Meet Tim Hereid

by Bridger Berg 

PHS Press staff member

This is an interview with Tim Hereid, the physics teacher at PHS, for our teacher spotlight stories. Be sure to look out for other stories on other teachers at PHS on the site!

When asked how he found out about PHS, he said that he had just found out about it through internet research, eventually, he got an interview, and the place just seemed like the perfect fit for him. The reason he had wanted to teach at a place like PHS, he said, was that he had always sought an environment where kids were self motivated, interested in learning, and he just likes to teach. He said his initial interest was just a place that had the kinds of science and electronics classes he wanted to teach, that his first idea, the High Altitude balloon class, was a blast to teach, and that he still sees some of those ex-students in his classes today.

High Altitude Class

Q&A With Tim Hereid

Q: How long have you been teaching at PHS?

A: I believe I started in 2012, so about three years.

Q: What is your favorite thing about teaching at PHS?

A: Well, it’s a great community, a very strong community, another great thing is that with homeschool kids, they’re just as comfortable with adults as with kids their age, and that’s just great.

Q: So, you teach physics?

A: Yes, I generally teach middle school physics, which is very project-based, you know, we build catapults and we’re going to build pendulums, just as hands on as it can possibly get with physics. And then I’m teaching a sign-language class, I taught an ethics class, the app class, geography, biology, hoping to teach creative writing,

Q: How would you say PHS differs from other places you’ve taught at?

A:  Other than what I’ve said already, it’s great because both the kids and the adults get a chance to explore a workshop-like environment, the big difference I think is just the love of learning, I mean the kids just really, really like to learn, and it feels more like a collaborative work environment than it does a classroom.

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!

POLL: How long have people been homeschooled?

Compiled by Solomon Midwinter & Bridger Berg
PHS Press staff members

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.

VIDEO POLL: Why do you come to PHS?

PHS Press reporters Amity Neubauer, Bridger Berg and Malachi Johnson question fellow Planet Homeschool students about why they come to PHS each Friday.

Don’t Get Breakdanced!

by Bridger Berg

PHS Press staff member

Interested? Was it the headline? Well, today the review is of a game that is a spinoff. A spinoff, I think, that is better than the original.

Brawlhalla is a game in closed beta released by Blue Mammoth games, and is an authorized spinoff of the Super Smash Bros game. There are many differences between the two, the foremost being that Brawlhalla is played on a PC, which makes a difference in how the game is played (Keyboard rather than Controller), and might be a turnoff for some people, but don’t give it up! And without further yakking, let yourself be welcomed to…BRAWLHALLA!

The game is a Player VS Player focused game viewed from the side, with up to four players controlling a different character each and attempting to defeat the other players by knocking them off the side, bottom, or even top of the arena they fight in. How? Different clicks and key combos activate different attack skills, such as light attack, heavy attack, and breakdance attack.

Also, items such as the bouncy bomb, spiked ball, and land mine drop from the sky, which players can throw at each other to cause general mayhem. Each time players are hit, they take damage, the more damage has been dealt to a player, the more knockback they take, making it easier for opponents to knock them off the edge of the arena.

The characters: There are quite a few, with new ones always coming, but they include Vraxx the alien warlord, Scarlet the steampunk airship captain, and Gnash the caveman. They all have different combos of damage, speed, attack speed, armor, and different weapon combos.

Weapons?! Well, occasionally, an item drops from the sky, and when players pick it up, they gain one of their two weapons. Scarlet, for instance, has a Hammer and a Lance. These weapons are more powerful than basic hand attacks, and all characters have different weapon sets and types of weapon attacks.

Overall, Brawlhalla is a fast paced, fun, and cool game, which I would recommend to, really, anyone! …Just don’t get breakdanced. Seriously, its nasty. (Activate with heavy attack+down key)

All smile now

The spring 2015 staff of the PHS Press includes (back row, left to right): Parker Lehman, Soren LePage, Solomon Midwinter and Tyler Skidmore. Front row: Aurora Pass, Amity Neubauer, Bridger Berg and Malachi Johnson. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen Pettit)

Meet PHS Press staff: Soren LePage

by Bridger Berg
PHS Press staff member

Soren LePage
Age: 15
City/Town: Woodbury
Song of the week: Everything but pop
Favorite Book: Yes.
Favorite Magazine:Yes.
Favorite Thing To Do: Live
What Do You Like Most About PHS: Yes.
Why Did You Join PHS Press Staff: “I don't like to read.”
Favorite Thing To Write: Storyboards
PS: Yes=N/A  

Meet PHS Press Staff: Bridger Berg

by Soren LePage
PHS Press Staff member

Bridger Berg (Photo by Soren LePage)

