Seven metro-area elementary and middle school kids have been named 2009 Gateway Young Achievers.

The awards were made to elementary and middle school students to celebrate their outstanding achievements both at their schools and in their communities.

The 2009 Achievers from area elementary and middle schools:

In addition, high school students also received similar awards.

This is the 19th year of the Young Achievers program, which is sponsored by the International Leadership Network. The awards program is supported by the Millstone Foundation of St. Louis.

The finalists will receive a star award and a $1,000 savings bond. The local winners also will be entered in the International Young Achievers competition.

The seven elementary and middle school Achievers, along with the high school awardees, were honored at a breakfast on Friday, May 1, at the St. Louis Airport Renaissance Hotel.

(Young Saint Louis.com has covered the Young Achievers program for several years. In addition to this 2009 YA article, YSL.com will profile all the elementary and middle school winners. The first profile will be in our June edition.)

The following are brief sketches and pictures of the 2008 elementary and middle school winners:

Nate Balducci, an 8th grader at St. Vincent de Paul School in Marthasville. The Warren County kid is president of the student council and participates in basketball. He also plays drums in the Junior High honor band. A peer mediator, Nate attended the People to People Leadership Forum in Washington, DC.

Hannah Braunseis, a 5th grader at Smithton Elementary School in Smithton, IL. An outstanding student, Hannah is active in band, student council and 4-H.

Colten Conroy, an 8th grader at St. John the Baptist-Gildehaus School in Villa Ridge, MO. The Franklin County kid is an honor roll student, a basketball player and Student Appreciation Award winner. Colten was a People to People Leadership Forum participant. He also volunteers in many parish and school activities.

Jack Harris, a 7th grader at Crestview Middle School in Chesterfield. He has consistently maintained a 4.0 GPA while enrolled in all challenge level courses. He finished first of 67 participants in the 2008 St. Louis Gateway Tennis League and currently is first of 91 participants in the 2009 League. His baseball team won the Missouri state championship and finished third in the USSSA World Series. He has raised money for Malaria No More, volunteered to help kindergarten kids and been nominated for "Do the Right Thing."

Channing Hunter is an 8th grader at Governor French Academy in Bellville, IL. He has won awards for chess, music and poetry. Channing also is a Black Belt in karate.

Olivia C. Martin, a 6th grader at City Academy. She loves math and science and is a Student Ambassador. She's active member in Chess Club, Double Dutch Club, Girls on the Run, Stages, Model UN, Junior Achievement, 2008 Brain Games, Dance for Dogs and Shoes for El Salvador. Olivia has completed a technology certificate at Florissant valley Community College and the Science Center's Family Med School Basics. She is a member of Yele, a West African dance company, and has performed in Black Repertory Theater productions.

Kyle Sottoriva is an 8th grader at Carlinville Middle School. The Illinois youngster is an honor roll student who has represented his school in many state and national conferences. He is an active volunteer in Macoupin County programs. He also is a shot-putter and discus thrower in track and also plays the saxophone.

Thirteen-year-old Isaiah Gadson has to take his twice-a-week chess lessons by computer over the Internet. That's because his teacher lives in Europe.

Isaiah recently won his third Missouri state chess championship. He was first in the 8-and-under division in competition in Jefferson City. Previously, he had won in the 6th and 7th grade divisions.

The 8th grader at Pattonville Heights Middle School began with chess in kindergarten. That's when his father introduced him to a game he had been playing since he was in 2nd grade.

Isaiah said he played in his first chess tournament when he was in 2nd grade. He remembered it was the Bollinger Memorial meet at Wydown Middle School in Clayton.

Recently, he's been going farther afield to get good competitors with whom to play.

This month, he's scheduled to play May 22-25 in the Chicago Open Chess Tournament. That's an all-comers tourney with a total of $100,000 in prizes at stake.

