Kindergarten roundup meetings to be held April 11

by Natalie Kirton

Children  gain the basics of understanding colors, letters and numbers through preschool and kindergarten. The things they learn at this early age become the building blocks of their future education. 

There will be a parents’ meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Wed. April 11 regarding kindergarten roundup held in the elementary library. Parents must bring updated immunization records and birth certificates to the meeting. Also, children must be at least five years old by Sept. 15, 2012 to be enrolled in kindergarten next year.

The actual kindergarten roundup event will be held on Monday, April 16. Current preschool students should report to the preschool room as usual, but afterwards will be sent to the library. There will be two roundup sessions: one for the morning preschool class and another for the afternoon class. 

A parents’ meeting for preschool registration will be on Wed. May 2 at 5:30 p.m. in the elementary library. Parents must bring their child’s birth certificate, social security number and immunization records. 

Children must be four years old by Sept. 15 to be enrolled in preschool. Parents of children who are nearing preschool age can contact the elementary office at 623-5129 for more information.

A review of 'The Hunger Games'

by Heaven Lorenz

“The Hunger Games” opened in theaters March 23. It made over $153 million just from its opening weekend, and that number is still growing. We, freshman of Montezuma, read the book as a class just weeks before the date above.

The story is about what was left of America after it haa fallen. When the districts tried to rise against the Capitol, who controls them, they lost. As punishment and to show their control, the Capitol forces the twelve districts to give up two children from the ages of twelve to eighteen to fight in an arena to the death. 

After talking to some of the students who went to see the movie, I’ve come up with a simple understanding of how well we all liked it. 

Some read the book and compared the two together constantly.  These people could see major differences in the movie, and many were disappointed. Suzanne Collins herself wrote the movie’s screenplay, so I don’t have much room to complain, but it seems that some of those alterations still linger in the mind. 

Then there are the ones who looked at the movie and the book as two completely different items who enjoyed seeing it.

There were some bright moments in the film. Even I will admit that Jennifer Lawrence’s performance as Katniss was completely breathtaking. She was able to take the script that was written so differently from the book and still pull the same emotions from it that was given as you read.

 Since the book was written from Katniss’s point of view, we didn’t get to see anything she didn’t. We will never fully know what really happens in the book outside of Katniss’ view point, but in the movie it shows them setting up the arena over an impressive computer that is controlled by many people. 

The climax of the book is when the mutations are set loose. In the movie, this is the one part that does not disappoint. The wolves aren’t anything like what they are in the book, but they still are really impressive. They were created to strike fear and they were successful. 

The movie somewhat follows the book, but given the fact that they let Peeta have both his legs, the fact that Haymitch was missing from the Reaping, the mayor’s family being cut out completely and that Cato never was at the feast trying to bring Clove back from the dead still clings to my brain and bugs me. A lot. 

Even though there are alterations, I know I’m going to watch the sequel when it premieres. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not for the movie but for the books.

Golf season in full swing

by Kayla Werner 

Spring has begun, and with it comes the golf season full of newly- formed blisters and fun on the green.

There are 12 golfers out this season: eight on the boys team and four on the girls team.

The boys team includes seniors Dayton Pringle and Robby Sutfin;  juniors Austin Hopwood and Norman Martin; and  freshmen Steve Kopp, Jay Lebahn, Trevor Moyer and Sid Roorda.

The girls team is composed of senior Shena Bryan, junior Mariah Hirsch and freshmen Clara Johnson  and Shayla Towsend.

The season began with practice on March 12 and will continue through May 25 and 26 for the boys and May 29 and 30 for the girls. Their first golf meet was on April 2.

The season started off strongly as three members placed at the first meet at Lynnville-Sully.  Bryan tied for fourth place and Roorda and Martin both tied for third place.

Couch Dale Dejong said, “I am looking forward to improving on our golf game and enjoying time with our golfers as we strive to get better.”

The benefits of reading

by Andrea Farrington

Statistics say that the top reason people read is for recreation, but how exactly is reading fun?  If you really think about it, you improve your vocabulary, and it gives you a small insight into other cultures and places around the world. 

In order to accomplish these things, we have to have good comprehension and be able to focus on what we’re reading. 

What is  reading comprehension? It is the ability to understand what we are reading. 

If we can’t comprehend what we are reading, why read? I ask myself this question everyday.

Growing up I remember being assigned a small passage. The next day at school we would discuss it and I would just sit there confused. I read the passages; I just had trouble remembering what it is that I read.

My teachers would occasionally ask me to explain what happened and I always was embarrassed because I couldn’t remember. 

If you have this problem, you aren’t alone. Reading comprehension is found in 85% of children and teens alone.

Dealing with reading comprehension issues for the majority of my life I have discovered some solutions; read out loud, summarize after small passages to make sure you understand it or take notes.

Reading comprehension is not something you can just ignore, it can rule your life if you let it. Take a stand and find a way that helps you!

DIY: boutonniere and corsage

by Bridgette Moore

Prom is sneaking up on us, and most of us have yet to order a corsage and/or boutonniere. Why not cut some cost and make one yourself with these simple steps?

The materials you will need are one large flower, two small flowers, leather leaf, baby’s breath, floral tape, 26-gauge floral wire, pencil, scissors, ribbon and corsage pin/wristlet.

First, cut the stem of the large flower so that it has about two inches left. Then take the floral wire and poke through the body of the flower. Then bring the wire down. Use the floral tape to tape the stem (you must pull on the tape to make it sticky). Position the leather leaf and baby’s breath where you like it and use the floral tape to tape it.

Do the prior steps to the two smaller flowers. Then position the two smaller flowers to the big flower. Use the floral tape to tape it. 

Take the ribbon and tie a bow onto the floral wire, wrap the wire around the stem of the flower to secure the bow and then take the floral tape to secure the wire. You may have to adjust the flowers so they won’t look too crowded together.

You are almost done!

To make the boutonniere, take a pencil and twist the end of the stem around the pencil to make a spiral curl. Then take the corsage pin and pin it to the back of the flower stem. 

To make the corsage, take the wristlet place it on the back of the flower stem. Push the prongs around it to hold it. Then take the floral tape to secure it onto the stem.

And that is all you have to do. How easy was that?

This article was inspired by Aly James’s presentation from an Ag. class. Portions of her information were used with her permission.