Old-school vs. Tech-school

Technology is advancing and schools should be up to date with it. Instead of using binders, students should be using laptops to carry everything they need for school. Textbooks should be recorded on CDs, and homework could be transported by e-mail. Classes could be recorded on videos and put on the Internet for students who were absent. More teachers are starting to get up-to-date with the most modern items in technology to use in their classrooms. Kindergarten teachers to college professors are incorporating technology into their classes to reach further out to their students. All they need is the right equipment and the extra push to get going.
However, not all teachers are ready to make the jump from old-school to tech-school. Who knows when they'll finally be up-to-date with the latest in tech-teaching?

By: Kellie and Cheyanne

Pickle ball

In my group we are going to talk about pickle ball. Pickle ball is
a good game. But I think that the ball has to many holes.
And the net is to small.But Brandon thinks the ball
is alright. The net is ok. Amy thinks people that
are not in shape can not play and you can
go to 11 points.

Joey
Amy
Brandon

School Lunches

The school lunches at Payson, Ill. are too expensive if you ask Matt, Eathen, or myself. They are $3.50 each. At Hy-Vee you can get a pound of turkey for $4.00. If you get a turkey sandwich at school it is $3.50. Some people can't afford that much just to feed their kids. It costs more to eat lunch at school than to put a gallon of gas in your car. If you eat school lunches every day for a month it's about $75! We think that's a load of malarky! Do you think this is too much for a school lunch? How much do your school lunches cost? How much do you think they should be? Please answer these questions.

Austin, Matt, Eathen

School Issues

Some school issues are Teachers and their anger problems, cell phones, and dressing out. Teachers can get angry very quick and lose their temper. When a student asked a question he/she got very upset and told the student not ask a stupid question or go to iss! teacher shouldn't take cell phones because they are for emergencies only and should be on when the parents can't get though to the school. you should have to put the cell phones on the desks. Some students think dressing out is an issue because it takes too much time to get dressed. Also students don't have time to get to other classes on time. Girls think it's nasty and sweaty. Girls and guys don't like getting dressed in front of each other.

Heather, Courtney, Zach

Seymour School Teacher

This teacher teaches all grades in High school. He/She doesn't teach with the proper techniques. What we do in that class is mostly walk in, read the board get the folders and have class. When the bell rings we leave. On certain days we come to school, mostly on a Sunday, about 2 or 3 times a year. After that we get a party if we were good in class. If you didn't show up that day, you don't get the party, and usually your grade drops to a F. In my opinion, I think we should have it held on Fridays and the kids should be able to pick some things we do in the class. This teacher should treat each class equal because sometimes it feels like he/she puts some students down. I'm not saying this teacher has to change his/her teaching ways, it's just he/she should give a "new way" a shot and maybe it will work out. If it doesn't he/she can go back to his/her way of teaching.

Amanda M.
Rebecca B.

Windows xp vs. Windows Vista

What do you think? Windows Vista or Windows xp. For us it is Windows xp.
For those of you who don't know, Vista is the newest version of Windows. Vista came out with a business setup. It currently has nine different versions , which include home versions.
We personally don't like it because it can get a lot of viruses and uses a lot of memory. It is very hard to buy a new computer with out it, but because of all of the complaints, Dell gives you a choice. There are a few good points like the brighter color and better picture.
We believe that Windows Vista is not worth the learning process and the ratings show that it is not very good.

Chad L. Chris E. Eric M.

Air Conditioning in Schools

Do the schools in your district have air conditioning? Our schools don't. How do people expect students to concentrate and enjoy school when you can't think about anything except for the heat? Students seem to get very cranky when it is hot outside. Also, other schools around us have air conditioning, even our grade school does! If our schools got air conditioning, students might follow the dress code and wear appropriate clothes. Another thing air conditioning would change is that we wouldn't have to get out of school early because of the heat. Our school has heat, so why not air conditioning? One last thing that proves that we should have air conditioning is that all of Payson's residents pay taxes to our school and they should go to air conditioning. Since we pay taxes they might as well benefit the teachers and students.

-Courtney
-Danielle
-Laaken

Schoolwork Before Sports?

Tuesday January 15, 2008- the 8th graders of Payson Seymour Jr. High had a very important basketball game, 8th grade recognition. This should have been a memorable night, but became stressful when we were assigned an unreasonable amount of homework.
As they say, "school comes first". Sports are optional, but having homework in all subjects is a little much. Playing sports not only keeps you fit, but can help you get scholarships. Hard work is essential, but homework can hinder our performance.
Although sports are fun, schoolwork can get you farther in life. In 50 years, is it really going to matter that you were the star quarterback? When you are 65 years old, you will probably be sitting on the couch, reading a book.
As young as we are, we love playing sports. We realize teachers give us a lot of homework on game nights, but education is one of the most important life lessons.

