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By Alex Zlatev I’ve recently started to take up the hobby of skateboarding and so far it has made life more simple. I can now get to and from school, much faster and I can now relate to a larger amount of kids. But it seems that at school, skating is frowned upon. For example, when I was in 6th grade everyone who had their skateboard was riding them in the yard having such a fun time. In 7th grade however, we lost the privilege to skate in the yard. Finally I’m in 8th grade class of 2020, and we can’t even bring our boards to the yard. It seems that over the years APG has looked at skateboards as if they were some sort of gang symbol, but in reality they are just another mode of transportation like a bicycle. Now if we bring our board we must bring it to counseling. This is a pain. The whole point of a skateboard is to ride it, to get from point A to point B faster. But ride on school grounds??? No. Now you might be asking yourself “Dude, why are you getting so worked up about skating, they stop you from skating because you could hurt someone else and yourself” and I would say: 1.Stop talking to yourself, you’re just reading the paper and 2.APG resides on a hill, perfect for skating to the counseling office.  The security guards stop us from skating down for, ‘fear of hurting someone’. The thing about skateboards is that they are loud, and I mean really loud, nowadays most cars are more quiet, so if someone can't see the board coming, they will hear it. There is also the fact that skateboards aren’t cars, we don't go 35 mph down the hill, we go at a nice 3 mph. And this whole thing about the speed and the guards and the office and the hill, wouldn’t even matter if we had a space in the yard that skateboarders could practice. Basketball has a space, Garden has a space, even the chickens have a space. Let skateboards have some space.
By Zoey Billings Lots of kids hate homework or have way to much of it. Homework can also cause high anxiety and stress for most kids. But why is all of these things caused for kids and teens. “If you compare the results of children who learn while doing less homework and the ones that still do a lot of it, we’ll see that the first ones are more relaxed and fond of many subjects in school, whereas the latter lose their interest and associate school with a mandatory institution which is against them. So, yes, I’d say that teachers who don’t put pressure on children with a large quantity of homework are wiser and closer to determine children learn in a more enjoyable way.” - https://woogie.ai/blog/why-do-kids-hate-homework  “Homework can affect students’ health, social life and grades. The hours logged in class, and the hours logged on schoolwork can lead to students feeling overwhelmed and unmotivated. Navigating the line between developing learning skills and feeling frustrated can be tricky. Homework is an important part of being successful inside and outside of the classroom, but too much of it can actually have the opposite effect. Students who spend too much time on homework are not always able to meet other needs, like being physically and socially active. Ultimately, the amount of homework a student has can impact a lot more than his or her grades.” -https://www.oxfordlearning.com/how-does-homework-affect-students/ Some teachers across the world are trying to not cause all of this stress by not having students do only a little bit of homework or not any!  By Zoey Billings
Tryouts have finished, and there are actually many sixth graders so congrats for them. Tryouts started last week and the lists are in the girls locker room. This year we have lots of sixth, seventh and eighth graders so Yay! Congrats to these girls: Sixth Graders:
Seventh Graders:
Eighth Graders:
  By: Lauren Lew, Tina Yang, Cecilia Yong, and Jocelyn Yu In this article, you will learn about giant pandas and red pandas Giant Pandas Scientific Name: Ailuropoda melanoleuca Family: Ursidae Giant pandas are really cute and big, as you can tell after just seeing one! They are native to South Central China. Giant pandas’ life spans go from 14-20 years. Males weigh typically up to 350 pounds, while females can weigh up to 150 pounds. Their lengths usually range from 3.9-6.2 feet long, and they can be as tall as 2-3 feet. No matter how unfortunate, the stereotypes are all true-- pandas eat bamboo a lot along with sugarcane and other tiny woodland creatures. They have black and white patches along they’re bodies, and black patches around their eyes. Their fingers are specially made to eat bamboo, as they have evolved to feed off of this plant. The shape and strength of their jaws have also changed to have the strength to eat the tough vegetation. They may look cute and adorable, but they eat up to 20-40 pounds a day! They also poop up to 40 times a day! So you wouldn’t want to get near them. A giant panda starts to breed from the ages 4-8 but continue to about 20 years. Baby newborn pandas weigh usually 3-5 oz when they are born. This is equal to eggzactly 0.0111111111% of their mother’s weight. At birth, the pandas are blind, hairless, pink and white and are really (x100000000000) cute!` *FuUN fAcTS
 Red Pandas
Scientific Name: Ailurus fulgens Family: Ailuridae Red pandas are small mammals with red and white markings. They have white marks on their faces, and red and white ‘rings’ on their tails. They are native to the Eastern Himalayas and Southweastern China. Red pandas are endangered and there are only about 10,000 left in the wild due to poaching and habitat loss. The good thing is, killing pandas are illegal. They have a lifespan of about 12 to 14 years. Male red pandas are usually 8.2 to 14 pounds and females are usually 6.6 to 13 pounds. The average length of an adult red panda is 1.9 ft. Red pandas usually mate in early winter, then give birth in spring and summer.Newborn red pandas weigh about 3 to 4 ounces. They eat bark, grass, lichens, roots, flowers and leaves of plants other than bamboo. They might also feast on acorns, berries, fruits and mushrooms. Sometimes, they add meat to their diet in the form of insects, bird eggs, mice and rats. Snow leopards and martens are the main predators of red pandas. They are also called the lesser panda, which implies that they aren’t as important as the giant panda. *FuUN fAcTS
 By Anya Sheppard and Eva Ciobanu
Once upon a time there was a gang of VSCO girls. They destroyed everything in their path with cries of “sksksksksk” and “and I oop”. They go around and burn down Urban Outfitters and Brandy Mellville after stealing all of their clothes. They run through the city snatching every scrunchie and puka shell necklace. They hit everyone on the head with their sticker covered hydro flasks and when the person falls they scream “AND I OOP”. But then another fierce gang showed up. They were wearing oversized hoodies and armed with the iPhone 11 Pro and AirPods. They ran up to the devilish VSCO girls and started beating them up and cracking their phones screens on their head. As they hit the VSCO girls they yell “WE IRRITATING, PERIODT!!!” The VSCO girls cowered in fear and feebly raised their hydro flasks in surrender. “Sksksksk we’re sorry!!!” But the winning gang will never forgive them, and declare, “Thas clownery luv.”
By Zoey Billings
One of the most smartest animals, and surprisingly the most clean animals, are rats. Most people don’t like them, but why? How are they good pets? Are they good for kids and families? Many people ask these questions only because they are fascinated by these animals. Most people hate rats because they think of them as dirty rats off the street. When they are pets it’s not like that. Well, only if you take good care of them. Many people don’t know, but rats are as smart as dogs. They can be trained and studies have shown that rats have lots of empathy for each other. Rats are great pets because they are super clean; they don’t like getting dirty. They make really good bonds with their owners, so if you give them love they will love you back. Rats don’t require as much space as a dog or a cat. They also can be left alone for a whole day and be fine, as long as they have food or water. Kids love things that they can touch, and rats are perfect for that because the child can learn to take care of animals and also learn to love them. They are easy to take care of so their parents don’t have to worry about that problem that most people worry about. Rats don’t take up very much space, so if you live in a small apartment then you also don’t have to worry. Rats are super good pets for people with special needs. They need company, and rats are perfect for that. Pets make people with autism bring down their stress level and make people happier. Rats are just really great pets, even though people really think they are dirty and in the streets. Now you hopefully have a better mindset about the pet rats, and how clean and easy they are to take care of, and that they are great for families and people with special needs. Rats are perfect for everyone, SO GET RATS NOW!! |
