Preview of the Winter Concert

Music Department's hard work pays off! Happy Holidays!

Canned Food Drive

The canned food drive is about giving food to the homeless, which means people that does not have a home, and to different kinds of charity. For homeless it’s a pretty good idea. The canned food drive starts on December 2, 2010-December 8,2010. By donating you will be helping people who can’t get their food (like can’t pay for it). Can food drive can show kindness to people.
The food has to be canned like a can of bean or a can of corn (that is just an example/suggestion). The food can’t be like opened, half eat or bitten, it has to be not open, not expired, and in good condition. To donate the food you have to give it to your homeroom teacher and the teacher will deliver it to the parent center or give it to the parent center instead. Your homeroom can earn free dress passes by donating the most canned food then other homerooms to the parent center.

Winter Concert

The winter concert is an annual event that takes place before winter break. The concert consists of a wide range of musical instruments, from the plucking of violins to the singing of a choir. You will hear Christmas carols as well as famous pieces of music from famous musicians. The ones who are leading the winter concert are the talented Ms. Jones and Ms. Elliot.
The winter concert is scheduled to be at December 10, 2010 from 5 PM-8PM. Everyone is invited, but for anyone 18 or older they must pay a small fee. So bring your friends, co-workers, family, anyone that appreciates good music! There will also be a bake sale during the performances, so if your hungry, please stop by and enjoy some delicious homemade muffins!
-Jonathan Q.

Lost at Mount. Baldy

We interviewed Raul G. about him being lost at Mt. Baldy. We asked him a few questions on how he felt being lost. These are his responses. We asked him, how did it feel to be lost? He said,” It was really frightening because you don’t know what would pop out. “We also asked him if it was his first time being lost. This is his response,” Yes it was my first time being lost. “Another thing we asked him was, how did he feel when he got rescued? He said,” I felt really happy and joyful that I was found.” The last thing we asked was, Will you ever go hiking again? Raul said, “Yeah I will still go hiking!”

-Jennifer R.

The Decade

Jan 2000 – Y2K fails.
Nov 2000 – George W. Bush is elected to be the 43rd president of the United States.

Apr 2001 – For the first time in 2000 years, gay marriage is legalized in the Netherlands.
September 11, 2001- Almost 3,000 are killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.

Mar 2002 – The US invades Afghanistan. “Operation Anaconda” begins.
Nov 2002 – The US Republicans control all of Congress.

Jul 2003 – 500,000 Hong Kong people protest about treason.
December 13, 2003 – Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, is captured.


Jan 2004 – A whale explodes in Taiwan during a messy delivery to a town.
December 26, 2004 – A 9.3 earthquake struck South East Asia, killing thousands.

Jan 2005 – George W. Bush is inaugurated for his second term as president.
August 29, 2005 – Hurricane Katrina rages along the US Gulf Coast, killing hundreds.

May 2006 – The Human Genome Project begins.
Oct 2006 – North Korea conducts its first-ever nuclear test.

Jun 2007 – A 2,100 year old melon is discovered in western Japan.
Aug 2007 – Peru is hit by an 8.0 earthquake, killing hundreds.

Jun 2008 – Pirates begin to hijack cargo ships off of the cost of Somalia.
Aug 2008 – Michael Phelps wins 8 Olympic gold medals, the most in Olympic history.

January 20, 2009 – Barack Obama is becomes the first African-American president.
Jun 2009 – The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, passes away.

January 12, 2010 – A 7.0 earthquake in Haiti kills over 230,000 people.
Apr 2010 – Mount Eyjafjallajokull erupts.

-Jonathan Q.

Footbal Carnival

Nightingale Middle School had its annual football carnival which was on November 19, 2010. There are 2 teams which are: blue and green who compete for the title of winning the game. This was nightingale’s 67th annual football carnival. This year some of the coaches were Mr. Nakano, Mr. Acevedo, Greg, Leo, Mr.Roldan, Mr. Puth, and Ms. Molina. Boys and girls could join the team if they make it. All grade levels of students are allowed to participate. Every year green has won the football carnival and gratefully blue won this year. This is such a cool event because all the students in the school get to show their team spirit by wearing green or blue clothing or accessories. All the students from Nightingale love having these events because they get to be with their friends and cheer for there team color. All Nightingale students make sure to show your team spirit in next year's football carnival and have the best team win.

-Sarah R.

November Broadcast 2010

Events that took place around campus October 2010. The editing crew apologizes for the delay, our old Macs are having a hard time keeping up with the future of Nighthawk News.

Family Math Night

Family math night was on October 28, 2010. Ms. Skov and Ms. Randall decided to do a Halloween theme. This event gave students and parents a chance to meet Nightingale’s entire great math department. This was Nightingale’s 4th annual family math night. Lots of parents went and had lots of fun doing games with the math teachers. There were so many events, there were fun computer games in the computer lab, there were also lots of games prepared by math teachers. Next year there will also be another family math night so go and experience all the fun there is.
By Sarah R.

Science Bowl

By: Daniel, Timothy, Angelica, and Kin
What is the science bowl? We interviewed Mr.Meyerhof and he said that the Science Bowl is where kids compete against other schools to make it into the National Competition. These kids have to answer math and science questions under 5 seconds. The Science Bowl started in 2008 at Nightingale. Mr. Meyerhof, Mr. Clark and Mr. Aston are in charge of Science Bowl at our school. Nation wide students have been participating in Science Bowl for almost 30 years. The National Science Bowl has been organized and sponsored by the United States Department Of Energy since 1991.

Halloween Traditions

Halloween is one of the oldest traditions that is celebrated. 1500 years ago, people would offer food so that the dead won’t bother them. Other people tried to scare away the evil spirits with scary decorations. This celebration would be considered All Hallow’s Day. The day before was named All Hallow’s Eve, All Hallow’s Eve was shortened to, Halloween.
Trick or treating is also very old. Tricksters would want to prank people constantly. For them to stop, you must offer up, a treat. The tricksters would stop bothering that person and go to the next person. Our current tradition now is to go door-to-door asking for candy in a costume. Sometimes the houses are decorated to be scary as well. We hope you have a safe Halloween.
-David

Quarterly Assessment

What are the Quarterly Assessments? The Quarterly Assessment happens 4 times a year, that’s why they are called the Quarterly Assessments. They are designed to see how we are doing on a specific subject. For example; English they have different focus points like the first test will be narrative, and another would be grammar and etc… It lets the teachers know if they need to re-teach any subjects. Some of the teachers count the Quarterly Assessment as a grade. The Quarterly Assessments happen four times a year, the first one is in October, and the next one is in January, though it might be in December before we go on break, and the third and fourth one is in April and February. Also, every school in the LAUSD has to take it, it is also for Math and English.

-Elton T.

Halloween Events

Want the chance to show off your creativity? Want to have some fun in school to celebrate Halloween? Then you should join the pumpkin carving/poster contest or go to the Halloween dance at the end of October! If you join the pumpkin carving/poster contest, you will also be representing your homeroom. You can either choose to carve a pumpkin or make a poster. Once you are done and submit it, sixth graders will judge it during lunch. The sixth graders will be judging since they won’t know who made the poster or pumpkins. Once the votes have been submitted, the results will be announced Friday, October 29th. The winners will receive a prize too.

If you don’t want to participate in the pumpkin carving/poster contest then you can go to the Halloween dance. The Halloween dance will be held in the gym and you will not need to pay to get admission. We have the Halloween dance so that way the students can have a chance to have some fun before Halloween. You can come in a costume if you want but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Remember to come in a costume so that way you can get some free stuff!

-Jonathan U.

October Broadcast

The new Journalism Class' first broadcast. A little rough, but great job class. We are working on the format details and hope to expand this video to full screen soon.

8th Grade Dues:

We interviewed Mrs. Acevedo about what she thinks about the 8th grade dues. She said that she likes the idea of 8th graders paying dues because it helps them pay for their culmination and other things. She also said that if you don’t pay for the dues that you can’t have a t-shirt, a key chain, and you can’t attend the luau. We also interviewed some of the eighth graders. We asked them what they thought about paying their dues. They said they didn’t like the idea because they don’t have the money for those things. But they also said they would not want to give up culmination or the luau.
-Estrella L.

Voice Levels

Voice Levels
Today we are going to be talking about Voice Levels; Level 0, 1, 2, 3, 4. Voice level 0 is absolute silence. Voice level 1 is whispering. Voice level 2 is normal conversation. Voice level 3 is presentation voice or teacher voice. Level 4 is outdoor voice.
Jisel C.

Students Run L.A.

