Volume 2, Issue 1 - Greenville County School District

Volume 2 Issue 1
Knightly News
“Student Led; Student Driven”
Produced by students enrolled in the 2011-2012 Newspaper Course at Riverside Middle School
615 Hammett Bridge Road, Greer, S. C. 29650
Greenville County School District
Mr. Eric Williams, Principal
S P E C I A L
P O I N T S O F
I N T E R E S T :
• Speech and Debate
• RMS Band
• Grade 8—Harley
Bonds Field Trip
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
Mrs. Alls Class 5
Katherine Woo 7
Girls Basket Ball 15
In the House 16-
Character Ed 19
H A P P Y N E W Y E A R !
January 2012
2 0 1 2 R M S G e o g r a p h y B e e
The 2012 Geography Bee winner is Spencer
Phillips [above left]. The runner up is Dean
Lage [above right].
Grade Level Preliminary—above
L to r: Dean Lage [7th],
Spencer Phillips [7th],
Jay Skrabola [7th], Dylan Russell
[6th], Vincent Cicino [6th],
Zoe Kane [6th] and
Javier Larazua [8th].
Left: Parents are waiting
for the
Geography Bee to begin.
Continued on page 2

P a g e 2 K n i g h t l y N e w s
G e o g r a p h y B e e
c o n t i n u e d
Above—Mr. Zach Johnson and Mrs. Debbie
Crowley read the expectations and rules for the
Geography Bee Contest.
Geography Bee
Procedures, Rules, and Expectations: Two expectations
are to do your very best, and to prepare
for the final round by reviewing maps, vocabulary,
etc. Two procedures are that each grade will hold
classroom eliminations and a grade level elimination.
The top two performers from each grade will
advance to the school-wide bee. One rule is that
you must answer the question in the time allowed.
Levels of competition: Class Competition, Grade
Level, School-Wide, State Competition
Grade level winners:
6 th grade- Zoe Kane, Dylan Russell, Vincent Cicino.
7 th grade- Dean Lage, Jay Skrabola, Spencer
Phillips.
8 th grade- Javier Zarazua, Kelsey Abruy
School-level winners: Spencer Phillips is the
school-wide Geography winner with Dean Lage as
the runner up. Go Seventh-Graders!
Where were the contests held? In each social
studies class, three finalists of each grade were selected.
The winners from each grade then went to
the school-wide competition.
Who is in charge? The Social Studies Department
and their teachers.
When did the contest start and when did it end?
The contest started in November, and it ended on
January 10.
How long has RMS been involved? For 12 years
starting 1999.
Geography Bee—Continued
Mrs. Crowley’s favorite part: She loves the fairness of
the competition, and how it’s for everyone, and how you
don’t have to be a straight-A student to win.
Mrs. Edward’s favorite part: The thought-provoking
process that students go through to answer the questions.
Reported by: Ashley Fallow and Riley Dankel
Ms. Bratcher’s Homeroom:
Grade 6—Intramural Champions
Above—l to r: Row 1—Andrew Watson, Matthew
Green, Chance Pride, Chase Beckmann, Riley
Brigman, Elyssa Sales, and Lauren Batman.
Row 2—Lauren Shaw, Andrew Halloran, Darian
Acosta, Carington Cantarella, Maxine Blech, Caden
Hoxworth, and Rebekah Ugenti.
Ms. Bratcher, Homeroom Teacher
2

V o l u m e 2 I s s u e 1
R R MM M M S S S S P P E E E E CC C C H H A A N N D D D D E E B B A A T T E E T T E E A A M M ! ! !
!
Congratulations to the following
students who participated in the
JL Mann Speech and Debate
Tournament on Saturday: Liz
Schell, 3rd place in Impromptu;
Gail Holland, 4th and Bryana
Burch, 6th, in Interpretation. In
Public Forum Debate, V. Bafna
and Ceylin Ucok took third; Tiger
Mou and Sangram Kadam took
5th.
In the Hillcrest Tournament,
January 14, Liz Shell took 1st in
Impromptu, Katherine Woo placed
3rd in Humorous Interpretation,
Zack Jordan took 5th in Oral Interpretation,
and Maraya Bidjerano
took 9th. In Public Forum Debate,
Aaron Keller and Alex Loaiza
place 4th, Tiger Mou and Jeremy
Stacey took 5th, Carol Lee and
Yasmin Meyer took 6th.
Aaron Keller, left, and Alex Loaiza prepare final notes
for their Public Forum Debate round at the Hillcrest
High School tournament.
Right—Gail Holland, left, listens to Yasmin
Meyer’s opening speech for Public
Forum
Andrew Hall and Timothy Harris compare pro and
con arguments on the benefits of a college educa-
P a g e 3
Ashley Ewens asks for Liz Schell’s advice between
rounds for interpretation events.
3

Speech and Debate—continued
At the J.L. Mann Tournament, seated (left to right):
Shreeram Attreya, Matas Pigaga, and Javier Zarazua.
Standing: Andrew Hall (left) and Timothy Harris.
Tiger Mou (left) and Jeremy Stacy take a short
break between PFD rounds.
Participants at the Hillcrest Invitational Tournament: Back row—Tiger Mou, Zack Jordan,
Gabi Laserna, Maraya Bidjerano, Carol Lee, Yasmin Meyer, Javier Zarazua, Andrew Hall, Timothy
Harris, Jeremy Stacy. Second row, standing—Katherine Woo and Ashleigh Ewens. Front—
Liz Schell, Alex Loaiza, and Aaron Keller.
4

A vocational LEARNING Experience:
A A Visit Visit to to Television Television station
station
WWYFF
WWYFF
Students in Mrs. Alls’ class and classroom assistant, Mrs. Price, went on a field trip to the WYFF Television Station
News building. The students were very awestruck by the sophisticated equipment and fascinated with the monitors
showing snow in New York. The sports and weather forecasters’ desks were their favorite. They learned about the
weather and how it is reported, the community workers and their job responsibilities.
Reported by Sean Asher
Left—Spencer Burton demonstrate
what happens if the weather forecaster
wears green clothing in front of
the green screen. Chroma key technology
is used in broadcasting to exhibit
a live Doppler map directly behind
the reporter.
Pictures submitted by Mrs. Andrea
Price and Mrs. Dana Alls.
Left to right—Jesse Hitt, Jamonye Byrd,
Paul Tucker, Daniel Lopez, Amy Thierer,
Spencer Burton, Sean Muserallo, Tyler
Wilkinson, Jamir Bomar-Ware and Hugh
Hill.
Mrs. All’s students learn from Sean
Muserallo what it takes to be a reporter at
the news desk. He showed them different
cameras as well as where to read the rolling
script just below the camera lens. Students
pose for a picture during their mock
news broadcast at the news desk in
Studio One at Broadcast Place.
Continued on page 6
5

Mrs. Alls’ Class continued
Left to right—Jesse Hitt,
Jamonye Byrd, Paul Tucker,
Dale Gilbert, Daniel Lopez, Amy
Thierer, Spencer Burton, Tyler
Wilkinson, Hugh Hill and Jamir
Bomar-Ware.
Mr. Dale Gilbert poses for a
quick picture between his live
cut-ins for the Today Show. Students
were able to watch a live
cut-in and in front of the green
screen. They asked Mr. Gilbert
questions about weather and
how he is able to forecast using
Doppler technology.
Left to right—Mr. Dale Gilbert,
Jesse Hitt, Jamonye Byrd, Paul
Tucker, and Daniel Lopez.
“Sometimes, there is a disagreement
over the forecast!”
6

