This aerial view shows the planned location of the new Creative Center between the Main Building and the Upper School building. PHOTO COURTESY MARKETING DEPARTMENT

RIVERFIELD ROCKS THE CAIN’S on DEC. 3 Buy your tickets now!

Inside this issue...

November 2016

Mystery Person 2

Who will Henry vote for? 3

Zap! — What do you think? 4

Road trip to Bojangle’s 5

Miranda and Kail’s hit play … 6

Loveable losers finally win! 7

Wild cards and top seeds 8

The Veep wannabes … 9

“Art,” Art & art 10

A Warriors prediction … 11

The worst things they’ve said 12

Skoog & Skoog 13

Don’t shake his hand! 14

Volume X Number 2

RAVIN’ TIMES is published six times during the school year by the Middle

School Newspaper elective class at Riverfield Country Day School

in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

This is a student-led publication. All opinions expressed are those of the individual writers and do not reflect

positions of the staff, advisers or

school administration.

We reserve the right to edit any

material submitted for publication. Contact the Newspaper Adviser at

pdickey@riverfield.org.

—NEWSPAPER STAFF—

Sienna Ball

Jack Bluhm

Maddy Edwards

Gabe Feather

Caleb Fuqua

Jack Jones

Andrew Jordan

Jon Morley

Erik Overgaard

Brenden Paul

Ray Siegfried

Elise Wagoner

Adviser: Mrs. Patricia Dickey

Plans being drawn for Creative Center By Brenden Paul 8TH GRADE

A few years ago, Riverfield Country Day School re-

ceived a grant of $1 million for improvements to the Art and Music depart-ments. The $1 million grant will be used to start the process of building a new Art, Drama and Band building called the Crea-tive Center. Blueprints were recent-ly revealed by Head of School Jerry Bates, but I wanted to know more. So I interviewed Mr. Bates about the school’s plans for this new building.

Brenden: What are your thoughts about this “Creative Center”? Mr. Bates: I think it will be a place that will bring the campus together, be-cause creativity abounds at our school. This will be a great new addition. B: So, exactly what facili-ties will be in the new building? Mr. B: Three band rooms, a recording studio, a black box theater, 2D and 3D art studios, three additional studio spaces, and there will also be some class-room space. B: When do you think the building will be completed and ready for use? Mr. B: It depends on

when we have the money we need. We are doing some fundraising now to help sup-port the building, but we won’t start building it until we get the money. This will be a great addi-tion for students in the Art, Drama and Rock Band pro-grams, and we will be anx-iously waiting for it to be ready to use. If you are a current 8th grader or high school stu-dent, you may not be around when this building is com-pleted. The construction pro-cess has not been started or even planned yet. But if you are a 6th or 7th grader, you can expect to be using this building when you are in high school!

Mystery Person

MOVIE REVIEW:

‘Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar

Children’

By Caleb Fuqua 8TH GRADE

M ysteries. By defini-tion, a mystery is something that is

difficult or impossible to understand or explain. I recently interviewed a Riverfield person, and here’s a hint: it’s a teacher. So to-day you can try to solve who this Mystery Person is. Caleb: So, Mystery Person, when did you first come to Riverfield? Mystery Person: I’ve been here for six years. C: What is your favorite thing about the school since you came here? ?: I like the people and the woody campus. C: Do you have any pets? If so, how many? ?: I have one pet.

C: Do you have a favorite book, movie, or TV show? ?: “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Gilmore Girls,” self-help books, biographies, and romance novels. C: What is your opinion on dabbing? ?: I don’t know … if you like it, you do it. If you don’t, you don’t . C: What is your favorite holiday? ?: I’d say it is Christmas. C: Do you like any sport? ?: I like basketball. C: What’s your favorite color? ?: Pink. C: What are some of your pet peeves? ?: One of my pet peeves is students that don’t listen. C: Thank you for letting me interview you, Mystery Person! ?: *dabs* (chuckles)*dabs* O

n Sept. 30, a highly anticipated movie finally

came out. The film is based on the book by Ransom Riggs, “Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children.” The movie has al-ready gained a reputa-tion because so many people have read the book. In addition, Asa Butterfield, who stars as Jacob Portland in the film, has also played the main role in a lot of other popular movies such as “Ender’s Game” and “Hugo.” Jacob has a normal life until one day, his grandfather is killed. Jacob is told he will be sent to find the children’s home where his grandfa-ther had gone in WWII. Jacob then finds the home and the wonderful and terrifying mysteries that his grandfather left him.

