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Ball Kids

Be a ball kid at MVC
basketball meet. Apply here

Would you like to see the 2003 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball meet games up close and personal? Young Saint Louis.com can give you a chance.

MVC tournament officials again have reserved two ball kid spots in the tournament for readers of YSL.com. For a chance to be an official YSL.com ball kid, just fill out the attached registration. Entries must be postmarked by Friday, Feb. 21, 2003.

All completed applications will be put into a hat and two winners will be drawn. Winners will be notified by phone. MVC tournament managers will give advance training before you go on the floor.

This YSL.com activity is open to both boys and girls, ages 10 to 13, in the metro St. Louis area. That's the target audience for this website.

Ball kids are stationed under the baskets during the games. Their work is important because they keep the floor clean so players don't slip and hurt themselves. Also, the kids wipe down the whole floor at half-time of the games.

The ball kids get some "perks" while working the games. Of course, there's free admission to your assigned games. You'll also get a MVC T-shirt. Kids get free snacks and soft drinks in the tournament media room.

There's also the opportunity to mix with the players and coaches of the tournament teams.

(For information about the experiences of past ball kids, you can read articles from last year. For 2002 stories, click here for January 2002, click here for March, 2002, and click here for April, 2002.)

To apply for one of the YSL.com ball kid spots, you need to be between 10 and 13 years of age and agree to work an entire shift. That might involved two games, depending on the schedule for your assigned day.

This year's MVC men's basketball tournament will be March 7-10 at the Savvis Center in downtown St. Louis. The winner of the 10-team tournament gets an automatic bid to the NCAA's national tournament.

The schedule calls for two games on Thursday, March 7; four on Saturday, March 8; two on Sunday, March 9. The tournament's final game is Monday, March 4. YSL.com ball kids probably will work on either Saturday or Sunday.

Here's how to enter in the YSL.com ball kid drawing:

1. Print out the following entry form.
   
   
2. Fill in your name, address and telephone number.
   
   
3. Have a parent/guardian sign registration, giving permission for you to work the games.
   
   
4. Mail your entry to:
   
   MVC Ball Kids
   Young Saint Louis.com
   231 S. Bemiston, Suite 800
   Clayton, MO 63105
   
   
5. Only registrations postmarked on/before Feb. 21, 2003, will be included in the drawing.

-------------Clip here and mail-------------

YSL.com Entry for MVC Ball Kids Drawing

______ (Check) Yes, I would like to be a ball kid for the 2003 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament at the Savvis Center, March 7-10.

Name: ________________________________ Age: ______

Address: _________________________________________

City: _____________________, State: _____, ZIP: ________

Contact phone no: (____) ___________________

* I, ________________________________, as parent/guardian for __________________________ give my permission for him/her to work as a MVC ball kids during the March 7-10 meet.

 

News

Young girls learn about black history

Some local African-American girls last month got a head start on understanding Black History Month. The girls were attending an after-school program sponsored by Girls, Inc.

At one January meeting, girls studied the definitions of words such as "justice," "prejudice," "bias" and "cultural stereotypes." They also were introduced to famous past and present African-Americans.

Nine-year-old Tamika Valentine was one of the girls who was given a word. She was asked to define "justice."

Her definition: "I want things to be right and want people to share."

Victoria Nelson is the executive director of Girls. Inc. The group has provided educational and cultural programs in safe environments for local girls since 1981. The organization wants to inspire all girls "to be strong, smart and bold."

Girls, Inc. has three St. Louis locations. One is in north St. Louis, another in south city and one downtown. (For how to join in Girls, Inc. activities, see sidebar below.)

Nelson said her group's program for Black History Month in February will help girls "evaluate the civil and social conditions" in the country.

Her staff gets plenty of help for its programs from the Gateway Chapter of the LINKS, Inc. That's a social organization of African-American women. They serve as mentors and role models for the young girls.

One key point in the Girls, Inc. program is that important African-Americans adults started as ordinary kids in local neighborhoods just like theirs. Throughout the year, Nelson invites St. Louisans who've made a name for themselves to visit.

For instance, some of the African-Americans on the Black History study list had metro St. Louis roots. Internationally-famous dancer Catherine Dunham is one of those. She grew up in East St. Louis.

Also, a number of the famous Tuskegee Airman of World War II were African-Americans from St. Louis. They are featured in the big mural at Lambert International Airport here.

Ten-year-old Adrianna Bray was one Girls, Inc. member who also attended January ceremonies at Harris Stowe College. Those honored civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King. His birthday is in January.

Adrianna said she wants to learn more about Dr. King during Black History Month. The noted civil rights leader is on the list of African-Americans to be studied this month.

During the January discussions of important words, she had to define "leadership." Helping young girls learn how to be leaders is another Girls, Inc. goal. Adrianna already has decided she wants to be a medical doctor.

Ten-year-old Ann-Marie Coleman was one of the girls who helped in a doll-making project during earlier after-school sessions. "We made and packaged the dolls and sent them to Africa," she said.

A LINKS members, Audrey Jones, took some 50 home-made dolls on a recent trip to Africa. The dolls from St. Louis were distributed as gifts to young girls in Africa.

Dr. Queen Fowler is vice-president of the Gateway Chapter of LINKS. She also is the administrator for student support services for the St. Louis Public Schools.

She said LINKS members help Girls, Inc. after-school program in various ways. These include taking the girls in trips to the St. Louis Symphony and the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

LINKS members will be active in the Black History Month events at Girls, Inc. centers.

Velois Rausch is another LINKS volunteer. She is making a history booklet on the famous African-Americans the girls will study in February.

Each young girl will get her own copy of that booklet.

LINKS member Frances Whitfield was the leader of the January word-definition discussions. Those words will be explored further during the February sessions.

Besides studying important issues, the young girls also have fun after school.

Adrianna Bray said her favorite activities include dancing and singing.

Ann-Marie Coleman likes dancing and cheerleading. But, her favorite is art. She said her best picture was a drawing of a girl playing outside.

Tamika Valentine said she likes both dancing and art. She said she wants to be a middle-school teacher when she grows up.

 

How to join Girls, Inc.

As many as 15,000 local girls and young women take part in Girls, Inc., activities each year. The girls range in age from 4 to 18.

Girls, Inc. has three attendence centers. They are the Carter Center, 4746 Carter Ave.; Ohio Center, 2631 Ohio Ave. and Cathedral Center, 1210 Locust St.

The centers provide after-school programs Monday through Friday during the school year. Hours are 2 to 6 p.m. Summer programs are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

For information call:

* Administrative offices at the Carter Center, 4746 Carter Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63115. Phone: (314) 385-8088.

Membership dues are $25 per year.

 

Science

Can you remember something important from five years ago? How do you remember the smell of your favorite food? Where does your brain store these memories?

You may find some answers to these questions and others about memory this month at the Missouri History Museum. A fun "Memory" traveling exhibit opens on Sunday, Feb. 16, at the museum in Forest Park.

The Sunday opening is free. Hours are 2-4 p.m. The exhibit runs through April 27.

There will be all sorts of hands-on activities. And there's a special mini-exhibit that focuses specifically on memories about St. Louis and Missouri.

In one hands-on activity, a police sketch artist will test how well you can describe how your friend looks. Will your memory produce a recognizable sketch of your friend?

You can test your music memory in a "Name that Tune" contest. Winners get prizes.

You also get a chance to draw or write your personal memories on a large canvas wall. The graffiti-decorated wall will hang during the whole time the exhibit is in St. Louis.

The "Memory" exhibit will help you understand why you know what you know. You'll also see how personal memories shape history.

The Museum said, "Personal memories of people, places and events become shared memories and bind us together as St. Louisans." The same is true of shared memories that bind us together as the United States.

There's also quite a bit of science connected to this study of memory.

Saint Louis University is arranging a special video-conference for St. Louis school kids showing the dissection of a sheep's brain. That will help you understand where memories are stored in the brain.

SLU's Adventures in Medicine and Science program is planning the dissection show. Final details are being worked out now. Be sure to ask your science or history teacher if you and your classmates can watch the show.

Karen Montgomery is handling the broadcast. She can be contacted at (314) 535-4000.

Your brain has all sorts of memories and they're stored in different parts of the brain. There are automatic memories that tell your heat how to pump and lungs how to breath.

But, your memory of tomorrow's school lessons is in other parts of the brain. And your long-term memory of what the world is like is somewhere else.

Sometimes, the same memory can be stored in different places. So, if one part of your brain gets damaged, you'll still be able to remember and function.

The brain's role in memory has been a mystery for all of human history. This exhibit gives you a chance to find out the latest in the science and history of memory.

Many of the theories on memory are very complex. But, the hands-on part of this exhibit can be understood and enjoyed for kids and adults of all ages.

In the main exhibit, there's a "Jukebox Memories" display with music of the last 40 years. There's also a "tactile guessing" game that challenges you to recognize common household objects by feel only.

Then there's the "Hoop Nightmares" game that temporarily alters your body's memory of how to throw a ball and shoot a basket.

In the Missouri mini-exhibit, there are both displays and hands-on activities.

In the music category, there will be items from the St. Louis' musical present and past. You'll see artifacts from Nelly, the currently famous rap artist. There also are items from Gas Light Square, a famous jazz district years ago.

There's sports memorabilia from both the baseball Cardinals and football Rams. There will be a memorial for Jack Buck, the famed Cardinal broadcaster.

You can hear interviews with St. Louisans who took part in historic events. One interview is with a St. Louisan who survived the Pentagon attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

If you want advanced information about these exhibits, you can check two websites.

The San Francisco Emploratorum's website is at www.exploratorium.edu/memory. This is the organization that sponsors the traveling "Memory" exhibit.

You can get a motion picture preview of the sheep brain dissection.

The Missouri History Museum also has a website at www.mohistory.org. Information about the Memory exhibit is in the Upcoming Exhibitions section.

 

Reading

Sisters Jessica, Allison and Emily Kickham of Kirkwood are among hundreds of local kids taking part in an unusual, fun program. They are mixing distance running, book reading and doing good deeds.

The program is called the Read/Right/Run Marathon.

Since last October, each week St. Louis area kids have been running a mile, reading a book and doing a good deed for someone.

The Spirit of St. Louis Marathon is sponsoring Read/Right/Run. The program ends the first weekend of April with adult marathon races, kids races and family fitness events. (For more about the April 4-6 weekend, see sidebar below.)

Kids in Read/Right/Run are doing the marathon distance of 26.2 miles in small pieces. The young kids run just one mile week. By the April 4-6 weekend, the kids will have run 25 miles of the marathon distance.

They'll do the last 1.2 miles during Children's Fun Runs on Saturday, April 5.

In addition, the Read/Right/Run kids agree to read and do good deeds.

There are over 1,000 St. Louis area kids are participating in Read/Right/Run. Each kid keeps a written log of their reading, running and good works.

Kids and teachers at different participating schools have added extra touches.

Eleven-year-old Jessica, nine-year-old Allison and six-year-old Emily Kickham are among 140 Read/Right/Run kids at Keysor Elementary School in Kirkwood. The sisters do much of their running with their father, Tim, at the Kirkwood High School quarter-mile track.

Keysor kids have a special incentive to recruit more Read/Right/Run kids. Gym teacher Mandy Rose promised she'd shave her head if 150 Keysor kids complete the program.

At Cote Brilliante Elementary School in the city of St. Louis, 100 kids are involved. Their best runner has been nine-year-old Kimani Bush. He's been doing some of his running in the school gym, at home or in nearby Forest Park.

At that school, kids and teachers are planning a "Spirit Day" on their playground to celebrate the end of Read/Right/Run.

Twelve-year-old Nick Cooley and 13-year-old William Pisoni have been the best runners at Margaret Buerkle Middle School in south St. Louis County.

In their case, they get good advice from gym teacher Becky Kirchhoffer. She heads the school's Read/Right/Run because she's already run in two Chicago Marathon races.

Kirchhoffer started the kids out running one mile a week. But, about midway through the 25-week program, she had them run two miles at one time. Kirchhoffer added, "Toward the end, we'll run three miles to get in shape for the final races."

Also, Nick does some of his running with his mother after school. William sometimes uses his mother's treadmill to get in his mile. .

But, running is only part of the fun of Read/Right/Run.

For Jessica Kickham, reading is her favorite subject in school. Her favorite book is the fourth in the Harry Potter series. Also, one of her good deeds is reading books to her sister, Emily, who is a kindergartener.

Allison said one of her good deeds was to give Jessica one of her wrist guards for rollerblading. Her older sister had lost hers.

Emily said, "I'm making a surprise for Jessica even though it's not near her birthday."

Kimani Bush said one of his good deeds was helping a boy who fell off his bike. "I helped him back on the bike and then steadied it when he started to ride again," he said.

He said his favorite book so far is "The 12 Fair Kingdoms." He said it was about a slave who ran away to another country. The former slave got a job, earned money and bought a house for his family.

"He ends up having kids and living happily ever after," Kimani said.

Seventh-graders Nick Cooley and William Pisoni are getting double credit for their good deeds. Both are in the Boy Scouts. Nick explained, "We do a lot of service projects."

Nick said the best books he's read during the program are "Catch 22" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

For William, he liked "Animal Farm." He said, "When I read it, I didn't understand what it was about. But, then I looked it up on a website and found that it was about communism." For more information about Read/Right/Run and other running information, see the St. Louis Marathon's website at www.stlouismarathon.com.

 

Family Fitness Weekend in Forest Park

The 2003 USA Women's Marathon Championships will highlight a full weekend of running events April 3-6. Most public events will be Saturday and Sunday.

Events on Saturday, April 5:

• 2003 USA Women's Marathon Championship
  The run starts at 7 a.m. at Washington University's Francis Field and ends at the
  World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park.
  
  
• 5K Run/Walk
  This run finishes the Read/Right/Run program for middle school kids. This run
  starts at 10:30 a.m. from the World's Fair Pavilion.
  
  
• Children's Fun Runs
  The runs start at 11:45 a.m. from the World's Fair Pavilion.
  
