The Grand Canyon National Park

Brandon Lillie

The park covers 1,218,375 miles. There are at least 300 kinds of birds in the canyon. Also, there are 120 different kinds of animals in the park. One animal is the pink Grand Canyon rattlesnake. About 4 million people visit the Grand Canyon each year.

The Hoover Dam

Brenen Meister & Clinton Osborn

The Hoover Dam was built to control floods, provide for storage, delivery of water, hydroelectric power, and irrigation. The dam is part of the Boulder Canyon project involving the dam electric power plant and a reservoir, Lake Mead. This reservoir can store about 10,000,000,000,000 gallons of water. The concrete base of the dam is 660 feet thick.

The Alamo

Cari Howard & Cody Brandt

The Alamo took place in San Antonio, Texas. The Alamo is a historic structure that stands in the center of San Antonio. A famous battle was fought there in March, 1836, during the war for Texan independence. Texas had 189 soldiers, including the heroes James Bowie and Davy Crockett.

Pen Pals

Colin Grenn & Andrea Kelly

We have pen pals from Washington, Crystal Lake, and Puerto Rico. We have lots of letters back from our pen pals. Once we got a coconut from Puerto Rico. When we opened the coconut, it was rotten! Colin's pen pals are Eric, Kaly, and Jim. Andrea's pen pals are Natasa, Sarah, and Jamie.

Spring Time

Jeremy LaRue & Danielle Olson

During spring there are many things to do such as water and field activities. In Onekama you can do the following: soccer, biking, rollerblading, horseback riding, boating, fishing, gardening, and picking up litter along the highways. Hope you have fun this spring doing some of these things.

Summer Vacation

Mandi Gilman & John Yonkers

We have about 3 months of vacation. In the summer it is usually very warm. People can go swimming, riding bikes, and rollerblading. John is going camping at Tippy Dam. Mandi is going to play softball and her mom is the coach of the team. School will start again in September.

The New Playground

Kayla Bates & Dustin Bosscher

The new playground should be really nice. We'll have glass backboards for the basketball hoops. Mr. Hughes showed us a picture of the new playground. The bulldozers are working now to flatten the hill. We can hear them outside. The playground should be done by the beginning of next school year. We can't wait!

The Trail of Tears

Erin Wagoner & Chelsea Bromley

The Trail of Tears was the end of the Cherokee's way of life. In 1828, gold was found on the Cherokee land. The White people forced the Cherokee Indians off their land. Seven thousand troops marched 14,000 Cherokee onto the Trail of Tears. About 4,000 Cherokee Indians died before the trail ended. The Cherokee ended up in what is now called Oklahoma.

The Painted Desert

Joleen Dalke

The Painted Desert is a dry region covering 43,020 acres which stretches 150 miles across the northeastern part of Arizona. It starts at the head of Marble Canyon and runs southeast along the Colorado River for 100 miles. The climate there is very dry and hot with little plant life. The only creatures that are seen occasionally are scorpions and snakes. The history of the Painted Desert goes back 200 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the forest of conifers.

The Phoenix Bird

Nate Milarch

The Phoenix bird symbolizes immortality and resurrection, life after death. In ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology, it's associated with the sun god. Phoenix, Arizona is known as the city of the sun and and uses the Phoenix bird as its city's symbol. When the bird feels its death is near, it will build a nest of aromatic wood and set it on fire. Then the bird will be consumed in the flames. The Phoenix bird can be found in the city of Phoenix.

Projects

Nichole Baranek & Curtiss O'Rorke Stedman

We made Social Studies projects in school. Students had certain states to choose from. Nichole chose Colorado. Curtiss chose Nevada because he went there for spring break. Nichole made a map of Colorado. Curtiss made a slot machine. These were physical construction projects that were fun to do.

Lewis and Clark

Tim Fink and Matt Somero

In the 1800s, people in the east didn't know anything about the Rocky Mountains. Was it possible to take a wagon through the mountains? President Thomas Jefferson sent two former army officers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, with a small group of men to find out if they could. This expedition was successful and opened new routes to travel west.

The Alamo

Luke Gjestrum

The Alamo began February 23,1836 and ended March 6. Davy Crockett, James Bowey, and Travis Williams all fought at the Alamo. Texas wanted their independence from Mexico. One hundred eighty-nine Texans fought with 4,000 soldiers from Mexico. On April 21, 1836 General Sam Houston and 800 volunteers surprised the Mexican troops while they were napping. Texas soldiers took over the troops and the state became free.

