

6. Food

Why? When Christmas comes you want something that will last a long time. The food finna last less than 1 second.

5. Anything You Already Have

The only reason anyone would want another of what they have is if they want to play with their sibling or they’re starting a collection

4. Books 

Tell me, who want to spend christmas day reading about a guy with a lightning scar 

on his forehead.

3. Cleaning Supplies

It might just me or I don't want to spend my christmas cleaning the bathroom and mopping the floor

2. Plants

Come on. Who really wants a plant that you have to take care of.

1. Coal

If you're a parent and you do this, I'm disappointed.

Decades Fashion by Delainey Bitner

Through the decades there have been thousands of fashion trends each year, many of which have shaped the styles of many people in 2022. Since the very beginning fashion has been a reflection of people's culture, personality, life, and many other things. Without many fashion trends of the past, we wouldn’t be where we are now concerning fashion. Many common fashion trends now were actually part of movements, like the mini skirt in the Femist movement. MIni skirts were used as a form of activism and rebellion to represent women's liberation. And The Black Panther Party of the mid 60s and 70s had a uniform of a black leather jacket, black pants, dark sunglasses, and a black beret, which became a symbol of black power.

Here are some examples of popular fashion trends in each decade.

00s 

• Neon

• Layered tank tops

• low rise pants

• Track suits

• Bucket hats

• Feathers 

• Vests

• Platform shoes

• Big sunglasses

• Denim

90s

• Cargo pants

• Sneakers

• Oversized flannels

• Baggy jeans

• Biker shorts

• Plaid skirts

• Cardigans

• Mary janes

• Sweater vests

• Argyle cardigans

• Varsity jackets

• Collared shirts

• Silk shirts

80s

• Windbreakers

• Big hair

• Aerobic gear

• Leg warmers

• Oversized eyewear

• Acid wash jeans

• Shoulder pads

• HIgh Waisted pants

• Denim

70s

• Bell bottom pants

• Maxi skirts

• Ponchos

• Afros

• Pant suits

• Platform shoes

• Wrap dresses

• Corduroy

Carbonated Milk is a Soda! By Sam Rockmore

There are many stupid questions. Is cheese a loaf of milk? Are hot dogs a sandwich? Should Sam Rockmore be allowed to write for the school newspaper? But lately, a question like those has spiraled out of control and caused a civil war in Homeroom 311… is carbonated milk a soda?  Chances are, if you know who I am, I’ve asked you this very question. But is it? Is it a soda?

Yes, yes it is. First of all, what is a soda? Google defines a soda as “a carbonated soft drink.” But this, this begs a new question:  what even is a soft drink? Google then defines that as a nonalcoholic drink, especially one that is carbonated. Carbonated milk is indeed a carbonated, nonalcoholic drink! 

People have asked me, “Does anyone sell that?” Yes, in not just Japan, but in China,  Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. Though I highly doubt carbonated milk is sold in North Korea, I’ll run with it. But why haven’t any Americans heard of it? To this, I have no answer. 

People have also asked how to make carbonated milk. Sadly, you can’t Sodastream milk directly, so you have to mix carbonated water with milk to make carbonated milk.

That’s it for now. Also, if I have anyone brave and stupid enough, I want someone to go to China, Mongolia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, then buy carbonated milk in each country. That was a joke, please don’t go to North Korea. 

An interview with PFMS band director, Mrs. Brownson by Bryce Wenrich

Your most famous quote is known by most band kids, that being, “Band kids are the best kids.” What makes you believe this?

Band kids work hard to develop both as individuals and as an ensemble, becoming sensitive musicians as well as perceptive and understanding people. Members of the Band understand the importance of passion, hard work, drive, determination, conscientiousness, and planning, and they take these abilities and understandings with them into everything they do in life. The different colors and textures we have available in Band are incredibly descriptive and diverse, so Band students learn to appreciate a more varied world, and to blend together very different sounds and ideas to create one work that expresses things through sound. This translates to their daily lives as well, and other teachers always comment that "you get the best kids!" I argue, "No, we *make* the best kids!" Music is essential! 

What are some good reasons to join band in middle school?

