PUMA PRESSJUNE EVENTS

June 1: 8th Grade OrientationDental Sealant Program (1-3)

June 2: Incoming 5th Grade Parent NightJune 7: 7th Grade to Roll on America

June 8: 4th Grade Fly up DayJune 9: 6th Grade to Launch

SMS Winter and Spring Athletic BanquetJune 10: 8th Grade Dance

5th Grade to Bowling AcresJune 13: 8th Grade to CanobieJune 14: 5th Grade Field Trip8th Grade Move Up CeremonyJune 15: Last Day of School

Summer Haikuby regs

one hundred eightythat is the number of daysin the whole school year

and now we’re nearingsummer of 2016it’s gonna be fun!

hey, but even thoughwe are so, so, so, so, close

we have to stay strong

and keep some killer behavior

April Puma Pride Winners!

Almost There!by Reagan Riffle

Imagine that you are in a race. You’re in the lead, but not by much. You see the finish line and start to think...I have this in the bag. But before you can finish your last few yards, a competitor passes you and breaks the blue ribbon. While the school year nears its end, students may start to forget about school policies. Even though summer is so close, school is still a main priority! Students may start to think that SMS’s rules bend because summer’s so close. But they don’t. Students are still expected to follow basic rules and policies throughout the school. Plus, there are so many excit-ing and amazing opportunities and field trips that you don’t want to miss out on because of your behavior. For example, at the end of the year each grade will get a chance to go on an extremely fun field trip with their classmates. In the past, students have gone to places like Launch Trampoline Park, Greenfield State Park, and Roll on America. These trips are not something any student would like to miss out on. And remember, any teacher has the authority to disallow a student’s field trip privileges for bad behavior. So stay strong! And keep SMS a kind and wonderful school all the way until June 15. (Erin Meiklejohn would like to note her opinion on the oddness of the last day of school; seeing it is “in the middle of the week, on a Wednesday, and only a half day”)

Puma Press May 25, 2016

Dance TeamBy Lorien Tyne

On Friday April 29, 2016, from 7:00 to 8:30 at the SMS gym, the dance team put on a great show! They performed nineteen dances, and there were three amazing solos put on by Jaylin Kalis-tro, Hayley Munroe and Maddie Carpentiere. The other dancers performing that night were Trinity Upward, Kaylee Calistro, Olivia Martino, Sydney Griffin, Allison Chisholm, Alohi Lorden, Isabelle Howard, and Amanda St. Francis. The dancers who could not make the show were Florence Colantino, Sierra Hamlin, Anastasia Barbosa, Tracie Dailey, Delaney Thomp-

son, Emma Steele, and Makennah Macpher-son. About forty peo-ple came to the team’s show, and at the end gifts were handed out to the eighth grad-ers by Ms.Wall, their coach. Overall the show was great, and the choreography was fantastic!

8th Grade Peer Mentors

WeWillMissYou!

Spring Concertby Gabby Oja

May 11, 2016 saw the annual SMS Spring Concert. There were two performances, one during the school day for all SMS students, and then one at 6:30pm for parents and anyone else. Every year the Chorus and Band do different unique and fun songs. This was this year’s list and order of the songs:

5th Grade Band; Overture 1812

5th Grade Chorus; Garden of your Mind, Listen to the Rain and Shake It Off

6th Grade Band; Jubilant Fanfare, Monmouth Overture and Everything is Awesome

Select Chorus; Kenyan Dances: East African Folk Songs, John the Rabbit and Inspirare Spirito

Jazz Band; Avenue Swing, American Patrol and Uptown Funk

6th, 7th and 8th Grade Chorus; The Hanging Tree and Into the Woods

7th and 8th Grade Band; Go West!, Africa and Ruckus

In many songs, whether band or chorus, students can try out for solo parts. You decide yourself if you want to do a solo, and if you decide to try out and Mr. Lowy (band) or Mrs. Fortin (chorus) decide who sings/plays the best for the part, and that person or group will get to perform the solo in the concert. Here are the soloists for the 2016 Spring Concert:

Select Chorus Soloists: Kenyan Dances- Twainga solo by Ayla Laro, Wacheze Kidogo solo by Grace Christensen and Djembe solo by Tim Whitaker (conval band student). For Inspirare Spirito, Violin solo by Elaina Del Rossi and Skylar Fortin, Contrabass solo by Ryan Murray and Djembe solo by Tim Whitaker.

