Wednesday, January 1, 2025
www.thepapersonline.com
Serving Kosciusko County and parts of Elkhart, Marshall & Noble Counties
Know Your Neighbor . . . . . 2➤ Entertainment . . . . 6
Vol. 54, No. 28
Milford (574) 658-4111 • Warsaw (574) 269-2932 • Syracuse (574) 457-3666
NEW YEAR, NEW ROOM — Darby Fitzsimmons, Syracuse Elementary School fifth grader, hopes to design her new room in 2025. She has some big ideas for new space, including painting the walls her favorite color, a grayish blue.
DO NOT DISTURB — Mylah Eakright, a North Webster Elementary School fourth grader, plans to spend less time on her phone in the new year by placing it on “do not disturb” mode.
114 W. Market, Warsaw, Indiana 46580
HAPPY DANCE — Milford Elementary School first grader Spencer Schmidt happy dances when she recalls seeing a trailer full of her and her mom, Kelsey’s favorite animal, cows, on their road trip to Richmond.
Area students look forward to
2025
Text and Photos By MARISSA SWEATLAND Staff Writer
As a new year marches in, people across the globe set a list of New Year’s resolutions to create a better, more well-rounded version of themselves. Area students are no exception. Darby Fitzsimmons is a fifth grader at Syracuse Elementary School, and she has some big hopes for the new year. “I want to design my new room,” Fitzsimmons said. “I want to put one of the chairs that hangs from the ceiling and since it’s a new room, we’re going to paint it.” Fitzsimmons decided on a gray-ish blue for the walls of her new bedroom, one of her favorite colors. In the new year, she wants to dedicate more time to practicing one of her favorite sports: basketball. She currently plays on Syracuse’s school team as a point guard. “My goal is to practice two hours a week more,” Fitzsimmons explained. She also plans to expand her musical talents to include ukulele. She currently plays piano. Mylah Eakright is a fourth grader at North Webster Elementary School. She aims to become a better athlete in the upcoming year. “I want to try to play football,” Eakright stated. “I think it would be fun to tackle people and bring them down.” Her favorite football team is the Indianapolis Colts. In the new year, she wants to sharpen her gymnastic skills by learning how to do a front flip. She has already mastered a back flip. She likes to do flips on her trampoline. “I also want to be better at basketball,” Eakright admitted. She plays on North Webster’s school team. “Maybe I will practice an extra hour or two a week,” she said. She also plans to spend less time on her phone by putting it on “do not disturb” mode. Spencer Schmidt is a first grader at Milford Elementary School. She has her sights set on being on the road in 2025. “I want to go on road trips,” Schmidt said. Her dream road trip location is Mexico because “it is nice and warm” and she “loves tacos.” Recently, Schmidt loved going on a road trip to Rich-
mond. In Richmond, she saw a lot of cows. “While we were driving, there was a huge trailer of them,” Schmidt remembered. “Me and my mom love cows.” In the new year, Schmidt also has a few recipes she wants to try. “I want to make sugar cookies with my mom,” Schmidt said. She loves helping her mom, Kelsey, in the kitchen. Sophia Hines is a fifth grader at Leesburg Elementary School. She has her focus on athletics and academics in the new year. “I want to try wrestling,” Hines said. “I want to join a wrestling team because I think it would be fun.” She also wants to broaden her musical repertoire by learning how to learn how to play the drums. “I want to try drums in the band because you get to be noisy,” Hines explained. She currently has an electric and acoustic guitar. She hopes to learn some of Ed Sheeran’s, one of her favorite artists, songs on the guitar. Academically, Hines wants to dedicate more time to her favorite school subject: math. “I like math because of the problems you get to solve,” Hines said. “I am really good at math.” In the new year, she wants to get a jump start by learning algebra. Charlie Pyle has big, Hollywood dreams going into 2025. He and some of his friends enjoy filming movies. In 2025, Pyle hopes to be able make a full-length, feature film with his friends. “We play all the parts in our movies,” Pyle explained. “We use an IPad because there’s this app on it called iMovie.” In addition to original pieces, the group of young actors enjoy to create shot-for-shot remakes of their favorite movies, including Wolverine and Spiderman. In the new year, he hopes to be able to spend more time crafting his superhero costume. His superhero persona is “Blue Spider.” “When I am a grown-up or teenager, I am going to wear the costume and save people’s lives,” Pyle explained. “So like if a bank is being robbed, I am going to stop that.” Pyle is also excited for 2025 because he is really looking forward to going on a field trip to Junior Achievement’s BizTown. “You can do whatever job you want,” Pyle exclaimed. “So I am going to be a superhero.”
MATHEMATICS — In the new year, Leesburg Elementary School fifth grader Sophia Hines wants to dedicate more time to her favorite school subject, math. She loves math because of the difficult problems she can solve.
BLUE SPIDER — Jefferson Elementary School fifth grader Charlie Pyle wants to dedicate more time to creating his superhero suit. His superhero alter ego is called Blue Spider.