1

2

We are always so excited to work on the Spring Journal, and the great works of Laval Junior Academy students.

Congratulations to all of you, we’re so proud!

Ms. Venditti & Ms. White

3

SECONDARY ONE

Page #

Bill Anastasopoulos The House on 47th 23

Erica Bucciacchio After Life 8

Victoria Anna Ciccone A Tale of the North Star 17

Luca D'Amato Too Bad Andy 61

Ivana Di Minno New Beginnings 28

Olivia Hebert Passion 6

Amelia Kromidakis Waves 38

Jessica Luker The Beauty of Nature 46

Lauren Melo Fog 61

Viviana Mignacca Acrostic Poem 13

Nicholas Minchillo Nutella 28

Kyara Piccolo The Runaway Shopping Cart 47

Alexander Priftis Haiku 12

Samantha Rekkas Summer is Coming 32

Samantha Rekkas Yellow, Orange and Red 29

Daniella Renda Jeans or Joggers? 32

Chiara Salerno Anti-Bullying 54

Mariana Staric L'avenir de note planète en plastique 33

James Thomas Reid Beginning of Fall 12

James Thomas Reid What Else Did You Expect? 12

James Thomas Reid Tyrant 40

Dimitri Vogas Really Fun Game 46

Andrew K. Wylie A Bowl of Fruit 27

SECONDARY TWO

Page #

Marco Colacci The Scarecrow 37

Sierra Di Capua The Locket 16

Joseph Di Mattia Poem 43

Cassandra Di Medio Poem 28

Gianfranco Estevao My Dog Sonny 13

Eden Jean Paul Kendo Pindi Video Game (for Parents) 43

Steve Kostoulas The Third Floor Bedroom 59

Kloé Lang Poem 51

Emma Marchand Family 22

Laura Monaca Poem 19

Allicia Ouimet Selfie 41

Catherine Pastuszko Burn 50

Ariana Perluzzo Finding Me 51

Emily Scricca Poem 13

Sarah Vacca I Have a Dream 55

4

SECONDARY ONE

Page #

Charlotte Desbiens Paisley 49

Christina Ghannoum Architecture 58

Nicolas Jones Spider 60

Emma Lucia Music 57

Alessia Mansueto Tree cover

Shamsa Nake Portrait 42

Simona Paventi Follow Your Dreams 20

Isabella Petoselli Wolf 35

Stavroula Roussetis Quote 25

Julia Ruccolo Roses 45

Maysan Sgaoula Quote 5

Francesca Silvaggio Portrait 21

Floriana Valentini Digital Art 44

SECONDARY TWO

Page #

Daniel Ardati Wolf 11

Alice Contestabile Partial Portrait 56

Bianca Cortina Partial Portrait 7

Joel D'Andrea Eagle 15

Serena De Andrade Escher Study 31

Ani Erciu-Marachlian Portrait 52

Constandina Gavrilopoulos Coffee 18

Michael Anthony Giacomodonato Deer 30

Anthony Kokoghlian Self Portrait 26

Alia Lukasheh Peacock 14

Alexia MacDonald Fairy Portrait 62

Claudia Marra Bear 53

Adriel Monzon Castillo Battle 39

Georgia Oliveira-Zeritis Landscape 36

5

Maysan Sgaoula

6

Passion

A passion. Something you're good at,

Something you love. Something you crave

And intend on bringing with you to the grave. You can pursue it

Or leave it to be an empty void waiting to be refilled. I have a passion. I have a dream.

I plan on pursuing it But, apparently to others,

I can't. Apparently, I'm not strong enough or brave enough.

I'm way too frail and will 100% fail. I can't be in the Military that's just for boys, right?

Wrong. This is my dream, not yours.

This is what I'll be doing, not you. So you don't really have the right to tell me what I can and can't do.

I've come to a conclusion that the only thing that would ever have the potential to get in my way is me.

Olivia Hebert

7

Bianca Cortina

8

Erica Bucciacchio

After Life

After life, reincarnation, resurrection, heaven and hell. All of these things have one common denominator, death. Every-one has a take on what comes next. Where each and every one of us will go when we leave this world. There are many who think we will go to this magi-cal, majestic place in which everything is white and we will just lay on clouds play-ing a harp. The perfect utopia, but every penny has a flip side. Heads or tails; uto-pia or dystopia; hell, the place that makes a dead person really just dead.

