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Middle School Messenger Volume 2: Issue: 3 Valentine’s Day 2015
Valentine Crafts Maria DeIuliis
Stenciled Valentine Gift Bags
Tools and Materials
• Craft punch or craft knife • Freezer paper • Iron • Muslin bags • Cardboard scrap • Craft paint • Stencil brush 1. Use a punch or a craft knife to cut a design
into freezer paper to create a stencil. Using a craft punch, such as the one for the small hearts, makes stenciling easy.
2. With a dry iron set to medium heat, iron the freezer paper (shiny side down) on the muslin.
3. Insert cardboard scrap into bag, and then dab craft paint on muslin.
4. Carefully peel away freezer paper while paint is still wet.
http://tinyurl.com/ncucwer
Felt Fortune Cookies
Tools and Materials
• Felt • Ribbon • Fabric shears • Wire cutters • Craft glue • Floral wire 1. Using fabric shears, cut a 4 ½-inch-diameter
circle from a piece of felt. Cut a piece of matching ribbon slightly shorter than 4 ½ inche. Using wire cutters, cut a piece of floral wire slightly shorter than the length of ribbon.
2. Using craft glue, affix the wire to the middle of the felt circle. Glue ribbon on top, covering the wire. Let dry 30 minutes.
3. Fold the felt circle in half, using the wire as a guide, so ribbon is inside cookie. Next, angle the sides toward each other, bending the wire at its halfway point and forming a fortune-cookie shape, as shown.
4. Assemble the fortune cookie. Carefully peel back one flap of the felt cookie, and insert a paper fortune and a few candies. Fold the flap back over to close cookie around contents.
http://tinyurl.com/q6th8xw
Don’t Be A
Bully By: Krista Hammerle and
Alyssa Iampietro We recently wrote an article in the newspaper last time that leads us into our next topic, bullying. This is a serious issue, too. I’m sure you’re all tired of hearing this, but bullying should not go unnoticed. We both have very strong opinions on this, so bear with us. There are many kids in this school who have been affected by bullying. If you bully someone, it can make that person feel worthless or like no one cares about them. It might make you feel better about yourself, but it causes someone else pain and that's not right. In our last article, we interviewed some teachers. We asked a question about bullying. One teacher responded, and I quote, “Some of the most hurtful bullying is subtle like ignoring or excluding.” Don’t
be that person that excludes one of your friends from fun events together or maybe simply just hanging out. We understand that sometimes it can be hard to have everyone’s schedules aligned perfectly and that doesn’t mean that you can’t do stuff on your own or with just one friend, but at least try and work something out. For example, a couple of my friends wanted to go to the mall together a while ago but two of them had other plans so we went without them. But we all agreed that someday soon after, we could go to the mall again with them included. A majority of this article so far has cover verbal bullying, but worse is physical bullying. Now, nobody wants to be a ‘tattle tale’ or a ‘snitch’ but I have a rule I like to go by. If it doesn’t affect you, just keep it to yourself, but if it is harming you in any way, tell someone immediately before it gets any worse than it has to be. If it has reached the point that somebody is physically hurting you, it’s gone too far. Another thing, cyberbullying. This world is pretty consumed with the Internet and media. We are surrounded by it everyday. Your phones, computers, TVs, newspaper,
and a lot more. There are opportunities for cyberbullying every single time you hit the power button to turn your electronic device. Cyberbullying is, in our eyes, the most hurtful bullying there is. Some may say that physical bullying is the most hurtful, but with physical bullying, you know exactly what you’re up against. With cyberbullying, you never know who/what is on the other side. Don’t get us wrong, we love the Internet and modern technology is amazing and was made with good intentions but you still have to be careful. We feel very strongly about cyber-bullying, so if you’re interested check out the other article on how the Internet affects our lives everyday. I, Alyssa, haven’t really been bullied all that much recently, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t see it. I, Krista, have been bullied last year, a few times this year, also. I see it sometimes, but that doesn’t mean i might not see you. Just because we, other students, or even staff of IMS may not always see you, doesn’t mean it's right. By the way, if you have ever bullied someone, apologize. Don’t just say sorry, actually mean it.
