Before we left for winter break, we did a deal where you pick names and you have to buy gifts for them. We opened the presents the day before vacation. I got a box of malted milk balls and a tractor, and the other kid got other things. Then we played games all day long. Blackhawk thought it was fun. BLM thought it was great. Black Jack thought it was great. Krusty Muffin thought it was fun that we got to play all day.

We have been doing a mile walk every week. We have gone a total 69 miles now. If we were really walking along the path to Lagoon, we would have passed Kelton, an old ghost town. 

Utah Ghost Towns  says, “There is little left of old Kelton. The abandoned railroad grade runs through town passing a loading ramp with an underground water tank. There are many remains of fallen buildings.  A forlorn cemetery on the west edge of town contains ragged, weathered tombstones and straggling sagebrush.” It would have been interesting to really see the place.

We have walked over the old railroad grade for a long way.  We are now walking on Salt Wells Road, and just turned the corner around the point of a mountain north of Spring Bay in the Great Salt Lake. That is the mile walk for the past couple of weeks.

In December we had a play and it was a hit. I mean it was so funny it had people crying. It was called “Misdeeds and Mistletoe Mine.” It was a melodrama set in the Old West.

I was a little orphan and Krusty Muffin was my Aunt Rose. I was so smart because I could tell that my Aunt Rose was in love because she was making gaga faces at Mr. Red (played by Black Samurai), and he did it back at her.  But that wasn’t the only funny part.  Everyone was equally funny. I had a blast. Tenderloin thought it was boring because he just had to act sleepy the whole play.

The kindergarteners played orphaned waifs who had been taken in by me, Miss Holly Hock. They thought they were the stars of the show, and they probably were.  

Tons of people came to see it, even some from Oakley. They all seemed to have a good time. We had delicious refreshments afterward. Thank you Community Council for arranging for the treats.

By Krusty Muffin

(Editor’s reminder: Student names are replaced by pseudonyms of their own choosing.)

A few days before Thanksgiving, Grouse Creek School held a semi-formal Thanksgiving dinner at lunch time. It was lots of fun. We got to eat on a fancy tablecloth, eat on real plates, and drink from fancy crystal goblets. To top it off, the teachers served us dinner! It was a lot of fun.  I would say that we were the most polite and fancy school in the whole school district. We did this once earlier during Ribbon Week and we were in semi-formal clothes and dressed up real nice.

Clumsy said, “I liked the goblets, and the dinner, and the teachers served us. I felt like I was royal.”

Black Samurai says, “I felt like a big fat king. Yum.”

Simply Bob said “I liked the eating part.”

“It was delicious,” said Black Hawk. 

Mrs. Runyan said, “The students were well behaved.” 

BLM said, “It was good.”

Mr. Runyan said “Thanksgiving dinner is my most favorite lunch.”

“It was awesome that you didn’t have to go get your food because the teachers served you,” Tenderloin said.

(Editor’s note:  in order to protect student privacy, student authors of any posts that are not password protected will be identified by a pseudonym that they chose.)

We started the school mile walk Nov. 17. We set a goal to walk to Lagoon and back. We are hoping that when we are done we can actually go to Lagoon. We’re thinking about trying to arrange a Lagoon trip for the last day of school and the Runyans will provide lunch. We are not actually go to walk to Lagoon. We are just going to add up all the miles that we walk together. The distance to Lagoon is 156 miles one way, so we will have to walk 312 to equal the distance there and back. If we were really where our ten miles would take us, we would be on top of Ingham Pass Rd. We’d be pretty tired from the steep hike. After we finish the 312 miles, we are going to keep going, so Runyans will make a better lunch. So that is what the mile walk is.  (With 10 students, that will mean we will all have to walk 1-2 miles each week for the remainder of the school year).

Most people would say the most exciting part of the day was the egg and pumpkin launching.  Groups of students designed and built egg launchers ranging from spring-loaded flingers and trebuchets to giant slingshots. The surgical tubing slingshot built by a Park Valley student ended up with the winning distance this time. Grouse Creek built trebuchets took second and third.

On the pumpkin launch, Grouse Creek’s trebuchet defended its title earned last year, but it will not be making a return visit next year.  After the official launching was over, Mr. Runyan decided to experiment with more weight (500 lbs. instead of 300), and the weight support arm broke under the pressure.  Back to the drawing board for next year to try to make something better. Pictures of the events will be coming soon.

Each student chose an ice age mammal picture and traced it onto styrofoam to make a plate for printing.  Then we rolled paint onto the plate and pressed paper onto it.  The parts that were smashed didn’t touch the paper, so the paint didn’t mark it there.  It was a fun project. The animals we had to choose from were the mammoth, mastodon, horse, short-faced bear, ice age camel, giant sloth, and the sabertooth cat.  Here are some samples: