The Cans and Cant's of Middle School

By:  Aurora Bresky

Bustling hallways, bright lights, lots of homework and even more drama. Well, that’s middle school for you! In this year's fall play the drama department has put together something spectacular that we can all relate too.  

The Cans and Cant’s of Middle School,  is a laugh out loud and over the top experience you shouldn’t miss. This program is a combination of two one act comedies: M.G. Davidson’s Ten Best/Worst Things About Middle School and Jason Pizzarello’s Haters. Drama director, Ms. Bhatt, shares that the show is “a must for Taylor Swift fans or anyone who loves to laugh”. As always, the drama club is working hard on this production and counting down the days till opening night. With about three weeks until showtime, excitement builds within the walls of Jockey Hollow-  and overflows into the streets of Monroe. 

If you are interested in this stunning night of theatre, here is how you join the fun. On Friday, November 7th and Saturday, November 8th, the curtain will rise at 7:00pm. Those who want to buy tickets can purchase them at the door from 6:00pm until roughly show time. However, the recommended arrival time is no later than 6:30pm, If you want a good seat ;). The cost is $15 for adults and 10$ for students and seniors payable by cash or check made out to Jockey Hollow School. There will also be concessions sold during the 15 minute intermission. Snacks and water bottles will cost 1$ each. The drama club hopes to see you in the audience for an entertaining evening.

Unified Sports Team Celebrates Successful Season

By:  Lions Roar Staff

On May 22, 2025, students participating on the Jockey Hollow Middle School Unified Sports Team celebrated a very successful spring season with an awards ceremony. Each member was awarded an 'outstanding student' certificate and medal. 

Throughout the season, students learned skills involving safety, teamwork and inclusion. Weekly practices incorporated techniques in Unified volleyball, cornhole, kickball, wiffleball and track & field. Each session included a scrimmage to practice newly acquired skills. Special Olympics athletes and partners paired up in the formation of teams. 

The team is coached by Donald Casey JR and Jennifer Fisher. 

According to Head Coach Donald Casey Jr, "We are so very proud of every student on our Unified Sports team. Throughout the course of the spring season, students were safe, supported each other, learned new skills, worked together as a team, established friendships and most of all had fun. Each student learned a lot about inclusion and sports that unites Special Olympics athletes and partners as teammates." 

The featured game of the afternoon consisted of two Jockey Hollow basketball teams competing against each other. All students were awarded a gold medal following the conclusion of the tournament. 

The Lions were in action again on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, competing at a basketball tournament in Brookfield. All team members enjoyed the chance to compete, make new friends and have fun.  

IXL or I Do Not Exel: The Debate

By:  Aurora Bresky

I assume every person in this school knows the platform IXL.  IXL has been around since 1998 and was founded in San Mateo, California. It originally was used solitarily as a math program. However, in 2018 IXL expanded to language arts with the help of Rosetta Stone, a language learning computer software developed in 1992. Now with the help of several other companies IXL has further expanded its curriculum to not only math and language arts. New curriculums include science, social studies, and even spanish. All curriculums range from K-12 even including some preschool courses. This program is used by 45 out of the 50 states in America and is used by over 14 million students worldwide. Such a big program used by so many people must be an excellent choice for learning, right? Well some users of the program think differently.  

On the day of Monday, November Twenty Fifth a survey was taken in the Art Room during Art Club. Eleven out of Eleven students in varying grades said they did not like IXL. Then, on Wednesday, November Twenty Seventh a survey was taken in the Chorus Room. Twelve out of twelve seventh grade students said they did not like IXL. And third time's the charm, so another survey was taken with students of varying grades in the Art Room on Wednesday, December Eleventh during PAWS. Ten out of ten students said they did not like IXL. In all of these surveys all students have been asked at random, have been entirely composed of different people, most of them have had differing grades, and yet every student had disdain for the program.  

If 43 randomized students do not like IXL I find it worth the while to pose the question of why? Students have been interviewed and some of the reasons for the hatred of this program include: Glitching and IT problems, taking points away from users if a question is answered wrong, not feeling like they are learning from the program or getting good practice, challenge questions that are harder than what students are doing in class and unclear explanations of how to properly set up and answer a question. 

