Christopher Columbus Middle School

 

Contents

Dear CCMS Community 1

What’s Up, CCMS? 2

CCMS Happenings 3

CCMS Interests 4

CCMS Fiction 5

CCMS Reviews 6

CCMS Opinions 7

May 2019Volume 8, Issue 2

Ms. Lalama - Co-AdvisorMr. Giblin - Co-Advisor

Dear CCMS Community,Spring has sprung! April and May is a

great time to be a CCMS student. Students had a nice spring break to recharge and now we are back in action for the rest of the school year. The Columbus Columns is here to inform all of our community about the cool things that happen here, and the wild stuff our students are interested in.

This edition is a great reminder of all the fun things our reporters have gotten into these past few months. They were excited to show our community how much hard work went into this issue.

We would like to thank all of the teachers, administration, parents, and the Clifton community for supporting our students as they work hard to create this newspaper.

This issue and past issues of the Columbus Columns can be found online at the CCMS web site. Please visit the link to download your copy. Please share with families and friends, too!

http://clifton.k12.nj.us/schools/columbus

C Columbusolumns

create your own at wordle.net

-Ms. Lalama & Mr. Giblin

What’s up, CCMS? Page 2 of 7CCMS Columns

Students in Mr. Giblin’s 7th grade Technology Education class use Photoshop to make their own movies. Well... not really, but they did make a poster! Students were able to come up with an idea for a “flick” and use Photoshop to create a Movie Poster advertisement for the idea.

In order to make the poster, students had to find images on the internet that would fit their movie. They had to decide on a setting for the background, an actor for the main role, and had to add some “flavor” so you could tell what type of movie

CCMS “Goes to the Movies”Mr. Giblin’s 7th Grade

Sixth Grade students at CCMS had a great time doing some very interesting projects. Using candy the students in Ms. Paul’s class created some very cool STEM projects, like cars and bridges.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math... and these students sure had to use all of them in order to make a bridge. They only used candy jellies and tooth picks in order to make a bridge that could stand between two binders.

They also had to create an assembly line in order to make a few cars out of candies. It’s amazing how tasty a little engineering can be!

STEM at CCMSCCMS Staff

it is just from looking at the poster. Some kids had UFOs, others had cars, or some even had vampires and ghosts! Once the images were done, students had to make a title and a tag line. See you at the theater, CCMS!

CCMS Columns CCMS Happenings Page 3 of 7Mr. Emmanuel, Macy’s Engineer and 3D Projects

Marco Stefanacci

It all started on a beautiful CCMS day when Mrs. Nicolette received a package containing our school’s first ever 3D printer. I happily unpacked it and set it up. Since then, I have made many plastic models, and keychains with this amazing device. Every day I am learning something new.

On Saturdays, I go to CCMS’ Saturday Academy and help Mrs. Nicolette and Mrs. Kershaw by printing 3D models for their STEM activities, and to perform any software updates on the printer. During the month of March, Mr. Emmanuel came to our school, thanks to the wonderful Mr. Labriola. Mr. Emmanuel is an engineer who designs floats for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and uses 3D printing every day to make small models of real-life floats.

He talked to the class about many engineering equations and talked especially to me about our 3D printer. Through this special visit and our conversation, I learned how 3D printing projects can turn into real life-sized objects. I am currently working on a presentation for the teachers and staff, that will show them how to use and maintain the 3D printer, so that they may be able to use it on their own when I move on to high school this September.

I hope that the entire CCMS school body will appreciate this great learning tool and use it to incorporate its possible applications into the STEM program that the school is implementing. Thanks to all of the wonderful CCMS staff, I was encouraged to do more with 3D printing and shape the foundations for new technological advancements with the faculty.

The accelerated field trip, courtesy of the TAG program, was full of activities and adventure! After weeks of preparation, the trip felt earned and deserved. Every student was required to go to 4 meetings during lunch or after school to learn about the Temptations. In addition, each student only had to pay $20 and that money went towards their lunch at Olive Garden. Overall, Mrs. Schwarz was very fair in the requirements to go on the field trip. She even allowed kids from other teams to come along.

