[t h e canine ] mount baker middle school, auburn, washington
january 2017 volume VII, issue 3
inside this issue: FAKE NEWS: How real is it?
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How Teachers Detect Plagiarism
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Valentine’s Day Revealed
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January Locker Lottery
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OPINION: What Grinds My Gears
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SPOTLIGHT: MBMS Diversity
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What are students MOST PROUD of at MBMS?
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CGI: Dead Actors Revived
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Chasing Cameron Review
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Culture Poll
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MBMS Sports
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Super Bowl LI
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FRONT COVER PHOTO: Technology is a much larger aspect of people’s lives now than ever. From Chromebooks in the classroom, to CGI effects in movies, to better tools to create fake information in the news, it affects everyone in many different ways. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY J. BROWN BACK COVER PHOTO: What was the greatest accomplishment of Martin Luther King, Jr.? MBMS students shared the their personal opinions on the everlasting legacy of America’s
DEAR BULLDOGS, Welcome students and staff to the New Year, 2017! And as always welcome to the newest edition to The Canine Chronicle. We are very excited for the New Year and for you to read our paper. In the last year, The Canine Chronicle has quoted over 320 people and we’ve had over 1,000 sources in both the November and December editions, and we'd like to thank you all for contributing to the story of MBMS. With the end of the semester near, make sure you keep striving for greatness this last half of the school year. The end of the year is coming up faster than you think. Our job at The Canine Chronicle is simple. We are here to give you a voice. We are here to tell the story of our school, and, of course, all the latest trends and events that have been happening recently, such as mumps, Valentine's Day, second season sports, changes in our school’s diversity, and of course, the Super Bowl. In expressing your voice, we will be sure to not disrupt the orderly conduct of this school, but to withhold and maintain it. This January edition is packed full of all sorts of different topics. It has stories ranging from boys’ soccer highlights to the diversity of our school. It also has the riveting tale behind the upcoming holiday, Valentine's Day. Also, be sure to check out our article on plagiarism, how teachers detect it on Chromebooks, and on how to decipher fake news from real news. We promise that The Canine Chronicle is onehundred percent real. With all these topics, our newspaper has got you covered! Sincerely,
The Canine Chronicle
STAFF
The newspaper staff struggled to say healthy during cold and flu season to deliver the January edition of The Canine Chronicle. PHOTO BY P. WARRING
mission: The MBMS Journalism 8 class produced this limited-voice EDITORS
REPORTERS
REPORTERS
Adeline Maurus Maddy Taylor Connor MacDougall Nya Baad Jezel Brown Roxanne Farias Nick Miller
Dawson Abbe Elijah Ajeto Kelli Allen Logan Conner Chloe Edwards
Max Kliewer Jack Morrell Tatum Murry Dong Nguyen Ken Oh
newspaper with intent to ethically report events accurately, without bias. As a public forum for students, all decisions made on content are made under the REPORTERS guidance of the adviser, with intent to uphold students’ First Amendment rights. The opinions presented in articles are provided to represent the views and Abraham Perez perspectives of students and individuals in our diverse student population, not Dunka Ramirez necessarily the whole of the adviser, faculty, and administrators. Any material Ellie Walter Ethan Walter-Goodspeed that would cause a disruption to the educational process like libel, invasion of privacy, or copyright infringement will not be published. Lillian Zimmerman The Canine Chronicle is produced using Microsoft Publisher. Photographs not taken by students have been utilized through a Creative Commons and Microsoft ADVISER license. School portraits are licensed through Dorian Photography.
Peter Warring
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ROXANNE FARIAS & CHLOE EDWARDS
math teacher and DJ of the dance Mr. Carter said. The Valentine’s Dance is annual dance hosted by the eighth grade choir for the seventh and eighth grade students only, so that mean it’s the seventh graders first time at the Valentine's Dance at MBMS this year. “Seeing people dance and some being nervous with each other,” seventh grader Jasmine Perez said is what she pictures the dance will be like.
SOUND OF MUSIC HAS PEOPLE ON EDGE
The school is alive with the Sound of Music. Mr. Char, the director of the play The Sound of Music, has casted his acting crew. “Everyone was really good. Better than other years.” auditioner Ailis McCann said. The play is scheduled to be on March 29 and March 30. There is one catch to going to the play however. Due to the school population, administrators are not sure all students are able to go. “Failing more than one class or have more than one Thursday school between Jan. 31 and March 28 or have any out of school suspensions between Jan. 31 and March 28,” Principal Brown said.
MUMPS OUTBREAK SHOCKS STATE Washington State has started off the New Year with the worst mumps outbreak in the nation from late December. It has been spreading rapidly across the King County area with 143 confirmed cases since Jan. 18. Many schools have taken health precautions to informing students about the mumps but many students have luckily not been affected. “I have heard about the mumps, but I haven’t been affected by the disease because I’m healthy,” sixth grader Marek Kliewer said. The Washington State Department of Health
VALENTINE’S DANCE ON MOVE The month of love is almost upon us, which means the choir-sponsored Valentine’s Cance is approaching. The dance is scheduled to be on Feb. 10. “There is going to be at least 350 students,”
urges you to get an immunization and to take precautions to help stop the mumps from spreading. “To prevent any illness in my house we wash our hands,” sixth grader Malayah Domingo said.
CAREER FAIR DISAPPOINTS EXCITED STUDENTS This month has been a very busy month as the eighth graders have participated in their first Career Fair on Jan. 18. The Career Fair allows students to grasp the different fields and to give the students background knowledge of the different fields. Some students felt that the list of careers was limiting and short. “I think the list of careers could’ve been longer and had more diversity,” eighth grader David Anderson said. While some students felt left out by not having the similar career to their desired dream job. “I would have enjoyed the career fair more if it had included marine biology,” eighth grader Maria-Angela Domingo said.
