Maria Dillon Last Friday November 14th 2008 in downtown Minneapolis the witches of oz took flight in the hit musical Wicked. The theater opened at about 6:00 for the 8 pm showing of the musical. People waited to possibly snag extra tickets however the hit show was sold out for months before they even came into town. The touring cast had visited many cities in the last couple of months hitting many in around the US and abroad. The theater began to pack soon before the starting time of 8 o’clock. Many exited children and adults anxiously waited to see the musical. The chatter filled the theater downtown while the actors waited behind the scenes to share the music and story of Galinda and Elphaba the two witches of the Wizard of Oz. At 8:03 the lights flicker warning those in the halls of the oncoming curtain. The crowd quickly takes their seats and awaits the show. The lights finally shut off and the curtain opens to reveal the chorus beginning the story with passion. The Show Wicked is about the two witches of Oz. Revealing the story of friendship and Loyalty before the Wizard of Oz began. They had met at school and hated each other but soon to realize that they were meant to be friends. Fiyero, Galinda’s love interest begins to fall for elphaba which leads to later conflicts in the play. Their friendship grows and spreads until later conflicts with the Wizard of Oz separates them forever. As the show goes on the faces of those seeing the musical for the first time glow with excitement while the story takes it’s exiting toll on the people viewing it. The first act ends with the song “Defying Gravity” which is the height of the conflict of the musical. The lights turn on and the crowd floods to concessions and to the crowded bathrooms. Others may just sit in their seats and read the program and biographies of the amazingly talented cast. After about 10 minutes the lights flicker once again to warn of the approaching second act. The people begin to file in and take their seats to await the start. After the second act the shows end at about 11:15pm although it is late many people are not focusing on how tired and hungry they are but how much they want to see it again. As we left the crowded parking lot which took about an hour to get out of we got home and went right online to look up the amazing cast and then exhausted everyone went right to bed.
Luke Stennes When I woke up this morning, I knew it would be a far different day than usual. The soothing sounds of my alarm buzzer woke me up, and I heard the water running from my sister using the shower upstairs. I didn’t want my water to be cold so I went back to sleep. This was a bad choice on my part. When I awoke I was in a rush to get dressed and eat my Apple Jacks so I could get out of the house. My morning routine was completely messed up all because my sister took a shower before I did. When I got to school, I had to start the day with math while my brain was still waking up. My morning will now effect my whole day, and since it affects my day it affects the whole world’s day. This has been Luke Stennes, reporting on the happenings of my mrniong. As I opened my eyes in the early hours of the day, I knew I was in for a different experience than normal. The alarm clock sounded its loud wake up call, and I heard the trickling of the water coming down the pipes from my sister taking her morning shower. I was deeply saddened because I knew that if I were to take my shower as I usually would, the water would be cold. I could not have any of that, so I went back to sleep for what I thought would be a few minutes. The minutes flew by and before I knew it, I was late. I had to rush to get all my clothes on, and eat my eggs and cereal, and shower and get out the door, it was too much of a hassle for my tired body to handle in the morning. Just because of my sister taking a shower five minutes before she was supposed to, my day was ruined. I was straight off to math class 1st period and my brain cannot handle that when my routine is thrown off. The morning that I have is significant to the world as a whole, because I am a significant world figure. These two writing styles are different in that broadcasting is less detailed and typically shorter in stories than literature. Literature is often more educated sounding and a better vocabulary is used.
Samantha Stevenson Samantha was awakened at 4:10am this morning by her cell phone alarm clock. She was needed at a local hockey arena to manage a hockey tryout process for the Eastview Boys Hockey team. It was going to be a long day for her. By 4:45am she was at the Eagan ice arena for an hour and a half returning home at 6:45am to quickly get ready for school. Samantha, a senior at Eastview high school, arrived at school by 7:24 just in time for her first hour physics test that she had that day. Also scheduled that day was a guest speaker in the Developmental Psychology class, a one page news story due at the end of the hour in Intro to Broad Cast Journalism and a test in math. After a long day of trying to stay focused in school, Samantha arrived back at the hockey arena at 2:35pm for another set of tryouts. A lot happened during the tryouts that afternoon. Boys were throwing up left and right after over exerting themselves, Travis Schewiger’s stitches fell out of his wisdom teeth and his mouth was bleeding uncontrollably, and Michael Burger fell and chipped his tooth and bit through his bottom lip, which involved Samantha having to care for all of the players. At 4:20pm Samantha had to rush to dance practice where she became extremely ill. Samantha was told to leave dance and get some rest. When Samantha got home she had a two page paper to write for advanced composition and had to work on her paper for Intro to Broadcast Journalism. Samantha was in bed by 8:00pm catching up on all of the sleep that she didn’t get that week.
Elise Allen Last summer, the day after I got out of school I left for a trip to St. John in the United States Virgin Islands. The trip was for a fun vacation and to relax on the beach however I discovered much more. My whole family went along and we brought some of our friends. We left for the airport at four in the morning and took the whole day to travel on two planes rides, a wild taxi ride, a ferry ride, and a final car ride to get to the island and house we were staying in. The place we stayed at was very large with a pool, balcony, and view over the whole island and bay. Over the week I noticed many differences between our daily life in Minnesota and island life in St. John. First there were gorgeous beaches all around with amazing views of the ocean and neighboring islands. The temperature often reached up to above 90 degrees and had an average of 80 percent humidity. We cooled off by jumping in the clear ocean water. At the beaches we also snorkeled and found many fish and sea turtles to observe. There were many exotic animals on the island including iguanas, skinks, goats, and chickens which were often just walking around in the street unnoticed by many people. The island was very diverse and had street shops which included items that represented many different cultures. The streets in St. John were also very steep and curvy due to the size and landscape of the island. The grade of some of the hills would not even be allowed for driving conditions in the United States because of their danger. This made driving very difficult especially since there were no street lights. Throughout the week we all adapted to the differences in the culture and lifestyle quickly. After the week was over we were all disappointed to leave the island and culture that we now loved. We all have very fond memories of the events on the island and everything we learned about the society and norms.
Joey Desrocher My alarm rang at 6:35 this morning. I rolled over and slammed the snooze button twice. As I laid in bed I thought about what I needed to get done today. My physics test and that I need to get a protractor for the test to get a good grade. My room was chilly so I wrapped my blanket tighter. I looked at my phone and saw Bob Marley’s face looking back at me. Then I grabbed the remote for my iPod speaker and pressed play. As Jack Johnson played lightly in my room I fell into a nice light sleep. All of a sudden I hear my mom’s voice saying “Joey it’s time for school, and she asks if I’m awake”. I growl, “Yeah” and she leaves. Then I get out of bed and turn up the music so I can hear it all the way in the shower. Then I walk to my shower and turn it on so it will be hot when I get in. My shower was a little long so I had to rush to get upstairs. I brushed my teeth, got dressed, and grabbed my wallet and chapstick. I went upstairs and found a protein shake, a banana, and a bagel on the counter. I downed the protein and also had my vitamins. I put on my jacket and grabbed my lunch and placed everything in my gold mazda 626. I started the car and drove to school. Listening to sublime I sped to school to make it on time. My first hour class was economics and I did a chapter assignment for maybe a half hour and killed time for the rest of the hour. I looked at my notes for my physics test for five minutes maybe. After class I walked to Intro to broadcast. Then Mr. Krebs told us to go to B123 and after I walked downstairs I sat down at a computer and began to type this news story.
Luke Mehring thought it was a normal day at Eastview High School. First hour went off without a hitch. Little did he know that 2nd hour was going to be so exciting. He knew something was off when he walked into the room and Mr. Krebs told them they were going to a computer lab all week long. Luke had a feeling that an assignment was coming that would last all week long. Once they got to the computer lab the first day Mr. Krebs told them that they had to write a news article that is a page long. Luke asked “Can I just make it up?” Mr. Krebs said sternly that he couldn’t in a mean cold voice. Riley Sinn started to argue with the teacher about what is news. Riley believed that news is full of lies and rumors. Mr. Krebs thinks that if it’s a lie or a rumor that, by definition, it’s not news. Therefore Riley had no chance to win the argument. Near the end of the hour Mr. Krebs started writing down different topics on the board that students could use. Since Luke was almost done with his article he decided not to use any of the suggested topics on the board. When the girl came in late to class Luke decided that he had enough on his article. He wanted to post it now so he could have a free day for part of the day tomorrow.