On Wednesday morning, everyone was dressed up in fancy clothes and waited in the auditorium. Our first stop was Olive Garden, after the bus ride of excitement and anticipation. Everyone got to choose their own order, making it more work for the waiters, but more enjoyable for the picky eaters. After that, we got to walk through New York City on a beautiful day. Then we

arrived at the M&M's store. There were three levels filled with souvenirs, photo booths, and M&M’s, of course!

When we finally arrived at The Imperial Theater, where we were directed up a few flights of stairs and escorted to our seats. The theater was astonishing with beautiful details around every corner. I especially appreciated it because I learned its history during our meetings with Mrs. Schwarz. The show itself was full of talented singers, great choreography, storyline, and coordination. The plot was easy to follow for someone who didn’t know much about the Temptations. It’s also cool that it was the original cast. If I had the chance, I would even see it again! Overall, the day was a great experience that I was lucky to have.

Ain’t Too Proud - A Trip to RememberAJ McGuinness

CCMS InterestsCCMS Columns Page 4 of 7

Have you heard about the new Warrior series by Erin Hunter? This is a great series, which involves cats, but they could be symbols for humans too. The best part about this series is that it doesn’t focus on just one cat, it focuses on four clans filled with cats. This review will be about the first book in the first arc, “Warriors-The Prophecies Begin: Into the Wild”.

This book is the best book I’ve read so far in the series, but this is just the first book I’m writing about! The book has a good introduction and you get to meet new characters throughout the book. There is good balance of good and evil, and perfect amount of suspense just to keep you wondering what’s going to happen next?

The main character, Rusty is invited to join the clans but he still has his doubts, but in the end Rusty obviously chooses the clan over his comfortable house. Rusty is now known as Firepaw. He is settling into clan-life, but something sinister lurks in the shadows, someone is not who they seem to be. As Firepaw goes along in his adventure, he makes friends and enemies, and uncovers the dark history of one of his

Warriors into the Wild - ReviewIsabel Taveras

On February 27, 2019, we learned about the upcoming Pokemon game for the Nintendo Switch. They will be called Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield. Your adventure will be taking place in the Galar region. Just like every Pokemon game, we have three starters. First is our grass type Grookey. This guy will be a monkey. Our fire type is Scorbunny. Obviously by the name, it is a bunny. Finally, our water type is Sobble. This little guy is a lizard.

The style for the game looks different from the old games. Our last couple of main Pokemon games were on the Nintendo Ds, so let’s hope it will work out on the Switch. For now, this is all we know. Hopefully we will get more news when E3 comes out in June. This will be a lot of fun and you can challenge your friends.

Pokemon Generation 8Braden Miller

fellow clan mates. As the story unfolds you can just tell what an amazing story it will be, and it keeps you wondering will justice prevail or will evil win in the end.

While Firepaw meets new friends, makes enemies, and goes along in his adventure, so much of it focuses around the story of Firepaw and his adopted clan as the book goes on. He uncovers clan secrets, betrayal, and hidden evil and in the end, there is always hope for Firepaw and his clan.

At the end of each chapter, this book hooks its readers on every word. It is up to the reader to figure out whether this is the best book they’ve ever read or whether it’s the worst book they have ever wasted their time on. Everyone has their preferences. My heart will always lie with the Warriors series, where does yours lie?

CCMS FictionCCMS Columns Page 5 of 7

It was a beautiful day out; the sun was shining, and the birds were singing. I decided to go for a hike. On my hike up the mountain, I collected berries and apples. After the hike I was planning to make mixed berry and apple pies. I saw stunning birds with beautifully colored feathers, and a herd of deer. I was so happy picking apples and berries, and looking at the animals, that I didn’t notice that time went by so fast.

When I started walking down the mountain, I sat down to look at the sunset. It was breathtaking. I watched as the moon took the sun’s place in the vast sky.

When I headed home, the moonlight was lighting the way. I looked up and opened my eyes to look at the moon, but instead of the moon I saw a HUGE BROWN BEAR! I tried to stay calm and back away slowly, but once that bear roared at me, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

I started running, my face was being hit by branches and they hurt. The sweat was getting into my eyes and they were stinging me. I could hear the bear running behind me. I was almost out of breath, and I couldn’t keep going I thought because my muscles were aching and my heart was racing.

