Chapter 1

Celebrations

This is the first edition of the new e-magazine written and edited by a large group of Gamble Rogers Middle School students in grades 6-8. We determined it would be best published as an .epub document. It can be opened on Apple iBooks, Overdrive, or Adobe Digital Editor. We wanted to make this publication an e-magazine in order to provide a free magazine to our school community. We wanted to give everyone a chance to read it on their phones, tablets, or computers. We hope you enjoy our publication.

Section 1

Robotics Win

The Gamble Rogers Robotics Team recently completed their first year of competitions. This year’s competition theme was Animal Allies. Our team created a project about one of Florida’s most important animals: the honeybee. Our project focused on how we could help the bees when pesticides called neonicotinoids or natural disasters, such as Hurricane Matthew, killed the bee’s food source. The Gamble Rogers Robotics team developed a successful and useful bee feeder, the Friendly Floral Feeder, which provides bees with a food source when their traditional food source is not available. We also had to design and program a robot to accomplish missions that assist animals on a mission board. We also performed a skit and completed teamwork assignments as part of the overall event. At our first competition, the Osiris Rex Qualifying Tournament (sponsored by NASA) we performed well in all aspects of the required categories. We won the overall Champion Award and moved on to a regional tournament, where we won the Gracious Professionalism Award. Gracious Professionalism is a term used by First Lego League to describe how participants should act during competition. Through this robotics season, the members of our team (William Berry, Marley Concha, Anderson Davis, Kohl Jones, Josh Pasquarello, and Michael Weber) learned a lot about sportsmanship, teamwork, the core values and how we can incorporate what we learned into our everyday life. This is an invaluable lesson. I am looking forward to next year!

Gallery 1.1 Robotics Competition UNF Jacksonville, FL

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Robotics Competition Photos from Jacksonville

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Section 2

Mathletes

By: Isabella B.

Do you like math? If so then you should join the Gamble Rogers Math Club! Math isn’t a very easy subject, but if you like to progress in life then you should join. Math can be a very cool subject and can change how you see things in life. Math makes things easier, fun and cool.

Gallery 1.2 Math Competition

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Math can be fun depending on how you see it. Math can also be complicated, yet fun to figure out. Math can help your life in many ways such as counting money, doing taxes, and getting a job. For instance, at a supermarket, if you work as the cashier you have learn how to give change back or if you want to be a banker then you certainly have to have mathematical skills. Math is a very important subject in life. It is everywhere.

If you join the math club, then math will become more interesting and fun. Yes, math can get annoying sometimes, but it pays off to learn it. Sometimes you think that you’re not going to use it, but it will actually be very helpful in many situations in life.

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Chapter 2

Sports

The sports section of each edition will feature both organized sports offered at Gamble Rogers Middle School as well as out of school sporting activities.

Gallery 2.1 Sports

Section 1

Skim Boarding

By Cameron R & Trent V

Have you ever seen someone fly across the ocean’s sand with hardly any water and wonder what they were doing? Well, it’s called skim boarding and is a good stress reliever and fun outside activity. What’s skim boarding, you may ask. Skim boarding is a sport that is all about creativity. You can do endless tricks on a skim board like 360’s, backflips, big airs, and many more. All you need for skim boarding is a skim board, baggies/wetsuit and some pads or wax for your skim board to do some dope tricks.

I’m Trent Vaillancourt and the reason I like skim boarding is because there are endless tricks to do. If you want to practice a trick, just put your skim board on a rug and do it. It’s a simple sport to do and easy to learn if you practice. If you want to feel like you are flying, just hit the big wave coming in.

I’m Cameron Rhoden and the reason I love skim boarding is because the possibilities are limitless for the tricks that you can perform. Skim boarding is also a big stress reliever for me with all the work from school. Since I skate and surf, to me skim boarding was a little easier for me to learn since it is a mix of both. One of the sayings that we use for skim boarding is run, drop, slide. Here is a picture and video of me doing just that.

Video of me skim boarding

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Picture of my skim board

Section 2

Four Wheeling

By: Cody T.

