Representatives from Memorial Hospital visited Spring Forge Intermediate School in January to educate students about nutrition. Through the hospital’s Kids in the Kitchen Program, Northeastern School District fourth-graders learned about the importance of eating breakfast and choosing healthy meals and snacks. They were encouraged to help prepare meals at home. They also made a nutritious smoothie. Pictured, Mary Cook, right, carefully pours the milk as Katelyn Schaeffer watches.

These poems were written by fourth-graders in Mrs. Wagner’s class at Spring Forge Intermediate School, Northeastern School District.

Ode to Chips
By Pierce Gearhart

Chips are good with salsa and dip,
barbeque chips are good to eat and they’re always a treat.
Barbeque chips are way too good,
They should be better than any chip would.
Barbeque chips are the best,
I think they should be the greatest chips yet.
Barbeque chips are the hottest,
They’re like a volcano.
And when I eat them my mouth is like a ball of fire.

Ode To Falling
By Erica Shearer

I fall into dirt
When I fall
And mess up my sweatshirt
I start to bawl
When I realize
I like to fall
Then I start falling into leaves
Until my mom yells, “Stop”
I say “But mom please”
Sister Sally Sue is too.
“I don’t care,”
But look at her shoe.
When I go inside
I notice I am as muddy as a pig
So I guess I better hide.

Ode to Fried Chicken
By Rachel Rae McJunkins

Try some fried chicken.
It has juicy warm tender meat with crunchy munchy skin.
When you eat fried chicken your fingers get a lickn’.
When you go to KFC you get a good pickn’.
Yes, oh yes fried chicken is so perfect.
Fried chicken is like the world itself.
Fried chicken will beg you to eat it.
The taste of fried chicken gives a little kickn’
for dinner you should have fried chicken.

Ode to My Bike
By Ahren Wineholt

My bike’s so glorious
All around lorious
When it feels the
Wind it is like a
Monster truck
Ramping a
Duck
But
Its
Just
Luck

Ode to Football
By Tre Botts

I see jerseys,
Hear people saying, “I’m open, I’m open”
I touch the wet football
I smell the sweat
The grass is as slippery as ice
The football players are beasts
Football players roar like a bear.

Ode to Lilly
By Shaylin Jones

I hear Lilly barking.
When I touch Lilly I feel softness.
Lilly smiled at me when I gave her the ball.
Lilly is a fire-breathing dragon when she hears 1 very tiny noise.
Lilly is a dachshund dog,
she is many different colors.
She’s tiny with a medium sized tail and a long back.
But the BEST part about it is she’s all mine and I love her.

Ode To Football
By Lathian Eckenrode

See it in the air
Like a fling flair
He through it
Like a pear
Watch it break like a
Rock with an ache
A squirrel caught it
Through a wall
I’m surprised and
Shocked that it
Didn’t remove
A block

Ode to My Brother
By Bret Goodling

My brother is like a beast
he is sweet and mean sometimes.
He can run fast as superman.
When he takes a bath he’s wet
when he is done he is dry.
When he falls he cries.
When I go to school,
I say good bye to my brother.

Ode to My Cat
By Aaron Osman

I have a cat
she is very fat
Her stomach is like Jell-o
she’s big in the bell-o.
She likes to purr
she has a lot of fur.
My cat is an overgrown pig
but with a wig.

Ode to My Dad
By Deja Lee

I really love my dad
He really loves me too.
Sometimes we watch football
He calls me his little boo.
When I am scared of thunder
He says that the thunder is a drum.
That drums a beat
He makes me feel better.
When I’m in such a heat
When I’m scrubbing floors.
He says put some elbow grease
Into that floor.
Oh no here he comes
Knocking on the door.
My dad is a tall ogre
That loves me very much.
I really love my dad
A whole, whole bunch.

Ode To My Cat
By Taeya Richardson

I can feel
My cat’s soft,
Fuzzy fur
I can hear my
Cat’s meow and purr.

My cat smiles at
Me and starts to purr.
My cat was as frozen as ice,

When he found out we had
fed him mice.
HE FLY’S UP IN THE AIR!
When he sees a footless nail!!

That’s why I love my cat.

Ode to My Dog
By Sam Beck

My dog is a bunch to handle
but when it comes to dinnertime
he likes to munch! munch! Munch!
My dog is as soft as silk
And he likes to lap up milk.
He’s as fat as a bear
and he has a lot of hair.
He likes to chase the deer
and acts just like a steer.

Ode to my family
By Lexus Rohrbaugh

I hear them talking.
I can see my family.
I can smell if they put perfume on.
I like to smell mom.
My step-dad is a bear
In the morning.
When I wake up
I do not want to
Get out of bed.

