By Gabriel Shen

As you may have noticed, outside the library, there is a bulletin board showing what percentage of the number of books each grade read last year, they have read this year. Not everybody likes this system though. 

The third graders look like they are not reading that many books, but their goal is higher than most of the other goals. Last year, they checked out 3,286, almost 1,000 more books than we did. 5th grade checked out 2,257 books last year. That means that 5th grade has already checked out more than 1000 books already. Probably about half of those books were checked out by Ms. Rainey’s class. At that rate, our class should get to 1,000 books soon.

One main problem with the class goal of 1,000 books is that most fifth graders don’t like writing summaries, let alone thorough ones. A lot of people haven’t added a sticker since the system started. 

Going back to the Library bulletin board, take your eyes to the bottom. You will see that each grade has a crest. Every grade has made theirs using pictures from the internet, except 5th grade. The Blake Bear Bugle does not know why this is. 

Luckily, 5th grade is in the lead. So keep reading. Good luck. We also won the Highcroft Reading Cup.

This article was not written recently so not all the numbers are accurate.

By Gabriel Shen

The 5th-grade play has been revealed. The 5th graders are going to perform Anansi the Spider. 5th graders have performed this play before, so some of you may remember it. 

The fifth-grade play is a big deal. The costumes were made in Africa, where the stories originated. 5th graders started theatre after winter break. They are very excited about it. 

The Anansi Stories are about a trickster, sometimes depicted as a spider, sometimes as a man, or sometimes as a part man, part spider creature. In the tale, Anansi buys the stories from the sky god, by completing certain tasks. There are also other Anansi stories that have been written in the last 50 years. The stories originated in Ghana and West Africa.

Remember to practice your lines, speak loud (use your outside voice), and keep going, even if you mess up your lines. And remember, it’s your acting that people are coming to see.

By Gabriel Shen

The No Balloon Club was founded by Sage Leavenworth last year as a way for Blake admissions to stop using balloons as decorations. They decorated giant letters that spelled BLAKE and made paper flowers to replace the balloons. Blake used the letters for Their admissions events and for Grandfriends Day.

During the admissions event for new students, Blake cut their Co2 emissions by 50%. They also stopped filling their balloons with helium. Sadly, there were still well over 100 balloons at the event, including giant, one-and-a-half-foot balloons.

By Gabriel Shen

With big changes happening to Blake, including the closing of Highcroft and the construction of the Early Learning Center (or the ELC for short) Blake decided to add a new verse to the alma mater. 

The lower schools have created a word bank of words describing Blake. One of which is athletics. The middle school will write sentences using the words in the word bank and the upper school will divide into groups and write verses. Then, the whole school will vote on which verse is the best. The line Sing to Highcroft, Blake, and Northrup will stay the same, even though it mentions Highcroft. For now, we can only wonder what the new verse is going to be.

By David Derus

There are many movies in the world but there could be more. There are over 100 new movies next year and I will tell you some good ones. Ok, here we go!

• Avatar 3

• Guardians of the Galaxy vol. #3

• The Marvels

• Indiana Jones #5

• Peter Pan and Wendy

• The Jungle book #2

• Dune #2

• The Meg #2

• Trolls #3

• Transformers: Rise of the Beast

• Snow White

• Shrek #5

• The Flash

• Spider Man: Across the Spider Verse

• Shazam #2

• Black Adam

By Gabriel Shen

During Winter, the Woodland Acres becomes a whole new place. This year, it turned into the Snowflake Hotel, located by the pine trees, close to the parking lot. The Snowflake Hotel is a Hotel completely made of ice. Its average guest amount is two. 

The citizens of the Woodland Acres made the Snowflake Hotel by making mounds of snow in a wall shape. The walls are also reinforced with snowballs. During Winter Break, it snowed about three inches, making the walls invisable. 

The Snowflake Hotel is also inhabited by the third graders, who have their own wing. The third grade rooms are smaller than the fifth grade rooms, but they use them more often.

