Ode to Big Mountain - for jboog

I was thinking about you

What lies in the folds therein?

Your place is longtime back 

with elements equipped

to rattle the cages of men

O big Mountain, dare I say... rattle me?

The Rattlesnake

A True Story by Walt Gooden

One day in Kansas, I was doing my math lesson. I had just finished the last math problem. I went outside. Strangely it looked like dad was looking down a pole. It only took a second for me to realize it was a gun. Our dog Flip was growling menacingly, so I thought Dad was shooting at something. Mom noticed me and said, “Stay on the porch,” so I did. Then I saw dad pick up his hoe. That’s when I knew why. It was a rattlesnake, a big Timber rattler about three and a half feet long. It was as fat as my wrist. Dad brought the hoe down on its head. Then he called to me and Ella and said, “Time for your science lesson.”  We got to see the insides of a rattlesnake and we ate it the next day. We grilled it. It kind of tasted like smoked salmon.  If I ever get the chance, I will eat it again.      

Team Awesomeness

by Obadiah Oakley

Keil, Walt, Ella and Aiden are the 3rd and 4^th Battle of the Books team. Keilan is the thinker. Aiden is the alternate. Ella is the writer. Walt is the speaker. They read 15 books then they go on Skype and answer questions such as, “In which book does a character hate to throw away a moldy fish stick?” One team answers, then the other. Whoever answers the most questions correctly wins. On Wednesday, February 18, Team Awesomeness went to state and tied for 7^th place in the whole state. Battling lasted from 9:00am to 1:00pm. Team member Keilan Wassillie said, “It was awesome! We got to do lots of fun stuff like reading funny books.”  “There was lots of tension,” says Walt Gooden, “Each time a question was asked, I started to sweat!” After the battles, team coach AlexAnna Salmon said she was relieved and proud. All the students will do it again next year.

Fish and Wildlife Visit.

Bird Art using cutouts

            On January 20^th, Fish and Wildlife agents, Sara and Katie, came to teach us about Art, birds, skulls, mammals and so on. They taught us how to determine the age of skulls. On the skulls they taught us about how to find if they were Carnivores or Herbivores. We found that out by looking at their teeth. They also taught us about art because we get to draw birds for a calendar and a literature piece, like a poem. We have to submit that in. When they were here we went on a couple walks to see and try finding animal tracks. They told us to guess what it was. It was fun having them here.

A seahawk and a loon

Crunch, crunch

Running around like a chicken with its head cut off

On the 19^th of January 2015 we killed and plucked chickens. First we chopped a chicken’s head off, and watched it run around and die. For all the other chickens we only slit the jugular. The Jugular is on the left side toward the back of the neck. We put the chickens upside down in a cone and slit its jugular and I think it was brutal and violent. I didn’t like watching them get killed. 

The Chicken Whisperer.

Home grown

After the blood was drained, we dunked the chickens in the pot of water that was 150°f, we did that about 5-6 times each so the feathers could come off easy.  I didn’t like plucking them. The killing was done at the Green House by the dump. The reason why we killed them is for food, knowledge, to learn how to pluck, gut, and butcher them. The chickens were old and weren’t giving us eggs. Also the chickens were out of chicken food. The elementary made chicken noodle soup for Kvichak Cafe on January 23, 2015.  It made some of the best chicken noodle soup I ever had.  As Shea said, "It was home grown."

Welcome the Kvichak Cafe!

Mushrooms!

Pearl Oyster Mushrooms.

On January 13^th Mr. Gooden gave us a science project to grow mushrooms. Taty and I had a pearl oyster mushroom project which came in a bag with a mixture of sawdust and pearl oyster mycelium. It also came with a humidity bag, which increases the humidity so the mushrooms can grow better. All that Taty and I had to do is get a wire coat hangar and twist from the top of the bag to the stem of the mushroom bag and then cover with the humidity tent. Then we had to mist it 2-3 times a day until it grew tiny buds. After 2 weeks or so the pearl oyster mushrooms grew bigger until Mr. Gooden cut them off.  On Tuesday the 20^th,, in the morning Mr. Gooden made pearl oyster egg scramble, which I didn’t get to have because I wasn’t there to have some since I was in the elementary room. The other groups have other mushrooms that are called shittakes, blue oysters, and King of Stropharia.  We are growing these because we want to learn about how mushrooms grow.  We ordered the mushroom kits from Fungi Perfect.

Breakfast: Pearl Oyster Egg Scramble,