Virtual Tour for New Students

Some of the Editors have created a movie showing how to get around TMS, primarily for students entering Grade 5. The movie is shown in it's entirety on YouTube. You cannot find it by searching as there no key words associated with it, but you can find it if you click on the link below.

YouTube Video

Otherwise, you may watch the movie here. It is split into three areas, shown below.

The first movie shows the South Entrance by the Fifth Grade Center and the areas nearby.

Hint: Ignore the Subtitles and it is really not very hard to find your way in the middle school - Jessica C

The second movie shows the Cafeteria, Gyms, Orchestra, and how to open a combination lock.



The last movie shows Band, Art, the Office and Library, and the Computer Labs.

E2 (squared)

On May 5th, you got to do something fun for the last hour of the day. The time is called E2, or E-Squared, which is short for Extra Encore. It allows students to experience things they don't normally get to do in school.

This reporter was personally with Mrs. Andre for karaoke, but most of the other teachers were making crafts and such. There was a cemetery walk, a nature walk, making hats, and making computer games to name a few.

Some had fun making movies. An example of the fun is shown below. Some interesting movies are still in the process of being edited using Movie Maker.

Eighth Grade can SING!

Eighth grade singers are having a great month. Many have already tried out for festival singers at THS. According to the director, Ms. Andre, "These singers also tried out for Concert Women and Company. They are strong singers!"

They are going to State Festival at the end of the week. There is a concert you won't want to miss on May 26th. The concert on the 26th will be a concert of popular music.

Eighth grade singers were filmed in preparation for E-Squared day, showing the extent of their skill and versatility. They are singing a song in German, called "I Will Rejoice" or "Ich Will den Herrn Loben." It is based on a canon by Georg Philipp Telemann. It is about singing, praising, and being joyful.

Linsey's Trip to Mexico

Linsey Cory, Jessica's sister, is traveling to Merida, Mexico for school studies. She will be in Mexico for two and a half months. Linsey is one year from graduating from an anthropology degree. She says "I am very excited to go to Mexico!" Linsey has been to Mexico many times and has loved every one of her trips. "We all love her and hope that she gets home very safely," says Linsey's aunt, Dawn Harsh. We hope you have fun watching this video and we are sorry for the constant shaking (we were all a little nervous at the airport). God bless Linsey Cory!

Reporter: Jessica C

Editor: Carley L

Random picture

Since we haven't posted anything in a while, we saw fit to give you all this lovely picture, straight from the library rejects cart.

High School Musical Play

Last week Tecumseh Youth Theatre put on productions of High School Musical. It was shown on April 17th, 18th, and 19th at theTeenter for the Arts. All of the old songs were in the show, as well as some new ones. The shows went very well, and there was even a standing ovation on Sunday! All of the leads did well and would have been heard well to, if it wasn't for some mic troubles. All in all it went very well, and I hope that you enjoyed in if you went to one of the performances.



Written by: Carley L.

Edited by: Jessica C.

Getting Brighter with the "Spark" of Knowledge

When we grow up we learn that electricity is "shocking" in the form of static in the carpet. We learn that it can kill you when unleashed in its more powerful forms, such as lightning. We have now learned that, when it is harnessed in the form of a circuit board, it can spark knowledge of facts that might otherwise be boring. This happened when we made circuit boards for Mrs. Kirsch's class.


First, we had to come up with ten questions about a chapter with the correct answers. On a cardboard, we created a table with the questions on the left and the answers, in a the scrambled order, in the the right column. We punched hole by the the numbers for the questions and answers. Then we flipped the board over. We took aluminum foil and masking tape to match the questions and answers, creating part of a circuit with foil as the conductor of electricity.

Now the next step was putting together the power and light source. We used wire and a 9-volt battery and made our wire harnesses. Then we attached the wire to a small light. The battery and bulb assembly was then attached to the top of the cardboard with a length of wire hanging from each end. To test our knowledgee and the circuit, we would touch one end of the wire to the foil in the hole by the question. When we match the question to the correct answer, the light would light up. If we match the question with an incorrect answer, it would not light up. As we tried the circuit boards of our classmates, it was a great way to test our circuits and our knowledge.


Reporter: Elissa K.
Photographer: Elissa K.
Editor: Mrs. M.

Riding is the Best!!

Everyone thinks that galloping across a big field is the best part of being with a horse. There is much more to horse ownership, and after a while, these things can be just as important, maybe even better in some ways. These are the many ways a person cares for their horse, including brushing and feeding. Of course, a good ride is important to the care of your horse.

Brushing is an important part of horse care. It is the time when you groom your horse, but you also talk softly and develop a close relationship. You must brush your horse with a soft brush and a hard brush. A comb is used for its tail and mane. This keeps their appearance beautiful and their coat free from burrs and debris.

