On Friday we went to the Environmental Learning Center. Sprout and Turtle played games with us. We played rock, paper, and scissors with frogs, tadpoles, polliwogs and eggs. Everyone started out with an egg. It goes egg, tadpole, polliwog and frog. We had a great super fun time.

By Chase Haws

We camped at Mountain Lake. Brrrrrrr!. In the morning when we got up at 7:00 a.m., we had a polar bear swim. It was nothing, but this part was hard when Graye, Miles, Caitlyn and I (no one else) jumped into the lake. We had to stay in for a long time. There was a ghost anchor (not true) down at the bottom of the dock. Graye jumped and his shirt puffed up. It was funny. Then we went inside the shelter and had hot cocoa.

On the first campout of the year everybody went hiking. Some people went to the Cascade Falls with Mrs. Roosma. Some people went hiking around Mountain Lake with Mr. and Mrs. Milam. Some people hiked up Mt. Constitution with Mr. Roosma. Some people rode their bikes up Mt. Constitution and then rode back down with Mr. Davis. Some friends and I hiked up Mt. Constitution. Actually it wasn’t as steep as I thought it would be. Molly, Mr. Davis’ dog hiked up the mountain with us. We also saw a cute little deer on the trail. At the top of the mountain we went to the top of the tower. There were a lot of stairs. Mr. Roosma said we probably hiked about 2, 3, 4 maybe even more miles to get to the top. I am pretty sure it was like 3 and a half miles though. It was really fun and I hope everybody that went enjoyed it.

BIKING UP MT. CONSTITUTION
We went on campout, and instead of hiking we had a choice of biking up Mount Constitution. So we started going up but we just did a couple of turns. Then Mr. Davis said, "I'm just going to get the truck." So we waited for Mr. Davis to get back with his truck. When he was back with the truck we put our bikes in the bed of the truck. The only people who went were Mr. Davis, Tyler, Miles, Caitlyn and me. So we got in the car and they gave us an apple juice and then we started driving up. When we got to the top we went up to the castle and looked around and then we went back down to the car. We got our bikes out and started going down. We kept going until the half way mark and took a break. Mr. Davis’ tires were smoking. We got some candy and then just rode all away down to the camp. When we got there, no one was at camp so we drove back up in Tyler’s car to get Mr. Davis’ car. Then we just went back down and it was over.

CAMPOUT GAMES
I had a great time on the campout. We played a lot of games. My favorite game was the one when we ate food out of a lunch bag. We had to have our mouth closed with all the food in our mouth. I got a bag of marshmallows. We were all split up in teams. My team came in second place. Then we found letters in a cool-whip container and it spelled a word. It was so fun.

On the campout the first activity we did was this. They gave each of us a frozen t-shirt. We were put into groups of 4 or 5. What you had to do was you had to unfreeze your shirt. Then you had to put on the shirt. Here are some of the things people did to get their t-shirt unfrozen: hit it against a rock or on the ground, bend it, bite it and lick it. I got mine unfrozen by biting it and then licking it. Another thing I saw was breathing on it and sitting on it. Frozen t-shirts was one of the best games and one of the only ones I liked. When I was doing my t-shirt I was thinking about how cold my hands were. When I was finally done my hands were really, really freezing. When you were finished, someone would usually take a picture of you.

SUCIA ISLAND

On Tuesday we went to Sucia Island for a field trip. The boat ride was a little bumpy on the way over, but we had a really good time once we got there. At first, we played around on the beach, and tried to see who could find the biggest crab. Then we had Morning Prayer and talked about what we were going to do during the day. It turned out we had to go to four different stations. The first one was with Mr. Davis. He was teaching us how to use a compass. It was a little complicated at first, but I got the hang of it. The second station was writing a story with Mr. and Mrs. Milam. It was about two Australians who had an adventure. I think we left off with a kangaroo knocking their car over. The third station was with Mrs. Roosma, Mrs. Nutt, and Mrs. Wachter. We were making things out of nature. I made a God’s Eye using yarn and twigs. The last station was with Mr. Roosma. We were on the beach looking for fossils in the rocks. We actually found a lot of them. After that, we had lunch and started the hike to China Caves. We took lots of pictures along the way. When we got there, it was really neat. They are just sandstone cliffs that have been carved out by the wind and rain. There are big caves and also good footholds leading up to them carved out by the weather. We all climbed up and had our picture taken. Then we hiked back, gathered up our backpacks and lunches, and got on the boat to go home. It was a really fun field trip.

By Effie Johnson

On Tuesday, September 29, we went to Sucia Island. There were two boats that took us there. In the morning we learned about fossils. We found some fossils. We made a surprise story. We learned how to use a compass, and we made art from things we found on the beach. In the afternoon we went on a picture scavenger hunt. We walked five or ten miles to the China Caves. As we walked we took pictures of our groups. We had to take ten pictures. One picture could be our choice; one with water; one with a tree; one with driftwood; one with a rock; one with the cave; one with us upside down; one of our feet; an aerial shot and a shot with OCS in it. It was a great day!

CHEMICAL REACTIONS
Wow! We're studying chemistry. Did you know that when you mix baking soda and vinegar it gets colder and it bubbles. The temperature went from 70 degrees to 58 degrees. When you mix hydrogen peroxide and yeast together it gets hotter. It gets way, way hotter. It was 70 degrees and it went up to 91 degrees. We let steel wool sit in vinegar for five days. It made iron acetate. We put ammonia in it, and it turned real turquoise green and it kind of turned into a gel. We put hot milk and vinegar together and we also put cold milk and vinegar together. It made curds and whey. In the olden days people ate curds and whey (it was like yogurt). Also we did an experiment where we took steel wool and mixed vinegar in it. We put a thermometer in the middle of the steel wool. We put it in a covered jar and the temperature in the jar went significantly higher. It was because it was rusting. We’ve been doing lots of other experiments. Some of them have been with temperature and other chemicals. We haven’t blow up the classroom yet!

