2nd Marking

Period Edition

Linglestown Middle School

RAMpages 16

Eric Belfanti wins LMS National Geographic Bee for Third Straight Year

By Mrs. Sterbinsky

Eric Belfanti, an 8th grade student at Linglestown Middle School, won the school competition of the National Geographic Bee on December 14th for the third straight year. No student has ever accomplished this difficult achievement.

The school bee, at which the students answered questions on geography, was the first round in the 29th annual National Geographic Bee. Eric placed first by answering all three of the championship round questions correctly.

In the LMS Bee, Kasi Loser, a fierce 6th grade competitor, placed second. A tie for third place included Timothy Dao, an 8th grader and Ty Elbertson, a 6th grader.

Thousands of schools around the United States are participating in the 2017 Geographic Bee. The school champions, including Eric, will take a qualifying test; up to 100 of the top scorers on that test in each state will then be eligible to com-plete in their state Bee on March 31st, 2017.

Congratulations to the 10 students

who participated in the 2016

American Mathematics

Competition. Results are in-1st is

Jason Chen, 2nd is Lawrence Chen

and 3rd is Callie Ritter.

Congratulations to our

Spelling Bee winners.

4th-Jaden Sutch

3rd-Tiffany Chen

2nd-Lydia Gonzalez

1st Place-Joshua Hicks

These students will represent

LMS at the next round.

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Eating Competitions: Delightful or Deadly?

By Avelina Zirkle

Eating Competitions are a pastime that we’ve all most likely seen, whether on TV, or at a local fair or carnival. Heck, even our OWN SCHOOL had one last year for Pi Day. For years upon years, men and women stuff their faces in the name of entertainment. It’s all fun and games, right? Maybe not, because choking, waste of food, people eating their own vomit, and even death have occurred at competitions like these. There are also long term effects, such as weight gain, stomach problems, and heart disease. However, fans of the pastime have defended competitions such as the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition, saying that people who enter know the risks, that there are medical staff in case of an emergency, and that you win fame, not to mention copious amounts of cash.

Staff vs. Students Basketball Game The basketball game was a very fun event! Tensions were high and

the score was always very close. I was a photographer so I stood on the sidelines and got slammed into a couple times, but it was fun! As sweat was dripping and muscles were beginning to weaken, the game was coming to an end. The score proved that students had won, but teachers were convinced that they should have walked away with the trophy. We all know that students were better though. Ha-ha, just kidding. Everybody did a great job and the basketball game was a success.

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Middle School Drug Testing Kaiya Hutchinson

I believe middle school students should be drug tested for sports. One reason to do drug tests would be to decrease the amount of students abusing substances. Also, using drugs not only interferes with a student's ability to learn, but it can also disrupt the teaching environment. It affects other students as well. If you decrease the amount of students using drugs it will help the school's grade point average. Tests have shown that drugs affect a person’s learning ability. It will also benefit students health. This is why drug tests should be conducted in middle schools. Adolescent brains and bodies are still developing. This makes them vulnerable to the effects of drugs. Repeated drug use could affect academics, mood changes, paranoia, anxiety, and more. Testing methods are easy and do not harm the student. One method of testing is sweat. A sampling of sweat can be collected and tested. Another method is by taking a hair sample. The root of the hair can be tested. Are students able to “beat” the test? Many times when students do use drugs they have a way to detoxify themselves of the drugs to avoid being caught.

Some people ask if it is legal to drug test students. In June 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court broadened the authority of public schools to test students for illegal drugs. Voting 5 to 4 in Pottawatomie County v. Earls, the court ruled to allow random drug tests for all middle and high school students participating in competitive extracurricular activities. The ruling greatly expanded the scope of school drug testing, which previously had been allowed only for student athletes.

Pearl Harbor

Do you know the history behind Pearl

Harbor? Not many people know the deep

roots of this famous holiday.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor took place

on December 7th, 1941. Germany wanted

to prevent the United States from entering the war and persuaded Japan to attack Pearl Harbor.

Japan used their bombers to attack Pearl Harbor. The attack lasted 110 minutes from 7:55am to

9:45am. 2335 US servicemen were killed. 1142 US servicemen were wounded. 68 civilians were

killed and 35 were wounded.

Americans used Anti-Aircraft guns to take down some of the planes killing a total of 65 men and

capturing 1 alive.

