All
News Stories
Careers
First in a
series
A
summer camp to help pick a career
(Editor's
note: During the 2004-05 school year, Young Saint Louis.com
will focus a number of stories to help area kids learn more
about the economy, handling money and picking a future career.
This story on health careers is the first in that series.)
Thirteen-year-old
Brandon Karpel lives on a farm near Troy, Ill. and has been
thinking of combining farming with being an inventor. But,
after attending a summer camp, he's looking at other career
options.
Brandon was one
of about 30 kids who last month attended an Adventures in
HealthCare camp, sponsored by BJC Health Systems. The camp
was for sons and daughters of BJC employees to acquaint them
on the varied career possibilities in health care.
The camp kids
got a chance to see BJC health professionals at work in various
health jobs. In one camp session, three new medical students
told of their backgrounds and some of the things they were
facing in med school.
The application
form for the camp listed a number of alternative health careers.
They included nursing, radiology, pharmacy, respiratory care
and health information technology. It promised the kids "hands-on
interactive activities" in those areas.
Before the camp,
Brandon said he thought of health care careers only in terms
of doctors, dentists and nurses.
The 8th grader
at Triad Middle School in Troy said, "Now, I'm thinking
of something that would link invention with the health industry."
He liked the idea of working for a health services company
that develops new machines and equipment.
Twelve-year-old
Nina Magers is from St. Peters, Mo. She said she has been
thinking of a career as an emergency room doctor. She said
the week-long career camp has solidified her interest in that
career choice.
"And, I found
that, if I didn't like emergency room work when I get into
it, there are plenty of other careers in the health field,"
the Jefferson Middle School student said.
Twelve-year-old
Ryan Faulkner of Granite City, Ill., has a unique health career
in mind. "I want to be a medical helicopter pilot,"
he said.
The 8th grader
at Coolidge Middle School said, "I'd like going home
every night and knowing I saved someone's loved one,"
he said.
He has his career
path worked out. First he'll go into the military to learn
helicopters.
"I figure
it will take me about six years. First, I'll need three years
in the Air Force. Then, I'd like to take some medical training
in college before starting work as a medical pilot,"
he said.
Ryan said the
BJC summer career camp helped him to firm his thinking about
a career.
Thirteen-year-old
Courtney Williams of High Ridge, Mo., has been thinking about
being a doctor in children's medicine. "I'd like to work
at Children's Hospital with kids who have burns or other injuries,"
she said.
She said the career
camp gave her a chance to see how all types of health professionals
work together in a major hospital. The 8th grader at Seckman
Middle School said a hospital is "kind of like a whole
community with everyone working for the patient."
She said she likes
the idea of the teamwork that goes into helping people get
better.
All of the kids
attending the BJC summer career camp have at least one parent
already working in health care. The camp was open to kids
going into 7th or 8th grade in the fall.
Courtney Williams
said she enjoyed the experience of going into the hospital's
"ob-gyn" department. That's where babies are born.
She also liked
to see how respiratory therapy is given to help people's breathing.
"We even got to be on a respirator," she said.
Courtney said
science is her favorite school subject. And, she said, "I'm
looking forward to dissecting frogs in school this year,"
she said.
Nina Magers was
another girl who likes science and also wants to dissect frogs.
"That will be fun," she added.
She said one of
the new health careers she enjoyed hearing more about was
that of a cardiologist. That type of doctor helps people maintain
the health of their hearts.
Nina said the
ability to help people with their health would make a career
in the health field a "good life."
Five BJC hospitals
sponsoring the career camp were Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Christian
Hospital and Missouri Baptist, in St. Louis; Barnes-Jewish
Hospital in St. Peters, Mo., and the Parkland Health Center
in Farmington and Bonne Terre, Mo.
Food
Kid's
recipe is "dessert of the week"
How many kids
can go to a fancy downtown restaurant and order a dessert
made from a personal recipe? Fourteen-year-old Lauren Hammond
of Weldon Springs has.
For the last week
in July, "Lauren's Berried Chocolate Tartlets" was
the "dessert of the week" at the Clark Street Grill.
That's the restaurant located in the Westin Hotel in downtown
St. Louis. (For the "tartlet" recipe, see below.)
The "berried
chocolate tartlet" recipe won Lauren a $10,000 college
scholarship in the Pillsbury Kids' Bake-Off competition. She
won in the dessert category. The head contest judge was Douglas
Knopp, the executive chef for the Clark Street Grill.
Knopp invited
Lauren to serve as a consultant as his staff adapted that
winning recipe for use in his commercial restaurant. The grill
features a "dessert of the week" on its menu.
Lauren is a home-school
student who is starting her ninth grade this fall. She's been
baking up special recipes at home since she was eight years
old.
"I've always
liked to experiment in the kitchen. I'm an early morning baker.
I'll wake up at 3 a.m. and do muffins or something for the
family breakfast," she said.
But, mostly, she
likes to create desserts. And most of them include chocolate.
Her "tartlet"
recipe combined chocolate pudding and pie filling with strawberries.
This mixture is on a baked crust featuring pie crust and chocolate-chip
cookie dough. Whipped topping and chocolate sprinkles decorate
the top.
She said she experimented
for about two months before settling on the final "tartlet"
recipe. Her first choice for a sharp-tasting fruit--to contrast
with the sweetness of chocolate--was raspberries.
"But, when
I used whole raspberries, they just formed sort of a lump,"
Lauren said. She said she needed something that looked prettier.
In the Pillsbury contest, the dessert's look was an important
factor in whether an entry would win.
With strawberries,
it was possible to arrange sliced pieces into a flower-like
decoration.
She's been a winner
in other food competitions.
Her "tropical
volcano treasures" won first place in the Dole Fruit
Co. dessert contest.
This was another
chocolate-and-fruit-based dessert that looks like a volcano
with a red-colored "lava" mixture coming out of
the top.
She also was also
first runner-up in a Companion Bread "Stack It Up"
sandwich competition. This time the entry didn't include chocolate.
Key ingredient were peanut butter, apple jelly and sliced
apples.
The presentation
was enhanced by making this a triple-decker sandwich.
Lauren doesn't
spend all of her time in the kitchen.
She and her older
sister, Stephanie, were two of the runners who carried the
Olympic torch through the streets of St. Louis on its way
to Athens, Greece. Seventeen-year-old Stephanie had carried
the 2002 Winter Olympics torch when it came through St. Louis.
This summer, Lauren
helped organize the July 4th parade in her St. Charles County
neighborhood. She lined up sponsors and made parade signs.
At the event, she helped fill and pass out "goodie"
bags for parade participants.
Later on this
fall, she and her family will participate in the Deutsch Country
Days celebration in Marthasville, Mo. That's a two-day event
celebrating the German heritage of the area west of St. Louis.
For that event,
Lauren dresses up in period clothing and demonstrates the
old-fashioned, washboard-way of cleaning clothes. That includes
a wash tub, a washboard and plenty of rubbing by Lauren.
She said, "Kids
who come to the event with their families love to help wash
the clothes. Some kids will stay for several hours and help
us wash the clothes."
Then, there are
piano and French language lessons. She also swims with the
Whitmore Waves swim team.
But, she hasn't
forgotten about food and baking.
She's working
with an area hair salon owner on a plan for catering staff
lunches. That way, the staff won't have to go out and eat
fast-food every day. "The owner also told me, if I write
a cookbook, she'll help me sell it," Lauren said.
She's not sure
how profitable a catering business would be. But, with the
hair salon as a customer, "it'll help keep the cost of
my hair care down," she said.
Lauren's
"berried chocolate tartlet" recipe
Here's the recipe
that won Lauren $10,000 in the "Pillsbury Kids Bake-off"
Contest:
Ingredients:
- 3 Pillsbury
Frozen Home Baked Classics Chocolate Chip Cookies (from
21.6 oz. pkg.).
