AROUND THE SCHOOL...
AROUND THE SCHOOL...
The Day in the Life of the Marvelous Mendrala
By Evianna Wright and Kayla Vanderleeden (7th Grade)
Photo by Evianna Wright and Kayla Vanderleeden
VROOOOOMMMMMM! Here comes Mrs. Mendrala in her super cool car, arriving at school with probably no traffic at 7:10 a.m. after waking up at 5:45 a.m., ready to conquer her day as an ELA teacher.
Mendrala is a magnificent ELA teacher. Even her first name has ELA in it (her name is Elaine, so it’s meant to be). However, she’s more than just an ELA teacher! She has a real life outside of school and is definitely not an alien… she’s a human and not just a teacher. So today you will be learning about a day in her life.
We asked her what her favorite movie was, and she said, “I love Forrest Gump. It's like I'm going back in the past. Every time I watch it, it's still really good.” So you should definitely watch Forrest Gump because it is Mendrala’s favorite movie. Her favorite food is pizza, so while you're watching the movie you should eat pizza too!
Ms. Mendrala has a busy start to her mornings. She explained, “I walk Ollie and feed him. I get myself ready and try to have my clothes picked out beforehand.” Mendrala has to get ready in the morning just like all of us. She can't even ride the school bus — she has to drive her own car and pay for gas in this crazy economy.
Mendrala, even while being a teacher, still has free time. When she does have the opportunity, she says, “I love reading! I also like watching a show on Netflix or something like that, playing with my dog, and of course I have older children so I like to talk to them!”
Of course Mendrala loves to read, but what kind of books? That is exactly what we asked her, and this is what she said: “I like mystery the most, like suspense and thriller kinds of books, but I also like historical fiction.” So if you like those kinds of books, then you have something in common with this magical teacher.
Does Mendrala have pets? Is she a snake or ferret person? Well, she is actually a dog person and confirms she has one: “My one dog, Ollie.” Mendrala likes dogs, and especially her dog Ollie. If you are in her class, you would definitely know that she loves her dog very much… well, unless you weren’t paying attention.
In conclusion, Mendrala is definitely human — not an alien or just a teacher. She is a person just like the rest of us. She also has great taste in movies, books, and even pets. She is a really interesting and nice person, so you should be kind to her.
College Football 26
By Gavin Fallon (6th Grade)
Photo by Amazon
The developer of the game is EA Orlando, and the game was released on July 7, 2025.
The genre of this game is in the category of sports.
This game is available on PlayStation 5 (PS5) and Xbox Series X|S.
This game involves brand new features in its game mode, "Road To Glory", the game also provides a new set of graphics and a new feature in a game mode. This game is very realistic and the graphics are extremely impressive.
The story line for the game is the typical, "Career Mode", which is where you start off as a senior in high school, and you show scouts your talent and make your way up the ranks as you play in college. This feature is brand new, and it is very fun to play.
The main characters are, "My player", which is the character that you play as, or create. Or... Whatever team you pick. The role in the game has a wide span of varieties, as whatever position you play, you can have a different role. The teams have a feature where they have… “Updated Rosters.” The feature lets you play with the exact rosters for the current day teams.
The controls are going to depend on what position(s), or console you play on. The controls are somewhat easy to learn, but after a while you can get the hang of it.
This depends, as there are many different types of game difficulties, which change the way you play, and the AI difficulty.
Using a basic controller, you can run, throw, celebrate, and tackle. There are many other controls to learn, but you can choose which ones you want to do when you are playing the game.
College Football 26 gives you the opportunity to play single player, and also multiplayer. This depends on which game mode you play, this is a great feature because it allows you to play with our friends.
The graphics for the game, as I said before, are very good.
Their sound effects are amazing, with modern music that presents a great mood for the game when you are playing.
The game is great, and the gameplay is great, the game makes me happy, and I would think it would make others happy too.
My favorite feature is the "Road To Glory" feature where you get to play as a senior in high school and make your way up the ranks.
I think this game is perfect for everyone and it does not need any improvements.
I believe that everyone who likes sports and buys this game will enjoy it when they play it, it is a great game.
I would give this game a rating of 100. EA sports does a great job with their games and they always make people happy. This game is for sure one of their best games.
This game is super impressive, and I know this game would be perfect for anyone who buys it. The game's graphics are great. I love this game.
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Meet Mr. Cincotta: The Historian of WMS
By Gavin Hisgen and Logan Pryor (8th Grade)
Every day before the doors open, Mr. Cincotta has already prepared the lesson plan and his routine of making his black coffee.
Mr. Cincotta, the WMS 7th grade Social Studies teacher, loves teaching kids new and interesting facts about history while also doing what he loves most… learning.
Before Mr. Cincotta came to WMS, he worked at the post office for a little bit and loaded the mail into the mail trucks. He used to live in Colorado and lived next to a ski resort. “When I had days off, I used to walk to the ski resort and go skiing.”
Now here at WMS he likes to read, go on long hikes, and ride his bike on the trails. If Mr. Cincotta wasn't teaching at WMS he would love to work in a museum because he loves learning even more about history. Mr. Cincotta wants the students to remember the fun they had and the cool little fun facts about history. "I want the students to remember the back handed high fives and that Julius Caesar died on my birthday and especially that barbarians wore pants."
During class Mr. Cincotta has everything already prepared and is ready to learn. He gives his students fun interactive activities to do while helping them learn. For example he does fun projects like making students make a board game while learning about the subject and making fun maps showing elevation while representing the geography.
Mr. Cincotta loves WMS and his favorite memories are going on fun field trips like going to Washington D.C and he likes the history behind the U.S.A and what was here before. Another field trip he really enjoyed was going to Springfield College for a fun team building trip. "I liked going to Arlington National Cemetery in D.C and the Lincoln Memorial because I enjoyed seeing the historical sites in person."
Happily teaching the seventh graders history while keeping it fun is Mr. Cincotta's favorite thing in the whole world. Mr. Cincotta hopes all these seventh graders will be successful one day and to remember that barbarians wore pants.