signal
The Smoke January 2025 Newton Local Schools
Vol. 6 Issue 5

our new editor!

Hi! My name is Felicity Harbour and I am a senior here at Newton. I joined News Writing because I enjoy reading the Smoke Signal, and plus my friends were in it. I participate in basketball, Leo club, band, choir, and chess club. I like to hangout with friends, going to the movies, and staying active. A fun fact about me is that I was once in an advertisement on the scene 75 website when I was like 6. I have two older sisters, one older brother and an old, fat, little dog named Sam.

Update on resolutions By: Meg Yoder
My new year’s resolution was to get a job, and I am still unemployed!
By: Candace Shellenberger

My new year's resolution was to spend less time on social media and focus on my relationship with Jesus more, and it is off to a great start. I have a set Bible reading plan for the year. I have also set limits on all my social media apps.
By Liam Woods

My new year’s resolution was to stop drinking soda, and I still drink the same amount of soda.
By: Felicity Harbour

My new year’s resolution was to read my Bible more and I am getting better at it. I still need to have better time management to make time for it. I started reading the book of Mark. I plan to read a chapter a day. I have been continuing to read my Bible before every basketball game I have, which is what I started doing sophomore year. I usually read out of Psalms before my games.
By: Dylan Bauer

My new year’s resolution was to get out more. So far I have gone out with my friends more often than I used to, and I am trying to explore new places whenever I go on runs. (I have not trespassed…. yet).
By: Vivien Clark

So far I have been doing a bit better than last year. I am still struggling a bit on impulse buying but there is a whole year to keep improving and really focus on keeping my finances in line. One thing I have really started to notice myself doing is taking the time to ask myself if I really need something and if my enjoyment will benefit. I've found that very helpful and plan to keep getting better.

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have flown a little too often in their favor. Their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes leads the league in interceptions that have been called back by penalties with 17. That aside, “Patricia” (as he is known by NFL fans), has recently resorted to flops and sideline fakes to draw flags out of the referees’ pockets. In my opinion, this kind of play cheapens the game, but rules are rules for a reason. You may or may not agree with me, but that’s
	
my take.

They Won AGAIN?! By Dylan Bauer
Well, there remains only one game to go in this NFL season. Some of you may have stopped watching quite a while ago depending on what team you are fans of. I will save you some time and say that for the third year in a row the Kansas City Chiefs are back into the Super Bowl. Now, in case you are a Chiefs fan, please do not take offense to anything I am about to write, this is all for the lols. That being said, I am a die hard Bengals fan and I cannot be the only one that thinks the Chiefs’ 3 year run has been a little questionable. Especially this year, it seems as though penalty flags

athletes of the month

Vivien Clark	Lee Morrow

Vivien has been a bowler for	At Newton, there is few 3 years and is currently on	around who can score the the girls’ varsity team. Her	ball as easily	as Lee favorite thing about the sport	Morrow. When he is on the is how relaxed it is even	court, he makes a big impact though	it	is	pretty	in the paint on both sides of competitive. Vivien is most	the ball. Lee likes basketball proud of being 5th highest	because of how fast-paced

all time for girls pin count. Keep it up Viv!

and intense it is. He is most proud of making the varsity team as a sophomore. Great job Lee!

Q&A

1. What rule would you change about your sport? Vivien: Hats should be allowed during matches
Lee: The 3 seconds in the paint rule

2. What is your sport’s most satisfying sound? Vivien: The sound of a strike
Lee: The swish of the net after a made basket

3. You are stuck on an island for the rest of your life. What would you bring for entertainment? Vivien: Chloe Shellenberger
Lee: An Xbox	2

what we are looking forward to in 2025
By: Meg Yoder

In 2025 I am looking forward to summer, the new season of Last Of Us, travelling with my dad, and a new season of soccer starting. I miss the warm weather, swimming, and really all aspects of summer.
By: Felicity Harbour

What I am most looking forward to this year is making the most of my senior year by soaking in every moment and experience for one last time.
By: Candace Shellenberger

In 2025 I am looking forward to going to church camp this summer and getting to see my friends there. I am also looking forward to spending more time this summer with my friends who will be moving away in the fall.
By: Vivien Clark

