Monthly Archives: December 2018

Bacon Cheez-Its: Hit or Miss?

Posted on by Standard 2

By: Kiara Garcia

Recently a friend brought Bacon Cheez-Its to lunch. At first, we didn’t know what to think of it, since they were Cheez-Its but bacon flavored. We decided that we should all try one of them together.

“A toast,” I say, “to Cheez-Its for life”

“That’s very cheesy,” says one of my friends.

I thought it tasted pretty good; sort of a smokey-bacon with a sort of peppery taste. One of my friends described it as “weird taste, but still a Cheez-It.” One of my friends described it as “sausage pizza and smoke”

So what’s the deal with these Cheez-Its? Thankfully, they aren’t made of actual bacon, but the way that they made the bacon flavor isn’t too pleasant.

On the official Cheez-it Twitter, they said, “It doesn’t contain meat. The bacon flavor is made using natural smoke flavor. We hope you’ll give it a try!”

So they use smoke to make the bacon flavor, which is why multiple people described them as tasting like smoke.

Are they worth it? I wouldn’t say so unless you really like them, but they come in a duos pack. This means they come with another flavor, and that flavor is cheddar.

I personally didn’t like it, but I’m pretty sure you can get the bacon flavor with regular cheddar. If you like that then you should definitely check them out.

Jefferson’s New School Resource Officer

Posted on by Standard 3

By: Matthew Ferrer

As you most likely know, Officer Billingsley has become our newest resource officer here at Jefferson due to Officer Dominguez’s retirement. Fortunately, I was able to get Officer Billingsley’s email and interview him.

In the email, I sent a few questions to Officer Billingsley to respond to.

I asked, “How long have you worked as a school resource officer?” and, “What do you think your experience at Jefferson Middle School will be like?”

Officer Billingsley then typed, “I have worked as a School Resource Officer for 4 days (as of November 29)… I am expecting to have a great time at Jefferson. I think I will spend the vast majority of time having positive and encouraging interactions with students. There will be times when I may have to take law enforcement action, and while I don’t look forward to that, it is part of my job and I will do it to the best of my ability.”

I also asked, “What do you think will be the most hardest and easiest parts of your job, and what do you think will be the most rewarding parts of your job?”

He responded, “I think the easiest part of my job will be relating to students because I am super rad. “Rad” is still a word middle schoolers use right? I thought so… The hardest part of my job will be finding ways to connect with students who are having a hard day… The most rewarding parts of my job are the times when I get to be involved in problem-solving. I enjoy entering a messy situation and establishing some kind of order or structure to it. Doing that in a way that is helpful and constructive is challenging, but I enjoy it.

Lastly, I inquired, “What are you most excited about, now that you’re in Jefferson?”

He said the following, “I am excited to get to know many of the students and staff and to build positive relationships with lots of different people. I am excited to be part of a school that is so integral to our community.”

After I typed questions relating to him being at Jefferson as the new School Resource Officer, I decided to throw in some funny and humorous questions in there. Officer Billingsley seemed to respond humorously as well.

Firstly, I said, “How many places have you worked at?”

 Officer Billingsley said, “Well, I’ve worked a lot of jobs since I was a kid. Here is a list of the ones I can remember: yard mower, paper deliverer for the Peoria Journal Star, Grocery store bagger at IGA, working at Burger King, being a telemarketer, serving 6 years in the military, working as a UPS truck loader, a Vocational Counselor, an Associate Pastor, working as a Patrol Officer, and now… a School Resource Officer.”

Later on, I asked him a ‘Choose-One’ question, “Which do you think came first, the chicken or the egg?”

He responded, simply, “The chicken.”

Followed by that, I inquired a ‘Would You Rather’ question, “Would you rather have a life-supply of ketchup, or mustard?”

He responded, which is a choice I would definitely choose as well, “Ketchup.”

Next up, these are a few simple questions tied to his personality.

I asked, “What’s your favorite word and color?”

Officer Billingsley responded comically, “I actually have a lot of favorite words. If I had to pick one right now it would be: ‘Antidisestablishmentarianism’, because it’s the longest non-scientific word in the English language… My favorite color is Olive Drab Green.

To finish up the email, I asked one last question, “What do you think is your most favorite animal?”

Then, he said, “I enjoy dogs when they belong to me. I typically don’t enjoy other people’s dogs because I don’t trust them. I also think big cats (lions, tigers, panthers) are pretty awesome… from a distance.