My name is Elaina, and I am 22 years old. Apparently I am a very negative, cold person, or so I’ve been told. I’m quite sarcastic and shy. I essentially only have one friend and her name is Madi-son. She is the same age as me, and we’ve been friends since we were little kids. Madison is basically my opposite, she’s cheery and happy. We always used to say that she is the sun that shines over my gray cloud. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s the one thing that keeps me sane. I know it’s cliché, but it is true. Madison is pretty much the only good thing in my life. Both of my parents died when I was a baby. For 12 years, I went from foster house to foster house. The second I turned 13, I bolted. At this point in my life, I had already gotten to know Madison through a foster parent’s daughter. Maddie wasn’t an orphan life me, she came from a perfect nuclear family. All my life, I’ve never really had a home. I never really had a purpose, a

reason to be alive. I think, in a way, I spent my whole life searching for one. I am starting to think I don’t need one.

I think every orphan has thought about dying at least once in their lives. I think there are two reasons behind this. One being that orphans want to know what happened. What really happened. How her parents felt, what came after, things like these that swirled around an or-phan’s mind. The second reason that causes an orphan to think of these things is the fact that we want to join them. We want to be with our parents once more. As sad and morbid as it may sound, every orphan has a death wish, even me.

After hearing all this, maybe you would think that when I get visited by a man who claims to be Death, I wouldn’t be scared, I would face it like a … well, a woman. Instead, I froze. I just stood there, apparently deciding that now was the perfect time to take standing on Death’s doorway, literally.

“I’m here to take you” Death said. He held his hand out as if I was sup-posed to take it, and he was supposed to lead me to my after life. “This must be some kind of prank. You’re messing with me” I shrieked. “This is not a joke, not a prank. I know it must be hard to accept, and I’m sorry, but you have to come,” Death said in a calm, soothing voice.

For some strange reason, I just kept thinking that he should make audio-books. It only took a split second to real-ize how immature and inappropriate this was. In that moment, I just slammed the

9

door closed. I don’t even know what I was doing. I felt as if my head had de-tached from my body. After a few minutes of standing there, frozen, with the door closed, I turned around.

“Oh my god!” I shrieked again.

There was Death, standing in my house looking at me. As I stared into his gray eyes, it was as if he had no soul, no heart. I felt as though I was looking at him, but there was no one looking back at me.

“I don’t understand why you’re here, why me, what did I do?” I cried. “It’s just you, I don’t make the rules. I don’t choose who I take, and I am sorry, but we have to go now,” he calmly stat-ed.

Then he grabbed my hand much more violently than before and with his other hand he drew a picture of a door in mid-air. A spiraling white light formed what appeared to be a portal. Then he quickly pulled me through it. At first I tried to fight it. I tried to go back, but then I felt the sudden urge to let go. I felt the urge to leave all the pain, sorrow, and suffer-ing behind and let Death take me. Right after this I opened my eyes to find my-self alone in a dark room.

“Death? Death, where are you?!”

Then he responded, still just as calm, but there was a twinkle in his voice. “Please, call me Angel.”

His voice made me jump. I still couldn’t see him. I couldn’t see anything. No walls, no lights, just black.

“What’s going on, Angel? Where are

you?” I cried out, but there was no re-sponse, just silence.

Then just for a fraction of a second, I saw a light. A bright, white light flash faster than when you are taking a picture. The light temporarily blinded me. All at once a storm of pain came over me. I felt as though I was bring torn into different pieces. My skin, my organs, my soul, my spirit, all separate. For a second I felt put together again, like all the pieces had been glued together again. Right when I thought the pain was gone, I felt some-thing a million times worse than before. I know, it might sound insane, but I felt as though my spirit was being torn out of me. Almost like if you super glue your fingers together, then separate them. Everything went black, then I opened my eyes.

“Where am I?” I whispered quietly. I opened my eyes to find Angel hovering over me. “You! What did you do to me? Where am I? What’s going on?!” I shout-ed.

