Is Online Learning as Good as Face-to-Face Learning?An Editorial Written by Kayla K. Some experts estimate that over one million students in the U.S. have taken at least one online class, from kindergarten to senior year. Many people debate the pros and cons of on-line learning. Myself, I was enrolled in an online public school from first grade to sixth grade, and then came to North Union Middle School for the choir and arts opportunities.

Experts and teachers say that many schools are choosing online education because it is cheap. Memphis City Schools, a school that requires every student to take at least one online class to graduate, is only paying $164 per online course for each student. Although the school says they’ve never com-pared the price, skeptics say that online courses are an easy way to cut corners. Karen Aronowitz, president of the teach-ers’ union in Miami says, “[Online courses]... is being proposed for even our youngest students, because it’s good for the kids? No. This is all about cheap.”

I, having taken my education online for six years would like to discuss the pros and cons of online learning. On the case that the education is not helping the kids, I must strongly disagree. One of the benefits of online learning is that you ac-tually spend eight full hours a day learning. You do not have to worry about the three minutes between classes or the five minute introductions at the beginning of class. Once you start your lesson, you work through said lesson until it is finished. Not 45 minutes of working and then come back tomorrow, you achieve mastery in the lesson. This mastery leads to a more complete understanding of the topics presented. With fuller and more complete lessons, you can cover more in-depth material more efficiently. (Continued on Page 3)

Q&A with Rachel Haynes

Q: Do you like your job?A: I love my job and my students.

Q: What’s your favorite color?A: Mustard yellow.

Q: What’s your favorite superhero?A: Wonder Woman.

Q: Favorite song/artist?A: Dave Matthews Band.

Q: Was this the job you imagined you would have in high school?A: Yes!

Q: What college did you go to?A: Bowling State University.

Q: Favorite movie/TV show?A: Too many.

Q: Ohio or Michigan?A: Ohio, duh!

Q: Favorite book?A: Too hard to decide.

Q: How do you like North Union?A: I love North Union staff and students. It feels like home!

Q:Do you like food?A:Yes! Ms.Randi’s food :).

Q:What is your favorite game?A:My favorite game is Monopoly!

Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’

Robin Williams

Vol 7 Issue 5Excellent with Distinction

Interview of Miss Bumgarner

KarateBy: Logan F.

I do karate and I am a purple belt. My sensei (Teacher) is Ron S. The four points of self-protection is Avoid, Evade, Escape and Attack, so that means don’t attack first, attack last. I learn kicks, blocks, strikes, breakfalls, and how to count in Japanese. My dojo is called Center of Traditional Martial Arts in East Liber-ty. My goal is to achieve the black belt. If you are interested in karate see me.

March HolidaysCompiled by Bri S.Irish American Month and Red Cross Month 1st - National Pig Day2nd - Old Stuff Day 3rd - If Pets Had Thumbs Day 5th - Multiple Personality Day 8th - International Women’s Day9th - Panic Day12th - World Kidney Day17th - Saint Patrick’s Day18th - Supreme Sacrifice Day 19th - St Joseph20th - Spring Begins (Northern)

First Day of Spring By Kaylee S. I now we all have been wait for the first day of spring. Here it is! The first day of spring was on March 20th. Although the weather did not change right away be prepared for WARM-ER weather! I know we are all mad at the world for snowing but the weathermen are saying that it will be warming up soon. Through the week it will be getting warmer. So cross your fingers and hope for warm weather through spring break! Break out the swimsuits and shorts because SPRING IS ON THE WAY!!

25th - Waffle Day 27th - National “Joe” Day 29th - Palm Sunday / Summer Time Begins (Europe) 30th - National Doctors Day

Movies Coming Out In 2015By: Logan F.The cool movies coming out in 2015 such as Mon-key Kingdom, Minions, Goosebumps, Hotel Tran-sylvania 2, and Peanuts. One movie I thought was interesting was Jupiter Ascending. Jupiter Ascend-ing is a sci-fi adventure about a young woman in the future that gets targeted for assassination by the Queen of the Universe, and begins her desti-ny. I thought it was interesting because it is action packed. It’s coming out ono DVD soon!

