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*Interesting people, places, and stories*
The cards in Sleeping Queens took on different looks after it was created by 6-year-old Miranda Evarts.
Toying with an idea
At Gamewright in Newton, people are
hard at work inventing and selling games
It was all fun and games in the Cunniff Kids newsroom.
“I play games all day, from 9 to 5,’’ said Emily Nichols of Gamewright.
She runs the Family Game Nights. She will be bringing Gamewright games to a free Family Game Night Monday, Nov. 2 at the Watertown Middle School cafeteria from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Jason Schneider is in product development and marketing. Marketing is helping those toys and games sell.
“I take an idea for a toy to a real toy,’’ he said.
The Cunniff Kids is hosting a free Family Game Night of Gamewright games
in the cafeteria of the Watertown Middle School
on Monday, Nov. 2 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Gamewright is a company that designs and makes games and toys. It is part of a bigger company called Ceaco. Gamewright is 15 years old and it has an office at 70 Bridge St. in Newton. There are about 20 people at the office, but they don’t manufacture games there. There are manufacturing plants all over the world.
The games Gamewright makes include Slamwich, Hats Off, and Sleeping Queens. There are about 100 Gamewright games. The most popular game is Slamwich. It came out 15 years ago and it has sold more than 1 million copies.
Anyone can create games. There is a game called Sleeping Queens that was created by Miranda Evarts, a 6-year-old girl from New Jersey. Her mother sent an e-mail to Gamewright and then sent rules and playing cards. Schneider took the cards and played it with groups of kids.
“The kids and parents liked it a lot,’’ said Schneider.
Miranda’s sister drew artwork. Gamewright almost kept her pictures for the game, but decided to use professional artists instead. It took about 10 months after the first e-mail for the game to come out.
(Story continues below photos)
At left, Ringo Flamingo gets tested in the Cunniff Kids newsroom. At right, the first Cat Queen (bottom), the version almost used by Gamewright (center) that was drawn by the inventor's sister, and the final professionally done product (top).
Gamewright makes 8 to 10 new games a year. Another new game coming out is called Forbidden Island.
A new game Cunniff Kids News reporters got to play is called Ringo Flamingo. It has just arrived in stores that sell Gamewright games, such as Belmont Toy Store. Ringo Flamingo is fun because you fling plastic life preservers onto flamingos. You win if you get the flamingos, but you lose if you save the alligators.
Ringo Flamingo was made by professional inventors. It was originally called Help and instead of flamingos, there were little people drowning.
“The idea of people drowning didn’t sound fun,’’ said Schneider, “so we changed it to flamingos.’’
(This story was reported and written by Cunniff Kids News staff reporters Dom M., Shannon M., Patrick W., Meagan K., Isabella V., Jalen M., Arianna P., Mairead W., Ryan L., Dyanne B., Sam C., Jacob D., Giovanni R., Julian R., and Eoin M.)
(For information on Gamewright and its products, go to www.gamewright.com.)
Jason Schneider (center, in blue) and Emily Nichols (center, in white) of Gamewright
pose with reporters from the Cunniff Kids News in their newsroom.
--Oct. 28, 2009--
Cunniff Kids News reporters became the first people to test the jail cells at the new Watertown Police Station.
Almost open
for business
Construction at new Watertown Police Station in final stages
The new Watertown Police Station is almost finished.
“This time last year it was just a hole in the ground,” said Officer Lloyd Burke.
The construction is supposed to be finished on Dec. 29, 2009, but, according to Officer Burke, it may take until February 2010 before the police department can move in all of its stuff -- the furniture, files, computers, supplies, evidence, and recovered stolen property.
Click on link to see construction equipment at work
The Browne School used to be where the new police station is being built. It was demolished in August 2008. Officer Burke said the new police station will cost $13 million to build.
(Story continued below)
Before ...
 
The police station grows out of the ground in November 2008 (above);
the front entrance on the west side in May 2009 (right)
...and after
 
The garage area in the back of the building (left) and the west side of the project (right).
