The
three articles also have internet
links where you can get more detailed
information.
But,
there are lots of other interesting
activities and events that are also
worth kids' attention. They include:
Historical
Children's Festival in St. Charles
This
family-oriented event will be held
Saturday, April 15, at the First Missouri
State Capitol State Historic Site
in downtown St. Charles. The hours
are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Kids and their families get a look
at what life was like in pioneer times.
There are carriage rides, costumed
re-enactors, storytelling and historical
games. Also, there is a fur and trapping
exhibit and barnyard animals.
Activities
include butter churning, cow milking,
necklace stringing, quill pen writing,
candle dipping, cornmeal pounding
and hearth cooking.
For
more information, call the First Missouri
Capitol Site at (636) 940-3322.
Streetcar
and miniature train rides
The
Museum of Transportation's streetcar
and miniature train ride season opens
on Saturday, April 1. Hours are from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Rides
are $4 for adults and $2 for children
and senior citizens.
The
museum is located at 3015 Barrett
Station Road in west St. Louis County.
The museum has one of the largest
collections of transportation vehicles
in the world. Also, the remodeled
Lindburg Automobile Center opened
earlier this year.
For
information, call (314) 965-7998
or visit www.museumoftransport.org.
Family Camping in the Prairie
The Shaw Nature Reserve provides an
ideal "first camping trip" experience
on Saturday and Sunday, April 29-30.
You'll
camp in the prairie, sleeping near
a sod house. You'll have a campfire
dinner and a night hike. Then, in
the morning, there's another hike
to see more of the surrounding prairie.
You
provide your camping gear but supper
and breakfast are provided. The cost
is $30 for a child and $35 for an
adult who is a Botanical Garden member.
The non-member fees are $35 per child
and $40 per adult.
For
information and reservations, call
(636) 451-3512. The Shaw Reserve
is located on Highway 100 at the 1/44
exit (Exit 253).
Puppet Making and Ben Franklin's kites
The Missouri History Museum has a
couple unique events for kids and
their families.
On Sunday, April 9, the museum will
sponsor a kite-making workshop in
honor of the upcoming Ben Franklin
exhibition. Kite flying was one of
Ben Franklin's favorite hobbies and
his finding electricity with a kite
and a key in a thunderstorm is a popular
history story.
After
assembling and decorating your own
kite, you'll go outdoors to fly the
kites in Forest Park.
Hours
for the event are 1 to 3 p.m.
On
Saturday, April 22, there will be
a Lewis and Clark Puppet Show and
a puppet-making workshop. Hours for
puppet-making are noon and 2 p.m.
Hours for the puppet show are 11 a.m.
and 1 p.m.
The
Puppet Guild of Greater St. Louis
will bring the Lewis & Clark exploration
to life.
For
information, call (314) 746-4599
or visit www.mohistory.org.
Basic Fishing Lessons at Busch
With the fishing season awaiting,
kids 7 and up can get some basic fishing
lessons at the Busch Conservation
Area in St. Charles County. The session
is Saturday, April 22, from 8:30 to
11 a.m.
The
program is for newcomers with limited
fishing experience. Subjects covered
will be fishing tackle, rods, reels,
baits, casting techniques and types
of fish.
You'll
get a chance to tryout your new skills
at lakes on the conservation area.
Poles are provided by the Missouri
Department of Conservation.
To sign up, call (636) 441-4554.
For more about MDC programs, visit
www.mdc.mo.gov.
Laclede music
contest winner is 11
When Jecoliah Wang was a baby,
her mother had classical music
playing when she was in her crib.
She played a hymn in church on
the violin only eight months after
starting formal lessons at age
6.
The 5th grader is now 11 and
is the grand prize winner in the
2006 Laclede Quartet Kids Concert
Competition. The annual competition
is open to kids from 4th to 12th
grade.
Wendy Lea, one of the Laclede
Quartet members, said, "Jecoliah
blew us away with her playing
of the 1st movement of Lalo's
Symphonia Espagnole."
And tiny Jecoliah isn't even
playing a full-sized violin yet.
When she started violin lessons,
she played a 1/8th sized instrument.
About once a year, she moves to
a larger size. She's up to a 3/4th
size violin now.
As the violin size gets bigger,
Jecoliah can develop better tone
and more range. She said the "little
instruments are often limited
in tone quality."
The winners in the 2006 Laclede
competition were featured Sunday,
March 12, in a concert held on
the Fontbonne College campus.
Jecoliah also will be featured
on KFUO-FM radio's Saturday morning
"Classic Kids" broadcast.
Jecoliah is attending Kennard
Classical Junior Academy, a St.
Louis City Schools' gifted institution.
Her interests go beyond music.
At Kennard, she's now helping
to construct scenery for the 5th
grade's upcoming opera, "The Mikado."
"We're making stage scenery
which includes a painting of Mt.
Fuji in Japan," she said.
When the opera is staged, Jacoliah
plays the part of a school girl.
That includes both singing and
speaking, she said.
Her parents, Jieh-Wuu (Michael)
and Sheau-Fung (Lydia) Wang, are
from Taiwan. They met while going
to Kobe University in Japan.
Her current music teacher is
Hiroko Yoshida, a member of the
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
She also has a godfather, the
Rev. Wesley Cummins, who is now
associate pastor of the Taiwanese
Presbyterian Church in Ballwin.
It was at his church that she
played the hymn just eight months
after starting violin lessons.
So it was natural that Jecoliah
should be involved in the annual
Japanese Festival at the Missouri
Botanical Garden. She plays the
violin in the Gaku, a Japanese
instrumental group.
She's been in the Webster University
Music School's Young People's
Symphonic Orchestra for nearly
two years. Last fall, she was
named assistant concert master.
"I really like sitting so close
to the conductor. You can see
his every move," she said.
Jecoliah takes music lessons
once a week. But, her practice
sessions fill up much of the rest
of her non-school time.
"I practice three hours a day,
unless I get too tired. Then,
I practice more the next day,"
she said.