Overall, this email interview with Officer Billingsley was a blast to do! From these answers, I can tell that Officer Billingsley can be quite the joker. If you ever see Officer Billingsley in the school, I suggest greeting him! He’s great and I’m glad that Jefferson has him as our new Resource Officer.

Fall

Posted on by Standard Respond

By: Emily Fallaw and Maya Viswanathan

Ah, fall. That wonderful time of the year when it starts getting cold, the leaves change color, and, well… fall! It, like all the other seasons, is loved and hated by many. Some love the colors, sounds, smells, and (sometimes) tolerable weather, while some hate the (occasional) bad weather, raking leaves, and it being the Sunday to winter.

On the other hand, a lot of people can agree that one of the most important parts of fall is… pumpkin spice! It can be put in gum, coffee, perfume, and so much more. It- okay, I’m joking.  A lot of people dislike pumpkin spice too.

Pumpkin spice aside, fall is quite the contradiction. It has such a warm color palette, yet is so cold! What else can you say about fall?  Well, Thanksgiving is in it!

It’s getting chilly and the leaves are turning red, brown, and gold. Lawns are decorated with pumpkins and scarecrows. Now that it’s fall, everyone is in the mood for Thanksgiving. I always start looking forward to Thanksgiving with the first signs of fall. It is one of my favorite holidays. I love to make decorations, help my parents cook, and get ready for our family to arrive. This year my cousins are coming to visit us for Thanksgiving. They live in New Jersey so I don’t get to see them very often but Thanksgiving is a chance to celebrate and have fun together, and eat a lot of good food.  

What about Thanksgiving decorations? They might seem frivolous, but I think they help create the festive mood.

We usually get out a fancy golden tablecloth with leaves in fall colors. I like it because I think that it fits the season well. I enjoy making Thanksgiving decorations out of fall items because it’s a celebration of the fall harvest and is very closely associated with fall. One of the fun things about decorating with fall items is that you get to go outside and search for them. This year, I found a tree that had acorns and gathered them. I intend to use them to make a turkey sculpture. Turkeys are a huge part of thanksgiving decorating. When I was at the store with my family a turkey dressed in a pilgrim’s bonnet caught my eye. It will serve as our centerpiece this year. We always have a centerpiece on the table in addition to flowers or candles. A few years ago, I made a centerpiece with sticks and pine cones.

Another big part of the celebration is the food. It’s not the kind of food you have every night for dinner, it is festive food. Turkeys are a centerpiece of the meal.  At the first thanksgiving, the pilgrims dined on turkey and it has remained a tradition even since. Other Thanksgiving food traditions are pumpkin and corn. They come from the foods that the Native Americans used to eat.

We didn’t make corn on Thanksgiving for many years, but two years ago I convinced my parents to make cornbread. It was so delicious that we now make it every year. Last year, we made sweet potato pie.  Every family has their own traditions. While, we make turkey every year, we also have a vegetarian main dish because my dad is vegetarian. This year, we are having a pie with a mixed vegetable filling. We don’t usually get a chance to get a special pie like that, but thanksgiving is a celebration that is very festive so we get to take the time to make special food. I can’t wait to enjoy the sweet and sour contrast of the cranberry sauce and smell all the spices blending together at the table.

It is now. The time when outside it’s chilly and dark and the ground is covered with multicolored leaves. But inside the table is covered with a tablecloth with multicolored leaf pattern. A centerpiece shaped like a basket filled with vegetables sits in the center. Paper turkeys hang from the walls. The table is filled with food. Turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, squash, green beans, and cornbread. And their wonderful aromas float around the room. Around the table, everyone is dressed up. They smile at each other, laughing and talking about many things at once. Happy Thanksgiving!

Jefferson Book Fair

Posted on by Standard Respond

By: Maya Viswanathan

I love to read. I love going to the library and looking through the shelves, at the endless possibilities and reading the covers, looking for one that interests me. I could spend hours at the library. And, I love the book fair just as much.

When you enter the book fair, there is a sense of anticipation. There is so much to choose from, it’s so hard to decide. Also, you get to buy a book. My parents rarely buy me books at a bookstore. I can always get them from the library and we don’t go to many bookstores. My parents do encourage me to go to the book fair, though, because the money from the book fair benefits the school and gives books to the library, which is something that my parents want to support, so I get to buy a book. There is a certain excitement about buying a book that isn’t there when you are just borrowing a book from the library. When you buy a book, you can lend it to friends, you can read it multiple times, and you get to buy yourself a gift, and that is always fun.

