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The Good Shepherd Gazette ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good Shepherd Catholic Academy, Brooklyn NY + Thursday December 22, 2017 + Volume III, Issue II ______________________________________________________________________________________

The Christmas Show By:Alyssia Sanchez I'm so excited for the Christmas show. The whole school is coming together to create a wonderful Christmas music production. Not only are we singing, but there is going to be a scene where the 4th graders act out when Jesus was placed in the manger. For the first time ever at Good Shepherd Catholic Academy, our school band, will be joining in for the concert. The whole school has been practicing for weeks and the band has put together so many beautiful songs. For the school band, the experienced ensemble will be playing some beautiful song and there will be a soloist. I hope you love the concert and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

  

Well the show is over and it was amazing. First let's talk about the band portion. This is the second year the school band has been in motion. For only two years and some hard to play songs, I have to say the band did very well and it is not like they have letters written down and they have to remember where their fingers go. Even though that is a big part of it they have to learn how to read actual sheet music. Anyway, the violins were amazing and the full band concert was wonderful. Special thanks to Mr. O’Brien and our music teachers. There were two things that really set the band off the top and that was the trio of violins played by Sophia Fortuna, Ellie Krumm, and Taylor Cole-Hecter. There was also a solo played by Alyssia Sanchez. The rest of the show was amazing as well. Great job to all the participants! 

 

The Christmas Tree Lighting

By Alexa Lankford

Every year outside of Good

Shepherd Church we have our

annual Good Shepherd Tree

Lighting. Mr. Fontana’s Children’s Choir sings Christmas carols in

front of the tree and brings joy to

the event. There were also

volunteers who handed out candy

canes and bells to add a little bit of

Christmas spirit. The tree stands as

tall as 65 feet and is covered in

thousands of lights. As always,

Santa passed by and this year he

made his big entrance in a fire

truck. Afterwards, families

gathered around to take their

pictures with Santa Claus and also

pictures inside the fire truck. The

Good Shepherd Tree lighting was

guaranteed a fun night for all of

the friends and family who

attended.  

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Confirmation by Alison Kienzle

On December 7th, the 8th graders receive Confirmation. When we receive confirmation we renew our Baptismal promises but this time we speak for ourselves.

Each candidate picks an important person in their life who inspires them and pushes them to do their best, who they call their sponsor. Bishop Cisnero blesses them at a ceremony in the church. He blesses us by making the sign of the cross on our forehead with Chrism.

So much preparation goes into our Confirmation Day. We are so excited to celebrate this very special sacrament with everyone at GSCA. On the same day there was a mass for the holy day of obligation: The Immaculate Conception.

 

 

Mrs.Denonno Decides to Give Back to the Elderly

(Interview With Mrs.

DeNonno) By, Christopher Duffy

Question- What are you going to bring to the nursing home? Answer- “Joyful cards to brighten their day and let them know someone out there cares about them. We will also be donating care packages.” Question- Do you like Christmas time? Answer- “I love Christmas time because I love to give to those who did not have the advantages I had when I was growing up to those who need.

I also love spending the time with family.” Question-What gave you the idea to donate to the nursing home? Answer- “I think the elderly in our society are lonely and they need to know they weren't forgotten.” Question-What are your Christmas Traditions? Answer- “We go to visit my brother that lives in Washington DC and Christmas Eve has always been a big celebration in my family.” Question- What gave you the idea to start Mary's Helpers? Answer- “I wanted to inspire others to develop the devotion to the Blessed Mother and to serve the poor.” So this is what Mrs. Denonno is doing to give back to the unfortunate.

What will you do to give back?

