Track


Check out track interviews and highlights here!


Battle of the Books


Both teams made it to the second round. Stay tuned to see who makes it to state!







Spelling Bee


On January 19, 2012, the Pleasant Valley Junior High held a spelling bee. Some basic rules when spelling the words include not changing the letters after the competitor says a letter and not changing the order of the letters.

There are two common mistakes in spelling bees. Number one is adding extra letters while thinking out loud. Number two is saying a letter and then correcting yourself.

The typical procedure for spelling a word is the following:

  • the announcer says the word
  • the competitor looks at the judge so the judge knows the competitor is saying the word correctly

This follows the rules of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. There are five ways to get help with the word. The competitor can ask for the definition of the word, ask to have the word used in a sentence, ask for the part of speech, ask for the origin of language, and ask to have the word repeated.

Now, on to the actual spelling bee. There were eight total competitors in the spelling bee: two seventh graders and six eighth graders. The judges were Mrs. Goetz and Mrs. Roche. In round one, one person misspelled a word and was out. In round two, three people were out and in round three, two more people were out, leaving the runner-up and the winner to go on to the regional bee at Augustana College.

The runner-up was seventh-grader Josh Bowman. The winner was eighth-grader Emily Hammer. Both were awarded with a plaque. The six other competitors included: Cortland Johns (eighth grade), Swetha Marisetty (eighth grade), Alex de la Breure (eighth grade), Alex Wong (seventh grade), Levii Hildebran (eighth grade), and Cooper Schou (eighth grade).


Make-A-Wish Dodgeball Tournament





Take them out!


Best costumes!




Math Counts!


Math Counts is a group of people who - well - do math in their free time. From puzzles to polygons, and from algebra to algorithms, the Math Counts Club does it all.

What is actually exciting, though, is that every year, students go to a Math Counts competition at Bettendorf Middle School. Our school’s team won first place in the team section, and Kate Byrne placed as # sqr.144 +(-(-11)^2) -7(81/27) in the individuals section out of all of the competing teams/individuals.
What that means is this: sqr.7(sqr.7 - 6 sqr.7)* (24-5(sqr.25)+12/2 students are going to state on Mar. sqr. (43-68/2)+sqr.([5*2*2]^2), to compete with students all over the state! These students are: (Team) Rishi Wagle, Sara Stickney, Diana Wu, Alex de la Bruere, and (Individual) Kate Byrne.
Below are a couple example problems for you to solve:

1. The solutions x=u and x=v of the quadratic equation rx^2 + sx + t = 0 are reciprocals of the solutions of the quadratic equation (2 + a)x^2 + 5x + (2 - a) = 0 for some integer a. If the GFC of r, s, and t is 1, what is the value of r + s + t?

2. Three numbers have a sum of 5 and the sum of their squares is 29. If the product of the three numbers is -10, what is the least of the three numbers? Express your answer in simplest radical form.

The first five solvers to solve 1, and the first five to solve 2, will get a fantabulous prize! (Sorry, but you can’t get help from anyone else, or ask the Internet to solve it.) Enjoy your challenge, and answers will be up at the end of the school year!!!