Issue 4, Volume 14

ISSUE4, Volume 14
CLAY
classic
The road to success travels through Clay Middle School
What's inside:
Visiting Author Andrew
Maraniss
Are you right-brained or
left-brained?
Overcoming injuries
Artists at Clay
Extreme Gaming Live!
Plastic bags into jump ropes
7th and 8th grade cheer
CSI Investigation
COMPETATIVE GAMING
IGNITES AT CLAY

Clay Classic Page 2
Ar e You Str ong Inside?
Author Andrew Maraniss visits Clay
Story By Luke Miller and James Gilbert
Andrew M araniss visited Clay Friday,
M arch 16 to talk about his career as a writer
and Perry Wallace. M araniss wrote "Strong
Inside" a biography about Perry Wallace.
M araniss talked to all of the grades.
"Strong Inside" is a N ew York Times
bestseller and has received many other
rewards including the 2015 Lillian Smith
Book Award. In 2017 "Strong Inside" was
named one of the top 10 biographies and top
10 sports books by the Young Reader
edition.
M araniss is currently working on his next
book that he is planning to call "Courts of
Deception."
It will be about the first basketball
Olympic games. M araniss started writing
because of his father David M araniss. H is
father has written 12 books and is currently
working at the Washington Post.
M araniss taught students through
Wallace's stories that you can never give up
and follow your dreams.

"Ordinary people can do extrodinary things"
Perry Wallace was an idol to
Andrew M araniss, and he believed that
"people deserve to have their stories
told." M araniss did exactly that by
telling Perry's story through "Strong
Inside."
Andrew spent eight years of his life
writing "Strong Inside." M araniss said
he spent four years interviewing and
researching and another four more
years writing the book.
M araniss said that staying with it
for eight years got tough sometimes,
but he would look at his walls and
remind himself how small his struggles
are compared to Wallace's. Andrew
was inspired to start writing by his
father who had also written 12 books.
Perry was an African American
man who grew up in segregation.
Wallace was the first African American
to play varsity in the Southeastern
Conference.
Perry was into sports as a kid, he
started to play when he was 9 and
could dunk at 10 foot when he was 12.
Perry graduated as a valedictorian
in high school. Perry also led his team
to three state championships during
his Sophomore, Junior, and Senior
years.
Perry was recruited by many of
top-tier schools, but they all wanted
him for his athletic ability. Some
schools told him he didn't have to
attend the school, they just wanted
3
Wallace to play for them.
Perry wanted a school that would
treat him like everyone else, and that's
what Vanderbilt offered him.
Perry played and studied at
Vanderbilt for four years. Wallace was
the first African American student at
Vanderbilt. Whenever he was at away
games people would through trash at
him and boo him whenever he stepped
on the court.
M araniss said that it was mainly
the parents that would discriminate
him. Some teams would refuse to play
against Vanderbilt, and if they did play
they would beat up Perry on the court
and the refs would let it happen.
M araniss compared Wallace to Jackie
Robinson because like Robinson was a
pioneer for baseball, Wallace was a
pioneer for basketball. He paved the
way for African American basketball
players.
Perry was a perfect example of a
hero, M araniss found in his opinion
the best definition of a hero on the
walls of his high school. It states a hero
is, "a person who by word or action
makes the world a better place."
Perry passed away at the age of 69,
but he will never be forgotten by
Andrew and others. Perry Wallace
made history through harsh times of
segregation. Perry's story will never be
forgotten.
Andrew Maraniss
1. Perry and three of his teammates with one of their three state
trophies. 2. Perry signing into attending Vanderbilt. 3. College
picture of Perry. 4. Perry and Andrew. Photos provided by Andrew
Maraniss and used with permission
1
2
Perry Wallace
4
- Andrew?s original book on Wallace
was a 2015 NYT bestseller.
- Andrew travels all over the U.S.
speaking to schools and groups about
Wallace?s experience.
- Andrew?s father is a well-known
Pulitzer Prize winning author- David
Maraniss and his mother is a
well-known environmentalist.
- Andrew is a contributor to ESPN?s
TheUndeafted.com
- Andrew is currently a visiting author
at Vanderbilt University.
- Andrew has appeared on NPR?s All
Things Considered and Only A Game,
NBC?s Meet The Press, MSNBC?s
Morning Joe, ESPN?s Keith
Olbermann Show, ESPN Radio?s The
Sporting Life, and the SEC Network?s
Paul Finebaum Show.
from Andrew Maraniss's author website:
www.andrewmaraniss.com
- Perry Wallace was born February
19, 1948
- Perry Wallace grew up in a world
marked by segregation.
- Perry Wallace lead his all-black
high school team to a tournament
championship, this was the first
year Tennessee allowed white and
black high schools to compete.
- Perry Wallace had 80 college
offers but chose his hometown
college Vanderbilt.
- Perry Wallace was the first
African American varsity athlete
to play basketball under an
athletic scholarship in the
Southeastern Conference.
- Perry Wallace passed away
December 2017 at the age of 69
from his obituary published by Matt Schudel
from The Washington Post