He helped me up and led me for a walk. Wherever we were looked exactly like New York, but empty and gray. There were people, but very few and they all looked mad, yet hopeful, like they were waiting for something. Almost like the first day of school, nervous yet excited. Either way, they all looked gray. No col-our. It was almost like watching a de-pressing black and white movie. “Where are we?” I asked again. “Where do you think we are?” he said quietly. “I don’t know. Hell, heaven, some sort of

10

after life?” I said confused. “No, no, no,” he replied, as if it was ob-vious. “We’re in what’s called the astral plane.” “The what plane?” I shouted, as if he was insane. “The astral plane. I don’t know if you realized but you are not in your body. You left your body behind. You’re now relying on your astral self to keep you grounded to the real world” he stated as if he was filming a documentary. “So, I’m like a ghost?” I said, trying to simplify what he said, yet at the same time pretend I understand him. “No, nothing like a ghost” he barked, seeming annoyed at all of my questions. “To be a ghost, you must be fully dead, technically, in a way, you are still alive, just not in a state of full consciousness. You are just incorporeal, but you are still 100% you.” He clarified. “Why am I here? I don’t understand. How can I leave?” I barked back.

After what felt like hours of him trying to explain the same thing over and over and over again so that I could under-stand, I got it. Basically, I am in a type of plane or dimension, I guess. I am not dead, but I don’t think I’m really alive either. At the same time, I am not in hell, but I am definitely not in heaven. I am between everything. I know .. mind blowing! I still don’t know how to leave.

I spent so much time thinking about death as a child. I guess to an extent, I would have welcomed it. I am guessing that as I grew up, something changed. It must have. There must have been a rea-son behind why I’m not just letting go. I

think for hours, but I keep coming up with the same conclusion. I have noth-ing in my life. No one to come home to. So why then? Then, all at once, it comes to me. A voice in my head, ever so soft and sweet saying “Come home to me. Hold on Elaina.”

Madison.

Why must I be put in this position? The ultimate battle between life and death. How do I choose?

Now here is where the story comes to an end. I know it seems unfinished, in-complete, and it is missing closure. All I can tell you is I’m sorry. I am sorry if this young girl’s life is not entertaining enough. As much as I’d love to tell you she was saved by an act of true love shown by her friend, I just can’t. Stop believing there is always closure be-cause if a roller coaster can drop in a matter of seconds, then so can life.

11

Daniel Ardati

12

Haiku

Life is but a flash Waiting to be born and lost

Spend your time wisely

Alex Priftis

Beginning of Fall (Haiku)

fall is among us

this season trees turn orange time for immense change

James Thomas Reid

What Else Did You Expect? (Limerick)

Watermelon is something juicy

Eat a lot and get queasy You eat the seeds

Drink water and you will see A melon will come out and name it Suzy

James Thomas Reid

13

Gianfranco Estevao

My Dog Sonny I started asking my mom for a dog starting when I learned to talk. I’ve al-ways loved animals, and my favourite is a dog. My sister would always look online for dogs we could get, and we fi-nally found OUR dog.

It was 2015 when he was born, and we bought him. We decided to get a Morkie (a Maltese and Yorkie mix) for these rea-sons; They don’t shed their fur They’re small, and won’t grow above

5 pounds And most important, they’re cute!

Getting a dog taught me a lot. Some of the things it taught was responsibility, taking care of it and a lot of other things.

The first day that he came home, he on-ly wanted to stay near me, and didn’t let anyone else touch him. That confused me since I’m the most obnoxious person in my house, but he only wanted to stay near me. Either way, that made me feel good that he was coming into a house with strangers and he felt comfortable with me.

This is one of my happiest memories be-cause it reminds me of how happy I was when I got him. If I’m ever sad because of something, I just think about the day that I got him, or just give him a pat.

Acrostic Poem

Poems are just short songs

Others might be long

Each has a different meaning

Many are worth teaching

Viviana Mignacca

Some people judge when they see your story others wish to be you I had once a dream to be something that wasn’t me

Emily Scricca

14

Alia Lukasheh

Cut Paper Pieces

15

Joel D’Andrea

Cut Paper Pieces

16

Sierra Di Capua

The Locket I grabbed my leather blue and red striped schoolbag and ran down the stairs into a cloud of hickory-flavored bacon scent that filled the entire house. As I made my way to the kitchen, my two dogs were play-fighting near the kitchen entrance.