  
• Health and Fitness Expo
  This will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Events on Sunday, April 6:

• Fitness Events
  From 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Soldiers Memorial at 13th and Chestnut downtown.
  
  
• Spirit of St. Louis Marathon and Half Marathon
  Walkers start at 6:30 a.m., wheelchairs at 7:25 a.m. and runners at 7:30 a.m.
  
  
• Marathon Relay
  This starts at 7:40 a.m.
  
  
• Read, Right and Run Marathon
  This 1.2 mile run is the finish of the Read/Right/Run program for elementary kids.

 

Health

End of Cold War helps
knowledge of kids' asthma

In 1990, East and West Germany were unified. That historic event played a part in helping doctors understand more about kids' allergies such as asthma.

It's hard to believe the end of the Cold War between Russia and the U.S. would help doctors change their ideas about kids' allergies. But, it did.

Here's how it worked, according to Dr. Robert Strunk at St. Louis Children's Hospital. He works in the hospital's allergy and pulmonary department. He also is a professor of pediatrics at Washington University's School of Medicine.

He said, "When East and West Germany were united, doctors felt that provided a good chance to study differences in incidence of asthma and other allergies."

He said the doctors expected to find more asthma in East Germany. There the air was dirtier and people were poor with worse housing. In more prosperous West Germany, the air was cleaner, the housing better and people were more prosperous.

"We found out exactly the opposite," he said.

Doctors now believe early exposure to germs can actually help a kid's maturing immune system. This allows the kid's own body to better protect itself against future allergies.

That original German study results were tested again on kids from Russia and Finland. Another study involved poor Arab and richer Jewish kids in Israel.

Earlier this year, the New England Journal of Medicine reported another study involving farm kids in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Dr. Strunk said farm kids in Europe live much closer to animals than American farm kids do. "In America. the barns where the animals live usually are far from the farm houses," he said.

But, on European farms, the animals may even live on the first floor of a farm house and the family on the second floor. When animals are close, it's likely kids will come in contact with animal waste.

"There's a lot of bacteria in animal poop. And the walls of dead bacteria contain endotoxins that aggravate allergies. These endotoxins become a part of farm dust," he said.

Other studies have involved kids in homes that had "lots of dogs and cats as pets." Their health is compared to kids from homes with no pets. Dr. Strunk said all studies came out the same. Where the living conditions were dirtier, kids have less allergies.

"For allergies, cleaner is worse," he said.

Doctors have known that dust and dirt can aggravate existing allergies. So, they thought kids would be more susceptible to allergies if exposed to dirt, dust and pet hair in their homes and communities.

But, Dr. Strunk said, "Common sense doesn't always work out."

He said allergy doctors now believe exposure to bacteria and germs when kids are small actually can keep allergies from developing. That's because early exposure can help the baby develop immunity to disease and certain allergies.

But, this new knowledge makes it harder for children doctors to know what advice to give to parents with young kids.

Dr. Strunk has joined with fellow allergist, Dr. Leonard Bacharier. to write an article about kids and pets. It will be published later this year in the Pediatrics journal.

The article suggests "it makes a difference if a child is born into a home with lots of pets or into one with no pets," Strunk said. All studies show a lower rate of asthma in kids where there are pets.

"There is no compelling reason to get rid of pets if they are already in the home," he said.

However, he adds some kids in homes with pets will develop asthma. It's just that the rate of asthma cases is less in homes with pets than those without pets.

He admits that leaves parents with a dilemma concerning their kids and pets.

But, with the new knowledge, parents will know that it isn't automatic that the cleaner the home the less chance of allergies. In fact, it might be that a dirtier home is actually better for their kids.

St. Louis Children's Hospital is one of the nation's leading hospitals for kids' medical treatment as well as research into children's illnesses.

 

Books

This month's book reviews

A story of the heroic sea rescues performed
by black "surfmen" of the 1890's

Nathan Williams lived with his father and grandfather in an old cabin on Pea Island on the coast of North Carolina. The island also was the location of the Pea Island Life-Saving Station. The station was the site of a rescue team whose purpose was to save people from shipwrecks. Numerous ships ran aground on the reefs of the dangerous coastal waterways of this part of the Atlantic Ocean. Heavy winds and cold, with occasional hurricanes, added to the isolation and rough living conditions on the island.

The Williams supported themselves by fishing from a small boat. They were friendly with the rescue team members and often helped them with rescue attempts when ships ran aground in bad weather. Nathan thought he wanted to be a rescue team member more than anything in the world. He couldn't understand why his father disapproved of his ambition. What Nathan didn't fully understand at first was that this one rescue station was the only one manned by black men. All of the rest of the rescue service locations were for white men only. When men left their jobs at the Pea Island station, vacancies were filled by relatives - sons, cousins, and nephews. Nathan really did not stand much of a chance of ever getting into the rescue service.

Just because the slaves had been freed in the Civil War didn't mean that racial prejudice had been done away with, even thirty years or more after the war. In fact, a few years earlier, Nathan's family had been run off their little farm by Ku Klux Klan terrorism. His father and grandfather had turned to fishing, rather then farming, to support themselves.

Nathan taught himself, with the help of one of the rescue team members, to be good at providing emergency treatment for accident victims. He had the ability to stay calm in the face of injuries and the sight of blood, and he could treat wounds and broken bones. This skill was called on several times in the story. Nathan had demonstrated he had the makings of a hero on more than one occasion. Still, Nathan realized he could never be a rescue team member. Would he have to spend his life as a fisherman like his father? What other option was open for a young black male? This exciting story ends with a surprising choice of a future for Nathan.

 

A girl loves a dog but, sadly, he belongs
to the mean owner of the junkyard

Katie lives with her mom and her new stepfather in a bad part of town. On the way to school every day, she walks past the junkyard. The yard has a high chain-link fence around it and signs that say KEEP OUT and BEWARE OF DOG. Inside is a medium-sized, muddy-brown colored dog. Some of the neighborhood boys like to throw rocks at the dog. But Katie can see that the dog isn't mean, but really just scared and miserable. Katie decides to try to make life better for the poor animal.

Katie had lived alone with her mother most of her life in a one bedroom apartment. When her mother married Jim O'Grady, a construction worker, Katie felt left out of her mother's life. The three of them were really crowded in the small apartment. Katie had a hard time communicating with her stepfather. He seemed kind of rough, and Katie didn't know what to talk about with him. With a new husband, by the time she got home from work, Katie's mom didn't have time anymore to talk to Katie. So the junkyard dog became Katie's best friend.

Winter was coming. The dog wasn't getting enough to eat. He had no place to get in out of the rain and snow. What could Katie do to help the poor animal that was the only one who seemed to listen to her when she talked about her troubles? What would her mom and Jim O'Grady do when they found out she was spending her tiny little allowance on dog food? Why was Katie's mother so upset when her new husband started working two jobs and seemed only to come home to sleep? Could the small family stay together and someday live in a real house with a yard?

How the lonely junkyard dog plays a part in helping Katie overcome her own loneliness and become part of a real family is what this story is all about.

