Peacock secretaries - who really runs Peacock?
By Gina M.

Peacock, a place where a lot of things go on. And who helps to make it all possible? Why, it is our two secretaries, Mrs. Purtell and Mrs. Doyle.

So to get this one on one scoop (I bet that they wanted to get rid of me) some badgering questions had to be asked.

Mrs. Doyle has been working at Peacock for eight years now. She started in October 1993. Mrs. Purtell started a year later in September 1994.

They actually met before working at Peacock. Mrs. Purtell and Mrs. Doyle both had children that have graduated from Peacock. Being moms, they were involved in the Peacock PTO. So that's how they know each other.

Some of their responsibilities include meeting the needs of the students, staff and principal, answering phones, keeping track of attendance, keeping student records updated, and the paperwork straight. (Oh the thrills)

Mrs. Doyle and Mrs. Purtell say that a typical day at Peacock is, in one word, crazy. "No two days are the same," they said.

Nonstop phone calls and students coming in when they are sick or if they need something. Drop-offs, people coming in and out of the building, and we can't forget all that paperwork. It goes on and on.

Our secretaries have many memories of their time at Peacock.

Mrs. Purtell remembered one year when she had to do head lice checks on the students.

Mrs. Doyle recalled finding a mouse in a sticky trap. (anyone want some cheese?)

As with any tough job, there are always the ups and downs. Mrs. Doyle said, "I enjoy working with the students, Dr. Nickisch, and Mrs. Purtell. The variety of the job and craziness is also fun. I also enjoy seeing the kids growing up."

Mrs. Doyle did admit that she hates the constant interruptions and paper cuts.

Mrs. Purtell stated that she also enjoyed, "seeing the kids grow from innocent sixth graders, to tardy seventh graders, then turning into the mature and responsible eighth graders."

"The part that we don't like though is that people mistake us for mean people when all we're doing is following the rules. We have to be tough," they added.

"We think that Peacock students are the greatest and nicest, and we like them all a lot," commented both of the secretaries.

Paper cuts and people thinking you are mean, that's what comes with the job.

"So in other words, tons and tons of paperwork. We have the paper cuts to prove it too," said Mrs. Doyle.

"We knew that this was a good school because our kids went here and we were involved. We would say how lucky they (our kids) were to have attended this school," commented Mrs. Doyle.

Mrs. Purtell said, "We moved here because of the schools."

Mrs. Doyle and Mrs. Purtell get along as two best of friends who have fun at work. "We are always kidding," they said.

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PJ's messy adventure
Our dog and the great sewage treatment plant rescue
By Laura B.

One day my sister and I were taking our yellow Labrador, PJ, for a walk. We were going to the dentist and my mom wanted him to get some exercise.

Just as we were walking past the sewage treatment plant, PJ spotted a squirrel. All of the sudden PJ pulled the leash out of my hands and started running after the squirrel.

He chased the squirrel all the way across the street and through the open gate of the sewage treatment plant. We started running after him.

My sister and I followed him through the gates of the treatment plant.

As we were looking for him, one of the men working at the plant came out and said, "What are you looking for?"

We told him we were looking for our yellow lab PJ. Then one of the other men working came out and said, "Hey Bob there's a big yellow thing swimming around in the grinder!"

All three of us ran over to the grinder where we met up with the other man. It was then that I found out what a grinder was. A grinder is the tool that grinds the human waste in the big vats that you see if you drive down Schiller Avenue.

It was then that we realized that PJ had climbed up the steps and chased the squirrel right into the vat of human waste.

One of the men grabbed a life preserver and threw it into the pit. Another man held his feet and helped him down into the vat headfirst.

He then somehow got PJ into the life preserver and they were both hauled up out of the vat.

PJ looked as if he had suddenly turned into a black Labrador and he smelled like well let's just say he smelled really bad.

The very kind men hosed PJ off as best as they could, then they put him in the back of their truck, and one of the men sat in the back with him.

When we got home PJ had to go through many baths before you could actually see the yellow. That was an experience that we'll probably never forget.

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My night visiting with the clowns
By Ashley S., Features Editor

I know what you're thinking. An eighth grader reviewing the circus, what a dork! But wait, there's more.

