A 13 year old girl from Montgomery County was escorted out of her classroom by the school police for not standing up to say the Pledge of Allegiance on Jan. 27.

The unidentified middle school student refused for the second time in a row to stand for the pledge, causing her teacher to call the school police.

She was taken to the office and the Assistant Principal sided with the teacher and the student was told to apologize.

The first time it happened, the teacher of that class yelled and embarrassed her, and her classmates began to mock her and call her names.

The student was traumatized to return to Roberto Clemente Middle School in Germantown.

The student’s mother demands an apology from her teacher.

According to an article from washingtonpost.com, the Montgomery student handbook reads: “You cannot be required to say a pledge, sing an anthem, or take part in patriotic exercises. No one will be permitted to intentionally embarrass you if you choose not to participate.”

“The Pledge of Allegiance means to me, the people who fought for our country and how [our country] has worked together to be our nation [today],” said MHS freshman Jeannette Leaberry.

A long line of screaming children winds around a 15 foot, pine Christmas tree, decorated with colorful ornaments, candy canes, and glittering streamers. One by one each child jumps on a plump, old man in a fuzzy red suit and makes a wish for a gift. After that the entire family crowds around and smiles as the camera handled by an elf in green tights flashes.

This holiday season children and their families flock to malls all over the United States to shop and of course visit Santa Claus.

Little kids love getting the opportunity to sit on jolly Old Saint Nick’s lap and asking him for the gift of their dreams like an X-Box 360, Star Wars Legos, or even the season’s hottest toy, Zhu Zhu Pets. The parents, or probably just the mom’s, want a nice family photograph they can send to their relatives in their Christmas cards.

But every year there is always something missing when a family takes that picture with Santa. There is an ache in everyone’s heart because they know they are leaving one of the most important members of their family out of the Christmas photo experience; the pet.

This problem has caused conflict amongst families all over the country that own cats, dogs, birds, ferrets, turtles, snakes, lizards, horses, chinchillas and even goldfish. The main reason why is because shopping malls prohibit pets inside the premises even though they occupy a precious branch on the family tree.

“My cat Ditto is honestly like a brother to me. I cradle, feed, cuddle and watch television with him. He’s blood,” said Middletown High School junior Conor Duckett.

Luckily, a Christmas miracle has arrived in the form of a charity event.

On December 16^th, 2009 at Middletown High School in room 439, families can now have their pet’s photo taken with Santa Claus between 3 and 7 o’clock. The cost of $10 dollars is worth it for the priceless keepsake of a family photo with every member of the family in it.

Many students around MHS are excited for this occasion so they can take advantage of this unique opportunity.

MHS sophomore Timmy Kessler is thrilled he can get a photograph with his favorite dog, a pit bull mixed with lab named Harley, because he loves spending time with him.

“Harley is a great dog, I love hanging out with him. I like watching him run, chase birds and climb trees, I think it’s funny. I consider him a part of the family because he eats at the table.” said Kessler.

Other students feel bonded with their pets because of the responsibility of taking care of them.

“I take them on mile walks, play catch with them and feed them. They mean the world to me,” said MHS senior Ellie Lowry about her 2 male Symonds named Sitka and Glacier. “They are a big part of our family; they have their own Christmas stockings.”

MHS senior Alex Hoffman spends time with his German Short-Haired Pointer for hour’s everyday. He loves her because she is soft and a good hunting dog. Hoffman is excited for the opportunity to bring her in to take a picture.

“Everyday after school we hang out. We watch football; she sits next to me and sometimes puts her paws on my chest,” said Hoffman.

All proceeds from this event go to benefit Heifer International, a 65 year old, non profit charitable organization. Heifer International, based in Little Rock, Arkansas, is dedicated to relieving hunger and poverty around the world.

It provides contributions of livestock including cows, goats, chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, honey bees, pigs, buffalo, fish, horses, ducks, geese and other more unique animals like camels, alpacas, llamas, and yaks to financially-disadvantaged families. They also educate these families in how to manage their livestock and practice sustainable agriculture by providing them with plants to grow food.

These families can then extend this gift to the rest of their villages with the food they produce. The milk from cows, yaks and goats can help feed numerous people in the village. Seeds from the plants they receive can be farmed and harvested for even more nutrients for the sponsored family and their community. This goes along great with the holidays because it’s a gift that keeps on giving.

“I’m all about helping people out,” said Duckett.

But for some students donating to charity isn’t the primary reason for attending the event. They just want to get the priceless memento of their family pets.

“I love Santa, and I want to take a picture with him and Layla,” said Hoffman.

 Middletown’s annual Christmas in the Valley took place on Dec. 4 with performances from Middletown High School’s Concert Choir and Vocal Ensemble along with other musical groups.

To begin the night, some choir members gathered around the Christmas tree located outside of the Florist Shop and sung well-known carols to an eager crowd.

After singing three carols MHS social studies teacher John Miller, also burgess of Middletown , announced the lighting of the Christmas tree.

 The countdown started and cheers broke out from everyone when the tree was light up.

Just after the carolers began to sing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” the crowd quickly spotted a fire truck that drove Santa in.

After Santa greeted the crowd and sang along to a few carols, everyone proceeded to Mount Zion Lutheran Church for the night’s program.

John Seachrist, a returning  speaker for the event, kicked off the night with a few jokes and a song of his own. He then introduced the traditional hand bell choir, followed by the Interfaith Liturgical Dance group from The Dee Buchanan Studio of Dance.

The MHS choir sang “The Sleigh,” subsequently followed by the Vocal Ensemble singing “Carol of the Bells.”

With an ending performance of “Hallelujah Chorus,” and a standing ovation of the crowd, Christmas in the Valley was once again a huge success.

Do you believe in spirits, orbs, or paranormal activity?  Members from SIGHT, the Scientific Investigations of Ghosts and Hauntings Team, made many students reconsider that question during their presentation in Jerry Donald’s fourth block Philosophy of Knowledge class.

The SIGHT headquarters is in Hagerstown, MD and the organization has been actively involved in business, private, and museum investigations for four years.  This is their third visit to Middletown High School.

The team of four ghost hunters, Angela Souders, Bonnie Morin, Anvannoy and Frank Maietta; shared theories regarding spiritual shapes and permeation, which is when a ghost or spirit passes though a person’s body.  They also showed the students how data is collected through infrared settings on a camcorder and electromagnetic field detectors.

 “Everything we use has batteries or plugs in; we don’t use Ouija boards,” said Souders.

The students experienced live infrared video streaming and identified how to tell the difference between dust and a spiritual orb.

 “We eliminate the normal before we move to the paranormal,” said Morin.

According to SIGHT investigators, dust scatters easily and is translucent on film, whereas a spiritual orb is opaque and has a “pulsing double membrane.”

SIGHT members told intriguing stories of investigations and showed video clips and pictures of spiritual encounters.  Toward the end of the presentation, the students were given the opportunity to ask questions.

Although the stories and footage was very believable, a feeling of skepticism hung in the air.

“I expect you to question everything I say or you wouldn’t be a philosophy class,” said Souders.

The questions in most minds revolved around photo shopping and other ways of presenting misleading data with the technological advancements available now.

“You have to have faith in the people who do the work,” said Morin.

Students in Mr. Donald’s class had their own beliefs after the presentation.

“If you think about it, there has to be a realistic explanation to everything, it seems silly to me,” said MHS senior Brendan Chittick.

“I think they were butchering science in a way that’s disgraceful.  Using scientific instruments in a non-scientific way is not science,” said MHS senior Chris Resnick.

The SIGHT investigators led a discussion on paranormal activity that sent chills down some spines, and induced eye-rolls for others. Maietta puts it simply,

“Everyone has their own beliefs and views.  Just because one person doesn’t believe won’t change us; we’ve had too many experiences not to believe.”

The choice is yours.

The Milwaukee Bucks have opted not to take Joe Alexander’s contract option for the 2010-11 season, because of a recently injured hamstring, that has caused the former Linganore Lancer and West Virginia Mountaineer to be absent for 8 to 12 weeks.

 According to the Milwaukee Journal- Sentential, Alexander is going to be a free-agent at the end of this season, because he hasn’t done enough for the Bucks to guarantee him a spot on their future team.

The General Manager of the Bucks, John Hammond, said “it was a difficult decision to let Alexander go to free agency after this season”, according to ESPN online.

“The Bucks should have given him a chance to prove himself, because he was only a rookie,” said Brent Tompkins, a sophomore at Middletown High School.