Edition 1.2

February 23, 2016 Learning to deal Students are trashing their
with cuts, lunches at MMS, see page 4
M see page 8

Mason in the Middle

powered by The Chronicle

Students embrace virtual reality with
Google
Erika Buhrer Eller | Staff Writer
Virtual reality in a cardboard box? CARDBOARD
Representatives from Google visited Mason
Students used Google Cardboard during a presentation. Photo by Erika Buhrer Eller
Middle School and presented a new 360 degree
virtual reality experience: Google Cardboard.
According to Google’s website, this product was
designed to give accessible virtual reality to the
populace. All you need is an app, some card-
board, and some instructions. Once you place
your phone in the cardboard box, you hold the
device up to your eyes, and a motion-sensitive 360
degree panorama is loaded around you. Turning
in all directions the image moves with you, so
you can see what it would have looked like if you
were actually there.

Jacob is one of the representatives from Google
who visited MMS.

“It’s real simple technology,” Jacob said. “We
load all of the 360 panoramas onto a tablet. The
tablet sends the images through the router which
sends it to all the cellphones which are in our
view masters.”

Seventh grader Kaitlyn Frazier was impressed
with the technology.

“I used the Google Cardboard to see places face
to face instead of them being described in a text-
book.” Frazier said. “My favorite part was how real
it looked and it was like I was really there.”

Students can also experience this technology
outside of school.

“The actual cardboard boxes you can buy on-
line,” Jacob said. “You will need to provide your
own phone, and download the app. They’re not
educational like they were in the school, but it’ll
be something cool like haunted houses, roller
coasters, dinosaurs, all types of other games.”

According to Frazier, it would be cool to have
everyone experience Google Cardboard.

“My first reaction was shock because every-
thing looked so real and cool,” Frazier said. “I rec-
ommend every student to be able to experience
the Google Cardboard it was an amazing experi-
ence.”

Mason in the Middle is brought to you by a partnership between journalists at Mason Middle School and staff members of The Chronicle from Mason High School.

2 M Feburary 23, 2016

Our Policy News

Mason in the Middle is an affiliate of The Long tradition of rose sales discontinued
Chronicle, the official student newspaper of
William Mason High School. Student Council will no longer be conducting its annual rose sales for Valentine’s Day. Photo by Shriya Penmetsa