Four-wheelers are awesome in several ways. The adrenalin rush when you press the throttle is amazing. Hitting hills and catching air is so fun. Whether I’m doing tricks, drifting, or mudding it is always a good time. Plus I can ride with buddies so it is a good way to have fun with them too.

I love everything about four-wheelers except that you have to be careful because you can get killed or seriously hurt if you flip or wreck one. I love riding one and it doesn’t matter where I ride, I always have fun. Some of my friends have four-wheelers so whether it’s trying to outrun them, out jump them, or go further through the mud than them, I always have more fun than playing video games, even if I lose. You can spend a lot of money on this sport. I spent a pretty good amount on mine, but it was worth it.

Here is a picture of a four-wheeler in case you don’t know what one is.

Section 3

Lacrosse: Why you need to play

By William B.

Lacrosse, a sport invented by Native Americans before Columbus was even born, is a fast moving mixture of soccer, hockey, football, and basketball into one game. Most people don’t even know what it is. In fact, 20 years ago most high schools in the South didn’t even have a team. Lacrosse is a great sport to get into. It’s tough, makes you think a lot, and is really active. Plus, it’s really fun! You also make new friends and compete at a high level. All in all, lacrosse is a great sport to get into. Hope I see you out there.

Section 4

Club Lacrosse

By Brooks B

Did you know that that lacrosse started with Native Americans ? They played day and night for long hours. Lacrosse is a great sport to play that involves lots of exercise and hard work. If you put in the time to practice you will get better. I have only played lacrosse for three years now and gotten extremely good just by practice and paying attention and listening to all the information my coach gives me . Be coachable. Now, if you ever start playing there’s always room for you at Pedro Menendez High School lacrosse team

Where do I start lacrosse is a good question to ask. Well, there’s many options. The one in St. Augustine is called PAL or the Police Athletic League. Their lacrosse starts in the spring and goes on till the end of May. Now they play in a rec league called North Florida Youth Lacrosse Club where you will play against Creekside, Boles, Ponte Vedra, Beaches, Villages, or Fleming Island.

What do I need to start playing? The equipment you will need for lacrosse is shoulder pads, gloves, elbow pads, a stick, cleats and a helmet . All these things you can find at Dicks Sports, Jax Lax, or Hibbetts .

What positions are there? The positions are midfield defense and attack. Midfielders play both defense and offense with a lot of running, but it’s all worth it to keep you in shape. In attack, you score goals. In defense, you get physical with others and hit them with your stick .

Chapter 3

Technology & Music

This section allows students to share articles about their favorite technology tools, musicians, or video games.

favorite apps

Wattpad

By Charis

You have the best story ever. Perfect idea, perfect structure. After you finish writing it, you have a masterpiece! Now you want to publish it, but where?

Wattpad is a website/ downloadable app that is available on IOS and Android where you can read and write stories. From action books to scifi and spiritual to fan fiction, Wattpad has different varieties of genres and books!

To get an account make a username and password and then type in your email. It will send a message to your email to verify your account Once you click the “this is my account” thing, you’re ready to experience all of Wattpad’s features.

Wattpad has the same following system as Instagram and twitter, so if you like a profile you can click the follow button to get notified about their stories. You can also PM (private message) your friends by clicking the mail icon on their profile.

Have fun reading and writing books on Wattpad!

Chapter 4

Student Voices

Student voices is a section of the Stingray Tide where students can share their creative writing or share stories they have written.

Section 1

Mariangel’s Storm

By Sharon R.

It was dark, stormy, windy and cold. Shiloh was inside her house, waiting for her husband Neftali. She was waiting desperately. Neftali still didn’t come through the door with his muddy boots and their beautiful daughter, Mariangel.

Shiloh decided to peek through the small window, but she didn’t see the tall, dark figure of her husband.

“I have to get him! I have to get Mariangel !” said Shiloh. Shiloh already knew where they were supposed to be.

The Church

Shiloh had just remembered that she had sent Mariangel to church that chilly morning with one of her friends. Shiloh remained in her house with her husband Neftali. They had to finish a project, since they were still in college.

