February-March 2014

Volume 3, Issue 6
Trafton Tribune
STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF TRAFTON ACADEMY
February/March 2014
Academic athletes claim district title, 44 medals
11 advance to compete at state championships
Trafton Academy’s Academic Team won the district
title for the second consecutive year on Saturday, March
1, at the 10AA PSIA Academic Meet held at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton School in
Northwest Houston.
These brainy Tigers
earned medals in every division, and 11 students advanced to compete in 14
events at the PSIA State Academic Contest in Fort
Worth, Texas on April 26.
Performances in five events
also qualified members as
State Alternates for the Fort
Worth meet.
(continued on pg. 2)
State qualifiers from top left: Claire Warren, Falkner
Proffitt, Nathan Rice, Sam Lee, Jamie Tatum, Allison
Coale, Simone Perque (not attending state); bottom:
Mark Nylund, Daniel Wang, Jacob Trachtenberg, and
Ben Mazzoni look forward to representing Trafton at
the state academic meet in Fort Worth, Texas.
NJHS makes reading easier for Houston students
By Claire Warren
Trafton Academy’s National Junior Honor Society
(NJHS) members know
reading isn’t only fun but
important for education, so
they joined Houston’s Books
Between Kids on Saturday,
February 1 to prepare
books for the community. A
crew of NJHS Tigers sorted
through a warehouse of
donated reading material to
distribute to kids that don’t
have access to books at
home. Led by Trafton English teacher and book worm
Mrs. Janet Mehlhoff, the
hard-working gang packed
boxes containing 4,390
books.
Books Between Kids is a
non-profit organization that
began in 2012 to help
Tiger agenda items...
Photo by Eric Mehlhoff: Tanak Patel, Claire Warren,
Anna Mayzenberg, Satya Das, and Mia Dowdell sort piles
of books for Houston’s at-risk children.
Houston’s at-risk students
have a chance to own books.
Children with plenty to read
at home are more successful
in school and are more likely
to attend college. The organi
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zation explained that
more than 85% of
Houston’s elementary
students live in poverty
(continued on pg. 2)
Trafton/Rice University Night April 1
Spring Trip Meeting—grades 7/8 April 16
Plant Sale pickup March 30
Easter Break April 18-21 (no school!)
Trafton Spring Show April 24
Academic team reaps big results of practice at PSIA district meet
(continued from pg. 1)
Trafton is proud of every one of its
hard-working academic competitors and
offers special congratulations to the
2014 PSIA District event medal winners:
ON-SITE DRAWING:
Simone Perque (STATE) - 1st, grade 8
Harry Philbrick – Honorable mention, grade
8
Sully Grubbs - 3rd (State Alternate), grade 6
Jake Cosgrove - 6th, grade 6
NUMBER SENSE:
Daniel Wang - 3rd (State Alternate), grade 8
Sam Lee (STATE) - 1st, grade 7
Allison Coale - 6th, grade 7
Wade Swan - 6th, grade 6
MATHEMATICS:
Daniel Wang (STATE) - 1st place, grade 8
Satya Das - 4th, grade 8
Geoff Zimmerman - 5th, grade 8
Sam Lee (STATE) - 1st, grade 7
Mark Nylund (STATE) - 2nd, grade 7
Jacob Trachtenberg - 3rd (State Alternate),
grade 6
Aneel Mehra - 4th, grade 6
Ben Mazzoni - 6th, grade 6
SCIENCE:
Daniel Wang (STATE) - 1st, grade 8
Nathan Rice (STATE) - 2nd, grade 8
Satya Das - 5th, grade 8
Allison Coale (STATE) - 1st, grade 7
Jamie Tatum - 5th, grade 7
Nick Held - 4th, grade 6
Rachel James - 5th, grade 6
MAPS, GRAPHS, CHARTS:
Jamie Tatum (STATE) - 1st, grade 7
Nathan Bryant - 4th, grade 7
Wade Swan - 5th, grade 6 (competed on
Several members of Trafton’s academic team enjoy some down time and snacks in
between events.