- 1 Pillsbury
Refrigerated Pie Crust (from 15-oz. pkg.), softened as directed
on package.
- 1 (3.9 oz)
pkg, instant chocolate pudding and pie filling mix
- 1 to 1 1/2
cups cold milk
- 1 1/4 cups
frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided.
- 10 fresh strawberries,
sliced
- Chocolate
candies (finely chopped) or sprinkles, if desired.
Preparation
directions:
- Bake three
cookies as directed on package. Increase oven temperature
to 450-degrees F
- Remove pie
crust from pouch. Unfold crust; press out fold lines. With
2 1/2-inch round cutter, cut 10 rounds from crust. Press
each round in bottom and up sides of ungreased muffin cup.
Prick bottom and sides with a fork. Bake at 450-degreesF
for 8 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Meanwhile
in large bowl, combine pudding mix and milk; whisk until
well mixed, about 2 minutes. Stir in one cup of whipped
topping.
- Carefully
loosen tartlet shells from muffin tin onto cooling rack.
Arrange sliced strawberries, pointed side up, around the
edge of each tartlet. Crumble 1/4 to 1/3 cookie (about 1
tablespoon crumbs) in each tartlet. Spoons about two tablespoons
of chocolate filling over the cookie crumbs.
- Using remaining
1/4 cup whipped topping, top each tartlet with about 1 teaspoon
whipped topping. Garnish with finely chopped chocolate or
sprinkles. Store in refrigerator.
Makes 10 servings
Film
Kids
project displayed at film festival
Three kid crews
from St. Margaret of Scotland got a bonus for their work on
last year's school film projects. Their documentaries were
shown in last month's St. Louis Filmmakers' Showcase at the
Tivoli Theater.
Most Filmmakers'
Showcase offerings are by older film producers.
But, Showcase
organizers also are on the lookout for quality film efforts
by young people.
The St. Margaret
of Scotland Filmmakers' offering involved three short documentaries.
Two films were by 8th grade teams and the other was by a crew
of 6th graders.
Andrew Joerger
was on the 8th grade team that decided to profile the Habitat
For Humanity program. Habitat builds modest homes for low-income
families. It also provides interest-free loans so the families
can buy them.
The Habitat documentary
was especially timely this summer. Local Habitat groups are
doing a "blitz-build" of 20 new homes, enough to
fill a full North St. Louis block.
Andrew admits
he hadn't done anything with filmmaking before being assigned
the "orbital studies" project at St. Margaret's.
The films were to be about "advocacy" groups.
The other 8th
grade crew created "The Salvation Army: Building an Army
of Christ." It gave an overview of the history, mission
and local operations of the Salvation Army.
The 6th graders
created "Exploring," an overview of the local art
scene in St. Louis.
(For names
of the other 8th grade and the 6th grade teams, see below.)
Andrew said their
Habitat project sparked a personal interest in filmmaking.
This summer, he attended the 3-week Mark Twain Summer Institute's
film class at Wydown Middle School in Clayton.
Mark Perniciaro
was another with little or no photography or filming experience.
The 13-year-old said he's now looking at a career in "something
in either photography or filmmaking." He said, "Cameras
are fun."
The kids got some
expert filmmaking help when the parent of two other St. Margaret
kids volunteered at the school. Shaun McCanna is a co-founder
of Flamingo Productions, Inc. That's a documentary filmmaker
in St. Charles, Mo.
McCanna is a father
of a 5th grader and a 1st grader at St. Margaret. He said,
"I thought I was going to give one speech," But,
when the principal finished talking with him, he'd volunteered
for the 6-week film projects.
Fifteen-year-old
Riley Montray gets credit for picking the Habitat For Humanity
subject. She said, "My mom and I were talking about Habitat
as a possible subject." Riley will be going to Notre
Dame High School in the fall.
Once the topic
was picked, the kids divided up the tasks. That included research,
script writing, looking of filming locales and for archived
film. They also chose people to interview.
Of course, they
had to familiarize themselves with operating a documentary
camera.
Fourteen-year-old
Cristi Schweitzer said she liked being behind the camera.
She also said, "It's easier working in a group."
Cristi also will go to Notre Dame in the fall.
The fifth member
of the Habitat team was Maggie Schneider.
Then came the
job of putting all the pieces together, including "voice-overs"
and musical background. The music picked was from the TV series,
"Smallville."
Their documentary
included interviews with two Habitat volunteers who help organize
the "builds." Generally a number of churches, businesses
or organizations get together to finance a home and then provide
volunteers to do the actual construction.
Joerger said,
"It was cool to find out about Habitat."
Their research
started with an internet search. However, he said the team
had to be specific about what information it wanted. Putting
only the word "Habitat" into a Google search led
to thousands of "hits," he said.
Riley Montray
said the problem wasn't too little information, but rather
too much. Habitat is a world-wide organization and has been
in business for many years.
With McCanna,
the kids got a good lesson in filming "advocacy"
documentaries.
Flamingo Films
was founded in 2000 by McCanna and Lee Ann Nelson. Its emphasis
is on human rights, democracy and cultural education issues.
It's first two films have been about the struggle for democracy
in Peru and have been shown on PBS stations.
Members
of other two St. Margaret film teams
The members of
the other two documentary film teams from St. Margaret of
Scotland School were:
8th Grade:
For "The Salvation Army: Building an Army of Christ"
Emily Cullmann, Amanda Folk, James Larsen, Michael Rauschenbach,
Kristen Wurm
6th Grade:
For "Exploring"
Genevieve Buthod, Chelsea Duffe, Alexander Haines, Tyler Ituen,
Daniel Jones, Grace McMillen, Andrew Petty, Emma Silver, Alexandre
Todorov, Hillary Trimble, Prentiss Turner, Stephen White,
Laura Wilson.
Music
Overnight
play practice is part of job
When a midnight-to-dawn
practice session is called "fun," there must be
something special going on. There is; it's time for The Muny's
summer season.
Ten-year-old Jimmy
McEvoy and 12-year-old Alexandra Petrullo were among the young
kids who had parts in the season's plays. Jimmy and Alexandra
had featured roles in the musical, "Music Man",
at The Muny July 26-Aug. 2.
The cast of each
play has only 11 days from the start of rehearsals until the
play opens on the Muny stage. And the only dress rehearsal
for "Music Man" had to be from midnight Saturday,
July 24, until 5 a.m. on Sunday.
But, there are
a number of good reasons for the odd rehearsal timing.
For one, the final
rehearsal needs to be at night so lighting--as well as the
acting--can be checked. The midnight start came because the
previous play on the Muny schedule--"Breakfast at Tiffany's"--was
still running.
Even as it was,
Muny stagehands had to go to a lot of trouble to prepare the
stage for the "Music Man" rehearsal. They dismantled
the "Tiffany" set after the Saturday night showing
and put up the "Music Man" set.
When the "Music
Man" rehearsal ended at 5 a.m., the "Tiffany"
set went back up for the final performance later Sunday. "Music
Man" then opened on Monday, July 26.
Alexandra will
be a 7th grader at John Burroughs Middle School this fall.
She said, "It's fun to rehearse all night with my friends."
She said it almost seems like a "slumber party."
Both Alexandra
and Jimmy also liked the other rehearsals, although they admitted
that the schedule was pretty chaotic. The cast members call
in each day to a Muny "hotline" to hear what the
day's practice schedule is for them.
Alexandra will
play the part of Amaryllis in the famous play that centers
around formation of a "76 trombone" band in Mason
City, Iowa.
Jimmy will be
a 5th grader at St. Garbriel Catholic School. He plays the
part of Winthrop, a shy kid with a lisp who gets picked on
by other kids. Amaryllis is one of the hecklers, although
she has a crush on Winthrop.
The kids found
out in May which parts they had in "Music Man."
