Viking Chronicles - New Brighton Middle School!

October 17, 2011Volume 1, Issue 1Viking ChroniclesNew Brighton Middle School Journalism ClassNew Brighton Middle School Wins Green School Certificationby MacKenzie DeeterEven if the Vikings' colors are purple and gold, we have gone green! Congratulations New BrightonMiddle School students and staff for working hard to become the first public Green School in SantaCruz County!Over the course of a year, NBMS has worked on achieving well over 100 criteria to be certified as"Green" by the “Green by Green Business Association.” In order to be eligible for the certification, ourschool has had to choose the most eco-friendly way to do things such as reduce energy use, water use,and chemical use."We had many audits done of our energy management (PG&E), pollution prevention, solid wastedisposal, recycling, and water conservation," stated sixth-grade humanities teacher, Mimi Edgar. Shewent on to list some of the many contributors including: our principal, Rob Martin; our head ofmaintenance, Paul Rucker; our head of food services, Cathy Giannini; our day-time custodian, HildaMartinez; and our Assistant Superintendent for Business Services, Harley Robertson.Ms. Edgar, in unison with Ana Maria Robelo, Environmental Education Program Coordinator forSanta Cruz County, coordinated the audits that led to our school’s green certification.You can walk around the school and see the solar panels, the many recycle and compost bins, and therecycled toilet paper and know that you are part of a Green School!A Peek Into a Substitute Teacher’s Mind by Jamie HydeWelcome to the Mr. Ginterview. I will be your host,and together we will embark ona mythical interview with epicanswers.Many people know the impactthat our regular teachers have onour lives, but many people don’tunderstand the importance ofsubstitute teachers.I interviewed one of our mostwell-known substitutes, LarsGilbert, to learn about hisexperiences at our school.Q: How long have you been asub?A: I have been a sub for fouryears.Q: What is your biggest petpeeve?A: When I miss an opportunity tobring the heat and drop thethunder.Q: How do you deal with unrulyand energized kids?A: I use peer-pressure and bringlots of kryptonite.Q: How did you obtain yourcelebrity status at NBMS?A: Humble and hungry, I usecatch phrases.Q: Does having your own kidshelp with your ability to be a sub?A: Yes, I can relate my personalexperience raising kids to subbing.Q: What inspired you to be a sub?A: I got my psychology degree,thought to try teaching, andthoroughly enjoyed it.Q: What is the hardest part ofbeing a sub?A: Being a chameleon, teachingevery grade and every subject, andmaking it look like I’ve beendoing it my whole life.Q: What is the best part of beinga sub?A: I get to wear dress clothes towork and meet a bunch of coolpeople.Q: What kind of teacher do youwant to be?A: A teacher students willremember and talk about 20years from now.Q: How do you describe the Mr.G experience?A: A mythical journey of epicproportions.Today you have looked into themind of an amazing substituteteacher. Maybe you will nowponder about how a substitutehas affected your life.Welcome to TheViking ChroniclesWelcome to the first edition of“The Viking Chronicles.” Wehope to cover key school events,community events, occasionalnational and internationalevents, and we will featureperiodic interviews with staffmembers, local celebrities, andcommunity heroes.We would also like to provide aspace in our newspaper to praiseothers who are part of ourschool community or whosupport our school and itsstudents in some way. OurPraiseworthy page will allowmembers of our schoolcommunity to write to ournewspaper and tell us howsomeone at school or in ourcommunity has helped them.Please keep your praiseworthyletters to 120 words or less.We also encourage you to sendemails or letters to us with yourfeedback, comments, storyideas, and/or praise. We maypublish some of these letters infuture editions of ournewspaper. You can drop offyour letters in Mr. Shapiro’sclassroom (room 33) or you canemail our class atashapiro@suesd.org.We hope you enjoy theinaugural edition of ournewspaper. Please note thatmany students beyond thosewith bylines contributed to thisnewspaper.Thank you for reading it,NBMS Journalism StudentsContents:More News – 2 Editorial and Advice– 4 Entertainment – 6Features and Praiseworthy – 3 Feature Editorial – 5 Sports –7-8

