Silence Is Not Golden - Paul Revere Charter Middle School

Transcription

Paul Revere Charter Middle School
August/September/October 2013
Volume 58, Issue 1
Revere Prepares
to Get ‘Smarter’
COVER STORY
Common Core tests to replace CSTs this spring.
By SHELBY TZUNG
Silence Is Not Golden
(From left to right) Sophie, Nicole and Roberta signal their commitment.
Photo: Jessie Bierschenk
Club members try to combat bullying with kind words and good deeds.
By JESSIE BIERSCHENK
On her first day of kindergarten, something
happened to Roberta Alaman that she has never
forgotten.
“I had a problem with a girl who started
to bully me,” said Roberta, who is now an 8th
grader at Revere. “Even though I was pretty
young it was still traumatic. She would come
and take my friends away from me. She treated
them like property and would talk about me to
them. It really became serious when she began
to kick me and throw stuff at me.”
The incident has had a lasting impact on
Roberta. “From then on, I knew I didn’t want
myself, or anyone else, to be treated like that,”
she said.
Another 8th grader, Sophie Kretschmer,
shares a similar story about an episode of bullying she witnessed when she was younger.
“I sat next to a special needs boy in my
class,” Sophie began. “He was always extremely sweet to me and could do no harm to anyone.
One day he came in with a big bruise on his face
and his eye was bright red.” Sophie soon learned
that a book had been thrown at his face because
he was different.
She later confronted the juvenile bully
who had done this, even though it was already
brought to the attention of school authorities.
The victim changed schools and the oppressor
was later removed. “Even though the bully left,”
said Sophie, “I still couldn’t believe that someone could do that to another human, especially
a disabled kid.”
Their first-hand experiences with bullying
motivated Roberta and Sophie to join Revere’s
Stand for the Silent club and to serve this year as
its co-presidents. The club meets during lunch
on Tuesday in G-2, the classroom of Ms. Fara-
Brendan Welch reads an announcement about
his Stand for the Silent club. Photo: Julian Speyer
one, who is the group’s faculty advisor. Club
members on campus are part of the 740,000
kids speaking out against bullying in the U.S.
through the national organization of Stand for
the Silent. The group promotes their messages
in school assemblies and reaches out to relatives of young bullying victims who have committed suicide.
Ms. Faraone reports that Revere’s members
will be selling anti-bullying bracelets and promoting their message more often, especially
during morning announcements during homeroom. One student, for example, ended a club
update with a quote from the actress Audrey
Hepburn: “You have two hands. One is to help
yourself, and the other is to help others.”
(continued on page 7)
It is the month of May. Students file into their classrooms.
The teacher announces that they
are starting the CST testing. Everyone groans. The students sit
down and take out their No. 2
pencils. They fill out their background information. They begin
to bubble in their answers.
For many years, the procedure for California State Testing has been the same. And over
the last few years, Patriots have
been excelling, with the most
recent API score exceeding 900
for the second year in a row. The
state has set 800 as the number
to beat. Only one other middle
school in the district has done
better than Revere, and that
school, which did slightly better
than Revere, is a gifted magnet.
However, on Oct. 2, Governor Jerry Brown signed the
Assembly Bill 484, which suspended CSTs and instead funded
the new Smarter Balance testing.
The only CST that will be funded this year is 8th grade science.
This test will only be diagnostic and it will not count against
students.
The change in testing comes
just as the state gets used to
Common Core, a new system
of academic standards that have
been “under construction” since
1989. At the time, many states
had been continuously lowering
their educational standards as a
way to make their students look
better on state tests.
The National Governor’s
Association and the Council of
Chief State School Officers, with
funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, began
to develop the new standards as
an attempt to unify the states in
educational criteria. As of right
now, 45 out of the 50 states have
accepted this plan.
These new Common Core
standards are presented in detail
on www.corestandards.org. According to the website, the goal
is to make the standards clear
and understandable so that parents and teachers can help their
children with schoolwork. This
new system will also help those
who move to another state because they will not be struggling
behind or being bored because
they already learned the material
in a different grade.
Revere’s
API
Graph: Alon Levi
Revere passed the 900 API level
in 2012 and stayed there in 2013.
Rollout
of iPads
Delayed
By DANIELLE YORK
As the school year began, excitement was brewing for the arrival of the LAUSD-issued iPads
on Oct. 1. But now it looks as if
the rollout will not happen until
Patriots return from their winter
break in January.
Revere was one of 47 schools
selected to participate in the
pilot phase of the district’s
billion-dollar program to provide an iPad to every LAUSD
student and teacher.
Teachers went through three
days of training at the end of
summer to get ready for the rollout. However, before it was Revere’s turn to receive the Apple
tablets, there were a number of
issues that caused the district to
postpone further distribution.
After students at Roosevelt
High School received their iPads
at the end of summer, about 300
students were able to hack the
security in a short span of one
week. There is also confusion
about who will be responsible
for lost or damaged iPads.
“I was excited to find out that
Revere was getting the iPads
at first,” said Mr. Koretz, the
school’s instructional specialist. “Now I am concerned about
the logistics, student safety and
liability. Still, eventually it will
benefit Revere students because
if used appropriately, the iPads
can be a powerful educational
tool.”
Attendance Awards 3
Drilling for Safety 6
Sunny Memories 8-9
Twist and Turn 12
Fun With Fitness 14
Mr. Tokeshi’s class are rewarded
for their near-perfect attendance.
Kevin practices the procedure for
an emergency during a fire drill.
Melanie gets a makeover during
her summer adventures in Japan.
Sutton shows off his Rubik’s cube
skills in a Town Crier challenge.
These Patriots run all around
the world—and the P.E. wheel.
2 August/September/October 2013
Opinion
What should Revere have
in store for healthy eaters?
First Lady Michelle Obama has been working
relentlessly in the past few years to improve school
meals. “Children on a sugar-high or who have a
tummy filled with high-sodium, greasy food have
difficulty focusing on schoolwork,” she says. Last
year, the First Lady and Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack collaborated to develop new nutrition
guidelines for schools. Some of the new regulations stated that schools would serve more fruits,
vegetables and whole grains. These regulations,
and many others similar to them, have been put
into place for the same basic reason: to reduce
childhood obesity.
LAUSD’s cafeterias have been upgrading their
meals since then. Now, lunches are healthier and
tastier, according to many Revere students (see
page 15). Yet, numerous Patriots still feast on
student store treats. Many students don’t bring or
buy a lunch, and instead snack on cookies, chips,
and Gatorade. Too many Patriots are ignoring
Michelle Obama’s advice and instead caving in to
their junk food cravings.
Revere’s student store is great for those who
simply want an extra snack after lunch, but many
students overuse the place. We believe there should
be a limit to how many items can be purchased
at the window. This might discourage junk food
binging and encourage hungry students to bring
healthier sack lunches from home or visit the
school’s cafeteria.—Shelby Tzung and the Editors
Summer Slipped
Away Too Soon
LYRIC LATSHAW
A couple of years ago, we said goodbye to summer a few
weeks early as the new school year came reluctantly creeping in.
True, the first semester now ends conveniently right as we get
winter break. The high school students can now take their finals
before the break and have time to relax and recuperate before
school starts again in January. Does this really benefit us younger
students though? I don’t think it’s worth it.
I, for one, would much rather go into school later in fall and
get out later in June, the way we always used to. I know we’re
expected to adapt, but I felt more confident and sure of myself
when starting school in September. We tried out the new summer
system, but I feel that the benefits didn’t balance out the risks.
The summer heat, for instance, makes P.E. almost unbearable on
days when the temperature rises into triple digits.
Who knows? I guess I’ll just hang on to the hopes of a real
summer vacation next year and cross my fingers that the old,
familiar system is reinstated.
Can We Have Too
Much Security?
YONI STRUGATSKY
I think that eating healthy is
good but it is okay to have sugar
every once in a while. I think
most students are responsible
enough to watch what they eat. I
feel that the student store should
have healthier options too.
—Shayan Safa, 8th Grade
Personally, I feel that I need to
eat super healthy foods because
my metabolism is faster than
average kids’ my age. I think
that other kids with slower
metabolism should eat healthier.
I think students should be free
to eat what they want because
they will be able to in the future,
anyway.
—Jonathan Shu, 6th Grade
Eating healthy is very important, so of course the student
store and cafeteria should only
sell healthy foods. If given the
choice, most students are more
likely to choose bad foods rather
than good foods.
—Ethan Egilsson, 8th Grade
Students should be able to make
their own decisions on what
to eat. I think that we are old
enough to make the right choice.
—Amanda Kim, 6th Grade
I think that the student store
should continue to sell sweets
as long as students realize when
enough is enough.
—Emily Glenn, 6th Grade
I am serious about eating a
healthy diet, but the student
store should keep selling candy,
chips, etc. because we all need to
treat ourselves sometimes. But
the student store should not sell
too much unhealthy food since
that might encourage us to eat
unhealthily.
—Amanda Harris, 6th Grade
I feel that students should be
able to make their own food
choices.They should be able to
enjoy the food that they are
buying with their own money.
—Elizabeth Rene, 7th Grade
I think students should be able
to make their own choices about
what they eat. If you want to stay
fit, you can choose not to eat
unhealthily, which is good
practice of self-control.
—Coco Nakano, 7th Grade
Ever since the mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary
late last year in Newtown, Conn., schools have been going to
extreme measures with security. But how much can a school
really do to protect us, and it is possible that some of these
measures go too far?
Here at Revere we follow the standard security measures. We
have occasional drills for fires and earthquakes, safety procedure
assemblies, emergency first aid kits in almost every classroom,
more police patrols, random backpack and locker checks, and so
on. We now also have a single entrance at the front of the school.
Students who get dropped off at the horseshoe driveway now
must walk a farther distance to finally reach the only open gate.
At a school like ours in a pretty safe neighborhood, money
spent on police officers to come every day could easily be spent
on new textbooks or some other improvement in our campus.
I can’t complain about the extra security, but other schools in
LAUSD might need it more than we do.
The recently heightened security at Revere and other schools
across the country may feel like a bummer, and sure it can be
annoying to constantly have state mandated security drills, but
overall, I think our safety is worth the trouble.
THE TOWN CRIER POLL
To be honest, the middle
schoolers around me don’t make
the best choices about food.
They just pick what they think
tastes good, not what is good for
them. I think the cafeteria should
sell mostly healthy foods, but it
is okay to have a treat from time
to time.
—Scotty Holland, 7th Grade
I feel that if the student store
supplied healthier foods, most
students would not buy them.
Treats attract more business and
are more probably more profitable than healthy foods are.
—Jennifer Price, 8th Grade
It’s good to indulge once in a while.
–Noelle Chang, 7th Grade
MESSAGE TEES
What’s the secret to a happier life?
