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Ball Kids

Two Eureka boys are
Young Saint Louis.com ball kids

Two eighth graders from Eureka will be YSL.com's official ball kids at the Missouri Valley Conference men's college basketball tourney. The meet runs from March 1-4 at the Savvis Center.

In January, YSL.com announced a drawing to select two kids to represent the website as ball kids at the MVC tournament. The winner of the MVC's Arch Madness meet gets an automatic bid to the NCAA's 65-team national championship.

Bobby Belleville and Peter Simon have been selected for the ball kid positions. They will work at least one two-game set at the tournament. Other kids working the games were selected by the MVC.

Bobby and Peter said they've attended events at the Savvis Center.

Bobby said he's seen about a dozen St. Louis Blues professional hockey games and "I've been to one (St. Louis University) Billikens game."

Peter said most of the events he's seen at Savvis were Blues games. But, he added, "I've gone to Missouri Valley tournament games there before."

However, this time, the Eureka middle schoolers' seats will be much closer to the action.

Ball kids are on the basketball floor right behind the basketball goals. They help the referees to keep the floor clean and dry during the games. Also, they help give out and retrieve practice balls at the end of warm-up times before games and at half-time.

Bobby and Peter are looking forward to having a up-close look at college basketball players in action. Both say they hope to play college basketball. Peter said, "If I'm good enough, I'd like to go pro."

Now, the boys play on an 8th grade basketball team at LaSalle Springs Middle School. The team plays in a Rockwood School District league. Asked if the team is any good, Bobby said, "Yeh. We've got a .500 record."

Bobby is a 13-year-old who is 5'11" and weighs 161 pounds. He plays forward for his team. He also plays outfield and pitches for his summer baseball team.

He'd like to play college basketball at either Mizzou or Duke.

Peter is 14 and between 5'10 and 5'11 in height. He weighs 150 pounds. He plays different positions on his school team, sometimes guard and sometimes forward.

If he gets to play in college, Peter said he'd like it to be at MU or UCLA.

Both boys have the MU Tigers among their favorite teams.

Bobby said he also likes the Indiana Hoosiers. He likes the play of the team's star, Jared Jeffries. Peter said, "I like to watch Duke beat everybody."

Neither boy had any favorite teams in the Missouri Valley Conference because they didn't know much about the schools in the league.

But, as ball kids at the MVC tournament, they'll get a chance to not only see the players but talk with them during the warm-up periods.

Among perks at games, the boys will get MVC T-shirts and free refreshments.

They'll also get a chance to see if working the games might rank among their best sporting experiences.

So far, both boys said their best experience was attending the 4A Missouri boy's high school basketball tournament two years ago. The tournament was played in the University of Missouri's Hearnes Fieldhouse in Columbia.

That year, they got to see their home team from Eureka High School win third place in the meet, beating Hannibal.

Bobby said Eureka's team that year was led by Matt Foster. "He could bring the ball up the court and shoot a 3-pointer or he could post-up and score down low," he said.

The two boys have been teammates on school teams for four years.

Peter said, "I come from a basketball family so I started playing real early, when I was three. But, I started playing on a team in 4th grade."

Peter's grandfather, Gene Myers, was a basketball coach at Eureka High School. He's now an assistant coach at Northwest Missouri State University at Maryville, Mo.

You can learn more about the Missouri Valley Conference by logging on to its website at www.mvc.org.

Lifestyle

Local kids contribute to
traveling peace project

Artwork by St. Louis area kids is included in a traveling peace project display. The project is due to be shown as far away as the Republic of Uzbekistan near Russia.

The Peace Project is the idea of Lloyd Kleine Harvey. He's director of Art From Recycled Materials, with a studio in the downtown City Museum.

The Peace Project is a collection of creative works made primarily of recycled materials. The kids' artwork is getting equal billing with adult artists in the traveling exhibit. It will be shown in several cities in the U.S. and in other places in St. Louis.

But, one of its longest trips will be to the International Museum of Peace and Solidarity in Uzbekistan. Americans are becoming familiar with that part of the world because of the war in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan is next to Afghanistan to the north.

Harvey's project is in sharp contrast with the fighting in that part of the world.

The Peace Project features original "images of peace" by many individuals interested in promoting world peace.

Much of the children's artwork comes from workshops conducted by Harvey to show how art can be made from recycled materials.

For instance, one of the project displays involves paintings by students at Warren G. Harding Elementary School in East St. Louis, Ill. Each student was asked to paint panels that told what peace meant to them.

A wall hanging was made, featuring a number of individual panels. That hanging gets equal play in the exhibit with works of adult artists.

Harvey said he also asked the East St. Louis kids to say what peace meant to them. One of them said, "Peace is when you don't have fights on the playground." Another added, "Peace is when there are no more shootings in the neighborhood."

Another piece of kids' artwork in the Peace Project is from Wyland Elementary School in the Ritenour District. Other images are from Father Dunne's Newsboys Home in Florissant and the St. Louis County Juvenile Detention Center in Clayton.

Also represented is a wall hanging from Sacred Heart School in Eureka.

Another piece is from the LaClede Pre-School and Kindergarten in Clayton.

In addition to the kids work, adult peace artists were recruited from as far away as Mexico and Germany. Two St. Louis adult artists included are Patrick Ritchey and Laura Braun.