I interviewed our student teacher, Miss. Bumgarner, and she was glad to take some of her time to answer my ques-tions, so here it is!Full name? Her full name is Autumn Carlene Bumgarner. Favorite Color? Autumn’s favorite color is light blue and pink.Do you like NU so far? She answered, “Yes, I think it is a great school, the students here are amazing to teach.”What is OSUM like? Autumn answered, ”It’s a great place to go to college, the classes are small which I like, and the pro-fessors are always willing to help with whatever you need.” Are you active in any sports right now? She answered, “I’m currently active in crossfit, I go to the gym in Marysville called Route 33, and have been doing crossfit for about 6 months now. “What do you really want to be? Autumn answered, ” I would love to be a 5th grade math or science teacher when I finish my degree in May.” Movie? She answered, “My favorite movie would have to be Bridesmaids or anything with Melissa McCarthy in it.” I said, “ Well, we think alike lol.”What is your favorite show? She answered, “I love watching Criminal Minds and Greys Anatomy.” Again I think we think alike lol. Who do you admire/look up to? She answered, “I look up to my older sisters, brother, and my parents.” What was your favorite subject? She answered, “My favorite subject in school was math and science.”How old are you? 23 years oldWhere did you grow up? She answered, “ I grew up in Rich-wood and went to school at North Union and I graduated from here in 2010.”

We wish the best of luck to Miss Bumgarner after her Student Teaching.

Let your smile change the world, but don't let the world change your smile

~Connor Franta~

(editorial continued from page 1)The most in-depth topics I recall ever studying were in my fourth grade science class.

Now, I must admit that one disadvantage of online learning is the integrity aspect. The benefits of online classes can only be cultivated by the most honest students. Students who actually want to learn. Students who are not apathetic about their studies and will not plagiarize someone else’s work without another thought. Students who take online classes must have integrity entwined within their work ethic. Therefore, online classes can be beneficial if the student is willing to put effort into their classes and work with dedication.

Finally, there are classes that need to be face to face. For example, I took both German and Spanish for about two years each when I was elementary school. I am now taking Spanish one at the high school, and I must say that Spanish is much easier when you have a teacher who can help you with pronunciation and ways to remember the translations. Other classes, such as English or Math are just as easily taught in an online setting as in the traditional setting.

In conclusion, there are benefits and disadvantages to online classes. I, personally, am in favor of online classes, as long as the foreign language classes continue to be taught in the traditional setting. As far as cost wise, it probably is cheaper, but it may not hinder the value of the education. It truly just comes down to the student and their ability to focus, commit, and complete assignments without a teacher breathing down their neck.

Sources:http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/is-online-learn-ing-as-good-as-face-to-face-learning/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/education/06online.html?_r=0

The Sad SongsArticle by: Bri L.

Rapping is a popular thing these day in music. Harsh rapping, happy rapping, and some-times sad rapping. Battle Scars by Guy Sebastian ft. Lupe Fiasco is a song that tells about how people have many different scars in their lives, whether it is words or the labels people put on you. It really tells about the scars of a relationship, bullying, abuse, and more. I think that the song speaks about taking these scars, these labels and throwing them away even if you think they will never go away. That is why I really love the song because everyone in a way can relate to it.

War is a big thing in the country and this song is used on many videos and vines. Coming home is sung into two parts, rapping and no rap-ping. Skylar Grey sings part two, the non-rapping part. In case you don’t know the song, it is about coming home in a new perspective in your life.

Cover Songs

Some people love cover songs and some people don’t. Cover songs are a song sang by a person other than the artist. They can be sang from a different pitch. An example of a cover song would be Problem by covered by Pentatonix (orig-inally sung by Ariana Grande).

Famous MARCH BirthdaysCompiled by Caitlynne W.