Mason in the Middle promises to report the Shriya Penmetsa | Staff Editor Another problem that came from this sale was the
truth and adhere to the journalistic code of This Valentine’s Day won’t be filled with roses and issue with bullying, Fish said. According to him some
ethics through online and print mediums. students would use this as an opportunity to send
cards. mean notes to each other anonymously in efforts to
Mason in the Middle is produced by high Problems that arose from Student Council’s Annual not be caught.
school students enrolled in Journalism I, II
and III in collaboration with middle school Valentine’s Day Rose Sale caused it to be booted this “I remember a note that one student wrote to an-
writers and editors. year. other that said, ‘You’re so FAT! Love ya!’ As if saying
‘Love ya’ at the end made the insult OK?” said Fish.
Editorials reflect the staff ’s opinion but do For the past several years, Mason Middle School’s “In order to combat this, Mrs. Fish (co-advisor of Stu-
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Student Council has been having a Valentine’s-Day- dent Council) and I would read every single rose note
school administration or the Mason City Themed Sale. According to Student Council Advisor that was purchased. Usually several thousand. This
School District. Martin Fish, this is the first year that Student Council was a tremendous time burden and every year dozens
is not doing it. When students don’t get roses, it makes of roses were not delivered because of inappropriate,
Mason in the Middle does not yet have a pub- them feel left out Fish said. insulting, or bullying content.”
lishing schedule. Call 398-5025 ext. 33103 for
information regarding advertising in Mason “The rose sale is great if you are a student who re- For these reasons administration has decided to
in the Middle. Mason in the Middle reserves ceives roses on the day of rose distribution,” Fish said. shut down this fundraiser, Fish said.
the right to refuse advertising it deems inap- “After 14 years in the classroom, though, my observa-
propriate for a middle school publication. tion is that only a handful of students in each class “I think that the rose sale, although nice for some
actually receive any roses at all. About half thew class students, did more harm than good,” said Fish. “I
As an open forum for students, letters to the gets nothing. You can literally see the hurt feelings in stand by this decision made by me and Mrs. Fish, in
editor are welcome, but are subject to be edit- some students as you pass them again and again with consultation with our Principal, Mrs. Mccall and our
ed for length, libel, obscenity, clarity and poor roses for others but nothing for them.” Student Activities Director, Mrs. Hyatt.”
taste. Letters to the editor may be dropped off
in room 444 and must be signed. According to Student Council President Sowmya Yaddanapudi said this was a good decision because
Yaddanapudi, the sale was becoming a contest. it would keep kids from being left out, but at the same
The Chronicle is a member of The Colum- time doesn’t agree with this decision, Yaddanapudi
bia Scholastic Press Association, The National “We have decided not to have a rose sale this year said.
Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll because it was said that it was getting to be too much
International Honorary Society for High like a popularity contest,” Yaddanapudi said. “When “This was basically the fund raiser that made the
School Journalists and the Ohio Scholastic some people get roses and other kids didn’t, it made most money for our school and student council,” Yad-
Media Association. some people feel bad.” danapudi said. “I felt it was a huge project that basi-
Contact Information cally every student really looked forward to and not
The Chronicle In past years Student Council has tried to solve having it this year is kind of a bummer.”
William Mason High School this problem by making sure that every student gets
6100 S. Mason Montgomery Rd. a rose, Fish said. According to Fish, doing this didn’t According to Fish, Student Council is planning a
Mason, Ohio 45040 achieve the intended goal. project for this Spring.
(513) 398-5025
Mason in the Middle Staff “This required hours of work, as student council “Student Council is hard at work on a brand new
High School Editors identified those students who had not received any Spring project that we are very excited about,” Fish