One of the displays in the Peace Project has been done by Harvey himself. He's an artist who studied at schools such as the Art Institute in Chicago and the Parson's School of Design in New York.

His display shows how Harvey's interest in art from recycled materials comes together with his emphasis on peace.

Several years ago, a friend from The Mac Store asked Harvey if he had any use for the plastic shells that formerly housed MacIntosh computers. Harvey said, "At that time, I was saying 'yes' to everything."

He ended up with about 100 empty plastic computer boxes.

In the Peace Project display, some of those plastic computer shells are piled on each other to represent the World Trade Center towers. Those were the buildings destroyed in the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001.

Inside some boxes are reproductions of artist Jasper Johns' famous 48-star American flag. In the others will be names of the those killed in the terrorist attack.

This is Harvey's peace memorial to the thousands who lost their lives last Sept. 11.

Harvey has presented his recycled art workshops to a variety of young audiences. He goes to both public and private schools. And also to some unusual places.

The trip to the St. Louis County Juvenile Detention Center in Clayton is an example of a tough audience. But, he said, "When young people in detention facilities are treated with respect they're able to respond creatively and spontaneously."

He added, "I have high expectations, no matter what audience I'm working with. My focus is the same in a detention center or a well-to-do school."

The kids in the detention center also contributed to the Peace Project.

For more information about the Peace Project and Art From Recycled Materials, Harvey has a studio on the third floor of the City Museum at 701 N. Fifteenth St., St. Louis, MO 63103. He also can be contact by phone at (314) 231-2489, Ext. 121. His e-mail address is lhkleine@aol.com

News

Two kids go different ways in
Science Fair competition

Two winners from last year's Greater St. Louis Science Fair are taking different approaches to their entries in this year's competition.

Twelve-year-old Emily Mahon is extending the research she did in her winning entry last year. But, 12-year-old John Ellebrecht's experiment this year is in a whole different field.

The Greater St. Louis Science Fair is the world's largest regional science fair. This year's fair will be at Greensfelder Recreation Center at Queeny Park in west St. Louis County.

Fair dates are: for elementary kids, April 8-11; for secondary school kids, April 12-16. There will be honors judging April 8 and honors exhibits April 8-16.

Before getting a spot in the overall competition, kids have to advance in local contests.

For complete information, you can go to the website of the Junior Academy of Science of St. Louis at www.jracademy.com.

Emily has been allocated a spot in this year's fair by her school, St. Justin The Martyr School. "We don't have a local science fair at my school. But, I've been allocated one of our school's places in the regional fair," she said.

"I've had an entry in the fair every year since kindergarten, except for fifth grade," she said.

Last year's winning entry was titled, "The True Color of Ink." She started with inks from ball point and Uniball pens, markers and pencils. She used solvents such as water, vinegar, acetone and rubbing alcohol to break down the inks.

The idea was to see what different colors combined to make up the final color of the ink.

Emily said, "You'd think that red would be just red, being a primary color. But, the red ink broke down into pinks, yellows and orange." The sample of black ink was made up of browns, purples, blues and yellows, she said.

The various colors in the ink separated when she used strips of coffee filters as a wick and dipped them into the mixtures of ink and solvent.

In this year's entry, Emily will us longer wicks and new solvents to see if she can find more colors in the inks. She's using paint thinner as one of the new solvents.

Emily likes experimental science but she isn't fond of experiments on living things. "We cut up mussels in science class at school and I thought it was disgusting," she said.

But, she also likes music and now plays a hammered dulcimer. That's a stringed instrument that dates back into medieval times. She plays on an instrument that was custom-made for her by her first music teacher.

She will accompany her current piano teacher, Betsy Howard, when she plays in an upcoming flute festival.

John Ellebrecht is a sixth grader who is home-schooled by his mother, Barbara. His winning experiment last year centered on showing how the mechanism of a clock keeps time. He built the gears and pendulum to make a working clock.

But, this year, his experiment is called Ups and Downs in the Deep Blue Sea. It shows how a submarine is able to go down and then resurface by adjusting air pressure.

His submarine is made of an empty plastic soda bottle, some metal and putty for weight and a plastic straw to control the air inside the bottle. The interest in submarines runs in the family.

His older brother, Mike, has made a model submersible that has reached a depth of 13 feet. Mike is 16 and is due to enter the University of Missouri-Rolla next fall to major in engineering.

John has other interests besides experimental science. He keeps a flock of 18 chickens (17 hens and one rooster). He likes to raise unusual breeds of chickens, include one that lays eggs with a light green shell. He gets the exotic breeds from a hatchery in Iowa.

He also keeps track of how the type of feed a chicken eats changes the color of the egg yolks. For instance, store-bought eggs usually have a light colored yolk. That's because the chickens are fed mostly processed feed.

But, John's chickens run loose and often eat grass and alfalfa hay along with other feed. That makes the yolks much darker in color. Also, this freedom of movement makes the egg shells of his chickens stronger than store-bought eggs, he said.

John has room for the chickens because his family lives in a rural area of Wildwood close to Babler State Park in west St. Louis County.

Sports

Wonders of Outdoor World comes to St. Louis

A unique three-day camp that lets kids and their families learn a wide variety of outdoor skills is coming to St. Louis in May. If you're interested, you'll need to apply in March.

The Wonders of the Outdoor World (W.O.W.) is an annual event in Missouri. But, usually it has been held in the Springfield, Mo., area.

However, because of strong interest from St. Louis area families, sponsors set this year's event at Babler State Park in west St. Louis County. Dates are Friday-Sunday, May 3-5.

Young Saint Louis.com is running this story well in advance because the deadline for registration is March 29. There are only 200 spots open for the event, including 140 for the general public, for a $50 per person tuition.

Sixty additional spots are reserved for inner-city families who can get scholarships covering tuition. (For information on applying for scholarships, see sidebar below.)

The $50 fee is very economical because it covers meals and sleeping accommodations.

Because of the limited number of registrations, all applications need to be in writing. To have a registration packet mailed to you, please call (636) 441-4554 or e-mail wow@mail.conservation.state.mo.us.

Your registration will be confirmed after it is received, with a tuition check attached.

A total of 35 different classes and activities will be taught by 50 instructors. That means there will be one instructor for each four persons.

Subject areas include archery, boating, camping, fishing, hunting, natural history, nature arts and crafts, outdoor adventure, outdoor photography, primitive skills and shooting.

Holly Berthold is a media specialist for the Department of Conservation in the St. Louis region. She said, "A feature of W.O.W. is that families can design their own course of study and activities."

For instance, if a family were interested primarily in fishing, they have a choice of four different classes. They range from Basic Fishing for those just starting out to Fishing Large Rivers, a medium skill activity.

Some activities run for only one or two hours while some others may last for half a day.

Many classes involve learning regular outdoor skills such as fishing, hunting, shooting and boating.

However, many activities are in areas such as nature arts and crafts. These include etching and sketching, cordage making and woodworking. (Cordage is ropes made from natural plants and materials.) Outdoor adventures classes include backpacking basics, orienteering, caving and climbing a special 54-foot alpine tower.

The W.O.W. weekend begins Friday evening, May 3. Everyone will take part in the same activities that evening. They include a dinner, a skit by actors in Lewis and Clark costumes and a night hike with star gazing.

The sleeping arrangements include space for putting up a family's own tent or you can use a tent provided at the site. Also, families can be housed in one of eight 14-person cabins at Babler Park.

Berthold emphasized that the sleeping arrangements are "primitive." She said, "These aren't private cabins, although they have privacy screening to separate families."

All meals are included in the $50 tuition price, she said.

During Saturday and Sunday, families can sign up for classes that start very early. For instance, the Breakfast with the Birds activity will start at 6:30 a.m. Saturday. It includes a continental breakfast along with bird-watching activities. Binoculars are provided.

Many activities will be at Babler State Park. Other conservation areas will be used for special classes. Those include the Busch Wildlife Area and the Rockwood Reservation.

For canoeing, a stretch of the nearby Meramec River will be used.

Transportation between various locations will be provided. However, families can use their own vehicles if they want, Berthold said.

The W.O.W. classes and activities are open to kids 9 and older along with the adults.

However, for families with younger kids (4 to 8 years of age), there are special activities sponsored by 4-H clubs. These include arts and crafts, hikes and other outdoor activities especially designed for younger kids.

The younger kids will join other members of the families for meals and sleeping.

The Affton American Squirt hockey team last month won first place in the 11-and-under division of the huge 25th annual Presidents' Tournament in Colorado Springs, CO.

The tournament is considered to be the largest youth hockey competition in the U.S. Over 200 teams participated. Teams used five different venues, including the rink at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Young Saint Louis.com featured a profile on the Affton American team in December, 2001. To read the earlier story, just click here.

The Affton team was undefeated in its 8-team division. Other in the AA division included two teams each from Colorado and California and a team each from Illinois, Indiana and Florida.

Affton won its first round game from the Florida team, 3-2. In the second round, the Americans blasted one of the Colorado teams, 7-1. The third game against a California team ended in a 5-5 tie. But, that tie enabled Affton to lead its division and move into the semi-finals.

In the semi-final game, Affton won, 3-2, from the Paramount Panthers from California.

In the final, Affton prevailed over the Chicago Mission team, 3-1.

Affton placed third in its division in this tournament a year ago. This year, they moved up to capture the championship.

As of March 1, the Affton team's season record is 30-13-5. The trip to Colorado marked the longest distance traveled by the team this year. However, they regularly travel out-of-state since they are in a league which has teams from several Midwest states.

Writing

Kids' holiday stories are judged by McKissacks

Popular St. Louis kids' book authors Patricia and Fred McKissack gave kids at Brittany Woods Middle School a simple task: Write a story about a religious holiday.

The McKissacks then offered critiques on the writing by way of a closed-circuit video conference with the eighth graders.

The writing assignment was simple, but there was a lot of variety in the stories. Entries talked about several different holidays. Some stories were factual. Some were fiction.

This article is about three Brittany Woods kids whose work was interesting to the McKissacks. (To read their stories, just click here.)

Fourteen-year-old Jessica Jackson wrote about Kwanzaa. That's a relatively new African-American holiday. Her story sounds as if it happened in her family. But, she made that up..

Thirteen-year-old Amina Larara and 14-year-old Bashir Kalayeh got attention from the McKissacks even though English is their third language. Bashir's story had a trick ending.

The McKissacks had given the kids tips on how to write an interesting story. They talked about doing research, finding a good story idea, making characters human, having action and having an interesting setting.