Member of the National Scholastic Press Association
Published by and for the students of
Paul Revere Charter Middle School and Magnet Center
1450 Allenford Avenue, Los Angeles, California
Editors-in-Chief:
Ysmael KamgaingKouam
Lyric Latshaw
Jojo Levey
Reporters:
Alon Levi
Jessica Bierschenk
Sierra Margolis
McKenna Brown
Haley McCarthy
Melissa Bunnapradist
Samantha Rene
Georgia Calvert
Mai Robinson
Brittany Darrow
Yoni Strugatsky
Gabi Feingold
Amanda Thompson
Poppy Frost
Shelby Tzung
Loren Jacobs
Danielle York
Brian Zargar
Ethan Jones
Alicia Abramson
Claire Spector
(From left to right) Adrian Maximo, Darin Torres, Jovita Boatner, Alexandra Miller, and Wilbur Abron.
Contributors:
Jordan Galef
Justin Howard
Nick Leader
Wyatt Loncar
Liam Mathers
Morgan Novak
Nima Rafie
Julian Speyer
Matteo Zabrucky
____________
Faculty Advisor:
Mr. Wechsler
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 3
Staying Clean by
Going Green
It all started in 2008, after
two eager students watched
an inspirational video about
pollution, then approached
Ms. Chen with the proposal
to start a recycling club. Now
known as the Go Green Club,
students take time during lunch
on Tuesdays in X14 to act responsibly by informing others
about the severe consequences
gained when people don’t recycle. “We are spreading the
word about environmentalism
by making posters, morning
announcements, grade assembly videos, and more!” says
Ms. Chen, the leading figure in
the Go Green Club. “We have
approximately 50 members,
but new members are welcome
any time.” She encourages
others to join and invites kids
to help improve our planet’s
cleanliness by participating in
the club. “Recycling is probably the most basic action that
everyone should be doing. It’s
not that difficult to do, yet it’s
sad that some people still do
not know how to do it or they
choose not to,” says Ms. Chen,
who hopes that someday everybody will learn the importance
of keeping Mother Earth clean.
—Georgia Calvert
Meilani helps by taking out the
recycling during homeroom.
A Call to ‘Believe,
Dream, Inspire’
This year the reflections
contest is representing the
theme believe, dream, inspire.
According to the Paul Revere
Website, “The Reflections program has encouraged millions
of students across the nation to
explore their artistic talents.”
With seven different categories, dance choreography, film
production, literature, musical composition, photography,
visual arts, and special artist—to allow disabled children
a chance to participate—kids
everywhere can represent this
theme in a variety of different
artistic styles. —Loren Jacobs
Around Revere
News and notes edited by Claire Spector
These sixth graders join the
conga line at the luau dance.
Sixth Graders
Feel the Beat
Magnet students get the chance to dance on the stage along with the UCLA mascot, the Bruin Bear.
Revere’s Magnet
Attracts Cheers
Paul Revere is one of the
many LAUSD schools with a
Magnet program. The Magnet portion of the school participates in all school events
such as dances, assemblies,
and clubs. But sometimes, the
Magnet has activities exclusive
for these students.
On Sept. 18th, Magnet students were rounded up into the
auditorium for an assembly.
Like most assemblies, this one
was just reminding students to
do well on their schoolwork
and study hard. But what differentiated this assembly from
all others was the special
guests: UCLA cheerleaders.
Both of which students at the
university, and each majoring in either business or law,
they’ve definitely earned their
keep. And to encourage possible future attendees of the
school, they even included the
one and only UCLA chant:
U-C-L-A! UCLA! FIGHT!
FIGHT! FIGHT! That message came with perfect timing
considering the dance-off that
followed. One student from
each grade got up on stage and
danced for the prize: the recognition of their classmates and
the bragging rights of winning,
which were won by 8th grader
Chance Chapman. And what
better time to hand out student
of the month than at an assembly that all can see? And who
could forget the UCLA mascot,
the Bruin Bear, who also made
an appearance at the assembly.
But of all the classes present,
6th grade teacher Mr. Tokeshi’s
Homeroom seemed to be the
most overjoyed. This might
have been caused by the fact
that they won the highest attendance award and the pizza party that went with it. But what
assembly would be complete
without a proper question and
answer session? Students were
given time to ask the university’s representatives almost any
question involving UCLA or
just college in general. These
ranged from “What is UCLA’s
best program?” to “How is
college different from middle
school?”
This assembly is an example of how Revere’s Magnet
program attracts its students:
not just with its high academic levels and unique learning
methods, but also with all the
fun the students can have at the
same time. —Brian Zargar
studio makes videos, such as
the widely popular Epic Rap
Battles of History, and then
gets clients to give them ads
to put in the video for pay.
“How much money do you
make per view?” a student at
Revere asked. “About ten to
fifteen dollars per every 10,000
views,” was Pelosi’s reply.
Pelosi has always been well
known. His aunt, Nancy Pelosi,
is a famous Congresswoman
and politician, and they both
are proud of their work and
successful in their professions.
As Pelosi leaves the campus,
many Revere students rush up
to him, asking the Regional
Sales Director for autographs.
As the presentation ends, many
kids exit Town Hall inspired
and with ten more extra credit
points to boost their grade in
science. This talk was just one
way that Patriots are being exposed to future professions and
pursuable job topics.
—Ethan Jones
Directing Patriots
to Their Futures
Revere reported to Town
Hall on Wednesday, September 25, to support Mr. Andrew
Pelosi from Maker Studios.
Students had the opportunity
to earn 10 extra credit points
in their Science class or earn
credit in their Career Awareness class.
Mr. Pelosi makes ads for
YouTube, the 15-second clips
at the start of videos that 70%
of viewers watch per day. His
Speaker Andrew Pelosi talks to
Revere students about his job.
Buy your ticket, show, up
and get your jam on is exactly
what nearly 200 sixth graders
did on September 27 at Town
Hall. The dance, planned and
developed by Student Council,
invited all sixth graders to the
Hawaiian themed event. For
a mere three dollars, any of
the sixth graders could’ve enjoyed Hawaiian decorations, a
DJ that would blast your ears
off, and hanging out with your
friends. Patriots rocked out to
popular songs such as Blurred
Lines and Can’t Hold Us with
the timeless dance move, the
conga. But many would say
that a 35-minute lunch period
is much too short for a dance.
But fear not Patriots. In just a
matter of weeks, Revere will
host another dance for all those
who still have some jam left in
them. —Brian Zargar
Ms. Istrin gets her groove on at
the Hawaiian-themed dance.
Stalled Stalls
Everyone around Revere
has been watching the bathrooms get built over the last
year by the PE field, but what is
the inside scoop? “The opening
time is up in the air until we get
the electricity down. Currently,
we’re shooting for late October or early November, but we
don’t know for sure,” Mr. Iannucci stated. The construction
was getting worked on while
we were on summer break and
is now being done most school
days. By the beginning of November hopefully we will have
a new bathroom on Revere’s
campus.—Lyric Latshaw
Mr. Tokeshi and his sixth grade homeroom celebrate their achievememt of 99% attendance at their special honorary breakfast in Town Hall on Friday, October 4.
New Student Council Members Swoop In
By HALEY McCARTHY
After Ms. Walker revealed
that she was having a baby, a
new student council advisor
needed to be chosen, and Ms.
Istrin answered the call.
“I have had so many great
students and I want to help them
complete service projects and
lead their peers,” she said. “I
knew my leadership students
would be great!” Besides her many duties as
a 6th grade math and science
teacher, Ms. Istrin also enjoys
other hobbies in her free time.
“I am super active!” she says. “I
play Ultimate, ride my bike, hike,
surf, swim, run, cook, bake, read,
make jewelry, see my friends,
play guitar, listen to music, make
YouTube videos on Experience
Science, my channel.”
In the following school year,
Paul Revere can expect many
events, including the grams,
Book Ends drive, coin drive, and
Spirit Week, thanks to Ms. Istrin
and her students.
“I’m lucky to have such
capable students in my class,”
she exclaimed.
Left to right: Ms. Istrin, Melody Etehad (Treasurer), Ashley Miller (Vice President), Donna Kharrazi (President), Maggie Catalano (Historian), and Jessica Breitman (Secretary) stand prepared, pleased, and proud to help and support Paul Revere as student council members.
New Fresh Faculty Focuses on New Fresh Ideas
Six new faculty members joined
Revere to help classes excel in
academics. These new faces
plan to make an impact on Paul
Revere and they each have quite
a bit to say.
MR. MERCADO
This year, Revere’s new
art teacher, Mr. Mercado, is
here to educate Patriots on the
history of art and art itself. “I
graduated with Fine Arts major
with an emphasis in painting
and printmaking from use. Prior
to coming to Revere, I was a
substitute teacher. I have been
teaching for 13 years,” says Mr.
Mercado. He has also taught all
over the United States. “I started
my teaching in the Bronx, NY
then in Whittier, CA and finally
in Los Angeles.”
Those who only know Mr.
Mercado as the art teacher might
be interested in knowing some
of his hobbies. Mr. Mercado
says, “Some of my hobbies
include mountain biking and
paintballing.” He has also shared
some of his works of art with
the world. “I have had two solo
shows and have participated in
various group shows. I was once
shocked when a colleague of
mine said that they saw one of
my prints in San Antonio at their
professors office.”
Patriots can expect some art
displays made by Mr. Mercado’s
students to be found around
Revere later this year. “I am
expecting to display student art
work in either of the offices or
library,” he says. He also plans
to hold an art showcase at the
end of the year to show off his
students’ work. “Students should
look forward to printmaking,
sculpting, drawing and painting.
Some projects include mask
making and a sidewalk chalk
exhibit.” —Loren Jacobs
MR. BURKE
This year, 7th graders welcome Mr. Burke, a new Health
and Science teacher at Revere.
Previously, he has taught at many
various schools, most recently
John Adams Middle School in
Santa Monica. His main subject
was middle school Science, with
the exception of once teaching
2nd grade.
He said that students in his
class this year should expect
to have plenty of time working
on group activities with materials, projects, and soon technology. The first project his class
worked on was a group activity
in which students explored the
metric system and learned how
to calculate using metric units.
He currently has about 20 PC
laptops in his classroom, one per
pair of students. Right now, he
uses the laptops for educational
videos, student submissions, and
the class website: Mr. Burke’s
World. But change is on the way
with the incoming iPads. “I plan
on using the iPads often and regularly for pictures, videos, social
media, google docs, and more,”
he says. He also plans on using
the students’ district Google accounts to communicate grades
and other matters frequently.
—Shelby Tzung
MS. MAKHANI
“I am so impressed with
the students at Paul Revere!”
says Ms. Makhani, the new
eighth grade history teacher.
Ms. Makhani came from another LAUSD school, Edison
Junior High. She studied at
UCLA and majored in history,
then started teaching the subject
ten years ago. “I chose to teach
history because I think it is important for us, as individuals, to
be fully aware and informed on
our culture and heritage,” says
Ms. Makhani. On the first day
of school the new teacher found
all her classes enjoyable and immediately felt welcomed by the
students, staff, and parents, leaving a good impression of Revere.
Even though the school year has
only been going on for a couple
of months Ms. Makhani’s attitude towards teaching here is
very enthusiastic. “I can’t wait
for the years to come!” she says.
—Poppy Frost
MR. HUBBARD
There is a new faculty
member on campus. This new
addition, Mr. Hubbard, has taken
the magnet coordinator position
here at Revere, while Ms. Coe
has moved up to the disciplinary
Dean’s position. You have
probably already heard Mr.