Arnav Damodhar roses and then produced hand-written notes for ev- said. “There are a few more details that we need to
India Kirssin ery single one of them,” Fish said. “It seemed like a get in place before we are ready to announce, but we
Jessica Sommerville good idea at the time, but these roses quickly became are really looking forward to letting the student body
High School Sports Editor known as the ‘pity roses,’ which actually ended up be- know what we’re up to in a few weeks.”
Eric Miller ing counter to our goals.”
Staff Editors
Laalitya Acharya
Jack Carey
Riley Johansen
Lauren Keister
Jessie Kong
Shriya Penmetsa
Grace Zhang
Staff Writers
Erika Buhrer Eller
Caroline Giaquinto
Shreya Gundavarpu
Ally Guo
Lauren Keister
Nandini Likki
Tony Liu
Abby Miller
Kaelyn Rodrigues
Yamha Sami
Connor Telford
Advisers
Dale Conner
Rachel Young

February 23, 2016 M3

Taste of A student uses a Chromebook to play Poptropica during class. Photo By Jessie Kong
Mason brings
culture to Chromebooks becoming a gateway to
community
enriched education, online gaming
Grace Zhang | Staff Editor
Jessie Kong | Staff Editor positive differences between last year ly pretend to be doing their work
The Taste of Mason was indeed Pop quiz studying or Poptropica? and this year. when they really aren’t and some-
as tasty as it sounded. times teachers aren’t even aware of
Chromebooks were brought into sev- “Chromebooks have been amazing it, Singh said.
On February 3, families from enth grade classrooms at the begin- because it makes the students more
many different cultures gathered ning of this school year. In the end, independent,” King said. “They can “They usually play games secretly,
for dinner in the Mason High Chromebooks can either be classified do more research on their own, and but when the teacher comes by they
School large commons–an annual as a tool--or a distraction. they don’t have to sit around and wait close out of it and they do their task,”
event known as the Taste of Ma- for a question; they can always look Singh said. “(After the teacher is
son. From folk dancing to drum- Seventh grader Robbie Singh said it up and then refer with me later, gone) they open it back up.”
lines, this event offered many that Chromebooks are very benefi- which is always a great thing to do.”
unique performances of different cial in aiding his education. This means that while Chromebook
cultures. Though Chromebooks have a lot usage is benefitting Mason schools, it
“The more we use it, the smarter of pros, they also hinder her class- has disadvantages too. King said that,
Lin Zhang, a Chinese mother of we get,” Singh said. “(Students) could mates’ attention, Mugila said. in the end, it’s really up to students
two, was there to watch both her get their whole work done on the to decide how they want to use their
daughters perform a traditional computer if they want to. They’ll In Muglia’s opinion, using laptops Chromebooks, whether that means
Chinese dance. help me do homework, and it will during school can lead to students fooling around or making use of the
help other students get their tasks getting off-task in-class. incredible opportunity.
“(I hope that) they will learn done.”
more culture, traditions, food, and “Most of the boys I notice play “I think it’s super important
customs from different countries,” According to seventh grader Abby games instead of actually doing that students stay on-task, but the
Zhang said. Muglia laptops faster to type on than work, but girls play games too,” Mug- Chromebooks are a great asset, be-
writing. lia said. “We get extensions, make cause they can explore things on
According to Nimish Mojaria, it our own, but some people do get their own,” King said. “They’re a tool
father of a Mason student, United “I don’t have to write as much since off task with it. It’s a distraction with if they’re utilized the right way, and
States is a melting pot as well as I know how to type on a keyboard, it’s games and extensions, but it’s also a if you manage them and the students
a mosaic. Immigrants from other easier for me,” Muglia said. know the expectations.”
countries are transformed to as- tool because it helps us with learn-
similate into American culture. Seventh grade science teacher Ra- ing.”
chel King said she has also witnessed
This unique environment is the Students around him will frequent-
key to success in Mason students.