grade 7)
Jacob Trachtenberg (STATE) - 1st, grade 6
Ben Mazzoni (STATE) - 2nd, grade 6
Jake Cosgrove - 5th, grade 6
IMPROMPTU SPEAKING:
Claire Warren (STATE) - 1st, grade 8
Mia Dowdell - 5th, grade 8
Caleb Fusco - 6th, grade 7
READY WRITING:
Claire Warren (STATE) - 1st, grade 8
Mia Dowdell - 6th, grade 8
Miriam Handel - 3rd (State Alternate), grade 6
VOCABULARY:
Falkner Proffitt (STATE) - 1st, grade 8
Claire Warren - 4th, grade 8
Allison Coale - 2nd, grade 7
Miriam Handel - 4th, grade 6 (competed
on grade 7)
Edward Jin - 3rd (State Alternate), grade
6
Ella Wisdom - 4th, grade 6
SPELLING:
Edward Jin - 4th, grade 6
Ella Wisdom - 5th, grade 6
Jacob Trachtenberg - 6th, grade 6
Ariel Wang - 6th, grade 4
Trafton honor club works to promote, encourage reading for all
(continued from pg. 1)
and can’t afford to buy books. Books
Between Kids gathers donations and
gently-used books to allow students
to build their own home libraries.
After learning that so many of the
city’s children see books as a luxury,
Mrs. Mehlhoff and NJHS members
organized a drive among Trafton
Academy students. NJHS collected
1,196 books, with Ms. Jo Hinds’ 6th
grade and Mrs. Mehloff’s 8th grade
homerooms claiming top prize for
most contributions. Those homerooms celebrated with hot chocolate
and custom cookies from Paulie’s.
Right: Books
Between Kids
staff members thank
Claire Warren,
Anna
Mayzenberg,
Mia Dowdell,
Tanak Patel,
Jay
Desai,
Satya
Das,
Niki Mehra,
Daniel Wang,
and Harrison
Hayes
for
their
hard
work.
2
Lady tigers cap conference champ title with final tourney victory
Bottom row from left: Sydney Hay,
Madison Dodson, Anjali Patel, Sydney
Hutchins, and Alex Couvillon. Top
row: Coach Todd Rockett, Kelsey
Barker, Sydney Wallace, Jamie Tatum, Sarah Dickson, Alex Katz and
Megan Frankel. (Photo credit: Alan
Ross Photographer)
By Coach Tatum
The Trafton Academy 7th grade girls'
basketball team has won 1st place in the
Greater Houston Athletic Conference.
This conference involves 16 private middle schools from the Sugarland area to
the City of Bellaire and all around Southwest
Houston.
The 7th grade girls beat every conference opponent in their regular season.
Coach Todd Rockett said, "This team
never backed down, had a passion for
winning and played as a team. I never
worried; I always knew the shots would
fall". The point guard, Sydney Hutchins,
led the team in scoring for the second
year in a row with 183 points this season. Megan Frankel, the #2 guard,
scored 143 points, demonstrating that
the perimeter threat could come from
multiple directions. Also scoring significant points for the team were: Alex Couvillion (54), Sarah Dickson (48), and
Kelsey Barker (46). As a team they combined for a total of 581 points on the
season.
However, according to
Coach Rockett, it was also a solid
defense and constant pressure on
the opponent that led to such success for these girls. With a double
digit average margin of victory they
finished the season 18-4, allowing
opponents an average of just 14
points per game.
Coach Rockett expressed greatest
satisfaction with the girls for the way
they handled two tough conference
opponents that beat them in the early season (Ft. Bend Christian and St.
Marks Episcopal). In both cases the
Trafton girls made up for their early
stumbles with later victories over
these teams. The last half of the season was all victories and the girls
capped the season with a Championship at a tournament in Tomball.
With such a solid season behind
them, Coach Rockett has high expectations when they return for 8th
grade next year.
Science is for the birds… or was during one week for 7th graders
By Maya Teller
Mrs. Holmes is always looking for
new ways to teach about animals. One
recent 7th grade science unit was the
study of birds. Because there weren’t
many activities related to the study of
birds in the textbook, Mrs. Holmes designed her own! We were divided into
five groups, and then assigned to make a
certain type of bird made of only natural
or recycled materials, such as sticks,
leaves, or grass. Each group member
was to bring certain materials for the
group bird. On Thursday during class,
we had 45 minutes to create our bird
using the materials we brought. That
night, we had to look up information
about our bird, and then present it to
the class the next day. The purpose of
this assignment was to
teach
us
about all the
different
groups
of
birds and to
challenge us
to get very
creative with
our
birds.