6:30. I hear the slightly catchy sound of the Office theme song. I still think I’m sleeping but then I realize that that’s my alarm clock. I roll over slowly and stop the already annoying alarm sound. Then I think to myself, “Do I have any more time to sleep?” But I have to get up and get ready for school. I slowly get out of bed, making my way to the bathroom and still only half awake. I turn on the shower and wait for the water to warm up. As I’m waiting, I put my contacts in. Then I get into the slightly too warm shower. As the water hits my skin, it quickly wakes me up more. But right as I get out of the shower, I feel the tiredness I had before hit me like a punch. I walk over to the sink and brush my teath. After that I go into my room and try to figure out what I’m going to wear today. As I congergate between a blue sweatshirt and a white one. My light baggy jeans, or dark tighter jeans. I finally just choose one and figure that I’d wear the other one tomorrow. I realize that if I don’t do something about my tiredness, I’m going to fall asleep in first hour. I go down stairs and insteed of having milk and cereal, I drink some coffe with my cereal. That day I was as awake as ever and you never would have guessed it if you would have seen me that morning.
In 5th grade, one of my best friends and I got into a vicious biking accident. We were trying to ride next to each other and not being so good on bikes, we collided. I unintentionally hit Kelsey’s back tire of her bike causing her to swerve. This started a chain reaction. I flew off my bike landing on the sidewalk scraping my knees. Kelsey ran over my hair, three inches away from my head, almost crushing my skull. Kelsey’s shoulder and ankle got messed up from plummeting off her bike. Our other friend Sam was with us and she ran to go get help. This may sound wimpy but with gravel and dirt settling into our cuts, that was the most pain I had been in my life at that point in time. I couldn’t sleep that night. The pain was over the top. Sheets rubbing against open wounds… OUCH! We both had to stand in the back of the class for the next 2 weeks. It was impossible to sit down with the amount of pain that we were in. Both Kelsey and I have scars all over to this day! Now a memory we can all laugh about.
The day I took my drivers test I was so scared I could hardly force myself to eat breakfast. Just about everyone I knew had been failing, so I had it set in my head that I would fail. As we drove to the dmv I was practically hyperventilating. Finally I was about to take my test, my instructor was in my car, and I was about to start. The minute I start moving the car I begin to talk 100mph. I think in my head I thought if I kept engaging my instructor with conversation she would be to distracted to notice my flaws in my driving. So I basically told her my life story from how I love to golf and play hockey to my family and my favorite foods. I remember during my parallel park I started singing some Hannah Montana song because it was stuck in my head, I didn’t even notice I was even singing till the instructor told me how her daughter likes that song, I was pretty embarrassed. I guess that just shows how I do under pressure! I ended up passing the test and she said I was the most entertaining driver she’s had in a long time, I still don’t know if that’s good or bad but bottom line, I passed. I was so overjoyed I passed I tripped when I was running to go inform my mom. Now all I need to do is get a car and some how manage a job into my busy schedule to pay for the gas for my car that I will get hopefully soon. Overall it was a good and stressful experience.
Ty Groskreutz Wrestling Incident This morning at the Armstrong team tournament invitational there was a tragic accident. Ty Groskreutz a junior at Eastview High School seriously injured his knee. During his first match of the day versus Woodbury his knee locked up on him. It was the middle of the second period and Ty and his opponent fell out of bounds. Then as Ty explains, “I just got up from a squatting position and when I took my first step my knee buckled on me and I collapsed on the mat.” After this happened his coaches rushed over to find out was wrong. After a while Ty stood up and tried to walk on his knee, but could not support his weight. But after some more time Ty decided that he would try and finish the match. He was ahead at the time and would start on top. He ended up riding the guy out for the rest of the second period and all of the third period after he chose to start on top. But this was only the first match of the day. After the first meet was over he went over to his dad, who is a physical therapist, to work on it. During this time his knee locked up on him for the second time. Ty’s dad recalls this moment, “Ty was trying to see if he could bend his knee, but when he bent it too far, it locked up again.” During the second meet Ty got a break because the other team didn’t have wrestler at his weight class. His team ended up losing that dual so they would be fighting for third place in the tournament. The next team had a wrestler at his weight class so Ty got ready to wrestle not knowing what to expect. The whistle blew for the start of the match and Ty started the attack. He ended up technical falling the opponent, which is being ahead by fifteen points or more, so he got to end the match early and save his knee from further injury. It looks like Ty’s season has come to an abrupt end at this Armstrong team tournament which is right before the section tournament. He will be heading to the doctor to see what to do from here. We will keep you guys updated on how this whole incident will turn out in the end.
Ashley Simonson Last Friday, November 14th, 2008 I had my first encounter with someone famous. Weeks previous I was told by a friend about an event that was taking place in the Minnesota area. Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob Black, the main character’s best friend who happens to be a werewolf, along with Rachelle Lefevre and Edie Gathegi who play two of the bad vampires from the new movie, Twilight, based on the book by Stephenie Meyer were at the Mall of America in Bloomington. They were promoting their new soon to be popular movie. I jumped at the opportunity to meet this famous trio, and I found myself waiting in line for hours just to meet them. The lines were huge, everyone wanting to be one of the lucky 750 people who were able to get a $30 T-shirt along with a number card and wrist band that were their ticket to meeting these famous actors. Along with meeting the trio, you were also able to be present to watch a question and answer session put on by Minnesota’s own radio host, Dave Ryan from 101.3 KDWB. They answered questions like “How was the weather filming?” and “What is on your playlist?” Taylor, 16, who seemed in shock over the show of up a hundreds of fans that showed up, was the subject of most of the fans excitement. Throughout the entire morning there had been a fear in my head that we would not be one of those extremely lucky fans that got to meet someone I would give anything to meet. I had been a huge fan of the books in the series of Twilight, and loved Taylor Lautner is a few of his other movies, such as Shark Boy and Lava Girl as well as Cheaper by the Dozen 2. When I had gotten my wristband and golden ticket in a shade of blue, I felt my excitement well up in me, I didn’t know what to do except scream in excitement. I passed the excruciating time at a good friend’s house with a bunch of friends, waiting impatiently for when I would finally get to see someone who I had wanted to meet for as long as I could remember. We waited at the Mall of America for awhile, and then we decided that we would go to the question and answer session that I spoke previously about. Then after those long minutes waiting for them, they finally showed their almost angelic faces to me. I saw them walk onto the stage, and I watched them, happy, knowing that in about an hour I would be meeting them face to face like I hoped I would. Finally, after the question and answer session, I made my way to the meet and greet area and I stood in the line of people who mirrored my excitement. When I walked into Hot Topic, where they had been signing posters that were provided right when you walked in the door, I caught sight of them. I couldn’t contain my excitement, and I walked up to each of them. Edie looked at me and then signed his name. I held my hand out to him, and waited for him to shake it. He looked up at me with the biggest smile on his face, and he shook my hand. After Edie, I made my way to the person that I had been waiting to meet; I almost fainted at the sight of him. He smiled his all too familiar smile that I had seen many times in pictures, not like this, not in person. He signed my poster quickly, and took my hand to shake it. I smiled, probably looking like an idiot in the process and in my mind made a mental note of this moment. I finally met Rachelle, who thanked me over and over again. Then I left, feeling completely happy and overexcited. It was a more than great experience. So for you who are looking forward to meeting someone famous one day, do it. You won’t regret it.
News Story My friends and I played football in my friends’ back yard. It was a Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago and we had just finished up watching the Vikings choke away another game. It was my neighbors Trevor, Matt, and Eric who were playing with me. We all wanted to play pretty bad from just watching the game. We just played regular touch football because my neighbor Matt is a senior and way bigger than us. At the start they were killing Trevor and I, just throwing it up to Matt. Then we put Trevor on Matt and he could defend him with ease because of the height. Matt was getting frustrated because we came back and tied it up with only one quarter of play left. They weren’t doing too good and it was because they weren’t communicating and working as a team. To get better we practice almost every day after school. Playing football with my friends has strengthened my relationship with them. I don’t like to play when it is cold out because then my hands get really cold and numb because it stings your hands really bad. I find myself playing better when it is warmer out then cold. It cannot be too hot though or else you sweat really bad. The perfect temperature is like 70 degrees and a little windy. My friends backyard is good because it is open and has nice. it is also great because he does not have a dog therefore has a clean yard. The only bad part is that his little brother wants to play us. He is really annoying and persistent and does not stop talking. A nice after game snack is some Dairy Queen because it cools you off and tastes great. Backyard Football has really made some of my relationships closer and stronger.
I went downstairs, half asleep and had 2 pieces of banana bread and a glass of milk. After I finished my breakfast I slowly walked upstairs to take a shower. Before I got into the shower I put my hand in the water to make sure it was the right temperature. When I got into the shower I just stood there and let the warm water hit my back. When I was done I got dressed. I put on a pair of jeans and a black Fox brand shirt. Then I went back into the bathroom to brush my teeth and comb my hair. I was running a little late so I had to rush to my car so I wouldn’t be late to school. The school parking lot was packed full but I managed to find a spot I the very last row. I was really worried about being late because I already had two tardies to first hour and if I were to get another I would receive a detention.
