Apr-May Newsletter - Hilltop Middle School
Transcription
Apr-May Newsletter - Hilltop Middle School
HILLTOP MIDDLE SCHOOL Volume 1, Issue 7 April/May 2012 s e m i t n o falc Inside this Issue: OUR falcon CHAMPION ! Spelling Bee? Well her name is Jenna Bischler! Fortunately, I had the opportunity to talk with Jenna about her experiences. Photo and Article by Kazendria Cardenas Do you know who was the spelling Bee champion for Hilltop Middle’s To start off, Jenna said she never thought she would be the winner, but she always hoped. She says that she did study before the Spelling Bee because it was a good way to be prepared. She was a tad nervous beforehand— her heart was beating when she was spelling her word. This was actually her first time competing in a spelling bee contest. When she got the surprising shock of finding out she Titanic Hawaii The Smurfs SDSU Trivia SBCC Youth Forum April Fools’ Day D.J. Skrillex Surviving High School Black Ops Surviving Bad Days won, she was very happy and excited. For next year’s students participating in Hilltop Middle’s Spelling Bee, Jenna suggests to study if you want to win, and try your hardest! One direction By Lizbeth Horta Five good looking, talented, creative, funny, random guys! Yep One Direction baby! Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, & last but not least Harry Styles. These guys each share one thing in common— their passion for music. After they won third place on the reality show "X-Factor", these five boys became the most famous band in the world! Their biggest song hit was "What Photo courtesy of Google Images Photo courtesy of Google Images Makes You Beautiful." The reason this band is named One Direction is because of Harry Styles. He suggested the name since he believes in “one band, one dream , One Direction." Here are some fun facts about One Direction: Harry loves cats, Zayn is obsessed with his hair, Louis adores carrots, Liam is afraid of spoons, and Niall loves chicken wings. Interesting right? So now you know a little something about One Direction. Remember it's not good to hate. PAGE 2 FALCON TIMES Titanic’s 100th anniversary was virtually unsinkable. Its maiden Everyone knows about the Titanic voyage was to be from Great Britain and how it sunk. This famous sto- to New York City. ry has even been recreated into Unfortunately , on her maiden voymovies. age, this “unsinkable ship” struck an The Titanic was a five-star cruise iceberg. It collided with the iceberg liner engineered by Harland Wolf in the northern part of the Atlantic in Belfast, Ireland. He began build- Ocean. It sunk on April 14, 1912 at ing it in 1909. At this time, Titanic 2:40am. The Titanic took thousands was the largest ship to have been of its crew and passengers along with it as it sank down towards the built. After it was constructed, icy ocean floor of the Atlantic Ocean. reports concluded that the ship By Carlos Salas This year marks the 100th anniversary of its sinking. Thousands of lives were lost, and people today still remember the Titanic as “the unsinkable ship.” Photo courtesy of Google Images Hello Hawaii!! By Alexia Lopez anthem, Hawaii’s is called “Hawaii’s Own True Sons.” Aloha! This means “hello” or “goodbye” in Hawaiian. Finally, Hawaii is one of two states that does not observe daylight saving time. The other is Arizona. Hawaii’s nickname is “The Big Island”. It is the only U.S state made up entirely out of islands. The capital of Hawaii is Honolulu. In Hawaii there are many cultural traditions, and it is home to many cultural events. For example, there is an annual Merrie Monarch Festival, which is an international hula competition. Photo courtesy of www.allhawaiiatours.com Next, Hawaii is a great vacation spot because you can chill out on the beach, go shopping, go surfing or even swim with dolphins. Similar to how we have our national Little blue creatures By Dhamar Perez Photo courtesy of Google Images popular in the 80’s. They even added new characters to the series: Grandpa, Nanny, Sassette, Nat, Snappy, Slouchy, and Baby Smurf. Did you know that there are 105 Smurfs in total?! The main Smurfs are Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy Smurf, Greedy Smurf and Grouchy Smurf. However, did you know that Smurfette was not originally a Smurf? She was made by Gargamel to cause hatred and jealousy among the other Smurfs. She was very mean and she wasn’t very pretty either. Then Papa Smurf took her to his lab and made her a These are just a few facts to prepare you to visit the beautiful state of Hawaii. Photo courtesy of www.hannabarbara.com better looking Smurf. According to www.cmt.com, Peyo ,a Belgian artist, created the Smurfs. The Smurfs were very When the Smurfs lost their popularity in America they released a Baby Smurf doll. The doll didn’t last long because it’s muddled voice appeared to be saying inappropriate words. Even though the Smurfs aren’t as popular now they can still be seen occasionally on TV. VOLUME 1, ISSUE 7 PAGE 3 SDSU trivia By Alexia Lopez Have you ever heard of, or been to SDSU before? SDSU, or San Diego State University, is great college in San Diego, and close to Chula Vista and the Sweetwater school district. SDSU is a