Even if you didn’t find books you liked in the book fair in the past, this year it is done by Follett Book Fairs, not Scholastic Book Fairs.

“I felt like there wasn’t enough diversity in the old book fair so I decided to try something new.” Ms. Anderson, the school librarian, said.

This new one certainly has plenty of diversity. It’s highlights include The Plot to Kill Hitler, a historical book about World War two, The Burning Maze, a book about the Greek God, Apollo, 11 before 12, a book about friends doing a list of eleven things before their twelfth birthday party, the Guinness World Records 2019, and Thunderhead, sequel to Scythe, which is nominated for Golden Jaguar this year. Another benefit is that Ms. Anderson gets to influence the choices of books.

“In the old book fair, I didn’t get to choose the books. Here, I buy most of the books from this company and it chooses books for the book fair based on what I buy so I get to influence it.” she said.

The book fair is an opportunity to explore all kinds of books. Because the books aren’t arranged by genre, you can’t just ignore a genre. Even if you might never go into the library’s science fiction section, you might pick up a science fiction book at the book fair, not knowing that that’s what it was, and discover you really like it.

“The purpose of the book fair is to get books into kids’ hands.” Ms. Anderson said.

The book fair is definitely succeeding in it’s goal. Ms. Anderson said that many kids are buying books. I bought a book called The Hired Girl. I already lent it to my grandmother so I’ll have to wait until winter break to read it. The book fair happens twice a year, in the fall and in the spring. I can’t wait until the next one.

IESA Speech Contest

Posted on by Standard Respond

By: Laney Heggemeyer

Don’t let the name fool you! This is an acting contest, where kids from all across Illinois act before a judge without costumes or props. The real competition is for “Judge’s Choice,” which you get when you’re your judge’s favorite act. You’re rated from 1 (being the best) through 3 (the downfall).

On November 3rd,2018 some of our JMS Post Newspaper staff, including myself, took part in this event. Our news editors, Ana Olson and Emersen Geis, did a small group and performed “The Young and the Soapless”, with Maddie Geis. Emersen and Maddie also did their own skit, “The Wreck of the Friendship.” Mason Daniels and Anthony Diaz Stack did an improv duet, and my partner and I performed “A Fine Line.” All the scripted acts were written by the amazing Ken Bradbury. There were also some other acts from Jefferson.  

You’re given 3 options for Speech; duet improv, duet skit, and small group skit. You talk to Mrs. O’Neil and pick out scripts if you decide to do a duet skit or a small group. You go practice once a week, and if there’s a conflict, you go a different day. Sometimes if you need extra help, you schedule an extra day of practice. There is a final dress rehearsal, where you go and perform in front of the team. Then, the following morning you go to the school who is hosting the contest and perform in front of the judge.

Sure, it can be a little nerve – racking, but I can confirm that it goes by in a flash. You can watch other groups, and support your team. There is, however, a fee. It’s $3 for adults and $2 for kids. Your fee is already paid by Mrs. O’Neil.

Next year, think about signing up! It’s work, but it’s fun and worth it in the end.

What Veterans Day Really Means

Posted on by Standard Respond

By: Anthony Diaz-Stack

As you may know, Veterans Day has passed. I’d like to take some time and tell you what Veterans Day is all about.

Veterans Day was established and is celebrated on November 11th of 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson in remembrance of WWI veterans. It was originally titled Armistice Day. An armistice is basically a truce, like the Treaty Of Versailles, which ended WWI for a while until the time WWII.

Veterans Day is now a national holiday, like Memorial Day, but it honors both living and fallen veterans. It’s a day to be respectful and pay tribute to the veterans that served.

It’s very kind to say thank you to someone who served, pay your respects to someone who served and fell in battle, or made it home but died as a civilian. Some veterans don’t feel like heroes, they feel like they were just doing their job. So, you may also say, “Never forget.” It’s a way of saying that freedom isn’t free and remember that freedom is always threatened.

Veterans are really important because they risk, and sometimes sacrifice, their lives to keep our country safe. They are the reason we’re living in peace here in the country that they work hard to protect.

Now you know why veterans and Veterans Day are so important.

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” – Ronald Reagan