6th- Shaquille O’Neal~ Basketball Player7th- Wanda Sykes~ Comedian8th-Hines Ward~ Football Player9th-Brittany Snow~ Movie Actress10th-Carrie Underwood~ Singer11th- Anthony Davis~ Basketball Player12th- Darryl Strawberry~ Baseball Player13th- Leigh-Allyn Baker~ TV Actress14th- Ansel Elgort~ Actor15th- Eric Decker~ Football Player16th- Blake Griffin~ Basketball Player17th- Rob Kardashian~ Reality Star18th- Adam Levine~ Singer19th- AJ Lee~ Wrestler20th- Jo~ Soccer Player21st- Jace Norman~ TV Actor22nd- Tyler Oakley~ Web Video Star23rd- Mike Will~ Music Producer24th- Peyton Manning~ Football Player25th- Big Sean~ Rapper26th- Sam Pepper~ Web Video Star 27th- Jessie J~ Singer28th- Zoe Sugg~ Web Video Star29th- Justin Tuck~ Football Player30th- Richard Sherman~ Football Player31th- Ewan McGregor~ Actor

NUMS TrackKayla K. North Union Middle School has recently started track prac-tice. Official practice started on March 9, 2015. The coach for the track team is Coach Hammons, and we are super-vised by the head high school coach, Coach Sparks. The first meet will be at Northmor on April 1. North Union will be hosting our own meet on April 6, in the afternoon. After the 6th, we will have the Highland Relays on the 8th and 9th of April. Please come out and support your Wildcats on April 6th at our home meet!

Radio Disney Music Awards (Rdma)By: Kelsey M.

The Radio Disney Music Awards is an awards show which is operated and supervised by Radio Disney, an American radio network. Beginning in 2014, the ceremony began to be televised on Disney Channel, an American basic cable and satellite television network. You can vote by going to http://www.disney.com/rdma or http://music.disney.com/radio-disney-music-awards and choosing a category to vote in, or by scrolling down and voting in a randomly chose category below the categories that you can vote in. You don’t have to have an account to vote (that’s pretty awesome). There are 10 categories to vote in, for example, Best Female Artist, Best Male Artist, Best Group, Best song to dance to, etc. You just click on the artist you want to vote for (when you’re in the categories, of course). And that’s all I can say, so have fun and keep voting. Wait! Did I mention that you can vote as many times as you want? And that in each category there’s only three songs/or artists to vote for! Ok, ok, I’m done this time. Happy Voting and let the best artists and songs win!

Spring into A New Coaster!By Cambria S.

There is a new roller coaster at Cedar Point! So go to Sandusky, Ohio now and ride Rouga-rou. Rougarou is an 18-year-old stand-up roller coaster. It is the first floorless roller coaster at Cedar Point. Straight from the depths of the swamp, the mythical legend comes to life hurl-ing riders at speeds of more than 60 mph. With your legs dangling, and feet skimming, Rouga-rou dives down 137 feet, putting riders through high-speed twists and four howl-inducing inver-sions. This is one you just can’t pass up. It is only a little over an hour from NUMS, so a cool short trip should be in order.

No Title or you may not read it!!!by Cambria S.

You have recently taken a new test in school. How did it go? Hope-fully, not too bad. A lot has and is being said about the new part-nership assessment of readiness for college and careers (PARCC) testing in schools, and they aren’t exactly good things. In fact some parents dislike it so much that they opt their kids out of the tests. The PARCC assessment contains two summative portions. There is a performance-based assessment and an End-of-Year Assessment. The performance based assessment takes place as near to the end of the school year as possible and will have ELA/literacy where students analyze and write about a text, and mathematics where students apply skills, concepts, and understandings to solve problems. The end-of-the-year assessment is administered when about 90% of the school year is over. This section focuses on reading comprehension for ELA/literacy students and innovative problem solving for math students. The PARCC test is online and everything is done on a computer. This is a big jump when you are use to taking the OAA which is with paper and pencil. Many people have asked “Is the PARCC testing more difficult than other standardized tests?” We don’t really get a yes or no answer but it has been admitted that it takes more complex thinking skills than other standardized tests. We don’t know for sure how long PARCC testing will be around. Some say it will be gone after this year but some say that PARCC testing will still be around for years to come. I bet most students and/or parents aren’t too found about PARCC testing, but what about teachers? We have done a little interview with North Union Middle School’s 6th grade math teacher Mrs.Miller and what she thinks about the PARCC testing.

