road work

The constant road work in mason city is getting old. They constantly throw down patches. They should just shut down the road for a few months and completely replace the road. It would actually end up being cheaper than a repair every other month.

Snow in May

Who would have thought that we would have another snow day in May? May 2, in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, there were up to 14 inches of snow that fell on the ground. Some farmers were afraid that their crops that they had already planted wouldn't come up, because of the snow and the temperature being below 32 degrees. Their worries were washed away when they saw that the crops had sprouted. The majority of the students at RRMR are mad about having to go to school another day except the seniors. "The snow was the product of Mother Nature and Jack Frost having relations."- Tyler Burnett, Senior at Rockford

Summer Fun!!

The summer is supposed to be fun. School is making summer less fun by taking some of our summer and making us come to school. Summer  should have kids running and playing in the water. They should also be having fun and not getting in trouble. Kids this summer will be able to swim in the rivers and they actually get to swim because the water level is decent condition. The water is also right now at a dangerous level because the tide can take children and young adults drowned. Mrs. Huebsch says is ready to start semester tests to start because that mean the children are one step closer to their summer break.

New Facebook Layout

           Facebook is coming out with another new home page format, that will help clean up all the clutter in previous layouts. Facebook has had many different home pages and has been trying to clean up the homepage and make it more user friendly, and they think that they've got it right this time. The layout is very simple to use, and it also looks very nice and sleek, compared to earlier formats used for their homepage. Many people have said that it looks good but they're not quite sure how easy it will actually work, and that it may even complicate things because people will have to relearn the site again. When asked Samantha Stevens said "she likes the old Facebook, the new format is sometimes hard to understand. Once you get used to one they should just leave it." In my opinion I think it looks good but it should just be left alone.

Playhouse Competition

     The RRMR building trades class took a field trip on May, 8, 2013 to NIACC. The class builds a playhouse throughout the semester and then takes it to the NIACC campus for judging. The playhouse was given the "most authentic architectural design" award. The building trades class consists of Jacob Jeffrey, Calvin Adams, Christian Uker, and Sabrina Dow. The playhouse was transferred to NIACC by Rick Dow, the instructor of building trades. While on campus, we were given a tour of the industrial technology lab, the tool and dye lab, the welding lab, and much more. Also, we were given a free hamburger lunch and some people received prizes. Christian Uker won a hand sander and the building trades class won two drills. Rick Dow says, "It was fun."

Disadvantages of One-on-One Computers

      The Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock community school district has recently given each junior high and high school student a laptop of their own to use during the school year. The school board apparently felt that the laptops would benefit the children by helping them with their homework and the teachers can give assignments over the internet. The school hands out the laptops before the school year  each August and the students have the choice to pay 30 dollars to take the computer home with them. In my opinion, the computers are not being used for the correct purposes. No matter how many firewalls and netsweepers you put on the internet, the students are still going to find a way around them to play games and waste their time on them. Also, if people would think once in a blue moon...what happens when the teachers start giving the assignments on the internet? What happens when the teachers start to record themselves teaching so they can use the lectures for next year? What happens when too many people are on the internet at one time playing games when others are trying to do the homework assigned to them over the internet? I will tell you what happens. The students are not benefitting at all from having a teacher in the classroom, if they can watch a lecture on their computer and complete and turn in their assignments over the internet. So, why can't I just stay at home and learn? Sure you are going to say that the teacher can give more guidance and help, but if I have a computer right in front of me...the internet has all the information in the world, doesn't it? You are not teaching the students new things to memorize and to just know, you are teaching us how to find the information. Anyone can find information. Rick Dow, the industrial technology instructor at RRMR says, "They're a tool, when used properly, they can be very useful." The computers will soon take the place of teachers, you just watch!

3 women found and young child after a decade

In Cleveland Ohio, three young women were found in the basement of a 52 year old mans house. Amanda Berry, missing 10 years, Gina Dejesus, missing 7 years, and Michelle Knight was missing for 8 years. The suspects are hispanic and are all brothers. Pedro Casto was the owner and the only one of the brothers that was living in the house at the time. A neighbor, Charles Ramsey said he was walking from a nearby McDonalds when he heard a girl screaming help me and he could see her arm waving out of the house. He went up to the house and Amanda asked him for help and told him that she had been in there a long time. Charles kicked open the door as Amanda ran out with a 6 year old girl, that is said to be hers while she was held in captivity. She asked if she could use my phone as she was telling me that there was other girls still inside the house. Charles Ramsey told reporters. "And this was my neighbor, I thought you got some big testicles to pull this off bro, we see this dude every day, I barbecue with this dude, we listen to salsa and eat ribs together, and we had not a clue."

The girls were immediately hospitalized and are now reunited with their families. 

Gina Dejesus Amanda Berry Michelle Knight