National Geographic Bee By Alex Roper

The National Geographic Bee is a geography competition. They ask the student geography questions and they have to answer the correctly. In the first round there is a group of ten people (there is more than one group). The student will be asked seven questions. Out of all the groups the ten people that have the most right out will compete in the school championship round. This year in our school the ten people were: Charlie Warner, Nora Springer, Alex Roper, Aunna Yingling, Devon Gilbert, Alex Hockensmith, Carli Huber, Nicco Shorto, Erik Wehner, and Matt Wehner. In this round the students will be asked questions and they are still in until the student answers two wrong. Then once there are two people left it is the championship round. The two contestants will be asked three questions whoever gets the most right out of the three questions will be the champion. If they both get the same amount of questions right there are tie-breaker questions. The two people in the championship round this year were Matt Wehner and Carli Huber. However Matt came out victorious. Now he will take the written exam. If he scores in the top one hundred in the state he will go to Penn State for the next round. Whoever wins that round will go to the national competition. There they will take the top ten contestants for the final round. There will be a first place, second place, and third place. Those people will compete in the world competition.

Youth Yellow Pages By Natalie Fiorica

The school has handed out the small yellow book with very important information that most of the student population here have disregarded. This little yellow book also known as YYP can help you in a very serious situation.
The book provides information on suicide hotlines, substance abuse problems, and other hotlines for you to call. The most important thing to remember is that someone out there wants to hear your life story. Someone in this world really cares about you. This book can provide you with someone to turn to if you are uncomfortable with talking to your parents.
If you are in need of advice you can locally go downtown to the ACRP outpatient care unit. This is for kids, teens and adults. If you and your family are financially troubled you can schedule a meeting with a social worker for free. A social worker is someone like a guidance counselor. They keep record of your behavior and how you improve or worsen over time. In any instance a social worker may help you out at home if you are being harmed. They are good listeners and are not like typical adults.
Not only does this book give you hotline telephone numbers, it also helps you cope with cyber bulling. This often occurs on popular sites such as MySpace, Twitter, or Facebook. If someone got a hold of your username and started cyber bulling through your webpage or via instant messages, this is what YYP suggested: Highlight the conversation, copy and paste it to a blank word document, save it to your private folder, then print it out. Once you have done so, show an adult you are most comfortable around and they will help you out. If cyber bulling becomes a serious problem for you, report it to a police officer or someone with high power to help you out.
One major problem that some students suffer from is depression. One way to help get your mind off of things is going to the YMCA. The Y not only has sport groups, but it also has support groups. If you are just plain lonely and bored, join a club at the Y. When or if you go to the YMCA, make sure a parent or supervisor knows your whereabouts in case you got lost. When you ask your family to go hang with friends after school, always call to remind them that you’re going out so they don’t forget. Also make sure to meet your curfew that your family has set so they don’t worry and get the police involved.
www.acrp.com
The local phone number is in your YYP

The Birth of Big Mama's Shack By Zac Yonko

In the fall, in one of Mrs. Weaver’s eighth grade classes, a group of boys by the names of Brady, Tyler, Noah, and myself Zac came up with the restaurant, called BIG MAMA’S SHACK (BMS for short). It was started when our teacher, Mrs. Weaver, gave us an assignment to make a restaurant menu by using as many adjectives to describe our food as possible. The group first came up with the restaurant, The Jungle Café. This was later scratched for the title BMS, or Big Mama’s Shack. This was done for humorous reasons to make our class laugh their heads off. The menu had a breakfast, lunch, dinner, kids section, & dessert, and the new updated version has T-shirts now. The BMS is a big hit with the eighth grade students. T-shirts have actually been made. There were two prototypes made in Ind. Tech. class for screen printing. The shirts have a picture of the shack itself, and have the words, “Big Mama’s Shack,” on it. Also a Facebook fan page was added by Brady Shriver. Hopefully in the future a real Big Mama’s Shack will be made, so in the future look out for a BMS! Yes Mrs. Weaver does get 10% of the profits.