The bear was right behind me, ready to sink its claws through my shirt and into my skin. I kept running. It was dark out and I couldn’t see where I was going, when suddenly I tripped on a rock. The berries and apples were now at the bottom of the mountain. The bear was right in front of me, breathing heavily on my face. I tried to move but I couldn’t, I had sprained my ankle. I screamed as loud as I could when – BAM -- someone shot the bear. The person helped me get up, took me home and put a bandage around my ankle. My lesson today was never run away from a bear, stay as calm as possible.

Went Hiking, Dark, Twisted my AnkleJanelis Cedeño

I lived in a basic neighborhood. There was nothing very special about it. However, on October 30th, the day before Halloween, something changed my life. I was at home, waiting for my parents to come back. I heard a knock on the door downstairs. I went downstairs to go open the door expecting to see my parents, instead it was the police. They had a sad expression on their face, that’s when I knew, bad news was coming my way. I was correct, they told me, my parents died in a car crash. Since I was underage, I had to pack my stuff and be taken to the local orphanage. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I stepped inside the cop car.

Soon enough, I arrived at the orphanage. I got this eerie feeling from just looking at it. I went inside and a strange looking man took me to my bedroom. It was already night time, so the man turned off the lights. I changed into my pajamas and went into bed. I couldn’t sleep at all. I kept hearing an odd sound. It sounded like someone was sharpening knives. I felt nervous. I stood up and did my special exercises to calm me down. I would look up, look down, and walk forward. I repeated the words quietly, “Look up, look down, walk forward.” Then I wondered why I haven’t seen many kids around. The sound would later go away but every day, I would hear those same sounds. Everyday another child would go missing but no one would acknowledge it. I could not take it anymore so I looked up, looked down, and walked forward right down the steps to my freedom.

Look Up, Look Down, Walk ForwardChelsea Gutierrez

I woke up on a sunny Saturday, in a happy mood because the weekend had arrived. I woke up and completed my daily routine, which was unusual, because I wanted to just play my games. I played them until 10:00 A.M. I ate my breakfast, and then brushed my teeth. After that, I usually play more games, but when I was setting up a live stream, someone came to my door and rang the bell.

“Do you want to hang out?” he asked me. “Sure,” I replied. I told my mom I was leaving to play. I got

on my bike and rode off to my other friend’s house to call him to come out.

“Sure, I’ll come,” my friend said, as he was waiting for us. As we were going down hills, riding our bikes, and just talking, I had a great idea.

“Let’s go to the park!” I told my friends. “Sounds like a plan,” they said in unison. We went to the park

were greeted by a pleasant sound. Someone yelled, “ICE CREAM PRICE HALF OFF.” “That must be the ice cream truck!” I declared. We ran to the ice cream truck and read the sign that said,

“Chocolate Ice Cream Price Half Off.” We were happy, since we all like chocolate ice cream. Each of us bought a cup of ice cream. After we ate, we continued to play the rest of the day until the street lights came on, then we went home after the fun day.

Chocolate Ice Cream, Half Price OffAkshat Tailor

CCMS Columns CCMS Reviews Page 6 of 7

Did you know there is more than one Spiderman? In fact, there is even a Spiderwoman. Moreover, there are other Spider characters, so if this comes as a shock to you, continue reading!

There are many more dimensions other than the one that Miles live in, but the movie only shows a few of the Spiderman/woman from these dimensions. This movie is about how a high schooler, Miles Morales ended up being bitten by a radioactive spider that turns him into Spiderman, as most of you know.

Now, we know the history of the story of how Miles becomes Spiderman, since this is the main storyline, which is the transformation from a young man to the heroic character. But the interesting part is that he gets himself into a very complicated situation where four other Spidermen/women are transported to his dimension through some dimension altering machine of King Pin’s.

Miles of course wants to learn how to control his new powers, so he tries to get Peter B. Parker (one of the new Spidermen introduced to the movie) to teach him to web-sling, stick to walls, and other powers new to Miles. Over all, the movie was amazing; it had different focuses on different characters throughout the movie like the other’s backstories about how these new Spidermen/women came to be the heroes they are. There is also diversity within the movie, instead of just focusing on Miles’ main story, they also gave Kingpin a very complicated and pretty sad backstory to understand why he’s the villain. They also introduced a very new villain and in case you’re guessing who it might be, it is definitely Doc Oc!

