Helping paws club supports California Wildfires

          By:Beach

Recently the helping paws club has been raising money for the red cross. But what actually is the red cross donation for? The donation is specifically for the wildfires in California. The Red Cross is working closely with partners to provide safe shelter, food, emotional support and other critical services to those in need and is focused on making sure everyone has a safe place to stay. More than 200 American Red Cross workers are helping southern California residents. Roughly 10,000 people lost their homes in their homes in the California wildfires. The two largest fires, Palisades and Eaton, are among the top five most destructive in California’s history. Hundreds of evacuees woke up in emergency shelters this morning, many of whom are struggling after losing everything. The threat isn’t over, and some communities remain at risk. This is why it is so important that we help. Heather Mcalpine, age 33 experienced one of these fires. She says,”We’re an all-volunteer organization, the Altadena Mountain Rescue. We help people that are typically in distress in our mountainous area, the San Gabriels. When we saw the fire was spreading so quickly, it just turned into a get-everyone-out-as-fast-as-possible situation. We were doing a wellness check near my own house, and that’s when I saw that the fire was getting close. I grabbed my cat Tessa and a few of my things. And that was it.” RED CROSS 

                             MAS Choir

         By Softball Girl

                    In choir at MAS the 5th and 6th graders are singing 3 pieces of music called “My Favorite Things” . It is a song where it list’s things that the author likes. It uses rhymes and lyrics to make the piece beautiful. The next piece is called “One Love” . It is a piece about love. The final piece of music that they are singing is “Fireflies” . It is a wonderful song about fireflies and life. In the select choir they are singing five songs currently but they might add another one. The first song is “Uma familia” which means we are family in spanish. The second song is called Our song by Taylor Swift. It is a popular song with country vibes. We are doing the song Kookaburra and it is a fun song about a bird. Finally we are doing the song Funga Alafia which is about friendship and kindness.

               Mascot in the Mountains 

        By:  Softball Girl

Mountain Lions go!!!

    Why should we be proud to have a mountain lion as our mascot? Is it because they are fast? Is it because they are super stealthy? No! It is because they are loyal to their families and we have to be loyal to our family here at Mansion Avenue School. Research shows that they can be affectionate and interdependent with their family.That means that there can be some loners but most stick together.

    Now it is time to talk about what their traits are. Some traits are better than others but there are  still a lot of good ones and here is a list.

1. Large

2. Sleek

3. Sharp claws

4. Territorial 

5. Largest of the small cats

6. Strong

7. Powerful

8. Highly intelligent

   There are some more but let's talk about how we can be more like them Though we are strong already there are some things we can do. We can stand up to bullies. We can help those in need. If we can do that in school can we also do that in and around the town of Audubon. We can stay strong in many communities as a town, as a school, and as a Mountain lion.

Be strong like a mountain lion!

Mansion Avenue School Talent Show

By: Striker and Taco Tuesday

This year Mansion Avenue School held a talent show. The performers and the audience had very different perspectives. We are showing the point of view of both.

Audience perspective: 

Citizens from all over Audubon filled the AHS Auditorium to watch Mansion’s talented students. The show started at 7:30, and the acts began. Each performance was unique in its own way, and you could almost imagine the countless hours spent practicing. There was a wide variety of different performances, such as singing, dancing, and instrument playing. The audience chattered between acts, shouting words of encouragement. You would watch all of your friends, family, and classmates courageously walk onto stage and perform. This is the perspective of the audience.

Performers perspective:

They all had to arrive by 7:00 to go over what it was going to be like and where they were sitting. At 7:30 all the people fled into the doors to watch the acts. All of the people performing in the show were sitting down waiting to be called up to stage. When you were called up, you would go backstage. Backstage was very cramped, it was holding the ropes controlling the curtains. When you were called up the MC would say your name, talent, and if you had one your song. Once you were on stage you would start. All of the people in the audience would cheer you on, and most importantly you would have fun. After your act was done you would sit down and cheer everyone else on just like they did for you. That is the perspective of the performer.

A few weeks ago, I interviewed Mr. Ellinwood. Here’s how it went!