We have been doing chemistry experiments. We put milk and vinegar together and it started to get all curldly and it was really gross. We mixed bleach and vinegar and steel wool and now there is no steel wool at all. Right now we’re about ready to do an experiment with red cabbage. We cut up the red cabbage, put it in a pan and heated it up. We are going to use it to test some liquids. It was really awesome to do chemistry reactions.

Chemistry can be very dangerous, but also can be cool too. This year in school we’ve been studying chemistry. The following is an experiment that we did in science class. First we jotted down the materials we were going to use. Then we wrote out the procedures. After the procedures were written down and explained we could start the experiments. The first experiment we did was determining if CO2 was heavier than the air we breathe. We floated a lit candle in a beaker of water, baking powder, and lemon juice. The reaction between the lemon juice and baking powder created CO2. The gas extinguished the flame on the candle. We tried several more times to light the candle but were unsuccessful because the CO2 kept extinguishing the flame. This experiment taught us that CO2 is heavier than air and will sink below air.

BAKE SALE
Orcas Christian School raised money for the Katrina victims by having a bake sale. We raised almost one thousand dollars in one day. It was a great success. The primary class and my class made apple pies. My sister’s class made brownies.

By Karl Vyhmeister

We had a bake sale. We made twelve apple pies. I helped my mom with the filling. The first pie sold for thirty dollars. The money went to the people that got hurt from the hurricane. It was fun to make pies. I was glad to help. Mr. Roosma’s room make pies too. Mr. Davis’ room made brownies. We raised almost one thousand dollars.

ART
In art we made self-portraits. The next week we used water colors and painted pictures of flowers. This week we went to Trudy’s and we made pottery. We got to work on the pottery wheel. I made a fat bowl. Other people made pots. We saw all the artwork that people had made. Trudy sells her pots. We also got to go down to the beach and play and skip rocks. I saw a lot of birds on the beach.

Two Mondays ago we started working on our self-portraits. Today we took a field trip and did some art at The Right Place Pottery. Mrs. Smith took us to her favorite place there. It was where a bunch of clay sculptures of animals and pots were. Usually when she goes there she sees a fountain with a river that goes out of it. The lady that owns the place took us to her studio and we used pottery wheels to make pots. It was a really cool experience.

 
KNITTING
This year we are learning how to cast on and cast off in knitting. We have learned how to cast on, but not yet to cast off. Casting on was very fun. My mom is the knitting teacher in the elementary school. I am very happy she is here on Tuesdays. She always helps me when I go to school.

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT
On Thursday, September 30, we had Back to School Night. The kids played in the gym and the parents visited the teachers. I got to swing on the rope swing in the gym with my friends. Butter is a bunny visiting our classroom. My mom and dad got to meet her that night.

NAME STUDY
We studied about our names. We found out what our names mean. My name means believer. Maggie’s name means pearl. Stephanie’s name means crowned one. Chase’s name means hunter or pursuer of truth. Elliott’s name means the Lord is my God. We did math with our names. We read books about names. We counted all the consonants and vowels in our names. We added up all the letters in our names together. There were 166 letters. It was really cool studying our names. I enjoyed it.

BELLINGHAM
On Sept. 25th four kids from grades 5 and 6 got to go to play a flag football game. It was in Bellingham. Mr. Parnell flew us to the football field. I got to drive too. It was very fun. When we got to the airport we had to drive for 15 minutes. We got to eat burritos. I got two. When we got there we got our jerseys and flags on. Then we played flag football. Graye and Herbie were quarter-backs for a while. In the end we won the football game. Afterward we got to have root beer floats. Then we had to drive back to the airport. We flew back and Kirsten got to fly.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS
There are two P.E. teachers. Their names are Alan and Tyler -- known as Mr. A and Mr. T. We have to run laps every P.E. We play Dodge ball and Volleyball and Bump. Sometimes we only run laps. My favorite thing to do in P.E. is Dodge ball. I like to throw the ball. The thing I like the least in P.E. is Volleyball because you just hit the ball back and forth. If they would play football it would be so much more fun, but, they won't let you play tackle football. We would have to play two-hand-touch.

FRIDAY CHAPELS
Chapel has been really fun this year so far. Like the last Chapel we had was when Mr. Davis and Mr. T did some science experiments. Mr. Davis took a lot of balloons and he filled them up with helium, carbon dioxide, and water. He brought a candle in the room and a lighter. He lit the candle and he put the water balloon over the candle and it did nothing but pop. We tried the helium and it didn’t do anything but pop just like the other one, nothing but pop. So we brought in the hydrogen balloons, and we tried that one and it made a huge boom! And we all saw a big ball of flame. It was awesome looking. Anyway all of the chapels have been really fun and our chapels are on Fridays always and it should stay that way.

By Sierra Rose Haugen

SIGN LANGUAGE
It is a fun thing to learn sign language. I have learned lots of words. I have also learned lots of the alphabet. The best part about it is when Mrs. Wachter signs words with us. Mrs. Wachter is the sign language teacher for this year. She is very nice and she has 2 kids. She loves me and my classmates. I hope we can do sign language for the rest of the time we are here.

FISH IN THE CLASSROOM
Mr. Davis caught bass in Cascade Lake and took them back to school. He put them in a pond They lived about two weeks then died. Last weekend he got four orange goldfish and one brown goldfish. Also we put white rocks on the bottom of the pond so we could see them. There is a waterfall that puts water in the pond. Having fish in the classroom is fun. I love having fish in the classroom.