With a letter being sent out to families of students, the mumps is a bigger deal than usual. There has been more reported cases all around Washington State, being known as one of the largest mumps outbreaks locally in years. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY J. BROWN
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CONNOR M ACDOUGALL You’re scrolling down a website, and you see it. “Donald Trump is a Hamster!” You don’t believe this claim, but eventually you’re, searching websites to make sure the statement’s true. This may sound drastic, but the problem still remains. Fake news is peppered into websites, and people are starting to wonder: Is it a real issue? “Lots of kids today, including adults and teenagers, are reading the fake news and they believe it, and they start talking, and everyone hears the fake news and it
makes an impact in our lives,” seventh grader Olivia Morrow said. There are ways to get rid of fake news yourself. Usually, websites will have a “Report” button, where people can report the fake news to the websites upfront, hoping they will remove the pop -up. Yet it seems like there is no end to fake news. Another common form of fake news is “clickbait”, in which a link is shown on a website that misleads people when the link takes them to a less interesting website that had nothing to do with what the link promised. The companies profit from people
being lured to their website, so is there a real way to get rid of fake news? “I do believe fake news can be gotten rid of,” sixth grader Hassan Abdalla said. “[We can take away] the websites … and not let them online.” Shutting down websites publishing fake news could work, but how do other websites do that? Last year, Facebook realized the effect that fake news had on people, and decided to take a stand. They announced several new features, including an option for users to report questionable news stories, as well as switching up
advertising methods so the creators of fake news don’t profit from their efforts. Search engine Google has done the same, taking away advertising income that fake news websites receive. “We really value giving people a voice, but we also believe we need to take responsibility for the spread of fake news on our platform,” Facebook vice president Adam Mosseri said. Detecting fake news isn't hard to do. The website in question is usually shady in terms of content, and has probably published other fake stories. It also helps to check other, more credible news websites for the same news. “[I check to see] if it seems believable… possible… real,” eighth grader Randall Marchant said. If the website makes an unbelievable claim, like purchasable medication for a major disease, or it claims to predict future events, it’s usually fake. Also, make sure to look closely at photos accompanying the articles. You can see small errors made by those who photo-shopped it. Sadly, for those who don't notice these errors and believe the stories, they might become distressed over the subjects. It won't be easy getting rid of fake news, but when we do, it can help many people in their lives.
A fictional example of fake news report, generated on the internet , was based off of the 2016 film “Nine Lives.” PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY C. MACDOUGALL VIA BREAKYOUROWNEWS.COM
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4 Sources claim to have witnessed President Donald Trump riding on the back of a shark. Trump was allegedly doing so off the western coast of Australia on Jan. 20 in celebration of his inauguration. {SATIRE} PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY J. BROWN
JEZEL BROWN
some common sense to tell a photo is not original.”
There are a few easy ways to tell if an image is Photoshopped just by looking at it. Key points to examine include the probability of the photo being real, edges, lighting and shadows. The first way to judge a Photoshopped image is simply how logical it seems. Although possible, it isn’t likely for Trump to be riding a shark, so that would spark suspicion. “Some things are just obvious; floating limbs, ghost limbs, too many hands, too many legs, missing hands and/or legs,” Fatima Wahab from AddictiveTips.com said. “Sometimes all it takes is a cursory look and
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Rough edges can also give away a fake image. If the photos are slightly blurry and the edges are sharp and pixelated, it wouldn’t blend in correctly. “Bad blending is usually easy to detect, but in all cases you'll find evidence around the edges,” Adam Dachis from Lifehacker.com said.
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Another quality usually easy to spot in edited photos is the lighting. “Probably the biggest [thing] to look out [is] of course lighting in the imagery,” computer applications
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teacher Mr. Kemp said. “If images have been altered usually you'll see different kinds of lighting coming from different directions.” Like the last point, shading is important to look out for. It may be in the wrong area, or simply absent. “In particular, pay attention to shadows, reflections and perspective lines,” Craig Silverman from Poynter.com said. “This requires you to train yourself to spot these irregularities. [Worker in Adobe project management, Kevin] Connor said most people don't notice them - including, of course, some photo manipulators.”
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misleading information to make the information seem different than it actually is. Images can be used in the same way. “[They're] lying about what the picture really is,” sixth grader Zachary Garinger said. Seventh grader McKenzie Emmons described what she thought about how this issue could impact the news. “[If they're making it up], then that's not good,” Emmons said. “They're lying and that isn't right.” On the outside, figuring out if an image is Photoshopped seems like a trivial ability. However, it can prove to be very important, because people look mostly at images and headlines when looking at the news.
The media often uses libel and
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CONNOR MACDOUGALL Students will try as little as they can to plagiarize another person’s work, or simply cheat off of a student’s test, but some people simply must. What do teachers do? When it comes to grading tests, teachers are pretty thorough about detecting plagiarism and cheating. But as Chromebooks start to roll into many classrooms, is cheating becoming more prominent? “No, [cheating has not diminished], because most of the reason students cheat is because they don’t want to show adults their weaknesses,” said English language arts teacher Mrs. Carstens, implying students vow to keep their grades up in order to impress their parents. Many students and teachers at MBMS are split between which method of test taking is better and easier: Chromebooks or paper tests? For one, Chromebooks use no paper, and are easier to grade. But do Chromebooks generate more cheating from students? Carstens uses Chromebooks in her class on a daily basis, and she thinks otherwise. “Paper tests [are easier to cheat with], because it’s easier to see other people’s answers on it,” Carstens said. Eighth grader Allison Thompson thought Chromebooks were better. “It’s not a waste of paper, and it’s more convenient,” Thompson said . Because Carstens is a language arts teacher, she assigns writing
assessments for her students, where they must write a narrative, expository, or argumentative piece on a certain topic. It’s easy for other students to plagiarize other people’s work and claim it as their own, but it’s also easy for Carstens to catch the cheaters. “I start with an in-class write of a student’s sample writing, so I know what their writing really is,” Carstens said,. “When they turn anything later in the year, if it doesn't match up with what I saw with their skills in class, then I Google search a line from their paper.”