The Watertown Police Department has a Haunted House every Halloween. Because the new station is not finished, the Haunted House will be at the old station in Watertown Square.
Officer Burke said the Haunted House will be extra spooky this year, with scary music and Halloween decorations. In the jail cells will be actors dressed up in costumes. During the Haunted House, any real prisoners are sent to the police stations in Waltham or Belmont.
“As far as I know, it is the only haunted police station around,” Officer Burke said.
Click on link to see CKN reporters enter the new police station for the first time.
The new police station also has jails. There will be cells for men, women, and juveniles. They can not hold more than seven people at one time.
They do not put bars on the doors or windows anymore because the prisoners can try to use the bars as weapons or get their heads stuck or use them to hurt themselves. Now they use thick Plexiglas for windows, and sliding steel doors.
The cells are not finished yet. But they are cramped and dark and they only hold one prisoner each. There is no ceiling yet and you can see the pipes for the sprinkler. On the floor are holes with boards over them where the drains are going to be.
Click on link to see Cunniff Kids News reporters examine the new jail cells.
Inside the police station it is loud because workers are using demolition drills. Outside you can hear the beeping from the front-end loaders and trucks.
Outside the side door where the prisoners will come in is a concrete cutter and a pipe bender. On the ground is reinforcing wire for the concrete to hold up the wall.
“It’s kind of like your bones and tendons,” Officer Burke said.
In the back, near the garage, there was supposed to be paving this week, but it was rained out. The ground is muddy and the drains and manholes stick out of the ground. The manholes are heavy. They weigh 300 pounds each. 
There are sticks in the ground with orange tape on them. They are called “stakes” and they mark on high the pavement is supposed to go.
“You don’t want the pavement to be higher than the building, because then you’d have water in the building,” Officer Burke said.
In the front of building, in the grass by the fence on Main Street, it is wet. There is an orange safety fence. There are pipes and parts of sewers on the ground. It smells like gasoline. The bulldozers were pushing dirt in the driveway. The muddy ground has lots of tire tracks and puddles.
(Story reported and written by Cunniff Kids News staff reporters Dom M., Owen G., Renee S., Isabella V., Elizabeth A., Jalen M., Jake M., Arianna P., Ryan L., Dyanne B., Sam C., Giovanni R., Julian R., and Jacob D.)
Officer Lloyd Burke (back row center) stands with reporters from the Cunniff Kids News at the Main Street
entrance of the new Watertown Police Station.
--Oct. 7, 2009--
'Hoppy' to be there
Frogs, chicks catch third-grade's eye at Museum of Science
[Editor’s note: A number of Cunniff Kids News staff reporters recently accompanied the third-graders from the Cunniff School during their recent trip to Boston’s Museum of Science. The following stories were written by those reporters.]
*****
The exhibit called “Frogs’’ was on the third floor of the Museum of Science. The room was humid, dark, and hot, like a rainforest because frogs are used to that climate.
The exhibit showed frogs in two different stages of life and included about 12 tanks of frogs and one tadpole tank.
There were many different species of frogs, including the leafy frog, tree frog, the American and African bullfrog, and the Goliath frog. The leafy frog was about the size of a computer mouse, and it was the color of leaves (tan, brown) to camouflage it from enemies. The tree frog was bigger than the leafy frog, and was greenish-white in color. It had white stripes on its back, and bumps that oozed natural sunscreen to protect it from the sun.
The American bullfrog and the African bullfrog were very similar looking, but the African bullfrog was much bigger, about the size of a small dog. Because the Goliath frog is endangered, the Museum had a mold of the skeleton of this huge frog that is the size of a small baby!
The exhibit had a virtual frog dissection screen where a person could dissect a frog and see its internal organs. Using this tool, third-graders learned that frogs don’t have a rib cage. There were also screens around the room with facts about the different frogs, such as how they live in the wild, what they eat, and what they look like as tadpoles.
This was an important exhibit because the third-graders learned about frogs in science this year.
*****
At the Science Museum, there was a hatching chick exhibit. The students watched the workers clean the cage. It looked like an aquarium, but had two sections. One was the egg section and one was for the already hatched eggs (the chicks).
