Written By: Bailee Withers
From the ages of five to eighteen, youth all over the world are required to attend school. Every day, typically for 6-8 hours per day, we all go to school and learn all sorts of things in the subjects of math, science, English and more. This makes me wonder if we are using that time effectively. Why should we waste our time on stuff we will never need to know? Shouldn't we learn how to use a bank account, or pay bills, or buy a house? Let’s look at a few examples. First, there's science class. It's interesting to learn about, but when in our life are we going to need to know how thick each layer of the earth is? Then, there's English class. Of course we need to have good writing skills, but will our job ever depend on if we can properly identify a direct object in a sentence? Unless we are going to become an English teacher, probably not. In math class, we learn many things that we will never use in real life. Do we need basic math facts? Sure! Do we need to know how to graph something in slope-intercept form? I think you see my point. The website Philadelphia.cbslocal.com states, “A new survey says the average American uses just 37 percent of the information they learn in school.” This shows that there are many classes that we are never going to remember or use. So how should we fix things? School classes should teach us things we need to know for life. Though the class may still be boring, we will at least know what to do when we have to pay bills. Most students probably don’t know how to set up a bank account until high school or even college. Mrs. Rhodes, an English teacher at MJH told us that when she managed student housing for BYUI, she was shocked at how many college students didn't even know how to pay their own bills. They had to rely on their parents to do it each month. Imagine if money management was the type of thing we learned in math class instead of how to find the sine, cosine, and tangent of a triangle! Deseret.com says, “Approximately 24 percent of teens incorrectly think that using a debit card is borrowing the bank's money instead of using their own.” So why not change some classes to learning about things we as adults will need to know? Although we need to learn the basics in math, I feel that by changing up topics we discuss in math and other subjects we all will benefit. Therefore maybe schools should eventually change up their classes, but for now enjoy your algebra class!
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Written by: Hank Erickson
Most people don't know or don't care to know about the life of a cowboy. Most people think it's easy, but that is completely wrong coming from a cowpuncher himself *cough**cough* Hank Erickson. You have to worry about your horse acting up when it's cold or rainy or if you gave him too long of a break. But that's the easy stuff. Enough about that. Let's get into the first part of every cowboy job ever. Saddling a Horse is a simple enough task, but for someone that is new or has never done it before it can be quite challenging. You have to catch, brush, braid (if you are fancy), put the pad on, throw the saddle on, and cinch it up. That's really broad so let’s get in to detail. Step 1. Catching the horse Everyone that has horses has a different way of catching their horse. The way I got taught was to walk up and put the halter on and walk him out, tie him up and give in grain so that they get a treat when they get caught. Step 2. Brushing the horse This is probably the simplest part. You just brush where the saddle sits if you are going for a ride. If you are going to a show you need to make the horse look fancy. Step 3. Putting the pad on the horse This is very important so your saddle doesn’t gald the horse. Putting the pad in the right place is also important the pad goes on the withers. The red circle is the wither. It it right at the base of the horse's neck. (see image below.) Step 4. Saddling the horse Perfect saddle placement is key so you don't accidentally hurt your horse. If your saddle is too far back, the back cinch will get in his flank and will cause the horse to buck. If it's too far forward it will gald (cutting your horse) and that's no bueno. The right bit is also a factor when cowboying. If you use a snaffle bit on a horse that has been ridden a lot, is a spade, or even a correction, your horse won’t be as soft-mouthed. A soft-mouthed horse is a really good thing if you are gentle with your hands. If you are hard with your hands it can hurt a soft-mouthed horse. But that is just the basics. You can find out more on Dale Brisby's YouTube channel or talk with Hank Erickson in person if you have questions about the life of a cowboy! By: Jonas Robins
The wish assembly is coming up on Tuesday, December 21st, and it is a very fun tradition we have here at the junior high. The wish assembly is an assembly run by the student council where students at Madison Junior High can go to a booth during lunch time and submit wishes for twenty-five cents each. These wishes can be silly things or serious things, but you never know, they might just grant it! This got me thinking. If I could have any 3 wishes come true (that are school related), what would they be? One of the wishes I would choose is, of course, to have flex back. I would want it back so we could have help with homework and we could get our grades up as needed during school. Jaden Torres, a student at MJH would also choose to get flex back. “I think we should flex back to help with the school's GPA,” Jaden states. Another wish I would choose is for school to be shorter. While I don't think they would be able to do this, it would be fun. I think it would be a fun idea because then there is still less work put on the kids and this causes less stress. Some people may not be aware of this, but Rigby has recently decided to make Fridays a "work day" just for students who have low grades. They are taking the daily flex time out of their schedule, but placing it on Fridays. This means that if you have good grades, you don't have to come to school on Friday! How awesome would this be!? It's like they are killing two birds with one stone. They get flex time AND they reward kids who already have good grades by not making them come on Fridays! Let's get this conversation rolling at Madison! The third wish I would choose is more elective classes. School is supposed to help people get jobs and things in the future, but maybe people struggle with knowing what jobs they would want. If students can have more elective options, they can figure out what things they are interested in. This will help them have not only to have a good paying job, but the job that makes them happy. Although these wishes may not come true, the wish assembly will still be a blast. The assembly may not actually grant a lot sometimes, but it's still a fun assembly for the students. Anika Johnson, a student at MJH, really looks forward to the assembly. She says, “I really think that the wish assembly is really fun and gets the students really involved and excited." I agree! It should be a great assembly to watch and who knows, maybe some great wishes will be granted! Written by: Hank Erickson and Deven Garner