There are also steps that teachers will take during tests to prevent students from cheating. Math teacher Ms. Toy doesn’t use Chromebooks for test-taking, but she still effectively takes away a student's urge to cheat. “[I] just walk around, make sure nobody’s cheating,” Toy said. “[I] give the kids a warning that cheating’s a zero and an after-school [detention].” This rule, of course, is in place for more than just math, and teachers still walk around and check their student's progress, Chromebook or paper. Grading tests is hard work for teachers, and usually consumes a
lot of their time. So, when checking for grammatical errors and do they have time to check for plagiarism when grading tests? “Yes, [checking for plagiarism is my top priority] when I'm grading essays,” Carstens said. Cheating is one of the biggest problems we face at Mt. Baker, and it will likely be a long time before it goes away. But with teachers checking their student’s schoolwork more diligently while on computers, it's easy to say that cheating can decline. We just have to find a way.
Journalism students demonstrate a crude example of a student cheating off of another student’s work during a test. PHOTO BY C. MACDOUGALL
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DONG NGUYEN Chromebooks hit the Auburn School District just last year being the 20152016 school year with only a few classes having them to start off with. Here are a list of the few of many challenges Chromebooks have. First, we have an issue with digital citizenship where some students don’t use the school Chromebooks appropriately. This includes students going on YouTube, playing games, listening to music, and more when they’re not supposed to. A minor issue is that Chromebooks don’t have Microsoft Word. This is a challenge because of all the features Microsoft Word has compared to Google docs. Another issue is how slow the
Chromebooks are due to its specifications— specifically its ram. “The time it takes to load everything up.” eighth grader Christopher Henriquez said. Multitasking is also a challenge regarding the Chromebook’s ram. The next is surprising but true, paper usage. Since we now have Chromebooks at our school, we have used less paper because of it. “We purchased more paper last year 2015-2016 than we have so far this year 2016-2017 [so far].” office manager Mrs. Erickson said. Technical difficulties are also an issue we face as students and or teachers. The problems include accidentally deleting all the progress you’ve done on things such as Google docs. We know you can restore them
Auburn School District Chromebook. MBMS started receiving Chromebooks last year at the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year. PHOTO BY D. NGUYEN
by pressing the undo button but it causes chaos such as worrying or doing more things to completely erase all the work you have done. To be fair Chromebooks are essential to schools nowadays because of the technology rising up in our generation.
We’re proud with the change to add Chromebooks to schools because the positives out way the negatives. Even with spending more money such as using more paper, buying more Chromebooks, or electricity use, Chromebooks are definitely useful to doing work during school.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF DORIAN PHOTOGRAPHY
LOGAN CONNER
“Yes, is does, because we can use the internet to search questions.”
“Yes, because you could copy and paste the answer off a website.”
“Yeah, because if I had homework, I could just look up the answers.”
“Of course! What will stop students from opening a second page and looking up the answers. Teacher can’t look at everyone’s Chromebook
KAILEE SIN
AUSTIN COOK
BEAUTY ANUNTAK
MR. KEMP
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NYA BAAD “I believe that there was a man named Valentine, that was truly a good person… who looked for acts of kindness,” said eighth grade counselor Mr. Vatne. While most people celebrate this holiday of “love”, they do not know the real story behind it. Valentine's Day packs a few surprises, such as: candy, the many hues of red and pink, and that it’s a national day celebrated throughout the world. The sweet sugar filled substance, sometimes referred to as candy ties into Valentine's Day. Many people are seen giving away this sweet confection as a showing of love or friendliness. “[Candy is associated with Valentine's Day] because you might want to give candy to other people,” said sixth grader Bethany Garinger. This also helps the candy business, with the United States spending 19.7 billion dollars on Valentine's Day. “I also think that it’s become a commercial hunt thing, and people like to make money. Especially with the card industry and candy industry,” said Vatne. Many may believe that the color of red is related to Valentine's Day in a lovey kind of way. “[Red is connected to Valentine's Day] because it’s the color of love,” said eighth grader Jocelyn Valdez. The color red may mean the love we share, or it could mean the blood of Saint Valentine that was seen after he was decapitated. Some also think the color red is warm and nice, “...because it’s a bright color,” said seventh grader Sean Campbell. The story of Valentine's Day begins with a King wanting more soldiers for war. No one was volunteering because they wanted to stay with
their families. So, to get more soldiers the King outlawed marriage, which in turn made Valentine have an urge to marry many, many couplesbehind the King’s back. Valentine was sentence to death and beheaded publicly. “When you care it relates to doing things of the heart,” said Vatne. The famous and repetitive saying “From your Valentine” is from Valentine sending a letter soon before his death and signing “From your Valentine” to make sure his love knew it was him. “[I think Valentine's Day is a holiday because] being kind to people is something you
want to do. I think that’s the number one reason, “said Vatne. Valentine's Day was also created for marketing purposes like; cards, flowers, and candy. Valentine's Day, this holiday of love is celebrated all over the globe, showing that all humans have that instinct to love. Although Valentine's Day may originate from a terrible event it doesn’t mean you have to celebrate it like that. Go spread some love on February 14. Happy Beheaded Saints Day!
Cupid is pictured here with the head of St. Valentine. This should be the real Cupid. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY N. BAAD.
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The Locker Lottery is a way of getting student’s opinions on various topics. The staff selected two students from each grade for this Q & A. The sixth graders asked were Austin Cook and Kailee Sin. The seventh graders were Gavin Foultz and Kylie Schene. The eighth graders were Nathan McGraw and Beauty Anuntak.