Pearl Harbor is on the south side of the Hawaiian island Oahu. It is home to a US Naval base.

The attack on Pearl Harbor brought the US into World War II. This is exactly what Germany was

trying to prevent.

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Just Around the Oil Pipe By: Crystal Echeverria

Recently, a story about a pipeline passing through Standing Rock Sioux Tribe territory hit the headlines. Why is this such a big deal you ask? This territory is all that they have left after the near genocide centuries ago. The land is precious to them, and it’s precious to agriculture as well. The land is pure, untouched by chemicals, and contains so much beauty. The government has claimed that the pipe is safe, but when asked why they cannot have it cross a nearby city, Bismarck, they said that it could possibly leak. They rerouted the pipe under the Missouri River. Right next to the Sioux Tribe. There is not a vital need for oil in the area. The “safe” pipeline is under the main source of water. There could be trouble.

Protesters have said, “We can live without oil, we can’t live without water”. The government has reasoned this route change by saying that there is a smaller population in Standing Rock than in Bismarck. By putting the pipe on the Native territory, fewer people will be in danger. Before you agree with the government ask yourself, “why is the population low?”

The plans of the pipeline continued on the edge of the Standing Rock instead of through it, but not without a struggle. A group of 400 were hurt, pepper sprayed, tear gassed. Protesters even waded in water below freezing. It was like Bloody Sunday all over again. The Native Americans have been pushed around for centuries. Many feel it is happening again.

There are two ways to look at this issue. The government was trying to go through the property, or the Natives were not willing to let the government use the land. It would have been dangerous to send the oil with any other way of transportation other than a pipeline. Whatever side you chose, look for more facts and reason first.

Super Moon is Not from the Comics

By Victoria G.

All Stargazers were looking up at the sky on November 13th

and 14th. Why? To witness the biggest and brightest moon

in almost 70 years-the Super Moon!

What is a Super Moon?

It is neither technical or astronomical, it refers to the moon’s

proximity to the Earth. The Super Moon is 15 percent larger

and 30 percent brighter than normally seen for an average

full moon. This is the first Super Moon since 1948. The next

one will be in 2034.

Meet Mrs. Brubaker

Mrs. Brubaker is a new 6th grade teacher on the Lions team. She

came to us from Swatara Middle School.

Mrs. Brubaker went to Millersville University and then on to

Penn State for her Masters. She really wanted to be a nurse. Her

favorite subject is math.

Mrs. Brubaker played softball and basketball.

Her oldest son began college this year at Messiah

College.

Welcome Mrs. Brubaker. Stop by and say “Hi”!

THE NATIONS’S REPORT CARD AND YOU

Soon you may notice some of your classmates receiving hall passes to excuse them from class on February 8th. You will probably wonder: What are they for? And where are these students going?

These students have been chosen to participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as NAEP. You may be thinking that NAEP is just another test, but it’s not. NAEP is different from our state assessments because it represents students across the country.

Ever heard of The Nation’s Report Card? That’s NAEP. The assessment results are released as The Nation’s Report Card, and they help the President, Congress, and all of our educators make decisions about how to improve our education system. NAEP is what the general public will hear about on the news when reporters discuss what students are learning.

The actual assessment takes about 120 minutes. During that time, students will take an assessment in mathematics or reading on tablets or in paper booklets. All students will be asked questions about their educational experiences that may be related to performance, such as homework and reading habits. Student scores are anonymous and will not affect student grades or academic records in any way. Instead, they will be combined with the scores of other students to produce results that reflect student capabilities nationwide.

Students who are selected to participate in NAEP have an important job to do. NAEP will provide a national snapshot of what students have learned in school, and it is essential that students take it seriously, try their best, and answer all the questions they can.

If you would like to see questions or results from past NAEP assessments and learn more about NAEP and why it is important for students, check out NAEP on Twitter and Facebook, or visit http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/students

Congratulations to the three teams who competed in the Regional

Future City Competition on January 21st. Team Somerset

showcased their model skills with an electric train and motorized

wind turbine. Team New Sydney secured a special award for an im-

pressive city infrastructure! Team Zeme Taurins consisting of Mag-

gie Doherty, Bryna Landefeld, Danielle Bostjancic, Eleanor Haugsby,

Connor Burns, Megan Cavoli, Megan Gardner, Maisy Smith, Emma

Rundle and Charlotte Tenny placed 2nd for the first time in LMS his-

tory! Congratulations to everyone!