Some of the IT problems, and other sources of displeasure towards IXL that are taking place on the site include issues with the SmartScore. The SmartScore is the number of points you will receive after a question. As problems get harder and enter different “levels” on that particular practice, points awarded after each question will begin to dwindle, going from numbers as high as eighteen to only one point per question. This is a problem for students because not every question is a guaranteed number of points and therefore the time and effort it will take to get to 100, often the stopping point for homeworks, cannot be estimated at all. 

Another problem is that while the points awarded go down, the points taken if a question is wrong or “incomplete” do not. So, when you are finishing up your assignment and the program is giving you one point per question, if you get one wrong due to any kind of error you can get shot back down from 97 to 85. One student says, “I don’t like that it takes points away because one or two points is one thing, but it tends to put you down ten points. It’s not fair or helpful.” The same student found issues with the program saying that they, “will do the lesson and I will make sure I am on the right account, but it will delete all my progress and say I didn't do it. And then I will get halfway through it and it will say I am finished. It’s just like, glitching out.”  Between unfair point distribution, the inability to estimate how long or hard IXL’s will be and glitches in the program it seems like the SmartScore is one of the main problems with the program. 

Another issue shared was that the program did not feel helpful for students. Why not? Well, students stated that because of the issues with the SmartScore they are not worried about getting the practice. One student says the focus is on just  “completing it or googling every answer.” rather than doing the work.

One of our very own teachers, Mrs. Mysogland has provided insight into this topic. She states that one issue with the program is “ Challenge questions”. She says that, “ I think at times IXL will randomly introduce a problem with numbers greater than the ones we are working on in class. … a challenge question is thrown in there and that sometimes discourages students who are trying to get extra practice with their work.”. 

And finally, the issue of explanations. Students say that explanations on why they answered a problem incorrectly are confusing and sometimes absurd. Sometimes things like strange wording intervene with students' success. And at times students are put down several points because they use the wrong symbols in equations. For instance, in certain equations if you use a forward slash (/) instead of a backwards slash (\) it will take you down points. Which some students find ridiculous. 

However IXL Can’t be all bad and it is not. IXL is useful for extra practice and, with moderation, can be used as a helpful learning tool. So, what are IXL’s good features?

In the past couple of years IXL has added more user-friendly features and helpful tools for both students and teachers alike. Students can use videos and other examples to help them when they are struggling with an equation or unit. And while not always helpful, students also have access to explanations of why they get problems incorrect. 

Explanations include a step by step example of the work done in the problem. Students can scroll through the explanation and see where they made a mistake in their work. Videos include different step by step examples of problems included in the strand of IXL. Videos will contain around five examples of equations and will explain why and how you solve an equation.

IXL has also added reports for teachers where teachers can see how students are doing on the program. For instance, if a student is struggling on the strand, teachers can see how many questions they have answered correctly and incorrectly and a whole bunch of other statistics on the students work. Then, a teacher can ask if the student needs help on the unit or if the class needs to spend more time on a lesson or needs a refresher. 

Teachers can also use a feature called IXL live. Teachers can “go live” and view what students are doing on IXL in real time. That way, teachers can also see how long a student will take on a particular problem. 

So in the end, is IXL good or bad? Should we and other schools continue to use this program? Well, like most things, that is a complicated question with a complicated answer. The students interviewed for this article clearly dislike the program and would rather we not continue to use IXL. Students, however, may only see the bad parts of IXL and not the good. Which is understandable, but also not helpful for finding an answer to this question. 

Mrs. Mysogland has shared insight on this question. She thinks that “I think that a lot of my students don’t prefer IXL as a learning platform and have negative attitudes towards it. Which, therefore, may unintentionally prevent them from doing as well as they could be doing.”  When asked if our school should continue to use IXL she said, “ That’s a tricky question. I think that it serves a purpose. So, I think that we need it for extra practice and extra help. I can’t say, without research, that there are other platforms that are better or more user friendly than IXL. If we were not to use IXL I think we need something in its place.”

