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J A N U A R Y I S S U E V O L U M E 1 4 , I S S U E 5
Editors:
Ashtyn Brinker
Caleb Matz
Jennifer Swedlund
Contributors:
Jensen Block
Connor Edge
Noah White
Sadie Mowery
Maggie Johnson
Marissa Jones
Jack Setterstrom
Carter Burke
Natalee Hayes
Daniel Oxley
Braden Baldauf
Makenzie Whitmer
Adviser:
Mrs. Fry
I had the honor to interview the track star Jennifer Elaine
Swedlund. Jennifer was born on January 4th in Madi-
son, Wisconsin. She lives with her mom Linda, her step-
dad Rick, her amazing brother Nick, and her other
brother Trenton. Jennifer's hobbies consist of reading,
playing Assassins Creed, and attempting to beat Nick
when running. Her favorite color is blue and her favorite
food is strawberries. Jennifer lived in Monroe but moved
to Lena this year. Jennifer fell in love with her best
friends Hanna and Addie and really enjoys living in Le-
na. Jennifer Elaine Swedlund is a very interesting person
to be around and you never know what she's going to do
next.
By: Jensen Block
As most of you know, Mrs. Fry was pregnant for the
entire school year, and she finally had the baby! On
December 21, 2016 at precisely 12:54 a.m., Harlan
Sawyer Fry was born. He was a 7 pound, 8 ounce
baby. Mrs. Fry’s husband, Cale was there as well.
While Mrs. Fry was gone, Mr. Schneiderman long
term subbed and everybody loved him. He is a re-
tired math teacher, so he did a good job, but his ways
were a little different than Mrs. Fry’s so we were
glad when she came back. Harlan is doing well as a
new baby and I think Mrs. Fry is happy to be back.
By: Caleb Matz
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P A G E 2
By: Noah White
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P A G E 3
By: Conner Edge
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P A G E 4
8th grade
Coach: Curt Ollerich
12 Casey Crain
13 Maya Curtis
15 Andrea Sutter
20 Sidney Weegens
21 Sadie Mowery
22 Ally Milder
23 Sage Huneke
24 Taylor Dawson
25 Kassidy Humphrey
31 Delanie Martin
32 Sarah Madigan
33 Jennifer Swedlund
35 Alyssa Williams
By: Sadie Mowery
7th & 6th grade
Coach: Dennis Hutterlocher
1 Camdyn Huttenlocher
2 Bryn Linden
3 Kansas White
4 Tianna Esser
5 Ava Randecker
10 Kalli Humphrey
11 Kieran Madigan
14 Autumn Bonebright
30 Belle Jordan
34 Kaitlyn Sweeney
40 Lizzie Bastendorff
41 Payton Scace
42 Emma Kemple
44 Grace Fox
45 Joselyn Harris
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P A G E 5
What is your favorite breakfast food?
Hailee S.— Reese’s Puffs Maddie Y.— Bananas & Oranges Brynn L.— Eggs
James H.— Bacon Nyiona D.— Captain Crunch Tianna E.— Bacon
Liv E.— Omelet Hudson N.— Bacon Ali W.— Biscuits & Gravy
Olivia P.— Waffles Kai K.— Cinnamon Rolls Andrew K.— Sausage
By: Maggie Johnson
Would you eat a bowl of crickets for $40,000?
Owen S.— Yes Tess D.— No Mickey S.— No
Wyatt T.— Yes Juan S.— No Emma M.— No
John S.— No Jayden S.— Yes Connor K.— No
Abby C.—Yes Zoe B.— No Conner R.— No
By: Marissa Jones
Who is your favorite WWE Superstar?
Noah White-Randy Orton Braden Baldauf-Brock Lesnar Gennings Dunker– Big Show
Jensen Block-Mark Henry Connor Edge– Ray Mysterio Tristan Rood- Tanner Kalkbrenner
Daniel Oxley-Ron Simmons Sadie Mowery-Jack Setterstrom Cole Gerber- Jason March
Jennifer Swedlund-Jack Gallagher Kristin Molitor-Jack Setterstrom Tanner Kalkbrenner- The Undertaker
By: Jack Setterstrom
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P A G E 6
Laughlynn Leamon is in 7th grade and is 13 years old. Her full name is
Laughlynn Ann-Marie Leamon. Her hobbies are art, running, reading, and ori-
gami. She was born January 17, 2004 in Freeport Illinois. One of her happiest
memories is when she lived in Texas and it randomly snowed during spring.
When she had lived down there she had a very strong accent. Nowadays, she
doesn't talk much, but she is very hyper. Some of her favorite things to do are
track, art, watching TV, and listening to music.