Clay Classic
VERSUS
RI GHT - HANDED
L e f t - H a n d e d
Opposite sides of brain makes students think differently
Page and Infographic by Emily Whittington, Bailey Cappella, Quincy Stephenson and Bella Szymanski
Did yo u kno w being
a mbis inis t r a l
mea ns yo u u s e
yo u r r ig ht h a nd
f o r c er t a in
t hing s , a nd yo u r
lef t ha nd f o r
o t her s ?
Did yo u kno w?
L ef t - ha nd ed
peo ple t end t o be
bet t er a t
mu lt i- t a s king .
Did yo u kno w
mo s t
a mbid ext r o u s
peo ple
s t a r t o u t
lef t - ha nd ed ?
Did yo u kno w
t ha t t he lef t
s id e o f yo u r
br a in is
nic kna med t he
"d ig it a l br a in"?
Did yo u kno w?
Ambid ext r o u s peo ple u s e
ea c h ha nd equ a lly.
Did yo u
kno w?
t ha t
t he r ig h t s id e
o f yo u r br a in
is nic kna med
t he "a na lo g
s id e."
Did yo u kno w t ha t
r ig ht ha nd ed peo ple
t end t o be mo r e
ver ba lly t a lent ed
t hen lef t ha nd ed
peo ple?
Did yo u
kno w
t ha t t he
lef t s id e
o f t he
br a in
c o nt r o ls
t he r ig ht
s id e o f
t he bo d y?
Source: livescience.com

Clay Classic Page 5
"I think I use the
right side of my
brain more because
I am not very good
at math and I am
very good at art.
Academics aren't
my strong suit but
art is my strong
suit."
R i g h t B r a i n e d
L e f t B r a i n e d
"I think I use the
left side of the
brain the most
because I like
mathematics a lot.
I am not very
artistic, so I think
the left side of the
brain is definitely
more use for me."
-Connor Heagy,
Eighth grader
-Mitchell Finely,
Eighth Grader
11% o f peo ple
a r e lef t - ha nd ed
M e a n i n g
o f
R e p r e s e n t s
i n n o c e n c e a n d
l o v e . M e a n s
w h o l e s o m e n e s s
a n d f u l f i l l m e n t .
COLORS
- W h i t e
88% o f peo ple
a r e r ig ht - ha nd ed
R e p r e s e n t s
s p i r i t u a l i t y
a n d r o y a l t y .
A s s o c i a t e d w i t h
m y s t e r y a n d
w i s d o m . C o n f i d e n t
a n d r e s p e c t f u l t o
o t h e r s .
What color you are drawn to describes your
personality
- p u r p l e
A m b i t i o n
a n d e n e r g y .
T h e y a r e
e x p r e s s i v e a n d
g e n e r a l l y i n a
g o o d m o o d .
T u n e
w i t h
n a t u r e .
T e n t t o b e
e n v i o u s , l i v e l y ,
a n d g e n e r o u s .
- g r e e n
H o n e s t
c o l o r .
T h e y a r e
p r o t e c t i v e ,
c a l m , a n d
c o n f i d e n t .
F u n
a n d
o u t g o i n g .
V e r y f e m i n i n e
a n d b r i g h t i n
t h e i r m a t t e r .
O f t e n h a v e a
s o f t r e l a x i n g
v i b e .
- b l u e
A l w a y s
o n t h e g o !
L o v e a c t i o n ,
o p t i m i s m , a n d
a r e h a p p y m o s t
o f t h e t i m e .
S u n s h i n e i s
e n e r g i z i n g f o r
t h e s e p e o p l e .
- O r a n g e
- p i n k
E x t r o v e r t e d .
H a s a b a d
t e m p e r
s o m e t i m e s , b u t
a l s o c o u l d m e a n
p r o s p e r i t y a n d
j o y .
- r e d
- y e l l o w
Source: Exemplore.com
1% o f peo ple a r e
Ambid ext r o u s