There are many rooms in this hotel. The first one you see when you come in is the lobby. The lobby is a big open room that isn’t used often. Despite its size, is doesn’t have any furniture or other eye-catching things. Even though the two of the best rooms in the Snowflake Hotel are almost identical, they are very different. The more prominent room is called the Immersive Experience Room. This room always has people in is, much to the dislike of all the guests that have stayed there. Other rooms include the kitchen, the tiny room, the big room, another room, the third grade wing, and the lounge, which includes a fountain, a restaurant, and acts as a meeting place for the employes. 

Some observable guests to the hotel have been Annie Houston, who officially rated the hotel, Vaughn Flaherty, who went and random guest’s rooms, and Gabriel Shen, who has stayed at the hotel much more than it payed for and is not really a guest. Now, the hotel is abandoned and has become a mining site.

By Mila Lowin

*From Google*

*From Best Life*

*From Know Your Meme*

*From Google*

* From Best Life*

1. Api Morado

By Rafa Branco Rosa

 The fun and exciting game, Splatoon, is back with a new game, Splatoon 3! This unique and fun game that launched this September comes with new features for us to enjoy. The new game has more customization options for you, like lockers and more gear. But first, let's talk about the new additions in-game. First up we have a new hub world, Anarchy Square, we also have new idols, and participating in hero mode, new stories, new salmon run maps and modes.   

The salmon run is where you defeat salmonids and boss salmonids for money and prizes from your boss, Mr. Grizz. Turf war is where you can compete against random players around the world to see who inks the most turf by the end of the game. Ranked battles are the same thing, it's just more aggressive and has four modes, clam blitz, tower control, splat zones, and Rainmaker. Also, in the Splatoon timeline, humans are extinct and the world is overrun by evolved aquatic animals. Continuing on, hero mode is a mode in which you get stuck in a giant underground bunker that the humans used to live in. If you defeat all three main bosses, you can save the world from a giant bear who seems to have a connection to the fuzzy ooze around the map. Hero mode also runs a multi-millionaire business, named Mr. Grizz. You can get Splatoon 3 on your Nintendo Switch today.

By Gabriel Shen

There is a chrome extension called Tabby Cat. Almost all 5th graders in our class have it. Tabby Cat puts a cat (or any other pet you can think of) on any new tab you open. The cats change in collar and shape each time you open a new tab. You can also choose another pet. These used to cost money, but they have been free since version 2. Sometimes you can get a special cat. These include Space Cats (they have a space background and look like they are in zero gravity), White Cats (they are white with a white background), and more. There is also a legendary cat. It is see-through and is in space.

There are also things called items. These are collectibles things including glasses, accessories, and hats. There are currently 65 items that you can collect. Mila Lowin, a cat lover, and columnist for the Blake Bear Bugle has almost all the items. 

If you put certain selections of items on or beside a cat, it becomes a cat lure. A cat lure is a selection of objects that make a kitten appear next to the cat. An example of a cat lure is a cake and a party hat. Put them together and you get a cat with a lit candle.

There are more cats, items, and cat lures to discover so download Tabby Cat today!

By Gabriel Shen

Materials

-Jar

-Figurine 

-Waterproof Glue

-Water

-Glycerin 

-Glitter

Step One

First you will need to unscrew the cap and set it on your workspace, with the bottom facing up. Then, glue your figurine (or whatever else is going to be in your snow globe) onto the top. 

Step Two

Take the jar and fill it with water. How much you will fill it will depend on how much space your figurine takes up. Then put however much glitter you want into the water. Last, you will put in a drop of glycerin.

Step Three

Now, you will take the top with the figurine glued onto it and screw it onto the jar. If you want to, you can glue the top onto the jar so it won’t fall off.

Instead of a figurine, you could use a photo, a Lego brick or another toy, a pinecone or twig, a seashell, fake plants for fish tanks, and many other things. Instead of glitter, you could use glitter snow. The possibilities are endless.