LOGAN CONNER, NICK MILLER, ABRAHAM PEREZ
DO YOU THINK FAKE NEWS IS A PROBLEM IN OUR SOCIETY? A.C: Yes, because it does not tell the truth. K.S: Yes. G.F: Yes, because it’s like gossiping. K.S: I think it is, but only if you don’t know how to tell the differences. N.M: Yes, because it can make people believe fake information. B.A: Yes. Without real news how will we know the real news?
DO
CHROMEBOOKS STUDENT PRODUCTIVITY? YOU THINK
INCREASE
A.C: Yes. K.S: Kind of.
G.F: I actually do. K.S: Yes, because if you forget something then you still have all of your materials. N.M: Yes. B.A: Yes, if we ever need to research anything they can be useful.
N.M: Yes, because it helps people understand the story better. B.A: Yes, it can be a gift.
WHAT
TEAMS DO YOU THINK WILL MAKE IT
TO THE SUPER BOWL? A.C: Steelers vs. Patriots. K.S: I don’t really know. G.F: Green Bay and Steelers.
DO YOU THINK IT IS OKAY FOR DEAD ACTORS TO BE “BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE” USING CGI?
DO
A.C: It's okay. K.S: No, because once it happens it happens. G.F: Yeah, I guess so. K.S: I think it is okay, but it would be better if we didn’t.
YOU THINK PEOPLE ARE OVERREACTING
TO TRUMP BEING ELECTED? A.C: Yes, because he can be a good president and knows how to run a business. K.S: Yeah. G.F: Yes, because people don’t know if he’s going to be good or bad yet. K.S: I think some people are overreacting, but most of them are not. N.M: Some people are, especially with rioting. B.A: No, if he is bad we can try to impeach him.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY A. JACOBS & A. LANG VIA PHO.TO
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE EFFECTS OF PHOTOSHOPPED IMAGES HAVE ON PEOPLE? K.S: Doing it is changing to images we see of them. K.S: I think photoshopping images can really hurt someone’s self-esteem. N.M: It can make people look bad. B.A: If that’s what they want to do then it is fine.
WHAT IS 2016?
YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY OF
K.S: The field trip we had. G.F: Winter break. N.M: Snowboarding with friends. B.A: My sister. PHOTO ILLISTRATION BY L. CONNER VIA PHO.TO
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What
Disagree? The segment ‘What Grinds My Gears’ is presented as opinion and does not express the views of all MBMS students or The Canine Chronicle. If you would like to express your opinion, write us a letter, and you may be published in our next edition.
My
Sneezing Crimes Do you-- know what grinds my gears? People who don’t cover when they sneeze. Especially if they’re sick. For example, one cold, winter morning during third period, I was sitting at my desk working on my soon-to-be new hit novel. Suddenly I hear a sharp intake of breath, then I know I’m DOOMED. ACHOOO! I feel the warm spray of goop and the green, squishy substance that is built up inside of the nasal cavity. I look to my left at the perpetrator, and he is sitting there uncaring, smug, and working on his assignment as if nothing has happened. I get up to grab a towel or napkin to wipe all of this goop from my body. I look around me and see my fellow classmates committing the same crime over and over and over again. DO THEY NOT REALIZE HOW IMPORTANT I AM?!? They are sneezing on purpose just to get me sick, while contaminating the air with their mucus and it is flying everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE. They seem to not care at all about the welfare of others. So everyone, as you read this article, know that you are selfish if you don’t cover when you sneeze. And that is what grinds my gears. —NYA BAAD ___________________________________
PEOPLE...IN GENERAL You know what grinds my gears? People. Especially people who don’t know when to stop talking. I’ll try and make a tiny bit of small talk, but they take it way too far and turn it into a full-fledged conversation. No matter how much I glare at them or how extremely uninterested I am in whatever they are droning on about, they JUST. KEEP. TALKING. They don’t know when to stop.
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I can turn and start to walk away from them, but they just follow me and keep talking. I mean, just stop. Really. There is no reason that a person should be so unaware of other people that they can’t tell that they are very uncomfortable and want the conversation to end as soon as possible. Maybe those people should focus on social skills other than just talking, like learning to read body language, for example. If I’m looking all around at wherever we are, it means I’m not interested. If I am standing and crossing my arms… well, that’s how I stand. With other people, however, it usually means they would rather be anywhere else than there and talking to them. And that is what grinds my gears. —ADELINE MAURUS ____________________________________
VALENTINE’S DAY You know what grinds my gears? Valentine's Day. The cheesy cards and overpriced chocolates, and the nasty chalky-tasting hearts that get handed out every single year. And I get it, it’s a day based around love and romance, but if you’ve ever heard the original story of Valentine’s Day, I wouldn’t exactly think to associate romance with executions [see page 8]. But you know what especially grinds my gears? All of the Valentine’s Day movies where some whirlwind romance happens after some guy sweeps some sad single girl off her feet, and this all coincidentally takes place on, Valentine’s Day. And girls, let’s be honest, why do you wait around for some guy to come profess their undying love for you? Because reality check, this isn't a movie this is middle school. Trust me, no guy is going to be running after you to return the pencil you dropped in second period like you’re Cinderella.
