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GE O R GE WA S HINGTO N
MIDDLE S CHOO L
The GW Times
GW TIME S
STA FF
MEMBER S
Alexis Rech
V O L U M E
4 ,
I S S U E
3
D E C E M B E R
2 0 1 5
Kelsey Lauckner
It’s Time To Give Back #GivingTuesday
Anna McDermott
Faith Aero
By: Maya Charles
Maya Charles
Gray Thursday,
Black Friday,
Small Business Saturday…
Days all about buying things on
sale, for ourselves.
In a world of take, take, take,
it is time we give back.
Nathaniel Simon
Grace Steiner
Alyssa Sherry
Jennifer Cook
Winston Lee
Kaitlyn McNutt
We kicked off 2015’s holiday
season on December 1st with
Giving Tuesday. This year, on
Giving Tuesday, people around
the world shared their generosity by donating a tremendous
amount of money towards charities of their choice. Donations
on Giving Tuesday increased by
about 52% since last year
alone!
Jenna Donaldson
Grace Sendak
Dayvon Rivera
Skylar Tanski
Alejandra Duarte
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Kiss The Pig
2
“Snow Ball”
2
Winter Wonderland
Haikus
3
2015 World Series
3
Stats
Coldplay’s New Album
A technology provider called
Blackbaud, one of the companies who work to process all of
the donations, has released this
,
3
Counselor’s Corner
3
Video Game Review:
4
Fallout 4
DIY– ornaments
4
Gifts Under $10
4
Holiday Mad Libs
5
Holiday Cookie Tray
5
Interesting Days in Dec. 6
Top Technology Gifts
6
Holiday Code Game
6
Recently, I interviewed Ms.
Pylypyshyn, who is a new assistant
principal for Language Arts here at
George Washington Middle School.
Some of you may recognize her
from Randall Carter Elementary
school!
Q1: What made you very interested
in Language Arts?
A1: I always liked teaching it. I like
discussing stories with my students,
and helping them become better
writers!
Q2: What are some major differences between Randall Carter and
GWMS?
A2: There aren’t really too many
differences, but I get to see a lot of
information- the donation increase may be higher when all of
the companies publish how much
money they processed.
Blackbaud processes many of
the donations made on this day.
On December 1, $39.6 million in
donations were made, according
to Blackbaud. If you think this is a
lot, the total money donated
continues to rise as other companies reveal the other amounts of
donations processed by them.
Donations do not have an end
date. The total amount of money
has a chance increasing to
around $70 million. Many of the
charities and organizations involved exceeded their original
goals and ended up making more
money this year. MFPLA (My
Friend’s Place, a charity that
does fundraisers for different
organizations) tweeted this on
December 2nd: “Thanks to our
.
!
my former students. This is one of
the reasons I enjoyed coming to
school, and everyone is taller than
me!
Q3: What was your job at Randall
Carter?
A3: I was a principal at Randall
Carter.
Q4: Do you like the environment of
George Washington?
A4: Yes, very much! Everyone has
been so kind, friendly and welcoming!
Q5: What do you exactly do at your
job?
A5: I do a lot of things. I work with
teachers primarily, which means I
amazing community, we not only
met our #GivingTuesday goal to
raise $5,000 in support of
homeless youth, but we
exceed it!” (Goldberg).
Many organizations used social
media to say thank you to those
who donated to them, and also to
help raise money as well. For
example, some used it to create
ways for people to help without
donating. They would do something online, which helped to raise
awareness, and the company
would give something for them
instead of the people donating
money directly.
I found it to be amazing that social media helped to not only
raise awareness, but also gave
services to those in need. It is so
heartwarming that we can all join
together to create something
so touching around the world.
By: Connor Godek
observe and support them. I also
make sure all the students and teachers have what they need.
Q6: What is one goal that you wish to
accomplish here at George Washington?
A6: One of the things we’re working
on is the
vocabulary
and grammar, but I just
want to make
sure that the
teachers
have all that
they need to
be successful.
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2
School News
Kissing a PIG?!
\ Lauckner
By: Kelsey
SMOOCH! The lips of our kiss the pig winner kissed the pig right on the snout! Before the actual
kissing of the pig, we had a breathtaking moment of announcing the winner. Our three finalists
were given a velcro sash to wear around them for their place number to be put on them. People’s eyes were frozen as the place numbers were
put on each teacher. The tension, and noise from the
crowd grew! Finally we saw number two being placed
on Miss Grant, which meant Mrs. Alloy had won. Everyone who had hoped for Mrs. Alloy cheered with
delight. Mrs. Alloy shocked all of us when she pull out
her lip gloss and got ready to kiss the pig. Our pig was
happily picked up and Mrs. Alloy kissed the pig right
on the snout. It was a moment GW will always remember and a very fun event. Until next year, pig!