Starquest Minecraft - Minecraft Server By: Patrick May & Broden Pfeifer
Adventure? Custom starships? Space fights? Pirate factions? Colonist towns? Anything sound interesting? Well, your search for an epic Minecraft server has ended! Pat here, and I will tell you about the starships. Where to begin? Your rank, which Broden will elaborate on, depends on what kind of ships you can use. When you start in, you can buy a starter ship from spawn, with a pre-set look. You can then fly around in your ship, going wherever you feel you want to go. If you find a planet, you can build a base, and scrap your ship for materials. You can then custom-build your own starship. Building a starship can be simple or complicated. Your ship must be made of at least 60%
polymer, to keep your ship airtight. If you rank up, you get access to other types of ships. You can be a pirate, and build gunships to raid from other people, or be a peaceful trader, using a light freighter to transport goods across multiple solar systems. The more you rank up, the better ships you can use. The best rank of each track (pirate or colonist) gets access to an exclusive ships. The best ship a pirate can use is called a bomber, which can rain terror on unsuspecting minecraftians. This ship is built for war, and not much else. The better choice (in my opinion) is the Ironclad, a tank of a ship. Instead of being made of polymer, this ship is made of iron. It is almost impervious to damage. It is made to be a transport ship for the most precious cargo, that you want nobody to steal. Examples of this would be Eyes of Ender, Exp. Bottles, Gold, Diamonds, etc. So, it’s time for Broden to put his experience to use (Besides getting commander [diamond] armour for
every one of his team mates). In the server of StarQuest, there is a ranking system. Every user (even the moderators and owners) start as a refugee. To leave the primitive rank of refugee, you need to apply on http://www.starquestminecraft.com/ under the forums. After you apply and get accepted, you will be settler. As settler, be warned, because you are now being hunted by pirates in their cause to kill stuff. After becoming a settler, you type /rankup. You will see two choices. Pirate or Colonist. You can decide what way you will be. You can be feared throughout the solar system as a pirate, or establish a trade empire as a colonist!
Any questions or comments? E-mail us as
[email protected] & [email protected], or
for non-school, [email protected] or [email protected] .
Art Inspires Kindness
Check out this sparkling bulletin board outside Room 239 ~ made by Mr. Staranko’s class!
Does School Start Too Early? Maria DeIuliis
Have you ever fallen asleep in the middle of class? There’s a good chance you have, because according to a recent survey, about ⅓ of students reported sleeping in class at least once. This may have something to do with the time that school starts. Our homeroom starts at 7:25, which is 65 minutes earlier than the recommended 8:30 start time. This may just be because of your circadian rhythm. As a teenager, your circadian rhythm, or internal clock, changes. This means that while other people can fall asleep at 9pm and wake up at 6am, teenagers can’t do this. Teenagers are likely to fall asleep at 11pm, and are best suited to wake up at 8am. Pediatricians recommend that school should start no earlier than 8:30, but only about 15% of schools do. In 2006, a study was conducted about students and their sleep habits. 87% of students got less than 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep, which is the recommended amount. If you were to wake up at around 5:30 for school, in order to get the proper amount of sleep, you would need to go to bed at 8:30-9:30, even though most teenagers are likely to fall
asleep at 11pm. Starting school later has shown to result in better mental and physical health. One study showed a 70% drop in teen car crashes after an 80 minute delay in start time. Not only this, but insufficient sleep patterns in teens is associated with obesity, depression, migraines, and immune system disruptions, as well as increased smoking, drinking, stimulant abuse, and physical fighting. Students’ lack of sleep most likely plays a large role in the illness of children. Schools always preach having good sleep habits during standardized testing time. They mean well, but is it possible to have good sleep habits with such an early start time? And if not, what are the effects? When a study was done recently by delaying school start times, it showed reduced tardiness, less sleeping in class, and improved attendance. So maybe, during the PSSAs, instead of just telling the students to go to sleep earlier, they should be allowed to sleep in. After all, the study also showed better test scores. It’s obvious that teenagers simply can’t function so early. Even delaying the school start time by only an
hour has proven to have superb effects. So, Bethel Park School District, this may be something for you to look into. http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/school-start-time-and-sleep http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/08/25/343125751/pediatricians-say-school-should-start-later-for-teens-health http://www.startschoollater.net/wake-up-calls-fast-facts.html
Love Our Earth
By Naomi Yarroll The world savers club has said it would be nice for people to know what to and to not recycle. They have no problem recycling paper, batteries, ink cartridges, aluminum cans, cardboard boxes(in the cafeteria), and water bottles, but they have to throw away plastics that aren’t water bottles, bindings and covers on books, pencils, dirty plastics (yogurt cups with yogurt still in them, unrinsed milk jugs, half full water bottles, etc.) paper towels, candy wrappers, pencil shavings, and Propel water bottles (there is a recycling bin in the cafeteria meant especially for those water bottles) They would be very pleased if you remember these things to and to not recycle.