When you are ready to ride, you have to get its saddle and blanket. Then you have to put the blanket right on the withers. Then if you have a western saddle you tighten the girth strap than you strap it on to the hook and you have to make sure that the saddle is tight enough so you can get on.

After the horse is saddled, you will want to get on to ride. Your horse needs to get out regularly, and it is fun. First you must put on your helmet, to be safe. Then, if it helps, you can get a stool then you put it next to the horse's side. You step right on the top of the stool and then you put your right foot in the stirrup. Then you push of with the other leg and you swing the leg over the saddle and you put the other foot in that other stirrup.

When you ride it is important to sit properly, so that the ride will be better for both you and the horse. You should keep your back straight at all times and your shoulders lined up with your back. To start the ride, you tell the horse to walk and all you do is tap it on its side and squeeze your legs to the saddle and you are off walking your horse. If you want it to trot, all you have to do is tell is to trot and kick it a little harder. If your horse is well-trained, it will behave most of the time, but if your horse is acting up, all you do it hold on tight with your legs and tell it to whoa. He will stop for you.

If you want a healthy horse, it is important to feed it properly. Oats are an important food, but you must give them the right ones. It all depends on what kind of horse it is and what size. For the hay, most horses only eat 2 flakes of hay for their dinner, lunch, and breakfast, and for snack, too. A flake is a portion of the bale.

One more thing, when you are taking your horse outside, you must remember to check the weather and the condition of the area where you will be walking. If it is icy outside or if it is rainy outside, you should not have your horse outside. It is better for it to remain in its stall.

Riding a horse is fun, but having a horse for a friend is even better. If you take care of your horse, it will become your special friend and companion.

Author: Amber S.
Photographer: Amber S. and her mom
Editor: Mrs. M.

Power of the Pong

Some Players
Mrs. G. --- Alex

On the week of February 18, a lot of children suddenly flocked to the back of the TMS cafeteria. The reason? Ping pong. For some strange reason the students went there to view the legendary fight between Nathaniel Coffin and one Mrs. Gnotke duke it out for truth, justice, and Bosco Sticks.


The stakes were drawn, and the end score was decided. At a score of 11, the game would be up. Nate would serve first. A slight touch to the ball, and the tournament would begin. And begin it did! Nate took an early lead in this game, quickly taking control of the table. However, what Mrs.G didn’t have for the game was definitely made up for with her dazzling outfit.

They fought long and hard, but at last, it seemed that Mrs. Gnotke couldn’t take it any longer that she did, because with one power shot, the game was up, with Nathaniel Coffin as the victor of one ball fight no one will forget.

Reporters: Sabrina M., Ryan L.
Photographer: Ryan L.
Editor: Mrs. M.

Reading Month Contest Rules

READING MONTH GOES DTV
though not Hi-Def

Every day a new contest.
Every correct entry is rewarded.
Win Cash!

Watch the clue video every day
AND ENTER!!!
Video will also be on the newsblog.
http://tms-news.blogspot.com

Put your answer on 1/4 sheet of paper
from the recycling bin!
Include your FULL NAME and Teacher or Section.
Only recycled paper will be accepted.

Bring your entry in by 7:45 the next day.

Cash Drawing every Friday.

Writing is Wacky!

Today in writing we did a lot, as usual. We did our DOL (Daily Oral Language), then some handwriting. Sometimes we do our Daybooks, in which we write about different topics. Right now, we are working on some music people like Woody Guthrie and B. B. King. The Daybook includes both reading and writing.

For DOL, all we do is correct sentences, then write them in the correct way. It is important to listen and make the appropriate corrections. If you don't, you won't have the correct information for the test we have on Friday, which is about the same corrections. We do this to help us write and speak correctly.

In handwriting, we occasionally take time to practice writing in cursive, but not very often. This is what we do in my writing class with Mrs. Harrison.

Reporter: Paige S.
Editor: Mrs. M

Maddie's Story

The Green Team got to make a difference in someone’s life, a baby girl named Maddie. This reporter heard about Maddie at Appleumpkin. She has a rare skin disorder called Congenital Pigmented Nevus (CPN). She was with her family who was selling raffle tickets to help pay for a surgery which is not covered by insurance.

After meeting Maddie, a couple of class members asked Mr. Palmer if we could help. He knew about her because her parents had been his students. When he agreed, we started collecting change, nickels, dimes, and quarters, and sometimes dollars. Altogether, the Green Team raised $211.94 to put towards Maddie’s surgery.

On January, 20th, Maddie went to Chicago on a train. The surgery was at Children’s Memorial Hospital. Maddie’s Doctor was Dr. Bauer. He looks like a lot of fun! The surgery took about two hours to put in the tissue expanders.

