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Potter
Trivia
Two
winners in Harry Potter trivia contest
Two Young
Saint Louis.com readers answered all the Harry Potter
trivia contest questions correctly. Both of them were unique
winners.
Twelve-year-old
Drew Fendler is a multiple winner in the YSL.com Math
Puzzler contest. He sent in his Harry Potter entry at the
same time as his Math Puzzler entry. He got all the Harry
Potter questions correct but, this month, he missed one of
the Puzzler questions.
But, he was a
two-time Math Puzzler winner earlier in this year.
Seven-year-old
Thomas Van Horn also got all the Harry Potter trivia questions
correct. He studied up on Harry Potter in an unusual way.
You'll find Thomas
featured in another story of this edition of YSL.com.
He's the boy who made special American flag pins and used
the proceeds to send care packages to troops in Iraq.
To read about
Thomas' Iraq project, just click
here.
Making all those
flag pins can be repetitive work. And Thomas wanted some way
to bring a little variety to that job.
He's a big Harry
Potter fan so he decided to get audio tapes of the books.
That way, he could listen to the books with earphones while
using his hands to make the pins.
In all, he listened
to the first three Harry Potter books once each. And he listened
twice to the long fourth book, "Harry Potter and the
Goblet of Fire."
All that listening
served Thomas well since he was able to answer all 10 trivia
questions correctly.
Therefore, Drew
and Thomas will receive, as prizes, copies of the new book,
"Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix." The book
goes on public sale on June 21.
YSL.com
partner, Dick Burnett, will provide a review of the fifth
book in the July edition of this website. Professor Burnett
is the one who does the four book reviews each month on this
website.
He also makes
up the regular trivia contests each month. They are featured
in the Fun&Games section. He compiled the Harry
Potter trivia contest questions.
YSL.com
has paid very close attention to Harry Potter. This website
likes to encourage kids to read a lot.
And Harry Potter
author J.K. Rowling has done more to popularize kids books
than any other author in history. The four earlier books have
been translated into dozens of languages and sold millions
of books worldwide.
One of the first
stories published on YSL.com was about an elementary
school book club that was reviewing the first Harry Potter
book.
Also, YSL.com
has published special reviews of the first two Harry Potter
movies. Those locally-written reviews were published in November,
2001, and November, 2002. To read the November, 2001, review,
click here.
To read the November, 2002, review, click
here.
Now, here are
the Harry Potter trivia questions and their answers:
- What was the
special piece of clothing that Harry had inherited from
his father?
Answer: An invisibility cloak.
- What is special
about a Parselmouth?
Answer: It can converse with snakes.
- What make
was Ron Weasley's family car?
Answer: A Ford Anglia.
- Which teacher
at Hogwartz always entered class by floating through the
chalkboard?
Answer: Professor Binns, the Ghost who taught History
of Magic.
- What magical
device enabled Hermione to study several lessons at once?
Answer: A Time-Turner.
- What was Serius
Black's connection to Harry Potter?
Answer: Harry's Godfather.
- Who was the
Bulgarian seeker that Harry and Ron idolized?
Answer: Viktor Krum.
- What is unusual
about leprechaun gold?
Answer: It disappears by the next morning.
- What were
the O.W.L.s at Hogwarts?
Answer: Ordinary Wizard Levels, exams taken in the fifth
year.
- What did Harry
buy for Ron, telling him it was a Christmas present "for
about 10 years?'
Answer: A pair of Omnioculars.
News
Illinois
kids' energy work wins award
Kids in the Alhambra
(Ill.) Elementary School' Energy Club recently completed a
sale of energy-efficient light bulbs. Sale profits will help
to install solar panels to bring energy from the sun to their
school.
They also recently
presented an Energy Carnival to 4th graders at their school.
The club puts on a number of workshops during the year to
tell about energy-conservation activities everyone can do.
Through their
efforts, the Madison County school has it's own paper recycling
bin. The kids and their parents had to work hard to convince
a recycling company it was worthwhile to put a bin in the
little town.
All these activities
earned teacher Richard Johnson and his Energy Club a 2003
Environmental Excellence Award. This and other awards were
presented last month by the Gateway Region of Choose Environmental
Excellence (CEEGR).
Two other Illinois
schools earned excellence awards. They were the Collinsville
(Ill.) High School's CHS Recycling Co. and St. Paul Catholic
School in Highland, Ill.
(For more information
about 2003 award winners, you can visit the group's website
at www.ceegr.org.
Also, for information on how your school can participate in
the CEEGR, your teacher can call (314) 962-4100.)
Ten-year-old Mary
Reagan is a 5th grader at Alhambra Elementary. She said she
had fun selling the Energy Star compact fluorescent light
(CFL) bulbs. The kids put teams together for sales at nearby
Greenville and Highland.
In addition, Mary
sold bulbs "at my dad's work, at school and to my grandpa."
In all, the kids
sold 442 of the energy-efficient bulbs and earned $1,200 after
expenses. That money will be a down-payment on the $7,000
needed to have energy-generating solar panels at the school
next fall.
Alhambra Elementary
was one of just 40 schools in Illinois to qualify for sharp
discount on the solar panel installation. Teacher Johnson
said the solar panels will provide enough electricity to light
the whole school.
Johnson started
the school's Energy Club in the fall of 2000. Since then,
the club members have been very active in promoting conservation
and environmental issues. Fifth and sixth graders make up
the club membership.
Last year, the
club was runner-up in energy education among all schools in
Illinois.
Twelve-year-old
Elizabeth Stumpf got the chance to travel to Washington, D.C.,
last June to accept the award. She said her family also stayed
to do sightseeing during that trip.
She said she enjoyed
the visit to President Kennedy's tomb in Arlington Cemetery.
That's the one with the eternal flame. Another high point
was an evening dinner cruise the family took on the Potomac
River.
Elizabeth said
her family practice energy conservation at home. "We
hang clothes to dry on the line in the back yard. We only
use our dryer in the winter months," she said.
Twelve-year-old
Callie Durborow said her family has a solar clothes dryer
at home. The family also hand-wash dishes and use CFL bulbs.
The 6th grader also said the family is pretty careful about
turning off lights when noone is in the room.
But, she admits,
"We have to get on my younger sister a lot." Tate
Durborow is eight and a 2nd grader at Alhambra Elementary.
Eleven-year-old
Christopher Uhe said he enjoyed the chance to attend a recent
energy conference at Lewis and Clark College. He said he liked
learning and singing chants that explained reasons to conserve
energy.
Uhe said he had
fun selling light bulbs to people after "telling them
about the benefits." The CFL bulbs use 70 per cent less
energy for the same amount of light as incandescent bulbs.
Also, they last up to five years.
One conservation
project that took some time to complete was getting a paper
recycling bin put at the school. Because Alhambra is small,
no recycler wanted to have to travel there to pick up paper.
Johnson said he
finally got one company to designate one bin it had in Highland
for Alhambra waste paper. That meant families made a 24-mile
round-trip to donate paper.
Elizabeth Stumpf
said her family was one of those that made the drive with
scrap paper. Johnson said enough Alhambra residents made that
long drive to convince another recycler to put a bin at the
school and come to pick up the scrap paper.
Proceeds from
the paper are another way to raise money for future Energy
Club projects.
Lifestyle
Kid
sends packages to troops in Iraq
The fighting
in Iraq is winding down. But, Thomas Van Horn says he wants
to keep up his flow of home-made care packages to troops in
the 101st Airborne Division.
Thomas said, "The
war is over but the troops are still in Iraq."
Thomas is a 1st
grader at Andrews Academy in Creve Coeur. He turned a Cub
Scout craft project into a little home business that brings
American troops in Iraq a reminder of home.
He makes tiny
American flag pins out of safety pins and tiny red, white
and blue beads. Then, he sells them at school, church and
to friends. He uses the proceeds to buy snacks, instant cameras,
baby wipes and candy.