I dropped my bag and ran to them excitedly. The youngest of the two male puppies likes when I scratch him behind his ear. His right leg begins to move quickly as if in a race for a yummy treat. Suddenly, while the puppy happily licks my face due to his excitement of the loving ear scratch, the scent of the bacon quickly placed me into a very special memory. This memory reminded me of how my grandmother used to make it for me when I lived with her. I remember that one day, a rainy day, when I was sad because I couldn’t go for a walk with my dogs. My grandmother surprised me with a heart shaped locket. This isn’t your ordinary heart shaped locket, this locket is very special to me.

I remember when I opened it. Inside, there was a picture of my grandmother sitting next to my bedroom window. I never really knew the whole reason why she sat there often. I could only imagine it was because ever since I was in kindergar-ten, she would wait for me near the window. When my bus arrived at the house, she would always wave to me with a wide smile. Her smile made me feel warm and safe. I felt like I was coming home to a special loving home. One day the warm feeling suddenly was taken away.

The day after she gave me the locket, my grandmother passed away.

I remember this sad day clearly. There were men in yellow uniforms pulling a bed on wheels out of what looked like a large yellow truck with red flashing lights. There was so much movement and talking. My mom was nervous and crying with my dad trying to hold her tight in a hug. I was confused as to what was going on. My parents suddenly rushed me out of the house, just as the bed that carried my grandmother’s body, was being pushed into the yellow truck.

There was a little sharp cry that escaped my mouth, as I hugged my mother tightly to comfort her and also myself. I didn’t really know what to feel at this moment. All I knew was that I was very sad, nervous, and afraid that my grandmother had now become only a memory.

The next morning was a blur. As I woke up from my dazed state, I felt my heart skip a beat. I suddenly remembered the panic and sadness from the day before. The memory of my grandmother’s body stung me hard like a wasp.

17

Victoria Anna Ciccone

A Tale of the North Star When you look at the North Star, you usually see a big, bright light. Little you do you know, it’s a whole other plant …

As soon as you get into the atmosphere, the first thing you would notice is that the sky isn’t blue, it’s a light shade of pink. The beautiful trees’ branches make cute swirls. Instead of cars, the lepre-chauns ride unicorns. Houses are made of yarn and felt, with a structure of can-dy, large licorice to be exact.

When you look in the distance, you can see a humungous mountain. Larger than Mount Everest, this mountain is the big-gest known mountain in our universe. This mountain is said to have a bright, shiny lamp at the highest point of it. In-

side this lamp, there is a genie who is referred to as the king of the North Star. The lamp is gold, and is said to have a bright blue stone on it.

Apparently, this specific stone has the power to make someone immortal. The king, who is immortal himself, is the only person who can choose who receives the power of the special stone. Although this stone is only available for use every five decades.

Sadly, nothing can enter or exit the at-mosphere as the genie released a very toxic gas into the atmosphere that kills all exiting and entering forms of life. Alt-hough there is one loophole, you must have the blue stone’s immortality pow-er.

My mother asked me to sit down since my breakfast was getting cold. I didn’t pay much attention to her. I got up and walked up the wooden stairs that led to my bed room. I took my plastic, pink-flowered chair and sat next to my window. The window was the one my grandmother sat at. I suddenly felt a presence lingering around me. A familiar voice echoed around me and told me “I love you”. I knew I wasn’t alone. Every time I looked out that window, I would picture my grandmother waving to me with that warm wide smile. She will always be in my heart. The special heart locket she gave me, will always be around my neck. I love you too, grandma.

18

Constandina Gavrilopoulos

19

Laura Monaco

(Part 1) You Be You

Instagram, facebook, snapchat,

People all over the world see Other who look like that

Perfect body perfect hair But to be honest you shouldn’t care

Plastic surgery in their face Wow what a disgrace

Everywhere on social media You see different types of women

Or men gorgeous and handsome, I guess But every single part of that he or she

Is all fake. Photoshopped, make up Don’t try to look like them because

You are your own type of beauty

(Part 2) Perfect People sometimes can bring you down They might thin you are not perfect But look around. Actually, everyone is Perfect. Everyone has their own type of Beauty. Something undiscovered by others Maybe they have a kind heart, or maybe Even they have a good personality People ca say everything they hate about You. All you need it your lips to tell Those people that you, yourself are Perfect in your own way. Don’t let Anyone bring you down because you Are powerful, just like fire and you Are unstoppable

20

Simona Paventi

21

Francesca Silvaggio

22

Family

I have a family, a big one I love them, a lot I go to my grandmother’s Pretty much Everyday I look at the pictures Beautiful family My cousins My mother’s pictures Uncles and aunts Then I look closely There’s few of me More of my sisters And cousins Does my grandma love me? Am I not loved?