The students watched the workers empty some of the hatched chicks into the other section. The workers also “watered” the eggs. All they did to “water” the eggs was take a bottle filled with plain water and spray them. This softens the eggshells, so they will break easier.
Each egg had a different number written on it so the worked could keep track of how many hatched each day.
Next time you go to the Science Museum, be sure to “chick” out the chick exhibit!
One exhibit at the Science Museum was called “Virtual Fish Tank.” The Virtual Fish Tank is a machine that allows a person to create fish.
In the room, there are three screens about the size of a computer screen. On the screens, a person can design fish. Two characteristics to be picked are how hungry it is and its personality (for example, is it nice or shy?).
After picking the fish’s name, by clicking the “release” button, the fish goes through a tube and swims onto the big screen that is the fish tank.
After the fish is in the tank, a person can turn a wheel that feeds it. It is important to think about the fish’s personality, because it can get eaten by some of the other fish in the tank, if you’re not careful.
*****
There is a science playground in the Museum of Science.
When people first walk into the room, they will see a red light zooming across the wall. This is a light you can race with a friend.
There is a swing that counts how many seconds it takes a person to swing 10 times.
There is weight seesaw where one person sits on one side and another sits on the other side and then the people try to equal the weight.
There is a rope that goes stiff to wiggly to let people climb, a bicycle wheel that people can spin, and a place where you can race your friend with your own bouncy ball.
Also there is a metal round spot on the floor with a handle bar that people can stand on and spin and get dizzy.
*****
Another interactive exhibit was the musical staircase. It is a tall, wide staircase inside the Museum near the cafeteria that makes sounds when it’s stepped on. Some of the sounds include musical notes and beeps and bells.
(Story reported and written by Alexis C., Timmy C., Meagan K., Katherine L., Jie Sen L., Matt M., Kaitlin P., Christine S., and Isabella V.)
--June 11, 2009--
Cunniff School kindergartners pose following their tour of the Watertown Fire Department.
The future is safe
Cunniff kindergartners patrol police, fire stations
By DYANNE B., SAM C., SEAN L., TJ P., and GIULIA S.
Cunniff Kids News staff reporters
The Cunniff kindergarten classes of DiDomenico, Fitzpa  trick, and Tanguay went on a bus to the Watertown police station and fire station May 22.
Ms. Tanguay’s class went to the fire station first. The other students went to the police station first.
The students went inside the police station and saw the controls. The police had a computer that showed the jail cells. That way the police officers could watch the people and make sure they couldn’t get out.
The students went upstairs and also saw some special handcuffs.
Mr. P (substitute teacher Jeff Pugliese) had the opportunity to get in the jail cell, but the police let him go afterward. The jail cell has a toilet inside.
The police have motorcycles and cars.
In the fire station, the students saw the fire trucks and a ladder truck. They saw how high the ladder could go. The firefighters had a real emergency and the students saw the captain sliding down the fire pole. Some firemen put on all of their gear and attended the emergency.
Finally, all of the students got stickers and Frisbees.
 Cunniff School kindergartners pose on the steps of the Watertown Police Department.
Police Officer Lloyd Burke (second from right, with hard hat) surveys the progress at his future workplace.
On sound footing
Listen to the progress being made at Watertown Police site
Boom boom bang. Beep beep beep.
That is the sound of the new Watertown Police Station being built on Main Street, where the Browne School used to be. The new building will be 40,000 square feet, according to Officer Lloyd Burke, and two stories high. The 75-year-old police station in Watertown Square is too small, he said.
The new building costs $13 million and will be done next spring, if there aren’t any problems.
“Boom boom bang’’ is the sound of cranes working outside, lifting and carrying cement drain pipes.
“Beep beep beep’’ is the sound of machines backing up and warning people. The site is so loud, people have to yell to talk.
You can see right through the building. The skeleton of the building is done, as well as the basement. In the basement will be men’s and women’s locker rooms, a shooting range,
The future entrance of the future home of the Watertown Police (left); the roll call room (top left); sometimes, on your birthday, riding a pony just won't do.
a workout room, and a storage room.
