News From north

Veterns Day assembly

Veterans Day is held every year on November 11th and it is only celebrated in the United States. We celebrate it to remember all veterans, dead or alive, and honor what they have done for our country. It marks the end of World War I which was the 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month. Veterans Day was originally named as Armistice Day but the name changed on June 1st 1954 to make it more inclusive to the younger generation. On November 7th, North Middle held an event dedicated to our local veterans. We invited veterans related to students to come in. The school choir performed multiple songs and there were also a few students that were given the opportunity to read out poems for our veterans. North Middle is very grateful for all the veterans and we are glad we were able to get the chance to have some come and visit us.

-Aaliyah Jackson

Teacher Spotlight: 8th Grade Ms. Simmons!

1. Do you like teaching at North? She loves it.

2. Why’d you choose to teach writing? It's important for life and to prepare us for life.

3. What type of music do you listen to? RMB and rap.

4. What’s your favorite thing about teaching?The diversity of the kids

5. What was your middle school life like? it was fun for her and she loved it!

6. What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Shopping and traveling and hanging out with family.

7. what’s your least favorite thing about thing about being a teacher? Inappropriate behaviors

8. Did you play any sports when you were in school? She did track

9. what are your plans for thanksgiving break? For family to come from new york also thanksgiving is her birthday.

10. What was life like for you growing up? Fun and lots of traveling. always lots of family and friends.

• Alex Roberts
  

The Truth of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a holiday that we all love. It gives us an excuse to watch football and spend time with family, all whilst enjoying a large, delicious feast. This is why they teach this in school. But what is taught about Thanksgiving in grade school is not all factual. While there are some things that are historically correct, not all of it is. So, why not learn the truth of Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is said to have all started when the pilgrims came from Europe and met a friendly Native American named Squanto in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Squanto was then invited to the feast with all of his friends and family and said to have “translated” for the Pilgrims. This isn’t all true. In fact, Squanto was a Native American that the Pilgrims enslaved and sent to England to learn English. The Pilgrims then brought Squanto back to Plymouth and helped translate for the Englishmen against his will. Pretty bad right? Well the “happy” first Thanksgiving story isn’t over yet.

Although the Pilgrims did have a large feast, Squanto sadly was not invited. Who was invited was Massasoit, the proud leader of the Wampanoag tribe. But Massasoit, untrusting of the Pilgrims, arrived with 90 of his mightiest men to protect him. This was just a precaution against the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims took this in the wrong way. Luckily this didn’t lead to blood-shed, but the Pilgrims shot a round from each of their guns to show the Wampanoag that they had power too. Overall, showing that they both wanted to assert their power and dominance.

Not the best way to begin a feast. But, this is how the first thanksgiving feast sadly began. In grade school we were incorrectly taught that the Pilgrims put together a large feast to thank the Native Americans for their help while the Pilgrims were venturing through land that they “discovered.”

Past this point, historians don’t know what had happened at the first Thanksgiving feast.

-Severe Hatch

Making It Happen: Improving School Club Budgets

“I would like to see more money available, so that there can be more supplies for each club.” These are the words from Ms. Mejias as we sat down and began the interview.

Increasing club budgets would be beneficial to all teachers and students hosting or participating in an afterschool program. This increase in funds could give us the supplies so that our school and our students can thrive in these programs. Allowing students the ability to find their talents and passion in a more accessible way.

Do You Think That Increased Budgets Would Lead To a Financial Challenge For Our School?

“Complicated,” Says Ms. Mejias,” We would have to work with the board office to get funding ideas.” So, if all goes well with the School Board, increased budgets could be in our future.

Would an Occasional Fundraiser Be an Effective Method to Fund Our Clubs?

“Yes,” Ms. Mejias replies, “it would be a great way!” If we work hard, fundraising would be a solid option according to Ms. Mejias. But, we have to work as a team to make these fundraisers happen.

From this interview, I think we have gotten viable information. This information will help us on a journey to a happier, more accessible future in our school. As long as we all work together as a trusting community, we can make our school a better place for all students. And as time goes on, we are playing a massive role in our town’s history. Stay tuned for more information and further progress in my next article in the next Blue Devils Newspaper!

-Severe Hatch

Current Events

• Elections are coming up! On 11/08, our midterm elections will happen. This will tell you all you need to know about what elections are and who are our candidates for our midterm elections!

