D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3 / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4

The Tornado Times is a

publication produced by

Norwich Middle School’s

Newspaper Advisory and After-School

Club.

Advisors: Ms. Tammy Carpenter

Mrs. Sarah Waters

Junior Editor: Liliana Talbot-Gould

INSIDE THIS

ISSUE:

Seussical the Musical 1

Musical 1

November Student of the Month Employee of the Month

2

Bullying PSA Video Contest 2

December Student of the Month Employee of the Month

3

Dinner and the Common Core 3

Sports:

Coach Interview with Mr.

Martinson

SuperBowl Picks

4

Sports

Hunting Season 2013

Tribute Marshall Arts &

Fitness

Interview with Kyle

Seagar (Baseball)

5

Seussical the Musical 6

LPP Interskate 88 Trip Christmas Concert French Club

7 7 7

BB/BS & LPP Bulldoze Bullying Caught in the Act Kindness Matters

8 8 8 8

Tornado Tina Advice Column Toys For Tots Holiday Fun

Favorite Thing About

Winter

Parade of Lights

Favorite Presents

9 9 9

Book Reviews

InuYashi

Allegiant

Movie Review—Catching Fire Reader of the Month

10

10 10

Game Review—Minecraft Get in the Game Guinness World Records Comics

11 11 11 11

Purple Pride Gotchas Tornado Times News Candy Survey

12 12 12

Seussical the Musical!!

I S S U E V

Middle School Musical By: Elainna Jennings Seussical the Musical was a long work in progress, but in the end it turned out to be a big success. Everybody that was involved had to put in a lot of hard work and effort. From learning the dances to mastering their lines, even to just getting the ropes backstage, everybody did very well. The stage crew had some hard times to get through. Crew members had to get to know each other and the prop queues, and they had to deal with all of the mayhem that was Play Practice. Elainna Jennings participated in the musical, and she got an inside view with the cast members. She interviewed them and asked what they thought about the musical. One of the interviews was with Robert Brown, who acted as the Grinch. Robert said, “I think that the musical has a good story line. It’s funny, and it’s mostly about Horton, trying to save the Whos, and when he and Gertrude fall in love.” Another interview was with Lilly Supensky, who acted as Wickersham Brother #2. She said, “The musical is fun, and it’s nice knowing that you’re going to be performing for your friends and family. We have responsibility now, which is good, because we are only in the middle school and we need to start learning that.” Some o f the lead characters in the musical were also interviewed, such as Katie Gawronski, who played JoJo. In Katie’s head, she says, “The musical is fun, upbeat and everything is mostly ok. Everything on stage is going on in JoJo’s head. Later on it gets scary and stuff starts to go downhill. I’ve never been in a musical before, so it’s nice to be around my friends so they can comfort me since I have such a big part. My friend Matt is also on stage with me as Horton, and we get to do a lot of stuff together so it’s really nice.” Mayzie la Bird, played by Aria Maholchic, told the Tornado Times, “Everybody here is doing a great job working on the musical to get it right for everybody who’s going to watch it. It’s a fun thing to do ,and some people may have stage fright, but when you get on stage all of that goes away. You are not even yourself anymore; you’re the character that you are acting as. Before we all started, we never knew anything about this musical, so as we went on, we started to get it slowly.” The main Wickersham Brother, Aidan Sullivan, explained, “We work very hard while we are here (play practice). We strive to give our audience a good show. I think that the musical is very exotic, colorful, and it’s like all in one girl’s head. Also, everybody in the cast is working as a family. We

may bicker, but when we are on stage about to perform, we just get in the moment, and we are like family.” There were many highlights that the audience liked and thought were funny. One of the funny parts was when the cat was interacting with the audience at the auction to sell Horton the Elephant. But, there’s one thing that the audience crowned the funniest part of the whole thing. It was right at the end when 6th grader Carissa Nichols came out as the elephant bird. So, after all the hard work that the crew put into the musical, and based on the words of the people who watched the show, it was a big success in the end.

Recap of the Story and Cast Members The musical was a magical event that all started when Jojo (Katie Gawronski) discovers the Cat in the Hat (Taylor Bliss). Jojo is a Who. The Whos are tiny people floating around on a dust speck called Whoville. They include the mayor (Sam Solomon), his wife (Millenia Brown), their daughter Jojo, The Grinch (Robert Brown), and many more (Katie Becker, Morgan Conklin, Julia DeMeo, Caitlyn Manwarren, Antonia Mody, Kaitlyn Doliver, and Cameron Marvin). Horton the Elephant (Matt Giglio) discovers the Whos and places them on a clove. He tries to protect them because “A person’s a person no matter how small.” The Wickersham brothers (Aidan Sullivan, Lilly Supensky, Griffin Frank, Halea Eaton, Abigail Flynn, Destiny Gladney, and Carissa Nichols) think that Horton is crazy. So do all the other Jungle Creatures including Mayzie La Bird (Aria Maholchic), the Sour Kangaroo (Holly Sullivan), the Young Kangaroo (Ripley Strong), the Bird Girls (Francesca Salerno, Leia Nichols, and Joanna Mioduzewski) and ( Anthony Greig and Emily Preston). The jungle creatures have a bird named Vlad Vladikoff (Kaitlyn Thomas). They take the clover and drop it in a clover field where it gets lost and looks like all the rest. Horton gets sold to the circus because he is sitting on Mazie La Bird’s egg. Then Horton’s neighbor, Gertrude McFuzz (DJ Smith), finds the clover and goes to the Circus to give it back to Horton. The jungle creatures take Horton to court because they think he’s crazy, and Judge Yertle the Turtle (Colby Richardson) finds Horton guilty and wants to boil the clover. The Whos need to do something before they get boiled so they scream, and the animals hear them. No one thinks that Horton is crazy anymore. At the end, Mayzie’s egg hatches and out comes a baby elephant bird (Carissa Nichols). Everyone played their parts perfectly, and the crew (Austin Benenati, Logan Bufalini, Elainna Jennings, and Katrina Pounds) did a great job setting the stage.