He puts these
personal items into little care packages and sends them to
Capt. Matthew Kerr of the 101st Airborne. Captain Kerr then
distributes the packages to the more than 100 troops under
his command in Iraq.
Seven-year-old
Thomas got his care-package idea from a sermon at his church,
Salem in Ladue United Methodist Church. The head pastor, Rev.
David Kerr, mentioned that his son, Matthew, was serving with
the 101st Airborne in Iraq.
Thomas started
making lots of pins for sale. But, he also recruited kids
in his Sunday School class to assemble some more.
"I had to
ask for help because I wasn't keeping up with demand,"
Thomas said. The Sunday School kids made 40 more pins.
In total, Thomas'
little business has produced some 150 pins. The red and white
beads make the flag's stripes and the blue beads are the star
field. "But, I don't have any stars on the blue beads.
They're too small," he said.
He has priced
the pins at $2 but sometimes people pay more. "One person
bought two for $10," he said. But, "my No. 1 customer
was at my mother's work. He bought 10 of them," he said.
Beth Van Horn works at BioMerieux, Inc., a medical device
maker.
At mid-May, Thomas
already had raised over $350.
He started sending
the care packages in March. "I made one shipment in March,
three in April and one more so far in May," he said.
Thomas has had
only one e-mail from Captain Kerr because personal communication
with Iraq is difficult. "We don't know where he's stationed.
We just send the packages to an APO box," he said.
But, Captain Kerr's
wife, Meredith, made a special trip to St. Louis to present
Thomas with personalized thanks from the 101st Airborne. Mrs.
Kerr is a former military officer but left the service when
she started to have kids.
She lives in Fort
Campbell, Ky. That's the 101st Airborne's home base when the
division isn't off fighting in wars.
The thanks for
Thomas came in the form of a specially engraved 101st Airborne
coin. One side has the division's "Screaming Eagle"
symbol. On the other are names of all the places the division
has fought in the past.
Thomas' name is
also engraved on that side of the coin. His parents have given
him a special coin holder. It's transparent so you can see
the coin but protect it from damage.
Mrs. Kerr's presentation
came at Thomas' church on Easter Sunday morning. "I got
the coin right before the children's sermon in front of everybody,"
he said.
He said the best
part of his care-package project was "when I met Mrs.
Kerr for the first time and she hugged me."
The presentation
of a 101st Airborne coin doesn't happen too often. The division
gives the coins only to people who have done special things.
Of course, Thomas
has taken the coin to school to show his classmates. "That
was pretty neat," he said.
From Mrs. Kerr,
he also got samples of the MRE food packages the troops get
in the field. He brought those samples to school also so his
classmates could sample the food.
He said the meal
included chicken, Mexican-style rice and an ice-tea mix. There
were MandM's and shortbread cookies for dessert. "The
cookies were all broken up just like they'd be if you carried
them in your backpack for a long time," he added.
Thomas said he's
going to have to think of more ways to market his pins. "Just
about everyone in my school has bought one," he said.
However, he said
his dad, Scott, is going to take more to his work place. Thomas
also recently sent some pins to a cousin in Rolla, Mo., for
sale there.
Books
This
month's book reviews
A
book that tries to uncover
what it takes to make a dork a winner
Sixth grader,
Jerry Flack, was in a new school. At his last one, he had
hated being labeled the class dork. So now he was trying hard
to be cool and not get known as a dork by his new classmates.
The best thing he had going for him was his friendship with
Brenda McAdams. She was smart and popular with the sixth graders
and she admired Jerry for the good qualities she saw in him.
Unfortunately, Jerry couldn't shake the image he had of himself
as a dork. He wore thick glasses. He wasn't any good at sports.
He couldn't ice skate. He had skinny legs. He was afraid to
stand up to the class bully. He really liked being a member
of the science club. How else could you define "dork?"
Brenda managed
to convince Jerry that he should run for sixth grade class
president. When the class bully, Glen Marshall, heard that
Jerry was running for class president, he decided to run for
the office himself. After all, what trouble would a cool guy
like him have in defeating a dork like Jerry? Glen figured
all he really had to do was use every trick he could think
of to make Jerry Flack's dorkiness apparent to everyone.
So most of the
plot for "Dork on the Run" is concerned with the
campaign for sixth grade class president. Glen Marshall and
his fellow bullies run a campaign of dirty tricks. Jerry Flack
tried one trick in retaliation and humiliated Glen temporarily.
But Jerry felt so bad about it, he decided it wasn't worth
being class president if it meant resorting to a campaign
of dirty tricks.
Brenda won't let
Jerry give up in his campaign, even though he really just
wants out of the whole thing. Glen has made Jerry Flack the
laughing stock of the whole school. But Jerry figures out
how to turn the tables on Glen. To find out how, you need
to read the book.
Sometimes
you read a good book
only after seeing the movie version
Everybody kept
telling me I should read Louis Sachar's book "Holes."
I picked up the paperback to look at in the bookstore several
times. But it just didn't sound interesting to me - a story
about boys imprisoned in a camp stuck in the middle of a hot
desert - I could do better than that! Then I saw the movie.
The book that I thought might be dark and depressing had been
turned into a hilarious comedy!
Usually, you read
a book and then see the movie. Often you are disappointed
because the characters don't match the image you had in mind.
Sometimes the filmmakers leaves out something you thought
was important to the plot. Other times they change the ending.
For good readers, often the pictures they have made in their
minds are better than the ones in the movies.
Since I saw the
movie first, I kept looking to see how the book as I read
it differed from the movie. Of course, when you see the movie
first, it's hard not to see the movie actors as you read their
descriptions in the book. For "Holes", the moviemakers
did a great job of matching actors to the book's characters.
The Camp Green Lake setting was perfect. The desert scenes
with the boys' digging their "character-building"
holes were realistic enough to make you hot and thirsty, even
in the theater.
There was one
main advantage, though, from seeing the movie first. You knew
from the beginning that the extremely bad situation at Camp
Green Lake, as described by the author, had been presented
for one purpose - to provide a contrast for the exaggerated
humor that it was the author's real intent to present. Every
time the villainous chief guard, Mr. Sir, appears in the book,
you know to laugh rather than be nervous. You even know not
to be horrified when the deadly yellow-spotted lizards appear.
If you haven't
already read "Holes", I wholeheartedly recommend
it. For that matter, I recommend the movie version also. And
I apologize for not reviewing "Holes" some time
ago.
A
newspaper strike ruins a softball
season and almost ruins a family
Gwen loves playing
softball on the girls' team sponsored by the Press Gazette,
the city's major newspaper. Jess, her cousin, also plays on
the team. Gwen's dad works for the newspaper as a copy editor.
His twin brother, Dave, also works for the paper. He is Jess's
dad, and, of course, is Gwen's Uncle Dave. They are a close
family and Jess happens to be Gwen's best friend as well as
her cousin.
When a strike
is called by the union at the Press Gazette, Gwen's family
is affected more than most of the paper's employees. Her father
is a member of the union and a strong supporter of the strike.
Her Uncle Dave, Jess's father, is in the newspaper's management
and is strongly opposed to the strike and the union's demands.
At first, the
strike doesn't seem to have much affect on the kid's lives.
Gwen's dad is home all the time because he is on strike. Uncle
Dave is working all the time because the management at the
paper is trying to keep publishing daily issues without most
of the workers available for work. As the strike wears on,
however, the ill feelings between strikers and non-strikers
intensify. Gradually, the two families pull apart and the
softball team loses all the players who are kids of the strikers.
Even Jess and Gwen
reach the point where they can no longer talk to each other
without hurtful arguing.
Even though she
is only a seventh grader, Gwen wants to do something to make
the terrible situation better. But what can she do? Maybe,
just maybe, some healing can be brought about if the kids
can start playing softball together again.
"Strike
Two" is more of a story about newspapers and the problems
created by large city newspaper strikes than it is about softball.
A reader comes away with a better understanding of how strikes
can destroy friendships and even families if those involved,
including the kids, don't work at separating issues and feelings.