Q:“Do you think PARCC testing is a good idea for students?”

A: “I don’t know that I necessarily like the PARCC testing, but I do think it is good to assess students learning throughout the year. I think that there are too many tests.”

Q: “If you had to take the PARCC test, would you like it?” A: “I don’t know that any student likes a test”

Q: “Have you heard many complaints about PARCC testing?”A: “Yes.”

Q: “Do you think you know how long PARCC testing will be around?” A: “No I don’t know, but I do think there will always be a state assessment.”

Q: “What is your overall opinion about PARCC testing?” A: “I think PARCC has a lot of possible chang-es to make it better and to become an effective assessment, but I think it’s a start measuring student growth.”

Q: “What do you prefer more for your students, OAA or PARCC testing? Do you think one is more beneficial than the other? If so why?”A: “Right now I prefer OAA because that’s what I’m used to. I think the most beneficial assess-ment would be to test students at the end and the beginning of the year to determine individ-ual student growth. I mean, wouldn’t it be better to do that so you can see how much the student learned throughout the year?”

J.T. with the JOKES:):)

What did the big flower say to the small flow-er? What’s up, bud?!!When does it rain money? When there’s change in the weather!How many months have 28 days? All of them!What do you get from a bad tempered shark? As far away as possible!What did the baby lightbulb say to its mommy? I wuv you WATTS and WATTS!Why did your sister cut a hole in her umbrella? Because she wanted to see when it stopped raining.There are two muffins in an oven. One says, “Man, it’s burning up in here!” The other says, “Hey, look! A talking muffin!”

Art Tech At NU

In art technology we use a program called sketchUp. In art tech we build thing in sketchUp. The things we have built in sketch-Up are a laptop, museum, house, lantern's, some were where

you use a sphere, food, four demolition shapes, and a house use in components. We would get an assignment and make it our own. In art tech we get to express our self through art but we do it on the computer. It was also brought here so that kids don't just sit there in study hall. By Grace S.

← ←The 8th grade Students for Jan. & Feb., selected for exhibiting the Wild-cat Way. Congrats to (L to R)Kenzi L,Audra A.,Dalton S., & Gavin Z.

Pi Day Or Pie DayBy Kaylee S I am sure all of you have heard of Pi day, but what is Pi? Pi is the neverending number, it is also the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, and it is a delicious dessert. When you were little did you used to think the it was Pie Day, when you ate pie and the only pie you knew was the food, but now do you know what pi really is? Pi day was on saturday, March 14. What did you do on Pi Day?

7 Books to Read Before They're Movies in 2015By Sandie Angulo Chen Guest Blogger | Movie/DVD/Book Reviewer

Both kids and parents can enjoy this year's page-to-screen adaptations, including Insurgent, The Scorch Trials, and the highly anticipated Mocking-jay Part 2. Summer reading list maybe?1. Insurgent out 3/20 by Veronica Roth.2. Paper Town out June 5th by John Green.3. Pam out July 24th by J.M. Barrie.4. Goosebumps out August 7th by R.L. Stine.5. The Scorch Trials out Sept. 18 by James Dashner.6. Victor Frankenstein out Oct. 2 by Mary Shelley.7. Mockingay Part 2 out Nov. 20 by Suzanne Collins.

Source: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/7-books-to-read-before-theyre-movies-in-2015?utm_source=032015+Parent+Default&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly#

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Talent Competition! (Nu Age)by Riley F. Kaylee and I got to see and hear the awesome highschool choir group that Mrs. Kincaid directs. They are called the he NU Age. They went to finals for the Union County Talent show competition. They did a fantastic job! They had some help from their mascot Joan, she’s a giraffe and they got her when they started the group in November, 2013. (she sat at the front of the sage cheering them on!) Mrs.Kincaid said that her two favorite songs are Uprising and If I Lose Myself/We Are Young. They did amazing!