On the first floor, there will be the lobby, community center, jail, and, in the back, a garage.
On the second floor, there will be the captain’s and c  hief’s offices and a mechanical room for heating and air conditioning equipment.
Outside the building it’s as muddy as ever. There are big piles of rocks. There is lots of metal and floor decking. There are also two wells 1,500 feet deep. The geothermal wells, according to Officer Burke, will use the free-flowing heated water to save money for heating and air conditioning.
“I’m not a science teacher,’’ he said, “I just play one on TV.”
Fred Hastings is an excavator. He works from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
“I love my job,’’ he said. “It’s exciting. It’s something different every day.”
(Story reported and written by Cunniff Kids News staff reporters Domenic M., Shannon M., Patrick W., Alexis C., Timmy C., Owen G., Meagan K., Katherine L., Matt M., Tia P., Beth P., Christine S., Renee S., Isabella V., Mairead W., Jack L., Rose M., Renee T., Dyanne B., Sam C., and TJ P.)
Reporters from the Cunniff Kids News and Officer Lloyd Burke (second from right, with hard hat) pose near one of the many machines at the site of the new Watertown Police Station, which is scheduled to open in Spring 2010.
--May 6, 2009--
Reporters from the Cunniff Kids News meet with Dave Philbrick (second from left), owner of The Comic Stop, among the racks of his Watertown store.
Super, in many ways
The Comic Stop prepares for Free Comic Book Day
By CHARLOTTE V., PATRICK W., KATHERINE L.,
ISABELLA V., and MAIREAD W.
Cunniff Kids News staff reporters
Except for the ceiling and floor, every square inch is covered with comics. Candy, trading cards, and action figures are on display.
Welcome to The Comic Stop.
The store, which opened in 1996, is located on Main Street across from the Watertown Public Library. It is owned and run by Dave Philbrick, who has lived in Watertown for 20 years.
Philbrick was an English major in college and a teacher at Martin Luther King School in Cambridge, but he wanted to run his own business.
“I like my job,” he said. “I think working for yourself can be fun.’’
The Comic Stop is open every day except Sunday,usually from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Philbrick works there every day, but his one employee, Jeremy, works on Saturday.
“I think you have to be motivated because there’s no boss to tell you what to do,’’ Philbrick said.
The books come in two formats, single comics and collections, called graphic novels. X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are the most popular titles.
Philbrick organizes the books on the shelves that line the wall by smaller companies, then DC and Marvel, the two biggest publishers of comics.
He gets new comics on Wednesdays and puts them on specific shelves, then moves older comics to other shelves. He keeps up to six months’ worth of a comic, and he sells some of the more expensive ones on eBay.
In the back room, some older comics are displayed in glass cases. The comics are from the 1960s and ‘70s, when comics sold for 12 cents. Now, he says, the average comic sells for $3 or $4.
But on the first Saturday of May, comic books will cost zero dollars.
Free Comic Book Day, which started in 2001, is a day when comic book stores across the nation give away comics. This year, Free Comic Book Day is May 2.
The particulars vary from store to store, but The Comic Stop will have food, a sketch artist, and “Star Wars” characters. The Comic Stop has a limit of five free comics for each person.
Free Comic Book Day is usually tied to a movie that is coming out, and this year’s movie is “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.”
“In the past, people have dressed up as comic book characters,” Philbrick said. “Feel free to dress up.”
The Comic Stop also sells trading cards, including Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, and Magic. Pokemon is the best-seller, but one Friday a month Philbrick runs a Magic tournament where he serves pizza.
Kids, parents, and teens go to The Comic Stop.
“Every Wednesday, a lot of the same customers come in,’’ said Philbrick. “A lot of customers are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. They’re old -- like me.”
Surprisingly, Philbrick doesn’t read most of the comics he sells.
“I still enjoy them, but I don’t read as many as I used to,” Philbrick said. “I tend to collect them more than I read.”
