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Eighth grader Sabrina Rogers mournfully looks at once was a robust sculpture created in Mr. Seth Wolfshorndl's
3-D art class.
A CASE OF EVOLVING ART
By SABRINA ROGERS
Room 210 Staff Writer
Almost everyone knows about the nylon sculptures in Mr. Wolf's 3-D Art Class.
Yeah, I made one! And I put it on Mr. Turner's desk so everyone could see it, because it's cool.
But no, some people don't care about other people's works of art! So they destroy it and make it look horrible
because they think it's funny and it is not!
That was my baby, my world, and people ruined it because they thought it was fun. That was my life!
But afterwards, it looked kind of cooler than it did before. And more and more people got to mess with it
and it gets cooler and cooler. So we will see it turn into something cool. So it turns out, my baby is evolving art.
(To check it out, go to Mr. Turner's room, Room 210.)
A SMALL TOWN TEACHER
By FOX NAVARRE
Room 210 Staff Writer
A murder, a bank robbery and soon-to-be famous writer all in a small town; just not the same one. Look out,
Joplin, Missouri, for your own South Middle School eighth grade communication arts teacher, Mr. Randy Turner's novel, "Small
Town News," has hit the shelves and left them just as quickly since the publishing date of Sept. 22.
A girl moves to a new town and and as she learns to adjust to her new school surroundings these two unfortunate
events occur and she gets a chance to see just how the media works when dealing with this.
For more information, read Melody Ketron's book review or better yet, read the book yourself.
The first draft of the book took Mr. Turner approximately six weeks to write and was finished in the summer
of 2003. For two years he has been trying to get it published before he found IUniverse, which gave him suggestions on how
to strengthen the book.
The novel was based on a true event, which was so disturbing that Mr. Turner had his students at his former
school, Diamond Middle School, discuss and write about it. The person who went missing was the school's very own superintendent.
It's a normal reaction when you see horrible things in the news to think "that will never happen to me." After the superintendent
disappeared, Mr. Turner and his students talked about the way the media handled the story. That discussion inspired the book.
Nr, Turner offers a bit of advice for young writers: "Write every day, every chance you get. Let people
read your writing and ask for advice. Just write!"
A NEW WORLD
Room 210 Staff Writer
People say on New Year's Eve that the new year is like starting over; like one of those magic boards that
you can write on all day then lift the sheet up and start over clean. This is how I see this move. I can simply pull up the
sheet on my life and start anew but that's not as easy as it seems; forgetting the past.
My parents promised me on each of our moves that we were staying there until I graduate from
high school, maybe longer...and we move every time. Again, I hear the same promise. Kind of makes you stop believing in tomorrow,
doesn't it? Every night I would stare at the ceiling and rehash that day's events, knowing that tomorrow is a new day. I suppose
that regardless of what other people have done or said, tomorrow could be better or worse, but there will always be a day
that at least one good thing will happen that overpowers the bad. I taught myself this lesson.
However, we bought the house here in Joplin, instead of renting and are hopefully staying through
my senior year in high school, like they promised. This gives me mixed emotions. I miss Arizona. It was hot, yet the winters
were wondrous there. I could usually wear shorts until Christmas. I also had a group of friends that I loved dearly. We dubbed
ourselves the "Caboodles Clan," for most of our names began with a C, and we were extremely hyperactive and playful. One of
my friends and I joked about being separated at birth. Then we narrowed that down to being simply half-brother, hafl-sister.
We were that close.
Then came the day that my parents introduced the idea of moving. I remember crying a lot that
night. THis is how they always brought it upon me; "What are the worst things about your school here and what are the best?"
Of course, I stated more bad things about the school than good because, well, I'm a child, a teen, but really still a child.
Then they present the idea of moving. I distinctly remember saying that having my friends was worth more than all of the horrible
things about school that I had listed. I knew that we were going to move anyway because my parents wanted out of the city,
out of the heat, out of the smog, but they were considerate enough to let me stay until my seventh grade year had ended.
When I told my friends of my parents' decision, their reactions were surprisingly calm...something
like..."What?! And when were you planning on telling me this?!" Yes, those were the good ole days.
