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Students fly in magical Peter Pan Jr. By John Lucas Turner-Smith, Natalia Banuelos, and Malena Tewari The fifth grade students put a lot of hard work into presenting the play Disney Peter Pan Jr. at the end of this school year. They practiced all year long. One of the highlights was the use of harnesses so some of the students could fly! They also used Heelys skate shoes with lights to create suspense, and there was a black light used in a particular scene. Certain props, but not the people holding them, glowed in the black light. The dog auditions for Nana were held during the dance recital when the stage was dark to make sure the dog playing Nana would not be afraid during the play’s night scenes. Rosie, the Furniss-Roe family dog, was chosen said Mrs. Jarrell. “Rosie is so well-behaved. We never even hear a bark,” said Mrs. Jarrell. She and Miss Bridget are co-directors of the fifth grade play. This will be Miss Bridget’s last play after 32 years at St. Thomas. In addition to doing all the dance recitals, she has been a big part of all the plays for the graduating classes. “Whatever play or recital you’re in, if you work hard, believe in yourself, and never give up, you’ll be a success,” Miss Bridget said. The characters in Disney Peter Pan Jr. are Members of the Darling Family, The Fairies, The Pirates, The Indians, The Mermaids, and The Lost Boys. “I’m excited to see Peter Pan fly, and the costumes,” said fourth grader Cole Jackson. Fourth grader Gregory Tindle agreed. Katarina Peña, also in fourth grade, said she was a little nervous about the play auditions next year when she is in fifth grade. “But I’m also really excited,” Katarina said. The play was held in Rantz Hall starting on May 16th with the Technical Day on May 17th. It was presented in the evening to students, teachers and families May 18-19. On May 20th the fifth grade students had a cast party to celebrate their success.
Volume 28 Issue 4 M ay 2016
Inside this issue:
Ask Tony and Tina
2
Student Notebook
3
Do It Yourself
4
Book Review
5
Locks of Love
6
Fun With History
7
Loch Ness Monster
8
Student Fiction
10
Lord of the Rings
11
J.R.R. Tolkien
12
Student Fiction
13
Special points of interest:
In the game Boom Beach you have to fight Hammerman, the main villain.
When you play with the letters in your name you can make a DJ name. Do you know the age of Mr. Bilbo Baggins? Loch Ness is over 788 feet deep. Is there a monster in it?
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Ask Tony and Tina for help Hey Tony and Tina, My friend is getting bullied by another friend of mine and I don’t know how to make them stop. I’m too shy to stand up for her! I need some advice. ScaredGirl20131 Dear ScaredGirl20131, This happens to a lot of people so tell your friend not to over worry about it! If you are too scared to stand up alone, gather up a group of friends that can stand up with you. You could also give advice to your friend who is getting bullied like “You have the right to say NO!” You could also ask a trusted adult for some advice. You and a group of friends can also talk to a teacher. Remember to stay calm.
When a person is mean to you, you can ask them about it. Maybe you can correct a mistake.
Dear Tony and Tina, Someone at St. Thomas has been quite mean to me. In the beginning of the year she was super nice but now she's not. I wonder why? I would tell someone but I'm too shy. From: Wondergirl12342 Dear Wondergirl12342, If she says something mean and you know it isn’t true ignore her. Walk away from the situation try to stay away from her when she is in her bad mood. If you are shy to speak alone maybe gather a group of people to talk to your trusted adult. You could also ask her if something you did makes her feel bad about you. She might have been mean to you about it. Then you can correct the mistake you did that was making her be mean to you. Remember, don’t worry too much, and stay calm. NOTE: Tony and Tina are two Journalism students who have done a remarkable job helping other students this year. We thank them. They prefer to remain anonymous.
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Student Notebook: Learning UM camps sports are fun at UM camps By Natalia Banuelos There are many camps at the University of Miami, but I mean summer camps. I have done all the summer camps at UM. There is tennis, soccer, swimming and diving. The first camp I did was tennis, and I did tennis for three years. In the tennis camp the counselors are super helpful. They teach you step by step. Then you take a break and stay inside for a little while. In every camp there are different levels. They teach you how to swing your racket the right way and which ones are out of bounce. Soccer is another one of the camps and I only did that one for one year. In this camp they split us up by age. They teach many different skills. They teach you how to shoot, pass, kick corner kicks, punt, and kick penalty kicks. The coaches really push you into doing everything they tell you to do. You only get two or three water breaks. P.S That camp is very tiring. Swimming is one of my favorite camps at UM because you do different types of activities to practice for the competition against the people in your group. One year I was against Nico and I beat him twice. P.S. I won FIRST PLACE TWICE!! The other things that we did at the swimming camp were arts and crafts. Another activity was we got to go on a trampoline to practice our flips. The water was freezing. I have done this camp for four years. The last camp is the diving camp. This year will be the first year I do diving camp. In the diving camp they teach you how to dive in the pool the correct way. First you start on the lowest diving board. Then you start doing flips on the diving board. After lunch we go inside to play some games, and then when we are done playing games we’ll do some flips on a blue mat. Then we’ll do those flips on the diving board. Those are all the UM summer camps that I know about. One of these summers try one of them. I think you will like it. One more thing that I forgot, for lunch you have to bring your own lunch money. Just saying, if you want to go to any of those camps.
