This year is Northside

Middle School’s 50th anni-

versary. Northside first

opened its doors in

1961. It wasn’t a middle

school that long ago,

but instead a junior

high school. The school

was filled with 1,100

students, which is 300

more students than

today. The original

principal was Ben Walker.

In 1961 Mr. Mark Miller,

Gold, bold and 50 years oldGold, bold and 50 years oldGold, bold and 50 years oldGold, bold and 50 years old By: Alexis Suarez, Kyra Staley, and Maycie Asher

7th graders adapt to middle school By: Ciera Wall, Alyssa Holloway, Makaylah Kaufman, Kyra Staley

If you are in 7th grade, you feel uneven out of sorts, or even shocked about how much room you have to breathe, unlike in elementary school. But Northside Middle

School is an excellent school. The teachers are superb and well educated. Learning your way around the school is easy and the school has an amazing environment for the students.

The discipline at NMS is strict but it’s reasonable enough that you can know what and what not to do. A major thing not to do is be tardy to class, that can really make your teachers mad. One of the many fun things that Northside does is have assemblies, like have the Pacers mascot come over. Also another thing is when you have homework it isn’t a major load, but when you have some, do it in resource or it can destroy your grades. Good luck and have a great year at NMS!

The Spartan Situation Keeping Northside

in the KNOW!

Remembering 9/11 2

Hurricane Irene 2

DC and Ducks 2

Sports 3

Mojo Up! 4

Lifestyle 5

Spartan Shout outs 6

INDEX

About The Spartan Situation

We hope you enjoy our first issue of Northside’s newest publication! The staff of The Spartan Situation strives to “Keep Northside in the “KNOW” by keeping NMS informed about what’s going on in our school and commu-

nity.

We are ALWAYS open to suggestions and would LOVE to have any NMS stu-dent or staff member submit articles for publication. Sim-ply turn your article into The Spartan Situation envelopes in your team hallway or to our facilitator, Ms. Phillips in

room 102.

Northside

Middle

School

Northside students are already getting P.B.I.S cards from the bookstore by earning blue tickets for following the school expectations .

Students who act respon-sibly, are respectful, and communicate effectively

might earn blue tickets from teachers. Five tickets will earn one of three P.B.I.S colored cards . Your first five tickets will earn you a white card which allows you to go into the lunch line 3

rd. A white card

plus five tickets earns stu-

dents a blue card and a guar-antee that you can go to the gym after lunch, plus other special party events during lunch.

Earn a blue card plus five more tickets to receive a fa-mous Gold Card! This allows you to be FIRST in line at lunch, pizza from Mancino’s in May and other rewards throughout the year.

PBIS cards up for grabs By: Heidi Conrad, Destiny Spencer, Jacob Bostic

current Tyro math teacher, was

a 9th grader. According to Mr.

Miller the area we know today

as the cafeteria, science, and

exploratory hallways didn’t ex-

ist. Instead, this was where the

school track was. The cafeteria

was located in the basement.

Stay tuned for more stories in

our future issues about how

Northside Middle School was

50 years ago.

Hurricane Irene hit the Eastern coast of the United States last August with wind speeds of 170 mph, and left se-vere damage and flooding. The flooding of Irene was Vermont’s worst ever.

This hurricane of 2011 caused 55 deaths, so far. It left over 10.1 billion dollars in coastal damage, and several years of dis-aster clean-up. There has been no long-term damage discovered yet, but that doesn’t mean there is none at all. During the hurricane, 10 to 14 inches of rain fell. Over 44 million people were left without power.

Are you an 8th grader interested

in going to Washington D.C in May, but

don’t have $596.00? If so you need to be

selling Kiwanis Ducks! This fundraiser is a

fantastic way to make money for this trip.

Each duck is only $5.00 and includes a chance

to win some pretty awesome prizes like an

iPad, Nintendo Wii, and even a chance to win

$25,000. $4.00 of every duck you sell will go

towards your DC trip. Mr. Schwenk would like

to point out that your $150 deposit must be

paid from your own pocket by October 7th, re-

gardless of fundraising participation. If a stu-

dent participates in the fundraiser, but doesn't

go on the trip, the money will not be returned

to the student. Instead it will be put into a

Washington D.C scholarship fund. If you have

any questions you can always ask Mr.Schwenk,

Mr. Bozeman. Mr. Lax, or Mrs. Anthony. Get

selling! Duck Sales end Friday, September 23,

2011! Good luck!

Hurricane hits East Coast

By Anna Reavis, Nickalus Cull, Keyahn Vedadi

Helping children of

today understand 9/11

By Makaylah Kaufman and Alexis Suarez

Ducks for DC By: Kyra Staley and Maycie Asher

Page 2

Most children of today’s society do

not understand the complexity of what hap-

pened on September 11, 2001 when four

planes were hijacked, nor do they under-

stand why it happened. It was an average Tuesday morning when at 8:46 a.m.

the first plane crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center in New

York City, many minutes later the second plane crashed into the north tower,

sending them both up into flames. You might be wondering why anyone would

want to run planes into buildings, well spread out through the four planes there

were 19 Middle Eastern men around the age of 24, who were told to destroy

these buildings by their leader, Osama Bin Laden. This man believed that vio-

lence was justified but he mostly disagreed with how much freedom we have.

