VIDEO: An interview during PHS open house

A visitor to Planet Homeschool during the open house on May 1, 2015 chats about why she's there. Interviewed by Solomon Midwinter. Video by Aurora J. Pass.

VIDEO: Cooking with Sam & Frodo

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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

Poll: What's your favorite book series?

Compiled by Aurora Pass
PHS Press staff member

COLUMN: Team Yarn, Hats for cancer patients!

by Aurora J. Pass

PHS Press staff Member

Team Yarn – Head Huggers helps cancer patients. It’s an organization that makes hats, scarves, shawls, blanket, and so on for cancer patients, and you can help us by donating in the Team Yarn drop box at PHS. Team Yarn’s website is: http://teamyarn.blogspot.com/, and the Facebook page is: Team Yarn - Head Huggers.

Team Yarn was founded by Amy Pass, my mom, because her mom, my grandma Cheryl Slater, died of cancer. We wanted to do something to help.

 “Starting Team Yarn gave me something productive to do when I was grieving after my mom died from cancer,” said Amy. We started Team Yarn because the hospital that my Grandma was at gave her hats, and we wanted to help.

The co founder of Team Yarn is Tesha M. Christensen Pettit, teacher of the Newspaper Writing Class at PHS. Team Yarn just celebrated its second birthday at the January 2015 meeting. Meetings are every third Sunday of every month at Silverwood Park in New Brighton  from 1:00 to 3:00 PM.

 The meetings are a time for people to get together, knit, crochet, and drop off finished projects to donate to hospitals. Stop by if you want. We always love new members of our group.

We try to donate to hospitals once a month. Every time they are always happy to get new items to give away. It makes everyone happy to know people care so much.

There is a Team Yarn drop box at the table when you walk in the door at Planet Homeschool. So, whoever wants to donate can. If you do donate please pin your name to the hat so whoever gets that item can know who made it. I will be taking your items home at the end of the day.  You don’t have to know how to knit or crochet. You can donate items you made or yarn.

LARPing the day away

by Bridger Berg

PHS Press staff member

Aurora J. Pass as a wood elf

Aurora Pass, 12, a PHS student living in Minneapolis, enjoys Live Action Role Play (LARP) with friends after PHS classes.

As Pass said, LARPing is a fun way of acting out a certain character in a storyline, and imagining that the things they do are real.

Asked why she likes to do this, she answered: “It’s really fun and [is also] fun to base games on books, mostly fantasy and some Sci fi.” However, according to Pass, when they base something on literature, they do not just act out the book, it’s more like they make their own story out of the premise of the original.

Asked what she likes to do most in the games she said: “Well, I’m best at dying actually.”

Lego role playing because it is fun

by Aurora J. Pass

PHS Press staff member

Bridger Berg age 12, PHS Press staff member, lives in St. Paul, and his hobby is making up Lego games, characters, and fortresses for Lego role playing.

He plays with friends at his home, in St. Paul, on earth, on the Orion arm, in the Milky Way galaxy. Berg does this because he says it’s fun.

Now you might be thinking Live Action Role Playing or Role Playing table games, but this is different. It’s with Legos. All you need is some imagination and Legos.

They made screaming mandrakes in Harry Potter class

At PHS, there are many classes, of all types.  There are the ones that you might find in a normal school, like classes on math and history, and then there are the more interesting ones, the ones that are hard to find elsewhere.  These include things such as Lord of the Rings as literature, or the Harry Potter crafts and gizmos class. 

Here are a few video interviews with some members of the Harry Potter class, and its instructor, Michelle Lehman.