They got their scripts shortly thereafter, although formal
rehearsals didn't start until Thursday, July 15.
Both kids said
they had their songs and lines memorized before rehearsals
started.
Jimmy said the
hardest part of the rehearsals for him is the choreography,
"the blocking and knowing where to go on stage."
Daytime practices
run from about 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. each day. But, cast members
only have to be there while their scenes are being rehearsed.
That means, Jimmy and Alexandra need transport to The Muny
at scattered times. Their moms provide the "taxi"
service.
The kids said
their erratic practice schedules cut down on other summer
vacation activities. But, both said their families were likely
to take a vacation trip after "Music Man" performances
are over.
Jimmy probably
has the toughest speaking part, because he has to speak his
lines with a lisp, which he doesn't have in normal life. He
said, "The 's's' have to come out as 'th's.' I also spit
a lot when I'm lisping."
He said Alexandra's
character is always bugging him about his lisp. "I'm
running on the stage and then running off crying a lot in
the first act," Jimmy said. But, he doesn't cry much
in the second act because "I still lisp but now I don't
care."
Both of the kids
hope to have acting careers when they grow up. Alexandra said,
"I want to be an actor, singer, dancer and movie star...the
whole deal."
She said she's
been acting since she was 8 years old. The "Music Man"
role mark the fifth Muny play in which she has appeared. It's
also her fourth year in the Muny Kids organization.
Both she and Jimmy
were in the Muny's "Cinderella" last season.
For Jimmy, he's
been in the Muny Kids organization for his second year. That
group appears at schools and other places to publicize Muny
plays. Both of the kids made an advance appearance to promote
"Music Man."
Jimmy said he
started acting about three years ago. His first play was at
St. Gabriel School with a part in "Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat."
Alexandra said
her first role was in the play, "Annie Warbucks,"
sequel to the musical "Annie." She said it was staged
by a small theater group, Characters and Co.
"I did a
lot of plays with Characters and Co.," she said.
Books
This
month's book reviews
In
15th century Korea, kite fighting
brings two brothers together
Young-sup is a
natural at kite flying. His other brother, Kee-sup, can design
and build kites that are beautiful and perfectly balanced.
Their father expects Kee-sup to compete in the New Years Day
kite-fighting competition. By tradition, the eldest son is
the family member who is expected to fly the kite. But both
boys know that the younger brother is by far the best kite
flyer. Young-sup is resentful but he knows he must defer to
his father and only help Kee-sup in the contest.
To the brothers'
surprise, the King, who is only a boy himself, has been watching
the boys practice their kite flying. Almost secretly, he asks
the brothers to teach him to fly. The young King comes to
realize that each boy has special talents that set him apart
from others. He asks Kee-sup to build him a special kite.
Then he asks the younger son, Young-sup, to fly it for him
(the King) in the contest. The arrangement must be kept secret
or other contestants would simply let the King's kite win,
out of respect.
In combining their
special talents, the brothers take part in an exciting contest.
They plan to introduce new techniques that will revolutionize
kite fighting. In the process, they hope to bring honor to
their family and earn their father's approval and the favor
of the King. But there are other competitors who are older
and have had much more experience. Can they really expect
to win?
A
teenage girl in 1870's Sante Fe wonders
if she has been part of a miracle
On the way west,
Lizzy Enders loses her mother to a deadly fever.
After she and her father reach Sante Fe, Lizzy is shocked
when her father enrolls her in a convent school for girls
and slips away, leaving her behind. After all, she is a Methodist
and everybody in the convent - nuns and students - are all
Catholics. The life there, centered on religious practices,
is all foreign to her.
The nuns and students
spend a lot of time in the new chapel that the Bishop has
had built for them. Strangely, the chapel has a choir loft
but no stairway to get up to it. The money for building has
run out. Besides, no one can figure out how to build a stairway
without taking up too much space in the chapel.
Lizzy gets into
trouble right away. She finds out what hypocrites some of
the girls are, especially her pampered and spoiled cousin
who is there also - Elinora is her name. Because Lizzy tells
the teachers of some of the behavior that is going on, she
is shunned by all the girls.
When Lizzy befriends
an old and poor carpenter named Jose, he offers to build a
stairway to the chapels choir loft. The Bishop approves, but
the girls try to stop the attempt. They want a miracle instead.
They claim that St. Joseph, to whom they have been praying,
would be angry if someone tries to build a stairway in the
usual manner. Besides they are jealous of Lizzy and don't
want her to have any part in solving the staircase problem.
Lizzie and the
old carpenter, Jose, get caught in the middle between the
convent girls and the Bishop. Will the Bishop give in to pressure
from the girls and send Jose away? Can Lizzie ever hope to
have any kind of a normal life there in the convent, when
the girls hate her so? Can poor Jose use his few primitive
tools to build a proper stairway? Will Lizzie ever be able
to join her father, who has set up a new life on a ranch in
Texas? In finding an answer to all of these questions, the
reader will be enjoying an exciting adventure story.
A
burglary changes life in a quiet neighborhood
The alley isn't
really an alley. It's a fenced in neighborhood on the campus
of Grandby College in the heart of the city of Brooklyn. It
has 27 houses and Connie Ives, a fifth grader aged ten, knows
who lives in every one. Every house had a garden with flowers
such as tulips, irises, and lilacs. In June there were roses
- all colors. Connie spends a lot of time in her swing just
looking over the neighborhood. She is even known as "the
swinger" because she is usually swinging and watching
everything that goes on in the Alley.
Connie didn't
have any brothers or sisters, but there were lots of kids
in the Alley. There was Katy Starr, a grade ahead of Connie,
the bossiest kid in the neighborhood. Katy made the "rules"
for all the kids in the Alley and none of them wanted to argue
with her. There was Billy Maloon, Connie's best friend. There
was Hugsy Goode and the four Carroll kids, and a lot more.
There hadn't been
any burglaries in the Alley for years, but Connie thought
about burglars a lot. And sure enough on a campus holiday
when they were all away from home, Connie's house was burglarized.
Such excitement! The police came - actually two sets of police.
Because they acted so strangely and spent so much time in
the house, Connie's mom suspected the first pair of policeman
of taking some of her jewelry that the burglars overlooked.
Oh my! Connie had so much to tell all the people in the Alley.
Looking back on
the day, Connie remembered some strange guys outside the fence
on the college campus that had seemed to be acting weird.
Maybe they had been the burglars that broke in when everybody
was gone. So Connie became the self-appointed look-out to
make sure that there were no more burglaries. Billy Maloon
was even more of a watchdog; He was always looking for strangers
who might be "casing" a house to rob.
There is a lot
of talk and there are lots and lots of details in this story.
But the plot tends to center on catching the bad guys - whoever
they are and if they show up again.
A
book that asks the question,
"Do real losers have to work at it?"
Ethan Winfield
and Julius Zimmerman were best friends. Both were seventh
graders at West Creek Middle School. They both would have
the shortest book reports in English class. Their science
fair projects were always the worst ones submitted. They were
the poorest basketball players in their age range. Finally,
Julius proposed that they form a two man club and call it
"Losers, Inc." He would be president and Ethan would
be vice-president. Ethan thought that was great, since who
would be a bigger loser than a guy who was vice-president
of a two person club?
On a Monday morning,
early in the school year, the boys had ridden their bikes
to school and something happened that began to undermine their
pride in being champion losers. She was beautiful. She had
long golden hair that was almost to her knees. The boys thought
she was just like Rapunzel in the story of Rumplestiltskin!
Sure she was a little older than the boys, maybe twenty-years-old
or even more. But there she was - in their school. It turns
out that it was Ms. Grace Gunderson, the new student teacher.
For the next five weeks she was to be doing her student teaching
in science at West Creek Middle School. She would be in the
boys' science class everyday for those five weeks. Wow!