Ok wait, maybe I am But sometimes I feel like The black sheep of my family To ME, few pictures say something There’s an area with all the grandchildren’s pictures Not one of me, just barely any I wish my family was a lock And I was the key to open it I wish it was me Who got the attention I wish it was me The part of the family that everyone wished to see

I hope one day my family Can see The potential I have in the future And not a little girl who follows the shadow Of her cousins and sisters

One day, my family will see The love I’ve given The truth I’ve spoken And the heart I’ve broken to show them me

But for now, I’m just the black sheep Who’s waiting to see What her family will give me In return

Emma Marchand

23

Bill Anastasopoulos

The House on 47th (Ms. Maggiorino’s Horror Assignment)

It was dark and silent, Reginald and his friend James were out walking. They had snuck out of their houses to meet up. Their parents were asleep, along with the rest of the neighbourhood. It was like a ghost town during the night and the only light was from the flickering street lights.

“So, remind me why you wanted to meet up here again?” asked James in his deep, raspy voice. “I wanted to check out that beat up old house that people were saying was aban-doned,” explained Reginald “which I’m sure is just a hoax.” “Right …. But why, why would we do that?” asked James. “Because I’m curious, come on, please?” “Ugh, fine, only because I don’t want you to go alone.” “Yes, let’s go!” cried Reginald.

The boys put on their hoods and walked up to the house. It was grey and brown. There were creaky wooden steps up to the door. James and Reginald walked up to the door. They smelled a sulfurous odor coming from inside. It was awful.

“Aw, what is that?” whispered Reginald. James coughed. “I don’t know, are you sure about this?” “Yep, definitely”

“Alright then.” James said nervously. They covered their mouths and noses with their sweaters. James had a grey sweater with tiny stripes of black and white and Re-ginald had a light blue one with soft

cotton on the inside, old and kind of beat up. He reached for the door slowly, his hand trembling and curiosity in his eyes. He knocked twice on the door and stepped back. They waited for a solid mi-nute, then James suggested “Okay, let’s just g..” Suddenly there was a loud noise, the sound of glass shattering. The boys jumped back and started running away scared. Shadowy figures with bright blank eyes caught up to and surrounded the teenagers.

“Oh my gosh, what are those things?” screamed James. “I don’t know,” replied Reginald. The figures closed in on them laughing in an echoey manner as they engulfed the boys.

**********

“Sir, we have a call about two missing ju-veniles,” said an officer, “both male.” “Oh dear, what are their names? Inquired the police chief. The officer glanced at his report and re-plied “James Tibbit, and Reginald Hillen-burg.” “Okay, come with me, let’s go investi-gate.” “Right sir.”

*********

Coughing, Reginald was waking up, his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room. He looked around realizing he was-n’t in his bedroom. He saw James passed out on the floor next to him. His eyes wid-ened as he remembered the events of the night before. He finally came to the reali-zation that he and James were IN the old creepy house.

24

“James, JAMES WAKE UP!” cried Reginald. “Reg, what are you doing in my room?” yawned James. “This isn’t your room, James, remember yesterday? The house, and those weird things?” “Wait, what?” “We’re IN the house, James!” cried Re-ginald. James started to panic. He ran for the room’s door, tugging and twisting on the knob, trying to get it to open, but it was shut, and staying shut. “Damn it, come on! What are we gonna do?” yelled James. “I don’t know,” replied Reginald. “Let’s try and figure out how we can get out, maybe we can escape through the window,” James suggested. Reginald grabbed an old vase from off the floor. “Here, let’s use this” he said.

James took it, went to the window, and swung, but he tripped and fell with it. Only the glass didn’t shatter, and James didn’t come out of the other side, he vanished.

**********

“So, how long has it been, ma’am?” asked the chief. “Three days!” cried Reginald’s mother. She grabbed a tissue and wiped her tears away. “Do you have any idea what might have happened?” “No, but he’s very curious, he might have wandered somewhere.” “Well, okay, thank you, we’ll find him.” “Sir, we should check the rest of the neigh-borhood” suggested the office.