See page 6 for more photos and Robert Brown’s “experience as The Grinch!

— By Brooke Diehl

The November Student of the Month Ceremony was on the day of November 30. The ceremony is held at the end of each month to recognize the wonderful things that 6 students and one staff member do to make NMS a better place. The following paragraphs contain some of the things that were written by the teaching staff about some of the outstanding people in our school.

Grade 6 Abby Flynn is a sixth grader who is very focused and takes her work seriously. She is willing to help other students. She was a “monkey” in the musical, but in class she does not monkey around. She is able to balance fun and focus. She is also willing to help other students through her kind nature and easy-going manner. Tyler Hagen is a sixth grade “rockstar” in class. Tyler can always be counted on to have rock solid ideas. His kindness makes him a gem to have in class. When the class works in small groups, he is the one “rock” everyone turns to.

Grade 7 Seventh grader, Nathan Christophersen works diligently to find the solution to a problem while the others are looking for the easy way out. Nathan shows perseverance with a genuine interest in the subject manner given to him. He is also extremely polite to his teachers and peers. The other seventh grader, Nicole Jeffrey, is a very caring student that demonstrates a friendly attitude toward the others around her. She always tries hard, works a lot, and never gives up. Nicole does not strive for recognition. She is a team player, and she is not afraid to ask questions when she does not understand.

Grade 8 One of the 8

th grade students of the

month is Mackenzie Marks. She is someone who when the day is dull or when you’re feeling low, all you need is her smile. Mackenzie makes a difference in everything that she does. That is why the eighth grade recognizes a girl who brightens the day.

The last student for the month of November is Josiah Shaver. He demonstrates unwavering dedication to his own learning. He has determination, resilience, and unshakable focus. Josiah is driven to success, and that is why he is one of the students of the month.

Staff The staff person of the month is… Ms. Rehn. Ms. Rehn is a music teacher at the middle school and director of Seussical the Musical. She communicates to her students with warmth and confidence, and she also gives a safe place for students to be motivated to try something they have not tried before. She is very kind and let’s everyone feel comfortable.

Congratulations to

everyone that was

recognized at the

November Awards

Assembly!

Grade 6: Tyler Hagen Abby Flynn

Grade 7: Nathan Christophersen

Nicole Jeffrey

Grade 8: Mackenzie Marks

Josiah Shaver

Employee of the Month: Ms. Rehn

— By Hayley Richardson

At the Awards Assembly on December 20, the winners were announced for the Bullying PSA (Public Service Announcement) Video Contest. To start off, all students who participated did a wonderful job and deserve a thank you for their part in the campaign against bullying.

There were three groups who stood out the most. Getting 3

rd

place was Team Chris. Their video starred Meranda Quackenbush, Chris Giglio, Dylan Donohue, and Mr. Cunningham. They got $25.00 in prize money. Nice job, guys!

Coming in 2nd

place was team DJ. The presentation included a live performance of an

original song she composed as part of the project. The video starred Gabe Warren, DJ Smith, Elainna Jennings, Karissa Prindle, Avery Russ, Mackenzie Marks, Matt Smith, and Logan Bufalini. The reward for their hard work was $50.00.

Finally, for 1st place was the 6

th

Grade team starring Griffin Frank, Delaney Root, and Robert Brown. Their video was a remake of the viral song “The Fox” (What Does the Bully Say). Their creativity and charisma earned them $75.00 to spend on Christmas presents for Mr. Ryan! Once again, a pat on the back to everyone who participated.

Let’s Stop Bullying!

Bullying P.S.A. Video Contest

First Place Winners Pictured Above: Delaney Root, Robert Brown, and Griffin Frank. Delaney shared her thoughts on the project and said, “We’ve all been vic-tims of bullying, and I’ve wanted to address this for a long time.” Robert explained, “I liked doing this project with friends. We wanted to have something that people would remem-ber and get stuck in their heads.” Delaney’s parents helped with the video recording and green screen, and the three friends wrote the lyrics. All three winning videos can be viewed on the school’s website at: www.norwichcsd.org.

P A G E 2

T O R N A D O T I M E S

Parent Dinner & The Common Core

— By Brooke Diehl The December Student of the Month Ceremony was on December 20

th. For the fourth time this

year, six students and one staff member were recognized for the outstanding contributions they make to Norwich Middle School.

The December Students of the Month that were recognized from sixth grade were Delaney Root and Shane Lawrence. In seventh grade, Jacob Russell and Taylor Hansen were selected. Ben Barber and Taylor Bliss represented the eighth grade. Last, but not least, the Employee of the Month was Mrs. Smith. The paragraphs below summarize the positive things that were written by the teaching staff and read in front of the student body during the assembly.

Grade 6 Delaney Root is a sixth grader who has hunger for learning, knowledge, reading, and writing. She goes on an adventure when she reads. When something is hard, she does not panic. When there are obstacles, she overcomes them and learns from it, and she gains respect from others.