Drama at the Diocesan Festival was fun By Edward Whipple When I went to the Diocesan Festival I represented Drama. What we did was we played a game called Party Host. We had to guess who the people coming to the party were and we had to give out clues by acting. After that we played a game where there were different scenarios so we acted out who our character was, such as new person at school. Last of all, we practiced for a play. It was Peter Pan. The thing was it was actually about what happened after Peter Pan defeated Hook. The Lost Boys put up a play to show how Hook was defeated, but Peter Pan has stage fright! Hook tries to stop Peter overcome his stage fright. After we practiced we performed in front of all the students and teachers from the many schools that participated in the Diocesan Festival.
In tennis camp, the coaches teach you how to use your racket to swing it the right way and to get the right bounce on the ball.
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Do It Yourself: How to build a paper airplane
Try to see if you can build this complicated paper airplane. Here are your step-by-step instructions.
By Colin Ehrling Have you ever wanted to learn how to make a perfect swallowtail paper airplane? First, get a piece of paper and fold it vertically. Then you unfold it but keep the crease. Then you fold one of the top points down till the point that is on the top is exactly aligned with the edge of the paper. Then unfold that but keep the crease. Then do the same with the other point. Then fold the top of the paper down until the top points meet the crease. Then, here is the hardest part, flip the paper over so the center should pop up like a pyramid. Then you take the crease that is going horizontally and bend it inward. Then take the top part that is sticking up and push that down so it looks like a point at the top. Then take the points that are above the main part of the paper airplane and fold the points to the top point. The part that you folded should look like a diamond. Then fold the sides of the diamond into the middle. Then take the top point of what you just folded and fold that inward. Then unfold those two parts and put the part I just told you to do under the part it was on top of and put the other part over that. Then go to the bottom of the part until it meets the bottom of the fold over it. Then unfold that and cut off the bottom part on the crease and save that piece of paper. Then fold the top of the paper airplane to the other side. Then fold the airplane in half so the part you just folded is inside the crease. Then take the part that you cut off and go to one of the ends and cut half way so you have a little tail. Then stick the tail into the crease where the thing inside the big crease is on the top, and slide the tail under. That is how you make a Swallowtail Paper Airplane! If you want a video on how to make it, e-mail this address: CEhrling@stepsmia.org.
35,000 enjoyed White House Easter Egg Roll By Sofia Manguson This year the White House hosted the 138th annual White House Easter Egg Roll. Every year there is a theme, and this year it was “Let’s Celebrate.� More than 35,000 people joined the President and his family for games, stories, and the traditional Egg Roll. This is a day for all families to enjoy as they celebrate Easter. Also in addition to the games there were sports to play, and things to cook. Later they celebrated First Lady Mrs. Obama, and all the contributions she made to this wonderful Egg Roll. And guess what? For the first year ever they hosted the White House Fun Run. The Fun Run is a great race anyone can participate in. You could also sign up for a raffle. There was also a design contest for Elementary and Middle school students to join in and submit artwork drawn by them to the Easter Egg Roll. The First Lady chose the winner, and the artwork was part of the 2016 Easter Egg Roll souvenir poster. The poster honors the last Egg Roll of President Obama, and celebrates the initiatives of First Lady Mrs. Michelle Obama.
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Video Game News: Boom Beach By Matthew Rodriguez and Colin Ehrling The game Boom Beach is a very good game that is like Clash of Clans because it is made by SUPERCELL. There is a very big argument going on about which game is better. Both games are good depending on the player and his or her likes and dislikes. Boom Beach is better for people who like more realistic combat. But Clash is good for people who like mythical stuff. Once you download the game you will have to fight Hammerman, the main villain. You build a sniper tower and defend against him. Try to upgrade your defenses, residences, gunboat, and landing crafts before you upgrade your HQ. As you upgrade your HQ you will get more items such as heavies or tanks. When you fight a battle you will notice you have items named artillery or flare. (Depending on what level you are). You can only use a certain amount of artillery or flares. The more you upgrade your gunboat the more you can use artillery. You can also use stuff like barrages, shock bombs, medic packs, and critters. The troops you can train are Riflemen (you start with them), Heavies (HQ level 3), Zookas (HQ level 5), Warriors (HQ level 8), Tanks (HQ level 11), Medics (HQ level 13), Grenadiers (HQ 16), Scorchers (HQ 18). So one disadvantage about Boom Beach is that you have to place troops in specific spots. One good thing is that you can build lots of defenses that are super cool like machine guns, boom cannons, cannons, shock launchers, and rocket launchers. The resources are gold, wood, stone, and iron. You can get storages for each of them, and you can make lots of them.
Book Review: Eragon by Christopher Paolini By Edward Whipple The book Eragon is about a teenage boy whose family is poor and winter is coming. When Eragon goes out hunting he finds a blue sapphire. Eragon almost sells this sapphire for food for the winter. He decides not to and keeps it as a trophy. Overnight, the gem shakes and hatches into a dragon. The dragon grows rapidly and Eragon starts to ride it. The dragon’s name is Saphira. When he returns to his home from a ride on Saphira, Eragon’s house has been burned down. He drags his father to the town and in the middle of it he faints. A stranger drags him. Eragon wakes up in a ship and gets released to see his father who has died from the house burning down. A stranger helps him on a journey traveling to four different cities while trying to seek vengeance on the people who killed his father. On Eragon’s journey he keeps encountering danger. At each turn there is betrayal or death. Eragon’s simple life is gone. Can he find the hidden base of the Varden and seek shelter?! Can he save a friend from death? Can he keep the legend of the dragon riders? Can he survive the encounter? Read and find out.