**********

Reginald was freaking out. He was alone, and had no idea what to do. The room he

was in was fairly big and had tons of junk in it. He started to check everything out, most of which consisted of books, vases, and creepy dolls. Then he came across one peculiar object, a mirror, but not because of what it was, because it was in great shape. It had a gold frame, and it was shiny. He looked into it, and it was like he could see something in it, like a person, falling and coming closer and closer to him. He took a step back. It kept coming closer and closer until CRASH! James flew out of the mirror and landed right on Re-ginald.

“We gotta get out of here Reg!” he cried. James smashed the mirror and went to the door, hitting it with all of his might, trying to get it open. It was no use. He plopped onto the floor, sulking. “What are we gonna do, Reg?” he asked. “I don’t know, we don’t know anything” replied Reginald.

Suddenly they heard a laugh.

“What now?” Reginald whimpered. Then they heard creaking, like something walking up old stairs. Both noises kept getting louder and louder. “Oh no,” said James. The noises stopped, then the door burst open. The boys say a pair of white eyes coming right at them and screamed.

**********

“Sir, I just heard a scream” said the officer. “It came from that house there!” cried the chief. They walked up to the house, broke in and searched. “Uh, sir, you might wanna come see this,” and they saw two shadowy figures in the room.

25

Stavroula Roussetis

26

Anthony Kokoghlian

27

A Bowl of Fruit

In the middle, the pineapple, Like the sun, it is the biggest

The start of it all, The center point,

That everything surrounds.

Like the Earth, the apple, Although small in size,

And although not perfect, It is the center of attention,

The fruit everyone loves

On the side, the banana, In its piercing yellow sheath,

It rests on the others Knowing that, like the outer boundaries of the solar system,

It protects everything within it

The strawberries, glistening, refreshing fruits In their attractive speckled hue,

Like the stars, Are red giants, to be specific, That can be seen from Earth,

Yet never actually reached

The mango sits deep within the mix, Bigger than all the surrounding planets.

Like Jupiter It sits on part of the furthermost belt,

Out of reach from the more central planets

Scattered throughout, there are the grapes, Small, commonly forgotten,

Like the space debris that clutters our solar system. And yet they still play an important role.

The orange is like Mars, Small, but not the smallest

Round, but not the roundest And, although many qualities,

When compared to Earth, Are superior,

The orange will, sadly, always be Inferior.

Andrew K. Wylie

28

I love the way the sun glows I love the way the wind blows I love the way the flowers bloom I love the way the fireworks boom I love the way the April showers Bring along May flowers I love the way the seasons range I love the way the colours change

Cassandra Di Medio

New Beginnings

Spring comes and goes just like bees Playing and running around and scraping our knees

Leaves growing And flowers blowing

Spring brings new beginnings

Ivana Di Minno

Nutella

I went to go buy Nutella And had to use an umbrella

Sadly it was raining And I was complaining

So I danced the tarantella

Nicholas Minchillo

29

Yellow, Orange and Red (Sonnet)

The air is crisp and the leaves are falling The greatest season has finally come.

Fireplaces and warm s’mores are calling, The weather is nice for some cookie crumb.

The days are now shorter, but nights longer And the streets are like a blanket of leaves.

Late night walks are the right time to ponder Now everyone’s wearing comfy long sleeves.

The colourful sunsets are amazing, The sunrises are just as delightful

And I can stay up at night star gazing, But school starts though which is very frightful.

After all, this is the greatest season I chose this nice topic for a reason.

Samantha Rekkas

30

Michael Anthony Giacomodonato Cut Paper Pieces

31

Serena De Andrade Cut Paper Pieces

32

Daniella Renda

Jeans or Joggers? See, this question is asked almost every day by people from all around the world. This is a very international problem. The IJOJA, or International Jeans or Joggers Association, held a survey asking Canadi-ans whether they face this problem or not, and 99.9% of them voted that they did. (P.S. none of this is really true, I’m trying to make my journal more inter-esting!) Here’s what makes this decision a hard one; Jeans have the style, but Jog-gers have the comfort. So it’s really up to you to decide which one is better.

Jeans: Jeans are obviously the more styl-ish choice. They can make you the center of attention at a party, or make everyone envy your wardrobe. With jeans, you’ll be the coolest kid in town. But, they are not as comfy as joggers, and you can’t do

much exercise in them, or they will rip … and nobody wants THAT to happen!

Joggers: Joggers can make sitting down on an uncomfortable chair feel like heav-en. They are comfy, sporty, and perfect for moving around. Everyone will wish they could be as comfortable and relaxed as you. Soon you will become the most popular jogger-wearing kid in the whole city! But joggers don’t look as nice as jeans, and are not as stylish either.

Solution: TO me, the solution is obvious. Even the IJOJA approved it. “They have style, comfort, and even bring leggings into the mix Because of these amazing pants, the war between jeans and joggers is over! The solution is JEGGINGS!” The IJA, or International Jegging Association, held a vote whether these pants did the trick or not. 100% of the population vot-ed yes. “It took us many, many years to come up with these pants,” the IJA ex-plained, “but it was all worth it!”

Summer is Coming (a Haiku)

the sun it now out my pool is ready to use no more time for school

Samantha Rekkas

33

Mariana Staric

L'avenir de notre planète en plastique Comment sauver notre océan plastique?

Notre environnement commence à avoir beaucoup plus de problèmes qui nous affec-teront bientôt dans les prochaines années. L'un des plus gros problèmes qui aboutit à la pollution de notre biosphère est le plastique. Le plastique pollue notre planète et il tue des animaux. Nous devons commencer à trouver des moyens d'éliminer le plas-tique et notre empreinte écologique. Ensemble, en changeant nos habitudes néga-tives et tout en utilisant des astuces simples et respectueuses de l'environnement, nous pouvons tous éliminer les plastiques sur la terre qui tuent actuellement de nombreuses espèces. Voici trois trucs que vous pouvez faire aujourd'hui pour aider notre planète!

À chaque jour nous utilisons une brosse à dents. Ceci ne semble pas mauvais. Mais lorsqu’on les jette dans la poubelle, souvent elles se retrouvent dans les océans. Puis, elles tuent des animaux. Pour régler ce problème, nous pouvons simplement utiliser une brosse à dents écologique sans plastique. Au lieu de jeter cette brosse à dents, on la met dans une boîte de compost. Après certaines années, elle sera décomposée. Ceci est mieux que de la garder dans des sites d’enfouissement pour des centaines d’années.

Une invention bien connue pour leur côté pratique sont les bouteilles d'eau en ma-tière plastique. Elles sont faciles à se procurer et il est tout aussi facile de s’en débar-rasser. Cependant, des milliers d'animaux sont tués chaque année car nous polluons les océans avec des tonnes de bouteilles en plastique. Parfois, un animal peut con-fondre le plastique avec du poisson ou de la nourriture flottant dans sa maison, l'océan. Peu de temps après leur estomac se bloque, ce qui conduit à la famine. C'est une réalité et quelque chose que nous pouvons tous changer ensemble.

Il existe une solution très simple pour résoudre ce grave problème. En utilisant des bouteilles réutilisables en verre ou en métal, cela entraînera beaucoup moins de gas-pillage et de pollution. Il est également beaucoup plus sain pour votre corps, car le plastique contient des produits chimiques malsains que vous pourriez consommer en buvant dans une bouteille en plastique.

Il y a un dernier produit que nous utilisons souvent qui conduit à beaucoup de morts de tortues et d'autres animaux marins. Ces objets sont des pailles. Elles sont souvent jetées dans la poubelle et finissent dans les sites d’enfouissement. Cela les conduit à s'envoler et à se retrouver dans les océans ou d'autres habitats pour les espèces vi-vantes.

34

Une solution rapide pour résoudre ce problème consiste à utiliser des pailles en métal ou en verre. Celles-ci peuvent être réutilisées et elles garderont toujours leur forme. Vous êtes en mesure d'acheter ces produits sur des sites comme Amazon ou dans les magasins spécialisés. De plus, il y a une compagnie de croi-sière qui se débarrassera des pailles cet été à cause de leur aspect qui pollue tel-lement nos océans.

Notre environnement a besoin de toute notre aide! Nos océans se remplissent lentement de plastique et les scientifiques présument que l'océan aura autant de poids plastique que d'animaux marins d'ici l'année 2050. Ensemble, nous pou-vons changer le futur de cette planète en transgressant notre égoïsme et nos ha-bitudes de négligence. Puisque, nous n'avons vraiment qu'une seule maison et cette maison est notre planète la terre!