-Hannah M.
-Catherine R.

Catching Your Own Bait

Fathead minnows, leeches, and worms are mainstays in bait-shop refrigerators across the country. These old standards have produced stringers of game fish for decades, and decades to come. For a greater selection of live bait that will give you the ability to change with the fish, skip the tackle shop and catch your own. Most fisherman enjoy catching their own bait, with traps, seines, and cast nets. Make sure that these types of bait catching are allowed in your state or country. The down side to catching your own bait is that some people may illegally keep game fish that were caught in the traps, seines, or cast nets. The plus is that you get a large variety of bait to pick from.

Seth T.
Monte W.

Favorite NBA Player's

Ryan's, Daulton's, and Tanner's favorite NBA players and their positions.

Ryan's Daulton's Tanner's (In Order)

PG: Allen Iverson, Derron Williams, Baron Davis
SG: Dwayne Wade, Michael Jordan (retired), Reggie Miller (retired)
SF:Carmelo Anthony, Shawn Marion, Danny Granger
PF: Karl Malone, Carlos Boozer, Jermaine O'neal
C: Shaq, Amare Stoudmire, Amare Stoudmire

We agree that Baron Davis is the best point guard out of these.
We agree that Michael Jordan was the best shooting guard.
Shawn Marion for small forward.
Karl Malone for power forward.
Amare Stoudmire for Center.
We chose these players for their outstanding abilities.


What are your picks and why?
By: Tanner Plunk, Daulton Speckhart, and Ryan Hildebrand

Music To My Ears!

These are the top 10 songs among 7th graders at Payson Seymour High School. Nearly all the 7th graders like pop, hip hop, and rap more than country or classic rock. People here obviously like more "up to date", or newer music. Teachers on the other hand, not so much. Almost all the teachers at Seymour High School are still in the past. I think it's time to get out with the old and in with the new!

Top 10 songs

1. Crank Dat-Solja Boy
2. Low-T-pain and Flo Rida
3. Paralyzer-Finger Eleven
4. Last Resort-Papa Roach
5. Redneck Woman-Gretchen Wilson
6. White N Nerdy-Weird Al Yankovic
7. Rockstar-Nickleback
8. Kiss Kiss-Chris Brown
9. Wall To Wall-Chris Brown
10. Watchin' You- Rodney Atkins

A. Liebig
B. Epley
G. Bliss
B. Myers

Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger, famous actor for movies known for A Knights Tale, Brokeback Mountain, and so on was found, dead on January 22, 2008, in his apartment in New York City. No one knows exactly how he dided, but they will figure it out sooner or later. Some say it was drug overdose, which is what I think might of happened. As soon as the public heard people started to place flowers in front of the apartment in which he stayed. Comment on things that you think Heath might of died of.

B Benham
M Raleigh

Heat vs. Cavaliers

On January 20,2008 the Cavaliers and the Heat played. Lebron James, a small forward for the Cavaliers, scored 25 points leading the team to a victory.On the other side Dwyane Wade, a guard for the Heat, scored 40 points. At the end of the game Lebron had a last second dunk but the person who passed him the ball threw it too low and he missed it. So the Cavaliers win over the Heat.




Trevor H., Chase M., Roman V., Jacob M.

Breakfast

Breakfast should be served at both schools so the people who eat breakfast don't freeze to death. The school will also make more money. This way its a win-win situation. You could use the multipurpose room for this. The students will be happy and the school will have money to support us. We should follow Central Jr. High's example.
Kalab Hill
Ben Walker
Chris Sherwood

Escaped criminals in Adams County

Did you hear about the two criminals that escaped from the Adams County Jail in December 2007? These criminals were considered highly dangerous. One was caught hiding in a house near the prison. Three weeks later, the second criminal was apprehended.
What does this tell us? It tells us that we need stronger security, such as electric fences, more cameras and guards, and more alarms on the walls in case someone tries to escape. Unfortunately, this would be very costly.

Michael S.
Skyler D.
Zach S.

SPORTS INJURIES and HOW TO PREVENT THEM

Many people get hurt playing sports. A teammate on our volleyball team this past 2 weeks had to sit out of practices and games because of a sports injury. She twisted her left knee.

Some ways to prevent a sports injury like hers include a few simple steps.

• Before a game or practice be sure to stretch your back, legs, arms, and hands. Also make sure that you run.
• Drink plenty of water before and after a game.
  