Ode to my flute
By Rebecca DeMonda

It sounds like singing bird and is as smooth as ice.
It can be really sad or really glad.
I don’t get tired of playing the flute
but some people get pooped.
It’s my flute not gloop’s.
I love my flute I could just
toot, toot, toot all day long.
I love my flute.

Ode to My Football
By Coby Motley

Gets dirty gets clean
It feels bumpy.
It smells just like rubber.
It is brown and white.
It has laces on the top of it.
I always fall when
I play football.
When I get tackled
I will crackle.

Ode to My Play Station 2
By Thomas Salada

I can see me in a car in the TV
As I can touch the gearshift.
When I’m inside the TV
I drive up a tree and
My car turns into a bird.
Then someone turns off the Play Station.
Then it gets restarted.

Ode to my TV
By Chase Bolden

The TV is like a king.
Who rules comedy and funny things.
It cheers me up when I’m feeling blue.
It is mini, big, huge
and this is why I like TV.

Ode To Swimming
By Devin Sevret

I love to go swimming,
I’m on the swim team too.
When I hop in the pool,
I’m like a fast fish,
Or a dolphin.
When I go to the deck the pool says hi to me,
I get in and start swimming like a bee.

Ode To My Kitten
By Skyler Lennen

Soft as silk, unlike a sloth,
She runs amuck all day and night,
She screeches like a hyena in a catfight,
Until I yell “Ember!!!”
She speaks the language of cat,
And likes to purr like a motor,
She prowls in the grass,
And chases moles and mice.
And when she is worn out,
She`ll settle down in my lap.
Meow.

Ode to My Brother
By Emily Trembly

Oh my brother Jake,
He loves to shovel and rake.
He has short hair,
Just like an albino bear.
He has a cute little giggle,
And he likes to wiggle.
He likes to “hit the hay”
That’s what I say.

He is like a pro,
Yeah I know.
When he plays the Wii,
He plays with me until three.
He is as hyper as my Jack Russell Bella,
Yeah I think you can tella.

Jake is his name,
And monster trucks are his game.
He laughs a lot, but I do not.
Jake likes to sleep,
But NOT to sweep!
He always is getting sweaty,
But he does not like to get ready!

Ode to X Box
By Dylan Saxton

I love my X Box360,
Sometimes it talks to me.
My Xbox360 lousily hits the hay at 8:00
Because that’s my bedtime.
In the morning
It wakes up and welcomes me to the software
And then tells me what game I am playing.
Then I make it run, jump, and kick.
I am glad they invented Xbox360.

Ode to Softball
By Elizabeth Sterner

I love to play softball,
I play it everyday.
When it comes to practice,
I always say hooray!
When it’s over,
I always want to say hey!
The next day it’s time to say hi
To my favorite softball game.
My ball whistles through the air,
It loves to be thrown.

Ode to my Violin
By Kyra Sanchez

Oh how I love to play
And how I love to play all day.
When I play I use all the strings,
That make all different rings.
Oh how I love to hear the sounds it makes
When the bow slides across
The silver strings.

Mrs. Wood and Mrs. Long, fourth-grade teachers at Spring Forge Intermediate School, submitted this mystery story written by one of their students.

By Lauren Bass

Hi, my name is Mia Smithson and I am a detective. I know I am only twelve years old, but some people say I am the best detective in the world! Okay, maybe just my parents and my three-year-old brother, but I am pretty good, I have to admit. I have solved over ten crimes and nobody is ever gotten away with something. I have always found the criminal and have recovered the stolen items. So, if you have a crime, call 1-800-CRIME. Do not worry, I will solve your crime in no time, as long as it is not like this case I am about to tell you about. This case took over 4 hours to solve it!!

It all started on a Saturday. I had just gotten up, and was watching morning cartoons. Then all of a sudden I got a phone call. That is how it all started. It was about a lady named Emma Wilson. She had just lost her hundred-dollar necklace on 31st Street at The Minooka Hotel! My little brother, Justin, had just gotten up when the phone rang. He was wearing “footsie” pajamas and was holding his stuffed elephant. He was asking who was on the phone it was and what they wanted. I just ignored him.

I was just about to go upstairs to my parents room to tell them I had another case to figure out, but then I remembered they were still asleep. I was hoping the phone call did not wake them up because if it did, they would be very grumpy. Thankfully, it only woke up my mom. She is not as grumpy as my dad usually is, but she still is pretty grumpy. Today though, she was not grumpy. She asked me what the phone call was about. Then she picked up Justin. I spoke calmly and said, “It was a lady named Emma Wilson. She had just lost her $100 necklace at The Minooka Hotel on 31st Street.”