Hubbard’s voice on the morning
announcements, or seen him
patroling the halls—his favorite
part of his job. “Supervision
is my favorite part,” he said,
“because I get to interact with
the students.”
Supervision isn’t all Mr.
Hubbard’s job includes, however.
On a typical day at school he can
be found answering of phone
calls, sending out of emails,
and supporting the teachers and
students in any way possible.
This may seem like a lot of
work to some people, but Mr.
Hubbard eagerly accepts it and
enjoys it. “When I was offered
the opportunity to interview
for the job, I jumped at the
chance. I love this school. The
diversity of the students as well
as the positive energy of both the
students and the staff have all
been great to experience.”
In the upcoming school year,
Mr. Hubbard looks forward
to continue supporting both
students and staff here at Revere,
and working on and improving
new programs for Magnet.
—Sierra Margolis
MR. VALERIO
Recently, a new sixth grade
counselor, Mr. Valerio, joined
Revere’s family of staff. So
far, Mr. Valerio has helped
new sixth-graders navigate
around the school, change
their schedules, and has also
translated Spanish for a non-
English speaking family. One
notable action performed by Mr.
Valerio was his response to a
girl being bullied. When the girl
went to report her mistreatment,
Mr. Valerio instantly jumped
into action and quickly resolved
the conflict between the girl and
the bully. This is a characteristic
that is greatly needed among
counselors today.
For his new job position,
Mr. Valerio spends lots of time
helping confused 6th graders.
However, after spending lots
of time at Revere, he needs to
have some time for himself.
One hobby of Mr. Valerio’s is
playing tennis. In fact, he even
wanted to be a professional
tennis player as a child. When
asked what drives him to keep
on playing, he responded
with, “I’m competitive. My
competitiveness drives me. I
also enjoy just getting out there
and moving.” Another pastime
of Mr. Valerio is traveling. “I
like traveling. I like learning
about different cultures around
the world,” he states.
Aside from his hobbies, Mr.
Valerio really enjoys working
here. “I love helping young
people discover their strengths
and talents and being in a school
environment. Revere’s campus
is beautiful, the staff are friendly,
and best of all, the students are
polite,” he says.
Mr. Valerio also has one
piece of advice for Paul
Revere’s Patriots. ”Be yourself.
I think students are influenced
negatively and try to become
something that they are not,” he
said. Whether you want to get
active, write, draw or just make
friends, Mr. Valerio wants to help
you find your path to a unique
school year. —Mai Robinson
MS. ESPARZA
The newest staff member on
campus is the 8th graders’ new
counselor, Ms. Esparza. Before
coming to Paul Revere, Ms.
Esparza worked at Woodland
Hills Academy for five years.
At her old school, she helped
teachers and students in sixth
through eighth grade with
English, math, and science.
Like most Patriots and staff
members, Ms. Esparza is looking
forward to the iPads coming to
Revere. “I think that there is a
lot to be gained by incorporating
the new technology,” said Ms.
Esparza. “A few examples will
be equal access to the research
tools, the convenience of turning
in assignments, and sharing
projects, or documents, with
other students.” According to
Ms. Esparza, being responsible
and respectful of equipment and
the opportunity to have iPads
on campus will allow students
to experience the benefits of the
iPads best. —Brittany Darrow
‘Smarter Balance’
Coming to Revere
(continued from page 1)
Mrs. Somoza is leading Revere’s efforts to switch over to
the new system successfully.
“Common Core State Standards
implements a new paradigm
shift to building knowledge
through content-rich nonfiction
and informational text, reading
and writing grounded in evidence from the text and regular
practice with complex text and
its academic vocabulary,” she
said, “This type of instructional
shift involves more student talk,
writing of information with citations from primary sources and
research materials, and student
collaboration of ideas within
the class. Revere prides itself on
piloting new methods of instruction, and expanding learning for
all students.”
This spring,
students will say
goodbye to their
No. 2 pencils and
use iPads instead
to answer the
questions on the
new assessments.
This dramatic adjustment for
Revere, at last saying goodbye
to CSTs, provoked much excitement among students. Most Patriots seemed fairly happy that
the CSTs weren’t going to be
taken this year, with little concerns about the new testing.
Seventh grader Gabi Feingold said, “I’m always stressing during the summer while
I’m waiting for my CST scores.
Besides, who wants to test for a
week?”
However, this change will
not only affect students’ lives,
but will also change the way
teachers run their classrooms.
The head of the English department at Revere, Mr. Schwartz,
stated that, “The overall goal of
the Common Core standards [for
English] is to push students to a
deeper understanding of texts.
Teachers will push students to
annotate, create thoughtful questions, and use discussions to uncover complex and meaningful
ideas in a work, and the techniques the authors use to develop
these ideas.”
English classrooms are not
the only classes that will be affected. Mr. Aochi, the head
of the Science department, informed Patriots that “the Next
Generation Science Standards,
soon to be adopted by the state,
will have English-Language Arts
and Mathematics Common Core
Standards embedded within the
middle school science curriculum. Part of the Math Common
Core Standards will emphasize
quantitative analysis of scientific
data. With this analysis students
will communicate patterns and
relationships by using graphs
and visual diagrams. Part of the
English-Language Arts Common Core Standards will emphasize the use of textual evidence
to support our understanding of
scientific concepts and theories.
Through this process, students
will understand how our scientific content knowledge is constantly evolving.”
However, the test that will
determine how well students are
mastering these new standards
is still being developed. The
new assessment, called Smarter
Balance testing, is scheduled to
commence officially in the State
of California in the 2014-2015
school year. The current plan is
to have all students—not just
Patriots, but all the students in
the district—take these tests on
computers or on the incoming
iPads. This new test will use
technology to assess a student’s
capability by making the questions harder if a student is doing
well, or by simplifying the questions if they are struggling.
“This year students will be
given a no-stakes field test in the
spring that reflects the questions
they will see on the Smarter Balance tests in the future,” Ms.
Somoza informs Patriots. “If
students would like to preview
the new tests check out www.
smarterbalance.org.”
Overall, it looks as if Revere was able to end the CSTs
on a high note and start off the
new school year with new modern methods to learn and higher
goals to reach.
‘There’s a
new emphasis
on students
explaining the
steps of their
work, regardless
of the math level.’
—Mr. Anderson, Math
Department Chair
MATH
‘Next Generation
Science Standards
will rearrange the
science content
standards taught
at each grade
level.’
—Mr. Aochi, Science
SCIENCE
Department Chair
‘Students will be
pushed to “go to
the text” and
support their
ideas by focusing
on the words in a
piece of writing.’
—M
r. Schwartz, English
Department Chair
ENGLISH
‘Fortunately, our
content stays the
same, but we will
focus more on
primary sources
and documentbased questions.’
—Ms. Martinez, History
Department Chair
HISTORY
Patriots Prepare for Upcoming iPad Distribution
However, the privileges of
iPads come with some restrictions. “The tablets are an instructional tool,” said Mr. Shibata, one of Revere’s assistant
principals. “Students will not be
allowed to download any music,
apps, or new software.” He noted that tablets are not to be used
during nutrition, lunch or passing period. But students will be
able to do research and activities
related to what they are studying.
Mr. Shibata is leading a faculty committee that is discussing
ways the school can get the most
benefit out of the iPads once they
arrive on campus.
Another assistant principal,
Mr. Iannucci, offered this advice
to students: “Don’t break it. It is
not a toy.”
Mrs. Somoza, Revere’s principal, said she is preparing special training that will help teach-
ers get ready for the big rollout
when it finally happens.
In a note to teachers, she
said, “These professional developments will prepare our staff
for the new Smarter Balance Assessments, and the use of iPads
as instructional tools in the classroom.”
LAUSD officials are also
hoping that the new Common
Core tests will be taken on the
iPads starting this spring.
(From left to right) Brent shows off a word he looked up on the iPad. Mr. Slavin attends the summer training. Nicole and Sarah do research about a cat on their teacher’s iPad.
Preparing for a Worst Case Scenario
By SAMANTHA RENE
As the threat of disaster increases, so does the preparation for the big moment when
it strikes. Revere is one of the
many schools that have been
working to ready the students
and staff for an emergency.
On Sept. 18 and 20, there
were fire drills during homeroom
and period one, respectively.
Once the alarm went off, teachers were required to lead their
students to the P.E. fields to line
up in a designated place.
The week of Oct. 14 hosted
more drills, including an earthquake drill and a lockdown. In
the case of a fire or earthquake,
everyone is to line up at the P.E.
fields with their homerooms.
However, if it’s a lockdown, everyone is to proceed to the nearest classroom or bathroom and
lock the doors.
During the drop drill, students and staff were required to
drop to their knees, facing away
from all windows, and take cov-
Class
Survival
Kit
er by getting under desks, chairs,
and tables. For the shake drill on
Oct. 16, everyone headed up to
the P.E. fields. Mr. Koretz, who
is the administrator in charge of
these drills, said he was pleased
with how most of the drill went,
with some exceptions. “There
was a good amount of trash left
on the field,” he reported afterwards, “and there needed to be
more order while going up the
ramps leading to the grass. But
overall I think everyone did a
pretty good job.”
The lockdown drill, on the
17th, started at 9:11 and lasted
for 12 minutes. Teachers were to
lock the doors, close the blinds,
and instruct everyone to move
away from the windows. Fires
are not very likely on campus,
Ms. Di Giovanni, the nurse at
Revere, is trained to help the sick
and injured. If someone gets bitten or stung or eats a food they
are allergic to, they can go down
to the office and she will give
them an EpiPen, located in the
cabinet closest to the door.
Safety Tips
Mr. Koretz (center)
with Mr. Amos (left)
and Mr. Honda.
TOILET
PAPER
CRACKERS
PORTABLE
TOILET
COLD
PACK
BATTERIES
FLASHLIGHT
DUCT
TAPE
BLANKET
BAKING
SODA
CHALK
but fire drills are still frequent in
case the unlikely event were to
occur. When the alarm goes off,
students are to line up at the door
and walk quietly up to the P.E.
fields, where they will sit down
and wait for further instructions.
Another precaution taken
by teachers is to have an emergency survival kit with supplies
in every classroom. Each kit has
items that could save a life, such
as a cold pack, duct tape, a flashlight, and more. The emergency
kits are located somewhere in the
classroom, generally in a closet.
All year long, Patriots will
continue to prepare for a day that
everyone hopes will never come.
BAND-AIDS
HAND SANITIZER BANDAGES
GLOWSTICKS
The Town Crier met with Mr.
Koretz to discuss ways Patriots
can stay safe in an emergency.
ent type of emergency, students
can go to an open classroom or
office.
Town Crier: What should students do if an emergency occurs during nutrition, lunch,
or passing period?
Mr. Koretz: Students should go
to the P.E. fields and line up by
their homeroom class.
Town Crier: If there is a lockdown, what actions should faculty and pupils take?
Mr. Koretz: In a lockdown, all
students and faculty need to remain indoors and lock all windows and doors until the “all
clear” signal is given. Everyone
must remain inside during a
lockdown.
Town Crier: If something happens before or after school and
children are still on campus,
what should they do?
Mr. Koretz: If an emergency occurs before or after school, students should go to a safe place.
If it is an earthquake or fire, students most likely would go to
the P.E. field. If it was a differ-
Town Crier: Is there a place
that we could read about the
basic emergency procedures?
Mr. Koretz: The school has a
Safe School Plan that is kept in
the Main Office and is updated
every year.
Cool Clubs Take Over Campus
By ALON LEVI
When you’re not looking for
the things you love, the things
you love are coming to you. On
August 28th, a myriad of clubs
came to represent themselves at
the 8th grade quad. Crowds of
Patriots swarmed around, looking for the right club for them.
Held during lunch (and
sometimes homeroom), clubs
include everything from Hebrew
and Chess, to Community Service and Horticulture. If you’re
looking to meet new people, then
Circle of Friends, the Drama
club or even the Council Club
are probably the right choice for
you. The “Go Green” club was
created for young environmen-
talists and spends their homerooms delivering recycling bins
and helping our planet. The Mini
Acadeca club with Mr. Hamanishi takes field trips to compete
their levels of knowledge against
other schools.
Mrs. Robertson, teacher of
the Horticulture Club, states,
“This club was made so students
can learn about plants, animals,
and the environment. It’s an opportunity for kids with band to
go to the farm also. Active students go on field trips, and the
best part is that you get to eat
what grows!”
This year, a handful of new
clubs joined the circuit, including the Community Service club,
the Sci-Fi Book Club, and the
Sam Slavkin
advertises
the Sci-Fi
Book Club.
Spanish club. The creator of the
Community Service club, Mr.
Valerio, has made his mission
to come up with different community service projects and get
his students involved. The Sci-Fi
Book club, under the supervision of Ms. Banner, will work on
a variety of projects throughout
the year including animations,
cosplays, and books. Meanwhile, Ms. Cruz tells us that her
Spanish Club was inspired when
kids repeatedly asked her if she
was teaching the language and
she realized that it would be a
cool opportunity.
If you’re looking to get active, there are some options for
you too. The Lunch Bunch Table
Hockey Club with Mr. Weggler
and Mr. Hernandez includes a lot
of competition, and an ultimate
test of your reflexes. Hosted by
Mr. Fulling and Mr. Tokeshi,
the Ping Pong club will leave
you sweating after a long lunch
of running, hitting, and sending
trick shots your opponent’s way.
If entertainment is what
you’re looking for, you can join
the Movie Club with Mr. Hyman and Mr. Steenhoek. Stand
for the Silent and Roads to Your
Future also discuss more serious
topics that can help expand your
knowledge on topics such as
bullying and future jobs. These
diverse clubs have become a big
part of our school, helping students everyday to learn, create,
and inspire.
Every Wednesday and Friday, Patriots are rewarded for good behavior, after being called on the loudspeaker. These Patriots were some of the first superstars of the year.
Standing Up and Speaking Out
COVER STORY
Stand for the Silent has encouraged
Patriots to show their enthusiasm every
Wednesday by wearing yellow. Bright
yellow T-shirts have even been printed
featuring the club’s messages: Make a
Difference, Fight for Peace, and I Will
Do Something.
Club members report that one out of
every eight children drops out of school
because of bullying. Every day children and even adults are being harmed
by words, punches, gossip, and social
media. Although many measures are
taken by school authorities, bullying is
reported to still be a continuous act in
schools and on the internet to adults and
students. Even Mrs. Somoza has been
bullied by another adult (see below to
read more).
Bullying victims are often thought
of as people who are different or don’t
have many friends, but this is not always true. Almost everyone has been
bullied at least once in their life. Ms.
Faraone describes her own experience
in high school:
“Although I was a good student
who played sports and had a lot of
friends, I felt bullied because I would
hear about rumors being spread about
me that were not true,” she said. “This
really hurt me because I tried to be everyone’s friend and I wanted everyone
to like me.” This shows that even students considered “popular” are potential victims for threats, hurtful words or
rumors spread by insecure bullies with
low self-esteem. Bullying does not only
hurt someone mentally or physically,
but it may also affect a child’s success
in other activities.
Mrs. Faraone speaks about her emotions during the difficult period of when
she was feeling bullied. “Back then it
was really hard for me and I felt depressed most of the time. I had trouble
sleeping and I used to dread going to
school,” she said.
“I believe that bullying comes in
many forms and hurts many people,
not just the targets of bullying. Students
who are constantly teased, made fun of,
threatened, and pressured to do things
they do not want to do are suffering a
great deal on a daily basis,” says Mrs.
Faraone.
The website of the national organization of Stand for the Silent tells the
stories of teenagers and even nine-yearold kids who have committed suicide as
a result of bullying. Statistics like this
have club members reaching out to bullies to get their attention. Nicole Hart,
the club’s treasurer, reported, “I have
confronted bullies before, and many of
them don’t understand how much their
actions hurt people.”
Mrs. Somoza:
Bullies Beware!
In a recent interview with Town Crier
reporter Jessie Bierschenk, Revere’s
principal shared some very personal
and passionate insights about the many
dangers of bullying.
Paul and Emma send a signal during a
club meeting in G-2. Photo: Jessie Bierschenk
Ryan, Jasmin, Rachael, Hana and Sammy from Mr. Hernandez’s class “stand for the
silent” by wearing yellow on a recent “No Bully Wednesday.” Photo: Shelby Tzung
Ms. Faraone helps to sell bracelets with
anti-bullying messages. Photo: Jack Bookey
Verbal bullying is usually most common on school grounds, but what happens out of the classroom? Mrs. Somoza
believes that cyber-bullying is the most
frequent form of bullying in today’s world.
Social media sites such as Ask.fm,
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter may be
great for staying in contact with friends,
but these accounts make people vulnerable and potential sitting targets for
“haters” looking to ruin someone’s day.
Ms. Faraone reports that the antibullying club’s goal is to raise money
by selling bracelets and other things to
support their cause. With this money,
they hope to donate to the national organization of Stand for the Silent. She also
wrote a personal message for Patriots:
“Remember that what you say and
write can have a very strong impact on
other people. Use your words and actions
to promote good things instead of bad. If
you do this, you will not only help others,
you will start to notice positive changes
in yourself.”
Mrs. Somoza believes that all the efforts of administration, teachers, students
and clubs such as “Stand for the Silent”
have decreased the incidents of bullying
at Revere. Stand for the Silent members
say they are always hard at work thinking of contests and slogans to reach the
hearts and minds of students and give the
message of the harm that bullying can do
to victims.
According to Sophie, “We’re just getting started.”
Town Crier writers Ysmael Kamgaing-Kouam and Gabi Feingold join hands in
front of the new anti-bullying mural in the east driveway. Photo: Jessie Bierschenk
Town Crier: Have any personal
experiences encouraged your efforts
against bullying?
Mrs. Somoza: It is too difficult to
discuss the time when I was personally bullied as a child. However, when
I was a new teacher, a person working
in the cafeteria attempted to bully me
by making fun of me every chance she
had. It was demeaning and frustrating
every time I walked into the teachers’
cafeteria to get my lunch. Finally, I
informed this person that if she did not
cease and desist with her inappropriate remarks and threatening attitude,
I would see to it that she got removed
from the school. Eventually that’s
exactly what happened. I never regretted my actions toward that adult bully.
Today I respect those who “stand up”
to bullying and do their very best to
support anti-bullying efforts everywhere.
Town Crier: In your opinion what
form of bullying—cyber, physical,
verbal—is the most common in the
school today and what measures do
you plan to take to prevent upcoming incidents?
Mrs. Somoza: All forms of bullying are
common on school campuses today.
In my opinion cyber-bullying causes
the most permanent, lasting damage
to a person. Once something is posted
on the web it never really disappears.
Therefore the ugliness, hatred, and
hurt remain long after the feelings
have faded. Unfortunately a school can
only report cases of cyber-bullying to
LAPD, they take the case from there.
On campus we counsel the victim, and
discipline the perpetrator(s). Students
who bully others need to know they
endanger their future at Revere and
LAUSD. The victim’s family also can
bring them up on legal charges. Just
like the person who bullied me, bullies
can/will be removed.
Town Crier: Have you seen an increase or decrease in bullying during
the period of time that you have been
at Paul Revere?
This is the first in a series of Town Crier
special reports about Patriots who are
making a difference in their community.
Mrs. Somoza: I think all the efforts of
administrators, teachers and students
have decreased the incidents of bullying at Revere. I am proud of those
who “Stand for the Silent.” Our lunch
club honors those who stand together
against bullying. It is important to note,
in my opinion, that bullying occurs
when people, like anyone here, think
they are better than others, or other
people’s feelings don’t matter to them.
Those are the characteristics of a selfcentered, egotistical and selfish person
who needs counseling and a definite
change of view.
Town Crier: How do you think bullying problems at Revere compare to
those at other schools?
Mrs. Somoza: I think the Revere community works extremely hard to stop
bullying. I sincerely hope we continue
on this very worthwhile path. I cannot
think of any success more significant
than stopping bullying, not only at our
school-site but wherever it happens.
What a great way to “Pay it Forward.”
Travel
Summer Fun Across Six Continents
By LYRIC LATSHAW
and McKENNA BROWN
From gazing at Half Dome in home
sweet home California, to exploring
sky scrapers of the Big Apple 3000
miles away, Paul Revere students traveled across the vast landscape of our
fifty states this summer. Whether they
flew, drove, or took a horse to their
destination, every student has a story
to tell. The stories of Paul Revere’s Patriots can be told through pictures that
they took over their vacations. Students
this summer visited many places.
(1) Mr. Schepps, seventh grade history teacher, was able to get away this
summer and cruise ziplines during his
vacation in Canada.
(2) Meilani Wang visited one of
California’s national parks: Yosemite.
She went with her brother, mom, and
dad. During the four days they were
there, they hiked to Bridal Veil Falls,
Mirror Lake, and Lower Yosemite
Falls. They also rented bikes and rode
all the way to Curry village. “My favorite part of the trip was climbing up
to where the Yosemite falls went into a
pool and standing under it.”
(3) Spencer Davis marveled at the
mountains and rivers of Idaho while exploring with his dog. He stayed in Idaho this summer with his grandmother
and his dad. Because his dad has been
vacationing there for over forty years,
they knew all the right places to travel.
They visited Red Fish Lake and hiked
on the fishhook creek trail, where this
picture was taken.
Spencer’s favorite part was mountain biking down the ski slopes of Bald
Mountain. “This was the first time that
I took my dog, Rusty, to Idaho in the
thirteen years that I have been going
there. It was awesome to play fetch
with him. It was amazing how happy
he was to hop in the water and swim
during really hot hikes.”
(4) Meanwhile, back on the west
coast, Patriots took advantage of the days
without school. Jessie and Ally Bierschenk,
one a 7th grader at Revere, and the other
a 6th grader here, went tubing down the
rivers of South Dakota. While there, they
floated down the river for so long, three
whole miles, that their parents had to pick
them up. They were in South Dakota for a
second cousin’s wedding.
(5) Sam Rene, her brother, Will, and
her sister, Lizzie, went to Universal Studios
in California and believed that the hanging
shark would be a perfect photo opportunity. Naturally, Will, the little brother of
the family, stuck his head in its mouth.
(6) Alexander Siliezar and Kiara
Vaziri spent their break on the beaches
of Mexico lavishing in the sun’s rays.
The soon-to-be 8th graders visited Punta
Mita, Mexico and paddle boarded their
July days away.
(7) Jordan Koz, an 8th grader, went
to Rustic Pathways sleep away camp in
Costa Rica for two weeks. “My favorite
part would either be going bungee jumping or propelling down a waterfall,” she
explains.
(8) Rayne Camden explored the
wonders of Brazil this summer. “When
I was visiting my uncle Renato in Sao
Paulo, he brought me to the Interlogos
racetrack which is where they have Formula 1 racecars race every year,” said
the 8th grader.
“I also spent time with my two cousins at Red Beach near Ubataba.”
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On the other side of the Atlantic,
Patriots explored continents and countries in exciting ways.
(9) Eighth grader Sage got to hang
out with monkeys as she toured Thailand for five weeks. “When we went
to Abud, we got to go to a monkey
jungle where monkeys would climb
on your back without any trainer. My
favorite part was when one monkey
jumped on my shoulder and kissed my
cheek,” she says. “I also got to learn a
lot about Buddhists and we were able to
see many beautiful beaches and enjoy
nature.”
(10) Captain Jack Burrows got to
sail up the Burgundy Canal and journey
towards Paris, enjoying visiting parts of
Europe along the way. Spoiler alert: it
wasn’t a three hour tour!
(11) Nicole visited Rome and the
Colosseum. “It was awesome to see
famous sites and enjoy myself this summer,” she said. “I learned a lot.”
(12) Yoshi Takashima, an 8th
grader, vactioned in the wonders of
Japanese castles this summer. “I went
to Japan with my siblings: my brother
and my sister,” Yoshi recalls. “While
my dad was on a business trip in
Hong Kong, we explored castles and
temples.”
Also exploring Japan, 7th grader
Melanie Matayoshi tells the Town
Crier: “I really wanted to dress up in a
traditonal Kimono when I visited Hiroshima this past summer,” she said. “It
took two hours to dress and to have my
hair and makeup done. Yes, that’s my
real hair! I really couldn’t breathe or
move very much becaus ethe kimono
was wrapped so tightly. I could barely
smile for this picture!”
(13) Katie, a sixth grader of Paul
Revere, was able to visit Australia in its
summer season (which is our winter)
with her sisters. While there, they met
koalas and got to hold them.
(14) Chloe Goodman-Williams
vacationed in Kenya and went on a
week long trip in a safari car. “We took
a trip to an indigenous tribe called the
Samburu tribe who were nomads. It
was really interesting to learn how different their life was compared to our
lives in America. They don’t have electricity and sometimes they have to walk
for miles to get water. The thing that
amazed me the most was that they were
all cheerful and happy, although they
didn’t have the things we do in other
parts of the world.”
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Fascinating Farm Life
By GABI FEINGOLD
Mr. Honda’s 7th grade science class is a completely different experience than your normal health class. All the way
up the east driveway at the farm, R-1 is a class with high-tech
microscopes and tons of different animals.
Students soon discover that this health science class is
hands-on learning where you get to see and feel different
animals, and explore more than just the lessons in the textbook. Inside the class, the first thing you notice is all the
different sizes of cages and containers, inhabited by hamsters,
fish, insects, tortoises and scaly snakes, big and small. Outside
of R-1, “The Farm” is populated with chickens, ducks, turtles,
doves, bunnies and guinea pigs.
On the second day of school, Mr. Honda introduced his
students to his scaly friends, the snakes. Some students were
thrilled to hold these slimy creatures. Others, not so much.
Too make things even more interesting, Mr. Honda also
brought out some insects; the hissing cockroaches had some
students jumping up on chairs to avoid them.
Some students may not have enjoyed their first hands-on
Honda experience, but the students are hoping that they’re going to benefit from many more less slimy lessons in the months
to come.
Robotics students Daniel, Jack and
Sam program their robot to dodge
obstacles in the Mission Quad.
Miros (left) and Ava
hang out with their
new scaly friend.
Fun with Friends, Robots and Even a Vulcan
By DANIELLE YORK
The first week of school brought along surprises
for many Patriots, including a scavenger hunt
assigned by science and robotics teacher Cmdr.
Banner. One of the items on the list was to find out
if there was an elevator somewhere on campus.
Cmdr. Banner later admitted it was all just a
game. But does she think an elevator on campus
is a good idea? “Can’t really see a need,” she said.
“But I would like a fireman’s pole to get down
from the storage loft in J-4.”
Cmdr. Banner is looking forward to the
arrival of the iPads in January, when teachers and
students will have access to many new forms of
curriculum. How will she be taking advantage of
Smart Sal the Science Gal
this new addition?
“Students will be logging into their LAUSD
email accounts to access shared documents, such
as data tables for lab results,” she reports. “They
will be constantly responding to summative
assessments, and they will build an electronic
portfolio.”
Rumor has it that Cmdr. Banner isn’t your
ordinary science teacher. Not only is she one of
Revere’s 8th grade science teachers, as well as the
robotics teacher and leader of the lunchtime Sci-Fi
club, but she isn’t even from this planet!
Cmdr. Banner says she is a Vulcan from the
future. “It’s fascinating,” she says. “I can’t say any
more due to the PRIME DIRECTIVE. Google it.”
By Mai Robinson
Springing into Science with SLINKIES
There are many ways to learn
science concepts. Ms. Istrin’s
6th grade science scholars
learned about different kinds of
energy waves in their earthquake
slinky lab. The students paired
up, grabbed their Slinkies, and
headed out of the classroom.
Once outside, the partners
each grabbed one end of the
Slinky and stretched it out
between them. They pushed
their sides of the Slinky back
and forth to represent P waves
(primary waves) and next, side
to side to represent S waves
(secondary waves). This visual
display helped them remember
the difference between the two
energy waves. —Sierra Margolis
Owen (left) and Justin use Slinkies to learn about P and S waves.
Spot the
Differences
1. orange M&M missing, 2. green M&Ms added, 3. freckles gone, 4. blue logo, 5. new pencil box and folder color, 6. no pink pencil, 7. different hair color
Mr. Aochi’s 8th grade science class has a reputation for
having many fun projects, and
the very first one was an M&M
lab. His classes had to sort and
count the colors and make a table to show how many colors of
M&Ms there were and how many
of each color. After they did that
they made pie charts and bar
graphs to show what they had in
their 1.69-ounce bag of M&Ms.
In the picture on the near
right, Noah and his friends investigate what’s in their M&M bags.
The picture on the far right has
been Photoshopped with 8 differences. How many can you spot?
Fun Skits
and Fancy
Footwork
Entertainment
Ms. Pan leads her
class in Town Hall.
Entertaining electives
have 6th graders acting
and dancing their way
through the semester.
By MELISSA
BUNNAPRADIST
Out of all the classes offered
on the sixth grade elective
wheel, two that seem to be
attracting a lot of attention are
Mr. Hernandez’s Introduction
to Shakespeare and Ms. Pan’s
Ballroom Dancing.
Why would a science and
math teacher like Mr. Hernandez
choose to teach a literaturerelated class? “When I came to
Paul Revere in 1996,” said Mr.
Hernandez, “the principal asked
what elective I would like to
teach after lunch. I said drama,
but it was already being taught,
so then I thought, ‘How about
Introduction to Shakespeare?’
After 17 years, he is still teaching
Shakespeare to Revere’s newest
Patriots.
The first exercise the kids
perform is a mirroring routine.
The students divide into pairs
and come up with a short skit
where they imitate each other.
According to Mr. Hernandez,
the mirroring lets the students
perform without having to
say lines, which helps them
overcome stage fright.
Alice (left)
and Inessa try
“mirroring” for
Mr. Hernandez.
When he was taking a
literature class in 11th grade,
Mr. Hernandez remembers
doing the balcony scene
from Romeo and Juliet. His
experience led him to make his
students memorize and perform
the very same lines. “This scene
is one of the most classic scenes
in all of English literature. It is
something they will remember
forever.”
Ballroom Dancing with Ms.
“Got a secret, can you keep it?” Here’s a
secret you can’t keep: “Pretty Little Liars”
is on fire! This suspenseful TV show
follows four best friends, Aria, Spencer,
Emily and Hanna, in their mysterious lives
as they try to discover who murdered their
fifth friend, Alison. Somebody is stalking
the girls and leading them to make poor
decisions, like murders, and forcing them
to keep their dirty little secrets. From
backstabbing your friend to cheating
on your boyfriend, there’s no guess to
what these girls are going to do next.
—Jojo Levey
No need to stay tuned anymore, because
“American Idol” has lost its flair. The
singing competition was very popular in
the early 2000’s, but recently the ratings
have taken a turn for the worse. From
the first season to the twelfth, the show
has lost over thirteen million views. The
seasons are repetitive, boring and all the
original judges have left. And what’s the
point of winning the competition, when
it doesn’t get you anywhere? No wonder
Simon Cowell moved to “The X Factor.”
“American Idol” is dead and gone.
—Poppy Frost
She’s “Catching Fire,” and she’s catching
the attention of paparazzi and fans
everywhere. Her career took off in 2010
when she starred in “Winter’s Bone,” and
now her quirky personality and excellent
acting skills have earned her several
awards and nominations. She’s best
known for her performance as Katniss
in “The Hunger Games,” and excitement
is brewing for the release of the sequel,
“Catching Fire.” From Kentucky girl to
second-youngest actress ever to win an
Oscar, Jennifer Lawrence is on the road
to success. —Alicia Abramson
From Duke Orsino to Greg Jenko, from
Magic Mike to John Cale, Channing
Tatum had it all when it came to his
career as a worldwide actor. But it seems
that his fame is fading away with his
youth. His first serious role was in CSI:
Miami, which led him to begin his job
on camera. The most recent movie he
starred in, White House Down, was given
a 49% rotten tomatoes review and lost
$77 million in the making of it. Overall,
it seems Channing Tatum’s career is
coming down just as fast as the White
House did. —Claire Spector
They’ve got that “One Thing!” British
boy-band One Direction has thousands
of “Directioners” all around the world
singing, screaming and crying all over
them. These UK boys are too cute with
their adorable accents and charming good
looks. Harry, Louis, Liam, Niall and
Zayn all started out as solo artists on the
hit show, The “X Factor,” where they
were formed into a band. These five boys
have given girls all over the planet the
“One Direction Infection.” One Direction
is certainly headed in the right direction!
—Gabi Feingold
Click! Snap! Flash! Instagram is
taking over the app store, opening up a
wonderful world of photography to its
users. Choose one of many filters to fix
up your photo or video, and then share it
with all of your followers. You can post
anything from flowers to sunsets to
videos of your friends. A person could
see the beautiful things happening in
your life, even on the go. Add a location,
tag your friends, and get liking! Facebook
is old news; Instagram is taking over the
world of social media. —Haley McCarthy
Miley Cyrus, once a star among children
everywhere, is now a world-wide
disaster. She sings “We Can’t Stop,” but
everyone would appreciate it if she did.
The new hairstyle does not work for her;
she’s practically bald. At first she was
an innocent pop star, but now she’s busy
“dancing” with married men in revealing
outfits and producing inappropriate
music videos.She really is a wrecking
ball, tainting the youth of today and
leaving young girls’ hearts crushed that
their beloved Hannnah Montana is gone.
—Loren Jacobs
Remember the days you could find one
of your friends with the click of a button?
Neither do many others. Facebook
has been losing angry users, due to its
constant pop up ads, annoying changes,
and the deleting of accounts. When I log
onto Facebook it seems all my feed is
filled with weird pages I’ve never heard
of or requests for Candy Crush lives. The
main reason many now have Facebook
is for games; it’s not used for its original
purpose. Facebook, the world just hit the
dislike button. —McKenna Brown
Pan also seems very memorable
for its students. Many students
who took the class last year are
still talking about how much
they loved the elective.
According to Gabi Feingold,
“The class itself is really fun,
and Ms. Pan is awesome. But
it was sort of uncomfortable
dancing with a few of the guys.”
Ms. Pan is aware of how
awkward the routines can be at
first. “The scariest part about
this class is the touching,” she
explained.
“But students quickly learn
their fear is more about the
unknown and once they do it
a few times, they learn it isn’t
so bad and then stop thinking
about it entirely. Because we
spend a lot of time in ‘dance
position,’ I stress a lot of social
etiquette and learn how to touch
one another appropriately and
make each other feel physically
comfortable and respected.”
The English and history
teacher chose ballroom dancing
for her elective because it’s the
dance style she enjoys most. She
majored in dance in college.
Her kids spend about two
to three weeks on each dance
style, covering the basics of the
merengue, bachata, salsa, swing,
cha cha, and occasionally a
waltz, tango, foxtrot or hustle.
Tech Talk
New iPhones Are Here
By BRIAN ZARGAR
It’s finally arrived. You’ve
seen them at one, two, three,
four, again at five, but now,
the next generation of iPhones
are here. With the new iPhone,
the 5S, along with additional
plastic iPhone, the 5C, Apple
has made its 2013 debut. Along
with brand new features, and
the first time Apple released two
iPhones at once, this promises
to be an exciting generation of
Apple.
It seems Apple fans are
never satisfied with what they
have; they are always hungry
for what’s next, including
myself. For this reason, Apple
has been working around the
clock to bring the next lineup of
devices to the market. However,
there are far more options for
smart phones than just iPhones,
which has inevitably created a
rivalry between these companies
and their customers. And this
raises the question: is the iPhone
really worth it? For example,
the Samsung Galaxies have
“wave-your-hand” technology
while Windows phones have
41 megapixel cameras, over 5
times the capacity of the iPhone
5S. The Town Crier interviewed
iPhone 5S owner, 8th grader
Nima Rafie about his opinion on
the matter. As it appears, Nima
is a strong supporter of Apple.
Visionary Glasses
By AMANDA THOMPSON
Google X has come up with
another high tech gadget for
all iPhone and computer users around the world. Google
Glasses are said to be a wearable computer and will hit the
markets before the end of 2013.
Featuring an HD video recorder,
camera, and touchpad, Google
Glasses already have several
Patriots lining up to buy this
product.
Eighth grader Trinity Stanback is just one of the many
prospective buyers. “It can do
everything that my iPhone can
do and more!” she exclaims.
“It’s like a smart phone for my
face.” When asked about her
concerns, she simply replies,
“It’s still a prototype, so of
course it will have a few issues,
but hopefully nothing major.”
So far, Google Glasses have
over twenty competitors. Some
of the challengers include Apple
with iGlass, and Epson with
Smart Glasses, which project a
screen across your whole field
of vision instead of the corner
of your eye. “In my opinion
they are just copies of Google
Glasses,” Trinity states. But
with other competitors not far
behind, it will be hard to say
which version gets the most
buyers.
Google is rapidly making
The Town Crier
CHALLENGE:
By SAMANTHA RENE
The Town Crier recently received information that we have
some Rubik’s cubers on campus!
The objective of the game is to
configure the squares until each
face of the cube shows one color
only. Fingers fly across the colorful cubes on September 6, 2013
as two Revere students, Sophie
Marsden—a seventh grader, and
Sutton Shin—an eighth grader,
go head to head in a fierce Rubik’s cube battle. It is obvious
that both competitors are very
experienced. Sutton has been
Can you
tell the
difference?
Dylan Nobel is
holding the 5
and Allen Nobel
is holding the
5S.
“I got it the second day it came
out!” Nima told us. The new
iPhone also comes equipped
witha thumb scanner. “When I
first got my phone it was hard to
adapt to the thumb print unlocking my phone, but over time it
became natural and a lot easier
than using a passcode. The battery can last me two days with
one charge. The camera also has
a new feature called slow-mo,
where I take a video and it con-
verts the video to slow motion.
Also, I live in Brentwood and
the reception is amazing with
my phone being on Verizon.”
Clearly, Nima thoroughly enjoys
his iPhone, but that is completely understandable.
Meanwhile, on the other end
of the spectrum, 6th grader Eli
Susman talks about his iPhone
5C. The 5C is Apple’s first plastic iPhone, making it available
is such colors as blue, white,
yellow and green. Eli’s reasons
for purchasing his phone ranged
from its color to how the plastic
back was virtually indestructible. But the question we’ve all
been waiting for: is the plastic
iPhone still too expensive?
Well, take it straight from the
owner. “I think the price is
OK.” However, I think most of
us would think that the option
of the 5S vs the 5C is won by
the 5S. Even the owner of a 5C
agrees on this: “I wanted the 5S,
but I wasn’t allowed to get that
for my first phone.” Nevertheless, Apple has still triumphed
will this innovation.
Whether you are always ten
years ahead of modern technology, or your Jitterbug is all you
need to be happy, you have
to agree that the new Apple
iPhones are the best yet. But
nobody should get too comfortable with this new cast, because
it is just a matter of time before
Apple blows your mind again.
Shocking Device for Web Abusers
By McKENNA BROWN
If you are one of the many
people around the world who
use social networking on a daily
basis, there is a new device that
might be of interest to you. The
Pavlov Poke connects to computers and monitors the social
websites you go on the most. If
it finds you are on a certain site
regularly, it will send a shock
through an attachable armrest
to the palm of your hand. I am
an active Internet user and can’t
help but find this a little too
extreme. I understand that if you
are on the web 24/7 and have
an addiction to technology, then
this could be a good thing, but
I still find this very inhuman.
It reminds me of dog shock
collars. The point of the shock
collar is to stop the dog from
barking and for training assistance. It seems like we are truly
treating ourselves like animals.
The shock given with the
Pavlov Poke is described as
“unpleasant, but not dangerous.” Although the point of the
device is seemingly a joke, it
appears to bring up the point of
how addictive social networking
truly is. In fact, studies by the
University of Chicago show that
“the social networks, Twitter
and Facebook, are more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol.” To make matters worse,
Facebook reportedly “reduces
subjective well being.” Not
only is Facebook addictive, it
can also make you unhappy and
possibly depressed. The Pavlov
Poke is currently unavailable for
sale right now, but with continuous hype, it could train the next
generation to stop Facebooking
and learn to speak as opposed to
send.
Ask.fm Leaves People Asking
A Revere student
running the mile
while wearing
Google Glasses.
apps for their new headset,
including a running app that can
project a virtual avatar so you
can race against yourself or famous sports stars. When they’re
released, they will have social
media, such as Glassagram,
Facebook, and Facetime.
With all this new technology,
who knows what the future can
hold?
By ETHAN JONES
Towards the end of the
2012-2013 school year, a
website called Ask.fm became
extremely popular among
students. There were over 60
million users. This is a site
where kids have the opportunity
to gossip and ask each other
questions. But despite all its
momentary glory, Ask.fm suddenly became under fire around
the globe when teenager Jessica
Laney committed suicide from
being cyber bullied. One commenter had asked “Can you kill
yourself already?” and another
commenter wrote, “Nobody
even cares about you.” Because
of Ask.fm, two other teens have
Rubik’s Race
playing for 2 years and his best
time is an outstanding 16 seconds! Sophie has been playing
for about a month and a half, and
she still has an impressive time
of 1 minute and 18.9 seconds!
To most people, it’s just a
cube and a game, but to Sutton
it is a whole different story. One
of the world’s greatest Rubik’s
Cube player, Michael Young,
taught Sutton, and now Sutton
knows how to cube rapidly. A
few years ago, he participated
in several competitions, but now
he just does it for fun to relieve
stress. Sutton said that the fastest method you could use called
the waterman method, and averages out to a time of 16 seconds
to finish the cube. Sophie may
have only been able to do it for
a month and a half, but she can
still do it in a jiffy. With the help
of someone from camp and YouTube, Sophie learned how to do
the Rubik’s Cube in no time.
committed suicide, following
Jessica’s death.
The founder of the website,
Mark Terebin, wrote on his
page, “Ask.fm is just a tool
which helps people to communicate with each other, same as
any other social network, same
as piece of paper and pen. Don’t
blame a tool, but try to make
changes… start with yourself…” Ask.fm has promised
to change, making the report
button more visible, and including bullying and harassment as
a category for reporting. They
also promised they would hire a
security official to read through
comments for abusive or inappropriate remarks on the site,
require an e-mail for registered
Winner Sophie Marsden (left) and Contestant Sutton Shin (right).
There are different methods
used, but Sophie did something
different. She combined several
techniques to get one amazing
method. While she was doing it
for fun, Sophie realized that the
Rubik’s Cube helped her developed a quick mind.
The seventh and eighth grader both had a friendly competition. While Sutton and Sophie
acconts, and take away features
that unregistered users were
able to access before. These
changes were implemented in
late September, but the question
is: are they really enough?
Students at Revere have
their own opinions on this
website. “I like how people can
ask questions they want to know
about you. I dislike how you
can’t see the person who asked
the questions, and how some
people can be cyber-bullied on
the site,” says eighth-grader
Lailee Connell. “Before the
ability to block came along,”
says McKenna Brown, “you
couldn’t see who was bullying
you if you were a victim. Things
have definitely improved.”
quickly competed, we noted
their times, so we have record of
who won. The two of them told
us there is two different ways to
find out who one. One of them is
doing the best 2 out of 3 method.
You can also find the winner by
finding the average score of both
players, and who ever has the
greatest time wins. Sutton won
round one with a time of 1 minute and 34.90 seconds and Sophie with a time of 1 minute and
36.29 seconds. Round two was
won by Sophie with a shocking
time of 1 min.ute and 24.92 seconds and Sutton with a time of 2
minutes and 08.92 seconds. For
the final round, Sophie came in
first, beating Sutton by about 7
seconds with a time of 1 minute
and 23.71 seconds and Sutton
having a time of 1 minute and
30.52 seconds. For the averages
Sophie had a time of 1 minute
and 28.31 seconds and Sutton
had a time of 1 minute and 44.73
seconds. With a fair game, they
both agreed that Sophie won the
Rubik’s Cube competition.
Sports
XC Runners Continue to XL
Flaviano Winther springs into action, taking an early lead for Team Revere at a recent meet in Woodley Park on Oct. 1. Flaviano finished first.
By BRITTANY DARROW
A dramatic change has taken
place to the sports program at
Revere. The school’s P.E.P.
teams have joined the Delphic
League. This means students in
after-school sports will be going
head to head with competitive
local private schools such as
Harvard Westlake, Oaks Christian
and Brentwood.
One team that has actively
been competing against these
schools is the cross-country
team. During their first meet, at
Rancho Park, the female Patriots
earned sixth place, and the boys
came in third. The first boy to
finish the race from Revere was
7th grader Brent Smith, who
finished first overall. The first
girl from Revere was Sydney
Brouwer, who finished 24th.
The second meet, held at
Pierce College, was one of
Revere’s best. The girls and
the boys both took third place
overall. The first finisher for
Revere was 8th grader Flaviano
Winther, who also took first place
overall. As for girls, Brittany
Darrow, a 7th grader, took first
place for Revere and overall.
At their most recent meet,
in Woodley Park, Flaviano
snatched first place again, and
Revere’s first girl to finish was
8th grader Lexi Steinberg, who
finished 12th overall.
Coach Foxson looks forward
to this year’s XC season. “So far
Revere is doing really well,” he
said. “We have the league’s topranked boy, Flaviano Winther,
and the top-ranked girl, Brittany
Darrow, on our team.” He encourages Patriots to
keep it up. “Pain is temporary,”
he says. “Pride is forever.”

Skylar Smith (right) leads the
pack in a warm up run around
the lower field.
Liam Mathers (left) squares off against
James Shannon in the wrestling ring.
Cole Jacobs
(left) defends
Daniel Rois.
Madeline Fowler
prepares to serve
the Volley ball and
send it soaring
across the net.
Pepped Up for P.E.P.
By BRITTANY DARROW
As the dismissal bell rings,
students shuffle one by one out
of their classrooms. Most of
them are on their way home,
others are going to their favorite
after-school hangouts, but some
of them stay right where they
already are—Revere. So, what
exactly are these students doing
here? Well, they’re staying
for the Personal Enrichment
Program, or P.E.P.
P.E.P. is the non-profit, afterschool program that allows
students to participate in sports
and classes that are run by
Revere teachers. During the
year, Patriots can participate
in P.E.P. throughout three 8-10
week sessions. Each session
consists of a number of different
activities, such as cross-country,
tennis, volleyball, basketball,
wrestling and more. Patriots can
enroll at www.reverepep.org.
One student who is pepped
up for P.E.P. is seventh grader
Jessie Bierschenk, who plays on
the school’s varsity volleyball
team. “My favorite thing about
varsity volleyball is playing with
the 8th graders on the team,”
said Jessie. “They motivate
me to try my hardest and I can
also become a better player by
practicing with them.”
Last year, Jessie participated
in junior-varsity volleyball and
intramural volleyball. Jessie
found that by doing these
activities the coaching was
directed towards her techniques,
so her skills improved.
Ryan Breitman, a seventh
grade cross-country runner, is
also an advocate of P.E.P. “I like
it because I get to hang out with
all my friends after school,” he
said. “It is a great way to train
and improve in the sport you
chose.” Ryan found that by doing
cross-country, his endurance and
running skills have improved.
Not surprisingly, Revere’s
P.E. department is a huge P.E.P.
advocate. Mr. Lafolette, a P.E.P.
orchestrator and also a P.E.
teacher and department chair,
said, “Every student needs to be
active for at least 30 minutes a
day. However, we expect more
from our Revere students.”
He says that P.E.P. is a way
to achieve this much physical
activity. “Plus,” he said, “it’s
where ‘the cool’ stay after
school.”
Jack O’Rourke
sends the ball
soaring over the
green of the field.
Miayaunique
South practices
her tennis skills
on the Revere
courts.
All Around the P.E.Wheel
By BRITTANY DARROW
This year in P.E., students
will once again be exposed to
many different sports, including track and field, soccer, volleyball, dodgeball, basketball
and field games. To make things
even more interesting, Revere
also offers run days, fitness days,
and Flex Fridays.
On run days, students have
a chance to earn colorful shirts
to honor their achievements.
A Wonder Woman shirt is for
girls who complete a mile run
in under six minutes and thirty seconds. Sub-Six shirts are
awarded to those who can run a
mile in under six minutes. Flash
shirts go to those boys who can
acheive two consecutive miles in
under twelve minutes, and girls
who can complete this in below
thirteen minutes. On Flex Friday,
most students’ favorite weekday, Patriots can earn Superman
shirts for doing ten pole climbs
in the obstacle course in under
five minutes and Iron Man shirts
for five back to back miles with
a time of sub-forty minutes.
Students have a few more
things to look forward to this
year. For instance, this year is
the official launch of the Fantastic Four T-shirt. Students can
receive this T-shirt by earning all
the other shirts. Two hopefuls for
this shirt are eighth grader Jite
Agege and seventh grader Brent
Smith. Jite has every shirt except
for Superman, while Brent is
missing only Superman and Iron
Man.
Both runners agree that Flash
Saam, Aidan,
and Ethan
play a game
of capture
the flag.
Field Games
Anthony
kicks
the ball
during
soccer.
Soccer
was the hardest shirt to earn. “It
is not easy to run two miles, and
you have to go pretty fast,” says
Jite. “I think it takes the most
practice,” says Jite.
On the other hand, Brent says
that Sub-Six was the easiest for
him. “If you push hard enough
when you are running it becomes
easier every time,” he says.
Sam and
London play
basketball
during P.E.
Deryn
practices
her volleyball skills.
Basketball
Volleyball
Track & Field
According to Mr. Lafolette,
the P.E. department chair, there
won’t be any other new shirts
coming out this year, but there
has been some talk about a Spiderman shirt that might be coming out in the future.
Also, many students look
forward to the Spring Fun Run.
According to Mr. Lafolette, “It’s
proven to be a great fundraiser,
which allows the P.E. Department to give back to Revere by
giving a portion of the money
raised to other departments at
Revere.” By participating in the
Fun Run, students can earn their
community service hours. For
every twenty dollars that someone raises, they get one hour
of community service. Sponsors can also give any amount
of money to a student of their
choice depending on how far the
student runs.
From volleyball to track and
field, Revere’s physical education program appears to be an
overall touchdown this school
year.
Student Sports Stars
Dancing on Ice
Kicking It
Rose prepairs herself to dive in
and race against her opponent.
Just Keep
Swimming
Rose Walker, one of Revere’s eighth grade Patriots, is
a swimming sports star! At age
nine, Rose was inspired by the
Olympics on TV, and has been
motivated to be like the proffesionals ever since. “I love seeing
myself improve, and that keeps
me motivated to get even better,” says Rose. She enjoys the
competition in swim, and practices six days a week, two hours
a day. “Swimming takes a lot of
my time, and sometimes I can’t
do other things because of that.
However, it makes me feel good
about myself that I dedicate so
much of my time to something
I love.” Therefore, when she
feels discouraged, she remembers her dreams and “just keeps
swimming.” Rose plans to keep
swimming through high school
and college, and her dream is to
be on the swim team at Stanford.
—Jojo Levey
Seventh grade sports star
Matheo Hahn has been a tae
kwon do student for two years.
It might seem like a painful
activity, but Matheo practices
three times a week and is always
ready for action. He just recently became a brown belt. He
doesn’t only play it for fun and
his friends play it, too, he plays
it for self-defense. If it weren’t
for himself, he would’ve never
found a sport that fits him well
like this one. Chopping wood
must be hard but not for him. In
fact, chopping wood was his favorite memory. In Mateo’s spinning his head thinking, “ What
if I fail and break my hand,” but
when it was his turn, he chopped
it like it was nothing. Mateo is a
really experienced tae kwon do
athlete. He’s been playing it for
two years and is waiting to finally get that black belt. Later on,
Matheo Han wants to remember
all his training because being an
adult means responsibility, and
having responsibility means protecting himself and his family.
—Ysmael Kamgaing
Matheo chops the wood block in
pieces with a powerful kick.
Skylar runs
the Around
the World
mile.
Ainsley flies through the air as
she flips on the balance beam.
Flipping Out
Ainsley Prins makes her way
up to the bars. She does a flip
and then unclenches her blistered hands and flies through the
air, landing perfectly on the mat
below her.
“I’ve been taking gymnastics ever since I was two years
old,” Ainsley tells us. Now she
is twelve and completely devoted to gymnastics. Her dream
is to go to the Olympics and
compete on bars event. She says
that out of bars, vault, beam, and
floor events, by far her favorite
is bars. “The thought of becoming an Olympian one day just
like all the other professionals,
motivates me to give it all I’ve
got during training each day.”
Ainsley strives to be the best she
can be, and hopes to become as
successful as her roll-model, Mc
Kayla Maroney. “Mc Kayla is
always working hard and never
fails to succeed. If she slips off
the bars or has a messy landing,
she just tries again and again till
it’s perfect,” says Ainsley proudly.
—Georgia Calvert
Balance, Agility, and posture are only some of the fundamental skills needed in Mira
Polishook’s life. That’s because
Mira spends her time in frigid
skating rinks as a figure skater.
Two days a week, Mira spends
two hours perfecting tricks such
as spins, scorpions, and jumps.
Mira first started figure skating when she was six years old.
Her mom had signed her up for
group classes and she loved the
sport. Now, the seventh grader
often places in competitions!
Mira participates in these competitions three to four times a
year.
But although Mira participates
in competitions right now, she
does not want to be a competitive skater in the future. “I would
like to be a show skater because
I would work on cruise ships or
in recitals and performances,”
Mira says. Her favorite thing
about skating is the costumes.
She loves acting out characters
on the ice in the crazy clothes
that she gets to wear. From twirls
to turns, Mira glides through life
like shes living on the ice.
—Brittany Darrow
Mira glides gracefully across
the ice during her performance.
Macchio sprints down the field
with the ball towards the goal.
Sticking to
Lacrosse
“My greatest moment playing lacrosse was in double overtime when I scored the final goal
and won the championship in
Arizona,” says eighth grader
Macchio Rissone. “I have been
playing this sport for five years,
ever since my dad’s friend came
to my house and suggested that
I start.” Now playing for three
teams, the Los Angeles Lazers,
the Westchester Wave, and Palos
Verdes Factory, he has had lots
of experience on the field. With
this experience he hopes to pursue his goal of getting a scholarship to Duke University, and going to a division one school.
However, it’s not just about
the seriousness of the game. The
aspect of having a good time
while giving the sport all he’s got
also plays a big part in his success. “I enjoy playing lacrosse
because it’s fun, fast paced, and
physical,” says Macchio. “The
adrenaline rush you get when
you score a goal makes you like
you just can’t give up.”
—Claire Spector
Tasty or
Terrible?
Food
Town Crier reporters rate five lunches
served at Paul Revere’s cafeteria.
By ALICIA ABRAMSON
Lettuce discuss the food at our school, and explore
the cafeteria at Revere. Here’s some food for thought.
According to Ms. Nicole Martin, Revere’s cafeteria
manager, about 270 meals are delivered to students each
day, 120 during nutrition and 150 during lunch. This
means that a little more than 7% of students get their
food from the cafeteria during lunch. Most other students bring their own packed lunches to school. According to a poll of 100 Patriots conducted recently by The
Town Crier, 5% buy food from the student store, and 2%
don’t eat lunch at all.