She said practicing that much
isn't always fun. "But, I know
I have to so I can get better
and play pieces I like," she added.
She's also got a secret weapon
in her practice routine-her little
Maltese dog, Xavier. "He's always
with me when I practice, so I
never feel alone or get bored,"
she said.
Also, she said she organizes
her practices systematically.
"I always divide the music I'm
supposed to learn by the number
of days left before my lesson.
Then, I focus on that day's part
and review the previous parts.
So, I don't feel pressure before
my lessons," she said.
Although her free time is limited,
Jecoliah said likes reading, doing
crafts, origami and cooking. "I'd
like to learn to sew, too," she
said.
Jecoliah has her sights set
high as to the types of pieces
she wants to do. "I'm looking
forward to working on the Paganini
Concerto in D Major. It has such
a beautiful melody. It's just
right for playing for people in
their homes," she said.
She has her eye on being both
a doctor and a musician when she
grows up.
"I've always wondered how the
human brain works. Also, how music
can foster healing and bring comfort
to patients in their difficult
times," she said.
Can practice make
perfect?
Just ask the Thanki sisters
When someone made
up the adage that "practice makes
perfect," they might have had sisters
Anisha and Aasha Thanki in mind.
Ever since coming
back from a trip to India four years
ago, the two west St. Louis County
sisters have practiced their music
lessons every day. And that includes
Sundays.
Last month, 12-year-old
Anisha and 11-year-old Aasha played
a violin duet at the Laclede Quartet's
Kids Concert. They won a program
spot after a competitive audition.
(For a picture
of all the soloists at the Laclede
concert, see below.)
They've also won gold
medals for their piano playing at
the world piano competition. That
included playing at a concert in
Carnegie Hall in New York.
Both already are qualified
for the 2006 world competition auditions
this summer.
They also play violin
in the Webster University Community
Music School's Children's String
Orchestra. Anisha is the associate
concertmaster while Aasha is 3rd
chair.
The girls also sing
in St. Louis Children's Choir Chorale.
Anisha is a 6th grader
at Parkway South Middle School.
Her sister, Aasha, is a 5th grader
at Barretts Elementary School. The
family lives in west St. Louis County.
Despite her every-day
practice schedule, Anisha said practice
is still fun. "And it gets more
so every day," she added. Aasha
added, "Oh yeah, it's still fun."
The girls said their
daily practice sessions vary from
30 minutes to 3 hours.
Aasha said she and
her sister usually practice in different
rooms so they can concentrate on
their own music. Aasha said, "We
usually practice at slightly different
times. Our sessions overlap a little
so we also can practice our duets."
Anisha was four and
Aasha three when they started violin
lessons. Anisha began with a 1/16th
sized violin while Aasha's was even
smaller, a 1/32nd. But, both are
now playing instruments that are
3/4th the regular size.
Their violin teacher
is Joe Kaninsky. He's a local school
music teacher who also gives many
private lessons.
Kaninsky's students
give four public recitals a year.
Two are in the winter with one each
in the spring and summer. The girls
have played at recitals that were
held in the new West County Mall
and the Plaza Frontenac Mall.
The girls play both
solo and duet music at the recitals.
Anisha said she likes
playing the violin and piano equally.
"I couldn't choose between them,"
she said.
They rate their appearances
in Carnegie Hall as their favorite
musical experience.
But, they also look
forward to their annual trip to
a violin camp in Wisconsin. The
weeklong camp is at the University
of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Aasha
said the camp offers four different
music classes each day.
Most of the music
the sisters play is classical. However,
Aasha said some lessons include
more modern music, especially theme
music from movies. For instance,
they worked on the theme from "Beauty
and the Beast."
"That's more fiddle-type
music," she said.
Both of the girls
say math is their favorite subject
in school.
Anisha said understanding
math "helps me better count the
beats to the music."
Although music is
a big part of their lives now, neither
is looking to a career as a professional
musician.
Anisha said she'd
like to be a lawyer. Asked why,
she said, "I have good arguments."
Aasha said she's looking
at being a doctor. She said her
father in a pharmacist and "I've
always liked medical things."
Her father's job
as a pharmacist at a Sam's Club
store led to the girls doing a charity
"gig" one Christmas season. The
musical performance at the store
was to help raise money for a young
girl with leukemia.
Listeners at the store
donated $750 during their concert.
That amount was then matched by
Wal-Mart so the girl got $1,500
to help defray her medical expenses.
Sneak peeks this month
Unique Kids' Garden
at Botanical Garden
The new attraction at the Missouri
Botanical Garden is billed as a "children's
garden." But, it certainly doesn't
look like any garden most of us have
seen. It's more like a jam-packed
miniature theme park.
This month, local kids and their
families will get weekend "sneak peeks"
at the "Doris A. Schnuck Children's
Garden: a Missouri Adventure." The
garden is located just west of the
Climatron.
The grand opening is slated for
May. But, on each Saturday and Sunday
in April, families will get preview
looks at the attraction.
Weekend hours are from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. There will be chances to meet
the garden's new frog mascot, appear
in a video guest book, listen to live
music and buy souvenir photo buttons.
Although there's more work to be
done, the construction is far enough
along to provide a unique experience.
Young Saint Louis.com got a
preview tour last month and here are
some of our reactions:
The garden is actually a series of
four themed paths, the "Discoverers'
Path," the "Adventurer's Path," the
"Botanist's Path" and the "Settlers'
Path."
Each path is personified by famous
Missourians.
Lewis and Clark and the Indian Sacagawea
are the discoverers. Mark Twain is
the adventurer. Henry Shaw, the founder
of the Botanical Garden, is the botanist.
And Daniel Boone is the settler.
Portraits of the Missourians are
at the entrances of the paths. Then,
each path winds through the two-acre
site. They are packed with places
to explore and things to do.
On the settlers' path, there's a
covered bridge, a climbing rock, a
general store, a surveyor's office,
a town-square gazebo, the town hall
and the town jail.
There's even a "family plot," which
looks like a miniature graveyard.