Shane Lawrence is a sixth grader that was recognized for being the “handy helper” in class. Even the little things count like cleaning up a

mess, carrying something for someone, an errand run, turning the lights on or off, we barely have to ask. Grade 7 In seventh grade, Jacob Russell is a student that smiles when he comes in the room. He is friendly to everyone and genuinely cares about his peers and teachers. He offers his help and input to others when he sees the need. He has a positive, uplifting personality and an eagerness to learn. Taylor Hansen is someone constantly understanding the balance between enjoying herself in class while at the same time following directions and learning. She is friendly, driven, mature, and positive. She is not only like this during class, but also on the basketball court.

Grade 8 In 8

th grade, Ben Barber,is a unanimous choice.

He is great in the classroom for his content knowledge and the quality of his work. He is quick to help others while helping the other students to get on track. He is a great student who makes the Norwich Middle School a better place.

Taylor Bliss is a girl who was the Cat in the Hat in Seussical the Musical. “Due to her dedication

to education and to the theater, the places this student can go are endless.” She brings great attitude and work to the classroom. Staff The Employee of the Month for December is Ms. Smith, Middle School Office Secretary. Mrs. Smith keeps the office running smoothly and assists staff and students every day. She greets everyone that enters our building and office with a smile!

Great job to everyone that was

honored during the December

Awards Assembly!

__________________________________

Read the Next Issue for

The January and February

Students and Employees

Of the Month!

Grade 6: Delaney Root

Shane Lawrence

Grade 7: Taylor Hansen Jacob Russell

Grade 8: Ben Barber Taylor Bliss

Employee of the Month:

Mrs. Smith

The middle school hosted “Dinner and

the Core”. Invitations were distributed

to all middle school families to enjoy a

spaghetti dinner and learn more about

the new shifts in education related to

the common core. Mr. Ryan and a

team of middle school teachers from the

Math and ELA departments explained

what the shifts look like in the

classrooms and explained how lessons

are being presented. Parents were

introduced to modules, types of

assessments, and the shift in rigor.

Following the presentation, parents

had time for questions and answers.

The event was well-attended by 137

students and their families. Mr. Brian

Scheuer, the School Lunch Cook

Manager, transformed the cafetorium

into an elegant dining space. The

dinner menu included spaghetti and

meatballs, antipasto, bread, and

dessert. Mrs. McCumisky’s 7th grade

Home and Career students baked an

assortment of cupcakes. The art

department displayed a variety of

projects, and they also created

apple centerpieces for all of the

tables. Ninth Grader Colin

Bussing provided entertained and

played the piano throughout

dinner. Mr. Korver snapped family

photos. In the gym, students were able

to play games in addition to other

activities including face painting. The

teachers seated families and served

food. It was enjoyable night for

everyone!

P A G E 3

B ys’

Basketball

P A G E 4

Interview with Coach Martinson

— By O’Rion Slater

In this month’s issue, Mr. Martinson was asked several questions before the start of the boys’ modified basketball season. Mr. Martinson is the coach of the purple team. In this article, he talks about who is on the team and what they are doing to get ready for the season. Here is the team roster: Marcus Benjamin, Jacob Davis, Gabe Gawronski, Noah Marvin, Jon Matlack-Gray, Thanh Nguyen, Parker Dean, Zackery Race, Josiah Shaver, Grant Wessels, Dylan Willis and Corry Woodard.

What is the team’s favorite play?

Martinson: We run the same style dribble-drive offense as our varsity and junior varsity teams. We strive to help the modified players learn the system in this program to best prepare them for the next level of basketball. However, we will run some basic motion offense with plenty of screens to allow each player the opportunity to get some open shots. We have been stressing that our best offense will be our defense by creating turnovers and fastbreak points. Who started at the first game?

Martinson: At this point, the star ters have not been determined for our first game. However, we will be looking for leadership and production from our returning players including Marcus Benjamin, Parker Dean, Zack Race and Grant Wessels. What is the team doing during practice to get ready for the first game?

Martinson: The boys have been working extremely hard in practice on a regular basis, learning and developing their offensive and defensive skills, as well as the rules of the game. We work on basic basketball fundamentals everyday such as: dribbling, passing, right and left hand layups; using correct shooting form; learning to be a ‘triple threat’; setting screens with pick ‘n rolls; boxing out; proper defensive stance; communicating on defense vs. screens; basic man-to-man rules; putting pressure on the ball; learning to play a ‘23’ Syracuse zone; beating the press. What else is important to you as a coach?

Martinson: Most importantly, we work on improving everyday as a team, and as an individual. We learn self-control, respect, sportsmanship, fair play, cooperation and poise. I’m extremely proud of how hard each player has worked in this preseason, and I’m looking forward to seeing their growth as the season progresses.

Go Purple! Best of luck to all of the

winter sports teams!