Riverside Middle School’s Virtuoso Violinist—
Katherine Woo
Katherine Woo, eighth grade student, plays a lot of instruments including
the flute, violin, and the piano. She has played the violin and piano
since she was in the first grade. She started learning how to play the flute
in the 6 th grade. She has been playing the violin and the piano for 6 years.
She participates in four orchestras. They are the GCYO (Greenville
County Youth Orchestra), the YAO (Young Artist Orchestra.), the CYS
(Carolina Youth Symphony) and the Greenville Symphony Orchestra.
Reported by: Heidi Elliott and Hailey Elliott
7

A True Royal!!
Mr. Vida Chou, a staff member at RMS, is a very
happy and cheerful person. The students officially
crowned Mr. Vida as Riverside’s Mascot!! He
keeps that “Royal Spirit” alive at basketball
games !!
2011-2012 Year Book Course
Are you 7 th graders considering the yearbook class
for your next year related arts? Would you like to know
what it’s like? Well now you can hear it from real yearbook
students. We interviewed two yearbook students,
Lauren Cupples and Abby Farr.
Lauren Cupples says that taking year book is fun.
She says that in yearbook they take pictures for the
page they are assigned to do. Lauren’s favorite part of
yearbook is taking pictures. She says that to be I yearbook
you should be creative and open-minded because
things don’t always go as planned. Lauren said that you
should never wait until the last minute to do all the work.
Abby Farr said that yearbook is one of her favorite
classes. She says that in yearbook you take pictures
and work on pages you are assigned to do. Her favorite
part is taking pictures of classes or school events and
designing pages. She says that to be in yearbook you
can’t be afraid to talk to people. She also says it’s a lot
of work and you need time to be in it.
If you are in 7 th grade this year and are interested in
being in year book there are application forms outside
the library, and outside Mrs. Parker’s room at the end of
the 7 th grade hall.
Reported by Anju Saxena and McKenzie Bridges
Student Council
I interviewed Mrs. Mathis for BETA Club’s plans
for the month of January and February. She stated
they have no plans for the month of January. However,
they do have plans for February. They plan on
having a speaker from a company that works with
nursing homes. Students are also told to bring toiletries
for gift bags.
Reported by Megan Pickett
Math Counts Prepare to Compete!!
The Math Counts club is about to participate in a competition.
They are preparing for it by doing exercise sets called warmups
and workouts. They are non-routine math problems with or
without calculators. The school level competition will be held
during the math club meeting. The Regional competition will be
held at the Clemson University on February 25 th . The State
competitions will also be held at Costal Carolina University on
March 10. The winning categories will be individual and teams.
The prizes for each placement will be trophies.
10 select students for the school level contest will be going
with Mrs. Haynes and Mrs. Rohley to the Regional to participate
in the competition. Mrs. Haynes will announce who will
represent RMS in the next two weeks.
Reported by Jimmy Madding and Jada Saxon
Drama Drama Course Course Auditions
Auditions
The intermediate and advanced drama auditions
were held January 26th, 27th, 30th,
31st, and February 2nd in the cafeteria. The
auditions consisted of four judges. Each audition
was limited to 3 minutes. The intermediate
drama was for rising seventh graders and
the advanced drama auditions were for rising
eighth graders. Only about 25 to 28 people
will be chosen per course. There were a lot of
students trying out!!
Reported by Maren Lawrence
8

