Memories

by John C.
3rd grader

It's the end of the year! Though it is nice to get out of school, I think it is also sad because you leave your teachers, friends and all the experiments we get to do. Also, I have to think; one more year until I graduate from Countryside. Now think back and think about your favorite time at Countryside, what was that favorite time? Was it field day, a field trip or the Back-to-School BBQ? I, also, wanted to talk about field day, there are barely any bouncies! Last year there was one bouncie, two years ago there were five bouncies? Let's hope this year we have more than one bouncie. Please respond with your opinions.

3rd Gade Wax Museum

by John C. third grader

The wax museum was great! Moms and Dads were there, students from other classes were there, the newspaper was there. I think it was very exciting to have the newspaper come. I didn't think I would be picked for the newspaper,but I wanted to be interviewed by a reporter. Some of my favorite wax people were William Clark, Amelia Earhart and Tony Hawk. I was Meriwether Lewis. Who were your favorites? I think that the wax museum was a great way to learn about different people, a genre called biographies. I had a great time at the wax museum. How about you?

The Volcano in Iceland

by Zoe N.
About a week ago from April 20, 2010, (the day Lisa Campbell Ernst came), Iceland had a very huge volcano. Ash shot up as high as airplanes flew. All of the airports in Iceland could not fly, because the ash is still in the sky and it would get caught in the plane's motors. The ash contains particles that are as sharp as glass, so that when they come in contact with the planes working parts, they sand the parts down causing the engines to malfunction, and then the planes would not be able to fly. The ash was so powerful it went from Iceland where it erupted to Europe.

Ash landed in some European countries such as Norway, Poland and more. Many royal people in Poland died from a plane disaster and President Barak Obama was going to Poland for a funeral for them.

Even a week later, the ash is still coming up from the volcano, but it is not going as high as it did before.

How do you think we can help the people of Iceland and all of the other countries where the ash landed? Remember, we cannot fly because the airplanes cannot fly because all of the ash will get in the airplane's motors and then the airplanes cannot fly.

We Are Having a Visiting Author!

by Zoe N.

Every year Countryside has a visiting author. This year it is author and illustrator Lisa Campbell Ernst. She is coming April 18th, 2010. Mrs. Ernst wrote The Gingerbread Girl, a Monarch book. The Gingerbread Girl was a Monarch book this year, if you remember, and it was written by Mrs. Ernst! If you want to order some of her books, I believe you can. You have to send in the order form by April 17th, 2010. This form was sent to the oldest child in Countryside. This order form and the list of Mrs. Ernst's books are in the Countryside newsletter. Ask your parents if you can order some of her books.

I hope you are as excited as I am about Mrs. Ernst coming. What do you think about Mrs. Ernst coming? Do you like visiting authors? What do you think about all of her books? What do you think about her coming to our school? Do you like it? Or are you not interested in visiting authors? You can tell me what you think about visiting authors! I hope you will be so excited waiting for Mrs. Ernst coming!

Listen to We are having a Visiting Author!

Paper Less

by John C.

What would school be like without paper? School would be very different if we did not have paper. Every single day we would be on the computer working on… Everything! ISATs would be on the computer, spelling tests, math tests, social studies, some science even. I wonder if there was no paper, would computers be cheaper or they would they be more expensive? I don't know about you, but I think no paper would be kind of cool and it would help the school be green. What about you? Please respond your opinion.


Listen to Paper Less

Bus Pick Up Line

By: Kendra
I wish we could go back to waiting outside and watch for our car to come. For those of you that always take the bus, what would happen is you sit out at the front of the school, Ms. K. would wait there with you. You were allowed to sit on the benches and talk to your friends while you wait, we had a lot more freedom. Now we have to wait in the hall outside the gym and wait for the teachers to call your number. We are not allowed to talk because of the echo. Basically all you can do is stand there in the hall like statues until the call your number. It is silent. Some kids always worry because they forget their number, Ms. Dionosotes and Ms. Gorges have to tell you your number. I liked being picked up outside rather than in the loud hallway, we were even allowed to do flip-flops in the grass. My sister and I (when she still went to this school) would have a flip- flop contest. I had a lot more fun when we could wait outside.

Should we have a new school mascot?

By John H

I was thinking that we should have a new school mascot. The Wildcat is getting kind of old. I want people to care about the school mascot. So what about a new mascot? Since we play sports we should have a school mascot that people care about. Kids should be enthusiastic about their mascot.

I mean it really won't be hard because all we should do is vote (one class at a time) who's the mascot. It could be a wolf, a bobcat or a tiger (or any kind of symbol that's inspiring, you could write them in as a candidate). Anyway, I know most people might not agree of it, but why not see! We want to make our school awesome!

If you want to keep the wildcat, write about why you want to keep it. If you want a new school mascot, also tell me why. I'm looking forward to hearing your opinion on my blog about the school mascot in your comments.