1. By John Schilling
You will be amazed
by this teacher’s story.
She has survived
chemo, dealt with
sixth graders, and will
soon be retiring. Dur-
ing the 2011-2012
school year Mrs.
Sumner was diag-
nosed with cancer
and has made a
healthy return. Sadly
she will be leaving us
and retiring. When
asked why, she re-
plied with “I’m going
to help with my son’s
wedding.”
After her son’s
wedding she plans on
spending a lot more
time down at the lake.
Her favorite part of
working here was all
the people and the
fishing field trips.
Emma Bennett, 8th
grader, class of 2018
remembers Mrs.
Sumner saying, “Don’t
let your pants sag, or
you will make Mrs.
Sumner gag.” We
even had a sign for it.
Volume 4. Issue 6
Mrs. Rola’s Retirement
By Aditi Seetharaman
For the past 31 years,
Mrs. Rola has brought joy
in the learning of music
(and sparkles, of course!)
to youg children as they
learn to play orchestral
string instruments. How-
ever, this is Mrs. Rola’s
last year of being one of
Lindbergh’s orchestra
teachers, for she will be
retiring at the end of this
school year.
Mrs. Rola has been an
orchestra teacher for
about 31 years. She
taught all instruments in
all levels of education.
“One of my favorite
memories from orches-
tra is going to the Mis-
souri Music Educators’
Convention,” says Mrs.
Rola. “I also loved travel-
ing with Strolling Strings
to New York City. I just
love being with the
kids.” Mrs. Rola herself
started to learn to play
the violin in the fourth
grade.
The interviews for a
new orchestra teacher
are still going on. Many
people from all over
the country are apply-
ing for the job. The pan-
el consists of around
half a dozen people,
which includes Ms.
Howard. “We’re looking
for someone enthusias-
tic, innovative, plays
their instrument well,
and really relates to
and cares about kids,”
says Ms. Howard.
“We’ve had so many
good memories togeth-
er,” Ms. Howard says.
May 2014 T h e N e w s p a p e r f o r S p e r r e n g M i d d l e S c h o o l
Sperreng Scoop
Inside This Issue
 Moonlight Ramble
 Book Challenge
 Snack Machine
 Herp-oholic
 Coding
 ISS
 Mrs. Gloss retires
Goodbye Mrs. Sumner
She also remembered
which one of us was a
‘otter’ or a ‘lion’ from
the activity we did in
Flyertime the first year
we had it. If someone
was acting crazy a cer-
tain day, she would
say, ‘Looks like our ot-
ter is up to it again!’” –
Mrs. Sumner, you will
be missed. Enjoy your
retirement!

2. By Zach Tesch
At midnight on Au-
gust 9th, 2014 more
than 5,000 bike riders
will line up at the start-
ing line in downtown St.
Louis.
Thousands turn out
for this amazing event.
The ride begins at
12:00 at night, and
continues into the
morning. You can either
try a 10-mile route, or
go all out and take on a
huge 20-mile loop
through the city. The
route changes every
year. In the past, riders
have cruised by the
Arch, the Botanical Gar-
dens, Powell Hall, the
Fabulous Fox, and
through Forest Park.
The ride can be very
unique. People dress
up their bikes with odd
accessories. At
the 2013
Ramble, there
was a very…
interesting
bike that launched fire-
balls into the night sky.
This ride is open to
everyone. You have to
sign up, though, before
participating. The route
is kept top secret until
the ride, but the route
may be found on the
site. For more info, or to
sign up for this year …
www.moonlightramble.com
people always think
we’re sisters.”
“We’re definitely going
to miss Mrs. Rola,”
Mrs. Howard contin-
ued. “But the truth is,
her retiring will actual-
ly make her come visit
us more. Mrs. Rola
Cont. from page 1 …
“Yeah,” agrees Mrs.
Rola, “the very first
time we went shopping
together, we went to
buy tuxedos! It was a
lot of fun. We do almost
everything together,
will come to help us
with sectionals and to
help me with other
work very often. I’m
also excited for her to
get to see her family,
and I’m looking for-
ward to the fact that I
get to see her more.”
