spective of current topics throughout this poem. I loved how realistically I was able to express my views, opin-ions, and thoughts.” Miss Stoak similarly expresses sur-prise and satisfaction at having re-ceived Gold Key honors in both, fiction and poetry. “Writing isn’t about facts and know-ing when something is right,” she insists. It’s about seeing differ-ently. “You see a word and you like it, or love it. You try to use it and you can base a story about a single word or phrase.” “My short story is based completely around a single concept from when I was younger and saw a dead butter-fly in my backyard. That single event lasted maybe ten seconds stuck in my subconscious mind and has hung around long enough to inspire me to write something that someone thinks is good.” Best wishes to Miss Smeltz and Miss Stoak as they continue devel-oping as writers and leaders! Written by Mr. Sedun

Lydia Smeltz (8th grade) and Katie Stoak (8th grade) have been recog-nized with prestigious Gold Key awards in this year’s regional com-petition of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for Southwestern Pennsylvania. Miss Smeltz’s poem, “Build-a-teen” earned Gold Key recognition. Miss Stoak earned the distinction of having two works chosen for Gold Key awards, her poem, “Daddy Dear-est,” and her short story, “A Beauti-fully Ugly Tragedy.” Both students are active writers and members of the Rilke Alliance at Linglestown Middle School.

It is worth noting that over 1,600 students from more than 60 area schools in South-Central Pennsyl-vania submitted works for this year’s Art & Writing Awards com-petition. The Art & Writing Awards is the nation’s longest running and most prestigious an-nual competition where the best of teen writing and artwork is rec-ognized. It is sponsored by Scho-lastic and is celebrating its 90th consecutive year. Asked about receiving Gold Key recognition, Miss Smeltz says, “When I entered this competition I had hopes but no real expecta-tions,” but “after learning how many people entered, I was more than ecstatic.” “The thing I like about writing is that anyone can do it,” Miss Smeltz says. “Everyone has a voice within them dying to get out.” But, she insists, “You must learn to channel that voice, let it out, and the words will flow.” Miss Smeltz found that her poem, “Build-a-Teen”, helped her find her voice. She continues: “I felt that I provided a different per-

Gold Key Winners!

RAMpages 2.0 A P R I L 2 0 1 3 I S S U E # 6

L I N G L E S T O W N M I D D L E S C H O O L

Last Dance of the Year!

PSSA Testing Dates

“A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice.” - Bill Cosby

“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” - Margaret Mead

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” - Henry Ford

April 9 Math

April 10 Math & Reading

April 11 Math & Reading

April 12 Reading

National Junior Honor Society invites all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students

to the last dance of the year!

WHEN: Friday, April 26 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

WHERE: LMS Cafeteria & Gym

Enjoy music, dancing, open gym, and fun!

The snack bar will be open for refreshments!

$4.00 ADMISSION

R A M P A G E S 2 . 0

Quotes to Make You Think By Isabella G.

Choosing A New Pope

I S S U E # 6

On March 13, 2013, the Catholic finally selected the Pope who would take the place of Pope Benedict XVI, who retired on February 28, 2013. The man selected was Jorge Mario Bergoglio (age 76) , who chose his new name to be Francis, from Argentina. He is the first Pope to come from a Latin A m e r i c a n country, and the first to be elected from the Western Hemisphere. Pope Francis I chose his new name because of Saint Francis, who did a lot of work with the poor,

as does Pope Francis himself.

The election of a new Pope is very complicated and can be a very drawn out proc-ess. First, all of the Cardinals from countries around the world gathered in the Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican City in Italy, to

take a vote by secret ballot. Only Catholic males under age 80 are eligible to be voted Pope, and though even a com-mon man could be selected, it is usually one of the Cardinals who gets to be the

new Pope. A single person must have at least a two-thirds majority of the votes to win. If no one gets that many in the first vote, they burn the ballots and start again. This process can be repeated as many times

as necessary (the longest amount of time ever taken to elect a Pope was six years!). There is a smoke-stack on the top of the Chapel, and if ballots are burned and black smoke comes out, it means they haven’t selected a Pope, but when white smoke comes out, people gathered outside will know that a

new Pope has been chosen. T

The newly elected Pope will then be changed out of his red Car-dinal clothes and into a new white robe and whisked up to the balcony to make a speech to the hundreds of people gathered outside the Chapel, awaiting that very moment. With the election of Pope Francis I, so began a new era in the Catholic church, and hopefully restored faith among all Catholics, and non-

Catholics alike.