Overall, this
was a great
project, and
everybody
had
fun.
Thank you
Mrs. Holmes! Mrs. Holmes observes Anjali Patel, Jhenna Hillier, Mark Nylund,
and Jordan Morris’ efforts to create a flamingo.
3
Tiger scientists compete at regional science and engineering fair
A group of Trafton scientists advanced to compete on February 19-20 at
the George R. Brown Convention Center
in the 2014 Science and Engineering
Fair of Houston (SEFH), one of the largest regional science competitions in the
country. Trafton’s projects were judged
among a total of 1,300 projects from 125
schools in southeast Texas.
Mentored by science teachers Mrs.
Holmes and Dr. Herrmann, eight Trafton
7th and 8th graders developed research
projects and presentations, and then
explained and defended their work to
groups of SEFH judges.
Mrs. Holmes said, “Projects were
assigned so that our students could
learn and apply the scientific method in
individual research projects, but this
group went above and beyond. It’s important to not only be able to do the
work, but successfully explain the process and results. They did a great job.”
Special congratulations to 8th grader
Claire Warren who won a 2nd place
physics award, cash prize of $100, and
an advanced graphing calculator for her
project Hooked on Hooke’s Law. Additionally, Claire was invited to present
her project to an engineering group on
March 20 where she received an Excellence in Science Award from Texas Instruments at a dinner with the American
Society of Quality.
Trafton Academy’s 2014 SEFH regional projects were:
 Ryan Landman, Determining Work
From left: Trafton Academy scientists Daniel Wang, Claire Warren, Sydney Wallace, Jamie Tatum, Sam Lee, Julian Wieck, Mark Nylund, and Ryan Landman prepare to enter the convention center to present their research projects.
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Done By a Force
Sam Lee, Vitamin C-ing Through
the Color Purple
Mark Nylund, Can Radiant Barriers
Beat the Heat?
Jamie Tatum, Pascal’s Plinko Prediction
Sydney Wallace, C the Difference
Julian Wieck, Reaching Mach 1
with a Homemade Model Rocket
Claire Warren, Hooked on Hooke’s
Law
Daniel Wang, The Sun Is Our Friend
Claire Warren was awarded prizes
for her project about Hooke’s Law.
5th grader to perform piano at Carnegie Hall
Victoria Chiang knows that a student
shouldn’t miss school unless she’s sick,
but she hopes to ask Mrs. Nicholls for
special permission to take a day off in
May. Performing in a concert at Carnegie
Hall in New York is a good excuse, right?
Trafton’s young pianist was awarded
a silver medal from the International
Young Gifted Musician Festival, Passion
of Music 2014 through the American
Association For Development of Gifted
and Talented (AADGT). Victoria will play
F. Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words,
Op. 67 No. 4 - Spinning Song. on May 3 in
the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall.
Victoria was required to submit of
video performance to be judged. Even
though she began playing piano since
age 5, she was very nervous about this
competition. She said the most difficult
part was the special finger techniques
she had to do for the pieces she played.
“I worked very hard and then I had
to make at least 7 or 8 different recordings before I was happy enough with
how I sounded,” Victoria said.
When asked if she had any special
requests while she is in New York, Victoria said, “I want to see the big hall and
all the food! But my mom will have to
email Mrs. Nicholls first about missing
school.”
Pssst, Victoria. Mrs. Nicholls said it
will be o.k. Congratulations!
4
Trafton musicians perform with all-city concert, symphonic bands
By Claire Warren
Sixteen of Trafton Academy’s band
members performed on March 5 with
the Houston Area Private School
(HAPS) All-City Honor Band at Strake
Jesuit. Students nominated for participation attended a clinic led by music
directors from Strake Jesuit, Houston
Christian, and Episcopal high schools.
The young musicians performed a public concert that same evening.
Sixth and Seventh grade musicians
performed Chariot Race, Relics of the
Past and Stonewood with the All-City
Concert Band. Eighth grade members
played Invincible, Pirates of the Barbary
Coast, and The Pit and the Pendulum
with the All-City Symphonic Band.