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Crochet Club Interviews By Alessia Forte and Matthey

Krumm

Interview with Reagan Murphy Q: Do you like crochet club so far? A: Yes! Q: Is crocheting easy? A: NO Q: What do you like about crochet club? A: I like making the cool stuff and having fun with my friends!! Interview with Jane Lauterbaum Q: What do you like about crochet? A: It is fun and satisfying!!! Question from Brooke Polito Q: How many stitches does it take to make a blanket? A:A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Interview with Miss Resciniti Q: How long have you been crocheting? A: I started when I was about 12 years old Q: Is it fun to teach? A: Yes it is, it’s just harder to teach lefties. Q: What is the longest thing that you made? A: The longest thing I made was a queen size blanket. Q: Have you taken classes before? A: I never took classes, I learned from my mom. Q: Have you ever taught crochet before? A: Yes, I’ve taught here for 7 or 8 years.  

 

What you need to start 

crocheting: 

● Crochet Hook  

● Yarn (any color) 

● Patience : ) 

Swim Clinic

By: Cristina Ilie and Ciara Cedano

As we finally get

all our GSCA clubs going, we are also starting swimming. The clinic is starting and we can’t wait to finally get our feet in the water. Some will be asked to join the team. Some will be asked to try again next year. The clinic will be at Bergen Beach Pool AKA PacPlex. Sadly you can't sign up for the clinic if you want to do it this year. But we do have some tips that might help swimmers and potential swimmers be the best you can be.

Christmas Carnival

1. Stay in your zone. Focus on your target, not your competitors.

2. Pace yourself. Swimming is not an easy thing to do.

3. Remember to breath. Sometimes you get so scared you’re not going to make it that you forget to take a breath.

4. Remember to listen to your coaches carefully.

5. Work on perfecting your flaws not your strong suits.

6. Keep your knees locked and toes pointed

7. We will be learning how to do an IM, so look at the bottom of the pool when you are doing free stroke.

8. Look at the ceiling when you are doing backstroke.

Additional Tips: -Listen to your coaches tips. They can really help. -Bring a bottle of water, or a power drink after the meet. -Bring it your all. -Remember to be prepared (swim cap, goggles, bathing suit, towel, flip flops,and a change of clothes) -Being for the time in october, it is freezing, so do not forget to bring something warm. Have fun!!!!

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The Nativity Scene by Chiarina Tartaglione

For the Christmas Show the 4th grade did the Nativity Scene. Here are the students and their characters:

Mary: Chiarina Tartaglione Joseph: Matthew Krumm Head Angel: Serena Haros

Proclaimer: Theresa Loccisano

Innkeeper: Alyssa Emilsen Angels: Daniela

Tartaglione,Layla Grech,Kiley Quinn,Olivia Walsh,Alexa

Milazzo,Neveah Aspilaire,and Isabella Too-A-Foo

Shepherds: Grace [Lead Shepherd], Kevin

Collins,Gabriel Ostrander,Joslyn Spence,and

Joseph Tomasetti

Mrs.Seliste says: ’’Watching the students perform makes me feel like I’m actually there. The costumes make it more realistic and I’m always willing to team up with Mr.O’Brien and Mrs.Courtien.”

By: Cristina Ilie

On Friday December 15th, the 7th grade did the Christmas Carnival. A lot of preparation went into the morning of the Christmas Carnival. We started to prepare for the carnival weeks ahead of time. We had to make snowflakes, invite Santa and Mrs. Claus, and of course decorate! The day of the carnival was great! We had a tattoo station, a sticker station, a coloring station, a picture with Santa and Mrs.Claus and many more activities. The kids loved all the candy that was given out and all the fun games. All the kids were happy to see Santa there! I hope that the little kids loved it and look forward to the carnival next year!

The Principal Who Stole Christmas By:Joslyn Spence One day in GSCA the principal had evil thoughts. It was December 20th and the

kids did not have a Christmas vacation. A couple of days later it was Christmas Day. The kids were sad that they had school on Christmas. The principal gave the kids 90 book reports to do on the weekend. When the kids were sleeping in school the principal went to their house and stole their Christmas tree and all their presents. The kids were crying when they had no tree and no presents. As a result the kids went crazy. Kevin and his sisters started dancing for no reason. Joslyn went to Gamestop to buy Super Mario Odyssey and she fed pigeons. Gabriel went to bed and had a dream about pizza. Layla used her computer and looked up how to feed pigeons. Kiley ate hamburgers. Serena fed her dog Lola and then the dog fell asleep. Olivia let her gerbils run around outside the cage. Isabella played pigeons sounds on her violin. Everyone had a good Christmas but the next day, the kids did not have fun because had to start their 90 book reports. Mr. O'Cyan, the lawyer of the kids parents spoke to the evil principal and the kids were free from the school. 30 years later, the kids grew up and had their own kids and they told their kids this story a thousand times.