Students Run L.A.
Students Run L.A. (SRLA) is a running club started by Ms. Nutting in Nightingale Middle School. Students Run L.A. has been around for twenty years. Nightingale Middle School has had the club for ten years. Ms. Molina and Ms. Nutting are in charge of Nightingale’s Students Run L.A. The Los Angeles Marathon is on March 21st 2011. You will not be charged for the L.A. Marathon. Before the L.A. Marathon, you will be trained Mondays and Thursdays after school. Students Run L.A. starts with a 5k, 10k, 15k, two half marathons, 30k run, and finally they will run the L.A. Marathon. You can sign up for Students Run L.A. in room 155, ask Ms. Nutting for a form and fill it out.
-Elton T.

Our New Principal

For our story, we went to go interview Mr. Gonzales or “Mr. G” after trying to schedule an interview 3 times, we finally got to talk to him. We asked him a few questions about his job being the new principal of our school, Nightingale Middle School. One of our questions was “What was your old job?” and he said that he used to be a history teacher, a basketball coach for a high school, and a principal for other schools. Another of our questions was “if you didn’t become our principal, what would be your job?” he said that his other job offers was being a principal for another school in Washington. We learned that Mr. G’s life dream as a kid was owning a pair of sneakers only because back then, Mr. G’s family didn’t have that much money so that meant all of Mr. G’s clothes were made by his Mom. We asked what did he like about being our new principal and he said how he liked the innocence of the young people here. We asked what job would he like to have and he said that he would rather be a superintendent so that he can help with our education like adding a pool for us to relax, a smart board in every class, a laptop for every student, an area for students so that they can work on their homework, and a area for students to relax. We asked “what will you change here being our new principal?” and he said that he would like to make our gym cleaner and many other things. We asked Mr. G a lot of questions but in the end he seems like a pretty nice guy. He seems like someone who can be a good principal and it seems that he could do a good job as our principal. The only way to see if he can be a good principal is just by waiting and see what happens.
-Jonathan U.

September 2010 Broadcast

Karate Kid

“Karate Kid” will be out in theaters on June 11, 2010. The movie is about a 12-year-old boy, Dre Parker, who could have been popular in Detroit. Because of his mother’s newest career, they have to move to China. In China, Dre has a crush on his classmate Mei Ying, but because of his feelings toward her, Cheng begins to bully him. Since Dre has no friends, he could only trust Mr. Han who teaches Dre Kung fu. While Mr. Han teaches Dre Kung fu, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.
By: Barry L.

Flag Day

Flag Day is different in many parts of the world. It is either a day designated for flying a certain flag or a day to celebrate a historical event such as a nation’s adoption to its flag. Here in the United States we celebrate Flag Day because it commemorates the adoption of the U.S. flag. Flag Day is a day to show respect to our flag. We celebrate Flag Day on June 14. This year it will land on a Monday. Flag Day is not an official federal holiday.

By: Karla C.

CST TIPS

As you all know the CST, (California Standards Test), is coming up soon. The CST is taken every year and it helps determine which classes you will be placed in next year. Everyone in the state of California takes this test. The CST is composed of mostly Language Arts, Math, Science, and some Social Studies. In this test there are five categories : Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Below Basic, and Far Below Basic. Here are some tips to help you score high in your CST test.

Try to study in anyway you can.

Get tutoring or help in the subjects you are not doing well on.

Review all the information that will be in the CST and what you’ve learned this year.

Don’t sleep late the day before the test.

Eat a good healthy breakfast the day of the test.

Try to follow these five tips and you’ll be okay. Remember try your best in the CST!

By: Eder I.

GEARS OF WAR 3

Hey this is BUBBASPARKSXS reporting to you that GEARS OF WAR 3 is coming out. And it’s from epic games sort of like GEARS OF WAR 2. But new campaign, new characters, new weapons, new locust, and especially new maps. And also its coming out Apirl,2011 but I don’t know when in April but they will say what day its coming out or when its close to coming out so keep in eye out in the game stores. Also you can see the trailer in Xbox live. Download it its free. And it’s going to be a good game like modern warfare 2.
By: Sergio G.

Movie Day

4-20-2010 was the day of the movie day. We saw a movie. The movie that we saw was only for the 3.5 or higher grade point average students, I was one of them. I am proud of myself for having a high grade point average. I would like to have my grade a little higher so I need to improve on that. I ‘m proud to say that I am proud of myself. The day already passed but I am going to give you ideas of were it was and what I saw. The time you had to be there was at 1:30 p.m. we saw the movie in order to watch the movie you had to get a ticket. The ticket was admission for one person only. The movie that I saw was “up”; it was a great movie although I have already seen the movie I got to say that it was pretty darn good. Congrats to all of the students that has a 3.5 or higher grade point average.

By: Brittney C.