One aspect of the story that I particularly enjoyed is how each child at the home has a “peculiar-ity” (a power that makes them different.) I liked seeing all the different and weird powers. This is a great picture with wonderful special effects. The cast, including Eva Green and Samuel L. Jackson, is remarkable. The way the movie tells the story leaves you wondering after each piece of infor-mation you discover. Readers should know that the film is very differ-ent from the book. Some characters have different names, and their appear-ances and the way things happen sometimes differ from the book. But overall, I think “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” is a very good movie, earning 4.5 stars out of 5 in my opinion. Rated PG-13.

Can you guess who this is? The answer is hidden on the back page. PHOTO BY ANDY’S FINE PORTRAITS

POSTER ARTWORK: TEASER-TRAILERS.COM

RAVIN’ TIMES November 2016 2

Beautiful Drawings

with Gabe

Interview with

Henry the Goose

T oday is Election Day. Who would you vote for?

This is the third install-ment of “Beautiful Drawing with Gabe,” and these draw-ings are inspired by the elec-tion campaigns. The first drawing is a fairly chubby man saying “Vote Kanye 2020,” because Kanye West will be running for president then. The next drawing is of Ken Bone, and I don’t think I need to explain myself on this one. The next is the largest

drawing, and it is just a bunch of colors spread around everywhere. This is supposed to inspire people to draw no matter what drawing skills you have. Clearly, I have none. Some people might think it is a good way to describe the political cam-paigns this year, though. The final drawing is about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Trump is talking about Mexico while Clinton is figuring out how to delete her emails. Enjoy!

By Gabe Feather 8TH GRADE

R ecently I inter-viewed a person-ality so great he’s

on television constantly. I’m talking about Henry “the AFLAC guy” the Goose. I decided to ask him about life at River-field, and of course, the presidential election, one evening recently around dinnertime. Gabe: Hello, Henry. Do you mind if I interview you today? Henry: I don’t like to be interviewed. G: Too bad, I need to ask you some questions. First, what do you think of the new school year here at Riverfield? H: It’s pretty good, but it

would be better if I could go and eat right now. G: OK. Now, today is Elec-tion Day, so who will you be voting for? H: Whoever I want to vote for. G: Hmm. Well then, what do you like to eat? H: Food. G: (Duh.) These answers are not very good, Henry. H: I don’t care, I’m not in a very good mood. And I’m also very hungry. G: You are ruining this interview, Henry! You’re being featured in the Mid-dle School newspaper, and you’re not even showing any appreciation! H: Well, maybe if you in-terview me tomorrow we wouldn’t have this prob-lem. G: OK, thank you for your time. (I guess.)

Henry is feeling patriotic. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY GABE FEATHER

3 November 2016 RAVIN’ TIMES

The history of Tulsa, Part II

Zap! Good or evil?

N ot all was prosper-ous in the early days of Tulsa.

During the 1920s, it had become evident that the Ar-kansas River was no longer a suitable water supply. Citi-zens of Tulsa supported a multimillion dollar bond to bring water from the Spav-inaw Hills. This was consid-ered one of the largest public works projects in the coun-try during this era. It was not until after World War II that an in-crease in offshore drilling operations affected the pe-troleum industry. Fortunately, the aircraft and aerospace industry was beginning to blossom. American Airlines built a major maintenance center and their SABRE reservation system relocated from New York to Tulsa. To date, there are more than 300 aviation-related companies in Tulsa.

Another means of transportation did not come to Tulsa until 1970, when the Port of Catoosa opened. This linked Tulsa with the rest of the world via Arkansas River naviga-tion to the Mississippi Riv-er and on to the Gulf of Mexico. Such advancements have made Tulsa a diverse city full of opportunity. Not only national corpora-tions, but international corporations have made Tulsa their home. For in-stance, American Airlines, Kimberly-Clark, Thrifty, Dollar, and Whirlpool are just a few of the leading businesses. As you can see, our city started with just a few In-dians, and it is now the 47th most populous city in the entire United States of America!

