Selected News

According to the Online Field Guide, a group of jaguars is called a prowl. The following stories were written by Jag News students. At times, this website publishes a few shorter stories together as The Prowl.

Working on Motorcycles

I've been around and working on motorcycles as far back as when I was 3 years old. When I was young, the first place I went was the Harley Davidson dealership in Wasilla, Alaska. One question I get asked alot is, what's it like working on motorcycles? I think it's a good learning experience because you never know what could happen while you're out riding. All of the bikes I work on are Harley Davidsons because thats all I've ever learned. I own twelve motorcycles personally. They are a 2000 matte black Fat Boy, a 2003 white Road King police bike -- fun fact it was never supposed to be in civilian ownership -- and my favorite, a red and white 1986 Sporster Sidewinder, aka The Ghost by harley enthusiasts -- fun fact, it is a 1 of 10 ever made and 1 of 6 left in the world. It is really fun working on them, and I recommend it to everyone. My dad and I sometimes spend all day either in the shop or riding my motorcycle. It is honestly one of the best things to do.

Reporting by Tazio G., Editing by Mr. Flesher

Practicing Landings in the Library

Check out this video of Janitell seventh grader, Dakota, practicing landings with a flight simulator. The flight simulator is super realistic, with rudder pedals, a yoke, a throttle, flaps, and magnets.

Space News

NASA astronomers have discovered a new exoplanet called LP 791-18d. The planet is roughly the size of Earth and blanketed by active volcanoes. In some ways it is similar to Earth 3 ½ billion years ago, but there are also differences. Nonetheless, scientists believe that the conditions could be conducive to the presence of water and possibly life.

LP 791-18d is located about 90 light years away from Earth. It is one of three planets that orbits a red dwarf star. The volcanic planet is tidally locked to its star. This means that it doesn't have a day and night cycle like Earth. One side is extremely hot, and the night side is probably quite cool. Although water could not probably exist on the dayside in liquid form, scientists believe that the night side could have liquid water or ice. 

This planet is interesting to NASA astrobiologists because it may be able to answer a persistent question about life in space. Scientists long ago determined that Life as we know it depends on the presence of water, but many scientists believe that tectonic or volcanic activity is also necessary for living organisms to develop. Therefore Planet LP 791-18d could be the missing clue that astrobiologists need to determine how life begins. The volcanic planet is sure to be studied extensively in the years to come. But one of the first things they should do is rename the planet "Mustafar." 

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-s-spitzer-tess-find-potentially-volcano-covered-earth-size-world 

Reporting by Briana M., Editing by Mr. Flesher

The Salinity of the Ocean

Did you know Nasa launched an Aquarius Mission in 2008? They were trying to explore the salinity of the ocean from space. According to the website Ocean Exploration, “Historically, salinity measurements have been difficult to make in situ and so our knowledge of the spatial and temporal variability of ocean salinity is quite poor. Using microwave remote-sensing technology Aquarius will "reveal" for the first time the detailed patterns of salinity at the surface of the ocean.” Nasa advanced a lot with understanding the ocean back in 2008, and Nasa may use that research for stuff in the future. It may even help with further research for space exploration or if they ever decide to do more research on the sea/ocean.

https://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/ocean-exploration

Reporting by Zaiden C., Editing by Mr. Flesher

How ADHD Works

Hello again! It is Julia bringing news on how ADHD works. I have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), but in my opinion, I am not that different. Though I am not an adult, sometimes I “find it difficult to focus and prioritize, leading to missed deadlines and forgotten meetings or social plans. The inability to control impulses can range from impatience waiting in line or driving in traffic to mood swings and outbursts of anger.” Sometimes my attitude can be stronger than others, and I can lash out in anger and say mean things to others when insulted. It all depends on my mood; so if I am or look unhappy, leave me alone. 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/adult-adhd/symptoms-causes/syc-20350878#:~:text=Adults%20with%20ADHD%20may%20find,swings%20and%20outbursts%20of%20anger.