— By Chandler Jackson

The SuperBowl is one game to show who is the best team in the NFL. Students were surveyed to see who they wanted to be in the SuperBowl, what team they wanted to win, and the score. Here are their predictions: SuperBowl Predictions as of

December 2013

SuperBowl

Predictions

Name Teams Winner Score

Donavan Mullins Redskins vs Cowboys Redskins 25 to 20

Devin Moore Packers vs Cowboys Packers 40 to 0

Tanner Franklin Chiefs vs Cowboys Chiefs 40 to 26

Stephanie Donnelly Patriots vs Packers Patriots 60 to 27

Eric Conant Broncos vs Seahawks Broncos 28 to 28

Michael Morey Seahawks vs Broncos Seahawks 30 to 12

Nate Barrows Packers vs Jets Packers 30 to 10

Jennifer Pittsley Giants vs Steelers Giants 28 to 12

Logan Fredenburg Broncos vs Cowboys Broncos 50 to 35

Kaleb Hendrickson Falcons vs 49ers Falcons 32 to 20

Stanton Baker Cowboys vs Broncos Cowboys 28 to 14

Dalton Wheeldon Cowboys vs Bangles Bangles 38 to 28

Joel Fazio Cowboys vs Broncos Cowboys 30 to 21

Tina Lamphere Cowboys vs Patriots Cowboys 28 to 14

Jared Vinal Cowboys vs Giants Cowboys 15 to 7

Connor Whittny Patriots vs Eagles Eagles 27 to 15

Joseph Ohl Broncos vs Eagles Broncos 27 to 15

Ethan Corey Giants vs Cowboys Giants 16 to 12

Josiah Shaver Eagles vs Cowboys Cowboys 21 to 14

Nate Christophersen Cowboys vs Broncos Cowboys 28 to 27

See the next issue

of the Tornado Times

for Winter Modified

Sports

highlights and

photos!

If you would like to submit a

photo, see Mrs. Carpenter or

send images to:

msnews@norwichcsd.org

T O R N A D O T I M E S

P A G E 5

—By Brooke Diehl

Do you know how to defend yourself in a dangerous situation? If not, taekwondo is a good way to learn? The instructor, Mr. Louise, with his helper, Stephen, teaches students at Tribute Martial Arts & Fitness how to defend yourself and also respect everyone & everything around you. This also helps to motivate children to

do their best to earn a white belt, white to orange, orange to yellow, yellow to green, and on, until you have reached the black belt. There are also stripes. The colors are black for attendance, (to help motivate the kids to go on and keep a commitment to come back). Blue is for grappling. (This helps with not only self defense, but also, self-control/not to get out of hand.) Yellow is for fitness. (This helps you stay healthy, moving, and to keep pushing to go on.) Another one is green; it is for board bricking. (This is also for self-defense and self-control.) White is for technique. (This helps with your memory for self-defense.) The last one you need to get your next belt is red; the red is for form and also helps you with many things. Last but not least, is the courage stripe. This is an extra!

Interview with

MLB player for the

Seattle Mariners

Tribute Martial Arts & Fitness

— By Logan Beckwith & Dalton Wheeldon

The Tornado Times had the unique opportunity to talk with a

professional baseball player from the Seattle Mariners, Kyle

Seager. With the assistance of a family member and NMS’s

very own French teacher, Mrs. Waters, a phone interview was

arranged so that our Norwich news reporters could ask him

several questions. Continue reading to learn more about the

conversation between Logan Beckwith, Dalton Wheeldon and

Kyle Seager....

Beckwith: “How does it feel

to play on a

professional

baseball team?”

Seager: “Good, a lot of

fun. You can

meet a lot of

players from all

over the world.

You can meet

players from

Japan, the

Dominican

Republic. I’m

living out my

dream”.

Wheeldon: “How many

homeruns have

you hit?”

Seager: “This year I hit 11

homeruns. Last

year I hit 20. The year

before, I was up for half

the year and hit 2. That’s in

the big leagues.”

Beckwith: “What is your favorite

position?”

Seager: “Most of the time I played second. Once I got to

the big leagues I’ve been playing third. I have to

say one of those positions. My favorite growing

up was short stop because of Derek Jeter.”

Wheeldon: “How much do you get paid per season?”

Seager: “League minimum right now.”

Beckwith: “Do you have anything lucky?”

Seager: “Baseball is a very superstitious sport, a lot guys

do things to help them. I have the same shirt that

I wore for every game. I washed it after each one

of course. Sometimes it helped me and sometimes

it did not.”

Beckwith: “What was your favorite team growing up?”

Seager: “Yankees. My dad is a big Yankee fan. With all

my family being from New York, it’s just

something you’re born with.”

Beckwith: “What is your most memorable moment of a

game?”

Seager: “The first inning I played when I was called up

because I was living out my dream. Derek Jeter

was my idol-so my first out against him was

pretty memorable. I hit my grand slam this year

so that was pretty big too.

Beckwith: “Did you have a favorite player growing up?”

Seager: “Derek Jeter. He was always a guy that I

thought was good. Everything was about the

team first, never about him, and I liked that.”

Beckwith: “How does it feel to get Player of the Year last

year and this year?”

Seager: “It was pretty special for me. Just to make it to the

big leagues was something special, and then to be

recognized by the other players was really great.”

What a great experience this was for our middle school news team! A

special thanks is extended to Mrs. Waters for making this possible!!!

— By Tina Lamphere Hunting season 2013 was a great season for Norwich students. Several students were asked about their day in the woods. Owen Blackman, a 9

TH grader, got a doe on the first day of

opening season. He also got a button buck. Owen talked about the season and said, “I love hunting. It’s not only a hobby, but it’s my life!” Tina Lamphere asked, “Are you thinking about going back out this year?” Owen replied, “I might. I don’t know yet. I’m hoping I get another before Christmas so we can eat it!” Carolyn Lee Lamphere, a 10

th grader, got her first deer which

was a 5- point on the same day. Carolyn explained, “I was so excited when I saw the deer standing there. I heard it walking for five minutes.” Tina also asked Carolyn, “Are you going back out this season?” Carolyn said, “Definitely, now that I know they are moving, I may end up getting another.”