Suddenly, the sunny sky turned into a dark, scary monster. KABOOM!!!

Thunder crashed and roared and lit the sky.

“Neftali, go get the baby. I don’t want her to get hurt!” said Shiloh desperately.

“Don’t worry, she’s fine. If it’ll calm you, I’ll go get her.”

Neftali put on his navy blue raincoat and black boots. He was now heading off to the church to get their sweet one-year-old, blue-eyed, dark-haired daughter.

Shiloh had waited for an hour. Nothing happened. Nobody appeared. “Neftali! Neftali!” she yelled into the wind as she screamed out of that small window. By instinct she rushed to the church, just around the corner.

Thunderstruck

When Shiloh reached the church, thunder struck!

She opened the church door with the METAL handle. She didn’t realize. It was too late.

Now she was being shocked!

Pain. That was all there was. It was only fifteen seconds before she collapsed to the ground.

Everybody rushed outside. Neftali was the most alarmed of them all. He was now holding his 19-year-old wife in his arms.

It was all quite. All there was was the sound of Neftali crying. But then a small, squeaky voice interrupted.

“Mommy ?! Mommy !!!”

Section 2

Bullying

Adelynn L.

Have you ever been bullied or called bad names? Well. I have and I can tell you how bad it feels and why you shouldn’t do it to people.

If you’ve bullied somebody, please apologize to them. It’s the worst feeling in the world. Apologies can impact a bullied child or teen in a good way. By a bully apologizing to the bullied child/teen it can show that the bully is forgiving and hopefully didn’t mean what he/she said.

Being bullied can cause people to be depressed. And let me tell you being depressed can cause you to have anxiety and could cause people to self-harm. There have been many kids that have been bullied and it usually starts in middle school or high school. If you have been bullied or see someone being bullied, you can/need to tell a teacher, principal, or even your school’s guidance councilors.

Section 3

Is College Really Worth It?

by. Kaila Metych

The debate on whether college is really worth it or not began when colonists arived to the US from England and created “New College”in 1636, or as it is now known, Harvard University. The people that argue that college is worth it and that are college graduates tend to have bigger salaries, better employment rates, and much better work benefits than those with only a high school diploma. College graduates also live longer, have healthier and better educated children, have better interpersonal skills, and achieve major milestones in life. So if you’re thinking, “Is college really worth it?” then your answer is yes, college is worth it. For many reasons, in fact!

My first reason that college is worth it is because young adults learn interpersonal skills during college. In college, students have the opportunity to join clubs and interact with one another. In 1994, students ranked interpersonal skills as their most important skill used in their everyday lives. Vivek Wadhwa, MBA, scholar, and technology entrepreneur, says, “American children party in college. But... by partying, they learn social skills... They develop skills which make them innovative. Americans are the most innovative people in the world because of their education system.”

The second reason college is definitely worth it is that college graduates are healthier and live longer. Although college stress may lead to health problems, it’s not like you can’t get stress like this from other things. You may be having family or friend issues that cause stress that can lead to health problems, and if you aren’t in college and you have a job that requires you to work longer and harder then that may also be very stressful for you, which could also lead to health problems just s much as college can. According to a survey on The Sidney Morning Herald, little things like losing an important document, phone battery dying, and automated customer service lines can also stress people out, which over time, may also lead to more stress and health problems. Anyway, 83% of college students reported being in excellent health, meanwhile 73% of high school graduates reported the same. In 2008, 20% of all adults were smokers, and only 9% of college graduates smoked.

Last but not least, a lot of people say college isn’t worth it because of the cost and the chance of getting in debt, but let’s think about it: wouldn’t you rather not have a lot of money for a while and later on have a lot more money than before because of the well-paying job that you got due to the fact that you graduated college? Or, just don’t go to college and over time have less money than you could get if you had actually gone to college.This also includes having more job opportunities for better paying jobs if you actually went to college.

In conclusion, college is worth it for many reasons. First, young adults learn interpersonal skills. Second, college grads live longer and are healthier. Finally, the wait for money isn’t as bad as it sounds. It would definitely be worth the while. So based on what you read, do you think college is worth it?