INFORMATION FROM: DOWNTOWN-TULSAOK.COM and WATERSHEDS.ORG

By Elise Wagoner 8TH GRADE

A couple of weeks ago, Mrs. Maxey announced dur-

ing lunch that a program called Zap! is being brought back due to missing and late assign-ments. Later on, I learned that Zap! is a way that students can make up work during their recess time. I think it isn’t that bad. Gabe Feather agrees with me. He says, “I think it helps people get their work done, so I guess it isn’t so bad.” But when I talked to some of my other class-mates, they didn’t think the same way. I asked Brenden Paul what he thought about the program, and he said, “Zap! is trash. I wish that it was optional, because not all people want to go in and do work instead of spending their free time with friends.” When I interviewed some of the other stu-

dents (mostly boys), their responses were similar. But I also asked Maddy Edwards and Sienna Ball. “In my opinion,” Maddy said, “I think that Zap! is very helpful to a lot of stu-dents who either don’t have the time, or are just too tired, to get their homework done.” Sienna said, “I think it will help a lot of people, and that it’s a good choice.” Most of the time people will take initiative and go inside and get their stuff done. It’s one of the perks of having such an opportunity.

Todays Tulsa skyline … PHOTO: PANORAMIO

ILLUSTRATION BY ELISE WAGONER

Zap! is

very helpful to a

lot of students

who either

don’t have the

time, or are just

too tired.

—Maddy Edwards

“

4 RAVIN’ TIMES November 2016

Waiting for Thanksgiving … By Jon Morley 7TH GRADE

T hanksgiving will be here very soon, and it’s one of my favorite times of the year.

There are so many great things about this holiday! We get three days off from school, we get to spend time with family and friends, there is won-derful food, and lots of sports on TV. I asked a few people at Riverfield what their favorite thing about Thanksgiving is. Here’s what they said. Andrew Jordan, Colin Marsh and Brenden Paul all said their favorite thing is the food. Ray Siegfried couldn’t decide. He said it was a three-way tie between being with family, watching football, and the Turkey Bowl. Ryan Faubert said it was a toss-up between the food and the weather. What’s your favorite thing about Thanksgiving? Andrew, Brenden and Ray daydream about Thanksgiving. PHOTO BY JON MORLEY

Famous Bojangles restaurant

I t’s Bo time at Bojan-gles! Bojangles is a fast

food restaurant in many Southern states, but they don’t have any locations in Tulsa yet. They are known for chicken and biscuits, and they’re open all day every day -- breakfast, lunch and dinner. What else is on the menu? You can get sand-wiches like cajun filet sandwiches, BBQ sand-wiches, wrap sandwiches, boneless chicken family meals, salads, combos and fixin’s. I really like their gravy and biscuits with chicken. But Bojangles is more than just food. They spon-

sor parades and festivals and charity events in many com-munities. You can get hats, shirts and even keychains with their logo. Bojangles was first opened in 1977 by Jack Fulk and Richard Thomas in Charlotte, North Carolina. They have a lot of locations in North Carolina today as well as in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Ken-tucky, Virginia, West Virgin-ia, Washington D.C., Mary-land and Pennsylvania. Hopefully they will add a Bojangles here in Tulsa someday. Until then, you’ll just have to go to other cities in the South. Personally, I wish every restaurant in Tul-sa was a Bojangles! Great chicken and biscuits! PHOTO: RACECITYUSA.ORG

5 November 2016 RAVIN’ TIMES

‘Hamilton’ sets records on Broadway way in August that year. The responses were ecstat-ic. By 2017, it is projected that “Hamilton” will have made $1.5 billion just in New York. Miranda is recognized as writing the play and the musical score, but he also starred as Alexander Ham-ilton in the hit Broadway play through July 9, 2016. A very close co-writer, Thomas Kail, deserves more writing credit than he gets. Everyone credits Miranda, but in fact Kail helped him write the play. Before “Hamilton,” Miranda had previously created and starred in an-other Broadway musical called “In the Heights.” It was a very popular play, but it only produced half of what “Hamilton” is pro-jected to make. Also, “Hamilton” has

By Jack Bluhm 8TH GRADE

I n 2009, on a flight to Mexico for a vacation, writer-actor-composer-

rapper Lin-Manuel Miranda casually picked up a biog-raphy of one of America’s founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton. He was very intrigued and wondered why no one had done anything more with the story. After more research, Mi-randa began performing a group of songs in 2012 based on the life of Alexander Hamilton. It was called the “Hamilton Mixtape,” and the musical “Hamilton” was based on this. (A brand new “Hamilton Mixtape” will be released in early December.) The play premiered in New York City in January 2015 and moved to Broad-

Lin-Manuel Miranda stars as the title character in his play. PHOTO: FLAVORWIRE.COM

been awarded this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as a Grammy and sev-eral Tony Awards. Miranda also composed the cantina music for “Star Wars: The Force Awak-

ens.” A New York Times re-view of “Hamilton” says it is “very good how Miranda was able to incorporate Hamil-ton’s life and represent that in a rap/hip-hop way.”