 

It's hard to write a journal when
your life as a teenager is absolute chaos

The Finney family is made up of Sam, the father, Sally, the mother, and four children, Maggie, age seventeen, Mary Lou, age thirteen, Dennis, age twelve, and Dougie, age eight. Mary Lou has been told to keep a journal during the summer and have it ready for her new English teacher when school starts in the fall. With her being the younger of two sisters and having two younger brothers, Mary Lou's life is practically guaranteed to be chaos. With all that confusion already in her life, who really needs to keep a journal, whatever that is!

What Mary Lou had expected to be another boring summer turns out to be a summer filled with one unexpected surprise after another. Her best friend, Beth Ann, becomes boy crazy like some of the other girls at school. The girls form a secret club and Mary Lou finds out that she is not being asked to join. A neighbor, an apparently healthy middle aged man, dies suddenly and leaves behind a grieving widow. Carl Ray, her cousin from the country, comes to stay with them while he looks for a job. Some unknown person gives Carl Ray a large amount of money. Carl Ray gives the grieving widow a ring that he had been given by his father from back in the country.

Carl Ray comes up with a girlfriend, who turns out to be Mary Beth! Alex Cheevey, a pink-faced boy who had always been around, starts to hang around with Mary Lou, and, all of a sudden, she finds that Alex is really an attractive guy. When the other girls realize that Mary Lou has Alex as a boyfriend, she is asked to join the secret club. And now Mary Lou doesn't want to belong to that club. Oh, it's all so confusing! Is this the kind of stuff you can put in a journal and let other people, especially your new English teacher, read?

You now have a pretty good idea of what goes on in "Absolutely Normal Chaos." If you would like to try to untangle all this along with Mary Lou Finney, you should consider reading the book (oh, or "journal").

 

Harmless modern-day wizards and witches
have to deal with an evil wizard's creation

"The Beast Under the Wizard's Bridge" is the eighth title in a series of paperback books about witches and wizards, called the Lewis Barnavelt Mysteries. Lewis is a seemingly normal boy who lost his parents when he was quite young. His Uncle Jonathan has taken on the responsibility of raising Lewis. It just happens that Uncle Jonathan is a wizard and his next door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, is a witch. In the small Maine community there is a club for witches and wizards that Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmermann belong to. Lewis and his best friend, Rose Rita Pottinger, aren't magical themselves, but their relatives and friendly neighbors who do possess magical powers make life very interesting for them.

Early in the book, Lewis finds out that a metal bridge close to town is going to be torn down and replaced with a more modern one. For some reason, his Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmermann seem quite worried about the old bridge. Lewis hears enough of their talk that he becomes overly anxious himself. He can't sleep at night because he has this feeling that something is wrong. His friend, Rose Rita Pottinger, is much more adventuresome than Lewis, and she suggests that the two of them do some investigating on their own. After all, the adults won't talk to the kids and tell them what the problem is.

Lewis and Rose Rita start investigating strange happenings that occurred in the town's past. They found out that the old bridge seems to have been built many years before, after some kind of meteor landed in the vicinity. The bridge is the thing that keeps some kind of horrible monster from getting loose and destroying the countryside.

The two kids get in a number of scary situations while trying to solve the mystery. They really get scared when they find out that Uncle Jonathan's and Mrs. Zimmermann's magic spells can only make the monster grow bigger and stronger. It looks like the town and, possibly, the whole state of Maine could be wiped out!

 

Mentor

Clark Elementary kids get mentoring help

Fourth-graders Indigo Mims and Kevin Townson hope to meet new people and learn new things from their high school mentors.

ROTC students from Soldan International High School will provide the mentoring in special, once-a-month programs. They will work with fourth graders from Clark Accelerated Elementary School. The two schools are across the street from each other on Union Blvd. in the city.

This is the first Leadership Education Achievement Partnership (LEAP) mentoring program in St. Louis city schools.

The International Leadership Network (ILN) started LEAP mentoring in the Rockwood School District in 1998. ILN is the organization that also runs the Young Achievers program.

Young Achievers are elementary, middle and high school students who get special recognition for community service. (Young Saint Louis.com completed a series of eight profiles on 2002 Young Achievers. The stories ran from June, 2002, to January, 2003.)

Soldan senior Erica Nicole Williams is the leader of the Soldan ROTC students. She said the high school students want to be "big brothers and big sisters" to the Clark kids.

"We want them to be able to come to us for help," she said.

At their regular meetings, Soldan kids will have a different theme each month. Erica said they will work with the Clark kids on subjects "such as self-respect, self-control, responsibility and trust."

Soldan's Air Force Junior ROTC students will fit that role well. Junior Guankita Morris is in her third year of ROTC. She said her high school training has taught her "discipline, leadership and responsibility."

Erica said the LEAP mentoring isn't an academic program. But, some of the Clark kids are hoping they will get some help with homework.

Nine-year-old Indigo Mims wants to meet new people but she also wants help with her spelling and math. Ten-year-old Kevin Townson said he's already good at math but needs help with social studies.

Ten-year-old Aaron Romas also wants help with social studies. He said he wants to know more about "the presidents and about civil rights."

He said he's doing well in science and math. "I got 99 in my last science test and 92 in my last math test," he said.

Soldan junior Matthew Sheftel said he hopes to "help out the younger kids and teach them things about life." He said he had an older sister to help him learn things when he was younger.

"I want to help the kids learn what to expect from life. Also, they need to know they have to work hard to reach their goals," he said.

The younger kids already have some lofty goals for their lives. Indigo has a lot of career goals, from being an astronaut to being a doctor and a writer.

Kevin wants to be a "games engineer," writing programs for PlayStation2 games. Aaron hopes to go to the Harvard Law School. He said, "Maybe the high school kids can help me plan for that."

The Soldan kids may well have some career advice since they are planning for college right now.

Erica said her leadership in the mentoring program is helping prepare her for her chosen field. She wants to be an elementary school teacher. As for college, she's looking at Missouri Baptist, Southeast Missouri State or University of Missouri-Columbia.

Matthew plans to be an architect. He wants to go to either MIT or "some college overseas." He said he especially likes German and French architecture because their styles are "more extravagant and experimental."

Guankita said, "I've always wanted to be a doctor." She's now focusing on becoming a pediatrician. She said she'd like to go to the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The Soldan-Clark mentoring program will involve about 30 high school students working with 20 fourth-graders from Clark.

Erica said the monthly meetings will be divided into four parts. First, there will be an "icebreaker" activity at the beginning to get everyone involved. Then, there will be a teaching activity built around the theme of the month.

The older and younger kids then will have sharing time. The meeting will close with refreshments.

Erica said, "This isn't a neighborhood that is overflowing with good role models for younger kids. Maybe we can help."

The mentoring program kicked off in January with a pizza party. That event also was a birthday party for I.E. Millstone, a 96-year-old Soldan graduate. His Millstone Foundation is helping to finance the LEAP mentoring.

 

Outdoors

Junior volunteers help at
World Bird Sanctuary

Miranda, Joseph and Emily Hoffmann are getting an early start at helping care for exotic wild birds and animals. They are junior volunteers at the World Bird Sanctuary.