Band is really fun, interesting, exciting, and a great way to develop friendships, work ethic, knowledge, abilities, and understanding of music, science, history, and expression. It is a time when working together and connecting with others is the goal, and paying attention to your peers every day is required. This develops strong bonds and sensitive humans. The friendships you develop in your middle school band will be there for you for your whole life! 

How can being in band help you in classes that have nothing to do with music?

Music is the only thing that connects both sides of your brain at the same time. Adding in the kinesthetic skills of playing an instrument, listening, following a conductor, and understanding the scientific principles, the historical context, the mathematical nature of rhythm, tone, and volume, and the expressive and illustrative qualities of the music allow the player to use more parts of their brain all at once. This will make you a stronger student across the board!

Is band a difficult activity to learn and participate in?

Playing music can be difficult, but it is a lot of fun, and everyone moves at their own pace. Unlike some other classes, we work on skills in a spiral fashion, and slowly acquire new abilities as we continue through. Not everyone is expected to be in the same place at the same time, but everyone can contribute. You get out of it what you put into it, so if you really want to excel and work hard to do it, you will! 

Can anyone join band?

Yes! Everyone is welcome!  

 In conclusion, are band kids in fact the best kids?

Absolutely. 100%. No doubt. And everyone is welcome to join us!

What is your preference? By Craig Adkins

I’m going to go around asking people questions. We’ll see how crazy this might get. I’ll ask simple questions that people don’t argue on much like “Is nutella better, or chocolate?” to the questions people argue more like “Is a cat better, or a dog.” we’ll see the results!

1. Is nutella or chocolate better?

My opinion: I never even HAD nutella. So I’m just going to say chocolate.

Other people: “Chocolate,” Chocolate,” “Chocolate,” Chocolate,” That’s what I heard. Only ONE person said nutella. They didn’t even say why. So the clear winner of this question is: Chocolate.

2. Is Marvel or DC better?

My opinion: Marvel. Just Marvel. Do I really have to say why? Marvel has the better Heroes AND Villains. 

Other people: EVERYBODY I ASKED SAID “DC”!!! This really surprised me. I thought people liked Marvel better. Some people just have different opinions.

3. Is Pie or Cake better?

My opinion: I thought for a while. This is a tough question. I finally said Pie. Pie is softer and usually tastes better. Maybe that's why people usually have Pie for Thanksgiving, not Cake.

Other people: This question had a lot of votes on BOTH sides of this argument. But the winner is… PIE!!! More people liked pie than cake! Lets go pie lovers!!!

4. Is a cat or dog better?

My opinion: Cat. Cats are great pets. Especially if you work away from home. With a dog, when you leave home you need to call a sitter. Not with a cat! A cat's fur is softer and warmer than a dog's fur. If a cat bites you, the cat bite won’t you like a dog might. I own three cats because they are better.

Other people: Everybody said dog. No one said why. This one frustrated me. The winner is a dog. Apparently dogs are man's best friend I guess…

5. This time I'm going to ask one of my friends a question. Let’s see how they respond. Is Pokemon Scarlet or Pokemon Violet better?

Me: I have never played. So I don’t know.

My friend: “Scarlet, 100% percent Scarlet I defeated the story mode & post game.” Wow. I guess I will play Scarlet instead of Violet.

6. Last question. This one was a bit weird. I was out of ideas. If a bald person worked at a restaurant, would they have to wear a hairnet?

Me: Um… I’ll just say yes….

Other people: There were Yes’s No’s, and Maybe’s. This one was evenly split. Thank you for reading my article. Have a fantastic rest of your day. :)

"CYBER MONDAY 11/28/22" By Carolyn Frank

It's a race,

Get on your computer,

Click clack clickety clack,

The deals are already running,

People everywhere are online,

Then a spark,

The Internet’s down,

People run outside,

To the nearest hotspot,

It's an online apocalypse.

Top 10 Worst Air Jordans by Sean Fulmer

10: Air Jordan 10 “Lady Liberty”

The shape of the fabric is pretty bad and it being shiny makes it worse and the colors teal and shiny black makes a horrible combo.