Patricia McKissack told of one of her early books. It was about a person she knew. But, she said kids she was teaching told her the book was "boring." After re-reading it, she agreed. She said her book was full of facts but "I hadn't told a good story,"

Jessica decided to write about Kwanzaa because her birthday (December 27) happens on the second day of that week-long holiday. The holiday was established in 1966 by activist scholar Maulana Karenga.

He wanted to help focus African-Americans on seven principles he thought would strengthen the family and community.

Jessica said her family doesn't participate in Kwanzaa. "But, we talk about it and I had books about it at home," she said.

After looking up information, she said she needed to find a way to make the story more than just facts. She said, "I knew kids look up to their grandma and like her to tell interesting stories."

Therefore, she told her story as if her grandma was deciding the family should start to participate in Kwanzaa. "But, I made up the grandma," she said.

Jessica said she likes writing and reading. "I like mysteries and try to figure out what's going to happen at the end," she said. She hasn't decided on a career yet.

Amina is a Muslim so she decided to write about Ramadan, the Muslim religious holiday.

Being from Algeria, Amina's first two languages were Arabic and French. She said, "English is tough but I have fun learning it."

Amina said she learned facts about Ramadan from talking to her parents. She said, if she had that assignment again, she'd write about the Chinese New Year. "I like to learn about different religions," she said.

She wants to be a veterinarian when she gets older. "I'd like to work with wild animals if I could," she added.

Bashir is another student who has English as a third language. He's from Iran and Farsi is his first language. He also knows German.

He didn't pick his family's religious holiday for his story. He picked Christmas. "I've known about Christmas since I was born. It was on TV all the time," he said.

His story deals with an immigrant family that just moved to America. The kids want to have an American Christmas. The father doesn't have enough money to buy presents. But, when the kids get up on Christmas morning, both they and their parents have lots of presents waiting.

His surprise ending has Santa bringing the presents. Asked if he believes in Santa, Bashir said "No." He was then asked, if Santa didn't bring the presents, who did? "I think a friend did," he said.

Bashir said he like to read. And, after this writing assignment, he now "watches what the author does with his writing."

Asked about his future career, Bashir said he'd like to be a lawyer.

Kids writing examples selected
by St. Louis authors

Here are three Christmas stories selected by St. Louis kids' authors Patricia and Fred McKissack as good examples of writing skill. The samples are from kids at Brittany Woods Middle School in University City.

For Young Saint Louis.com profiles of the three writers, click here.

1. Kwanzaa by Jessica Jackson.

It is December 25th at about seven o'clock in the evening. Our family is sitting around, eating and talking about celebrating Christmas. As we discuss family traditions, Grandma begins talking about a fairly new holiday that is based on very old African holidays.

The whole family starts discussing honoring the customs of Africa, as well as the origin of our ancestors. Grandma then tells us that this year our family will become involved in this great celebration called Kwanzaa and make it an annual family tradition.

Kwanzaa is a seven-day holiday that begins on December 26th and continues through January 1st. The name of the holiday comes from the Swahili words mantunda ya kwanza, which means "first fruits."

According to Grandma, Maulana Karenga, an activist scholar, created Kwanzaa in 1966 in the United States. Karenga developed seven principles to reaffirm and strengthen family, community and culture.

These principles are umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujiima (collective work and responsibility), ujamma (cooperative economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity) and imani (faith).

Early the next morning, which was December 26th, we began to decorate our house with straw mats to represent the traditions and history, ears of corn to represent the children and the future of African people and a candleholder called a kinara to represent ancestral roots and the parent people or the continental Africans.

Each day, Grandma would light one of the candles and we would discuss the special meaning of that day.

The children in our family enjoyed the exchanging of gifts. These gifts had to be homemade such as clothes made with our mothers, toys made with our fathers or beads and bracelets made by the children.

One December 31st, we listened and danced to music celebrating the goodness of life, relationships and cultural grounding. Kwanzaa ended for us on January 1st, with the Siku ya Taamull (Day of Meditation), which was dedicated to sober self-assessment and recommitment to African values that reaffirm commitment to the dignity and rights of the human person, the well being of the family and community and the integrity and value of the environment.

Grandma informed us that each year we would have to learn more about this African Holiday celebrated by blacks and make it a part of our lives.

2. Ramadan by Amina Larara

When Sam woke up in the morning, he remembered that the next day would begin Ramadan, when he would have to fast from sun up to sun down for a month. It was not that bad for Sam because Ramadan was not just a month, it was a holy month when the great fast was meant to remind others to remember the poor while praying to their god.

So one of Sam's favorites was the great feast they have at the end of the day when his mom made lots of delicious dishes. When night came, it was time to eat and Sam was very happy. All the family gathered around the table and ate delicious dishes like couscous, dolma and shurba, a soup that Muslims eat after they have fasted the long day.

Days went by and Sam and his family were celebrating Ramadan each day. When the last day came, every Muslim would look at the sky and see if there was a full moon. If so, then the next day would be the Eade, which is the biggest holiday.

Sam woke up the next morning happily shouting, "It's Eade! It's Eade!" The family awakened and went to the mosque and then to visit some friends. The day ended up quite nicely. Now, they would have to wait two and a half months until the next holiday, the Big Eade.

3. Christmas by Bashir Kalayeh

It was a night before Christmas. It was the first Christmas that Schenekir's family had in America. They had just come from Germany the previous month and they lived in New York City. Lewis and August were the youngest kids of the family and they wanted to have Christmas like other kids in the neighborhood.