RamShack Picks of the Week for

February

Porcupine Spiky Pens

Have you been seeing your

friends with cool pens? Well,

they have been getting them

from the RamShack.

It is the pick of the

week in the LMS

Dice Erasers

Would you rather have a plain

eraser or a fun eraser? If you

would rather have a fun eraser get

it at the LMS Ramshack. It is the

pick of the week for only $0.50. It

is only available at the LMS

Ramshack in February.

Get it before it erases

itself away.

Here are some delicious cupcake ideas for anytime.

Strawberry Milkshake cupcake Pumpkin Spice S'mores cupcake

Coffee and Donuts cupcake Peanut Butter cupcake with a marshmallow swirl

Caramel Creme Go to www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/23/cupcake-recipies-choclate

For more delicious and tasty cupcake ideas. My choice for top cupcake is Caramel Creme!!! Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Cupcake

3/4 cup salted butter 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour 1 cup brown sugar, loosely packed 1/4 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 3 egg whites 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp milk (I recommend 2%)

Caramel Icing

1/2 cup salted butter 1 cup light brown sugar 1/3 cup heavy cream 4 cups powdered sugar 3-4 tbsp milk 12-14 caramel cream candies Cream Filling 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/8 cup water

Instructions

To make the cupcakes:

1. Slice butter into tablespoon sized pieces.

2. Heat butter in a light colored saucepan on medium heat until melted, whisking while it melts.

3. After the butter melts, it will foam and bubble. Keep whisking.

4. As the foam starts to fade, the butter will start to brown and have a nutty smell.

5. Once brown, remove it from heat and pour into another bowl to cool. The butter can go from brown to burned very quickly, so watch it carefully.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

7. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.

8. Add egg whites, vanilla, sour cream and milk and mix on medium speed until smooth. Slowly add brown butter while mixing.

9. Fill cupcake liners a little more than half way.

10. Bake 18-20 minutes.

11. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Note: You may notice little bits of butter in the batter, but that's ok. They will melt into the cupcake as they bake.

Top 5 Cakes 1 Vanilla Caramel Latte

2 Fudgy One-Bowl Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pretzel 3 Blue Ombre Cake

4 Chocolate Fudge Peanut Butter Cake 5 Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

“I became interested in cake and cupcake articles. Then I decided I

wanted to start baking. I am a big fan of Cake Wars and Cupcake

Wars on Food Network. My grandma used to bake and is going to

teach me how to bake from her own recipes.”

By: Olivia G.

When the spotlight turns to the stage, and the announcer says (dramatically) “THE TRANS-SIBERIAN….… ORCHESTRA” the crowd roars!! From the First chord, to the last line, they give it their all. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is a rock orchestra. They add a unique twist to Christmas songs. From Carol of the Bells to Deck the Halls, they have it all! The orchestra was founded in New York City, in 1996, by Paul O'Neill, (producer, composer, and lyricist.) O’Neill added Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (keyboardist), and co-composer Rob-ert Kinkel. Over the years, new members have been added. Fun Fact: There are two Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s, one the tours the East coast, and one that tours the West coast. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra has sold over 10 million albums. They have played to over 100 million people, in over 80 cit-ies! Over more than $280 million in ticket sells, giving over $11 million to charity. If you love music you have to see the...

Trans-Siberian Orchestra!! Thank you Riley Yonchick

for the great drawing!

Caramel Cupcakes cont.

To make the icing:

1. Melt butter in a saucepan.

2. Add brown sugar and heavy cream and whisk constantly over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

3. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 3 minutes, no more.

4. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.

5. Transfer caramel to mixer bowl.

6. Mix in powdered sugar, beginning with 3 cups and increasing from there until you get the desired consistency.

7. Add milk to thin out the icing a bit.

8. Allow icing to cool fully. Icing will be thick.

To make the filling:

1. Beat the shortening until smooth.

2. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and water and mix until smooth. Filling will me thick.

To finish off the cupcakes:

1. Use a cupcake corer to remove the center of the cupcakes. If you don't have a corer, use a knife.

2. Spoon filling into the hole in the cupcakes.

3. Ice the cupcakes.