Katie Baldwin As winter is starts to begin, many Minnesota teens are looking forward to the start of the ski/snowboard season, and the opening of their favorite ski hill. Last winter, one teenager got more than she bargained for when she went skiing at the local ski spot, Buck Hill. Katie Baldwin was waiting in line to get on the ski lift, when she saw something unexpected in the snow. She actually found a twenty dollar bill! She and her friend, Abby, were surprised, but delighted with their find, and they quickly pocketed the money. After they were done skiing, and went back to the lodge for hot chocolate, Katie told her mother, Joni, about the money, and she was just as surprised as they were. She convinced Katie and Abby that the moral solution was to tell the front desk about their discovery, so that if anyone came looking for their lost 20, they would get it returned to them. Katie reluctantly gave the money away, and it was sealed in a white envelope with “Katie Baldwin” and her phone number on it. Two weeks later, Katie had almost forgotten about the money when she got a call. The money hadn’t been claimed, and it was hers! Katie decided to share the money with her friend, Abby, because they were both on the hill that day when they found the money. Katie decided to spend the money on an iTunes gift card so that she could buy some of her favorite music. “Who knew that a skiing with my friend would give me more than just a fun day, but some music that I can listen to for a long time?! Every time I listen to those songs, I think of that day, and I want to go back to Buck Hill”. Abby was happy too, “When I saw the money, I thought it might be a one, or even five-dollar bill, but it’s really exciting when you find twenty dollars! I didn’t really want to turn it in, because I was afraid someone might claim it, but it all turned out great in the end!” Katie added, “I suppose that life is full of little surprises like this, you don’t necessarily need to look for them, they find you when you least expect it”. !” So this winter, when you’re pulling on your boots and skis, remember that you may end up with more than you bargained for.
In the summer of 2008, I went on the greatest vacation that I have ever been on. The boundary water was probably one of the most active vacations that I have ever been on. I have never gone camping in my life. So it was a huge thrill for me. The people that I went with were Tony, Kyle, David, My brother, and my friend’s dad. We were there for only six days. The boundary water is a great place to visit. It’s was of the most beautiful place that I have ever been to. The scenery there was amazing. It took us almost a half of a day just to find a place to camp. But we would always pick one of the best spots pick on the map. I wouldn’t say that the boundary water is a real vacation. The reason why is because half the day your canoeing and the other half your relaxing in the wild. One of the worst parts about the boundary waters was carrying a lot of equipment. The reason is because you have to portage about a mile through land every time. Doing that during the day is very difficult. You have to put all your energy in that one day and carry your bags, and the canoes through the portage. It was a very difficult task but I learned to never give up when I was carrying the Canoe, or the bags through the portage. I believe the boundary waters gave me strength. The group that I went with was a group of 6 and we would switch off on who was going to carry the bags, and who was going to carry the canoes. The Boundary water was a wilderness to the region of the north of Minnesota, straddling the border of Canada, and the United States. We canoed and portage over 40 miles throughout the boundary waters. It was one of the greatest achievements that’s I had ever accomplished. My first journey through the boundary waters will always be a memorable journey into the wild.
On Monday, November 17th at approximately 3:00 pm I found out I was accepted at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. I applied to the U of M at the beginning of the school year and for the past couple days I had been anticipating the letter’s arrival. Yesterday on my way home from school I picked up the mail just like any other normal day, accept on this particular day I had an especially exciting piece of mail waiting for me. When I saw the letter I was overcome with excitement and anxiety. I have always loved the U and I have always planned on applying there. The University of Minnesota has been a back-up school for a lot of people for a long time. Although in recent years the University has been getting many more applicants and has transformed into a much more competitive school. When I applied I felt fairly confident I would be accepted, but there was always a chance I wouldn’t get in. When I held the letter in my hand doubts suddenly filled my head. I opened the letter and was thrilled and relieved to see “Congratulations and Welcome to the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities Class of 2013.” The sight of these words filled me with relief and happiness, as well as anxiety and excitement. I was officially accepted into college and ready to be enrolled as a college student.
Nishaan Pal It was the last day of varsity tennis tryouts, and I was one of the candidates that could be chosen. This occurred in the last day of spring break for the 2007-08 school year. There are twelve spots on the varsity tennis team. Ten of the spots have already been decided based on the returning members from last year. I was a freshman and was trying to get one of the last two spots. There were eleven people who could potentially get the last two spots. So, I would have to beat out at least nine people for a spot. The decision of who to cut was going to be difficult for the coach. Tryouts had already been going out for the past week and decision time had arrived. I had been doing well in tryouts and felt that I had a legitimate chance to make the team. We were standing on one of the courts and listening for names of people on the team. My name had been called and I knew that I had made the team. My hard work and extensive practicing had paid off. Making the cut was a huge achievement for me. I was only person on the current team that had made it in their freshman year. I was going to be able to play for the varsity high school tennis team.
On June 22nd Jack Johnson rocked the stage in Somerset Wisconsin along with two of his fellow friends, Money Mark and Mason Jennings, who are also under the same record deal, Brushfire Records which Jack Johnson himself helped produce. This was one of the many stops for Jack Johnson on his tour which focus was becoming more eco friendly. At the concert shirts were sold made from organic cotton, CD packages were made from recycled paper and Jack Johnson encouraged ways to be friendly on the earth by simple tasks like recycling and carpooling. Within every fifteen feet on the concert ground there were recycling bin in hopes that the fans would take action in being eco friendly. Recycling was not the only thing occurring at the concert the fans sure did a good job of causing commotion, before the show even started a fan was escorted first by his friends out of the crowd as he threw up on people waiting for the concert to start. He had consumed alcohol and clearly under age because he had no indication of a red wrist band which was given to those who were over the age of 21 as a sign for them to drink if they wished. About ten minutes later the same boy stumbled his way back into the crowd where another friend led him out, only this time a security guard quickly ushered him out of the concert grounds. Fortunately this was not the end for the boy because once again he had wondered his way back into the crowd but this time he passed out until the show started. Money Mark was the opening act for the show he provided a more techno, electronic feel while Mason Jennings, a Minnesotan, had a folk vibe but that was all forgotten once Jack Johnson stole the show. The crowded cheered for an encore which didn’t seem as it would happen but about three minutes later jack Johnson come strolling back on stage and sang both with money mark and mason Jennings. This concert was full of excitement and definitely did not leave the fans disappointed.
This morning was an early one for me. My alarm clock was buzzing at 4:30 AM once again. The look outside was as dark as when I went to bed. The air was freezing and my muscles were stiff. The last day of tryouts for me was this morning with a start time at 5:15 AM. As I hit my alarm clock repeatedly I knew it would be time soon to crawl out of bed. I threw in my contacts and grabbed the first pair of pants and shirt I looked at. Almost sleep walking I went downstairs and grabbed my gear and was out the door. I turned on my car and the heat, and pulled out the driveway and raced to Eagan ice arena. As I sat frozen in the locker room I knew it would soon be time to get ready. My hands were in great pain as I tied my skates. Before I knew it I was all suited up and ready to go, I jumped onto the ice as I still felt half asleep. We split up into two teams and warmed up the goalies. After that we put a time on the clock and began our tryout scrimmage. It was hard to move any part of my body being so early in the morning. After the hour came to a close I felt like it was six at night, but in reality it was six in the morning. It was hard to believe I had done so much before school has even started. I raced to get undress as fast as possible so I could get a few more minutes in my bed before I had to shower for school. I arrived at my friend’s house and had no extra time for sleep. I flew into the shower and was out and dressed in time for first hour. When I got to school I was wide awake but after a couple of hours I hit a wall and was dead tired. Today had to be one of the longest days of my life.
I live in Eagan Minnesota. My name is Edgar and I was faced with a problem. My problem was that had to switch schools. I was in 6th grade. My school was in district 191 it went from kindergarten to 6th grade. It was a five star school. It was my last year there. I managed to stay there until the year ended. Then I was faced with another dilemma. The next school where all my friends were going to go to was Metcalf Junior high. I wanted to go there so bad. I begged and begged but my parents did not want me to go there because it was not a good school. I was still not convinced and feared moving. A lot of the summer I was nervous. I did not want to switch schools. Then I was convinced and knew that I had to. So I did and I started going to black hawk. The first day I was really nervous, knowing that all of them already knew each other. To make things worse their school started at 6th grade and went to 8th grade. This I was not used to. They already all knew each other and had established most of their friends. The first three days. Were ok I started meeting new people. Then I loved that school as much as I liked my other school. It is amazing how you don’t want to do something. Then when you are forced to do it you end up likeing it. I currently go to Eastview and I still talk to a lot of people that go to Burnsville. Also the people that I met when I did not want to switch school most I still hang out with. Some are even my best friends. I did not like change. I still don’t like to change things. I think that this experience helped me deal with change. I also had to switch baseball and basketball teams that was also hard and playing against my old team was fun except we most of the time beat them. I don’t think people should get attached to things. Because people that do suffer the most. You should just go with what has to happen. Deal with what you have and make the best of it.