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But if you really like someone you should just ask them out. At least ask them in person though. It might seem scarier, but the worst thing they can say is no. (By the way, saying hi to one another in the hall between second and third period isn’t considered dating.) And that is what grinds my gears. —TATUM MURRY ____________________________________
BAD PENCIL SHARPENERS Do you know what grinds my gears? Bad pencil sharpeners. And not just any kind of pencil sharpener, only the kind that make your pencil worse! The whole reason behind a pencil sharpener is so that you can write! And sometimes, the sharpener makes your pencil even more dull! Like you could stand there for two minutes trying to get your pencil sharpened, but it only breaks your lead down even more! You know what’s even worse?! When the wood is covering the lead so you have to put it a certain way for it to work! Ya know what I mean?! Also, another bad kind of sharpener is when the tray is full so it barely sharpens. But this usually only happens when you buy a cheap sharpener. And you know the noisy sharpeners that sound like a freight train!?! Like you can't even sharpen your pencil without the whole class staring at you! So I guess the moral of the story is, if you don't want to suffer, get a mechanical pencil! And that is what grinds my gears. —ELIJAH AJETO
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ADELINE MAURUS Over the past ten years, the ethnic diversity of MBMS has increased due to the amount of segregation and racism within the United States dropping dramatically. “[The changes were] significant, but [they’ve] been gradual,” woodshop teacher Mr. Jacobs said. “[It wasn’t] just one year, it’s just changed over time.” Eighth grade counselor Mr. Vatne started working at MBMS in the 199596 school year, when there was very little diversity. “Our percent[age] of white... population was probably about 70 to 80 percent,” Vatne said. “We had a small
population of Asian [students], a small population of Latino [students], a small population of Russians/ Ukrainians, and a small population of African Americans.” While the variety of ethnicities was growing, the immigrant population was developing also. “When I started at Mount Baker in 2008, there were 53 secondlanguage students and now there are 125,” ELL teacher Ms. McCann said. In the year 2016-17, the number of ethnicity categories has flourished from four to seven. MBMS now includes Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Black/ African American, Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander, White, and multi-racial students. With the increase in the diversity of
MBMS, the population of immigrants has, too. “As Seattle has started to fill up a little bit with immigrants, with the housing that is designed for immigrants and refugees, it has moved further down to King County and so we have more kids, more families here who are coming from other places that Seattle hasn’t been able to accommodate everyone,” McCann said. Even with all of these diverse cultures, Vatne still sees groups of students that segregate themselves from everyone else in groups based off of race. “...[They have] similar interests and because people are sometimes looking for people that they can connect with,” Vatne said. “The more students
are involved with other people in different [activities], they realize that just because somebody is of a different race, or different religion, or a different lifestyle, doesn't mean that they… won’t have some things in common…” With the changes in diversity, there have been changes in the environment of MBMS. “It’s a more welcoming school… I think it took a little for people to get used to so much diversity because we didn’t have it, but now it’s a really wonderful place to be,” McCann said. While today this school is an open minded place, it was a challenge to make it so. “Students are much more accepting of other students with differences,” Vatne said. “Teachers are [too]. Teachers struggled when I first started, when we had students that would choose to have a different lifestyle…” Though the changes were difficult, they have affected this school in a extremely positive way. “It’s made the school light-years better. We are so much better, such a richer school because of the diversity and… diversity only makes things better,” Vatne said. “People talk about the good old days. The good old days are now… If we keep getting more diverse, even better.”
INFOGRAPHIC BY E. WALTER & A. MAURUS
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ELLIE WALTER MBMS takes pride in how much of a diverse school it is. Over the 23 years that MBMS has been open, there have been many changes in the diversity of our general population along with honors sections. When the school first opened there was three honors sections: one math, one language arts, and one social studies per each grade.
Now there are 28 different classes rom sixth to eighth grade Diversity brings many great things to the MBMS honors classes. “With diversity comes diverse thoughts and ideas,” seventh grade honors language arts teacher Mrs. Hubble said. “It's always good to have diverse thoughts and ideas so it challenges each other's thinking.” Most kids are defined by their cultures, and by sharing these cultures, it can be beneficial to their fellow students. “I think that it’s good exposure for kids to be around students from all
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different backgrounds and different countries so they can learn their cultures and customs,” eighth grade honors social studies teacher Mrs. Carnahan said. But how different are they really? In the 2006-2007 school year honors classes were 82.35 percent white. In the 2016-2017 school year the number dropped to 56.87 percent of white honors students, according to the ASD Department of Technology. To get into honors classes you have to take special tests like the COGAT and MAP assessments. These tests also may be the
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culprit to the reasons honors classes aren't more diverse. “I think most of our standardize testing have some racial bias in it,” eighth grade counselor Mr. Vatne said. With different ethnicities comes different languages. This communication gap could also engender problems. “Sometimes I think there is a language barrier maybe at home,” Carnahan said. “Sometimes kids they miss out on taking the test for placement of honors because there has been no communication.”
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On Oct. 31, the annual Center for Educational Excellence survey allowed MBMS students to express how they felt about their school. Principal Brown shared the anonymous survey results, quoted below, for one question with students and staff: What are you most proud of at MBMS? Principal Brown said the results were “more inspiration and confirmation that all that [teachers] are doing and the hard work [they] are putting in is getting noticed!!!” in an email to the MBMS staff.
“I am proud of no racist jokes at my school. The thing that makes this work is that they enforce it and they make sure that we do not do it when we can.” “I am proud of how my school is very creative and caring and we actually do fun stuff to make us feel that school is a fun place... and they make us want to be here.”
“ I am proud of my school in many ways. One ways for example is by the way they have strong cultural beliefs.”
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“All of the teachers help all of the students learn new things and help us learn basic things.”
“How they handle bullying and fights that happen outside and inside school.” “At my school, I am prou “I am proud about the amount of students that have decided to come this year and how the staff and other adults are dealing with it, especially the students. We have over 1000 students this year.”
sports teams, the school new
pation in programs, and t
from different ethnic backg
proud of being at one of th
Auburn and for our amaz
“I'm proud t hat my school is one of the best schools in Washington. And they are working on getting t he school bigger because many students are coming to t his school.”
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“I'm proud that my school helps students when they are struggling.”
“I am proud of my school because they accept me and others who come to my school to be a part of something.”
“I am proud about how the school has lots of safety, like when we're outside, there are multi“It’s a safe and global family of responple teachers outside sible every day learners.” watching us and there are also gates so no one can go outside “ I am proud of my school for being able to juggle all of these kids because usually our school is the school.”