Julius might
have seen her first, but no way was Ethan not going to do
everything in his power to be noticed by Ms. Gunderson. Things
seemed to get off to a bad start in science class. To brainstorm
science fair projects, Ethan found himself assigned to a small
group that this time did not include Julius. But the group
did include Lizzie Archer, the smartest girl in seventh grade.
The kids called her "the Lizard" behind her back
and made fun of her, especially, because she was writing poetry
all the time. How could Ethan come up with a dumb project
when he was dealing not only with "the Lizard" but
with the breathtaking Ms. Gunderson?
The two boys learned
quickly that situations can change rapidly. With the right
motivation, losers can lose their pride in being losers! With
a change in attitude, they might even work at becoming "winners."
Can they manage to change that much?
Fit
& Fun
Kids
link healthy food and fitness
Twelve-year-old
Jessy Postlewait wants to get in better shape for baseball..
He's hoping a unique 6-week summer camp will help him use
healthy foods and exercise to meet his goal.
Jessy will be
a 7th grader at Hancock Middle School in the fall. He's one
of 17 kids who are attending a Fit 'n Fun day camp sponsored
by BJC Health Systems and the YMCA.
He has an overall
goal of losing 30 to 40 pounds. He thinks losing some weight
and getting more fit will help him recover from a knee injury.
He had been a
catcher. But, he said, "After the injury, I couldn't
catch any more and have had to play first base."
Fourteen-year-old
Cody Brown has a more general objective for attending the
Fit 'n Fun camp. One object is to learn how to substitute
"healthy snacks for junk food," he said.
Cody also added,
"And, if I exercise more and play more games, I'll have
a happier life."
Lori Hartnell
is the BJC coordinator for the Fit 'n Fun camp. She said there
are at least three goals for the camp.
One, she wants
kids to learn to have fun while getting in better shape. Two,
she wants them to learn the role of fruits and vegetables
in a healthy diet.
Lori said a final
goal is to give kids a taste of community service so they
can help beautify their Lemay neighborhood.
The kids' work
in the Lemay Family and Child Center's garden helps with two
goals.
Once a week, the
Fit 'n Fun kids walk to the nearby Lemay Center to help weed
and fertilize the center's garden. This year, the garden is
fairly small. But, the staff there has a grant which will
help expand it next year into a beautiful community garden.
Eric Paulsen is
the lead teacher of the school-age kids at the Lemay Center.
One Tuesday last
month, Paulsen had both his Center kids and those from Fit
'n Fun on their hands and knees weeding the garden. After
the weeding, the kids put a cupful of liquid fertilizer on
each of the garden's pepper and tomato plants.
"We need
to give those plants a little boost so they'll can yield better,"
he said.
The kids have
a stake in harvesting more from the garden.
For instance,
the Lemay kids already have harvested zucchini and then made
zucchini bread for one of their healthy snacks.
Paulsen said,
"Later, we'll have sliced tomatoes and cucumbers for
sandwiches."
Fourteen-year-old
Daniel McLafferty has been coming to the Fit 'n Fun camp for
three years. He said one of the new fitness exercises that
has been added this year is stretching.
All kids do early
morning stretches before the camp activities start.
Another aspect
of the health lifestyles during the camp is that no sodas
are offered as drinks. Counselor Hartnell said the kids are
encouraged to drive juice.
"And we have
them fill their water bottles twice a day to keep them hydrated,"
she said.
McLafferty said
some of the lessons about food may help him when it's his
turn to cook at home. He said his mother, his two sisters
and he take turns cooking for the family.
"My older
sister, Willie, is a vegetarian so she cooks vegetarian meals,"
he said. Daniel said he likes her no-meat-or-dairy-product
meals.
As for his own
cooking, he said, "I usually make the easiest things
I can." But, he said he makes sure the meals include
vegetables and fruits.
The Fit 'n Fun
camp also has a nutrition segment, including some cooking.
Jessy Postlewait
said one of the early projects involved blending bananas and
yogurt and eating the mixture with other types of fruit. He
said the snack was good.
His attendance
at the camp is only a part of his overall fitness and weight-loss
program.
"I've cut
down on food and I drink much more water to keep hydrated.
Also, I do tons of activities and I've joined Gold's Gym for
more exercise," he said.
The kids also
have field trips and swimming opportunities.
Many field trips
mix fun with physical activity. The trips have included Busch
Wildlife area in St. Charles County and the Alpine Tower climb
at Greensfelder Park in west St. Louis County. They also took
in Mighty Mud Mania at nearby Jefferson Barracks City Park.
Art
Kids'
art interests start in many ways
Kids at a St.
Louis Art Museum summer camp developed their interest in art
in many ways. One wanted to do something better than his sister
while another got into art because his parents didn't let
him watch TV.
Twelve-year-old
Chris Kobe said he took an interest in art as a way to irritate
his older sister, Caroline. "I didn't like her very much
so I wanted to be better than her. She wants to be an art
major or an architect," he said.
He thinks he's
caught up to her in drawing but admits he's got a ways to
go in painting and drafting.
For 11-year-old
Henry Schneider, he was urged into doing art at a very early
age. He said, "My mom didn't let us watch any TV when
we were young. We were pushed to do something with art and
I got to like it a lot."
Thirteen-year-old
Ben Bailey of Belleville, Ill., said he picked art "because
I wanted to do something with my free time."
Both Henry and
Ben had been to Art Museum summer camps for several years.
For Chris, this was his first time at the museum's Middle
School Workshop, taught by Michael Lucas of the museum's education
staff.
(If you'd like
more information about art opportunities for kids at the St.
Louis Art Museum, you can call (636) 655-5294.)
A main focus of
last month's workshop was creating of etchings and embossed
artwork.
In etchings, the
kids carve figures into a plate, ink it and run it through
a press so the design prints on moistened paper. In the embossing,
the kids glue design pieces onto a board, cover with moistened
paper and apply pressure so the design stand out on paper.
Then there was
the "crushed can" artwork.
In that, the kids
crushed aluminum soda cans until they were just about flat.
Then, they put ink on the cans and put that through the printing
press to get an abstract artwork.
Eleven-year-old
Gretchen Benkendorf said the hardest part of this is getting
just the right amount of ink before you run it through the
press. She said, if you put on too little ink, the art image
doesn't transfer to the paper.
But, she said,
if you put on too much ink there's just a smear, rather than
a design.
Gretchen will
be a 6th grader at St. Norbert Catholic School this fall.
She said she got interested in art "while watching my
sister." This is Gretchen's first summer camp at the
museum.
But, 13-year-old
Christine Benkendorf was in her third museum camp. She said
her etching and embossing is "much better" this
summer.
However, she thinks
the hardest thing to do is to create a "perfect"
piece of artwork. "You can never make it perfect; there's
always at least one mistake," she said.
She said the closest
she came to what she considered was a "perfect"
painting was an oil pastel copy of a painting by the famous
French Impressionist painter Monet.
Chris Kobe is
going to be a 7th grader at Our Lady of the Pillar School.
He said the hardest thing for him in art is "trying to
think up things." He said, "Creativity is probably
my biggest roadblock."
"Most of
the time I need some source material before I can create a
work of art," he said.
Henry Schneider
will be a 6th grader at St. Margaret of Scotland School. He
said he toughest challenger is "drawing a person's face."
He said he often uses live models for his artwork.
When asked if
the models think he's done a good job on their face, he said,
"Usually not."
Ben Bailey will
be an 8th grader at Emge Middle School in Belleville. He said
his toughest art task is patience. He hates to take the time
to do the detail work in a realistic painting.
"I'm not
the most patient person. That's probably why I like to do
cartoons," he said.
Bailey said he
does animation at home. "Sometimes I'll write some comics,"
he said.
But, Ben also
has interest in the art of music. He said he plays the bass
guitar and has a neighborhood "garage band" that
plays mostly "punk rock." The band is named "Finally
Called Barbara."