Once you download the game you will have to fight Hammerman, the main villain.
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Locks of Love donations of cut hair can change someone’s life By Malena Tewari and Melanie Pozo Did you know that a child can lose their hair because of a horrible cancer? The children are sadly bald, but they still have high hopes and dreams of getting a Locks of Love wig donated by a kind person. That person could be you! This story will help you understand how to donate, and how good people have felt when they donated. All you have to do is go to any salon that has the Locks of Love decal on it and follow the Locks of Love rules. Or, you can ask your hairdresser to cut off ten inches of your hair in ponytails, you can keep your hair and mail it to the Locks of Love address. Just type this in: http://www.locksoflove.org/ and you can mail it! The organization helps kids with terrible diseases who have no beautiful locks of hair and gives them wigs with thoughtful kids’ hair on it. Locks of Love has a mission. Its first priority is to help people without hair. Have you ever thought about what it is like not to have hair? You would feel weird. People might make fun of you. You would be picked on, bullied. You would just be different. Helping people not just without hair, but any other type of person who needs help, is a great thing to do that you might feel proud of in the future. When the kid gets their brand new wig to put on their head they feel overwhelmed with joy. Some kids have had no hair ever since they were a baby. They have diseases that make them stick out in the crowd. And on top of that they still have to deal with fighting hair loss every day. These girls and boys are very brave and deserve a beautiful hair wig to be on their heads. Some of the diseases the children fight are Alopecia, Cancer, Lupus, Skin disease, Telogen Effluvium, Anagen effluvium, and so much more. One brave girl named Kanadee got her hair at 16 years old. She was diagnosed with a disease called Alopecia. When she got her wig she felt, “Like she could be a normal girl again.” Now, Kanadee is happy and rocking her wig! When you donate your hair the organization does not let you see who you give your locks to for personal reasons, but now you know that your hair will actually go to a child in need of your locks of love.
Student Opinion: Rock music is better than you think By Edward Whipple Pop may be okay. Taylor Swift and Charlie Puth, no offense, but the songs are kind of cheesy. Listen to rock for once. Pearl Jam, Green Day, U2, and Jack White don’t write cheesy songs like “One Call Away” or “I’m Only Me When I’m With You.” People say rock is bad but there are plenty of songs, and the lyrics and music can change your minds. Take a while and listen to these bands. And discover more favorites of your own.
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Fun With History: April Fools’ Day By Natalia Banuelos Hey, guys. Do you want some Trick Tips for April Fools’ pranks? Ok, ready to learn first about the history of April Fools’ Day? April Fools’ Day started in 1700 on the first of April. English pranksters started an annual tradition called April Fools. April Fools’ Day is about playing hilarious pranks or jokes to each other. On the first day of spring, Mother Nature fooled the people with changing, unpredictable weather. April Fools’ Day started to spread to Britain in the 18th century. In England people started putting “kick” signs on the backs of people. On April 1, 1957, a BBC Reporter heard that a Swiss farmer experienced a record of a spaghetti crop. Imagine noodles growing out of your tree in your backyard. In 1988, Burger King advertised a “Left-Handed Whopper,” surprising a customer with a FAKE Sandwich. April Fools’ Day is celebrated ALL AROUND THE WORLD. Most family members, friends, neighbors, coworkers and teachers might try to tickle your funny bone by trying to trick you somehow. The founder of April Fools’ Day is still a mystery, but we know that it started in 1700. April Fools’ Day was the result of a desire to celebrate the turning of the seasons around springtime and we still have fun with this holiday.
Real Potato Mr. Potato Heads
Be a DJ! Anagram the letters in your name By The Spire Crier Staff We decided to find DJ names for each of us based on the letters in our names. We made “anagrams,” words used from the letters in other words. Some of us also worked with the letters in our middle names if you see odd letters. And there was no requirement to use all of the letters. Try making your own DJ name! As you can see, we really like cats. Here is who we are if we were spinning songs on the music scene: Natalia Banuelos—Cat Smile Colin Ehrling—Zandar Doge James Furniss-Roe—Cat Smash Sofia Manguson—Imagine Millions Melanie Pozo—Zip Mile Matthew Rodriguez—Retro Top Hat Doge Malena Tewari—Lemon Way John Lucas Turner-Smith--Journalists Hunch Edward Whipple—Wild Legend Ms. Christina Mayo—Oh Mini Ray Cats Miss Alli—Cat vs. Millions
Wild Legend and Lemon Way
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Patron saint of Ireland St. Patrick is celebrated everywhere By Malena Tewari Every year on March 17th, the Irish and the Irish-at-heart across the world celebrate St. Patrick's Day. What began as a religious feast day for the patron saint of Ireland has become an international festival celebrating Irish culture with parades, dancing, special foods, and of course a lot of green. St. Patrick’s Day is the saint’s religious feast day and the anniversary of his death. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick’s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions or laws, against eating meat were set aside and people would eat, drink, and feast-on the traditional meal of Irish Bacon and Cabbage. Something that you probably did not know was that St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish. He was born in Britain. When he was 16, he was kidnapped by Irish Raiders and he spent six years in captivity. He converted to Christianity, and he later returned to Ireland to spend the rest of his life working as a Christian Missionary. After St. Patrick died on March 17, 461, he was largely forgotten, until mythology and legend grew, and centuries later, he was honored as the patron saint of Ireland. According to legend, St. Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland. Stories mention St. Patrick cleansing the Island of Paganism. Paganism is a term that developed among the Christian community of southern Europe a loooong time ago to describe religions other than their own. The only problem with the legend though, is that Ireland never had any snakes. The Emerald Isle is surrounded by water too cold for snakes to migrate there. According to another famous story, St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit on each of a shamrock’s three leaves. As a result, people in 18th century Ireland started wearing shamrocks on March 17th, to signify their Irish-Christian pride. That tradition later grew into wearing green clothing, which is a popular St. Patrick’s Day custom today.
