All
News Stories
Entertainment
Kid's
skateboard park design gets BIGGER
When 14-year-old
Nick Stevens did his design for a community skateboard park
as a school project, he was thinking small. Later, when the
City of Maryland Heights accepted the design, it started to
get much bigger.
Last school year,
Nick was an eighth-grader at Holman Middle School. His class
was taking part in a University of Missouri-St. Louis program
which encourages middle schoolers to participate in community
planning.
Nick likes to
skateboard with friends. So he thought the class should design
a new skateboard park for Creve Coeur Park in Maryland Heights.
"I was thinking
of a skateboard park for kids in the local community,"
Nick said.
But, once the
City of Maryland Heights and the St. Louis Parks Department
saw his design, the idea started to get bigger.
Chris Ludwig is
the county's project manager for construction of the skateboard
park. Creve Coeur Park is a county facility within the city
limits of Maryland Heights.
Ludwig said, "Other
communities in the St. Louis area have skateboard parks. We're
thinking on a grander scale. We want to attract the attention
of televised competitions like ESPN2 or X Games."
Currently, most
of these regional or national competitions are held in California.
Although Nick said Florida has some big parks as does France
and Spain.
St. Louis County
is selecting an official designer for the skateboard park.
Nick has been asked by both the county and city to be an advisor
to the professional designer.
That's pretty
good for a kid whose project wasn't even first choice of his
school class.
Nick wanted to
design the skateboard park. But, most of the other students
wanted to design a playground at the new Ranken-Jordan Rehabilitation
Center. That school is relocating to a new facility in Maryland
Heights.
However, teacher
Debbie Green decided the class could do both designs. In the
end, Nick was the only student working on the skateboard project.
"After I
saw the hassles the kids had with the playground planning,
I was thankful that I was working alone," he said.
Nick's original
design included both half- and quarter-pipe features as well
as kicker rail and pyramid obstacles that skateboarders use
to do their tricks. He even included a budget to tell what
each feature in the park would cost.
He said there
are other obstacles that could be added. "Skateboarders
can put just about anything in a park to use. I've seen people
do a lot of things on picnic tables."
Nick had no spectator
bleachers in his design. He had been thinking only about local
users.
He produced his
computer-assisted park design on the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater2
game which plays on PlayStation2. The game has its own ready-made
game but there is blank space where kids can create their
own park design.
"You can
even play a game on your own design," he said.
He took the video
design and budget for his presentation to city and county
officials.
There is no firm
date on when the skateboard park will be open for use. Since
this project needs both city and county approvals, that can
take time. They also need to find funding.
However, Mary
Vaughan of the Maryland Heights parks department said one
company has given $12,000 to get the park started.
Vaughan added,
"We're destined to do this skateboard park project."
Although Nick
enjoyed designing the park project, he said he isn't planning
to make a career out of it. He said, "I might like to
design my own home sometime. But, I can't see doing design
all my life."
He added, "I'm
really into music and maybe I'd like to be in espionage, like
the CIA,"
Asked about his
spy interest, Nick said, "I read a lot of books by Tom
Clancy when I was growing up. And I can't get enough of spy
movies."
Nick already has
1 1/2 years of French in school.
He also was awarded
the 2002 Most Outstanding Male Student trophy at Holman School.
Individual awards are given to the boy and girl who show all-around
excellence as an eighth grader.
News
Special
focus on kids in plan
for giant Hazelwood mall
Over a year ago,
a team of Kirby Middle School seventh graders did an audience
survey for the developer of a proposed new mall in Hazelwood.
A developer's representative went to the school to hear the
survey results.
Final plans announced
this summer show the St. Louis Mills mall will have a super
emphasis on kids. It will even showcase famous Public Broadcasting
System characters from "Sesame Street" and "Barney
and Friends."
In June, the Mills
Corp., the mall developer, and PBS signed to cooperate to
bring Ernie the Muppet, Barney the Dinosaur and others to
the mall. It's all part of an effort to make mall shopping
more fun for all family members.
David D'Onofrio
is the director of corporate communications for the Mills
Corp., the mall developer. He said, "The St. Louis Mills
mall will be the first one built from the ground up with the
PBS characters." The mall is scheduled to open in Fall,
2003.
He said the Hazelwood
mall will have a whole PBS Kids "neighborhood" of
special kids' stores, features and events.
Young Saint
Louis.com doesn't usually focus on commercial developments.
But, in April, 2001, YSL.com carried the earlier story
about special research that Kirby kids did for the Mills Corp.
and the city of Hazelwood. (To read that story, just click
here.)
Then, when Mills
Corp. announced the final plans, it was even fuller of kids
things than the Kirby students envisions. YSL.com thought
you'd like to hear about how adults often take advice from
kids when planning new community developments.
D'Onofrio said,
"We know that shopping in a typical mall isn't fun for
every member of the family." He said the collaboration
with PBS is an effort to bring some fun for the younger kids
in a family.
He said St. Louis
Mills also will have other special things for older kids.
The Kirby Middle School survey indicated the type of stores
these older kids want to see. They ranged from regular department
stores to hip-hop-oriented shops.
One restaurant
often named was Dave and Buster's, which has a mix of games
and food.
D'Onofrio said,
"We are planning malls that will keep the families up
to three or four times as long as trips to typical malls would."
The New York Times
recently had a major feature on the agreement between Mills
Corp. and PBS. The article appeared the same day the Mills
Corp. was announcing its final plans for the St. Louis Mills
mall.
It said the PBS
Kids "neighborhood" would include appearances by
PBS characters. Also, special kiosks would feature PBS merchandise
and also special reading nooks for kids.
There will be
PBS-designed interactive games and, of course, PBS T-shirts
and clothing.
Mills Corp. also
is reaching out to other groups with other products for kids.