Band Students Succeed in State and All-County Events
Riverside Middle School Band students were selected by
audition for the following groups:
All-State Band—Katherine Woo, Monica Li, and Aaron Keller.
They will attend a clinic March 9-11, 2012 at Furman University
and will present a concert.
Region One All-State Band: Katherine Woo, Amy Wortkoetter,
Tiger Mou, Marshall Bennett, Dakota Pavia, and Hannah
Couture. They will attend a clinic February 24-25, 2012 at
Furman University and will present a concert.
Greenville All-County Band: Katherine Woo, Alivia Blount,
Mary Beth MacGregor, Mana Takemoto, Monica Li,
Amy Wortkoetter, Zach Wilson, Tiger Mou, Taylor Hall, Tyler
Harvey, Aaron Keller, Dakota Pavia, Hannah
Couture, Chris Barron, Jalen Wells, Matthew Robison, Marshall
Bennett, Sharmila Samuel, and Noah Bridges.
They will attend a clinic February 16-17 at Riverside High
School and will present a concert.
Congratulations to all participating students!!
Left to right—Aaron Keller Monica Li, Katherine Woo
Left to right: row 1—Mana Tokemoto, Tylen Harveym Taylor
Hall, and Mary Beth McGregor; row 2—Aaron Keller, Monica
Li, Tiger Mou, Amy Wortkoetter, Katherine Woo, and Zach
Wilson
Left to right—Matthew Robison, Dakota Pavia, Jalen
Wells, Chris Barron
9

Above—Sharmila Samuel
Above—Noah Bridges
Band achievements—continued
Left to right—Dakota Pavia, Tiger Mou, Amy Wortkoetta,
and Katherine Woo.
Mr. Kevin Styles, Band Director
10

BETA Club
I interviewed Mrs. Mathis for
BETA club’s clubs for the
month of January and February
. She stated that they
have no plans for the month
of January. However, they do
have plans for February. They
will have a guest speaker
from a company that works
with nursing homes. Students
will also bring in toiletries for
gift bags.
Reported by
Megan Picket
Year Books
Did you buy a yearbook this
year? If you have not, you
have no idea what you will be
missing out on. We are her to
give you a sneak peek.
The cover of the yearbook will
be black and blue. It will have
pages featuring academic
classes, related arts classes,
sports, school dances, and
much more.
Mrs. Parker says, “It is a lot of
fun to the teach yearbook
course, because I have an
opportunity to teach different
skills like writing, photography,
and time management.
All 88 pages of the yearbook
will be in color.” We asked if
there were any new features
in this year’s book, she says,
“It’s a secret and we will have
to wait.” staff work together to
make the best yearbook possible.”
Continued in next column
Mrs. Parker concluded by
saying, “the best thing about
teaching yearbook is watching
the yearbook staff work
together to make the best
yearbook possible.”
If you are in the 7th grade
this year and are interested
in enrolling in the year book,
there applications in the library,
and outside of Mrs.
Parker’s classroom on the
7th grade hall.
Reported by
Anju Saxena and
Mackenzie Bridges
LET IT SNOW; LET IT SNOW;
LET IT SNOW!!!
11

RMS Eighth Grade Visit to
The Harley Bonds Vocational Center
Pictures submitted by
Mrs. April Haynes, eight grade teacher
Right—Health Physical Therapy
Right—Walking through the automotive
technology area
Left—Health Care
Left—Construction
12

8th Field
trip continued
Left and
right—
Welding
Course registration for the
2012-2013 year to begin the week of
February 13, 2012. For further information,
you may read the following
resources: RMS School Website, RMS
PTSA Newsletter The Royal Report,
and RMS Guidance Website.
Left—Culinary
A second pair of proofing
eyes—December Knightly
News issue. Special thanks to
Mrs. Hansen
2012 February: Black History Month
Activities at RMS
• Theme: African American Women in History and
American Culture
• Featured display in the foyer
• Daily Trivia Contest— 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13,
14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29. A winner
is selected at the end of each school day.
• Black History Bee, February 23 3:30-4:00
• Assembly Programs, February 28,
• First period 8:40-9:20, Band, Chorus,
and String Orchestra performances,
Featured guest RHS Step Team;
• Sixth period 2:25-3:10, Band, Chorus,
String Orchestra performances, Featured
guest Harriet Tubman Portrayal by
Reverend Simone Teague.
13