A Thank You Gift for Dad

Father’s Day is a day to show gratitude and thankfulness to every dad in the world. Father’s Day has been celebrated since the 1909; a woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd was inspired by a Mother’s Day sermon at a church and ended up creating Father’s Day since she realized how much fathers also mean. Here are some thoughtful and priceless gifts you might think about giving your father to show how much you love him and how grateful you are to have him as a dad.
A hand crafted card.
Homemade dinner w/o any help. (But it’s better to be supervised to avoid any accidents).
You could write a little speech telling them how happy you are to have them as a father.
Write a poem/song that you could read or sing to them.
Make a collage with pictures of happy moments.
Put together some home videos for everyone to enjoy.
A hug and a thank you.
By: Becky G.

Book Review “The Titans Curse”

Percy Jackson is back in the third book in the series. Percy visits a school with Annabeth and Thalia, daughter of Zeus. Percy meets his best friend Grover and he finds two half bloods who do not know who their parents are. Percy, Thalia, and grover soon met a hunter girl named Zoe Nightshade. They got to camp half-blood and have to go on a quest to rescue Annabeth and Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Along the way, they meet new enemies and new Gods. Sooner or later, Percy discovers the mind blowing secret about the half bloods. This is a really good book to read. I would say it’s a five out of five. Read the book to find out the secrets and learn about the chilling prophecy of the Titans curse.
By: Victor R.

Book Review “The Sea of Monsters”

The Sea of Monsters is the sequel of Rick Riordan’s hit Lighting Thief. The story is about Percy Jackson. He is a demigod. Demigods are half-human, half-God. Percy is the son of Poseidon, god of the seas; his mother is a mere mortal. He is sent on a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The Fleece is the only thing to heal Thalia’s tree which was poisoned. The tree is a shield for camp half-blood. If that tree dies the camp shield will be powerless and monsters will flood the camp. They must fight horrible Lulce and a Cyclops named Polyphemus. The ending is a shocker! Read the book it’s awesome!!!
By Adrian C.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” as everyone knows is about the horror icon Freddy Krueger. Everyone knows about him because of his old movies, but now they remade the first, old horror classic. The movie is about a group of teenagers being stalked by Freddy Krueger; a disfigured killer who kills his victims in their dreams. As long as they stay awake they are protected, but if they fall asleep there is no escape. Jackie Earle Haley, Katie Cassidy, Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, and Kellan Lutz will be starring in this movie. This movie is comes out on April 30 so go see it.
By: Karla C.

Dodger Baseball

As you all know baseball season is coming. When it’s baseball season I usually have money. What I mean by that is this times of season people love to gamble and I’m one of them. My favorite team is the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are a great team and in the NL West. The four teams in the NL West are the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the San Diego Padres. The hardest opponent is the San Diego Padres in my opinion. One of the Dodgers good hitters is Matt Kemp, he plays center field. So for us Dodger fans I hope we do good this season. I think the Dodgers will be good because they are a comeback team. A comeback team is when your losing and you come back towards the end of the game. Personally, my favorite player is Rafael Furcal. The reason I like him is because he knows how to do such amazing things. He could bunt good, throw good, and even steal bases. I like players that are fast and Furcal is fast
By: Justice M.

2010 FIFA World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is coming up very soon. Which team do you think will win? Which team is your favorite? The world cup is only every four years. Every four years the event takes place in different parts of the world. This 2010 the World cup is taking place in South Africa. In 2006 the World Cup took place in Germany and in 2002 it took place in Korea and Japan. Below are the 32 teams and their groups. The 2010 world cup event will start on June 11, 2010. Remember to cheer for your team!

Group A
Team
South Africa

Mexico

Uruguay

France

Group E
Team
Netherlands

Denmark

Japan

Cameroon


Group B
Team
Argentina

Nigeria

Korea Republic

Greece

Group F
Team
Italy

Paraguay

New Zealand

Slovakia


Group C
Team
England

USA

Algeria

Slovenia

Group G
Team
Brazil

Korea DPR

Côte d'Ivoire

Portugal


Group D
Team
Germany

Australia

Serbia

Ghana

Group H
Team
Spain

Switzerland

Honduras

Chile
By Eder I.

Marathon Interview

Today I’m going to interview Luis Espinoza. I’m going to ask him a few questions about how he feels and what he thinks about the marathon.

Apolonio: Luis how many times have you ran the marathon?
Luis: this will be my second time running the marathon.