9:Air Jordan 2 Retro “Iron Purple”

I don't like this shoe due to the fact that it just doesn't have much detail and it only focuses around a color that doesn't go well with shoes in general

8:Air Jordan Retro 8 - Cobalt BLAZE/WHITE/BLUE Void

They do not look good. They make me think of an out of business urban outfitters.It has a hiking sandals vibe mixed with off brand crocs and a jordans that's been worn since 2012. Plus They are giving me elsa vibes.

7:Air Jordan 9s retro gym red

These have very shiny red that I don't like mixed with white that just look like it's in the wrong spot.It makes me want to never see some 9s again.They give me suburban diner sign vibes plus if you wear these you are despicable.You probably just want to see the world burn and make people mad.

6:Air Jordans 15 Retro OG “Black & Varsity Red”

The tongue of this shoe looks like a Neanderthal's forehead and they only sold it for one year so that's how you know it's bad.

5:Air jordan 21 black

These are disgusting.They look like someone shooting a bowling alley shoe 50 times and someone made a ugly pattern with posco paint on it.

4: Womens air jordans og white/black 

It looks like you gave someone a pencil and said “make a line expressing each emotion” and then just combined each line and made  a shoe plus this is just a disgrace to all the women who wear nike

3:Air Jordan 20 east west

Adidas Shackle shoes 2.0 that's all i have to say.They are ugly and that's that.They have a shackle at the top and all the colors are plus its nasty brown and the yellow, ewwww.

2:Air Jordan 4 ginger

The brown mixed with the Jordan 4 design makes a horrible combo. It looks like garden shoes.

1:Air Jordan 2 WMNS “Rivals” 

This shoe look like you gave someone a blindfold and told them the wrong color while they were painting

8th Grade Interviews by Olivia Koscinski

Need Music Inspiration? I Got You! By Samantha Lozinski

Artists: 

- Lately, I discovered “Maggie Lindemann”, and I really like her music, because it kind of gives off Olivia Rodrigo vibes in a way. I love that she writes the kind of music that either makes you feel like you could cry your heart out, or dance around your room screaming the lyrics.(It depends on your mood.)

- “Tate McRae” is another amazing artist. One of the songs that you might recognize from her is “she’s all i wanna be.” So if you like that song, then chances are you will love her other music too.

Songs:

- “The Doctor Said” by Chloe Adams

- “Cages” by Maggie Lindemann

-“Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift

- “Teenage Mind” by Tate McRae

- “Uh Oh” by Tate McRae

- “you’re not special” by Maggie Lindemann

- “Bad Chick” by Liv Grace Blue

- “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry

- “Memories” by Conan Gray

- “ i hope ur miserable until ur dead” by Nessa Barrett

- “brutal” by Olivia Rodrigo

- “Numb Little Bug” by Em Beihold

- “Sweet Nothing” by Taylor Swift

- “good 4 u” by Olivia Rodrigo 

- “Heather” by Conan Gray

- “As it Was” by Harry Styles

- “City of Angels” by Em Beihold

- “Dandelions” by Ruth B.

- “Happier” by Olivia Rodrigo

- “tear myself apart” by Tate McRae

Here’s a Spotify playlist with the songs above, and more. 🙂

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2peCGTzFo1sMPNJlRbUE3K

6th Grade Fun Night by Cora High

The 6th Grade Fun Night was on Wednesday night on October 26th for the 6th graders. The 6th Grade Fun Night was hosted by the Mountain Lions team, but all of the 6th graders could go. All of the money raised that night will go to the Mountain Lions for their field trips, field day and more fun stuff. 

The Wolves will have a Fun Night later in the year and the money from that will go to the Wolves for their field trips, field days and more fun stuff.

Mr.Tranell was the D.J., but other kids who wanted to help D.J. assisted Mr. Tranell. Kids could wear their halloween customs if they wanted to, but it wasn’t required. There was also really good food! 

Teacher Spotlight: Mr. Ammerman by Felix Sawers

Mr. Ammerman is a 6th grade science teacher at Park Forest Middle School. I guarantee you didn't know all of this about him.

Mr. Ammerman’s favorite subject to teach is science, even though he used to be a math teacher. The reason Mr. Ammerman gave is, “I started teaching science more than math.” Mr. Ammermans’s favorite team is our Penn State football team and his favorite sport is football.
You might be wondering what is  Mr.Ammerman’s favorite time of day but his favorite time of day is the morning. His favorite celebrity is Nick Saban. He is a football coach who coaches Alabama University. 