On Saturday, November 11, 2000, I attended the "Greatest Show on Earth," Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus. I really only went to be with my cousin, but ended up having a really great time.

My aunt, uncle, cousin, and I got to Allstate Arena early, because if you go early enough, you can meet the clowns and animals.

To my surprise meeting clowns was kind of fun, even though I did feel silly taking pictures with them.

A little before 7:00 p.m., we took our seats and the show began with a parade. I loved every animal there and wanted to take them all home with me.

The tricks that were performed were scary at times, and, when the clowns came out, hilarious.

Although the whole circus was fun, by far the best part was the tiger act. Watching those giant cats perform is amazing and so beautiful to watch.

The tiger's trainer can get them to do anything, and she's only 29 years old! The bond between tigers and trainer is almost magical and you can tell that they have a mutual love for one another.

I had such a fun time at the circus and if any of you ever go, I'm sure you will, too. However old you are, the circus can always bring out the kid in
you.

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Winter Land
By Jackie S.

When winter comes around,

There are snow flakes on the ground,

When the snow is glistening here and there,

Children's voices are everywhere.

It's a marshmallow world all fluffy and white,

If you look at the icicles they are quite a sight,

Children make angels, snowmen, and forts,

They also like to make wonderful things of all sorts.

Snow glitters in the sun light on a frozen, sunny day,

People decorate their houses near the holidays,

Trees are decorated with warmth all around,

You hear people singing carols with a joyful sound.

When Christmas is very near,

You will have nothing to fear,

We wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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The most exciting day of my life!
By Trisha H.

It all started on Thursday, October 12, 2000. My mom, dad, and friend Samantha were going to the first home game of the Blackhawks, the Chicago NHL hockey team.

We were walking in the United Center to go to our seats. We all were walking up the stairs to the second floor when a tall man stopped us. He worked for the United Center and was looking for a child to participate in the "Shoot the Puck" contest.

The prize was $100 for the first puck into the net and $1,000 for the second puck into the net.

Of course I said, "yes!"

I have seen kids participate in this contest before in the first
intermission. We got to our seats and I was very excited. We would have to go downstairs ten minutes into the first period.

We went to the place where they told us to meet and we got to practice shooting the puck in a long hallway under the stadium.

In practice I was doing o.k., except the puck kept going to the left. My mom told me it didn't matter if I made it, because it was just for fun.

I was very nervous. Also, my uncle was in the stadium watching the game. He had no idea that I would be out on the ice.

It was time to go out on to the ice. There were 25,000 people watching me shoot the puck, and I'd never shot a puck on ice before. Out of three adults and me I was first to go out.

I went out there and stood on a Blackhawks rug. The object of the game was that they put a wood board in front of the net that had three holes on the bottom of it. You got three tries to shoot one puck in the net. If you did so, you received $100.

Then you go to the other side of the ice to the other net and try to shoot the puck into a board with only one hole. The hole is right in the center and for that one you get $1,000 dollars.

I took my first shot, and it went off to the left of the net. I tried again and I made it! I won $100 dollars, and got to try for a $1000 prize.

I shot my first puck on the other side and I missed. Tried again, and I missed. I tried one last time, and on my last chance I made it! I heard the crowd go wild. I won $1000.

I walked off the ice looking at all the people. I went to my parents and they were so excited, and so was I.

Because I won on both sides I am entered into a drawing. And if I win the drawing, I am invited back and get to shoot again for one million dollars. So far only two other people are in the drawing besides me.

That was the most exciting day of my life.

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Paintballing or paint wars?
By Kimberly C.

Paintballing is a very exciting sport according to seventh graders John S., Joe G., Bobby G., Mike R., Francesco C., Giovanni C. and sixth grader Alex C.

They started paintballing at the end of September, and go at least once a week. They first heard about it from an older friend and thought it would be a fun thing to get involved in.

They all agreed that they like the excitement of the game. They don't, however, participate in competitions, but they said that they would like to in the future.

A normal practice includes going out in the backyard and shooting at wood targets. The real game is played in the woods or at a paintball "field."

In order to play, you need two teams. Before the game begins, one team finds positions out on the field, and then the other team moves in and finds their own positions. Both teams then signal they are ready. Then they begin shooting at the people on the other team.