For instance, it recently opened a Binney and Smith's Crayola
Works in its Baltimore mall. This is combination store and
creative arts studio for kids.
For older kids,
Mills recently opened a skateboard park in Atlanta in cooperation
with ESPN. That's the TV network which often televises national
skateboard competitions.
The NYT article
quoted a vice president of program for the X Games, Ron Semaio.
He said, "Skateboard parks are the ball fields of the
21st Century. This is grass-roots marketing that allows us
to promote X Games telecasts in a casual environment."
Larry Costello
is project manager for the St. Louis Mills mall. He was quoted
in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that a skateboard park in St.
Louis Mills was "a possibility."
The decision to
put such heavy emphasis on kids at the mall is a very important
one. That's not only for the Mills Corp., but also for the
city of Hazelwood.
Hazelwood Mayor
T.R. Carr said the mall will provide 2,000 full-time and 1,500
part-time jobs. As many as 1,000 other people will work during
seasons like Christmas and Easter.
Also, 2,000 workers
will do construction at the $250 million mall. The 1.2 million
square-foot mall will have 200 stores. D'Onofrio said many
of them will be for kids.
In part, plans
for St. Louis Mills were based what kids wanted. So, the work
of Kirby kids and others around the country were important
to the final planning.
What kids are
thinking about their community is important. Hazelwood Mayor
Carr said St. Louis Mills will be "an incredible economic
engine" for the city.
To learn more
about the Mills Corp. check www.millscorp.com.
A separate website for the St. Louis Mills project is being
developed. Also, you can learn more about PBS Kids by going
to pbs.org.
Books
This
month's book reviews
A
boy, ashamed of his father's job, finds out that he has much
to learn about his father
The kids in the
middle grades in Huntington, the fourth through eighth graders,
had been stuck in the old high school for a year. The high
school students had moved into their new building, but the
refurbished middle school building and new junior high would
not be ready for ten months. For Jack Rankin, this meant he
not only was stuck in a worn out old building for a year,
but he was in the same building in which his dad was the chief
janitor.
The bullies in
Jack's building wouldn't let Jack forget that his dad was
only a janitor, especially after his dad had to come into
the classroom to clean up after a kid had barfed on the floor.
Jack was humiliated and decided to take out his anger on his
father. He vandalized a desk in the old music room by smearing
it with an incredible amount of watermelon flavored bubble
gum. Jack thought his dad would have to clean it up. Instead,
he was caught by the vice-principal and punished by being
assigned to clean the old chewing gum off every desk and table
in the huge old high school building. And who would Jack have
to report to, in order to do this job? No one but his father,
the chief janitor!
Jack couldn't
believe it when his father didn't yell at him at all. Instead,
his dad just showed him how to get the gum off and let him
go about working off his punishment without making a big deal
about it. But the surprises were just beginning for Jack.
He was to discover how complex his father's job was and how
appreciated his dad was by those people in town who counted
for anything. It took a series of adventures and one particularly
scary experience for Jack to find out that his dad was truly
a man to be admired and respected.
"The Janitor's
Boy" tells a great story that is likely to be enjoyed
and remembered by those who read it.
One
of the grossest books you can find
Sarah Mcaffee
is fifteen and her brother, Michael, is ten. They live in
New Springville, a small town on Staten Island, New York,
right at the edge of a huge trash and garbage dump. The kids'
mother recently had been killed in an automobile accident.
Their father just happened to be one of the supervisors of
the dump. He was happy that the huge landfill was being covered
with asphalt and that the surrounding area eventually could
be turned into green parks and playgrounds. All the people
in the neighborhoods around the dump were looking forward
to being free from the sounds of the trash trucks and the
awful smells from the garbage.
The kids began
to notice strange high-pitched sounds coming from the dump
after it had been covered over with asphalt. Michael's pet
white rat, Surfer, seemed to be excited by the sounds. As
you might have guessed from reading a book called "Rats",
the strange noise was coming from thousands of angry rats,
upset that their home had been covered over with blacktop.
The author of
this book, Paul Zindel, seems to take great pleasure in describing
one scene after another where people come in contact with
the angry and hungry rats. He seems to like giving all the
gory details. Late in the book, Sarah and Michael find themselves
surrounded by rats. You have to read it to find out what happens
to them. Of course, I don't recommend reading the book unless
you have the stomach for "gross out" books and movies.
I don't think you'll want to be eating snacks while you are
reading this one.
A
girl who loves dolphins gets to go
to sea just to study dolphins
Jody McGrath just
happens to have two parents who are both marine biologists.
So it's no surprise that Jody loves dolphins. She thinks her
greatest wish has come true when she finds out that her family
is going on an ocean trip - just to study dolphin behavior.
They're not going on a big ship. Their research vessel is
a fairly small sailing ship with engines that are mainly for
emergency use.
The only problem
for Jody is that the ship captain's daughter is brought aboard
at the last minute to go on the trip. She is spoiled and self-centered
and thinks that studying dolphins is a dumb idea. She is also
so hateful that when she accidentally pushes Jody overboard,
she neglects to alert those on board. Jody, luckily, is a
good swimmer. Bet even more surprisingly, a dolphin that she
has made friends with gives her some help.
In the plot, Jody
not only studies how to make friends with dolphins, but she
has to try to change the mind and actions of an angry and
resentful companion on board the small ship. Whether she can
manage to accomplish both goals is what makes the story interesting.
Throw in a big storm at sea, and you come up with a good adventure
story.
How
to sugar-coat a horror story
with a lot of laughs
The sixth grade
students at Palmdale Middle School had to make book reports.
Devin Bundy and Francine "Frankie" Lang are supposed
to report on "Dracula," the famous horror story
about vampires. Since they are both "goof offs,"
they didn't read the book. They meant to watch the movie when
it was on late at night. They fell asleep during the movie,
but decided to fake the book report the next day anyway. Naturally,
the teacher and, even, their classmates knew they were faking
it. As punishment, they were assigned to mend books in the
school library.