He'll be entered in the division for players with ratings up to 2100 in the national rating scale. Currently, Isaiah has a rating of 1893 according to the U.S. Chess Federation rating schedule.

At this stage of his development, Isaiah is interested in competing with players who rank ahead of him. He said he needs to do that in order to improve his game.

Isaiah said his best chess experience so far wasn't his three state championships. Rather, he said, "It was at the National Youth Action tournament when I beat my first Class A opponent (with a rating of over 1800)."

At that time, Isaiah's rating was in the 1300s.

In his early chess years, Isaiah got most of his instruction at home. Pattonville Heights Middle School doesn't have a chess team.

But, recently, he has been getting his instruction with Sasa Jevtic, a chess champion who lives in Serbia.

The family met Jevtic when he was in St. Louis on a chess tour. The Gadsons housed Jevtic while he was in St. Louis.

Isaiah said he now takes lessons from Jevtic via the Internet. One lesson is solo instruction and the other is one where he shares the lesson with his sister.

Ten-year-old Keturah is a student at Central Christian School and is also a state champion. She has won both 3rd and 4th grade championships.

Asked if she'd every beaten Isaiah in a chess game, Keturah said, "No. But, I came close once."

The trans-continental chess lessons use a special software which allows the teacher and students to move chess pieces to simulate actual game conditions. They can move pieces across the board in real-time as the lesson continues.

Isaiah said he considers himself to be a pretty competitive chess player. "But," he added, "I'm not like 'everything-competitive.'"

While he considers chess "fun," he said he doesn't talk while playing a match. He's too busy studying the board and planning his future moves.

He said he likes the "analytical nature" of chess and feels it helps him with his schoolwork. He said he thinks chess is most helpful in math and science because they also involve analysis of problems.

But, he said chess also strengthens his mind for his other classes.

He said his favorite classes in school are communication arts and social studies.

Asked about communication arts this semester, he said the students were working on poetry. About his poetry skills, Isaiah said, "It's not my favorite. But, if I get down to it, I can do some pretty good poems."

Isaiah is hoping his success in chess might lead to another benefit--a college scholarship.

Recently, he played in a chess tournament hosted by the University of Texas-Dallas. That school and the University of Maryland-Baltimore are considered to be chess powerhouses and both offer chess scholarships.

But, Isaiah said he doesn't plan to try to make chess a career.

He said he'd like to go to college and study electrical engineering. Then, he'd like to work in that field and eventually own his own electrical business.

So far, Isaiah's record in state competition involves all winning matches.

He won all six matches at this year's tournament. He was 5-0 in 7th grade and 6-0 in 6th.

Isaiah said he enjoys playing in tournaments, especially "if I'm good enough at it I can earn a scholarship."

Another advantage is that in open tournaments the winners get cash prizes. And, unlike in high school or college sports, winning money doesn't have any effect on his eligibility.

So, in his trip to Chicago, Isaiah can hope for a win over a higher-rated player and maybe even earn a little extra cash.

Natalie Altis of Ballwin began tossing horseshoes with her dad when she was 5 years old. Now a high school sophomore, she's improved a lot and also has learned a lot about Missouri's strong horseshoeing heritage.

Last month, the 16-year-old was at the new national Hall of Fame and Museum near Wentzville helping with the West vs. East Horseshoeing tournament.

One of the younger entrants in the meet was 17-year-old Michael Bowman of Archie, MO., the reigning 2008 World Junior Horseshoe champion.

And, the reigning overall world adult champion is Alan Francis, who won that title for 14th time in 2008. He lives in Ohio now but most of those titles were won while he was living in Missouri.

Michael started pitching horseshoes in his backyard with his dad, Glenn, who had pitched for more than 20 years.

At the 2008 world championships in York, PA, Michael won the junior championship by pitching ringers on nearly three-fourths of his throws. But, he said that wasn't his best pitching effort; he threw nearly 83 per cent ringers at a tournament in Liberty, MO.