By:  Taco Tuesday

 How long have you been teaching?

I’ve been teaching for 12 years. I’ve taught at Eagleswood Township Elementary School and Forked River School both in NJ, and at Oakville Elementary School in Southern Maryland, prior to coming to Audubon!

 Is this the first school you've taught at?

This is the fourth school I’ve taught at! I’m so excited to have had past experiences teaching at other schools and teaching lots of students music!

 Why did you choose MAS?

I chose MAS because I went to MAS as a student, and I loved all of the fun things we did in the past. I wanted to have an opportunity to give back to my hometown working with a school I enjoyed being at as a child.

 Do you enjoy teaching Music/Choir?

I absolutely love teaching music and choir! Music was my passion growing up being in Band, Choir, the Marching Band, and performed in the high school musicals. I also got to tour in Italy, California, and Canada during music trips. It was so much fun! I also loved my teachers and wanted to be able to be like them one day! I even get to work with some of my former teachers. I’m so proud to be here at MAS!! 

Where did you go to college?

I went to Rowan University for my Bachelors of Music and Radio-TV-Film, Marywood University for my Masters in Music Education, and my second Masters at Loyola University of Maryland in Kodaly Methodology Music Education.

 Interviewing 4th Grade Teacher, Mrs.Miller

 By: Rain

1.How long have you worked at Mansion? 

I have worked at Mansion since the elementary schools merged. The first year of the new school configuration was 2009-2010. I started teaching at Haviland in 2002. 

 2. How long have you been teaching?

I have been teaching since 2002; however I feel like I have been teaching my whole life. When I was in elementary school I would play school and even give homework to the children my mom baby-sat. 

3. Have you always taught 4th grade?

  No, I taught 6th grade for one year and was an academic support teacher for one year. I have spent the last 19 years in 4th grade.

4. What grade do you prefer to teach?

 I love fourth grade and wouldn’t want to teach another grade! I love how the students are becoming more independent and haven’t gotten too sassy, yet! Lol!! 

5. Have you always taught at Mansion Avenue?

I did my student teaching in a 4th grade classroom at Radix Elementary in Williamstown, NJ. I started my career at Haviland in 2002 and have been working for the Audubon School District for my entire career.

6.Do you have kids? If so, how many?

 I have two sons-Jacob who is 8 and Zachary who is 7. My Jacob is autistic. In our family and in my classrooms we celebrate what makes us special and unique!

7. Do you live in Audubon?  If you do, for how long? 

While I grew up in Audubon and went to Haviland Avenue School and graduated from Audubon High School in 1997 I currently live in Swedesboro-Woolwich Twp in Gloucester County. I have about a 20-25 minute commute.

8. How old are you?

9.When is your birthday?

My birthdate is January 22nd and I just turned 45! 

 12. What is your favorite subject to teach?

My favorite subject to teach is Math. I love how there can be more than one way to solve a problem, but no matter the strategy you use there is only one correct answer!

13. Where did you go to college?

 I went to Rowan University and earned an award for excellence in student teaching!  

Hopefully this helped you learn a little bit more about 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Miller.

 The New Library

By:  The Fancy Frog

Have you seen the new and improved Mansion Avenue School library! Well if you haven’t let me tell you all about it.

You walk into the library and see books on the shelves. Of course you are going to see books in a library, but the shelves are labeled with words saying what genre it is like non-fiction, fiction, or biographies. My favorite shelf to look for books I like is to look at the biographies. I like to look at books here because it’s fun for me to learn about people who play sports and to read about people I never learned about. 

Now let's talk about the Roar Store. The Roar Store is a place where you can use your paws to buy toys and figures at. And you're probably wondering what paws are. Paws are a circular green piece of paper with a paw in the middle of it. You can earn these by being a good friend, a student, or being recognized by the staff for the roar expectations. Some stuff in the roar store that you could buy are bracelets, stickers, and other stuff that are the students favorites.

There were so many new renovations to the school but the library renovation has to be my favorite.

It’s Holiday Time!!!!