The first old
book they are given to mend just happens to be a beat-up copy
of "Dracula."
The book accidentally
fell between some old gates in the wall of the room they were
working in. When they went to get the book back, they found
themselves in a strange world. After a while, they realized
they were in Transylvania in the days of Count Dracula. Not
only that, they were actually living out the story as told
in the book.
The kids find
out they can't skip ahead in the story. The characters do
not believe what the kids say about Dracula or other things
about to happen in the plot. Devin and Frankie are forced
to live out each part of the novel. They come close to being
destroyed by the vampire in one narrow escape after another.
How can they defeat Dracula and save all of England from vampires?
You have to read the book to find out.
The book isn't
very scary because the kids joke their way all through the
story. It's a good way to find out about the famous horror
story without risking having any nightmares.
Sports
Road
to national track meets
started early for two
Kyra Sullivan
and Tylor Brock are going to national track and field championships
again this year. Both of them have been doing that since they
were eight.
Fifteen-year-old
Kyra of University City will be in the nationals for the seventh
time. Eleven-year-old Tylor of O'Fallon, Mo., is going for
the fourth time.
Both feel they
have good chances in the national meets.
Kyra qualified
for the AAU nationals by winning two individual and two relay
races in regionals in Columbia, Mo. She set a new regional
record with her 200-meter win. The other victories were in
100 meters and in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
The AAU nationals
started Aug. 1 in Knoxville, Tenn. Two girls who beat Kyra
in last year's meet won't be in her age group this year. "I
should have a good chance unless someone new comes up,"
she said.
Tylor set a new
national record when he won the Columbia regional title in
the high jump. He jumped 5'2", which matches his height.
He also set regional records in wins in the pentathlon and
the 400 and 800 meter races.
The pentathlon
includes five different events. In the regional finals, Tylor
won by placing first in three events (80-meter hurdles, high
jump and 1500 meters) and third in the other two (shot put
and long jump).
Tylor said he
entered the pentathlon because "I do okay in a lot of
different events."
In the AAU nationals,
Kyra will be running in the 100, 200, 4x100 and 4x400 events.
Her relay partners are Lauren Fisher, Whitney Thomas and Melissa
Ennis.
The girls belong
to the Royal Knights track club which practices four evenings
a week.
Kyra is also going
to compete in the USA Track and Field nationals in Omaha,
Neb., later.
Tylor will compete
in the AAU nationals in the pentathlon, open high jump and
400 and 800 meters. He also qualified in pentathlon for the
USATF nationals. But, he isn't going to compete because his
parents thought it involved too much travel.
Kyra is in the
15-16 age group while Tylor competes in the 11-year-old classification.
The two local
athletes not only got started in track competition at the
same age but also share pretty hard practice schedules.
Kyra's track club
practices Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, usually
from 6 to 8 p.m. There's a lot more to those practices than
sprinting. For instance, she said the kids "do the hills"
10 times. That involves running up a sharp incline to develop
leg strength.
"We have
to make a certain time. But, for me, the 10th time seems to
go easier," she said. They also have a sled-pulling exercise
and then use a medicine ball to develop arm strength. Upper
body strength is a factor in running speed.
Kyra said she
seems to get better as the meets progress. "I keep improving
my times as we go from preliminaries to finals," she
said.
For Tylor, the
practices include more variety because he competes in both
running and field events. "We do something just about
every day of the week," he said.
His practices
are usually at McCluer or Fort Zumwalt North high schools.
In addition to practices with his Express track club, he works
on jumping with long-time track coach Vincent Bingham.
He does sprints
and works out of starting blocks to develop speed and runs
a series of 5- to 6-minute miles for endurance. Then, he does
special "box work" on the high jump to get his take-off
timing right.
Tylor uses the
"Fosbury Flop" technique. That's where the jumper
goes over the bar backwards and lands on his back. That technique
only became popular after foam pads were developed to replace
the old sand landing pits.
He's added training
for hurdles and shot put. They are new events for him this
year.
Both athletes
are hoping to qualify for athletic scholarships for college.
Kyra said college
track coaches come to the nationals to scout. But, she added,
"They can't talk to me until I'm a junior in high school."
If you'd like
to learn more about track and field, here are a some website
addresses. For the AAU, go to aausports.org
or local information at www.myteam.com/go/ozaau.
For USATF, go to usatf.org
or for local news, usatf.org/assoc/mv.
Music
Normandy
kids get extra lesson at music camp
Nine elementary
and middle school kids from Normandy got an out-of-town music
camp experience this summer. For some, the lessons went beyond
music.
Twelve-year-old
Jackie Parks will be a seventh grader this fall. She began
playing the trombone at McKinley Elementary School when she
was in fourth grade.
But, her trip
to the Southeast Missouri State University's summer camp July
9-13 was her first music experience away from home. It also
was the first time she had been to a camp where the majority
of the musicians were white.
That's how teacher
Thomas Greene planned it. Greene leads the elementary school
band program in the Normandy district. He said children in
the Normandy district are predominately black.
"I wanted
the kids to have a good music experience. But, I also wanted
them to experience what it's like to be a minority,"
he said.
"That way,
when they go off to college, they'll understand what it means,"
Greene added.
Greene himself
is a graduate of Normandy Schools. He has been a instrumental
music specialist for the district for 14 years and directs
the district's elementary school band.
He went away to
college, earning a music education degree at University of
Missouri-Kansas City. He also has a master's degree in elementary
education from MU-St. Louis.
As a youth, he
had his out-of-town summer music camp experience at Southwest
Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo.
Jackie Parks said
music work at the SEMO camp was hard. It was the first time
she had such concentrated practices. At camp, kids practiced
morning, afternoon and evening.
She said the kids
got up at 6 a.m. and practiced in the morning for about three
hours. Then, after lunch, there was another practice session.