By Maggie S.

loose research, from stories of the school. But those who eat it know that it tastes pretty good. I don’t know what you eat at home, but this is about the same quality! Looks are deceiving, and there are many different things to order, including two random courses, pizza, salad, or sandwich. Good selec-tion. Also, the cafeteria food is also completely healthy, giving another reason to buy. So the next time you

wince at the cafeteria food, give a try

before you judge.

By Brian L.

As the saying goes, haters gonna

hate, but the food served at our cafeteria really isn’t that bad! Every day, after I get my lunch, my friends would cringe and ask me what it was. Interestingly enough, if I were to bring that to their house and say their mom made it, they would clearly identify it as gravy and pork, or corn dogs, or stir fry. Many peo-ple have the stereotype that cafete-ria food is terrible, according to

Editorial: Cafeteria Food Is Good!

Get Ready for the PSSAs!

Kid Interview: Brian L. This month’s interview is with Brain Liu, who partici-pated in the science fair this year.

Grade? Age? Team? 7th, 13, Rams.

What was your project? If vinegar lowers the freezing point of water? (It does.)

What was your inspiration for the project? The salts that are used to melt ice are

harmful to eat, I wanted a safer way to do it.

How long did it take to finish the project? 1 month

Did you enjoy the sci-ence fair?

Yes, it was fun and the judges were nice.

What place did you get? 1st

Favorite subject? Science, Math, and English

Advice for students? Don’t wing it!

During Test Strategies:

—Don’t get distracted by outside influences.

— Make sure to write neatly and clearly.

—Don’t spend too much time on one ques-

tion!

—If you really have absolutely no idea, use

process of elimination!

—If you still have no idea, go with your gut

instinct!

—Check your work if you can!

After Test Strategies:

—Relax! Don’t stress over what is done

and focus on the next test!

Good luck to all grades on the PSSAs!

By Brian L.

The PSSAs are coming up and stu-dents all over Pennsylvania are freaking out. The 8th graders have already started, and the rest of us fear it more than ever. If you’re a person who NEEDS that good score, follow these basic test-taking guidelines to help

you!

Pretest Strategies:

—GET LOTS OF SLEEP. I DON’T CARE HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO STAY UP LATE. GO TO

SLEEP.

—Don’t Stress! Clear your mind be-fore you go to sleep, so that you -

rest well for tomorrow.

—Wake up and eat a good breakfast! Fruits, veggies, the whole pyramid.

It will help you focus during the test.

—Prepare all the supplies you will

need for the test.

R A M P A G E S 2 . 0

April Fools’ Day

I S S U E # 6

April Fools’ Day is a day celebrated across the globe as people enjoy in juvenile silliness and pull somewhat impressive pranks on each other. However, this is large controversy over when April Fools’ actually started. The most popular theory is that France used to celebrate the New Year on April first but then changed it to January first to

match the Roman calendar. How-ever, the new travelled slowly and those who continued to celebrate the New Year on April first were called April fools and the holiday continued from there. However, others believe that Aprils Fools simply grew out of festivals in France dedicated to hu-mor and jokes. Joseph Boskin sug-gests, purely as a joke, that once in the Roman times jesters persuaded their kings to let them rule for a day. So Constantine I gave the reins to

King Kugel, his jester and Kugel de-clared that April first would forever be a day of absurdity. Now, most people find it annoying and obnoxious and wish it would end. It stands to scrutiny though that a day of frivolity once a year is good for the soul of those who spend the rest of their lives stiflingly serious. Regardless of its origination, the jokesters and children-at-heart

keep it alive year after year.

By Katie S.

If you haven’t noticed the “Join the Newspaper!” ads at the end of the paper and enjoy writing, this article is a shout out to you. Currently, there are six members of the staff not including Mr. Andrechik, our supervisor, and only one of them is a guy (we love you Brian). Since there are so many topics talk about in the newspaper, but so little staff, this is our shout-out for help. The main goal of the newspaper is to inform students of current issues, topics, entertainment

options, to give them advice, and to teach miscellaneous facts.