Middle School Baseball Team By Brady Shriver

When the spring comes around most fans and players can’t wait for baseball. Some of the students have talked about it the past years that we should have a Middle School Baseball Team. There would be easily fifteen kids that would tryout at least in 8th grade and some in 7th grade. If we could get a few other teams in the area to make a team to the team could have about as many games as the 8th grade football team. WHMS has Track, Football, Volleyball, Girls Basketball, Boys Basketball, but no Baseball. It’s probably a little late to start a team but for now or the future students that want to play he school board might want to consider it.

Doctor Who By Alex Roper

Doctor Who is a popular television program in England. The head writer is Steven Moffat. The doctor is a time lord (time traveler) that uses an old police box, called the TARDIS. The word TARDIS is an acronym that stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. He always has an assistant from earth that travels with him. He is an explorer that often saves the world. The doctor is from the planet of Gallifrey that was destroyed a long time ago during the time war by his ultimate enemies, the Daleks. He battles creatures from different planets that are trying to take over the world. The television program started in the1960s with William Hartnell as the First doctor. The current one, and my favorite, is David Tennant. The first special, out of a series of four, was Planet of the Dead. The second special is the Waters of Mars, premiering Saturday, December 19th at 9/8c on BBC America. The third is The End of Time, Part One premieres Saturday December 26th at 9/8c on BBC America. The fourth is The End of Time, Part Two premieres Saturday January 2nd at 9/8c on BBC America. Matt Smith will play the doctor for series five. Series five will begin in 2010. Currently, replays of Doctor Who are being played on SyFy on Fridays at 5:00 am. Also it will be on BBC America on Sunday at 9 pm.

Westmont 7th Grade Football Team Finally Beats Bishop McCort

On October 7th, 2009 the 7th grade Westmont Hilltop Football team beat Bishop McCort for the first time in two years. The defense played well and forced four turnovers including an Adam McQuilan interception. They were slow coming out, letting Bishop McCort drive down field to inside the 20 yard line, but Westmont responded with a fumble recovery. Then Westmont marched down the field to score a touchdown. Bishop McCort`s next big drive also resulted in a fumble. From then on Westmont played good defense and made good tackles. Westmont also forced a safety. Westmont ended up scoring two more touchdowns and didn`t let Bishop McCort score. The final score was 22-0.

Westy News Goes Live by Zac Yonko

Ever since the beginning of the month of October, the Westmont Hilltop Middle Schools end of the day announcements went live. The eighth grade students get to announce the news for a week. After two weeks of doing the announcements, the student then rotates with another student to give them chance.The camera men for the announcements are Cullen McQullen and Zac Yonko. The news now includes music at the beginning, which is for now Right Now, by Van Halen. The teachers submit their information to the office and are finalized by Mrs.Hartland. Also holidays have when a special announcements when the holiday comes around. The new announcements, starting the week of Dec. 14, will be said by students in your grade during your lunch homeroom. This was a somewhat of big transition for the Westmont Middle School announcements.

2009 County Chorus By Natalie Fiorica

On November 17th, 2009 County Chorus had a wonderful performance. It was well organized and the students did a very nice job. This event was held at the Richland High School Fine Arts Center. The Fine Arts Center was modeled after the Pasqurilla Performing Arts Center, and is very nicely set up. The stage had nice rows of seats set up for the singers, and a platform set up for the conductor.
The entirety of the county chorus was more than 180 students. 10 students from each school district were chosen to participate. The Cambria County Chorus was on hiatus for about 15 years until this year when it was revived.
To start of the concert, 6th and 7th grade went first. They were conducted by Dr. Christopher Kiver of Penn State University. The conductor of the 8th and 9th grade chorus was Brian Winnie of Pennington, New Jersey. Both conductors started out with 1 song before giving a background about them. Also after every song they made comments and gave information on each piece that was sung.
One of the more memorable pieces, “This Little Light of Mine” sung by the male members in the 8th and 9th grade chorus. It was such a fun piece to hear and see. The chorus was on stage dancing, and the conductor made this an enjoyable evening for the audience and the performers.