Clay Classic Page 6
Al l Inj ur ies Come
Wit h a Recover y
just had to rest, and literally do
"I
nothing. That was the only way
to get through it, just be
patient.?
That's the way most people
like to do in their free time, but
not M iss Allison M artin 8th
grade teacher. M artin is one of
the Language Arts teacher for
Clay and a track and cross
country coach.
Running is something she
loves to do, but couldn?t do it
for 13 and a half weeks because
of a pelvic stress fracture.
Will R izzuto, seventh grade
was a Clay student who also felt
like quitting when he damaged
a tendon on his foot during
football season. The injury
made R izzuto sit out and ice,
and made him miss 3 to 5
games.
?I was bored and I felt like I
was missing out on the action,?
he said.
He was just like M artin and
wanted to get back to training.
When R izzuto felt like
quitting, his father encouraged
him to keep going and to keep
playing after he rested and iced.
R izzuto was just one of the
many people that recovered
from their injuries through
support from others. Another
way to recover from an injury is
to set goals.
That is exactly what M artin
did. M artin said, ?At Christmas
I got two really nice chocolate
bars. I looked forward to eating
one of them after I could run
without pain.?
There were times in
December and January when
M artin felt discouraged because
she felt like she wasn?t getting
any healthier. That didn't stop
her from reaching her goals
because she ended up eating her
chocolate bars and is now able to
run again.
Chocolate, goal setting, and
support from others are just a
few of the ways athletes recover
from injury.
N o matter how they
recovered they all kept going
even after they felt the need to
quit.
As spring sports are starting
athletes that get injured have to
remember that teachers and
students have been through the
same thing you are going
through, and they didn?t quit
even when they felt like it.
"I j ust had t o r est it and l it er al l y do not hing. And
t hat was t he onl y way t o get bet t er t hr ough it .
-Miss Mar t in"
Am ount of injuries in professional sport s
Football
Basketball Hockey Baseball Running Soccer
964 in 2016 404 in 2016 40,102 in 2015 500+ in 2016 32,000+ in 2016 100,000+ in 2016

Clay Classic Page 7
Justine Wang practices drawing
with markers (top left and top
middle). Sophia Yang draws
anime (top right) and someone
stargazing (middle right). Kaela
Moon and Elizabeth Maze
collaborate on a drawing (middle
left). Kaela Moon uses oil pastels
to make mountains (bottom left).
Natalie Kern illustrates her writing
(bottom right).
Art ist s
at
Heart
Self taught artists at Clay show their passion for art
Story by Jillian Moore and Kaela Moon
Time seems to stand still as the young
artists draw, the image coming to life. Every
stroke changes the outcome of the piece they
have spent hours on. How do these artists do
it? Practice, patience, and hard work.
Art is one subject that everyone can do,
but not everyone can be good at. You can
take as many art classes as you want, but
some people just have a natural ability for art.
At Clay, the talent is evident in some of
these self-taught artists. They have a passion
for art that cannot be matched by many, and
they prove that by the art they produce.
Sophia Yang is one of these artists. When
asked if she considered herself a self-taught
artist, she responded that she did because
anyone who creates things is an artist.
?I?ve been doing art since I could hold a
pencil,? Sophia Yang, seventh grade, said.
Her art style has developed over the
years, her art now having a definitive
expression. She is able to convey not only
herself through her art, but also have fun
drawing.
Yang draws Anime, which is a specific
way of drawing. She mostly draws people,
and she does their eyes very well.
These talented artists not only have a
passion for art, they also do a variety of
extracurricular activities.
Justine Wang is another artist, and besides
art, she is also learning Spanish and Chinese.
She does a variety of different art forms, but
mainly does fashion designs.
Wang uses special markers and bright
colors to make her designs come to life. She
draws mostly people, but the focus is always
on the clothes and fashion.
?M y biggest challenge is drawing things
realistically,? Wang says. She combats this by
practicing drawing her surroundings, which
allows her to really take in the world around
her and get a different perspective.
These artists have spent years doing their
art, and have found many reasons to continue
their passion.
?I can make a blank piece of paper into
something and people are like ?What?! You
drew that?!?? N atalie Kern, a seventh grade
artist, said. She has been doing art for six or
seven years and she has practiced many
different art forms.
Kern also does theater, which she
considers to be another type of art. On paper,
though, she specializes in drawing scenery
and people. She has a way of taking in her
surroundings and using that view the world
in a different way.
Art is a form of expression. All you need
is a little creativity and effort. All of these
artists love creating their masterpieces.
Students at Clay love showing their
passion for art!