By joining newspaper, it’s your time to shine! If you love reading, join newspaper and rant and rave about this new book that everyone should be dying to read. If you love sports, tell everyone about that cheap shot that one guy made, that lousy ref who made that terrible call, and about the scores and how your favorite athlete put the other team to shame. Movie buff? Talk about the latest (or oldest) movie that you thought was spectacular and deserves a Golden Globe (or Oscar or whatever they use…join newspaper to correct me on this). Are you just brimming to the rim with what your friends call “useless” facts and “stupid” riddles or tricks? Not everyone thinks they’re useless, so join news-paper to inform those people of you “important” facts. Honestly, there is a part in the newspaper for everyone, no mat-ter what you like, to write. Another perk of newspaper, other than getting to seem like an expert in the field of some-thing you like, is meeting new people. For Pete’s sake, there is only Laura, Katie, Maggie, Brian, Cecelia, and me! If you’re shy, we don’t bite. We’ll welcome you with open arms in a judgment free zone, so you can be the true you and make more friends in the process. We will welcome anyone and everyone! You can mingle and met new friends and

who doesn’t like friends?

A third perk of joining our family is learning new things about stuff and people you didn’t know about before. I learned through newspaper that a few of my fellow staff members are insane and I love them for it! I’ve also learned that a certain staff member isn’t as they seem (join newspaper to find out). So, long story short (too late for that I sup-pose...) join newspaper because you get to show off your smarts, get more smarts, and get new friends all while having

fun!

By Isabella G.

Why Join RAMpages 2.0 ?

Movie Review: Wreck-It Ralph To be completely honest, I was

really looking forward to this movie. I just

watched it Wednesday, (because I just so

happen to be so behind the news) and it

really is a great movie. People often associ-

ate animated films to have weak

storylines, but this one has an

intricate plot. It is an original

movie, unlike all the sequels and

reboots that are dominating our

theaters. (Notice: the following

gives an over view of the plot,

giving more info than some movie

goers are comfortable with. You

have been warned.) The story is

about a guy named Wreck-It

Ralph, who has a really big hand

disorder, (Not really) is the main

antagonist in his video game,

which is in a local arcade, but the

main protagonist in the movie...

The game’s main character is Fix-It Felix Jr.,

and his job is to fix what Ralph wrecks. The

civilians of Ralph’s game, Fix-It Felix Jr. often

shun Ralph from their lives, and stereotype

his occupation to be his personality. Ralph,

after 30 years of doing his job, gets sick of

being the bad guy. He leaves his game in

search of a hero’s medal that he thinks will

define him as a good guy, so that the civilians

will respect him. He travels to Hero’s Duty

(Call of Duty maybe?), a

first person shooter game

(Call of Duty maybe?)

filled with violent creatures

called Cybugs in a very

violent game (Call of Duty

maybe?) After getting the

medal, getting into an es-

cape pod with a CyBug,

and crashing through

Game Central Station into

a racing game (Mario Kart maybe?) he meets

an annoying little girl, Vanellope von

Schweetzwho wants to race in the game, but

is shunned by the other characters for being

a glitch, and thought to be a mistake in the

code. He helps her learn to drive (she is much

younger than 16.) and helps her build her cart…

kart… (Mario Kart maybe?) Meanwhile, Fix-It

Felix and Sergeant Calhoun are searching for

Ralph and the CyBug he brought with him

(respectively), interrupted in the middle by a

weird romantic scene. Back to the main story-

line, Vanellope gets to sneak into the race,

(note: the blanks are spoilers. I don’t want to

ruin it) and Ralph learns that Vanellope is actu-

ally ______ and ______has corrupted the game

so that ____________________, and Vanel-

lope must _________ to _________, but there

are CyBugs everywhere, and Fix-It Felix and

Sergeant Calhoun join him to help him fight to

CyBugs, and unless Vanellope ________ than

the game will be destroyed by the CyBugs, de-

stroying her too because ___________, so

Ralph decides to __________ which might kill

him, but will destroy the CyBugs, saving Vanel-

lope, but at the very last moment, ______ who

corrupted the game, stops Ralph, and just when

the whole game is about to be destroyed by

bugs and run-on sentences, Vanellope

__________ and then ___________________!

Anyways, this was a great animated movie,

nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best

Animated Feature Film and the Academy Award

for Best Animated Feature. You’ll see appear-

ances of many famous video game stars in this

film, (find all of them!) and really fleshes out the

world of arcade games more than ever. This

movie is great for family, yes you might cry at

that sad scene where ____________, and no,

we won’t think any less of you if you do. The

soundtrack is great, featuring songs from Owl

City, Rihanna, AKB48, and Skrillex. This movie

is out on DVD and Blu-Ray, and I have heard

video games for it are already out. It is very

original in its idea, and it handles to task of writ-

ing the entire arcade world on paper and in film

with grace. Don’t watch this unless you are pre-

pared. Arcade video games just got real.

