Another Swing from Mother Nature

Last week, communities in New York and New Jersey were hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. Many people were left homeless after the storm, while others are still without power and heat.

But on Wednesday, another storm took aim at the east coast.

Winter Storm Athena moved into the same parts of New York and Jersey still recovering from Sandy. Athena brought with it very cold temperatures, heavy rains, lots of snow, and strong winds. The National Weather Service predicts Athena will also cause a 2-4-foot storm surge. This will cause moderate flooding in areas who have yet to dry out from the last storm.

For the rest of the story, visit the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps website.

—Kid Reporter William Russell

Photo: Snow covers debris piles as flood waters start to return to neighborhoods in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, on Wednesday November 7, 2012, as a nor'easter hits. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry) 

Iowans ready for the election to be over

All across the nation today, people over the age of 18 voted for the next President. Many people in Iowa voted at local centers and elementary schools. Everyone had different opinions on this years’ election along with different thoughts throughout the whole election year.

People throughout America had their own thoughts about the tone of this year’s election. Calvin Myles said the tone of the election was more hostile then year’s before. Military Officer Lopez told Scholastic News, “This year there was a lot more bickering then past years. They seemed to dig at each other.”

A lot of voters felt the same way about the tone of the election and hope the 2016 election will be a cleaner fight. Kristen Posey agreed with this statement. “This year wasn’t a good political environment and I’m ready for it to be over,” she told Scholastic.

Along with how people thought of the tone of the election, they also had many different thoughts throughout the campaign about who they supported. James Carly claims he had different opinions throughout this year. He said he would go back and forth with the candidate he wanted, like many other people have done this year. Also many people were frustrated with how much the candidates fought this year. Calvin Myles told Scholastic, “The candidates really needed to work together more instead of fighting the whole time. That would have made it less hostile.”

Along with the excitement of being able to finally vote, many of the voters are excited for the election to be over. “I’m ready for the ads and campaigns to be over,” said Dorothy Clauss. “There have been played a lot that can get on your nerves.”

With the Presidential election coming to a close, people all across the nation are waiting to see who will be the next President. They are waiting to see who can help change America.

—Kid Reporter Alysa Goethe

Battle of the Books

Battle of the Books has been going on for years. It is a test with teams from each school who try to answer questions from a list of Iowa Children’s Choice Award books. Iowa Children’s Choice Award (ICCA) books are books that are popular children’s stories. Every year, kids from all over Iowa get to vote on a selection of books they like the best if they read at least two on the list.

There are three rounds. The first round is a school round. Teams are made up of 3 students, and each school can have as many teams as students that are interested. The teams from that school go against each other having a paper and pencil test. Only 5th and 6th graders are allowed to be on a team. The teacher or librarian then grades them and whoever gets the highest score moves on to the next round to represent their school.

The second round is a district round. The teams from the schools in the district are at a table. They ask a question to table 1, then 2 and so on. If one of the tables gets it wrong the next table can try and steal. If you get it wrong you do not lose points. The team that wins will represent the district and go against 3 other districts. The rules are the same as the district competition. The team that wins will get a trophy or medal. 

I was lucky to take part in this. I was on a team with two other students. I go to Mark Twain Elementary. I did a paper pencil test with nine other teams. My team and I scored the highest on the test, so we went up against other Bettendorf Schools, including the Bettendorf Middle School 6th graders. 

Going against the other Bettendorf schools in the district was an amazing experience. It was hard, though, because we went against the Bettendorf Middle School 6th graders. My team was winning and the Middle School students were in second place. So, my team and the Middle school team did a last and final round where it was only our teams with 10 questions each. We both had to start back down at zero. We were really close, but the Middle School team won. When they went on to the battle with other district winners they came in first. Now there is a trophy in the public library for the Middle School students.

Our teacher said we must have done a good job if we got close to winning against them. Our librarian awarded us with medals at the end of the year assembly, along with the second place team just from our school. It was a great experience. I can’t wait to do it again next year!

—Kid Reporter Alysa Goethe

Photo: Kid Reporter Alysa Goethe, along with Willow Miller and Malorie Garza, at the Battle of the Books. (Courtesy Alysa Goethe)

My day in the press box

I got to see President Obama talk at the Alcoa factory on June 28, 2011. It was so exciting to see him talk. It was not the first time I got to go to one of his events. About a year ago, I got to go see him in Iowa City and talk about the Health Care Reform Bill. But this was just as exciting. I was the only kid in the press box, so everyone was helping me out and being really friendly. They showed me where to go what to do after the speech. 

A lot of the reporters wanted to know who I was and who I reported for. They also asked my mom some of the same questions they asked me to see how she felt. About 4 or 5 different people wanted to interview me. I saw Marcia Lens from KWQC TV 6 News and went up to ask her if she had any advice for kids like me who wanted to write. When she finished she asked if she could interview me on camera. At 10 o’clock I was on the news. (My interview starts at the 42-minute mark of the video.) It was so exciting to see myself on there. Also, I found out that I was in multiple newspapers and I almost got interviewed on the radio.
It was a very exciting day!