PAGE 2
The Moonlight Ramble
Mrs. Rola’s Retirement cont.
SPERRENG SCOOP
By Jenna Darr
Eighth Grade Green
Team students, Maggie
Parker, Clara Rush, and
Christina Collins are do-
ing a 30 day book chal-
lenge. I sat down with
these girls and asked
them some questions
about.
They said that the 30
day book challenge is an
activity in which you are
told to read a book every
day, or possibly more
than one book in a day
for 30 days straight. The
reason they started the
Are You Up to the Challenge?
challenge was that Mag-
gie introduced it to them
and they thought it
looked fun and they
liked to read, so they
began. They say it has
been pretty difficult so
far. Each of them have
made mistakes in their
challenge. They have
already read most of the
books that they are cur-
rently reading in the
challenge. “There is one
day where you get to
read a book that makes
you cry, and other days
where you read books
that you hate.” Said
Maggie Parker when
asked what kind of
books they are sup-
posed to read. Christi-
na Collins answered
with, “There's one day
where you have to
read a book that you
love but you hate at
the same time.” I
think these students
are enjoying their
challenging challenge.

3. VOLUME 4, ISSUE 6
This year Mrs. Gloss
will be retiring after
27.5 years of teaching.
She has many fond
memories of Sperreng.
When asked about one
of her favorite times
teaching, she shared
the story about going
with students on a
retreat to learn leader-
ship skills and trust
building. When asked
about her worst year
teaching, she recalls
the time when her
house burned down
and her nephew and
best friend passed
away.
Mrs. Gloss started
out as a computer sci-
ence major in college,
but always liked math,
so she switched.
Watching her brother
teach is what con-
vinced her to go into
teaching.
When asked what
she thought the kids
would remember most
about her, she immedi-
ately said “my Gloss
bucks” and the auction.
Many former students
comment that they re-
member how she taught
them to do “real world”
stuff by writing checks,
paying taxes, making
catalogue purchases,
and calculating the tip
on a meal.
So, what is Mrs.
Gloss going to miss the
most about teaching?
She said her friends
and her purpose.
“Sperreng is like family
to me. I’ve become
close with everyone.”
Teaching math has
been her life, now she
has to adjust to having
time for other things.
When asked what
she will do with all that
time, she said her goal
was to visit every base-
ball stadium in the coun-
try. She would also like
to research her genealo-
gy, travel, help more with
Angels’ Arms, escape St.
Louis in the winter, and
most importantly: stay
out on a school night, go
to the bathroom when-
ever she wants, and eat
a lunch that takes longer
than 20 minutes.
She is
planning on
subbing, so
we might
see her
around next
year. I have
a feeling
that she is
not going to
stay away
for long.
PAGE 3
Mrs. Ball Rolls Out of Here
Mrs. Gloss Calculates Her Future After Sperreng
As Dr. Eggers’s sec-
retary, Mrs. Ball types
up the newsletter
than gets emailed out
every Friday in the
eNote to our parents.
She handles the pur-
chase orders for the
building and all of the
money that comes
and goes into keeping
the building running
smoothly. If someone
wants to reserve the
gym, cafeteria or field,
she is the person to
talk to! Also the teach-
ers go to her to request
supplies for their class-
rooms.
Twenty-four years ago
a young, single guy
came into her office to
paint it, and she ended
up marrying him! He
retired last year as the
district painter and lock-
smith. He had worked
for the district for 29
years!
Thank you for your
years of service, Mrs.
Ball! Enjoy your retire-
ment!
By Lelah Schneider
Mrs. Ball, Dr. Eggers’s
secretary, is retiring this
year after working for
the Lindbergh School
District for 27 years. She
is hoping to spend time
with her husband, their
four children, and eight
grandchildren.
Mrs. Ball worked at
the high school for 23
years as a secretary to
the assistant principal
and as a secretary in the
Guidance Office.