A
kids' book that tries to imitate
grown-ups' private eye mystery novels
Sammy in "Sammy
Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy" is really thirteen-year-old
Samantha Keyes. Her best friend is Marissa McKenzie. When
the story starts the two girls are going to slip away to take
a bus to Hollywood to find Sammy's mother. It seems Sammy's
mother, Lana, had left Sammy with her grandmother while she
(Lana) tried to make it big in Hollywood as an actress.
Even the bus ride
turns out to be an adventure, but the two girls finally locate
Sammy's mom. She is living in a big old mansion that's been
turned into live-in rooms for aspiring actresses. All the
women there have contracted with an elderly Hollywood agent
who is schooling them in acting and promising to land them
all acting jobs.
Sammy's mother
is horrified to see the girls. She is afraid they will get
her kicked out of the "school" because she is pretending
to be only twenty-five years old and is calling herself Dominique
instead of Lana Keyes. And, of course, she can't very will
be twenty-five and the mother of a thirteen-year-old daughter.
Since it is nighttime
when the girls arrive, they have to be provided some place
to sleep until they can be shipped back home the next day.
Sammy's mom is able to trade her small bedroom for a little
larger one so the girls will have a bed to sleep in. During
the night, Sammy wakes up and sees that her mother is gone.
She hears knocking on the wall from a neighboring room, but
ignores it and goes back to sleep. The next morning they all
wake up to find that one of the residents in a neighboring
room is dead. They think she has taken an overdose of pills.
Sammy, though, is a natural born detective, and she realizes
that there is no glass in the room with the dead body. The
victim couldn't have swallowed all those pills without water.
She has to have been murdered!
Now the girls
can't go home. Sammy has to find out who killed the murdered
woman. She has to solve the mystery, especially since her
mother could be suspected of being the murderer. She wasn't
in the room when Sammy woke up and heard the pounding on the
wall from the victim's bedroom. Oh, what a mess!
This is mystery
book you might like if you can identify with a wisecracking
thirteen-year-old girl who acts like a private eye from old-time
murder mysteries. The characters, for the most part, aren't
very nice people. The plot takes all kinds of weird twists
and turns. Sammy finally solves the mystery but only after
she puts herself and Melissa in a number of dangerous situations.
And yes, there is not only one, but two mummies that pop up
in the plot.
Entertainment
Sister
and brother share joys of theater
This month, Anita
Shastri and her brother, Neil, both have parts in the same
play in the Shakespeare Festival in Forest Park. The two have
been lots of things together in theater since they started
five years ago.
And, they are
following in the footsteps of their father, Jay Shastri. He
has been well-known for his dancing in local theater in St.
Louis for years.
Twelve-year-old
Anita is a 7th grader at Sperreng Middle School. Ten-year-old
Neil is a 5th grader at Sappington Elementary School.
Both got their
theater start in 1997. They appeared together in the chorus
of Studio J's production of "Lil Abner." This month,
they play the son and daughter of McDuff in the Shakespearean
play "Macbeth."
Later this summer,
both will be in the chorus for the Muny's production of "Cinderella."
The two also are together as members in the Muny Kids organization.
Anita said, "I
love doing musical theater." She said her favorite play
is "West Side Story."
Although she said
her favorite is ballet, she also sings, dances and plays the
piano.
She takes lots
of lessons. She has dancing lessons twice a week. Also, once
a week, she has singing and piano lessons. But, she said she
still has time for school work and reading. "I love to
read mysteries," she said.
Neil also has
the same heavy practice schedule as his sister. But, he said
math is his favorite class in school and he plays for his
school's soccer team.
And then there
are performances all over town. Their membership in Muny Kids
means they get to do lots of performances around town. Those
shows are usually musical reviews to publicize Muny shows.
They've also performed
in productions at Webster University.
Also, they join
with their father' Bravo Theatre Group. That group stages
two shows a year to raise money for charities as Make a Wish
Foundation, The Wishing Well and the Cystic Fibrosis Association.
This summer, Bravo
will stage the musical, "Foot Loose." Bravo also
usually stages one other show later in the year.
Their father,
Jay, is now an architect but stays active in the theater.
For several years, he was considered the best theatrical dancer
in St. Louis.
So far, Anita
said her favorite role was as a little Indian in the musical,
"Peter Pan." She said, "We had one group that
had a big dance number in the play."
Neil's favorite
part was as a shoe-shine boy in the Muny's production, "Roman
Holiday." He said, "I got to shine the shoes of
one of the main characters."
But, the kids
also admit they've made some boo-boos on stage.
Anita said her
most embarrassing moment came in the play "The King and
I." She was a little princess and was sitting next to
the actress playing the lead of Anna.
"I got my
foot caught in Anna's dress. When Anna got up, I fell down
and was laying on the stage. That was very embarrassing,"
she said.
Neil said he doesn't
have any single "most" embarrassing moment. But,
he said, "I've made tons of mistakes that were really
bad."
But, those on-stage
errors haven't dimmed their interest in pursuing a career
in theater.
Anita especially
likes dance. Her lessons include everything from ballet, jazz
and tap. But, she also would like to do singing in musical
theater.
Neil said he's
probably most interested in doing musicals for the movies.
Anita and Neil
were born in the United States. But, both parents, Jay and
JJ, were born in India. Jay came to the United States when
he was five. He met JJ when he was back in India for a visit.
They were married
in 1985. They moved to America the next year, when JJ got
her U.S. visa.
Although Anita
and Neil are in a lot plays together, they say they're not
especially competitive.
"We mostly
help each other. We are a little competitive but that's just
brother-sister stuff," Anita said.
Outdoors
Overnight
visit in Shaw Nature Reserve
Twelve-year-old
Barry Perkins got to see a forest and wetlands for the first
time last month. He also had a snake crawl over his shoe during
a morning nature hike.
The Wyman Elementary
fifth grader didn't have to travel very far from his St. Louis
home to get this rural experience. Barry and about 40 classmates
were on an overnight trip to Shaw Nature Reserve west of St.
Louis.
They slept in
rebuilt cabins that had started out as buildings on pioneer
Missouri farms.
Earlier this spring,
the Shaw Reserve dedicated two more overnight cabins. Those
buildings had been on the pioneer Breckenkamp farm near New
Haven, Mo.
One building was
the Breckenkamp farm home. That was a pole-and-beam building.
The other structure was an old log barn on the farm.
Both buildings
were dismantled and brought to the Shaw Reserve. The usable
parts were reassembled into overnight cabins. But, these now
have modern plumbing and sleeping rooms.
They are on the
campus of the Dana Brown Overnight Education Center.
(To
learn how your school or group could
visit the Center, see sidebar below.)
Some of the Wyman
fifth graders actually got some sleep during their visit.
Ten-year-old Walid
Azam is a fifth grader who was born in Afghanistan. He said
he and his friends were talking and laughing until their teacher
told them to go to sleep. Walid said they actually did get
a good night's sleep.
But, 11-year-old
Phuong Tran said, "My leader told some scary stories
and I couldn't sleep." However, the Vietnam-born girl
said she liked the cabins and the bunk beds.
Barry Perkins
said he didn't sleep because "my friends kept flashing
light in my eyes." He said they also put toothpaste on
his face.
But, during the
day, the Wyman kids had fun on guided tours of typical Missouri
wetlands and forests.
Eleven-year-old
Arman Muric said the most fun was seeing lots of insects and
animals.
"I thought
the wetlands were cool with the frogs, toads and stuff,"
the Bosnia-born kid said. The highlight of the forest hike
was "when I got to catch a spider," he added.
The kids were
given special plastic boxes or jars to hold the critters they
caught. The cases had a special magnifying lens in the cover
so they got a better look at their bugs.
At the end of
the forest hike, they put the catches on a white blanket so
all the kids could inspect them.
However, Barry
didn't bring his snake. It was too big to fit into his plastic
case.