Clay Classic Page 8
Re a d y !
S E T !
Ga me !
Elite Gaming Live starts its
first meeting with a bang
(Right) These four
students playing in the
first round of the Mario
Kart tournament, with
many spectators cheering
on their friends.
(Bottom right) One on
one in Madden, these two
are competing and in the
zone.
(Bottom left) In another
round of Mario Kart,
these four are battling it
out on the Wii-U.
Page and Story by Carter Fritz and
Daniel Tian
Screens, tables, and consoles all
set up in the cafeteria, 55 students
waiting impatiently for the start.
Tables stacked with Chromebooks
and a hushed, excited atmosphere.
The first meeting of Elite
Gaming Live at Clay kicked off on
February 14, with 55
members attending.
The attendees played
games like M ario Kart,
SSB, FIFA, M adden,
and Rocket League.
Elite Gaming Live is a
very large club that is
participated in across
almost 20 schools. M r. Evan
Snyder, 8th grade AVID and
computer lab teacher, brought EGL
into our school when he heard about
it.
"I like hanging out with my
friends and playing games," says 7th
grader Ryan Conley. "EGL gives me
the oppurtunity to do that."
EGL gives students a chance to
play competitively to score points.
Students play in tournaments against
each other, and by scoring points,
prizes will be rewarded.
"[I've been] a lifelong gamer and
know how to code, so I wanted to
combine the two," M r. Evan Snyder,
sponser, said.
Snyder also said that Elite
Gaming Live is a fun club that does
just that: gaming and coding. Elite
Gaming Live uses Codecademy, and
by completing courses on this
website, a player can make
just as many points as
playing and winning a
game or tournament.
Elite Gaming Live has
been around for 3 years,
founded in the summer of
2015. Clay began to
participate during the sixth
season, because each school year
consists of two seasons. Clay is also
the only Carmel school currently
participating in EGL.
Snyder said that Elite Gaming
Live has lots of potential, and he
expects more people to join it soon.
"EGL is awesome because there's
so many people in the same place that
like to do the same thing as you do,
whether that be gaming or coding."
says seventh grader Josh Baxter.