Their father, Morgan, was confused and he didn't know what to do. Kids were crying. Morgan went to the toy shop to buy something for the kids but he didn't have enough money to buy good things. He just had $10.00 in his pocket so he went to church to borrow some money or get help. No one was in the church so Morgan went home with nothing.

The next morning, when the kids woke up, they saw gifts all over the room. They ran to their parents' room to thank them. When they opened the door, they saw a lot of gifts for their parents.

They wanted to have a good Christmas this year. By receiving all those gifts, it even made their Christmas better. Everybody was happy and they celebrated their Christmas. But, they didn't know who gave all these gifts to them. Later, they found out it was Santa.

Books

This month's book reviews

Can the fifth-grade daughter of the
middle school girls' basketball coach find
happiness as a player on the team?

Laurie had made a lot of friends in her hometown. She was tall and an excellent basketball player. At eleven years of age, the last thing she wanted to hear was that her dad had taken a new job as girls' basketball coach in a middle school located in a town four hours away. But they had to go. Not only was it a better job for her dad, but they needed to move in with her grandmother who needed help if she was to keep living in her longtime home.

When Laura tries out for the school basketball team, she finds out that the returning players had formed cliques and tried to shut out any newcomers. Laura's problems were especially bad because her father was the coach and could not display any favoritism. To Laura, he seemed to be closing his eyes to the cruel and selfish things the older team members were doing to the new recruits.

Laura has to battle the animosity of the former star players and their parents as she works at reaching her potential as a player. She has to overcome numerous obstacles in helping to mold an inexperienced group into a really competitive basketball team. That such a team could become state champions was very much of a "long shot."

"Long Shot" by Timothy Tocher is an exciting sports book. Any girl who likes basketball should find it a great book to read.

Do you like to watch old horror movies?

Alonzo King was ten years old and had been born on Halloween. He imagined his life to be a black-and-white horror movie and he was the star. His favorite movies included "Frankenstein," "Dracula," "The Wolf Man," and, most favorite of all, "Phantom of the Opera." His favorite TV show was "Monsters at Midnight," hosted by Mr. Shadows, because it just showed old horror movies. Even his bookshelf contained titles like "Stories of Strange Disappearances" and books about the Loch Ness monster.

Alonzo's life becomes really exciting when people start talking about a mysterious beast that seems to be showing up in different places and at different times around town. Alonzo collects all the stories and becomes the town's expert on "the beast," although he had never seen it himself. With the help of the local postman, Mr. Blake, who seemed to share Alonzo's interest in monsters, Alonzo solves the mystery. In the process, he achieves his ambition of becoming "the boy of a thousand faces."

This is a very short paperback book with a lot of pictures. It only has about 40 pages. Brian Selznick is the author and the illustrator of "The Boy of a Thousand Faces." The plot is not very complicated, and you can read it pretty fast.

A teenage adventure centered on restoring wolves on lands close to a Hopi Indian Reservation

Jacob Lansa leads an adventurous life. He's only fifteen, but he has lived in isolated spots around the world. He normally assists his father, a zoologist who studies endangered species. Jacob has returned to Arizona for a short vacation and to visit his grandfather. He finds that his aging grandfather, who had been born on a Hopi Indian reservation, has abruptly left the retirement center to return to living with acquaintances from his childhood. Jacob is especially concerned because his grandfather had been experiencing occasional losses of memory.

He finds that his grandfather is flourishing among his old family friends. The primitive life appears to be helping him both physically and mentally. But while Jacob is checking out this family matter, he becomes involved in a variety of events that lead to his going out to trap a wolf. Besides skills that he had learned from his father, Jacob quickly learns trapping tricks from an old Indian wolf-trapper. Of course, there is a "bad guy" who doesn't like Jacob because he is an outsider. So, among numerous other problems, Jacob has to cope with a guy who not only wants to kill the wolf Jacob is trying to save, but also shoot Jacob in the process.

Roland Smith who has produced a number of other adventure novels for kids wrote "The Last Lobo". Among the other works are titles such as "Thunder Cave," "Jaguar," and "Sasquatch."

Family and school life through
the eyes of a five-year-old

A crisis has come up in the life of five-year-old Sam. His teacher has assigned all the kids to pick a job they would like to be in when they grow up. They are to dress up like what it is they want to be and give a report to the class on what they are expected to do on their chosen job. Sam has several problems with this assignment. One is that he keeps changing his mind. Another is that he wants to be something different from what anybody else would choose. Most of the boys, for instance, want to be firemen. Of course, another problem is being able to come up with the proper clothing or uniform.

He finally got his idea from an animal book that was one of his favorites. He would be a zookeeper! With that, the plot gets amazingly complicated. His mother has to come up on short notice with a proper "zooman's" suit. The boyfriend of his sister, Anastasia, gets involved by helping Sam learn to "train" Sleuth, the big and lazy family dog. Anastasia gets involved because the father of one of her girl friends has a collection of sports team caps that he is willing to give to Sam. Sam has hats with animal names on them - names like Cubs, Lions, Rams, Eagles, Gators, etc. Sam figures he can wear a different hat and give a new report every morning. That way he can stand up in front of the class every day for two or three weeks! What a way to become important!