“I think a bit of both (is good)
because you can’t just have one or
the other,” Mojaria said. “You want
to have both truly together, but at
the same time you want some dif-
ferences so that you can appreci-
ate each other’s’ culture more.”

Learning in a diverse environ-
ment helps students grow and
learn as they interact with differ-
ent people with different cultural
opinions and lifestyles, Zhang said.

“There are a lot of people whose
parents come from different coun-
tries,” Zhang said.

Taste of Mason paves way for ex-
posure, Morjaria said.

“It opens up their minds to dif-
ferent viewpoints as opposed to
having just one.”

According to Morjaria, the Taste
of Mason 2016 was a huge success
in terms of culture, performances,
and food.

“It opens up (the people’s) minds
to different cultures and it all
comes together to build a much
better picture on what’s going on
in the world,” Morjaria said.

4 M February 23, 2016

Students can’t stomach healthy school lunches

Ally Guo | Staff Writer tables should not be required.
Fruit? In the dump. Vegetables? In the dump. “I mean, it doesn’t really af-
fect how we eat,” Tan said. “A
Grains? In the dump. Just how much food do you lot of the kids at our school
toss? just throw (them) away.”
Earl said that Mason schools
Seventh grader Alexandra Caldwell said she oc- are part of the National School
casionally throws away a portion of her bought Lunch Program, a federally
lunch. assisted program the provides
nutritious and low-cost meals
“Usually I can’t eat my entire sandwich, so to many schools and child care
sometimes part of my sandwich (is thrown away),” centers, and therefore must
Caldwell said. follow its guidelines.
“We’re putting out there the
Seventh grader Faith Tang said the quality of her items that are meeting the nu-
school lunch is sometimes what causes her to re- trients requirements that we
fuse to eat it. are obligated to meet based on
the United States Department
“Nothing (is thrown away), well, usually nothing of Agriculture and the con-
unless it’s mushy,” Tang said. gressional guidelines,” Earl
said.
Child nutrition supervisor Tamara Earl said that Time allotted for mealtimes Photo By Ally Guo
a method called batch cooking helps keep food Seventh grader Alexandra Caldwell throws away a healthy lunch item.
fresh right before being served. may also affect food wastage.
Mason Middle School child nutrition kitchen man-
“(The kitchen staff workers) do what is called ager Kim Elfers said that limited time may be a big Tan, however, said she disagreews. She said that
batch cooking, so that some of those things, such factor in the amount of food not being consumed. the school may save money when food is bought
as broccoli, that are really susceptible to being in large amounts at a time.
mushy, we’re cooking that before each lunch be- “I know that I’ve heard in the past, even from
cause it will not hold,” Earl said. my own child, that there’s not enough time to eat,” “Not a lot (of money is wasted), because usually
Elfers said. “That thirty minutes, that doesn’t give we’ll buy things in bulk,” Tan said. “When you buy
Despite actions having been taken to try make them enough time to visit their friends and talk things in bulk, they’re usually cheaper.”
school lunches healthier, the amount of food wast- and do whatever, go to recess, and have enough
age may still be on the rise. In 2010, the Healthy, time to eat their entire meal.” According to information provided by Earl, child
Hunger-Free Kids Act went into action. Schools are nutrition assistant supervisor Janelle Brunswick,
now required to limit milk choices to nonfat or 1 Earl said that while this is a problem, the lunch and Elfers, the cost of the food alone in one school
percent% white milk, students now had to take one period at Mason Middle School is already quite un- lunch can vary from about $1.03 to $3.07.
fruit or vegetable with their meal, and the amount constrained.
of sodium in meals was to be reduced, along with “Our entrees consist of proteins and grains,” Earl
many other things. “One of our concerns is that it does take more said. “When I surveyed the offerings that we have,
time to eat fruits and vegetables,” Earl said. “It the price ranges from anywhere from seventy-five
According to CBS News, after the Healthy, Hun- takes more time to eat this fresh fruit and vegeta- cents to as much as a dollar-fifty cents for your cen-
ger-Free Kids Act was implemented, researchers bles. And we are up against a schedule of a school ter of the plate item. The cheapest we pay for any
from the University of Vermont discovered that that’s trying to manage so many things. Actually, fruit or vegetable is twenty-five cents, some of ours
though students were taking the required fruits (the) lunch period here at Mason Middle is prob- go up to forty-five cents a serving. And then milk
and vegetables, they were not necessarily eating ably one of the most generous in the district. Many right now is averaging about twenty-two cents per
them. In fact, the food wastage increased by 56 per- of (the other schools) have less time to eat. So I do carton.”
cent. think time is a factor.”
Tan said that students should eat the food that
Caldwell said she agrees that this may be an is- Caldwell said that good food does not come in- they get, unless they have a good reason not to.
sue. She also states, however, that students of this expensively, and that the wasted food most likely
age should already know what they should eat to costs the school a rather large sum of money. “Sometimes it is really gross, the things that our
remain healthy. cafeteria will make,” Tan said. “But, if you can eat it
“Probably quite a bit,” Caldwell said. “I know and if you’re hungry, you shouldn’t have to throw
“I feel like if you’re at this age, you should know fruits and vegetables aren’t cheap to get, so prob- it away.”
that you should be eating your fruits and vegeta-
bles, but a lot of kids don’t,” Caldwell said. “I don’t ably quite a bit of money.”
really think there’s a way to watch over kids’ shoul-
ders and see if they’re eating them or not.”

Seventh grader Megan Tan said fruits or vege-

February 23, 2016 M 5

Drama club returns from hiatus, plans spring showcase

Katherine Maier | Staff Writer Wallum (one of the Drama Club supervisors) in had one the past year and I was nervous they
Mason Middle School has creativity oozing Speak Up, Write Now—she was our sub—and I wouldn’t have one this year either. When I heard
went up to her and (said): ‘We need a Drama Club about it, I nearly killed my sister with my screams
from every corner of the auditorium. advisor and you were talking about how much of joy.”
Drama Club has reemerged: around one hun- experience you have and you’re such an amazing
person, and I just think that this would be amaz- Seventh grader Joseph Habra, who has been
dred eager students from both grades seven and ing.’ Then she came and it was really cool how acting ever since he was three, said he finds act-
eight have joined the club to express creativ- everything came together.” ing a way to be your greatest self. Habra said he
ity through set design, lighting, costume design, believes students can invent to show off their cre-
make-up, dancing, vocals and acting. Seventh grader Isabella Lisa has been acting for ativity by breaking out of their shell.
nine years, said she was excited to find out there
Actress Anna Kinasewitz, a seventh grader was a Drama Club this year. Drama club hadn’t “When you’re around certain people, you have
who has been acting in plays for three and a half been a club at Mason Middle School for the past to put on certain masks,” Habra said. “And go-
years, said her love for acting has been with her few years, leaving Lisa and students questioning ing to Drama Club allows you to take off all the
throughout her life. if there would be a Drama Club this year for a masks and be yourself.”
change.
“I always had an interest in acting at a young Drama Club students will perform in their next
age and I always like to perform and be in the “I was so excited,” Lisa said. “I knew they hadn’t production in April, the “Spring Fling”.
spotlight,” Kinasewitz said. “I was talking to Mrs.