6 Grade
7 Grade
8 Grade

4. By Caleb Hiers
It is May, the last month
of school! How lucky you
are! So this article is about
the opposite. Which means
that this article is about the
number 13 (If you couldn’t
tell by the pictures)! As you
most likely know, 13 is con-
sidered unlucky in American
culture. But is it really un-
lucky? I hate to break it to
you, superstitioneers, but it
just isn’t. However, there is
a fair amount of proof that
it just might have a relation-
ship with that dark feline
that crept under your lad-
der.
Thirteen might have
gained fear from that dad-
gummed number 12. The
ancient Sumerians treated
12 like it was the best num-
ber ever. 12 is the number
of half of the day, 12 is the
number of months in a year,
6+6=12, 12 this, 12 that.
So when you say twelve,
people are like “OH YAY!
HURRAH! WOW!” But when
you say 13, they’re like
“*yaaaawn* When will
something exciting actually
happen?” So 13 became an
underling and underlings
become FEAR! WOOO!
DUN DUN DUN!
The fear of thirteen is
called Triskaidekaphobia
(Tris-kay-dee-uh-pho-bia).
Yes, sadly, some people
actually have Triskaideka-
phobia. And yes, sadly,
people with this case will
freak out if they even see
the number 13. For their
convenience, floor 13 is
skipped on elevators.
That’s why elevator music
is so relaxing! Another
thing about buildings- as
skyscrapers were first be-
ing developed, 13 floors
and above were thought
to cast unseemly shad-
ows.
Now we go to things
much higher than hotels-
space. You might know
about the successful fail-
ure- the Apollo 13. Ever
heard the phrase
“Houston, we have a
problem”? That originat-
ed from the “problems”
of the Apollo 13 rocket.
Planned to be the 3rd
moon landing, a mere
mistake in the engineer-
ing of oxygen tank #2
turned everything in the
mission upside-down. The
astronauts went through
freezing temperatures
and grueling conditions.
Instead of landing on the
moon, they hand to sling-
shot around it to barely
make it home. That’s why
it’s called the successful
failure. But whether this
part is lucky or not is up
to you: first, the Apollo 13
crew went the farthest
any human has gone into
space and, more im-
portantly, they made a
film about it conveniently
named Apollo 13.
So this May, just be
glad that you are not the
underling of the number
12- or the thirteenth floor
of a hotel- or the thir-
teenth mission to the
moon.
PAGE 4
Lucky 13
SPERRENG SCOOP
What The Heck Is That?!
Krispy Treats, Cheesy
French Fry Crisps, Pi-
rate’s Booty Cheese Pop
Corn, Small Soft Cookies
made with whole wheat
flour, and Pop Chips.
Students are allowed
to buy from this machine
after regular school
hours. Prices range from
$0.75 to $1.25. The ma-
chine accepts $1 and $5
bills. There are 27 choic-
es to choose.
Who says healthy can-
not be tasty!
By Matthew Fletcher
Have you won-
dered what is in the
snack machine in
the cafeteria? The
snack machine is
near the outside
doors and the school
store. Supposedly it
contains healthy
choices. Some of those
choices include Rice

5. VOLUME 4, ISSUE 6
By Matthew Fletcher
Streaming Stick: Have
you wanted to stream
on the internet on your
TV? Or watch TV on
your device without
using the Dish™ Hop-
per? The new Roku
Streaming Stick is for
you. Priced at $50, this
flash drive-shaped de-
vice can plug into a
USB port anywhere. For
the Google
Chromecast, you’re not
the only stick in town.
Science: Scientist De-
clares this the
“Funniest Joke Ever”
Scientists studied what
makes people laugh
(what they show humor
for.) People posted
jokes on the internet,
and scientists chose
this one;” Two hunters
are out in the woods
when one of them col-
lapses. He's not breath-
ing and his eyes are
glazed, so his friend
calls 911. "My friend
is dead! What should I
do?" The operator re-
plies, "Calm down, sir.
I can help. First make
sure that he's dead."
There's a silence, then
a loud bang. Back on
the phone, the guy
says, "OK, now what?"
PAGE 5
Herp-oholic
Space and Technology Update
By Caleb Hiers
Everybody has a
hobby! Some people
collect cards or
stamps. But team 6
Gold’s Chris Kirchofer
finds and studies
herps! After he photo-
graphed herps that he
found in multiple
glades, he presented
them to the St. Louis
Herpetological Society
so that they could have
an update on herp pop-
ulations. I interviewed
him to find out more.