Asked what he
did when the snake crawled over his shoe, he said "I
just stood still." He added, "When he moved, then
I moved." He said the snake was about two feet long.
One lesson the
kids learned was that Missouri has lots of diversity in plant
and animal life.
The Wyman kids
themselves are a study in human diversity. Teacher Nick Carosello
said there were about 10 different nationalities represented
among the 40-some students.
The kids found
the Shaw forest had diversity with many different types of
oak trees. They also saw that some plants will group together
in specific locations within the forest.
Jan Oberkramer
is the education coordinator at the Shaw Reserve. She led
one of three groups of kids on a forest hike.
Part way into
the hike, she pointed out a yellow Missouri primrose flower.
She said the primrose tends to be found in forest "glades."
She defined a glade as an area where soil is thin because
rocks are close to the surface.
She showed them
that cedar trees also often are found there. "The cedars
have shallow root systems and can thrive in the thin soil
of the glade," she said.
But, most of the
kids were more interested in the animal life. They turned
over fallen tree limbs that were rotting on the forest floor.
That's where they found plenty of bugs and insects for their
collections.
Oberkramer said
the insects eat the dead wood and help dispose of the fallen
trees.
One of the girls
didn't want to handle any of the bugs. She ended up putting
a wild mushroom in her collection case.
The Shaw Reserve
is a part of the Missouri Botanical Garden. The Garden is
working with Wyman Elementary and other city schools to improve
kids' knowledge of science and math. The field trip was a
part of their science curriculum.
How
to schedule Shaw Reserve outing
The Dana Brown
Overnight Education Center is open to the public for group
classes and meetings.
You might like
to tell your teacher or group leader about these new facilities.
Jan Oberkramer
is the education coordinator at the Center, which is a part
of the Shaw Nature Reserve. That is located near the Gray
Summit exit off I-44 west of St. Louis.
For information
or reservations, call Jan at (636) 451-3512, Ext.
6080.
The sleeping quarters
of the Dana Brown Center are made from rebuilt 19th-century
structures acquired from farms in the surrounding area.
Presently, there
are six sleeping lodges, a shower house and an assembly building.
Meals can be served for attending groups.
Oberkramer said
there is a fee when reserving space. The fee size depends
on the number of people, length of stay and the type of meeting.
The Shaw staff can present a variety of classes using outdoor
resources of the Shaw Reserve, she said.
Sports
Kid
sisters enjoy busy golf schedules
On the Memorial
Day weekend, Paige and Brandy Jung played in a golf tournament
at Walt Disney World in Florida. It's the last time for awhile
the two sisters will compete head-to-head in tournaments.
At the Florida
meet, both played in the 8-11 age bracket of a Plantation
Junior Golf Tour event.
But, starting
this month, 12-year-old Paige will be in the 12-14 age group
for tournament play. Ten-year-old Brandy will stay in the
younger bracket for a couple more years.
Paige is a 6th
grader at Parkway West Middle School. Brandy is a 4th grader
at Shenandoah Valley Elementary School.
Like a lot of
St. Louis area kids, Paige and Brandy started golfing early.
Paige was 4 and Brandy started at 3.
In the beginning,
they both used the same two clubs, a sawed-off Sam Snead 4-wood
and a Pinnacle putter.
The 4-wood was
one their dad, Randy, had. He shortened and regripped it to
fit the girls' small stature. The girls have moved up to full-sized
clubs now.
But, the old clubs
have been put to more use.Their brother, 5-year-old Nick,
also got his start with the same 4-wood and putter.
Paige and Brandy
are serious about their golf. Both play in PGA Junior and
Plantation Tour meets. They play year-around and travel to
out-of-state tournaments. And they're winning their share.
Last February,
both played in a Future College Golf Association tournament
in New Orleans. That's the tournament where Brandy shot her
best-ever 18-hole round, an 81.
That was one of
the times she finished ahead of her older sister in a meet.
"The first time I beat my sister, I was proud,"
Brandy said.
Paige's best meet
round also is an 81. She shot that in a Kansas City tournament
in 2001.
In the New Orleans
meet, Paige had one experience that not too many golfers have
had.
"A bird picked
up my ball and dropped it in the lake," she said. Tournament
directors gave her a free drop with no penalty stroke when
she used a new ball.
The girls take
golf lessons from two instructors. On Wednesdays, they go
for lessons to Whitmoor Country Club in St. Charles County.
That's the family's home course.
On Sundays and
Mondays, they get instruction at the PGA -sponsored driving
range in Creve Coeur.
Paige said, "Then,
two days a week, the whole family goes out and plays."
The family golf outings include their dad, Randy, and younger
brother, Nick. Their mother Colleen sometimes plays with them.
But, before the
family rounds, the girls put in a practice hour on the club's
driving range.
Paige believes
the best part of her game involves her mid-irons. The worse:
her putting. "I tend to jab at the ball too much,"
she said.
Brandy thinks
her driving is best and mid-irons are worst. She says she's
a good putter.
Their dad says
they make a good team in two-person tournaments. One girl's
strengths makes up for the other's weaknesses.
Both girls want
to continue golf through their school years and maybe beyond.
Asked about college,
Paige said she'd like to go to Florida. A major reason: you
can play golf year-round. She said she'd like to be a golfing
teacher when she finishes school.
Brandy also wants
to go to a warm-weather college. She's thinking about New
Mexico. Then, after school, she said she'd like to be a touring
golf professional.
This summer,
the girls not only will be playing in different brackets,
their tournament play will be different.
In Junior PGA
events, Paige will be playing in 2-day, 36-hole tournaments.
Brandy's PGA tournaments will be only one-day with 18-holes
of play.
In their Florida
meet last month, the girls had a great time. First, they missed
two days of school to get to the meet on time. Then, they
had one practice day before the meet started.
Then, they played
one day on Disney World's Magnolia course and the next on
the Lake Buena Vista course.
Careers
Too
young for a paying job?
Kids plan ahead anyway
Eighth-grader
Doug Gaehle is too young to get a paying job. But, he and
other Saeger Middle School classmates already have their job
resumes on-line.
Doug said preparing
an early resume has given him a "layout sheet for the
future." That's even before he makes a final decision
on what his career will be.
Saeger School
in St. Charles County is a member in the University of Missouri-St.
Louis' new Pathfinder program. It helps kids organize plans
for future schooling and careers. It also will alert potential
employers when the kids get old enough to hold jobs.
Companies who
have part-time or full-time jobs for kids also join Pathfinder.
That way, they can access the resumes so they can find kids
with an interest in their area of business.
Doug already has
gotten advice on how to improve his resume from adults where
his father and mother work. His dad, Harry, is a director
of construction for Hardee's restaurants. His mother, Barb,
works at Missouri Baptist Hospital.
"They urged
me to mention special skills, such as good writing ability,"
the 14-year-old said. "(The resume) shouldn't be only
about your school work," he added.
Doug's resume
includes not only educational background but also "additional
skills" and "significant activities." In that
last category, Doug lists his work at Missouri Baptist Hospital.
Although he can't
be paid yet, Doug does work as a volunteer. He escorts patients
and "give them juice after procedures." He said
he likes the hospital volunteering "because you can move
around to different jobs as your career plans mature."
He has listed
several health-related career interests. They include medical
doctor, scientist and pharmaceutical representative. "I'd
like to be a pediatrician," he said.
Kids stay in the
Pathfinder program through high school. That means they can
change and expand their resumes as they have more accomplishments.
They also can make changes as they focus on a specific career.
For instance,
14-year-old Brandon Lehr now lists a wide range of "career
objectives." He currently lists "manager, forensic
scientist, mechanic and lawyer."
"I'm not
really sure about a career now. I enjoy working on cars but
that's more likely to be a hobby, not a career," he said.
He said he has
shown his resume to teachers to get advice on improving it.
He said the resume will help him "validate my accomplishments."
Neither Doug nor
Brandon has made a college choice as yet.
But, the Pathfinder
program will help them with that decision also. When they
are ready, the Pathfinder database will search for colleges
that are strong in their career areas.