6 RAVIN’ TIMES November 2016

HALLOWEEN 2016

PHOTOS COURTESY DEE MAXEY

Meet a new student

I thought I would interview a student who is new to River-

field this year. Elise Wag-oner is in 8th grade, and she plays volleyball. For electives, she has chosen Newspaper and Pho-toshop. Ray: Where did you go to school before River-field? Elise: Monte Cassino. R: How do you like

Riverfield? E: I like it. It’s really fun. R: What is your favorite college? E: University of Kansas. R: How old are you? E: 14. R: What sports do you play? E: Tennis, Volleyball. R: What electives are you taking right now? E: Drama, Photoshop and Newspaper. R: Thank you!

MLB playoffs By Ray Siegfried 8TH GRADE

“P layoffs? Playoffs? I just want to win a game!”

That is what Chicago Cubs fans have heard only a few times. But now they are going to the World Series! They were so confident they were going to the Se-ries that some fans bought World Series tickets at Wrigley Field in July or August. The Cubs made it to the World Series by beat-ing the Giants in four games and the Dodgers in six games. I was glad that there were no billy goats and knowbody pulled a Bart-man. (As I mentioned in the last issue). Actually, I think the city needs to for-give Billy Sianas and may-be Bartman as well. Moving on. The Toron-to Blue Jays showed that baseball is not just an American thing; it’s also a big deal north of the bor-der.

This year’s MLB playoffs represent a new chapter in baseball. The Blue Jays made their second straight appearance, and the Cleve-land Indians made their first appearance in forever, and they ended up going to the World Series, and losing to the Cubs in a terrific ten in-ning Game 7. The Indians were led by veterans Mike Napoli, Jason Kipnis, Corey Kluber and 22 year old Francisco Lindor. They beat the Red Sox in three games and the Blue Jays in five games to go to the Series. The Indians put together a great season and made an intriguing run to the World Series. Cleveland has a de-cent pitching staff and has a experienced manager in Ter-ry Francona, who has bro-ken a curse himself while he was in Boston in 2004. I think that Cleveland is a young team and will be back in the World Series soon. I’m glad the Cubs won for the first time since 1908, and it is good for baseball that they did.

The 2016 World Series Champions, the Chicago Cubs! PHOTO: TMZ.COM

Elise takes a break while working on a Newspaper deadline. PHOTO BY RAY SIEGFRIED

FOOD DRIVE!

We need everyone at RCDS to bring nonperisha-ble food items from now through Nov. 15. The Middle and Upper School grades are competing to collect the most food items and cash dona-tions. The results will be announced on Visiting Day. The Community Food Bank of Eastern Okla-homa uses cash donations to purchase more food at significant discounts. They need help!

7 November 2016 RAVIN’ TIMES

An interview with Mr. Wright teachers and vice versa. The diversity of the stu-dents impressed me. A: What do you like to do in your free time? Mr. W: Watch Netflix and

sports, and read crime novels. A: What is your favorite sports team and why? Mr. W: The Houston As-tros, because when I was a kid I used to listen to them on the radio a lot. A: What would you do if you had $1,000,000? Mr. W: I would take care of my family, pay off all my debts, put a lot in a trust, and give some to charity. But I would still work. A: What is the funniest thing that has ever hap-pened in your class? Mr. W: When Robert Beers and Ryan Coretz herded the goats into my old classroom. A: What is the most an-

noying thing that students do? Mr. W: When students don’t listen to my direc-tions. A: What is the best excuse that a student gave you about why he/she could not turn in their speech? Mr. W: That the student’s printer kept running out of ink … on three separate occasions! A: Where did you learn so much about debate? Mr. W: I debated in high school and was a Speech major in college. I have al-ways had an interest in de-bate. I also learned from other people, and I went to some debate camps. A: Thanks for your time!