The "gravestones" aren't for people.
Rather, they are for native plants
and animals that have either been
wiped out or endangered by human settlement.
Also, the jail cells will feature
"invasive" plants that were brought
in by humans and drove out some of
the original native plants. On the
botanist's path, there's a tree trunk
pavilion, a "stump" station, an overhead
tree house, a pollination garden,
a giant beehive and Henry Shaw's secret
garden.
The adventurers' path starts with
a spelunker's slide that sends you
into a manmade cave. There is also
a levee, a logging camp, a flowing
river, a steamboat, a beaver dam,
a swamp and a frontier fort.
The discoverer's path includes rope
bridges, a pond, an Osage Indian camp,
a discovery platform and even a working
lock and dam on a stream.
YSL.com's guide was Karen
Hagenow. She said the Botanical Garden
wanted the Schnuck garden to be "a
look back in time."
And, whenever possible, items from
the past were incorporated into the
garden design.
For instance, there's an elaborate
tree house that was built over still-living
100-year-old Osage orange trees originally
planted by Henry Shaw. Some of the
wood for buildings in the frontier
village actually came from buildings
of that time.
The garden is targeted for kids from
2 to 12 years of age. There will be
interactive activities that will appeal
to kids of all those ages. And there
is plenty of climbing and lots of
places to search.
Admission for kids three to 12 will
be $3. Adults will be admitted free
so they can accompany their kids.
The long-range plan is to have the
children's garden open daily through
October. The garden will be open only
on weekends in November and March,
weather permitting.
Once the garden is complete, the
Town Hall can be rented for kids'
birthday parties.
Construction of some garden features
weren't complete when YSL.com
had the tour.
But, it was easy to see that the
"Doris I. Schnuck Children's Garden:
A Missouri Adventure" will be a hit
with kids. And, it will appeal to
the adults that accompany them.
The Missouri Botanical Garden is
a popular "destination location" for
adult visitors. The kid's garden certainly
will add lots of family visitor appeal.
Earth Day 2006
Run the family car
on 56-cent fuel
(Last in 3-part
series)
Do your parents complain
about the cost of fuel for your family
car? This month, you can meet a St.
Louis woman whose car runs on homemade
fuel that costs less than 56 cents
per gallon?
Maude Essen's 1984
Mercedes diesel sedan will be on display
at the St. Louis Earth Day 2006 on
Sunday, April 23. The clean environment
event will be held in Forest Park.
Ms. Essen is a member
of the St. Louis Biofuels Club. The
local group is interested in finding
alternatives to petroleum-based fuels.
In her case, she refines
her car's fuel from waste fryer grease
from a local Central West End restaurant.
The refining is done in her garage
with equipment she built herself.
"I get the fryer grease
for free. Then, it takes 38 cents
per gallon for the refining chemicals.
And I even pay 17½-cents-per-gallon
in state fuel taxes," Ms. Essen said.
Another interesting
by-product: Her car doesn't have that
typically smelly diesel exhaust. Her
car's tailpipe emissions smell more
like French fries.
Two main themes for
Earth Day 2006 are improving water
quality and developing alternative
fuels. The St. Louis Biofuels Club
will demonstrate alternative fuels.
(Last month, Young
Saint Louis.com highlighted the
water quality efforts of a local kids'
Stream Team group. To read that story,
click
here. For more on the total
Earth Day 2006 program, visit www.stlouisearthday.org.)
Ms. Essen is suggesting
that kids might like to bring some
old fryer grease to Earth Day. Then,
the Biofuels Club members will have
refining equipment available where
the kids can help make a batch of
biodiesel fuel.
Last year, the club
used some of its biodiesel fuel to
power generators that supplied electricity
to Earth Day displays. The members
plan to do that again this year.
Rapidly rising petroleum
prices and the U.S. dependency on
foreign oil has increased interest
in alternative fuels. Also, concern
about thinning of the ozone layer
and rising respiratory health issues
add to interest in alternative fuels.
Ms. Essen's group said
biodiesel fuels sharply reduce hazardous
exhaust emissions. These include carbon
monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur and
particulates. Sulfur emissions are
eliminated since biodiesel fuel contains
no sulfur.
There is a Missouri
company that converts diesels to use
various biodiesel fuels. The company
is Greasel Conversions, Inc. in Drury,
Mo. To get more information about
that company, visit www.greasel.com.
One type of alternative
fuel that's getting a lot of attention
in the Midwest is ethanol. That's
because it's made from corn and burns
in gasoline-powered vehicles.
Also, there is a National
Corn to Ethanol Research Center in
Edwardsville, Ill. And a commercial
ethanol production plant is being
built in mid-Missouri.
A lot of the ethanol
interest is from farm groups. They
see ethanol as a whole new market
for Midwest corn. Farmers complain
that traditional corn markets are
dwindling, thus keeping prices low.
Environmentalists like
ethanol because it burns cleaner and
corn is a renewable resource.
But, increased ethanol
production doesn't automatically cut
dependency on foreign oil.
For one thing, gasoline
engines aren't able to burn 100 per
cent ethanol. But, a blend of ethanol
and gasoline will work. Most suggestions
are for a 10 to 20 per cent ethanol
content for gasoline-powered cars.
Laws to require gas
stations to offer ethanol/gasoline
blends are being considered across
the country.
But, for Ms. Essen and
her Biofuels Club members, they are
focused on better ways to make alternative
fuels that work in diesel engines.
At the Earth Day demonstration,
they will hand out a flyer that lists
all sorts of information resources
on biodiesel. Included are websites
that bring together individuals around
the world interested in alternative
fuels.
One website is designed
to tell biodiesel "home-brewers" how
to refine biodiesel fuel. That's at
http://biodieselcommunity.org.
There's another that explains how
to build a garage refining plant like
Ms. Essen has. That's at http://localB100.com/book.html.
If you're interested
in helping to clean up the environment,
St. Louis Earth Day 2006 would be
a good place to get ideas.