The Student Council’s Annual “Snow Ball”
By: Alejandra Duarte
Good Luck to
Everyone at
TREP$!! Be
Sure To Check
Out Our
January Issue
For an Overview
The SnowBall was quite the
experience for those who went.
It wasn’t really a ball, not a
fancy one at most, but no kid
really wants to wear a puff ball
dress, or some boring tux. There
was music surely worth dancing to. And if you didn’t feel
like dancing, or already danced
your heart out and felt lucky,
you could have tired out for
Lucky Clothes or Marshmallow Jar. The marshmallow jar
was a contest where you could
guess how many marshmallows
were in a snowman and if you
guessed the correct amount,
you won the jar!
If you felt hungry, there were
snacks and beverages. There
was doritos (Yay!) They also had
kennel corn, which was quite
sweet and delicious. There was
also a platter towered with a
cookies that were swirled with
chocolate and vanilla circling
around it. If you were there, you
would understand why I ate half
of them!
Now, after all this fun you had,
you would want to remember all,
wouldn’t you? So to do so, they
had a photobooth with props of
course, like masks, fun glasses, and
hats, too. They also had feathery
boas. Everyone was just taking
goofy photos and having a great
time!
Some of the fun ‘dance’ songs were
“Gangnam Style” by PSY, &
“Cotton Eye Joe” by Rednex. And
get this, when that song came on,
EVERYONE was dancing. It was
SO fun! You kinda just had to be
there!
on TREP$!
WINTER WONDERLAND HAIKUS
by Alyssa Sherry
Snow falling gently
Shining like sugar crystals
On the frosted grass.
Inside festive homes
Toasty fires crackle while
Frozen winds sweep by.
THE G W
TIM ES
Shop windows are lit
Wreaths and bells adorn front
doors
Ice coats the windows.
Bundled up, they roam
Searching for the perfect gift
Shopping bags in tow.
Shimmering ribbons
Red and green and silver bows
Cheer is in the air.
Christmastime is here.
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3
2015 World Series Stats
3
by Sohan Chatterjee
Before I start I would like to send out my thoughts and condolences to the Volquez family. Edinson Volquez, the starting
pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, father died hours before the first game of the World Series. Edinson pitched 6 innings before being
taken out of the game. He found out afterwards.
The 2015 baseball season is over! Here are the World Series statistics of this year. It was a matchup of the New York Mets
and the Kansas City Royals. The Mets have won their last World Series in 1986 and been in their last World Series in 2000. The Royals’ last win was in 1985 and the last time they’ve been in the World Series was 2014. Let’s see how this year matched up with the
best stats.
Batting:
Best Average – Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals: 0.364
Most Hits – Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals: 8
Most Runs Scored – Curtis Granderson of the New York Mets: 6
Most Doubles – Ben Zobrist of the Kansas City Royals: 4
Most Home Runs – Curtis Granderson of the New York Mets: 3
Most Stolen Bases – Lorenzo Cain of the Kansas City Royals: 4
Most Runs Batted In – Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals: 6
Pitching:
Lowest Starting Pitcher ERA – Johnny Cueto of the Kansas City Royals: 1.00
Most Hits Allowed – Matt Harvey of the New York Mets: 10
Most Earned Runs Allowed – Matt Harvey of the New York Mets and Yordano Ventura
of the Kansas City Royals: 5
Most Strikeouts – Matt Harvey of the New York Mets: 11
Most Walks Allowed – Edinson Volquez of the Kansas City Royals: 6
Most Complete Games – Johnny Cueto of the Kansas City Royals: 1
Last but not least, the overall winner was the Kansas City Royals. It took 5 games. The final game on November 1st took 12 innings
(3 extra) to complete and the final score ended up being 7-2 Royals. It was a good matchup and the Royals came out on top.
Congrats, KC!
Coldplay’s New Album Release
by Alexis Rech
This December, put a pause on your
endless math homework, and check out this
amazing British band. Coldplay released their
seventh album, “A Head Full of Dreams,” on
December 4. It brings back that colourful,
exotic aura the band was known for, before
they released a more downcast album, “A
Sky Full of Stars” in 2014. This album is laced
with optimism and ‘the glass is half full’ type
ideas.
