What's Cookin' in Ryther's Room

                                                    By. Eleah Lewis

Do you know about ALLL the electives at Les Bois? Probably not. Well that's what I'm here to inform you about today. I think we've all heard an elective called Young or Teen Living. If you aren't taking one of those classes, then a friend has to be. I have talked to Mrs Ryther and some of her students to get the inside scoop of what is going to be taking place in room 221 this semester.

The first thing that I touched on with Mrs Ryther is this semester's final projects for both Young and Teen Living. She shared with me that Teen Living's final is going to be The Crumble Cookie Challenge, and Young Living's final will be Cupcake Wars, 4 stitches and a button and a felt stuffie. The next question I asked her was “What do you want 7th graders to know coming into this year?” and she responded with: “I want my 7th graders to know that Young Living is a fun, hands-on class where they will get to try a lot of new things. I want them to come in ready to participate, work well with others, and learn skills they can actually use in everyday life.”  

Subsequently to that, I also interviewed some current and past students. Charlotte Johnson says that her favorite thing about Teen living is that she gets to learn how to make good food Charlotte states that she finds sewing to be her biggest challenge but is a goal she strives to achieve. The last question I asked her was what's some advice she'd give to upcoming students and she responded with “I would say that the biggest advice I have would be just to really be paying attention when Mrs Ryther is giving instructions.” 

Next to get a different perspective on things I asked Westin Fehrenbacher the same questions and he responded with his favorite part of teen living is that he gets to learn how to make things that he might have never learned how to make without teen living. He said that the biggest challenge he faces during the elective is having to go through necessary safety precautions but he understands that they are apart of the elective and still pays full attention. Lastly I asked him if he had advice to give to future teen living students. He said it would be that “When Mrs Ruther says that somethings is homework, it's due the next day.”

Now that we have heard from some of  Mrs Ryther's students lets hear a bit more from Mrs Ryther herself. I asked Mrs Ryther this: “ What are some of your favorite parts about teaching these electives. She answered:

“ I love teaching Teen Living and Young Living because the classes are a little more relaxed and involve a lot of hands-on and group activities. I feel like I get to be myself more as a teacher and really get to know my students and their personalities. I enjoy the relationships I build with them and seeing them grow throughout the year.”

Mrs. Stroud Takes Journalism By Storm

By Aly Danley

Elective classes are the classes you take to thrive individually. Your interests are most likely a class you can take at Les Bois. Journalism has multiple interests wrapped into one fantastic class.

“I am passionate, curious, and enthusiastic about teaching journalism” Mrs. Stroud says. Journalism can be a very fun class to take. From interviewing students to learning the fundamentals of what makes a good journalist, Journalism has lots to offer. There are so many opportunities to get to know the school’s students, teachers, and school classes. Mrs. Stroud chose to be a journalist teacher to have the fast paced feelings of journalism while teaching others the wonder of journalism too. “I love that it is fast-paced and non repetitive” Mrs. Stroud says. It can be so fun to interview people too, you meet so many interesting people with diverse backgrounds and stories to share. It can be a little intimidating, but that helps by building good traits like people skills. Journalism traits can make or break a journalist. What makes a good journalist is traits like honesty, integrity, people skills, and much more. But, you don’t have to have those skills to join a journalism class. But, Journalism is very exciting and fun. You have so much to work on, but it isn’t about working, it's about learning and getting the best stories for Les Bois. Mrs. Stroud says, "Photography classes and creative writing can build great journalism skills too,” and she says “I would encourage students who have story ideas to email me their pitch for the story. We are always happy to have guest writers.” So if you were hoping for a chance at journalism even if you aren't in the class, guest writers are always welcome!