FALL EDITION 2018

Halloween History:

The Origin of the Spookiest Day of the year

By Julianne Kellar

The spooky holiday of

Halloween isn’t just for tricks and the treats. The origin of this October holiday all began with an ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Here they would dress in costumes, like we do today, and they would light bonfires. However, the costumes were for a different reason than they are today. People did not dress up just for a fun time; they also believed it would ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, November 1 was declared All Saints Day. This is a day to honor the saints, and Pope Gregory III designated this date a Holy Day. All Hallows Eve was the day, or evening, before the special Saints Day, which was later known as Halloween.

The day of Halloween, over time, became a celebration with traditions we know today. These

include trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, and buying/making the spooky costumes you and your friends wear on October 31. However, the beliefs and traditions at the time of the Celts make this day very strange and creepy.

The Celts, who lived in modern-day Ireland, believed the boundary between the living and the dead blurred on the night before their new year, known as Halloween. They believed that spirits of the deceased returned to our planet, and they would then ruin crops and cause an unnecessary amount of mayhem. In addition, they thought the presence of these spirits would help their Celtic priests predict what will be occurring in the future. The predictions were important and made people feel comfort in the direction. The Celts also gathered to burn many things in a sacred bonfire, yet this was to make sacrifices to their Celtic deities.

The gory and weird origins of Halloween are definitely somewhat similar to the present, like the costumes. However, the reasons to celebrate this spooky day are completely different.

MID-Knight News 2018-2019

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Red Ribbon Week: Knights Continue the Fight Against Drugs

By Giavanna Bokin

Red Ribbon Week is a week dedicated to the fight for students to commit to living a drug-free life. Middle School students contribute to a week filled with reminders to stay drug free.

To start the week, students were asked to wear red to kick off this drug-free fight. They were provided with red ribbons to showcase the powerful message. Students showed off their commitment to be drug free by wearing these ribbons and decorating their lockers with them. On Tuesday, students wore athletic gear to represent the battle for a drug-free environment. Then on Wednesday, students wore superhero attire in addition to this compelling theme. On that day, we were also given sticky notes to write positive words for somebody. These notes were put on people’s locker so they can see the words of encouragement throughout their day. The next day, students donated to the “Knights Helping Knights” clothing drive, held here at Norwin. Finally, to top off the whole week, students wore Norwin attire to show our spirit for our school and our contribution to keeping it drug-free.

Overall, the week was successful in highlighting the message of staying drug-free. Throughout the years, this message will impact many lives here at Norwin, making our community, and hopefully our society we live in, a better place.

Fall Sports Update By Laci Kingerski

Are you a sports fan? Well if you are, Norwin

Middle School has some pretty awesome sports teams.

GIRLS BASKETBALL On the blue team, the

coach of the eighth grade girls is Coach Doerzbacher and the coach of the seventh grade girls is Coach Odorcich. On the gold team, the eighth grade girls coach is Coach Sidling and the seventh grade girls coach is Coach Polczynski. These girls on both the blue and gold teams are not only very competitive, but are also very talented. Make sure to go to one of their home games and see for yourself just how great they are!

FOOTBALL The boys on our Middle School Football

Team are very talented and good at what they do. They have one team and multiple coaches. Their coaches are Coach Boban, Coach Gubanich, Coach Sullivan, and Coach Zahorchak. These players are great at what they do and have much talent! They won four games, lost three, and tied one game. Their best

games were against Connellsville (18-6) and Kiski (22-0). When

you see one of these players in the halls, congratulate them on their great season!

CROSS COUNTRY The girls and boys on Middle School Cross-

Country did a fantastic job this season. Their season “runs” from August through October. The Cross Country Team is one of the largest teams in the school, and has many athletes participating on this team throughout the season.

I had the opportunity to interview Coach Nanassy and ask some questions about coaching a team like this. He said, “I enjoy almost every moment of being a coach. I love getting more time with students, helping a team improve, doing the workouts

AROUND THE SCHOOL

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with my students, and winning. I had a lot of great coaches growing up, and these men and women were positive influences on making me want to become a coach myself.” This shows that he is a very good coach! (You should definitely try cross-country next season, if you didn’t this year). He continued to say, “My least favorite part about coaching is the season ending. Whenever a season is over, I have a letdown because I know that it will be weeks or months until I get to coach my student athletes again, which is definitely longer than I wish it were!” I think this is a feeling that many student-athletes can understand!

Into the Woods By: Julia Shavel

What show is a combination a magic,

mystery, singing and adventure? Into The Woods, that’s for sure! It just so happens that Norwin High School is preparing to perform it this weekend, November 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th at 7:00 in the High School auditorium to be precise.

Into the Woods is about the classic Grimm Fairy Tales Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and The Beanstalk, and Little Red Riding hood with a twist. It also includes a story about the Baker and his wife trying to stop and lift a curse a wicked witch has put on them to stop them from having a child. The Baker and his wife are set on a quest to obtain an item each from four of the other fairy tale characters. The first act seems like the characters all have happy endings but in Act Two all the fairy tale characters’ past actions come back to haunt them. Carolyn Tachior who plays the Baker’s wife describes Into the Woods as “a fractured fairy tale. It’s as if you took all your favorite fairy tales and mixed bits of them all together.”