Girls relay team
seeks repeat win
This month, St. Louis
Express girls relay team starts a
drive to repeat as national track
champions. The girls won the midget
4x800 meter title at the 2005 AAU
Junior Olympic tournament.
The team of Natalie
Pattin, 12; Jazmine Johnson, 12; Kendra
White, 13, and Courtney Powell, 12,
will move up to the youth division
this year. The four runners are all
from Florissant and all return for
this year's season.
Regular meet competition
for the 2006 season starts in the
first week of April.
The Express team members
will compete in about 10 meets in
the regular season. Then, they must
earn spots in the national meet through
regional elimination meets.
In regional competition,
the Express team will compete against
athletes from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma
and Arkansas. Top four finishers in
each event qualify for nationals.
Twelve-year-old Natalie
Pattin said winning the national relay
title last year was her best athletic
experience. But, it certainly wasn't
her first experience in national competition.
She got her start in
track at age 7 by her father, Rickie
Pattin, now one of the Express coaches.
Mr. Pattin competed in track in high
school and at Grambling University.
Natalie was in her
first national Junior Olympics tournament
that first year. And she's been a
regular since then.
Last year, the 4x800
relay team was ranked first going
into the nationals. They went on to
win the finals at 10 minutes, 10.2
seconds in the 2005 meet in New Orleans.
They were 15 seconds ahead of the
second place team.
But, they'll have their
work cut out for them as they move
up in age.
Last year, the winning
time in the youth division's 4x800
relay was 9 minutes, 40.08 seconds.
That's about 30 seconds faster than
the Express' winning time in midgets.
Express runners train
with the conditioning coach from University
of Missouri-St. Louis.
Natalie said they use
both short distance sprints and longer
distance running in practice.
"The sprints are to
help us with speed for the finishes.
The longer distances help us maintain
our pace in the middle," the 7th grader
said. She's is a student at Cross
Keys Middle School.
Natalie said, for her,
some of the hardest work comes "when
we have to compete against each other
in practice."
The Express runners
are busy during meets. In addition
to the 4x800 relay, the team also
competes in the 4x400 relay. They
finished fourth in last year's nationals,
just 7 seconds out of first and only
3/10ths of a second from third.
In addition, Natalie
was 5th in the 800 meter run, at 2
minutes, 26.72 seconds. That was less
than seven seconds behind the winner.
Kendra White was 6th
in the 400 meters, at 58.82 seconds.
That was just three seconds behind
the winner.
In the national meet,
the first eight place finishers in
each final get a medal.
This year's team is
planning to qualify for nationals
in both the 4x400 and 4x800 meter
relays. Also, the girls are planning
to qualify in individual running races.
The AAU Junior Olympic
tournament is a big event, with competition
in 26 sports.
Coach Pattin said there
might be as many as 10,000 athletes
participating.
The 2006 meet will be
held at Hampton Roads, Va., from June
26 to Aug. 5.
Natalie said running
the relays is more than just a question
of speed. She said the coaches also
use different strategies. Some coaches
like to save their fastest runner
for the last leg of the race.
However, Natalie said
the Express team runs its fastest
girls in the early legs. The idea
is to get so far ahead in the first
parts of the race that other teams'
runners get discouraged.
Also, with enough lead,
their final runner can run a steady
pace and not have to make a frantic
effort to catch up.
In the 4x800, Natalie
runs the first leg and Kendra the
second. Then, Courtney runs third
with Jazmine running the final leg.
In the 4x400, Kendra and Natalie switch
places but Courtney and Jasmine run
in their same positions.
The runners are going
to be working hard for the next three-plus
months to see if they can match--or
even exceed--their success of last
year.
Kids learn an old-time
art form--storytelling
Kids in the Mehlville
School District are practicing one
of the world's oldest forms of entertainment-storytelling.
Last month, they even made it a sport
during their Academic Olympics.
And some kids from
Trautwein and Beasley elementary schools
may perform next month in the 27th
annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival.
That May 3-6 festival sets aside Saturday
morning time period to showcase kid
storytellers.
Ten-year-old Alyssa
Clausen is a 4th grader at Trautwein
school. She said her performance at
the Mehlville Academic Olympics was
her first storytelling experience
"except for reading stories to my
younger brother."
"And when I read to
my brother, I don't have to memorize
those stories. I just read from a
book," she said.
But, her memorized performance
in the Academic Olympics must have
been pretty good. She finished 2nd
among the district's 4th graders.
(The Academic Olympics are an effort
by the district to give kids a chance
to earn recognition in non-athletic
activities.)
Sue Hinkel is a retired
art teacher and a professional storyteller.
She is helping to recruit young kids
to carry on the nation's rich tradition
of famous storytellers. "As the current
storytellers get older, we don't see
as many young people taking up the
art," she said.
That's also why the
St. Louis Storytelling Festival makes
room for young storytellers. Most
performers at the festival are adults,
including some nationally known storytellers.
On Saturday morning,
a whole time period has been set aside
for kid storytellers. This year, kids
will perform at Center of Creative
Arts (COCA). (For information about
the festival, visit www.umsl.edu/storytelling.)
The kid storytellers
are being recruited for the festival
from schools on both the Missouri
and Illinois sides of the Mississippi
River.
In addition, kid artists
are preparing festival posters that
will decorate the entrance to the
Gateway Arch on festival weekend.
(In the May edition, YSL.com
will feature a picture layout of some
of the storytelling posters.)
The Trautwein and Beasley
school kids picked their stories from
published kids books. Many of them
picked a book from the school library.
But, 9-year-old Joe
Murphy of Beasley School did something
different. His competition story came
from a picture book by Helen Lester,
titled "Tacky the Penguin."
He said, "I got that
from home. That was the first book
that I ever could read by myself."
In the book, the hero
penguin is one whose shape and actions
seem odd to his fellow penguins. But,
when hunters come after the penguins,
"Tacky's" actions scare them and they
run away. "Tacky" become a hero much
like Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.
