6th Grade Class Newspaper (Mar 2, 2018)

Lion Pride Newspaper

6th Edition Friday, March 2, 2018

6th Grader Sohum sukhatankar Wins County Spelling Bee

You may remember Sohum from the St. Mark’s spelling bee, but he’s taking it to a whole new level by winning the county spelling bee. We asked to interview Sohum, and he happily agreed.

Interviewer: Is there a method that you use that helps you succeed?

Sohum: To succeed, I do a variety of things. First, I gather resources and do a trial run to see how many I get wrong. Then, I order the resources from the ones where I made the most mistakes to the ones where I made the fewest to organize them by priority. I make sure to go over each resource thoroughly. Also, I learn the spelling rules of each language and their exceptions. For example, in Latin, the letter k and digraph ph are never used. In French, /oh/ is usually spelled as eau or au.

I: How many of these words do you just figure out on the spot?

S: Learning the rules helps me figure out words on the spot. If I haven't heard a word at a county or regional bee, rules usually help. However, at nationals, I have to rely on the words I know. One of the words I got at the NSF National Spelling Bee was Sadducee (pronounced sa.juh.SEE). In this case, rules wouldn't have helped.

I: What was the hardest word in the county spelling bee?

S: I had studied all of the words. However, some of the words I got that were more difficult included rejoneador , rendezvous , balneation , and occision .

I: If you won the National Spelling Bee prize, what would you do with it?

S: Right now, I'm not focused on what to do with the prize. I'm more focused on doing my best and winning the contest first.

I: Which was more exciting: The county bee or St. Mark’s spelling bee?

S: Winning the county spelling bee was more exciting because I knew the runner­up and her skill level. However, we only went about five rounds because she missed fairly early.

I: What do you expect for some of the future spelling bees?

S: In the future, I expect nationals to "bee" slightly easier, but Dallas to be harder.

Recently, a girl who got 7th in the Scripps National Spelling Bee moved to Dallas, but I've beaten her in other competitions. I just need to study hard enough so it's easier to win.

I: What’s your next competition, and when is it?

S: My next spelling bee is the Dallas Regional Spelling Bee. All of the info on the bee is at dallasspellingbee.com.

Ask Dr. Gabby

Dr. Gabby is answering questions that 6th graders have dropped in her office anonymously, and we hope not only the people who had the question but others who may have a similar one, can benefit from this.

Dear Dr. Gabby, People think that the only way to be cool is to do the wrong things and put other people down. The wrong things that they do are petty, but I still don’t think it’s worth doing the bad things, but I also want to fit in. What should I do?

&

Dear Dr. Gabby, My friends are beginning to become meaner towards my other not­as­close friend.

If I try to stop this, I fear that I will lose my closer group of friends. But if I ignore them, then my not­as­close friend will not like me and will group me into the group of my friends. What should I do?

These are both excellent questions that touch on the same theme: Is it better to do the right thing and risk being left out, or to do the wrong thing (or stand by while others do the wrong thing) and maintain your social status? The answer to these questions always comes back to a matter of values. I like to think of the problem on a two­sided scale. On one side are the values of justice and kindness, and on the other side is popularity. If you find yourself valuing popularity over kindness and doing the right thing, then the answer to your question is just to stand back while your friends treat others poorly or break the rules.

However, the very fact that you’re asking this question tells me that while you would very much like to keep the friends you have, sitting back or joining in on the wrong thing leaves you with a knot in your stomach. That’s what we call a

gut check. If you make a choice and you feel in your gut that the choice is wrong, that feeling will stick with you and it won’t make fitting in feel very fun. As is most often true in life, doing the right thing is the hard thing to do. If you refuse to join in on the petty, wrong things your friends are doing, or if you decide that you need to tell someone in authority about what they’re doing, your friends may not want to be friends with you anymore. If you choose to stand back while your friends are mean to another student, you are right in thinking that you’ll be seen as part of that group. That’s what we call being a “passive participator” – if you watch something bad happen and you don’t do anything about it, you’ve worsened the problem in another way.