If you liked the Into the Woods movie, you’ll absolutely love the stage version. James Taylor, who plays the baker stated, “The musical is different from the movie in many ways, and that isn’t a bad thing, the musical has so much more to offer. The Disney adaptation excluded many scenes/songs that have a much darker representation of the story. The Into the Woods film is amazing, but it functions differently. Come see the show and know what I mean.” Some of notable songs include “Giants in the Sky,” “Ever After,” and “Agony.”

If you still aren’t convinced James also said “My favorite part about being in Into the Woods is it is a Sondheim masterpiece; one of the greatest musicals of all time (I am biased of course). Sondheim is one of my favorite composers ever, and to be able to perform one of his works, especially in my senior year, is amazing. It means so much to me. This story is beautiful; I never get bored while doing my scenes.”

Lastly, Carolyn says middle schoolers will enjoy the show because “Into the Woods is the type of show that has something for everyone. It's a different show from everything seen on stage today. It is the kind of show that's easy to watch and has characters that anyone can relate to. The music is perfect, honestly come just for the score and stay for everything else.”

Make sure to see, Into The Woods on November 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th at 7:00 in the High School auditorium See you at the show!

IN OTHER NEWS…

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The Top 5 Trends of 2018!

By: Alana Fidei & Maria Janiga

From ripped jeans to Fortnite the trends of 2018 are crazy! If you want to keep up with the latest trends of 2018, look no further! 1. FORTNITE- one of the

most popular games you can play online. You can play with friends, buy the battle pass, beat your friends, and be in the latest and most popular trend there is!

2. SCRUNCHIES- the very popular fashion item that can be worn as a bracelet or in your hair.

3. VANS- the fashionable, comfortable shoe. That comes in multiple colors and designs for different styles.

4. NETFLIX- a very popular movie and TV show streaming app that only costs a few dollars a month.

5. MESSY BUNS- a cute and fashionable hairstyle that is not only girls can wear, but guys can too!

Hurricane Michael’s Effects on Florida and Other Southern States

By: Abby Wisniewski As of thirteen years ago, Hurricane Katrina was the last hurricane to hit the Florida Panhandle and do so much damage, until Hurricane Michael hit in early October. Michael caused billions in damages, destroyed homes and schools within five states. Now with the rising death toll, nothing seems to be getting any better.

The Damage When the storm hit, many people attempted to ride out the storm while most fled to neighboring states, but now some residents have decided to leave. Mexico beach was destroyed, and a veteran storm chaser said, “It {the beach} looked like it had been struck by a bomb”, according to a comment from the Washington Post. Many trailer parks were also a mess, after Hurricane Michael had tossed the homes like toys. Many schools were damaged, not allowing any students to return to school. Overall the damage has totaled more than four-billion dollars. Some residents near Mexico Beach have said, “We’re just going to leave and moved away to find new homes.”

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Number of Casualties Approximately 1,000 people are missing after the storm and the death toll is slowly rising. Michael has already killed 45 people. The majority of these deaths took place in Florida. There have also been casualties within other states that were hit by Michael. Virginia had 6, North Carolina had 3 and Georgia had 1. Hope Even though most of the panhandle was destroyed, many people are staying optimistic. They are thankful that rescuers and other people had come to Florida to help them.

MAJOR MIDDLE SCHOOL PROBLEMS By:

Losing Friendships and Bullying

While there is no immediate way to fix the problems of bullying and losing friendships, it can (at least) be temporarily fixed. This is an issue which has spread throughout schools worldwide, and some of this drama leads to bullying. This is often a problem originating from the extreme pressure to fit in and to be popular. Here are three tips to resolve these problems:

1. Try to distance yourself from that certain group, sometimes drama sorts out itself if left alone.

2. Tell an adult if any bullying occurs. Don’t let the situation get out of hand.

3. Let it go. You will learn that friends come and go, and if they were truly your friends, they would not have left.

Balancing School and Personal Life We all know how

difficult it is to keep your grades and outside life in check. We often face these problems when we don’t prioritize our time wisely especially since many of us have extra-curricular activities such as clubs and sports in addition to school. When you are faced with a dilemma, everyone is bound to go through it at one point, here is some advice to better balance your life. Don’t procrastinate!

Although it can be hard not pushing off work, it is still necessary to keep everything in check. If you don’t do an assignment until the last minute, the final product might look rushed and messy. This also adds a lot of stress to the student do the assignment is such a short amount of time.

Plan ahead.

It’s better to get a game plan for an assignment before you dive headfirst into something you didn’t plan out. Make sure the plan you have is a plan that can change as your project changes; if the project isn’t going completely according to plan, try and tweak your plans to fit what you have for your project.