6M February 23, 2016

Seventh grader Ayesha Chaudry recently stopped wearing hijab. Photos by Yamha Sami Hoverboards
are catching...
Young women ignore judgements, constinue on fire

to wear hijab to show identity, religious pride Kaelyn Rodrigues | Staff Writer
Hoverboards are the hottest new
Yamha Sami | Staff Writer hijab, but just until recently, she When they took the hijab off, they
Hijabs or headscarves, are worn stopped. said that they felt free and open to gadget this holiday season. Liter-
the world, without any anti-Muslim ally.
by Muslim females, and they are a “I completely agree with it (be- interruptions. Shaikha Alkaabi saw
symbol of identity and modesty in ing modest), but I feel like I started this and thought that these women After their popularity, these de-
Islam. Many girls around school wearing it too early so I didn’t appre- should stay strong, no matter what vices were shown in the news ex-
have decided to wear these scarves. ciate it,” Chaudry said. “I look for- people say or do to them. ploding or catching fire in people’s
Something people usually do not ward to wearing it in high school.” homes. As a result, Amazon is giv-
know is what they are or why peo- “Now people (in school) don’t ing a full refund to those who have
ple decide to wear them, but you Seemingly in most Muslim fami- judge, except some,” Alkaabi said. purchased hoverboards through
most probably have seen them. lies, young girls don’t wear hijab, “(Wearing hijab) is part of my re- their website.
but there is an age when girls can ligion and it make me who I am.”
Many girls this year have just start to wear it. Some parents influ- According to National Public Ra-
started to wear hijab, and most peo- ence the decision of their children People that dislike or are preju- dio, the reason behind the explod-
ple do not know what it even is, and should wear it, and some parents dice to Muslims are known as peo- ing hoverboards is because they are
who told them to wear it. Accord- let their children choose for them- ple with “Islamophobia.” But many made with minimal cost lithium-
ing to the Quran, the holy book of selves. Many Muslims believe it isn’t women and men like Alkaabi, are ion batteries, so that they are more
Islam, girls must wear hijab to sus- a matter of choice to wear hijab or proud to be Muslim, and respect affordable.
tain modesty. Muslim girls might not. Seventh grader Shaikha Al- their religion, even if it means pay-
be seen wearing long skirts, full kaabi said she believes that it is not ing the small price of judgement, Lithium-ion batteries are the
body clothes or generally not show- optional. from people that believe otherwise source of power in many laptops,
ing much body at all. about Islam. cell phones, and even Boeing-747
According to Pew Research center, airplanes. But hoverboards are
People have many reasons as to out of 1,000,000 Muslim females, 43 Seventh grader Shaikha Alkaabi more prone to defects, since some
why they chose to wear hijab, and percent wear hijab everyday, while said she is one of these women. of them are made with low quality
seventh grader Ayesha Chaudry 48 percent prefer not to, or have batteries.
says that she wore hijab because quit. National Public Radio (NPR) “Not everybody (treats me dif-
she wanted to be loyal to her reli- states that many of the women said ferent),” Alkaabi said. “My religion Eighth grader Haleigh Eckert
gion, by being modest. She wore that they chose to quit hijab because influenced me (to wear hijab). It’s said the hoverboards aren’t very
of verbal judgement and abuse. not a choice, and I am proud (to be durable.
Muslim).”
“My brother has a hoverboard
too, and although mine hasn’t done
anything weird, his has,” Eckert
said. “He is currently on his third
hoverboard because of either a
loose piece or turning difficulties.
We were luckily able to return
them and get new ones for no extra
cost.”

According to USA Today, hover-
boards have been banned by major
airlines in the US, including Alas-
ka, Delta, and Southwest Airlines.

But, not all hoverboards cause ac-
cidents, as long as you are careful
with the product.

“If you don’t charge them over-
night and purchase a good, legit
brand, the hoverboards will not
blow up,” Eckert said. “I thought
it would take forever to be able to
ride it based on all of the videos I
had previously seen of other peo-
ple. Once I tried it, it only took me
about five to 10 minutes.”