Ten-year-old Anna Blades
is a 4th grader at Trautwein school.
Her storytelling came from a book
titled, "Wemberly Worried." The story
is about a girl who is worried about
going to a new school. But, she quits
worrying after she develops a new
friend at school.
Anna also takes part
in the school's Accelerated Singers.
"I had a solo in the winter concert,"
she said.
Her only sport activity
involves playing soccer with her pet
poodle at home. When asked who usually
wins, she said it was the dog.
"She picks up the ball
in her mouth and runs way faster than
I do," she said.
Eleven-year-old Abigail
Wicks is a 5th grader at Trautwein.
She performed a story from Stephanie
S. Fairbanks' book, "Boarding School."
She said the story is
about a girl sent to a boarding school
because she got in trouble at her
regular school. "She ran the bloomers
of another girl up the flagpole,"
Abigail said. In the end, the girl
being punished apologized and was
back in your regular school.
Abigail also takes part
in baton twirling at school. She's
in a group called "Kelly's Kuties."
Her mother, whose name is Kelly, and
her grandmother help run the group.
"We're going to perform
at Disney World this summer," she
said.
Ten-year-old Haley Cook
is a 5th grader at Beasley school.
Her story is called, "The Princess
Knight." It's about a daughter of
a king who goes through the same training
as her three brothers and becomes
a knight.
In telling her story,
Haley serves as the narrator but also
plays the parts of the king, the princess
and the princess' companion.
"I use a deep voice
for the king, a high voice for the
princess and a medium voice for the
companion," she said.
Some of the storytellers
hope to become professional singers
when they grow up. But, Alyssa Clausen
wants to be an actress. "My mother
thinks I'm a drama queen," she said.
Regional History
Day
St. Raphael kids
seek edge in competition
Sixth-grader Josie Ruggeri
decided to profile a little-known
civil rights figure for her regional
History Day performance. She thought
that might give her an edge with the
judges.
Seventh-graders Rachel
Indelicato and Jane Fitzsimmons picked
a well-known figure as a subject for
their History Day documentary. But,
they added some unusual personal interviews
to catch the eye of judges.
Both approaches worked
for the St. Raphael the Archangel
School students.
So did a more conventional
approach by St. Raphael sixth-graders
Rachel McMahon and Jane Shepherd in
the junior group exhibit division.
The kids brought home
first place rankings during the regional
competition in late February at University
of Missouri-St. Louis. St. Raphael
was the only St. Louis area school
to take home three first-place trophies.
Wydown Middle School
and Holy Infant School each earned
two first-place rankings.
The regional winners
will be in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday,
April 8, for the State History Day
competition. Winners there can advance
to the nationals.
Eleven-year-old Josie
made her junior individual performance
a profile of Barbara Henry, a Boston
schoolteacher.
Ms. Henry was a minor
figure in the civil rights turmoil
of the 1960s. She was called to New
Orleans to teach what was supposed
to be an integrated class in the New
Orleans school system.
But, when a six-year-old
African-American kid, named Ruby Bridges,
showed up for class, Ms. Henry ended
up with one student. The parents of
all the white students withdrew their
children.
The story did have
a happy ending. By the end of the
school year, many of the white kids
were back in school and Ms. Henry's
class was larger-and integrated.
Josie said, "Rather
than picking some obvious figure to
profile, I picked a teacher no one
had heard about." The 6th grader said
she remembered seeing a movie two
years ago about the Barbara Henry-Ruby
Bridges situation.
She said it seemed to
be a good topic for her first History
Day entry. She was right.
For 13-year-old Rachel
and 12-year-old Jane, their documentary
subject was Dorothea Dix. She's credited
as being a front-runner in the treatment
of mental illness in the U.S. And
she has been a regular subject for
History Day presentations.
They decided to do more
than include historic facts about
Ms. Dix's life.
Rachel said, "Both of
us have grandparents in the mental
health field." So the girls arranged
for a video interview session with
Jane's grandmother. They also interviewed
a mental health worker at the St.
Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center
on Arsenal.
In making the documentary,
the girls did their editing on software
on Jane's computer at home.
Their 10-minute documentary
included comparative information about
treatments used in Dorthea Dix's time
and the present day. Rachel said,
"Treatments today are way better."
The girls said availability
of many more medicines helps present-day
treatments.
Rachel McMahon and Jane
Shepherd said they decided on the
former slave Dred Scott as the subject
for their junior group exhibit. Jane
said, "We considered some others but
picked Scott because he lived in St.
Louis and his two trials were here."
Rachel said their exhibit
included more than just information
about Dred Scott. "We included more
about the Missouri Compromise," she
said. That congressional action involved
bringing into the Union two states-one
free and one slave-to keep a balance
before the Civil War.
All the kids used time
between the regional and state contests
to strengthen their entries.
Josie said she's working
on being more forceful in her oral
presentation. "I'm working on being
louder and showing more enthusiasm,"
she said.
Jane Fitzsimmons said
one of the regional judges had suggested
they should add more about past history
of mental health. Also, Rachel Indelicato
said, "We're going to make the closing
documentary credits more readable."
Jane Shepherd said
she and Rachel McMahon are going to
make their exhibit larger and include
more information about Dred Scott.
Their regional exhibit was made of
cardboard. But, they are switching
to a wooden exhibit board.
From Trailnet
Lots of fun bike
rides for kids, families
Trailnet has announced
its 2006 schedule of bicycle rides
for the St. Louis metro area. The
April-October schedule includes lots
of fun rides that combine biking with
attendance at community events.
Rides of special interest
to kids and their families are 18
Bicycle Fun Rides and five outings
in the Pedal in Our Parks Ride Series.
The Pedal rides are co-sponsored by
five local cultural institutions.
The Bicycle Fun and
Pedal rides usually combine ride routes
of varying length and a community
event that riders will want to attend.
For instance, the Bicycle
Fun Ride for Sunday, May 21, is the
Berry Bicycle Ride and Strawberry
Festival. Bikers start at St. Jacob,
Ill., and have four different route
choices. All routes are circular and
end up back in St. Jacob, where riders
take part in the town's annual Strawberry
Festival.