Farming and Ranching

Leah Edmondson

Many people in the Mountain states are farmers. Even more people are ranchers. The cattle graze on a land that is too dry and too steep for crops. Raising beef cattle, sheep, and dairy cows is important in the Mountain states. The sheep graze on land that is too steep for cattle. Most of the wheat grown in the Mountain states come from Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. Wheat is most important crop in the Mountain states. It grows well on the dry lands of the Great Plains.

The Yucca Plant

Chelsie Edens & Cheyenne Mihalik

Yuccas can grow anywhere in the west. The sprout can grow really high. It's an evergreen and doesn't shed. Yucca petals are eaten raw. This plant is very useful. It can be made into soap. Yucca is a name of a group of shrubs or trees of the Agavaceae family.

Sam Houston

Amber Johnson

Sam Houston's life was different from most people. Most people grow up with parents, but he grew up with the Indians. He did not cut himself off from his family completely. He returned whenever he wanted a favor from them. Sam married but soon after he was separated from his wife. The reasons for this personal tragedy have never been revealed. Houston sank into such depths that sometimes he was known as the "Big Drunk." In spite of this, he helped prevent an Indian war, and became a citizen of the Cherokee.

Field Day

Emily Bowman & Darrel Hartman

Field Day is usually during the last week of school. All good students K-6 can participate. The Lions Club has a food stand with popcorn, hot dogs, and pop. There are activities like water balloon fights, the parachute, tug of war, the egg toss, frisbee golf, the penny hunt, and the three legged race. We think Field Day is very fun.

The Body Comedian

Christopher Peplinski & Jessica Kalasz

We had a comedian come to our school. His name was O.J. He could use his body to make people laugh. He could change himself into a nerd boy and, also, talk like a nerd. O.J. pretended he was in ballet. He made a parametric wall. He did 2 death defying acts using 3 girls and 3 boys. In his message about drugs, he and his wife had counted how many people they knew that had died from drug related incidents and came up with a total of 24. Please say "no" to drugs!

Spring Break

Jason Marble & Katie Revolt

On spring break we had one whole week off! It was from the 4th -12th of April. Jason went to Washington D.C. and Virginia. In D.C. Jason saw a lot of the monuments and museums. At the museums he saw dinosaurs and other interesting animals. In Virginia, Jason visited his aunt and uncle. Katie went to her mom's for the week. They had 5 bonfires and her brother John's dog bothered her cats. Did you have a nice break?

Track

Emily Elsholz & Ryan Brown

Emily is a runner and Ryan is a runner and polevolter. Last year Emily was the first girl to run in the President's Physical Fitness Program. Ryan volted 5'11" last year. He is going for 6'4" this year. Ryan's mom, Mrs. Brown, is the Onekama girls' track coach.

The Sound of Music

Tyler Miller

The Onekama School play was the "The Sound of Music" this spring. The main characters were Maria, Captain, the Nuns, and the 7 children. The Captain and Maria got married. During WWII, the Von Trapp family escaped from the Nazis in Austria.

Banana Spilt Party

Kelsey Voorheis & Joel Stahl

In March we earned more than 2400 reading points. We had a banana spilt party on Friday, April 3. The P.T.O. volunteers gave us a bowl of ice cream and some toppings like bananas, sprinkles, and chocolate syrup. It was fun because we got to skip a little bite of schoolwork. The teachers had fun, too.

Football

Tara Lyman & Kris Hoffman

On Monday and Wednesday we go outside for lunch recess. We play football sometimes. The boys can't tackle the girls, but the girls can tackle the boys. Instead the boys tag the girls. Football is one of the 4th grade's favorite sports. On warm days Mrs. Brown takes us outside and we play football.

Davy Crockett

Joey Mitchell & Jordan Kozelka

Davy Crockett was born in a cabin on the banks of the Nolichucky River, near the Limestone Creek in Tennessee, August 17, 1786. He joined a group of 139 men at the Alamo. He died on March 6th, 1836 at the Alamo. He is buried near the site of his birth near Limestone, Tennessee.

The Yucca Plant

Rosa Diaz

Yucca is the name of a group of shrubs or trees of the Agavaceae family. The yucca plant has a striking appearance. It is an evergreen plant and does not shed its leaves each year. Some yucca plants have a short stem and others have tall, woody or scaly trunks. The yucca plant has many uses.

Fourth Grade Highlights

Curtis Gauthier & Jake Zielinski

We worked very hard in Fourth Grade. In math we learned about fractions from Mrs. Brown. In art class we made papier-mache masks. In Mrs. Campbell's Social Studies class we had a Michigan breakfast in the cafeteria. We celebrated Michigan's birthday with pancakes, sausage, french toast, maple syrup, and apple juice. Mr. and Mrs. Grenn cooked the breakfast for us. Fourth Grade was fun!

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