“How clean it is.”
ud of our many different
supposed to hold about 700 students but there are about 1,015 students.”
wspaper, student partici-
the diversity of students
grounds as me. I am
he best middle schools in
zing students.”
PLEASE NOTE: Reponses were edited for length and clarity. Responses also were part of an anonymous student survey.
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MADDY TAYLOR & MAX KLIEWER A few weeks ago in a galaxy not so far far away, Rouge One hit theaters, giving the viewers a shocking surprise. Since this movie takes place before A New Hope (1977), some of the actors that portrayed some of the characters have sadly passed away. These characters were brought back with the magic of CGI, which stands for computergenerated image. With the help of this technology, they were able to continue these actors legacy. “It can make more people want to watch,“ eighth grader Zoe Moore said. Using CGI is a very complicated process and can take years to finish the final product. After actress Carrie Fisher's’ death, no one thought they may have to do it again for this actor. The people at Lucasfilm have responded to these rumors of possibly bringing her back. “Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess Leia or General Leia Organa,” news website Engadget said. Enough talk about Rouge One, for now and let's talk about some of the many other movies that have done very similar things, movies like Fast and Furious bringing back Paul Walker, and Forrest Gump altering John F. Kennedy to make it seem like he really was there. But before Rouge One, there were plenty of other actors that have been brought back thanks to CGI. “Paul Walker, Jeff Bridges, Aubrey Hepburn, Oliver Reed, Bruce Lee, Brandon Lee, and Marlon Brandon [have all been brought back with CGI], “ Website Digital Media Academy said. Thinking back to the first glimpses of CGI, we can see how advanced it has gotten over the
years, but the question is, how more advanced could it get. “I think that maybe they could make entire movies with CGI and not have to cast any actors,” sixth-grader Madilyn Calkins said. Now is the time where we ask the big question, how would the actors feel if they knew about this, is it right for the producers to do this, and does it respect the actor since they passed away? “If I were dead, I wouldn’t want them doing that to me because I feel that it would make people really depressed when watching it,” seventh-grader Chase Acosta-Vega said. As the world evolves, technology is evolving. There is a good chance that in a couple of years actors could be completely replaced by
MAX KLIEWER "You have to find something that you love enough to jump over hurdles and break through the brick walls,” Director George Lucas said while discussing CGI. CGI (computer-generated image) originated in 1968. In this year a group of Russian mathe-
CGI. Animals have been brought into movies with CGI, so the chances are high. Alan Lewis told BBC News, “While exaggerated movements are easy for a non-actor to simulate, a more expressive performance still requires a professional.” What he is saying is that actors won’t be completely out of the picture because they will still need people to work off of to give the most realistic image possible. But the actors may not appreciate being used as blueprints. Recreating these actors can be seen as disrespectful or as a nice tribute to them. But their legacy with the slim industry can now always live on.
maticians and physicists, lead by N. Konstantinov, developed a groundbreaking mathematical model that allowed them to move a animated cat across a screen. Later, in 1976, the computer generated movie Futureworld, hit theaters and left viewers stunned with awe. George Lucas saw the potential of CGI as well,
but instead of taking a digital approach he choose for the implementation of a mix between analogue and digital technologies. His Star Wars franchise became a major box office hit and an inspiration for many CGI effects that followed.
The levels of C.G.I. used to re-create General Tarkin for Rouge One. PHOTO COURTESY TECHNOBUFFALO
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ELLIE WALTER Aries (March 21- April 19): Be determined to make time for yourself to relax. Maybe it’s time to assess your wardrobe and find a new look.
COMPILED BY TATUM MURRY
The MBMS journalism staff reviewed the plots of famous “love stories” written in 140-characters or less. Starting as a trend on Twitter, the staff has taken the latest craze into their own hands. These blurbs were only generated to look like Tweets written by the staff using PrankMeNot.com.
Taurus (April 20- May 20): If faced with someone that you disagree with, take some time to listen to their side of the argument. You may be surprised at the end result. Gemini (May 21- June 20): If you are faced with the choice between Netflix and homework, feel free to watch a few more episodes. Although your latest Hannah Montana marathon doesn’t count. Cancer (June 21- July 22): After the holidays take some time to exercise. Get in good shape, and imagine showing off that summer body. Leo (July 23- Aug. 22): After the holidays try and keep up the good spirit by thinking more about others. If that’s too hard just go back to online shopping. Virgo (Aug. 23- Sept. 22): Try and get out into the world and make new friends. AAAAANNNNDDDD if that doesn’t work, try talking to your stuffed animals. It’s always an acceptable option. Libra (Sept. 23- Oct. 22): Go out on a whim and try to make some decisions. It might lead you to a fun situation… unless you spend too long deciding whether or not to go out. Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 21): Try and tell your closest friend something new about yourself. They won't judge you. Even if it's about your secret celebrity crush. Sagittarius (Nov. 22- Dec. 21): There is traveling in your future. As long as you can save up your money, so don't spend it on the extra Starbucks. Capricorn (Dec. 22- January 19): Create a brand new playlist on Spotify, and try to delete one. BUT don’t delete the Disney one just yet. Aquarius (Jan. 20- February 18): It's your year! Try to make promises and keep them! But if you can’t... well, you tried. Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20): After the holidays, you must be exhausted. So take some time and JUST SLEEP. Maybe even take a whole weekend.
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KELLI ALLEN
Chasing Cameron is a new Netflix Original, which it’s first season premiered on Dec. 27 and second season soon to come. Cameron Dallas is a famous YouTuber, with over five million subscribers. He’s an actor, starring in Expelled, The Outfield, and appears in Neighbors 2. He has two songs, “She Bad,” and “All I Want”. Dallas is a model for many companies and is overall a big social media celebrity. He has won multiple teen choice awards, including a people’s choice award for “Favorite Social Media Star.” In the first season of Chasing Cameron, there are ten episodes each more than thirty minutes about Dallas’ life.