Asked about the
name, he said it was named after one of his grandmothers,
who is named Barbara. He said, "She kinda likes to have
it named after her. She's a big Elvis fan."
Sports
Kid
golfer does well against older players
Ben Crancer of
Kirkwood has been doing very well this year in Gateway Junior
PGA golf tournaments in the 12-13 age group. That wouldn't
necessarily be special except Ben is only 10 years old.
In the first four
local Junior PGA tournaments this year, he finished first
in the 12-13 division in three and second in the other.
The week after
the July 4 weekend, he won an 18-hole tournament at the new
Forest Park course with a 75.
Before the summer
golf season is over, Ben expects to play in as many as 17
different tournaments. And that's only a portion of his golfing
activity.
Ben said, "Some
weeks, I practice five days and then there are two one-day
tournaments." He also has sessions with his golf instructor,
Helen Kurtin of the Family Golfplex.
That facility
has only a par-3 course so most of his work there is on the
golf basics.
His family belongs
to The Players Club golf course along I-44. That's an full-size
18-hole layout with nine holes for par-3 play.
Ben has some nearby
golfing buddies. Parents in the neighborhood have set up a
car pool to get the kids to their almost-daily golfing rounds.
This fall, Ben
will be a 5th grader at Robinson Elementary School in Kirkwood.
He's not sure
where he wants to go to high school. But, he's already picked
a college.
He'd like to go
to Stanford University. That school regularly wins the NCAA
title as having the best all-around sports program in the
country.
And, from a golfing
standpoint, it's also where Tiger Woods attended before he
hit stardom on the professional golf tour.
Ben also would
like to be a professional golfer. But, he said, if that doesn't
work, Stanford will be a good school for his second occupation
choice.
"If I didn't
get far as a professional golfer, I'd probably become a CPA,"
he said. Stanford's Business School is world renowned.
Ben started playing
golf when he was 4. He started with the same set of cut-down
clubs that his dad, Ralph, had used when he started golf as
a kid.
He has new Callaway
clubs now. But, because he's still relatively short, the clubs
also have shortened shafts. His regular set includes four
woods (1, 4, 7 and 9) and three wedges.
Over the Father's
Day weekend, Ben got his first taste of international competition.
He competed in the U.S. Little People Pepsi Tournament in
Quincy, Ill. He was in a field of 80 players from across the
country and from some foreign nations.
He considers that
experience to be his best so far in golf. "It was fun
to be with kids from all over the world. I got to see and
play with kids who are equal or even better than I am,"
he said.
Because of the
tougher competition, Ben played with kids his own age. He
finished sixth with a 76-73=149. That was just four strokes
back from the winner.
Another good part
of the weekend was the chance for Ben and his father to compete
in a nine-hole father-son tournament. Ben and Ralph shot a
par 35 in that preliminary event.
Ben says the strengths
of his golf game now are his approach shots and his play near
and on the green. He admits he can be erratic with his driver
and other fairway clubs. What bothers him most is that sometimes
he can't figure out why his shot went astray.
His biggest weakness?
"That's not choosing the right club to get out of my
messes," he said.
That's where his
golf lessons with Helen Kurtin come in. Much of that work
is designed to smooth out his swing and help him develop a
proper swing tempo.
He said he's taken
lessons for Kurtin for 1 1/2 years. He said his mechanics
are much better and that's resulted in greatly improved scoring
in tournaments.
About the only
time he doesn't enjoy golf is when he plays with kids "who
don't like to play in a group."
Golf isn't his
only sports interest. He also likes to play basketball and
soccer.
As for school,
he's a straight-A student. His favorite subjects are math
and reading.
Profile
Third in a
series
Youth
plans for an "active" future
Last year, one
of Marcus Zamphier's classmates asked him why he joined so
many clubs and organizations at Buerkle Middle School in the
Mehlville School District.
He was overheard
to say: "Duh. Don't you know that colleges look at what
activities you're involved in for scholarships?"
Next month, 14-year-old
Marcus will be starting at Mehlville High School. He plans
to continue to try to excel in the classroom and do many extra-curricular
activities.
That's the combination
that drew attention last year when he was selected as a 2004
Gateway Young Achiever. The award, along with a $1,000 savings
bond, is given to 12 area youngsters in recognition of their
outstanding efforts both in school and in the community.
Young Saint
Louis.com has been following the Young Achiever program
for three years. In addition to announcing the winners each
spring, YSL.com also does profiles of elementary and
middle school winners.
(For more information
about the Achiever program, you can call (314) 961-5978
or log on to www.youngachiever.us.
Also, earlier stories were in May, June and July, 2004)
For Marcus, all
this activity is part of his life plan. He eventually wants
a career as a lawyer and maybe in politics.
To help prepare
for that future, Marcus plans to add a new school activity
this fall. He wants to join the debate club, for experience
in thinking on his feet in give-and-take discussions.
"When I have
arguments with my friends, many times they'll say, 'You'd
make a good lawyer,'" he said. He takes that as a compliment.
Another new activity
he's considering is the school newspaper to help him with
his English and writing. "That's something I'd probably
do," he said.
He's also hoping
to go to summer leadership training sessions. "I'll get
ideas I can try in school," he said.
Marcus is pleased
how things have turned out so far. "The future looks
really bright for me," he added.
He said both his
father, Michael, and mother, Lori, "kept telling me to
be active."
At Buerkle Middle
School, Marcus was vice president of the student council.
The council was responsible for getting students involved
in both school and community activities.
He was involved
in planning such activities as Twins Day, Techy Day, Career
Day and 70s Day.
Also, he was a
member of the school's TV crew club. That group was responsible
for school announcements at lunch time all year long.
He was in the
school's technology club. The kids were responsible for producing
ads and flyers to publicize school mixers and other events.
Marcus also was
involved in peer tutoring. As an 8th grader, he helped to
tutor 7th graders when they were having trouble with some
classes.
"I'm a people
person. Some of the kids would tell me that they learned more
from me than from their teacher," he said.
He was a member
of the Junior National Honor Society. Membership is determined
by grades, behavior and five recommendations from teachers,
Marcus said.
Other activities
included such diverse things as participating in the Drug
Free Schools program, the school's canned food drive and planning
the Buerkle Big Blowout. That event is a big carnival day
at the school.
Marcus helped
to video tape the Blowout.
He helped develop
a school dance routine and was in the home-ec club. One of
recipes was "monkey bread," a mixture of bread dough
with cinnamon, brown sugar and butter.
But, Marcus doesn't
just join activities to pad his resume. "I usually join
something only if I enjoy the activity," he said.
Marcus said he
is seeking to "get a balance between school and a social
life."
He's confident
that keeping active and having balance in his life will give
him that rewarding future he envisions.
St.
Louis History
This Month
in St. Louis History
Statehood
and two births, one death
The births of
two legendary Missourians and the death of the only Lewis
and Clark team member were among August highlights in the
history of St. Louis and Missouri.
Also, of course,
in August, Missouri became the 24th state of the United States
of America. The date was Aug. 10, 1821.
These are some
of the highlights of rich St. Louis history that have been
provided by the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. For
all sorts of interesting historical information about St.
Louis and Missouri, visit the museum's website regularly at
www.mohistory.org.
The
death of Sgt. Floyd in 1804
Sgt. Charles Floyd
was the only member of the Lewis and Clark Journey of Discovery
to die during the two-year exploration.
Floyd died on
Aug. 20, 1804, at a point along the Missouri River that is
now northwest Iowa. Floyd's death was attributed to infection
following a burst appendix.
His first burial
site was high on a bluff in what is now Sioux City, Ia. But,
natural and human forces caused Floyd's gravesite to be shifted
several times.
The first grave
was marked by a cedar post driven into the ground. But, on
the return from the discovery of the Pacific Ocean, Lewis
and Clark wrote the site had been disturbed by Indians.