 

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By: Elizabeth Oliveri-DiSalvio

  I am going to be talking about the Christmas show. I will be talking about what we do during the Christmas show. We celebrate Christmas by singing Christmas carols and songs. I will be talking about what we do and why we do it.   The Christmas show is for all grades K-8th grade even vocal. In the Christmas show we have different songs like 6th has the Little Drummer Boy, Silver Bells, and Winter Wonderland. 7th grade has Sleigh Ride and Not That Far from Bethlehem. 8th grade is also doing Sleigh Ride.  In the Christmas show we practice our songs and make sure we remember our lines. When the Christmas show comes we dress up and get ready for the songs. We go grade by grade taking turns to sing our songs. Vocal goes a lot but it is a yearly tradition and it is very important to the school and community.    The Nativity Scene is when the 4th grade dresses up in their costumes to do the Christmas play on   

the nativity scene. The costumes are Angels,Mary,baby Jesus,Joseph,and the speaker. It tells us how baby Jesus came and the angels came after him. The nativity scene is traditional and represents what happened on Christmas day.  We gather in the Church where our voices echo. The whole school dresses up in Christmas clothes and we gather together to celebrate. When the show starts everyone sits where their grade is, even vocal.   The show is very fun for the parents and children to sing. The best part of the show is when it’s your turn to sing. Everyone gets ready and goes up on the altar, Mrs.Courtien plays the piano to get the music ready so everyone could start to perform. 

 That was my essay for the Christmas show. Hope you enjoyed what we do before the show. The show is a special time for everybody.    Hope you enjoyed my article about the Christmas show. Merry Christmas!!!! Thank you for reading my article.   

 Christmas Eve! 

 By Kiley Quinn 

My mom and I have a tradition on Christmas Eve. First I go to church, then my mom and I drive to New Jersey to see my cousins and friends. When I get there my cousin and I play on our phones. We also play a game called Santa Tracker on my cousin’s computer so we could see if Santa is close to us. Next we go shopping and buy carrots so we could throw the carrots on the grass, so the reindeers could eat them. After that, we eat dinner, take showers and get our pajamas on. The last thing we do at the end of the night is bake cookies and put them out for Santa to eat. Then he will not be hungry for the rest of the night that he has to give out lots of presents. Finally, we go to bed because we are really tired. That was my Christmas Eve!

Christmas is a Christian holiday honoring the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas evolved over two thousand years ago into a worldwide religious and non-religious celebration. This incorporated many pre-Christian, non-religious traditions into the festivities along the way. Today, Christmas is a time for family and friends to get together and exchange gifts. Christmas is a

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The 7th Graders Who Ruined Christmas 

(this is fiction) By Ellie Krumm 

 You know the classic 

story of “ The Grinch Who Stole Christmas?” Well I’m going to tell you about a couple of grinches who ruined GSCA’s Christmas Fair for the younger grades. 