And, after dinner, they practiced another 1 1/2 hours.
She said, "The
camp was fun. I learned to expand her range of notes. I even
hit high C sometimes." She said musicians worked as a
total orchestra and in smaller "sectionals" for
those with the same instruments. She said there were five
trombone players at the camp.
Jackie was one
of seven Normandy elementary students in the first camp. They
were split up at the camp. They lived on different floors
in the college dormitories and "we weren't allowed on
different floors," she said.
That insured that
kids would interact with musicians they didn't know. That's
where Jackie had some unusual experiences.
Besides Parks,
other elementary students from Normandy were Gary Walker,
Adam Wells, Jeremy Harris, Kelly Knox, Andrea Black and Tamisha
Grant.
Jackie
said, "One white girl came up to me and asked if I'd
like to fight." She said, "I heard blacks like to
fight.' I told her I had no interest in fighting."
But, she said
other whites would signal to her that they wanted to talk
because they hadn't had much experience talking with blacks.
The camp ended
on a Saturday when all the kids got together to give a concert
to an audience made up most of parents and friends of the
youngsters.
Two older Normandy
musicians--Eric Robinson and Eric Humphreys--attended the
SEMO camp for middle schoolers later in July.
Teacher Greene
and the musicians did a lot of work to be able to attend the
SEMO camps. Attendance at the camps cost $225 per person.
A candy sale and a year-ending barbecue fund-raiser earned
enough to pay more than half of the fee.
Greene was able
to negotiate a 20 per cent discount for his students. That
left only $60 per student, which was paid by the parents.
Normandy provided a school bus to take the kids to and from
Cape Girardeau in southeast Missouri.
Parks is looking
forward to taking her improved music skills into middle school
this fall. But, she's not sure she wants to be a professional
musician.
Greene said one
of the goals with his music program is to help kids improve
enough to qualify for music scholarships if they go to college.
And the SEMO music
camp experience gave his students the additional experience
of mingling with musicians from different races and backgrounds.
"They shouldn't wait until they go to college to have
that first experience of being away from home in a situation
where they are a minority," he said.
History
St.
Louis first came under U.S. control in 1803
Before the Louisiana
Purchase in 1803, the City of St. Louis was thriving but wasn't
under American control. Before that, political rule was by
France and Spain.
Starting this
fall, kids in 12 St. Louis area schools--and maybe more--are
going to get a special look at this all-important international
transaction. The purchase has been described as the "largest
and swiftest act of expansion" in American history.
And St. Louis
became the capitol of what became the Upper Louisiana Territory.
That was before Missouri became a state.
On March 10, 1804,
St. Louis was the site of a unique, three-flag treaty signing
involving France, Spain and the U.S. First Spain signed over
the Upper Louisiana Territory to France and then France deeded
it immediately to the U.S. That all happened in one day.
The Louisiana
Purchase involved a 828,000-square-mile area. It extended
from New Orleans all the way into Canada. That area included
all or most of what is now the states of Louisiana, Arkansas,
Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming,
Minnesota, North and South Dakota and Montana.
Jacqueline Chambers
is assistant director of the National Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial
Committee. Her office is at the College of Education, University
of Missouri-St. Louis.
She said the Louisiana
Purchase was one of the most significant events in U.S. history.
But, lots of Missourians don't know much about it even today.
She added the
U.S. leaders at purchase time also didn't know what they were
buying. Thomas Jefferson was U.S. president at that time.
France was under Napoleon Boneparte.
"When they
were negotiating (with France and Spain), we were first trying
to buy only the Port of New Orleans," she said. That
was designed to give Americans control of shipping and commerce
on the Mississippi River.
But, at the last
minute, France decided to throw in the middle part of the
country, including the entire watershed of the Missouri River.
"The U.S.
ended up buying it without knowing exactly what we had,"
Chamber said. And the officials paid more than Congress had
authorized.
The final purchase
price was $15,000,000. But, the U.S. got nearly 530 million
acres. That amounted to a price of less than three cents an
acre. That's quite a bargain.
The famous Lewis
& Clark exploration of the Missouri River basin was actually
an effort to find out exactly what the U.S. had bought in
the Louisiana Purchase, Chambers said.
Late in July,
37 teachers from 12 schools in 11 metro-area school districts
met to discuss lesson plans for the Louisiana Purchase class
curriculum.
First schools
to sign up were:
Cannon Elementary
and Elsberry Middle schools in Elsberry, Ferguson Middle School,
Lindbergh High School, Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School,
Mehlville High School, Normandy High School, Homan Middle
School in the Pattonville district, Ritenour High School,
Gateway Middle School in the City of St. Louis district, Sullivan
High School and Brittany Woods Middle School in the University
City district.
Chambers said
many Missourians aren't familiar with the early history of
St. Louis or how old the city is. "By 1804, St. Louis
was 40 years old and well-established as a trading center."
Fur trading with the Indians was flourishing and lead mines
south of St. Louis were a prime source of metal for water
pipes and shot for guns, she said.
Chambers said
there will be time for other kids and teachers to join in
learning about this important era of Missouri and U.S. history.
If you're interested
in learning more, check out some additional websites. One
is at UMSL at louisianapurchase.umsl.edu
(you don't need www. before this address).
Another is the
Louisiana's state website at: www.louisianapurchase2003.com/home.cfm.
Then, when school
starts, ask your social studies teacher about getting information
from Chambers. She can be reached at UMSL at (314) 516-6884.
The Louisiana
Purchase program is going to extend through the 2003-2004
school year.
The Missouri State
Museum will have a signing ceremony on April 30, 2003, in
the state capitol at Jefferson City. On March 14, 2004, officials
will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the St. Louis treaty
signing.
In addition, there
will be a traveling exhibit available to schools. Chambers
said the bicentennial committee is considering having a contest
for kids to name the exhibit.