They keep crying and making drama! LOL! Like TBH, why they being so salty?
9.
He’s 5’9? That’s it?
10. Dallas has over five million subscribers on his YouTube channel, way over 17 million followers on Instagram and Twitter.
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OMG, never mind they all have really sad backstories… Is it all true though?
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How do they all have so many fans! I actually don’t get it.
11.
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Why is Jacob Sartorius here!? He’s fourteen, hanging out with twenty two-year olds.
11. I thought Vine died last year? Why does Cameron Dallas still act like it’s a thing?
And even more views on each of his other many social medias.
12. His squad is lit. They tour all over the United States and meet millions of fans! Whaaaaaaaaat? 13. Look at his jawline! 14. It probably can cut metal, like Dawson Abbe’s.
1. Cameron Dallas is my #mcm.
15. Not even JOKING, RN.
2. He’s a model, he sings, he acts, he’s funny, he’s smart… I’m done.
16. He keeps dying his hair… basically twice an episode—how does he still have so much?
2. Cameron is goals, wow. #blessed.
17. His teeth are shining! They match his white shirt perfectly.
3. Except it looks like he’s wearing pink Koko K, from Kylie Jenner’s lip kit.
18. He has so many clothes. Every ten seconds he switches outfits and hairstyles!
4. I thought I was here to watch Cameron Dallas, but now I’m watching his 17 other friends—I mean it’s okay, I’m not complaining.
19. His sunglasses literally match his outfits, including his shoes, and even his phone, LOL.
5. Jeez, why are they all so emotional? Are they the Kardashians?
20. Can he be my boyfriend? PLEEZ! Chasing Cameron Netflix stars social media stars Cameron Dallas. EDITED BY K. ALLEN
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NYA BAAD
INAUGURATION DAY With our newly sworn in president Donald J. Trump came a lot of protests. These people were protesting immigrants’ rights, women's rights, and the equality of all people. This also caused hashtags such as #goodgirlsrevolt, #womensmarch, and #whyimarch. While some were protesting, others were celebrating for the president they wanted to be elected and sworn in. Are you excited about Donald Trump’s election?
NATIONAL DAYS OF JANUARY The month of January is filled with many interesting and random days. Such as National Cheese Lover’s Day which was January twentieth and on January thirtieth is National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day. Another thing this month of January has in store for you is National Soup Month. While these holidays may have been created for certain people, do you acknowledge strange national holidays?
Acknowledging Martin Luther King Jr. More Martin Luther King Jr. is a very honored man who helped make America equal. But the school doesn’t acknowledge him very much, except for an assembly. He was a leader involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Sadly, he was shot outside on his balcony at a hotel in Tennessee. Should the school acknowledge Martin Luther King Jr. in other ways?
SYCHRONIZING ALL SCHOOL CLOCKS This school has many things about it that make it MBMS, such as the many students and wonderful teachers. But… it also has multiple unsynchronized clocks. Most clocks are behind by minutes or seconds, which also means we are sometimes let out of school at 2:01 or let inside around 7:16 (depending on late start). Should the school begin to make all clocks synchronized and correct?
SUPER BOWL BETTING TIME With the Super Bowl comes many bets and theories. If betting there is a higher chance of losing money than winning. In 2014, $119,400,000 were wagered on the Super Bowl. Most people would bet on their teams, while others bet just to win money. When you're older, would you consider betting on who would win the Super Bowl?
WALK OUT IN SCHOOLS On the day of the inauguration, some students were showing their way of protesting by walking out of class. Students in MBMS were also seen walking out of classes after they were excused from class. They were protesting the election of Donald Trump because they disagreed with his opinions. Would you walk out of class if it was for a cause you didn't support?
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DUNKA R AMIREZ & DAWSON ABBE Varsity boys soccer finished their season undefeated with a record of 8-0. With games against Rainier, Cascade, Olympic, and Mt. Baker Gray and Maroon, the boys worked hard together to defeat those teams.
Soccer involves lots of determination and teamwork. It may be hard, but it’s worth it at the end. “[Being league champions] feels good because all the hard work we did in practice paid off,” striker Ismael Jimenez said. Right midfielder Gunnar Tang believes it all part of the training
Boys varsity soccer team spends time cleaning up campus during practice time and celebrates together after a victory . PHOTO BY H. LINDOR
and learning each other’s techniques. “During training, we worked hard and bonded with each other to learn each other’s playing style,” Tang said. “During the games, we knew exactly what to do to be successful.” Striker Fernando Alvarez also agreed with Tang. It was about working hard during practices. “We did hard work, especially in training,” Alvarez said. “If we didn’t work hard in training, we wouldn’t have gotten where we are now.” Their last game was against Rainier. While the clouds were pouring down massive amount of rain, MBMS boys varsity team still managed to win against Rainier with a blowout. “[My favorite part of the season was] definitely the last game
when it was pouring down rain and we won 9-0,” Tang said. Winning will always be a big part of sports, but what’s more important is interacting with your friends and having fun. “Just being with my teammates and having fun [was my favorite part of the season],” Jimenez said. Without aggressive work and teamwork, the boys varsity soccer wouldn’t have been able to call themselves league champions. “We just kept passing the ball to each other and found out how each teammate played,” Jimenez said. “Even though some teammates were not feeling good in some games, we still tried hard and kept each other positive.”
What was the highlight of your second sports season? ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF DORIAN PHOTOGRAPHY
DUNKA R AMIREZ
“Having my parents watch me do good on the beam and bars and hanging out with my friends.”
“Scoring 14 points [in a game].”
“Getting to play soccer with all of my friends.”
“The awesome sixth graders I’m looking forward to next year.”