Fourteen-year-old
Lauren Jansen has picked a college. She wants to go to Northwestern
University in Illinois because of its strong programs in media
and the arts. She'd like to be an actress or do news reporting
and broadcasting.
"I'd like
to work in movies. I'd like to act first; everyone wants to
do that. Then, I'd like to direct or produce films,"
she said.
But, in the "significant
activities" area of her resume, the 5-foot-10-inch kid
mentions her play on a select basketball team. That's because
she'd like to qualify for a basketball scholarship in college.
She also mentioned
community service work. She helps her dad, Steve, coach "my
little brother's basketball team at church." Her brother,
Drew, is 10.
She also listed
her volunteer work at St. Joe's Health Center and at her church.
The kids said
their Pathfinder work helped their school win a recent honor.
Saeger School last fall won the trophy in the 9th annual St.
Charles County Career Awareness Fair.
That's an event
where kids from St. Charles County schools meet area business
people. They are judged on their appearance and professionalism.
Lauren said, "We
Saeger kids had a dress code and others didn't. Also, the
written resumes made us look much more professional."
You can learn
more about Pathfinder by going to stlpathfinder.communityos.org.
After clicking on Pathfinder, you then click on the
Additional Resources circle at the bottom of the page.
Then, click on St. Louis Pathfinder Resources.
A lot of information
is free. But, parts of the website are only for paying members.
For information on how your school could join, your teacher
should call Rosanne Vrugtman at (314) 516-4349 or e-mail
her at vrugtmanr@msx.umsl.edu.
Profile
First in a
series
O'Fallon,
Ill., kid earns 2003 Achiever award
Right now, 11-year-old
Kristen Delia of O'Fallon, Ill., excels in lots of things
she does in school, church and community. But, she sees a
time when she'll have to "make choices" on what
to focus on in the future.
Last month, the
St. Clare Catholic School 6th grader's past and current accomplishments
earned her one of the 2003 Gateway Young Achievers of the
Year awards.
Four area elementary,
four middle and four high school kids were awarded the top
2003 Achiever medals. In addition to a medal, the awards also
carry a $1,000 scholarship.
There were hundreds
of nominees from throughout the St. Louis area.
(This is first
in Young Saint Louis.com's series of individual profiles
on the four elementary and four middle school Achievers for
2003. To see an earlier story announcing the winners, just
click here.)
Kristen's accomplishments
included inclusion on her school's high honor roll. She's
maintained nearly perfect grades throughout her years at St.
Clare. Recently, she was elected to the school's Honor Society.
She also serves
as a committee chairman on this year's student council. In
May, she won election as class vice-president for the 7th
grade class next year.
In 2002, she earned
a first place in the Belleville Area Science Fair. Also, last
year, she had the highest score at her school's National Social
Studies Olympiad.
In sports, she
won 1st prize in floor exercise in the 2002 Illinois' Level
5 gymnastic competition. Earlier this year, she was first
in all-around exercise in a Level 6 regional competition in
Quincy, Ill. She's on the Midwest Twisters gymnastics team
in O'Fallon.
The team travels
to meets as far away as Chicago, Indianapolis and Springfield,
Mo.
Kristen said the
opportunity to compete in out-of-town meets is "awesome."
It's particularly fun because one of her younger sisters,
Megan, also is on the team and the whole family travels to
the meets.
She said her favorite
exercises in gymnastics are the beam and the vault. She admits
the beam "can be scary at certain times." However,
she said she hasn't had any serious falls from the elevated
apparatus. "But, I've had friends who have," she
added.
Also, she runs
in two sprints and two relay races for her school's track
team. She's been on the school's soccer team ever since first
grade.
She's also served
on school committees that raised funds for area charities.
One she especially enjoyed was the "No Uniform Day"
fund-raiser to raise money for St. Louis Children's Hospital.
Kids donated money for the chance not to have to wear school
uniforms for a day.
Kristen said,
"With the money, we bought 'sweats' for kids at Children's
Hospital so they'd have new clothes to wear when they left
the hospital."
She's already
met many of her own short-term goals such as being nominated
for Honor Society and attaining a state title as a gymnast.
Longer term, she
wants to be valedictorian of her high school class, earn a
college scholarship and be on the high school student council.
Then, she wants to earn both a bachelor's and master's degree
in education.
"I'm thinking
about being a first grade teacher," she said.
But, as the expectations
increase and goals get tougher, so do the demands on her time.
Kristen is now
on a 16-hour-per-week practice schedule as she tries to advance
to Level 7 in gymnastics. This summer, that will go to 18-hours-per
week.
Asked about her
gymnastics future, she said she doesn't think she'll get too
big. Right now, she's about 4'8" tall and weighs under
80 pounds. She said her mother is only slightly over 5' tall.
"And I can
eat a ton but then go to the gym and work it off," she
said.
But, she said
the practice requirement is sure to continue to go up if she
hopes to improve. And sports are just one of the things she
wants to improve on.
"You can't
do everything. You have to make choices," Kristen said.
Just what choices
she'll make in the future are still uncertain. But, for now,
Kristen says she looks forward to every day and "we've
got lots of things to do all the time."
Reading
Summer
reading program for kids
The St. Louis
County Library's "Laugh It Up" summer reading program
for kids starts this month. There are three outdoor sign-up
parties for younger kids and a bowling party for older kids.
* On Saturday,
June 7, registration parties for kids to 12 years of age will
be held at three locations. They are the North County Recreation
Complex; the Kennedy Recreation Complex in South County and
Faust Park in West County.
The outdoor parties
have lots of fun activities and special performances during
the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. period.
* On Friday, June
13, older kids, ages 12-17, can attend their kickoff at AMF
Strike 'n' Spare Lanes, 1309 N. Lindbergh at Schuetz Road.
The Teen Summer
Reading Club kick-off includes two hours of free XTREME! bowling
as well as door prizes. Hours are 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Registration for
all of the summer reading clubs also can be done at any SLCL
branch libraries. For details, you can call the library headquarters
at (314) 994-3300 or visit the library's website at
www.slcl.org.
Or you can stop
at one of the 20 branch libraries to pick up a colorful "Laugh
It Up" brochure. There are maps to give directions to
the three outdoor parities.
All participants
who sign up at kick-off parties or a branch library receive
a "goody" bag.
Participation
in the parties and the summer-long reading clubs is free and
open to all. Kids who live outside of St. Louis County also
can take part.
In addition to
the kick-off parties, the library's summer reading clubs allow
kids to win participation prizes. They are based on how much
reading you do during the summer.
There are three
participation levels for younger kids. They are based on the
number of minutes you read. The reading is between June 7
and August 9. The levels involve (1) 224 minutes, (2) 560
minutes and (3) 1,040 minutes.
When signing up
for the reading club, you get a logbook in which you jot down
the minutes each time you read.
After you read
224 minutes, you can go to the library and claim a Dairy Queen
coupon, a "laugh" theme sticker and a "smiley
face" notebook.
At 560 minutes,
the prizes include a chance to win baseball Cardinals tickets,
a St. Louis Science Center coupon and a "smiley face"
punch-ball balloon.
At 1,040 minutes,
prizes include a certificate of completion, an invitation
to the season-ending party, a coupon for a meal at Old Country
Buffet and a "glow-in-the-dark" yo-yo.
For older teens,
the participation prizes are based on completing three items
of reading. Every time three items are read, you can draw
for a mystery gift. Drawings are held at each branch library.
Prizes will be a T-shirt or a $25 gift certificate to a Westfield
Shopping Center.
At the end of
the summer reading program, all coupons are put into a big
drawing where a larger prize will be awarded. The prize hasn't
been selected as yet, according to Bianca Roberts, youth services
director for SLCL.
Over 18,000 kids
participated in last year's Summer Reading Program.
St.