Even though the main character in this book is five-year-old Sam, this isn't a little kid's book. It seems pretty clear that Lois Lowry, the author of "Zooman Sam," knows about little brothers and big sisters and how they can "bug" one another. There is plenty to laugh about in this little paperback.

Looking for a Dictionary with "Attitude?"
(Reprinted from our May 2000 issue)

Using a dictionary regularly is one of the best ways for anybody to build a better vocabulary and improve spelling.  A new paperback dictionary might be just the one you are looking for.  It's designed just for middle-grade kids. It's a handy size and easy to flip through. It combines Garfield comic strips along with a serious dictionary that has over 65, 000 definitions in it. The comic strips are used to illustrate the meanings of many of the words.  It also has many other black and white pictures in it, but it is not a little kid's picture dictionary at all.

Garfield's creator, Jim Davis, along with the publishers, think that it's okay to have a laugh or two while looking up a word.  The famous cat does a lot to make you want to look it up right now rather than "wait until later." The title is The Merriam-Webster and Garfield Dictionary.  Published in 1999 by Merriam-Webster, it has 800 pages, sells for $12.95, and should be available in the intermediate section of your local bookstore.

Outdoors

Ways you can join Earth Day's
All-Species Parade

One main feature of St. Louis' Earth Day 2002 celebration Sunday, April 21, will be the All-Species Parade. Here are a few ways kids can get "dressed up" for the parade.

(For a complete schedule of Earth Day activities, go to the website at: www.stlouisearthday.org)

The All-Species parade will be start at 2:30 p.m. in Forest Park. The route runs from the middle of the St. Louis Zoo to the World's Fair pavilion.

Earlier in the day, the Missouri Historical Museum and the Resource Recovery Project will help you make a parade mask or decorate your bike for parade participation.

The museum's mask-making activity will be from noon to 2 p.m. After you make your mask, it's only a short walk to the parade route.

The Resource Recovery Project will provide recycled materials so you can decorate your bike for the parade also. There will be valet parking for your bikes while you take part in other Earth Day activities on Sunday.

There's also a bike rodeo with some unusual races and competitions.

Another activity that uses recycled materials will be the Mini Boat Regatta, which will be held earlier Sunday in Forest Park. Recycled materials can be obtained from the St. Louis Teachers' Recycle Center.

Here's a rundown on participation events open to groups and individuals:

1. Mini Boat Regatta:

This activity has three age categories: Under 6, Grades 1-3 and Grades 4-8. The object is to create a floatable boat from recycled materials. Judging will be in four categories:

• Most patriotic
• Most unusual
• Most recyclable
• Most contributors to a single boat.

Susan Blandford of the St. Louis Teachers' Recycle Centers said "most contributors" is a new category this year. It's designed to encourage kids to cooperate in design and building of their boat.

Individuals and groups can obtain up to five pounds of recycled materials free of charge from any of the group's three recycle centers. The locations and telephone numbers of the three are:

• Harry S. Truman Elementary School
  (314) 729-2401
  
  
• Hoech School in the Ritenour School District
  (314) 493-6245
  
  
• University of Missouri-St. Louis'
  Ward E. Barnes Library
  (314) 516-6826

Blandford suggested calling for materials as soon as possible to give yourself more time to design and build your entry.

The boats can't be more than 3 feet in length and they don't have motors.

2. Mask making at the Missouri History Museum

The museum is sponsoring a personalized mask-making activity from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday. You'll have time to make your mask at the museum and still make it to the start of the All-Species parade at 2:30 p.m.

The museum will have mask-making kits. But the blank masks encourage individual creativity. You'll be able to decorate the mask to fit your individual parade theme.

For information, just call the museum's public information office at (314) 454-3150.

3. Bike Art

Leftovers, Etc. and the Resource Recovery Project will be on hand to help decorate your bike for the parade. For more information about this activity, check the Earth Day 2002 website for the latest contact information and schedule.

4. The DNR Park Ranger Bike Rodeo

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources will sponsor a Bike Rodeo with some unusual competitions.

There's the Dodge 'em Drive, where you check the roadway for hazards and then dodge them as needed. The object here is to avoid the hazards while making only small adjustments in direction.

This is good practice for riding where there is a lot of other traffic and veering sharply one way or another could cause a collision.

Then there is the Slow Race. In this, the bikers try to be the last to finish the race. You ride as slow as you can without having to put your foot down or falling over.

5. Valet Bicycle Parking

The St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation will provide a continuous bicycle guard when you are off doing other things during the Sunday Earth Day activities.

Parking attendants will wipe down your bikes and provide air for tires. There's even a place to get a refreshing drink and snack.

For additional details, you can contact Renee Duenow at (314) 647-4490 or e-mail her at reneeduenow@mindspring.com.

The Earth Day 2002 committee is continuing to add other activities and events. Check its website each week to find out about new things.

Food

School for Blind kids help
make real maple syrup

Kids from the Missouri School for the Blind got a taste of how to make real maple syrup. That's a process that starts with gathering sap from maple trees.

(For more information about how you could make maple syrup, see sidebar below.)

Several of the kids already knew about maple syrup making. They'd read "Little House" books by Missouri author Laura Ingalls Wilder. One of her stories dealt with making maple syrup during days on the American frontier.

But, this time, the kids learned about maple syrup making first hand. They took a field trip last month to the Rockwood Reservation in west St. Louis County.

