Here’s one that will make your teachers smile (and maybe you too), thanks to BuzzFeed. http://youtu.be/JTHM5Feyg7U

Learn about nations within nations thanks to GGPGrey. http://youtu.be/Vui-qGCfXuA

The York Symphony Orchestra will hold its 13th annual summer music camp, My Opus Magnum, July 22-26 at Logos Academy in York.

The camp will offer youth musicians in grades 3 through 12 the opportunity to learn the steps of creating a song, preparing it on music manuscript, and filling out the necessary forms to copyright the created material. The camp emphasizes a hands-on creative approach with group instruction on individual keyboards and computer software as well as personalized coaching through the songwriting process.

Highly qualified instructors will offer level specific instruction (new this year) and will creatively guide elementary to high school students through the process of composing a masterwork all their own. The camp includes dynamic individual coaching using computer software and keyboards.

Camp will conclude with a performance of each students composition and pizza party. Each student will also receive two vouchers to a York Symphony Concert for the 2013/2014 Season. Students of all levels of ability are encouraged to attend however, it is suggested that they have some private lesson experience with the instrument of their choice.

Camp hours are 9 a.m. to noon and the cost is $95 per student. A downloadable application can be found at www.yorksymphony.org or by calling (717) 812-0717.

Northern Middle School students who were named to honor rolls for the third marking period of the 2012-2013 school year are: 
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DISTINGUISHED
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Grade 8: 
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Cameron Albert, Joshua Barrett, Samantha Bohn, Nathan Breon,

Chad Cherok, Kathleen Colgan, Juliana Coover,

Rachel Eby, Mikayla Eyster,

Daniel Fiscus, Emma Fisler,

Hannah Grant, Ryan Heisey, Jonathan Heller,

Mikayla Ickes, Nicole Jaquette,

Scott Leitholf, Lauren Lindoerfer,

Makenna McGill, Sarah Middendorf, Abby Monko,

Amanda Noll, Louis Peifer,

Leah Reday, Blake Rondon,

Alyssa Sheaffer, Ethan Spencer, Lindsay Stefanon,

Carissa Weaver, Joshua Welker and Quade Wilbur.
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Grade 7: 
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Alison Abrashoff, Margaret Anderson, Mitchell Andrews, Kathryn Armstrong, Michele Arnold,

The York YMCA’s Hoffman Baseball/Softball Academy and the York Revolution have collaborated to offer Baseball Camps throughout the summer for ages 8-15.

Each week, beginning June 10, is for a different age group and skill level. Camp highlights include two full camp days at Sovereign Bank Stadium and a twilight game for participants to play a real game on the field.

For more information, call Doug Markel at (717) 843-7884, ext. 248, or email dmarkel@yorkcoymca.org.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is aboard the International Space Station and recorded a tribute to David Bowie’s classic song “Space Oddity.” You may not know the song, but the sights that Hadden offers us while singing it make it worth watching. http://youtu.be/KaOC9danxNo

Mike the Knight, the star of the popular children’s TV series, is coming to Harrisburg on Saturday, May 18. To celebrate Mike’s visit to our area, Junior Dispatch is giving away some great “Mike the Knight” merchandise.

To enter the giveaway, kids must write a knight-themed poem, and we will publish all the entries here.  Your poem can be any style the young author desires — such as a haiku, a riddle, a limerick, an acrostic or a rhyme. Once the little bards have their prose perfected, email it to juniordispatch@yorkdispatch.com by 8 p.m.  Sunday, May 20.  Junior Dispatch will then select first- and second-place winners out of all the qualifying entries. Teachers are encouraged to get their students to enter. Please see the official rules below for the details.

First place is the “Mike the Knight” DVD and a “Mike the Knight” book. Second place is the DVD only.

We will publish entries as they arrive.

HARRISBURG EVENT: Mike the Knight and his friends are charging into the Harrisburg Mall for two free performances of “Mike the Knight and the Mission for Hidden Treasure.” The 20-minute performance will also feature Squirt the dragon.  The event also includes photo opportunities, giveaways, and a glimpse of the “Mike the Knight” toys that are coming soon to stores. Performances are set for Saturday, May 18 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

ABOUT “MIKE THE KNIGHT”: “Mike the Knight” is a CG-animated series that transports kids to a realm of castles, dragons, and trolls.  With his rallying cry “Be a Knight, Do it Right!”, Mike brings the excitement and enchantment of medieval times to his young viewers.  Currently the broadcast series airs on Nick Jr.  For more information about Mike the Knight and his missions, visit www.miketheknight.com and follow on Facebook (www.facebook.com/miketheknightofficial) and Twitter @MiketheKnight_US.