My mom spoke slowly, “Do you need to be there right now?” I told her that I had to go in a little bit. She hoisted Justin up onto her hip a bit higher.

Shortly after that, she walked into the kitchen and sat Justin down into his chair. I followed her. Then she got him some Raisin Bran cereal. Justin stuck his tongue out.

My mom rolled her eyes and collapsed onto a chair. I decided that I would get Justin some Cheerios instead. So, I did. I got out a bowl, poured him some cereal, and gave it to him.

Just then I grabbed an apple and ran outside. I had a case to solve. I ran into the garage and grabbed my scooter. Then I rode down to The Minooka Hotel on 31st Street.

When I got there, I went up to the front desk and said to the lady, “I am Mia Smithson. I got a call that Emma Wilson lost her necklace.”

The lady looked at me and said, “She is on the 5th floor in room 523.” I ran into the elevator and pressed the #5 button on the wall. It took about 5 minutes to get to the room, but I eventually made it.

I ran down the long, narrow hallway and knocked on the room 523 door. A lady opened the door and asked me if I was Mia Smithson. I told her I was. She invited me into the room. The room had pink flowered wallpaper and sparkling white carpet. Then I sat on a comfy chair and started off asking her questions like … “Where did you last have the necklace?” She told me she laid the necklace on the bed before she had left the room. I asked her if anyone was in the room after she left. She told me that there was just a maid named Cassidy. I got out my notepad and wrote:

Clue #1- laid necklace on bed
Clue #2- maid was only person in room

I put my notepad back in my pocket. I was very suspicious. I started to think that it was the maid Cassidy who took the $100 necklace, but I was not sure. So, I called her into the room. When she came up, I sat her on the bed and started to ask her questions like … ”Were you or were you not in this room?” She told me that she was. I took out my notepad from my pocket and wrote:

Clue #3- maid was in room

Then I put my notepad back into my pocket again and asked her more questions. Here is an example – “Did you take the necklace that was lying on the bed in this room?” “No, I did not,” she said. “The only thing I did was cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed the floor and made the bed.” I got out my notepad and wrote:

Clue # 4- maid did not take the necklace, she says
Clue # 5- only thing maid did was clean bathroom, vacuum the floor, and made the bed.

I started to look at all of my notes on my notepad. I looked and looked up and down for about 15 minutes. Then I started to speak, “If Emma put the necklace down on the bed and Cassidy didn’t take it … I got it! Cassidy, did you make the bed?”

“Yeh, Why?” she asked me.

“Emma placed the necklace on the bed and no one took it, so that leads up to one explanation,” I said and crouched down next to the bed. Then I reached under it and pulled out the $100 necklace. There it was … right in front of my face. Emma ran up to me and hugged me so tight that I could barely breathe. Next she handed me a check and said, “You deserve it!” I read the check. I couldn’t believe it! It said $100 on it! I was so amazed. I said to Emma,” Thank you one million times!”

She said, “No, thank you!”

I could not wait to go home. I was so excited that I just solved another case and got paid $100 for doing it.

I ran outside the hotel doors and grabbed my scooter and raced all the way home. I ran through the door and yelled, “I solved a case and got $100 for it!”

My mom looked at me and said,” What took you so long? It is almost dinner.” I looked at her strangely and said, “Well, what do you mean? It can not be!” But, it was. I mean, I left at breakfast and came back at dinner. “That means it took over 4 hours to solve the case,” I said. My mom looked at me and said, “Sit down and eat your dinner. We can talk about what happened.” So I sat down and started eating. I was starved to death.

“So, what took you so long again?” my dad asked me. “Well, what took me so long was, I couldn’t figure out who took the necklace or anything! So, when I called the maid up to question her- that took about 15 minutes. Then I had to figure out the whole entire case! So, to make a long story short, nobody took the necklace, I ended up finding the necklace under the bed,” I said with quite a lot of breaths.

Oh, and did I mention that by the time I was done talking that everyone, including Justin who was the slowest eater in the world, was finished with their dinner just when I had finished talking?

That night I got into my bed and looked up at the ceiling thinking my life could not be any better. I have more than $100 and I have the best family in the world … even mentioning Justin, he is annoying from time to time. Still, he is family and I love him very much. Then I fell fast asleep.

I hope you like my suspenseful mystery story. Next time you have a mystery that needs to be solved, call me. Remember that I have solved over ten mysteries in no time. Okay, except for this one. It took me a little more than no time, but I still hope that you liked my story.

The End