Later, speculation
was animals had caused the damage.
In those days,
the Missouri River was a wild river. By 1857, the "Floyd
Bluff" burial site had been undermined by the river and
part of his bones were lost. But, the remaining bones were
rescued some 600 feet from the original grave.
They were reburied
in 1895 and, in 1901, the spot was marked by a 100-foot obelisk.
In 1960, the gravesite was named a National Historic Landmark.
In an ironic touch,
the obelisk is the largest grave marker of any Lewis and Clark
participant. And it is for the man who was on the Journey
of Discovery the shortest time.
For a detailed
rundown of Lewis and Clark burial sites, go to:
www.nps.gov/jeff/lewisclark2/CorpsOfDiscovery/The
Others/Burialsites.htm
James
Milton Turner was born in 1839
James Milton Turner
was born a slave in St. Louis County on Aug. 22, 1839. He
went on to become a free man and was the second African-American
ever to become a foreign diplomat.
In 1871, he was
named by President Grant to be U.S. minister to Liberia. It
had been Turner's longtime goal to serve this country in that
African nation, founded by black emigrants from the U.S.
But, he also made
his mark in Missouri, primarily for his advocacy of education
for blacks. He also was an advocate for blacks with land and
oil claims in the Oklahoma Indian Territory.
His burial site
is in the Father Dickson Cemetery in Crestwood. This was one
of the first public cemetery's available to blacks. For more,
see:
www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/africanamerican/timeline/timeline2.asp
Funnyman
Joe Besser born here in 1907
St. Louis has
had its share of theatrical people. One who isn't too much
known now but might be one of the funniest St. Louisans is
Joe Besser.
Besser was born
here on Aug. 12, 1907, to parents who had come to the U.S.
from Poland in 1895.
He was so enthralled
by the theater that he spent a lot of time at vaudeville theaters
rather than in school. His excuse: "I learned more in
the theater than I did at school."
At 13, he decided
he to become a professional magician. In 1920, he stowed away
in props of magician Howard Thurston when his act went by
train from St. Louis to Detroit.
He went into full-time
comedy in 1923 and played successfully in both solo and group
acts from then on.
He got much of
his notoriety when he replaced Shemp Howard as the third of
the Three Stooges. He was with them from 1956 to 1958.
But, he did many
other gigs with Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Eddie Cantor and Milton
Berle. He appeared on the Vaughan Monroe Show as well as with
Abbott and Costello and Spike Jones.
(If these are
unfamiliar names, ask your parents or your grandparents. These
were very popular radio and TV shows in the 1940s, 50s, 60s
and 70s.)
For more about
the Three Stooges, see www.3-stooges.com/test/besser.html.
From "St.
Louis World's Fair 365"
President
Roosevelt's kids have fun in St. Louis
The three young
sons of then U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt got in all
sorts of trouble while joining their father at the 1904 St.
Louis World's Fair in August, 1904.
Also among the
August fair incidents were a win by an Olympic gymnast with
a wooden leg and a fatal car crash by noted auto racer Barney
Oldfield.
(St. Louis
author Joe Sonderman has compiled a book of trivia about the
1904 St. Louis World's Fair. He has granted permission to
Young Saint Louis.com to quote some of the monthly
tidbits. If you would like a copy of the book, check local
book stores or the www.booksonstlouis.com
website.)
Here's a sample
of the 101 items mentioned in the August chapter of Sonderman's
book:
Aug. 1, 1904:
Four masked bandits robbed the Illinois Central "Diamond
Special" World's Fair train near Harvey, Ill. The robbers
made off with about $10,000. They held up the 30 passengers
and hit one man over the head when he resisted. No one was
seriously hurt.
Aug. 2, 1904:
High wire performer "Monsieur Leon," whose real
name was W.H. Green, was fatally injured when he fell 50 feet
at Old St. Louis on The Pike. He was paid $15 each week to
wrap his long hair around a wire attached to the 50-foot pole
and slide down. He did it three times each day until the wire
snapped. Also, James and Alfretta Ballhoo were part of the
show in the 2,000-seat arena at Old St. Louis. James rode
a bike across a cable 122 feet in the air while his wife performed
on a trapeze suspended beneath the bike. They earned $13 per
month. Green's accident brought an end to the show.
Aug. 3, 1904:
President Roosevelt's three sons dined with Fair President
Francis at the Director's Club. Once again, they eluded the
hapless assistant manager of the Inside Inn who was supposed
to be supervising them. The boys had an exciting time at the
Boer War exhibit and took a gondola ride. (Two days earlier,
the Roosevelt boys escaped 1/2 hour before they were to attend
a reception. Archie, Theodore Jr. and Kermit eluded the Inn
manager and made straight for the Philippine Village. The
reception was rescheduled for the next day and the boys promised
to make an appearance. Then, on August 4, the boys announced
they had enjoyed the fair very much and were boarding a train
back to Washington, D.C., a day early. They actually spent
the day holed up in the New York Building before boarding
a train as originally scheduled.)
Aug. 5, 1904:
The "Talking Arc Lamp" was demonstrated for the
first time. The device transmitted orchestral music through
light rays without the use of phonetic receivers. The lamp
became a regular feature of the moving picture exhibits developed
by Dr. H.T. Simon of Frankfort, Ky.
Aug. 14, 1904:
There was a near-riot at the Cummins Wild West Show on The
Pike. Officials with the Humane Society tried to arrest the
cowboys for inhumane treatment of the steers. The cowboys
and Indians attacked the officers, and the crowd piled onto
the field to protest the cancellation of the show. Colonel
Cummins was arrested.
Aug. 15, 1904:
Operators of the ice water concession used 165,000 pennies
to pay their tax cut to the Exposition Company. The workers
had been taking the pennies to a downtown bank, which would
send a check. But, it was costing $10 per trip. The Exposition
Company began accepting the pennies without counting them.
Aug. 17, 1904:
The Olympic gymnastics competitions were underway. George
Eyser would win the gold in the parallel bars and the rope
climb, and tied for first in the vault. He also won the silver
in the Pommel horse and the all-around, and took the bronze
in the horizontal bar. This is even more remarkable because
Eyser's left leg was made of wood!
Aug. 19, 1904:
Mr. C.F. Froliche, of New York, completed a sculpture of President
Roosevelt mounted on a horse and wearing his Rough Rider outfit.
The statue was made out of butter. It was placed in the great
glass-front refrigerator along with butter busts of President
Francis and other fair officials.
Aug. 28, 1904:
Blinded by dust while competing for the Louisiana Purchase
trophy, world famous race car driver Barney Oldfield lost
control of his "Green Dragon". The car slammed into
a fence on the lower turn at Fairgrounds Race Track at 60
miles per hour. The vehicle cut one spectator in half and
killed another. Oldfield vowed never to race again, but he
was back on the track in a few weeks.
Aug. 29, 1904:
The track and field events began before a crowd of 10,000
at the Olympic stadium. The U.S. took home 23 of the 25 gold
medals. Ray Ewry, Archie Hahn, Jim Lightbody and Harry Hillman
won three medals each. But, Irishman Thomas Kiely won the
event now known as the decathlon, which made its debut at
the St. Louis games. George Coleman Poage of Milwaukee because
the first black man to compete in the Olympic games when he
lost in a heat race. Poage would go on to win a bronze in
the 220 and 440-yard hurdles. He stayed in St. Louis after
the fair and went on to coach and teach at Sumner High School.
Another African-American, Joseph Stadler, also would win two
medals.
Things
To Do
Places to Go,
Things to do
Lots
of outdoor activities for August
Because August
is the last month before school starts, Young Saint Louis.com
will highlight lots of outdoor activities for kids and their
families.
City, county and
state parks have all sorts of scheduled activities for young
people in the St. Louis metro area.
Here is a rundown
of some of the activities. Some have fees attached but many
of them are free.