Elections have been a fundamental part of our country’s history. Since 1776, our presidents, vice presidents, Senators and House of Representatives, etc. have all been elected. But, elections aren’t as simple as you think. The candidate with the most votes should win, right? Well, not really. You see, there is something that is known as the Electoral College. If a president wins a state, they win all of that state’s Electoral College votes. However, all states aren’t created equally. States with higher populations like California, Texas, and New York have the most votes, while less populated states like West Virginia, Iowa, and Maine have the least amount of Electoral votes. This makes it so that even if you win the popular vote, you could still lose if you lose the states with the largest amount of Electoral College votes.

The most important parts of our election, the U.S. House of Representatives and State Senator candidates for West Virginia are the following:

U.S. House of Representatives:

District 1: Carol Miller, Republican, and Lacey Watson, Democrat

District 2: Alex Mooney, Republican, and Barry Wendell, Democrat

State Senator:

District 1: Laura Chapman, Republican, and Randy Swartzmiller, Democrat

District 2: Charles Clements, Republican, and Eric Hayhurst, Democrat

District 3: Micheal Azinger, Republican, and Jody Murphy, Democratic

District 4: Eric Tarr, Republican

District 5: Melissa Clark, Republican, and Mike Woelfel, Democrat

District 6: Tiffany Clemins, Democrat, and Mark Maynard, Republican

District 7: Ron Stollings, Democrat, and Mike Stuart, Republican

District 8: Mark Hunt, Republican, and Richard Lindsay, Democrat

District 9: Rollan Roberts, Republican, and Kari Woodson, Libertarian

District 10: Stephen Baldwin, Democrat, Vince Deeds, Republican, and Harry Forbes, Independent

District 11: Bill Hamilton, Republican

District 12: Austin Lynch, Libertarian, and Ben Queen, Republican

District 13: Barbara Fleischauer, Democrat, and Micheal Olivierio, Republican

District 14: Amanda Pitzer, Democrat, and Jay Taylor, Republican

District 15: Robin Mills, Uprising WV, and Charles Trump IV, Republican

District 16: Jason Garrett, Republican, and Hannah Geffert, Democrat

District 17: Tom Tabuko, Republican, and Sam Wood, Democrat

Midterm

Elections

-Avery Reyes

Freak animal accidents

Jahrah was 54 when she went missing in Indonesia. When she had gone to work she never came back from work. Her husband suspected something went wrong so he went to search for her. The first sign was when he found a few of her belongings on the ground. Then he saw a heavily bloated snake on the ground that was 22 feet long. He suspected that the snake had killed her. Him and a few other people cut open the snake and saw Jahrah’s body fully intact. Non Venomous snakes tend to eat smaller animals but occasionally they see humans as their prey. Snake conservationist Nathan Rusli predicts that the snake coiled around her suffocating her. Then after doing this the snake ate her.Just this year a woman got trampled by an elephant twice. Maya Murmu, a 70 year old woman, in India, had a horrible experience with an elephant. While getting she was brutally attacked by an elephant. According to new producers she was rushed to the hospital. Sadly, she died shortly after she got there. On the day of her funeral the elephant came back to the village and trampled her again. The same elephant also went to destroy the village where Maya Murmu live. It went to her home and killed her goats. Even though the whole village had gotten damaged no one else was hurt.

-Riley Martirano

Pop Culture

New Halloween Trilogy: Review

The 1978 ‘Halloween’ movie shall forever go down in horror history. It defined the slasher genre in its time perfectly, & it was given a sequel a few years later. However, what if ‘Halloween II’ never happened? You would get the ‘Halloween’ requel movies from 2018-2022. There’s quite a bit to go over for these movies, so prepare yourself for the chaos of the ‘Halloween’ requel trilogy.

The first movie in this trilogy is, in my opinion, by far the best. Many viewers & critics also tend to agree with this statement. This movie was just a perfect alternate-timeline sequel to the original ‘Halloween’ film. The other movies in this trilogy weren’t particularly necessary. They very well could have ended the story of Michael Myers & Laurie Strode in this movie alone. Yet, because this movie did so well, they decided to milk this cow for all it was worth, & they immediately started work on sequels for the movie. As for the movie itself, it’s packed full of references for previous films. The movie references scenes like the ‘Michael standing outside the window at Laurie’s school’ scene, or the “Do as I say!” scene. The opening is amazing as well. At the beginning of the movie, the opening is that of a pumpkin decomposing in reverse. This pumpkin is meant to be the same pumpkin as in the first film. Skipping a lot; by the end of the movie, Laurie, her daughter, & her granddaughter lock Michael within Laurie’s basement, & cause a fire within the home. They then escape with Michael still trapped inside the house. They then manage to be spotted by a person driving by & they manage to catch a ride in the back of their truck to get to the hospital so their injuries can be treated. That is where the movie ends, & it’s perfect. However, good things cannot last forever, so ‘Halloween Kills’ happened.