CIARA FLETCHER
ISAIAH GULCHUCK
NATHAN MCGRAW
MRS. SWANSON
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KEN OH The varsity boys basketball team won another championship this year, and extended their winning streak to 40 consecutive victories. In the first game against Cascade, the game was a close win of 66-55 with great defense by Joseph Allen and Andre Flores-James to start off the season 1-0. (In case you haven’t seen the last edition, go check it out.) Coach Lubash, who has coached varsity basketball for all five years has been undefeated all five years, said that this was his favorite part of the season. “We didn’t get a chance to warm up and we came out and we got behind but we just battled back
ETHAN WALTER-GOODSPEED The girl’s gymnastics team started and finished their season strong with a second place spot among the other schools, losing narrowly to Rainer Middle School with that team taking first place overall. In that meet, the gymnasts who scored big for MBMS were Makayla Brooks on the vault with a score of 8.2 and Taylin Green was just in front of her with an 8.5. On the bars the two top scores were Jocelyn Farias with a solid 8.0 and Soena L. 8.2. On the balance beam the two top scores were Kaelyn McFarland with an 8.25 and Seona Lang with an 8.65 and
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and came back and won. It was a great win [against Cascade],” Lubash said. The team came away with another dub in their second game. After a 19 point lead, North Tapps couldn’t come back. After two more wins, the Bulldogs beat Cascade 70-42 right before break to make their record 5-0. They beat North Tapps as their sixth game. Their seventh game, they had a lead of 15-0 in the beginning but blew the lead near the fourth quarter. Brett Harvey made a tying layup from behind the backboard with two minutes left in the game to change the momentum of the game. Baker came back to win the close game 57-52.
last but certainly no least the floor! Angelina scored an 8.4 and Makayla Brooks scored an 8.6 barley outscoring Angelina Pakhnyuk. The team's main three coaches are Mrs. Swanson, Mrs. Keaton and Mrs. Swanson’s identical twin daughters, Kamlyn, and Kari. The sixth grade futures team had a good start, winning their first meet, the same goes for the varsity team with key people on each team making big difference in the score. Swanson was very proud of her gymnasts saying her favorite part of the meets is “seeing the kids doing something they've never done” before like getting over the uneven bar, or finishing their routine perfectly.
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Point guard Kevin Griffin shoots a free throw against Cascade. Baker won that game 70-42. COURTESY OF MBMS YEARBOOK
Quamari Townsel stated what his favorite part of the season. “[My favorite part of the season was] being able to play with all my friends and stuff and winning the championship,” Townsel said. On their last game, Baker won 69-54 with outstanding help from Jack Looney and Kevin Griffin to finish the season undefeated (80). Upon winning the game, Baker
achieved a 40-game win streak, the most wins in a row in the history of Auburn. Harvey, who contributed much to the season spoke his mind about making the record. “I feel accomplished and relieved that we didn’t break [the streak],” Harvey said.
MBMS gymnasts (Kaelyn McFarland, Anna Adams, Joanna Clever, Natasha Bounma, and Jocelyn Farias) all pose for a picture in there last meet. COURTESY OF MBMS YEARBOOK
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JACK MORRELL On Feb. 5, in Houston, Texas, Super Bowl LI (51) will be played in the NRG Stadium. The game will be between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. Taking a look back into early rounds of the playoffs, a few teams were proven very dominant. During the weekend of Jan. 7-8, the NFL playoffs kicked off with the wildcard round. The Seattle Seahawks played at home and defeated the Detroit Lions with a score of 26 -6, and the Green Bay Packers dominated the visiting New York Giants by 25 points (3113). In the AFC wildcard rounds, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Miami Dolphins 30-12, and the Houston Texans got past the Oakland Raiders by a difference of 13 points (27-14). The following week, the NFL entered the divisional round of the playoffs. The Dallas Cowboys came ready to play, hosting the Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys held the number one seed in the NFC, but surprisingly fell to the Packers 34-31 with a last second clutch kick by Mason Crosby. The Houston Texans faced off against the number one seed in the AFC, the New England Patriots. As expected the Patriots ending up winning 34-16. The Seattle Seahawks traveled to Atlanta to take on the
Falcons after a strong win in the wildcard round. Atlanta took control of the game in the second quarter, and started to run away with it. The Falcons won 36-20. The Pittsburgh Steelers, who were arguably the hottest team in the NFL, took on the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers added to their eight game win streak, making it nine straight, winning 18-16. The NFL was down to the conference championships. The Atlanta Falcons walked all over the Green Bay Packers, winning 44-21.
The Falcons are heading to their first Super Bowl since 1999. The New England Patriots will be visiting the Super Bowl for the sixth time in 15 years, as they beat the Steelers, 36-17. Eighth grader Gracey Rivera, enjoys attending Super Bowl parties every year. “I really enjoy chips and dip while watching the Super Bowl�. Will Matt Ryan receive his first Super Bowl win, or will Tom Brady add to his many? Find out on Feb. 5 when the Falcons clash with the Patriots.
Feb. 5 in Houston is the site of Super Bowl 51. PHOTO COURTOUSY OF NFLSHOP.COM VIA CREATIVE COMMON LICENSE.
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF NFL.COM
What team did you think would win the Super Bowl pre-playoffs? ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF DORIAN PHOTOGRAPHY
DAWSON ABBE
“Falcons since their quarterback and wide receiver are really good together. Also they have a really good defense that gets a lot of stops.“
“I think it’s Green Bay, because Aaron Rogers is beasting right now.”
“Steelers because they’ve been doing good all season and Big Ben throws dimes. And you can’t forget about Antonio Brown and Le’veon.”
“I was hoping it was Seattle, but when there was about three minutes left of the game, I thought it was probably Atlanta.”
MAX ERICKSON
CAMERON ALLEN
ZOE MOORE
MRS. CARSTENS
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