I am really looking forward to graduation and to see where I will end up going in life, finishing Spiderman two, the new season of 9-1-1 and The Last of Us (I want another game but probably not happening this year), Wicked part 2, and seeing Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith in theaters.
By Liam Woods

I am looking forward to graduation the most. I am also excited for Mac Miller's new album, the Switch 2, the Chainsaw Man movie and season 8 of My Hero Academia. I can not wait for all the snow to go away, and to hang out with my friends in the summer.
By Dylan Bauer

This year I am looking very forward to graduating high school and seeing what the next phase of my life will be. Also I can not wait for summer weather again. No more cold and wet please :)

Break review By: Meg Yoder

My winter break was very relaxed, and I had a lot of fun. I had three family Christmas parties to go to. I enjoyed all of them, but I was glad when they were over. I loved spending time with my siblings, and younger cousins. I was really sad when my brothers had to leave because I do not get to see them much. Other than Christmas, I went to basketball games, hung out with friends, and went sledding with them when it snowed. I was really happy when we had those two extra days because I did not want to come back, and I wish the break never ended.
By: Felicity Harbour

My break was fun in a busy way. Over break I had basketball games and practice. I celebrated the holidays with my big family, as well as celebrating my birthday, I went shopping, hung out with friends, and went sledding. I enjoyed the two extra days we got because I was not ready to come back. My sleep schedule was all messed up haha. Overall I loved having time to spend with my family and friends.
By Liam Woods

My break was very uneventful, but eventful at the same time I spent most of my time with family and friends. I watched the Sonic movie twice, I went to the zoo for the christmas lights, went sledding, and took my dogs out to play in the snow. Break was great, and it was amazing that we had extra days.
By: Candace Shellenberger

My winter break was one of the best I have ever had. My siblings were home from college and I got to spend a lot of time with them over break. I had two family Christmases, and was excited to get to see all my cousins. I went to an escape room with a couple of my friends and my sister. I also went sledding on the Monday that we had a snow day and that was so much fun! I was happy to have the two extra days to relax and do nothing, however I was ready to come back after those two days were over.
By: Vivien Clark

My winter break was pretty good, I did not do much but it was nice to sleep in. I did watch a few series, play Spiderman 2 and The Last of Us, bowl, spent time with family and friends, built some legos and I deep cleaned my room. So that was all pretty cool.
By: Dylan Bauer

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Most of my winter break was spent trying to rest from school. I had a couple basketball games and practice, and I had Christmas with both sides of my family which was great. I was kinda tired at my grandparents’house and it was great to fall asleep in one of their comfortable chairs.

Album Review

By Meg Yoder

“Balloonerism” by Mac Miller was released a couple of days ago on January 17th, 2025, although it was recorded in 2014. It has 14 songs, and is just under an hour long. This is the second album released since his death on September 7th, 2018. “Balloonerism” is about Mac Miller’s struggle with addiction. It is not a sad album, but it makes you sit and think about what is being said in the album. My favorites from this album are DJ’s Chord Organ, and Excelsior. Along with this album being released, the movie “Balloonerism” was also released. It is 22 minutes long, and is about a group of friends that get sent into a shadow world after being swallowed by the ‘turtle of time’, and must go through adulthood. It is not a movie for everyone, but it is also not meant for everyone. Overall, this album is amazing, and I am very happy it was released.

artist of the month

By Liam Woods

Your January Artist of the month is Brenna Locker! When did you get into art? Ever since I can remember, I have loved art. I think my first project was

finger painting.
What is your favorite art mediu What does your art consist of? and sketching.

m?
	Modeling clay
		
I do a lot of crocheting

What motivates you to make good art? I am a tiny bit of a perfectionist, If it doesn't look good, I will fix it until I think it does.
Do you plan on pursuing a career in art after graduation? No

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movie review

This month we watched To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before which follows a teenage girl, Lara Jean Covey, as she deals with the fallout of her secret love letters getting sent out by her sister. To avoid conflict with her sister’s ex-boyfriend (who got a letter) she gets into a fake relationship with Peter Kavinsky (another recipient). After spending so much time together the fake relationship obviously becomes a real one.