Apolonio: How long will it take to complete the marathon?
Luis: It will take between 4:30 or 5:00 hours to complete the marathon.

Apolonio: When you run do you run with a partner or do you run alone?
Luis: I usually run alone, but ether is times when I decide to run with a partner.

Apolonio: Do you really enjoy running the marathon?
Luis: Not much, but it also depends how I’m feeling that day.

Apolonio: What so you’re parents think about you running such a long distance?
Luis: They are worried about me not being able to last the course, but when they see me cross the finish line they are very happy.

Apolonio: How do you feel after you finish running the marathon?
Luis: I feel very tired, but at the same time very happy.

Apolonio: Do you have a snack before you run?
Luis: No I do not have a snack before the run.

Apolonio: Do you practice? If you do how many times a week?
Luis there is practice 2 times a week, but I only go time.

Apolonio: If you have a chance to run the marathon next year would you do it?
Luis: No because I’m, going to join the soccer tram for high school nest year, but I will run it the year after that.
By: Apolonio S.

Lay-Offs

There are many teachers, counselors, nurses, and librarians getting laid off, mostly teachers. The economy is really bad right now. The school district doesn’t have enough money. There are several teachers that had a pink slip here in Nightingale about having to be laid off. I asked some questions to Mr. Meyerhof about the lay-offs and this is what he answered.
How many teachers are getting laid off?
-3,600 teachers, counselors, nurses, and librarians in the LA School District and 10 at Nightingale. ½ of all the 6th grade teachers who received a note was out librarian.
2. What happens to the students if their teachers are gone?
-They may have teachers who never taught at Nightingale including assistant principals from other schools. They may also have a teacher who doesn’t speak or understand Spanish. Luckily at Nightingale we receive QEIA money which allows us to lower class to 23 in 8th grade, 25 in 7th and 6th grade, but at other middle schools, class size will go to 37 students in a class and in high school, 43 students in a class.
3. Why are they getting laid off?
-The Superintendent Ramon Cortines and the other LAUSD School Board have decided that the classroom, the students, and the teachers are less important than consultants (people who give advice and training about different subjects) who cost the District $200 million, the TV station ($20 million) and the Periodic Testing ($50 million). All of the money together could save most of the jobs in the LA District.
4. Is there anything students can do to prevent teachers from getting laid off?
-Students can join the “Save Our School” club which meets every Friday at lunch in the auditorium, participate in the marches in front of the school. You can also write letters to the Superintendent and the School Board to ask them to stop the layoffs and bring the teachers and the staff back. Most of the layoffs could be stopped if the contract is approved. We voted on April 7th, 8th, and 9th. The teachers, counselors, the library, and substitutes voted, we will get at 6% pay cat to help save jobs, but more money is needed for our school.
By: Eileen C.

World Cup

Once again we are at the point where people start to place their bets on their favorite national soccer teams and expect to win as much money as they can. This is the 2010 world cup that will take place in South Africa. There are fewer than 100 days left for this big day to come. I’m cheering for Mexico, wishing the best for them and I hope for them to get very far in the competition. I’m kind of worried because Mexico is starting up the world cup by playing against France, a strong team. According to the judges the teams that are in the same group as Mexico are France, Uruguay, and South Africa. The coach of Mexico, Javier Aguirre, is still deciding what players to put to the start of the first game vs. France. He is also having trouble with the amount of players he could take with him to South Africa. All these games are going to be broadcast on the channels Telemundo/34, Univision/52, and Telefutura/46.
By: Apolonio S.

Easter Day

Easter is the oldest Christian Holiday and considered by many to be the most important. Easter is important because according to Christian belief, Jesus was resurrected on Easter. It takes place after the Jewish holiday of Passover. Easter has to happen on a Sunday. It is usually celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon following the first day of spring. It could take place on any Sunday between March 22nd and April 25th. The earliest day Easter can be on is March 22nd. Easter will happen based on the day for Passover. Passover is determined by the Jewish calendar. March 23rd and 24th are the rarest date for Easter to happen. The day before Easter is Easter Saturday and Good Friday. Easter lands on April 4th this year. The Easter bunny is a mascot for the symbol of Easter.
By: Eileen C.

“The Last Song”

“The Last Song” is a movie about a father named Steve Miller (Greg Kinnear) who gets a chance to spend the summer with his rebellious daughter named Veronica “Ronnie” Miller (Miley Cyrus). He tries to reconnect with her through the only thing that they have in common, music. While being with her dad for the rest of the summer “Ronnie” finds a love interest Will Blakelee (Liam Hemsworth). This movie is about family, friendship, secrets, and salvation, along with first loves and second chances. This movie is rated PG and it will come out in March 31st.
By: Karla C.

