Students perform and present for Academic Fair

Natalie Wheeler performs a musical piece as part the Academic Fair, which took place on Tuesday, March 20.

by Natalie Kirton and Bridgette Moore

On Tuesday, March 20, Montezuma junior high and high school students gathered in the high school gym, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., showing the public the projects that they have been working on for the past month.

Students researched topics dealing with two different academic subjects that they were interested in and brought them together to create a presentation. A few of the projects that students researched included physics of bridges, Kony 2012, how to sell a product, strokes, history of country music, history of children’s illustration, benefits of organics, the math behind the “Numbers” (a television show) and history of musical pieces. Some students performed various musical selections in the old study hall room in connection with their projects.

The students received ribbons for their projects based on presentations for judging the week before.  

Community members judged the projects based on a rubric created by the Academic Fair Committee.  Sophomores, juniors, and seniors were judged on Tuesday, March 13.  Seventh, eighth and ninth graders were judged on Wednesday, March 14. 

The ribbons awarded were blue, red or white. The blue ribbon represented a I rating, red was a II rating and white was presented when a student earned a III rating.

The ribbons were given based on a point value; white was given when the students were rated between 10 to 17 points, red was given for 18 to 24 points and blue was 25 to 30 points.

“I think the Academic Fair was exceptional learning experience for the students and fun for the teachers to watch and experience,” said junior high English teacher Roxanne Goudy.

Turn of the Page: 'The Hobbit (There and Back Again)'

by Elizabeth Ostrem and Kayla Werner

A prequel to the famed “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy written by J. R. R. Tolkien, “The Hobbit” tells the story of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit (which are described as “little people, smaller than dwarfs, who love peace and quiet and good tilled earth”) who is well-respected in The Shire for staying out of trouble and keeping well away from any adventures.  However, Bilbo’s plans to remain unremarkable change the day a gang of dwarves and a wizard named Gandalf show up on his doorstep, looking to hire him as a burglar in their company.

The dwarves wish to reclaim their home, Lonely Mountain, and vast wealth from the fearsome dragon Smaug, who captured the mountain. Following Gandalf’s advice, they recruit Bilbo into their service, although they are thoroughly unimpressed with the hobbit at the beginning of their meeting. Gandalf assures them that there’s more to Bilbo than meets the eye.

The group encounters many hardships along their journey, including brushes with goblins, trolls and enormous spiders as they head to overthrow Smaug. Often it’s up to Bilbo to deliver them from trouble, which progressively earns him respect from the entire company.

Tolkien’s novel is being adapted into a two-part movie and will be directed by Peter Jackson, who also directed the successful “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy. The movies will hit theaters Dec.  2012 and Dec. 2013.

Liz:

I really enjoyed “The Hobbit” when I read it for the first time some years ago. I was already familiar with “The Lord of the Rings” from the most recent movies and ready to start on the books, but I thought it would be prudent to start with the precursor.

I’m glad I did for a number of reasons. One reason is “The Hobbit” was originally geared towards children, although there are adults that enjoy the book equally. It’s faster paced than “The Lord of the Rings,” which is better suited for younger readers, and the story has a lighter, more humorous air as opposed to the gloomier mood of “The Lord of the Rings.”

Another reason would be starting in chronological order. While there are some series that are arguably better to be read out of chronological order (e.g. The Chronicles of Narnia), I don’t think this is one of those series. You could save “The Hobbit” for last, but personally I prefer having it as the starting point in Tolkien’s saga.

One of the only things I didn’t particularly care for in the book were the songs. The amount of them in the book seemed just a touch on the excessive side. I found some of them to be clever and amusing to read, however, especially “Fifteen Birds in Five Fir Trees.”

If “The Lord of the Rings” books or movies interest you, I wholly suggest picking this book up. It deserves its place as a fantasy classic for good reason.

Kayla:

It was hard for me to get into this book. Although it was a good read, it was slower paced than I personally would have liked. The feeling of this book is generally happy with some gloomy parts and the author makes jokes at his characters’ expense. I got a laugh or two out of it. 

I do suggest reading this book if you are into  fantasy. It might not jump right into it, but it definitely picks up in the middle.