Louis History
This
month in St. Louis History
From Missouri
History Museum
Juneteenth
and RV Wanderlust events
The Missouri
History Museum in June will present events on two very different
historic themes. One celebrates the end of slavery in America;
the other is an exhibit about 20th Century highway wanderlust.
The Museum's Juneteenth
celebration of the end of slavery has two events. On Sunday,
June 1, there will be play, "Voices of the Past."
The play was written and produced by St. Louisan Robin Moore-Chambers.
She is a lecturer at Fontbonne University.
Then, on Sunday,
June 15, blues artist Lemuel Sheppard will present a musical
concert celebrating Juneteenth.
Each event starts
at 3:30 and attendance is free.
Also, on Sunday,
June 15, the museum's "American Wanderlust" exhibit
opens. It will feature vehicles and other memorabilia of America's
romance with highway travel in the last century. The public
grand opening of the exhibit will be from 2-4 p.m.
This traveling
exhibit has attendance fees, $5 for adults; $4 for seniors
and students. However, there will be free admission to the
public on every Tuesday from 4-8 p.m.
The Wanderlust
exhibit includes vintage recreational vehicles, camping gear
and road memorabilia. Kids will be able to participate in
hands-on activities and audiovisual interactives.
Most of the travel
exhibit is indoors. But, the museum has installed a big "hippy
bus" on the lawn just outside the new south entrance.
Kids and families will be able to tour the bus and see how
some of the "hippy generation" got around the country.
(For details
about these and other museum events/exhibits, visit www.mohistory.org.)
The official ending
of slavery in Missouri actually came on January 11, 1865.
That's when the Gov. Thomas Fletcher announced: "Henceforth
and forever, no person within the jurisdiction of this state
shall know any master but God."
However, Juneteenth
is celebrated in June. That's when federal troops arrived
in Texas to enforce the ban on slavery. Texas was the last
state in the country to end the practice of slavery.
This official
ending of slavery in the whole United States came a full 2
1/2 years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
That was announced on Jan. 1, 1863.
(For a fuller
explanation of Juneteenth, you can go to www.juneteenth.com/history.htm)
For a chronology
of events leading to the end of slavery, there's another good
website. The address is www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/chronol.htm.
The University
of Missouri-St. Louis also has information on the role of
blacks in Missouri history. To see that, log on: www.umsl.edu/services/library/blackstudies/slavery.htm.
Lots
of old-time firsts in local history
June is the anniversary
month for a lot of long-ago historic happenings in St. Louis.
And then there's a recent one involving rapper Nelly.
The first European
settlement west of the Mississippi River came to St. Louis
in 1702. The first land battle of the Civil War happened in
Missouri, not at Bull Run.
And the woman
who was to establish the first kindergarten class in the country
was born here in June, 1843.
In more recent
times, rapper Nelly's highly popular CD "County Grammar"
was released in June, 2000.
(These and
many more interesting events are mentioned in local historian
Joe Sonderman's book, "St. Louis 365." The book
can be purchased at local book stores or on the internet at
www.booksonline.com.)
Here are a few
of the 150 local items with June anniversary dates in Sonderman's
book:
June 1, 1890:
The first bridge over the Missouri River at St. Charles other
than a railroad bridge opened. It was a pontoon bridge, supported
by 50 barges. The two center barges, pulled by cables, were
opened to allow boats to pass. The bridge was destroyed by
ice and raging water after just five months. The permanent
highway bridge opened in 1904.
June 1, 1934:
Paul and Dizzy Dean (of the St. Louis Cardinals) claimed
they had sore arms that only a pay raise would heal. Rookie
Paul was making $3,000, while Ol' Diz got $7,500. The brothers
gave in, and went on to win 49 games that season, plus four
in the world series.
June 3, 1875:
Business was suspended in St. Louis as residents attended
church services and spent the day in fasting and prayer. Governor
Charles Hardin had declared a statewide day of prayer for
divine intervention to halt a devastating plague of grasshoppers.
Within a few days, heavy rains arrived and drove the critters
into Iowa.
June 5, 1916:
The first production took place at what is now the "Muny."
"As You Like It" was given to mark the tercentenary
of the death of William Shakespeare. The chosen site (in what
is now Forest Park) sloped down to a natural stage-like area
with huge oak trees on either side. The St. Louis Advertising
Club offered money to the city to build a concrete auditorium
on the site. A presentation of "Aida" for an advertising
convention took place there on June 5, 1917. The Municipal
Theater Association was organized in 1919.
June 7, 1843:
Susan Elizabeth Blow was born in St. Louis. Applying the
theories of Frederich Froebel, she opened the first public
kindergarten in the United States at the Des Peres School
on Carondelet in 1873. She was instrumental in establishing
kindergartens all over the country.
June 10, 1702:
Father James Gravier landed at the mouth of the River de Peres
to establish a Jesuit mission. The village there was the earliest
European settlement in Missouri. Many French settlers from
Cahokia moved to the village when the Kaskaskia Indians built
a fort there. By the spring of 1703, the Indians moved away,
and so did most of the settlers.
June 17, 1861:
The first land battle of the Civil War was fought at Boonville,
Missouri. (The Battle of Bull Run didn't take place until
July 21st.) The rebels under Sterling Price and governor Claiborne
Jackson were defeated by the federals under (St. Louisan)
Nathaniel Lyon. Price retreated into Arkansas, and northern
Missouri was secured for the Union.
June 27, 2000:
Nelly's "County Grammar" CD was released. Born Cornell
Haynes Jr. in Texas, Nelly spent his early years in Spain,
before his family moved to St. Louis, then University City.
In 1993, he formed the "St. Lunatics" with his high
school friends. "County Grammar" would go on to
sell nine million copies and score three Grammy nominations.
Things
To Do
Many outdoor
activities in June
Columbia
Bottoms recreation area is open
St. Louis area
kids and their families have a new outdoor area for their
use. The Columbia Bottoms Area at the junction of the Missouri
and Mississippi rivers has been reopened.
(For
many more outdoor activities and events, see below.)
A Missouri Conservation
Department held a grand re-opening of Columbia Bottoms on
May 30. That marked completion of Phase I of redevelopment
of the 4,300-acre recreation area.
One of the neatest
things now open to the public is a brand-new observation deck.
That overlooks the confluence of the two great rivers.
Another feature
is five miles of new paved roads. There also are five miles
of limestone biking trails. Three miles of hiking trails along
the Missouri River have been added.
For those who
like boating and fishing, there is a new boat ramp and a new
fishing pier.
More improvements
are scheduled in Phases II and III. Conservation officials
hope re-development will be finished by 2004. That will be
in time for the start of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial.
It's easy to get
to the Columbia Bottoms. From 1-270, you get off at the Riverview
exit. Going east on I-270, that's the last exit before you
cross to Illinois. Coming from Illinois, it's the first exit
in Missouri.
You then go north
on Columbia Bottoms Road for 2 1/2 miles to the park entrance.
If your family
is looking for another Missouri-Mississippi river adventures,
you could visit the new Lewis and Clark State Historic Site
just across the Mississippi in Illinois.
Young Saint
Louis.com described the opening of that site in January,
2003. To learn about that Illinois site,
click here.
Outdoor
music concerts at Botanical Garden
The Whitaker
Music Festival will feature nine weeks of outdoor concerts
at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The free concerts are an
excellent opportunity for families to picnic while the music
plays.
The concerts are
held for nine consecutive Wednesday evenings, starting June
4. The concerts are from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
The schedule:
June 4: St. Louis
Stompers, dixieland jazz at its best.
June 11: Hard Bop Heritage plays hard bop jazz.
June 18: Renowned jazz pianist Peter Martin.
June 25: Willie Akins, a tribute to a St. Louis treasure.
July 2: Vargas, jazz on the cutting edge.
July 9: Farshid Etniko, Latin jazz with a Persian flavor.
July 16: Raven Moon plays bluegrass, folk and more.
July 23: Ralph Butler Band, public entertainer No. 1.
July 30: Dan Rubright, jazz guitarist.