Christa Simonson- 11/21/08 Have you ever practiced for something so much and have it turn out so well? I have. It was back in 7thgrade at Falcon Ridge. We were going to perform a play in February for Communications class by Shakespeare Called “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. For a month, we practiced every day for the whole hour to get ready. I played Puck, one of the main characters. He was a fairy, also, he was an assistant to the queen (his mistress). He was to report everything that he found out to her. She would then present it to her subjects. That is how they got their news. They didn’t have newspapers televisions, or radios. That’s what it was like in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. It was so cool. At the beginning, we chose our groups, and my teacher assigned our parts according to how much we would interact with each other in the play. Since I played Puck, who was one of the main characters and an assistant; I constantly interacted with the king and queen, and got to practice with them every day! We all worked well together from the start, so when it came time for our performance, it went very well. It was exiting to see the people I had been practicing with every day, and myself, up there on stage, saying our lines from memory with ease, and in costumes! It had become second nature for us, and a part of us. We had become so engrossed in it that it was almost as if we were living in that world. We didn’t want to leave. It was so much fun!
Ben Parranto Struggle to Survive At the age of 9 weeks the youngest bone marrow donor in the history of Minnesota was able to save his big sisters life as she struggled to survive her fight with leukemia. Meghan was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 2 years old and had been help up in a hospital since the day she heard the terrible news. Her parents were devastated, along with her two older sisters Bonnie and Heidi. Meghan was not given much hope to live as her leukemia kept getting worse and worse. The doctors and her parents searched and searched for a bone marrow donor who matched her blood type, and as time went on this seemed like an impossible task to conquer. As time went by and the possible seemed to be turning into the impossible Meghan’s new born baby brother shed some light on her chance of survival. Ben was born shortly after her leukemia had turned to its worst, but the parents knew there was a slight chance he could be the match that the family had been looking for. Ben’s blood was tested shortly after his birth and sure enough he was a match. Only 9 weeks after Ben had been born bone marrow was drawn from the back of his shoulder and transported into his sister’s body. Meghan still needed more time in the hospital, but she did make a full recovery from the transplant, and to this day she is thankful for her brother’s bone marrow that kept her life going. Meghan, now at the age of 20, and attending the University of Wisconsin Madison still thanks her brother on a daily basis for the tremendous favor he had done for her so many years before. Today the two have the strongest relationship a brother and sister could have, and undoubtedly because of the struggles they went to together as children. To this day Ben is still the youngest bone marrow donor in the history of Minnesota, and most likely will be for quite some time. It’s not too common that a baby can donate bone marrow just 9 weeks into his life. But today, the brother and sister, and along with their parents thank god for the miracle that was blessed on them. What were the chances that his blood would be a positive match to hers? I guess we’ll never know, but we’ll all be thankful it did. Ben Parranto
Babysitter Locks Children in Bedrooms There was snow on the ground as I looked out the window. My mother was in the bathroom touching up her make-up and smoothing out the wrinkles in her shirt. My sister was six months old bouncing in her bouncy and I was a month away from my fourth birthday. The door bell rang and a thirteen year old girl named Cassie was standing in the door way. She was our neighbor and had babysat us a few times before, but that didn’t make me feel any more secure about my mom leaving. Cassie was very polite in front of my mom. My mom told her she would be back in a few hours kissed my head and walked out the door. I stayed by my sister because I felt like I needed to take care of her if my mother was gone. The pressures of being so young and having so much responsibility really scared me. The night started out fine playing with my oversized legos, than Cassie called a friend over. Within twenty minutes one friend turned to ten or fifteen. I put my legos away and sat on the floor next to my baby sister, I was feeling very nervous. Cassie then told me to follow her so I did, she led me to my room and told me to watch a movie and that she would be back to check on me soon. Then she put my little sister in the room right next to mine which was my mothers. I was really uncomfortable having my sister so far away with strangers here. I wanted my sister to be in my room with me so I went to open the door to ask Cassie to bring her bouncer in my room, but the door wouldn’t budge. I could hear my sister crying in the next room over. I started yelling Cassie’s name, no reply. The crying continued so I knew that my sister was in my mom’s room alone too and that no one was tending to her. I started banging on the door and pulling as hard as I could it would open a little but slam back shut. Someone or something was holding the door shut. My sister kept crying so I kept trying to open the door. This went on for a while until she stopped crying. I couldn’t stop worrying about if she was okay, but I was locked in the bed room. The night seemed to take forever than finally I could hear the people clearing out. It was way past my bedtime but I couldn’t sleep. She finally came into my room and told me that she would steal my piggy bank if I told my mom what she did. My piggy bank was one dollar shy of my goal of one hundred dollars from the two dollar allowance I got every week. So I kept my word until we moved at I got a new baby sitter. By: Sam Sokoll
Ross Os borne Early in the day I woke up in a recovery room after coming out of surgery because of breaking my pinkie finger a week before I came in for my surgery. The way I broke my finger was playing football in gym class. Then most people around me knew that it was pretty bad as well as I did my finger started to turn blue and black, purple. Later that day as a 11th grader on the second day of school, I went to the doctor to get it x- rayed to see if it was broken at all and it was pretty bad. Then they told us that he would need to have surgery with 2 screws placed in this pinkie finger either for his whole life or 6 months and the doctor also said that it will be swollen for his whole life. It happened at school during 6th hour before having my surgery I had to wear 2 – 4 different splints before having my surgery. When I was awake from surgery at first I did not know where I was and then I looked around and saw my mom sitting next to me. I got to miss the whole day of school during the middle of the week then when I came back to school the next day I was wearing a blue hard water proof cast it covered my hole hand and half way up my for arm or less than that and I had to wear the cast for about 6 plus weeks and whenever I took a shower my cast would get all soft for a little bit.
Today at Buck Hill, a high school athlete sustained major injuries after attempting to ski a course set up for another team. The skier now identified as Tyler Roberts, is a member of the Kennedy Alpine Ski Team. While Kennedy was tearing down their course due to ruts, Tyler attempted to ski the course set by the Eagan/Eastview Alpine Ski Team. Their course was set along the left side of the fence on Olympic Dreams and was meant to help their skiers focus on quickly jumping from edge to edge. Tyler, who is a very out of control skier, was looking fine until he neared the bottom. About 6 gates up from the bottom, Tyler lost control and flew into the fence. He hit the fence at a high rate of speed with his right leg. He broke through the snow netting where he spun around and came to rest on the other side. A member of the Eagan/Eastview team, Holly Koski said “It all happened so fast, he was skiing fine until he just flew into the fence. It looked really bad.” People rushed to his side to find him in a great deal of pain. The Ski Patrol were quickly alerted and made it to the scene in less than 30 seconds. It was clear that Tyler was going to need to be put on a stretcher and skied to the Ski Patrol headquarters. When they got him there, they needed to cut off his boot due to his injuries. After a few x-rays, it became clear that Tyler fractured his foot in multiple places as well as fracturing his leg in three places. An ambulance was called and he was brought to the Hospital. After re-aligning everything and putting his entire leg in a cast the, the doctors concluded that Tyler was done skiing for the season. These are tough words to hear for a high school senior who was at the top of his game. He is now at home recuperating with his family, and still hopes to make it out to the races to cheer on his teammates.
Brianna Pieschel: On February 21 2008, two teenage girls were driving home from volleyball practice like every other night. It had snowed earlier that day and roads were covered in snow. The drivers name was Brianna Pieschel. She is a responsible 16 year old girl who was a victim to slippery roads and bad breaks. That February night Brianna was driving fellow teammate Leah home like she did every other night. Brianna was chatting with Leah when all of a sudden the car in front of her slammed on their breaks. Brianna acted as fast as she could and pushed on her breaks. The roads were slippery that night and her breaks did not react in time. She turned her steering wheel and found her and her teammate up on the side of the road. The two cars in front of them pulled over to see if there was damage, no damage was found, but these two young ladies were stuck in the snow. The two cars who were in front of them when the accident happened pulled over to help. In the first car there was a senior boy from Burnsville high school, and in the other was a middle age man. These two men along with the two volleyball players tried for at least fifteen minutes to get young Brianna’s car out of the snow. But it was stuck in there good!! Soon after a police man came to make sure everything was fine and no one was hurt. The nice policeman called for a tow and left the girls to call their parents. The cost of a tow like this cost them 75 dollars. Brianna, the driver of the vehicle called her mom as soon as the police left. We asked Brianna what was the worst part of this experience for her. She simply said, “I just don’t want to tell my daddy”. Accidents happen every day. Luckily this story had a happy ending. As winter comes closer and closer every day, be careful and drive safe.