Health
Cool
Valley kids get health lessons early
Some kids from
Cool Valley Elementary School last month learned a lot of
neat facts about their health. They also learned ways to keep
good health in the future.
The kids were
taking part in an after-school class called Sneakers. The
four-week session was taught by a dietitian from BJC Health
Systems.
(If you'd
like your school to include a Sneakers class, see sidebar
below.)
Nine-year-old
Chereice White said she learned a lot about how her body works.
"I learned you have 206 bones in your body," she
said.
Nine-year-old
Leroy Lee said he liked to learn how the muscles in his fingers
worked. One activity involved the kids practicing with hand
puppets. He said he used his thumb and little finger for the
puppet's arms while the middle three fingers worked the head.
The after-school
sessions included discussions about healthy diets as well
as different exercises to strengthen your body.
Nine-year-old
Samone Harris said, "I learned that bones break easy
if you don't eat right." She said exercise is important.
She added she does 30 sit-ups and 30 pushups every day.
Ten-year-old Darrius
Lardge said he liked to learn about the different systems
in the body. "They teach you that you breath in oxygen
and breath out carbon dioxide and water," he said.
That's an example
of the body's respiratory system. Other body systems studied
included the muscular, skeletal and circulation systems, according
to BJC dietitian Haylee Ross.
She's one of two
dietitians who taught Sneakers programs in 11 St. Louis area
schools during the 2001-2002 school year. The purpose of the
extra-curricular class was to show young kids that "fitness
and heart-healthy" foods can protect their health in
the future.
Third-grader Leroy
Lee said he learned the difference between aerobic and anaerobic
exercise. The first works mostly to stimulate breathing and
blood flow. Anaerobic exercise works mostly on muscles.
Leroy said he
liked jumping jacks and jogging in place.
Fourth-grader
Darrius Lardge said he liked jumping jacks and pushups. He
also liked "six-inchers." Those are leg lifts where
you lie on the ground and lift you feet just six-inches off
the floor. He said they are good to strengthen stomach muscles.
Chereice said
she liked the toe-lifts best because it strengthen her calf
muscles.
The kids paid
close attention to suggestions on healthy foods. Most of them
said they liked the ideas of more dairy foods and fruits.
Fewer liked the idea of more vegetables.
And only Darrius
thought that broccoli was a good food. Even he drew the line
at eating it raw. He said he liked broccoli best cooked and
with cheese or ranch dressing.
Leroy Lee said
he paid attention when the teacher told how lots of sugar
in the diet causes tooth cavities. "I stopped eating
sweets," he said. He said he likes fruits such as bananas,
grapes and apples. But, when it came to vegetables, he just
shook his head.
The kids said
they all liked to exercise with sports, with basketball the
most popular.
Darrius said he
plays football with the Berkeley Falcons team. He also plays
basketball at home and at school.
Chereice White
played basketball with a club team. She also runs track.
About the future,
she said, "I'm going to exercise and eat more dairy products.
Also, I want to learn more about my body. I expect to be thin
like my mom and dad when I grow up."
|
How
to take part in Sneakers
If you'd
like to take part in a Sneakers class, you can ask your
teacher to contact BJC Health System's School Outreach
and Youth Development office. The phone number is (314) 286-0460.
In addition
to Sneakers, BJC offers a dozen other health related
programs for school kids in the St. Louis metro area.
|
Profile
Third in a
series
Highland,
Ill., kid's response
to Sept. 11 tragedy
When the events
of last September 11 happened, 12-year-old Miles Toenyes knew
he wanted to do something to help. His streetside lemonade
stand brought in $400 in Red Cross relief funds in just one
day.
And the memory
of his stand has continued to bring in money this summer.
One of Miles'
key business decisions was not to charge for the lemonade.
The Highland,
Ill., seventh-grader said, "We decided we might raise
more money if we gave away the lemonade and just asked for
donations."
That turned out
to be a good decision. One woman from Edwardsville, Ill.,
gave him a check for $70 for her glass of lemonade. Miles
gave anyone donating $5 or more an American flag pin along
with the lemonade.
Then, just last
month, his dad, Joe, brought in a check for $100 from his
boss to increase the total. In all, Miles' one-man relief
effort has brought in $500.
He contributed
all the proceeds, not even taking out the $25 of his own money
he had spent to buy the lemonade stand supplies. He earned
the first $400 in about eight hours of manning the lemonade
stand.
That charity effort
along with other school and community activities earned Miles
a Gateway 2002 Young Achiever of the Year award. A total of
12 metro-area youngsters were given the award this spring.
(Young Saint
Louis.com is profiling the elementary and middle school
winners. To read the May, 2002, announcement story, click
here. For the June, 2002, profile, click
here; and the July, 2002, profile, click
here.)
Miles' original
plan was to have the lemonade stand in front of his house.
But, the family home is on a quiet residential street with
little traffic. So, his parents' helped him get permission
to set up at a gas station on a busier streat nearby.
Also, his older
sister called a couple of St. Louis radio stations that mentioned
his stand on the air. That's how the Edwardsville woman heard
about him and drove down for her $70 serving of lemonade.
It turned out
Miles also did an additional good deed that day. A local woman
who had lost her dog came by to ask if she could put a lost-and-found
poster on the lemonade stand.
Just after putting
up the poster, Miles spotted the dog running down the street.
Leaving his niece and nephew in charge of the stand, he ran
after and caught the dog. He was able to return it to the
owner just a few minutes later.
Another good deed
that helped the Achiever judges to focus on Miles happened
in 1999. While he was going to eat at a local restaurant,
Miles found a wallet in the parking lot.
In checking the
contents for identification, he found $750. He turned the
wallet into city police who contacted the woman from nearby
Breeze, Ill. When picking up the wallet, the woman said the
money was all her Christmas money for her seven children and
14 grandchildren.