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Trivia and Jokes were Compiled By: Luke Stukus, Chloe Puza,

& Taniya Reft

January 4th is National Trivia Day, so we decided to give you some facts that might impress tour friends! o DID YOU KNOW: Bubble wrap was

originally intended to be used as 3D wallpaper.

o COOL FACT: The designer of the current

US flag was 17 at the time, and created it for a high school project. He got a B-.

o NEAT-O: Nutella was invented during

WWII, when an Italian pastry maker mixed hazelnuts into chocolate to extend his chocolate supply.

o FAR OUT: A typical cloud weighs about

1.1 million pounds. o WHAT?!?: Oxford University is older

than the Aztec Empire.

July 1st is International Joke Day, so here are a few jokes to store in your pocket until then.

Q: Where do polar bears store their money? A: In snowbanks.

Q: Why was the horse so happy? A: He lived in a stable environment. Q: What happens when a frog’s car breaks down? A: It gets toad. Q: My friend said that an onion is the only food that will make you cry. A: So, I threw a coconut at his face.

Q: What did the duck say when she bought lipstick? A: Put it on my bill

Now that’s punny!

TRIVIA & JOKES

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Origami Fox Craft By: Abby Campbell

Jump into the fall season by making fun fall crafts! Below are directions for making an origami fox.

1. Start with a square piece of paper. 2. Fold it in half diagonally. You’ll get a triangle.

3. Fold the triangle in half – as shown on the third image above. 4. Unfold. 5. Grab the right (or left) corner of the triangle and fold it towards the center corner. 6. Do the same with the left (or right) corner. 7. Flip it around.

8. Fold the square in half as shown in the 7th and 8th image above. 9. Almost there! 10. Make sure your triangle is positioned as the one in the first photo above – the 6 layers side on facing to the left. 11. & 12. Fold inwards (all layers) as shown on the picture. 13. Unfold the first 3 layers. 14. Push down the middle “two” layers as shown on the picture above – look it’s a fox head! 15. You can leave it as it is, or you can make the fox legs pointy by folding in the legs (diagonally). You can also fold the tail inwards to make the fox more stable. Now you have an origami fox!

THE CREATIVE CORNER

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FALL RECIPIES COMPILIED BY:

Vanilla Oreo Turkeys

What you will need 1. A pack of vanilla Oreos and a pack

of mini vanilla Oreos. 2. A very small amount of black icing 3. A bag of candy corn Steps to making 1. Take your vanilla Oreo and lay it

down flat. Take a little bit of your black icing and stick your mini Oreo on and aline the edges of the bottom of the two Oreos.

2. Now take candy corn and stick it in the filling of the normal size Oreo to make it look like feathers on the tail.

3. Put a little dot of black icing in the middle of the small Oreo, place a candy corn on the dot if icing and make sure it sticks. Then you have the turkey's nose.

4. Finally, put two black dots on your turkeys head right above the nose add chocolate chips to make your eyes.

5. Now you have your turkey! Make as many as you want and serve them to your friends.

Acorns What you will need:

1. 50 mini chocolate chips 2. 50 Vanilla Wafer Cookies 3. 50 milk chocolate Hershey Kisses 4. ½ cup of semisweet chocolate chips

Steps to making:

1. Melt the semisweet chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds, or until thoroughly melted.

2. Then put the melted chocolates into a plastic sandwich bag, and cut one corner off.

3. Next, squeeze the chocolate onto the back of a vanilla wafer cookie, and immediately put a Hershey kiss on top. Repeat for each acorn.

4. Then, set all the acorns on a prepared baking sheet and freeze the “acorns” for 5 minutes.

5. Once taken out, put a little dot of the melted semisweet chocolates on top of the wafer and continue to put on a mini chocolate chip. Again, repeat for each treat.

6. After, set them back into the freezer to freeze for 5 minutes.

7. Finally, take the tasty treats out of the freezer and enjoy!

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Candy Corn Rice Krispy Treats For the yellow ring:

4 ½ cups of rice Krispy cereal, 5 cups of mini marshmallows, 3 tablespoons of butter. Yellow food coloring.

For the orange ring:

2 ¾ cups of rice Krispy cereal, 3 ½ cups of mini marshmallows, 2 tablespoons of butter. Orange food coloring.

For the white center:

2 cups of cereal, 2 ½ cups of mini marshmallows, 2 tablespoons of butter.

1. Microwave butter and

marshmallows together for each ring.

2. Add melted butter and marshmallows to the amount of Rice Krispies. Work quickly for the mixture get hard if you work slowly.

3. For yellow and orange rings add food coloring.

4. Form the colors into rings around a pan and cut into triangles.

5. Enjoy!

MID-Knight News

Staff

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Julia Shavel

ASSISTANT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:

Natalie Bowman

COPY EDITOR: Abby Campbell

NEWS EDITOR:

Taniya Reft-Brown

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR: Chloe Puza

REPORTERS:

Giavanna Bokin, Sadie Coles, Rylie Ferroe, Alana Fidei,

Maria Janiga, Carlee Johnson, Julianne Kellar, Hope Kenney,

Laci Kingerski, Gavin McCuean, Valin Morrison, Anna O’Connor,

Katie Sanner, Luke Stukus, Kali Walkosak, Izabella Watkins,

Miranda Widmaier, & Abby Wisniewski

FACULTY SPONSOR: Ms. Sasso