By: Ms. Preppy

Hanukkah 

Hanukkah is coming up soon. This holiday is for people that are Jewish and they start to  celebrate this holiday on Thursday, December 7, 2023. People that celebrate Hanukkah celebrate for eight days straight. The colors of this holiday are blue and white. People that celebrate Hanukkah also light a candle every day till the eight days are up. Another thing  I am going to tell you is that kids like to play with dreidels. They also get presents every night so that means they get eight presents.      

Christmas 

Christmas is a holiday that Christians celebrate. On this holiday you get presents on December 26 on Christmas day and there is also Christmas Eve on December 25. People put stockings up and put a Christmas tree up and lights to celebrate this holiday. We also have Santa come on Christmas eve. Some people also go to church. A lot of people go and do Christmas things to lead up to the holiday Christmas. The colors of this Holiday are green and red. People have stockings to open and many presents to open on Christmas Day. Many people hang out with family on both Christmas Eve and day.  

All about 5th grade

By:  Daisy

Fifth grade is a very exciting time here. There are a few things that are a change in 5th grade from all your other grades you have been in so far. One big change in 5th grade is that you have two different classes you could either be in Mrs. McFetridge and Mr. Rehn or in Mrs. Buzby and Mrs. Englehart. In both classes you have Mr. Rehn and Mrs. Englehart you have social studies, science , and math with them and in Mrs. McFetridge and Mrs. Buzby you have Ela with them. The only thing that I don’t  like about 5th grade is that 5th graders have to do the science testing for NJSLA but it’s not that bad.

Something I really enjoyed in 5th grade is if you finish your work in class you have no homework and that is really good for people that do a lot of sports. There are many other fun things that you have a chance to do in 5th grade. For example you have the chance to be a safety and at the end of the year in safety you have the chance to become a captain. Another fun thing you get to have the chance to do in 5th grade is there are many other clubs that you could join that you did not have the chance to do in 4th grade. One thing that gets really annoying  is that you have to walk up and down the stairs for everything. When you're in 4th grade you get so excited to go up the stairs but then you get to 5th grade and it gets really annoying.  Something else that you get the chance to do is you get to do the 5th grade historical play called the Revolutionary War. That is something that no other grade gets to do but 5th grade. 

The Pancake Breakfast

By: Sports Center & Softball. Lover

Your mouth waters as you're waiting in line. You watch as people dig into the beautiful pancakes, syrup dripping from their mouths. It's a Saturday morning and Applebee’s is filled with hungry families,  jumping for joy as they wait for their turn to grab some pancakes. The orange juice was as fresh as an orange right off the tree. Welcome to the 2023 Pancake Breakfast for the class of 6th grade.  This is where the 6th grade is able to fundraise, so they can go to all these cool places. They sold all the tickets for 10 dollars for each person. When everybody got there, people were ready to eat. So in the back area, there was a big table with eggs,pancakes,sausage,orange juice, and coffee. For all the people who bought the tickets can at different times because it was 8am to 10am. The food was very good, and fun. The 6th graders had to clean the tables after the families left, and they had to grab people's trash. In all, the pancake breakfast was fun, and the food  was good.

 What is it like to be a safety 

                                     by:Defense girl

Imagine you are walking down the street and then you see a person with a green belt on and holding their arms out blocking your way to cross the street. Then they put their arms down and say you are good to go, you know it is your town's safety. Then all of the sudden you wonder what it is like to be a safety? Well jump in because I am going to tell you all you need to know about safeties.

Safeties usually have a different schedule than a regular student. For example they have post in the morning before school so the kids walking to school are safe. In the afternoon they get to leave school usually 5 minutes early to walk to post to make sure kids are safe walking back home from school. One more thing you might be wondering, what is a post? Well a post is the street that you stand at to cross people for example your post could be pine grove Cherry hill NJ. 

Halloween

By:  The Banana Bandit

Halloween is a spooktacular holiday that is fun for kids of all ages. You get to go around trick or treating with your friends dressed up in a costume. Not only do you get lots of candy, you also can walk in parades. For the parade at Mansion the kids wait in their classrooms to get called and then stand outside until every class gets to the blacktop. While you are in line you can see all of the costumes everyone is wearing and see all of the parents and grandparents waiting outside of the gates. The mood is full of excitement. Everyone walks around the block so the parents can see our costumes. Then we all head back inside to our classrooms for games and treats. It is a sugar-filled spectacular spooky celebration!