 On the day before 

Christmas break there was a Christmas fair for grades K-3. Everyone was excited except the 7th graders because they were running it. They didn’t want to set up the fair because it takes a long time and they are not interested in doing the work required to host the fair. Since the 7th graders weren’t happy, they decided that they would ruin the fair for everyone. The 7th grade messed up all the decorations, swapped the kids presents/gift bags, and messed up all the fun activities. When the kindergarten class came down they cried because the 7th graders were dressed up as scary clowns. Halloween decorations were hanging instead of Christmas decorations, cookies and milk were replaced with water and fruits, there was a big blow up turkey instead of a Christmas 

When the teachers finally calmed the kids down and brought them back upstairs the 7th grade teacher was very upset with the class and sent them to the principal’s office. When the principal asked them why they ruined the fair they said that they didn’t want to run the fair, they would rather be in their classroom doing work. The principal decided to make them stay after school and clean up the mess they made instead of giving them demerits. They were also assigned the job of decorating for the Valentine’s day dance, the principal said he is letting them off easy and he won’t be so nice the next time. After having his talk with the 7th graders he had to tell grades 1-3 that the fair was canceled. In the end the 7th graders learned their lesson when they saw how upset the kids were and said they would never do it again.

Christmas by Christopher Duffy

Christmas, I like to

consider Christmas as two words: Christ and mas. Saying X-mas is taking Christ, our lord, out of Christmas. This is not just disrespectful but also sinning. So, I am

time to give and not receive. You have 364 other days in the year to want presents, but this is a day to honor Jesus and his special birthday. Just like all of us, He has a special day for a celebration. So on his birthday, choose to give and not want. Here are some ways you can give on Christmas to show that we are keeping Christ in Christmas:

● Mail a Christmas card ● Donate to Toys For Tots ● Leave cookies for your

mailman/woman ● Visit the sick or elderly ● Sing at the nursing home

[If you're in the choir or vocal]

These are just some little things we can do to honor Christ during this special season.

December 25 so remember to pray and go to church on Christmas Day or Eve. Also,thank Christ for sacrificing his life for us. 

Christmas At Good Shepherd By Mrs. Gomez  It was the night before Christmas 

and all through the school not a creature was stirring not even a mouse…. 

All the students in Junior High have been patiently waiting for their Christmas vacation to begin. Will there be homework or will I not have a grin? 

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Christmas Day By: Layla Grech  

 Christmas Day is a very, very special holiday for me and my family. Well my Christmas every year is crazy. So much to do. But in the end I love it. You will see why:  

Christmas Eve On Christmas Eve I 

visit my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. We go out for a fish dinner. We all talk, laugh, play on tablets and tell funny stories that we can remember for a lifetime. After dinner, we all head to my grandparents house for the gifts. All the stockings are hanging above the fireplace with everyone’s name on it, even the adults. The adults bring up the gifts from the basement and my grandma gives out the stockings. Once the gifts are all upstairs the kids look at the gifts. The parents give the kids their gifts. They put the gifts in front of them. They count down “3,2,1!” The kids tear off the wrapping paper and get sooo surprised! After all the gifts are opened we talk some more and have dessert . Afterwards, everyone heads home. 

 Christmas Day We are all tired 

from the night before and we sleep in anticipation for the next day. When we wake up the next day, we go to our little pink   

going to tell you why you must leave Christ in Christmas.  Christmas tree and open the two presents there. Then as we walk downstairs, we look in our stocking and take everything out. We sit down near the big Christmas tree and open presents. Every year I get a calendar from my parents. After, we get ready for our vacation house. We pack our bags and some of our presents. We drive for 2 hours. Once we arrive we bring our bags in and the presents. Then, the guests arrive. Once they all arrive, we open the gifts. Yes, more gifts. After we open presents, we have dinner filled with ham,ravioli and much more. Then we all watch some T.V. and everyone leaves. We thank everyone for coming.  -Daniela Tartaglione Christmas   Christmas is a very important holiday. That’s not because of gifts, food, games,or decorations, but it is about 2 things mostly. The most important things are family and the birth of Jesus Christ. We can celebrate both by going to mass with your family. This holiday is celebrated on

  

Students scurried to get class assignments done, asking each teacher “Is this going to be the best grade I received or will I get a one?” 

As we all settled down, classes almost to a close, students all came in with something dripping from their nose. 

It’s almost time for Christmas, oh yes we are done. I know that once those doors close on December 22nd, that is the start of the fun. 