Throwing a metal horseshoe from a distance of up to 40 feet and have it stay on a metal pole takes some skill. To make that happen three-fourths of the time takes a lot of skill.

Natalie Altus's best showing was 45 per cent in an all-woman junior tournament.

She teams with a friend, Lauren Clifton of O'Fallon, MO, on a mixed foursome team that competes at the Hall of Fame on Monday nights. One of the two adult men on the team is her father, Rich.

Natalie said horseshoe pitching is fun and "a good social activity."

She said she wants to continue playing "for a real long time."

She's living in an area where the opportunities for horseshoeing are plentiful. For instance, in her home town of Ballwin, the city maintains an outdoor pitching facility in Vlasis Park.

The Hall of Fame has both outdoor and indoor courts. This facility was opened in 2007 and is administered by the Quail Ridge Horseshoe Club.

And there are other facilities in Festus, St.Charles and Wentzville. Each of these facilities is home to a local horse shoe pitching club.

(If you'd like to look into horseshoe possibilities, you can call Jeanette Claas at (636) 449-3039 or you can visit www.quailridgehorseshoes.com.)

The Quail Ridge club hosts a variety of tournaments during the year. Through April, there already have been more than half a dozen.

For the rest of the year, there are more than a dozen others scheduled. With the indoor courts available, the tournament schedule can run through the whole year. For instance, Quail Creek plans a Jingle Bell Rock meet set for December 4, 2009.

Both Natalie Altis and Michael Bowman said they like the idea that horseshoeing is an activity they can continue for many years.

Natalie's team partner, Lauren Clifton, wrote a short article about the sport. It is being used by the Hall of Fame to promote the sport to younger kids.

Lauren said she thought the sport was "very competitive, challenging and a sport that I can play all my life."

She said she also learned about the sport from her dad.

Lauren said, "When he heard that the National Horseshoe Pitchers Hall of Fame was being constructed in Wentzville, he told me that would be good place to pitch shoes. He signed me up."

She said she's been a member for two years. So far, she and Natalie are the only juniors in their league.

She noted that horseshoeing isn't easy to master. "But, the more ringers I throw, the more thrilling it gets. Getting a six-pac (double ringers) is really exciting," she said.

Natalie said she likes to enter tournaments. "I try to go pretty regularly," she said.

She said she finished third in the junior girls division in the state tournament last year.

She said she would like to participate in a world tournament. She said that might be possible this year because the international tournament will be held in Springfield, IL.

That's where Michael Bowman will defend his title.

One thing about horseshoe tournaments, throwers with a wide range of skills all can compete. For instance, at the Happy Hearts tournament at the Hall of Fame in February, Natalie was first in the G class (A is best).

If you're looking for something different in sports, why not check out horseshoeing.

It might be new to you, but you live in an area with a long tradition in the sport and some top-notch facilities, both indoors and out.

Kids attending a money management seminar last month were given an unusual "piggy bank" as a gift. This one had three money slots, not just one.

One slot was for savings, one for sharing and one for spending.

Dozens of kids and their parents attended a "Teach Your Kids to Share Day" at the City Museum in downtown St. Louis. In a venue like the City Museum, you can be sure there was time for fun along with learning about managing money.

About money, the kids were given a formula for using their money as well as their time. The piggy bank helps them keep track.

About 10 per cent of their money should go into savings. Another 10 per cent was to be used to share with others. That left them 80 per cent to spend on themselves and their families.

One other special thing they learned in this management class was that their time is often as valuable, if not more so, than their money.

On this last point, the six kids in the Wollbrinck family of Beaufort, MO, already have a head start. (Beaufort is west of Union, MO. in Franklin County).

The kids who attended the seminar were Nathan, 15; twins Jacob and Noah, 13; Johanna, 12, Matthew, 10, and Lily, 7.

Father Tim said, "My wife and I, along with the older kids, come into St. Louis every other Wednesday to help feed the homeless."

Nathan said he also helps serve and clean up after meals at their church. He said each of the kids contributes to the offering at church as a part of their "sharing."

About money savings, Nathan said each of the kids has a savings account in the local bank back home.

Eleven-year-old Andrew Bohnert of Frohna, MO, (south in Perry County near the Mississippi River) said he already has much of his savings invested in mutual funds. He keeps the account with his mother, Tammy, who is a financial associate with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

That financial services company was the principal sponsor of the City Museum outing. Besides the savings and sharing instruction, the kids and their families got a chance to try out the many amusement attractions of the unique museum.

This was a big time for Andrew and his finances. Since he turned 11, he's starting to get a weekly allowance. He'll get $11 a week (one dollar for each year of age) and then get an extra dollar a week every time he has another birthday.

At the money management with Andrew and his mother, Tammy, was a cousin, 7-year-old Sam Boxdorfer of Waterloo, IL. Sam said he's got lots of piggy banks and he got $10 more recently for his birthday.

Six-year-old Jordan Rolf of St. Peters, MO, said she now has two piggy banks, including the one she got at the seminar. She said most of her savings have come from money for birthdays and Valentine's Day. She said she doesn't get an allowance yet.

Jordan said she likes to spend her savings on clothes.

But, she said she also gives $1 a week at church and likes to share things with her 3-year-old sister.

Thirteen-year-old Sara Wallace and her sister, 9-year-old Cora, of Florissant, MO, were at the seminar. They said both of them have bank savings accounts.

Cora said most of her savings come from birthday presents because she doesn't get an allowance. Recently, she took some money out to buy a Webkinz stuffed animal.

But, she said she's now saving to give an older sister a present on her 16th birthday. She said she'd like to buy her a car but admits that's probably beyond her means.

Sara said she mostly likes to put money into her savings account. But, she's thinking about saving for an iPod.

As for sharing, she said she buys noon meals for her friends at school. But, she admits that's often a trade-off because they also buy her noon lunches.

At the start of the seminar, the kids got together with some instructors to discuss the three different stages of money management, saving, sharing and spending.

The kids had all sorts of ideas on what they'd like to buy. The suggestions included CDs, Lego building blocks, a dog and a Wii.

But, they also had lots of ways they share with others.

One told of helping at a store where foster-care kids shop. Another said she was an artist who worked at a nursing home.

Another girl said she danced to piano music at a nursing home.

Among the ideas for sharing that involved spending money on friends. One kid bought a book for another kid and another bought a friend a birthday present.

Parents were given 6 tips on how to help their kids learn to save, share and spend in a reasoned way:

Brothers Kanoa and Kalei Fujita of O'Fallon, MO, had colored Easter eggs before with packaged, store-bought dyes.

They'd even packed bits of candy in hollow plastic eggs to use for Easter egg hunts.

But, this year, they tried something different. They dyed their eggs with natural dyes made from such things as onion skins, red cabbage and household spices such as tumeric.

On the day before Easter last month, Kanoa and Kalei were in a class with other kids at the Busch Conservation Area in St. Charles County. The object was to learn how to make dyes using only natural ingredients.

They brought along their own eggs so they could practice making the colored eggs.

They even got an Easter Egg bread recipe so they could make an unusual holiday breakfast treat. The bread was baked in a braided form so the colored eggs fit into holes in the bread.

Thirteen-year-old Kanoa and 15-year-old Kalei each dyed four eggs using homemade blue, purple, green and orange dyes. The blue dye came from boiling red cabbage.

The purple, green and orange dyes required mixing different ingredients since they weren't primary colors. For instance, to get the green they had to mix turmeric with blueberry juice. The ingredients used alone would have made yellow and blue.

Eleven-year-old Ellie Simms of Wentzville said her favorite color was robin's egg blue. For that she used the red cabbage dye. If she wanted a darker blue, she'd have used blueberry juice.