Interviewer: Solomon Midwinter
Filmed and edited by Aurora J. Pass

VIDEO: Good Morning Middle Earth #3 - News from Isengard

News Reporter: Willow Skidmore

King Theodin: Ethan Lehman

Script written by: Aurora Pass

Videographer: Solomon Midwinter

Inspired by the The Lord of the Rings as Literature taught by Elise Duval Werger

at Planet Homeschool

VIDEO: Good Morning Middle Earth #1

News Reporter: Emily Weinlick

Mr. Butterburr: Riley Adesheim Marshal

Script written by: Aurora Pass

Videographer: Ethan Lehman

Inspired by the The Lord of the Rings as Literature taught by Elise Duval Werger

Meet PHS Press staff: Amity Neubauer

Amity Neubauer (by Soren LePage)

by Aurora J. Pass

PHS Press staff member

Amity Neubauer is 11 years old and lives in Apple Valley. She likes to listen to the song Skinny Love by Birdy. Her favorite books are The Naturals and Percy Jackson. Amity likes to read Lego Magazine, and she likes to go rock climbing. She likes it that there are nice people at PHS, and she joined The Newspaper Writing Class because she thought it would be fun. Amity also likes to write short stories.

Meet PHS Press staff: Aurora Pass

Aurora Pass (Photo by Soren LePage)

by Amity Neubauer
PHS Staff member

1. Aurora Pass
age 12, 7th grade
City/Town: Minneapolis
Song of the week: Jingle bells
Favorite Book: The Lord of the Rings
Favorite Magazine: Splash
Favorite Thing To Do: Live action role playing (aka larp)
What Do You Like Most About PHS: Really Really fun classes
Why Did You Join PHS Press Staff: "Because I know the teacher and because it would be fun," she said.
Favorite Thing To Write: Poems and short fiction stories

Things To Do Around The Twin Cities in Winter

by Aurora J. Pass

PHS Press staff member

Wondering what to do in winter in Minneapolis and St. Paul? Yup, it can be difficult sometimes, but there are a lot of things to do if you think about it. So, I hope this list will help.

1.     Every Minnesotan should know how to ice skate. You can go for free at our lovely Minneapolis Parks. You can also skate indoors at the Parade Ice Garden for $1.75 – $2 and at Mariucci Arena for $2.50 - $3.50, and you can rent skates at both these places!

2.     You can rent sleds and snow tubes also at Minneapolis Parks, but if you want to go for free you can go to the parks and bring your own sled.

3.     You can ski and snowboard. Sadly it costs money, but it’s fun. Look up places to go online. There are a lot.

4.     Go to the St. Paul Winter Carnival. There are snow sculptures, ice sculptures, and sledding.

5.     There’s candy, gifts, and food from Germany in Downtown at The Minneapolis Holiday Market, and it doesn’t cost much for a ticket good for the season!

6.     The Swedish Institute has Christmas exhibits and a gift shop a good place to get Swedish Christmas presents.

Now you see there are a lot of fun things to do. So go out there and be a Minnesotan. Minnesotans go out and embrace the cold, and that’s why you live in Minnesota not Hawaii!

MinneSNOWta!

Photoshop work by Aurora Pass
PHS Press Staff member

Harry Potter: A Truly Magical Series!

by Aurora J. Pass

PHS Press staff member

Harry Potter was one of the best series I have ever read, and it’s really well written. The Harry Potter series contains seven bestselling books that are written by J. K. Rowling. They are about a boy named Harry Potter, and his friends Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger, and are set in England in a modern time period where wizards and witches are real. Non-magical people are called muggles by the witches and wizards. Harry Potter goes to a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. During the holidays he stays with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, who are muggles (non-magical). They don’t like magic and think it’s unnatural and freaky.

I think the theme of the Harry Potter books is friendship. Harry, Ron and Hermione are friends, and they help each other out of hard situations. Also there’s a kind of good vs. evil thing going on. This is an example: the evil Lord Voldemort wants to kill all the muggles, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione need to help stop him.

I was so sad when I finished the series because it was so good, and I wanted it to keep going. I also like it that it’s set in the real world because it seems like magic could be possible. I like the idea of magic, and the way that it is introduced in this book. If you haven’t read it yet READ IT! You cannot say that you have read the best books in the world if you haven’t read Harry Potter!