By Andrew Jordan 8TH GRADE

F or this issue, I inter-viewed Mr. Wright, who teaches Speech

& Debate at Riverfield for the Middle and Upper Schools. Andrew: How long have you been teaching at Riverfield? Mr. Wright: I have been teaching here for nine years, but I started as a substitute. A: What made you decide to teach at Riverfield? Mr. W: I felt straight away like I was at home, and that the students greatly respected the

Mr. Wright teaches a class. PHOTO BY ANDREW JORDAN

Andrew’s AFC playoff predictions cent, and their defense, tied for 8th, is doing fine. If they keep playing this way, they will make it to the postseason. Pittsburgh Steelers — #4 Seed – They lost to the Miami Dolphins, who in-jured Ben Roethlisberger. He is also out for the Patri-ots game. However, their offense is strong with Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown racking up yards and TDs. They will proba-bly make it to the playoffs. Buffalo Bills — #5 Seed — The Bills have had a very good season so far, as their record is 4-2. If they keep it up, they could finally get into the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

(continued on page 9) ARTWORK: DIFFEN.COM

P rofessional football is run by the National Football League

(NFL), and the playoffs are everything. They lead to the biggest television sports event in the U.S., the Super Bowl, in which the top team in each conference (the AFC and the NFC) fight it out to deter-mine the best team in the game that year. Here are my predictions for this season’s AFC win-ners. WILD CARD TEAMS Denver Broncos — #3 Seed — After winning the Super Bowl last year, The Sheriff (Peyton Manning) retired. Now they are bounc-ing between Paxton Lynch, Trevor Siemian and Austin Davis. Their offense is de-

8 RAVIN’ TIMES November 2016

A look at the VP candidates Both claimed their tick-et will lower taxes, but Pence said, “when Clinton was Senator of New York, the debt doubled.” He then said, “I am glad to be in a state that works.” Kaine simply claimed that he would lower taxes. Then the two candi-dates moved on to the top-ic of America’s huge debt. Pence quickly started by saying that Kaine wants to “run the economy into a ditch,” and that Trump has a successful business and is a “good businessman.” Kaine said “we should fo-cus on the payroll tax cap.” For their last topic, they talked about the police system and the recent out-breaks of violence. Kaine said “we need to have closed background checks and make police safer.” Pence said, “Police are the best of us.” They both agreed they need to bring

By Brenden Paul 8TH GRADE

T oday is Election Day, and by now everyone has heard

plenty about the two can-didates for president. But how much do you know about the vice-presidential candidates? In the running are Re-publican Mike Pence, a former governor of Indi-ana and the running mate of Donald Trump, and Democrat Tim Kaine, a former senator from Vir-ginia and the running mate of Hillary Clinton. Both are proud of their running mates. During the televised VP debate on Oct. 4, Kaine claimed he is “proud to be running with a history-making woman,” while Pence said, “I never imag-ined running for VP with this great guy.”

Mike Pence (left) at a Trump/Pence rally and Tim Kaine (right) in his official photo as Governor of Virginia.

PHOTOS: EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG and MEMBERS-OF-CONGRESS.INSIDEGOV.COM

together the most intelli-gent people to improve background checks. After watching the de-bate, I think Pence is the better VP candidate be-cause he seemed to know what he’s doing more than Kaine. He is a more experi-enced politician, and he was governor of a state that seemed to work better than

Virginia. I think the presidential race may come down to these two men, because people have such mixed opinions about the presi-dential candidates. Pence and Kaine will either win or lose their candidate the election. “Pulo’s Presidential Corner,” signing off.

Playoff predictions (continued) (continued from page 8) Houston Texans — #6 Seed — With Brock Osweiler, Lamar Miller and DeAndre Hopkins, their offense now has a spark. Meanwhile, J. J. Watt is still rushing the passer and keeping that defense alive (somewhat, they still are the Texans.) It looks as if they are making another playoff run. TOP SEEDS Oakland Raiders — #2 Seed — You’re thinking. “Whoa, the Raiders are #2

seed? You must be crazy!” Yeah, I thought that, too. However, they do have a spark. Derek Carr has three decent receivers in Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper and Clive Walford. If their offense doesn’t work, they have a great punter in Marquette King. Their defense is led mostly by Khalil Mack. If he keeps playing like he is now, that will give the Raiders the #2 seed. New England Patriots — #1 Seed — What playoff list would be com-plete without the New