When Bad Things Happen to Good Actors

By Aurora Bresky

For over 25 years the Jockey Hollow play and musical productions have showcased some of the star voices and artists at our school.  We put on a play every fall, and a musical every spring.  They are directed by the one and only Mrs. Bhatt. Over the past few years we have produced plays and musicals like The Adams Family and The Snow White Variety Show. 

This year The Drama Club, brings us When Bad Things Happen to Good Actors, by Ian McWethy and Jason Pizzarello. The play will open this Friday, November 8th, at the Jockey Hollow Auditorium,  with a second performance on Saturday, November 9th. You can buy tickets at the door. The tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. These tickets can be purchased by cash or check only.  

The Drama Club works on these performances after school a couple days a week leading up to the shows. The performers that are cast practice their parts, and the backstage crew works on making the show come to life. The backstage crew has many responsibilities and roles as well, from creating the sets and props, to fabricating all the glorious costumes, not to mention working with all the mics and stage lights. 

Curtains will rise this Friday at 7 p.m. The play will run about an hour including a 15 minute intermission. During the intermission snacks and water can be purchased. The play will feature students like Norah Kravecs, Kalis New, and Leah Morey. We hope you can go out to watch the amazing play and support the students who have worked so hard. See you at the stage!

Unified Sports Celebration - Spring Finale 2024

By - Lorenzo Lucas & J. Ryan O’Shea

The Unified Sports team celebrated their spring season on Thursday, May 30th. Coach Casey started off by explaining the activities for the day. There were 3 different challenges. The challenges were cornhole, hurdle, and long jumps. The hurdles had an option between low jumps or high jumps. Each team got 6-7 minutes at each challenge, before rotating. 

The Lion’s Roar team gives a big thank you to Coach Casey and Mrs. Fisher! For our last visit, Coach Casey gave us the “Certificate of Excellence”. Once again, thank you!

The hurdle team went to long jump, the long jump team went to cornhole, and the cornhole team went to hurdles. Everybody was having fun in their new positions. At each position, athletes and partners would challenge each other. For example, at the long jump, who could jump the furthest. 

Coach Casey called everybody to the middle. He thanked the parents for coming and, you guessed it, he thanked the Lions Roar one more time.  He had the team do their cheer. “One… Two… Three… GO LIONS!!!” After this, parents were free to play with their children.

All stations were opened for maximum fun. Parents started participating in the games, adding to the excitement. The hurdle’s were more popular than ever! Siblings, parents, and family members had fun. Many will remember their experience.

At 3:30, Coach Casey announced half-time. Everybody had a much-needed water break. He also gave out awards, which included a smiley-ball. He gave out the balls not because the team stresses him out, but because that is the way he feels about them - smiley! He also gave out pencils.

Next was the certificate ceremony. Everybody got called one-by-one for their “Certificate of Excellence”. Everybody was excited to finally complete the final season of the year, but some others were sad. This may be some participants last season at Unified Sports with Coach Casey at Jockey Hollow, before going to high school. 

But nobody can be sad yet! There was still plenty of time to have fun, and play a little more! Coach Casey invited everyone to have a snack.

Everybody that participated in the event had a great time. Coach Casey made sure that everyone would remember this day, and enjoy themselves. Thank you for inviting us to our final Unified Sports Celebration! 

Jockey Hollow Unified Sports 

Winter Season, 2024

By: J. Ryan O’Shea and Lorenzo Lucas

On Thursday, April 4th, 2024 the Unified Sports team meeted for their spring celebration. Coach Casey made his Grand entrance into the gym. First, everybody got pizza, including us, of course! Next, everybody was ready to play some cornhole!  After the cornhole practice, there was a giant game of Snowball. The snowballs are fluffy white balls. Coach Casey explained to the kids that he and Mrs. Fisher had to go all the way to the North Pole to get them. Coach Casey dumped the “snowballs'' around the middle of the gym. Students divided up into two teams, each taking up half of the gym. If a snowball lands on your side, you have to throw the ball high in the air back across the gym. If you throw the ball low, you get disqualified. Halfway throughthe first match, the right side was winning by a hair. After painstaking scoring and thorough review the winner was… everyone!   After a close endgame, Coach Casey called it a tie. 