Liam says, “I think it was an enjoyable movie, it was kind of cringy but you just have to embrace the cringe to have fun.” Vivien says, “I agree with Liam but the sister was a menace”Meg also felt some of the cringe, “I really love this movie it has a great story but it is just cringy and frustrating at times.” Dylan says, “I always think it is funny when 25 year olds play high schoolers” (even though really the actor was 21). Candace thinks, “It is a feel good movie.” Miss Rhea says, “This is the definition of a Netflix rom com which I love” and Felicity, “I love it, I’ll watch it anytime.”

On a scale of 1-5 Meg gives it a 3.5, Dylan, Candace, Vivien, and Liam rate the movie a 4, Felicity and Miss Rhea rate it a 5.

Science Experiment

By: Candace Shellenberger

For this month’s science experiment we made slime. It only took four simple ingredients. We mix approximately two tablespoons of borax with warm water and mixed it. After it was mixed we slowly added it to a bottle of glue in a separate container. It was not working and we started to doubt if it was going to work. We tried adding more borax to the glue and it helped a little but it was still sticky. So we decided to add shaving cream. It made the slime less sticky and things started to look a lot better. The last thing we added was glitter. In the end the slime looked like the inside of a dragon fruit.

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teacher of the month By: Candace Shellenberger
This month’s teacher of the month is Ms. Short. She has been teaching for 32 years and this is her 26th year at Newton. In her freetime she likes to sit in her library in her comfy chair and reading with her cats on her lap. She also enjoys taking walks and hikes in the woods. She enjoys cooking as well as baking sourdough bread. She likes being creative by drawing, inking, building kits, and writing. When I asked if she always wanted to teach this was her response “Pretty much. My folks kept a memory booklet that had them asking me questions each year and the one about my future job was also answered with some kind of teacher. Art teacher, science teacher, English teacher.” This year she is looking forward to going on vacation in the spring with her family to Hocking Hills. When I asked what her biggest accomplishment is, she said “When I hear from former students who say that their college chemistry or physics class was easier because they'd taken my class. That always puts a nice dent in my imposter syndrome! :-)” Her favorite chemistry experiment to do is the potassium chlorate and sugar reaction which she does in order to illustrate the importance of stoichiometry. Her favorite chemistry experiment to watch someone else do is hydrogen-filled balloons being exploded with a flame.

student of the month

By: Felicity Harbour

This month I asked Mr. Davis who he thought was best fit and he responded with, “Ella Bayer. Ella is a fantastic person and an even nicer person. She doesn’t hesitate to help others when asked, and always seems to have a smile on her face.” When I asked Ella what her thoughts were on being student of the month, she said “I don’t know, cool!”

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solo and ensemble By: Vivien Clark

This month a few Band and Choir students have participated in OMEA solo and ensemble. They spent a lot of time preparing and then on Saturday, January 18th, they took all their hard work and put it into action. This year there are two ensemble groups participating with the choir and lots of solo’s for both band and choir. The soloist list includes Jayla Leland, Ellie Bauer, Regan Miller, Lilly Sudduth, Parker Conning, Parker Christman, Elise Stucki, and Emily Flora. The men's ensemble performed a song entitled “Bound for the Rio Grande”, and the chamber ensemble performed “If I Have My Ticket”. Everyone who participated performed excellently and it was a pleasure to be able to watch. Everyone really enjoyed working their way to the 18th and now we move towards the spring concert and contests. We would like to thank everyone who came out to watch or showed you support to any of the performers. To conclude this section, the scores of each performance. The Chamber Ensemble, Men’s Ensemble, Jayla, Parker Conning, Parker Christman, Elise, Ellie, and Emily all received ones. Regan received a two and Lilly got a three. Good job to all those who participated it!

twins By: Felicity Harbour
Newton has a lot of twins, so let us meet some of them!

Dylan and Dawson

Tyler and Regan

Q: Did your parents ever dress you in matching outfits? A: When we were little but now we pick our own.
Q: Do you believe in twin telepathy?
A: We do, there will be times when were sitting down and we randomly just say the same thing out of the random.
Q: What do you like most about being a twin?
Dylan’s A: You always have someone to talk to since you’re pretty much the same person you like and dislike the same things.
Dawson’s A: People usually ask me alot what it's like being a twin. And I always answer by saying it feels the same as a normal sibling. Like I dont always think "Wow I have a twin!" I just think of him as my brother. Except you always have someone to relate to with your problems. Which is nice!! Whether it be homework or even just life's problems.