Halloween Tips by Rachel BonsallNights are getting darker and the fog isrolling in, Halloween is coming! Somequick tips before Halloween are getyour costume fast, have a safety plan,and prepare yourself for the amazingcostume contest here at NBMS.If you’re the type of person who isreally independent, here is an easy tip:make your own costume! Thecostumes you make yourself arealways the best because they showyour creativity and how unique you canbe. It’s easy too, sometimes you don’teven have to buy anything. Forexample, say you wanted to be a nerdfor Halloween. All you have to do isfind some of your parents’ oldsuspenders and some glasses and,before you know it, you’re a nerd!If you are more on the dependent side,you might want to be in a group.Gather some of your friends and youcan be a soccer team or band. I thinkthat groups are the best way to gobecause then you can enter the costumecontest together!Here at NBMS, we have a costumecontest every Halloween at the end ofthe day (during seventh period). DuringP.E. all the classes that periodwill go to the gym to determinewho will be in the contest.Then, if you are brave enough,you will enter the contest bystanding in a category that youthink fits your costume best.Some categories are groups,funniest, scariest, and manymore!Next, the P.E. teachers willchoose two or three people fromeach category to go on to thenext stage (if you’re chosen,your P.E. teacher will give youa ticket). After that stage, youhave made it to the next level.During seventh period, showyour teacher the ticket and tellthem you’re in the Halloweencontest, then go to the "PAC."When you enter, you will beseated by category. As thecrowd starts rolling in, they willcall your category up on stageand begin the contest. Crossyour fingers because you maybe chosen to win a fun prize!For many, the best part ofHalloween is trick-or-treating.Who wouldn’t want freecandy! Now, I know allthat is on your mind is"candy, candy, candy,CANDY!," but you have tojust calm down and breathebecause you just can’t runout the door!If you’re trick-or-treating,make sure you have aparent, older sibling, orgroup of friends with you.Never go trick-or-treatingby yourself: it can be verydangerous! If you go with agroup of friends, make sureyou buddy up and alsomake sure you (or yourbuddy) have a cell phone.But most importantly, havefun!Halloween is coming upfaster than you can say"BOO!" So, please considermy tips and hopefully, youwill have a safe and funHalloween!New Brighton Middle School Extracurricular Activitiesby Olivia Magee“Extracurricular Activitiesare an important part ofschool life.”Page 2 of 8Are you constantly going home afterschool, doing your homework, andthen finding yourself playing videogames, watching TV, going onFacebook, or just spacing out? Thisarticle is for you if you’re lookingfor more productive activities. Thereis so much potential for all of ourNew Brighton students and thatincludes you! Here is a list of someof the activities offered at NBMSthat you can participate in.Band: Band is a great way to meetfriends, have fun, learn how to playan instrument, or improve the skillsthat you already have.Cheer Squad: The CheerSquad brings spirit to theschool and enhances students’experiences.Clubs: NBMS offers someclubs that you may beinterested in. Clubs are anexcellent way to meet peopleand discuss something thatyou are interested in. NewBrighton has clubs such asThe Gay Straight Allianceand Glee Club. Also, it mightbe fun to start your own club,but remember, a teacherneeds to support yourdecision to start a club!Sports: Sports are a great way tobe active, while having fun. Youcan join a team with somefriends and maybe learn about anew sport that you haven’t triedbefore. You will also learn greatskills such as sportsmanship andteam skills! Make sure that, ifyou join a team, you have stronggrades that you can maintainwhile you go to practices andgames.All of these things are greatactivities if you are feelingbored, or just stuck withoutanything to do. If you dosomething extracurricular, justmake sure not to forget yourhomework!