By: Natalee Hayes
I had the privilege to interview the one and only Jensen Lee Block. Jensen was
brought into this world on September 13, 2002. He currently lives with his
mom and dad, named Jodi and Matt, and his brother Jared is in and out every
now and then. One of his major hobbies is Skyrim, which he loves very much.
His friends consist of Braden Baldauf, Noah White, his Xbox, and his PS4. He
is also in a very serious relationship with Kenzie Lawson. Jensen also says that
he spends a lot of time snapping Sadie and Kassidy’s ankles in basketball. Jen-
sen is an interesting person.
By: Noah White
I had the breathtaking honor to interview Owen Tonus Gilbertson. His height is
a whopping 4’9 and one half. He especially enjoys math because his favorite
teacher is Mr. Benson. Owen plays many sports, but his favorite by far is bas-
ketball however he says he has no hops. You can catch him on the court wear-
ing size 5 and a half Kyrie's, his favorite kind of shoes. He always enjoys
watching Muggsy Bogues highlights because he is short and could dunk. Ow-
en’s best friend in the whole world is Alexander Joseph Daughenbaugh. I hope
everyone, will have the astonishing privilege to meet this great young man.
By: Carter Burke
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P A G E 7
Hi, my name is Addie Roberts, an 8th grader at Lena-Winslow Jr. High. I would like to apply
for Student Leadership for the 2016-2017 school year. I have been a Student Leader the last 2 years,
and have proven myself as a very responsible and reliable student. I also think it is a great privilege to
be chosen as a Student Leader.
I believe I am responsible for many reasons. During the summer, I have helped my grandma
at her licensed day care for many years. This past summer, she relied on me a lot because she has twin
premature babies in her care. I learned a lot, and had a lot of fun helping out. I also started watching
my cousins on Wednesdays by myself, this summer. This included preparing lunch and playing with
them. This past school year, Mrs. Thill nominated me to the Junior National Young Leaders Confer-
ence. I was not able to attend, but I think that this was a great honor to be nominated. I also was a
teacher's helper for one week at our Church Bible School program. I helped with skits, serving snacks
and crafts. Additionally, the following week I volunteered to help out at our neighbors Church Bible
School. This bible school was a much larger scale than our church, and I had so much fun. I assisted
with the craft area for all ages and made new friends.
If I am chosen to be a Student Leader again, I will make the school a more positive place. We
have 4 new kids in our class, one of them being a girl that I have gotten to know already since she is
in some of my classes. I think it is important to get to know the new kids and help them become com-
fortable in our school.
Last year, I enjoyed many things about Student Leadership. I really enjoyed the many friend-
ships that I have made, and the positive impact I see the Student Leaders having. I volunteered and
worked many concession stands. We participated in many things including helping in the elementary
classrooms, organized and handed out candy grams and we made bullying skits for the elementary
students. We also volunteered to work at the Lena Thrift Shop. This past year we got to go to Rock-
ford to the Trampoline Park and Cherryvale Mall. I am very appreciative that our school offered this
trip to out Student Leaders.
Student Leadership has been such a great experience for me. I am excited to hopefully get the
opportunity to be a great role model to the 6th and 7th grade students. I really appreciated many of the
friendships that I made with older classmates in the past, and I would like to pass that experience on. I
think Student Leadership is a great way to bring students together.
I hope you consider me again for Student Leadership because I am a positive role model and
enjoy helping others.
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P A G E 8
I am Lila Rudisill and I would like to try for this year’s student leadership. I
think I would be a great role model for everyone because I strive for A’s and am not
satisfied enough when I get even a B+. I love to help people out and help them figure
out problems that they might be concerned about. I also care about people, love to
help anyway I can, and just be the best I always can. And even if I am having a bad
day I try to be the most positive I can be.
I would make the school a more positive environment by if I were to see any
bullying tell them to stop. Or even tell someone like a teacher or just any adult that if I
think there is an issue that could affect everyone. The school property should be a
place where kids can know they will be safe and not have to worry about any danger.
Now ideas for this school year, we could maybe have a drawing for a prize, not
too big or expensive but just enough, so that when anybody says or does something
good to somebody their name will be written down and at end of each quarter, have a
drawing and they could have a chance to win that prize. I would accomplish this by
first asking permission to do this first and if allowed, create a box with pieces of paper
you would put in the box to draw. The reason why I would do this is because if we can
create rewards for everybody being nice it might just make a positive difference in the
school. Now another idea could be donating money or items to people that might have
Alzheimer, cancer, etc. because I remember having a great- grandfather who had Alz-
heimer and was just very sad to me and everyone. I would love to see if there is a cure
to any diseases that we could maybe donate money or items too. Now first of all to ac-
complish this, first of all I would ask for permission to do this, I would set a few bins
in the main hallway area and have everyone donate something and put it in those bins.