JANUARY'S
JANUARY'S
TEACHER TEACHER OF OF THE THE MONTH
MONTH
The Teacher of the Month is a special
project that the student council does to
appreciate teachers for their hard work.
The teacher of the month, as of January,
is Mrs. Underwood! Congratulations!
Newspaper reporter Alexis Tupman interviewed
Mrs. Underwood on her
award. Alexis: What does it feel like to
be teacher of the month/teacher of the
month?
Mrs. Underwood: It feels so great that
the students of Riverside would honor
me! I love working here and being apart
of the RMS family.
Alexis: What do you think you have
achieved by winning the teacher of the
month award?
Mrs. Underwood: I think I have achieved
teacher of the month because of my
hard work and dedication. I spend many
long nights getting lessons together and
hopefully my students enjoy learning in
my class.
Alexis: How excited were you when you
found out that you were nominated
teacher of the month?
Mrs. Underwood: I was super excited
when I found out about being January’s
teacher of the month. I went straight
home and told Mr. Underwood and he
took me out to dinner to celebrate!
Alexis: How long have you been teaching?
Mrs. Underwood: This is my first year
teaching.
Alexis: What grades have you taught during
your years of teaching?
Mrs. Underwood: when I was a student
learning the ropes I taught 6 th grade social
studies and 7 th grade science.
Once again congratulations to Mrs. Underwood
on winning the Teacher of the
Month award! Keep up all the good work.
Reported by Alexis Tupman
Valentine Dance
Friday, February 10, 2012
3:30-5:00 p.m.
RMS cafeteria
Admission $3.00
Sponsored by
RMS Student Council
14

2011-2012 Royal Girls’ Basketball Team
Photograph submitted by Mrs. Cathy Pickett, Parent
Row 1—Itzel Tello, Emma Buckley, Alex Walden, Abigail Smith, Brooklyn Parliament, Lindsey Wise
Row 2-Coach Cindy Heos, Bryana Burch, Jaylin Haynes, Olivia Norton, Megan Pickett, Megan Lamb, Jessica
Pickett, and Coach Marion Brown
The RMS Lady Royals 2011-12 record
might not have been what they were looking
for, but they learned many new things
throughout the season. Coach Heos said,
“It was a great group of hard working
girls. It was a rebuilding year and it was
fun!” Emma Buckley said she enjoyed
making new friends and playing. She also
said she would miss the 8 th graders because
she has become good friends with
them She learned new plays through out
the season. Olivia Norton, an 8 th grader,
said she enjoyed meeting all the new 7 th
graders. If she could change one thing
about the season, she would change the
10 game losing streak. She is going to
miss the coaches the most. Something
she learned was you don’t get points
for dribbling. Brooklyn Parliament,
also an 8 th grader, said she enjoyed
meeting new people. If she could
change anything about the season, it
would be to win! She will also miss
the coaches and players. One thing she
learned throughout the season is to
keep your feet on the ground.
Reported by: Megan Pickett
Thank you for a
great season Coach
Heos and Coach
Brown!
15

Mrs. Y. Kline students explain their research on
meiosis versus mitosis
Above left to right: Heidi Elliott and Beverly
Fritzsche.
Left to right: Rachel Desoiza
Continued on Page 17
Left to Right: Nicholas Mosteller and Chris
Malloch
Left to right: Tamaya Stevenson and John
McBride
16

meiosis
versus
mitosis—
continued
Mrs. Kathy Thrasher’s Class
Left to right: Parker Gutierrez and Tim Cooper
In Mrs. Thrasher’s 6 th
grade class, her students
are working on
percents. Like sales
tax, tips, discounts,
and simple interests.
Reported by
Keaston Hampton
Mr. Williams 6 th grade science class
In Mr. Williams 6 th
grade science class, he
is working on the
makeup work of an
atmosphere and the
beginning of weather.
Reported by Keaston
Hampton
Article on page 19
Ms. Cash’s Class
In Ms. Cash's 7 th grade
math class, she is doing
a comprehensive review
of Chapters 1-6 for her
class’s upcoming Benchmark
Test. This test is
a Greenville County
school District required
test that math teachers
administer each Semester.
Instead of doing
ordinary problems on a
paper at desks, Mrs.
Cash is doing a fun project
called the Great Math Race. Teams are created
by drawing names at random, thus causing people to
work together who may never have before. There are
clues posted around the room. Each clue has a math
problem taken from the benchmark review. Teams
solve the problem which leads them to the next
clue. The first team to finish all the clues gets a "trip"
to the Cash Prize Closet. This is a crazy collection of
prizes Ms. Cash has accumulated thru her years as a
teacher and range in value; from a pair of inline roller
blades to an unmatched blue plaid sock!!!
17