It turns out that being outside exercising and playing football is Mr. Ammerman’s favorite hobby. Mr. Ammerman said that his all time favorite food is pizza and his favorite place to eat his pizza is Brother’s Pizza.

Last One to Lunch is a Rotten Egg by Riley Avale

Lunch is one of the best parts of the day. But the lunch line fills up quickly, so you have to try to get there to make sure you can have time to eat lunch. Some people on their way to lunch might run. Some kids decide to walk and take their time.

Many of the kids that take their time get crushed. For example, pushed into a wall or ran into. By law you must have at least 30 minutes of lunch time. To solve the rushing problem we should make it 45 minutes. 

I know it is cutting out class time but to avoid injuries we might need more time. If we can’t do that we might need to make the kitchen or serving area bigger. We can use the space for snacks to make it better, we can use the new bigger space for both meals and snacks. Or maybe even serving them at the same time.

We can also put the kitchen things on one side and the serving place on the other. We can also make the dish room smaller.

I asked 6th grade mountain lions social studies teacher Mrs.Condrin about the topic and she said, “I agree that running on the way to lunch is an issue. It would be terrible if somebody fell or got pushed and got hurt. When one student starts running, the other kids feel pressure to join. I also think they are excited to eat quickly and get outside. I think the teachers and cafeteria monitors do a good job correcting the behavior when they see it though.” 

I agree that the lunch aids are doing their best to stop this, but the kids just won’t listen. I think we should do more about it. One day this can really hurt someone.This is an issue that has been happening for years now. Now we need to stop it. Before someone gets seriously hurt.

Debate: Should we have a longer lunch time? By: Aparna Anand, Grade 6

Upon seeing the title, many students will probably agree that yes, we should have a longer lunch time. We get to have a longer break from our school work and we get to spend more time with friends on opposite teams. But while there are many benefits to the students when it comes to extended lunch, most administrators may not agree. 

What Some Administrators would say:

First of all, having a longer lunch break for students will reduce learning time in the classroom, which teachers will be discouraged at. And even with a whole block (80 minutes) in the mornings to cover all the necessary content, there’s always one or two things that have to get postponed to the next class, which can cause a delay in learning and lower grades for students. 

And this year, there’s a new schedule, where students will alternate classes on different days, so teachers are forced to postpone things even further. 

And some teachers would argue that because of our 15 minute recess during an alternating period, kids would be learning a lot less than they might already be. So what should we do?

What Students and some administrators would Say:

There are always two sides to a coin, and this has been a heavily weighted debate over the years. And most students differ against their teachers. Some administrators in certain schools across the country are too fighting for a longer lunch time for students.

According to Starved By the Bell, written by Harvard University, less time for lunch can deprive students of the healthful nutrients they need like vitamins, minerals, and other important nutrients. And research suggests that when people eat faster, they tend to take in more calories and feel hungrier. And do we really want our kids/ students to grow up to be obese or have diabetes?

And many studies have shown that when kids have a longer time to eat, they can absorb more nutrients, improve their mental and physical health, and keep them at their best performance all day. Karen LeBillon, who was interviewed by the Public School Review Lunch Blog, says that “If we are giving our children a short lunch break, we are teaching them that food is an inconvenience, and eating is an interruption to their day.” And do we want students to adopt unhealthy eating habits and get sick when they’re older?

What we can do at PFMS?

After many schools increased the lunch break for students, overall performance boosted to incredibly high rates. And many teachers and administrators say that they made the right decision by increasing students’ lunch time. Let’s make PFMS one of those schools. 

A couple solutions- we can make the lunch line system more efficient- so that students can get their lunch faster and have more time to eat. Or, we can take away a minimal amount of time from morning classes and contribute that towards lunch. That way, classes after lunch like Tech Ed or World Languages will be slightly longer than usual. 

It’s important that us students have time to eat and a reasonable break from our studies. And while there are good arguments on both sides, who will win the debate? Will students rejoice and get a longer lunch time? Or will the administrators decline to change the current situation? ~

Weird Food Combinations That People Like by Lilly Smith