Q: Did your parents ever dress you in matching outfits?

A: Our parents dressed us more alike when we were very little., It didn't happen often but when they did, people usually couldn't tell us apart.
Q: Do you believe in twin telepathy? A: Yes
Q: what do you like most about being a twin? A: Having spare parts

Aubrey and Tom. Yep, she’s a twin!

Q: Did your parents ever dress you in matching outfits?
A:Yes, they dressed us in boy/girl matching outfits… really only in infants/toddler years. Q: Do you believe in twin telepathy?
A:Yes!!! I have multiple stories. I’ll share one. I was in college, I just finished a 10k race, ran it well with no pain. After I was finished, my shoulder kept having stabbing pains and then followed by a long ache. My parents called me about an hour later and said my brother was hurt during his spring football game. His injury: dislocated shoulder that required surgery.
Q: What do you like most about being a twin?
A: I don’t know any different because to me he’s just my brother. Others will say that we have

a unique bond and I would agree with that.	7

clunker of the month

By: Vivien Clark

The Clunker this month is Nick Staub. Nick owns a 2001 Jeep Cherokee XJ and he has had it for just about two years now. He has been fixing it up on and off since he got it. Through further research and talking to a few people Nick may be in denial that he owns a clunker, I have been told that there have been a multitude of times where his car will not run. Hopefully since he has been doing some major repairs on it, like a new engine, brakes, and new roofing it will not be a clunker for much longer. Nick loves his car and plans on keeping it until the day he dies and for that I give Nick much respect.

hidden talents By: Candace Shellenberger

I went around the school and asked students if they had any hidden talents. The one that stood out the most was Aadyn Gearheart. I asked him the following questions.

What is your hidden talent? My hidden talent is being able to do voice impressions.

How did you discover your hidden talent? When I was younger, about 9 I was really into 1940's era Mickey Mouse shorts, and I just wanted to do his voice, so I practiced and was and still am pretty good at it.

Do you practice your talent? I practice my talent a lot due to the amount of projects I work on for others. Mostly have been focused on working on my Finn Mertens impressions from Adventure Time.

3 Month update on peony

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Questions of the month

By Liam Woods

It is a new year and that means a new set of questions. Before we look into 2025 let us look back into 2024. Over break you guys watched many good shows and movies. Including: many true crime documentaries, comedies like How I Met Your Mother, Young Sheldon, and Psych. Anime was also popular over break with shows like Attack on Titan, One Piece, Violet Evergarden, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The most popular show by far was Squid Games season 2 and the most popular movie was Sonic 3. Those were the most popular movies over break but what was the most popular movie of the month? This month the category was animated Disney movies. There was a tie for last place both only getting 1 vote each being The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Peter Pan. In second to last there was another tie between Chicken Little and Princess and The Frog both getting 8.6% of the votes. In third with 14.3% was Aladdin, coming in a close second we had the Lion King with 28.6% of the votes, and the big winner of the month was Tangled with 34.3% of votes. Now it is time to look into the future, 65% think that 2025 will be their year, 28% think 2025 will just be alright, and 5% are already being negative and manifesting a bad year. You can not have a good new year without a good resolution, some good common ones are to get money, get stronger, get better grades, and to get their driver license. Some standouts are to finish writing a book series, and to learn a new instrument. Resolutions are not the only good thing about the new year. There are many things to look forward to in 2025, including summer, graduating for some, and sports season starting. But that is not all that exciting, many people have plans for concerts, vacations out west, and are already looking forward to movie and music releases in the year. I hope everyone had a great 2024 and I am wishing everyone a great 2025 full of great questions of the month.

winter dance

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Happy	🎉 Birthday!