Kindergarten and preschool registration

by Vincent Bushong

The time has come to register your child for kindergarten or preschool in the upcoming weeks. All registration meetings will be held in the Montezuma elementary library.

The parent’s meeting for the kindergarten roundup will be held on Wednesday, April 11 at 5:30 p.m. 

Parents need to bring their child’s updated immunization records and birth certificate. In order to enroll in kindergarten, students must be five years of age by Sept. 15, 2012. 

Kindergarten roundup itself will be on Monday, April 16, 2012. It will occur during the students’ regular preschool time, with morning preschool students attending the morning session and afternoon students attending the afternoon session. 

Students should first report to the preschool room, and from there they will be sent to the library. Parents of students not enrolled in the Montezuma preschool can contact the elementary office at 623-5129 to set up the student for the roundup. 

The parent’s meeting for preschool registration will be on Wednesday, May 2 at 5:30 p.m.

Items that parents should bring are their child’s birth certificate, social security number and immunization records. Students being enrolled in preschool must be four years of age by Sept. 15, 2012.

Shooting sports team gets fired up for the season

by Elizabeth Ostrem

The shooting sports team has begun practicing for the 2012-13 year. The team started Feb. 28 and 29 with safety and rules meetings, with range practice beginning on March 6 at the Big Springs Shooting Complex.

48 students, in grades 4^th-12^th, are involved in the program this year. 22 are in high school, and the other 26 are in elementary and junior high. The team is up a total of 20 shooters from the previous year.

Coach Tom Sheets is excited about the number of kids out, saying, “We have a very good chance to have Montezuma High School be in the top running for state honors with everyone returning. All our shooters improved last year and have started off ahead of where they left off at the end of last season.”

One of the returning shooters, sophomore Elijah Bryan, said, “My goal for next year is to finish well at the state meet and continue to have fun.”

This will be Bryan’s third year out for shooting sports. His favorite thing about being involved in it is being able to compete and have fun with friends. Although he won’t be at state this year, he hopes to do well at other meets and win one or two.

Norman Martin, a returning junior, says his favorite thing is the comradery of doing the sport with pals. “I always look forward to going out to the range with my friends.”

This will mark Martin’s fourth year out for shooting sports. His goal this season is to shoot a 50 out of 50.

Their first competition will be on March 31 at the AIM Shoot in Big Springs. Official SCTP and high school meets will commence on April 1. The team will be able to compete each Sunday following until the state shoot on June 2 in Cedar Falls.

Coach Sheets said, “Our goal right way is getting the mental game of trap going and getting them into a rhythm. We have some very good shooters that could and will be competing for top honors at state.”

Students compete in Battle of the Books

by Bridgette Moore

On March 20 and 21, 12 Montezuma students traveled to the AEA Conference Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to compete in the Battle of the Books.

In order to compete in the battle, the team works together to read as many books as possible from a pre-selected list of books. Each student could be asked to read five or so books. 

After the program is over, the teams from  different schools gather to “battle” by answering fact-based questions about the books. 

The books included fantasy, realism, mystery, non-fiction, fiction, animal fiction, humor, science fiction and historical fiction. 

A few examples of books Junior High students were required to read are “Witness” by Karen Hesse, “The Truth about Truman School” by Dori Hillestad Butler and “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins. 

The books read by elementary students included “The Sherlock Files: The 100 Year War” by Tracy Barett, “Matilda” by Roald Dahl, “Singing Hands” by Delia Ray and “Turtle In Paradise” by Jennifer L. Holm.

The elementary team consists of six students:   Carissa Vanzee and Medelyn Dejong from fourth grade, Olivia Mortez and Tyler Cuppus from fifth grade and Vance Bushong and Casey Pfiffer from sixth grade. They competed on March 20.

The middle school team consists of six students in seventh grade: Tyler Meyer, Kennedy Phillips, Zach Townsend, Carmen Stover, Grant Johnson and Allison Wheeler. They competed on March 21.

“I am looking forward to the competition and being able to interact with other students with the same interest as me,” said seventh grader Kennedy Phillips.