Why is Idaho so weird? Normally, we get the snow machines out at Thanksgiving! This year, we didn't really get any snow until December 14, 2021. That is crazy. This summer was crazy too. It was very, very hot! In fact, it was, one of the hottest summers Idaho has ever had. A freshman student at Madison Junior High named Cody Little was happy that it didn’t snow until last week. When asked about the fresh snowfall on Tuesday, he stated, ‘’It’s trash. I freaking hate snow.’’ This shows that some students don’t like the snow and some are happy we haven't had it like we are supposed to. We (Deven and Hank) personally like the snow and can’t wait for winter time. The trick to loving winter is getting involved in some winter sports like snowboarding or snow machining. When it is summer, all we can think about is getting away from the summer heat and onto a sled (a snowmobile is also called a sled). A very nice teacher from Madison Junior High, Mrs. Rhodes, stated, “I personally was happy that it didn't snow for a long time because we are trying to frame a house.” In that sense, I understand that the long pause for winter to start again was a good thing. The summer of 2021 was one of the hottest, and there was almost a 90 degree average in the month of July. This temperature caused a drought all over eastern Idaho. Palisades Reservoir was only at 7% capacity at the end of the summer. The average snowfall for December in Rexburg, Idaho is 11.7 inches. Now, we are in the middle of December with only 4 to 8 inches of snow so far. This means this winter is lacking some snow and Idaho needs lots and lots more snow this winter so that we don’t have a larger drought like the one we had last summer. Even though some people don’t like it, snow can be a great thing and is very needed for the farmers! Long live winter! Written by: Sam Harper
Recently, in English class, we read a story about following traditions of society. There are many things we do just because of peer pressure. Maybe we need to change up some things and start considering why we even do them in the first place. I feel there are some weird traditions that we practice today. The one tradition that this article will focus on is the tradition of “elf on the shelf.” So first of all, why would you tell your kids that there's a demonic looking ‘stuffed elf’ in your house spying on you to report to Santa? Like sure it might make your kids behave well so they get ‘presents’, but why lie to them? The tradition of Santa Claus is one thing, but making kids think there's a creepy, tiny, human-like creature spying on you and messing up your house at night doesn't seem that smart. The fact the parents/guardians move the elf every once in a while just seems to add to the fact that it's real. After kids get older, and wiser, I bet that gets really creepy. I bet kids have nightmares and phobias of possessed dolls because of this idiotic tradition. Ewan Gillion, a sanctioned psychologist, stated: “The elf itself is one which most children usually consider a positive Christmas character; however they may start to feel uneasy knowing that it’s going to come ‘alive’ during the night and they won’t know when, or see it moving around. This unknown can cause real anxiety, especially for, those who may already have a fear of ‘haunted toys’, or toys they have seen come alive in films.” Adding to that, it's going to pressure and stress out kids, thinking they're being noted on their behavior. According to positiveparentingsolutions.com, “Knowing that Santa’s Elf is constantly watching over them can create discouragement and anxiety for kids—especially for those who struggle with impulse control or who have difficulty making good choices.” With all this evidence, it's obvious that this particular tradition needs to be thrown out. The physical and mental effects are not worth risking for ‘good behavior’ or ‘something fun to do annually’. This just helps add to the argument which is; some traditions just need to be changed or stopped completely. Written By: Sawyer Summers
This week in English class we had a discussion about if it would be better to be the smartest person in the school or be the most popular person in the school. I personally think that it would be better to be the smartest person because then you could get good grades and get into a good college. This could mean that you would get a better paying job in life. Another reason it would be better to be the smartest person in school is that some people believe that popular people are rude. Brinlee Lords, a student at MJH, said, “Smart people are usually nicer than popular people.” She thought that some of the popular people are stuck up and rude. I agree with her. About half of the people in my English class would choose to be the most popular instead of the smartest. Audrey Sutton, another student at MJH said, “I think it would be super fun to know everybody and party all the time.” Some people say that if you were popular, you could still get a good job because you would know a lot of people. There is definitely some truth to the saying, “It’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know if life.” A couple of kids in my class thought that there are two kinds of smartness, street smart and book smart. If you chose to become the smartest, would you also be smart in the ways of the world or would you just be book smart? Mrs. Rhodes, a teacher at MJH stated, “I think smart people are sometimes typically smart in school, but are not always smart in other ways.” It is good to be smart, but it is also good to be popular. Hopefully, we never have to choose just one. Written by: Hyrum Edwards