Round Two started, and the right side took the lead again!  When it was all said and done The winner for the most snowballs was… the left side, but the right side also won for having the least amount of snowballs! Round three started off with the right side again gaining an advantage, but just like the second round, the left side ended up with the most snowballs, and the right side the least! 

Olivia Haggen added a beautiful acapella soundtrack to most of the 45 minute practice. Her singing was very nice. After a final group meeting, Coach Casey gave out gifts and prizes! He gave everybody a bouncy ball, a pencil and a certificate of excellence for their great work during the season. To quote Abigail Cappola’s praise, “You had a terrific basketball season”. Thank you to Coach Casey and Mrs. Fisher for inviting us to the ceremony!      

Think Pink Monroe

By Anika Kamath & Shreya Varadarajan

You probably know that October is Cancer Awareness Month, but did you know about 10 million people die from it every year? Cancer starts when cells uncontrollably multiply and spread. A cluster of these is called a tumor.

According to the World Health Organization, “The most common cancers are breast, lung, colon, rectum and prostate.” They also mention how unhealthy habits such as tobacco use, low intake on fruits and vegetables, and bad physical health account for a third of all cancer deaths.

While cancer in general accounts for 10 million deaths, breast cancer specifically has 2.26 million cases, accounting for 685,000 deaths in just 2020 according to the site. 

There are many ways to bring recognition to cancer. Wearing pink, having pajama day at school, and wearing a lavender cross, which is the cancer awareness symbol. In the Monroe Elementary schools, they have a pajama day in September to celebrate the brave kids with cancer, (an estimated 400,000 a year) resulting in schools spending a comfy day in pajamas all for a good cause.

Another way to get actively involved is through the Think Pink program founded by former Jockey Hollow teacher, Bonnie Maur.  Mrs. Maur wrote that she started Think Pink because having been in other cancer organizations she wanted to jumpstart something for Monroe. But more importantly, she herself was an 18 year breast cancer survivor.

Think Pink brings awareness to breast cancer. They accept donations and have a shop.

The festivities this year began on October 1st at the Think Pink Palooza. The Think Pink Palooza was at the Monroe Town Hall Green from noon to  3pm. The family-friendly event will feature activities such as kids’ games, face painting, pumpkin painting, rock painting and a cornhole tournament. The event will also have some tasty treats like  kettle corn,  Addeo’s Italian Ice, and cotton candy . For music and entertainment, the Masuk High School band, orchestra and chorus will be performing. 

Have fun cheering Masuk, participating in games, and eating tasty treats all while supporting Think Pink! For more information, ask a teacher or involved staff member. In S.T.E.M, there is also a bulletin board by the library with details.

The Lions Roar had the special opportunity to communicate with Mrs. Maur about Think Pink and other related subjects.

Lions Roar:  Thank you for taking the time to respond to our questions.  We would like to know a little about the person behind the Think Pink.  Do you have any hobbies?

Bonnie Maur:   I do. I love to spend a great deal of time with my family and friends, but especially my grandchildren. I love to travel and have traveled around the world. I also love to go to Broadway shows and concerts. I also love to swim, take long walks and am an avid reader.

Lion Roar:  How long have you been in Monroe? 

Bonnie Maur:  I have lived in Monroe for 42 years. All of my children grew up here.

Lions Roar:  How old were you when you found out you had cancer? 

Bonnie Maur:  I was 47 when I was diagnosed with cancer

Lions Roar:  How did being diagnosed affect your life? 

Bonnie Maur:  It affected my life tremendously. After having surgery, I needed to undergo chemotherapy and radiation, which was difficult to navigate and made me pretty sick. However, not only my family and friends, but people throughout this community came out to support me. So I also realized the goodness in people that exists and became so incredibly grateful for this wonderful town and the people in it. About eight years later, I had a heart issue due to my cancer treatments and again this town provided so much support for me and my family and I again realized just how much I had to be grateful for. So although I went through some tough times, there was a great deal of positivity and gratitude in my life.

Lions Roar:  When did you first consider starting Think Pink?