The name’s of the team mates!Blake A., Bethany L., Joshua G.,Wyatt H., Joy H., Patri-cia H., Brandon J, Elias J., Bethany F., Lydia N., Jake R., Natalie S., and Carlee S.

The Nu Age has some upcoming events. They are performing tonight (3-13-15) at the Richwood Civic Center. On 3-21 at the VEX Pancake Breakfast (they per-form at 10 a.m.), at their concert at the HS on 3-24, at the Pharisburg Utd Methodist Church on 4-16, and then they don’t have anything until their concert on May 21st. I hope you get to go see them at one of these events. And Mrs. Kincaid has a new a capella (aw ca pell a) goup here at the NUMS called NU Kids on the Block.

Mock TrialWritten by Kayla K.Mock Trial is an after school club that has recently started practicing. In Mock Trial, student perform in a mock court case. For example, this year, they are doing a civil case based on the book by George Orwell, Animal Farm. In this case, the animals of Animal Farm are suing their leader, Napoleon, because they believe that he violated their civil rights in his tyrannical takeover of Animal Farm. On each team, there are four lawyers and six witnesses. Two stu-dents act as the defense lawyers (Napoleon), and the other two represent the plaintiff lawyers (the animals suing Na-poleon.) Of the six witnesses, three of them are on the side of the plaintiff and the other three side with the defense. The main objective in mock trial competitions is to pres-ent the evidence in an argument that is stronger than your opponent’s argument. In the competition, there are also individual awards, including best attorney and best wit-ness. Last year, one team (defense and plaintiff combined) won all the individual awards (two best attorney and two best witness.) If you are interested for either this year or next year, see Mrs. Adams for information.

Shawn Mendes First Album “Handwritten”By: Chloe F.

Born in Toronto, Canada on August 8, 1998 this 16 year old pop star named, Shawn Peter Raul Mendes is an internet sensation. At the age of 14 he started doing 6 seconds covers on an app called Vine. He was a part of a group called Magcon which also included vine stars Nash Grier, Cameron Dallas, Carter Reynolds, Aaron Carpenter, Taylor Caniff, Jacob Whitesides, mahogany (Gordy) *LOX* He currently has 3705181 followers just on Vine. Shawn also has about 7089541 subscribers on YouTube. Shawn started making covers on Vine in 2013. He blossomed from the start. He now has an EP out and is working on Handwritten which come out on April 28th 2015. I myself cannot wait for the album to come out. Here’s what other NUMS people said:Kamryn: I am excited for the new album to come out. I like his music. Cambria: I think this is going to be an awesome album and I LOVE SHAWN SOOOO MUCH!!Kelsey: I am very, very, very excited for the new Shawn Mendes album “ Handwritten.” I love Shawn’s music and I think he is a very talented singer/songwriter.Samantha: I am very excited for the new album. I LOVE SHAWN MENDES. Madison: The songs are good. I am very excited for Shawn’s album “Handwritten” to come out. I am very proud of Shawn and how far he has gotten with his career.If you have no clue who he is or about his music you should check it out, obviously via Vine and YouTube. Maybe you’ll like it -- it’s great to see and hear different people like Shawn Mendes. http://www.shawnmendesofficial.com/ A lyric turned quote of Shawn Mendes is

Sometimes it all gets a little too much,But you gotta realize that soon the fog will clear up,

And you don't have to be afraid, because we're all the same,

And we know that sometimes it all gets a little too much,

Random Survey of NUMS Students and Spring Break Activities include--

• Vacation -- N.Y. & Tennessee seem popular• Sleeping for sure• Sportz• Babysitting• Marathon T.V. watching• Don’t forget Spring means Cleaning! Clean rooms....