university, but what you don’t know is it used to be a mission. In the 1920s, SDSU began to outgrow its Park Boulevard location. Because of this, the school expanded its current location. It began as a small school then eventually it became a university. Each year San Diego State allows Photo courtesy of Google Images SDSU Campus more than 35,000 students to be able to learn there. It is very hard to be admitted into this school because there are a lot of people who want to go to SDSU. For example, according to newscenter.sdsu.edu, over 60,000 students applied in the Fall of 2011. Students have to go through a long process to get accepted. SDSU is the oldest and largest higher education institute in San Diego region. Now that you know a little bit about there history you should come by and visit sometime. “LIVE TO celebrate tomorrow” By Carlos Salas The Community Youth Forum was held at Hilltop Middle School on April 18. It was a Wednesday Night. It began at 6:00PM and ended at 8:00PM. The main goal of the Forum was to inform parents and adolescents on the dangers of alcohol abuse and the rules of the Social Host Ordinance Laws. The Forum was organized by the Institute for Public Strategies (IPS). The South Bay Community Change Project is one part of this Institute, which is run by parents and community members. Their focus this year in particular, Over 300 people attended the Forum Photo by Ms. Torng Members of IPS Photos by Ms. Torng Presenters for the Forum Photos by Ms. Torng was the Mexican tradition of a Quincenera, a coming of age celebration when a girl turns fifteen. They targeted this particular celebration because, many times, alcohol is used as a right of passage, or just served for adults. Minors attending these parties are sometimes served alcohol by the family members, unaware of the dangers of underage drinking. The Social Host Ordinance Law states that any adult, family mem- ber or friend that is over the 21, can NOT serve alcohol to minors, regardless of whether it is their own family or children. The reason for this is that minor’s are not developed fully yet, and the alcohol running through their systems can cause severe damages, and many times, death. The Community Forum explained that there are other alternatives to having safe and alcohol free parties. One way is to not rent a place for a party that provides alcohol. South Bay Community Change Project Photo by Ms. Torng PAGE 4 FALCON TIMES The sounds of skrillex By Isabel Uerkvitz and Vivann Gaus Sonny began his solo career and tour in 2007. After 3 years, he released his EP, “My Name Is Skrillex”. Then, he released his 2nd EP, “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” with the club hit “Kill Everybody”. Though you may know him as Skrillex, his real name is Sonny Moore. According to www.starpulse.com, Sonny was born on January 15, 1988 in Los Angeles, California. Skrillex is known as an American electronic music producer and singer-songwriter. He had also joined the American posthardcore band, From First To Last, as the lead singer in 2004. Photo courtesy of www.factmag.com Moore is known to be a combination of Benny Benassi and Deadmaus. He has also remixed Lady Gaga’s song “Bad Romance”. Month myths Statue of Julius Cesar Photo courtesy of www.bible-history.com Photo courtesy of Microsoft ClipArt By Jessica Bennett Did you know that January and February were never really part of the calendar? They were added when King Numa had to come up with two new months of his own. There were originally only 10 Statue of Cesar Augustus Photo courtesy of www.adobelibrary.org months: Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December. King Numa added two extra months to make the calendar correspond with the solar years. month Quintilis after himself. Also Sextilis became known as August because Julius’ grandnephew, Caesar Augustus , defeated Marc Antony, became emperor, and wanted to honor himself. The month of Qunitilis first became known as July somewhere between 100 B.C. and 44 B.C. This was because Julius Caesar renamed the If you want to more about where our months came from, visit www.monthsthroughthestars.com. The history of April fools’ day By Carlos Salas Do you enjoy pulling pranks, making silly gags, and laughing at other people's expense? Then you must celebrate April Fools’ Day with a passion. April Fools’ Day originated in The Roman Empire as the festival of Hillaria. According to www.britannica.com, Hillaria was a festival that celebrated the merri- Photo courtesy of Google Images ment and rejoicing in the CybeleAttis cult and in the Isis-Osiris cult. In later years this developed into the holiday of April Fool’s we know and love today . April Fool’s Day is celebrated around the world the same way—by pulling practical jokes. Some classic jokes for April Fools’ are the pull-my -finger-gag, the classic knock-knock joke, and fake vomit. VOLUME 1, ISSUE 7 PAGE 5 Super 8th graders! By Dhamar Perez and Kazendria Cardenas Do you know Carlos Salas ? He is a student here at Hilltop Middle and I’m going to tell you a few things about this kid! Kazendria Cardenas She likes shopping, eating pizza, and fashion. Can you guess who it is? It’s Kazendria