He was also extremely furious with the other world leaders and since we had

agreed to aid them, he decided it would be better if he attacked us as a whole

instead of them individually. By this time the president was contacted while

visiting a second grade class in Florida. Meanwhile the third plane crashed in

Arlington, Virginia on the southwest wing of the Pentagon. Approximately an

hour after the first plane crashed, the south tower collapsed in just ten seconds,

twenty minutes later the north tower fell. When the fourth plane was in the proc-

ess of being hijacked an airplane assistant called for help only to be told that

three other planes had been hijacked and crashed. She told the passengers

and they had called their loved ones to say goodbye, but then all teamed up to

change its course, the plane crashed in an empty field in Pennsylvania, but

every life that was lost saved thousands more.

The eighth grade Washington D.C. field trip sounds like a blast! Don’t miss out on the fun. It will cost about $600. We will be going on the field trip May 16-19, 2012 and will stay in a fancy hotel for three nights. It takes about 10 hours to get there, and we will be going by mo-torcoach buses. In D.C we will visit many

places such as the U.S Capitol Building, the White House, Lin-coln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the Supreme Court. Although those are the main places we're going, there are many more different and exciting places you might go. Some of the special features are going on a dinner cruise and metro ride. We will be doing a bunch of fun, but educational things. Nobody should have to miss out on this wonderful field trip! Hope to see you there!

DC plans are set By Taylor Blakenhorn and Maycie Asher

The cross country team runs miles each day, and so far, their hard work is paying off. Spartan runners haven’t lost a meet yet. So far they have defeated the following teams, Franklin, Whiteland, and Tri-North.

Top Spartan run-ners include Chase McQueen, Elijah Brooks, Nina Bouthier, and Sierra Lax. All four have finished in the top two of their division.

The team started the season with about 20 to 30 runners, and now have over 60 strong competi-tors. Coaches include, Coach Grimes, Mrs. Grimes, Coach Glesing, Mrs. McGovern, and Mrs. Mann. Coach Glesing thought Tri-North was the hardest coarse so far. The team is hoping to take the title of Tri-County Champions.

Football is one of

the popular sports at

Northside Middle School

and the players want to

make their Spartan fans

proud. The 8th grade

team has been on a roll

with an undefeated sea-

son so far. Their goal is to

go 2 years without losing

a game. Players practice

at least 5 days a week so

they can be the best they

can be. Being a member of

the team means a lot of

hard work if you want to

win.

dances and have a great attitude. Like

cheerleaders, the dance team provides

entertainment and helps encourage

peppiness from the crowd. Both sev-

enth and eighth graders are allowed to

try out for the chance to join the dance

team and perform at basketball games

and sometimes convos.

The Northside’s dance team will most

likely begin try outs and practices in

October or early November. Cur-

rently, the Spirettes do not have a

coach, but according to Mrs. Dixon,

hopefully a new dance coach will be

hired before basketball season begins.

Last year the dance team met and prac-

ticed in the commons. Dancers must be

willing to work hard to learn new

Cross country teams run

over the competition By Jacob Bostic and Billy Nelson.

Another undefeated season in the making By: Laurin Brunson, Kansas Bottomley, Lexi Joyner, and Mackenzie Whitesell

Wanna dance?

By: Tasha Johnson, Giselle Valencia, Bree Lykins

“The team started the season “The team started the season “The team started the season “The team started the season with 20 to 30 runners and with 20 to 30 runners and with 20 to 30 runners and with 20 to 30 runners and

now how over 60 strong now how over 60 strong now how over 60 strong now how over 60 strong competitors”competitors”competitors”competitors”

Page 3

Northside middle school’s Spell Bowl team has been practicing after school twice a week preparing for this

year’s competition. Al-though the practice ses-sions have been crowded only eight will be able to compete in all competition s the eight

will be chosen to compete in the state competition on October 26, at Central Middle School. Then the same eight will compete in the county completion on No-vember 29that Purdue University.

ATTENTION ALL BUL-LYIERS: If you are currently try-ing to shove someone into a locker…STOP IT!! Everyone has daily life problems and world problems, but today, the main one is school problems. And that prob-lem is Bullying/ Cyber Bullying.

Everyday, somebody is getting picked on for their hair, clothing, race, etc. and that’s not right or fair. If Bullying happens at school, during their learning

time, that affects their chance of being successful. On aver-age, 86,995 kids are victims of being bullied (www.bullypolice.org) and 18,995 of those are the bullies. That’s only in Indiana.

So to help prevent Bullying, Spencer Stevens, North Star, had a little chat with Mr.Boezeman and it turns out he has a plan. What he said was he will be surveying the students to find out where the bullying occurs and catch more students to lower the bullying in the area. The question is, Will it work? Only time will tell so don’t be a Mojo hater…MOJO UP! It’s not fun to be the one being bullied so do unto

others the way you want to be treated. Remember, Mr. Mojo

says….