The Internet is Amazing and All but. . .
By Alyssa Iampietro Have you ever just stopped and looked around? If so, what did you see? People on their phones, laptops, tablets, etc? Yeah, that’s what I expected. People are surrounded by the internet and the media 24/7. I’m not saying that’s bad, but in some cases it can be. As much as I love the Internet, sometimes it’s not so great. First off, think back a couple years ago. Was everyone around you constantly on their phones like they most likely are today? Probably not as much. Not everyone is like this. There is a percentage of people that actually get up and do something. I will be the first to admit, I love the Internet. I spend a lot of time on my phone and my laptop, more time than I usually hope, actually. But my point is, try to put down the phone or xbox and go do something. Find a hobby, like sports or reading or camping or music, and do that instead. Let’s talk about the goods first. One of my personal favorites about the Internet is being able to listen to music. I know that music can be inspiring, it can bring tears to our eyes or make us smile. Music can really have a major effect on one’s mood. Also, the
internet is good for communication. There was email, then calling, then texting, and then IMing and video chat and social medias. For example; twitter, facebook, instagram, vine, youtube, oovoo, skype, etc. Now you’re probably thinking, what’s so bad about all of that? Well, for every ‘pro’ there’s a ‘con’. Now, music can do amazing things and have an amazing influence on you, but other times that influence isn’t so great. For example, you all have probably heard of Iggy Azalea or Nicki Minaj and their music, in my opinion (if you like them, im sorry but they aren’t really my style), can be a bit suggestive which can be a negative influence. Next up is communication. Without communication, we would probably be nowhere. But if you send someone something, it’s out of your hands. The recipient can then send it or show it to anyone they want at that point, even if it’s not right. Once something’s out there, you can never take it back. Once something’s online, it’s no longer private. Also, people can spread rumors and even worse they can cyberbully you. So, a couple weeks ago I watched a movie called
Cyberbully. It was probably one of the most touching, inspiring movies that I’ve ever seen. If you can, try and watch it. I was in tears by the end. Some of my favorite points of the movie were so true. Like how, in my opinion, cyberbullying is the most dangerous type of harassment there is. The bully claimed that she saw bullies as people at school, in real life. She barely even realized what damage she was doing because she couldn’t see it through the screen. Also, the victim’s mom said that even if they tried to help it they couldn’t. The internet is now a teenager’s world, and parents could be oblivious to what might be happening online. I watched it a few more times since to try and pick up some more details. Over the course of the movie, you watched this innocent girl’s tragic downfall because of one incident. In the end, she wasn’t just avoiding her problems and being passive and just trying to ignore it. She stood up and called attention to what was happening. She told the bully to knock it off because you may think you’re being funny but you should know that your words actually hurt. Also, maybe all it takes is
speaking up and saying something about it. According to www.change.org, 34 out 50 of our states have laws against cyberbullying. That’s 68%, which is over half of the United States! Luckily, Pennsylvania does have a law against online harassment. The states that do not have a law against cyberbullying include Alabama, Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. However, 4 years ago (2011) once again, only 34 states had this law. It hasn’t changed since. But we can only hope that the remaining 16 states will catch on soon. In conclusion, the Internet can help us do amazing things of our own. We can listen to music, communicate, write stories, watch movies, play games, etc. Yes, everyone should put down their phones once in a while, which I can have a problem with just as much as anyone else, and read a book or something. However, as long as you don’t use the Internet for the wrong purposes, it is an amazing.
G.O.L.D. Review By: Krista Hammerle and Alyssa Iampietro
Okay, we were two of many people to attend GOLD. In our opinions, it could’ve been a lot better. For one thing, I (Alyssa) was placed in the “Pretty Princess” group and I did not like being called a princess. However, I did like the variety of video games and food. I (Krista), was placed in the “Tropical Paradise” group and it was okay. I really was upset with the fact that we only got half of a mini donut, though. Neither of us were huge fans of the dodgeball tournament because neither of us like sports all that much. Also, neither of us really liked the fact that we were placed alphabetically because we got separated from some of our friends, and we didn’t even get to eat dinner with them. Overall, it was okay. It definitely could’ve been a bit better. We think that they should try to keep people with their friends as well as they can. They could also think of different names because not everyone wants to be a "princess". We are in eighth grade.
Book Club Valentine Party 2.11.15
Bring your lunch to the library * * *
3.11.15 VOTING DAY
For all who read 3+ from this list http://www.bpsd.org/Upcoming
Events.aspx