• Get plenty of sleep. That means to go to bed early and not late.
  
• Do simple exercises to prevent pulling a muscle or breaking a bone.

Doing these steps can help prevent and cure your injuries.

Kristen Loos, Taylor Plunk, and Ariann Ippensen

"MYSPACE" A safe haven? Or a deadly chatroom? YOU DECIDE!

You probably have heard of a social site called Myspace. Myspace is a social site where people can interact with others around the WORLD. Alot of you reading this probably have one. But, the next time you log on think about this... You are putting yourself at risk for identity theft, kidnapping, and many more deadly situations. You may have heard of the girl on there who had an INTERNET RELATIONSHIP which ended up in suicide. This girl killed herself because her boyfriend (whom she did not know) broke up with her. But, when her parents tried to find the identity of the allegged boyfriend, the evidence was shocking! Her parents discovered that he was actually fake! So the next time you are on Myspace, think of the consequences!

By: Kaytlynn S.
Courtney P.
Serenity N.

Thoroughbred Horses

I have horses at home, and so we decided to write about Thoroughbreds. A Thoroughbred is usually very tall, about 17 - 19 hands high. A hand is four inches. These horses are mostly used for racing, because of their height and stamina. However, they are very expensive to buy, especially if they have champion bloodlines, which will make them worth much more. Special feed may or may not be required. Some feeds will help stamina, and some will help strength and energy. Training these horses can range in difficulty from moderately easy to relatively hard. A normal color range includes bay (a brown with black legs), black, white, gray, and red ( a deep orange color). Racehorses are mostly geldings or stallions, but a few mares will usually be allowed. Alex and I both think that racing these horses is very dangerous and pointless, because if you fall, you're most likely to be injured or killed. Those horses are going at a top speed of about 45 MPH and if you fall you'll be very sorry. They have iron shoes and those hurt!

Grace Behrensmeyer
Alex Zanger

Cellphones in School?

Should cellphones be allowed in school? Everyday when you go to school everyone has their cellphone. We believe that cellphones should be allowed in school but left in your lockers and off. You can have them with you, and on, before school, during lunch, and after school. The most frustrating thing to a teacher is when a cellphone goes off in class or a person is texting in class. We took a guess that about 75% of high school students have cellphones. They are thinking about putting pay phones in the school. Do you think cellphones should be allowed in school?

Harlee F., Dallas C., Gage M., DJ S.

Six Flags

Does your family love going on vacations? Do you like to travel? Well in my opinion six flags in St. Louis would be a great place to visit this summer. Its a great place to bring your kids with all of the rides such as their new ones like the Tony Hawk or the Superman. Now I know you have heard how it cut off a girls legs but trust me, I've rode it myself even after that happened and it's the most exciting ride ever. Their water park is like a whole other place with just as many water rides as there are other rides, even with a place especially for the kids while you relax in their lazy river. The best part about it is the tornado. It's like a giant toilet bowl flushing you down. After you've had all this excitement in one you can stop at one of their restaurants like their steak house or one of there more subtle places like Pizza Hut or Burger King.

Samantha Skirvin
Jodie Kennedy

School lunches

Most people love school lunches but we think we should have more of a variety for our lunch. They should change the lunches sometimes. During lent they always have meat. They should have fish sticks. We also think we should have breakfast. Some of us might not have time to go over to the grade school to eat breakfast. We think we should get different food like ravioli, pizza, and other food. That is why we need more of a variety at lunch.

Tiffany V.
Melissa W.
Gretchen M.

Girl Lockerooms

Most females from Payson Seymour agree that we should have a better lockeroom situation. For instance, one of the two stalls doesn't lock creating a wait. There is a demand for more space to change. The floor, lockers, and shower areas are dirty, dented, and unsanitary. The girls that are in a sport need bigger lockers that can hold all their equipment. When school starts and begins to end the weather is warm outside and the locker room get hot and stuffy without a fan or air conditioning. Guys have more privacy then the girls. There is an office right outside the girl locker room where male teachers go into when the door is wide-open. I think that these issues should be brought to the school boards attention.

K. Huber
E. Smith
J. Patrick

Jr. High Exclusion

We, the junior high students from Payson, are excluded from many activities. At our school we have a spirit week before Homecoming. The high school students are to dress "themed" all week long. One of these days is "Color Wars". The students are to dress in certain colors, or their class colors. The junior high doesn't have class colors, therefore can not participate. Everyday the students who participate are counted and put into a percent of the number of students in that grade. No matter how many junior high students participate we are not counted. A common thing for our high school students to do is run out of the tunnel and break through a paper teepee. Our 8th grade boys were denied when they asked if they could do this at their last home game. The junior high is also excluded from lunch privileges. The high school is allowed to order their lunch from Fastop. During the holidays they are allowed to decorate the halls, lobby, and gym. We decorated our hall for Christmas and our decorations were taken down. One more thing the high school gets that we don't is a pep bus taken to almost every away game, but they didn't take one to the 7th grade regional championship game. Does anyone else think this is unfair??