(Pictured Above: Carolyn Lamphere, and her dad, James Lamphere III. Jason Lamphere

got 2 does and 1 button buck.)

Hunting Season 2013

Source of Image: www.zimbio.com

P A G E 6

T O R N A D O T I M E S

Seussical the

Musical –

The Experience

— By Robert Brown

In this story, The Grinch shares his thoughts on his experience as a cast member in the Norwich Middle School production of “Seussical the Musical”.

“Musicals are great. If you like to take a step away from yourself, and another towards someone else, a musical is the thing for you. I was the Grinch in this year’s musical, Seussical. I would say the best thing about it was performing for your friends and family. You spend about 2 months working on it to make it perfect, and it all comes down to the 4 performances.“ “The worst thing about the musical for me was the make-up. For the Grinch, Ms. Rhen (our director) had to try 2 different looks. First she tried to color my face with a face crayon, and that made my face look blue on stage, so she tried something different. Next she tried to face paint my face…take it from me, face paint stings when it dries! I had to sit though almost an hour of stinging before the pain went away.” “All in all, it was worth it because in the end we performed an amazing show… and we had pizza afterward. Next years musical will be even better!”

Photos by Delaney Root, Abby Ellwood and Hayley Richardson

P A G E 7

Christmas

Concert — By Emma Hutchings This year’s holiday concert featured band, orchestra, and choir. The musical pieces being performed by the 6th Grade Band were “Air of Nobility” by J. Swearingen and “Flourish” by O’Reilly. The 7th and 8th grade band performed “Black Forest” by Overture and “Canto” by McBeth. Pieces being performed by the orchestra include the 6th grade orchestra’s song, “Sailors Song by Williams”. The 7th and 8th grade songs were “Biorhythm” by Meyer and “Riders in the Night” by Neobold. The choir piece sung by the 7th and 8th grade was “Shalom Chavadine”. The 6th grade performed “It’s the Time to be Merry” by Gene Grier and Lowell Eerson, “A Distant Shore” by Mary Donnelly and George Strid, and also “Furaha” by Sally K. Albrecht. The 6th 7th and 8th grade choir performed a pop song together; this song was “Some Nights” by Fun. For a special treat, at the end of the concert, the band orchestra and choir put a piece together. The piece performed was “The Jingle Bell Rock”, a very appropriate piece for the holiday season.

Prior to the concert, some of the music students were asked about their opinions about the concert, and several thought that “some of the pieces were hard to learn, at times it was frustrating.” Several students were asked about how they thought the concert would go and how hard the pieces were to learn. Paisley Donnelly plays the clarinet and said, “The pieces were very easy to learn, but I’m not sure we’ll do well in the concert.” Skylene Bates plays the viola and said, “The pieces were easy.” Jasmine Thomas plays the saxophone and she added, “I believe we`ll do well, the pieces were kind of hard, but we`ll do it!” Haylee Webb, a member of the choir, was also interviewed and asked what she thought about the music and how difficult it was. She explained, “The pieces are very easy to learn at times, but it does get tricky.” There were a few highlights that were very memorable, for example, during “Bio Rhythms”, a piece performed by the 7th and 8th grade orchestra, Brenna Baker screamed (as it was her part in the piece). Following that, an infant from the audience echoed Brenna`s scream back to her. Also, Alexis Taylor introduced the song “Riders in the Night”. Mrs. Rehn told her to use her loud voice to shout (as there was no microphone), and she YELLED as loud as she could out to the audience for the first half of the introduction.

After the concert, a few of the parents were interviewed. Jamie (sister of David Berger) said, “I thought it was very nice.” Al, (grandfather of Amanda Cummings) had to say, “It was wonderful. I’m very pleased with everyone’s performance!” Shannon, (mother of Zachary Stapleton) thought, “It was great.” Buster (father of Justin and Caitlyn Manwarren) said, “I thought it was awesome.” A janitor in the high school known as Mr. Burton happens to be the stepfather of Kylie Cox and he commented, “It was very good, even better than the high school’s performance.” Finally, Ken (father of Emma Hutchings) thought the concert was “AWESOME!” Many of the parents thought the same thing so the concert really was awesome, great, wonderful, and nice!

A special thanks to Mrs. Carrier, Mrs. Rogers and Ms. Rehn for being amazing and helpful instructors. The concert date was Wednesday, December 18, 2013, from 7pm to about 8pm. Great job to all band, orchestra and band students. The concert was a delight!

— By Sierra Mills Mrs. Waters is hosting a club that is welcoming all French students. This is for middle school kids only. The location is at Mrs. Water’s room (room 2058). The club watches movies, eats French food, and on your first day, you get to make your own T-shirt. The club also plays French games. The French Club meets at 2:15- 3:00. At a recent meeting, there was a great turnout with more than 15 people. WOW!!! Mrs. Waters was expecting around ten people, so it was good turnout. For more information, see Mrs. Waters in room 2058. Hope to see you there!

Next Meetings: Tuesday, January 21 Tuesday, February 11

French Club

LPP Interskate

88 Trip

— By Delaney Root

On Veteran’s Day, the LPP (Liberty

Partnership Program) students went on a

trip to Interskate 88. When they arrived, they were given a

ticket for lunch and skates. After they laced up, they headed out

onto the rink. The floors were polished, and the DJ played all

the latest hits while announcing laps like limbo, couples, and

backwards skate.

