The

PCMS

Press

Volume 2

Issue 3

November

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Veteran’s Day Veteran’s Day is celebrated here at PCMS with great pride to honor

veterans that fight and serve for the country we all call home. On

Wednesday, November 11, Mrs. Wallis planned an amazing celebra-

tion to respect our Veterans. First, those that served came early at 7:00

am to start the day with breakfast. Then, everyone filed into the gym for

speeches, performances, and some informational videos. Mr. Mueller

gave an introduction to what was planned for the morning. Once he

finished, our Honor Choir lined up and sang the National Anthem. Their

voices rang through the gym rafters as we all stood with our hands

over our hearts. After their performance, Mrs. Miller introduced Austin

Davis and his Patriots Pen essay. He read about what freedom means

to him, and it lead the audience into an astounding applause. Our very

own Carson Perry sat and recorded his father, Lieutenant Colonel

Miles Perry while he informed us with a great speech. Gavin Schmidt

and Kevin Wanner stood at opposite corners of the gym with their trum-

pets raised high and played Taps. Ryan Lett’s bagpipes sounded out

the notes of Amazing Grace. As our guests left the assembly, they

were given cards created by PCMS students. Thank you, Veterans!

Day of Hope The Day of Hope is an event hosted by the Platte County

Health Department. Community businesses and churches help get holiday resources and donations. Any family with children attending the Platte County school district are eligible to register to receive goods from the Day of Hope. The families that qualify are given haircuts, clothes, boxes of food, and are ‘adopted’ for Christmas. All Day of Hope services are free of charge. Mrs. Levi, the building coordinator of the Day of Hope donations for PCMS, told us, “PCMS participates by each grade level and leadership organization deciding on an item to donate. We bring those items in for three weeks before Thanksgiving and then all of our donations are delivered to the event. Last year we donated approximately 3000 items and hope to donate more this year!”

Each grade or group is bringing something different. This year's

Calendar December 1st PC Boys’ Basketball vs Maple Park December 3rd PC Girls’ Basketball vs Antioch December 7th PC Wrestling vs Smithville, w/ Grandview, & Hogan Prep

December 7th-9th Boys’ Basketball Liberty N Tourney Girls’ Basketball Kearney Tourney

December 9th PLC Day-2 hour early release December 11th PC Wrestling vs Rubidoux, Spring Garden, & West Platte

December 12th PC Wrestling Pirate Invitational December 15th PC Boys’ Basketball vs Congress December 17th PCMS Winter Band Concert Girls’ Basketball vs Kearney

December 18th 1st Semester Ends December 21st No School- Teacher Workday December 22nd-January 1st No School-Winter Break

6th Grade: Cans of fruit and veggies 7th Grade: Hygiene products 8th Grade: Socks Journalism: Ramen Noodles NJHS: Mac and Cheese Science Olympiad: Toilet Paper STUCO: Soup Student Ambassadors: Hamburger Helper

Academics

6th Grade:

ELA: Nonfiction selections, Fictional short stories, Personal narratives, Figurative language Math: Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, and Dividing Fractions Science: Plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains Social Studies: Mexico, Latin America ,Central America, Brazil

7th Grade:

ELA: Titanic Unit 7th Grade Challenge Math: Complex Equations & Inequalities 7th grade Math: Evaluating expressions, factoring, combining like terms Science: Gravity, friction, and pressure, Calculate velocity and acceleration

Social Studies: Rome

8th Grade:

ELA: Short Story/Memoir Algebra I: Graphing Linear Inequalities in 2 variables Writing Linear Equations in 2 variables 8th Grade Math: Solve systems of Equations by Graphing, Functions Geometry: Transformations and Transversals Science: Sexual Reproduction, Cells and Functions, Basic Genetics Social Studies: U.S. Constitution, Revolutionary War

Electives:

Band: 6th, 7th, 8th: Concert Music

Choir: 2nd quarter vocabulary test , 2nd quarter rhythm test

Art: 6th: Paper Mache Masks 7th: Name Sculpture 8th: Human Figure Sculpture

Applied Tech: 6th: orthographic projections 7th: 3D design 8th: auto builds/grandma chair

Computer literacy: 6th: Keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Excel, Coding 7th: Keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Excel, Coding 8th: Keyboarding, Microsoft Excel, Animation, Comics, Coding

World Language: 6th: French and Swahili 7th: The verb Ser, Personal information in Spanish, Classroom objects 8th: ER/IR verbs, Clothing, Personal information exchange Question and answer

Delta: 6th: Historical Hoaxes Research and Presentations 7th: Book Study - Creating Products that include, research, critical thinking and creativity 8th: Book Study - MindSet: The new psychology of success

Read 180: 6th: Sequence of Events 7th: Problem and Solution 8th: Main Idea and Details

PE: Floor Hockey Super Teams Cardio one day a week

Addison Long Ashley Bell

HannahWalker Alexis Guillory Kayla Duggan

Coryn Stephenson Jordan (Kenzie) Clement

Karlee Chase Kaylee Dougherty

Paige Rocha Reagan Meyer Megan Lewis

Allie Campbell Karoline Kilkenny

Nicola Kingery Riley Stehlik

Mady Jackson Jaylee Wiedmer

Courtney Kennedy Skyla Burney

Mishell Simms HaydenWalls

“It's going to be a great season and will have a lot of fun. This is a great

group of girls. I’m also excited to work on some great set up.”

Coach Seymour

Anthony Barlow

Blake Minyard

Braydee Konake

Caleb Brown

Cameron Scheib

Chase Peterson

Donny McCuish

Dylan Minshall Gabe Ehindero

Grant Allen Jailen Dalton

Jeremiah Collier Jontae Yera

Kyle Bean

Lewis Hunter Logan Hessemyer

Nick Jones

Parker Schmitz

Rhett Spell Traizen McKown

Will Hay “This season I think we’re going to be

fast, and will focus more on the defen-sive side of things. I think it will be a

fun season.” Coach B

Jordan Arnone Ethan Belk Brice Bills

Hunter Burge Gabe Davis

Connor Dean Matthew Dubreuil

Ryan Dye Mankhi Hagen

Brian Hostetetter Bryson Kirkland Avery Krahenbill

Drake Lacina Blake Lewis Logan Lister Kenny Loy

Angel Majak Carter McKeefery

Will Moorhead Jerin Munn

Johnathan Owen Trey Phan

Ismael Reyes Lakin Talley

Bryson Testerman Sean VanTol

Logan Wasinger Tommy Woods

“I always expect a great season. I expect us to be competitive every week. There are many new faces, and the veterans wres-

tlers are helping them a lot. Overall, I plan to be competitive day in and day out.”

Coach Rolofson

Basketball Girls Basketball Boys Wrestling

California Trail Science Olympiad Tournament

Science Olympiad kicked off on November 7. Platte City Middle School competed in all but four construction events. The events started at 8:30 ending with the announcements of the results. Overall, PCMS placed 17th in the tournament. The next tournament is scheduled for January 9, 2016, at Pembroke Hill. Placing in the top 6 and receiving medals or ribbons:

Bottle Rocket - Annika Jackson & Jessenia Orellana - 3rd place

Bridge Building - Corinne Rafuse & Kaleb Mumma - 6th place

Elastic Launched Gliders - Remi Kahler & Lily Holden - 3rd place * Honorable Mention:

Food Science - Blake Lewis & Trevin Stringer - 10th place

Green Generation - Hailey Dalton & Haley Waisner - 12th place

Invasive Species - Michael McCormack & Jason Martin - 9th place

Reach for the Stars - Matthew McCormack - 12th place

Road Scholar - Robin Schlimm & Abbey Rolofson - 12th place

Write It / Do It - Katherine Salaiz & Charisma Root - 9th place

District Band Evan Callow - Percussion Austin Davis - Percussion Jack St. Louis - Percussion Grant Albright - Percussion Alt. Andrew Ivy - Percussion Hon. Mention

Kara Hill - French Horn Lilly Puntney - French Horn Megan Harlteroad - Clarinet Mara Gullett - Clarinet Hon. Mention Maddi Kunz - Oboe Grace Thomas - Flute Jaycie Call - Trombone Alt. Arianna Saad - Trombone Alt. Luke Harms - Baritone Alt.