The 5th grader said her usual Easter Sunday started with going to church. Then, when the family got home, she would get an Easter gift.

Ellie said this was her first time trying to dye her own eggs. "My dad would dye the eggs when I was littler," she said.

Her egg dye choices at the class were blue, green, yellow and purple.

Sisters Allison and Sophia Welter of St. Charles also were on hand for the egg-dyeing class.

They said this was the first time they were doing their own egg dyeing.

Eighteen-year-old Allison said on previous Easters her family went to their grandmother's house, where they got their colored eggs.

Volunteer teacher Gladys Kullman led the class. Most of the dye recipes were her own as was the Easter Egg bread recipe.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) offers all sorts of classes at its various locations in the St. Louis area. (If you'd like to know what classes and events are offered each month, you can go to www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/St.Louis.)

But, Ms. Kullman's pre-Easter egg-dyeing class wasn't one offered to the general public. All of the attendees were affiliated with one of the St. Louis-area Children of the American Revolution (CAR) chapter.

If groups are large enough, they can arrange for separate classes. Many homeschooler groups arrange for members-only classes.

(To check on such classes, you can call media specialist Dan Zarlenga at Busch. His number is (636) 300-1953, ext. 235)

The Easter Egg decorating class was mostly a hands-on activity.

There was a small kitchen just off the classroom. That's where about half of the kids and their parents went to start cooking the onion skins and red cabbage to get the liquid dye out.

The rest of the kids started putting their eggs in the juice that came from canned blueberries and beets.

Actually, Ms. Kullman pointed out that juice from canned beets produced as pink color on the eggs. But, if you cooked raw beets, that juice produced a brownish pink color.

One thing about dyeing eggs with natural dyes is that it takes patience. The natural dyes don't color the eggs as quickly as packaged dyes. And the colors are softer, more like pastels, than artificial dyes.

Ms. Kullman also told the kids how to hard-boil eggs properly.

Using a steel, glass or enamel pot, you put the raw eggs into the pot and fill the pot with cold water until it is one inch over the eggs. Then, you turn on the heat to bring the water to a boil.

After the water is boiling, you remove the covered pot from the heat. Then, let the eggs cook in the hot water for 25 minutes.

You then remove the eggs and pour cold water over them. This helps make the hard-boiled eggs easier to peel.

Not all of the kids were active in outdoor or conservation activities.

The Fujita brothers said they didn't do many things in the outdoors.

Ellie Simms said she has taken tae kwon do lessons for 5½ years. She recently received her black belt, which denotes her level of skill.

Allison Welter said her family comes to a lot of the conservation classes. They also do a lot of fishing, mostly at the Mark Twain Lake in northern Missouri.

Allison also said she's also visited 46 of the 50 states. "I still need to get to Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. We hope to get to those other four this year," she said.

The family started visiting different states before Sophia was born so she hasn't been in as many as her older sister. She's working on her own 50-50 list.

Fred Bird was on hand one Friday morning last month to greet Edgar Road School kids when they arrived for the start of the school day.

The baseball Cardinals' mascot was there to help kick off a new "walking school bus" program at the school in Webster Groves.

Each Friday, for the rest of the school year, Edgar Road kids will be encouraged to walk to school, rather than take the bus or have their parents give them a ride.

Ten-year-old Noah Dent said he only walks to school "sometimes." But, this morning, he and dozens of his classmates came on foot. They were met at the front door and signed up to join the "walking school bus" program for the rest of the year.

Each kid got a charm bracelet to which they'll be able to add an additional charm every additional time they make a Friday walk to school.

Trailnet is one of the metro organizations that helps to establish "walking school bus" chapters at area schools. (For additional information about this and other Trailnet biking and hiking programs, visit www.trailnet.org.)

At the Edgar Road school, parent John Blank was on hand representing the school's parent-teacher organization. The PTO will be in charge of the additional Friday morning "walking school bus" events.