Bonnie Maur:  After I went through my cancer treatments, at first I felt like I never wanted to talk about it. Then I was asked to be an honorary chair for another organization. After some folks pushed me to do that, I did and realized that this was a very healthy way to deal with my feelings as I spoke about my experiences. I became very involved in promoting awareness through other groups and during that time realized that although there are other organizations, there is none that will completely benefit the citizens of Monroe. The more I thought about that, the more the idea grew. About five and a half years ago, I spoke with our selectman, put out a post to gauge interest in the town on social media, and from a few initial meetings and a dedicated, but small group of residents and family members, Think Pink Monroe began.

Lions Roar:  How has Think Pink affected your life and how does it feel to be helping others?

Bonnie Maur:  In short, it feels incredible! Honestly this group is growing to be more than I could have first imagined. It has affected my life in many ways. As an educator, I always believed that impacting peoples’ lives is what we are really all here for. I always have said to my students that I know they will forget much of the factual information we ever talked about, but that if in some way I impacted their life, then I did my job. I truly believe that we are all in this world together and that it’s the people in our lives that matter. So Think Pink Monroe has been my love letter to this town that has been so good to me and my family. If in some way I have been able to help people and give back a bit, help people out and not only support people and families, but also raise awareness and help people get diagnosed with health issues early,  maybe then I’ve accomplished some of my goals

Lions Roar:  Do you have anything you would like to say to the supporters and students out there? 

Bonnie Maur: I would like to thank the town officials, the board of directors and volunteers of Think Pink Monroe, the town residents, and of course my family for their support. You have not only helped to make my dreams come true, but together we have helped many people and families in this town navigate a better life during one of the toughest times in their life. To students I want to say a couple of things. If you have a family member or loved one with a cancer diagnosis, first of all, show them how much you love them, not only by telling them, but by helping them out when you can. Perhaps there’s a neighbor who needs your help. Help out when and where you can. Also show your appreciation to others who help you out with things. I also would like students to think about ways in which you can help. When I was your age, I did some charity walks, helped out some neighbors and just did small things to help others. But sometimes, little things mean a lot. It’s hard as a middle schooler to find your place at times, but everything positive you try may lead to a better you, maybe an even better family life, but even more perhaps a better town and ultimately a better world. You never know!

Lions Roar:  Anything else you would like to say?

Bonnie Maur:  If Think Pink Monroe can assist you or your family in any way, please let us know. We offer support in raising awareness for people, financial support to survivors and support through support groups to folks going through treatment. Moreover, thanks to Jockey Hollow for your support and to this publication for this opportunity. I love JH. I love the Monroe Public Schools. I spent a great deal of my career here. I have also now lived the majority of my life in Monroe. This was a phenomenal place to choose to raise my family. It’s a wonderful community and I am thrilled to be a part of it and also to be able to help this community that I love as best I can.

Lions Roar:  Again, thank you so much for your time and consideration.

We hope you will have a chance to participate this October,  bringing awareness to cancer and breast cancer. You can even try buying things from their shop to spread the word about breast cancer. Remember, any day of the year you try to do something positive just may lead to better things for you and others. 

Happy 25th Anniversary to Jockey Hollow Middle School!

By Lorenzo Lucas

In the year 1998, Jockey Hollow Middle School opened its doors to the 11 - 14 year olds for the first time. To celebrate this event,  25 years later, we will commemorate the anniversary of Jockey Hollow Middle School! 

Jockey Hollow will have a parade float celebrating its silver anniversary. On May 25th, 8th graders from Main Campus and STEM Academy will assemble in front of the school in the formation of the number 25 for a drone photo. PAWS sessions that day will recognize and relate some of the history of Jockey Hollow. Also, if you or someone you know attended Jockey Hollow in the 1998 - 1999 school year, please reach out to Principal Strong. You are in the JHMS OG club! 

Over the past 25 years, Jockey Hollow has had four amazing principles. The first ever was Anita Healy.  Mrs. Healy had previously been the principal of Chalk Hill Middle School.  Jockey Hollow welcomed Jack Ceccolini in 2006.  In 2020 Michael Crowley was appointed to the position . This year, Jockey Hollow welcomed current principal Julia Strong, who stated earlier this year “I am honored to have the role of principal here at Jockey Hollow. I love it here!” 