What is a herp?
A reptile or amphibian.
Why do you find and
study herps?
It is really a hobby. I
might possibly do it for
a career.
Why do you present to
the Herpetological Soci-
ety?
I show what kind of ani-
mal I saw, and how
many of the same spe-
cies I find in one day.
What do you do during
herp searches?
It’s basically flipping a
rock, catching the herp,
taking a picture, and
releasing it. I usually
find either nothing un-
der the rock or skinks.
How long have you
loved herps?
They’ve always fascinat-
ed me. When I first went
to the Herpitarium at
the Zoo, once someone
had told me the name
of the herp, I could iden-
tify it immediately, even
though I couldn’t
read!
What are some of the
glades you go to?
Victoria Glades- that’s
one of my favorites-
Valley View Glades,
St. Francis State Park,
and Danville Glades.
What are some kinds
of herps that you find
besides skinks?
The fence lizard and
the lined snake. One
of my favorite ones I
see out there is the
speckled king snake.
Find out more at http://www.stlherpsociety.org/.

6. By Ben Schraut
Many believe that
coding a website or
simple game is very
tough. But making the
next Flappy Bird is actu-
ally pretty easy, with
the right help.
You won’t be able to
make a game like NHL
14 with the 1st few
courses, but
codecademy.com will
help you get started
with coding. With
basic lessons like
HTML & CSS to the
advanced JavaScript,
you can educate your-
self to a fairly reason-
able level, and make
fun apps that might
get onto the App Store
if you can spend the
time to make it really
appealing to Apple.
That being said, the
lessons are very tough.
However, it is like a
pattern, and once you
figure it out, you can do
nearly anything.
PAGE 6
Coding Isn’t as Hard as it Seems…
SPERRENG SCOOP
As Ye Old Saying Goes
By Zach Tesch and Kari Moore
 A Bone to Pick (someone who wants to discuss a disagreement)
 A bad apple spoils the whole barrel (one corrupt person can cause all
the others to go bad if you don't remove the bad one)
 All’s well that ends well (Bad things are okay if they have a good out-
come. The accuracy of this statement is debatable.)
 At sea (lost or not understanding something)
 Bad Egg (someone who was not a good person)
 Barking at a knot (meaning that your efforts were as useless as a
dog barking at a knot.)
 Bee in your bonnet (to have an idea that won't let loose)
 Been through the mill (had a rough time of it)
 Cattywampus (Something that sits crooked such as a piece of furni-
ture sitting at an angle)
 Double-Cross (When someone is working for the opposite side, and
tricks you into gaining your trust.)
 Feather In Your Cap (to accomplish a goal. This came from years
ago in wartime when warriors might receive a feather they would put
in their cap for defeating an enemy)
 Getting the Cold Shoulder (being constantly mad at a person and
completely ignoring them at the same time)
 Hold your horses (Be patient!)

7. VOLUME 4, ISSUE 6
By Caleb Hiers
Above us, thou-
sands of feet into the
air, flies the Interna-
tional Space Station
(ISS). Orbiting around
Earth more than 90
times each day, rock-
ets and shuttles from
all over the world con-
stantly dock with it
and space explorers
live in it for six months
and do experiments.
But life isn’t exactly a
stroll in the park when
it comes with ze-
ro gravity, the
body’s reactions
to space, and be-
ing in a small tin
can hurling
through the infi-
nite depths of the
universe. So how
do you brush your
teeth on the ISS?
1. Life on the
space station sure is
busy! So the folks up
there must get some
rest. But there is no
gravity (also known
vacuum) on the ISS.
So instead of beds,
space pioneers must
sleep in sleeping bag-
like things attached to
the wall.
2. When they wake
up, they must, as al-
ways, brush their
teeth. Everything hap-
pens the same way as
on Earth (besides not
letting the toothbrush
float away) until it
comes time to spit out
the toothpaste. There
are no sinks up there
(Again, living in the
vacuum of space
makes life hard),
which leaves one
thing for the astronaut
to do. The toothpaste
is especially made to
swallow.