Cardenas, our student of the month. Kazendria loves spending time with her friends and hanging out with her cousin, Stephanie. Kazendria is also a very good student. Her history teacher Mrs. Taylor says she is “very attentive, responsible and helpful. But she has got to stop chewing gum!” Photo by Dhamar Perez Carlos has been at Hilltop since seventh grade. His favorite color is black; his favorite singer is KT Tunstall; his favorite author is P.C. Cast; and his favorite food is pepperoni pizza . Those are the main facts about Carlos Salas. Be sure to say hello next time you see him! Carlos Salas Kazendria’s friends say she is, “very funny, outgoing and friendly.” Also, Kazendria hates pickles and her favorite subject is lunch! When Kazendria grows up she wants to be an actress, model and singer. Photo by Lydia Nelson Kim Meraz is our AVID Standout this year! Do you know who our 8th grade Poem Contest winner is? Well it’s Monique Yamsuan! She said that she feels really good about being the winner. She like’s to write. To know that people liked her poem feels really good. Kim Meraz To be an AVID Standout you have to be in AVID for two years and your grades have to be good. Then, students submit an essay. The AVID teacher chooses the top five essays. Then the AVID teacher and the principal choose the winner. As the AVID Standout, Kim received an award, a certificate and a medal. Way to go Kim! In her poem, Monique wrote about her 8th grade experience here at Hilltop Middle. What inspired her was the friends she won’t get to see in high school. This was Monique’s first time being in a poem contest. Photo by Dhamar Perez She was very shocked when she found out she was the winner. When the poem contest winner grows up, she says she wants to become an inspiring author! Monique Yamsuan Kim is in 8th grader and she has been in AVID for 2 years. She says she found out about her award in her 1st period, and she was very excited and happy. She says her parents were very proud when she told them. Carlos is 6’1. He doesn’t care much of his height. In his spare time, Carlos likes to write poetry, sleep, and watch Netflix. He likes to watch Family Guy, Futurama, and American Dad. Photo by Ms. Torng Correction in March issue, “LGBT Bullying Awareness” article: “According to a recent survey by Kosciw's group on gay bullying, nine out of 10 gay, lesbian and bisexual students are bullied in school, and they are four times more likely than heterosexuals to attempt suicide.” From <http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18563_162-6916119.html> We’re on the web! HILLTOP MIDDLE SCHOOL 44 East J. Street Chula Vista, CA 91910 Phone: (619) 498-2700 Advisor: Ms. Deborah Torng, Teacher Email: [email protected] htm.sweetwaterschools.org Click on “Clubs” How to survive high school By Lydia Nelson one a chance. ATTENTION ALL EIGHTH GRADERS!! Join as many clubs and sports that interest you. Keep yourself occupied. Are you nervous about going to high school? Read these helpful tips on how to survive your next year of school. Go to all of the orientations. If you find your way around the campus before school starts, then it will be easier to find you classes. Be nice to everyone!! Give every- Talk to as many people as you can. Being friendly helps people know that you are willing to makes friends and meet new people. Be yourself!!! This is the most important step of survival. Lying about yourself will do you no good. It sends the wrong infor- Photo courtesy of Google Images mation about you and you can lose your friends because they won’t know what to believe. These are simple steps to follow in order to be comfortable with going to high school. Good luck Falcons! Black ops By Cesar Sandoval All images courtesy of Google Imges I like Black Ops because it`s fun, and competitive. It`s fun because of the campaign. The campaign is fun because there is so many levels that are fun and cool. As you beat one, the next level is more fun than the last one. Also, the multiplayer is fun because it has Capture the Flag and team Death Match. Another reason why Black Ops is cool is because it has Nazi Zombies . Nazi Zombies is fun because it`s challenging. As you get to a higher level, it`s harder than the last level. Finally another reason Black Ops is cool is the guns. You can fake different gun combinations, like with snipers, sub machine guns, assault rifles, and light machine guns. Dealing with a bad day By Lizbeth Horta These are words you never want to hear yourself say. Well, today is your lucky day, because I will be giving you tips on how to deal with a bad day. and put a smile on your face. This will help you keep positive thoughts in your mind. Smiling forces you to think positively. You can also talk to the closest person you know, who you trust your life with. Talking to this person helps because he/she knows you best, and can help you. What I recommend you do first is forget about what's on your mind Now, the best thing to do is to just simply deal with your problem. "Today is not my day. " Photo courtesy of Google Images Once you face your problem, you can start to get over it. You never know when these days will come, but we all hope we are ready for them.