Everyone knows traditions can be as pointless as a dull pencil. In my English class, we recently read a story about the traditions of society. Sometimes traditions can be removed or brought back. A great example of a good tradition that got removed, was flex. Because I am an 8th grader, I never had flex time, but I know that students would do better in school with flex. Flex was a 45 minute break from your classes when you could do your homework or, if you didn't have to make up any work, you could play in the gym. Most students would love the opportunity to have some free time at school. Hank Erickson, an 8th grader at MJH, said, “We need flex for more than one reason - for extra time on school work, or to socialize.” If you are in ninth grade or higher in 2021-2022, you have gotten to experience flex and you probably loved it. It's not fair that the school got rid of flex. Their excuse for getting rid of flex was Covid-19. Well, if that was really their reason, we should have flex back again! We are in classrooms with 30 other people, sitting one foot away all day. We eat lunch in the cafeteria next to tons of people. In between classes, we are crammed next to each other like sardines. Therefore, we are obviously over the Covid restrictions. Flex could and will help people with good grades. Those that did not have homework could just hung out with their friends. It is a good break for all of us hard-working junior high kids. I'm not saying we need 45 minutes of flex, but we should have at least a 25 minute break. Devon Gardner, another 8th grader at MJH, said, “I want flex, but I don't think we will get it back.” What can we do about this? The wish assembly is coming up! I would encourage everyone to put their wishes in for flex time to be reinstated at Madison Junior High! Let’s make it happen! Our school is great, but let’s face it, we would all do things a little differently if we were in charge. Right? Well, I asked some students what their opinions were on what they would change about our school…
One student said, “We have tons of Mountain Dew, but there is no Dr. Pepper! It is so dumb.” There have been lots of complaints about no Dr. Pepper. But, Dr. Pepper is not a Pepsi product and you may have noticed that the vending machines have a Pepsi logo on the side of them! So the vending machine only sells Pepsi products. According to, Top 10 Most Popular Soft Drinks (Sodas), Dr. Pepper is ranked 4th in top soda sales and Mountain Dew is ranked 5th. One thing students would change would be the soda in the vending machines. One thing that the students would also change would be putting holes in the floor in the main gym for volleyball poles. This request is from mostly the volleyball players because the gym gets super hot and with all the parents, siblings, and friends coming and watching it gets even hotter! Another reason why they want a court in the main gym is that they have more room to play. Whether that is going to chase a ball or serving the ball. Rachel Powell
We have a problem at our school. The orchestra and band students get to go on fun Lagoon trips, and when they are older, they get to go to Disney Land and other big trips. But, what about the students who do art, young living, woodworking, drama, etc. Is their talent in what they do not good enough to go on fun trips and do fun things? In 7th grade, the orchestra and band students get to go on a fun trip to Lagoon. They play in the amusement park, get to go on all the rides, and spend lots of time together. Then, in high school, the orchestra and band students get to go on a super fun trip to either Disneyland or Washington D.C. They get to stay in a super huge hotel, play at the beach, play in the amusement park, and have a whole lot of fun. Meanwhile, all the other electives are stuck at school, wishing they could show off their talent in fun places as well. Art students, young living students, woodworking students, drama students, while all the other elective students work just as hard as orchestra and band students. As their musical friends tell them about how excited they are to go on a super fun trip, the other elective students are jealous and wonder why they don’t get to do fun things as well. Many orchestra and band students say, “Well, you should have just joined the band” or “You should have joined the orchestra, then you could come with us.” But, some students do other electives because they want to, or they aren’t in a position where they can play a musical instrument. Maybe they don’t read music as well as other students. They don’t do orchestra or band because they don’t want to. They would much rather do another elective. But, they still wish they could go on fun trips and do fun activities. In conclusion, all students that do other electives should get to do fun things and show off their skills. Understandably, the school administration may not be able to, pay for many electives to go on big trips. But they should still allow for art showcases or woodworking/young engineering showcases. Other elective students should be able to feel just as appreciated as music students and get to go on fun trips and do fun activities. You may be wondering what is “the thing” now? Well my friend you are in luck because I'm going to tell you all about the three most popular things in school right now!
First I am going to tell you about Nikes! Nikes have been a very popular thing since 2019. They have blown up since then. They are pretty expensive, but lots of people like them and say that they last them a while. Nikes come in all shapes and sizes; they have high-top Nikes, slip, platforms, blazers. air forces, and much more. They have all kinds of colors from black to purple. Secondly, I am going to talk about flannel. Flannel has become very popular throughout the year. His one is mostly girls wear, but boys can also rock it! Flannel goes over undershirts, tee shirts, or even sweatshirts. Flannel is very well-liked and can be very cheap depending on where you get it. Flannel is a super comfy top just right for fall. The last thing I am going to talk about is Converse. These shoes are old school. Do you watch old movies and see the characters wearing Converse? The next thing I'm going to tell you, you aren't going to believe, but here it goes, they were made in 1908! Nba players used to wear Converse in their games! These shoes have recently come up with platforms and lots of people love them! I have a pair of platform Converse and they are so comfy and so cute! I recommend them! -Brooke Wheeler |
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