The 6th Grade Bowling Event

By:  T.J. Soccer 

In many 6th graders' opinions one of the greatest 6th grade events that will happen throughout this school year was the 6th grade bowling event, let me explain.

 One of the many reasons why many of the 6th graders thought that the 6th grade bowling event was one of the greatest is because they had food like pizza which most 6th graders said was very good and some drinks too. Also, you could go in a lane with all of your friends to bowl which made it really amazing plus you could talk to your friends while bowling. Next, we could do more than one round of bowling with our friends and we had a while to bowl even if you were late. 

After all of the bowling was done they had a built-in arcade so you could go to the arcade with your friends. The cool part was that they gave everyone a free 5 dollars on your card to play at the arcade. After the arcade there wasn’t much to do so most people just went home.

But those are some of the many reasons why many 6th graders thought that the 6th grade bowling event was one of the best 6th grade events that will happen during this school year.

A Very Eagleistic Situation

By : The Poet

If you knew there was a nest of bald eagles hidden somewhere in the depths of Audubon, what would you do? Would you tell your friends about your lucky encounter, or keep the secret to yourself? Well, what if you knew this was actually a reality? Audubon is home to a variety of beautiful birds, and it gets its name from the famous birdwatcher and artist John James Audubon because of his discovery of so many birds. But bald eagles are very rare to see, in general. This is because of massive breeding failure in the 1900’s. People were using a very effective chemical, known as DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), that was poisoning many eggs that would later never hatch. Therefore, in 1972 this chemical was banned in the protection of bald eagles. Lead in bullets that hunters use to kill animals was also banned, because some scavenger eagles were eating the lead-contaminated meals and getting high levels of lead in their bodies. However, there has been proof that a nest lies somewhere in our town, yet hidden to the glaring eyes of us. On Monday, April 26th of 2021, I witnessed myself a bald eagle flying near the school grounds. We were just out on a regular day for gym/health, enjoying the sun with a little kickball game, when I saw it. A huge bird, in the distance, flying over a swarm of trees. It was brown, except for its distinct white tail feathers and head. They are easily recognizable, because of their bright tail feathers and head. Even from a distance, these features are visible. We are sure there have been more sightings, but none that I know of. We kindly ask you not to go looking for the nest, or spreading information on their location, because if too many eyes are on the tree where the eagles are nested, you risk the mother eagle abandoning her chicks altogether. This is a very rare occurrence, and we wouldn’t want to disturb nature, would we?

Bald Eagle Fun Facts

• The bald eagle is the national bird of the USA as well as the symbol.

• The largest bald eagles that live in Alaska can weigh as much as 17 lbs!

• They can live up to 30 years of age

• They build the largest nests out of all the North American birds, some are 13ft deep and 8ft wide!

• They can fly 10,000ft high!

• Bald eagles have extremely good eyesight and is the highest in it’s food chain

Information is from : https://www.ducksters.com/animals/bald_eagle.php

Autism Awareness Month

                        By: R. Winner

The month of April isn’t just home to April Fools Day, it’s also known as Autism Awareness Month. Autism is a disorder that you are born with that makes it so you think differently than others. Autism affects 1 out of 54 children in the U.S. Generally signs of autism appear between ages 2 and 3. 

The Autism Society began a nationwide awareness campaign in the early '70s that was adopted by Congress in 1984 and strengthened by the release of the autism awareness ribbon in 1999. The Society launched a project to study brain tissue in 1976 and formed a Foundation focused on applied research in 1996.

Most of the information in this article came from The Autism Speaks Website. https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

Teachers Spotlight-Mr.Rehn

By : The Poet

Today we will be interviewing one of 5th grade's beloved math teachers, Mr.Rehn! Have you ever wondered why he became a math teacher? Well stick around to find out!

Do you enjoy being a math teacher? 

Mr Rehn : Yes, I enjoy it very much. Helping students understand not only computation but how to problem solve and discover an answer is food for the soul.

