8th Grade Trip

8th Grade Camping Trip

By Luke and Aisha

This year's eighth grade fall trip was kayaking to the San Juan Islands. We took at ferry to Camp Orkila and met our guides. Then we took the wet exit test, you have to flip the kayak, pull off your spray skirt, and swim from underneath the kayak. This is a very important test to take. If you can't take off your spray skirt while flipped, you can't continue on the trip because there's a chance you might drown. Everyone was very nervous but luckily, everyone passed and it was very successful.

Once that was over we got settled into our cabins and went to dinner. The food is amazing and we had no ort the whole trip. Ort is the leftover food on your plate that you couldn't finish. For that, we got our names on the Hog Log. The Hog Log is a large board where your name gets written on in large letters under a pig. After dinner we did the giant swing. This trip was all about team building and pushing ourselves to another level of comfortability. On the giant swing, you and your partner are harnessed in. Your classmates pull you up into the air with a big rope until you no longer want to go up any farther. The best part about it is you're in control of when you pull the rope and plummet several feet, swing back and forth, and come in close contact of passing trees. It was a great rush and new experience for many of us.

The next morning, bright and early, we loaded our 2-person kayaks and paddled to Jones Island. The paddle from Orkila to Jones was around 7.5 nautical miles. We split up into 2 pods, leaving 30 minutes apart from each other. This made groups smaller and easier to keep together, this allowed us to be more more careful around boats. The paddle took most of the day. In the middle of the paddle we saw 4 Orcas which was very cool, and many Seals. Once we got there, we immediately started to unload and set up camp. We stayed on Jones Island Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. While on the island, we did many team building activities. The games made us work as a class to achieve a certain goal. They would occasionally add little things to make our trip more challenging to push our limits, Like no speaking. There were a lot of little perks that made this trip special. Like watching the sunset, seeing a dead shark, and having fun kayaking in the bay.

When Thursday came around, we woke up early and packed up camp. We all said our goodbyes to Jones Island then started our long paddle back. This time we went the other way back around Jones cause the guides said it would be much easier because of the current. We were also much better in the kayaks so we moved much faster. On the way back we saw two seals and lots of sea kelp. When we got back we were all looking forward to taking showers, and heading to bed, but there was still lots to do. We split off into groups and individually cleaned, sorted and hung up our gear around Orkila. After that we finally went back to our cabins and took showers. That night we had an amazing dinner with over 12 other schools and went to bed. The next day we packed up and walked across camp to the zip line. After the zip line we got on the buses and drove to the ferry and headed home.

Cross Country 2014

By Will and Jac

There are 17 lower school athletes participating in cross country this year and over 50 athletes in total! The last meet was on Sunday the 21st at the lower part of Woodland Park. The next meet is Sunday September 28th at 1:00 pm also at Woodland Park. You can go and watch without worrying about the Seahawks game because they have a bye (Go hawks).

Our friends here Henry and Kieran are participating this year, and this is what they have to say.

"I'm doing cross country because running is fun!"

"I've been doing cross country since fifth grade"

"I'm doing cross country next year.

"The longest run is 1.5 miles"

"I have done cross country for 3 years"

This is a list of Westside's 2014 Cross Country team:

5th Grade

Regan Rowe

Sophia Simpson-Khan

Gwyneth Anawalt

Riley Walls

Kai Tracey

Sophia Hawkes

Jacob Eby

Jaxon Bartell

Nathan Hayward

Taka Maxfield-Matsumoto

Cooper Legler

6th Grade

Sarah Brown

Hanna Meyer

Talia Laforte

Carson Comick

Owen Prendergrast

Reese Cachero

Zach O’Neal - shirt

Nathaniel St Clair

Nikhil Chhagan

Jonathan Grothe

Kai Chenhaun

Mitchell Eckert

Drew Lightbody

7th Grade

Kieran Davis

Henry Muench

Justin Murphy

8th Grade

Emma Meyer

Amber Richards

Chris Frost

Anthony Petrich

David Hadley

Luke Jensen

Mariners Race to the Postseason

By Chris and Henry

Its been a great year for Seattle sports. The Seahawks are Super Bowl champs, the Sounders have the lead in the MLS, the Huskies are undefeated so far, and the Mariners are FINALLY in a playoff race. It's been a very long ten plus years for the Mariners, but they finally have a chance to end the misery.  

It may look very grim right now, but there is a tiny chance that the Mariners could still make the playoffs. They are two games back of the Kansas City Royals with six games left in the season. The chances may be slim, but a 5-1 record to close the season would give them a good chance. Even if they do finish strong, the more likely possibility is a tie with the Royals for the last wild card spot. If this happens they would play a one game playoff against Kansas City and the winner would play another one game series against the Oakland. IF they won both of these games they would play a series against one of  the division winners. Although this may happen, the Mariners season does look close to being over. All the hard work, and tough games will only be a step in the right direction, not a playoff appearance.

Earlier in the season the Mariners signed super-star,Robinson Cano on a 10 year contract worth 240 million dollars.  Everybody thought the Mariners overpaid for him but they wouldn't be in the same position without him.  Even with the addition of Cano their offense has been ok at best and their pitching has carried them through the year.  They have done that with the best bullpen in baseball and a team earned run average of 3.18 which is one of the best in baseball.

Even if the Mariners don't make the playoffs, they have proved that they have potential to be a championship contender. But that doesn't mean they haven't given up hope. Manager Lloyd McClendon is confident is his team and if they can finish the last six games strong, there just might be a chance of making the playoffs. The Royals have faltered down the stretch in recent years, and any Royals loss right now, will give the Mariners a glimpse of hope.

If the Mariners do make the playoffs, they will have to play a single game against the other wild card team to get into the playoffs. They have one of the best pitchers in baseball in Felix Hernandez, so they have a chance if they can get there!

Ebola Outbreak

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/04/health/experimental-ebola-serum/

By Kate and Kayla

The first case of Ebola occurred in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. It was named after the Ebola River due to the fact that the virus had originated there. When the outbreak first occurred, over 300 human cases were reported which eventually led to over 200 deaths. Since the discovery of the disease, there have been roughly 5000 cases. Though cases have occurred periodically over the years, these past months have resulted in the biggest outbreak yet. Within this most recent outbreak there have been over 4000 cases and 2500 deaths.

Ebola is a extremely infectious virus, however it is moderately contagious. Exposure to the disease is caused by contact with body fluids or contaminated objects from an infected person or animal. Typically it takes eight to ten days to develop symptoms. Symptoms include but are not limited to weakness, fever, aches, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, rash, red eyes, chest pain, throat sores, difficulty breathing or swallowing and bleeding, both internally and externally.

Currently, Americans have been developing experimental drugs to potentially cure humans of the virus. Specifically, there is one partially drug none as ZMapp which was developed by a biotech firm by the name of Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. based in San Diego. The drug had been formally tested on only four monkeys prior to the distribution for humans. Two monkeys were given the treatment after 24 hours of infection while the other two monkeys were given treatment after 48 hours. All four of the monkeys survived and cured. In addition, one monkey, who was not treated, died within five days of exposure. The medicine is a three-mouse monoclonal antibody, meaning that mice were exposed to pieces of the Ebola virus. The antibodies were then generated within the mice's blood and were later harvested to create the medicine.

In conclusion, Ebola is still a current issue and means of treatment are extremely low.