We interviewed former principal Ceccolini about some of his recollections of his 14 years at Jockey Hollow. “We used to do lots of musical events. In the past, we had big jazz bands come into the school, along with acapella, and other professional bands.” He told us. “At the end of the school year, we used to do olympic games, sort of like a field day, but with olympic type sports.” “We even got a Sikorski helicopter to come land in the Masuk field!” stated Ceccolini. 

Cheers to another 25 amazing years at Jockey Hollow Middle School!

Rock Week

By: Sidney Lampley

Rock week is a great way to partake in some school wide fun. Rock week is about being kind. Everyday during Rock Week try to think of a different kind thing you could do to make somebody else's day better. For example, you could hold the door for someone, sit with somebody who is alone at lunch, compliment somebody, even just waving to somebody in the hallways can make more of an impact on somebody’s day than you think. 

Another good thing about rock week is there are themes, you dress like whatever the theme says for each day. For example, day one is sports attire day, you can wear any sports jersey, it doesn’t even have to be for a team that you play for.  If you don’t have any sports jerseys, you can still wear something sporty. Day four is an easy one, comfy clothes day. You can wear anything from pajama pants, to just a t-shirt and sweatpants. The other two themes are wacky wednesday, and school colors.

If you don’t want to dress up each day you absolutely don’t have to, because rock week is really about Random Opportunities for Caring and Kindness.

Jockey Hollow Middle School is Starting off Strong

By - Lorenzo Lucas 

Welcome back to Jockey Hollow, and a warm welcome to our new 6th graders! This year is starting off great, with a strong first quarter, and excitement for quarter two. This year Ms. Strong, Former STEM director, is now the principal of Jockey Hollow. We interviewed Ms. Strong and here is what she said. 

How do you feel about being principal of Jockey Hollow?  

I am honored to have the role of principal at Jockey Hollow School. I love it here! 

What are your hopes for Jockey Hollow in 2022? 

I hope Jockey Hollow will keep becoming a kinder place where every student will say they feel safe at school. 

How was the first quarter of school? 

We are getting back to normal! It is great to see our in person activities  returning, and students working hard.  

What do you think about 2022?  

I think we all are a little changed by the past few years.  

Do you have a quote / inspiration to share to keep students motivated? 

My favorite quote these days is “ We rise by lifting others.” This is a quote by the american poet - Maya Angelou. 

Is  there anything else you would like to share? 

I would like to thank the Jockey Hollow students and staff for welcoming me so warmly, you have made this place feel like my home already.  

7th and 8th graders are used to middle school, but the 6th graders are not, so if you see a lost 6th grader, please help them get to where they need to go, as this year, Ms. Strong wants to promote kindness. 

Speaking of kindness, there are new raffle tickets to win prizes! Prizes include fidgets and homework passes. Raffle tickets replace the hole punch system from last year. The way raffle tickets work is you do an act of kindness, write your name on the ticket, go to the office, put your ticket in a bucket, and every Friday the winners will be announced. 

Summertime memories may still make it hard to get back into school, but overtime you start to have fun. Afterall, there are tons of things to do at school, such as hanging out with your friends at lunch, or signing up for enrichments at PAWS. You could also sign up for one, or more, of the various clubs here at Jockey Hollow. A list of clubs can be found here. Clubs are a good way to hang out with your friends, and make new ones.

Another change this year is PAWS. Unlike last year, where Fridays were lessons, this year you can sign up for  Fridays! Also, sign up is at the end of the day on Fridays, instead of at the start of PAWS. Remember you can only have 2 enrichments.

That is it for now, until next year's newsletter . Have a great year Jockey Hollow! 

P.A.W.S.

By Joaquin Dao-Crespo, Brody Philbin, Kyle Riccitelli, Micah Russell and Scarlett Westerfeld

Jockey Hollow Positive Academic Wellness Sessions commonly known as P.A.W.S. has quickly become a helpful and fun way to learn, relax, and practice different skills and interests. P.A.W.S is still in its early stages of development, and students are still adjusting to this new and very different part of their school day.  So let's find out what our school community thinks of P.A.W.S!

