The Skate Night
By Henry Bayer
The skate night on April 30th was a great way to spend your evening. There were bumper cars, pizza and soda, the arcade, and of course, roller skating. It was also a bit of a party, with all your friends skating around.
Laser tag was also included in the 20 dollar tickets to Wooden Wheel. You got to run around a space-themed room, tagging your friends with lasers. Once you were done you could view your score outside the room.
Both skate nights were one of my personal favorite events of the year, and if you didn’t go, you really should’ve!
The Renegades Trip
By Rose Blackstone Gitlin
The Renegades game, the seventh grade field trip, was very eventful, and really great! But I wanted to find out what happens behind the scenes of the field trip. The planning actually started in October, with “securing a spot at the Education Day with The Renegades front office and reaching out to our bus garage to order buses.” says Ms. Nosovsky. “It is important to take care of these aspects as early as possible because Spring is a busy time for field trips,” she says. In March and early April, Ms. Gruver and Ms. Nosovsky worked to figure out chaperones, outline the day, write a permission slip, and figure out when to disseminate information to teachers and students and their families.” Ms. Gruver then talks to students about lunch, to the PTA, and collects permission slips 2 weeks prior to the trip. While Ms. Gruver did that, Ms. Nosovsky says she “took care of communicating with administration, teachers/staff and the nurse, as well as our contact at The Renegades.” On the day of the trip, she and Ms. Gruver handed out schedules to chaperones and communicated with bus drivers. The PTA also contributed a lot to the planning of this trip. Finally, I asked someone who caught a baseball at the game how they felt when they caught it. Paul Tiberia says “I felt excellent and very dandy that I was able to get a baseball at the Renegades game.”
Kids At NPMS Are Taught The Dangers of Vaping
By Jack Healy
On March 8, 2024, all kids at New Paltz Middle School went to the auditorium to get on a google meet with Daniel Ament, a 17 year old boy who got a double lung transplant due to vaping. Daniel told the students all about how he started vaping and it went a little like this: He started vaping because his friends and almost the whole school were vaping. Soon, he started feeling dizzy and constantly tired. Then, he was taken to the hospital. There, he was given a double lung transplant. After that the questions began. Everyone was shocked and never thought that would happen just from vaping. Questions were flying and people were asking about all sorts of things. Though I am not sure exactly what they were asking, everyone was eager to ask all sorts of questions. If you were to get anything out of this assembly and even this article it is…
DO NOT VAPE!
The 6th Grade Mohonk Field Trip
By Isabella Steengracht van Moyland
What is the Mohonk field trip?
You're probably wondering, what is the Mohonk field trip? Well, the 6th grade Mohonk field trip is the last Mohonk trip you will have in this district. I would say it's pretty special. In the morning, you head to the auditorium and wait for the bus to take you to Mohonk. Then, you will do a series of activities. Sometimes the trip is different then the past trips. However, they might be the same as the year before. You then proceed to hike up the mountain all the way to Sky Top Tower! It's quite a view if it's a nice day.
Items you might need!
Some items you might need on this trip are water and lunch. You must bring a packed lunch to eat during the trip. You can bring a first aid kit if you feel more comfortable with one. If you have allergies or something that could affect your physical state please add that information on the permission slip. Make sure to carry whatever you need in your backpack. You do not need a binder or Chromebook on this trip. Other necessary tools will be provided at the preserve.
The 2024 Sustainability Summit
by Seraphina Drew
The 2024 Sustainable Futures Summit (AKA the Sustainability Summit) is an annual summit designated to bring people together to discuss the world and how we can make it better. The summit was put together by Victoria Setaro from Ulster BOCES along with members from World Savvy. At the summit, there were 4 presentations by students and 8 presentations/activities by the creators of the summit. The presentations by the students were the Electric School Bus Project, Period Power, Equitable School Dress Codes, and Factory Farming (The last two were presented by the students from NPMS). Six students from Mrs. Bryant’s MSE class attended the summit. The six students were Juliana Beukelman, Ruby Delaguerra, myself, Evelyn Hancock, Brooklyn Heyward, and Caris Smith. Congratulations to the presenters! You all did a great job!
Urban Air 8th Grade Trip
By Noah Solano and Stella Zigouras
Flying in on a zipline were the eighth grade students of New Paltz Middle School, only made possible by the PTA of New Paltz School District and Urban Air Adventure Park. On April 19th, over a hundred students piled onto four buses and drove to this indoor adventure park, courtesy of the PTA, where they spent hours doing all sorts of activities ranging from virtual reality to a rope course.
As soon as students entered the building, they handed in their waivers to employees and were given special Urban Air socks. Then, they had free range to do whatever they pleased. Activities included trampolines, a zip line, obstacle courses, a rope course, a foam dueling arena, and more. There were also some that you could only do a set amount of (go karting and virtual reality).
In addition, food was being sold. From what I observed, the most popular things to eat were cotton candy, slushies, and popcorn.
After the trip was over, students piled back onto the buses and returned to the middle school for a picnic lunch also put on by the PTA. Students were served beverages, pizza, cookies, and chips. After lunch, students voted for yearbook superlatives (which have recently been announced) and were allowed to spend the remainder of the day simply hanging out with their friends before being dismissed from the auditorium at 2:37.
As a whole, the trip seemed to be enjoyed by most and was certainly a memorable experience for the eighth graders to look back on!
Sources: 8th Grade Student Council Google Classroom
NPMS Drama Club in NYC!
By Jackson Katz
As you may know, recently the 7th and 8th graders of the New Paltz Middle School Drama Club went on a field trip to New York City to see MJ: The Musical on Broadway. They ate lunch in Times Square and then went shopping in the stores in the area. They went to the Disney store, the M&M store and more. But the real highlight was the show. “It was steller. I don’t know why I had low expectations, but it was amazing,” said Noah Solano, “ The special effects were truly incredible. The way that they did the choreography was really cool and the way they transitioned between each storyline was seamless and the writing was amazing.” Everyone enjoyed the show and had an amazing time.