How To Make An Elvin Archer Costume For Girls

By Aurora J. Pass

PHS Press staff member

You can be a wood elf any time you want especially on Halloween!

   

So here’s what you will need: Skirt or pants that flow (green or brown), white shirt, leggings (green or brown), elven circlet, two shawls/scarves in green and brown, elf ears (optional), bodice (optional), moccasins or furry boots, archers cloak (if you don’t have one just turn a regular cape so one arm is out this way you can still hold your bow!), and last but not least a bow and arrow.

 

So you have your leggings, skirt, shirt, and bodice (if you’re wearing one). So now one scarf is for around your waist and the other is for around your neck. The circlet obviously goes on your head, and now you add the elf ears and the archer’s cloak. Now you’re an elf!

 

I hope you like this costume idea I because I did my best to make it easy, nice looking, and cheap just for you! If you have any questions I am usually outside during lunch and can answer questions.

Best wishes for this coming Halloween from:

Aurora Pass!

Aurora Pass is on a Swim Team

By Willow Skidmore

PHS Press staff member

           

Aurora Pass (Photo by Emily Weinlick)

Aurora Pass (age 12) taught herself to swim. She started swimming because she loves to be in the water. She started competitive swimming because she watched the Summer Olympics and wanted to be like the swimmers that she saw.

Aurora started swimming with the Otters team last year. Her swim meets are approximately every 2 months. Her best race so far is the 50-yard Butterfly.  She practices three days a week: on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. When asked where she swims, Aurora said, “Well, I swim all over the place because of the swim meets, but I practice at the YWCA in Midtown.”

 When Aurora uses swimming tools she uses the kickboard. When doing the Butterfly she likes to use flippers, because then she can go very fast. She says that she is fastest at the Butterfly. When asked whether she does a flip turn she said, “No,” emphatically and then described how to do the Butterfly.

So first you push off as fast as possible. Then you do one dolphin kick. Then you
             push your arms forward making an S-shape. You pull your arms out of the water at the
              back. Then you put them back in the water.

  

She finished up by saying that she enjoyed speaking about swimming.

POLL: Pepperoni Pizza vs. Pineapple Pizza

Poll compiled by Aurora Pass
PHS Staff member

Willow Skidmore and the Orchestra

by Aurora J. Pass

PHS Press staff member

 

Willow Skidmore (photo by Paavo Downing)

Willow Skidmore, age eleven, is a student at Planet Homeschool. She plays violin in an orchestra called Sinfonia. Willow started playing violin when she was five, about six years ago. She said that what inspired her to start playing violin was hearing other Orchestras play beautiful music.

Willow’s concerts are at Orchestra Hall, and she practices at Wooddale Church. The orchestra plays on holidays and some Tuesday nights. She plays in first violin, and thinks that being in an orchestra with lots of people helps her people skills.

Willow enjoys playing violin. She said it was hard to explain playing the violin. “Playing the violin is indescribable. You just do it.”

My Wee Little Cabin

By Aurora J Pass

I live in a wee little cabin,

That smells of the finest things,

Of cinnamon, of ginger, nutmeg, and pine,

And sometimes some blueberry muffins of mine.

It’s small; it’s dear; it’s a gingerbread house,

My wee elfin yard is a woodsy hollow,

With trees a-swishing and birds a-singing,

And wee little me just happily living.

Meet Aurora Pass

By Paavo Downing

PHS Press Staff Member 

Aurora Pass (photo by Paavo Downing)

1)   Name: Aurora Pass

2)     Age/grade: 12 and 7^th grade

3)     City/town: Minneapolis

4)     Favorite Album: Don’t have one

5)     Best book/Blog you read this summer: Percy Jackson Series

6)     Favorite Newspaper/ Magazine: USA Swim magazine

7)     Hobbies: Swimming

8)     Most interesting thing about yourself: Can’t think of any

9)     What do you like most about Planet Homeschool: Seeing friends and going to classes

10)  Why did you join this class: Because Tesha is teaching the class and it’s really interesting

11)  What do you like to write: Poems