The Lions Pride interviewed Principal Crowley to learn a little about the ideas behind the program.  He explained that, “P.A.W.S. was created because we thought students needed fun and creative things to do. Teachers also needed the extra time with students because of the pandemic, and some students needed extra assistance too.”  He added that “P.A.W.S grew from the school’s old  K.I.D.S time,” a shorter period that occurred every other day that stood for, knowledge in different settings.  P.A.W.S. also borrows from the flex period at the high school.  “We  brought it over to the middle school.” 

Ms. Strong, the director of STEM, says, “we created PAWS to respond to all the fun things that our students lost during the pandemic. PAWS is flexible instructional time, in a way to get back a little bit of both.” she also said, “I think PAWS is here to stay!”

We then set out to get a better understanding of how the program is going with students at Main Campus and STEM.  Jockey Hollow Main Campus 7th grader Matviy Feduniv says P.A.W.S is good “I like it, I get to do enrichment, board games, and anything else fun. I like how there's so many things to do. P.A.W.S is a good thing compared to last year.  You can finish your homework instead of having to do it at home, or if you need extra help for a class you can go there. I don’t think there can be any improvements to P.A.W.S.” 

STEM 7th grader Filip Wadolkowski says P.A.W.S is a good idea. “P.A.W.S is fun, but students should be able to do whatever they want.” Filip stated. “For example, if a student wants to go on their phone or just play a game on the computer, or even relax, they should be able to do that.”  He added that, “We should also have more options for P.A.W.S, Stem has fewer teachers which means we have less P.A.W.S activities.”  He later shared that, “Both Main Campus and STEM have banned phones all day in school. They also made rules that phones can be used on the bus. A few students have reported almost every kid they see is using a phone on the bus. So going on a phone in school wouldn't be a good idea unless you needed to text a relative about something important.”

William Clark, a  STEM 7th grade student, said, “P.A.W.S is really cool. I enjoy doing fun activities during school time.” He emphasized that P.A.W.S is a good thing, “... because we get to do whatever we want, practically.” He added that he hopes there will eventually be even more options but that, “P.A.W.S is very cool.” 

There have been some concerns among the STEM community about the smaller amount of P.A.W.S choices. William Clark, wished that P.A.W.S. had more options.  Ari Ashe felt that “...For the most part I like P.A.W.S., but I don't like how teachers can just select you, and they don’t give a reason.” Ari also was concerned about how quickly sessions are closed, “I also don’t like how everybody selects P.A.W.S sessions at the exact same time because it causes all the sessions to get filled up immediately, and then you have nothing fun to do that day.”  

The P.A.W.S program is well liked by the wide majority of our school.  As the program grows and evolves there is hope, as some STEM students have noted, that a larger variety of options become available there.  All in all P.A.W.S. is a welcome addition to our school day and we look forward to its continued development. 

HANGING DANGER 

With  Mr.Safety

It’s been freezing this winter for weeks at a time, which means ice has been all over Monroe. This includes the undersides of roofs. Many people don’t know this, but icicles can be very dangerous, especially during the end of winter. Even with their sharp tips, people will feel perfectly fine while standing under an icicle, some even say they are beautiful. These “beautiful” icy spikes under the right circumstances can actually penetrate car windshields. 

This happens in Northern areas such as Canada. CT is only six hours away from Canada however, and the average temperature of Monroe is 20-50 degrees Fahrenheit. If freezing temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit and lower, Monroe is a possible breeding ground for dangerous icicles. 

Winter is ending, meaning the temperatures are going up. Icicles will fall when the weather is above the freezing mark, (32 degrees °F) so to be safe, keep tabs on the temperature. You also might want to try to carefully knock your large icicles down. 

You should also be careful of black ice. We’ve all heard of it, and we’ve all probably slipped on it. The reason black ice is so dangerous is because it is nearly invisible and can totally undermine not only walking, but driving. Stay safe.