Tangerine Moon – A New Magazine by Middle School Studentsby Blake GroobyA new magazine is hitting thestores of Santa Cruz. It’s written bymiddle school students. I chose tointerview the creators of“Tangerine Moon” because it is agood magazine. I was able to read apreview copy. Even though it is amagazine for girls, anyone can getit. It is a variety magazine with afocus on community. Here is theinterview.Q.) Why did you choose the name“Tangerine Moon?”A.) We brainstormed for a longtime and finally came up with thename.Q.) What’s in the magazine?A.) Lots of articles, coupons,reviews, and fashion.Q.) Where can kids buy themagazine?A.) Bookshop Santa Cruz.Q.) What can we look forward toin the fall edition?A.) Lots of new quizzes, thingsabout community, and fall stuff.Q.) I see you’ve been on TV.Was it good for the publicity?A.) Yes, very good.Q.) Do you plan on doing themagazine for a long time?A.) Yes.If you want to buy this magazine,go to BOOKSHOP SANTACRUZ and get it for $4.95.CREATORS OF“TANGERINE MOON”Kelly McCandless, SophieMcCallum, Maggie O’Hara,Athena Greenleaf, MorganEidam, Gina CondottiA new magazine by and forMiddle School Students!England and USA Differencesby Adrian SamsonTo many children growing upin America, England ismysterious. Their primary wayof understanding England isoften through the media. Themedia, however, isn’t alwaysaccurate.One of the first things I noticedmoving from England to theUnited States was thedifference in Kit Kat bars.Here, the packaging is orangeand the bar tastes more likepeanut butter. There thepackaging is red and the bartastes more like sugar. I laterfound out that here, Kit Kat isowned by Reese’s, and there,Kit Kat is owned by Nestle.Kit Kat isn’t the onlydifference between thecountries of course; there arealso many differences in theway schools are structured.Here, we only wear uniforms inprivate schools. There, they wearuniforms in all schools.Here, we have elementary school,middle school/junior high school,and then high school. There theyhave primary school, secondaryschool, and then college.In school in England, there’s lesshomework, but it’s not as great asit sounds, because there arelonger school hours. There arealso fewer holidays, and summervacation there is half as long as itis here.A more famous difference is “teatime.” Tea time is basically nodifferent than a mid-day snack.Sometime in the afternoon, someEnglish people have a scheduledsnack. Tea time is enjoyedprimarily by those in the upperclass and lower class, while mostpeople in the middle class don’toften participate.There are some significantdifferences between England andThe United States. However, thesimilarities between England andAmerica are much greater than thedifferences highlighted above.____________________________Praiseworthy:Our journalism class would like tooffer special thanks to KathleenHoward, our school district’sformer superintendent, for hermany hours working with usformatting this first edition of ourschool newspaper.We would also like to thank MarthaMendoza, Pulitzer-Prize-winningjournalist, for speaking with usabout her experiences in the worldof journalism.Thanks also to Heather Martin forsupporting us as we werecompleting our stories.Page 3 of 8

Editorial – Gum At Schoolby Adrian SamsonSome research suggeststhat gum can help keepyour brain active andcan help some peopleconcentrate.One of the most commonlyenforced and commonlybroken school rules is the ruleagainst chewing gum oncampus. This rule comeslargely from fear of kidssticking gum under tables,spitting it on the ground, oreven having it stuck in anindividual’s hair.Though there are manyreasons why educators don’twant students to chew gum atschool, there are also benefitsto chewing gum for somestudents. Some researchsuggests that gum can helpkeep your brain active andcan help some peopleconcentrate. Additionally, ithelps those who are prone tofidgeting sit still and focus.For example, chewing gumhelps me focus and helpskeep me from chewing theinside of my mouth.At other schools I’veattended, a commonexplanation for this rule isthat gum can do bad things toyour teeth, but there arealready things that areallowed at school that are badfor people’s teeth. Also, fourout of five dentistsrecommend Trident.I know that there are a lot ofproblems with poorlydiscarded