Clay Classic Page 9
Jumping int o Recycl ing
Recycling is an important issue and solution to a
lot of problems going around with the environment.
Someone who knows about that is M rs Jamie
Sanders, leader of the Green Team and wellness
teacher of team Atlas.
Sanders encouraged the Green Team
(which consists of all of the students on Team Atlas)
to work on teams to create jump ropes made out of
plastic bags.
?M y favorite part is when we braided and cut the
plastic bags and put them together with tape,? Paige
Stansifer, seventh grade, said. She said they were
given a checklist to follow to create the jump pope;
that made the process easy and quick. (To see how
the students made the jump ropes, refer to
infographic on right).
Before creating the jump ropes, the Green
Team had to collect plastic bags. The first 15
students to bring 25 plastic bags received a Kroger
reusable bag in exchange.
?Kroger was kind enough to donate them to
us,? Sanders said. Kroger also sells them for a
dollar.
The reusable paper bags encouraged a lot of
students to bring plastic bags. In total, The
Green Team recollected over 875 bags,
which was enough to create about 35 jump
ropes.
After collecting all the plastic bags, Sanders
started researching for fun ways to recycle them.
?I did a Google Search of what you can do with
the plastic bags, but I liked the idea of jump
ropes because I am a wellness teacher."
With this fun activity, students on Team Atlas
learned that there is plenty of fun ways to recycle
that will benefit us later.
Sanders wanted her students to learn that
?recycling is important to make the environment a
safer place to live in.? She said that it also helps to
protect resources, eliminate waste, save money and
cause less harm to the environment.
This activity taught students on Team Atlas how
to work on teams to reach a specific goal, this goal
was to make of the world a better place.
Thanks to Mrs. Sanders?idea, over a 100 students
on Team Atlas learned to recycle in a fun way, by
creating jump ropes using plastic bags
Top Left; The finished
Jump rope! Top center; Beau
Willman, seventh grade is
braiding a jump rope
together. Top right; seventh
graders Sarah Neuman,
Z ach Struve, and Paige
Stansifer assembling a jump
rope.
Left: Z ach Struve testing
out one of the Jump ropes
Top: Students cutting and
plasticbags. All photos
taken by Mrs Sanders

Clay Classic Page 10
DIGITALLEARNING2
PROJECTS
Seventh graders make digital,
physical projects that can help with
issues for the classroom
Left: Students are using
Google slides to present their
ideas with there digital or
physical prototype. Kids will
have all 9 weeks in the quarter
to work on the project.
Kids are presenting in front of both classes with their digital prototype.
Q: What are you doing for the
project?
A: ""We are doing digital
bulletin boards.""
QUOTESFROMTHECLASSROOM:
Q: Why did you choose this
idea over your other ones?
A: ""We thought it would be
more effective.""
Q: What has been the biggest
challenge so far?
A: ""Getting it just right and
figuring out the problems."'
Story and page by Gillian
Fiol, Clare Leedke, and
Abbey Bembenek
Schools are filled with
problems. Late buses,
scheduling, interviews, and
old white boards. All of
these issues can be solved
with one thing:
technology. Students are
now given the opportunity
to find solutions to these
problems using technology
during the seventh grade
digital learning 2 classes.
Seventh grade DL2
students are given freedom
to make their problem
solving projects. They
choose the issue they want
to fix, whether they want
to make digital or a
physical prototype, and
their sideshow design.
The groups work
together as a team to try
and come up with an
interesting idea to help
with the problems in
school. The teams have to
conquer and divide their
work, making a prototype
and making sure every last
detail on their presentation
is on point.
The project the
students are working on is
a Project Based Learning
project. PBLs allow
student?s grades to be
based on how well their
project is as a whole.
Everything from their
brainstorming to their final
presentation is graded as
part of their grade.
?Since we only had 3
ideas at first, it?s been hard
to narrow down our
ideas,? Ellie Culbertson a
seventh grade student said.
The students are facing
many challenges such as
making sure that all of
their projects details are
covered. Everything down
to the grammar in their
final presentation.
Karli Denny is a
student in Digital Learning
Two on B days, in
N elson?s class. Karli and
her group are doing digital
bulletin boards. The
boards will help students
without devices and
parents without access to
M yCCS and Canvas to
know what's going on in
the class and school.
?We had several ideas.
Digital bulletin boards,
fixing the gym equipment,
and fixing the trash cans
were our original ideas.
We thought the bulletin
boards would be most
effective, so we went with
that. Our biggest challenge
was probably figuring out
the problems and getting
everything right,? Denny
said
Ṫhe projects use the
design process to help
students work step by step
on their projects. The
design process is used in
hundreds of different
careers. The steps of the
process are identify,
brainstorm, design, build
test and redesign, and
share.
The digital learning 2
project is helping students
become better at working
together.
It teaches students to
hear others ideas and to
share work. The students
share their work at the end
of the quarter in a
presentation in the LGI.
Good luck 4th quarter
DL2!