Jazz Band Soloists: Avenue Swing by Ella McCullough

6th, 7th and 8th Grade Chorus: The Hanging Tree small group solo: Grace Christensen, Hailey Doherty, Skylar Fortin, Sean Grady, Gabe LeComte and Natasha Oldread. Into the Woods Narrators: Greta Topping and Eme Ty-ler-Wall. Voices of Little Red Riding Hood: Alissa Cutting, Jenna Kirkland, Gabby Oja and Reagan Riffle.

Puma Press May 25, 2016

Puma Press May 25, 2016

In the sixth grade social studies class, Mrs Groleau and the rest of the sixth grade studied India. Kids learned about Mahatma Gandhi, India physical features, and the Taj Mahal. Mrs Groleau brought in two bins of LEGOS and had kids bring in their own LEGOS to have the sixth grade build the Taj Mahal. Mrs Groleau split each class into teams of 4 and had each team work on separate parts. For example, one group would work on the Onion Dome, while another group would work on the four towers that surround the Taj Mahal, and the other groups would work on other parts of the Taj Mahal. When each class finished their Taj Mahal, Mrs Groleau took photos of each class’s work so future classes could see an example of what they will build. The Taj Mahal was built, starting in the year 1632, by Shah Jahan for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died after giving birth to her 14th baby in 1631. It took around two decades (22 years) to build and finish. It is known as the most expensive building in the world. In the year 1654 the Taj Mahal was finished and then became one of the most famous buildings in the world. Luckily, it didn’t take the sixth graders of Mrs Groleau social studies class 22 years to build their LEGO Taj Mahal.

Lego Taj MahalBy Jack McLaughlin

Spring Concert - Post ConcertBy Bella Schwabe

On the 11th of May at about 6:30pm, over 750 people were in the building for the Spring Concert. All of the performers were jittery, excited and nervous to get on stage. First, came the fifth grade band. They were amazing, especially considering they had just begun learning their instruments at the beginning of the year! Next, came the fifth grade chorus. They had the entire audience clapping along to their rendition of Shake It Off by Tay-lor Swift. Then, the sixth grade band played three songs. All of them were incredible, but the entire audience got excited when they began playing Everything is Awesome from the Lego Movie. Next came the Select Chorus who also performed three songs. They started with a jazzy song in that was in Kenyan. Next, they moved on to a song called John The Rabbit, which was upbeat and fun! Lastly, the Select Chorus performed a hauntingly beautiful song in Latin. For this song they were accompanied by two violinists, a bass player and a drummer along with the piano player, Marsha. Next, came the jazz band, they were great! They wowed the crowd with all of their songs, they had the entire crowd dancing in their seats with their performance of Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars. The 6th, 7th and 8th grade chorus sang songs from movies. They sang Hanging Tree from The Hunger Games and a medley of songs from Into the Woods, it was wonderful! The last performance of the night was from the 7th and 8th grade band. they charmed the crowd with a blast from the past! All in all, the Spring Concert was amazing!

Puma Press May 25, 2016

Baseball and Softballby Reagan Riffle

After this winter’s successful season for SMS basketball teams, the spring season SMS baseball and softball have finished their season. The coaches for the teams were Mr. Sil and Mr. Ellingwood (for the girls’ softball team), and Mr. Buffum (for the boys’ baseball team). Along to help the teams and coaches were the managers. This year’s managers for softball were Lilly Schwabe and Jacqueline Madeja. This year’s managers for base-ball were Austin Knight, Christian Buffum, Louis LaFleur, and Wyatt Davis. This sea-son the teams played 12 games against teams in their leagues. The teams played against Monadnock Baseball/Softball, Great Brook, Litchfield, Hampstead, Pelham, Weare, Sanborn, Nashua Catholic, Cawley, and Raymond. Each of the teams had an extremely successful season. The rosters for the teams backlit this article and the photos.