gum byirresponsible gum chewers,but that problem alreadyexists with the current rule inplace. I believe that thepeople who would like tochew gum at school, butchoose to follow this rule, areresponsible enough to keepfrom dropping, throwing, andspitting their gumeverywhere.There are solutions to thisproblem other than banninggum completely. A good way toprevent gum from finding itsway under people’s shoes is torestrict gum to a “gum-chewingarea.” That would likely be asuccessful way to keep gumchewingcontrolled andsupervised. Perhaps a parentvolunteer or student councilmembers could provide thissupervision and make sure thatthe gum is disposed of properly.While I respect the valid reasonsfor banning gum at school, thereare also positive aspects toallowing gum at school.Additionally, there are solutionsto this problem beyond banninggum completely. Perhaps a trialrun of a week or a month inwhich limited gum-chewingwere allowed at school woulddetermine if students can handlethis responsibility.Rylie’s Advice Columnby Rylie O’BrienQ: My best friend has been avoiding me. How do I talk to her and find out what’s wrong?A: Well, you might want to try going up to her and asking why she has been avoiding you or asking her what’swrong. She might not be avoiding you specifically. It’s possible that she might be upset about something thathas nothing to do with you. So if you go up to her ask if she is okay and she doesn’t want to talk, I would justgive her some space, and let her be alone. If you know why she is angry at you, then I would either leave heralone or try to help. Some people want to be alone when they are upset, but others might not know what to do inthat situation and they might need some support.Q; I’m new to this school. How do I make new friends?A: It’s always hard switching to a new school whether it is in the beginning of a school year or the middle of aschool year. What I would do is just be friendly and go up to some people who seem nice and are in some ofyour classes. Try and meet new people every day and just stay with them and their group of friends and oddsare, they will introduce you to other people. If a person you approach isn’t welcoming, then don’t becomefriends with them. It also may help If you know someone else that goes to school here so that you can talk tothem and find out who they think is nice. Then they can help you make friends. Just remember that most peopleare really friendly here at New Brighton Middle School, so there is no need to be shy or scared.Page 4 of 8

Mix It Up At Lunch Dayby Max BushnellDid you ever have an urge to make newfriends? Well on Tuesday, October 18, theopportunity is yours! This is the date of “MixIt up Day,” a national event at lunch,dedicated to sitting with individuals withwhom you are not acquainted.If you choose to participate, come on into thecafeteria during lunch and you will be greetedwarmly by getting assigned a seat at a table,filled with a random assortment of people. Ateach table, there will be a stack of conversationstarters, which will allow you and your fellowstudents to get to know each other a little better.If you join in the festivities, you will certainlyenjoy the new friends you acquire. If you don’tfeel like participating, then you don’t have to,we just ask you to eat outside.Let’s mix it up and make some newfriends on Tuesday!Bullyingby Ashi SmithAre you against bullying? Whether it’s inperson, over the Internet, or in public,bullying is wrong and always will be. Most ofus don’t notice or accept how big of a problemit is and how it affects people. Almosteveryone has experienced bullying orwitnessed it and I would be astonished ifsomeone said that they don’t believe that it isan important issue.Imagine your best friend is spreading rumorsand gossip about you. To your surprise anddismay, you realize that she isn’t as good of afriend as you thought. She clearly doesn’trealize how much this type of bullying canhurt. If you try to explain to her how heractions have affected you and she doesn’trespond positively, then it would be a goodtime to talk to an adult.Whether it is over the Internet or in person, noone should have to put up with bullying.Bullying online can be even more hurtfulbecause almost everyone can see it and willalways have access to it. Amber Carlton, oneof