Clay Classic Page 1
8 t h G r a d e s F a r e w e l l
Eighth grade cheer team looks back on their last year as a Clay Trojan
Story and page by Rachel Popowics and
Lily Getchell
T he cheerleaders take the floor and the
crowd chants along. Giving their best effort as
they cheer in their very last game as a Trojan.
Looking back some of the cheerleaders shared
their favorite memories from their last year on
the cheer team here at Clay.
They also shared a few tips for oncoming
cheerleaders looking to try out the sport.Bella
Szymanski, one of the eighth grade
cheerleaders, encouraged others to try out for
cheer because ?it?s so fun hanging out with
your friends.?
Her favorite memory from the cheer team
was riding on the buses to travel to opposing
schools. She also offered up a few tips for
people looking to tryout. She said remember
to ?be loud, spirit, make sure you have really,
really sharp motions and then also don?t
compare yourself to the other girls.?
Another eighth grade cheerleader and
fellow Clay Trojan is Bridget Alexander.
Alexander participated in football and
basketball cheer. A favorite memory she had
was also riding the bus to away games and
laughing with her teammates. She
encouraged others to tryout because ?it is a
fun way to learn new cheers and stunts and
you can make new friends."
If you?re a seventh grader looking to
tryout for cheer, you can look forward to
having Coach Stopher. For Coach Stopher
this was her first year as a Trojan. She is one
of the eighth grade wellness teachers and also
the new cheer leading coach for eighth grade.
She said she loved getting to know all the
eighth grade cheerleaders last season. She also
plans to continue coaching at Clay.
Overall, eighth grade cheer is a very fun
and memorable sport that they will cherish
forever as they continue their cheer careers on
to high school.

Clay Classic Page 12
Fl y n g
Getting
Hig h
By Florence Hargitt and Gabby Stotts
Basketball season has come to an end,
which means that cheer season has also come
to an end. This cheer season has been full of
jumping, stunting, tumbling, dances and
cheers. It began in smiling faces and ended
with a great bond between all of the
cheerleaders. ?Yeah, cheer is a lot of fun, you
can make a lot of new memories and new
friendships,? said Emma M etzger. M etzger
said her favorite memory of the season was
going to the games. T he games were filled
with excitement and spirit.
People are always asking if the cheers are
hard to remember. T hey have over 15
cheers! Emma M etzger, Abby Ye, and
M aleah Twyner said they were not,
and they all said it wasn?t hard to
remember cheers at all. Twyner
said ?Once you get them
down, it?s easy, you know
them like the back of your
hand.?
The cheerleaders had their
last practice together stating
their favorite memories of the
cheer season. A lot of the
cheerleaders said that their
most savored memories were
the boys and girls basketball
Invitationals. The
Invitationals was a big
basketball tournament where
four basketball teams compete to
become champs. The boys and girls
basketball invitationals were very
competitive. The boys won and
became champs. T he girls lost but
were still runner up. T hat was a
great season for both teams at Clay.
The girls really enjoyed and loved
the excitement that came from both
games.
The cheerleaders have had a great time
during this season and are very excited for
the eighth grade cheerleading season.
seventh grade
cheerleaders perspective
on the season
Top: Cheerleading pictures
Bottom: Cheerleaders huddled around the boys because they
won invitationals and became champs!!