By Brian L.

R A M P A G E S 2 . 0

Staff Interview: Mrs. Armstrong

I S S U E # 6

This month’s staff inter-view is with Mrs. Armstrong who is a seventh grade science teacher on the Knight’s Team who organ-

ized the science fair.

1. Why did you do the science fair? I've been involved with the Capital Area Science and Engi-neering Fair since1990 as a judge and have seen so many wonderful projects that students did them-selves that I wanted to start it at our school. Although it's open to the whole school, this year the 7th grade advanced science classes

participated in it.

2. How well did the students do at the science fair? Combined we had 2 first place, 4 second places, 2- third places and 2 honorable

mentions.

3. Why did you become a sci-ence teacher? I wanted to be-come a teacher, like my parents and I always did well in a class, if I enjoyed my teachers- I had an awesome biology teacher and it

was the beginning. I am also fascinated with technology and science discoveries and I hope to share that with my stu-

dents.

4. Are you married? Any children? I have been married for 36 years and have four children who have all gone to college and earned their master's de-grees. Two daughters are working in Africa helping to develop local busi-nesses, another daughter designs web-sites and products along with YouTube videos, and my youngest son is getting his PhD in geology studying in China for the next 5 years. He is studying Chinese aggressively so he can survive in their

culture.

5. Do you have any pets? I have a chocolate lab named Penny after the show the Big Bang Theory and a stray cat called "spare" as my son found him

in a spare tire.

6. Do you have any advice for stu-dents about the PSSAs? I know kids feel like they are tested to death, but PSSAs are a way to measure your per-sonal growth in the various areas... It is

similar to cross country runners.. You aren't really competing against anyone but your-self.. You are striving to beat your last score and beat your personal best. Recently I was in a half marathon to get myself in shape.. I definitely wasn't the first one in, but I definitely wasn't the last.. I tried to meet my goal and fell a little short in minutes. However, I am planning to be in another half marathon in the fall and am definitely going to beat my per-sonal best record as I continue to strive to be

the best I can be.

7. How well do you think the students will do on the PSSA's? If students change their perception of the tests to try to beat their per-

sonal bests, I believe all our students will

improve as their educational career contin-

ues.

By Isabella G.

Nono. What is the fifth daugh-ter’s name?

1. a hole

2. the sun

3. Mary

A kindle is the collective term for a group of kittens.

A group of jelly fish is called a smack.

Andrew Jackson was the only US President to believe that the world is flat.

1. The more you take, the

bigger I become. What am I?

2. What goes round the house and in the house but never touches the house?

3. Mary’s father has 5 daugh-ters – Nana, Nene, Nini,

Riddle me this, Batman...

Hobbies... Most of us in the middle

school are teenagers and we are

criticized often for being too lazy or

incapable of finishing what we

start. So, the following tips are

dedicated to helping you finish

what you start in the area of

hobbies.

Throughout your life, I

guarantee that you’re going to

get it in your head that you

need to take up various hobbies

whether it be photography or cro-

cheting and, inevitably, some of

those hobbies will remain unfin-

ished and you’re going to end up

with spools of thread or film trays

scattered around your house. Then,

maybe when you’re retired and old

you’re going to look back and wish

you’d finished them.

In order to actually have a

successful hobby you need to pick

something you’re actually go-

ing to enjoy doing. If you try to

paint but are going to get frus-

trated easily, you shouldn’t do

that. Once you find something

you’ll actually enjoy, you

should get all of the materials you

need for it. If you find an expensive

hobby, you should save up some

money first so you won’t have to

scramble for cash with each expense.

Then, you might want to dedicate a

spot in your house to it if your hobby

requires it.

I encourage you to be patient

because no hobby will be easy and

that’s part of the fun. You should set

aside a certain time each day, week,

or month to work on your hobby. If

you think of the big picture and the

satisfaction you’re going to get, you

should be able to start and stick with

a hobby.

By Katie S.

R A M P A G E S 2 . 0

Book Review: Warm Bodies

I S S U E # 6

Warm Bodies is a book written by Isaac Marion. It stars a Corpse, what we would know as a zombie, named R. R lives in an airport with other zombies and although he’s like them in that he doesn’t remember much of his past life, he wants to be like humans.