England Patriots (or as I call them, the Deflatriots. Sorry, couldn’t help my-self.) They have arguably the best offense in the en-tire NFL with Tom Brady at QB, Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan at WR, and “The Human Tank” Rob Gron-kowski at TE. Their line is led by Nate Solder, Le-Garrette Blount and James White at RB, and that’s just the offense. They also have Rob Ninkovich lead-ing the pass rush and part of the run defense, and Malcolm Butler and Pat-rick Chung locking down

the secondary. Dont’a High-tower takes LB with pride. I love my Dolphins, who are in the same division, but I see the Patriots dominating the AFC East. There is not much the Patriots do wrong.

The Patriots celebrate another successful drive. PHOTO: KTLA.COM

November 2016 RAVIN’ TIMES 9

The Jackiepew Gallery of “art”, art & art About a month ago, I and the rest of the people in my German class came up with the idea of an art gallery which, essen-

tially, was a book for everyone to draw in. Over time, we began to expand and improve on it. It is now essentially an art-

sharing social media, where anybody can draw in the book, and everyone else can rate their art. The rating options are: “Art”

which, as the name suggests, is not good; Art, which is just average; and finally, art, which is way above average. As of Oct. 14

Thanksgiving Crossword By Jack Jones 8TH GRADE

ACROSS 1. A starch eaten on Thanksgiving 3. It’s all about giving … 4. People typically associated with Thanksgiving 6. People you visit on Thanksgiving 7. Name of a pilgrim ship 9. Name of the holiday

“Some Random Cat on Some Random Chair” by Ali Johns

“Giant Cyclops” by Alex Smith

“Mayer Pear” by Caleb Fuqua “Ich bin eine Schlange” by Herr Day

“Me in 20 Years” by Andrew Jordan “The Oppression by Society on the Worker Class” by Tobin Anderson

DOWN

2. The day of the week on which Thanksgiving takes place 3. Stereotypical Thanks- giving food 5. This president declared Thanksgiving a national holiday 8. A dessert eaten on Thanksgiving

there were 98 total drawings in the book. Here are some of the best (and worst.) — Jack Jones

10 RAVIN’ TIMES November 2016

By Erik Overgaard 8TH GRADE

A s many sports fans know, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s star

forward Kevin Durant left the team this past year and signed with the Golden State Warriors. Many were upset with Durant because they think his addition will make the Warriors unstoppable. Golden State already has Steph Curry, the reigning back-to-back NBA MVP, as well as a deadly finals-caliber team. Many fans are saying that Durant is trying to win a championship the easy way. But let’s talk about some of the details of the Warri-ors’ upcoming 2016-2017 season. There are pros and cons to this year’s team. The War-riors lost a lot of their bench

players. They traded those players to get all-star start-ers, so they have no depth. On the bright side, the Warriors’ starting lineup features Curry, Durant, Draymond Green, Zaza Pachulia and Klay Thomp-son. They lost their big center, Andrew Bogut, in a trade with the Dallas Mav-ericks to get mediocre cen-ter Pachulia. “They might beat last year’s 73-9 record, and I think they might win the finals this year because they have Curry, Thomp-son, Durant and Green,” said Abigail Pope, River-field 8th grader. I predict Golden State will go 66-16 and make it to the finals, but lose to the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-2. LeBron James is too much of a power against Golden State. Let’s see if I’m right.

NBA PREVIEW:

Golden State Warriors

Favorite Sports

S ports are a big part of Riverfield, and many students have

favorite teams in all dif-ferent sports. A lot of middle school students are very pas-sionate about their team. The most popular team is undoubtedly the Oklaho-ma State University Cow-boys, mainly because of relatives who graduated from that college. Many boys have fa-vorite NFL teams, such as 7th grader Jon Morley. “The Denver Broncos [are my favorite,] be-cause my uncle is from Denver,” he said. Another big sport is basketball, especially NBA. “I really like the Golden State Warriors,

and it makes people very mad, which is good,” said Robert Hale, 8th grade. Sienna Ball, in 7th, likes MLB baseball and the Chicago Cubs, who made the World Series this year for the first time in 71 years. The teachers also have teams they favor. Mrs. Poulain, the new Social Studies teacher, likes the soccer team Manchester United FC. “I’m more of a soccer fan,” she said, “and I like them because they are really good.” The fans at Riverfield are definitely scattered, from liking basketball to lacrosse. Everyone likes different teams, and that is one of the many things that makes our school unique.