Our team is pleased and happy that we could do something to help. If you would like further information, or maybe help with a donation, go to www.helpmaddie.org

Reporter: Brianna W.
Editor: Mrs. M., Renee A.
Photographs courtesy of www.helpmaddie.org

Do you hear wedding bells?

Mrs. Gross, a 5th grade teacher and Mr. Keyser, a 6th grade teacher, became husband and wife on December 20, 2008 late in the afternoon. They got married at the Church of Christ in Tecumseh. The wedding was a full mass and the couple decided on having family and friends at the wedding. Mr. Keyser's daughters were the bride's maids and one of his friends was the best man. Mrs. Gross's sister was the maid of honor and her sons were grooms men. Mrs. Gross wore a beautiful ivory dress, with lots of beading and a lace train.

The reception was at the Pines Banquet Hall in Tecumseh. The newly weds didn't do what most couples do at receptions. They didn't shove cake in each other's faces, but Mrs. Keyser did put a little dab of frosting on Mr. Keyser's head.

HAVE A GREAT LIFE TOGETHER MR. AND MRS. KEYSER!!

Reporter: Kelsey B.

Editor: Renee A. , Jessica C.

Cupid's Comin' to Town

The Builders' Club will soon be holding a Valentines dance! There will be lots of decorations and anyone, 6-8th grade, can get in for a fee. You can buy refreshments like Valentine inspired treats, boxes of candy, and mints. The dance will be held on Friday, February 13th from 7-9:30 PM. The will be Dance Dance Revolution, Rock Band, basketball, pictures, a ticket raffle, and of course, dancing!

The Builders' Club will also be holding Crush sales. You can buy Valentine heart suckers for 50 cents, Airheads for 25 cents, and Pixi Stix for 25 cents. You can buy things for yourself, your friends, or your crush! This can be anonymous if you'd like. Sales start January 28th and end February 6th. You can buy them during lunch.

Reporter: Carley L.
Photographer: Carley L.
Editors: Renee A. Jessica C.

One fancy ride for The Wheelmen!

The Wheelmen is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to keeping alive the heritage of American cycling, promoting the restoration and riding of early cycles (1918 or earlier), and encouraging cycling as part of modern living.

Some of the names of the common antique bikes are a Boneshaker, a Three-wheeled Tricycle, a Highwheel, Hard-tire safety, and a Nomadic safe-tire.

The Boneshaker is one of the first bikes that ever set foot on the streets. This bike is really hard to ride because there is no chain on the bike and usually the pedals are on the front wheel. This bike usually had no rubber for the tires so the wooden rims were in place of that. Currently we have two or three in the club, one which would be my grandfather's if he would have been alive.

A Three-wheeled Tricycle looks just like a nowadays kids tricycle but is much larger than that. These bikes would have hard tires, solid tires made out of rubber, and were normally ridden by a lady.

A Highwheel is pretty much explained by the name. A Highwheel has hardtires, a big front wheel, and a tiny back wheel. You get on this bike by a tiny step on the back of the bike. A highwheel can also be called a Penne Farthing. The height of your highwheel is determined by your inseam, or the height from about your waist to the ground.

Next are the Hard-tire safety and the Nomadic safety. These are very similar and the only differences are the hard tire has hard tires and the safety has regular rubber tires you can buy at the bike shop and how you get on.

Because we go to parades we have to dress a special way. The traditional outfit for a lady is a white blouse, bloomers or a skirt, and fancy tites or socks. The traditional outfit for a gentleman is a white shirt, a blue hat, red or blue suspenders, blue or black knee-high pants, ans blue knee-high socks.

I love the Wheelmen because it gives me a chance to learn about the history of America and it gives me a chance to do something out of the ordinary, ride a highwheel.

If you would like more information you can talk to me or Mrs. Metzler or you can just go to http://www.thewheelmen.org/ to find out some history or just look at pictures of my family and me!

Reporter: Jessica C.

Pictures: Jessica's family and http://www.thewheelmen.org/
Editor:

Adorable, Hard Work, but Worth It

It's not everyday that someone surprises our librarian with information about which she knew nothing. One day, however, Emily and Miranda announced that their hedgies were four weeks old. What are hedgies? Why do you have them? Question upon questions arose.

It turns out that Emily and Miranda raise hedgehogs for fun and profit. If your only experience with hedgehogs is Sonic Drive-In or Sonic the Hedgehog Video Game, you don't know how cute hedgies are! Our first view of the "herd" was on the business web site managed by Lara, Emily's and Miranda's older sister. There are pictures, care information, and purchase information that will open your eyes to a new type of family companion. The most common hedgehogs raised as pets are African Pygmy Hedgehogs, which are small insectivores.

The first thing you should know is that raising hedgehogs is not easy. To have strong healthy animals, you need to have a temperature controlled environment, clean cages for them to inhabit individually, a sensible breeding plan, and proper food. At the twins' house, their mother sews a little sleeping bag of fleece (that's so sweet!) for each little hedgie born to the herd.

