The Talk of the Trails Forest Trail Academys

The Talk of the Trails Forest Trail Academy's one and only student newspaper! PUMPKIN CONTEST WINNERS ! N ELECTIO FOREST TRAIL ACADEMY S N O I T PE M O C G SINGIN WINTE R SPOR TS SECOND EDITION October 2012 1

2 Pumpkin contest! Congratulations to our two winners! We loved your pumpkins; they were so creative and superb! Be sure to look at the last page for our honorable mentions! Taylor L. ! Steffanie K. !

3 o By: uccian L a n n Bria Carved in history Pumpkins were originally carved to keep the legend of “Stingy Jack” away. As the legend goes Jack, an extremely stingy man, tricked the devil into turning himself into a coin. This was so Jack could buy his drinks without having to really pay for them. Jack had a silver cross kept in his pocket and he put the devil, still in coin form, in the same pocket. Obviously, the devil could not come out because the cross of God was right next to him. Jack told him that he would take him out but he was not to bother him for a long period of time. When the devil returned months later, Jack again tricked him into another form. But now he told the devil if he wanted to get out he must not bother him for 10 years. This went on for many years. However, Jack died sometime within a ten year period. When Jack went to go to heaven he was not allowed into heaven for what he had done and clearly the devil was not about to let him in either. The legend continues to say that Jack still roams the earth on Halloween and is an evil spirit. And that is why pumpkins are carved today! People started to carve pumpkins and other crops to scare Jack away many, many years ago. Make sure to carve a scary face on your pumpkins to make sure Jack doesn’t come to see you!

Winter Fun-derland! By: omas h T y n Britta Everyone seems to be anxiously awaiting the drastic drop in temperature and the first snowfall to christen the winter season. There is a lot to love about winter, but something most people look forward to is the winter sports. With so many wonderful sports out there, how can you not get excited about it? Let's talk about some of the most popular, and most anticipated, winter sports out there. Almost everyone's favorite sport during winter is ice skating. Originally, the sport wasn't actually a sport. Europeans would ice skate as a mean for transportation. It was later evolved into a sport for fun. Ice skating was first debuted in the Olympics as a summer event in 1908. It was 1924 when it became a winter Olympic sport. Ice Skating has since taken the world by storm, there is no surprise as to why the sport is so popular. There are different kinds of ice skating, and each is as captivating to watch as the next. First there is ice dancing. As the name suggests, it is simply dancing on ice. Then we have pairs and singles ice skating. The skaters perform thrilling jumps, lifts, and throws when they skate in pairs. Singles perform the thrilling jumps and lifts, just no throws. Lastly there is synchronized skating. This type of skating is performed by a team of skaters in unison, about twelve to twenty skaters. Another popular sport is alpine skiing. Alpine skiing is the most known skiing event. This sport was debuted in the Olympics in 1936 at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Games. There are different events within alpine skiing: Downhill, Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super G, and combined. Downhill skiing is pretty self-explanatory. It is skiing downhill in a certain amount of time. Slalom skiing is a race; the race includes sharp turns around flags. The difference between slalom skiing and giant slalom skiing is that the giant slalom is longer. Super G skiing is even longer than giant slalom, and it is faster. Combined skiing is a combination of downhill skiing and two slalom races. Other than for the Olympics, skiing is a very popular sport for fun. People travel to skiing sites every winter. There are many other sports worth trying out, so don't overlook them. Although there will not be a Winter Olympics until 2014, make sure to check out these sports in the next Winter Olympics! 4