Or, there's the first
in the Pedal in Our Parks Ride Series
on Saturday, April 22, sponsored by
the Missouri History Museum. The short
5-mile route lets you explore lesser-known
parts of Forest Park. After returning
to the museum, riders can join either
interpretive or guided tours in the
museum.
Trailnet and the Great
River Greenways District are working
to improve bicycling opportunities
throughout the greater St. Louis area.
Their efforts include acquiring land
and building bikeways.
Then, they help to increase
the biking opportunities for area
residents. A special emphasis is on
encouraging young riders to explore
their area while getting exercise
outdoors.
Trailnet's website has
a complete list of the 2006 ride schedule.
There is a short description of each
ride and ratings as to the difficulty
of the rides. To plan a ride, go to
www.trailnet.org.
Then, click on the "searchable calendar"
by putting in the month and the type
of ride you want.
You can sort rides into
categories such as "family-friendly,"
"Bicycle Fun Club" and "for beginners."
Each ride description includes a chance
to print out a map of the ride route.
Trailnet also has a
printed "2006 Calendar of Rides."
These can be obtained by calling (314)
416-9930 in Missouri and (618)
874-8554 in Illinois.
The Pedal in Our Park
Ride Series includes rides sponsored
by the Missouri History Museum (Pedal
through the Past), Saint Louis Zoo
(Puffin Pedal), Saint Louis Art Museum
(Picasso Pedal), Missouri Botanical
Garden (Petal Pedal) and St. Louis
Science Center (Planetary Pedal).
Besides the History
Museum's Pedal through the Past in
April, other Pedal series rides are
the Zoo's Puffin Pedal and Art Museum's
Picasso Pedal (both in June), the
Botanical Garden's Petal Pedal in
July and the Science Center's Planetary
Pedal in August.
All of the Pedal in
the Park rides are five miles. That
allows more time to explore the various
cultural institutions.
Each of the Bicycle
Fun Club rides has from three to four
different routes. The mileage varies
from as short as 13 miles to as long
as over 50. Also, the routes oftentimes
vary in degree of difficulty because
of the height of the hills.
Be sure to check ride
routes and degree of difficulty to
match them to your riding ability.
Most of the Bicycle
Fun Club rides include assistance
from a SAG wagon. These vehicles provide
riders with "service and gear" assistance
along the route. For Fun Club rides,
the SAG wagon also has "service and
goodies."
The Bicycle Fun Club
rides include:
In April: the Prairie
Pedal on April 4 and the Spring Chicken
Ride on April 23.
In May: the River Des
Peres Ramble, May 7; the Lewis and
Clark Departure Days Bicycle Ride
and Recumbent Rally, May 13; the Berry
Bicycle Ride and Strawberry Festival,
May 21, and the Great Pizza Ride and
Recumbent Rally, May 29.
In June: June Jaunt
Bicycle Ride, June 4; As the Crow
Flies Bicycle Ride, June 11; Bridge
Birthday Bash and Bicycle Ride, June
25.
In July: Big Bottle
Bicycle Ride and Summerfest, July
9.
In August: the Fahrradfour
und Augustfest, Aug. 6; I Scream for
Ice Cream Bicycle Ride, Aug. 13; the
Peach Pedal, Aug. 20; Gateway of Hope
Bicycle Ride, Aug. 26.
In September: Giro Della
Montagna Bicycle Ride, Sept. 3; Tour
de Wildwood, Sept. 17, and Lewis and
Clark Currents of Change Bicycle Ride,
Sept. 24.
In October: Ride the
Rivers Century Ride, Oct. 1.
This month's
book reviews
Unusual family
life of kids in small town Virginia
in the 1950's
Twelve-year-old
Gypsy Dotson is the narrator in
"Belle Prater's Boy." Her cousin,
poor and cross-eyed Woodrow Prater,
is the "boy" in the novel's name.
Woodrow is the same age as Gypsy
and was the son of the sister
of Gypsy's mom. So the two kids
are cousins. Woodrow lives in
an isolated holler far out of
town in a rundown cabin. Gypsy,
on the other hand, lives in a
nice house in the best neighborhood
in the small town.
Just before the
story starts, Woodrow's mother,
Belle Prater, went outside at
dawn one morning barefoot and
in her nightgown and just disappeared,
never to be seen again. Woodrow's
dad, after his wife's disappearance,
took to drinking heavily. Six
month's after his mother's disappearance,
Woodrow is brought in town to
live with his grandparents. He
then lives right next door to
Gypsy. Even though they hardly
had known each other before, the
two cousins soon become good friends.
Gypsy knew that
her mother was considered the
most beautiful woman in town.
She also knew that her mother's
sister, Belle, had been considered
"plain." Gypsy, like everyone
else in town, was intensely curious
about what Woodrow might know
about his mother's strange disappearance.
Most thought that Belle had probably
wandered off and that someday
her body would be found out in
the wild area beyond the little
cabin. However, Gypsy could tell
that Woodrow seemed to be hopeful
that somehow his mother would
try to contact him. It was embarrassing,
though, how people wouldn't let
Woodrow forget the strange way
his mother had disappeared.
Gypsy lives with
her mother and her step-father.
It seems her father had died a
few year's earlier and her mother
had remarried. Even though her
step-father is a nice guy, Gypsy
doesn't treat him very well. She
is angry that her mother had "replaced"
her dad in their lives. Otherwise,
Gypsy seems fairly happy, except
that she is troubled by nightmares
that she can't explain.
There are two mysteries
that need resolving in the little
novel. What really happened to
Woodrow's mother, Belle Prater?
Just as importantly, what really
happened to Gypsy's father? You
will enjoy reading about small
town life in the mountains of
1950's Virginia as the mysteries
are resolved.
A girl believes
the injured mare she loves can
be
a winner in a big horse race
Cale Crane, who
is only eleven, lives on a horse
farm in Kentucky. The farm is
run-down and no longer has any
horses on it. Ben, Cale's dad,
trains race horses for other owners.