If you are shot by a paintball, you are out for the game. Whichever team gets all the members out on the other team wins.

Paintballing is not an inexpensive sport. A paintball gun can cost from $60-$1500, not including the equipment. Your clothing includes shoes with ankle support, gloves, a mask, and a cammie, or layers of clothes.

You of course also need paintballs and a CO2 tank to power your gun. Paintballs are $40-$70 and a CO2 tank is $20-$35. Many people are asking for paintball guns for Christmas this year.

The most important part of the game is safety.

Paintball Safety Tips
Treat every marker as if it were loaded.
Never point the marker at anything you don't wish to shoot.
Keep the marker on safe until ready to shoot.
Keep the barrel plug in the marker's muzzle when not shooting.
Always remove gas source before disassembly.
Store the marker unloaded and de-gassed in a locked place.
Follow warnings listed on gas source for handling and storage.
Never use ammunition other than .68 caliber paintballs.
Do not shoot fragile objects such as windows.
Paintballs may cause staining on some porous surfaces such as brick, stucco, and wood.
Always wear eye, face, and ear protection designed specifically to stop paintballs.
Never shoot a person who is not wearing proper protection.
Always measure your marker's velocity before playing paintball.
Never shoot at velocities in excess of 300 feet per second.

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Dangerous Doughnuts
By Kelly M. and Karina D.

It was a beautiful day and all of the pastries were going to the pastry meeting. Happy Go Lucky Doughnut was walking peacefully down Cinnamon Lane.

Then along came Lonny Long John and his dog Butter Cup. They walked to the meeting and they sat down next to each other.

In the middle of the meeting, Lonny Long John turned to Happy Go Lucky and said, "I hope you don't give me a stomach ache."

Then all of a sudden, Lonny Long John took a big bite out of Happy Go Lucky! Happy tried to scream, but Lonny covered his mouth. Lonny ate the rest of poor little Happy Go Lucky.

Lonny stood up, ran around locking the door and windows, and closing the shades. He stood on a chair and yelled as loud as he could.

He shouted, "I am Lonny Long John, the donut murderer. And now I'm going to eat you all!"

As much as the pastries tried to run, Lonny ate them all without leaving a crumb. He ate one last crumb and he exploded.

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Intel, AMD and Transmeta
Why can't we all just get along?
By Ryan B.

The computer. It makes our lives easier. It allows us to play games, chat with friends, or just pop a DVD into the CD drive, sit back and relax. And the most extreme cyber-geeks, like me, consider it a member of the family.

But what kind should you get? A Dell? A Gateway? Should you get a desktop or a laptop? The list goes on forever!

But one of the most important things, if not the most, is the processor. You can get a computer with an Intel Celeron or Pentium, an AMD Duron, Athlon, or Thunderbird, or a Transmeta Crusoe for a laptop.

To all you Mac fans out there, Apple will be featured in future articles.

Now, if you're going for a computer with an Intel processor, and don't want the blazing speed you get with a PIII, or you just feel like you want to keep your next computer for a few years, Celeron is the way to go! From 500 MHz to 733 MHz, it's pretty good.

But for the speed demon in all of us, PIII all the way! This chip's speed ranges from 650 MHz to an amazing 1 GHz!

A MHz is short for megahertz and a GHz is short for gigahertz, one thousand megahertz. MHzs and GHzs are just a way of measuring the clock speed of a processor, like feet are a way of measuring distance.

Now on to the good stuff. The P4 was supposed to be Intel's crowning achievement, a god among computer chips! But sadly, it's reign as king was short.

After clock speed tests have been run, it was discovered that it was too good! When it came to computers, there was no such thing as too good, but the P4 changed that all. The reason is, the chip pumps out 3-D graphics and other information so quickly that the other systems can't handle all of it, which in fact decreases the performance of the computer.

The dream of a 1.4 GHZ and 1.5 GHZ computer is dead now, long since buried under the flashy video of why the P4 is the next giant leap in technology at Intel's website. We'll just have to wait for the rest of the computer to progress as far as the P4 has, but that may take a long time.