Kennedi Hunter
represents
RMS in the preliminaries
for the
“2012 Best Singer in the
District Contest”
Thank you Mrs. Hansen
for being a second pair of
eyes for the December
issue of the Knightly
News.
Music in our
Schools
Month is
Celebrated
during the
month of
March!!
18

Mrs. Y. Kline—continued
I interviewed Mrs. Y. Kline on Friday,
January 20, 2012. Her students were
working as partners completing an assignment
using an active inspire Venn
diagram. The Venn diagram was of
meiosis and mitosis. The questions I
asked her were:
• Do you like the software active inspire?
• Mrs. Kline—Yes. Students have more
control of the presentation; there are
more features that can expand student
creativity.
• Has this program helped with science
research?
• Mrs. Kline—”Students use this program
to present their findings from research
[not necessarily to use it for
research”
• Do students like this software when
they work on there project?
• Mrs. Kline—They seem to like it. Kiddos;
they learn quickly.
My closing comments are—Mrs. Kline is
also my teacher. I love the active software
program. It is very easy, fun, and
easy to work with.
Reported by Noah Satterfield
November Character Education
Recipients—Endurance
Grade 6—Anthony Glenn [Mrs. Camp]; Layla
Robinson, [Mrs. Rohaley], Olivia Gray
[Mrs. Rohaley]
Continued in next column
Grade 7—Matt Elliot [Mrs. Edwards], Antoine
Kahaleh [Mrs. Varner], Junaid Khaliq
[Mrs. Camp], Neel Taber [Jackson]
Grade 8—Chris Burdett [Mrs. Hansen],
Emma Jermon [Mrs. Camp], Brooke
Jordan-Brown [Mrs. O’Connell], Maxi Riese
[Mrs. Howard], Jessica Pickett
[Mrs. Underwood].
December Character Education
Recipients—Imagination
Grade 6—Taylor Anest [Mrs. Camp],
Maxine Blech [Hawkins], Nicole Kaminski
[Mrs. Howard]
Grade 7—Rene Anduaga-Arias
[Mrs. Kurtz], Unshu Biyani [Mrs. Magnuski],
Athena Colon [Mrs. Camp], Bennett
Freeman [Mrs. Edwards], Melody Hong
[Mrs. Y. Kline], Chris Mallock [Mrs. Truitt],
John Mark Matthews [Mrs. Kurtz],
Katie McManus [Mrs. Yarbrough], Connor
Norris [Mrs.. Jackson], Matthew Robison
[Mrs. Mathis]
Grade 8—Marshall Bennett [Mrs. O’Connell],
Mrs. Ethan Dunn [Mrs. Camp], Aaron
Kane [Mrs. Hansen].
Congrats to all
recipients!!
19

Krodin
by Chris Malloch
Final chapter
Krodin heard the commander of the Egyptian army tell the archers
to raise their bows. They were sending another fleet of arrows! He
had no where to hide, but if he got out of the arrows range…
He struggled to walk. His foot was close to be torn off, but that
didn’t stop him. He ran leaving a long trail of thick blood behind
him. He walked for about 30 seconds, and the arrows shot. The arrows
were not flaming this time, and there were less. He kept struggling
to go forward, and each time he did, the arrows kept getting
closer, and closer, until they hit...and he died.
The End.
20

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2011-2012 Knightly News Staff
“Student Led, Student Driven”
21