27 comments:
Maria Dillon
Last Friday November 14th 2008 in downtown Minneapolis the witches of oz took flight in the hit musical Wicked. The theater opened at about 6:00 for the 8 pm showing of the musical. People waited to possibly snag extra tickets however the hit show was sold out for months before they even came into town. The touring cast had visited many cities in the last couple of months hitting many in around the US and abroad. The theater began to pack soon before the starting time of 8 o’clock. Many exited children and adults anxiously waited to see the musical. The chatter filled the theater downtown while the actors waited behind the scenes to share the music and story of Galinda and Elphaba the two witches of the Wizard of Oz. At 8:03 the lights flicker warning those in the halls of the oncoming curtain. The crowd quickly takes their seats and awaits the show. The lights finally shut off and the curtain opens to reveal the chorus beginning the story with passion. The Show Wicked is about the two witches of Oz. Revealing the story of friendship and Loyalty before the Wizard of Oz began. They had met at school and hated each other but soon to realize that they were meant to be friends. Fiyero, Galinda’s love interest begins to fall for elphaba which leads to later conflicts in the play. Their friendship grows and spreads until later conflicts with the Wizard of Oz separates them forever. As the show goes on the faces of those seeing the musical for the first time glow with excitement while the story takes it’s exiting toll on the people viewing it. The first act ends with the song “Defying Gravity” which is the height of the conflict of the musical. The lights turn on and the crowd floods to concessions and to the crowded bathrooms. Others may just sit in their seats and read the program and biographies of the amazingly talented cast. After about 10 minutes the lights flicker once again to warn of the approaching second act. The people begin to file in and take their seats to await the start. After the second act the shows end at about 11:15pm although it is late many people are not focusing on how tired and hungry they are but how much they want to see it again. As we left the crowded parking lot which took about an hour to get out of we got home and went right online to look up the amazing cast and then exhausted everyone went right to bed.
Luke Stennes
When I woke up this morning, I knew it would be a far different day than usual. The soothing sounds of my alarm buzzer woke me up, and I heard the water running from my sister using the shower upstairs. I didn’t want my water to be cold so I went back to sleep. This was a bad choice on my part. When I awoke I was in a rush to get dressed and eat my Apple Jacks so I could get out of the house. My morning routine was completely messed up all because my sister took a shower before I did. When I got to school, I had to start the day with math while my brain was still waking up. My morning will now effect my whole day, and since it affects my day it affects the whole world’s day. This has been Luke Stennes, reporting on the happenings of my mrniong.
As I opened my eyes in the early hours of the day, I knew I was in for a different experience than normal. The alarm clock sounded its loud wake up call, and I heard the trickling of the water coming down the pipes from my sister taking her morning shower. I was deeply saddened because I knew that if I were to take my shower as I usually would, the water would be cold. I could not have any of that, so I went back to sleep for what I thought would be a few minutes. The minutes flew by and before I knew it, I was late. I had to rush to get all my clothes on, and eat my eggs and cereal, and shower and get out the door, it was too much of a hassle for my tired body to handle in the morning. Just because of my sister taking a shower five minutes before she was supposed to, my day was ruined. I was straight off to math class 1st period and my brain cannot handle that when my routine is thrown off. The morning that I have is significant to the world as a whole, because I am a significant world figure.
These two writing styles are different in that broadcasting is less detailed and typically shorter in stories than literature. Literature is often more educated sounding and a better vocabulary is used.
Samantha Stevenson
Samantha was awakened at 4:10am this morning by her cell phone alarm clock. She was needed at a local hockey arena to manage a hockey tryout process for the Eastview Boys Hockey team. It was going to be a long day for her. By 4:45am she was at the Eagan ice arena for an hour and a half returning home at 6:45am to quickly get ready for school. Samantha, a senior at Eastview high school, arrived at school by 7:24 just in time for her first hour physics test that she had that day. Also scheduled that day was a guest speaker in the Developmental Psychology class, a one page news story due at the end of the hour in Intro to Broad Cast Journalism and a test in math. After a long day of trying to stay focused in school, Samantha arrived back at the hockey arena at 2:35pm for another set of tryouts. A lot happened during the tryouts that afternoon. Boys were throwing up left and right after over exerting themselves, Travis Schewiger’s stitches fell out of his wisdom teeth and his mouth was bleeding uncontrollably, and Michael Burger fell and chipped his tooth and bit through his bottom lip, which involved Samantha having to care for all of the players. At 4:20pm Samantha had to rush to dance practice where she became extremely ill. Samantha was told to leave dance and get some rest. When Samantha got home she had a two page paper to write for advanced composition and had to work on her paper for Intro to Broadcast Journalism. Samantha was in bed by 8:00pm catching up on all of the sleep that she didn’t get that week.
Elise Allen
Last summer, the day after I got out of school I left for a trip to St. John in the United States Virgin Islands. The trip was for a fun vacation and to relax on the beach however I discovered much more. My whole family went along and we brought some of our friends. We left for the airport at four in the morning and took the whole day to travel on two planes rides, a wild taxi ride, a ferry ride, and a final car ride to get to the island and house we were staying in. The place we stayed at was very large with a pool, balcony, and view over the whole island and bay. Over the week I noticed many differences between our daily life in Minnesota and island life in St. John. First there were gorgeous beaches all around with amazing views of the ocean and neighboring islands. The temperature often reached up to above 90 degrees and had an average of 80 percent humidity. We cooled off by jumping in the clear ocean water. At the beaches we also snorkeled and found many fish and sea turtles to observe. There were many exotic animals on the island including iguanas, skinks, goats, and chickens which were often just walking around in the street unnoticed by many people. The island was very diverse and had street shops which included items that represented many different cultures. The streets in St. John were also very steep and curvy due to the size and landscape of the island. The grade of some of the hills would not even be allowed for driving conditions in the United States because of their danger. This made driving very difficult especially since there were no street lights. Throughout the week we all adapted to the differences in the culture and lifestyle quickly. After the week was over we were all disappointed to leave the island and culture that we now loved. We all have very fond memories of the events on the island and everything we learned about the society and norms.
Joey Desrocher
My alarm rang at 6:35 this morning. I rolled over and slammed the snooze button twice. As I laid in bed I thought about what I needed to get done today. My physics test and that I need to get a protractor for the test to get a good grade. My room was chilly so I wrapped my blanket tighter. I looked at my phone and saw Bob Marley’s face looking back at me. Then I grabbed the remote for my iPod speaker and pressed play. As Jack Johnson played lightly in my room I fell into a nice light sleep. All of a sudden I hear my mom’s voice saying “Joey it’s time for school, and she asks if I’m awake”. I growl, “Yeah” and she leaves. Then I get out of bed and turn up the music so I can hear it all the way in the shower. Then I walk to my shower and turn it on so it will be hot when I get in. My shower was a little long so I had to rush to get upstairs. I brushed my teeth, got dressed, and grabbed my wallet and chapstick. I went upstairs and found a protein shake, a banana, and a bagel on the counter. I downed the protein and also had my vitamins. I put on my jacket and grabbed my lunch and placed everything in my gold mazda 626. I started the car and drove to school. Listening to sublime I sped to school to make it on time. My first hour class was economics and I did a chapter assignment for maybe a half hour and killed time for the rest of the hour. I looked at my notes for my physics test for five minutes maybe. After class I walked to Intro to broadcast. Then Mr. Krebs told us to go to B123 and after I walked downstairs I sat down at a computer and began to type this news story.
Luke Mehring thought it was a normal day at Eastview High School. First hour went off without a hitch. Little did he know that 2nd hour was going to be so exciting. He knew something was off when he walked into the room and Mr. Krebs told them they were going to a computer lab all week long. Luke had a feeling that an assignment was coming that would last all week long. Once they got to the computer lab the first day Mr. Krebs told them that they had to write a news article that is a page long. Luke asked “Can I just make it up?” Mr. Krebs said sternly that he couldn’t in a mean cold voice. Riley Sinn started to argue with the teacher about what is news. Riley believed that news is full of lies and rumors. Mr. Krebs thinks that if it’s a lie or a rumor that, by definition, it’s not news. Therefore Riley had no chance to win the argument. Near the end of the hour Mr. Krebs started writing down different topics on the board that students could use. Since Luke was almost done with his article he decided not to use any of the suggested topics on the board. When the girl came in late to class Luke decided that he had enough on his article. He wanted to post it now so he could have a free day for part of the day tomorrow.