Past experiences I have had that was really helpful was my grandfather and I
went along the road side and picked up trash, I always volunteered to help with some-
thing, I competed in Winslow Jr. Miss Riverdays which if I had won I would have
been able to help the town out more so.
These are all reasons and ways why I would want to be and try for the student
leadership. I would love to get in student leadership just because I get to help people
and just do something that I naturally love to do.
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P A G E 9
My experience as a sixth grader has turned out to be very fun and very exciting
so far, but I would love to become a student leader and I think it would make my sixth
grade experience fantastic. I think that I would be a good student leader because I am
very responsible and very organized. I also love to help the community and I would
love to help out our school.
Community service has been very important to me. Some community service
opportunities that I have had so far include helping make food for the St. Joseph Cath-
olic Church annual Strawberry Social. I am also an alter server for my church, and
then sometimes I am an usher with my family. I walked in the Winslow River Days
Parade for the Community Bank, and I helped out at the Lena Public Library Carnival
instead of playing the games. During my fifth grade year I assisted in Mrs. Raab’s pre-
school class instead of going outside to recess with my friends, I would love to do it
again. I also was a babysitter for her son Landen Raab. It was a great experience.
I have many ideas to bring our Jr. High closer together. These are a couple of
those ideas. First, every holiday/season we could host an activity or game to bring all
of our Jr. High students closer together. For example at Christmas time we could make
a paper tree and hang it on a wall so students are able to post an ornament that they
have decorated. Or they can bring in canned food to be like the presents so we can
give it to the food pantry in Lena.
My Second idea to make our school a more positive environment is that we
make a buddy system. For example pair a responsible eighth grader up with a sixth
grader who wants help for the first week of school or until the sixth grader feels more
comfortable with the switch from the elementary school to the Jr. High. I was very
nervous to come to the Jr. High because of the big switch; an eighth grader would
have helped me to get to the right classroom and to feel more comfortable with the Jr.
High.
It would be a great privilege to be in student leadership because student leaders
should always have the best character in the school. I personally think having the best
character is very important for a person in Jr. High. I think my character is student
leadership worthy.
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P A G E 1 0
Negative Impacts of Social Media
Buzz! Look at text. Open Snapchat. Check in on Facebook. These are things that a teen that is addict-
ed to social media hears all the time. Social media had both positive and negative sides to it. Even though so-
cial media may strengthen connections with others, it may also lead to the fear of missing out and poor aca-
demics.
One of the biggest reasons why social media is bad for teens is that it will lower a person’s ability to
do well in school. If someone were to text too much, they may begin to transfer their bad grammar skills in
their formal writing (Gregory). For example, instead of writing out “you,” people will write it out as “u” or
might write “r” instead of are (Gregory). A survey showed that in a group of 3,000 college students, 2 in 5
students said that they would rather be internet surfing or being on social networking sites rather than going
out with friends or dating (Gregory). Another survey showed that the majority of 483 college students spend
around 12 hours using social media, and most of them have had their academic GPA’s drop (Social Media
Linked 34). In support of this, there was also research done to prove that people who don’t spend as much
time on social media, don’t have an academic downfall (Social Media Linked 34). The most common use of
social media resulting negatively is texting, movie/TV watching, social networking, and magazine reading
(Social Media Linked 34). Teachers have stated that students are constantly checking their phones and not
paying attention in class (Gregory). Unfortunately, this is not the only negative effect of social media.
Teens also have an issue with the fear of missing out. An example of this is when a person doesn’t get
invited to a party and will stay home and check Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook to see what people at the
party are posting. While people are constantly checking up on what that person missed out on (Thomson) In
addition, the people who weren’t invited may be thinking that the person who threw the party hates them.
There are at least 24% of teens that are online or checking their phone almost constantly (Thompson). When
teens are on their phones, they might be checking in on what a celebrity, or model, or even a classmate is do-
ing at the moment. Most of the time, people will compare their life with someone else’s and judge themselves
based off how somebody else looks (Thompson). Part of the fear of missing out is social anxiety. Social anxie-
ty is when a person feels afraid of what others will say (Thompson). If someone posts a picture on their social
media accounts, there could be negative comments and sometimes that makes people take an antidepressant,
but one too many of those anti-depressants can lead to suicide (Thompson). The fear of missing out is more
common in boys rather than in girls, but it is unclear why (White). It can also range from middle schoolers to
adults (White). The fear of missing out isn’t as simple to detect as poor academics, because with poor academ-
ics any person can go into the school system and see that someone isn’t doing well in their schoolwork. Unlike
poor academics, a person needs to talk to someone about what is going on in their life.
