Thursday, April 30, 2015

VIDEO: Cooking with Sam & Frodo



Sam: Ethan Lehman
Frodo: Joe Schatz
Golom/Smeagol: Solomon Midwinter
Narrator: Willow Skidmore
Filmed by: Aurora J. Pass
Ad guy: Riley Adesheim Marshal
Inspired by the The Lord of the Rings as Literature taught by Elise Duval Werger

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Worm Warfare is Winning



by Bridger Berg
PHS Press staff member
 

Hey! This a review of a group of games, a group of STRANGE and very fun games, known as the “Worms Games.” The versions of the games include Worms Reloaded, Worms Clan Wars, and Worms Revolution.

The story of these games, if you could call it that, is of a group of worms that for some reason have extremely advanced technology and weapons, and wage warfare on other equally advanced worms. 9/10 Rating for creativity!

Anyway, these worms fight in many different landscapes and scenarios, such as forts, where the worms have to destroy each other’s fortress to win, deathmatch, where the goal is to eliminate all the enemy worms, and a lot of other variations of those two types.

The game is multiplayer, turn based, and viewed from the side. The first player does their turn, one worm from their team of four worms being selected to fight that turn, then using special items they either start out with or collect, such as the Holy Hand Grenade, the Explosive Sheep, and the Water gun to try to eliminate their opponents before their time for their turn runs out. (As you may have guessed by now, this game doesn’t really take itself very seriously.)

 After that, the next player goes, doing the same thing. This continues until the map is thoroughly destroyed and the last team with at least one worm still alive on their team wins.

Example turn: It’s GeneralSlimy122’s turn first. His “Scout” class worm, Tiny, is selected for him to play that turn. He crawls Tiny over to WormyOverlord101’s “Heavy” class worm, Bob. Selecting Tiny’s Baseball bat weapon, he hits Bob, who was near the edge of the map, off the side and into the water below, eliminating him.

 It’s now WormyOverlord101’s turn. His “Soldier” class worm, Harry, is standing next to his “Scientist” class worm, Moe, who is selected that turn, so his scientist heals both Harry and himself with the scientist unique skill.

Then selecting a jetpack for Moe and flying him over close to Tiny, WormyOverlord selects the Explosive Sheep. Clicking the mouse once activates the Sheep, which begins running over to Tiny. A second click blows up the Sheep, heavily damaging Tiny.

Play goes back to GeneralSlimy122, and another of his worms is selected to fight that turn.

There can be up to four players in a map, which would total sixteen worms! Talk about chaos! There is also a single player option, so that those that are either offline or are just getting started and need to learn a bit can still play.

 Worms are also customizable, so you can give them different voices, hats, glasses, names, and so on. If you have the game through the massive game site, Steam, you can also download custom maps and other content from the Steam workshop, a place for people to share their creations.

I would recommend this for: Someone looking for a light and silly but still very fun game, since these games are very different from any others. They are also perfect for a bored Minecraft player or whatever. (No offense to Minecraft.) So if you think it sounds right for you, go and try one of the many editions of these games!

VIDEO: Ellen Crain discusses ins and outs of Planet Homeschool


Ellen Crain sat down the PHS Press reporters Soren LePage and Tyler Skidmore to talk about upcoming classes being offered, why she homeschools and what sets Planet Homeschool apart.

Gerald Benford: Minnesota Swordplay


 by Tyler Skidmore
PHS Press staff member

Gerald Benford, a man of 50, teaches fencing at a homeschool co-op named Planet Homeschool. He has been Fencing since the 1980’s, in highschool and then college.
Benford’s Grandmother sponsored Maria, who was trained in Cuba to Fence. Maria is known as "The Mad Cuban." She and Benford started dating and Maria taught him how to Fence. They got married in the 1990’s.
“ Fencing is one of those few sports where you actually compete one on one. You are testing your skills against another opponent in mock battle.  Its more of an art than a self defensive sport. I like it because you develop long lasting relationships [ / ] friendships by the sword, said Benford.
 He encouraged Maria to start a Fencing business, and they eventually started Minnesota Swordplay in 2000. Minnesota Swordplay has locations all over Minnesota and Wisconsin.
They plan on opening a U.S.F.A ( U.S. Fencing Association ) club in Minnetonka. The website is minnesotaswordplay.com.
They were referred to teach at Planet Homeschool as a Fencing instructor.
Benford’s favorite book is the Bible, and his favorite pastime is ministry. Benford majored in business in college.
They have been in Fencing matches on TV and overseas, and plan on traveling all over Europe this summer for fun.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Friday, April 10, 2015