SMS Softball

Delaney ThompsonShannon AllenLena Lafleur

Maddie CarpentireTracie Dailey

Mackenzie LedgerSkyler FortinAnthea Curtis

Bailey Levesque

Savannah LeeMairin BurgessAinsley King

Rebecca Thibault

SMS Baseball

Connor BuffumWill TheriaultBen Kriebel

Matt Aho Connor CloseColby Knight Casey JordanDylan PipherLiam Eliott

Zach KriebelMax Scheinblum

Liam GiliganMason GuilmainThomas Fagiano

Lorien Wright

Making Letter Pillows!by Ella McCullough

As the first project of the quarter, Mrs. Couture’s FACS class made letter pillows! To begin the project, the students choose a fabric they want to use for their pillow. Once the fabric is chosen the student would then fold the fabric in half and lay it down on the table. After that, the students choose a letter pattern for their pillow. It could be your initial. Once the pattern is chosen the student lays the pattern on their fabric and pins the pattern onto it. Pinning the pattern down is so when you are cutting the pattern out it does not move around and make your letter look messy. Next you cut out around the pattern to form the letter. Once the student is done cutting it they take the pins out leaving them with two pieces of fabric in the shape of the letter they chose. After that the students flip the fabric so that the pattern sides of the fabric are facing each other. Now they get to do the fun part: they get to sew the pillow together! After threading the machine correctly the students put the fabric under the needle and place the presser foot down. Once done the student starts sewing all around the shape of their pillow leaving a small hole about two fingers wide to push stuffing through.

Once done with sewing the students stuff their pillows either using their fingers or a wooden stick. After the pillow is stuffed, you get to take it home, and you have your own pillow you made yourself! This project was a ton of fun, and you end up with a very cute letter pillow for yourself!

9.5 days left!

Puma Press May 25, 2016

Clay Vessels in Artby Adam Brace

The seventh grade are making clay pots in art, and it’s harder than it looks. First they made a pinch pot out of clay and then they scratched and slipped coils

on. When you scratch and slip, you scratch the surface that you want to apply more clay to, then you put slip (paste-like wet clay) on the scratched part and apply the coils. You repeat this process until you get to the desired height. Then you can add feet and handles to your pot using scratch and slip. Feet and handles on a pot can help sturdy the base on the pot, and can also help for decoration. You can also add a

lid to your pot by making a pinch pot. In conclusion, the seventh graders are having a really fun time making their pots, and other students should be excited to have this unit.

Weaving in ArtBy Kendall Larson

Currently in Art Class with Mrs. Fox, the sixth grade classes are working on a weaving project. The art classes are doing this project to learn different weaving techniques, practice them, and learn new vocabulary. We are working on weaving a bag with a flap and a button. We will choose our color pattern, learn how to make the bag using a combination of weaving and sewing, and make the bag using different techniques. First, the class learned how to make the warp. The warp is the vertical strings which yarn is then woven through. We got to choose our warp color, and then wrap it around the loom’s divots on opposite ends. Next, we choose specific color patterns. Monochromatic, analogous, and warm/cool colors are the four color combinations we can use in our weaving project. A monochromatic color scheme is when you have the same color, just different shades, while analogous color schemes contain colors that are next to each other, like red, orange, and yellow. Warm colors are reds, oranges, pinks, yellow, and browns, and cool colors are blues, greens, purples, and other colors of similar shade and volume. We each choose one of those schemes, and choose our own colors, and we have to chose at least three different colors. Then, the weft, or the horizontal stripes, is what we weave on the warp with our colored yarn. We use a simple over-under technique to interlock the yarn so that it stays put. When we have finished that, we will learn how to create a flap and how to make a buttonhole and sew the button on. After that is done, you have your finished bag! A lot of work has gone into these bags, and they look awesome. The sixth grade has learned a lot about weaving, and really enjoy it.

Aliens?By Kylie Johnson

Do you believe in aliens? Do you believe that weird creatures live somewhere off in the universe? What do you think they look like? What do you think they do? Well, NASA scien-tists believe that we will find them within 10-20 years. What do you think? They think that there definitely is a chance for aliens (or extraterrestrial life as they call it) beyond our solar system. People have found artifacts that they believe are from aliens, and they are almost 100% sure that thry are in fact from aliens. In the past, people have found paintings in caves, on walls, in aban-doned villages or kingdoms, all of which have a UFO some-where within the beautiful historic artwork. And NASA, have found structures they believe are crashed UFOs photo-bombing their pictures of planets. But, you know, if aliens were not around ever, then why do we think about UFOs or aliens in our world? Do you think someone just thought of these random things and told people they were real? Why would anyone do that? Watch out, and keep an eye out for any flying saucers in the sky, and try not to get abducted!

Puma Press May 25, 2016

Puma Press May 25, 2016

Eighth Grade?By Kylie Johnson

I’m a seventh grader, and next year I will begin eighth grade, my last year at SMS. It’s not a good thought, in my opinion. It’s scary to think that next year I will be going up to Conval, the biggest deal around town. I do know that everyone thinks ‘“Oh, I can’t wait to leave this school, because I can’t wait to get to the high school..” But I’m different. I would much rather stay here than go into high school, where I will have to make completely new friends, and create a completely new schedule for my entire day. High school will change my life. But high school is not the topic here, it’s eighth grade. Would you want to go into eighth grade? I don’t, because once I leave this school, I will miss it. I will miss EHP and my favorite teachers. I will miss the Sharpie writing in my locker that says ‘A+J’. I will miss my middle school life. Eighth graders hold such a big responsibility, and I don’t think I’m ready for that. No, I don’t think, I know. I know that I’m not ready for the lessons taught to me, I know I’m not ready to become an eighth grader. Seventh grade was nice, I got all my work done and I understood the lessons, and the teach-

ers let me go to EHP for plus block. I am definitely not prepared for the eighth grade madness that will start in the next school year. I am not ready and I am rather scared for my future.

Self Portraits in Ms.Russell’s Art classBy: Grace Christensen

Lately, in Ms.Russell’s art class, students have been drawing self portraits. First, students learned about different styles of draw-ing what they see, and then they practiced drawing sea shells. After practicing, students looked into mirrors and observed what they saw. The students then created their first practice sketch of themselves and tried to make it as realistic as possible. Many of the students were not happy with their first attempt, but they went on to try a second portrait. Students drew as many portraits as they wanted to, to come up with one that they were truly proud of. After two or three attempts, the students had all drawn a portrait that they were very proud of. Ms. Russel then taught the students how to correctly add shadowing to their portraits. The students looked at how the light fell on their fac-es and where the shadows were. After that, they began to add shadow to their portraits with special charcoal pencils. When this was completed, the students’ finished products came out extremely well, and many students had drawn to a level of skill that they did not even know they were ca-pable of. Some students’ art-work was even shown at the Children and the Arts Festival

in town!

Puma Press May 25, 2016

Mrs. Wrubel’s ScienceBy: Ella McCullough

Recently, Mrs. Wrubel’s science class took part in a fun and in-teresting lab where they were able to make DNA out of different foods consisting of twizzlers, raisins, golden raisins, marshmallows, and crai-

sins. The students were given a sheet which contained the order in which they should place the foods, and which food corresponded to which. For example, if there was a marshmallow on one side then directly across from it would have to be a craisin. That would be the same for the golden raisins and regular rai-sins. Once students were given a bag of food, they would take a toothpick and stick it into one side of the twizzler and place one of the other foods

onto the toothpick, according to which pattern they chose for their DNA. After the students went all the way through the pattern they chose, they put the corresponding food for each down the other side, then take another twizzler and stick the toothpick ends into it to create what will look like a ladder shape. Once everything is assembled the students, twist the DNA and make it into a double helix, which is the shape of actual DNA. Once their DNA is checked off then students are welcome to dine on the deli-

cious DNA they made.

6th Grade Mentors

7th Grade Mentors

The Chick JournalBy Sarah Knowles and Jade Tarango

As you probably know, the sixth graders are raising ten chicks. Currently they are being housed in Mrs. Parker’s office. I bet many of you have already seen them multiple times. You can go see them anytime during the day if Mrs. Parker is there. Here in the newspaper we have been consistently going to take pictures of them, monitoring their growth. And these little fluff-balls are growing very quickly, they have changed already so much since we started. Here is a journal of the chicks’ growth:

Day 1: Small, fluffy, yellow down feathers. Short in height.

Day 2: Not much has changed. Still small down feathers. Still short in height.

Day 3: They have gotten taller. They are starting to grow darker feathers. They have grown, but still look adorable.

Day 4: They have gotten even taller. The chicks have feathers now, some brown feathers.

Day 5: They have grown a little bit. They have a few more brown feathers.

Day 6: The chicks are taller by a few inches. They have more adult feathers and are moving into the coop soon.

Day 7: The chicks are now in the chicken coop out-side. They seem to like the room they have. They are even taller and have more adult feathers. But be careful, these guys will try to escape.

We have really enjoyed watching and observing the growth of these chicks. They have helped us understand where our food comes from and be grateful for the food we have. They went from the tiniest fluffballs to teenage chicks, and become more like adults everyday. These chickens will grow over the summer to be beautiful hens providing eggs for SMS. We are really going to miss seeing them almost everyday next year.