Conservation
theme weeks in June
Three Missouri
Conservation Department areas in St. Louis will have outdoor
theme weeks during June.
* At Busch
Memorial Conservation Area in St. Charles County will
have the following theme weeks:
Wild Edibles
Week on June 2, 4, and 6. Subjects are plant identification,
more ID and collection and Cooking 101. Programs run from
10 to 11:30 a.m. each day. Recommended for ages 10 through
16.
Herpetology
Week on June 9, 11 and 13. Subjects are amphibians, turtles,
snakes and lizards. Programs are from 10 to 11:30 a.m. each
day. Recommended for ages 7 through 12.
Birding Week
on June 16, 18 and 20. Subjects are build a bird feeder, birding
by day and birding by night. Times vary day to day. Recommended
for ages 7 through 12.
Night Exploration
Week on June 23, 25 and 27. Subjects are bats, night insects
and spider sniff. Programs are 8 to 9:30 p.m. each night.
Recommended for ages 7 to 12.
For details or
to make reservations, call (636) 441-4554.
* At Rockwoods
Reservation in western St. Louis County, the theme weeks
are:
H2O Oh My Gosh!
Week, June 2, 4, 6. Subjects are pond exploration, spring
study, stream seek and aquatic jeopardy. Programs are 10 to
1:30 a.m. each day. Recommended ages 7 through 12. Program
directors urge kids to "dress for a mess!"
Outdoor Skills
Week, June 9, 11 and 13. Subjects are tracking, archery
and riflery. On June 13, there will be an outdoor skills challenge
from 11:30 to 12:30. Regular programs are 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Recommended ages 11 through 15.
Get Outdoors
Week, June 16, 18 and 20. Subjects are backpacking/camping,
campfire cooking and flytying. Regular classes are 10 to 11:30
.m. On June 20, there will be an outdoorperson challenge from
11:30 to 12:30. Recommended ages 7 through 12.
Survival Skills
Week, June 23, 25 and 27. Subjects are orienteering, wild
edibles and fire/water/shelter. Regular classes are 10 to
11:30 a.m. On June 27, there will be a skills challenge from
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Recommended ages 7 through 12.
For details or
to register, call (636) 458-2236.
* At Powder
Valley Nature Center in Kirkwood, the theme weeks are:
Kids Outdoor
Skills Week, June 9, 11 and 13. Subjects are gun safety,
archery and fishing. Regular classes are 9:30 to noon. Recommended
ages are 10 to 16.
Maze Days Week,
June 16, 18 and 20. Subjects are trees maze, mammal skulls
and bats mazes and fish and ducks mazes. Classes are 9:30
to noon. Recommended ages are 7 through 12.
Lewis and Clark
Week, June 23, 25 and 27. Subjects are the Keelboat, journaling,
plants and animals, Native Americans and endangered species.
Classes are 9:30 to noon. Recommended ages are 7 through 12.
For details or
to register, call (314) 301-1500.
St.
Louis County's History Summer Camps
The St. Louis
County summer camps in June have three historic themes. There's
one on the Revolutionary War, one on the Civil War and one
on the World Wars.
The Revolutionary
War Camp will be held June 9-12 at the General Daniel
Bissel House. The daily schedule is from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Civil War
Camp will be June 16-19 at Jefferson Barracks Park. Daily
schedules are from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The World Wars
Camp will be June 23-26 at Jefferson Barracks Park. Daily
schedules are from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Recommended ages
for all the camps are 9 through 15. Each camp costs $100 per
child.
For details and
registration, call (314) 868-0973.
Math
Puzzler
Math
Puzzler fun for the start of summer
Mr. Math Puzzler
kicks off the start of the summer vacation period with a fun-filled
quiz. One question involves upside-down numbers and another
uses colored dice.
Again, some of
the answers involve educated guesses, not rigid formulas.
And a couple of them involve numerical progressions.
Young Saint
Louis.com Math Puzzlers will continue through the summer
months.
Why don't you
tell some of your friends about the competition and have them
enter. Figuring out answers will be a good way to keep your
math skills in top-notch form.
If you are a first-time
entrant in the Puzzlers, you can review some past Puzzlers
to learn how Mr. Math Puzzler thinks. Mr. Math Puzzler is
Wayne Hesse. He teaches math at Green Park Lutheran School
in south St. Louis County.
YSL.com
Puzzlers started in September, 2001. Using the Past Stories
tab on the home page, pick a month and review past questions.
Then, move to the next month for those answers.
By studying a
series of questions and answers, you'll begin to understand
how Mr. Math Puzzler thinks.
(For a listing
of May winners and answers, click
here.)
Young Saint
Louis.com likes it when kids who enter the Math Puzzler
competition get the correct answers. We list all winners the
following month. We also give out up to three $10 Borders
gift certificates as an extra bonus.
Now, you should
be ready for the June 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:
- 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
must be postmarked by the 15th of the month
to be eligible.
-------------
Clip here to make entry -------------
Entry
for June, 2003, Math Puzzler Contest:
Name: ________________________________
Age: ______
Address: ____________________
School: ______________
City:___________________,
State:______ ZIP___________
Contact phone
no.(____)____________________
The
Math Puzzlers
(June, 2003)
1. What is the
next number in this logical sequence of numbers?
4
5 7 11 19 ___
Answer:
_______________
2. If you take
one-fifth of the sum of 16 and a certain number, it will be
twice as much as if you had subtracted 2 from that number.
Answer: _____________
3. What 3-digit
number is the square of a number, and when rotated 180 degrees
(upside down), is also the square of another number?
Answer:_____________
4. What two numbers
when added together equal 56 as a sum, and when multiplied
together equal 768 as the product?
Answer: _____________
5. Timothy and
Urban play a game with two dice. But, they do not use the
numbers. Some of the faces are painted red and the others
blue. Each player throws the dice in turn. Timothy wins when
the two top faces are the same color. Urban wins when the
colors are different. Their chances are even. The first die
has 5 red faces and 1 blue face. How many red and how many
blue faces are there on the second die? (This is a probability
question.)
Answer: _____________
6. Julie owns
a good balance, but no weights. She decides to make her own
weights by cutting a 121-gram bar of metal into smaller pieces.
She has a system enabling her to weigh all whole numbers of
grams from 1 through 121. How does Julie divide the bar? What
is the least number of pieces possible?
Answer: _____________
Two
winners in the May Puzzler contest
Ten-year-old
Clayton Vance is a repeat winner in the May Math Puzzler contest.
And the other winner, 9-year-old Eric Hsu, is the brother
of a past winner.
Clayton is from
Mason Ridge Elementary School. Eric attends Wild Horse Elementary
School.
These were the
only two May entrants who answered all six of the questions
correctly.
Congratulations
to Clayton and Eric. They both will receive $10 Borders gift
certificates as an extra bonus for their successful math figuring.
You'll remember
the May competition had some unusual questions. Mr. Math Puzzler
recommended the use of educated guessing to get the correct
answers.
If you haven't
participated in Young Saint Louis.com's Math Puzzler
competition, why don't you try the June questions. The Math
Puzzlers will continue right through the summer vacation period.
For those who
haven't entered before, you might like to do some checking
in our achives. YSL.com started the Math Puzzlers in
September, 2001. We give the questions one month and then
the answers the next.
That means, you
can check past competitions to learn how Mr. Math Puzzler
thinks.
Just go to the
Past Stories tab on the top of the home page. Pick
a month after September, 2001, and check past questions. Then,
you can move forward to learn those answers.
After doing that
for a few months, you'll have an idea on what kind of questions
Mr. Math Puzzler likes. He is Wayne Hesse, an 8th grade math
teacher at Green Park Lutheran School in south St. Louis County.
The answers to
the May, 2003, questions are included below.
If you're ready
for the June Puzzler competition, click
here.
Print out the
entry blank and questions. After noting your answers, mail
the entry to YSL.com.