She gave Miles
a $10 reward. But, later during a dinner honoring him, a man
who had won a $60 door prize gave the all the prize money
to Miles.
Although he lives
in the city of Highland, Miles raises purebred hogs and shows
them at county and state fairs. This year, his Yorkshire hog
places first at the Madison and Clinton county fairs. He owns
about 30 hogs, which are kept on his grandparents' farm.
Miles likes to
participate in basketball and football. He's hoping to resume
football this fall after having to sit out last season while
recovering from a bicycle accident. He fell while doing stunts
on his bike and narrowly escaped serious injury.
The hand-brake
lever on the handlebar caught him just under his armpit and
came within an inch of puncturing a lung.
His two sports
heroes are the late Dale Earnhardt, Sr., the racing driver
killed in 2001, and Marshall Faulk, the running back of the
St. Louis Rams.
Miles' bedroom
is filled with Earnhardt posters and memorabilia. He said
he liked Earnhardt because he was "so competitive."
Miles has transferred his allegiance to Earnhardt's son, race
driver Dale, Jr.
Asked about Faulk,
Miles said liked him "because he worked his way up from
a poor background."
Miles said he
hopes to pursue a career in pro baseball. He plays third base
and catcher and says he has a "pretty good arm"
for throwing out basestealers.
St.
Louis History
This month
in St. Louis history
1904
Olympics & Missouri statehood
One significant
August event in local history was Missouri getting statehood
in 1821. But, August also was the time of the only Olympic
Games in St. Louis' history.
* On Aug. 10,
1821, Missouri entered the Union as the 24th state. St. Charles
was the site of the first state capitol. (Look at the Places
to Go, Things to Do feature in this issue to learn how to
join a Statehood Day celebration in St. Charles on Aug. 10,
2002).
Also, you can
find out lots more about Missouri as a state by linking to:
memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/aug10.html
* In August, 1904,
St. Louis was the site of the 1904 Olympic Games. The games
weren't anything like the gigantic Olympic spectacles we have
today. But, there was plenty of controversy, especially in
the marathon race.
Fred Lorz of New
York City was first proclaimed the marathon winner. But, then
spectators reported seeing Lorz riding in a car during the
race. It turned out, he'd ridden for 11 miles of the 26-plus-mile
race route.
For this and other
bizarre details of the 1904 games, click on to:
members.tripod.com/earthdude1/st_louis_olympics/olympics.html
Places
to go, Things to do
Historic
enactments in St. Charles Aug. 10
August is a good
time for kids to get the flavor of pioneer days in Missouri.
The 2002 Missouri Statehood Day celebration will be in St.
Charles on Saturday, Aug. 10.
The event is from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the First Missouri State Capitol Historic
Site. That's in the heart of the historic St. Charles riverfront
on South Main St.
This year marks
the 181st anniversary of the founding of the state of Missouri.
It was 1821 when the Missouri Legislature passed the statehood
legislation.
The action was
taken in St. Charles, which served as the state capitol from
1821-1826. The original statehouse has been fully restored
and tours are available.
The Aug. 10 celebration
will include many special events. There will be demonstrations
of 19th Century crafts, special exhibits and historical re-enactments.
Kids will enjoy the volunteers who dress is pioneer costumes
during the shows.
The St. Charles
capitol site is part of the Missouri park system. For information
about state parks and historical sites, check www.mostateparks.com.
You also can read special news releases at www.dnr.state.mo.us/newsrel
Learn
about snakes; snakes are everywhere
Kids who like
snakes and want to know more about them have chances in August.
The Rockwoods Reservation in west St. Louis County will have
two special snake programs.
The Snakes of
Missouri program is for families on Wednesday, Aug. 14. It
will be given twice, at 10-11:30 a.m. and again at 3-4:30
p.m.
The second program
is called Snakes in Your Backyard. This is for kids 8 and
up and will be at 1-2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 18.
Reservations for
the Aug. 14 sessions begin on Aug. 1. Reservations for the
Aug. 18 event begin Aug. 5. To make reservations, call (636) 458-2236.
As Missourians
move their homes further into suburban and rural areas, they
encroach on snake habitat. Learn how to identify different
types of snakes and to live in harmony with them.
There are 50 species
and subspecies of snakes in Missouri. Only five of them are
venomous: copperhead and cottonmouth and three types of rattlesnakes--timber,
pygmy and massasaga. Only the copperhead and timber rattler
are found in the St. Louis area.
Math
Puzzler
Use
August's Math Puzzlers
to get in groove for school
It won't be long
until the 2002-2003 school year starts up. This month's Math
Puzzlers are a good opportunity to have fun and get in some
"pre-season" practice for math class.
Mr. Math Puzzler--math
teacher Wayne Hesse of Green Park Lutheran School--has some
unique questions for August. There are some word puzzles and
one that tests your ability to visualize.
Also, Mr. Math
Puzzler suggests a way you might earn some extra credit during
your math classes this year. Why not suggest to your teacher
that everyone in class enter the Math Puzzler competition.
Then, suggest
the entries might be worth some extra credit. And, if anyone
in the class gets all the answers right, that might be good
for an extra-credit bonus.
Young Saint
Louis.com started Math Puzzlers a year ago to let you
have some fun with math, outside of the classroom. But, that
doesn't mean that you can't get some extra credit along with
the fun. We bring you a half-dozen new brain-teasers each
month.
(Before trying
for this month's answers, why not check previous months' questions--and
answers. Just click on the Past Stories tab at the
top of the home page to access our past issue archives. Math
Puzzlers started in September, 2001. You can check questions
and then, in the next month's issue, check the answers. By
reviewing past Math Puzzlers, you can learn how Mr. Math Puzzler
thinks.)
Now, you're ready
to enter this month's competition. We've included a ready-made
entry form that you can use to send in your answers.