OFFICIAL RULES: To enter this giveaway, contestants must write a poem of 10 or more words about subject of “knights.” Entrants who are just learning to write can compose their poem verbally, and then have the caregiver write it down. Decisions by Junior Dispatch are final. One entry per person. Entries must include a name, age, address and telephone number.  All entries will be posted on JuniorDispatch.com. Entries must be sent to juniordispatch@yorkdispatch.com by 8 p.m.  Monday, May 20.

ANOTHER CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST: Junior Dispatch is also hosting another writing contest for kids ages 0 to 18. The top prize in three age categories is $100 in gift certificates. Get all the details here: http://ydtalk.com/jdispatch/2013/04/22/tell-us-a-story-and-win-big/

The Fine Bros. investigate the story behind the “Cup Song” on Teens React. http://youtu.be/-nYSwuhsLa0

Billions of winged teenagers will crawl out of the ground, sing their hearts out and fall in love this summer.

As crazy as that sounds, it’s reality for the Brood II cicadas that only come around once every 17 years. The insects are found only in eastern North America, and nowhere else in the world.

This photo provided by the University of Connecticut, shows a cicada in Pipestem State Park in West Virginia on May 27, 2003. Any day now, cicadas with bulging red eyes will creep out of the ground after 17 years and overrun the East Coast with the awesome power of numbers. Big numbers. Billions. Maybe even a trillion. For a few buggy weeks, residents from North Carolina to Connecticut will be outnumbered by 600 to 1. Maybe more. And the invaders will be loud. A chorus of buzzing male cicadas can rival a jet engine.(AP Photo/University of Connecticut, Chirs Simon)

Known as magicicada, they have been maturing underground for 17 years, slurping on fluid from the roots of trees. The magic number seems to be 64 degrees: They won’t come out until the soil is that temperature, according to two local experts.

The phenomenon: Soil in Cumberland County was 48 degrees over the weekend, said Ed Dix, a forester with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry. So the area still has till about late May or early June before the swarm, he said.

Adult cicadas are 1 to 1-1/2 inches long and have red eyes. Not to be confused with the more common annual cicadas, which look like huge, green flies, magicicadas are both smaller and much rarer.

“They’re definitely going to be noticeable,” said Timothy Abbey, of Penn State Cooperative Extension.

As daunting as billions of huge flies might seem, the bugs are mostly harmless.

Abbey said the insects are plant feeders and not much of a bother to crops. They don’t bite or damage property, but since females lay their eggs in the delicate twigs of deciduous trees, branches can break off and leaves might turn brown.

“But they’re not really a pest: They’re actually a beneficial thing when they come out,” Abbey said, as birds and small mammals like to snack on them.

The cicada way: These periodical cicadas have garnered the nickname “17-year locusts,” even though they’re not locusts, which are a type of grasshopper. When colonists settled in America, they hadn’t seen cicadas before and saw them as the locusts from the biblical plague, Dix said.

After the males emerge, they’ll begin to “sing” constantly. After about 10 days, mating will begin and females will deposit about 600 eggs. It’s a short party, and in just a few weeks, the adults will die and the hatchlings will return to the ground and restart the cycle.

But it is a big production, and the males’ song is loud and unmistakable. Dix said not to pay them too much mind.

“It’s just a bunch of 17-year-old males singing in a tree trying to find a mate,” he said matter-of-factly.

In York: The region the cicadas choose depends largely on how dense its woods are: The more trees, the more cicadas. Dix said areas east of the Susquehanna River have the most chance of a large influx.

“York County actually might have very little impact,” he said.

Their next return to York will be in 2021 in the form of Brood X, the largest of eight broods in the state.

Visit www.magicicada.org for maps and more information about the incoming cicadas.

Reported by MOLLIE DURKIN of The York Dispatch from YORK, PA. Reach her at mdurkin@yorkdispatch.com.

UPDATE: The event has been cancelled for May 11. It will be held (weather permitting) on May 18.

Main Street Hanover will transform downtown sidewalks into colorful works of art from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, May 11, (rain date is Saturday, May 18) during the 3rd annual Chalk It Up Hanover.

Artists of all ages will transform Hanover’s sidewalks during this free, family friendly event, including Michael William Kirby, a leading public artist and street painter from Baltimore, Md.

Participants will be given an assigned square of sidewalk, chalk and time to convert concrete into temporary art. Sidewalk spaces are approximately 4 feet by 4 feet. More than 130 spaces are available.

Artists may use any or all of the space and may complete their work anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. All art must be completed by 3 p.m. Judging will be broken into six groups: ages 5 and younger, ages 6–9, ages 10–13, ages 14-high school senior, adult and family/group. Recognition and awards will be announced at 4 p.m. Participants do not need to be present to win.

Assigned spaces will be available at the registration table in the Fountain Quadrant of Center Square Hanover the morning of the event. Pre-registration is strongly recommended, but day-of registration is also welcomed.

For more information, call Main Street Hanover at (717) 637-6130 or visit www.hanoverchamber.com/downtown.html.