Meals are served three times a day: before school, at
nutrition and at lunch. According to Ms. Martin, the most
popular lunches are burger and fries and Italian calzone.
In addition to the meals pictured on this page, common
lunch menu items include chicken and waffles, spaghetti
and veggie meatballs and burritos.
The food is designed to fit the criteria of the recent
healthy meal initiative. But how does it taste? Does it
hit the spot, or do the LAUSD cooks need to turnip the
flavor?
The Town Crier food critics taste-tested cafeteria food
during the first full week of school—Aug. 19 through
Aug. 23. They rated the food on a scale of one to five
triangles, and then commented on the taste, smell, touch
and appearance.
Perhaps this taste test will encourage more students
to try out the many options available at the school’s cafeteria. Students without a lunch card pay $1.50 per lunch
and teachers pay $3.00. But many days, the food sells
out, so it’s best to arrive in the lunch line early.
ssss When opening the plastic calzone bag, a breadlike aroma escaped. The calzone was lukewarm on the
outside and steaming on the inside, which took my taste
buds by surprise. The salad was cold and dry. The apple
frozen dessert wasn’t sweet at all, and it left a strange
aftertaste in my mouth. The milk tasted just like your
average supermarket variety. —Alon Levi
ssss Overall presentation was mediocre. The smell
was not the best, but not horrible either. I was not crazy
about the texture, for it was rather chewy, but the taste
was rather pleasing. I liked the combination of melted
cheese and tomato sauce. The greens were too dry and
not that fresh. The apple frozen dessert was perfectly
cold and had a smooth, creamy texture. —Danielle York
sss The calzone smelled like warm, baked bread.
The ice cream smelled like metal apples and looked
mushy and unappetizing. The salad was dry but
crunchy. The calzone was nicely warm. The icy treat
tasted like frozen applesauce. —Ethan Jones
ssss The chicken tasted almost exactly like the seasoned potatoes. The potatoes tasted quite delicious and
reminded me of something my mom might make me. I
almost forgot I was eating cafeteria food. The bread was
quite bland. The apple was sweet and refreshing. The
milk smelled fresh, not sour. —Mai Robinson
ssss Once I opened up the packaging, I could smell
the strong seasoning of the potatoes and feel the warmth
of the chicken. When I tasted the bread, although it was
warm and soft, it was disappointing. The flavor was
bland. The apple was sweet, juicy, crisp and fresh. The
chicken was also very good, and I could have easily eaten all of it. The milk was fine but I think the cardboard
packaging ruined the taste slightly. —
Shelby Tzung
sss The brown and soggy-looking chicken tenders
looked unappetizing, but they tasted flavorful. The
potatoes were too seasoned. The bread tasted dry and
bland. The apple tasted sweet, juicy and fresh. The milk
smelled and tasted sweet. —Brittany Darrow
MEATY BEAN DIP & CHIPS
TURKEY SANDWICH & CARROTS
HAMBURGER & POTATO WEDGES
sss When I first saw this “delicacy,” it looked absolutely digusting. The food was unorganized and the
display was unappealing. But when I took my first bites,
the dish wasn’t half bad. The quality of the food wasn’t
very good, but the chips were delicious and the bean
dip was nice and soft. The chips were very hard, but not
stale, and the tomatoes were firm. —Jojo Levey
sss The chips felt rough, and the bean dip was soft,
crunchy and cold. The bean dip merely smelled like wet
lettuce and beans with a touch of meat. The beans and
meat had flavor but the lettuce tasted very bland. It was
a mediocre dish in general. The milk and the apple juice
were really thin. —Melissa Bunnapradist
sss The dish smelled like cold pasta with ketchup. It
looked utterly repulsive. The meat was dumped on a bed
of limp lettuce and cold, soft beans. Though the beans,
meat and tomatoes needed some salt, the chips and hot
sauce provided a nice amount of flavor. Though cold to
the touch, this dish’s beans were just soft enough while
the chips provided a perfect crunch. —Brian Zargar
CHEESE CALZONE & SALAD
ssss The turkey smelled pretty good, but I could
already tell how dry it was. The carrots and banana
looked very fresh and added a burst of color to the
meal. The turkey and bread felt very dry. The carrots
felt very moist, and the milk was cold and refreshing.
The sandwich was surprisingly good, despite the fact
that the bread and turkey were extremely dry. The ranch
dressing was way too seasoned. —Gabi Feingold
ssss The turkey sandwich had a lightly papery
aroma. It didn’t taste awful but it wasn’t exciting; it was
very bland. The carrots tasted fresh and crisp while the
dressing was way too seasoned and strong. The banana
tasted as good as it looked, sweet and pleasant. The
milk was runny and thin. —Jessie Bierschenk
sss This meal did not have a distinct smell. If anything, it all just smelled like cardboard. The sandwich
was boring and the bread overpowered the slices of
turkey. The carrots were very crunchy. They were fresh
and so was the tasty banana. The banana was mushy and
smooth. My milk was fine as well. —Georgia Calvert
CHICKEN TENDERS & POTATOES
sss The bread smelled like a typical dinner roll, and
the homely meat and fries smelled well-cooked and
salty. Everything was brown and not super appealing.
The bread was very soft—not too moist and not too dry.
The fries were a little soggy, not as crisp as I would’ve
liked. It all tasted a little bland, but the saltiness of the
meat contrasted well with the slight sweetness of the bun.
The fries’ insides had too much pulp. —Sierra Margolis
ssss The smell was quite strange. When opening the
plastic wrapper, a relatively pungent smell was released.
The food was placed in a very organized fashion. The
food was warm. The potatoes had a fair amount of seasoning. The burger did not exceed my expectations, but
was not below, either. —Yoni Strugatsky
ssss Even though it didn’t look very appealing, the
food tasted excellent. The hamburger was delicious. The
fries had a spicy touch to them and they were rich with
flavor. The round bun tasted like fresh bread. When I
took the first sip of milk, I loved how it was cold and it
tasted fresh and delicious. —Samantha Rene
Style
Revere’s Cutting Edge Hairdos
The list of hairstyles here at Revere is growing
almost as fast as our own hair does. The new styles
around campus include honey buns, cornrows, just
gel, and the“Bieber” flip. Boys and girls of all grades
are catching up on to these new fashions, and brushing up on what’s new. The first thing you notice about
a person is their hair. And these new fads have been
slowly braiding a web of style. Seventh graders Audrey
Harrison Garff—Just Gel
Aren’t you gelous of this hairstyle? Guys all around Revere
are gelling up their hair as a
fun new style. This is a fast goto for any occasion. You can
use gel for a party, going to the
skate park, hanging out with
friends, or simply for coming
to school, which has been a
popular trend recently. Just gel
up the front pieces of your hair
and voila!—a fabulous hairstyle
in just a few minutes.
—Haley McCarthy
Rhode (left), Aki Hale (middle) and Devin Fry (right)
are showing off their new hairdos all around Revere.
Audrey’s pick is the pixie cut, featuring an asymmetrical plunge and a light coloring. Aki’s jaw-dropping look
is also a do to dye for. First Aki bleached his hair for
about two hours, then he brushed the blue colored Splat
across the roots of his scalp. After, he waited for it to
dry and the color of his hair came out purple, not blue
Lily Kaplan—Honey Bun
There seems to have been
an abundance of honey buns
around campus lately. With this
newfound style taking up only
three minutes of the morning
by twisting and tying hair, it’s
an easy and fashionable choice.
This popular hairstyle is good
for when you are having a lazy
day, at school, at a party, or just
with friends. So the next time
you’re in a bunch, just remember this fast fashion and make it
happen! —Poppy Frost
Aidan Rosen—Bieber Flip
All around the world, people
are beginning to belieb in the
coolness of long flippy hair.
Inspired by Justin Bieber,
many boys are following in his
famous footsteps and fashions.
Just one slight haircut is all
it takes for this instant style.
The next morning, you wake
up and all you have to do is
flip your hair. It doesn’t matter
what grade you’re in, this cut
is sure to bring swag, swag,
swag on you. —Claire Spector
Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,
Who has the coolest hair of all?
Photography by: Claire Spector, Haley McCarthy, Jojo Levey, and Poppy Frost
like he expected. Meanwhile, Devin has been getting
some clever responses to his cut. One Patriot told him,
“It looks like there’s a squirrel on your head!” There is
not a lot of maintenance or equipment needed for making this do work, just some splashes of water or maybe
a bit of gel here and there.
Now we better cut this short and end with a bang!
—Claire Spector
Jite Agege—Cornrows
Cornrows take a little longer, an
hour in the morning or evening.
This is a fun fashion that has
been catching people’s eye
around campus. Cornrows are
somewhat complicated, done
by braiding the hair along the
scalp, but it lasts for two to
three months. On the plus side,
you don’t have to spend time
on your hair in the morning. So
remember: if you ever have an
extra hour, cornrows are a great
choice. —Haley McCarthy
Eric Halperin—Shaggy Dog
This shaggadelic hairstyle is
giving boys that Austin Powers
look as they rule the school with
this cool fashion. This hair do
may look like a don’t, but takes
no time and looks amazing.
“People say it looks like animals
might even live in my hair,” says
eighth grade student council
representative, Eric Halperin.
The Shaggy Dog is also good
because it is low maintenance
and uses barely any product,
water if anything. —Jojo Levey
Keiji’s Curly Mohawk
Have you seen the boy with that new
hairdo on the campus? Keiji Patterson
is definitely one of the kids who has the
new and popular hair styles. Every morning, this seventh grader wakes up and gets
dressed. And like most students at Revere
he takes five minutes on his hair by putting gel and/or water which forms his
hair the way he wants, but he has a more
interesting hairstyle than others. “I call it
the Curly Mohawk because it’s like a Mohawk, but I have curly hair,” he says.
“It’s actually a funny story. My dad
was the one to cut my hair because he was
so excited about it but, we didn’t tell mom
about it. So when I went to my mom’s
house the next morning she freaked out!
She wanted me to shave off the rest of my
hair because she absolutely hated it, but
then my hair style would be just a buzz
cut and thats not as fun as this. I wouldn’t
let her do it because I loved my new hair-
cut so much. I eventually convinced my
mom to let me keep it,” says Keiji, “and I
am glad I did.”
Some people choose their hairstyle
because they see a friend with it or they
find it on the Internet, but when Keiji was
five or six he listened to the Fish Bowls, a
rock band. He saw the lead singer with a
Mohawk and that inspired Keiji to do the
same. “My dad was very excited about the
idea,” he said, “So my dad sort of shaved
the side of my head to make the middle
into a Mohawk form.” Now if he wants
the same hairstyle he has his dad or hair
dresser shave the side of his head every
two to three weeks. “But it’s worth it.”
When Keiji walks the halls of Revere
he feels special and sees only a few people that have the similar hair style. So the
next time you see Keiji Patterson walking
the halls make sure to compliment him on
his hairdo. —Poppy Frost

Silence Is Not Golden - Paul Revere Charter Middle School

Transcription

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