Why did you want to be a math teacher? 

Mr Rehn : I have always had a fascination with numbers and statistics so teaching math is a dream come true.

What is your favorite book? 

Mr Rehn : The Giver because it shows how important it is for people to be individuals and have their own personalities. The world would be very different if everyone was the same. 

What is your favorite season? 

Mr Rehn : Late summer because that is the beginning of the school year and I always look forward to meeting my new class and seeing all of their wonderful smiles. 

What is your favorite subject of math? 

Mr Rehn : My favorite math topic is place value because it is the foundation of mathematics. 

I hope you all learned something about Mr.Rehn, and I wish you all a good day!

And the games begin.

By: C. Pepperoni 

Audubon has many sports teams over the spring. Most of the softball teams have started games. The 10 youth softball team had their first game and they tied against the other audubon team, They tied at 6-6 on Thursday. Softball has a good start this year. Games started opening day a few weeks ago. Many younger teams are having a good season by winning most games and the weather is supposed to clear up and be very nice this coming week so have a good one everybody.

What's happening? 

By: A.C.

Because of the pandemic we aren't able to do as much stuff but still keep around the same schedule. We just went back to going to school 5 days a week. We are still only going half day though. Some good news for 6th grade! The 6th grade will be doing the scavenger hunt, party, and graduation! These activities will be hosted by the end of the year. Also news for safeties! The 6th grade safeties will be ending soon! 6th graders should expect 5th graders at their post until they leave. That's all the news for now! Make sure to check your emails regularly for updates on activities! 

Spring is blooming

C. Pepperoni

Winter is coming to an end but spring is sprouting. Spring is bringing its warmth to Audubon while green wave fields are being filled. Softball and soccer seasons are starting. A lot of people have been stuck at home and now can finally come out after the long lockdown. Even though some are still inside, they can watch the big teams play, and soon they will join the games outside. These nice warm days are giving good days to play on the field. Now that more people are out playing sports the sun is finally coming to use. Sports have been a big relief to mankind for getting outside with friends and family.

Rock your socks

C.Pepperoni

On friday our school participated in rock your socks awareness for down syndrome. This day represents how all shapes, sizes of the same thing can be unique in their own way, and yet do the same thing." It also aims to create a conversation about diversity, uniqueness, inclusion and acceptance. We had a fundraiser for buying you funkys socks.  This was a fun fundraiser for our school to rock some crazy socks for awareness.

Your Daily Tech Tips

By : ThePoet

Ever find yourself a little, stuck? Maybe it's the urge to play around with keyboard shortcuts, or a code to save time. Well, you’ve come to the right place cuz in this article you’re going to learn all about tips for the virtual world!

• Has a site been bothering you and you just can’t get any peace? Never fear, for all you have to do is click with two fingers on the tab, and a small list of actions pops up. Then click mute site. But be careful not to accidentally mute your meet, or you’ll be in some trouble...

• Need to switch pages quickly? Simply just press ctrl + tab, or ctrl and any number to change your page!

• Sometimes we can come across some text that's too small to read, and that's where the docked magnifier comes to help. Ctrl + search (magnifing glass) + d will give you a magnifier at the top of your screen. Or, you can press the 3 dots on the bookmarks bar, and clicking the plus sign next to the number will zoom in your screen

• Seriously, how do I screenshot!? Well, it’s simple. All you need to do is press ctrl + shift and the box with two lines above the 6 key. Then drag whatever you want to screenshot, and click the capture button. If you want to have a recorded screenshot, just change the camera to the filming camera that appears at the bottom of your screen

• To open a new tab, press ctrl + t and to open a new window, press ctrl + n. If you want to close a tab, press ctrl + w.

• Bored of the simple white google background? Well never fear! You 6can change your tab's color and new tab background by clicking the little pen tool at the bottom right, and then you will know what to do!

• The last tip I will be sharing with you is how to turn on contrast mode. To turn it on, press ctrl + search + h turns on the most unusual colors on your chromebook. Don’t worry, I know...

Well, I hope these tips helped you, and next time you’re stuck or need some tips, just look at this article and hope it will help you!