The business was started by Lara. She became fascinated by hedgehogs because of the Sonic drive-in and, after a couple of years of research, she decided to raise one of her own. She found one named Bitsy in Ohio and brought it home. It was love at first sight. She decided to raise them and her family joined in to help.

Her Dad created a room in the basement. They purchased cages. They purchased a second hedgehog and started breeding them. Miranda took one from the first litter named Mongo and started raising them, too. Emily got a female named Lilly from Indiana and soon they were breeding and selling hedgehogs as a business. Lara is in charge and the business is primarily hers, but they all have their little part.

As a business, it is not very profitable. In addition to food, cages, and other supplies, the veterinary expenses are huge. Hedgehogs are fragile creatures and often require special care. Emily and Miranda say the only reason to get involved with the business is that you love hedgies because you will not make much money. The worst part is major cleaning they do twice year.

If you are interested in hedgies as a pet, you could purchase one from the family but you must first be prepared to meet their special needs. One look at their sweet little faces may cause you to fall in love. A new litter will be born in March.

If you want to find out more information about raising hedgehogs, wikipedia.org has a very interesting article. There are also several books available through inter-library loan or at Amazon.com.


Reporter: Mrs. M.
Editor: Renee A.
Photographer: Mrs. M.
Hedgehog photographs: http://www.freewebs.com/laraslittlehedgehogs/

TSO Concert

On Tuesday, December 9, 2008 there will be an Orchestra Concert at THS and it starts at 7:00 p.m. On Tuesday, the day of the concert, the kids will have a double encore. During double encore the fifth grade TSO members and the seventh grade TSO members will be practicing for the concert and playing Cannon. At the end of the day the people who will be attending will have to get ready and be there at 6:00 for rehearsal before the concert starts. At 7:00, the concert will begin and everybody will be wearing their TSO shirts, black pants, and solid black dress shoes. At this concert they will be playing Christmas songs. See you there!! Remember to bring your instruments to the concert on time and get your intruments tuned ASAP!

Reporter: Taylor M.

Photograph: Internet- www.dsokid.com/art/instruments/photo1200viola.jpg

Editor: Renee A. Laura A. Carley L.

Border Battle Heats Up MS

Every year, Michigan vs. Ohio State is an awesome and competitive game. Michigan and Ohio State have been battling it out for over 110 years! Overall Michigan has won more games with 57 wins, while Ohio State has only 42. Six games ended in a tie. Sadly, Michigan has lost against Ohio State for the last five years.

Here at the middle school, everyone has their own favorite and people around the school are just as competitive as the two teams. The rivalry between Mr. Palmer and Mrs. Garner has heated up. Every year Mr. Palmer and his students take a drawn Michigan flag and hang it up in her room. This year, he also sneaked into her room and had "M"s all over the room, while some students kept her distracted and busy.

There is also a rivalry between Mrs. Gross and Mr. Keyser. They each wore jerseys from the opposing team, but they covered them with big "X"s using duct tape. Since they are engaged to be married, some of the students wondered if their marriage would survive the heated rivalry.

Most of the students support the University of Michigan. At one point, students could be heard singing "Hail to the Victors," the Michigan fight song, down the hallway. Many wore sweatshirts or other team gear from their favorite school.

The final score of the game was 42-7, a bad loss for Michigan. Now after the game, it is a terrible tragedy for a lot of the Michigan fans. They are very sad for the loss. We have high hopes for next year, however, and we proudly wear the maize and blue.

Reporters: Isaac C., Kelsey B.
Photographer: Isaac C.
Editor: Mrs. M

Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan-Ohio_State_rivalry

Big Ten Football

Michigan capped off their worst season ever this year! It is the first time That Michigan has ever lost more than 8 games in one season. It is only the second time ever that they have lost to Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan State in the same season.


Ohio State pulled off a Capitol One Bowl season by annihilating Michigan 42-7. OSU's offense and defense were too much for the Wolverines to handle. James Laurinaitis hit hard and frequently against the Michigan ball carriers.


Michigan State had their best season in years going 9-3, but were no match for the dominating Nittany Lions of Penn State. Javon Ringer, MSU's star running back, played well, but it wasn't enough. Penn State's defensive line was super human, they overwhelmed the Spartan line. Daryll Clark threw for over 300 hundred yards, and accounted for 5 touchdowns. The final score was 49-18.


Penn State won the Big Ten by beating Ohio State a couple of weeks ago, and is going to the Rose Bowl. Ohio State will be going to the CapitalOne Bowl but don't count Michigan State out, they will be playing in the Outback Bowl. Sadly, Michign will not be going to bowl, so theywill be watching from their dorms.


Reporter: Andrew M.


Photographer:


Editor: Carley L.

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