Mr. Blank said about half of the school's kids regularly walk to school each day. The school is seeking to increase that number by charting out safe walking routes in surrounding neighborhoods.

Also, the school picks out surrounding "bus stop" locations where kids can meet up with other classmates from their neighborhoods so they'll have company during the walks to school.

The program also seeks to establish designated school crossing zones where kids can get across especially busy streets with safety.

Student Mitchell Kelley was another of the Edgar School students who met Fred Bird.

For Mitchell, he's almost got a full "walking school bus" just within the family. In his group that "Fred Bird Friday," he had his mother, triplet sisters and another pre-school-age sibling.

Mitchell said he and his sisters are pretty-much every-day walkers to school, unless the weather is bad. The family lives about a half-mile from the school.

Both Noah Dent and Mitchell Kelley said they like to do things outdoors and stay in shape.

Noah said he often plays soccer in his backyard and likes to ride his bike around the neighborhood. Edgar Road School has a physical education program. Noah said he's been playing volleyball this spring.

Mitchell said he takes part in track at school and runs twice-a-week after school. He also plays baseball. "And I like to jump on the trampoline in my backyard," he said.

Another aspect of the "walking school bus" program is a stress on good nutrition.

Both Noah and Mitchell said he try to eat nutritious foods and don't eat too much "junk" food.

Noah said his favorite food is watermelon. That food has natural sugars and vitamins and lots of water content to promote good digestion.

The "walking school bus" kickoff at Edgar Road School was coordinated by Cindy Mense, who works for Trailnet. She not only arranged for Fred Bird's appearance, but also set up signs around the surrounding neighborhoods promoting the program.

She brought along interns to serve as a welcoming committee at the school's front door.

(If your school might like to plan a local "walking school bus" chapter, you can call Ms. Mense at (314) 436-4324, Ext. 113.)

The Missouri Department of Transportation is supplying funding for the program.

Mr. Fabiano was a popular sixth grade teacher at Paulsen elementary School. The kids all liked him and most of the girls had a crush on him. They weren't pleased when they heard one Friday morning that their class was to be taught by a substitute teacher, Mrs. Muchmore. Of course, they had no way of knowing that Mrs. Muchmore had called the school office and reported that she was too ill to cover the class. The school secretary took a note for Mr. Peacock, the principal. The note had fallen behind a radiator, so, to the kids' surprise, no substitute showed up in the classroom. Nobody in the office knew the kids were on their own.

All the kids but one wanted to run the class without a teacher. Jessica wanted to report to the office that they had no teacher. She argued that it was illegal, even dangerous, to hold class without a teacher present. She was voted down, however, and the class decided to try to go the whole day without a teacher. Karen, the natural leader in the classroom, managed to keep the kids pretty well on task most of the day. There was some rowdiness, but, in general, the kids kept to the normal schedule. They had Mr. Fabiano's lesson plans to go by. Friday was a day when they did a lot of writing in class. It was late in the day when things started to come apart. It happened when kids were reading essays that they had written about things that had taken place that year.

The kids had lost a classmate about six months earlier. Tommy Feathers had died suddenly and unexpectedly. Tommy had been picked on by some of the boys, especially by Bastian Fauvell, who seemed to like to verbally put down classmates. In her writing Rachel had accused Bastian of picking on Tommy before he died. Bastian was so hurt he cried in class, which seemed to be out of character for him. Letters the kids wrote to Mr. Fabiano at the end of the day on Friday helped clarify how each of them felt about the day's events.

Humphrey, a classroom's pet hamster,
tries to help kids with their problems

Humphrey, a hamster, is one of the pets in room 26 of Longfellow Elementary School. His neighbor is Og, the frog who lives in a tank next to Humphrey's cage. Unbeknown to the teacher and students in room 26, Humphrey is perfectly capable of understanding human speech. Of course, he can only answer with "squeak, squeak." Even more astonishing, Humphrey has taught himself to keep notes in a notebook, which he hides under the sawdust at the bottom of his cage. Also unknown to the teacher and the class is the fact that Humphrey can let himself in and out of his cage whenever he wants to.