There were other things to do other than skating. The Master

Shop had skate stuff including wheels, laces, and yes, skates.

They also had stuff like candy, jewelry, erasers, and toys. The

Arcade had claw, racing, toss, and ticket wheel games featuring

Spongebob, Motorcycles, and Toy Taxi. They were LED lights that

made everything glow, and a jungle gym with punching bags,

swings, and climbing walls. The food was sensational, literally.

The pizza was cooked to perfection. They had sweet tea,

lemonade, pretzels, and ice cream. Interskate 88 has soft floors

in case of a fall, and easy skate courses if you get a little

nervous. On the way home, the skaters were so pooped that

more than half of them were asleep by the time they left town.

CAUGHT IN

THE ACT

— By Haylee Webb

Anybody help someone? Come find Haylee Webb, even if it’s just something very little like helping someone with their book. This month 3 people are recognized: Raegan Maricle helped Nick Loscavio; she was caught in the act of helping him when Nick dropped a piece of paper and Raegan picked it up for him. Emma Hutchings helped Kelsey Lavanca with her music. Lastly, Juliana Currier helped Zanobia Cole pick up her stuff after she dropped it in the hallway.

Bulldoze

Bullying!

— By Joel Fazio

Bullying is becoming a

serious problem. According to Bullyfree.org,

studies show that bullying happens to about 8% of

kids and teens each day just at school. Around

4,400 teens commit suicide per year due to

bullying. If laws against bullying will not work,

then what will?

Many of us, when you say the word bullying, we

think of “hey kid give me your lunch money!” But

that’s not usually the case. Bullying can happen in

many ways. For an example, there is cyberbullying

which is when people go online and type harmful

words to the victims. Sometimes even facial

expressions to others are a sign of bullying. When

bullying happens to a girl and the bullies are

saying your “ugly and gross”, that breaks the girl’s

self-confidence.

Bullying happens physically when boys fight. This

can affect him so much in life. Physical bullying is

a form of abuse; it usually happens at school.

Physical bullying consists of the same victim

being targeted repeatedly over and over by a

person or group intending to hurt, embarrass, and

humiliate the victim. Pushing, tripping, slapping,

spitting, stealing or destroying the victim’s

possessions, or any type of physical interaction, is

physical bullying. All types of bullying including

cyberbullying, bullying, and physical bullying

should be taken very seriously.

Together we can bulldoze bullying! For

more information you can visit

Bullyfree.org.

Students are coming forward and sharing their thoughts about bullying. Let your voice be heard. Speak up.

Make a difference. Cheyenne Miles shares her story in the paragraphs that follow.

— By Cheyenne Miles “Bullying is very cruel. Bullies are mean. I was bullied myself for 2¼ school years by many kids. They bullied me because of my weight, what I look like, and because I wasn’t popular. No one would talk to me or even be near me, except for my two close friends. I know that no one should be bullied by anyone.”

There are many ways that kids and even adults are bullied. One way is texting people mean and nasty messages. Another way is saying something to put someone down. Also, people are hurt physically by kicking.

If you see these things happening in our school, speak up and tell someone. Kindness Matters. If you see someone hurt by another, share a positive smile or a kind word. Kindness Matters. Be the person that someone can depend on. Kindness Matters.

— By Marah Mills

The Big Brother/Big Sister program is open for the Middle School and the High School. The program has been taken over by the Liberty Partnership Program (LPP) because of the budget. Most of the school doesn’t know about these programs so you could join in next year. In the summer, there is Summer LPP. You can also join then. At the end of the year, they have an End of the Year Celebration. The directors, Pat and Rhett, provide food like doughnuts, candy, muffins and prizes. LPP with Rhett Gunung provides movies, trips, and games. Summer LPP, is 4 weeks long and 3 days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). On Thursdays they go on special trips like Water Safari and Interskate 88. As a group, you get to make shirts and decide what they will look like. If you’re a member, you get any color LPP hoody, any size. LPP recently entered the Bullying Video contest. If you want to join in with any of these programs, talk to either Rhett or Pat in the high school (room 62). Hope to see more

students next year!

Big Brother

Big Sister &

LPP

P A G E 8

Kindness Matters!

T O R N A D O T I M E S

PARADE OF

LIGHTS 2013 — By Juliana Currier

Hope you had a Merry Christmas, Norwich.

The Parade of Lights was held on November

30, 2013. There was candy, lights, colorful

floats, fire trucks, SANTA, the Grinch, and

tons more. It was a cold day, but lots of

people still went and stood outside in the cold

and enjoyed the parade. The parade was

beautiful; all the floats lit up the street with

beautiful, colorful lights. During the parade, a

couple people walk around with boxes to fill

with toys as a donation for “Toys for Tots.”

Most floats represented either a place or thing,

for example, one float represented “Toys for

Tots” and one also represented a church. Some

of Norwich’s heroes (aka Sheriffs, fire fighters,

and paramedics) were there participating in the

parade which was pretty cool. Just think, they

took the time to participate in the parade.

People enjoyed the Parade of Lights. A lot of

kids had fun seeing Santa, the Grinch, snoopy,

and so many other Christmas things.

Thank you to all of the people who were

participating in the Parade of Lights!!

What is Your Favorite

Thing About Winter?

— By Cheyenne Miles

NMS kids were asked, “What is your favorite thing about winter?” A collection of the responses appear below.