Fun
bike rides for Kids
Trailnet. Inc.,
continues its new Bicycle Fun Rides for Kids in August with
two different rides. These rides are specially designed to
be easy for kids and families.
There is a Fahrradtour
and Augustfest ride on Sunday, Aug. 8. The ride starts at
8 a.m. in Mascoutah, Ill., and has routes of 16, 23, 36 and
50 miles. The terrain is described as "flat with a few
small hills."
This ride is in
conjunction with the Mascoutah Homecoming and there are plenty
of food, drinks, games and displays.
On Sunday, Aug.
15, there is the always-fun My Just Desserts Bicycle Ride,
starting from Orchard Farm, Mo. One of the big attractions
of this combination Missouri-Illinois ride is the chance to
stop at My Just Desserts in Elsah, Ill., for food, drinks
and a slice of pie.
The ride starts
at Orchard Farm School at 8 a.m. There is a scenic barge ride
across the Mississippi and Illinois rivers at Grafton, Ill.
For more information,
visit www.bicyclefunclub.org.
Ice
sledding and other city park treats
What could be
better than a chance to go ice sledding in what is often the
very hot month of August. You can do it Saturday, Aug. 14,
at Sioux Passage Park.
The St. Louis
Parks Department supplies the block of ice on which you can
slide down the hill at Sioux Passage Park. For directions,
call (314) 615-7275. There is a $6 charge.
There are dozens
of other activities in the city parks during August. These
include classes in backpacking, beginning archery and using
a map and compass.
For complete details,
visit www.stlouisco.com/parks.
Hunting
lessons at MDC ranges
The Busch Memorial
and the Jay Henges ranges and outdoor education centers have
all sorts lessons for just about every kind of hunting. These
ranges are run by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
The lessons involved
everything from basic archery and .22 caliber rifles to muzzleloading
and blackpowder firearms. There's still time for Missouri
hunter and bowhunter education certification courses.
For a complete
schedule of range courses, visit either:
www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/ranges/busch
or www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/ranges/henges.
Conservation
Frontiers program for families
Frontiers is a
program sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Its goal is to encourage development of conservation-minded
citizens, both young and old.
There are over
130 activities to choose from. Each activity is led by an
adult and is assigned a point total.
You can move through
13 levels of conservation awareness and service.
The Frontiers
program is designed to develop a competence to help Missouri
preserve and improve its outdoor resources.
For more information,
call Anna-Lisa Tucker, naturalist, at (636) 458-2230, Ext.
25.
Other
MDC activities in August
The Missouri Department
of Conservation also has other outdoor facilities in the St.
Louis area. They include the large August A. Busch Memorial
Conservation Area in St. Louis County.
Other facilities
are the new Columbia Bottoms area, the Rockwoods Reservation
and the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center.
For program schedules,
see www.mdc.mo.gov/areas.
Then, click on the area you want.
Math
Puzzler
The
final offering from Mr. Math Puzzler
After providing
fun puzzles for three years, Mr. Math Puzzler is going to
take a well-deserved vacation.
Wayne Hesse, an
8th grade math teacher at Green Park Lutheran School, has
been Mr. Math Puzzler since September, 2001.
That means he's
posed over 200 Math Puzzlers for your contemplation and enjoyment.
Young Saint
Louis.com plans to continue a math component on your website.
We'll be announcing the new math initiative during the coming
school year.
For his finale,
Mr. Math Puzzler is offering a variety of questions. Some
are tough and some are relatively easy. But, all of them require
some creative thinking by the YSL.com readers.
If you've just
started working the Math Puzzlers, you'll still be able to
hone your math skills by using the YSL.com archives.
Just click on the Past Stories tab at the top of the
home page.
You will be able
to find Math Puzzlers archived all the way back to September,
2001. You can just open one of those issues and start figuring.
But, now you'll be able to find your answers without waiting
a whole month.
Just click on
any month and figure the Puzzlers. Then, click on the following
month. You'll find the answers along with an explanation of
each answer.
If you want to
enter this final Math Puzzler competition, you might like
to do some checking of past editions. That way, you'll see
how Mr. Math Puzzler thinks.
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
231 So. Bemiston Ave., Suite 800
Clayton, MO 63105
- All entries
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Entry
for August, 2004, Math Puzzler Contest:
Name: ___________________________________
Age: ____
Address: ______________________
School: _____________
City:_____________________,
State:_____ ZIP___________
Contact phone
no.(____)____________________
The
Math Puzzlers
(August, 2004)
1. What number
should be removed from this list so that the mean of the remaining
numbers is 6.1?
1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.
Answer: _______________
2. When George
took his place in the marching band, he noticed that he was
10th from the front, 7th from the back, 3rd from the left
and 8th from the right in the rectangular formation. How many
members were in the band?
Answer: _____________
3. What is the
remainder when the product (1492) (1776) (1812) and (1999)
is divided by 5?
Answer: _____________
4. When the 171st
positive even integer is subtracted from the 220th positive
odd integer, the result is z, determine the value of z.
Answer: _____________
5. The energy
saved from one recycled aluminum can will operate a television
for 3 hours. How many aluminum cans would have to be recycled
to furnish enough energy to operate 680 television sets for
4.5 hours per day for one week?
Answer: _____________
6. Joan, Tim and
Karen each start with the same positive number. Joan subtracts
1, doubles that result and then adds 2. Tim doubles his number,
then subtracts 1 from the result and then adds 2. Karen subtracts
1 from her number, adds 2 to the result and finally doubles
the answer. Who will get the largest final answer? (Hint:
You can use any positive number to do this problem or, if
you use some principles of algebra, you don't even need a
number to figure which person has the largest final answer.)
Answer: _____________
No
winners for the July Math Puzzlers
Mr. Math Puzzler
was a little tricky about one of his two pizza questions in
the July Math Puzzlers.
In Question 4,
a lot of the math involved using the familiar pi, radius and
squaring. That gives you the area of the pizza. Then, there's
some figuring to get the area of a smaller pizza while retaining
the "cheesy" flavor of the larger pizza.
Then, you back
out the area to go back to pi, radius and squaring. But, the
key to the final answer is to then double that radius to get
the diameter of the smaller pizza.
That doubling
proved to be a stumbling block.
That's an easy
mistake to make and that's what makes figuring math so frustrating
at times. But, maybe that's part of the fun. If you make a
simple mistake like that, it's likely the correct answer will
stay with you in the future.
Mr. Math Puzzler
is Wayne Hesse, an 8th grade math teacher at Green Park Lutheran
School. His August Puzzlers will be his last time with Young
Saint Louis.com's math initiative.
His final offerings
are straight-forward and have good variety.
YSL.com
will be continuing to offer math content. We'll be announcing
the new approach during the upcoming school year.
We want to thank
Mr. Hesse for his work with YSL.com. We hope our new
math initiatives will have the same mixture of fun and math
expertise.
To enter the August
Math Puzzler competition, just click
here.
Remember, kids
who get all the August Puzzlers correct will have their names
published in the September edition. Also, up to three winners
will be awarded $10 Borders gift certificates.
Answers
to July Math Puzzlers
1. The 30 students
in a class line up in a row. The largest number of consecutive
boys in a row is 4. What is the maximum number of boys in
the class?
Answer:
24
The explanation:
If you have a maximum of four boys in a row before there is
a girl, that means there are a total of five kids. Then, you
divide 30 by 5 and you know there can be six of those 5-kid
groupings. That means you need at least six girls in the class.
That leaves 24 boys.
2. For how many
different two-digit numbers is the tens digit larger than
the ones digit?
Answer:
45
The explanation:
You should set up a chart. In the 0-9 group, there are zero.
In the 10-19 group, there is 1 and in 20-29, there is 2. Going
on, 30-39, 3; 40-49, 4; and so on to 90-99, 9. Adding those
numbers, you get a total of 45.