our eighth grade peers, says, “Cyberbullyingis a big issue and if you wouldn’t saythose hurtful words in person, then youshouldn’t post them online.” Another student,Alexis Oviedo, agrees with Amber along withalmost every other kid I interviewed at ourschool.Based on my research, more than half the kidsour age spend much of their free time - whennot with friends or at other after-schoolactivities - on Facebook, Twitter, Formspring,Myspace, Tumblr, Gmail, Yahoo, ClubPenguin, or other chat rooms or photo-sharingsites, and one-third of the comments peoplepost is negative, according to an employee ofFacebook.There have been many self-conscious andscared teens who have harmed themselvesafter being bullied. Because of the terrorsand tragedies of bullying, in the mostextreme situations, some have cutthemselves or even committed suicide.Almost everyone has been bullied, whetherit was someone stealing your crayons infirst grade or losing your best friend overgossip in eighth grade. We all know how itfeels to be bullied and I’m guessing that noone enjoyed it. When you hear about peoplebeing bullied, many middle school studentsprobably think that it is not that big of adeal, and that no one in his or her rightmind would harm himself or herselfbecause of such treatment, but some peopleare so deeply wounded by bullying that theydo harm themselves. Kids have been toldthat they are stupid, dumb, fake, retarded,ugly, fat, worthless, and have no friends.Once people say those words to someone,they start to think it’s true. I have beencalled all these things at one time oranother, but I just think that if someone hasthe nerve to call me or my friends thosenames, then something terrible must begoing on in their head or life. They justdon’t understand that it is wrong.So as you can see, bullying is harmful. It isalso dangerous, and in the most extremeinstances, has caused some to take theirlives or caused people to go to jail.Bullying can tear apart people’s amazinglives and make them feel that there is noreason to live. There can be people youaren’t fond of, but that does not mean youhave to mess up their life or anyone else’s.Bullying can tear apartpeople’s amazing livesand make them feel thatthere is no reason tolive.Page 5 of 8

EntertainmentLion King 3Dby Amber CarltonGoing to the moviesthis weekend? Here aretwo great options!4 ½ starsRated: GTime: 1 hr. 27 min.One of the mostpopular Disneyanimated movies, TheLion King, is nowavailable in 3D andpresents a whole newexperience for theaudience.This movie tells thestory of a lion cub’sjourney to adulthoodand acceptance of hisroyal destiny.Simba, a young lion cub,begins life as an honoredprince, the son of thepowerful King Mufasa. Thecub’s joyful childhood soonturns upside-down when hisevil uncle, Scar, murdersMufasa and drives Simba,who thinks that the death ofhis father is his fault, awayfrom the kingdom andtowards the wastelands. Inexile, the young lionbefriends the comicalPumbaa, a warthog and hisbest buddy Timon, ameerkat. They teach him tolive in the jungle with a carefreelife.All of this changesthough, once Simbareaches adulthood, for heis visited by the spirit ofhis father. From thisencounter, Simbadecides to race back tothe kingdom to defeatScar, who has now takenover Pride Rock, andtake back what isrightfully his.Overall, The Lion King3D is a wonderful moviefilled with laughs, fun,and courage. This is agreat film for the entirefamily to enjoy!Real Steelby Brandon ThompsonMovie Review: RealSteel [PG-13]"Real Steel," starringHugh Jackman, is afuturistic movie likeno other. It is a funfamily movie that allages can enjoy. If youlike robots and movieswith lots of action, thisis your kind of movie.Real Steel is about aman and his son goingon an adventure withrobot boxing. This movietakes place somewherearound 2023, so it's not toofar into the future.I would rate this movie a 9out of ten 10. This moviewould at least make it intothe top 10 of my favoritemovies.I highly recommend thismovie.Page 6 of 8