Sarah W.
Lacey H.
Megan S.

Myspace

Myspace, safe or nonsafe?

Myspace can be bad because of sex offenders and spammers. Sex offenders are all over the web. They try to persuade you to do bad things. Spammers can damage your computer and also try to get you to do bad things.
On the plus side it is a place for you to talk with your friends and get to know your friends you don't see very often. It also could keep your phone bill down, because you stay in touch using Myspace.

"WHAT'S YOUR CALL?"

BY: JACOB FARR, JAKE VOSS, AND CHRISTIAN WITTE

Clogging

Clogging is a type of dance. It is kinda like tap dancing, except you use different shoes. Clogging shoes have metal soles on the bottom of the toes, and the heels. In order to do clogging you need fast beating music. Clogging is for all races, all backgrounds, and for any gender. Clogging levels are beginner, intermediate, expert, advanced, and professional. You can take lessons at Cheryl Lotsch Studio, and in Hannibal. Most people does not know what clogging is. Thomas who is in my group does not know what clogging is. Clogging is a very cool type of dance. Even if you have never taken clogging before, maybe you could try. Also clogging is a very good cardiovascular workout.

By: Kaleen Lay
Thomas Ulrich

Smoking Ban

The new law that was accepted on January 1 was the smoking ban. There are lots of negatives. Bar owners will lose a lot of income and people will stop going to bars because there are not able to smoke. People that smoke often like to eat before they smoke so therefore people will stop going out to eat. This may also make bar owners mad because they don't have a choice or not to ban smoking. Owners should be able to put special rooms in there buildings for smoking. The only positive to this is that you can see the other side of the bar.


T.J. Klitz
Josh Benjamin
Mercedes Clayton

Super Bowl XLII

The three boys in our group believe something different about Super Bowl XLII. Jordan and Dallas believe the Giants will beat the New England Patriots. They believe that they will kick a game winning field goal. The score will be 23-21 Giants. Shelton believes different, that New England will crush the Giants 51-0. Manning will throw five interceptions and Brady will throw seven touchdown passes.

Shelton L.
Dallas C.
Jordan K.

School Sports

Volleyball

What do you think about volleyball? It is one of the most common in the United States. Volleyball takes lots of skill and endurance, but one of the most important parts is conditioning(even though it's not are favorite). It gets you in shape and gets you prepared for whats to come. You have to move your feet and have lots of strength to spike the ball. When you bump you have to have straight arms to hit it to the setter. Then the setter has to set it to the spiker, so they can hit the ball to get a point. Our favorite part about volleyball is spiking. Whats yours? Sierra and Megan

Baseball

Our favorite sport is baseball because you always meet new people on the field. The best part about baseball is hearing the ball hit the bat. When the crowd cheers for you it makes you want to give 110% in the game. One of our favorite parts of baseball is hitting a home run to win the game. Whats your favorite part? Johnny and Abram

Sierra D.
Megan B.
Johnny M.
Abram W.

Hunting

When you are out hunting you would want to have your best friend with you. That would be the new Earthmate GPS p-N 20, because if you are out hunting and you get lost in the dark the new Earthmate has high sensitivity, and a bright colored screen. You can have one for $410 at Delorme.com.

If you have a long walk ahead of you and your 4x4 wouldn't make it you can bust out the Arctic Cat 366. It is light weight with 4x4 on demand and it has great fuel economy, good braking, and it has full length foot boards to protect your feet. It can be bought for $5,369.

When you bag yourself a nice buck you want nothing else but a good sharp knife to get the job done, and that knife is the new Gerber knife. It has a big heavy blade that could cut open a car door. You could get it for $69 to $136.

B Lord
J Davenport
C Hocking
A Smith

Junior High Lunches

This is crazy! Junior High is getting extremely bad lunches and it is incredibly expensive. They charge $3.75 for one soggy meal and sometimes you find hair in your food. Talk about gross! the only good meals we get are chicken strips and chinese. We should be able to order food from the fast stop like the high school. That is unfair. So in conclusion, junior high gets the short end of the stick when it comes to lunches. What do you think?

Aaron E.
Landon E.
Dylan E.
Tyler S.