PITTSBURGH — The video is grainy and the production quality nonexistent, but it shows that back in 2009, Matt Magnone pulled off an incredible feat on an arcade claw machine at Kmart: He picked up five stuffed animals in one play. Read More ⇒How a shy kid mastered the claw and became a social media star

MIAMI — Mecca McCain remembers being as young as 11 when she first began cutting herself with a steak knife hidden in her bedroom. Read More ⇒She went from a ‘dark period’ in high school to preaching about suicide prevention

LOWVILLE — Lowville Academy and Central School career and technical education students are working to take products from the tree to the consumer. Read More ⇒Mobile sugar shanty teaching business lessons

More than half the solar system’s planets will align Monday in a rarely seen spectacle, arcing across a corner of the night sky. Read More ⇒5 planets will parade across the sky in rare astronomical event

POTSDAM — I have been in the Little Knights Club since the 2019-2020 hockey season. The Little Knights Club is for kids who are fans of the women’s hockey team at Clarkson. Read More ⇒Clarkson’s Little Knights Club: Fun All Season Long!

CHICAGO — A 17-year-old senior at Illinois Math and Science Academy has turned her passion for art into a project that serves young hospital patients in the Chicago area and other parts of the U.S. Read More ⇒Chicago area teen honored for creating magazine for hospitalized kids

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Avery Johnson wanted to work in the food industry, but he was too young to get a job. So he went into business for himself. Read More ⇒Young entrepreneurs learn to build Black businesses

Callie was the best dog my family could have ever asked for. Read More ⇒Remembering family’s beloved dog

“The struggles in our life are what define us. Adversity molds us. A life of meaning comes from a life of suffering.” Read More ⇒Bittersweet coming-of-age story set at summer scout camp

Health care is not exactly a common topic for poetry. But poetry is the medium used by Rockford, Illinois, resident Giulyana Gamero, 18, to share her experiences of advocating for her Spanish-speaking, immigrant parents in various health care settings. Read More ⇒Young poet shines light on health care system as daughter of immigrants

By Dylan Wadsworth, a fourth grader at Alexandria Central School Read More ⇒Times for Kids reader shares artwork

Artwork by Annabelle Orton, age 11, of Carthage. Read More ⇒Young Carthage artist shares her paintings

HARRISVILLE — After watching fruit flies milling around an exposed banana, two Harrisville students came up with an idea for a science experiment which will now be conducted on the International Space Station. Read More ⇒Another Harrisville student experiment bound for space

LOWVILLE — The Lewis County Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6912 Auxiliary has announced the kick-off of its annual Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest and its first Three-dimensional Patriotic Art Contest. According to a press release, the VFW Auxiliary started the 3D conte… Read More ⇒Young artists urged to enter VFW contests

WATERTOWN — A familiar face won this year’s Scripps Regional Spelling Bee Finals at General Brown High School on Thursday night. Read More ⇒10-year-old wins back-to-back Scripps Regional Spelling Bees

WATERTOWN — Two students from Case Middle School have been named finalists in a national STEM competition, the “We (Heart) Veterans Pin Design Challenge,” hosted by the Army Educational Outreach Program. Read More ⇒Two Case Middle School students finalists in Veterans Pin Design Challenge

Thanks to all our kid reporters! Read More ⇒North country kid reporters share their works of art

COPENHAGEN — Students from Copenhagen Central School Middle and High School will offer an amusingly different way to think about some favorite fairy tale characters through their production of “Into the Woods JR.” Read More ⇒Copenhagen presents ‘Into the Woods Jr.’ March 10 and 11

Often referred to as the father of modern fantasy, author J.R.R. Tolkien created a larger than life world inhabited by goblins, giant spiders and fire-breathing dragons. Read More ⇒New species found in Ecuador gets name inspired by Tolkien

HARRISVILLE — Through the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program at Clarkson University in Potsdam, students from Harrisville Central School District had the opportunity to collaborate with NASA astronauts while in space during Mission 16 to the International Space Station. Read More ⇒Harrisville students’ experiment returns from space

POTSDAM — SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 50th anniversary season of Crane Youth Music. The popular summer camp will welcome young musicians from ages 12 to 18, from Sunday, June 25, to Saturday, July 1. Read More ⇒Crane School of Music announces return of Crane Youth Music Camp for summer 2023

Batten down the hatches! The Yellow Wellie Gang is going on an adventure! “River and the Amazing Yellow Wellie Adventure” (Rising River Press LLC), written by Emily Dreeling and illustrated by Misha Javanovic, take us on a moonlight trek where four pairs of boots will have to take a signific… Read More ⇒Join a young explorer — and four pairs of Wellies — on the adventure of a lifetime

AUBURN — A cat stuck on the roof of a home was rescued with the assistance of — you guessed it — a fire department. Read More ⇒A cat stuck on a roof for days rescued with help from firefighters

