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.