Singing Competitions on TV By: ahns Katie J In the past 45 years talent competitions have changed drastically and so has the music industry. Beginning with small Community Auditions and growing to the great star studded shows like The Voice and American Idol. There are many talent competitions out there today, though we are only going to discuss the singing competitions. We all know the most popular shows such as: American Idol, The Voice, The Next, X Factor, and Duets. Most of these shows are shown not just nationally but world-wide. Each show has their own personal way of judging their contestants. While the X Factor looks at people for the whole package or, as they call it the "X-Factor”. The Voice has their chairs turned around. This causes the judges to listen to the contestant completely based on voice without ever seeing what they look like. The Voice has four rounds, while most other shows only have two or three. American Idol judges both voice and the whole package. But if a person sounds good but looks different, they will send them through to the "Hollywood" round; because of their voice. “The Next” is another new talent show, where the celebrities review auditions and surprise the contestants at their homes. The judges then mentor their contestant over 72 hours. Whichever star judge is mentoring the contestant they also follow them around during their everyday lives. The show Duets is more of a seasonal filler show. Despite its great stars, it falls extremely short of the more popular shows like American Idol or The Voice. Duets, being a seasonal filler, is a very fast paced show. If you like the whole package of the show Duets is not for you. This fast pace keeps people off the negatives, like bad auditions and the crudeness of the judges; which makes it a great show for younger kids to watch as well as adults. Though each show is different they all have common ground. Each wants to find the next superstar. Every once-in-awhile they do. Who knows? Maybe next year it will be you! 5

6 By: ciano c u L a Briann It’s an Ancient present The election We all know of the many issues facing America today; jobs, the economy, taxes, employment…I could go on for hours. Instead of repeating everything we have heard 1, 000 times, I am going to focus on some history and some of the similarities of our candidates. In the end of this tight election, we will have someone who in their opinion, whether right or wrong, is the best possible option for Americas as President. At the time of the first election, the only people who could vote were men. Not all men mind you, only white men who owned land. Women and African Americans were not even considered whether you lived in the north or south. Today, your race, nationality, sexual orientation, social or economic status does not matter; only your vote does. Influential leaders such as George Washington, our first commander-in-chief; Thomas Jefferson, creator of the Declaration of Independence; Abraham Lincoln, creator the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 which freed all slaves; Susan B Anthony, although she died before she saw her success, pioneered woman’s right to vote; And Dr. Martin Luther King who almost 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed; died working for equality for African Americans. All had an idea, a dream, a goal and a plan. President Obama and Mitt Romney, believe it or not, have some common ground. They both went to Harvard University School of Law, they are published authors, they have served in their home states government, and they are beloved husbands and fathers. Their largest similarity: they would both like to become the next President of the United States of America. Whilst both candidates have different thoughts, their goal for a better America is common. These men have their own plan on how to make America a better place to live. All greatness has to start with an idea and a plan for that idea. If it were not for people like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, and Dr. Martin Luther King, America would probably not be the America we know today.

Honorable pumpkins! 7 We had so many pumpkin entries they were all so incredible! We had to choose just 2 winners… it was so hard! All of your pumpkins were so great. Congratulations! Bill Long Chloe Ames Kellyn Habinowski Mone Jeffers Destiny Hodge

Works cited “Carved in History” "Halloween. " The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. "History of the Jack O' Lantern. " History. com. A&E Television Networks, n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. __________ “Winter Fun-derland” Gettings, John. “Winter Olympics: Figure Skating. ” Factmonster. com. 2007. Pearson Education Inc, 2007. 18 October 2012. __________ “Singing Competitions on TV” Espie Estrella “Top 3 Reality-Based Singing Competitions in the US. ” About. com N. p. N. d. web. October 1, 2012. Daniel Fienburg “Usher and Shakira join ‘The Voice’ for Season 4 as Christina and Cee. Lo take a hiatus” Hitfix. com N. p. September 17, 2012. Web. October 1, 2012. Emily Ashby “Duets” commonsensemedia. org N. p. N. d. Web. October 16, 2012. I referenced American. Idol. com. I referenced cwtv. com for The Next. I referenced nbc. com for The Voice. __________ “It’s an Ancient Present” "Building Democracy. " PBS, n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. "Civil Rights Era. " PBS, n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. "Early Days and Slavery. " PBS, n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. "Freedom Shrine. " Historical American Figures. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. Glass, Andrew. "First U. S. Presidential Election on Jan 7, 1789. " Politico. com. Capitol News Company, 7 Jan. 2008. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. "Modern Times. " PBS, n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. __________ 8