I’m guessing that the authors of these questions both already know the right answer, even though it’s the difficult thing to do. Friends who do wrong will only lead you down the wrong path. Friends who are mean to others aren’t worth having as friends. It may be time to find a new group. Or, if you’re brave enough, you may choose to stand up against the choices your friends are making. You might say something like, “Guys, I’m not OK with what you’re doing right now. I’m not going to join in. If that means we can’t be friends anymore, then that’s too bad.” Or if you hear one friend making a mean comment about another student, you could say, “that’s just mean” and then change the subject. If it continues, stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. “You keep saying mean things about him, he’s actually a really nice guy and he’s my friend. You need to stop.” You may be happily surprised to find out that there are others in your friend group that feel the same way you do, and who support you in wanting to do the right thing. If not, it’s time to find new friends! If you’d like to learn how to make new friends, come on by or message me to set up a visit, and we can talk more about how to widen your friend group!

Miscellaneou Sectio

Is The Flu Leaving For The Year?

We all know that this year the flu has been bad. There have been a lot of absences this year because of the flu, so I have some good news, the flu may be winding down! That would be great news for anyone like me who got the flu this year.

What is the Flu? Influenza, commonly known as the "flu," is an extremely contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza A or B viruses. The flu appears most frequently in winter and early spring. The flu virus attacks the body by spreading through the upper and/or lower respiratory tract.

Is the Flu really winding down?

“It's been a tough season so far this year, but this week we're actually seeing the influenza­like illness activity beginning to drop,” Dr. Daniel Jernigan, a flu expert at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), told NBC News. He also said, “We're seeing that the weekly rate of hospitalizations is beginning to decline, and also the deaths. Clearly, it’s been going down on the west coast and now it’s starting to go down in the Rockies and the Midwest, but there’s still a lot of influenza happening in the East coast and in the South.”

What have the death counts been like this year?

Dr. Jernigan said, “So many people die of the flu that they are not counted one by one, except for children. Instead, the CDC looks at how many deaths are reported from flu­like illnesses or pneumonia and extrapolates from those. The latest data, which goes back to the week that ended February 3, showed that 9.5 percent of all deaths were from flu and pneumonia. The flu kills between 12,000 and 59,000 people every year in the U.S. alone and puts as many as 700,000 into the hospital. It takes weeks to gather data but this year has shaped up to be on the severe end in terms of sickness, death, and hospitalization.”

We still need to be safe

Jernigan cautions that flu season is not over. “There is still a lot of influenza to come and so we're likely to see influenza continue to circulate until April.”

We still need to wash our hands and be safe, but this is definitely good news as far as the flu goes.

Chinese New Year

(above) Dr. Chiang’s advisory ringing in the Chinese New Year.

The Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays for the Chinese. It occurs on the first day of the first month on the traditional calendar.

Unlike the Western calendar, the Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar. That means that it indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. A lunar month is about two days shorter than a month on the solar calendar. In order to “catch up” with the solar calendar, an extra month is inserted every couple years.

You may be wondering, when and how did the Chinese New Year celebrations first begin? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is clouded in the mysteries of history, and the dates can vary. It is said to have started during the Shang Dynasty (1766 BCE ­ 1122 BCE). However, there are some who believe that it started from as early as Emperor Yao and Shun (c. 2300 BCE).

How exactly did the celebration start? According to legends and tales, the amazing festival began with a fight. A fight with the mythical beast, Nian. The animal appeared to be an ox with a lion’s head. Nian dwelled in the sea and ventured out on land once every year on the eve of the Chinese New Year. When it journeyed on land, it harmed people, properties, and animals. Soon, the villagers discovered that the feared beast had fears of its own. The color red, fire, and noises

frightened the beast. For this reason, everyone launched fireworks, put red posters on their doors, and hung lanterns. The beast never made an appearance again. Now that you know how it started you can understand a lot more about the New Year.