(For more about birds, check the Bird Trivia game in Fun/Games section.)

Eight-year-old Miranda and five-year-old twins Joseph and Emily are children of Joe Hoffmann. Because their dad is the sanctuary manager, the Hoffmann kids are volunteering earlier than other kids.

But, they aren't the only youngsters helping at the sanctuary. Youth volunteers assist in caring for sanctuary's exotic birds, tortoises and snakes. They also help the staff put on wildlife shows at schools and zoos.

Miranda said she's posed with snakes, lizards and even a tarantula spider.

Last summer, Emily sang "God Bless America" at the start of a bird show. There were over 100 people in the audience. All three are regular helpers at shows.

They and other youth volunteers help prepare food for the birds. Miranda said they chop up fruits and salads for the birds.

The young volunteers also clean the birds' living quarters and bring them fresh water. Emily said, "You pour dirty water in a slop bucket and put in clean water."

The younger volunteers can't interact with birds of prey such as eagles, ravens, vultures. However, they can feed the chickens and other smaller birds.

If you'd like to be a youth volunteer, you can check out the sanctuary's website at www.worldbirdsanctuary.org. Or you can call for information at (636) 225-4390.

Regular youth volunteers start at 13 years of age. Volunteers must be 16 years old before they can interact with the raptors, or birds of prey.

The Hoffmann kids like to talk to the birds. Joseph said he can imitate the hoot of an owl and the howl of a coyote. But, the imitation that gets the biggest response in the sanctuary building is the call to the kookaburra.

That's a small bird from Australia. It may be small but its call is big--really big. When Joseph made that call, everyone covered their ears when the kookaburra answered.

Most of the birds at the sanctuary have names.

The Hoffmann kids call all Great Blue Herons by the name of George.

Miranda made up the name George when she and her dad were on a Current River camping trip. Miranda was just five at the time. They saw a lot of blue herons on that trip.

The sanctuary's barred owl is named Ibo. The kids believe he recognizes his name when they call.

Emily likes to keep company with a pheasant at the sanctuary. She sits with him and often puts some of the pheasant food in her pocket to remind her of the bird.

The kids also know lots of things about the birds. Some stuff is really gross.

When it comes to being gross, the bird that comes to their minds is the vulture.

Father Joe has created a vulture song that the kids sing at school shows. It's one of 15 bird songs Joe has written to be used during school and zoo shows.

One line in the vulture song tells how they protect themselves from their enemies. When faced with danger, the vulture vomits in the predator's face. He also cools himself in the hot weather by peeing on his own legs.

When working with the chickens, the kids not only get to feed them but they collect the eggs. One breed of South American chickens at the sanctuary lays green-shelled eggs, just like the title of Dr. Seuss' book, "Green Eggs and Ham."

The kids also can work with Runner Ducks, a bird from India. These ducks stand up very straight when they walk and run.

The World Bird Sanctuary was started in 1977 by Walter C. Crawford Jr. of St. Louis. He's still the director.

Crawford formerly worked at the St. Louis Zoo. He was encouraged to start the sanctuary by Marlin Perkins, who was then the Zoo director. Perkins became world-famous with his wildlife series that ran on television for years.

The sanctuary helps to rehabilitate wild birds who have been wounded or hurt. It also breeds rare exotic birds. The sanctuary's education department puts on public shows.

One other sanctuary activity is very unusual.

They are hired by airports around the world. The staff brings their birds of prey to chase away native birds nesting near the runways. If birds are sucked into the jet engines, they can cause the planes to crash.

Joe Hoffmann said, "If we put a falcon or hawk in the air, the other birds leave....fast."

 

A total of 104 kids took part in last fall's youth-only deer hunt at two local outdoor recreation areas. Nearly one of every four youth hunters was successful.

The youth-only hunts were held at the Busch and Weldon Spring outdoor areas. A total of 25 deer were killed (15 at the Busch area and 10 at Weldon Spring.)

Three of 25 deer were killed by girl hunters.

Lia Bollman is a wildlife biologist at the Busch recreation area. She kept track of the number of kids who participated and the number of deer killed.

Bollman said 87 boys and 17 girls took part in the Busch and Weldon Spring hunts. The boys killed 22 of the deer and the girls the other three.

That represents a success rate of 24%, Bollman said.

Last October, Young Saint Louis.com did an advance story about some of the local kids who won lottery spots for the deer hunt. (To read that story, just click here.)

In addition to the Busch and Weldon Spring hunts, the conservation department conducts other youth-only hunting events statewide. Missouri hunters 15 and under bagged 7,580 deer in the second annual statewide hunt during the Nov. 2-3, 2002, firearm season.

In October, 2002, a total of 14,487 turkeys were bagged in a statewide youth-only hunt.

The state conservation department has a lot of other activities for St. Louis area youth. To find out more, visit its website at www.conservation.state.mo.us/areas/stlouis.

 

Lifestyle

Eighth grader Evann Jones hadn't known that electrical energy came from coal. Classmate Alex Phillips didn't realize how much energy could be saved just by turning off a computer when not in use.

Jones and Phillips were among kids who last month finished an energy survey at their school. They're all students at Brittany Woods Middle School in University City.

The survey was called a School Energy Efficiency Development (SEED) project.

The kid-conducted project parallels a similar study of UCity schools by a professional company. Both studies seek to measure energy efficiency in school buildings and systems.

The studies also include a survey of personal "comfort levels" in the schools. And both studies were supposed to make recommendations on better energy use.

Evann Jones said she found studying the way electricity was created by burning coal "very interesting." One part of the SEED project helped kids understand how raw materials are converted into energy for lighting and heat.

Evann was on an audit team that checked each room for waste of heat and energy. She and others used a "flicker checker" to test efficiency of classroom lighting fixtures.

They also had a "draft checker" to measure air leakage around windows. The "draft checker" wasn't exactly high-tech. It was a ruler with a Kleenex tacked to the edge. If the window leaked air, the Kleenex would flutter.

Alex Phillips said "draft checkers" worked well and most school windows were airtight.

Phillips said he was surprised "by how much energy could be saved if you just turn things off after using them." He said, even before the study, he usually turned off lights at home when leaving a room.

But, he said the report confirmed that energy loss by lights and computers is "extreme."

Rebecca Eissenberg and Robert Johnson were on the team that checked out the school's boiler room. That's where the furnace and boiler create heat to warm the classrooms.

Robert said, for him, the boiler room visit was the most interesting part of the study. "I'd never seen a boiler room before," he said. And he hadn't known there was a big heating-pipe tunnel under the school.

"It's big enough to walk in except that it's so hot with all the heating pipes," he said.

Rebecca said the final SEED report indicated their school wasn't very energy efficient. While windows were fairly airtight, the outside doors of the school let out a lot of heat.

She also said she'd like to do another study in the summer. That would check energy efficiency in hot weather.

Another of the students, Erin Horth, said many teachers didn't recognize the energy savings if classroom window shades were used properly. "Teachers who keep the shades up all the time or down all the time defeat the purpose of the shades," she said.

She said window shades should be up on sunny days so artificial indoor lighting won't be needed as much.