Clay Classic Page 13
The Spartans on Their way to Nationals
Breaking down eighth grader Hayden Lewis with his hockey experiences
Motivation
Lewi?s motivations for hockey
go far and wide. Hockey motivates
him for just about everything
school, house chores, and even in
school. Knowing the amounts of
photos, paintings and even
constant tv?s playing on
hockey,
It?s Lewis?s life. Four days
a week, hockey takes over his
life: M onday through
Wednesday and one day on
the weekend. Lewis says that
some reader?s don?t know
how physical and tiring
hockey can be.
But with the sport even
being that hard lewis is still
striving towards his ultimate goal
of the season winning the national
hockey tournament.
Superstitions
H ayden Lewis believes in
superstitions just as much as everyone
else. As he is still 14 and on his way to
Pittsburgh for hockey nationals. Lewis
has many superstitions, Lewis goes on
to state that ?I always sit by the same
people if, i?m having a good game.?
When he is playing well, he knows
that he is playing well, that?s the
reasoning why he will sit with the
same people so that when he goes back
on the ice he keeps his confidence up.
Lewis also said that ?I get very
superstitious before games. I have to
do the same thing as the last one.?
Lewis also, says that he does the same
stretching routine before every game
so that he is prepared for everything
that can happen on the ice.
Greatest Experience
This last month the Tri-State
Spartans #45 faced off against
Victory Honda #14. In
M inneapolis M innesota, Lewis
was about to play what was the
greatest game of his life.
?As Victory is 14th in the
nation they are a very solid
hockey team.? With a final score
of 4-3, Lewis scored the winning
goal. The game was one of the
best he?s played.
Lewis said weeks after this
game he still follows his every
move following his superstitious
ways. After this win, the Spartans
grew 30 spots slotting into the
15th spot in the nation.
The Future Ahead
As his team is near the top,
starting every game, being a flexible
player, Lewis is ranked high in the
country.
He has hopes and dreams of
playing in the N H L, he is playing for
a top ranked team at a good which is
a great start for him.
?The scouts are everywhere
watching on as they play each
game. Being constantly
watched is kind of nerve
racking, but nerves
undergo the excitement.?
He dreams of playing
hockey for a high
ranked division I
hockey team. From
watching old Wayne
Gretzky clips to recreating them in
the rink, Lewis is going for the cup
one step at a time.
The first puck used during
outdoor hockey in the
1800s was made of frozen
cow dung.
The NHL was
established in 1917. The
Montreal Canadians
have the most Stanley
Cups.
The greatest player
of all time, Wayne
Gretzky, has 61 NHL
records.

Clay Classic Page 14
And Then
ONE
There was
Eighth graders participate in CSI invesitgation through science
Story By Gillian
Thompson and Jennifer
Karakash
Students fill the halls
examining the suspects.
Any one of the
teachers could have
committed the crime.
But what is the
atrocity at large?
M rs. Susie Fulp?s
lunch was stolen by
another teacher, and it is
the the eighth graders?job
is to figure out who stole
the lunch by completing a
series of labs in their
chemistry science unit.
?We tried to come up
with something that could
represent real life, like we
do in our PBLs, but it?s
really not it?s really not
the same as other PBLs,?
M rs. Susie Fulp said.
This time, instead of
creating something, these
eighth grade crime solvers
are investigating and
narrowing down the list
of who-done-its.
This examination will
last about three weeks.
During this crime scene
investigation, students
examine evidence like
water, fabric, fingerprints,
and blood. They learn
how chemistry is used in
the real world and how
some crimes are solved.
?Students are applying
all of their knowledge of
chemistry and testing to
figure out who stole my
lunch,? Fulp said.
While students are
learning about chemistry,
they are also having fun
solving this humorous
crime.
¨ It?s really fun because
we get to be free in what
we are doing with the
experiments,¨ Sage
M oore, eighth grade, said.
While teachers are
telling students what to
do, once they are done
explaining, the students
are all on their own.
¨ The CSI is really fun
because we get to work
with groups and try new
things,? Sophia H anna
said. M rs. Fulp said that
students are so into the
investigation and that
people are guessing who
did it after just one lab.
The new things
students get to try out
through chemistry include
looking at fiber samples
through microscopes,
investigating color change
on blood and water.
The students love this
different kind of science
experiment, but teachers
enjoy the CSI
investigation too. ¨ The
teachers love it too
because they don?t want
to be eliminated. And
they?re like game on! And
they?re sad when they get
eliminated,¨ Fulp said.
To the right, suspects
photos line the halls for
students to look at.
In the photo to the left,
you see the mock
refrigerator set up so
students can examine
the crime scene.