“I like to build a snowman, and then run it over with my four wheeler!” — Rose McKay

“I like to swing really high then jump in a pile of snow!” — Abby Elwood

“I like to sit next to the fire and drink hot cocoa!” — Alexis Taylor “I like to throw snowballs at my dad!” — Chy Miles “I like to sleep and text.” — Raegan Maricle “I like to play in the snow with my sisters and drink hot cocoa while watching movies.” — Zanobia Cole “I like to drink hot cocoa.” — Brittany Cox “I like to play in the snow.” — Alexis Adams “I like to snowmobile.” — Kelsey LaVancha “I like to eat and sleep.” — Mrs. Martin “I also like to eat and sleep.” — Patti Donnelly “I like to ski and ride horses.” — Macauley Brown

Favorite

Presents

— By Raegan Maricle-Johnson

Have you ever had a favorite Christmas present that you really enjoyed? Raegan Maricle-Johnson and Jonathan Matlack-Gray went around to 6th and 7th grade advisory classes and asked “ What was your favorite present from past holidays, and why?’’ A 7th grader named Patti Donnelly said her favorite present was “spending time with her family”, and that was her favorite present because she “loves her family”. Another 7th grader named Katie Doliver said her favorite present was a “sketchbook” because art is her “favorite thing to do. A 6th grade English teacher, Mrs. Dowdall, said her favorite present was a “Mary Lou Retton leotard” because she was her “hero” (and Olympic ice skater). Mrs. Locke, a 6th grade math teacher said her favorite present was “moon shoes” because it was something she “really wanted”. A 7th grader named O’Rion Slater said that his favorite present was an “IPod touch” because he could “take pictures for memories sake”. Connor Whipple, A 7th grader said that his favorite present was “PS3” because he “expected to get it”.

P A G E 9

TORNADO

TINA

ADVICE

COLUMN

Dear Tina:

My work in class is hard for me. How do I make it easier?

Alex

Dear Alex:

If work is hard, pay attention in class. Tell your teacher you need help or ask your teacher if she could move you to a different seat. Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you don’t understand something.

From Tornado Tina

Toys For

Tots

— By Tina Lamphere

On November 29, a storage unit holding over $8,000 worth of toys caught on fire and lots of toys were lost. Several things were done in the community to help with this loss. On December 1

st a generous

person donation of $10,000 was given to Toys for Tots. Two nights after that the police department and fire department went to Walmart and got $13,000 worth of toys. They had to load all the toys into a fire truck and an ambulance. On Friday the 13

th Norwich Middle School

students brought toys to the dance. Any student bringing a toy got into the dance for free...and helped a great cause!

Allegiant Book Review

— By Jonathan Clarke

Allegiant is the third book of the series Divergent. It is an AWESOME series. They are written by Veronica Roth. After asking Liliana Talbot- Gould her opinion on the book, she gave very positive feedback. In her words she said, “It was an AMAZING book, very suspenseful.” Nathan Christophersen also shared his feedback. He said, “It was the BEST book in the series yet, and it is the best series I’ve ever read, I would give it a 5 out of 5 stars.” Both of the reviews were similar in stating that Veronica Roth did an amazing job on the series. Nathan Christophersen said, “I can’t wait for the next book if there is one.” Great job, Veronica, your books are amazing. Tornado Times Reporter, Jonathan Clarke, added, “I have yet to read Allegiant, and I am almost done with the second book. I can’t wait. If you haven’t read the series, GO READ IT NOW, trust me, you won’t regret it!

Catching Fire Movie Review

— By Devin Carnahan

The movie Catching Fire is the better of the

two Hunger Games that were released. This

movie is based on the book written by

Suzanne Collins. The movie reflects every bit

of the book, except the part where the Avox

communicated

with Katniss. Not

with speech

because of the fact

that her tongue

was cut by the

brutality of the

Capitol. The first

part of the movie,

the Victory Tour,

was very long. I

thought that they

wouldn’t have

enough time to fit everything about the

Quarter Quell Hunger Games into it, but they

fit in a lot, except in my opinion, they didn’t

put enough emotion into Mags before she

made a sacrifice to save Peeta’s life. They

never really put enough emotion into deaths

like the books do.

Catching Fire was a lot less serious than the

first Hunger Games movie, but it was A LOT

better.

InuYasha Book Review

— By Kaleb Hendrickson

InuYasha is an action packed anime series and apparently it caught the eyes of six graders. InuYasha is quite addicting. It is sad, happy, and scary at times, but the first book reveals so much.

An everyday high school girl named Kagome falls into a well. She discovers a different dimension with monsters and a dog demon named InuYasha. Kagome discovers him against a tree with an arrow in his chest, and he has been under a spell for 50 years. I am not revealing anything else, so if you want to know what happens … READ IT!

Reader of the

Month

— By “Master Read”

This month’s Reader of the Month is Robert Brown. When interviewing Robert, he was asked why he reads? Is it for fun or for school? His answer was “I read for fun. I just love finishing a

book and thinking about what I’ve read.”

At this time, Robert is reading a book called “Percy Jackson”. This book is a series and he recommends this book to anybody who likes “a great and easy read”. As you could guess,

Robert loves to read. He reads a few hours every day. When he was asked, “How many times a month do you go to the school library?”, he replied with two simple words, “Not enough!”

This is Master Read, your anonymous Reader of the Month Reporter, signing out

until next edition. You might be next!!!