Bill Berlin was on a study team that checked the utility bills at the school. He said he was surprised the bills seemed to be higher in the summer when fewer students were in class.

He said the "bill monitoring" team didn't find out what caused that situation.

Eighth grade advanced science students did the classroom energy inventory and studied energy costs. They also learned how the energy systems worked with the boiler-room tour.

The final part of the SEED study was done by seventh graders. They were students from the Brittany Woods' Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) program.

These kids talked to all teachers to find out the "comfort level" in their rooms. The students also checked on "hot" or "cold" spots in each room.

At the end of the SEED study, kids reported to the school principal and representatives of the school district. They also will give reports during the UCity's all-school Celebration of Learning in March.

If you'd like to learn about energy and conservation programs such as SEED, ask your teacher to contact Glenda Abney. She's the program manager of the Gateway Center for Resource Efficiency. That's a department of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Her number is (314) 577-0288. Her e-mail address is glenda.abney@mobot.org.

 

St. Louis History

This month in St. Louis history...

New local book about St. Louis history

Local historian Joe Sonderman has published a new book about St. Louis' past. It is titled, "St. Louis 365."

The book contains hundreds of short news items, arranged by month and day. Some items are significant but Sonderman also likes to include off-beat, quirky items.

Sonderman has given Young Saint Louis.com permission to list selected items in This Month in St. Louis History. We will carry additional items in upcoming months. .

If you'd like to have a copy of the book, it's on sale at all major St. Louis book stores. You also can purchase it on-line at www.booksonline.com

From Sonderman's February listings in "St. Louis 365.":

Feb. 2, 1876: St. Louis was among the eight teams to sign on as the National Baseball League was founded. The other seven cities were Boston, Chicago, New York, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Louisville (Ky.) and Hartford (Conn.).

Feb. 3, 1934: The Cardinals and the Browns announced they were dis-continuing radio broadcasts from Sportsman's Park. Games had been broadcast on weekdays only since 1926. The owners of the clubs thought the broadcasts were keeping fans away from the games.

Feb. 8, 1853: The Missouri Legislature passed an act incorporating the "Kirkwood Association." Real estate agents Hiram Leffingwell and Richard S. Elliott wanted to promote a suburb along the proposed Pacific Railroad. They hoped to promote their development as an escape from the noise and disease of the city. Kirkwood is the first planned suburban community in the United States.

Feb. 13, 1959: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration signed a contract with McDonnell Aircraft for the design and construction of the orbital Mercury spacecraft. The "Freedom Seven" Mercury capsule carried Alan Shephard on American's first manned space flight.

Feb. 22, 1918: Robert Pershing Wadlow, "The Alton Giant," was born. The world's tallest man was eight-feet, 11-inches tall when he died in 1940. The cause of death was an infection caused by a poorly fitted leg brace.

Feb. 25, 1922: The (St. Louis) Globe reported that St. Louis-built autos were the hit of the 1922 auto show here. The "Dorris," "Moon," "Gardner," St. Louis" and "Stanwood" were all built in St. Louis. Trucks manufactured here included the "Eagle," Luedinghaus," "Power" and the "Traffic."

These are a sample of the 148 historical items listed just for February. There are similar numbers of items in the other 11 months of the year. YSL.com will cite a few of them each month during 2003.

 

In Missouri's early days, the state didn't have much luck with its state capitol buildings. In February, 1911, fire destroyed the capitol in Jefferson City.

A bolt of lightning that hit the building started the fire. The capitol building was burned to the ground.

That was the second time an early capitol building was destroyed by fire. The earlier blaze happened in 1837.

You can learn more facts and trivia about Missouri history by logging on to: www.50states.com/facts/mo.htm.

On February 1, 1902, famed African-American poet and writer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Mo.

Hughes' family moved often and he ended up in New York City in the 1920s. His fame got a big boost when he slipped copies of three of his poems into the briefcase of noted literary critic Vachel Lindsay.

Lindsay gave those hastily written poems an enthusiastic public reading. In those days, poetry reading sessions were an important form of entertainment.

You can learn more about his life by going to the Library and Congress website. The address is: memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb01.html

 

Things To Do

Places to go, Things to do...

Museum has neat Black History
events in February

The Missouri History Museum has two neat events that fit right into the Black History Month theme in February. Admission is free to both events.

Storyteller Janice Katambwa will open the Sunday, Feb. 9, program by telling her stories in words, song and dance. She goes on stage at 2 p.m.

Then, at 3 p.m., the St. Louis Black Repertory Company will perform an adaptation of the "Adventures of Brer Rabbit." These folk tales are based on Joel Chandler Harris' "The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus."

The presentation will include Brer Rabbit sneaking into Mr. Man's garden, persuading Brer Wolf to be burned in a hollow log and kicking Brer Fox's Tar Baby.

The performances will be in the museum's Grand Hall in Forest Park.

Then, two weeks later, on Sunday, Feb. 23, the St. Louis African Chorus will perform. The program will include traditional and contemporary African-American spiritual, gospel and Caribbean folk songs.

The local chorus includes singers, musicians, drummers and dancers.

Musical presentations by the chorus have become an annual event at the museum. Their performances give the audience not only the sound of the folk music but the sights as well.

This event also will be in the museum's Grand Hall, beginning at 2:30 p.m.

If you want to learn more about this and other activities at the Museum, you can click on to: www.mohistory.org. There are lots of things that will interest your whole family.

 

Fun with owls, maple syrup and nature films

The Missouri Department of Conservation has a bunch of interesting activities for kids and families in February. Some are outdoors; others are indoors about outdoor things.

One of the outdoor favorites is Maple Sugar Days at the Rockwoods Reservation. This family program will be held twice during February, on Friday, Feb. 14, and again on Saturday, Feb. 22.

Of course, February is the month when the sap flows inside Missouri maple trees. These programs give kids a chance to tap trees and collect the sap. They'll see how it's boiled to concentrate the sugar to make maple syrup. Then, it's tasting time.

The Friday program is from 2-3:30 p.m. Reservations started Jan. 31. The Saturday program runs from 10-11:30 a.m. Reservations start on Feb. 7.

For Maple Sugar Days information, call (636) 458-2236.

There will be two programs on owls in February.

The first is Saturday, Feb. 15, from 10-11 a.m. at the Busch Conservation Area in St. Charles County. This program will feature a look at the Sweetheart Owl, a Missouri native. This is an owl that hisses, instead of hoots.

Reservations began Jan. 31. For information, call (636) 441-4554.

The second owl program is an Owl Prowl, sponsored by the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center in Kirkwood. The Prowl will be Friday, Feb. 21, from 7-9 p.m.

Be sure to dress warm for the outdoors. Reservations open Feb. 7. For information, call (636) 458-2236.

The Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center also has a series of nature films every Saturday and Sunday in February. These films are free.

