COOL SCHOOL NEWS

Pinckney students elect officers

The Pinckney School Student Council has elected officers for the 2004-2005 school year. They are Aly Frydman, president; Kale Joyce, vice president; Calvert Pfannenstiel, treasurer; and committee chairs Tess Frydman, Liza Farr, Emma Cormack and Ashley DiBenedetto.

The student leaders have organized a pickle sale in October to raise money for the council. Committee projects include a newsletter, Red Ribbon week events, a bake sale to accompany a book fair and the planning for Crazy Days during school.

— Kale Joyce, Pinckney School fifth-grader

MEETING

Teen board meeting set for Thursday

The next Journal-World Teen Advisory Board will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the News Center, 645 N.H.

Students in sixth through 12th grades who like to write or have ideas about 18&Under stories are welcome to attend the meeting.

For more information, call Christy Little at 832-6361 or Steve Rottinghaus at 832-7254, or e-mail teens@ljworld.com

CONTEST

Winners to be announced Tuesday

Check out the Oct. 26 18&Under section to see the three winning entries in the the Journal-World’s Scary Story Contest.

ART

Call for artists

The Unity Gallery, Ninth Street and Madeline Lane, is accepting entries for a youth art show, which will feature mixed media and two-dimensional work by artists ages 12-21. Deadline for entries is Friday. For more information, visit unityoflawrence.org/unityart.htm

Rural Kids Voting sites need more volunteers

Kids Voting Douglas County needs about 100 more people to run polling sites Nov. 2.

David Morrissey, spokesman for the Roger Hill Volunteer Center, said about 300 people had volunteered to help. But positions remain unfilled for polling sites in rural Douglas County, Baldwin and Eudora.

“Lawrence itself is in really good shape,” Morrissey said. “We’ve had a lot of local businesses and Kansas University organizations come forward and sponsor polling sites.”

Coordinated by the Lawrence Journal-World, Douglas County public schools and the Roger Hill Volunteer Center, Kids Voting provides students from kindergarten through 12th grade the opportunity to have a voting experience.

Kids Voting sites are at each of the county’s 67 polling places.

Shifts are from 6:45 a.m. to 9 a.m., 2:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. to 7 p.m. To volunteer, call 865-5030.

Election ‘toon-style

So, who is going to win? …

You can begin voting in the cartoon presidential campaign, which has been featuring a series of very funny spoof ads on Cartoon Network. Your choices: Ed (but not Edd and Eddy) and Grim (“The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy”); Numbah One (“Codename: Kids Next Door”) and Eduardo (“Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends”); and Plank, the wooden board from “Ed, Edd n Eddy.” Ed is the current president, having taken over after some Scooby-Doo hijinks. To review campaign promises (and attack ads) and to cast a ballot, visit the Web site www.cartoonnetwork.com and search “election.”

What is Ramadan?

The holy month of Ramadan began last weekend. Most Muslims started their month of fasting and prayer Friday night at sundown.

Ramadan (pronounced RAHM-uh-don) is the ninth month, and an important part, of the Islamic calendar. Muslims believe that it was during Ramadan, more than 1,400 years ago, that God began to reveal their holy book, the Quran, to the prophet Muhammad.

During the month, Muslims strive to go without worldly pleasures in an effort to deepen their faith. For example, they don’t eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. In some Middle Eastern countries, lavish meals are served after sundown in homes or restaurants that stay open late.

Above, a Palestinian boy breaks the fast on the first day of Ramadan by playing with a sparkler.

Some mosques, too, remain open for all-night prayer. And many Muslims read the entire Quran during the month.

Ramadan is one of four Islamic months when fighting is discouraged. However, some Muslims believe they earn a special spot in paradise if they die fighting a “holy war” during Ramadan. Last year, the start of Ramadan saw increased fighting in Iraq. This year, officials in Iraq said, extra police patrols will be on duty.

Drop the remote!

Here’s how kids ages 8 to 12 answered the question: How important is technology to your life?

• I couldn’t live without it, 15 percent.
• Important, 57 percent.
• Not very important, 23 percent.
• Not important at all, 5 percent.

Sources: Business Software Alliance, Harris Interactive

Have you read …

Need some ideas for what to check out at the library? The National Book Awards finalists were announced last week. Here are the honored authors for young people’s literature:

• Deb Caletti, “Honey, Baby, Sweetheart.”
• Pete Hautman, “Godless.”
• Laban Carrick Hill, “Harlem Stomp!: A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance.”
• Shelia P. Moses, “The Legend of Buddy Bush.”
• Julie Anne Peters, “Luna: A Novel.”

Help out 18 & Under

We’re looking for students who have a story to tell about their cell phone … how it’s used at school, or if it saved you from a scary situation. Mail us at teens@ljworld.com.