Times were tough. In order to
pay the bills, Cale's mom was
talking about getting a job as
a waitress in the diner in town.
One morning, Cale's
dad promised to take her with
him to the Kentucky Fairgrounds
Racetrack to see the horses. When
he slipped out, intending to leave
her at home, Cale ran after the
truck and insisted he keep his
promise. That's how she came to
first see a chestnut mare, named
Sonya, who had been trained by
her father. Her dad noticed the
horse was favoring one leg. He
felt heat in the leg and told
the horse's owner she should not
be raced that day. The owner,
Mr. Palmer, reprimanded Ben and
pointed out that he was the boss,
not Ben. Mr. Palmer insisted that
the horse race in that afternoon's
race.
Near the end of
the race, Sonya's leg crumpled
under her and she fell to the
ground. The emergency veterinarian
reported her leg was broken. He
recommended that the horse be
"put down'" and started preparing
the injection that would kill
her. Ben had her moved back to
the stable area. While there,
he got into an argument with Mr.
Palmer, who became angry and fired
him. When Ben insisted on the
pay he was owed, he offered to
take the injured horse as part
of his pay rather than wait for
a check. That's how the Crane
family horse farm ended up with
a racehorse once again. Of course,
the horse was severely injured
and almost no one believed she
would ever stand up, let alone
ever race again.
As in all good horse
stories, Sonya makes an astonishing
recovery. Much of the credit for
the horse's regaining her racing
power, was due to the care and
concern Cale showed her through
the long recovery period. The
big question, of course, was whether
Sonya could race well enough to
beat the bigger and more powerful
horses racing in the Breeder's
Cup: World Thoroughbred Championship.
If she could win that race, the
Crane family would not have to
worry about getting back into
raising race horses once again.
As you may have guessed already,
the book, "Dreamer," is based
on the recent movie of the same
name.
A horse story
about an English girl
and coastal smugglers during the
1740's
Helena, the fourteen-year-old
daughter of Lord and Lady Roseby,
loved horses. She just wished
her father and mother weren't
so protective of her. She knew
she was good with horses and liked
riding much better than the other
things girls were expected to
do. She was proud of the fine
stable of animals her father kept.
Jamie, her closest friend, was
the son of the housekeeper, and
his father was the horse trainer
at Roseby Manor. The two kids
were the same age and had grown
up together. Jamie helped Helena
ride some of the fine horses being
trained to compete in local races.
Both of them knew, Lord Roseby
would not approve of his daughter
riding any horse but the gentle
mare which he had given her.
Helena would even
sneak out at night after her parents
had gone to bed so she could ride
horses that she was not supposed
to ride. She could only do this
if Jamie helped her. It was during
one of her night rides that she
found out about the Manor's servants
being involved in smuggling goods
ashore. The poorer people were
engaged in smuggling because of
the high taxes that the government
was putting on goods in order
to finance Britain's war with
France.
However, there was
one group of really bad criminals,
called wreckers, who lured ships
onto the reefs along the coast.
These wreckers would rob the ships
when they ran up on the rocks.
Worse yet, the wreckers killed
any survivors so no witnesses
could tell on them. On one of
her night rides, Helena saw that
wreckers had thrown dirt on a
signal fire that warned ships
away from the reefs. She restarted
the fire, but had to flee from
the criminals who would have killed
her if they caught her. She had
to figure out how to help the
authorities capture the wreckers,
but not give away the fact that
some of the Manor's servants and
the good people of the village
were engaged in smuggling. She
also knew that if she was caught
helping her friends, she would
be arrested and thrown in prison.
Could Helena help
the custom's agents capture the
wreckers without giving away her
friends? And what would her father
think if he knew what she was
up to? Not only is "Rider in the
Dark" a good horse story, but
a suspense-filled adventure story
as well.
A boy goes out
to sea in a small boat
to catch a really big fish
Skiff Beaman is only
twelve, but he finds he has to take
over as "man of the house." His
mother had just died. His fisherman
father is so depressed; all he does
is sit in front of the TV and drink
beer. His dad's fishing boat, which
was already run down, just sank
right off the dock. Skiff, with
advice from the old and retired
boat builder, Mr. Woodwell, was
able to raise the boat and repair
its damaged hull. The trouble was
the boat's engine was ruined from
the seawater. It would take at least
$5000 to get it repaired. Skiff
had about thirty dollars.
When Skiff decides
to use his small rowboat to go out
and trap lobsters, he starts making
a little money. Unfortunately, a
mean kid from school, named Tyler,
who had bullied Skiff for years,
started cutting the lines to Skiff's
lobster traps. Because Skiff couldn't
prove to the authorities that it
was Tyler, there wasn't much to
be done. Now what?
Skiff almost accidentally
discovers that one large blue fin
tuna can be worth thousands of dollar
when sold to a Japanese fish dealer
there in town. In Japan they paid
big dollars for that kind of fish.
If he could get out to sea and catch
one of the big fish, he could get
their fishing boat's engine repaired.
They would be back in business.
Just maybe then, his dad would come
out of his depression and go back
to work.
Could a twelve-year-old
boy in a ten foot rowboat, with
only a five horsepower motor on
it, go 30 miles out to sea, harpoon
a fish weighing over 500 pounds,
wear the fish down, and then make
it back to shore? Skiff knew there
was only one way to find out. If
one little thing went wrong, though,
he knew he would never be heard
from again! Should he do it? Could
he do it? You need to read the book
to find out.
Link math to
new Olympic events
How
are you at creating new events
for the World Olympics? Especially
events with a math basis.
Math Mania creator
Amy Ruzicka has figured out another
way to have fun with math.
First, there was the "scary story"
writing contest last November.
Then, we've had the math cartoon
test earlier this year.
Now, April's Math Mania
calls for "designing five
new Olympic events related to
math."
You are to explain what the contestants
have to do and how gold, silver
and bronze medals are to be awarded.