It's not the chip, it's the video card, sound card, and other components that are the problem. But for now, AMD's Thunderbird processor remains the fastest chip on the market at 1.2 GHZ, with the PIII in a close second.

And the latest in the processor game is Transmeta, with the Crusoe. Since it is only being used in Sony Viao laptops, and I'm sure none of you students have one, so I won't touch it now. But don't get me wrong, it's a really cool chip!

Soon to come, the latest in hand-held and This Old Computer.

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The house on Maple Street
By Sammie D.

The house. You know the one. The one on Maple Street. Nobody knows what goes on in that house. All we know is that the people that live there are, well, strange. There's no other way to describe them, except that they're strange.

It was a misty, fall day and at school, spitballs and paper airplanes were flying through the air.

The teacher, of all people, was late, so we were enjoying our morning. After a few minutes, she walked in followed by a girl.

As they stepped into the room I heard a loud gasp from the back. The rest of us were to scared to move, to talk, to do anything.

We all knew who the girl was. She was the one, the one who lived in that house on Maple Street. She was pale, and she had those eyes. Those hard,
cold eyes that made a shiver run down your spine.

Finally, the teacher broke the dead silence.

"Boys and girls, this is Ann. I want you to make her feel welcome since it's her first day."

Welcome!? I thought who would want to make her feel welcome? By the looks on everyone else's faces I could tell they were thinking the same thing.

A few days passed and all Ann did was stare at the teacher. About a week later, she asked me to come over, to come over to her house.

"What!" I practically yelled.

Why would she want me to come over! I hadn't even been the least bit nice to her!

"Can you come?" she said again.

"Umm, I have to do something," I said quickly.

"It's not right to lie," Ann replied.

"Well, I guess I can come over tomorrow," I answered.

I didn't want her to see that I really had nothing to do.

"Yes, you can." she said.

The whole day I wondered how I had gotten myself into this mess. After school I would be going to the house, the one that I had feared for as long as I could remember.

The day went by fast, faster then I wanted it to, and before I knew it, I was walking down Maple Street, with Ann.

When we got to her house, I suddenly felt like running, running away. We walked up the front steps and opened the door.

Her parents were standing in the doorway, staring at us almost as if they were expecting me. They had the same hard, cold eyes as Ann, and by the way they looked at you, you felt as if something was about to happen.

Ann walked right past them, without a greeting or anything, and I followed.

As I followed her up to her room, I realized that their house was much different than ours. We got into her bedroom, her very unusual bedroom, and she immediately walked out. I started to follow but she turned around sharply.

"Wait here," she said.

I was scared of what she would do if I didn't listen to her so I waited. A few minutes passed and then I saw something. In the corner there was a very old, dusty book. I picked it up and opened it. In very faint words it read....

May 11, 1998

We have arrived and we will continue our studies.

I have finally found the one to experiment with.

I cannot wait until we can go back, back home.

A surge of excitement ran through me. I had finally solved the mystery. Ann wasn't from here, she probably wasn't even a person! I charged out of the room not knowing what I should do.

As I ran down the stairs I bumped into someone, into Ann.

"I see you have found it," she said.

The book crashed to the ground. I didn't know what to say, what to do. I was afraid of what would happen next, but even so, I saw a warm, almost grateful, look in her eyes.

To my surprise she asked, "Can you help us?"

I didn't know what I should do.

"Err, what do you mean?" I said.

"You know what I mean," she said.

She was right, I realized I did know what she meant.

For hours I sat there telling them almost everything. I told her about even the littlest things, almost everything in our daily lives. When I had finished, they thanked me and said that they could finally return home.

As I walked out of the house I hadn't realized how fast the day had gone by, it was already dark.

I looked over my shoulder at that house, that house on Maple Street and saw that it was a perfect lift-off.

I will always wonder what planet Ann was from and why the bottom of the house read U.S.A.... or why she asked me why I had three eyes.

The End

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Christmas
By Nancy M.

Cookies baking in the oven.

Ho ho ho and a Merry Christmas.

Reindeer landing on the roof.

I hear carolers at my door.

Santa coming down the chimney.

Time to unwrap presents.

Many jolly people.

A time for gathering.

Sleigh bells ringing.

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