6:30. I hear the slightly catchy sound of the Office theme song. I still think I’m sleeping but then I realize that that’s my alarm clock. I roll over slowly and stop the already annoying alarm sound. Then I think to myself, “Do I have any more time to sleep?” But I have to get up and get ready for school. I slowly get out of bed, making my way to the bathroom and still only half awake. I turn on the shower and wait for the water to warm up. As I’m waiting, I put my contacts in. Then I get into the slightly too warm shower. As the water hits my skin, it quickly wakes me up more. But right as I get out of the shower, I feel the tiredness I had before hit me like a punch. I walk over to the sink and brush my teath. After that I go into my room and try to figure out what I’m going to wear today. As I congergate between a blue sweatshirt and a white one. My light baggy jeans, or dark tighter jeans. I finally just choose one and figure that I’d wear the other one tomorrow. I realize that if I don’t do something about my tiredness, I’m going to fall asleep in first hour. I go down stairs and insteed of having milk and cereal, I drink some coffe with my cereal. That day I was as awake as ever and you never would have guessed it if you would have seen me that morning.
AJ Lentz
Waking Up
11/18/08
In 5th grade, one of my best friends and I got into a vicious biking accident. We were trying to ride next to each other and not being so good on bikes, we collided. I unintentionally hit Kelsey’s back tire of her bike causing her to swerve. This started a chain reaction. I flew off my bike landing on the sidewalk scraping my knees. Kelsey ran over my hair, three inches away from my head, almost crushing my skull. Kelsey’s shoulder and ankle got messed up from plummeting off her bike. Our other friend Sam was with us and she ran to go get help. This may sound wimpy but with gravel and dirt settling into our cuts, that was the most pain I had been in my life at that point in time. I couldn’t sleep that night. The pain was over the top. Sheets rubbing against open wounds… OUCH! We both had to stand in the back of the class for the next 2 weeks. It was impossible to sit down with the amount of pain that we were in. Both Kelsey and I have scars all over to this day! Now a memory we can all laugh about.
The day I took my drivers test I was so scared I could hardly force myself to eat breakfast. Just about everyone I knew had been failing, so I had it set in my head that I would fail. As we drove to the dmv I was practically hyperventilating. Finally I was about to take my test, my instructor was in my car, and I was about to start. The minute I start moving the car I begin to talk 100mph. I think in my head I thought if I kept engaging my instructor with conversation she would be to distracted to notice my flaws in my driving. So I basically told her my life story from how I love to golf and play hockey to my family and my favorite foods. I remember during my parallel park I started singing some Hannah Montana song because it was stuck in my head, I didn’t even notice I was even singing till the instructor told me how her daughter likes that song, I was pretty embarrassed. I guess that just shows how I do under pressure! I ended up passing the test and she said I was the most entertaining driver she’s had in a long time, I still don’t know if that’s good or bad but bottom line, I passed. I was so overjoyed I passed I tripped when I was running to go inform my mom. Now all I need to do is get a car and some how manage a job into my busy schedule to pay for the gas for my car that I will get hopefully soon. Overall it was a good and stressful experience.
Ty Groskreutz
Wrestling Incident
This morning at the Armstrong team tournament invitational there was a tragic accident. Ty Groskreutz a junior at Eastview High School seriously injured his knee. During his first match of the day versus Woodbury his knee locked up on him. It was the middle of the second period and Ty and his opponent fell out of bounds. Then as Ty explains, “I just got up from a squatting position and when I took my first step my knee buckled on me and I collapsed on the mat.” After this happened his coaches rushed over to find out was wrong. After a while Ty stood up and tried to walk on his knee, but could not support his weight. But after some more time Ty decided that he would try and finish the match. He was ahead at the time and would start on top. He ended up riding the guy out for the rest of the second period and all of the third period after he chose to start on top.
But this was only the first match of the day. After the first meet was over he went over to his dad, who is a physical therapist, to work on it. During this time his knee locked up on him for the second time. Ty’s dad recalls this moment, “Ty was trying to see if he could bend his knee, but when he bent it too far, it locked up again.”
During the second meet Ty got a break because the other team didn’t have wrestler at his weight class. His team ended up losing that dual so they would be fighting for third place in the tournament. The next team had a wrestler at his weight class so Ty got ready to wrestle not knowing what to expect. The whistle blew for the start of the match and Ty started the attack. He ended up technical falling the opponent, which is being ahead by fifteen points or more, so he got to end the match early and save his knee from further injury.
It looks like Ty’s season has come to an abrupt end at this Armstrong team tournament which is right before the section tournament. He will be heading to the doctor to see what to do from here. We will keep you guys updated on how this whole incident will turn out in the end.
Ashley Simonson
Last Friday, November 14th, 2008 I had my first encounter with someone famous. Weeks previous I was told by a friend about an event that was taking place in the Minnesota area. Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob Black, the main character’s best friend who happens to be a werewolf, along with Rachelle Lefevre and Edie Gathegi who play two of the bad vampires from the new movie, Twilight, based on the book by Stephenie Meyer were at the Mall of America in Bloomington. They were promoting their new soon to be popular movie. I jumped at the opportunity to meet this famous trio, and I found myself waiting in line for hours just to meet them. The lines were huge, everyone wanting to be one of the lucky 750 people who were able to get a $30 T-shirt along with a number card and wrist band that were their ticket to meeting these famous actors. Along with meeting the trio, you were also able to be present to watch a question and answer session put on by Minnesota’s own radio host, Dave Ryan from 101.3 KDWB. They answered questions like “How was the weather filming?” and “What is on your playlist?” Taylor, 16, who seemed in shock over the show of up a hundreds of fans that showed up, was the subject of most of the fans excitement. Throughout the entire morning there had been a fear in my head that we would not be one of those extremely lucky fans that got to meet someone I would give anything to meet. I had been a huge fan of the books in the series of Twilight, and loved Taylor Lautner is a few of his other movies, such as Shark Boy and Lava Girl as well as Cheaper by the Dozen 2. When I had gotten my wristband and golden ticket in a shade of blue, I felt my excitement well up in me, I didn’t know what to do except scream in excitement. I passed the excruciating time at a good friend’s house with a bunch of friends, waiting impatiently for when I would finally get to see someone who I had wanted to meet for as long as I could remember. We waited at the Mall of America for awhile, and then we decided that we would go to the question and answer session that I spoke previously about. Then after those long minutes waiting for them, they finally showed their almost angelic faces to me. I saw them walk onto the stage, and I watched them, happy, knowing that in about an hour I would be meeting them face to face like I hoped I would. Finally, after the question and answer session, I made my way to the meet and greet area and I stood in the line of people who mirrored my excitement. When I walked into Hot Topic, where they had been signing posters that were provided right when you walked in the door, I caught sight of them. I couldn’t contain my excitement, and I walked up to each of them. Edie looked at me and then signed his name. I held my hand out to him, and waited for him to shake it. He looked up at me with the biggest smile on his face, and he shook my hand. After Edie, I made my way to the person that I had been waiting to meet; I almost fainted at the sight of him. He smiled his all too familiar smile that I had seen many times in pictures, not like this, not in person. He signed my poster quickly, and took my hand to shake it. I smiled, probably looking like an idiot in the process and in my mind made a mental note of this moment. I finally met Rachelle, who thanked me over and over again. Then I left, feeling completely happy and overexcited. It was a more than great experience. So for you who are looking forward to meeting someone famous one day, do it. You won’t regret it.
News Story
My friends and I played football in my friends’ back yard. It was a Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago and we had just finished up watching the Vikings choke away another game. It was my neighbors Trevor, Matt, and Eric who were playing with me. We all wanted to play pretty bad from just watching the game. We just played regular touch football because my neighbor Matt is a senior and way bigger than us. At the start they were killing Trevor and I, just throwing it up to Matt. Then we put Trevor on Matt and he could defend him with ease because of the height. Matt was getting frustrated because we came back and tied it up with only one quarter of play left. They weren’t doing too good and it was because they weren’t communicating and working as a team. To get better we practice almost every day after school. Playing football with my friends has strengthened my relationship with them. I don’t like to play when it is cold out because then my hands get really cold and numb because it stings your hands really bad. I find myself playing better when it is warmer out then cold. It cannot be too hot though or else you sweat really bad. The perfect temperature is like 70 degrees and a little windy. My friends backyard is good because it is open and has nice. it is also great because he does not have a dog therefore has a clean yard. The only bad part is that his little brother wants to play us. He is really annoying and persistent and does not stop talking. A nice after game snack is some Dairy Queen because it cools you off and tastes great. Backyard Football has really made some of my relationships closer and stronger.
Nick Dolsky
I went downstairs, half asleep and had 2 pieces of banana bread and a glass of milk.
After I finished my breakfast I slowly walked upstairs to take a shower. Before I got into the
shower I put my hand in the water to make sure it was the right temperature. When I got into
the shower I just stood there and let the warm water hit my back. When I was done I got
dressed. I put on a pair of jeans and a black Fox brand shirt. Then I went back into the bathroom
to brush my teeth and comb my hair. I was running a little late so I had to rush to my car so I
wouldn’t be late to school. The school parking lot was packed full but I managed to find a spot I
the very last row. I was really worried about being late because I already had two tardies to
first hour and if I were to get another I would receive a detention.