District Honor Choir 6th Grade District Honor Choir Part 1: Maddie Bebel Allicen Hornbeck Liberty Wallen Mattea Martin Alternate: Shaffer

Haines Part 2: Kylee Miller Kennedy Kinnick Carter Klein Carson Decker Alternate: Eli Rocha 7th and 8th Grade: Soprano: Mallori Klopfer Faith Hollandsworth Emily Clark

Maddie Hicks Alternate: Jacob Flynn Alto: Maddie Kunz Emilia Wisniewski Georgia White Emily Johnson Alternate: Xaire Keith Tenor/Baritone: Owen Wilkins Adam Miller Walker Sperl Parker Metten

Pirate Rock Winners Show Citizenship

6th Grade

Ashlyn Basye

Tyler Bean

Addie Grell Dalton Grisham

Drew Hendricks

Mary Grace Hunter

Trevor Jagodzinski Remington Kahler

Jake Klngery

Careron Lewis

Taylor Mayne

Aidan McQueen

Justyce Miller

Andy Otting

Meghan Schwartz

Logan Stackhouse

Ryan Vest

7th Grade

Aly Anderson

Abby Bradley

Kylee Cannon

Bailey Clutts

Delaney Danner

Harrison Deutch

Maddie Dimmick

Paige Ely

Abby Enderson

Nick Fernandez

Gillian Fitzgerald

Mara Gullett

Mary Hackler

Jennah Hammerstaedt

Elisabeth Hampl Evan Handke

Regan Hathaway

Hayden Humes

Andrea Jones

Jenna Jurgensmeyer

Kaesi Keoktamthong

Trevor Kern

Kaden Kovar

Gabby Lopez Tygen Mair

Kaylee Major

Bryn McGehe

Natalie McKinley

Emma Murray

Diamond Perry

Lily Puntney

Lidianna Reyes

Lily Reynolds

Jaxon Rhoads

Piper Ruwe

Haley Ryerson

Tori Sanders

Quinlynn Sanneman

Myles Schmitt

Emma Seckinger

Lizzy Siskey

Emily Siskey

Cassady Smith

Alexis Stoner

Lindsay Vanover

Natalie Wolbert

8th Grade

Karlee Chase

Ava Clark

Grace Clark

Austin Davis

Brenna Davis

Courtney Kennedy

Megan Lewis

Ainsley Lienemann

Ashley Lienemann

Micheal McCormack

Alisha Moake

Amanda Prawitz

Mishell Simms

Sam Smith

Rhett Spell Emily Wyss

Whip for Cancer

Xaire Keith and Hailey Dalton are 8th-grade students with a passion for finding a cure. The students have

created a way to motivate other students and faculty to donate money for cancer research. Cancer has

been a disease that affects many families throughout our Pirate Nation. The students will be going around

the school to locate teachers willing to “whip for cancer”. Xaire and Hailey will make a collage of the

teachers and share it with other schools. It will start at the middle school, but hopefully it will end up in

every corner of the district. Eventually, there will be a donation box and camera at every school.