February is the ideal month for collecting maple sap in Missouri. The warm days and cool nights start sap flowing upward from the roots to the limbs. It's the sugar in the sap that provides food so the limbs can grow leaves for the new season.

The kids went into the woods to gather sap that had been dripping into buckets overnight. They poured the thin sap into a special gas-fired cooker. There, water is boiling off to concentrate the sugar into syrup.

Then, came the fun part. The kids gave newly-made syrup a taste test on waffles.

Many of them thought the real maple syrup was sweeter than syrup they had at home. That syrup usually is made from corn syrup with artificial maple flavoring added.

Ten-year-old Skily Smith of Webster Groves said the real maple syrup "tasted better; it seemed sweeter."

But, nine-year-old Ellaun Williams of St. Louis said, "I don't think I could make the syrup by myself. But, it looked like fun."

Keri Lanning teaches the maple-syrup class at the Rockwood Reservation. She explained that making syrup requires a lot of work. The sap that comes from the maple trees has only 2% sugar content. It needs to be cooked for a long time to concentrate the sugar. .

It takes 40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of real maple syrup.

She also told the kids about an old Indian fable about why the maple sap now only contains a little bit of sugar.

The old fable says maple trees originally had sap that was thick and sweet as syrup without any cooking. It also flowed all year long. But, the Indian God found the Indians would just break off a tree limb, lay on the ground and let the sweet sap drip into their mouths.

The God saw that the Indians were getting fat and lazy. He wanted them to be thin and active. So, he forced lots of extra water into the maple trees.

That made the sap thin like it is now. The thinner sap didn't even have much of a sugary taste anymore. The God also made sure the sap only flowed during February.

Fourteen-year-old Amanda Stogsdill of Hillsboro was asked if she thought the Indian story was true. She said, "It kinda, sorta could have been true." But, she was also one who had learned about maple syrup making from one of Wilder's "Little House" stories.

Twelve-year-old Kurt Elliott of St. Louis was another kid who thought the concentrated maple syrup was good. "It's way much better than the syrup I get at home," he said.

Before going into the woods, Keri Lanning explained how the sap gathering works.

First, she said sap is only gathered from older maple trees. Those would be trees that were at least 10 inches in diameter. That would mean the tree was about 30 years old.

She said only older trees should be tapped. That's because young trees need all the sap they make to grow. You can hurt these small trees by tapping them.

She used a comparison of humans giving blood to help others who are sick. She said kids can't give blood because they need all they have for their own growth. But, adults have enough blood that donating a pint doesn't hurt them.

To collect the sap, you drill a hole into the tree trunk. The hole is about two inches deep. Then, you stick a wooden or metal spigot into the hole. By hanging a bucket on the spigot, you can collect the sap one drip at a time.

Lanning said you have to be sure you put a cover on the bucket or forest animals might come and drink the sap. They like the sugar too, she said.

After the kids gathered the sap, they went to the evaporator. This one was gas-fueled. They got close so they could smell the steam as the water was boiled off. Ellaun Williams said she like the smell of the steam.

But, the kids liked the taste of the fully-cooked syrup much better.

Math Puzzler

Some more "user-friendly" Math Puzzlers

Mr. Math Puzzler thinks he might have been giving you math questions that are too tough. For March, he's come up with questions that, while still difficult, might be easier to figure.

Young Saint Louis.com wants to test your math skills. But, we don't want the questions to be so hard that they discourage you from entering. After all, this is supposed to be fun.

We haven't had enough winners lately.

But, it's still up to you as entrants to do the math and find the right answers.

Lets see how many of you can get the answers to these March questions.

Each month, YSL.com publishes a series of six Math Puzzlers. We make a little competition out of it. We want the Puzzlers to be fun for the whole family.

The more fun you have with math, the easier math concepts will be to learn.

Remember what Mr. Math Puzzler recommended last month. If you find that a question might be answered in two different ways, just print out two entries and send both of them.

If you send in multiple entries, you increase your chances of winning.

Also, you increase your chances of earning our EXTRA BONUS. Remember, all entries with six correct answers are put into a hat and up to three will get $10 Border's book certificates. (YSL.com wants to award you book certificates.)

Submit your answers to this March contest by using the form below. In April, we'll publish names of those who answered all questions correctly. We'll also include explanations of the answers. (For answers to the February Math Puzzlers, click here.)

A reminder: Although these Math Puzzlers are a little easier, they are still 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
   7733 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 350
   Clayton, MO 63105
   
   
6. All entries must be postmarked by the 15th of the month to be eligible for a book prize.

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

Entry for March, 2002, Math Puzzler Contest:

Name: _____________________________________

Address: ___________________________________

City:_________________, State:______ ZIP________

Contact phone no.(____)____________________

The Math Puzzlers
(March, 2002)

1. In the following number replacement puzzle, each letter stands for a particular digit (from 0 to 9). Can you break the code?

   ES
+  SO
 -----
  SOS 

Answer:_____________

2. What number is three times one-half the number that is one-eighth less than three-sixteenths?

Answer:_____________

3. A certain box of candy can be equally divided (without cutting any pieces) between three, four or seven people. What is the least number of pieces of candy the box can contain?

Answer:_____________

4. Suppose you have 16 blue socks and 22 black socks in a drawer. If you reach into the drawer without looking at the socks, what is the smallest number of socks you must take from the drawer to be assured of getting one pair of blue socks?