The Loch Ness Monster is out there, or is it? By John Lucas Turner-Smith The Loch Ness Monster is a folklore legend. It was first written about in the 7th century. The Loch Ness Monster got its name because “loch” is the Scottish name for lake and Loch Ness is the name of the lake where the creature is supposed to live. Most classes and parents believe it is a myth and people have wishful thinking. The term “monster” originated on 2 May 1933 by Alex Campbell. Earlier, he and his wife had seen “the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life,” trundling across the road toward the loch carrying “an animal” in its mouth. Loch Ness is over 788 feet deep and over a length of 23 miles and that makes it the biggest body of fresh water in Britain. It also means that if the Loch Ness Monster is real it will be very hard to find out if it is real. Also, a lot of people fake their photos because they want fame and money. If someone will, or has already taken a real photograph of the “monster,” no one could truly tell if they are another hoax or not. Some people think that the Loch Ness Monster is a water horse or other mythical creature. One of the most famous photographs of the “monster” is called Surgeon’s Photograph. It was taken in 1934 by Robert Kenneth Wilson. It is known as a big hoax. People think that maybe the question is one that will never be answered and maybe they are right. We just have to keep looking.
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Fun With History: Easter around the world By Malena Tewari Easter is a very religious holiday that celebrates the coming of spring and the awakening of life around us. Easter history and traditions that we practice today evolved from pagan symbols, from the ancient goddess Ishtar to Easter eggs and the Easter bunny. Easter is perhaps the most important of the Christian holidays, and it celebrates Christ’s resurrection from the dead following his death on Good Friday, a rebirth that is a memorial around the vernal equinox, which is historically a time of pagan celebration that celebrates the coming of spring. Easter was named for a Saxon goddess who was known by the names of Oester or Eastre, and in Germany by the name of Ostara. She is the goddess of the dawn and the Spring. Ostara had a passion for new life. Her presence was felt in the birth of babies, both animal and human. Ostara’s sacred animal was the bunny. Easter eggs are the symbol of fertility, and newborn chicks are an adorable representation of new growth. Brightly colored eggs, chicks, and bunnies were all used at festival time to express appreciation for Ostara’s gift of abundance. Folklore suggests that Easter egg hunts began in Europe. Instead of giving the eggs as gifts, adults made a game of hiding them, gathering the children together and encouraging them to find the eggs. In Bermuda, the people celebrate Good Friday by flying homemade kites, eating codfish cakes, and eating hot cross buns. The tradition is said to have started when a local teacher had difficulty explaining Christ’s ascension to Heaven to his Sunday school class. He made a kite traditionally shaped like a cross, to illustrate the Ascension. Norwegians have an interesting tradition for the season known for Paaskekrim. At this time of year, many around the country read mystery books or watch the televised crime detective series on national television, according to The Norway Post. Many families escape up to the mountains for the vacation week beginning the Friday before Palm Sunday. When spending time in the mountains, a popular pastime is playing Yahtzee. In Europe, large bonfires called Easter Fires are lit. There are many explanations for the origins of Easter Fires, the most common tale is that Easter is a time when spring becomes victorious over winter and the fires are to chase the darkness of winter away. Today, the meaning of the fires is to bring communities together. In Haiti, Holy Week is marked by colorful parades and traditional music played on bamboo trumpets, maracas, drums, even coffee cans. The holiday is a mixture of Catholic and Voodoo traditions. Voodoo believers make an annual pilgrimage to the village of Souvenance. The devout believers make offerings of goat heads to the spirits during a ceremony. So you see now how Easter truly is a diverse and wonderful holiday with a lot of traditions around the world. I hope you learned something interesting from reading this story and be sure to share this fun information with others.
Easter is a very religious holiday that celebrates the coming of spring and the awakening of life around us.