By Aidan Lall

As I’m writing this, the Vikings are 12-4 and guaranteed to win the NFC north. Our main star, Justin Jefferson, is probably a top 5 player in the NFL and is in the running for MVP. Now let’s get into our season!

The first thing I want to talk about is the biggest comeback in NFL history that we set this season. We were playing the Cowboys, and at one point we were down 33-0. In the second half, thanks to a miracle, we won 39-36, dominating. Justin Jefferson has been incredible, racking up 1,795 yards in the first 16 games. It would be nearly impossible, but he could reach 2,000 yards with a fantastic game! The Vikings are the best Minnesota team (the Wild are decently close), and they have a chance to get to at least the NFC finals, they are that good. We have been very iffy in our past few games - we are 4-3 in our past 7 games - we started 8-1, and now we’re 12-4 when I’m writing this.

In our past few seasons, we’ve been way worse than this year. Last season, we were 8-9. And the past season to that, we were 7-9. And we are mainly better because of Justin Jefferson. This is as many Vikings as I can write in about 1 sitting. We should make it at least past the first round, and after that, well, it depends on who we play against. Let’s go Vikings!

By Aidan Lall

Wow, I had a fun time watching the World Cup.  In the World Cup, the rounds go group stage, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then the finals. Let’s start with the group stage, which had some of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. First, probably the biggest upset, Saudi Arabia beat Argentina, which has Lionel Messi and crew. The USA made it to the knockout stages, (Part of the group stage) to lose in the first round to the Netherlands. France was first to qualify for the knockouts, getting into the knockout stages in only 2 of the 3 games!

Now let's move on to the round of 16, which was even crazier than the group stage. Netherlands beat the USA getting off to an early 2-0 lead led by Memphis Depay. Argentina beat Australia by one point, sparking Messi’s incredible World Cup run. Portugal beat Switzerland, with their youngster, Gonçalo Ramos scoring 3 goals. 

Next, we come to the quarter-finals. Some crazy upsets happened in this round. The biggest loss was Morocco vs. Portugal, where Morocco won 1-0 with Youssef En-Nesyri. France beat England in a thriller where Harry Kane missed a penalty to send it to extra time. Argentina beat the Netherlands in penalties, 4-3, in Messi’s second straight game in the knockout stages scoring a goal. In a thriller, mainly in extra time, the score of Brazil vs Croatia game at full time was 0-0. But, in the first half of extra time, Neymar scored making the score 1-0 Brazil. In the second half of extra time, Bruno Pektović scored in the 116th minute, to tie it up. Then Brazil lost in penalties 4-2 to Croatia.

The semi-finals were crazy. In France vs Morocco, France got off to an early lead, scoring in the fifth minute. Nothing after that really happened until the 79th minute, when substitute Kolo Muani made the score 2-0 France, and the game ended with that score. Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 with Messi scoring in his 3rd knockout game in a row. Young Julian Alvarez added 2 goals as well.

Finally, we get to the finals, Argentina vs France, and what a thriller this game was. 23 minutes in, Di Maria drew a foul in the box for a penalty, and Messi obviously converted, putting Argentina up 1-0. 13 minutes later, Di Maria scored a fastbreak 2-on-1 goal, putting Argentina up 2-0. For a while, it looked like France had no hope. But in the 80th minute, who else but Kylian Mbappe to score a penalty? And literally, 1 minute later, Kingsley Coman made a beautiful pass to Mbappe for an incredible goal. It was a 2-2 tie going into extra time. Lionel Messi became the Argentina superhero, scoring in the 108th minute. And Kylian Mbappe, becoming the 2nd player ever to score a hat trick in the world cup finals scored again. And it went to penalties, where Argentina won 4-2.

Congrats Argentina for winning the World Cup! (Also RIP to Pelé, the World Cup GOAT).