Even though there are many reasons to support why social media had a negative impact, there are also
some to support that social media had a positive impact. Social media can lead to people meeting online and
finding a new friend. Little did they know that the person they met online may be an online predator pretend-
ing to be someone else (White). When people comment something on Facebook, someone could take it the
wrong way and lead to rumors and an ended relationship (Gregory). Also, texting on their phone may also
take away someone’s ability to talk face-to-face and make them socially awkward (Gregory).
This shows that social media can lead to fear of missing out and poor academics. A suggestion is to limit the
time a person is on their phone. Clearly, social media has more negative effects on teens than positive ones.
By: Ally Milder
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P A G E 1 1
Social Media’s Negative Impacts
By Alysse Potter
If you are like most people, you use social media nearly every day, but you may be unaware of the negative impacts
social media can have on teens and adults. Social media is used by millions and is often thought of as a way to connect with
others and share pieces of people’s life, but social media is destroying lives by negatively impacting student’s academic perfor-
mance, ruining their self-esteem, and creating mental health issues.
There have been multiple studies that have proved that social media has a negative effect on student’s academic per-
formance by lowering their grade point average and effecting their sleep. Students are spending less time studying and doing
their homework because they are so focused on their phones. Students are also forming bad grammar habits. Teens use short-
hand typing wile texting their friends, or posting on social media. They get used to typing like this and may accidentally use this
grammar while typing a formal essay (Gregory 1). Students may also find it hard to focus in class because of a lack of sleep.
Researchers found that people who spend more time on social media suffer from lack of sleep, which is connected to poor aca-
demic performance (Social Media Linked to… 34). Many schools across the globe do allow phones in class, which can be a
huge disruption. Instead of listening to the lesson, students are on their phones, or they may hear a notification from their phone,
causing them to worry about that instead of school. Counselor Lisa Dorsey says that her students are oblivious to what is hap-
pening in the classroom because they are so focused on their phones (Gregory 1). This proves that students are caring less about
their education, and more about what is happening on social media.
These students who are on their phones constantly in class, may be experiencing FOMO, or fear of missing out. If
someone cannot sit through a meal, movie, or special event without checking their phone, then they are probably suffering from
FOMO. Darlene McLaughlin, an assistant professor and behavior health specialist, stated that about 13 percent of the popula-
tion has social anxiety, and experiencing FOMO could worsen their anxiety by creating a lack of self-confidence (“FOMO: It’s
Your Life You’re Missing Out On”). This shows how damaging social media can become, by worsening mental health issues,
or even creating them. According to Texas A&M University, the average college student spends ten hours on their phone and
scrolling through social media every day (“FOMO: It’s Your Life You’re Missing Out On”). These students may see pictures of
their friends having fun while they were not there. This can lead to a feeling of missing out, which in extreme cases can lead to
anxiety and depression (“FOMO: It’s Your Life You’re Missing Out On”). Studies have shown that a fear of missing out is
connected to dissatisfaction. If one does not get out of their home often, and see pictures of friends and family vacationing, they
may become dissatisfied with themselves, which may lead to FOMO.
Social media introduces young girls and boys to images of models with perfect bodies, hair, and airbrushed skin. This
may seem innocent enough, but many young people will see these images and begin to compare themselves to the models. Ac-
cording to the University of Texas, the average American woman is 5’4 and 166 pounds, while most models are about 5’11 and
weigh 107 pounds (Crain 2). This proves that social media is pushing unrealistic body standards onto today’s youth. A study
entitled “Body Image Issues Among Girls and Women” revealed that 20 percent of nine–year-old girls and 40 percent of four-
teen-year-old girls wanted to lose weight. Another study done by Dove showed that more than 90 percent of girls age fifteen to
seventeen wanted to change at least one of their physical characteristics (Murphy-Gill 5). Because girls are introduced to these
images of “perfect” models, they begin to become dissatisfied with themselves. Teens who are active social media users tend to
worry more about how they are perceived, and tend to have body dissatisfaction (Knorr 2).
Many people believe that social media can be a positive thing, but they do not have persuasive evidence to support
their claim. Some may say that social media can improve relationships, but studies from Pew Research Center say that 20% of
couples reported that social media impacted their relationship in a negative way (Harmon 3). Others may argue that social me-
dia helps people stay connected, but it can lower ones social skills, making it harder to participate in face-to-face conversations
(Harmon 3). This shows that social media does not have a large amount of positive effects on its users.
Social media has a great amount of negative impacts on its users by lowering their academic performance, decreasing
their self-esteem, and creating mental health issues. Because social media has negative impacts, parents should take charge and
limit their child’s daily social media use, and adults must learn to restrict themselves from the dangers of social media.
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By: Braden Baldauf, Dnniel Oxley, and Makenzie Whitmer