Want to read more Mason in the Middle stories?

Visit masoninthemiddle.wordpress.com

February 23, 2016 M 7

Student translators aid foreign language speaking peers

Shreya Gundavarpu | Staff Writer Photo by Shreya Gundavarpu
Ayudar es dar y dar es ser cariñoso.
Translation: Helping is giving and giving is caring. Jumaana Mahmoud (left) and Abdullah Abdulwahab (right) act as student translators for
Mason Middle School has many multilingual students walking native Arabic speakers.

around the halls, but it also has many multilingual students help-
ing English as a Second Language students make their way through
the so-called “normal school day.”

The school has its own student translators who help ESL students
make their way around the school and through the school curricu-
lum. Most of these students are bilingual, or speak English and an-
other language as well.

7th grader and translator Nina Lin speaks English and a Chinese
Dialect; she said it’s fun and great to be a student translator.

“Helping students feels good because I can feel happy about that,
and I think that it’s amazing that I am one of the only people in the
school who can help,” Lin said. “Sometimes I translate a word into
Chinese and it helps (the student) understand better. I don’t think
that I am very good at English, but I know enough to help them.”

Seventh grader Jumaana Mahmoud speaks Arabic and English
and said he thinks that translating is a little bit difficult, but it’s also
fun at the same time.

“Being one of the only people who can translate to these stu-
dents feels weird,” Mahmoud said. “I get worried that sometimes,
they don’t understand me because there are different dialects of the
language, but it is mostly fun and easy for me to do. My teachers
knew that I spoke good Arabic and good English, so they let me help
them translate different things that they didn’t know. It feels good
to help.”

Seventh grader Abdullah Abdulwahab also speaks Arabic and
English, and he said being a student translator makes him feel like
he’s making a difference.

“It feels great to be a student translator and it makes me feel
proud of myself,” Abdulwahab said. “I feel like I’ve done something
and helped someone out. It’s great.”

Students and teachers debate effectiveness of Common
Core, its impact on creativity in the classroom

Laalitya Acharya | Staff Editor know what a ratio is, but as long as you have a become more independent in their studies.Com-
Schools’ best friend, Common Core, is crum- method of understanding a certain concept, you mon Core methods are not necessarily easier, they
shouldn’t be forced to learn it another way. Com- just have a different focal point than previous
bling. mon Core has forced me to learn lots of different standards. I do not believe that one way of teach-
Overall the US PISA test rankings have gone methods, most of which I find useless because I ing is better than the other. There are pros and
have my own way of understanding each concept cons to both styles, and the key is to find a balance
down, since Common Core was established. The and so do other kids.” between them both.”
PISA test is an international test which is taken by
15 year olds in most countries every four years. Ac- Seventh grader Allie Caldwell said she is un- Corestandards.org states that it will only raise
cording to the Key Pisa Test, many Eastern Asian sure about Common Core. standards. However, according to oecd.org, inter-
Countries have kept the lead and countries that national tests aren’t showing any major positive
have poor populations have also taken a higher “I like it (Common Core) because of the I can changes in scores, and Common Core has been
status . statements to follow along in class but at the same implemented for about 7 years.
time I feel like we don’t don’t get to do as creative
Common Core states that its intention is to projects,” Caldwell said. But Rajan, knowing the facts, still disagrees, “I
make students smarter by using easier methods. don’t really like Common Core, because the I Can
Science teacher Rachel King said that Common statements make it seem like learning as a whole
According to seventh grade student Sankya Ra- Core has benefited them and their classes. It paves is just a checklist, that if you know a list of things,
jan, its standards are difficult, and not at all appli- the way for a more creative environment, King you’re done.” Rajan said. “It doesn’t really encour-
cable to real life. said. “Common Core has not changed the way age kids to dive deeper into a subject they really
that I teach.” King said. “I have always felt that like and to find out more about it, they’re just fill-
“Common Core methods aren’t really easier,” a classroom should be built around its students. ing out lists all of the time.
Rajan said. “In the real world, you won’t need to Common Core allows for students to explore and
know how to use a tape diagram.You will need to