Other zombies can’t form these thoughts but R wants nothing more than to not be a Corpse. His kind has forced humans to live in se-cluded areas, armed and ready to shoot any Corpse. Groups are sent out periodically to raid old pharmacies to get medicine for those that are sick in their new habitats.

One particular group meets R and some other Corpses on one of their feeding expeditions. R meets Julie, a girl he instantly knows is special and he knows that if he doesn’t act quickly, the other zombies

will kill her. The rest of the book is the story of R and Julie slowly falling in love and overcoming various ob-stacles including Julie’s slightly ma-niacal father.

Consequently, the book was also made into a movie recently, star-ing Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer. I saw it when it came out on February 1, 2013. For the first time ever, I think I may have enjoyed a movie more than its book counterpart because the book moved at a slightly sluggish pace and had a strange side plot that didn’t really affect the story and the movie kept everything I loved about the book.

By Katie S.

LOOK FOR ‘FACAULTY

FAREWELLS’ TO THE 8th

GRADERS IN OUR MAY ISSUE

OF RAMPAGES 2.0 !

Editorial: Why CDMS and

LMS should continue to

combine musicals

As many of you know, this year, for the first time, the students of Linglestown Middle School were able to audition for the opportunity to participate in the musical at Central Dauphin Middle School. This was a wonderful opportunity for all, as Linglestown has not had a musical of its own in a long while. It would be a wonderful experience for even more students if this tradition were to continue, because not only does it give students theater experience, it also

gives them the opportunity to meet students from other schools, and expose them to new environments.

The theater experience is wonderful, because there are some highly talented students in our school, and it is great that they were able to showcase their abilities in a new way. It also will provide background knowledge for people who may want to go in to theater as a career, or at least in high school. From this experience, our students will become more culturally rounded than ever before, which will benefit our school as a whole. If the opportunity to join with

CD were to continue in years to come, it would do remarkable things for our school.

In addition to providing experience in the theater, it also exposes our students to new people, allows them to make new friends, and teaches them to work with others. Students from CD and Linglestown were able to talk and become close during rehearsals, and some have built lifelong friendships with people they wouldn’t have met if we hadn’t been included in Cinderella. This is especially important for the eighth graders, as they will be going to high school with some of those people next year, and now they will know some of the other people being fed into CD high. The experience working with other people will also be beneficial to all students involved, because not only does it teach us how to deal with people, it also shows that if you work together towards a common goal, amazing things can happen.

Lastly, this wonderful opportunity teaches students how to work in new environments. For some, this has been their first time on a stage, and for many of the guys their first time wearing makeup. New experiences come at you every day, and having the opportunity to work in new environments with new people will help prepare students for what lies ahead of them.

As you can see, the combination CD and LMS musical has been a wonderful learning experience for all involved, and the practice should be continued so as not to deprive future students of the great opportunity to participate in the school musical. By Maggie S.

R A M P A G E S 2 . 0

Puerto Rico: The 51st State?

I S S U E # 6

I know this may seem like an old thing, but someone recently brought it to my atten-tion again. I personally think that Puerto Rico becoming a state would be a good thing for three reasons. The first reason is it would add more diversity to the general population. This would mean more food items will be served more frequently, more fashion items would be the “hot topic”, and we could learn a thing or two about a different place. The second reason would be that it may make people want to travel to

it more often, increasing tour-ism there. Tourism means money so it could help the economy. The third reason is we would learn more. Schools would be able to teach us Puerto Rican traditions, folk tales, music, history, and so much more. So, if it is still up for debate, I believe Puerto Rico should become a state. By Isabella G.

Book Review: City of Bones By Cecilia B.

City of Bones, from the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, is amazing. It follows the main character, Clary, as she discovers the truth about who she is. Clary finds herself suddenly able to see demons and a mysterious group of people called Shadowhunters. Then, Clary’s mother is kidnapped and Clary is at-tacked by a demon. She befriends the Shadowhunters Jace, Isabelle, and Alec in the hopes of finding her mother. But, not only does she find her mother, she discovers her father and brother, too. And to Clary’s dis-may, they are not at all like she dreamed they would be. Find out what happens in the City of Bones by Cas-

sandra Clare.

If you loved the book, then you won’t be able to wait until August. That is when the movie City of Bones comes out starring Lily Collins, Ai-dan Turner, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Robert Sheehan. Also, the other books in the series are City of Ashes (Book 2), City of Glass (Book 3), City of Fallen Angels (Book 4), and City of Lost Souls (Book 5).