Answer:______________

5. There are 18 people in the final round for a grand prize. The 18 must stand in a circle and be counted for elimination. Starting the counting with number one, every seventh contestant will be eliminated until one remains to win the prize. Where would you stand to win the contest?

Answer:______________

6. A strange monster has five arms and, if you cut off an arm, two more grow in its place. Assume that on the first cut, all five arms are cut off, replaced by 10. Then, on the second cut, all 10 arms are cut off, etc. How many arms will be cut off on the sixth cut?

Answer:______________

Finding all the right answers
was elusive again in February

The search for six correct Math Puzzler answers turned out to be difficult again last month. No contestants answered all six correctly.

But, help is on the way.

Mr. Math Puzzler has some up with questions for March where the answers should be easier to find. Young Saint Louis.com wants to be able to award more prizes; we haven't had enough winners in previous months.

Those who enter the monthly contest and answer all six questions correctly will have their entries put in a hat and YSL.com will award up to three $10 Borders book certificates. To take part in the March competition, just click here.

Answers to February, 2002, Math Puzzlers

1. Which is larger: one-half times one-half of a dozen dozen or one-half dozen halved and cubed?

Answer: The first equation

The explanation:

½ x ½ = ¼ x 12 = 3 x 12 =36

OR

½ x 12 = 6 ÷ 2 = 3³ = 27

2. If two gallons of paint are required to cover all the faces of one cube, how many gallons will be required to cover all exposed surfaces of this figure, including the faces on the bottom. (All cubes are shown; there are no hidden cubes.)

Answer: 12 gallons

The explanation: There are 36 exposed sides (included those on the bottom) of the cubes in the illustration. If all six sides of one cube need two gallons of paint, then 36 sides in the illustration would need 12 gallons of paint.

3. You walk into a room where there are three boxes. One is marked "gold;" another marked "silver" and the third marked "gold & silver." You are told that all three labels are wrong. If you can figure out the correct contents of each box by looking at the contents of only one box, you can have all the gold and silver you can carry out of the room. How do you proceed?

Answer: Open gold&silver box

Explanation: If you open the gold&silver box, and it's silver, then the silver-marked box must be gold and the gold box must be gold&silver. But, if you open the gold box and it's silver, you still don't know which of the other boxes were gold or gold&silver. The same problem happens if you open the silver box first. You need to start with the gold&silver box first.

4. A local tennis tournament has 128 entrants for its singles competition. How many total matches will be needed to be played, including the championship match, to determine the champion?

Answer: 127 matches

Explanation: There's two ways to figure this. Since there are 127 entrants who lost, that means there were 127 matches. Or you can figure it this way: In the first round, there were 64 matches; second round, 32 matches; third round, 16 matches, fourth round, 8 matches; fifth round, 4 matches, sixth round, 2 matches, and seventh round, the final match. Thus, 64+32+16+8+4+2+1=127

5. What size square has a perimeter that is equal (in number only) to its area?

Answer: 4 x 4

Explanation: The only number where adding the four sides together will result in the same total as multiplying the number to get the surface area is 4.

6. Five friends are going to the movies. When they arrive, there are only six seats together left in the theater. The manager will let all five friends in for free if one of them can tell him how many different seating arrangements are possible for five people with six empty seats. All five were let in free. What was their answer?

Answer: 720

Explanation: This is called a permutation. The first person has six possible seat choices. The second person (since the first person is already seated) has five possible seats. Then, the third has four choices; fourth has three choices, and fifth has two choices. When you figure each of the five people could be the first one to pick a seat, that multiplies the possibilities. The permutation is arrived at by multiplying the 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. That comes to 720.

Fun & Games

Fun & Games

Note that the words used in Young Saint Louis.com crossword puzzles are all taken from the articles appearing in this month's issue. When you have completed the puzzles, you can look below to find the answers!

Young Saint Louis.com - March #1

Young Saint Louis.com - March #2

Young Saint Louis.com - March #3

How about some "pay close attention" jokes?

Question: If a plane crashed on the border of England and Scotland, where would they bury the survivors?
      Answer: You don't bury survivors!

Question: David's father has three sons - Snap, Crackle, and _____?
      Answer: David, of course!

You are a bus driver. At the first stop four people get on. At the second stop eight people get on. At the third stop, two people get off. At the fourth stop, everybody gets off. The question is what color are the bus driver's eyes...
      The same as yours. Remember that you are the bus driver!

If the red house is on the right side and if the blue house is on the left side, where is the white house?
      Washington, D. C.!

If two's company and three's a crowd, what are four and five?
      Nine!

What is the best hand to write with?
      Neither - it's better to write with a pen!

Plays on words

When is a car not a car?
      When it turns into a garage!

How much do pirates pay for their earrings?
      A buccaneer!

How many ears did Davy Crockett have?
      Three - his left ear, his right ear, and the wild front ear!

Did you hear about the fifty-pound jellybean?
      It's pretty hard to swallow!

How did the soaking wet Easter Bunny dry himself?
      He used a hare dryer!

And, finally

Knock. Knock.
      Who's there?
Dewey.
      Dewey who?
Dewey have to keep telling knock knock jokes?

Answers to Fun and Games

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 - March #1

Young Saint Louis.com - March #2

Young Saint Louis.com - March #3