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland is directed by Tim Burton. The movie was released in March 5, 2010 in 3D or regular. The genre of Alice in Wonderland is adventure, family, and fantasy. In the movie, Alice who is 19 years old returned to a magical world from her childhood adventures when she falls down in a rabbit hole. She goes on a lot of adventures when she returned Wonderland. Wonderland is no ordinary place and the characters that live there are unlike anybody Alice has ever met before. In the magical world, she is reunited with her old friends and she realized what her destiny is: to end the Red Queen’s reign of terror. So go watch the movie to see how Alice ended the queen’s reign of terror.
By: Alexis R. and Barry L.

L.A. Marathon

The L.A Marathon is going to be on March 21st. The Marathon is basically running 26 miles with 2,000 other students from different schools. It is going to start at 6:00 a.m. and finish at 3:00 p.m. People who want to join next year can join in September. We have 5 students from Nightingale who are running the marathon: Alberto Venegas, Luis Espinoza, Rubi Gomez, Bryan Martinez, and William Dang. These students have been training for 6 months. They already ran half a marathon and an 18 mile race. Ms. Nutting and Ms. Molina are going to run. Mr. Zwiers is going to provide support. This is the 25th marathon to run, starting at Dodgers Stadium to the Santa Monica Pier. Twenty-five thousand people run every year.
By: Stacy H.

Women’s History Month

The 2010 theme for the 30th Women’s History Month Anniversary celebration is “Writing Women Back into History”. They are doing this because women are rarely mentioned in the history books. In the 80’s less than three percent of the teachers training textbooks mentioned the contributions of women. That’s why students have very few female role models. But today, if you search the internet with the words “women’s + history + month,” you will find more than forty million sites. This is why we need to recognize important women in history.
By: Jimmy H.

Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 is coming out soon in theaters! It’s filled with action and excitement. The film is scheduled to be released on May 7th, 2010. This time, the world is aware that billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the all famous Iron Man. Feeling under pressure from the press, the government, and the public to share his advance weaponry and technology with the state military. He is afraid that if everyone knew the secrets of creating such armor and weapons, it may fall into the wrong hands. Tony forms a new alliance with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle). He also meets another criminal, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Roarke) or aka Whiplash. If you haven’t watched Iron Man 1, you should go watch that before watching Iron Man 2, because it will give you a better understanding of what’s happening.
By: Becky G.

Daylight Saving Time (DST)

Daylight Saving Time is a time in which clocks are set one hour ahead of local standard time which provides extra daylight in the evenings. One of the main reasons why we have DST is because it saves electricity and energy. The idea was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin in an essay named “An Economical Project”. More than one billion people in about 70 countries around the world observe DST in some form. Most of the United States begin DST at 2:00 AM on the second Sunday in March and go back to standard time on the first Sunday in November. This year it starts at 2:00 AM on March 14 and ends at 2:00 AM on November 7.
By: Karla C.

St. Patrick’s Day The Holiday

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up!!!!!! So bring out the green shirts, socks, bracelets, and other green things. Either that or get pinched. Ever wonder why we wear green or get pinched if you don’t? Well they believe you should wear green because green represents spring and the lush green pastures in Ireland. Therefore it became a custom in America to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. They had so much fun doing that they kept doing it year after year. So that’s why people wear green or get pinched.
By: Alexis R.

Haiti Aftermath

As you guys have know Haiti in Port-Au- Prince had an earthquake not a while ago. Most of you have been wondering what had happen after the earthquake.
After the earthquake hit Haiti many people had been injured very badly. People didn't have enough doctors and medical equipment. There are some doctors and nurses there in Haiti when the earthquake hit so then when the people were injured they helped the Haitians out. From a estimation about 200,000 people were injured. People had injured arms ,broken legs and arms , crushed bones and lots more. Right after the earthquake lots of people needed help from their injuries so the hospitals where pack with so many people that they can't allow any more people in. Medical equipments where also running out. There wasn't much doctors until recently. Nurses from places sighed a form so they can volunteer to go to Haiti to help them out. Medical supplies where delivered after a week or so.
Allot of people where homeless from the earthquake so people built tents with cloths and other things for them to have a place to stay in. Most people where walking around every where even though they don't have places to go to.
Hunger stroke the Haitians after the earthquake. People were fighting for food. There wasn't enough water. After a few days planes where sent in with packages of food and other supplies. The airport was small in Port-Au-Prince so we can't deliver the food so fast and the ports where broken so we can send ships. When the food was delivered we had a problem of delivering the food to the people because it is hard to tell the people where to get the food and people would fight for the food. So then they decided to drop the food with a parachute from a helicopter.
Many children was left without parents so there was lots of fosters home filled with kids from many ages. People from different states are trying to adopt the kids but it's hard because of the paper work they have to do.
People from the U.S also had families in Haiti so many people where trying to contact their love ones. Since the lines are down it is very hard to do so. Even through the lines are down people still have faith to find their family. Families were also trapped underneath buildings and their family members are trying to get them out of the buildings.
The U.S are trying their best to also help the people who are in need so please whenever you see an ad on TV or something or any where please donate to help out even a little bit would make a big difference. Thank you.
By: Lizi L.