The Hobbies of Tyler Skidmore

by Solomon Midwinter
PHS press staff member


Tyler Skidmore
Tyler Skidmore, age 15, of St. Paul has a few hobbies, and is a student at PHS.  When asked what they were, he said “ I like to draw detailed robots, abstract shapes, and patterns, and I like to build intricate lego models.”  

He enjoys both hobbies about the same.  He said, “I enjoy expressing myself through each drawing and model, combining feelings that I am having at that moment with different elements of the model or drawing.”  He has both drawn and made Lego creations for about twelve years.

According to Skidmore, he builds with Legos because he is bored, and when asked when, he replied, “I do both pretty much every day.”  He builds the massive Lego constructs in his room.  He will draw just about anywhere there is pen and paper. And as for how, in Skidmore's own words, he uses the Legos “by putting bricks together.” 

When asked what his favorite model is, he said “My favorite model is a turret crab which I keep on a shelf to look at (every once in awhile adding to it).”   He may have some drawings in an upcoming issue of the PHS Press.
 A robot that Tyler Skidmore drew. 

Solomon: a Writer

by Tyler Skidmore
PHS Press staff member


 
Solomon Midwinter
Solomon Midwinter, 13, enjoys reading and writing fantasy in his free-time. Fantasy is a genre of writing that is about supernatural creatures.
I like fantasy because it is very creative, and fun to read. It allows us to imagine how the world could be different, and then share our favorites with others,” said Midwinter.
Solomon was introduced to fantasy by reading books, and eventually decided to write his own fantasy. He has been writing fantasy since he was 11, when he wrote part of a novel for NaNoWriMo.
NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, happens every November for youth and adults. The goal is to write a novel in 30 days.
Midwinter does not share his stories very frequently, unless it is with a family member for some feedback. Usually his stories are around 10-20 pages in length.
Midwinter is inspired by Brandon Mull, Rick Riordan, George R.R. Martin, and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Solomon has not gotten published yet, but he hopes to someday.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Home school kids learning to use computer modeling

by Solomon Midwinter
PHS Press staff member
Kim Chase-Kozak
Kim Chase-Kozak is a teacher at PHS, and has a class on a modeling program called Blender. 

Blender is a free modeling program, which can be used for many purposes, and can create animations as well as models and images.  As Chase-Kozak said, “Blender is computer software used to create 3d models or drawings.  It can also be used to create animations or games.  It can also work with other programming engines.”

The process that is used to create a model is more or less as follows.  First, you draw or download a picture of what you want to model.  Then you use extrude commands to model over the picture.  Then you can use textures and materials to make it the right color and texture. 

When asked what the most interesting thing anyone in her class has done yet, she replied that one of the students has sent her an animated character over email, which was especially neat because they have not yet covered animations. 

A model done by Chase-Kozak
What they have most recently done in class was talk about different kinds of light.  Before that, they were mostly working on the basics, such as the extrude command, getting the modeling pictures into files, and the blade tool.  Camera placement, texture and animation are more advanced skills covered in the class. 

Chase-Kozak has had some previous experience with teaching.  In college, she was a undergraduate TA, and has a degree in math and computer science from the U of M.

She has been leading and teaching kid related things since her kids were school age.  She has also learned quite a bit teaching this class.   This is her first time teaching a class at PHS, and she would be glad of an opportunity to teach at PHS again.

When asked what her favorite thing about teaching is, she said, “I love it when students start running with their new skills and start creating and trying things I haven't done.”