The
Answers to April's Math Puzzlers
1. How many ways
can you read ACE off the diagram below? You can move horizontally,
vertically or any combination of horizontal or vertical as
long as the letters are adjacent.
A
A
C A
A C E C A
A
C A
A
Answer:
12
Explanation:
This is one of the questions that needs an educated guess;
there's no formula to achieve the answer. Remember, you can
go backwards and even use right-angle turns to achieve the
ACE word.
2. Timmy rents
a car to drive to a city 100km away. He stops halfway and
pick up a friend, who rides the last 50km with him. Returning
in the evening with his friend, Timmy drops him where he picked
him up, then drives on to his starting point, where he is
charged $24 for car rental. Timmy and his friend share expenses
equitably. How much should each pay?
Answer:
Timmy, $16; Friend, $8
Explanation:
Timmy went the whole 200km round-trip. His friend only went
100km. That made a total of 300 passenger-kilometers. Timmy's
share was two-thirds of the total kilometers and therefore
he needs to pay two-thirds of the car rental.
3. Tammy is preparing
for a 42,000km trip in her car, a traditional four-wheel model.
Buying tires which each last 24,000km, Timmy contends that
7 would be enough. Is she right? Prove it.
Answer:
Yes
Explanation:
A 42,000km trip amounts to 168,000 tire-kilometers. If each
tire lasts 24,000km, seven tires should have a total of 168,000kms
in them. Therefore, by rotating tires judiciously, Tammy could
make the entire trip within the allotted kilometers.
4. Jenny is having
dinner with a friend. She brought five dishes and her friend
three dishes. At the last minute, another friend comes and
eats with them. The second friend pays $4 as her share. If
all dishes have the same value, how can the money be divided
between Jenny and her first friend? (Be careful.)
Answer:
Jenny gets $3.50; friend gets $.50
Explanation:
Based on the $4 payment, the eight dishes are worth $12 ($4
times three people). The $12 divided into eight dishes, makes
the average cost at $1.50 per dish. Therefore, Jenny's five
dishes are worth $7,50. When Jenny's $4 is subtracted, that
leaves $3.50. The first friend's $4 is subtracted from her
dishes' $4.50 value, that leaves $.50.
5. Nine schoolchildren
form a circle. To choose a leader, they decide to start from
one of them, count up to 5 clockwise, ask the fifth player
to leave the circle, and so on. The last player left in the
circle is the leader. Andrew does the counting. He wants to
take advantage of this to become the leader. Let's call him
and his friends by the first letter of each child's first
name using the letters A (for Andrew) through I, clockwise.
From which spot should Andrew start his counting so he becomes
the leader?
Answer:
C
Explanation:
The best way is to make a circle and identify each with a
letter, from A through I. Then, by going around and around,
taking out the fifth player on each round, you find that Andrew
should have positioned himself in the C location to make sure
he became the leader.
6. The locomotive,
which is 24 feet long, plus a Pullman car equal the length
of 3 coaches. The four Pullman cars equal the length of the
locomotive plus the length of the 3 coaches. The diner car
is 2 feet longer than a Pullman car. One of the 3 coaches
is 1 foot longer than the other two. How long is each car?
Answer:Locomotive,
24 ft.;
2 coaches, 13 ft.each;
1 coach, 14 ft. Pullman, 16 ft, and
Diner, 18 ft.
Explanation:
This answer does involve a collection of formulas. The locomotive
is 24 ft (L = 24); the Pullman is 24 + P = 3C; the Diner is
D = 2+ P. Combining those and then using the substitution
method, you arrive at the Pullman being 16 ft and the Diner
18 ft. You then arrive at three coaches being a total of 40
ft. Using the last clue about one coach being a foot longer
than the other two, you get 13 ft, 13 ft and 14 ft.
Fun
& Games
Fun
& Games
Kids' movie
trivia
(When you're
done, click here for the answers.)
- What movie
is based on an award-winning kids' book that is reviewed
in this month's Young Saint Louis.com?
- Seven little
men co-starred with the heroine of this movie.
- In what movie
did shoe size play an important part?
- Little kids
are saddened by what happens to the mother of the main character
is this movie.
- In what movie
is staying on the right colored path very important?
- This mid-western
hat wearing archeologist has had at least three movies made
about him.
- What movie
has part of its plot concerned with a boy and girl lost
in a Missouri cave?
- What movies
feature the fastest and the strongest of the action heroes?
- In a movie
named after him, this little guy and his friends ride off
through the air on their bicycles.
- What good
natured little rodent has starred in dozens of short animated
films?
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 |
2.
doctor for children
3. organized info
7. confirm or justify
8. requires agility |
1.
top graduate
2. promise in future
4. placed high in air
5. useful to police
6. matched players |
Young
Saint Louis.com #2
| Across |
Down |
1.
needs to be won
3. put together
5. identify with name
7. regular light bulb
9. make one to believe |
2.
humiliating
4. can be seen through
6. make known
8. give to good cause |
June
Rhyme Time
| Across |
Down |
1.
in ape family
6. abandon, isolate
7. recepticle
8. eating utensil
10. middle of day
11. mound of sand |
2.
awkward, witless
3. a favor
4. musical composition
5. body of soldiers
6. quarter, full, half
8. fairly shortly
9. a ruffian |
Jokes
Let's start
off with a few wacky definitions
- Announce -
One sixteenth of a pound
- Arrest - Something
you do when you're tired
- Barefaced -
Looking like a bear
- Bird of prey
- Eagle who goes to church every Sunday
- Boxer - A guy
who stands up for another guy's rights
- Cartoon - A
song you sing in the car
- Coincide -
The sensible thing to do when it's raining
- Defense - Something
that goes around the yard
- Electrician
- A switch doctor
- Expert - Someone
who used to be a pert
And now they
get really bad
If an elephant
sat on a fence, what time would it be?
Time to get a new fence!
Did you hear
about the dizzy Boy Scout?
He spent all day doing good
turns!
Did you hear
about the little boy who was named after his father?
Sure, they called him "dad"!
Father: What's
the matter, son?
Son: The boy next door said
I look just like you.
Father: What did you say to him?
Son: Nothing, he's bigger than
me!
The little boy
came running into the kitchen. "Dad, dad," he said,
"there's a monster at the door with a really ugly face."
"Tell him you've already
got one," said the father!
Boy monster:
You've got a face like a million dollars.
Girl monster: Have I really?
Boy monster: Yes, it's green and wrinkly!
Did you hear
about the boy who got worried when his nose grew to be eleven
inches long?
Yes, he thought it might become
a foot!
Dad, there's a
man at the door collecting for the new swimming pool.
Okay then, give him a glass
of water!
What kind of girl
does a mummy take on a date?
Any old girl he can dig up!
First girl: When
I'm down in the dumps, I buy myself a new hat.
Second girl: Oh, so that's
where you get them!
And we bow
out with a couple of knock, knocks
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
D-1.
D-1 who?
D-1 who knocked!
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Dynamite.
Dynamite who?
Dynamite go out with you if you ask her nicely.
Answers
to Fun & Games
Trivia Answers
- Holes
- Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs
- Cinderella
- Bambi
- Wizard of
Oz
- Indiana Jones
- Adventures
of Tom Sawyer
- Superman movies
- E.T. or the
Extra-terrestrial
- Mickey Mouse
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.
doctor for children
3. organized info
7. confirm or justify
8. requires agility |
1.
top graduate
2. promise in future
4. placed high in air
5. useful to police
6. matched players |
Young
Saint Louis.com #2
| Across |
Down |
1.
needs to be won
3. put together
5. identify with name
7. regular light bulb
9. make one to believe |
2.
humiliating
4. can be seen through
6. make known
8. give to good cause |
June
Rhyme Time
| Across |
Down |
1.
in ape family
6. abandon, isolate
7. recepticle
8. eating utensil
10. middle of day
11. mound of sand |
2.
awkward, witless
3. a favor
4. musical composition
5. body of soldiers
6. quarter, full, half
8. fairly shortly
9. a ruffian |
