April 11, 2011
Dancing in U.S. History “Are You Smarter Than A Middle
By Jazmin Alvarez
During the week before spring break, 8th graders
in Ms.Tifre’s U.S. History class participated in a
dance residency. Christopher Yaeger from Dance
Trek came into each class and taught all of the
students some dances from the 1920s, which is what
we are learning about in class.  
Some of the dances we learned were The Tacky
Annie, Dance Break, Boogie Man Walk, Shorty
George, Shim Sham, and some of the Big Apple.
Every class learned the whole routine, and at the end
of the week we showed off our moves together in
the cafeteria.
We lined up in rows and warmed up by doing
the Cha Cha Slide. Then all the eighth graders began
to do the 1920s dances. The Big Apple was very
fun; we all got into a circle and someone would do a
dance and everyone would repeat. Some dances that
people showed off were The Dougie, Pin Drop, The
Reject and much more. We also learned some
partner dancing.  We all looked great and had a good
time.
Ana Garcia and Tou Thao practice some partner
dancing popular during the 1920s.
Schooler?” (or The Humiliation of Ms.
Kobilka)
by Jazmin Alvarez
Last week we had our Peace Party; the theme
was “Are you Smarter Than a Middle Schooler.”
The events were: Dance, Dance Revolution, Pop
Culture Trivia, and Minute to Win It.  The grand
finale was a jump-roping contest between Ms.
Kobilka and Mrs. Johnson.
Teachers competed against students in each
event.  The teachers who “Danced” were Mr. Van
Thorre, Mr. DeBrito, Ms. Gliske, and Mr. Edington.
The students were Alegria Shettleworth, Anissa
Berry, Tony Gatz, and DeMaya Nichols.  The
champion was Mr. Van Thorre, giving the teachers
an early lead over the students.
The Pop Culture Trivia competitors were Liam
McLaughlin, Miles Smith, Wilson Zhina, Anahi
Cantoran, Aerion Austin and Shasa Sartin for the
students, Mrs. Martinez, Mr. Smith (no relation to
Miles), Ms. Turner, and Mrs. Kelly for the teachers.
Mr. Priessler and Spencer Levin kept the crowd
entertained while the questions were being asked.
The students were the winners of this portion of the
competition.
Minute To Win It featured three different events.
First, Kiley Demery and Yasmine Officer beat up on
Mr. Fraedrich and Mr. Brock in a pencil flipping
contest.  Then Mr. Weisser eeked out a victory
against Stranger Dunn in a ping pong ball rolling
contest (physics had to be employed here).  Finally,
Mr. Johnson-Nixon and Mr. Cam (the counselor
intern) beat Bryant Castro and Andrew Giiliam in
“Bucket Head”.  The end result, according to Mr.
Berry, the score keeper, was an overall student
victory.
At the very end of all the fun, Ms. Kobilka
encountered a great loss at the jump roping contest
against Mrs.Johnson. After Ms. Kobilka scraped
herself off the floor she challenged Mrs.Johnson to a
hula hooping contest. Stay tuned for more
information!