The February schedule:

• Feb. 1-2: "I Dig Fossils," "Eyewitness: Dinosaur" and "Triumph of Life: The Four Billion Year War," a study about genes.
• Feb. 8-9: "Eyewitness: Rock and Mineral," "Eyewitness: Life" and "Birding and Backyard Wildlife."
• Feb. 15-16: "See How They Grow: Forest Animals," "Baby Birds" and "Triumph of Life: The Mating Game."
• Feb. 22-23: "Critter Rock," "Special Report: You Can Make a Difference," "Just Kiddin' Around #5," "Forest: More Than Trees" and "Watchable Wildlife."

For information on specific film times, call (314) 301-1500. A number of these films are closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

 

Art Museum's Family Sunday
programs go weekly

The St. Louis Art Museum has increased the frequency of its popular Family Sunday programs. The event will now be held every Sunday afternoon.

February events will be from 2-4 p.m. on Sundays, Feb. 2, 9, 16 and 23. Admission is free.

A new theme is planned for each month. Work of African-American printmaker Dox Thrash is featured this month. That fits well since February is Black History Month.

About 60 prints by the artist are on display at the Museum. The show began on Jan. 17 and runs through April 13.

Kids and their families will be able to see the show free of charge on Sundays. They also will see a special demonstration of printmaking. Then, you can create your own prints using textured plates.

Thrash (1893-1965) was a member of the U.S. Army's 92nd Division "Buffalo Soldiers." That was an all-black unit in World War I.

The prints on display at the Museum were done by Thrash while he worked for the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). That program put Americans back to work after they lost their regular jobs in the Great Depression.

While at a WPA Fine Print Workshop in the 1930s, Thrash helped develop a new type of printmaking. He used abrasives to rough up copper printing plates and then smoothed some of the rough edges. This gave his prints a range of soft tones not possible with unscarred printing plates.

You can get more information about museum events by logging on to www.slam.org. To find out about future Family Sunday events, click on to What's Hot.

 

Learning Labs start in February

Kids who like fun learning experiences should check out the Gifted Resource Council's Learning Labs. The winter programs run for six consecutive Saturdays, starting Feb. 8.

Among the subjects are:

• Chemistry for Kicks. Third and fourth graders learn all about chemical reactions. You'll get to make things that glow and to recreate photosynthesis in a test tube.
  
  
• Geologic Time Travel: Fourth and fifth graders travel back in time 4.5 billion years. At that time, the sun was a young star and the earth was a bunch of junk spinning around it.
  
  
• Web Speed Ahead: Sixth to eighth graders learn how to create web pages. They also learn to add hyperlinks and graphics.

There are many other subjects available.

Tuition for the six-class series is $90. Some partial scholarships are available.

For information, call (314) 962-5920.

 

Math Puzzler

February Math Puzzlers have variety

Mr. Math Puzzler has thrown a little bit of everything into his February puzzlers. There are snow shovels, a delivery cart, a knight and even a visual problem.

Some of the questions look simple and could be hard. Some look hard but could be simple.

But, unlike last month, each of the Math Puzzlers are separate. Remember, in January, there were two questions with the same characters. And part of the math from one question figured in the answer for the next.

In January, there were six kids who got all the Puzzlers correct. (For a listing of the winners as well as a look at the January answers, click here.)

Young Saint Louis.com likes it when kids who enter the Math Puzzler competition get the correct answers. We get to list the winners the following month. We also give out up to three $10 Borders gift certificates as an extra bonus.

Before you try the February questions below, you might check the past questions and answers. That way, you'll learn how Mr. Math Puzzler thinks.

YSL.com started the Math Puzzlers in September, 2001. To check past questions, go to the Past Stories tab at the top of the home page. Click on any month since September, 2001, and you first can check questions and then the answers. (The answers to one month's questions are available in the next month's edition.)

Now, you should be ready for the February contest.

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:

1. Print out the following entry form.
2. Fill out your name, address and telephone number.
3. Give your answers to the six Math Puzzlers.
4. Put your completed entry into a stamped envelope.
5. Mail your entry to:
   
   Math Puzzler Contest
   Young Saint Louis.com
   231 So. Bemiston Ave., Suite 800 (This is a new address)
   Clayton, MO 63105
   
   
6. All entries must be postmarked by the 15th of the month to be eligible.

-------------Clip here to make entry-------------

Entry for February, 2003, Math Puzzler Contest:

Name: _______________________________ Age: _______

Address: __________________ School: ________________

City:____________________, State:______ ZIP__________

Contact phone no.(____)____________________

The Math Puzzlers
(February, 2003)

1. Which of the following is the odd word out? The difference has nothing to do with letters or syllables.

cube     square     pyramid     sphere

Answer:_______________

 

2. The store owner didn't want to be left with any snow shovels after winter. A shovel that originally cost $40 was reduced by 20% on January 1. On February 1, he reduced the price 50%. What is the present price of a snow shovel?

Answer:_____________

 

3. Every day a cart is sent from a village to meet a barge at the river dock. One day, the barge arrived early and the cargo normally picked up by the cart was immediately sent toward the village by horse. The cart driver left the village at the usual time and met the rider along the way, after the rider had traveled for 8 minutes. The rider handed the load to the cart driver, who went back to the village, arriving home 24 minutes earlier than usual. How many minutes early was the barge? (Be careful.)

Answer:_____________

 

4. A knight has ridden one-third the total distance of his trip when his horse becomes lame. He finished the journey on foot, spending twenty times as long walking as he had spent riding. How many times faster was his riding speed than his walking speed? (Hints: Draw a diagram. Put in some values to test your theory.)

Answer:______________

 

5. "How old are you, Professor Smith?" asked one of his brighter students.
     The professor answered with a riddle, "I am three times my son's age, and my father's age is four years more than twice my age. Together the three of us are a mere 124 years old."
     How old is Professor Smith?

Answer:______________

 

6. Can you uncover the logic used to place each of the numbers below? If so, what number should be placed at the question mark?

Answer:______________

 

 

St. Gabriel kids clean up in January

There were six kids who got all of January's Math Puzzlers correct. Five were from St. Gabriel Catholic School in south St. Louis.

And several kids who entered also found out there was more than one way to answer Question 3. That's the one that asked you to rearrange numbers around a triangle so the three numbers on each side all equaled the same total.

Depending on how you arranged the numbers, the legs would be equal at 9, 10, 11 or 12.

We are getting some repeat winners in the Math Puzzlers. That means you're starting to think like Mr. Math Puzzler. He's math teacher Wayne Hesse from Green Park Lutheran School in south St. Louis County.

The five St. Gabriel winners in January included one girl who didn't want her name listed. The other four were Dominic DeVasto, Amy Lang, Leslie Hlavaty and Angela Mazzuce.

The only non-Gabriel winner was Tim Hakenewerth of Immaculate Conception School in Old Monroe, Mo.

We put the six winning entries into a hat and drew out three to get the $10 Borders gift certificates. The three were Leslie Hlavaty and Angela Mazzuce and the unnamed winner.

Young Saint Louis.com likes it when Math Puzzler entrants get all answers correct. We also like to award the Borders gift certificates as an extra bonus.

After you read the answers to January questions, you'll want to enter the February competition. (To see the February questions, click here.)

When you enter the February contest, remember to get your entries in the mail before the 15th of the month. That's the deadline for entries. Again in January, we had entries come in after the deadline. They couldn't be considered.