To be or not to be? That is the big question on bookworms’ minds when they hear their favorite book series is turning into a movie. The movie can either stick almost exactly to the book, like Harry Potter, or they can be so distorted that you can barely tell what the original book was, like The Lightning Thief. This month, I reread the book and watched the movie, and hear is what I have to say about it.

Book One of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. This is the book series that made me the book worm I am today. Both of my parents read the first book and my dad read the entire series with me. Since there was already a review on The Lightning Thief (check out the October issue of RAMpages 2.0, it’s on the fifth page and is by Annalise K.), I’ll give my quick opinion on it. I would give this book five out of five stars! I loved how the characters were portrayed and just overall how realistic it seemed. I’ll read anything by Rick Riordan, he is my favorite author. He can blend the per-fect amount of drama, reality, fantasy, and humor into one perfect book. This is my second favorite book in this series (The Sea of Monsters is my favorite, but that’s due to Tyson). If you want a good read, read this!

Again, to be or not to be? This movie had so much wrong with it, I lost track after fifty mistakes within the first half hour (I was keeping track, I know). Even after I lost track, I knew there was so much wrong with the movie. Whoever made this movie just kept the Greek Gods, demigods, major characters’ names, and a few places, and then threw everything else out of the window. I’m honestly wondering how they are going to set up the second movie since they didn’t even introduce Clarisse or Kronos in the first one! They were key players in the first book and they weren’t even mentioned in the movie. In the book, the main plot is to go to Hades to retrieve Zeus’s mas-ter bolt, not to find Persephone’s pearls and to free Sally! Persephone wasn’t even in the first book for Pete’s sake! She wasn’t in any of the books till the last one I think (I’m still rereading the series, only on The Titan’s Curse). As many things as I found fault with the movie, I would give it a begrudging three out of five stars. While it didn’t follow the book, it was entertaining. The scene in the Lotus Hotel was pretty cool and the interaction between Percy, Annabeth, and Grover was funny. Even if you are a big fan of the book, you have to admit; the movie wasn’t terrible (once you watch it three or four times because you couldn’t ignore the mis-takes the first two or three times). If you didn’t read the book, you’ll still like the movie.

I enjoyed the book better than the movie. I’m going to see The Sea of Monsters when it comes out, but a lot of people, including myself, have this question on our minds. Is turning the Percy Jack-son books into movies a good idea? Is it to be, or not to be? By Isabella G.

Review: The Lightning Thief

There are only five steps and three things you will need to finish getting organized. Step one is to set a goal. Whether you need to organize your locker, clean your room, or cleaning out a folder, setting a goal will help you stay focused on what you are doing. Step two is to set a time to complete your goal. Setting a time will motivate you to organize whatever you needed to organize. What you need for this step is will power. You will need the will not to procrastinate and to keep your “appointment.” Step three is to

set up a backup time. You never know when plan A won’t work so keep a plan B handy. Step four is actually organizing whatever you needed to organize. This also requires a lot of will power. Organizing most of the time is pretty boring, so staying on track and not procrastinating will turn thirty-minutes into ten. Finally, after everything is done, step five and that final thing you need are to sit back and relax with a well-deserved reward.

By Isabella G.

We’ve all been there. You get assigned a project for school, and you tell yourself that you’re not waiting until the last minute with that one. You start as soon as you get home that night. Then, you get swamped with so much other work that the project gets put on the back burner until the night before it’s due. It’s time to get out of the “start, then forget” cycle. Here are some tips to help you finish that project without having to rush it at the last minute. First, always plan ahead. If you plan to have certain aspects of the assignment done by certain dates, it won’t be so overwhelming. Second, make sure to stay on track with your deadlines. If you say you’re going to buy a poster board by this date, be sure to get that poster board by that day! If you don’t, your whole schedule will be thrown off. Third, ask your teacher if they could recommend any particular strategies for getting the project done. Chances are, they will be more than happy to give you some pointers on how to be successful. Lastly, and most importantly, DON’T STRESS! If a project seems to huge, or you don’t think you’ll have enough time, the last thing you want to do is rush or stress about it. Just follow the tips above. Create a checklist to track your progress. Seeing everything getting done on schedule will definitely motivate you to finish the rest. There is nothing more satisfying than finish-ing what you start, and now, everyone can have that warm fuzzy feeling!

By Maggie S.

ADVICE COLUMN

RAMpages 2.0 Student Writers

Brian L.

Isabella G.

Cecilia B.

Maggie S.

Katie S.

Be sure to check out our final

newspaper of the year in May!