Katie Baldwin
As winter is starts to begin, many Minnesota teens are looking forward to the start of the ski/snowboard season, and the opening of their favorite ski hill. Last winter, one teenager got more than she bargained for when she went skiing at the local ski spot, Buck Hill. Katie Baldwin was waiting in line to get on the ski lift, when she saw something unexpected in the snow. She actually found a twenty dollar bill! She and her friend, Abby, were surprised, but delighted with their find, and they quickly pocketed the money. After they were done skiing, and went back to the lodge for hot chocolate, Katie told her mother, Joni, about the money, and she was just as surprised as they were. She convinced Katie and Abby that the moral solution was to tell the front desk about their discovery, so that if anyone came looking for their lost 20, they would get it returned to them. Katie reluctantly gave the money away, and it was sealed in a white envelope with “Katie Baldwin” and her phone number on it. Two weeks later, Katie had almost forgotten about the money when she got a call. The money hadn’t been claimed, and it was hers! Katie decided to share the money with her friend, Abby, because they were both on the hill that day when they found the money. Katie decided to spend the money on an iTunes gift card so that she could buy some of her favorite music. “Who knew that a skiing with my friend would give me more than just a fun day, but some music that I can listen to for a long time?! Every time I listen to those songs, I think of that day, and I want to go back to Buck Hill”. Abby was happy too, “When I saw the money, I thought it might be a one, or even five-dollar bill, but it’s really exciting when you find twenty dollars! I didn’t really want to turn it in, because I was afraid someone might claim it, but it all turned out great in the end!” Katie added, “I suppose that life is full of little surprises like this, you don’t necessarily need to look for them, they find you when you least expect it”. !” So this winter, when you’re pulling on your boots and skis, remember that you may end up with more than you bargained for.
In the summer of 2008, I went on the greatest vacation that I have ever been on. The boundary water was probably one of the most active vacations that I have ever been on. I have never gone camping in my life. So it was a huge thrill for me. The people that I went with were Tony, Kyle, David, My brother, and my friend’s dad. We were there for only six days.
The boundary water is a great place to visit. It’s was of the most beautiful place that I have ever been to. The scenery there was amazing. It took us almost a half of a day just to find a place to camp. But we would always pick one of the best spots pick on the map. I wouldn’t say that the boundary water is a real vacation. The reason why is because half the day your canoeing and the other half your relaxing in the wild.
One of the worst parts about the boundary waters was carrying a lot of equipment. The reason is because you have to portage about a mile through land every time. Doing that during the day is very difficult. You have to put all your energy in that one day and carry your bags, and the canoes through the portage. It was a very difficult task but I learned to never give up when I was carrying the Canoe, or the bags through the portage. I believe the boundary waters gave me strength. The group that I went with was a group of 6 and we would switch off on who was going to carry the bags, and who was going to carry the canoes.
The Boundary water was a wilderness to the region of the north of Minnesota, straddling the border of Canada, and the United States. We canoed and portage over 40 miles throughout the boundary waters. It was one of the greatest achievements that’s I had ever accomplished. My first journey through the boundary waters will always be a memorable journey into the wild.
On Monday, November 17th at approximately 3:00 pm I found out I was accepted at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. I applied to the U of M at the beginning of the school year and for the past couple days I had been anticipating the letter’s arrival. Yesterday on my way home from school I picked up the mail just like any other normal day, accept on this particular day I had an especially exciting piece of mail waiting for me. When I saw the letter I was overcome with excitement and anxiety. I have always loved the U and I have always planned on applying there. The University of Minnesota has been a back-up school for a lot of people for a long time. Although in recent years the University has been getting many more applicants and has transformed into a much more competitive school. When I applied I felt fairly confident I would be accepted, but there was always a chance I wouldn’t get in. When I held the letter in my hand doubts suddenly filled my head. I opened the letter and was thrilled and relieved to see “Congratulations and Welcome to the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities Class of 2013.” The sight of these words filled me with relief and happiness, as well as anxiety and excitement. I was officially accepted into college and ready to be enrolled as a college student.
Nishaan Pal
It was the last day of varsity tennis tryouts, and I was one of the candidates that could be chosen. This occurred in the last day of spring break for the 2007-08 school year. There are twelve spots on the varsity tennis team. Ten of the spots have already been decided based on the returning members from last year. I was a freshman and was trying to get one of the last two spots. There were eleven people who could potentially get the last two spots. So, I would have to beat out at least nine people for a spot. The decision of who to cut was going to be difficult for the coach. Tryouts had already been going out for the past week and decision time had arrived. I had been doing well in tryouts and felt that I had a legitimate chance to make the team. We were standing on one of the courts and listening for names of people on the team. My name had been called and I knew that I had made the team. My hard work and extensive practicing had paid off. Making the cut was a huge achievement for me. I was only person on the current team that had made it in their freshman year. I was going to be able to play for the varsity high school tennis team.
On June 22nd Jack Johnson rocked the stage in Somerset Wisconsin along with two of his fellow friends, Money Mark and Mason Jennings, who are also under the same record deal, Brushfire Records which Jack Johnson himself helped produce. This was one of the many stops for Jack Johnson on his tour which focus was becoming more eco friendly. At the concert shirts were sold made from organic cotton, CD packages were made from recycled paper and Jack Johnson encouraged ways to be friendly on the earth by simple tasks like recycling and carpooling. Within every fifteen feet on the concert ground there were recycling bin in hopes that the fans would take action in being eco friendly.
Recycling was not the only thing occurring at the concert the fans sure did a good job of causing commotion, before the show even started a fan was escorted first by his friends out of the crowd as he threw up on people waiting for the concert to start. He had consumed alcohol and clearly under age because he had no indication of a red wrist band which was given to those who were over the age of 21 as a sign for them to drink if they wished. About ten minutes later the same boy stumbled his way back into the crowd where another friend led him out, only this time a security guard quickly ushered him out of the concert grounds. Fortunately this was not the end for the boy because once again he had wondered his way back into the crowd but this time he passed out until the show started.
Money Mark was the opening act for the show he provided a more techno, electronic feel while Mason Jennings, a Minnesotan, had a folk vibe but that was all forgotten once Jack Johnson stole the show. The crowded cheered for an encore which didn’t seem as it would happen but about three minutes later jack Johnson come strolling back on stage and sang both with money mark and mason Jennings. This concert was full of excitement and definitely did not leave the fans disappointed.
This morning was an early one for me. My alarm clock was buzzing at 4:30 AM once again. The look outside was as dark as when I went to bed. The air was freezing and my muscles were stiff. The last day of tryouts for me was this morning with a start time at 5:15 AM. As I hit my alarm clock repeatedly I knew it would be time soon to crawl out of bed. I threw in my contacts and grabbed the first pair of pants and shirt I looked at. Almost sleep walking I went downstairs and grabbed my gear and was out the door. I turned on my car and the heat, and pulled out the driveway and raced to Eagan ice arena. As I sat frozen in the locker room I knew it would soon be time to get ready. My hands were in great pain as I tied my skates. Before I knew it I was all suited up and ready to go, I jumped onto the ice as I still felt half asleep. We split up into two teams and warmed up the goalies. After that we put a time on the clock and began our tryout scrimmage. It was hard to move any part of my body being so early in the morning. After the hour came to a close I felt like it was six at night, but in reality it was six in the morning. It was hard to believe I had done so much before school has even started. I raced to get undress as fast as possible so I could get a few more minutes in my bed before I had to shower for school. I arrived at my friend’s house and had no extra time for sleep. I flew into the shower and was out and dressed in time for first hour. When I got to school I was wide awake but after a couple of hours I hit a wall and was dead tired. Today had to be one of the longest days of my life.
I live in Eagan Minnesota. My name is Edgar and I was faced with a problem. My problem was that had to switch schools. I was in 6th grade. My school was in district 191 it went from kindergarten to 6th grade. It was a five star school. It was my last year there. I managed to stay there until the year ended. Then I was faced with another dilemma. The next school where all my friends were going to go to was Metcalf Junior high. I wanted to go there so bad. I begged and begged but my parents did not want me to go there because it was not a good school. I was still not convinced and feared moving. A lot of the summer I was nervous. I did not want to switch schools.
Then I was convinced and knew that I had to. So I did and I started going to black hawk. The first day I was really nervous, knowing that all of them already knew each other. To make things worse their school started at 6th grade and went to 8th grade. This I was not used to. They already all knew each other and had established most of their friends. The first three days. Were ok I started meeting new people. Then I loved that school as much as I liked my other school. It is amazing how you don’t want to do something. Then when you are forced to do it you end up likeing it.
I currently go to Eastview and I still talk to a lot of people that go to Burnsville. Also the people that I met when I did not want to switch school most I still hang out with. Some are even my best friends. I did not like change. I still don’t like to change things. I think that this experience helped me deal with change. I also had to switch baseball and basketball teams that was also hard and playing against my old team was fun except we most of the time beat them.