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Student Fiction: An Interesting Cruise (continued from March issue) By Edward Whipple I told Aithne to drop me off at the cruise at midnight. I returned to my cabin and went to bed. I thought the troubles of the mythical world were over, but I was wrong. We were going near the Bermuda Triangle. I guess there will be Sea Serpents, sirens, water dragons, the Loch Ness Monster, Kraken, and liquid snakes and hydras. I can now talk to Aithne from far distances. I told her to circle the ships and get some elves on dragons. This may be a long month. The next morning I was waiting on deck, armor and sword in my bag. Ready for anything! I asked Aithne how many elves were in the sky. 15! Eragon is one. He can talk to me too. I heard singing far away and put on my armor and took out my sword. Easily, Eragon shot a siren and the elf’s arrows were raining down and it literally rained arrows. The sirens were screeching as loud as a fire engine. Eragon nodded, and I nodded in reply. I got my sword, Aithne picked me up and we rushed into battle. We easily won. Back on the cruise, hopefully, the humans didn’t “sea” anything. I am going to my regular classes like tennis and swimming. After that I went to talk to Edward. He said something about middle schools canceling SSAT. I swore quietly because I had to go through the SSAT and it was crazy difficult. In fact the reason I am on the cruise is because of me doing well on the SSAT. Aithne said I can learn magic if I go to the Elven Temple and I can also train my swordsmanship. I told her that I am going in the morning. “How are you doing?” I asked her. “Fine,” she said, an unsure tone in her voice. “What’s wrong?” I asked. No answer. I have arrived at the Elven Temple. Seems abandoned on the outside. Let’s see what’s in the inside. The inside had a big crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling. The temple had a red carpet that was embroidered in gold line. The walls looked like they were just polished. Inside there were four elves waiting for me. Inside, one of the elves told me to never challenge an elf even if it is weak. In fact an elf is sixty times stronger than the strongest human. I told them why I was here. They first trained my mental strength. They said that is the most important part about using magic. After doing that lesson they were training me on swordsmanship. I was there for six weeks. At the end, I was able to use telekinesis, summoning water, summoning fire, and summoning earth. I have trained in swordsmanship so much I beat one of the elves. I trained my mental strength too. I am able to summon a whole plateau. The elves told me to not tell anybody. “EDWARD,” I said. “EDWARD,” I repeated. “What?!” he said. “I learned magic,” I said. He said, “I don’t believe that.” So for proof I summoned a metal bar then tossed it into the ocean. “Cool!” he said. I told him not to tell anybody. He said that he would not tell a soul. Edward 2 Point of View I can’t believe he gets to do those powers, Edward thought, jealous. I need to ask him how to do these powers…Of course, I am brilliant. I can trick him into giving me the words to summon metal. I just need to think of something sly. I’ve got it! I will just ask him politely. He is as stupid as a worm. Of course he will fall for it. I asked him and he said not to try anything stupid but I know the words. “*%$@#$!(96$@” Where am I? All I see is… light. “…Up. Wake up, wake up, wake up, WAKE UP! Are you ok?” Edward asked. “What happened?” I said. “Hmm… well you said the words I told you not to and then I heard a big explosion and you passed out. It takes mental strength to do something that hard you know,” he said, smugly. (continued on page 15)
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Lord of the Rings Prelude and Guide By John Lucas Turner-Smith When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would hold his eleventy-first birthday party of special magnificence, there was much talk in Hobbiton. Bilbo was well thought of, but ever since “the dragon incident” people had less respect for the Bagginses. But everyone knew he was rich so everyone was looking forward to his party. There were even rumors of underground tunnels under his house filled with gold. Time wore on, but it seemed to have no effect on Bilbo. At the age of 90 he looked like 50. And at 99, they called him well preserved, but unchanged would be better. ‘It will have to be paid for,’ they said. ‘It isn’t natural, and trouble will come of it!’ But they forgave him because he was generous and kind. Everyone went to the party even those who were not invited and none went reluctantly. They all went for the cake and food and ale and wine and beer. The party was ending and it was time for Bilbo’s speech. “My dear people. My dear Bagginses and Boffins, and my dear Tooks and Brandybucks, and Grubbs, and Chubbs, and Burrowses, and Hornblowers, and Bolgers, Bracegirdles, Goodbodies, and Proudfoots... Also my good Sackville-Bagginses that I welcome back at last to Bag End. Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday: I am eleventy-one today! I hope you are enjoying yourselves as much as I am. I shall not keep you long. I have called you all together for a purpose. Indeed, for three purposes! First of all, to tell you that I am immensely fond of you all, and that eleventy-one years is too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable Hobbits. I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. Secondly, to celebrate my birthday. I should say: our birthday. For it is, of course, also the birthday of my heir and nephew, Frodo. He comes of age and into his inheritance today. Together we score one hundred and forty-four. Your numbers were chosen to fit this remarkable total: one gross, if I may use the expression. It is also, if I may be allowed to refer to ancient history, the anniversary of my arrival by barrel at Esgaroth on the Long Lake; thought the fact that it was my birthday slipped my memory on that occasion. I was fifty-one then, and birthdays did not seem so important. The banquet was very splendid, however, though I had a bad cold at the time, I remember, and could only say 'Thag you very buch'. I now repeat it more correctly: Thank you very much for coming to my little party. Thirdly and finally, I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT! I regret to announce thatthough, as I said, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to spend among you- this is the END! I am going. I am leaving NOW! GOODBYE!" At that moment there was a flash of light and he vanished, not to be seen again in Hobbiton. You can read the books or watch the movies of the wonderful Lord of the Rings series. Their names are: Book/movie—The Fellowship of the Ring Book/movie—The Two Towers Book/movie—The Return of the King
“Everyone went to the party even those who were not invited and none went reluctantly.”