The single, “Adventure of a Lifetime,”
is an upbeat, disco-inspired dance song that
is sure to get your feet shuffling. It’s all
about the new buoyancy you feel when you
fall in love. The captivating, opening piano
gets you tapping the beat of the song with
your fingertips.
My personal favourite track off the
album is “Everglow.” The serene ballad produces a meditative sound that can be relaxing to hear, even if you don’t pay attention
to the lyrics. The song reminds you of the
loss of a relationship and while feeling blue,
you recall memories of the happiness and
love they made you feel.
Closing off the album, “Up & Up” is a
sweet, hymn-like ending track. It sends a motivational message to keep hoping because
something good will come out of it. The chorus is a bit soulful, with spirited backing vocals that harmonize nicely with Chris Martin’s
voice.
Although Coldplay may consider disbanding
the group soon, after being together for
about 19 years, be sure to watch them perform at the Super Bowl halftime show in
2016!
Counselors’ Corner: Meet
Mrs. Santangelo
By: Grace Steiner
A: Spring is my favorite
Mrs. Santangelo is the new 6th season because I like when
grade guidance counselor at
everything goes from gray to
GWMS. I recently had a
bright. I like when the
chance to sit down and talk with flowers bloom. It’s a
her about GW and all sorts of
refreshing new beginning.
exciting things!
Q: What are your feelings
about being the new sixth
grade counselor?
A: I love it! I’ve spent all of my
career in high school and college so it’s an exciting change
for me. I think you guys are
adorable!
Q: If you could visit any place
(outside this country) for
free, where would you go?
A: I would go to the Island of
Capri because the water is
bluer than blue. The beaches
are all rocks, but that’s okay
because the food is delicious!
Q: Do you find it difficult at
times?
A: I do not find it difficult
because I have been in
education for almost 30 years
as a teacher, professor, administrator, and counselor.
Q: What was your favorite
subject in school?
A: Math
Q: What is your favorite
season?
Q: What’s your favorite
quote?
A: “Be kind for everyone
you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing
about.”
PAGE
4
Video Game Review: Fallout 4
By Nathaniel Simon
Gifts Under $10 to
Give this
Holiday
Season
By Jeana Fermi
Need a last minute
gift, quickly?! Visit
these pages for the
perfect gift under
$10!
1. Pizza Garden Kit$9.99 http://growumsstore.myshopify.com/products/pizzagarden
2. Redbox 1-Day DVD
Rental Voucher- 5 for
$7.50 https://
premium.vcdelivery.com/redbox/?
cid=lp:link:gifts:12:18:2013
3. USB Drive with
Pictures- Assorted
Prices Based on
Product
4. Anything at Five
Below- $5 and below
http://www.fivebelow.com
5. 3-D Drawing Pad
$7.39 http://www.amazon.com/gp/
product/B000XGDF12?
adid=16TSB7X0NPETRQFGHNE0&camp=0
&creative=0&creativeASIN=B000XGDF12
&linkCode=as4&ref_=as_li_ss_til&tag=ho
ngkiatcom-20
THE G W
TIM ES
Hello everyone and Happy Holidays!
My friends and peers, we will be taking a look at: Fallout 4. This is the
latest game in the critically acclaimed
Fallout franchise, now to give a little
history lesson. The first fallout game
came out in 1997 by Interplay Software, known for the inspiration of
Fallout Wasteland which played the
same way as Fallout looked like Fallout...Basically Fallout with a different
name.
Which brings us to today and the
game of today's inspection. Fallout 4.
Fallout 4 is a first/third person viewpoint with RPG elements thrown in to
connect with its roots. It has x skill/
progress in the game. There is also a
base building component where you
can make a post-nuclear settlement
and build stuff like houses or towers
out of pre set parts.
On to the game's plot which mind you
isn't generally the focus as it's an
open world game. The premise for
the Fallout universe is a parallel timeline in which the 50s and 60s never
went out of style. In other words there
wasn't an internet or things as you
know them. Everything ran on coldfusion and atomic power instead of
electricity the TV, the radio, even the
cars as gas prices were about
$2,567.62 a gallon. That is because
the world was running out of oil and
people were fighting over it mainly
America and China which escalated
:
to The Resource wars and eventually the Great War the latter of which
lasted about 4 hours as everyone,
everywhere were nuked.