Don’t stand by and watch, stand up and

make a difference!

Be a MOJO Maker!

Different doesn’t mean

wrong and different does-n’t mean not good

enough.

You’re different, I’m

COOL with that!

“I” before “E” except after “C”?

By: Victoria Villegas Tasha Johnson, Bree Lykins, and Giselle Valencia

Mojo Up and end bullying! By: Kaitlyn Brown and Spencer Stevens

State Competition:State Competition:State Competition:State Competition: October 26 at Central Middle October 26 at Central Middle October 26 at Central Middle October 26 at Central Middle

SchoolSchoolSchoolSchool

THE SPARTAN SITUATION Page 4

PBIS Gold Card

How long will it take you

to earn YOURS?

VOLUME 1

hind your teeth. The most common braces are metal ones. They’re all different, but

do the same thing.

After you get your braces, you usually go back to the or-thodontist every 6 to 8 weeks to get them tightened. Your teeth will sometimes hurt for a few days after you get them tightened, but they will be fine after awhile. The reason they hurt is because braces put con-stant pressure on your teeth. Your mouth will also feel weird when you first get them. Sooner or later you will get

used to them.

You really need to keep your

teeth clean with braces. Food gets trapped between brackets and that causes cavities. Brushing your teeth 3 times a day for 5 minutes is perfect if

you have braces.

Braces can give you a lot of pain, but will give you a beautiful, straight smile every-

one will love!

Braces are a great invention that many children and adults have to make their teeth straight. There isn’t an exact date when braces were in-vented, but they have been around for thousands of years! Even ancient people wanted to have straight

teeth!

Braces are when brackets are put on your teeth with a wire going through the brackets. Differ-ent colored bands tighten on the brackets to keep the wire in place. The different types of braces are metal, plastic, invisible and sometimes be-

What’s hot and what’s not at Northside Middle School in 2011? A recent survey at NMS revealed the majority of kids like school sports such as volley-ball, football, cross country, and track. They like sports because it gives them something to do after school and they like to play that sport out of school for fun.

A lot of people think school lunches are gross. The students say that sometimes the lunches are cold when they purchase them but they can’t do any-thing about it. Kids also don’t like school lunches because they’re leftovers from a few days ago. On the other hand, some kids love the food because of the yummy slushies and goodies like chips and cookies.

Braces for pretty faces! By Maycie Asher

What’s hot what’s not By Kansas Bottomley, Lexi Joyner and Bree Lykins

Page 5

Famous People Who Wore Braces…

Cameron Diaz, actress Lil Bow Wow, musician Justin Bieber, singer

Brett Favre, NFL QB Dwight Howard, NBA player Dakota Fanning, actress

Gwen Stefani , singer Chris Rock, comedian Cindy Crawford, model

Tom Cruise, actor Miley Cyrus, actress/singer Tyra Banks, model

Prince Harry, son of England’s Prince Serena & Venus Williams, tennis players

Dear Spartacus,

What should I do when somebody

pushes me into a locker? I really want to

fight back but know I probably shouldn't.

Sincerely,

Bruised and Battered

Dear Bruised and Battered,

If someone would push you into a locker you

should tell a teacher. If you fight back it will just

cause more fights and drama. Don’t be scared to tell a

teacher. That’s always the best thing to do.

**************************************************

Dear Spartacus.

I’m not used to the crowded hallways at NMS.

What do I do when someone bumps me in the hallway and

doesn’t apologize? This drives me crazy!

From: Fed Up!

Dear Fed Up!,

What you should do is just keep walking. You

shouldn’t accuse them if they didn’t mean to even if

they forgot to say sorry. The halls do get crowded and

most people don’t mean to bump you. If they con-

stantly bump into you then you should tell a teacher

or talk to that person in a friendly way.

We’d love to have YOUR:

*Spartan Shout-outs!

*Dear Spartacus letters

*Suggestions and comments

and even…

*Articles (news stories, feature articles and editorials) you’d like published!

Simply leave them in The Spartan Situation envelope that will be coming soon to your team’s hallway!

Shout outs to…. Fans who come sup-

port NMS sports.

NMS teachers for trying to have a

successful year.

People who participated during the

MOJO up convo

Bean Burkman—Keep being crazy!

We all love you!

All Spartans—MOJO Up!!!

Maycie Asher—Keep your head up,

everything will get better!

Lyndsey Brockman for helping Au-tumn carry her stuff while she’s on

crutches.

Kids who DON’T try to cut in the

lunch line.

Whoever was in the duck costume.

8th grade football team for being

undefeated.

Teachers who don’t give tons of

homework.

Slushies at lunch! Yum!

Spartan shout

outs

In our next issue:

Volleyball, tennis, cheerleading, more clubs at NMS, and MUCH more!

Thanks for reading! :-)

Advice from Sparatacus...

The Spartan Situation Needs

YOUR help!