The Golden State Warriors play the Orlando Magic. PHOTO: FLICKR.COM

A map of all the main sports teams in the United States. PHOTO: ROOTANDRIOD.ORG

VISITING DAY is NEXT WEEK! Be sure to tell your family and friends to come on November 18, and turn in your

lunch orders by the end of this week!

November 2016 RAVIN’ TIMES 11

Basketball starts

W hen basketball practices start-ed at River-

field on Oct. 10, I heard a few little chatters about the upcoming season. So I decided to find out what the hype about bas-ketball was all about. I interviewed one girl from each grade who decided to play basket-ball this season. Let’s start with 6th grade. I interviewed Nya Bernard about her expe-riences. Maddy: Why do you want to play basketball? Nya: Because it is really fun, and I get to play with all of my friends. M: When do you prac-tice? N: Monday mornings and Wednesday and Thursday after school. M: What is your favorite position to play? N: Point, because it is what I played all last year. I hope to play the same position this year. Now on to 7th grade. I interviewed Elizabeth “Lizzie” Williamson.

Maddy: Why do you want to play? Lizzie: Because I love it. M: When do you practice? L: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in the after-noons, and Tuesdays in the morning. M: What’s your favorite position to play? L: Wing. It doesn’t matter which side. And finally, for 8th grade I interviewed Abigail Pope. Maddy: Why do you play basketball? Abigail: Because I love it. I really enjoy it a lot. M: When do you practice? A: Monday and Thursdays during MAAP, Tuesday mornings, and Wednes-days after school. M: What is your all-time favorite position to play? A: Post, definitely. I am very excited for this season because I love basketball, and it is such an important asset of RCDS. All the girls I inter-viewed are very excited for the season, and I hope you are as well!

Can you believe Election Day has finally arrived? By Maddy Edwards 8TH GRADE

S o today is finally Election Day. Did you know

that the Republican race for president started with 17 candidates and is now down to one? Donald John Trump. The Democratic race resulted in the first woman to run for presi-dent, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Looking back over the past few months, I thought I would remind everyone of the worst two things, in my opinion, that Trump and Clinton have said dur-ing their campaigns. Trump first. “I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me — and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” (Yeah, definitely.) “I love babies! Actually,

I was only kidding. You can get that baby out of here. Don’t worry; I think she re-ally believed me that I love having a baby crying while I’m speaking. That’s OK, people don’t understand. That’s OK.” (Criticizing a supporter who happened to be a moth-er, and then talking about her shortly after. That’s nice.) Now on to Clinton. “I have said that I'm not running, and I’m having a great time being pres— … being a first-term senator.” (The stutter of a liar.) “We have a lot of kids who don’t know what work means. They think work is a four-letter word.” (Well, it is a four letter word. So.) This just goes to show that both of these grown adults think they can run a country, but I’m not so sure. After all, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both have said some rude things even though they are grown adults.

Both presidential candidates have said things that are virtually unbe-lievable during this campaign season. It’s almost over!

PHOTO: THEMEASUREMENTSTANDARD.COM

PHOTO: BOYKINSBASKETBALL.COM

12 RAVIN’ TIMES November 2016

Mr. Hayden Skoog

A: His sense of humor, dancing abilities, musical taste, and we are just always laughing when we are together (which is a lot). On a more serious note, his leadership qual-ities and his passion for Cape Town in South Afri-ca. Q: If you could have any-thing you want, what would it be? A: Easy. Free Popeye’s for life. Q: What was your dream job when you were a child? A: I wanted to be a Nas-car driver. I was going to be No. 97 and be part-ners with Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr. Q: Where would you move if you could? A: Colorado, I guess. But honestly, I really enjoy Tulsa. It has the small town feel.