I don’t think people should get attached to things. Because people that do suffer the most. You should just go with what has to happen. Deal with what you have and make the best of it.
Christa Simonson- 11/21/08
Have you ever practiced for something so much and have it turn out so well? I have. It was back in 7thgrade at Falcon Ridge. We were going to perform a play in February for Communications class by Shakespeare Called “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. For a month, we practiced every day for the whole hour to get ready. I played Puck, one of the main characters. He was a fairy, also, he was an assistant to the queen (his mistress). He was to report everything that he found out to her. She would then present it to her subjects. That is how they got their news. They didn’t have newspapers televisions, or radios.
That’s what it was like in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. It was so cool. At the beginning, we chose our groups, and my teacher assigned our parts according to how much we would interact with each other in the play. Since I played Puck, who was one of the main characters and an assistant; I constantly interacted with the king and queen, and got to practice with them every day! We all worked well together from the start, so when it came time for our performance, it went very well. It was exiting to see the people I had been practicing with every day, and myself, up there on stage, saying our lines from memory with ease, and in costumes! It had become second nature for us, and a part of us. We had become so engrossed in it that it was almost as if we were living in that world. We didn’t want to leave. It was so much fun!
Ben Parranto
Struggle to Survive
At the age of 9 weeks the youngest bone marrow donor in the history of Minnesota was able to save his big sisters life as she struggled to survive her fight with leukemia. Meghan was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 2 years old and had been help up in a hospital since the day she heard the terrible news. Her parents were devastated, along with her two older sisters Bonnie and Heidi. Meghan was not given much hope to live as her leukemia kept getting worse and worse. The doctors and her parents searched and searched for a bone marrow donor who matched her blood type, and as time went on this seemed like an impossible task to conquer. As time went by and the possible seemed to be turning into the impossible Meghan’s new born baby brother shed some light on her chance of survival. Ben was born shortly after her leukemia had turned to its worst, but the parents knew there was a slight chance he could be the match that the family had been looking for. Ben’s blood was tested shortly after his birth and sure enough he was a match. Only 9 weeks after Ben had been born bone marrow was drawn from the back of his shoulder and transported into his sister’s body. Meghan still needed more time in the hospital, but she did make a full recovery from the transplant, and to this day she is thankful for her brother’s bone marrow that kept her life going. Meghan, now at the age of 20, and attending the University of Wisconsin Madison still thanks her brother on a daily basis for the tremendous favor he had done for her so many years before. Today the two have the strongest relationship a brother and sister could have, and undoubtedly because of the struggles they went to together as children. To this day Ben is still the youngest bone marrow donor in the history of Minnesota, and most likely will be for quite some time. It’s not too common that a baby can donate bone marrow just 9 weeks into his life. But today, the brother and sister, and along with their parents thank god for the miracle that was blessed on them. What were the chances that his blood would be a positive match to hers? I guess we’ll never know, but we’ll all be thankful it did.
Ben Parranto
Babysitter Locks Children in Bedrooms
There was snow on the ground as I looked out the window. My mother was in the bathroom touching up her make-up and smoothing out the wrinkles in her shirt. My sister was six months old bouncing in her bouncy and I was a month away from my fourth birthday. The door bell rang and a thirteen year old girl named Cassie was standing in the door way. She was our neighbor and had babysat us a few times before, but that didn’t make me feel any more secure about my mom leaving. Cassie was very polite in front of my mom. My mom told her she would be back in a few hours kissed my head and walked out the door. I stayed by my sister because I felt like I needed to take care of her if my mother was gone. The pressures of being so young and having so much responsibility really scared me. The night started out fine playing with my oversized legos, than Cassie called a friend over. Within twenty minutes one friend turned to ten or fifteen. I put my legos away and sat on the floor next to my baby sister, I was feeling very nervous. Cassie then told me to follow her so I did, she led me to my room and told me to watch a movie and that she would be back to check on me soon. Then she put my little sister in the room right next to mine which was my mothers. I was really uncomfortable having my sister so far away with strangers here. I wanted my sister to be in my room with me so I went to open the door to ask Cassie to bring her bouncer in my room, but the door wouldn’t budge. I could hear my sister crying in the next room over. I started yelling Cassie’s name, no reply. The crying continued so I knew that my sister was in my mom’s room alone too and that no one was tending to her. I started banging on the door and pulling as hard as I could it would open a little but slam back shut. Someone or something was holding the door shut. My sister kept crying so I kept trying to open the door. This went on for a while until she stopped crying. I couldn’t stop worrying about if she was okay, but I was locked in the bed room. The night seemed to take forever than finally I could hear the people clearing out. It was way past my bedtime but I couldn’t sleep. She finally came into my room and told me that she would steal my piggy bank if I told my mom what she did. My piggy bank was one dollar shy of my goal of one hundred dollars from the two dollar allowance I got every week. So I kept my word until we moved at I got a new baby sitter.
By: Sam Sokoll
Ross Os borne
Early in the day I woke up in a recovery room after coming out of surgery because of breaking my pinkie finger a week before I came in for my surgery. The way I broke my finger was playing football in gym class. Then most people around me knew that it was pretty bad as well as I did my finger started to turn blue and black, purple. Later that day as a 11th grader on the second day of school, I went to the doctor to get it x- rayed to see if it was broken at all and it was pretty bad. Then they told us that he would need to have surgery with 2 screws placed in this pinkie finger either for his whole life or 6 months and the doctor also said that it will be swollen for his whole life. It happened at school during 6th hour before having my surgery I had to wear 2 – 4 different splints before having my surgery. When I was awake from surgery at first I did not know where I was and then I looked around and saw my mom sitting next to me. I got to miss the whole day of school during the middle of the week then when I came back to school the next day I was wearing a blue hard water proof cast it covered my hole hand and half way up my for arm or less than that and I had to wear the cast for about 6 plus weeks and whenever I took a shower my cast would get all soft for a little bit.
Stuart Zeilon
Today at Buck Hill, a high school athlete sustained major injuries after attempting to ski a course set up for another team. The skier now identified as Tyler Roberts, is a member of the Kennedy Alpine Ski Team. While Kennedy was tearing down their course due to ruts, Tyler attempted to ski the course set by the Eagan/Eastview Alpine Ski Team. Their course was set along the left side of the fence on Olympic Dreams and was meant to help their skiers focus on quickly jumping from edge to edge. Tyler, who is a very out of control skier, was looking fine until he neared the bottom. About 6 gates up from the bottom, Tyler lost control and flew into the fence. He hit the fence at a high rate of speed with his right leg. He broke through the snow netting where he spun around and came to rest on the other side. A member of the Eagan/Eastview team, Holly Koski said “It all happened so fast, he was skiing fine until he just flew into the fence. It looked really bad.” People rushed to his side to find him in a great deal of pain. The Ski Patrol were quickly alerted and made it to the scene in less than 30 seconds. It was clear that Tyler was going to need to be put on a stretcher and skied to the Ski Patrol headquarters. When they got him there, they needed to cut off his boot due to his injuries. After a few x-rays, it became clear that Tyler fractured his foot in multiple places as well as fracturing his leg in three places. An ambulance was called and he was brought to the Hospital. After re-aligning everything and putting his entire leg in a cast the, the doctors concluded that Tyler was done skiing for the season. These are tough words to hear for a high school senior who was at the top of his game. He is now at home recuperating with his family, and still hopes to make it out to the races to cheer on his teammates.
Brianna Pieschel:
On February 21 2008, two teenage girls were driving home from volleyball practice like every other night. It had snowed earlier that day and roads were covered in snow. The drivers name was Brianna Pieschel. She is a responsible 16 year old girl who was a victim to slippery roads and bad breaks.
That February night Brianna was driving fellow teammate Leah home like she did every other night. Brianna was chatting with Leah when all of a sudden the car in front of her slammed on their breaks. Brianna acted as fast as she could and pushed on her breaks. The roads were slippery that night and her breaks did not react in time. She turned her steering wheel and found her and her teammate up on the side of the road. The two cars in front of them pulled over to see if there was damage, no damage was found, but these two young ladies were stuck in the snow. The two cars who were in front of them when the accident happened pulled over to help. In the first car there was a senior boy from Burnsville high school, and in the other was a middle age man. These two men along with the two volleyball players tried for at least fifteen minutes to get young Brianna’s car out of the snow. But it was stuck in there good!! Soon after a police man came to make sure everything was fine and no one was hurt. The nice policeman called for a tow and left the girls to call their parents. The cost of a tow like this cost them 75 dollars. Brianna, the driver of the vehicle called her mom as soon as the police left. We asked Brianna what was the worst part of this experience for her. She simply said, “I just don’t want to tell my daddy”.
Accidents happen every day. Luckily this story had a happy ending. As winter comes closer and closer every day, be careful and drive safe.
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