Every year, on the fourth Thursday of November, families gather around the dinner table for feasts, to play football, and share all that they are grateful for. The Native Americans always gave thanks for a good harvest. The English gave thanks to God for their great bounty of food. Both cultures have traditions of celebrating with great feasts and playing sports. The Pilgrims had a feast with the Wampanoag Tribe, to give thanks for making it through the hard winter and for their crops. Both cultures have traditions of celebrating with great feasts and playing sports. Everyone has different ways of celebrating Thanksgiving. Some people have a huge family gathering while others enjoy a quaint dinner. Families enjoy watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, playing sports or competing in indoor activities, and some just relax while viewing TV. Most people have feasts with turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes with gravy, and pumpkin pie. As celebrations wind down, avid shoppers head out to snag several Black Friday deals. Make sure to have a very fun, safe Thanksgiving and be grateful for all of your blessings!

What are you grateful for?

December’s Trait is Compassion

New Book Releases

The Donor by Stevie Turner Frozen Tides (Falling Kingdoms, #4) by Morgan Rhodes Their Fractured Light (Starbound, #3) by Amie Kaufman Wandering Star (Zodiac, #2) by Romina Russell

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

Mockingjay, Part 2 premiered last Friday, November 20. Many of our Pirate students got their homework done early, so they could go to the midnight premiere. Although the movie has only been out for a short amount of time, many students have already seen it. But for those yet to experience the 76th Hunger Games, read on. The myth of the book being better than the movie is a close call in this series. All of the books and movies were so closely related. In the movie Mockingjay, Part 2, many of the best thrills and scares were the same as in the novel. Finnick and Annie got married showing a sense of joy during the war. Once the mood vacated the base of District 13, the Warriors headed out to battle. They fought through mine fields and peacekeepers. This se-ries came to an end once the book was over. The Hunger Games series has inspired anti-government protests, in-cluding the now illegal, three finger salute in Thailand, and the quote “If we burn, you burn with us” spray painted on walls during the Ferguson riots. “I don’t want to promote violence, and part of the themes of these movies is that you have to be careful going into conflict… even if revolution is need-ed, you have to be very careful because there will be loss and there will be consequence,” Director of three of the four movies, Francis Lawrence, told Time Magazine. Despite violence shown in the Hunger Games movies, the last novel is well depicted in the scenes of Mockingjay, Part 2.

The game was agonizingly long. Wade Davis

stepped up to the mound, ready to win the game. The resilient Royals were up by five, ready to take home the pennant after three more outs. Mets fans hoped and prayed that their team could stay alive in the series against the best relief pitcher in the League. But it was no use. Wade Davis threw the final strike of game five. Royals fans around the globe were ecstatically yelling and screaming, relieved that the team was finally out of its thirty-year long drought. On the fourth of November, more than 800,000 people gathered in Downtown Kansas City to celebrate the Royals World Series win. It was a cheerful day for the city, and a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness a parade like this one. A Royals’ rally ended the long day, with Jonny Gomes giving a very powerful speech. Royals fans went home to continue basking in the Royals being the World Series Champions!

Culver’s Opening Day

After months of anticipation, the Platte City Culver’s opened on

Monday, November 16, 2015. Our community is very excited about

the new fast food franchise. PCMS’s own 8th grade students, Reagan

Meyer and Beth Wing are employed at Culver’s.

KC Royals Bring the Crown Back

Celebrate Journalists

National Journalism Day is celebrated annually on November 17. This observance was created in the 1920’s. The special day is set aside to celebrate the freedom of speech and thoughts of journalists and to encourage and appreciate people who have chosen journalism as their career. Journalists honor their profession on this day by having parties, recognizing one another for their journalistic pieces, and enjoying time together at work. The PCMS Journalism staff sported their new journalism apparel and celebrated with pizza, pop, and cookies.

Grant Allen, Bree Alvarado, Allie Campbell, Millie Campbell, Mallarie Hynes,

Annika Jackson, Alex Johnson, Ainsley Lienemann, Emma Marsh, Hailey Morgan,

Arianna Saad, Madelyn Sharma, Lauren Sherwood, Hayden Walls, Savannah White

Mrs. Singer—Adviser

Reagan Meyer-Production Editor

Allison Brinton—Managing Editor

JOURNALISM STAFF: