_________________ BALDWIN ________________
HERALD Time to fall back
Kids get festive at Trunk or Treat
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Page 2 Vol. 30 No. 45
NoVEMBER 2 - 8, 2023
Scout project at one Happy Place Page 3 $1.00
Earth to Jasmin Moghbeli: Students talk to astronaut students asked Moghbeli a question via a prerecorded video, which Moghbeli responded to live, as she was floating in the spacecraft. “What research projects are you currently The atmosphere was charged with exciteworking on, on the space station?” Celeste ment at Baldwin Middle School last Friday asked. when astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli answered Moghbeli responded by saystudents’ questions about life on ing, “We have over 200 experithe International Space Station. ments going right now. Some of Moghbeli was a mere 250 my personal favorites are ones miles above sea level when the that actually use us as the substudents watched as she ject, so our human bodies are addressed their questions live being researched.” from the ISS. Moving at 17,500 Moghbeli explained that miles per hour, Moghbeli nearly humans have been in space for traveled around the entire Earth CElESTE WaRNER nearly a quarter of a century by the time the event was over. sixth-grader, now. She said that because there For many students, MoghbeBaldwin Middle School are plans to go back to the moon li, who is from Baldwin and and eventually to Mars, research attended the local schools, on the human body is crucial to understandserves as a powerful source of inspiration, ing how the body responds to life in space. demonstrating that they too have the poten“I was really excited, and I really appreciattial to achieve similar success. ed the opportunity,” Celeste said about asking One of the students Moghbeli has inspired Moghbeli a question. is sixth-grader Celeste Warner, one of the Celeste said that she wants to work in the many students who got their questions Continued on page 4 answered by the astronaut. More than a dozen
By BEN FIEBERT
bfiebert@liherald.com
I
t shows that we can also follow our dreams.
Ben Fiebert/Herald
Baldwin Middle School sixth-grader Celeste Warner asked astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli a question through a pre-recorded video, which Moghbeli answered live from the international Space Station.
Kayla James is ‘Fortune’-ate to be on popular game show Baldwin resident brings home thousands of dollars and a trip to Costa Rica By BEN FIEBERT bfiebert@liherald.com
Having watched “Wheel of Fortune” since she was a child, Kayla James felt like her life had come full circle — full wheel? — when she appeared on the hit syndicated show on Oct. 17. Using her extensive knowledge of the game, James defeated two opponents in an episode that was taped last month. Years of watching the show, her training for that moment, propelled her to the bonus round.
Although she couldn’t complete the phrase “I am poised for victory,” and so didn’t win the bonus prize of a new Nissan, she left the studio in Culver City, California, with $24,250 in winnings and a trip to Costa Rica as well. To prepare for her appearance, James said, she played a lot of Wordle, did New York Times crossword puzzles and played the “Wheel of Fortune” mobile game. James, 27, a criminal justice policy worker, said she practiced for the show during her free time and when she
went grocery shopping. “One random day a few years ago, I was watching the show, and I decided to go online to see the application for auditions,” she recalled. “And then I randomly got an email this past summer, and I was like, is this a scam? And it said, we’d love for you to audition for the show.” After thoroughly investigating to make sure the email was legitimate, James went through the audition process, and was eventually invited to California to appear on the show. “It was kind of surreal,” she
recounted. “I didn’t realize it was happening until I was in California, on the lot of the studio.” As a contestant, there were challenges she had never been aware of as a viewer. There’s a certain motion to spinning the well-known wheel — which
weighs 2,400 pounds — that James had to learn. She and the other contestants were invited to take a number of practice spins before the episode was filmed. “I didn’t realize there was that much technique to spinContinued on page 16