Junior Reporter Club
Interested in becoming a member of the Herald-Standard’s Junior Reporter Club? It’s very easy to join. All you have to do is write a story and send it to the Herald-Standard. It should be typed or printed very clearly.
The stories can be sent to the Herald-Standard, c/o Junior Reporter Club, 8-18 E. Church St., Uniontown, Pa. 15401.
They can also be e-mailed to mo’keefe@heraldstandard.com. Each story should contain fewer than 100 words.
Youths writing for the first time receive a letter of congratulations from Herald-Standard Executive Editor Mark O’Keefe along with a card making them official members of the club.
Youths getting a second story printed receive another letter from O’Keefe and a coupon for a treat from a local business.
Youths getting more than two stories published will receive a certificate of recognition.
All stories must be accompanied by a phone number for verification. Return addresses should also be included with the stories. The age range for the columns is 7-12, but stories can be submitted by anyone under
For more information, call O’Keefe at 724-439-7569.
The topic for March is “What’s your favorite food.’ Youths can also write about other topics.
Andre the Giant
Marqus Lewis
Masontown
Andre the Giant was a very powerful man because of his size alone. He stood 7 foot 4 inches and weighed 500 pounds. He was born in Grenoble, France on May 19, 1946.
When Andre was born, he had a very rare disease called giantism. This disease caused him to grow for the rest of his life. Then because of his size a French-Canadian wrestler wanted Andre to wrestle, and from there he wrestled as Jeff Ferre. Also his size earned him the nickname “The Eighth Wonder of the World.”
When Andre wrestled in front of 20,000 fans in Montreal, something great happened.
The chairman of WWWF invited him to wrestle in his company, and from then he wrestled as Andre the Giant.
One of his best matches was at Wrestlemania III when he was slammed by Hulk Hogan. Andre was also in the movies “Trading Mom’ and “Princess Bride. ‘
Andre’s career was one of the best in the world. Too bad it was cut short because of his disease. He died in his hotel room in Paris on Jan. 27, 1993. Even though he’s dead, he’ll always be known as the Gentle Giant.
Pearl Harbor
Julian Jesso
Masontown
The attack on Pearl Harbor happened in Oahu, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. It all started at 7:53 a.m., when the first target was hit.
In Pearl Harbor, planes and battleships were destroyed or damaged. There were 188 planes that got destroyed while 8 battleships were also destroyed. The United States planes were crashed before they could even try to fight back.
People were also killed or wounded in Pearl Harbor. In the bombing, 1,173 people died. A sunken ship killed 1,300 people, and five were wounded. As a result, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on Dec. 11, 1941.
William Wallace
Kevin Wallace
Masontown
William Wallce was born in the year 1207 in the city of Eldeslie. He had a dad, brother, and mom. But, his brother, dad, and mom died during one of the battles so his uncle took him in. When he was older he was a Scottish warrior. He was in the battles Fartnack’s, Irvine, and Lanark.
He had a wife. She was pregnant. But she died a horrible death. She had her neck sliced. William Wallace died in the year 1305. He also died a horrible death. He died because he got his head cut off.
That is William Wallace’s life.
Uranus
Zachary Carafa
Masontown
Did you ever wonder how far Uranus is from the sun? It is three billion miles away! It is 14.5 times the Earth’s size, and it was discovered in 1781. It is also 83 percent hydrogen, 15 percent helium, and 2 percent methane. It is also made up of gases and ice but has no rock or lava in the core. It is proven to be the ninth planet from the sun. It is 17 Earth days. It is also 84 Earth years. The founder of the planet was William Frederick Herschel. Uranus’s symbol is an H with a line down the middle and a circle at the bottom. It has 11 rings and nine fading rings. It also has an amazing nineteen moons and eight unnamed moons.
Olga Korbut
Haley Wable
Fairchance
Olga Korbut was a famous gymnast. Her parents noticed her athletic ability at a young age. While at age eight, Olga began gymnastics. Years later at the age of 17, she was selected to compete in the 1972 Olympics.
During the Olympics she was the first to master a backflip on the balance beam. She was also the first to do a standing backwards somersault on the uneven bars. Now all gymnasts do them. During the Olympics, she was one of the favorites. Unfortunately, during a bar routine she fell, therefore giving the title to her teammate Ludmill Tourischeva.
However, she went home with three gold medals for beam, floor, and team. She also received a silver in bars. Olga stood out from the other gymnasts. Many people still talk about her today. She overcame many obstacles. Ogla was a great young woman who accomplished many things.
Manatees
Drew Colebank
Masontown
Manatees are sirenians that have potato like bodies, a wrinkled nose with a few stiff hairs and two nostrils, a paddle tail and two steering flippers. They are gray. Sadly, they are endangered. They can get 10 feet long and weigh 1,000 pounds. Their closest relative is the elephant.
The manatee has been mistakenly taken as mermaids. When sailors saw them on voyages they would bring back tales about them. Its nickname is sea cow because it grazes. Its diet is grasses and underwater plants, and they eat 150 pounds a day. Most manatees like shallow, tropical areas like West Africa and South America. Though some like the ocean. Since their population is decreasing every day, many people are cherishing them.
The Dwarf Planet Pluto
Marcus Trincia
Masontown
Pluto is a dwarf planet named and discovered by Clyde Tombaugh. Pluto was named after the Roman god of evil. This was because of the fact that Pluto is an icy, dark planet. We now know that Pluto is a chunk of ice from the star Ceres in the Kuiper Belt. We weren’t able to study it until 1999 when it got closer to the sun than Neptune. We then discovered its moon. Also, we were informed that Pluto was made of only ice and rock. So my report comes to an end. Wow, Pluto has a lot of unique qualities.