SportsNew Brighton’s 8th Grade Girl’s Basketball Team Dominates Holy Crossby Amber CarltonOn Monday, October 10th,the eighth grade girls’basketball team beat HolyCross 43 to 13. NewBrighton started the gamequickly, making the firstcouple of baskets, and bythe second quarter thescore was 19-3 in favor ofNBMS.New Brighton’s teamplayed strong defense, aswell as consistentoffense throughout theentire game. NBMSmaintained a 20-pluspoint lead throughout theentire second half.Congratulations to NewBrighton Middle School’seighth grade girls’ basketballteam on completing anundefeated regular season.Way to go Vikings, keep itup!Capitola City Council Discusses Skate Park Siteby Joshua PurkeyIn 2006 and 2007, Capitolaheld a series of meetings todiscuss potential places for askate park, but none of theideas pleased everyone and theproject died.Now, the city is making a newattempt at putting in a skatepark. The city council held apublic hearing on Thursdayand considered using a part ofMonterey Park next to NewBrighton Middle School.“I personally feel we have anobligation to the community toprovide this recreationalopportunity for the kids in thatage group.’’ said mayorDennis Norton in a Santa CruzSentinel article. He wasreferring to the park’s targetgroup of elementary andmiddle-school-aged students.Emily Martin, a Capitolaresident and mother of threewho has supported a skatepark along with othercommunity members, said shelikes the Monterey park site.‘’It’s near a middle schoolwhich is a great place for it togo,’’ Martin said. ‘’Plenty ofkids, including my own,consider skateboarding asport.’’ I know a lot of peopledisagree, but it would befantastic for the kids to havesome place to skate.’’For now, no money has beenallocated for this project and itisn’t likely that the city willmove forward during thesechallenging economic timesunless private donors arefound.The hearing on Thursdaytalked about the suitability ofthe location, and whether ornot more planning should startfor the Monterey Park site.Skate Park consideredright next to NewBrighton MiddleSchool!A basic skateboard park, much like thisskateboard park at Jose Park, isplanned.Page 7 of 8

New Brighton Cross Country Team Running Hardby MacKenzie DeeterWe kicked off the cross-country season with the difficult SLV course. Runners had to leave thebeach and go way up to the mountains in Felton, CA.With hardly any time to warm up, the eighth-grade boys started. Sergey Cutter finished with astrong second. Nick Vincent was hot on his trail, finishing third. Miguel Velazquez came in sixthand Michael Macatee came in 12th, still running the course in under thirteen minutes. OscarLopez, Aldahir Mendoza, and Corey Seeger swiftly finished the grueling 1.5-mile course.One eighth-grade girl, MacKenzie Deeter, also made the top ten as well, finishing seventh. It wasa good race for all of the girls. Eva Borgeman, Phoebe English, Caitlyn Buse, Kiana Charles, andSheena Cuccia all felt happy, accomplished, and relieved to be finished.Next the seventh grade boys raced. Pearson Bradley won the race and Victor Vogt got second.Nick Rose, Kyle Henn, Blake Brosing, and Robbie Macatee all finished in the top ten! LoganConover got a close eleventh and then came Devon Robinson, Joel Kjellberg, Michael Johnson,Otis Lamacchia, Kyle Niiyama, David Mitchell, and Ian Daing.Hannah Martin was the first New Brighton girl to finish, coming in an impressive second place!Chloe Basile was fourth and Celia King got ninth. Talia White and Cienna Ajir came around thetrack and impressively finished the race.The sixth grade boys included Jacob Jacquard, who came in seventh, and William Marlatt, CodyAzevedo, Ryan Yeo, Rodney Newton, Alex Malaspina, Gabriel Rogers, Charlie Cone, Tai White,Van Smith, Cirian Delbonte-Smith, and Kendall Wells.Sidney Niiyama was the only sixth grade girl representing New Brighton in their first race andshe did great!The second race was at Shwan Lake and was hosted by Shoreline Middle School. The course wasmuch shorter and less difficult. The eighth grade boys placed second overall and the girls placedsecond also. The seventh grade boys placed first and the seventh grade girls came in second.Also, the sixth grade boys got third.Our third meet was at Pinto Lake in Watsonville and we dominated! The next week, we hosted ameet at Soquel High. The giant hill wore out many competitors.The most recent meet was at Scotts Valley and the league finals are at SLV on October 21."Races are long and hard but at the end you feel accomplished," says seventh grader, HannahMartin. So Vikings, let’s keep up the good work and finish strong.Page 8 of 8