The kids in room 26 can be picked to take Humphrey home on weekends. The kids compete for that privilege. Humphrey enjoys these visits but sometime they result in unusual adventures for him. An especially adventurous home is one with an inquisitive cat. Even the evenings after school are enjoyable to Humphrey. He specially likes Aldo Amato, the school custodian who cleans the room every evening. But Humphrey is shocked when a strangely dressed female shows up one evening in place of Aldo. This person has a strange electronic device in her ear. Could this be an alien from outer space like one he saw in a movie while staying with one of the kids on a weekend?

Humphrey tries to carry on with his classroom responsibilities as usual. But he keeps worrying about the alien showing up in the evenings. Things aren't looking good for him and for Og if this alien keeps showing up after school. Will Aldo ever return? Are the kids in class likely to be in any danger? Humphrey is one smart and observant hamster but sometimes his imagination runs away with him. There are plenty of adventures, real and imagined, to keep a young reader involved in Humphrey's story.

Kids in a math class try to get into
the Guinness Book of World Records

Mr. Collins has been a middle school math teacher for twenty years. He teaches in Washington Middle School, an inner-city school in Cleveland, Ohio. This year he has a class that is the worst one he has ever tried to teach. He was just about to give up, when he had an idea. He had read about a class in California that had built the world's largest tetrahedron. (A tetrahedron is a pyramid shaped object with four triangle-shaped sides.) The California prize-winner had 4096 pieces. Mr. Collins wondered if his totally unmotivated class would have any interest at all in building an even bigger one. What did he have to lose to give it a try?

The story focuses on four students in Mr. Collins' math class. First is James Harris III, who hates math and thinks of himself as an artist because he likes to draw pictures. Second is Rhondell, who is quiet, likes to learn big words, and hopes someday to get into college. Third is Sharice, who is living with her fifth foster parent since her grandma died. Sharice doesn't want the other kids to know about her life ...or lack of one. Finally, there is Marcel, whose father owns Willy Q's Barbecue where Marcel works after school and weekends. His father is a war veteran and works hard at making his little restaurant a success. These are the kids that Mr. Collins is trying to lure into building the world's largest tetrahedron.

The kids decide the need to form a club and elect a president. They will work after school at building the tetrahedron. Since the big tetrahedron will be made of little pyramid-shapes glued together, they have to figure out how many little ones they will have to make. What kind of glue will they use? What will the pyramids be made out of? Are colors important? How high will the finished product be? They are using math and making decisions without realizing they are problem solving. Mr. Collins is both pleased and worried. Will the kids stay with the project until its completion?

Each of the kids has different problems in his or her life. Also each of them profits in a different way from the class project. Can they learn to work together? Their combined stories make a very interesting little book titled "All of the Above" by author Shelley Pearsall.

Use the provided clues and your own reasoning skills to find out who bought which breed of dog, which color bowl, and on what day. You may find it helpful to use the provided grid.

PUZZLING PET SHOP

Five People went to the pet shop on different days of the week. They each bought a different breed of dog and a different color dog bowl for them. There are three girls and two guys.

Girl's Names: Ashley, Camile, and Jenny
Guy's Names: Andrew and Brandon
Last Names: Anderson, White, Miller, Green, and Smith
Dog Breeds: St. Bernard, Pug, Golden Retriever, Australian Shepherd, and Bulldog
Bowl Colors: Pink, Purple, Green, Blue, and Yellow
Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday

Answers:

Ashley: White, Golden Retriever, Blue, Wednesday

Camile: Smith, St. Bernard, Purple, Tuesday

Jenny: Miller, Australian Shepherd, Pink, Thursday

Andrew: Green, Bulldog, Yellow, Monday

Brandon: Anderson, Pug, Green, Friday