Trafton’s 2014 HAPS members include:
Concert Band
 Nicole Berguist – flute
 Madison Dodson – flute
 Caitlyn Hume – flute
 Natalie Bird – clarinet
 Miriam Handel – clarinet
 Julia Weiss – clarinet
HAPS members strike a pose before the clinic. Kneeling (or lounging): Wade
Swan, Mark Nylund, Nick Held, Travis Gehring, Daniel Wang, Caleb Fusco, Caitlyn
Hume, Julia Weiss; standing: Natalie Bird, Madison Dodson, Dylan Smith, Miriam
Handel, Basia Beckham, Nicole Berguist, Anna Mayzenberg, and Claire Warren.
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Mark Nylund – alto sax
Travis Gehring – tenor sax
Nick Held – tenor sax
Caleb Fusco – trombone
Wade Swan – baritone
Symphonic Band
 Anna Mayzenberg – flute
 Claire Warren – flute
 Daniel Wang – clarinet
 Basia Beckham – trumpet
 Dylan Smith - trombone
Don’t panic! There’s still a great sequel of books left to read
By Allison Coale
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,
originally a five-part radio series,
chronicles the adventures of the adventures of Arthur Dent in a series of
five books. Arthur Dent is one of the
very few Earthlings to survive the destruction of the planet Earth in the beginning of the book. The story begins
with Arthur being plucked off of the
Earth seconds before its destruction to
make room for an intergalactic superhighway by his friend Ford Prefect, an
out of work actor who was actually a
researcher for the revised version of
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, an
electronic book containing everything
that any intergalactic hitchhiker would
need on his journeys.
The dynamic duo sets off on a journey and eventually runs into fellow
space travelers; the two headed
Zaphod Beeblebrox, who is the President of the Galaxy; Trillian, the only
other earthling left in existence who
had formerly been known as Tricia
McMillian; and Marvin, who was a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
was originally thought up by the brilliant author Douglas Adams on a backpacking trip through Europe as a way to
combine science fiction and comedy,
which he did brilliantly. The five part
series is laugh out loud funny and definitely worth a read. Previously a successful radio program on the BBC, the
British Broadcasting Community, in the
1970’s, was published in 1979 through
1992. The book series even turned into
a movie in 2005, which starred Martin
Freeman. The series even has its own
day, which is observed on May 25 in
memory of Douglas Adams and is called
Towel Day because, in the novel, it was
stated that the towel was the “most
massively useful thing an interstellar
hitchhiker can have.”
Overall, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy is an absolutely brilliant book.
It is a hilarious novel that is well
worth the time to read it and its sequels.
5
Can Tigers turn into astronauts? Two students take the first steps
By Nikolas Statiras
and Jack Johnson
On February 12,
2014, Nikolas and Jack
left school early to go
to NASA and take a private tour. They got the
chance to tour the mission control of the
Apollo II.
First, they got to go
in a practice shuttle
and sat in the pilot and
passenger seats of the
shuttle. There were
buttons on the roof and
sides that they were
able to operate. Then
they went to see the
Saturn V rocket, which
was bigger than a football field. At it’s end, it
had fire engines that
were the size of a four
square box. There were
five spheres and four of Left: Nikolas and Jack visit with Italian Astronaut Luca Parmitano during their special NASA outing.
them had fuel in them. At right: the students explore tubes used to send messages.
These spheres were
extremely large.
space suit when a leak made water
As an added bonus, we met the astro- tronaut Luca Parmitano who had to
gather inside his helmet.
abort
his
spacewalk
because
there
nauts of expedition 37 to the International
We had such a great trip to NASA
was
a
danger
of
drowning
inside
his
Space Station. These astronauts had just
and were sad to leave.
returned from space. We even met with As-
Pier comes to Trafton for a fun and furry visit with 5th graders
By Georgia Wormser
Did you hear that Pier came to visit Trafton Academy? Mrs. Sonmor’s 5th graders
had a fundraiser for this special dog last
year. Pier is a black lab that was rescued
after some bad people burned on purpose.
Those people poured gasoline on him then
lit a match and put it on him. Pier was hurt
very badly and was taken to BARC, the Houston pound.
