The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 94

Everyone becomes Irishman on St. Patrick's Day nybody seen my bright green sweater?" Porky asked as he entered the room. "Why would we know where CONTEST Subject: St. Patrick's Day Deadline: 5 p.m. Friday, Feb.

27 publication: Sunday, March 14 Categories: Kindergarten to second grade I Drawing First-second grade I Writing Third-fourth grade I Drawing I Writing Fifth-sixth grade I Drawing I Writing Special education I Drawing I Writing Entries should be sent to The Flying Horse, The Pantagraph, 301 W. Washington Bloomington, IL 61702-2907. Entries aren't returnable. Winners will receive a certificate of recognition. had to tend sheep in Ulster.

After living six years as a slave, he became a devout Christian and escaped to France, where he became a monk. "In 432, he had a vision to return to Ireland as a missionary bishop. Arriving there, he worked in various parts of the country the rest of his life. He founded more than 300 churches and baptized more than 120,000 people," Pegasus continued. "There are many legends about St.

Patrick, but probably the best known is that he charmed all the snakes in Ireland to the seashore and into the water, where they drowned. "Another is that he planted a shamrock in Ireland because the three-leaved plant illustrated the idea of the Trinity. The shamrock became the national flower of Ireland. "In addition, an organization called The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick was started in Philadelphia.

Then, another chapter was organized in New York by Irishmen of the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches. "And, since 1845, St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated throughout the world. In the United States, it has been celebrated since colonial days on March 17, which was the date of his death," Pegasus said. "Actually, on March 17 everyone seems to be an Irishman.

The merchants carry all kinds of green clothing with St. Patrick logos and florists put dye in water to turn carnations and other flowers green. "New York has a huge St. Patrick's Day parade. In Chicago, green dye is poured into the Chicago River that runs through the city.

Other cities also have parades and parties," Pegasus concluded. "Which reminds me, Fat Cat, can you bake some cupcakes and ice them with green frosting for our school party?" Porky asked. Send drawings, writings and poems about: St. Patrick's Day. your sweater is? If you would put things away where they belong, you would be able to find them," Fat Cat suggested sarcastically.

"Why do you want your green sweater, Porky?" asked Rocky the raccoon. "My teacher wants us all to wear something "green on St. Patrick's Day and that sweater is just the right color," Porky said. "Who is St. Patrick?" Rocky asked.

"He had something to do with the country of Ireland," Porky told him. "Yes," Pegasus said. "St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, though he may have been born in either England or Scotland. "St.

Patrick is said to have had an adventurous life. At age 16 he was captured by pirates from Ireland who took him to the country where he Tliis week's winners Subject: Australia It v. ml WW v-. mow? s3.av, If. I TASMANIAN TALE People often forget about Tasmania.

In between Tasmania and Australia is the Bass Strait. Tasmania is the only place in the world that the Tasmanian devil lives. Adam Gerard Grade 4, Northpoint Elementary MAN'S BEST FRIEND? Australia has many strange animals. The dingo is a wild dog. It is not the kind of dog you would have as a pet.

I wish I could go to Australia and see the dingoes. Kianna Glueck Grade 2, Carlock Elementary 'DECENT' ANTHEM Like all countries, Australia has a national anthem. The song tells great things about Australia. It invites people to come to Australia. Those who come will find freedom.

It's not as good as ours, but it's still pretty decent. Shackley Grade 4, Northpoint Elementary COLORFUL PRICES In Australia they have different money than we do. Their $10 bills are blue, the $20, red and the $5 is purple. Their bills are also different lengths. The bills also have clear spots in the corner.

They have two gold coins, the $1 coin and the 50-cent coin. Nate May Grade 5, Prairieland Elementary DUDETTE RANCH I think I want to be a cowgirl when I grow up and I will be riding on a horse in Australia. It will be fun. There is a desert. It has animals.

Amanda Todd Grade 2, St. Mary's School THE DINGO DID WHAT? These are the animals they have in Australia: They have kangaroos, dingoes and sharks. I like the kangaroo the most. A dingo carried a baby away and ate it. I have not been to Australia.

Paige Keim Grade 2, St. Mary's School AN OFFER THEY SHOULDN'T REFUSE New Zealand is near Australia. The capital is Wellington. Europeans discovered New Zealand in 1642. New Zealand children go to school from age 6 through 15.

They offer a free education to students at age 19. Jake Wallace Grade 4, Northpoint Elementary RESOURCEFUL Australia is a country in the southern hemisphere. It is an independent country on the smallest continent in the world. It is a part of the British Commonwealth. It is the world's greatest producer of wool and beef.

Australia is also known for its natural resources, such as zinc, nickel, copper, and precious gems. The Australian continent is mostly made up of plains and plateaus, but it has beautiful rain forests and shorelines. Bryce Basting Grade 5, St. Mary's School HOT BEAUTY Australia has most of my favorite animals. Australia is a country and a continent.

I would like to visit Australia. Someone in my class said that Australia is almost all desert, but even deserts can be pretty Zoe Birsa Grade 5, Carlock Elementary FORCED VACATION Australia is an unusual place. Australia has a lot of animals like the dingo and the emu. It has a place called the outback. It was used for a prison at one time.

Australia is a fun place. Brett Greiner Grade 2, Carlock Elementary Marie Dewerff, Grade 6, Tri-Valley Middle School 1 -I I At WATCH YOUR STEP Australia is a great continent. Nine of the 10 most poisonous snakes live in Australia, and they all come out at night. Jack Echols Grade 2, Grove Elementary NAME GAME Do you know how the kangaroo got its name? When European explorers first saw these strange hopping animals they asked a native Australian Aborigine what they were called. He replied, "Kangaroo?" In Aborigine that means, "I don't understand your question." Miranda Harris Grade 3, Prairieland Elementary PLAY DATE Someday I wish I could go to Australia with my family and play with the kangaroos.

Layla Lopez Grade 1, Fieldcrest Elementary South FUN FACTS Australia is one of the seven continents. Australia has the biggest coral reef in the world. In Australia there are kangaroos and flther wild animals. When it's cold up here it's hot down there. They are also 13 hours ahead of us.

Shelbie Gleason Grade 6, Washington-Monroe Elementary NATION CELEBRATION The three largest cities in Australia are Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The capital is Canberra. They have a holiday called Australia Day on Jan. 26. Erika Jaspers Grade 6, Washington-Monroe Elementary QUICK TRIP It would be fun to visit Australia.

The flight would probably be overnight. The first thing I would do is get to my hotel. Next, I might go swimming. I think I would come home after the second day I was there. Emily Tuttle Grade 2, Grove Elementary EXOTIC CREATURES Australia is an exotic place.

It has a variety of animals that are found nowhere else, like the Tasmanian devil, koalas, wallabies, dingoes, and the now extinct, Tasmanian tiger. Bryson Barth Grade 4, Calvary Baptist Academy BIG RED In Australia there are 40 different kinds of kangaroos. A red kangaroo stands as tall as a i -m ft. i I Kayley Koch, Grade 3, Holy Trinity Elementary Other winners Fairview Elementary Megan Henderson, Grade 3, art Fieldcrest Elementary Courtney Moritz, Grade 1, essay Grove Elementary Sarah Hayes, Grade 4, art; Sarah Hinrichs, Grade 4, essay Holy Trinity Elementary Abby Rhodes, Grade 3, art Hudson Elementary Kelsey Ortiz, Grade 5, essay LeRoy Elementary Sarah Thomason, Grade 6, art Monroe Elementary Jade Hancer, Grade 4, art Northpoint Elementary Bryan Pauken, Grade 1, art; Edward Sun, Grade 2, essay; Ben Siverly, Grade 2, essay Oakdale Elementary Tyler Durham, Grade 4, art Prairieland Elementary Shayla Kozak, Grade 1, essay St. Mary's School Brittany Hull, Grade 3, art Stevenson Elementary Rachana Dasari, Grade 1, art; Caleb Proctor, Grade 1, art Tri-Valley Middle School Erik Rasmussen, Grade 6, art; Kira Hughart, Grade 6, essay; Molly McCready, Grade 6, essay Washington-Monroe Elementary Brooke Baker, Grade 6, essay man and can weigh 85 kilograms.

The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial in the world! In 1998, the great kangaroo massacre happened. Up to 20,000 were killed a night. Neil Young Grade 5, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Elementary TOO MUCH CONVERSATION In the early years of Australia they spoke 500 different languages, which made it hard to hunt. Then they narrowed it down to 31, then 15 languages. Then Australian people started to use bugs from their environment as food, medicine, and eating bugs was part of their religion.

Erin Morris Grade 3, Holy Trinity Elementary G' SNOW, MATE One of my favorite places in the world is Australia! My dad lived there for two years and he saw lots of jellyfish and koalas. I want to visit Australia so much. The nickname for Australia is the Land Down Under. Most people say it doesn't snow, but it does snow at the very bottom of Australia. Madison Martin Grade 4, Grove Elementary FLIERS AND BOOMERS Female wallabies are called fliers, and like kangaroos, they carry their babies in pouches.

The baby is called a joey The male wallabies are larger than the females, and they are called boomers. Kelsey Larson Grade 5, Prairieland Elementary Newspaper in Education Partners in Learning classroom THE PANTAGRAPH er-f i For more information on NIE, please call (309) 820-3286 or (800) 747-7323, Ext. 286. 0Jb Creating a weather symbol You will need a white, unlined sheet of letter-sized paper, The Pantagraph and crayons or markers. Check out the weather symbols on The Paragraph's weather page.

They are a quick way of showing the predicted weather. Notice that symbols do not show trees or people or pets or buildings. Here's how to draw a symbol that might be printed in The Pantagraph: I Draw a symbol to show one of the following weather conditions: cloudy, mostly cloudy, showers, thunderstorms, partly cloudy, mostly sunny, Newspaper in Education partly sunny, partly sunny with showers, snow, light snow or cold. Be creative! I Draw your symbol horizontally on your paper. Make sure to color heavily.

I Neatly PRINT your name, grade, school and town on the back of the paper. I Do NOT fold your paper. Only those following all directions can be considered for publication. Send your symbol to NIE Coordinator, The Pantagraph P.O. Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61702.

I National City Bank I Kathryn Beich, A Division of Nestle I Nicor Gas I Kinko's Look for more NIE activities at www.paRtagraph.com.