Kaleb rates

this book/

series as:

10/10

P A G E 1 0

T O R N A D O T I M E S

Get In

the Game

— By Stanton Baker

In a recent video game survey, several people were asked about their favorite video games, favorite parts of the games, reasons why they like it, and, if they could change something about it, what would they change.

Michael Morey said that Call of Duty Ghosts is his favorite game. He also said that he is so excited for it to come out so he hasn’t beat it. Devin Moore said MW2 is his favorite game because of what he can do with hacking. Chandler

Jackson said Basketball 2K12 was his

favorite game because of the graphics and dunks, “They’re really realistic”, he said. If Chandler could change anything, it would be the running. Tanner Franklin

said Dead Island is his favorite video game, and his favorite part is the end. It is his favorite game because he gets to kill zombies, and he has beat it. If he could change it, he would not really change anything. Jennifer Pittsley said her favorite game is Call of Duty, and she likes it because its fun to kill zombies. She has not beat it, and if she could, she would change zombies to mummies. Stephanie Donnelly said her favorite game is Dune Buggy on Primary Games. She said “I love the last level!” and “It’s entertaining and keeps me from being bored.” She has beat it, and she

would change the graphics. Another person was Donovan Mullins, and he said Skyrim is his favorite. He likes destroying things and picking good or bad teams. He likes it because he can go wherever he wants to. He has beat it, in fact he beat it twice. The only thing he would change is to add more animals and make them tamable. The last person that was interviewed was Gabe Gawronski, and the game he plays the most is Fifa 14 which is a soccer game. He loves soccer so that is why he likes it. He likes every part of the game, and there really is no ending. If he could change something, it would be bringing back players from the past.

Guinness

World

Records

— By Hayley Richardson November 5, 2013, marks the one- year anniversary of the Daredevil Felix Baumgartner’s well known dive from space. Along with him, other people have made famous world records such as the World’s Smallest Woman or the World’s Largest Bubble gum bubble ever blown. The new 2014 issue of The Guinness Book of World Records has all of these plus

more. Who? Jyoti Amge Where? Nagpur, India Record? World’s Shortest Woman (62.8 cm at 19 years old)

Who? Chad Fell Where? HaleyVille, USA Record? World’s Largest Bubble Gum Bubble

To purchase the new book you can go to

Guinnessworldrecords.com or a bookstore near you.

Food for Ted

—By Cassie Pobocek

MINECRAFT Game

Review

— ByDalton Wheeldon

MINECRAFT is a great game for

people/kids of all ages because you

can pretty

much make

anything in

your mind.

Kids love to

have fun

playing a

game, and

they don’t

even know

that they’re

learning.

MINECRAFT

is fun and

easy unless

you put it on

survival mode because

you have a lot of things

like spiders, zombies,

skeletons, and

endermen. If you have

an iron sword, you would be good,

but a wooden sword would break

really quick.

The best thing to look for is ore.

Ore is like iron, diamond, and gold;

they are all very hard to find. You

need cobblestone to make stone

tools which last longer than

wooden tools. A mansion is very

hard to make; it takes a long time

to make depending on how many

rooms you want and how many

blocks it will take. A lot of people

go on creative because you can get

anything you want to build your

mansion.

P A G E 1 1

Comics

The Year: 2363 —By Graham Rudy

—By Cassie Pobocek

T O R N A D O T I M E S

Box Tops!

Please bring in your box tops and give

them to the teacher of your choice. Teachers please

deposit the box tops in the office. Our

school receives money for each box top that you bring in,

so help out the Norwich Middle

School and bring in those box tops.

Thank you!

Purple Pride — Gotcha!

Remember to wear your purple and white shirts or other Norwich purple pride items on Fridays! Tornado Times photographers will be out and about during Bell 3 (lunch and advisory time) to catch you on camera showing your school spirit! And GOTCHA! You may find you and your friends among the photos published in the next issue!

February 17—21

Winter recess

TORNADO TIMES

ICE CREAM PARTY!! — By Jonathan Clarke The Tornado Times Ice Cream Party was held on November 25, 2013. All of the Tornado Times members got together to talk about the newest issue of the Norwich Middle Schools

newspaper, The Tornado Times. It was hosted by our very own Mrs. Carpenter. Members got to made ice cream sundaes with all the toppings including M&M’s and whip cream. There was cookie dough ice cream, vanilla ice cream, mint chocolate

chip ice cream, and cookies and cream ice cream. The members all enjoyed the party. It was a fun time filled with laughs. The members came up with some cool ideas for the next issue of the newspaper. The party was an awesome event to celebrate the first publication. Thank you, Mrs. Carpenter for throwing an awesome

party!

P A G E 1 2

— By Crystal Ernest Students were interviewed and asked what

about their favorite candies. The choices were Hershey’s Chocolate, Reese’s Peanut Butter

Cups, M&Ms, and Kit Kats. Out of the 134 students that took the survey, the candy that

had the most votes was Kit Kats with 57 votes, the candy with the second highest amount of votes was Reese’s Peanut Butter

Cups with 53 votes, Hershey’s Chocolate got 17 votes, the least favorite candy voted was

M&M’s with 7 votes.

Candy Survey

TORNADO

TIMES *New Members

The newspaper staff continues to

grow! Students interested in

joining the newspaper are

invited to attend our first

meeting at the start of the next

marking period. The newspaper

gets together after school in

Room 56 on Mondays (from

2:15—3:00). See Mrs. Carpenter

if you have questions!

Meeting for New Members:

Monday, February 3

Wear your school colors

EveRy FRIDAY!!