BARC asked a rescue organization called
Scouts Honor to come get Pier. One of the
volunteers went to get him. He took Pier to
the A&M Emergency Clinic on a stormy day.
A&M didn’t think he could live, but as you
can see he did. He was at A&M for about
three months. Doctor, nurses and volunteers there took care of Pier until he got
better.
Pier still does have to wear either a shirt
or sunscreen to
protect
his
burned skin from
the sun whenever he is outside,
but Pier is as
happy as a puppy. He is about
two years old
and was happily
adopted by his
forever
family,
who has a lab for
Pier to play with.
Pier, a rescued
dog, visits some
of his biggest
fans, Trafton 5th
graders.
6
Art department completes Georgia O’Keefe collaborative project
Mrs. Nicki Hutchins was thrilled to learn that the front office would hold the honor
of displaying the interpretation of the O’Keefe work. To the right of the art department’s amazing creation is a print of the original piece.
Everyone knows that Trafton students and teachers have a reputation
for demanding work, but some projects take just a little longer than others. Art instructor Mrs. Christie Harrison and her students recently completed a project that took two years
to finish.
Twenty students and Mrs. Harrison recreated a large piece of
O'Keefe's 1928 painting, "Oriental
Poppies" from a smaller square. Students used a grid technique and color
matching skills to rebuild the work.
Congratulations to Trafton students, past and present, who put so
much talent and effort into this terrific piece: Jake Cosgrove, Jacob
Trachtenberg, Alec Rubenstein, Madison Dodson, Paige Pavlu, Julia Weiss,
Kelsey Barker, Alex Couvillon, Isabel
Bosley, Max Lew, Alex Katz, Sarah
Dickson, Elena Vogiatzis, Allison
Coale, Simone Perque, Krysta Drake,
Allison Hadad, and graduates Kelly
Tatum, Bola Adeyeri, and Cooper Gillespie.
The completed project now resides in the main building for all to
enjoy. Make sure to stop by to take a
look.
Amazing art piece can be created on a rainy day at home
By Maya Teller
Have you ever been really bored
on a Sunday afternoon and had nothing to do? Well if that’s the case, then
here’s a solution. This art project is
not only creative and entertaining,
but it is also extremely fun! To get
started, you will need a box of crayons, lots of old newspaper, a hairdryer, and a piece of thick paper, such as
cardboard.
1. First, lay down the newspaper on a
flat surface and put your cardboard
on top of the newspaper.
2. Next, choose a few of your favorite
crayon colors and peel off the paper.
3. When that is done, hold the crayon
by one end over the paper, turn the
hairdryer on high
and point it straight
at the crayon so that
it starts to melt.
4. When you see it
start to soften, drag
the crayon along the
paper, still pointing
the hairdryer toward the crayon, so
that it does not
harden up.
5. While dragging
the crayon, the hairdryer causes the Want to create a art masterpiece of your own? You can do it at
colors to make a home as a fun project.
splattering effect so
6. If you feel like adding more colors, rebe careful that it doesn’t burn your
peat steps 2-5 to make a beautiful pichand!
ture. Now enjoy your masterpiece!
7
Lady Tigers softball team takes opponents and season by storm
By Alex Couvillion
The lady Tigers are off
to a great start since the
beginning of February. so
far in the four games they
have played, they have
scored 45 runs and allowed
only 3 from opponents!
The biggest and most
fun game this season was
the "mud bowl" against
Trinity. The rain came
down so hard that is flooded the dugout and the field!
However, the fun was not
yet over seeing a great opportunity for a free mud
bath, the lady Tigers began
sliding in the muddy
field. the lady Tigers were
up 6-0 when finally the
game was finally called.
Good job tigers!
Coach MacDonald commented that the team does
so well because they started the season working well Who says girls like neat, clean, sports? Trafton’s softball team played (and won) this game like
together. “We gelled togeth- they do all of them—giving it everything, rain or shine.
er as a group already!”
Trafton tennis program off to great start with winning season
Trafton continues its sports success with yet another sport - we are
so proud of how our tennis players
performed in the first match of the
season on Friday, February 21. Trafton competed against players from
Holy Spirit, Veritas Academy, and
Westbriar Middle School. Our Trafton
girls went a combined 6 wins and 1
loss and the boys combined for 5
wins and 3 losses in the first competition.