Q : Favorite sport? And why? A: Hockey. It was

the first sport Hayden and I were interested in play-ing, all because of the Mighty Duck movies from the ’90s. Q: Favorite state in the U.S.? A: Colorado. For summer activities, there are long-boarding and jeeping, I still want to try mountain boarding, and occasionally hiking. For winter activi-ties, there are snowboard-ing, pond hockey and sled-ding. Q: Favorite country? A: USA USA USA! Q: Why do you work at RCDS? A: I love working with kids, and every time our family has left Tulsa and come back, Riverfield has always been there to wel-come us back. Q: Where did you go to college? Are you still in college? A: First I went to Rhema Bible College here in Tulsa. I have an associate degree in Pastoral Care. Now I am attending Oral Roberts University to earn a bache-lor’s degree in Physical Education Secondary Ed. Q: It’s Election Day. Who is your favorite U.S. presi-dent and why? A: George Washington. Why not? Q: What characteristics do you like in the other Skoog?

Let’s compare and contrast the Skoogs!

Q : Favorite sport? And why. A: Soccer had been

a newfound love of mine. I started playing for fun my senior year of high school, and I have never stopped. Q: Favorite state in the U.S.? A: The great state of OK-LAHOMA! I’ve lived in a few other states, and Ok-lahoma takes the cake, fo’ sho. Q: Favorite country? A: AMERICA, but South Africa is a really close second. Q: Why do you work at RCDS? A: I graduated from Riverfield in 2011, and I really love working with kids. This opportunity fell in my lap because of the “broseph” working here previously. Q: Where did you go to

college? Are you still in college? A: I received my bachelor’s degree in Accounting in December 2015 from Oral Roberts University. I am now working towards a master’s in Sports Admin-istration from Arkansas State online. Q: It’s Election Day. Who is your favorite U.S. presi-dent and why? A: I have a feeling that Hunter is going to say George Washington, so I’ll pick someone else. I’ll say Ronald Reagan. Great man, real, and did what he said he would do. Q: Characteristics that you like in the other Skoog? A: He is pretty stinking funny! The two of us never have a dull moment, from quoting movies back and forth to laughing at what we do at work all day. Q: If you could have any-thing you want, what would it be? A: I really want to visit all of the national parks in America! Q: What was your dream job when you were a child? A: I wanted to be my dad. He would always tell us that he was a “professional gas passer,” and we would laugh so hard! So that’s what I wanted to be. Q: Where would you move if you could? A: Cape Town, South Afri-ca. I have a huge heart for the people there, and it is absolutely gorgeous.

Hunter and Hayden have gone to one Nebraska football game eve-ry year for the last 11 years. They lived in Nebraska briefly.

PHOTO COURTESY HAYDEN SKOOG

By Jack Bluhm 8TH GRADE

Two brothers named Hayden and Hunter Skoog both graduated from RCDS and now work part-time here and also go to college. I interviewed both of them to find out how they resemble each other and how they are different.

Mr. Hunter Skoog

November 2016 RAVIN’ TIMES 13

Ravin’ Times Photo Gallery All of these artworks were done by Riverfield Middle School students this quarter. Most are now on dis-play in the LAC building. Come take a look!

PHOTOS BY SIENNA BALL

Interview with Caden Kesselring By Sienna Ball 7TH GRADE

I interviewed Caden Kes-selring after the Cross Country race at Hen-

ryetta when he won 3rd Place. Sienna: How long have you been doing Cross Country, and why did you start? C: I started two years ago because I’ve always enjoyed running, and it helps to con-dition me for basketball, lacrosse and baseball. S: How much daily do you practice? C: I went to Cross Country practice at 7 a.m. on Mon-

days, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and we ran about three miles. On Tuesdays, we normally did sprints or conditioning after school. S: What do you think are the best running shoes? C: Personally, I think Brooks are the best. S: How many running injuries have you had? C: I actually haven’t had any. S: How were you feeling before you started the race at Henryetta? C: I was a little nervous on the line, but I was ready to go. S: What do you think

During Yoga class … PHOTO BY SIENNA BALL

made that race different ? C: Most of the schools from the state were there. S: How did you feel after you found out you won 3rd Place? C: I was pretty happy, but I was hoping to get 1st. I got beat by the guy that beat me at the Riverfield meet. S: What is one of the most embarrassing moments you’ve had while running? C: After one race, I got spit on my face and shook half of the racers’ hands. S: What advice would you give to a newcomer? C: Work hard, and focus on your own pace.

14 RAVIN’ TIMES November 2016

MYSTERY PERSON: Mrs. Ashley Farley. Did you guess correctly?