--April 25, 2009--
Reporters from the Cunniff Kids News met with (left to right) Whitney, Lynne, and Taylor in the offices of Charlesbridge Publishing in Watertown Square.
The story about the stories
Charlesbridge brings books to life in Watertown
The Mr. Potato Heads sat on the bookcase shelf, next to all of the books ever published by Charlesbridge Publishing.
The company started in 1980, publishing text books. Now they publish all kinds of books, including kids’ picture books, books for babies, nature and science books, and chapter books. There are about 30 people who work at Charlesbridge Publishing in third-floor offices in Watertown Square across from the fire station.
Taylor, who works in marketing, said, “The first books were textbooks, but we got bored of that, so we started publishing picture books [in 1989].”
The first picture book they published was The Icky Bug Alphabet Book, illustrated by the Icky Bug Man, Ralph Masiello. That book is in the bookcase with the Mr. Potato Heads in the editorial library. The company has made about 400 books since it started.
Charlesbridge publishes books twice a year -- in the “spring” (Feb. 1) and the “fall” (July 1). It makes about 30 books a year. The amount of copies depends on the book. Sometimes it makes 10,000, 7,500, or 5,000 copies. Sometimes the book is made in paperback and hard cover at the same time.
Lynne works in editorial. She said the editors are the first people to work with authors. Editorial is in charge of fact checking.
“We especially do it for science books,’’ said Lynne. “Part of our job is to make sure that everything is correct.’’
The editors work closely with the design department. Whitney, who works in design, said design organizes pages and works with the illustrators. When the book is ready, the sales and marketing department makes sure the public knows about the books.
Not just one person at Charlesbridge decides to make a book. A team meeting with all of the editors and designers picks the books.
About 200 pieces a month come from authors who want Charlesbridge to read and publish their stories. They go into a “slush pile.”
“Sometimes there are stories and authors that are really, really good,’’ said Lynne.
“What REALLY happened to Humpty’’ was a typewritten story by Jeanie Franz Ransom that came into the slush pile in 2003. “Humpty” went back and forth with the author four times. It took six years to publish. Each project is different, Lynne said, but the average time for a book to be published is three years.
“Humpty” is a funny story about Humpty Dumpty, so Charlesbridge wanted drawings that fit the story. Whitney said design has its own slush pile and it has a file with pictures. She said design tries to match the story with the illustrator.
“We said, ‘Who is a funny illustrator?’ That's how we found Stephen Axelsen,” said Whitney. “We sent him the story and he said, ‘It could be like a comic book.’
“He sent character sketches and he had a good idea of what it would look like.”
Whitney said design determines where words and art will go on each page. Design has to also pick a font for the cover and the words inside. A font is what the letters look like.
Whitney said design works with the illustrator. The artist sends along a first set of drawings and then a second set, and then sends “final art,” which is scanned onto computers and sent to Singapore. Many of Charlesbridge’s books are printed in China.
Taylor said one year before the book is ready, marketing sits down and makes a plan.
“We get it to the bookstores and tell people about it,’’ Taylor said.
Book are sent out for reviews to newspapers and magazines, and authors do interviews on talk shows, like “Oprah,’” and news shows, like “The Today Show.’’
Books are sold to bookstores, schools, museum gift shops, parents, teachers, schools, and libraries. Marketing also makes posters, T-shirts, bookmarks, and catalogues.
Whitney, Taylor, and Lynne had a hard time picking a favorite Charlesbridge book. Taylor and Whitney had the same favorite new book, “Unite or Die,” which is about the Constitution.
“It's drawn as a play and it has really funny drawings,’’ said Whitney. “And it has information about history, which is my favorite subject.’’
(Story reported and written by Cunniff Kids News staff reporters Charlotte V., Shannon M., Caroline D., Owen G., Jie Sen L., Tia P., Beth P., Christine S., Renee S., Isabella V., Shay D., Julia F., Mairead W., Ryan L., Rose M., Dyanne B., Sam C., Jia Yi L., and TJ P.)
--April 3, 2009--
Watertown Police Officer Lloyd Burke (center) surveys the progress at his future workplace.