New Halloween Trilogy: Review Continued

‘Halloween Kills’ is most certainly worse than the first movie in the trilogy. This movie just descends into absolute chaos as the movie progresses, & some plot points don’t make any sense. The movie’s opening is good, at least, as it shows many jack o’lanterns passing by the screen, representing each of the movies of the entire Halloween franchise, ending with ‘Halloween Kills’. The movie begins where the previous one left off, with Laurie & her descendants bloodied & wounded in the back of a truck. However, firetrucks soon pass them. Laurie begins crying & screaming to, “Let him burn!” Obviously, Michael is released accidentally by the firefighters anyway. The movie proceeds with Laurie stuck in the hospital & a bunch of previous survivors of the Shape dying to it forty years later. Eventually, the entire town begins to recognize the threat in Michael, & they all try to take him down. They all fail, obviously. The Bogeyman then kills Laurie’s daughter. At the end of the movie, both Michael & Laurie are staring out a window, awaiting their next rematch. This movie is ridiculous. At a point in the movie, they even mistake Michael for one of the other people that escaped Smith’s Grove, who looks nothing like him. Don’t worry, though, as this trilogy got even worse.

‘Halloween Ends’, released on October 14, 2022 in theater’s & on Peacock, was a spectacular catastrophe. Once again, the movie opens with a remixed version of the main theme of ‘Halloween’ & some kind of visual effects applied to a pumpkin. This time, it was a buch of jack o’lanterns continuously going dim & then peeling back to reveal another jack o’lantern. This is the worst opening, in my opinion, but at least it’s better than the movie itself. The movie decides to randomly introduce a new character with a bad storyline involving him accidentally killing a kid. After getting beat up for unrelated reasons, he is dragged into a sewer, where, for some reason, Michael’s just been kind of hanging out. He then proceeds to not kill the guy, & just hides until he wakes up. After he awakes & begins wandering around, & then Michael shows up to begin choking him. Michael decides to let him go, though, & accepts him as some kind of apprentice or proxy. Corey, that guy Michael hypnotized, then goes out to start killing a bunch of people with Michael. This was presumebly done for Michael so he could regain his power, because Michael lost power since he hadn’t been killing people. Eventually, of course, Corey dies. He died on purpose, though, because he wanted to ruin Laurey’s relationship with her granddaughter. Michael then appears, & the final showdown begins. Michael is eventually pinned to a countertop within the kitchen with knives & a fridge. Laurey then attempts to kill him for good by removing his mask & stabbing him. By the end of the movie, Michael is thrown within a large grinder to completely destroy his corpse & eliminate its evil for good.

This trilogy is just super chaotic. Why was Michael just hanging out in a sewer & letting his powers wain? Why did everyone think that a man who definitely had a different body type to Michael that was running away from them was him? There are so many points in the long-running plot in this trilogy that just don’t make any sense. Why in the world did Michael wait for four years to attack Haddonfield again? This trilogy, especially ‘Halloween Ends’, does not make sense.

By Dante Dolman

Coolio's Legacy

Artis Leon Ivey jr. also known as Coolio. He was born on August 1, 1963. He had 10 children. Before finding stardom as a rap artist, he was a firefighter in Southern California’s San Bernardino mountains. He is a west coast hip-hop artist. He is best known for his 1995 Gangsta’s Paradise, as well as Fantastic Voyage, 1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New) and C U when U get there. He recorded his first single in 1987 titled, “ Whatcha Gonna Do?” He has received 6 Grammy award nominations in 1995, 1996 and 1997. 2 billboard music awards in 1994 and 1996. 2 ASCAP (American society of composers, authors and publishers) awards in 1996 and 1997. 3 MTV video awards in 1996 and 1997. 4 American online awards in 1996. A Playboy music poll in 1997. He won best rap solo performance in 1996 for Gangsta's Paradise. He died September 28, 2022, he was 59. He died of Cardiac Arrest.

-Aubreigh Rogers

Horror Game's From The 2010's

Were you given unrestricted internet access as a kid?

The 2010’s were a pretty good time to be a kid with access to the internet. You could watch any kind of game playthrough whether it be age appropriate or not. Since Halloween was last month I think it's a good time to go back to the 2010’s and talk about some of my favorite games.

