May 26, 2007 6 min read

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.

For more information, call O’Keefe at 724-439-7569.

The topic for May is “What did you like most about school this year?’ Youths can also write about other topics.

Morgan Wrona

Fairchance

Summer is coming

Summer is coming and that’s great. I love summer because you can wear flipflops, ride bikes, swim and stay outside all day and you will not freeze. The thing I love about the heat is that you do not have to wear long pants, coats and long-sleeved shirts.

In the summer we go for walks and play outside on the trampoline until we can’t see anymore. As soon as you wake up you can feel the sun coming through your window, birds flying around and the sound of people outside. In the summer I play basketball, swim, ride bikes, jump on the trampoline, run, and ride quads, and play soccer, baseball, football, and we let our dog Bella chase us. Summer rocks.

Penny war

Kelly Rates

McClellandtown

At school we had a penny war. The reason we had a penny war was to raise money for the March of Dimes. This is how the penny war worked. Each classroom brought in pennies. Then other rooms brought in dollars and silver and put it in different cans. We only had three days to do it, but we had to wait ’till Friday to see who won.

The penny war was really fun. Mr. Goletz’s room got killed. Everyone came in our room with $5 and $1 bills and lots of change. Mrs. Satovich gave her room money and told them what room to go give it to. Mr. Goletz’s room was like $34 or $40. We had a lot of pennies, but we had to much silver and dollars. So Friday Mr. Patitucci said who won the penny war and whoever won got a party 10th period. Mr. Goletz’s room lost and Mrs. Satovich’s room also lost. The lucky room that won was Mr. Miller’s room and that the room that started out bad ’cause when they started they only had one penny in their can.

I used to be

Ashley White

Smithfield

I Used to Be…

I used to be a redhead, almost strawberry blonde,

But now I’m blonde with light brown high-lights.

I used to be really short,

But now I’m pretty tall.

I used to not play sports,

But now I play softball, basketball and I am a cheerleader.

I used to only have a couple of friends,

But now I have so many friends, that I can’t count them all.

I used to have a one-digit age (9),

But now my age is two-digits (10).

I used to be a Radio Disney fan,

But now I am a CMT and Froggy 94.9 fan.

I used to have really long hair,

But now I have medium length hair.

I used to wear braces on my teeth,

But now I have straight, pearly whites.

I used to like reading class,

But now I prefer math class.

I used to sleep in on Saturday mornings,

But now I get up really early.

I used to be

Hannah Tarcy

Smithfield

I used to be afraid of the dark at night,

But now I know that it’s not going hurt me.

I used to be as chubby as a pumpkin,

But now I’m as skinny as a telephone pole.

I used to be a lover of McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets,

But now I love Wendy’s Junior Hamburgers.

I used to be a girl who hated boys,

But now I think they are OK.

I used to be a big Barbie fan,

But now I like to play Gameboy Advance.

I used to be a very picky eater,

But now I will pretty much eat anything.

I used to be a person who loved Barney,

But now I love the show, “Hannah Montana.’

I used to be a loud mouth,

But now I’m not as much, but still a little.

I used to be a cat lover,

But now I prefer horses and dogs.

I used to be 9 years old,

But now I’m 10 years old.

I used to be

Courtney Grimm

Smithfield

I used to be skinny,

But now I am not that skinny.

I used to be a picky eater,

But now I will eat almost anything.

I used to be afraid of the dark,

But now I can sit in the dark all day.

I used to be a fourth grader,

But now I am a big fifth grader.

I used to love to eat cheese curls,

But now I love to eat chocolate.

I used to love to watch Clifford, the Big Red Dog,

But now I love to watch The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

I used to be 9 years old,

But now I am 10 years old.

I used to want to be like my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Rozgony,

But now I want to be like my mom, Lisa Grimm.

I used to be a bad sport,

But now I am a good sport.

I used to like to play a silly duck game,

But now I play Pokemon games on my Gameboy.

I used to be

Taylor Miller

Gans

I used to be very girly,

But now I’m a tomboy.

I used to be a little roll,

But now I’m a tall bean pole.

I used to be very hyper,

But now I’m calm as can be.

I used to be slow,

But now I’m speedy.

I used to want to be a firefighter,

But now I want to be a graphic artist.

I used to be one of the class clowns,

But now I am respected, way deep down.

I used to wear my hair down and it never stayed,

But now I wear it in a pony tail or French braid.

I used to be afraid to touch gooey things,

But now I don’t even say, “Ew!”

I used to love the color pink,

But now I love sky blue.

I used to be unhelpful, even with a rhyme,

But now I’m very busy being needed all the time.