W-WMS introduces new teachers, thanks community for support of sale
By W-WMS SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADERS

Niki Bailey's seventh grade students have recently been learning about genetics in class. The following essay, entitled "From Parent to Offspring," was written by two of Bailey's students, Kadiedra Booker and Kara Mc- Murray. These two students are the winner of a contest that was being held amongst Bailey's students.

Have you ever heard of heredity? Well, heredity has to do with genetics, which is the study of inherited traits. Genetics are the reason you look the way you do. You might know this but you have not only inherited all of your traits from only your parents but also your grandparents and so on. So, if you are interested in what we have to say, keep reading.

Gregor Mendel was born in 1822. He died in 1884. Mendel discovered genes, which are the set of instructions for each characteristic in your body. Everyone was made by genes.

Mendel did experiments on pea plants. He observed things like seed shape, seed color, and flower color. He discovered genotype and phenotype. Genotypes are the inherited combination of alleles. Alleles are the different kinds of the same gene. Phenotype is an organism's appearance.

Winners in the W-WMS poem/poster contest for Red Ribbon Week were (front row, l-r) Kadiedra Booker, Kayla Selman, Rebecca Wilson, Ivy Safrit, (back) Deaundra Blackmon, Tyrin Fanning, and Tiare Tatum. Absent from the picture was Sheina Spence.

Around the time Mendel discovered this, he was afraid to tell what he knew because people back in the day were funny about science. There could have been serious consequences if he told. Such consequences were being hung, beheaded, or cremated. It was not until he was gone that someone came along and discovered his studies. His name was Walter Sutton. You will learn about him later. He also created Punnett squares. Punnett squares were used to chart the probability or percentage of what the offspring would look like. Punnett squares dealt with dominant and recessive traits. Dominant would mean Strong Trait and recessive would mean Weak Trait.

On our class survey, we found that our class had more recessive traits than dominant traits. However, there were a few dominant traits. For example, only two people were left-handed out of twenty-eight students. So, I hope you enjoyed our article.

We are excited to announce the 2007 W-WMS basketball teams. Playing for the girls are Tatiqwauna Calloway, Aaliayah Conaway, Kalecia Crite, Natasia Fanning, Sanquela Gresham, Charlene Hawes, Ashley Hearst, Danielle Moss, Calli Nickels, Deneshia Norman, Keyunna Reid, Miranda Smith, and Tiare Tatum.

The members of the boy's team are Andre Crane, Damarcus Grant, Jordan Hall, Brian Hardigree, Daquann Heard, Robert Hester, Jovan Jenkins, Quentario Laguines, Thomas Morgan, Corey Murray, Courtney Stripling, Marcus Turner, Gold Walton, and Terrance Walton.

Both teams will play their first game on November 1 in Lincoln County at 4 p.m., with their first home game November 8 at 4 p.m. Please come and show your support for the teams.

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