Puma Press May 25, 2016

The Book Cornerby Reagan Riffle

This month, I selected Please Ignore Vera Dietz as the book pick! After reading the book (and crying), I think the book has a lot of good beneficial factors for the SMS students. The book deals with topics like addiction and peer pressure. It takes a journey through a young girl’s life post-tragedy. In the book, a character named Vera learns how to cope with the death, Charlie Kahn her best friend. She struggles with alcohol and Charlie’s clues, while she debates whether she should clear his name or leave his reputation to speak for itself. Charlie and Vera were friends throughout their entire childhood, but once high school came, Charlie’s ego got a hold of him and he befriended a group of what seemed like friends that ruined his life. Vera was left lonely and worked at a pizza parlor for her high school years. But when Charlie’s gory death was announced, she faced a lot of struggles kids in the SMS community may face in the near future or presently. I really recommend this book to students in our community. Hopefully it can make them more aware of the problem of addiction and bad choices.

Puma Press May 25, 2016

Reagan’s Life Haikuby Reagan Riffle

the thing about lifecan be answered in one word

and that one word is...

SOCK

Grade5Mentors

The Controversial Water Fountain ConspiracyBy Jack McLaughlin and Nicky DaNino

As you probably know, 60% of your body is water. In order for your body to stay at that level of water, we need to drink lots of water. At SMS we get that water from the water fountains. Some people (Mrs.Grady, Jack Mclaughlin, Mr.Sil) believe that the water is actually colder in the afternoon than it is in the morning.

Most of the kids in the school aren’t a big fan of this problem. Who likes warm water? The students and teachers at SMS don’t! Because of the new schedule that the school started, the blocks rotate. That means you can have P.E. in the morning. After P.E. you’re gonna want some nice cold water. But because the water is warm and gross in the morning it will not hydrate you as much. Now if you have P.E. at the end of the day, you will be able to hydrate yourself better because it’s the afternoon, and the water is ACTUALLY cold. Your intriprid reporters decided to see if the water is colder in the afternoon or in the morning. We also wanted to see which water fountain is the coldest. After weeks of tiring research we have figured out that the coldest water fountain is in fact the eighth/fifth grade water fountain. So, sadly, if you are in sixth grade you only have access to the 3rd coldest water fountain in the school, unless you feel like walking to the seventh grade where the 2nd coldest water fountain is. If you’re a fifth or eighth grader, you are pretty lucky because the coldest water fountain in the entire school is the fifth and eighth grade wing water fountain. All in all, water fountains give colder water in the afternoon and warm water in the morning.

Puma Press May 25, 2016

TEACHER INTERVIEWSBy Meara Mcclusky and Leah Krason

The school year is almost over, and the teachers will say good-bye to their students. Obviously, the teachers have played a big role in this school. We wanted to acknowledge them by asking them questions about the school year. The questions were: What’s your favorite part about being a teacher, What was your favorite part of teacher appreciation week, How long have you been teaching, and What’s your favorite 2015-2016 memory.

MR.LEBLANC1.Working with the future of earth’s society2.The notes students gave3.One year4.Sixth grade pajama day

MRS.BROPHY1.Learning, interacting with kids2.Everything3.Four years4.Advisory, Spirit Week

MR. TOD SILEGY1.Interacting with students2.The breakfast3.Sixteen years4.May Fourth/ his birthday

MRS BREZOVEC1.Different classes with the kids2.Thoughtfulness of the kids3.Eighteen years4.The fourth grade tour

MS. RUSSELL1. Student AHA moment2. Notes and breakfast3. Since term two4. Seventh grade art museum field trip

MRS.GRADY1. Students2. Breakfast3. Eight years4. Turkey trot

MS. KAVA1. Working with the kids2. Everyone taking time to acknowledge teachers3. Two years4. Teaching the fifth graders in library classes

MRS. KOBAN1.Interaction with kids2. Kids saying thank you3. Five years4. The final drama performance

MRS. GROLEAU 1. Talking to kids2. The breakfast and notes3. Fifteen years4. Harris center

MRS. NORBY

1.The connection with the students 2. The notes students gave 3.Twelve years4.Advisory, Spirit Week, science music videos

MR.LOWY1. Working with kids2.The notes students gave3.Thirteen years

4. The eighth grade AHT trip

Puma Press May 25, 2016