One of those who entered late in January was a past winner.

Math Puzzler answers for January, 2003

1. While you are raiding your refrigerator, you look behind the stove and discover a slice of bread that you misplaced several weeks ago. Needless to say, it is covered with mold. Since the mold started growing, the area it has covered has doubled each day. By the end of the eighth day, the entire surface of the bread was covered. When was the bread half-covered with mold?

Answer: End of 7th day

The explanation: This answer comes up almost before you start figuring. If the mold doubles each day, the way to get the answer is to start backwards from Day 8. By dividing 100% by 2, you find the bread was half covered on Day 7. Of course, that's the answer.

 

2. Suppose you have a three-wheeled car with one spare tire. You rotate tires regularly enough that each tire gets equal usage over a 50,000-mile span. How many miles will there be on each tire at the end of that distance?

Answer: 37,500 miles

The explanation: You have four tires and use only three at any one time. Therefore, each tire will be on three-fourths of the time. Three-fourths of 50,000 is 37,500 miles.

 

3. Place the numbers 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 in the circles below so that the sums of the three numbers on each side are equal?

Answer: Several answers

The explanation: This is a puzzler where you need to do some educated guesses and try different combinations. As it turned out there are four correct answers. And, depending on how you arrange the numbers, you can have side totals that equal 9, 10, 11 or 12.

 

4. Once a week, a wagon driver leaves his hut and drives his oxen to the river dock to pick up supplies for his town. At 4:05 p.m., one-fifth of the way to the dock, he passes the smithy. At 4:15 p.m., one-third of the way, he passes the miller. At what time does he leave his home?

Answer: Left home at 3:50 p.m.

The explanation: You need to find the relationship between one-fifth of the way and one-third of the way in minutes. The leg of the trip you can measure in minutes is the 10 minutes it takes to go from one-fifth of the distance to one-third of the distance. That 10 minutes is 2/15th of the total distance, therefore 1/15th is five minutes. The first leg was 3/15ths of the distance and therefore took 15 minutes. Subtracting 15 minutes from the arrival time of the first leg (4:05 p.m.) means the wagon driver left his hut at 3:50 p.m.

 

5. The dwarfs Dobbit and Mobbit are building a bridge over a narrow stream. Dobbit can do the job alone in 30 hours; Mobbit can do the job alone in 45 hours. How long would it take them if they work together?

Answer: 18 hours

The explanation: If Dobbit could do the whole job in 30 hours, that means he did 1/30th of the job each hour. If Mobbit did the job in 45 hours, that meant he did 1/45th of the job each hour. Finding a common denominator of 90, Dobbit does 3/90ths of the job in one hour and Mobbit does 2/90th. Together, they do 5/90th of the job in one hour. Therefore, they could do the job together in 18 hours.

 

6. Suppose Dobbit (from problem No. 5 above) worked on the project alone for 5 hours. How long would it take Dobbit and Mobbit to complete the rest of the job working together?

Answer: 15 hours

The explanation: Using the Dobbit's rate of work from Question 5, you know he could do 1/6th of the job in five hours. That leaves 5/6th of the job left. Five/sixth of 18 hours is 15 hours.

 

Fun & Games

Fun & Games

Trivia-fun bird trivia

(When you're done, click here for the answers.)

1. What kind of bird appears in a pink plastic version on many people's front lawns?
2. What kind of bird is considered to be the wisest of birds?
3. The little baby running across the room without any clothes on is said to be "naked as a ____ bird?"
4. A guy who is always doing stupid things is called this kind of bird?
5. If you are afraid to take a chance, you may be called _____?
6. If you are walking across the desert, what kind of bird do you not want to see hovering over head?
7. If somebody fools you, what bird gives name to that act?
8. What bird is most likely to be seen on coins?
9. What kid of bird is said to think it's hiding when it buries its head in the sand?
10. What kind of bird are pirates said to favor as a companion?

 

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 click here to find the answers!

Young Saint Louis.com #1

Across	Down
3. act like, sound like 4. like turtles 7. a safe place 8. restoring health 9. rare and unusual 10. wall writing	1. reminders of past 2. cutting apart 5. objects from past 6. eats other animals

 

Young Saint Louis.com #2

Across	Down
2. prior to first grade 5. collective ownership 8. type of skating 9. a wall painting 10. high, hard to reach	1. provides motivation 3. one who manages 4. beyond normal limits 6. device for training 7. a long race

 

Black History Month

Across	Down
2. separation of races 5. a setting free 7. a public statement 8. freed the slaves 9. mixture of races	1. stand up for rights 3. basis of laws 4. civil rights leader 6. right of all

 

Jokes

How about some animal jokes?

Why is a polar bear a cheap pet?
      Because it lives on ice!

Have you ever hunted bear?
      No, but I've gone hiking in shorts!

What does the lion say to his friends before they go out hunting for food?
      Let us prey!

What happened to the lion when he ate the comedian?
      He felt funny!

How does a lion greet other animals in the forest?
      Pleased to eat you!

What do you call a lion wearing a necktie and a flower in his mane?
      A dandy lion!

What would you call a lion that has eaten your mother's sister?
      An aunt-eater!

How do we know owls are smarter than chickens?
      Have you ever heard of Kentucky-fried owl?

What happened when the owl lost his voice?
      He just didn't give a hoot!

What do you call a chicken that crosses the road without looking both ways?
      Dead!

What kind of ant is good at math?
      An accountant!

What do you call a 100-year-old ant?
      An antique!

What's the biggest ant in the world?
      An elephant!

What worse than an alligator with a toothache?
      A centipede with athlete's foot!

What do you get when you cross a centipede with a parrot?
      A walkie-talkie!

Just a couple of school jokes

Teacher: Tommy, I wish you would pay a little more attention.
      Tommy: I'm already paying as little as I can!

Teacher: Tommy, how can you prove the world is round?
      Tommy: Don't ask me! I didn't say it was!

Our usual ending with knock, knocks

Knock, Knock.
      Who's there?
Seymour.
      Seymour who?
Seymour if you open the door!

Knock, knock.
      Who's there?
Sweden.
      Sweden who?
Sweden sour is my favorite Chinese carryout!

Knock, Knock.
      Who's there?
Safari.
      Safari who?
Safari so good!

Answers to Fun & Games

Fun bird trivia

1. flamingo
2. owl
3. jay
4. turkey
5. chicken
6. vulture
7. gull
8. eagle
9. ostrich
10. parrot

 

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
3. act like, sound like 4. like turtles 7. a safe place 8. restoring health 9. rare and unusual 10. wall writing	1. reminders of past 2. cutting apart 5. objects from past 6. eats other animals

 

Young Saint Louis.com #2

Across	Down
2. prior to first grade 5. collective ownership 8. type of skating 9. a wall painting 10. high, hard to reach	1. provides motivation 3. one who manages 4. beyond normal limits 6. device for training 7. a long race

 

Black History Month

Across	Down
2. separation of races 5. a setting free 7. a public statement 8. freed the slaves 9. mixture of races	1. stand up for rights 3. basis of laws 4. civil rights leader 6. right of all