Entries will be evaluated for
creativity and originality. Also,
spelling, grammar and writing
mechanics will be considered.
(If you'd like to see the
March answers for the Math
Mania contest, click
here.)
The entry process for the April
version of Math Mania
is the same. Also, prizes will
be the same. There will be up
to three $10 Borders gift certificates
awarded to the top three entries.
How to enter:
-
Print out the
following entry form.
-
Fill out your
name, address and telephone
number.
-
Answer all five
of the number problems.
-
Put your completed
entry into a stamped, addressed
envelope.
-
Math Mania Contest
Young Saint Louis.com
813 Rotherham Dr.
Ballwin, Mo. 63011
(All entries
must be postmarked by the
15th of the month to be
eligible.)
-----------------------Clip
here to make entry form-----------------------
Entry for April
2006, Math Mania Contest:
Name: __________________________________
Age: _____
Address: _________________________
School: ___________
City: _____________________
State: ______ Zip: __________
Contact phone:
(_____) _____________________
April Math Mania
Creative Writing Challenge
Entries must
be typed and double spaced with
a legible font. Please do not
exceed 500 words. The entries
will be evaluated for creativity
and originality, but spelling,
grammar, and mechanics will also
be considered.
| Challenge:
Design five new Olympic
events related to math. Explain
how participants would compete
in each event and how the
gold, silver, and bronze medals
would be awarded. |
Record number
of Math Mania winners
Math Mania
contestants in March certainly
found a puzzle that they could
master. Thirty-seven of the entrants
answered all seven of the questions
correctly.
That's a record number of winning
contestants for a single monthly
math contest on Young Saint
Louis.com.
Under contest rules, YSL.com
awards up to three $10 Borders
book certificates to winners.
But, in celebration of the landslide
of winners, we are expanding the
number of certificate recipients
to five.
What we did was put the 37 winning
entries into a hat and drew the
names of five to get the certificates.
The five were Mimi Hiebert of
St. Louis, Caitlin Kropp of Clayton,
Jackie Migneco of St. Louis, Zach
Praiss of Clayton and Kelsey Witzling
of Maryland Heights.
(Math Mania creator
Amy Ruzicka has a different type
of test for you in April. To enter
this month's contest, just click
here.)
Here are the correct answers
for the March Math Mania contest:
March Math Mania
Solutions
Letter
equations are well-known phrases
or facts disguised by replacing
words with the first letter of
each word. For example,
3
= F in a Y
means:
3 = Feet in a Yard
1. 6 = P on a
P T
Answer:
6 = Pockets on a Pool Table
Answer:
88 = Keys on a Piano
Answer:
13 = Original Colonies in America
Answer:
100 = Decades in a Millennium
Answer:
11 = Players (or Positions) on
a Football Team
Answer:
52 = Cards in a Deck
Answer:
18 = Holes on a Golf Course
Fun
& Games
From "Outside
Jokes" book of wildlife
cartoons
(Copyright:
Betty C. Grace)
Earth
Day
|
(Reprinted
by permission of artist)
Editor's
Note:
Copies of the "Outside
Jokes" book are on sale
through:
The Nature Shop, Missouri
Department of Conservation
P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City,
MO 65102-018
or
call toll free: 887-521-8632
Crossword
Puzzles
When you have completed
the puzzles, you can click
here to find the answers!
Puzzle
#1
| Across |
Down |
|
1.
suspended in air
6. student of plants
8. harmful to health
10. small sized
|
2.
other options
3. built into
4. the usual, expected
5. fuel from corn
7. small garden hose
9. a momento |
Puzzle #2
| Across |
Down |
|
1. losers left out
7. participant involved
8. ordinary, regular
9. approved for tourney
|
1.
go beyond the usual
2. played music
3. non-native
4. the set, background
5. desperate
6. game plans
|
Puzzle
#3
| Across |
Down |
|
3.
asked to join group
5. folded paper art
7. say you're sorry
8. try out for part
10. disease of blood
|
1.
one paid to perform
2. commit to memory
4. the storyteller
6. musical performance
9. two performers |
April
Connections
| Across |
Down |
|
3.
replace coats
4. month after
5. comes later
6. the fourth of 12
8. bring May flowers
10. usually in April
11. see more ot
12. comes earlier
|
1.
from Spring fever
2. month before
7. fifteenth deadline
9. first game of season |
Jokes (a few to start off with)
Why did it take the monster ten months
to finish the book?
Because he wasn't
very hungry!
Why don't mountains get cold in winter?
They wear snow
caps!
Why did the scientist install a knocker
on his door?
He wanted to
win the no-bell prize!
What flower grows on your face?
Tulips!
How do you make a hotdog stand?
You steal its
chair!
Why did the computer squeak?
Someone stepped
on its mouse!
Did you hear what happened at the
Laundromat last night?
Three clothespins
held up two shirts!
Teacher: Tommy, what's the chemical
formula for water?
Tommy: HIJKLMNO
Teacher: What are you talking about?
Tommy: Well,
yesterday you said it was H to O!
Some oxymorons
Freezer burn
Exact estimate
Rap music
Pretty ugly
Jumbo shrimp
Plastic glasses
Taped live
Clearly misunderstood
New classic
Soft rock
Small crowd
Everything except
Genuine imitation
Holy war
Found missing
One liners
If Barbie is so popular, why do
you have to buy her friends?
When everything is coming your way,
you're in the wrong lane!
What happens if you get scared to
death twice?
Energizer bunny arrested; charged
with battery!
How do you tell when you run out
of invisible ink?
I know the speed of light; what's
the speed of dark?
Corduroy pillows: they're making
headlines!
Knock, Knocks (finally!)
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Uriah.
Uriah who?
Keep Uriah on the ball!
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Uruguay.
Uruguay who?
You go Uruguay and I'll go mine!
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Acid.
Acid who?
Acid down and be quiet!
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Adair.
Adair who?
Adair once, now I'm bald!
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Alma.
Alma who?
Alma not going to tell you!