Reporting by Julia C., Editing by Mr. Flesher

How I Learned to Play Magic

During 2023’s GameCon at my school, I was curious to learn more about how to play Magic the Gathering. During the time I was hanging out with my friends who knew how to play the game, I wanted to learn more about it so I could play and compete in the tournament. Soon afterward, I asked my teacher, Mr. Flesher, how to play Magic the Gathering, and he showed me to a volunteer who knew how to play the game and showed me how it works. In awe, I played another game with friends who wanted to see how it works. During the game, there was tension between a few of the players, and the competitive side of it began. I ended up close to winning, but at a minor loss. The volunteer gave me a starter ninja deck, and I looked to my friends in the future for how I could use it more wisely.

Reporting by Julia C., Editing by Mr. Flesher

Hopes and Fears for High School

What are your hopes and fears for high school? I get asked this all the time and still struggle to find an answer. However, over time I relized my biggest hope is the that the sports are as good as Mesa makes it sound. Sports have been a huge part of my life ever since I could walk, and I tend to get really competitive, so I hope that Mesa is just as determined. On the other hand, my biggest fear is missed opportunities. If I am overly concerned with academics, for example, I will never get the chance to excel at sports and vice versa. I just am a little scared I will loose opportunities that could have been easy to achieve. I am also worried about time management. For example, if I focus on both academics and sports, will I even have enough time? The main thing is, though, that it's just another school with more classes, so there should be nothing to worry about. Now what are YOUR hopes and fear for high school? Thats all for this update see you again Jags!

Reporting by Brooke B., Editing by Mr. Flesher

How Negative Things Can Affect a child

A child's mind is complicated from constantly changing and adapting; so many colorful emotions can fill it along with negative ones, but the thing is if even just one of the negative emotions hits a child's mind, it can impact them forever. For instance, let's say the child doesn't get the resources needed to be a child, like playtime, family time, friends, toys, etc. These traumatic incidents can cause a child to go down a spiral of emotions. For example, if you don't tend to a child's needs and cares, they are liable to not take accountability for future things. The child's mind is way more different than your average adult. For instance, adults surround themselves with work, bills, gas, and so on. As the child is affected by these memories, they are slowly deteriorating. The adult the child is to become, for instance, can fall into drug addiction, alcohol abuse and much more that I will not be getting into right now.

More importantly, I would like to bring up the subject of 1. A child going silent and 2. How you can help your child. What does it mean for your child to go silent? This can be multiple things so i'll go ahead and explain the main reason. The main reason for a child to stop talking is abuse, lack of parental comfort, or just comfort in general, and the adult telling the child that “you don't have a say in anything”. This can affect a child in many ways that he or she should never have to go through. If your child stops talking for long periods of time, you should most likely talk to your child or at least try to talk about what's going on. 

This leads me to reason 2 -- helping your child. This is a pretty difficult task, believe it or not. Helping your child can be difficult because if your child doesn't want to talk, try finding things that you and your child enjoy doing like hiking or cooking. By doing these with your child, he or she might be willing to open up more to you, and while you bond you can help them find the root of the problem. Not all problems are fixable, as I said before. Traumatic experiences at a young age are most likely going to have a life-long effect on the young mind. They can and will most likely affect their life and will affect their children. 

Reporting by Sophia B., Editing by Mr. Flesher

Mrs. Spillers is a Favorite!

Ms.Spillers is my favorite teacher because she always comes up with fun projects. She also teaches different fun subjects, like the “Dipping into Disney” class and her last semester class, “The Magic of Harry Potter.” She got us thinking more about the history of Disney and the elements of the movies, like the movie shots and how they are made. She's one of the teachers that actually cares about their students. For example, she lets us keep our notebooks in her room so they stay safe. 

Reporting by Cailyn W., Editing by Mr. Flesher

Project Lead the Way

Do you have PLTW? PLTW (project lead the way) is a program that helps people learn to code, design and model, and more. I have had 3 in total PLTW classes, and I recommend you to apply for at least one class. Having Design and Modeling now, it is cool to use a period to have fun making geodesic domes, skimmers, balloon cars, and a prototype for a cerebral palsy patient with foot problems. This can help your designing, building, and making friends. Go to the Janitell website to look at it more and see if you can apply to it next year. There are many advantages to it.

Reporting by Julia C., Editing by Mr. Flesher

 

All images used in this post are used according to Creative Commons licenses. The PLTW image is used only for educational, not for profit purposes. The image of LP 791-18d was created with the assistance of Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/