Blue

January

Sledding

Cold	Frozen

New Year

Snowday

Igloo

Resolutions

Winter

Piper Sink Nolan Meurer Holly Morse Nicholas Staub Jackson Blair Zayden Sanders Dakota Craig Alexis West Noah Resides Adia Leal Hannah Williams Tanner Long Breanna Ingle Isaac Beidelman Adrian Estrada Vienna Long Israel Mwaura Catherine Marchal
Brenna Locker Peyton Schutz Charlotte Will Travis Stanhope

Gwen Holbrook Tyler Miller Regan Miller Emmett Blair Justin Hale Dawson Trost Dylan Trost Max Silk Emma Fisher

Smoke Signals January Playlist

“Man of the House” by Rachel Zegler

“World Needs Jesus” by River Valley Worship “Rick’s Piano” By Mac Miller
“Fool’s Gold” By One Direction “Mercury” By Steve Lacy “Afterlife” By Hailee Steinfeld
“Die With a Smile” By Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars

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th
Logan Butts
Ava Nolan
th
UVCC 12 Grade:
Missy Nance
Emma Fisher
Coltyn Adams
2024-2025 Quarter Two Academic honors

Honor Roll

UVCC 11th Grade: AJ Church
Douglas Goad

UVCC 12th Grade: Noah Bayer
Jaden Deaton Jennica Holly Parker Kanet Jaemyn Lowry Korey Nolan Bekah Shough Lillian Szakal Bronson Van Culin Layla Van Culin Alexis West

MVCTC 11th Grade: Brensen Skinner
7 Grade: Rylee Alexander
Isabella Anderson Dexter Barhorst Rowan Fiely Easton Hemphill Ethan Hogan Lillianna Levan Catherine Marchal Israel Mwaura Henry Ovenshire Makenah Petry Payton Schaurer Bailey Schutz Celia Stucki Aubrey Tackett Makenzie Voisard

8th Grade: Mollie Adams Vivien Bowser Ivan Chen Havyn Coning Brooks Flory
Caroline Forsythe Gabriel Miller Karlee Schwartz Shayleigh Shoup Dahlila Stone Dawson Trost Dylan Trost
9th Grade: Tucker Fisher Lillian Goad Garrison Hughes Ayden Kane Madilynn Karns Allison Kramer Elijah Leingang Nolan Meurer
Colton Shellenberger Anna Wall

10th Grade: Harlee Adams Matillie Casey Parker Coning Emily Laughman Jayla Leland Andrew Long Regan Miller Tyler Miller Holly Morse Kaelyn Petry Braden Pleiman Trenton Robinson Warren Serey James Stucki Ameila Szakal Jordyn Whitacre Meg Yoder

11th Grade: Emily Flora
Mia Isidro-Coppock Kinzie Peters
Estie Rapp Carson Resides
Candace Shellenberger

12th Grade: Dylan Bauer Seth Euton Felicity Harbour Breanna Ingle Adia Leal Emmy Leingang Kayla Olander Caitlyn Pleiman
Hayden Wilhelmy Liam Woods

Principal’s List UVCC 11th Grade:	7th Grade: Addison Lyons	Emmett Blair Owen Miller	Abigail Flora

Nick Staub
Austin Long Vienna Long Leslie Maloney
Dakota Craig
Ava Trimble
Clara Shellenberger Cori Haines	Sutton Spitler Makenna Kesling	Charlotte Will

8 Grade:
Max Newhouse	th Callie Smith
Alysa Stevenson	Izabel Ballard Austin Barhorst Mayson Cosby Oliver Crow Isabella Fullenkamp Bentley Hess

Ava Hughes Nolan Knupp Louella Liette Zoey Robinson
Mckenzie Sheridan Max Silk
Chase Wackler

9th Grade: Ella Bayer Jackson Blair
Eleanor Bradshaw Brynnasen Fiely Michaela Flora Sawyer Hainline Stephanie Knepper Brenna Locker Tanner Long
Ava Meyer

Emmaline Rapp Lindsey Willoughby

10th Grade: Chloe Adams Cole Alexander Wren Bauer Mya Denlinger Ally Moore Alec Schaurer Travis Stanhope Claire Stull

11th Grade: Ellie Bauer Zurich Bess Will Bowser Elliot Cook Rachel Fisher

Evanston Hemphill Rylee Hess
Audrey Miller Austin Tippie Ava Velkoff

12th Grade: Isaac Beidelman Rylan Hoy
Sienna Montgomery Ava Rapp
Erika Shellabarger Grace Stanhope Shelby Van Den Bosch