Fran Bow:

Fran Bow is a creepy adventure game published on August 17, 2016 following a girl named Fran as she finds a way to escape the mental asylum to get back to her cat, Mr.Midnight, and her aunt. Fran needs to solve puzzles however, she will need help from her red pills that let her see into the other world. This game does contain some heavy themes especially when reading how the other kids ended up there and the fact that this game does take place in 1944 where it was still allowed to perform lobotomy on mental health patients. It also contains some gore images and times where you have to preform murder on other characters. The art style uses dulled down colors and mostly a gray color palette for most of the levels.

Fran Bow can be played on IOS, Android, and on Steam.

Sally Face:

Sally Face is an adventure game published on August 16, 2016, following Sal Fisher after he and his dad moved to an apartment complex in Nockfell County. There Sal and his new friends solve mysteries around town. However, these mysteries are much more deadly than meets the eye, almost all of them revolve around a red eyed demon.The game has a lot of lore so I tried not to reveal a lot about the game. The style is like Fran Bow but a bit more realistic. The game is available on Steam and on Nintendo Switch.

Doki Doki Literature Club:

Doki Doki Literature Club or DDLC is a physiological horror game that was made on September 22, 2017. At the surface level the game is a cute dating sim where you choose from 4 girls in the literature club Sayori, Yuri, Natsuki, and Monika. However after a while of playing each of the girls meets their end, all except for Monika. The style of the game is a classic anime style with bright colors. The game is available on steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Epic Games. I saved this one for last because it was my personal favorite game to watch though it is definitely not a game for children.

-Sally Packwood

traditional Food From different countries

Ok we all know we eat pizza,burgers and all that good stuff but have you ever wondered what other countries eat, yes? Good.because today we are covering the topic.. Traditional foods! NIGERIAN Pap En vleis/Shisa Nyame - Feast your eyes on these succulent steaks. Barbecued meat and maize porridge is a combination dearly beloved across many cultures in Southern Africa, and particularly in South Africa, where the braai vleis is a treasured institution and practically a national sport.

!DON'T LICK YOUR SCREEN! That looks WONDERFUL! My mouth is watering. Somebody please hold me back. I may eat the screen. A SI Sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared vinegared rice, usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of ingredients, such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice", also referred to as shari, or sumeshi

As a sushi lover I'm going to be honest and say I have NEVER tried anything in that picture,but dang does it look good! Europe

It looks delicious but... I don't know half of the ingredients but hey you can't judge it if you’ve never tried it! That’s all we have Time for, have a wonderful day and see you next time!

-Olaitan Pelemo

Self Help

The Harm of Vaping

When you think about vaping, how do you feel? Vaping is less harmful than smoking. E- cigarettes have tobacco. Vapes have flavors and other chemicals that create aerosol that you breathe in. Aerosol in nicotine is more harmful than aerosol in vapes. To kids it’s something fun but it's actually vapes that can give you a lung disease. There are many vape/drug shops in martinsburg. “Diethylene Glycol is a toxic chemical used in antifreeze and linked to lung disease” baystatehealth.org stated. One danger about vaping for too long can cause heart attacks. Vapes started getting popular in 2014. There has been a recent study that, when people died from lung problems there were little pockets in their lungs. The oil in the vapes made lockets in people's lungs. While reading this I want to inform you about the cause and effect of vaping. Vaping can in the long term negatively impact your health.

-Ava Hasan

Seasonal Depression and How to Deal With It

I personally know how hard seasonal depression can get, and with winter coming up I think it is incredibly important to know how to deal with it. Seasonal depression makes a part of your brain called the hypothalamus stop. The lack of vitamin D is the main cause of seasonal depression. Being in middle school is hard in general but going through rough patches does not help. Just so you know, you are not alone.

Self-care is such a massive thing to focus on in those tough times, even if you are struggling mentally. I recommend doing small things just to feel like you have accomplished something. Making goals also has helped me a lot. If you are struggling, just getting out of bed in the morning is an accomplishment. No matter what, you are not alone. If you ever need to talk to anyone, north's support system is awesome and I recommend going to Ms. Poe or Ms. Jackson. You got this!

-Alex Roberts

The Blue Devil News Crew is looking to revamp the logo for our paper this year! We are holding a logo contest! Rules for the logo contest are below:

• The logo can be submitted digitally or on paper
  
• The logo must contain the name of our newspaper, which is Blue Devil News!
• Submissions are due Wednesday, December 21st
• To submit, you can email either Mrs. Stacey Moreland or Mrs. Alyssa Heck (emails below) or send a Schoology message with your logo attached!
  

Winner will receive a prize!!!

New Logo Contest!!

THANKS FOR READING!

SEE YOU NEXT MONTH!