Teachers were anxious to go home the ones dear to them, they were so upset that they went home with some gifts from their students, well flem!  We will miss all of you because you are special to us and we want you to know that you shouldn’t fuss.    With a wave and smile we send you on your way wishing you and your family a very happy holiday, and soon we will be back at GSCA in January second day.  I hope your wishes and dreams come true but remember that your teachers truly love you!     Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  

chocolate chips until well combined 6. Using a spatula mix in the crushed Oreos and  minutes at 200°.  7. Scoop the mixture onto a cookie sheet (a small ice cream scooper works best) 8. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown (parental supervision required to put cookie sheets in the oven) 

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The Christmas Spectacular   Nicolas DelleCave   

  It’s getting very close to December and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is beginning very shortly. There next show will be happening on November 10th. This is a very popular event that has been going on since 1933. This is an event that people have described as unforgettable and amazing. People all around America tune in to watch this highly publicized event. During this event there is singing and a lot of dancing. It is a event that happens more than once a year. It happens twice almost every day that they perform most of November and all of December. There are some music they perform that we all are very familiar with. They play “12 days of Christmas” and a lot of other Christmas songs. Of course they have Santa himself come in on a sleigh road by uber-glamorous reindeers. This show is definitely one of Radio City's biggest events and even know it cost a lot the tickets are definitely worth it! 

 

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies (Yummy) By: Ellie and Matthew 

Krumm Ingredients: 1 stick of softened butter ¼ cup of sugar ¼ cup of brown sugar 1 egg 1 tsp of vanilla extract 1 ¼ cup of flour ½ tsp of baking soda ½ tsp of salt 12 broken Oreo cookies (medium size chunks not crumbs) 1 cup of chocolate chips Tip: You can put more or less Oreos and chocolate chips it is up to you  Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350℉ (parental supervision required) 2. Put cream, butter and sugar in a bowl until well combined (use an electric hand-mixer or stand mixer if you have one) 3. Add the egg and the vanilla, then mix until well combined 4. Put flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl then mix (this is the dry ingredients) 5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients 

Then, put it into the oven for 3 minutes at 200°. The last 

9. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes then move them to a cooling rack. 

ENJOY!!!!   

Jack O’Brien 

NFL Playoffs 

 

The NFL playoffs are here. 

There is the NFC and AFC. The 

NFC is the National Football 

conference. The AFC is American 

football conference. The first 

place team in the AFC is the 

pittsburgh steelers with a 10-1 

record. The first place team in 

the NFC is the vikings and the 

eagles both are in first.

 

 

 

World cup by Kevin Collins  Angel Maria Villar, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and vice-president of Uefa, has blamed the Spanish government for putting 

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Holiday Snacks 

By Alexandria Salvato  Here are some snack ideas to make for the holidays. The first snack is Chocolate mugs. Take jumbo marshmallows and dip them in melted chocolate. Then, take mini marshmallows and put them on the top. Next, use mini candy canes and cut the top off and push it into the side of the marshmallow. Last, put sprinkles on. The next snack is called Holiday Muddy Buddies. First, put 1 cup of chocolate chips, a spoonful of peanut butter, and 1 third of a butter stick into a bowl. After, microwave until it is melted and then mix it together. Next, put some Rice Chex and powdered sugar into a Ziploc bag, then add mixture to that. Then seal the bag; when sealed, shake it until it is all mixed. The last snack is called Pretzel Hugs. First, put pretzels on a cookie tray with parchment paper, and put a hershey kiss on each Pretzel.  

 

thing you need to do is put an m&m on top of each kiss. Let that cool. Enjoy! Happy Holidays! 

 

at risk Spain's participation in next summer's World Cup in Russia. 

Fifa warned the Spanish Federation last week that continued interference from the Spanish government in the upcoming election for the federation’s new president could result in them losing their place at next summer’s World Cup. 

The RFEF is currently led by Juan Luis Larrea on an interim basis, after Angel Maria Villar was made to step down on corruption charges. 

 

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