3. In how many
different ways can you receive $20 from your bank if you ask
for paper money only? (No $2 bills please.) (Mr. Math Puzzler
suggests using a table.)
Answer:
10
The explanation:
In a table, you'd have four different denominations, $20,
$10, $5 and $1.
| |
$20 |
$10 |
$5 |
$1 |
| 1. |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
| 2. |
- |
2 |
- |
- |
| 3. |
- |
1 |
2 |
- |
| 4. |
- |
1 |
1 |
5 |
| 5. |
- |
1 |
- |
10 |
| 6. |
- |
- |
4 |
- |
| 7. |
- |
- |
3 |
5 |
| 8. |
- |
- |
2 |
10 |
| 9. |
- |
- |
1 |
15 |
| 10. |
- |
- |
- |
20 |
4. To make a 12-inch
pizza, you need 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese. You have only
1 1/4 cups of cheese. What diameter pizza, to the nearest
inch, should you make so that the 1 1/4 cups of cheese will
taste as "cheesy" as the 1 1/2 cups on the 12-inch
pizza?
Answer:
11 inches
The explanation:
First you want to figure the area of a 12" diameter pizza.
That's Area = Pi R squared, with the radius being 6".
That shows an area of 113.04 square inches. In the second
formula, you want to figure the relationship of 1.5 cups of
cheese to the 113.04 square inches of the 12-inch pizza to
the 1.25 cups of cheese to the smaller area. The area of the
smaller pizza is 94.2 square inches. Then, you reverse that
using the first formula and you get a radius of 5.48 inches.
But, that's the radius and you need to double that for the
diameter of the new pizza. Rounding that to the nearest inch,
that's an 11 inch pizza.
5. How many different
kinds of pizza can be ordered if you can top them with any
combination of sausage, pepperoni, onions, green
peppers, mushrooms and olives? Each topping can be used once
on a pizza. (Hint: This is a probability question.)
(Note: Cheese isn't listed because all pizza has cheese.)
Answer:
63
The explanation:
This calls for combinations. If you got a very large
number, you probably were working with permutations, where
order of the ingredients would come into play and inflate
the possibilities. But, in our problem, with one ingredient,
there would be six possibilities. With two ingredients, that
would be C times 6 and divided by 2, or 25 possibilities.
Using that same formula, three ingredients would have 20 possibilities;
four ingredients would have 15 possibilities; five ingredients,
6 possibilities and six ingredients, one possibility. Those
numbers total 63 combinations.
6. A board game
for 2 to 6 players has a deck of cards that always can be
divided evenly among all the players. What is the smallest
number of cards possible?
Answer:
60
The explanation:
In this answer, you're looking for a least common multiple.
For 2 players, the prime is 2. For three players, the prime
is 3. For four players there are 2 primes of 2. For five players,
there a prime of 5. And for six players, there is a prime
of both 2 and 3. Then, to find the least number of cards,
you multiple the primes of 2 x 3 x 2 x 5 and get 60 cards.
Fun
& Games
Fun
& Games
Trivia - 1904
World's Fair Trivia
When you're done, click
here for the answers.
- What was the
official name of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair?
- Who was the
U. S. President who presided over the event being commemorated?
- What popular
park today is located on the site of the 1904 Fair?
- What attraction
at the St. Louis Zoo today is a structure left over from
the 1904 Fair?
- Name at least
two summertime refreshments that by rumor were invented
or at least popularized at the 1904 World's Fair?
- What oversized
amusement park attraction has been activated during the
summer of 2004 to help us remember the 1904 World's Fair.
- What large
building used as a museum today was an important building
during the Fair?
- What is the
name of the St. Louis businessman/politician/diplomat who
is credited with being the driving force behind the 1904
Fair?
- What is the
name of the popular movie (and song) that is (are) based
on the Fair?
- Why in this
year (2004) is so much emphasis being put on commemorating
the Fair?
Crossword Puzzles
When you have completed the puzzles, you can click
here to find the answers!
Young
Saint Louis.com #1
| Across |
Down |
2. another
option
4. committed to memory
6. plan for dance moves
7. practice performance
8. designs structures
9. not concrete |
1. heart
doctor
3. a flying craft
5. breathing apparatus |
Young
Saint Louis.com #2
| Across |
Down |
2. used to
make pickles
6. a factual film
8. enriches the soil
9. attention directing
10. make more attractive |
1. a replacement
3. liquid replaced
4. filed away
5. eats no meat
7. descriptive outline |
Young
Saint Louis.com #3
| Across |
Down |
2. the chief
cook
6. disordered
8. parts of recipe
9. lost, out of bounds |
1. job, career
2. providing food
3. to try out
4. ancestral basis
5. comes from volcano
7. a piece of |
Back
to School
| Across |
Down |
2. make backpacks
heavy
4. miss summer also
6. no more in mornings
7. school's boss
9. create scepticism |
1. interferes
with TV
2. get ya there'n back
3. miss summer vacation
5. what you live for
8. too short a period |
Jokes
Watch for the play on words
What makes the
leaning Tower of Pisa lean?
It doesn't eat much!
"I once was
in a play called 'Breakfast in Bed'."
"Did you have a big role?"
"No, just toast and jelly!"
"I want a
hair cut please."
"Certainly sir, which
one?"
Why did the man
take a pencil to bed?
He needed to draw the curtains!
What happened
when the wheel was invented?
It caused a revolution!
Do you have any
invisible ink?
Certainly sir. What color?
For those who
like bumper stickers
- A flashlight
is a case for holding dead batteries.
- What is a "free
gift"? Aren't all gifts free?
- Change is inevitable,
except from a vending machine!
- Out of my mind
…back in five minutes!
- Always remember
you're unique…just like everyone else!
- Don't bother
me…I'm living happily ever after!
- You! Off my
planet!
- Cover me…I'm
changing lanes!
- I didn't fight
my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian!
- I intend to
live forever…so far, so good!
- Energizer Bunny
arrested, charged with battery!
- Who are these
kids and why are they calling me "Mom"?
And in conclusion,
more knock knocks
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Aladdin.
Aladdin who?
Aladdin the street wants a word with you!
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Wanda.
Wanda who?
Wanda buy some Girl Scout cookies?
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Waddle.
Waddle who?
Waddle you give me if I go away!
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Uruguay.
Uruguay who?
You go Uruguay and I'll go mine!
Answers
to Fun & Games
Trivia - 1904
World's Fair Trivia
- The Louisiana
Purchase Exposition
- Thomas Jefferson
- Forest Park
- The Bird House
- Iced tea,
ice cream cones, hot dogs
- The Giant Ferris
Wheel
- The Jefferson
Memorial (Missouri History Museum)
- David R. Francis
(served as mayor of St. Louis, governor of Missouri, ambassador
to Russia)
- Meet Me In
St. Louis
- It's the hundredth
anniversary of the Fair
Crossword Puzzles
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 |
2. another
option
4. committed to memory
6. plan for dance moves
7. practice performance
8. designs structures
9. not concrete |
1. heart
doctor
3. a flying craft
5. breathing apparatus |
Young
Saint Louis.com #2
| Across |
Down |
2. used to
make pickles
6. a factual film
8. enriches the soil
9. attention directing
10. make more attractive |
1. a replacement
3. liquid replaced
4. filed away
5. eats no meat
7. descriptive outline |
Young
Saint Louis.com #3
| Across |
Down |
2. the chief
cook
6. disordered
8. parts of recipe
9. lost, out of bounds |
1. job, career
2. providing food
3. to try out
4. ancestral basis
5. comes from volcano
7. a piece of |
Back
to School
| Across |
Down |
2. make backpacks
heavy
4. miss summer also
6. no more in mornings
7. school's boss
9. create scepticism |
1. interferes
with TV
2. get ya there'n back
3. miss summer vacation
5. what you live for
8. too short a period |