If you get all
Puzzlers correct, we print the names of winners the next month
and offer an added bonus for up to three of those getting
all the answers right. All winning entries are put in a hat
and up to three are selected to receive a $10 Borders gift
certificate.
Submit your answers
to the August contest by using the form below. In September,
we'll publish names of those who answered all questions correctly.
We'll also include explanations of the answers. (For July
answers, see below.)
A reminder:
These Math Puzzlers can be quite challenging, especially for
younger kids. Remember, we don't mind if you get help from
a parent or older brother or sister. In fact, you might want
to make this a family activity.
Here's how to
enter:
- Print out
the following entry form.
- Fill out your
name, address and telephone number.
- Give your
answers to the six Math Puzzlers.
- Put your completed
entry into a stamped envelope.
- Mail your
entry to:
Math Puzzler Contest
Young Saint Louis.com
7733 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 350
Clayton, MO 63105
- All entries
must be postmarked by the 15th of the month
to be eligible for a book prize.
-------------Clip
here to make entry-------------
Entry
for August, 2002, Math Puzzler Contest:
Name: _____________________________________
Address: ___________________________________
City:_____________________,
State:______ ZIP________
Contact phone
no.(____)____________________
The
Math Puzzlers
(August, 2002)
1. Six sterling
silver teaspoons and six soupspoons cost $300, but three soupspoons
and nine teaspoons cost $270. How much would a dozen teaspoons
cost?
Answer:_____________
2. If you reverse
the digits of Rachel's age, you will have the age of her grandmother.
Her grandmother's age also is the two digits of Rachel's age
added together and then squared. What are their ages?
Answer:_____________
3. After your
guests leave and you are cleaning up, you find an equal number
of dimes, quarters and nickels under the sofa cushions totaling
$8. How many of each coin did you find?
Answer:_____________
4. Which diagram
in the bottom row best completes the sequence when placed
in the right-hand position in the top row?
Answer:______________
5. There is an
unknown number of hideous monsters known throughout the land
as glubs. Glubs live underground but can rapidly burrow to
the surface if they smell a human--one of their favorite treats.
Between them, Garbus and Hylar, two knights, have slain 24
glubs. Garbus has killed four more glubs than Hylar has killed.
How many glubs has each man slain?
Answer:______________
6. While out exploring,
a group of girls came upon an apple tree whose fruits were
ripe for the picking. One of the girls climbed the tree and
picked enough apples for each girls to have three, with none
left over. Then, along came three boys, making it impossible
to divide the picked apples evenly. However, after picking
one more apple and adding it to the total, each child had
two apples with none left over. How many apples were divided
among how many children?
Answer:______________
No
one solved the July Math Puzzlers
The Math Puzzler
questions were too much for entrants in the July competition.
Especially, it
was the Roman numeral question (Question No. 3) that stumped
everyone. The complexity of the Roman number system is pretty
high when it comes to large numbers.
Maybe that's why
the Romans, along with many other people, moved over to the
Arabic numeral system (1, 2, 3, etc.)
You've got another
chance to participate in the Math Puzzler contest. Just look
above to get to the August questions. Use the handy entry
form and enter today.
(If you are
just starting with Math Puzzlers, you might like to check
questions and answers from the past. We've had Math Puzzlers
since September, 2001. You can reach back by clicking on the
Past Issues tab on the home page and check past editions.
Remember, the answers to each month's questions are in the
next month's issue.)
Here are the answers
to the July questions:
Answers
for July, 2002, Math Puzzler Contest:
1. How far do
you have to count before using the letter A in the spelling
of a number?
Answer:
1,000
The explanation:
The word "thousand" is the first one with the letter
"a" in it.
2. Make 1,000
by using exactly eight 8's. You may use any operation signs
between the numbers that you need.
Answer:
8+8+8+88+888=1,000
The explanation:
Mr. Math Puzzlers' answer used only one operating sign (+).
But, entrants used multiple signs and got the right answer
with only eight 8's. Examples include (8x8)+(8x8)x8-8-8-8=1,000
or (8888-888) divided by 8=1,000.
3. Change the
ZIP code 63125 from Arabic numerals to a Roman numeral. (Hint:
Because we don't use large Roman numerals very often, you
might want to check in the front or back of a big dictionary
to see how to handle numbers that go into the many thousands.)
Answer:
The explanation:
As you know, in Roman numerals, I is one, V is five, X is
ten; L is 50; C is 100, D is 500 and M is 1,000. When you
get into many thousands, an overline is used to designate
multiple-thousands. Thus, 
(with the overline) is 63,000. Then the non-overlined CXXV
is the 125 in the ZIP code.
4. Gareth collects
winged cats. One day, a friend asked him, "How many winged
cats do you have now, Gareth?" Gareth answered, "I
have two-thirds of their number plus two-thirds of a winged
cat." How many winged cats does Gareth have?
Answer:
2 winged cats
The explanation:
Two-thirds of 2 is 1 1/3. Then, add 2/3 to get a total of
2 cats. In formula form, it would be like this (with X being
number of winged cats):
2/3
X + 2/3 = 3/4 X
Eliminate
2/3 X on both sides to get 2/3 = 1/3 X
Then
3(2/3) = 3(1/3 X) or 2=X
5. Jarblek, Belgar,
Poklgar and Garion were each paid the same hourly rate to
build a bridge. One day, Jarblek worked the full day, Belgar
worked half of a day and Poklgar worked half as long as Belgar
and one third as long as Garion. Together the four earned
40 lucs. How many lucs did each receive?