3.Then the person
gets some free time to
play in zero gravity,
post things on social
media (#theISS), or
just adore the view of
Earth from the win-
dow.
4. After that, time for
work! Experiments,
experiments, and if
you have time more
experiments are some
of the many jobs done
at the space station.
How do butterflies
react in space? Can
you drag race in
space? How does this
robot react to zero
gravity? All of these
questions -besides
the drag racing one-
have or could be an-
swered on the ISS.
Talk about “all in a
day’s work!”
5. In case you didn’t
know, humans have
to eat to survive. On
the ISS, the same rule
applies. Also, in the
vacuum of space, all
liquid floats in little
spheres because of
complicated physics
stuff that you probably
don’t want to go into.
You know how almost
every food has liquid
as one of its ingredi-
ents? Well, all that
liquid would float out
of the food and turn
into a big bubble
when taken to the
space station. So
that’s why most
of the food that
appears on the
menu on the ISS
is “freeze-dried”.
That basically
removes all the
liquid from the
food. You want
proof that gold-
fish snacks are
awesome? They don’t
contain liquid, so they
do not have to be
freeze-dried! Also,
beverages must be
stored in little packets
and squeezed out of a
tube.
Some websites tell
you when you can see
the ISS in the sky.
Type “Spot the Sta-
tion” on the official
NASA website and see
the next time you will
be able to see the
space station. And
when you do, remem-
ber that it is an im-
portant step into life
in space!
PAGE 7
Life on the ISS

8. Sperreng Scoop
Editors:
Emma Bennett
Jenna Darr
James Fitzpatrick
John Schilling
Lelah Schneider
Zach Tesch
Reporters: Lydia Burkett, Alex Christian,
Patrick Donohue, Grace Egart, Claire Eiler,
Timothy Fitzpatrick, Matthew Fletcher, Daisey
Gotsch, Jolie Heller, Caleb Hiers, Dimitri
Jones, Jimmy Keating, Matthew Meyer, Kari
Moore, Ben Schraut, Aditi Seetharaman, Dayle Zimmerman
Sponsors: Mrs. Lichtenstein, Mrs. Sears
6. This teacher was mar-
ried in a castle in
Scotland.
7. This teacher, while in
middle school, took
care of horses in ex-
change for being al-
lowed to compete in
the local rodeo in New
Mexico.
8. This teacher, while on
vacation, was pinched
by a crab and devel-
oped an allergic reac-
tion (pictured top
right).
9. This teacher hung up-
side down and kissed
the Blarney Stone in
Ireland.
10. This teacher has flown
in an F-111 fighter
jet.
11. This teacher is miss-
ing part of his or her
right lung.
How Well Do You Know the Sperreng Teachers and Staff?
Continued from Last Issue
Last issue, we learned
many new things about the
Sperreng staff and teach-
ers. Ms. Darch has eaten
groundhog; Mr. Meloy has
survived a plane crash, and
Ms. Harke was a profes-
sional cheerleader. Wow!
We continue this issue with
all new fun facts. See if you
can guess who did what!
1. This teacher was a high
school cheerleader.
2. This aide toured around
Europe with a folk sing-
ing group.
3. This teacher is all about
“the left”.
4. This counselor failed
his or her driver’s li-
cense test multiple
times before passing it
at the age of 17.
5. This teacher has never
done a cart wheel—ever!
12.This teacher can do ex-
pert impersonations of
Homer and Marge Simp-
son and Donald Duck.
13.This teacher used to own
and operate a restau-
rant.
14.This staff member drove
cross country in an un-
air-conditioned VW van
on his or her honey-
moon.
15.This teacher built a ramp
out of bricks and jumped
his or her bike and woke
up in the hospital.
16.This teacher went to
professional umpiring
school.
Answers:1.Giesing2.Haire
3.Finch4.Christanell5.Moser
6.Neimeyer7.Laird8.Gloss
9.Rathjen10.Ohler
11.Scheidenhelm12.Lewis
13.Makos14.McNabb
15.Lichtenstein16.Ratliff