Why should you participate in the Chinese New Year? It is a fun experience, and you get some cool gifts. These gifts are hongbao. Hongbao are red envelopes that contain money in them. The reason they are significant is not because of the money, but because of the color red. The red on the wrapping paper bestows joy and fortune to the receiver. They are given to relatives, friends, employees, parents, grandparents, your friend’s children, and your own children. However, if you are not in it for the money, you are rewarded with beautiful lanterns in the sky, fireworks, and a good time. The fun experience also includes glorious Chinese cuisine. Noodles, dumplings, fish, spring rolls, and Nian Gao (glutinous rice cakes) are served on the table.

Sport Sectio

2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Medal Count and Recap

Norway was pretty dominant in the Olympic games, but Germany did very well in the final week.

Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Norway

14 14 11 39

Germany

14 10 7 31

Canada

10 8 9 29 U.S.A

9 8 6 23

Netherlands

8 6 6 20

Korea, who has the home advantage, came in 6th in the medal race. They are a unified team of athletes from North and South Korea.

Korea

5 8 4 17

Here are some of the top stories of the Olympics: Red Gerrard won the first US Gold in PyeongChang .

Chloe Kim won Gold in Women’s Halfpipe, and Shaun White won men’s.

Adam Rippon won Gold in skating.

The USA beat Canada in the Women’s Hockey gold medal match shootout.

Chris Mazder of US won the first medal in men’s luge.

Norway won the most medals in all categories: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

The United States Curling team won its first­ever gold medal.

Champions League Group of 16 1st Leg Reviews

FC Basel vs. Manchester City: FC Basel had no chance, and Manchester City easily beat them 4­0.

Juventus vs. Tottenham Hotspur: Tottenham went down by two in the first ten minutes, but they came back and tied 2­2.

FC Porto vs. Liverpool: Mané scored three goals as Liverpool cruised to a 5­0 victory.

Real Madrid vs. Paris Saint­Germain: Real Madrid came back from being down one and Ronaldo scored two as Real won, 3­1.

Bayern Munich vs. Besiktas: Bayern Munich crushed Besiktas as expected, 5­0.

Chelsea vs. Barcelona: Chelsea pulled a big surprise as Willian and Messi both scored one, the only for their teams, 1­1.

Sevilla FC vs. Manchester United: Sevilla and Manchester both fought hard and finished the match with a scoreless draw.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs. AS Roma: Shakhtar Donetsk defied all odds and came back to beat AS Roma, 2­1.

Joke , Riddle , an Comic Sectio

Jokes and Riddles

Jokes ● What do you call a confused cow? ­­­­­­­Beef­uddled.

● What do you call a sacred hole? ­­­­­­­Holy.

● What do you call a gross person that grows a lot? ­­­­­­­Gruesome.

● Why don’t eggs tell jokes? ­­­­­­­Because it cracks them up.

● What do you call a witch that likes the beach? ­­­­­­­A sand­witch.

● What did the digital clock say to the analog clock? ­­­­­­­Look, Ma­­no hands!

● A spanish magician says that he will disappear on the count of tres. He said “Uno, dos…”, and then he disappeared. He disappeared without a tres.

● What do you get when you drop a piano down a mineshaft? ­­­­­­­A flat minor.

● How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh? ­­­­­­­Ten­tickles.

● What is a cow’s favorite thing to read? ­­­­­­­Cattle­logs.

● What do you call a snowman on a hot day? ­­­­­­­A puddle.

● Why does a rock from the Moon taste better that a rock from the Earth? ­­­­­­­Because it is a little bit meteor.

● What do you call an apology note written in dots and dashes? ­­­­­­­Remorse code.

● What did the two Egyptians say when the farted at the same time? ­­­­­­­We Tutankhamen.

● What do cats eat for breakfast? ­­­­­­­Mice Krispies.

Riddles

● What has a mouth, but never speaks and runs, but never goes anywhere? ­­­­­­­A river.

● What can point in every direction, but can’t reach a destination by itself? ­­­­­­­Your finger.

ComicS

Credits

We could not have done this without our sponsor, Mrs. Jenkins, and our writers and editors:

Ben Adams Hudson Brown William Clarke Warner Hartnett Henry Hoak Adam Kappelman Raja Mehendale Nathan Meyer Quina Perkinson Baxter Perry­Miller Bobby Strauss Sohum Sukhatankar Reed Sussman Tyler Tang Thomas Whitehurst