Bridger Berg
Age: 12
Place of residence: St. Paul
Favorite book - 5 Kingdoms Book 2
Favorite magazine: Muse
Hobbies: video games and gymnastics
What do yar like about Planet Homeschool? The fun
Why are yar taking this class? Liked it last time
What do yar like to write? Video game reviews

POLL: Which Minecraft Server is Your Favorite?

by Bridger Berg
PHS Press staff member

Pirate101 perfect follow up for W101 player

by Bridger Berg
PHS Press staff member

A pirate stands next to the wheel of his mighty airship with Bonnie Anne, fox sniper, down on the decks and his other crew below. The pirate has destroyed dozens of armada troops, but they still keep manufacturing new ones. The pirate must find the map to El Dorado, or the armada will destroy all pirates in the world! He knows where the next piece of the map is. The pirate and their crew must enter the mine. Little does he know that the spymaster of the armada is waiting inside.

What’s going on here? Just an average day in Pirate101.

Pirate101 was released a few years after the hit game Wizard101 by Kingsisle games, maker of W101. The game was a companion game to Wizard101, and also improved on things that Kingsisle thought Wizard101 did wrong. As the name suggests, the game is pirate based, with the player as a pirate flying through the Skyways (For some reason, everything takes place in the air) in their pirate airship…ship…whatever. They must stop the Clockwork armada from killing off all pirates and taking over the entire world! Anyway, when the player starts the game, they are in a prison onboard an armada ship, with Boochbeard, the pirate who directs the player through the game, standing before your cell. Boochbeard asks you your gender, after which you choose. Then you go through a quiz asking your name, how your parents died, where you were raised, and (The most important one as it determines your class) what the armada arrested you for.

The classes: Buccaneer (Defense focus), Swashbuckler (Attack focus), Privateer (Healing focus), Musketeer (Long ranged attack focus), and Witchdoctor (Weird magic skills focus). Once you’ve chosen which one of those is right for you, Boochbeard will tell you to design your flag, which is displayed on the sails of your ship (Once you get one). Finally after all that is done, you’ll start the tutorial of the game! I won’t bore you with the details, but in the tutorial you learn how to steer a ship, how to fight (more on that soon) and receive your first companion!

Companions: In the game, there are a lot of things you have to do. You can’t do all those things alone, so Kingisle added companions to the game. These anthropomorphic animals from many worlds of the “Spiral” (magical universe in which all Kingsisle games take place) will help you on all your quests with advice, special combat skills, and more! These funny and cool animals, such as Gaspard De Vole, the guinea pig guard, are gained from mini quests, main quests, or hired from the shop.

COMBAAAT OH YEAH! The combat in the game is very interesting. It is also very similar to chess! You move yourself and your companions around on a “Battleboard” and use special boosting and attacking skills to defeat your opponents! There are obviously many strategies to this type of combat, which makes it all the more fun!

Well that’s the basics, Pirate101 also has just as rich a storyline as Wizard101, and is littered with references to W101, so I’d recommend it to a W101 player, or any gamer looking for something new and fun!

REVIEW: A World of Wizards

By Bridger Berg (Wizard101: Malorn SoulBane)

PHS Press staff member

Wizard101 is a computer game released by Kingsisle games in 2008. Now, in 2014, it has over 30 Million wizards.

Kingsisle has since made Pirate101, Wizard101’s “Sister Game” and a few games for handheld devices. In Wizard101, the player is the wizard, and they complete quests and battles in worlds of the “Spiral” (The magical universe in which all Kingsisle games take place), such as Moo Shu, Wizard City, and DragonSpire. All of this takes place within a very rich storyline, which the game will have to be played to be fully experienced, but it includes a Fired Teacher, a dead wife, and a massive dragon. (What’s there not to like?)

When a player has finished downloading the game, they will be taken to a room, in which they will be directed to choose their gender, name, look, starting clothes…and class!

There are seven classes of focus in Wizard101, which are Death, Life, Fire, Myth, Storm, Ice, and Balance, all with unique spells, such as Myth’s focus on summoning minions into combat and piercing enemy defenses. The combat in the game is another one of those “Card game dueling” Types, but don’t give up on it just yet! Wizards cast spells with cool animations to deal damage and heal themselves, shields to reduce damage of attacks by opponents (that have cool animations), Blades and traps to boost damage of their attack spells (did I mention these have cool animations?), and can train pets to give them many different special combat skills.

The game is free to play, but after a few areas of Wizard City, players will have to pay $10/Month for a membership, which unlocks all areas in game, or pay a few Crowns, the premium currency in the game (Differs from “Gold” in the way you can’t earn it, you have to buy it) to permanently unlock a single area in the game.

The game is an MMO (massively multiplayer online), so if you’re having trouble with an area, you can always go to Wizard City and ask for help! Well enough talking, it’s time for you to find out if the game is right for you!