St. Patrick

Before St. Patrick’s Day became a holiday, Saint Patrick was a Christian saint who was a priest in Ireland. Saint Patrick was born in Great Britain when it was ruled by the Roman Empire. He came from a wealthy family. His real name is Maeywn Succat. The name St. Patrick was given to him later in life by Pope Celestine. He was born in the year 387 A.D. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on the date of his birth. When he was a teenager, pirates attacked his family. He was captured. He had been taken back to Ireland to be sold as a slave. Patrick was enslaved in Ireland for 6 years. During his 6 years, he turned to his religion for help and because of that, he become closer to god through prayer. After 6 years, St. Patrick had a dream that he’ll escape. He wrote that he heard a voice he thought was God telling him to return to England. Patrick obeyed the voice by walking hundreds of miles to the nearest Irish harbor. St. Patrick also dreamt of an angel telling him to return to Ireland and be a missionary. He obeyed the angel and followed in his father and grandfather’s footsteps and eventually became a bishop. He became a missionary and returned to Ireland. When he got back to Ireland, he converted all the Irish to Christianity to become closer to god like him. The bad news is that St. Patrick realized that the Irish wouldn’t convert right away. As a result, he added the ancient Irish cultures in Christianity. There are not as many details about when or where Saint Patrick did his missionary work in Ireland. Patrick was quite successful at winning converts, and this upset the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. Saint Patrick died at Saul, Down Patrick, Ireland around 460 or 461 A.D. Why we celebrate this day is because he is the patron saint of Ireland. The first Saint Patrick’s Day celebration in the United States was held in Boston in 1737. The largest St. Patrick’s Day parade was in New York.
By: Barry L. and Eileen C.

Valentine’s Day (Movie)

There is a movie coming out just in time for Valentine’s Day named “Valentine’s Day”. This movie is about a few couples and singles in Los Angeles breaking up and making up based on the pressures and expectations of Valentine’s Day. Some of the cast from the movie include Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, and Taylor Swift. This movie is rated PG-13 and is 1 hour and 57 minutes long. “Valentine’s Day” will hit theaters on February 12 so go check it out.
By: Karla C.

Scribblenauts: The Game

Scribblenauts is a Nintendo DS game where you can write anything and it materializes for use in the game. On the title screen you can just play around with anything you write without having to worry about levels or objectives. You can create things from an aardvark to a zombie, and everything in between. You can’t put any vulgarities or proper nouns, though. Scribblenauts does more than letting you conjure up objects. Everything has properties so things can interact (for example: put God and the Devil and watch them battle it out. There are 280 levels to play though in both of the 2 stages. In the puzzle stage you have to create things to retrieve a starite. In action stages you have to get Maxwell (the main protagonist) from the starting point to the starite. A par system limits and challenges you to use the fewest objects and prevents you from repeating solutions. There is also a custom level editor.
By: Ricky H.

Summary on “Dear John”

The movie “Dear John” comes out on February the 5th, 2010. It’s a very heartwarming, sweet story, played by Channing Tatum as John Tryee and Amanda Seyfried as Savannah Curtis. John was the opposite of Savannah but yet they still got along so well. John dropped out of high school to join the Army. Savannah was an independent woman in college working for Habitat and Humanity. John was on a trip to visit his father. That’s when they first met. It was at a beach. John went to retrieve Savannah’s purse after it fell in the water. Right then, their friendship began to bloom. They spent only two weeks together and fell in love with each other. An unexpected event came up and John had to leave Savannah to go back to the Army. They promised each other to write letter every now and then so no matter how far in distance they are, they can always be together.
By: Becky G.