I missed Arizona a lot during my first week in the new state. On the drive from the scorching
desert to Missouri, I noticed subtle changes in the landscape. It went from desert...to desert with bushes... to grass and
bushes...to forest! I was amazed. Green was, indeed, not a myth! In Arizona, the land is different wherever you are. Contrary
to popular belief, Arizona is not completely desert. In fact, if you travel 20 miles in any direction from the place that
my grandparents live in north Airzona, the scenery changes tremendously. Toward the north, things were flat, desert-like,
and had many long canyons and mesas.
However, if you traveled east, the environment around you changed dramatically to ranchlands,
and then changed to volcanic cones toward the west. South of there happened to be my favorite direction in which to travel,
for the land was mountains and forests of tall pines, complete with elk and mountain sheep. It was gorgeous. Further south
is where you hit desert. There is a saying in Arizona that goes, "If you don't like the scenery, turn around."
The heat in Arizona is different, as well. I like to consider Arizona the frying pan and Missouri
the stewpot. Shade in Arizona actually cooled you off when the temperature rose, and I have seen people walking on the white
lines of the blacktop simply because it is much cooler. Here, however it remains humid, even in the shade.
My first summer here progressed. I often found myself complaining about how I was never going
anywhere with my friends, because I hadn't any. However, as school grew nearer, the trepidation seemed to wash over me as
well. I'd been longing for school to start and now I wished that it wasn't so close, and yet, day by day it grew nearer until
it was the day before school started and I was frantically speaking with my mother about how I've never before dealt with
a locker, and other simple things like that; things that I have mastered now. She reassured me that I would be fine and so
I lovingly trusted my mother. Besides, learning how to deal with it now is better than bothering with it in high school.
Back to the story, I didn't get any sleep that night because we had made the mistake of getting a
puppy the month before school started. She dutifully kept me awake as a puppy should. By the next morning, I was tired, grouchy,
nervous and hungry. Of course, I settled the "hungry" factor, but the other attitudes remained as I climbed into the van to
be driven to my first day of school. I can remember how fast and hard my heart was beating. I remember how parched and dry
my throat was. This was shocking to me, for throughout the summer I'd complained about not having any friends here, not knowing
anyone, and I've gotten over being shy, but I suppose that it's the same as before-performance jitters. There's always the
possibility that the play is going to go horribly wrong and you never want the curtain to drop because of you. It's a difficult
feeling to become used to. The first day of South Middle School was the same for me, as well.
When we first got our lockers, which I had never experienced, for we had an outdoor school
and were forced to carry our belongings through whatever weather we might have been having that day (which was mostly sun)
from class to class. My lock refused to open for me, but was perfectly fine with opening for anyone else. Then again, I opened
it once when I was trying to prove to my TA teacher that I had gotten a stubborn one. I met a couple of girls that were kind
enough to help me with it that day.
I loved all of my teachers, but that's not saying very much. I usually do, and I enjoyed most
of my classes.
During my second physical education class, a girl that I'd become friends with and I were chosen
to be office workers. I sincerely believ that this helped me out tremendously in being a new student. I know where almost
everything is, and I'm learning to become more friendly and outgoing in a new place. This was also the day that I made a friend
just as crazy as myself, who also opened my locker for me at the end of the day.
I noticed a large change in the attitude of people in these different areas as well. The adults
on the staff at my other school were not as polite as those who spend their time in the office here. The majority of the population
in Arizona, however, weren't really taught to be so kind and polite. TO be honest, the fact that there was a lack of trees
gave the people a sense of freedom. We also had a large respect for the animals and plants there, for it takes a strong and
special species to be able to survive in the desert. I've been told by a reliable source (I've always wanted to say something
like that.) that living in Missouri, most people were taught to be a certain way, brought up to act in a certain way, while
others, who live in Arizona, would prefer to discover things for themselves. Either way, the office workers here are better
than those in Avondale, Ariz.
The first two days of school, during which I received help and kindness, were the only two
days in which I have had trouble. the rest of my time here has been fun, enjoyable, and I have to admit, though I would rather
that my mother not know, that this move might have been a good thing.
Though I would love to say that the first few weeks of school here in Joplin, Missouri, were
an adventure, I have to push that thought aside.
The adventure has just begun.
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