Clay Classic Page 15
What Students Want to Be?
Students preferences on what they would like to be, and how teachers
experience will guide us through choosing.
Story and page by Makenzie Sanders, Mia
Straatman and Emmy Brown
All around the school students are
preparing for the future and jobs, but some
students are taking that extra step to get there
future on a roll. Weather it is studying,
practicing, or simple just looking for the
perfect job, these people are making sure
they will get the future they want.
?I want to be a mechanical or electrical
engineer. It's really interesting and I'm good
at it,? Connor Buckley, seventh grade said.
Buckley is very into being a mechanical or
electrical engineer. He makes things in his
workshop at his house. ?To achieve this, I
have my own workshop and I build things,?
Buckley told us. He works really hard in
hopes of being successful in the department.
?I want to go to law school and become a
lawyer because I like fulfilling justice,? Ethan
Brown, seventh grade said. Brown said he
loves the thought of being a lawyer. He
wants to be able to serve justice and make
sure the right thing happens. He says that he
is very determined to make sure that he can
10. Speech Pathologist
Salary: $73,410
8. Software
Engineer
Salary: $100,690
make these lawyer dreams a reality. At home
he practices studying law.
On the other hand, some student don?t
have on job in mind. So, what do you do, try
them all. ?I don?t really know what I want to
be so I?m trying a lot of different things,?
Katie Seelig said. Seelig, unlike Buckley and
Brown, doesn?t know what she wants to be
when she gets out of collage. ?I am trying a
lot of different electives to see what I like,
I?ve done computer science, art classes, and
newspaper,? Seelig said. Although she isn?t
sure, she is still trying out a lot of classes until
she finds the one she likes, even if it takes a
while.
Just like many other students at Clay,
these three students are looking toward their
future and what they will do. And they are
making sure thy work hard to get there, but
not long ago teachers were in the same
positions as these three students.
?I became a teacher because I wanted to
enlighten the youth of America,? M rs. Liana
Giles said.
M rs. Giles said that she enjoys teaching
Top 10 j obs of 2017
6. University
Professor
Salary: $72,470
4. Information
security analyst
Salary: $90,120
because she gets to see new students grow,
and she gets to help them learn. Giles also
said that she would recommend teaching for
a job.
She explained how teaching can be a
struggle, but as long as you can do it, then
you would be a great teacher. When Giles
was asked about what skills you need to be a
great teacher, she simply said, ?See above.?
?I became a teacher because I love
learning and like seeing others learn,? M r.
Brandon Britcher said.
Britcher explained how teaching is so
fun and rewarding because you get to see
others learn and become better through your
teachings and guidance. ?I was a personal
trainer then I taught college, and I really
liked teaching so I stuck with it,? Britcher
explained.
He said teaching is a great job and so fun
if you had the right skills for it.
2. M edical Services
M anager
Salary: $94,500
9. Occupational
Therapist
Salary: $80,150
7. M athematician
Salary: $111,100
5. Data Scientist
Salary: $111,267
3. Operations
research analyst
Salary: $78,360
1. Statistician
Salary: $80,110

Clay Classic Page 16
Students in eighth grade language arts persuade their class about different topics
(Left) Jake Reasoner is presenting about why going vegan is a good idea.(Right) Ezra
Pennington giving a presentation on why mucus is not that bad. Photos by Max Ruderman
Story and page by Ian
Hammond, Max
Ruderman and Owen
Everett
In Eighth Grade
Honors Language Arts,
kids chose topics to
persuade their class on.
The project was to
teach kids about
presenting and research
any topic.
They chose any
topic as long as it was
school appropriate and
wasn't too obvious.
The kids got lessons on
how to make a
presentation, research,
and present in front of
their class.
James Lenos,
eighth grade, said
students had to choose
a side, too. Lenos did
his project on how
"Video games do not
negatively affect
children". James was
'moderately' passionate
about the topic.
Austin Guo
presented about why
the government should
continue to fund
N ASA.
"N ASA benefits
the lives of all people,"
he said.
Austin chose this
topic because he is
interested in space and
space travel. H is main
source is N ASA.
Will Woodhouse
did his presentation on
teachers carrying guns
in school. He chose the
topic because it's "a
current event we need
to address."
Behind the scenes of the Clay Classic News
Clay Middle School
5150 E. 126th St.
Carmel, IN 46011
The Clay Classic is Clay
Middle School's student
newspaper. It is written,
photographed, edited and
designed by the students in
Mr. Williams' seventh and
eighth grade newspaper
classes.
Find us online at:
www.clayclassic.news
Administration:
Mr. Todd Crosby, principal
Mr. Mark Smith, assistant principal
Mrs. Lori Katz, assistant principal
Mr. John Corcoran, activities director
Follow us at:
@the_clay_classic
@clayclassic