Spider-Man: Into the SpiderverseIsabel Taveras

If you like wolves, games about wolves, and have heard of the game Wolfquest then continue reading this review about the most realistic game simulation of a wolf’s life. In my opinion, Wolfquest has been the best simulation I’ve ever played where a player can customize, adjust their wolf’s characteristics, and have pups all the while defending your territory and hunting for your own food, and all of this just for an easy payment of $3.99 to unlock the full game. I have played many animal games, but none of them are up to par with Wolfquest and all of its fun gameplay options like multiplayer and the “Lost River” map, which has a pretty good story behind it. Of course, the game has its bugs and glitches but just minor things you can adjust in your game settings. There are several settings where you can make it fast, good, beautiful, and fantastic along with the options to make it easy, hard, arduous, and bring it on.

If you’re new to the game and aren’t used to the controls, you should probably just choose the Pretty Easy level, unless you want a real challenge then put it on Bring it On! This game will really amaze you and bring you into the hard life of wolves. There are even Easter eggs along the way especially if you’re playing on the newest most updated versions. If you raise your pups right and choose the right mate you might end up with all of them making it to adulthood but if you make mistakes along the way don’t worry not all of them will always make it and try to remember survival of the fittest! The best part about

Wolf QuestIsabel Taveras

Wolfquest is that you can add more wolves to your saves and choose different dens. Each time just stay far away from any dens you might suspect to be glitched or that have too many pup predators in the area!

Since this is my review about this game, sometimes I think it can be annoying with all of the predators, some small bugs and glitches, but those are things all people experience in a game. If other people have downloaded this game and don’t agree with this review just remember everyone has different tastes and not everyone will agree with your opinion. In the end, I’ve played in this game and overall, it’s a howling good game.

Doc Oc is back and ready for more and wait she’s a she?!? Yes, you read this correctly. Doc Oc has switched genders and she’s now just as evil as the male counterpart. She’s also a bit friendly at first, but don’t judge a book by its cover, and in this case just don’t.

Finally, there is a mysterious villain called the Prowler, whose secret identity I won’t reveal to you. You will have to watch the movie or get spoilers from someone else. My advice do not underestimate him, he’s just as scary as he looks. Although, this movie was probably made for just one cool Spiderman from the comics, I hope there is at least one sequel to continue the storyline and fight against impending scary villains.

CCMS Columns CCMS Opinions Page 7 of 7

Fortnite Season 8 is here with new items, point of interests, battle passes, challenges, and cosmetics. Here is everything you need to know to play the game successfully.

The battle pass features over 100 cosmetics like skins, gliders, backblings, and many more options. If you completed 13 of your over time challenges, you should get it for free or get the battle bundle for only 1,850 v-bucks. Getting the battle pass will automatically get you 2 skins. Blackheart and Hybrid. Both skins can be upgraded to unlock more styles for both. Every week, there will be challenges to unlock more tiers for your battle pass. Normally, in each battle pass there is a new kind of cosmetic. However, not this time.

The new map features a whole new jungle area. It includes sunny steps, lazy lagoon, and a volcano. Lava now comes out of the volcano and will deal 1 damage to players when walking on it. Other options are Lazy links, the motel, crates, and my favorite since Season 3, Wailing Woods. Due to the block moving, the motel is gone. In my opinion a lot of good locations got removed. However, they can always return at any time, if the developer adds them back into the game.

There is a new vehicle/weapon called the cannon. You can launch cannon balls, yourself or others out of cannons. However, with a new item, comes at least one vault, or in this case, many. Sneaky snowmen and chiller grenades have been vaulted due

to them being out of season. Planes were supposed to stay for Season 7 only, but ATKs, or golf carts and shopping carts are gone due to the cannon. ATKs were in the game when Season 5 was released. They were able to hold a full squad of four. In Season 4, shopping carts made history as the first vehicles in the game. The only vehicles not to get vaulted in Season 8 were the quad crashers and drift boards.

Some other stuff I would like to include is the party assist. Using this will allow team members to do challenges for you. We now have our first animated spray and first moving emote. Volcanic vents will allow you to fly up and glide too your spot.

These are the changes for Season 8. There will be many more minor updates featuring new items and bug fixes. I hope you continue to play and hone your skills playing Fortnite.

Fortnite Season 8Braden Miller

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!