—Kid Reporter Alysa Goethe

Photo: Kid Reporter Alysa Goethe interviews Iowa governor Terry Branstad at the Alcoa plant where President Barack Obama spoke about the economy. (Courtesy Alysa Goethe)

Iowa's Race for the Governor

As the weather gets colder in Iowa, the gubernatorial election is heating up. 

Current Governor Chet Culver is running against former Governor Terry Branstad, who was Governor from 1983-1999. Culver is a Democrat while Branstad is a Republican. Just hours before election day, polls show that former Governor Branstad is leading Governor Culver by 12 points. Both candidates are confident that the voters will turn out strong for their cause. But who will win?

Culver has been Governor since 2006. This is his first term. On October 12, Governor Culver came to Davenport to talk about what he will do if he is elected as governor again.

"The future of Iowa is the most important issue in this race by fighting to make Iowa the renewable energy capital of the United States," Governor Culver told the Scholastic Kids Press Corps. Right now Iowa is building a smart grid in order to be able to export that power to other areas.

Terry Branstad was governor for 13 years and was Iowa's longest serving governor. Governor Branstad decided to run again because he felt that Iowa needed to get back on track. He feels that with his experience and track record, he is the person for the job. The most important issue to Governor Branstad is that Iowa needs more jobs and a boost for our economy.

"Iowa has the highest level of unemployment we've had in the past 24 years," Branstad told the Scholastic Kids Press Corps. "There's a lot of people out there right now that can't find work." 

He also feels that we need to improve education here in Iowa.

"Iowa used to be near the top of the list in leading education. Now we are somewhere in the middle," Branstad said at the Davenport Municipal Airport.

The one concern people seem to have in common this election is the economy and jobs. With the unemployment rate high, voters want to see change.

"The economy is not going well. I would like to see that change," Jeff Terronez, a lifelong Democrat, told Scholastic.

Jamie VanFossen is a Republican and a former Iowa State Representative from Davenport. He feels that the economy is also a major issue in this election. He would like to see more jobs become available, especially for those who are just finishing college. "The economy needs to be the main priority in everyone's mind," VanFossen said. 

Whatever the outcome of this election, voters from both parties feel that this election will be a reflection on how the people feel about the job that President Obama is doing.

                                                                                                              —Kid Reporter Alysa Goethe

Photos: (top) Kid Reporter Alysa Goethe with Iowa Governor Chet Culver, (bottom) Kid Reporter Alysa Goethe with former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad. (Photos courtesy Alysa Goethe)

One Busy Summer!

From plays to play ball, this summer had it all.

It was very busy this summer. I was in a musical, I took swim lessons, I played softball, and I was in a pageant. It was a very, VERY busy summer!

For two months I rehearsed for the musical Annie. More than 160 girls auditioned to be one of 33 orphans in the ensemble. It was so fun to be in Annie. Every night we performed we got a standing ovation. It was a great experience!

Another great thing about summer is swimming. I took swim lessons at one of our local high schools. I was in level 4. At the end of the day we would go off the diving board in the deep end. On the last day of swim lessons all we did was play games and do relay races. The best part is that I passed level 4. So next year I will be in level 5!

Another way to be active over the summer is play sports. I was on a softball team. This was my first year when the kids get to pitch. My dad was coach. It was a bad season for softball because we had so much rain, but we still got to play some and we had a great time.

On August 7, I was in the Miss Scott County pageant. There are four different age categories; Little Miss, Junior Miss, Miss Outstanding Teen, and Miss Scott County. I was in the Junior Miss category.

This was the first pageant I have ever been in. The cool thing is that I won! I am the new Junior Miss Scott County! I will get to be in a lot of pictures and parades. It is so exciting!

Summer is great and a great way to try new things. You never know what’s going to happen until you try!

—Alysa Goethe

PHOTOS: (TOP) Kid Reporter Alysa Goethe as an orphan in a production of the musical Annie. (BOTTOM) Alysa crowned as the new Junior Miss Scott County in Iowa. (Photos Courtesy Alysa Goethe)

Go Green Lights!

Change a light, change the world with CFL.

My family decided to go green. We took out all of our incandescent light bulbs and replaced them with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs)—every bulb in the house!

Because we did that we are saving money, but more importantly we are helping save the planet.

CFLs are four times more efficient then normal bulbs and last 10 times longer, according to energystar.gov. If everyone in the U.S. started using CFLs we could retire 90 average power plants, according to the web site, which is a joint site with the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. The site has lots of cool ways to save energy in your home!

According to energystar.gov's statistics, if everyone in the U.S. started using CFLs we could save enough energy to light 3 million houses for a year. It would also prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas from being released into the environment each year. That's the equivalent of the emissions from about 800,000 automobiles.

CFL lights cost more then normal light bulbs, but they last longer. That's why my family decided to go green by replacing all our bulbs with more energy efficient CFLs!

What is your family doing to go green for Earth Day? What about your school? Send us your stories and tips on how to help save the planet. Use the comment box below!

—Alysa Goethe

PHOTO: Alysa Goethe holds an incandescent bulb (round) in her right hand and a CFL (curly) in her left . (Photo Courtesy Alysa Goethe)