PITTSBURGH — The collapse of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin during a Monday Night Football game Jan. 2 has prompted increased vigilance about emergency preparedness, including at schools and sporting events. Read More ⇒Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest leads middle school to teach CPR, AED skills

Reming Axelson felt different from her classmates after her parents’ divorce. Read More ⇒Second-grader pens book to help other kids cope with divorce

A free public skating session sponsored by the Potsdam Elks Lodge was held at Pine Street Arena last week. Read More ⇒Free skate at Pine Street Arena

LAKE PLACID — After a warm spell shuttered the Lake Placid Toboggan Chute on Mirror Lake for more than two weeks, the popular attraction reopened on Wednesday during the busy Presidents’ Week holiday. Read More ⇒As cold returns, so does tobogganing in Lake Placid

CANTON — The St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce is hosting its annual North Country Kid’s Expo in March for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Read More ⇒St. Lawrence County Kids Expo returns March 11

One week after Los Angeles bid farewell to its resident celebrity mountain lion, P-22, during a three-hour memorial at the Greek Theatre, two cubs at the Oakland Zoo have become the latest darlings of California’s wildlife set. Read More ⇒Mountain lion cubs Holly and Hazel becoming friends and building their fan base

WATERTOWN — Winter break for Chase H. Waite and Jude T. Jennings, who work and ski at Dry Hill, means two things: more time spent at the hill and taking part in Spirit Week, which the National Weather Service in Buffalo predicts will get snowier. Read More ⇒School break, spirit week and more snow on the way at Dry Hill

PULASKI — Students at Pulaski’s Lura Sharp Elementary recently started learning about robotics and programming during the school’s Robotics Club. Read More ⇒Pulaski students build and program robots

The Tri-Town Winter Carnival Parade made its way through Winthrop on Saturday. Mardi Gras is the theme of this year’s carnival. Read More ⇒Tri-Town Winter Carnival Parade marches through Winthrop

LAKE PLACID — St. Agnes School students this week made what’s believed to be the largest single food pantry donation the Lake Placid Ecumenical Food Pantry has ever received. Read More ⇒Local kids pool resources for food pantry

SARANAC LAKE — After a two-year pandemic-related pause, Petrova Elementary School’s Multicultural Night returned to the Petrova gymnasium on Thursday. Read More ⇒Around the world in one classroom

The Saranac Lake Winter Carnival wrapped up recently — Here’s a look at some of the highlights Read More ⇒Scenes from the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival

CARTHAGE — Augustinian Academy students placed second at the Adirondack Regional Science Olympiad Jan. 28 at Plattsburgh High School, earning a bid to the New York State Science Olympiad Tournament in Syracuse on April 14-15. Read More ⇒Augustinian Academy students excel at regional Science Olympiad

BRANTINGHAM — Organizers are looking for a “Marvel-ous” time as the Brantingham Snomads snowmobile club hosts Winterfest 2023 Superheros of Brantingham. Read More ⇒Superheroes invited to Brantingham for Presidents Day weekend parade and activities

Students often lament they spend hours studying but still flub their tests. Social psychologist Regan A. R. Gurung believes many of these struggling students did indeed study. An expert on teaching and learning, Gurung says his research and experience as a college professor convinced him man… Read More ⇒New book says studying smarter might get you that A

ORLANDO, Fla. — Amelia Skena joined Girl Scouts before she started kindergarten, then years later joined the Boy Scouts of America when it went co-ed. She’s been doing double scouting duties ever since — and doing it very well. Read More ⇒Student earns Girl Scout Gold and Boy Scout Eagle awards

It’s hard to remain positive when the world keeps stepping on you. You’re likely to fall into despair or burn with a fiery rage. But this boy persevered and didn’t let life’s challenges bring him down. Read More ⇒Child refugee’s journey of loss and persistent appreciation for life

“We have a tornado warning,” the TV said. Read More ⇒Girl recalls scary time of living through tornado threat

Editor’s note: With the Chinese spy balloon episode in the news recently, editors at the Watertown Daily Times thought readers would enjoy a classic story of a wayward Watertown balloon originally published in our pages more than a decade ago. Read More ⇒Chinese spy balloon saga recalls story of 1859 flight launched from Watertown

MASSENA — Two friends who have been figure skating together for 14 years will be giving their final Massena Figure Skating Club performance during Sunday’s annual ice show. Read More ⇒Massena Figure Skating Club annual ice show features two senior skaters

Sliders gathered Sunday for Nature Up North’s cardboard sled races at the SUNY Canton sliding hill. Read More ⇒PHOTOS: Cardboard sled competition in Canton

WATERTOWN — On an unseasonably warm, sunny and windy Sunday, Thompson Park came alive for the last day of the Snowtown USA winter festival. Read More ⇒Snowtown USA wraps up with surprisingly sunny weather

 By RICHARD GAST Read More ⇒Birds in crisis: Help by participating in the great backyard bird count