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J.R.R. Tolkien invented languages when he was a teenager By John Lucas Turner-Smith J.R.R. Tolkien is a world-renowned fantasy writer, poet, philologist, and university professor. He is known especially for his Lord of the Rings series and the Hobbit. He was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on January 3, 1892. His parents were Arthur and Mable Suffield Tolkien. After Arthur died from peritonitis on February 15th 1896, Mable settled in with John Ronald Reuel (J.R.R.) and his brother, Hilary, in the hamlet of Sarehole. The Tolkien family usually leaned toward the side of poverty. However, the situation worsened in 1904, when Mable Tolkien was diagnosed as having diabetes, usually fatal in those days. She died on November 14th of that year leaving the two boys orphans. Their half-Spanish half-Welsh priest, Father Francis Morgan took over, and made sure of the boys’ material, as well as spiritual, welfare. By this time Ronald was already showing remarkable linguistic gifts. He had mastered Latin and Greek which was part of an arts education at the time, and he was becoming very good in a number of other languages, both modern and ancient. He studied Gothic, and later Finnish. He was already busy making up his own languages, purely for fun. He went up to Exeter College, Oxford in 1911, where he stayed until 1913, immersing himself in the classics of Old English, the Germanic languages, Welsh, and Finnish. In the summer of 1920 he applied for a senior post of reader or Associate Professor in English language at the University of Leeds. To his surprise he was appointed. At Leeds he taught and collaborated with E.V. Gordon on the famous edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. He also continued writing and refining The Book of Lost Tales and invented his “Elvish” language. In addition, he and Gordon founded a “Viking Club” for undergraduates devoted mainly to reading Old Norse sagas and drinking beer. Then in 1925 the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford became open and Tolkien successfully applied for the post. In 1945, he changed his chair to the Merton Professorship of English Language and Literature, which he retained until his retirement in 1959. He lived quietly in North Oxford and later he and his wife, Edith, lived in the suburb of Headington. J.R.R. Tolkien passed away at Bournemouth in 1973.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, In 3 Minutes By Matthew Rodriguez The movie starts off with the Battle of Jakku and Kylo Ren captures Poe Dameron. But FN-2187 also known as Finn helps Poe Dameron escape by stealing a TIE Fighter. They crash on Jakku and you are introduced to Rey. Rey finds BB-8 and goes to her village to sell parts she found from the AT-AT. Next, she finds Finn and the First Order attacked. They steal the Millennium Falcon and are chased by a TIE fighter. They blow up the TIE fighter and are put in a tracker beam and they meet Han Solo. After that, these people attack them and they escape to a planet. Rey then finds Luke Skywalker’s light saber and the First Order attacks (again). Kylo Ren captures Rey and she escapes and the Resistance attacks Kylo Ren’s planet. But if you like you can call it Death Star 3. Later, Finn and Han Solo come to the Death Star 3 and find Kylo Ren. But sadly, Han Solo dies. (This is my reaction :’{). Next, Finn and Rey try to escape Death Star 3 and they encounter Kylo Ren. Rey and Finn fight Kylo Ren and finally escape.
Volume 28 Issue 4
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Student Fiction: Episode 6 and a half, Baby Kylo Ren By James Furniss-Roe and Matthew Rodriguez “Whaaaaaaaa!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” “Rey’s being mean to me!” cried Kylo. “Stop crying, you baby!” said Rey, as she hit him with her inflatable lightsaber. Han Solo patted Kylo on the back and gave him a cookie. “Hey, how come he gets a cookie!” Rey said. Then, Han Solo gave Rey a cookie. Splat! Kylo ate the cookie then spit it out and threw the cookie box on the wall and the wall turned brown. “Are you kidding me?!?!” Han Solo said. “Leia, the kids made a mess again.” “Chewie! Get over here!” Chewie came. “Fix that wall up!” Chewie was a good Chewie and fixed up the wall. But Kylo Ren was very mean and threw more cookies at Chewie. He roared in anger, and Kylo laughed. “Kylo!” scolded Leia. “In the naughty corner for you!” Kylo went. “Whaaaaa!” “NOT THE CORNER!” The corner was painted to look like a Sarlacc which scared Kylo and Rey. A few hours later there was a knock at the door and Rey opened it. “Hi! Rey. Do you and Kylo want to play with us?” asked Finn and Poe, Rey’s best friends. Rey told Kylo and he grabbed his cardboard TIE Fighter. Rey got an A-wing, Poe got an X-wing, and Finn got a Y-wing. They ran around the neighborhood and chased each other. Kylo was happy that he was winning, and he was about to pull off a wing of Poe’s X-Wing, when he fell into some mud and his TIE Fighter got destroyed. Later, Kylo Ren had to take a bubble bath. “NOOOO!” He cried as he was put in the bath. But then he noticed the bubbles, and fell silent. He played with his bath toys and then changed into his pajamas. Their Uncle Luke came over to babysit them. He tried to teach them force tricks, but they were bad and they gave up. So after that, he just watched TV. Then, Kylo and Rey played with their toys. Everything was fine until Rey got a STORM-1 gun and shot Kylo in the eye. He started crying again and he got his real lightsaber and charged at Rey. He hit her but only heard a dull thunk. Kylo noticed a plastic cover over the blade, that had popped up to cover it. He knew what that was! “Child safety lock!” Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” Rey knew how to turn off the safety lock but didn’t want to turn it off, because she didn’t want to get hurt. To unlock it you had to solve a math problem which was 1+2 (at least that was the first. There were three.) Kylo thought it was hard because he never paid attention in school, but Rey did. Kylo cried, because he hated school. And now he wished he had paid more attention. Luke put Kylo and Rey to bed and in middle of the night Kylo Ren set up a machine that would scare Rey. He hid it in the closet. It was designed so that when Rey or anyone else passed by, a scary monster would pop out. But he hadn’t realized one simple thing, and what happened next was a disaster. Han Solo came inside the room to check on them. And the machine activated itself, popped out of the closet, and the monster inside threw a water balloon at Han! Kylo hid underneath his blanket until he heard Splats! He grinned. The next morning he was eating breakfast when suddenly his dad threw away the cereal he was eating, put him in the Millennium Falcon, and flew him to C.B.S.T.G, which meant Child Behavior School of the Galaxy! Kylo had been there a few times, but would always escape and create excuses for leaving early, for example, when he had burned Poe’s X-wing! When he arrived he noticed everything had changed. There was more security and the building was twice as big! His dad parked the Falcon and Kylo held onto his seat and didn’t let go. Finally his dad gave him a cookie and Kylo let go. But then he realized he had been fooled! That rarely happened! He was mad and tried to use the force to trick his dad. “I am very… eh… NOOOOOOOO!” He didn’t know what to say! He ran away from his dad and hid in the Falcon. But Han knew the Falcon inside and out, and found him trying to hide in the cockpit! He dragged him to the school, but Kylo ran back and hid in the ship. Finally, he was forced to go in. But he had a plan. (continued on next page)
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(continued from previous page—Baby Kylo Ren) First, when the orientation happened, he used the force to knock down a lamp, and started a fire! All the children’s parents were called to bring their naughty kids home. Kylo hopped into the Falcon when Han arrived. He said the school burnt down. Which wasn’t exactly true, it had burned, but not “down.” He didn’t care. He knew he could find something entertaining like ruling an empire or taking over the galaxy. And since he would be the first one to join, he would call it the First Order. And no one would stop him! Or would they? Continued in Episode 7: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
Student Fiction: Yesterday
(continued from March issue)
By James Furniss-Roe Well, then I realized, why would anything bad happen to her? She was probably fine. So, after class, I realized: there was nothing to realize, actually, it just sounded good there. But actually, what really happened: while I was leaving, me and my friend Niko watched as Julia was shoved into a black car, tinted black windows and sleek design, then the car drove away. THEN we knew something was up… So we decided to follow the car. Well, I kinda regret doing that now, but in the heat of the moment, well, some people don’t think clearly. I’m one of them. But anyway, we got on our bikes and followed. Oh yeah- sorry, I forget details. I bike to school. Well, I’m really close. But that’s not important. Or is it… NO! It isn’t. Sorry. I lost concentration. Anyway, back to the story. SO we biked as fast as we could go, and we saw the car in the distance, so we biked even faster. Niko started to fall behind, so I slowed, just a little. But eventually, after what felt like, an hour, we caught up to the car. But just as we got up to it, well, it stopped. And, I, eh, sorta crashed into it. The rear window shattered, and I went flying. I landed with a THUD and tumbled across the grass; luckily I had missed the road, and eventually hit a bush, scraped but otherwise ok. When I got up I went to the car. It was empty. “Ronald! RONALD! R-O-N-A... oh. You’re ok.” “I’m fine. Are you?” “Yeah, I went past it.” “Where did they go?” “After you flew… (he grinned, and I frowned), well, some guy in a black suit took her away.” Ok, so, the first question that came into my mind: Why? WHY???? WHYYYYYYY????? Okay, I am really getting sidetracked. “Okay, Niko, let’s think. Where did they go?” “That way!” So we dashed off in the way they went. There were lush green hills surrounding us in this part of the country, and the air was filled with the refreshing smell of marigolds. But we didn’t care about that. We raced across those waves of green, trying to catch up with the men- or women- that had taken Julia. There were footprints in the green grass, but they were fading as the wind blew the grass around. But then, after managing to climb yet another green hill, panting, we saw them at the base of another lush hill. This one was yellow, covered with marigolds, with a few red… roses? Hard to say. I had never seen anything like it. But back to the point. They stood on top of the hill, in the center of the ring of red flowers. Then? Well, they just disappeared. “…….Did you see that, Niko?” “Does it look like I did?” “No.” “Well I did.” “Where did they go?” We came to inspect the ring of flowers they had been standing on. In the middle of the ring, there was a small cone. It was shimmery gold, and very pointy. It had a spiral carved into it. It seemed to give off a sort of light, like a lantern. “What is that?” “Dunno.” Niko walked up to it and picked it up. He stroked it with a finger. “It feels…. like….. soft. Like something really soft…Oh! Look! See? It has a little string….!” He pulled the string and disappeared! JUST DISSAPEARED! (continued on page 16)
Volume 28 Issue 4
