Kid's Corner

On March 31, the City of Lakewood’s H2O (Help to Others) program will transform the Women’s Pavilion at Lakewood Park into a seasonal, Springtime wonderland and serve a breakfast featuring pancakes, sausage, fruit, and beverages with the Easter Bunny!

Keepsake photos with the Bunny will be available for $5 – or you can pose with the Bunny for free if you bring your own camera. Raffle tickets will be sold for the opportunity to win themed gift baskets donated from local businesses.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be the son of Lion and Blue business owners? Well, I’ll tell you all about it. Lion and Blue is like my second home, I’ve spent probably a quarter of my life there. This is good and bad.

The good thing is that I have experienced a lot of interactions with customers and employees. This is good because it’s good to interact with new people. It’s also given me an opportunity to make new friends. One of my friends came to the store and he got to go in the back of the store and behind the counter and he said, “It’s so cool to be your friend and be able to go back here.” Another reason is that I can learn stuff that kids usually don’t learn. I’ve learned how to do the sales tax, marketing, and own a business. Sales tax is the sub total times whatever the government wants, but lately it’s been $0.0775. My mom showed me how to market. She has an ad in the Lakewood Observer every two weeks. I don’t intend to run Lion and Blue when I am older. I am going to be a billionaire but these skills will help a lot. 

The Iberian Lynx ( Felis pardina ) is a solitary wildcat with tufted ears and a spotted coat. It lives in southwestern Europe, and it’s diet consists of rabbits, fawns, ducks and other small animals. Due to loss of habitat and prey the species has become endangered. In fact it may be the first feline to go extinct since 2,000 years ago. The future looks dim for the Iberian Lynx, but the species may pull through. Only time will tell.

The Lakewood Early Childhood PTA is hosting an Open House in conjunction with our monthly Children’s Party on Friday, September 16 from 6 -8 p.m. at Harrison Elementary. We will kicking off the school year and football season with a pint sized tailgating party! We will have training camps for our future football players and cheerleaders, crafts and other activities. And, of course, no tailgating party is complete without food!

In a galaxy far far away, a world full of lightsabers and Jedis awaits you, you just need to know the right place to go. I go to Lakewood Public Library very often and love it there. They always have something to offer. Recently I was part of a role playing game with the theme of Star Wars that met in the library's MultiPurpose Room. I had a blast.

On the first day I made a lightsaber and was put into a team. The goal here was to win enough points at the end of the session. Every time we met (once a week)  we did an activity whether it be a making a lightsaber exercise with our group, or a scavenger hunt inside the library, or maybe trivia about Star Wars.

Morning announcements have come a long way. When you were in school, maybe your teacher told you the morning announcements, or maybe you heard them over the P.A. system. Nowadays, at Horace Mann Elementary, we are fortunate enough to be able to watch them on our Promethean Boards in our classrooms each morning, courtesy of our News Crew.

The Black-footed ferret is a small North American mammal, that lives on prairies and grasslands. It is closely related to the steppe polecat, and belongs to the same family as weasels, minks, polecats, martens, otters and badgers. They are 18 to 24 inches long and weigh up to 2 ½ pounds. They have white or cream colored coats with patches of dark brown.

Truth in Journalism reporting by Liam Gamez, Sophia Mack, and Sophia Nanni

It was an exciting day in Mr. Spooner’s class On Friday, March 18th, unlike any other day, his morning group was there also. There were people who came in his class to read the book "Nothing but the Truth." The students asked a wide range of questions based on truth in journalism and the panelists’ particular occupations. That is why the people came to the discussion. The people that came to answer our questions were Mr. Gill from Scene Magazine , Mr. O’Bryan and Ms. Voinovich from the Lakewood Observer, Doctor Hammel from Ursuline College, Mr. Mulready from Cool Cleveland.com, and Mrs. Neff and Mr. Neff from the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

When the war began in 2003, it changed many lives, especially one Kurdish girl’s. The students in Mr. Spooner’s social studies class had a Skype video conference with Ms. Maria, a Kurdish lady that now works for the United States State Department as an interpreter. Her story of survival is inspiring.

We had this opportunity with Ms. Maria because she works with Lt. Demro (who we Skyped with a few weeks ago).  She knows many languages and practices Kurdish religious ceremonies. Some questions we asked her were about how her troubled childhood has affected her current life, how she felt going through the many hard times, and about her interesting culture. We felt this Skype video conference really tied into our social studies class and helped us to learn a lot about what the United States does for people around the world.

Earlier in her childhood, Ms. Maria’s family fled to the desert to escape Sadam Hussein’s regime. He was showing every educated person that could stand up to him that he was in control. From where she was hiding in the desert it was an hour to the nearest town. Her father did not work, so the quality of their financial state dropped quickly. Her family had to live in the desert for three years. She said that her faith was what kept going.

On March 1. 2011 Mr. Spooner’s social studies class from Harding Middle School had a visit with Dr. Ellen Posman, a world religions professor at Baldwin-Wallace College. Mr. Spooner’s class recently conducted a study on five of the world’s religions; Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. Each student researched all of the religions, and then chose one to go deeper with. Together in groups of five, they created a digital encyclopedia incorporating the five religions they became masters on.

Dr. Posman helped fill in the blanks with the information the students did not find. She presented a PowerPoint with maps and pictures of the Holy places in each religion. She also showed us pictures of her travels abroad.

Her presentation was followed by a question and answer session where each student could ask Dr. Posman a question they had on the religion they studied further.

Here are some thoughts from students about Dr. Posman’s visit:

Was having a professor come into your class a good way of learning? Why?

"The Day I Went To Lakewood Park" by Jordan Fougerousse

I went to the park with my aunt. While we were there we played tag in the park. We also played football and swung on the swings.

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"I'm A Legomaniac" by Quinn Pauly

Did you know there are lots of things you can build with Legos?

Some things that I have made are ships that can fly or float, such as spaceships and boats. I have also made houses, cars and people. But, my favorite things to build with are my Star Wars ships and figures. I have built many kinds of Star Wars things, like the Hoth Snowman, Boba Fett, Slave One and General Grievous' Starfighter.

There are so many other things you or I can build from Legos. All you have to do is use your imagination.

Believe me... It's fun!

It seems as though whenever a new dinosaur is discovered it’s almost always unique. Whether it’s bucktoothed, feathered, stocky, tiny, or humpbacked they are all unique, but one run of the mill reptile could be one of the greatest palentological finds since Sue the T- rex.

Meet plain Jane Eodromaeus, a 4 foot long, 10 to 15 pound Triassic dinosaur. The reason Paul Sereno is so excited about plain Jane is because Eodromaeus could be the ancestor of all dinosaurs. Paul Sereno is a paleontologist at the University of Chicago and is also the man who discovered Eodromaeus in Ischigualatso, Argentina.

Eodromaeus is also closely related to Eoraptor and T-rex. So as you can see Eodromaeus deserves the title as Fossil Find of 2011.

Preschool parents, church volunteers, and neighboring businesses are coming together again this year to create a little holiday magic and good cheer in Lakewood at Calvary Preschool. Breakfast With Santa will take place on Saturday, December 4, between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Calvary United Methodist Church (16305 Hilliard Road).