Trafton coach Eric Striesfeld said,
“11-4 overall is an awesome start!”
In the team’s second set of matches, Trafton’s A and B Teams played St.
Francis, St. Mark’s, Beren Academy,
and Holy Spirit. The Tigers pulled
ahead with the A Team claiming 10 of
16 matches, while the B Team broke
even at 5-5.
The Tiger A Team is pictured at
right. The B Team includes Nikolas
Statiras, Cameron Thornton, Bobby
Hillier,
Grace
Johnson,
Miriam
Handel,
Paige
Pavlu, Jessica
Hoechstetter, Maya
Teller, Sophie Allan,
Jenna
Blumrosen,
Aislinn
Katic, Sydney Wallace, and
Simone
The tennis team celebrates its first victory of the season. Kneeling are Marley
Perque.
Price, Luce Tysor, Daniel Wang, Alex Barnes, May Agah; standing: Zoe Friedman, Calvin Zipper, Sam Weiser, Mark Harrison, Harrison Hayes, Sam
Donoho, and Julian Wieck. Not pictured: Mia Dowdell, Claire Warren, Isabel
Siahatgar, and Samantha Knott were still on the courts playing matches.
8
Tiger tastes restaurant reviews: the Platonic P.F. Chang’s
By Jamie Tatum
In our diverse city,
there are many great restaurants, but one of the
best is P.F. Chang’s. As the
name implies, it serves
Asian food. It is also part
of a chain along with PeiWei, another Asian diner.
However, P.F. Chang’s is
far more formal than PeiWei. There are multiple
locations for P.F. Chang’s;
there is one in Sugarland
and one in the Highland
Village of Houston. The
Sugarland location is larger, though the Highland
Village location has lots of
natural light. This restaurant is quiet, and the atmosphere is very formal.
There are lots of plants
and pictures of nature.
There are booths and tables, but more tables than
booths. There is not a lot
of excitement, however, it
is a dressy place to enjoy a
dinner.
There are many appetizers at P.F. Chang’s, but
my favorite is the steamed
pork dumplings. After
ordering, a waiter comes,
gives you the meal on a
long, rectangular platter,
and offers hot sauce. If the
patron wants some, the
waiter asks about the degree of spice. The diner
answers and the waiter
takes the sauce off the
platter and adds the right
materials to it to make it
the desirable spiciness. It
is a very amazing dish,
and I recommend it for all
people with a craving for
something with spice and
zest.
The best entree at the
restaurant is the honey
crusted chicken. The
chicken is succulent and
served on a bed of thin,
crisp rice noodles. It is a
golden-brown color and is
served in bite-sized pieces.
They are topped with scallions and served with a side
bowl of white rice. The dish
smells heavenly and tastes
very sweet. Just the smell
alone can make one’s mouth
water.
Last, because is dessert,
comes the almighty Great
Wall of Chocolate. It is a
moist, long chocolate cake
that is adored by all, and laid
down like a wall. I recommend this to any and every
chocolate lover; it is the best
cake I have ever eaten. It is
six layers long and drizzled
with raspberry sauce. On the
side are several strawberries
and blueberries. The divisions are filled with creamy
chocolate icing. This is probably P.F. Chang’s best, most
ordered dish, and it is original. It is a true slice of heaven.
The service at P.F.
Chang’s is also very nice. The
waiters and waitresses wear
long white shirts and black
pants, accompanied by a
black apron. Reservations
are optional, but not every
diner takes them. There is no
entertainment, but I think
there should be. This is because it takes a while to get
the
food—over
fifteen
minutes for the appetizers
and sometimes twice the
time for the entree. I would
recommend this establishment to people who like
meat but not to those who
are busy or impatient. I think
people should go here because of the delicious food.
However, it is a bit
pricey, about sixty dollars for
four people. Nevertheless,
everyone who goes to P.F.
Chang’s enjoys his or her
meal, and usually he or she
wants to come back again.
9
Have you met…? Introducing some of Trafton’s newest Tigers
Sixth graders Sully Grubbs, Shawn Xie, Jett Baer, and Julia Weiss have joined the Tiger den, and Trafton is thrilled to welcome them to the growing “cub crew.”