8 M February 23, 2016

Student athletes learn to look past making the cut

Athletes learn to find other In seventh grade, Herlinger was
options when faced with a member of the girls basketball
not making the team team. However, this year, she missed
the cut.
Riley Johansen | Staff Editor “Right off the bat I was really upset
because I tried so hard,” Herlinger
In sports, it is often said “If you said. “I went to every conditioning,
want to be the best, you have to beat every try out. I would stay after, I
the best.” would come early, I did everything
I could, but I guess I just wasn’t in
This mantra applies when it comes the prime of what they wanted, so
to trying out for Mason Schools that kind of stunk. But afterwards, I
sports teams. kind of saw that’s a beautiful thing, a
blessing in disguise. Now I can work
Athletic director Stephanie Hy- on homework more. I don’t have to
att said she knows the challenge. “I worry about away games, so again I
think the largest amount of kids that think it’s just a blessing in disguise.”
have tried out for a sport was proba- The same thing happened to cur-
bly for boy’s basketball. In the past, I rent member of the seventh grade
know we’ve had numbers in the sev- boys basketball team, Tyler Ring-
enties when ultimately we can only wald. Photo by Riley Johansen
take twenty total boys.”
“It didn’t really affect me because Members of the seventh grade basketball team Elizabeth Berry and Sammie Connors share
Making the cut is undoubtedly the basketball at a recent practice.
a challenge, but not making it can
be even more difficult according to I tried out for the Mason basketball Herlinger
eighth grader Caroline Herrlinger. team last year, and I rdeicd,n” ’tRminagtEkwhdeeaulicCtdahtaiordstnaeoairndlS’.Atc“ghmPeolaanoykclseieoPnsriotg,garsaroarnemtcws Shtetaaattm?e,”, and come nities,” Hyatt said. “I say that because
Herrlinger said she knows both sides so I just played on when kids are involved and active
of the equation. said. back next year and just kill it. doing something productive like a
Even if you don’t make the team, Aside from all the challenges of sport, I don’t think it matters if it’s
“Seventh graders have 35 kids try there are plenty of other options for making the cut, being part of any a rec sport or a competitive .....team.
out, where we in 8th grade, this year, students, Herlinger said. team is a valuable experience, ac- I think what matters is children are
had maybe 21 girls tryout,” Herlinger “I think definitely, if you really cording to Hyatt. doing something physical with their
said. love basketball, just try out, if you “I think both [select and recre- time, not just plugged into an elec-
ational teams] are valuable opportu- tronic device.”

Polar Bear Runners train for a 5K race

Photo by Abby Miller Abby Miller | Staff Writer a 5k race.
The Polar Bear Running Club has been at “We go down and run a 5K race,” Benham said.
Eighth grader Bella Ranieri runs with a friend.
MMS for 10 years and is leaving its legacy on “And that was just to see how we progressed
student athletes. throughout our clun. See if we got better.”

The Polar Bear Running Club is a club at The Polar Bear Running Club, and especially
MMS where any student has the opportunity the 5k race is an all around fun experience for
to run in the cold weather. The goal is to build according to Benham.
endurance, learn team-work skills, set goals,
and get in better shape, according to Coach “We’ve had different staff members that come
John Benham. out and run with us,” Benham said. “At the end,
we’ve even had some parents encouraged to
“The club originated trying to entice people to come out and run with their student, as I said
go outside and run,” Benham said. “It was origi- in that 5k race. It’s motivated a lot of families to
nally to get you off of the couch. Maybe, get you actually get out and run together as well.”
in shape, prepared and ready for your upcoming
season in the spring.” Running outside in the cold weather, may not
sound too fun for you, but it’s a great experi-
According to Benham, anyone at Mason Mid- ence, according to Benham.
dle School can participate in the club.
“For some strange reason, the idea of going
“It isn’t necessarily just track runners,” Ben- outside and running in the cold weather really
ham said. “A lot of people think it’s just track enticed a lot of people,” Benham said, “Maybe it
runners that are going to be running here. It’s was because it was something they have never
a lot of soccer players, that may not be doing thought of.”
track. Could be some cheerleaders, lacrosse
players, people who just want to get off of the Polar Bear Running Club sets a great atmo-
couch.” sphere for students and teaches more than just
running according to Benham.
At the end of the season, in past years, stu-
dents got to show off all of their hard work at “Running together as a group and encourag-
ing each other is a real positive experience for
everybody,” Benham said.