Answer:
J gets 16; B gets 8; P gets 4 and G gets 12
The explanation:
J works 1 day; B works 1/2 day, P works 1/4 day and G works
3/4 day. That's a total of 2 1/2 days of work or 16 lucs per
day. Then, factor in the time each person worked to get the
lucs per person. In formula form (with P being the total pay
for one day's work):
1
P + 1/2 P + 1/4 P + 3/4 P =40
4/4
P + 2/4 P + 1/4 P + 3/4 P = 160/4
10/4
P = 160/4 or 10 P = 160 and P
= 16 lucs
6. A knight on
horseback left Belft to ride to Dalch at the same time another
knight left Dalch on horseback to ride to Belft along the
same road. The first knight traveled 30 miles per hour and
the second knight traveled 28 miles per hour. How far apart
were the two knights one hour before they met?
Answer:
58 miles
The explanation:
You had to be careful with the wording of this question. It
doesn't ask the distance between Belft and Dalch. It asks
how far apart the two knights are an hour before they meet.
Since one is traveling 30 miles per hour and the other is
moving 28 miles per hour, they'll travel a total of 58 miles
in that hour before they meet.
Fun
& Games
Fun
& Games
History
- fun trivia quiz
- What imaginative
Italian "in 1492 sailed across the ocean blue"?
- What American
hero was known as the "Lone Eagle" for his aviation
feat?
- What young
man, later to become president of the U.S., was commander
of a PT boat in the Pacific in World War II?
- What 19th
century American politician reputedly walked miles to return
a few pennies change owed to a customer he had waited upon
in a country store?
- What retired
army officer, later to become a Union general in the Civil
War, built a home called "Hardscrabble" in the
St. Louis area?
- Who was the
young Native American woman who made it possible for Lewis
and Clark to successfully complete their expedition?
- What young
black woman served her cause by refusing to move to the
back of the bus?
- What young
English woman became the world's most famous nurse, known
for her taking care of soldiers in the Crimean War?
- This Revolutionary
War orator was famous for saying, "Give me liberty
or give me death"?
- What European
dictator was supposed to have been a wallpaper hanger before
becoming a political leader?
Crossword
Puzzles
Note that the
words used in Young Saint Louis.com crossword
puzzles are all taken from the articles appearing in this
month's issue. When you have completed the puzzles, you can
look below to find the answers!
Young
Saint Louis.com #1
| Across |
Down |
1.
prize, award
5. spy's job
6. cooperative venture
7. place to sleep
9. horn with slide
10. mixing with others |
2.
place to eat
3. mainly, mostly
4. dense, focused
8. counters in mail |
Young
Saint Louis.com #2
| Across |
Down |
3.
give specific power
5. pointed on top
7. beyond borders
8. service committment
9. hindrance |
1.
saved reminders
2. reserved for homes
4. business agreement
6. muscle building |
Back
to School
| Across |
Down |
1.
the enemy
3. place to buy books
5. needed for gym
7. used by the dozens
9. lived for |
2.
TV viewing
4. eradicates mistakes
6. to be avoided
7. place for notepaper
8. say goodbye to |
This
Month's Dumb Jokes
Why did the boy
bring a ladder to his new school?
He heard it was a high school!
Why did the parrot
wear a raincoat?
So he could be polyunsaturated!
Why did the baker
stop making doughnuts?
He got sick of the hole business!
How do locomotives
hear?
Through their engineers!
Where do mermaids
go to the movies?
To the dive-in!
What travels around
the world yet is always stuck in a corner?
A postage stamp!
What starts with
an E and ends with an E but usually has only one letter?
An envelope!
How do you stop
a skunk from smelling?
You put a clothespin on his
nose!
Why couldn't the
flower ride a bike?
Because it lost its petals!
If you dropped
a fly into a class of Coke, why wouldn't it get hurt?
Because Coke is a soft drink!
Why did the shoe
cry?
Because it bit its tongue!
What did the bug
say when it hit the windshield?
I don't have the guts to do
that again!
What's better
than a dog that can count?
A spelling bee!
What do you call
two banana peels?
A pair of slippers!
Why isn't your
nose 12 inches long?
Because then it would be foot!
More Crazy
Book Titles
The Greediest
Guy in the World
by Buster Gutt
I Met the Abominable
Snowman
by Anne Tartic
Don't Leave Without
Me
by Isa Coming
When Shall We
Meet Again?
by Miles Apart
Will He Win?
by Betty Wont
Crossing Roads
Safely
by Luke Bothways
The Lady Was an
Artist
by Andrew Pictures
Don't Wake the
Baby
by Elsie Crys
The Haunted Room
by Hugo First
Making Snacks
by San Widge
Just One More
A man goes to
the doctor. He has a banana sticking in each ear and a carrot
sticking out of his nose. He says, "Doc, I haven't been
feeling well lately." The doctor says, " Well, it's
no wonder! The problem is you're not eating right!"
Answers
to Fun & Games
Answers
to History fun trivia questions
1. Christopher
Columbus 2. Charles Lindbergh 3. John F. Kennedy 4. Abraham
Lincoln 5. Ulysses S. Grant 6. Sacajawea 7. Rosa Parks 8.
Florence Nightingale 9. Patrick Henry 10. Adolph Hitler
Crossword
Puzzle Answers
Note
that the words used in Young Saint Louis.com
crossword puzzles are all taken from the articles appearing
in this months issue.
Young
Saint Louis.com #1
| Across |
Down |
1.
prize, award
5. spy's job
6. cooperative venture
7. place to sleep
9. horn with slide
10. mixing with others |
2.
place to eat
3. mainly, mostly
4. dense, focused
8. counters in mail |
Young
Saint Louis.com #2
| Across |
Down |
3.
give specific power
5. pointed on top
7. beyond borders
8. service committment
9. hindrance |
1.
saved reminders
2. reserved for homes
4. business agreement
6. muscle building |
Back
to School
| Across |
Down |
1.
the enemy
3. place to buy books
5. needed for gym
7. used by the dozens
9. lived for |
2.
TV viewing
4. eradicates mistakes
6. to be avoided
7. place for notepaper
8. say goodbye to |