By Tribune Staff
Trafton is happy to introduce another
group of first year Tigers. We thought it
would be fun and interesting to learn a
little more about some of the newest
members of our Trafton family, and encourage you to get to know them better
as well.
Q: Whose homeroom are you in?
A: Sully and Jett are in Mrs. Gillespie’s
homeroom, while Shawn and Julia hails
from Mr. Ruoss’ class.
Q: Where did you go to school before
Trafton?
A: Sully came to Trafton from Horn
Academy, Shawn transferred from Pershing Middle School, while Jett and Julia
both graduated from West University
Elementary.
Q: What are your favorite subjects
thus far at Trafton?
A: Sully most enjoys reading, Shawn
loves Math because he’s good at it, Jett
also is a big fan of Math, and Julia likes
Science and Grammar.
Q: What do you like to do in your free
time outside of school?
A: Sully is a swimmer, Shawn enjoys
playing tennis and reading in his free
time, Jett can be found playing football
or basketball, and Julia prefers playing
soccer.
Q: What’s something your new
friends might be surprised to learn
about you?
A: Most of Sully’s friends are surprised to learn she likes going outside,
Shawn confesses to being really slow
doing his homework, and Julia used to
live in a desert.
Q: What’s your favorite food?
A: Sully most loves sushi, Shawn favors chicken tenders, Jett loves pizza
because you can eat it any time of the
day, while Julia will always take a
cheeseburger.
Q: What’s the most interesting place
you’ve ever visited?
A: Sully was amazed by the clear water and beautiful birds she saw in the
Bahamas, Shawn loves the sea he saw in
Miami, Jet loved Hawaii because you can
do all kinds of water sports there, and
Julia was most inspired by visiting
Mauritius because that’s where the
dodo birds originated.
Q: Name your favorite book.
A: Sully loved The Lost Hero,
Shawn likes the Final Day of Dragons,
Jett enjoyed The Lawn Boy, and Julia
recommends Elsewhere.
Q: Favorite music?
A: Sully most enjoys the Katy Perry’s Roar, Shawn is a fan of the musical group Psy, Jett likes listening to
Eminem, and Julia’s favorite song is
Brave.
Q: Where would you like to go to
college and what do you hope to do?
A: Sully hopes to become a veterinarian after college, Shawn would
like to attend Rice University and
then become a doctor, Jett aspires to
a career as a video game designer or
doctor after graduating from University of Southern California or UT,
while Julia dreams of going to the
University of Florida and becoming a
marine biologist.
Nerd Day descends upon Trafton Academy
By Lily Poursoltan
Nerd Day made a re-appearance
on February 13 at Trafton Academy. On
this day, students can pay three dollars
to dress up as “nerds.” Many students
wore large glasses and mismatched colors. Pants worn very high and belted
were a common sight. Trafton’s next
dress-up day took place on March 12th,
Color Day. On Color Day, each grade is
assigned a color, and students in that
grade wear attire in that color. Any money raised on these fun days goes to the 6th
through 8th grade dance as well as a pizza
party for the 4th and 5th graders.
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Did you know… ? Tidbits of trivia to share with friends and teachers
By Claire Warren
Are you looking for some random
facts to impress your family and friends
with your knowledge of useless but interesting trivia? If so, this is the place to
look.
 The Mona Lisa doesn’t have eye
brows or eye lashes in the painting.
 Giraffes can go longer than camels



without water.
Most people who read the word
yawn or yawning actually feel the
urge to begin yawning. Do you?
The average person eats 60,000
pounds of food in his lifetime—the
equivalent of six elephants.
Disneyland does not sell chewing
gum. They do not want their guests


Q: What did the police man
say to his shirt?
Q: What did the cell say to
its sister cell when she
stepped on his toe?
A: Mitosis!
Q: What is a boxer’s favorite
drink?
A: You’re under a vest!
A: Fruit punch.
Q: What did the frustrated
cannibal do?
Q: Did you see the woman
with that taser?
Q: What did the person bad
at math do with 2n + 2n?
A: He got so nervous, he
threw up his hands.
A: Yeah, she was was
stunning!
stepping on chewed gum, or
they talked to Mrs. Bryan.
Hawaii is the only state in the
U.S. that grows coffee. Hawaiian
coffee is some of the most expensive coffee in the world.