Which brings us to our protagonist,
let's call him Dave. Dave here is
living the American dream a wife a
kid, when a salesman for a company
called Vault-Tec asks you about
your name and information to be
assigned to live in the local Vault
“aka a shelter, a big one” in preparation for the Big Kaboom as he worded it. Dave says yes and then as if
on cue it happens. So, Dave runs to
the vault with his family and they all
survive! Thanks Vault-Tec! After
words Dave is instructed to go in for
“decontamination,” which turns out
to translate to getting frozen in a
cryogenics lab for 200 years. Dave
wakes up to find his son has been
kidnapped “a wonderful motivation if
any” and his wife is dead.
So back to the game itself. The visuals are gorgeous even on the lowest
settings, which I played on for sakes
of performance and not having my
laptop explode. The music is nonexistent- normally you have to tune in
to a radio to listen to music, but the
assortment is huge consisting of 30
or so 50s-60s songs and several
classical music tracks.
Going back on the topic of gameplay
to the base building. I didn't like it as
it's not as easy as it sounds as
it's just not fun to build walls and
such around the base plus you
need materials to build the pieces of wall which take time I could
pass it off as bearable if it wasn't
as tedious to gather the materials needed to build. There are
also tons of glitches, or so I hear
I personally never found any so
not an issue with me, I also like
a little touch they added, when
you name your character. Remember Dave? You have the
ability to name the character
whatever you’d like.
The final thing I will discuss is
the Easter eggs (which are little
jokes that the developers ’plant’
in the game. They don’t serve a
purpose.) There are a lot and
are usually funny.
So overall the game is awesome. While Fallout 4 may not
be game of the year material it is
still an awesome game and I
deeply recommend it, Fallout 4
gets a score of
8/10. But anyway guys and
gals Happy
Holidays and A
happy New
Year!
By: Grace Steiner
Here is a list of supplies you will need: String, Balloons, Glue, Scissors, Bowl, Shoebox
I suggest that you lay newspaper down, or some other object that will protect the surface below it, before
starting this project. The string is what will make the ornaments, so if you want red and green ornaments,
get red and green string. The balloons don't matter what color, you’re going to pop them anyways, but the
amount of balloons you use, will depend on how many ornaments you make. (ten balloons; ten
ornaments). It doesn’t matter what glue you get, but I recommend Elmer’s Glue, (the bottled kind) *Glue
sticks will not work for this project.* The bowl will need to be big enough so you can fit your hand or
finger in it. I recommend a disposable bowl because it will be easier. The shoebox will be for your wet
ornaments. Take note that this is an overnight project, (unless you want to
use a blow dryer). This will also be a messy project, but nothing stains.
Step 1) Blow up your balloons. The amount you blow up is the
amount of balloons you make. The size of the balloons will depend on
what size you want the ornaments to be.
Step 2) Pour glue into the bowl.
Step 3) Take your string and dip it in the glue while wrapping it
around the balloon in a criss-crossed pattern. Make sure that you
wrap it enough so there are no major/huge holes. The way you wrap it around will make the
ornament.
Step 4) Put ornament in the shoebox to dry.
*Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have made the amount of ornaments you wanted*
Step 5) You can either blow dry them dry or you can let them air dry.
Step 6) Once the ornaments are dry, take your scissors and pop the balloon.
Step 7) Remove the balloon from the inside of the ornament, *hanging it by tying a string is
optional.*
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5
Holiday Mad Libs
Directions: Fill in lines below
by Katie Shapiro
with the words called for, and
then write them in the story There’s always that certain _______________________you want more than anything else in the
noun
to the right. Enjoy!
______________________. For _______________________ years you have been giving
Noun:___________________
Noun
number
Noun:___________________
Number:_________________
Plural Noun:______________
Noun:___________________
Verb:___________________
Verb:___________________
Adjective :_______________
Noun:___________________
Verb ending in ING ________
Adjective: ________________
Adjective: ________________
Noun: ___________________
Verb: ___________________
Adverb: _________________
Noun: ___________________
____________________ about it and your parents think they get it. Finally it’s Christmas Eve
plural noun
and you just can’t wait to get the ________________________. On Christmas morning you
Noun
______________________________out of bed and _______________________ downstairs to the
verb
verb
_________________________ Christmas tree. Then, you see the ____________________. Tears
adjective
noun
start _____________________ out of your eyes because it wasn’t the __________________
verb ending in ing
adjective
gift you wanted. All day you are so ______________________ because you are so upset about
Adjective
the _______________________, but your parents tell you they have a surprise for you outside.