Lakers go to the White House

To all Lakers fans and Obama fans, here’s some really great news...the Lakers met with President Obama at the white house! President Barack Obama honored the team on Monday, January 25, 2010 in the east room. They had a nine minute ceremony with compliments from Obama himself, along with an Illinois senator, who enjoyed meeting Coach Phil Jackson. But Kobe Bryant didn’t think that Obama would be a Lakers fan. During the visit, there were tons of laughs and smiles. After the ceremony, they gave Obama his own jersey that said his last name on the back and Number 1 on the back that he displayed and a basketball with all their signatures! Unfortunately, one of them had the flu and couldn’t come. So, that’s the story of an amazing team being honored by an awesome president.
By: Dalia M.

The Lighting Thief

The book, The Lighting Thief, by Rick Riordan, is going to be a movie called “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief”. It will be released on February 12, 2010. The book is about a twelve year old boy named Percy Jackson. After his pre – algebra teacher turns to a monster, he decides to go on a trip to Montauk with his mom. They meet a satyr named Grover, who tells Percy’s mom that Percy has to go to a camp. As they are driving to the camp, they are attacked by a Minotaur who grabs Percy’s mom. His mom then turns to a gold shower of light. Percy ends up killing the Minotaur by stabbing it with its horns. He wakes up in Camp Half – blood which is a place for demigods. A demigod is someone whose father or mother is a god and their other parent is a human. He is moved in the Hermes cabin where all the unclaimed demigods stay. While they all the demigods playa game of Capture the Flag, he is attacked by the children of Ares. When he steps into the river, his wounds healed. Poseidon’s green trident glows above his head. That means he is the son of Poseidon.

Once the counselors found out, he had to go on a quest to find Zeus’ bolt. Since Poseidon had broken his oath, Zeus thinks that Percy took it. As they go on their quest to find the bolt, he meets Ares, another god. Percy finds out that the bolt was in the backpack Luke, the cabin counselor, gave him. He fights and defeats Ares, who then gives Percy Hades’ Helm of Darkness, which he then gives back to Hades. Then he goes to New York to go to Olympus, which is at the top of the Empire State Building, and returns the bolt. He then goes back to the camp, where he finds Luke. Luke tells Percy that he stole the bolt for Kronos, son of Uranus, the sky, and Gaia, the earth. He then calls a scorpion who stung and nearly killed Percy. Chiron cures him and Percy leaves to go to another school.

By: Jimmy H.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is a time to celebrate. Chinese New Year starts with the new moon on the first day and 15 days later it ends on the full moon. Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year. This year it’s on February 14. We give each other red envelopes. The red envelopes stand for luck because of the color red. It is the year of the Tiger. We have a lion performing because it scares away the evil spirits. If you give the lion a cabbage they say that you’ll get luck and fortune. 2010 is the year the tiger. Tiger people are aggressive, courageous, and sensitive, celebrating is important year because we get to have a fresh start on the new year.
By Stacy H. and Karla C.

Valentines Day

Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine Cards, presents, Or Flowers. Valentine’s Day is a day to express your affection for someone or to show how much you appreciate them. This holiday was named after an early Christian named ‘Valentine’. Modern Valentine symbols include the heart shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. This day is mostly about Love. So, this Valentine’s Day spend the day with the one you care for the most.♥
By: Asia C.

President's Day

George Washington’s birthday is a federal holiday. It is also known as Presidents Day. During the month of February two birthdays of our greatest presidents takes place. George Washington was born on February 22^nd and died on December 14^th at the age of 67. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12^th. George was known as “The Father of our Country”. When he was born, America was not a nation yet, it had belonged to England. There was a war between England and America. America won and had chosen the name “The United States of America” and the people had elected George Washington as their president. Abraham died on April 12, 1865, at the age of 56. He grew up in a poor family and wasn’t rich. When he grew up he studied hard and became a lawyer. Later on he was elected to be a law maker. In the year 1861 he became our 16^th president. He was known as “The Great Emancipator”. Abraham was also known as “Hones Abe” for his honesty and fairness. He was constantly reading. He also did his homework by the light of the fire and used the back of the shovel to work out his addition problems for math and for drawing. George Washington played a major roll in the drafting of “The Declaration of Independence,” signed on July 4^th, 1776. He was declaring the colonies to be free and independent states. George was a wise and courageous man who was admired for his honesty and strength of character. Today we choose to celebrate President’s day to honor two of our greatest presidents on the 3^rd Monday of February in Spring.

By: Eileen Chen