There is only one metal that is
liquid at room temperature, and
that’s mercury.
A: It was 4n to him.
Tiger teaser word search: spring brings fresh starts and challenges
By Trafton Tribune Staff Writers
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SCIENCE FAIR
ROMEO AND JULIET
JULIUS CAESAR
SPRING BREAK
TENNIS
TRACK
SOFTBALL
BASEBALL
HAPS
ACADEMIC TEAM
READING
PSIA
GEORGIA O’KEEFE
CARNEGIE HALL
SCIENCE
RESEARCH PAPERS
SOLO AND ENSEMBLE
ACHEIVEMENT TESTING
NONLINEAR FUNCTIONS
PIER THE POOCH
11
Trafton Tribune
Email:
[email protected]
Student editor: Claire Warren
Trafton Academy
Principal: Inez Hutchins
Director: Sylvia Bryan
Main Campus
4711 McDermed Houston, Texas 77035
713-723-3732
Annex Campus
10500 Cliffwood, Houston, Texas 77035
713-723-3228
By Maya Teller
The book A Mango-Shaped Space by
Wendy Mass is very special to me. It is
about a girl named Mia Winchell who
has a rare brain condition called synesthesia. People with synesthesia often
associate colors with sounds, shapes,
tastes, or letters. In Mia's case, each
What’s worth reading: A Mango-shaped Space
letter or number is associated with a
color and each sound has a specific
color or pattern, all in her brain.
For the first 13 years of her life,
Mia never told anyone about her synesthesia. One day after school, Mia
tells her parents about her colors and
asks them for help because her colors
were interfering with her schoolwork. Mia's parents take her to a neurologist who can help diagnose what
her problem is, and how to deal with
it.
The rest of the book describes
how Mia handles her synesthesia,
despite all the challenges that arise. I
love this book so much because Wendy Mass tells the story in such a way
that I feel like I am with Mia through
all of her struggles.
The title of the book, A MangoShaped Space, is a very unusual name.
The meaning of the title is that Mia
has a cat named Mango, whom she
found the day of her grandfather's funeral. Mia is convinced that Mango has
a special piece of her grandfather
saved inside of him. Mia's world revolved around Mango, and took care of
him and loved him so much. Each of
the letters in the title is a different color because this is how Mia saw the letters in her life, all in color. Each letter
or number has a certain color associated with it. Overall, A Mango-Shaped
Space is one of my favorite books ever.
Annual campaign off to a promising start
Trafton Academy Annual Giving
Campaign is underway with the lofty
goal of 100% participation. We would
like to recognize the first round of donors who have pushed the campaign to
22% of its goal. Check out the thermometer!
We would like to thank and recognize the families that have started the
effort. Thank you, and let’s keep going!
Barnes Family
Jana Blackburn
Oliver Bogler & Irene Newsham
Mr. & Mrs. Philip Bryant
Tingyu Chiang
Pam & Roger Cooner
Cosgrove Family
Scott, Amy & Philip Cunningham
Das Family
Vladimir & Yanina Didyk
Donoho Family
Donovan Family
Katrena & Michael Friedman
Joan M. Gallagher & Frank R. Dittoe
Gehring Family
Gibbs Family
Julie & Robert Goodfriend
Grant & Bianca Goodman
Held Family
Amy & Andrew Hoechstetter
Larry & Alisa Hoffman
Holcomb Family
Steve & Cathy Hollerbach
Howard Family
Edward Jin Family
David & Silena Kennedy
Mark & Cammie Kennedy
Knott Family
Sarah Lee
ChenWei & Chienling Lee
John & Virginia Logan
Mark & Nataliya Mayzenberg
Ed & Stephanie Mazzoni
Julie & John McFarland
Shelley McNamara
Mena Family
Stan Morris
Leeor & Lori Peleg
Chris & Jennifer Perque
Portugal Family
Charlotte and Tim Proffitt
Tami Rack
Richards Family
Alyssa & Louis Rosenthal
Savarese Family
Nikolas Statiras
John & Jennifer Thornton
Jennifer & Mark Trachtenberg
Vikram Family
Keri & Joe Warren
Christina Weiss
Westlake Family
Catherine Witte & Gary Zimmerman
Christine & Andrew Zipper
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