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(continued from page 10—An Interesting Cruise) Edward 1 Point of View I can’t believe he did that. He has been acting weirdly after he woke up. WHOA! “What was that?” I said running to the deck. “Aithne, I need you down here fast!” What is it? Aithne said. “It’s a Sea Serpent and it’s crushing the front deck.” “5^*)+>:$#!@84+?>*” A fire bolt came right out of my hand and hit the Sea Serpent. The sea serpent is hurt but isn’t dead. Aithne rammed the serpent of the cruise. “Do you hear anything?” I said to Aithne. “Watch out!” she said. The serpent came from the side of the cruise and slammed on to the serpent causing wood to go everywhere. Ouch! I got hit by the wood. That’s going to leave a mark. “(*^%3$2!l_+}0i*^” A huge metal spike was formed right as I said the words. I hit the serpent off the boat. “*6%^$3@)9:” I used a spell to fix up the boat. I am going back to the temple to learn more things, probably how to fix wounds, taming and mind reading. “What happened to Blinky?” Aithne said. “Hmmm don’t know,” I said. Edward 2 Point of View Ha! Magic can’t beat tech. He won’t know what hit him. What will I make? A power glove is the same thing as shooting fire or metal. I just need materials. Just one more time and that will be it. “*6%$@#)(_+:<h” Uh… what… time… is it. I’VE BEEN KNOCKED OUT FOR 3 DAYS! At least I have my materials. Now it is time to work on the power glove, on second thought, good night. I am tired. But wait. If I got knocked out for three days how come I am tired? Edward 1 Point of View "*75$#!)9_+=8$#87^>:{+&" Now I can know what Aithne is saying. “What’s wrong Aithne?” I said looking into her mind. “What are you doing in my mind?” she said. “Uh, I was wondering if I can do it right.” “Really what are you doing?” “I was wondering what was wrong. You seem… upset.” “Oh no,” she said. “I am not upset. I just have a bad feeling about Edward,” she said. “I have noticed he has been acting strange.” Uh oh. I told Aithne to take me back to the cruise. I saw a huge black storm on top of cruise. Shoot! I knew something was going on. And I saw Edward with that crazy look on his face and bloodshot eyes. “Shoot!” I said. “O*^%#@_)9+{];<&%#@!” A big wave formed and crashed on to the deck. Hoping he was gone; he was covered by a water shield. “Missed me!” he said. “You’re jealous aren’t you?” he said. Is this how it all started, joyously or magic gone wrong. “Pfff,” he said jealously, “I have this,” he said lifting a metallic arm. “You’re crazy. You were a friend. A FRIEND!” he said. “You’re my clone. We have the same name same blood type and same genes. We also look exactly alike.” Ha! You are as stupid as I imagined. ”*^%$#@)(*&k(08J” A big meteor came out of the sky and froze in the front of the front of the boat. Don’t you ever give up? he said. No, and I do always win, I said. “*&%#!” A huge electrical field surrounded me and “my clone.” “Aww, your little glove shut off. Give up. Now!” I said. “*7%$@!)9:<?+87^%$” I put him to sleep and he woke up fine. “What happened?” he said. Hmm…that’s what I won’t tell you and what you have to figure. So that’s my story. Aithne is still with me. I put a spell on her so that she’s invisible. She is in my backyard. Still use magic only if it’s important. Like heating popcorn for an example.
The Spire Crier
The Spire Crier is published by the fifth grade reporters in the Enrichment Journalism class at St. Thomas Episcopal Parish School.
St. Thomas Episcopal Parish School
Managing Editor: John Lucas Turner-Smith
5692 North Kendall Drive Coral Gables, FL 33156 305-665-4851
Reporters: Natalia Banuelos, Colin Ehrling, James Furniss-Roe, Sofia Manguson, Melanie Pozo, Matthew Rodriguez, Malena Tewari, Edward Whipple
W E’ RE ON THE WEB AT S TEPSMIA. ORG
Journalism Advisor: Ms. Christina Mayo Class Aide: Allison “Miss Alli” Williams
(continued from page 14—Yesterday) I hurried over to where he was. There had been no bang, no giant portal, just a tiny ‘poof.’ I tapped the cone lightly and scrambled back. Nothing happened, so I went up to it and picked it up. I took a deeeeeeeeep breath. Well, Niko was my best friend, so I needed to find out what happened to him. Now, I know there could have been a better solution, not just doing the same thing he did to try to rescue him, but still. So I pulled. Annnnnnd…. I don’t really remember what happened then. I remember fire, and stuff. Rainbows, dunno. Then I landed on some soft grass. It was….. Indescribable. So soft. And I loved it. And why am I thinking about grass? Whatever. So, I looked around. The landscape seemed familiar, but, Oh yeah! The land is the same as before, rolling hills, but instead of just green grass, in the distance, off a path, was a castle. It was, like, eh…. a sort of MASSIVE hunk of stone. I think. Some kind of stuff that was like stone, though when the sun shone on it, it looked like steel. Well, that’s not what caught my attention. Well, not really. Below it was two men in black suits. Not to say the castle wasn’t important, well, they were heading toward it. So yeah, it was important. I decided to follow them. Yeah, another bad decision. But aren’t our lives full of them? (Did that sound wise? Dunno.) OK, I went in. There was a big door, so I went in. On the inside it was nice. Well, lots of nice stuff, like couches, a red carpet, paintings of cats on the walls. They seemed to cheer me on as I kept going. There was a red door on the other side. Oh yeah, forgot to say! The room was about as long as, like, a football field. So, after crossing it, I went inside the door. One painting of a cat, then nothing. The room got dark. But I kept going. Kinda stupid. There was a light at the end, but as I got there, I realized it was just columns of lava, flowing down. Another door. I went though there, and stopped…there. There were two guards in black. I put up my hands. Oops. So yeah, they escorted me through more dark rooms. ‘Bout it. But then there was a small room with a chair. And in that chair was Julia. She was tied up. I tried to struggle, but the guards held me back. She looked at me, happily? “I came to help you!” “But I don’t need help. It’s my birthday party!” I gasped. “So for my birthday, I asked if I could have this special experience. It’s new! And fun. And they even said I could decorate it! Cats, of course! But I had to miss school, sadly. But all my friends will be here soon, and they are supposed to use the clues to find me! But you got here first. I guess you can stay.” Well, that was fun. But I had one question… “How did I get here?” “It’s a new system. It makes you move really fast!” So, yeah. That’s how it went. And I got to stay, and be a knight trying to rescue her. It was great. And now we are best friends. So yeah, it was great. And so, I decided to write it down.