In on the bottom floor
Watertown’s new police station takes shape
Right now, it’s a big hole with men working on concrete walls. Soon, it’s going to be the Watertown police station.
The site is on Main Street, next to the historic Browne House, which was built in 1698. The Watertown Police Departm ent will move in to the new building in the spring of 2010.
The current police station was built in the 1930s and is too small, said Officer Lloyd Burke.
“I’m very, very excited,” he said. “Right now, I have to share my office with two other people and it’s cramped.” He says that the new station will be approximately 40,000 square feet, which is four times bigger.
When Burke is on the site, he stays safe by wearing a hardhat, which is harder and stronger than a bike helmet. He takes pictures of the site every day, he said, “so we have a historical record of what it looked like.” He puts them on a police department website, which also has pictures of the demolition and drawings of what the new station will look like when it is done.
The site was where the Browne School and playground used to be. It is now so muddy, people can lose their shoes.
Trucks are always going in and out of the site. There are constru  ction machines, like a front-end loader, parked near the big hole. There are trees wrapped with pink ribbons, which means they will be saved. Next to the trees is a big steel box used by workers digging a trench that helps keep the trench from collapsing on them. On the edge of the hole is a laser level. Inside the hole are cement walls with rebar and wooden forms for more walls. But it is so surprisingly quiet on the site, you could read there.
The baseball field behind the site will not be touched. The only other thing not knocked down was the flag pole, but it is  surrounded by piles of dirt and rocks. The piles are not as tall as the flagpole, but they are much bigger than the white construction trailer by the street.
The piles came from the hole. The rocks were sifted out of the dirt. A lot of the dirt will be filled in around the foundation. Some of the rocks will be will be trucked away and some will be sold for big money to people who want to use them for stone walls.
Some parts of the school were saved. The sandstone blocks that read “Browne School” and some transoms from over the doors will be put in the new station. The new station will be twice as big. It will have a community room on the first floor and a shooting range in the basement.
There is a truck now in the basement where the changing room will be. The truck uses a ramp made out of dirt used to get in and out of the hole.
The walls are made by pouring concrete over rebar (short for “reinforcing bar”), which is made of steel and help the concrete stay together so it won’t crack.
One of the people putting the rebar together is Mik  e. He is an ironworker from Boston Local 7. He lives in Millbury, which is near Worcester, and has to travel to Watertown Monday through Friday. He works from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, unless he has to stay longer because they are pouring concrete.
Mike wears his tools -- wire and pliers -- on his belt.
“These are the only tools I need to do my job,” he said.
He was working on the foundation, which, he said, is the most important part of the building.
“Without a solid foundation, you might have problems later on,’’ he said.
When work first began at the site, protesters came with a large inflatable rat. They were mad, said Burke, because the workers doing the demolition were from New Hampshire.
The protesters are gone now, but the building continues.
(Story reported and written by Cunniff Kids News staff reporters Owen G., Meagan K., Jie Sen L., Tia P., Renee S., Isabella V., Julia F., Ryan L. ,and Jia Yi L.)
(For more information about the new police station, to see other pictures of the site, and to watch video taken during the demolition and construction process, go to http://www.watertownpd.org/new_station/cons_update.html.)
 Watertown Police Officer Lloyd Burke (center) and Cunniff Kids News reporters at the construction trailer.
--Nov. 12, 2008--
Mrs. Munger's class (above) and Mrs. DiMascio's class (below) at the Gore Place dig site.
Digging the scene at Gore Place
By TIA P. and BETH P.
Cunniff Kids News staff reporters
The third-graders of the Cunniff School went to Gore Place in Waltham on Oct. 21.
The people who run Gore Place want to move the Carriage House to its original spot. The Carriage House had been moved years ago because the city wanted to build a street.
The archeologists, who are college students, working at Gore Place have found lots of artifacts, like glass, marble, and animal bones.
When they are digging, every different level of dirt is a different color.
One of the archeologists, Tom, found a spine of a cow at 9:34 a.m. on Oct. 21. Unfortunately, the students could not stay and had to go back to school.
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