Noun
You ____________________ to the front door and ____________________ open it. Outside
verb
adverb
Adjective: ________________
Adjective ending in est: _____
you see the ______________________ you wanted and are so __________________. This was
Noun
adjective
___________________________ Christmas you ever had!
adjective ending in est
Holiday Cookie Tray
by Anna McDermott
This is a great gift for friends and family and there are only a couple steps to it! It is easy and fun to
make. Give it a try! You just may have the perfect gift for those near and dear to you. These can be made for
Christmas, Hanukah, Birthdays, and any other celebrations that you’d like! These are the 4 simple steps in
making your cookie tray...
!
-
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Did you know?! Interesting days in:
1 Eat a Red Apple Day
World Aids Awareness Day
2 National Fritters Day
3 National Roof over your Head Day
4 Santa’s List Day
Wear Brown Shoes Day
5 Bathtub Day
6 St. Nicholas Day
Mitten Tree Day
Put on your own Shoes Day
7 Letter Writing Day
Cotton Candy Day
Pearl Harbor Day
13 Ice Cream Day
Violin Day
15 Bill of Rights Day
National Lemon Cupcake Day
16 National Chocolate Covered Anything
Day
17 National Maple Syrup Day
18 Bake Cookies Day
19 Look for an Evergreen Day
Oatmeal Muffin Day
20 Go Caroling Day
21 Humbug Day
National Flashlight Day
Top 5 Technology Gifts This Season
by Kaitlyn
1. Dream/Skywalker Average: $200-700
Have you ever dreamed of flying around on a hover board like the
one from the “Back to the Future” movies? Well, critics say that this item gives you the
feeling that you are. You do not want to miss that.
2. BB-8 Droid Average: $20-250
To all Star Wars fans now you can have your own star wars droid. You control it with your smart phone, responds to you, and has a mind of it’s own.
Now you can explore the galaxy together. It even has a holographic messaging/videos and adaptive personality.
by Winston Lee
Here’s the third code game this year, this time about the many holidays that occur in December! To review, there are 3 interesting facts given to you, but incomplete in the form of the
ancient Caesar Cipher, a simple code where all of the letters are ¨shifted¨ by a certain number.
The ¨shifts¨ of the facts, when added up, will equal the shift of the final message or fact. Clues
for the first 3 facts are provided, and shifts cannot exceed 25. Shifts work like this: When the
shift is 4, an ¨A¨ in encrypted code is actually a ¨E¨. Happy holidays!
Fact 1. Shift: __ Fact: The Earth is _______ to the sun in December. We are just tilted further
away.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
L U X B N B C
Fact 2. Shift: __ Fact: Snow is not white, but _____.
__ __ __ __ __
G P I E V
Fact 3. Shift: __ Fact: Which is more dangerous? The heat or the cold? It’s actually the ____.
__ __ __ __
K W T L
Final Fact. Shift: __ + __ + __ = __ Fact:
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
J I Z
N I J R N O J M H X V I
Y M J K
__ __ __ __ __ 39 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __!
6
by Faith Amero
Look on the Bright side Day
24 Christmas Eve Day
National Chocolate Day
25 National Pumpkin Pie Day
26 Boxing Day
27 Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day
National Fruitcake Day
28 Card Playing Day
30 National Bicarbonate of Soda Day
31 Make up your Mind day
Unlucky Day
3. Amazon Echo Average: $179.99
Amazon has now developed a Siri named
Alexa. Alexa is always
listening, has seven
microphones, can
create an alarm, a
calendar, a list, has news, can help, good at
understanding, weather, music (radio, pandora, iheartradio,) and can even control
lights!
4. I-phone 6s Plus Average: $20-800
If you haven’t heard about the
latest iphone’s features you will
now. It’s got multi-touch/3D
touch, 12MP pictures, 4K videos,
live Photos, the custom-designed
64-bit A9 chip, advanced security,
faster LTE, faster wi-fi, advanced features
in Siri, and much more.
5. Polaroid Cube Average: $80-150
If you haven’t heard of this maybe you
have heard of a polaroid
camera. This one is a small
cube, with wifi, a free app
where you can shoot, print,
and share, a rechargeable
battery that lasts 107 min.
per charge, a bumper case, and can be
mounted to a wall.