35

Isabella Petoselli

36

Georgia Oliveira-Zeritis

37

Marco Colacci

The Scarecrow (Ms. Maggiorino’s Horror Assignment)

I live on a small farm, far out in the country. Every year, my dad puts out scarecrows in our fields because he thinks they’re effective in not only keeping the crows out, but evil spirits as well. I guess he’s a little superstitious. The scarecrows he sets out are the same ones year after year, and after so much wear and tear, they were show-ing their age.

This October started out just like any other October. The weather was turning cool, and the leaves were beginning to change into brilliant orange and yellow colours. One Saturday, we kids got together and decided to make a new scarecrow. Being cre-ative, we gathered our supplies, and got to work. This scarecrow was to be different. This was scarier than the others. Hours later, we finished up. Indeed, he was the ugli-est, most frightening scarecrow I’ve ever seen. I was so proud.

Mom called us for supper, so we planted the scarecrow out in the cornfield where I could see it from my bedroom window. Not giving it any more thought, we went in and ate. Soon the wind picked up and we began to see lightning. No storm was fore-casted, but it looked like we were in for a rough night.

Light rain began falling as I went up to bed. I was worried about my new scarecrow, so I peeked out my window. What I saw shocked me. He were there, alright, but not where we had planted him.

It appeared to me that he was several feet to the right. Puzzled, I stood at the win-dow and watched intently. The lightning was bright, and every time it flashed, I could see my scarecrow. The problem was it looked as if he was moving when the sky was dark, only to turn up in another spot when the sky lit up.

Thinking that I must be imagining things, I put my pajamas on and went to bed. Later on, a loud crack of thunder woke me up. By now, the rain was pounding down, mak-ing it difficult to see out and check on my scarecrow. I wasn’t sure where he was. I walked around in the thunderstorm, half blinded by the cold, stinging rain. Clumsily, I stumbled over a fallen branch, and fell face down in a patch of mud. When I looked up, there was my scarecrow glaring down at me. His eyes were huge and glowing red. I couldn’t pick myself up fast enough. I ran screaming to the house, and never looked back.

After tossing and turning the rest of the night, I woke up to bright sunshine and the smell of bacon. Not wanting to tell my parents what had happened, I sat quietly and ate breakfast. Anxious and apprehensive, I then went outside to look around. My dad was already looking for damage to the buildings, but I was looking for my scarecrow. I could see the other scarecrows all in their usual places, but my scarecrow was no-

38

where to be found.

Full of confusion, I began crying. Not because of losing the scarecrow, but be-cause of pure, unadulterated fear. My father told me that he probably blew away, and would be discovered in a field during harvest. I knew better, somehow, some way, that scarecrow had come alive. How, I don’t know.

10 Years Later

Years have passed, and to this day, I have never seen my scarecrow again. What happened that stormy night? Do scarecrows really keep out evil spirits, or can they be possessed by one? I don’t live on that farm anymore, but I’ve never ven-tured outside during a thunderstorm again.

Waves People like to think That their actions And words Will be forgotten When they are gone But What people forget is That actions And words Create waves That can be felt all around Those action And words Impact everyone Who has seen And heard them Some waves Ripple with joy While others Roar with hate Some waves Can stretch for miles

While others Don’t go very far Usually It is the hateful waves That are the tallest, And the smallest waves Are the ones we need; The joyful ones The hopeful ones And the forgiving ones Don’t you see? All this hate and prejudice Is spreading further And hurting more people Than all the love and happiness That only wants to help people We should make the good waves Bigger And the hateful waves Shrunken

Amelia Kromidakis

39

Adriel Monzon Castillo

40

The Tyrant

Tyrants bring fear to all who cross their path They rule with an iron fist and bring much pain

Those who oppose end up in a blood bath The way they treat us is inhumane

The army helps the man conquer all land

People kneel before his greatness and weep He makes sure everything goes as planned This evil treats those around him like sheep

He will obtain absolute power

When he enters, hatred accumulates When he is seen, all people will cower He gets sneaky and starts to speculate

People will fight to be free from harm

He will be overwhelmed and be disarmed.

James Thomas Reid

41

Selfie

Trapped in a photo wondering how many likes it will get.

Follow to Unfollowing Liked to Unliked

To see an image of True Beauty would be to take a picture of

yourself. True beauty isn’t behind

a screen that will stay forever

In your life. Post or no post people see you.

It will remind you to follow the path

you made. Break the screen

look at your True Beauty!

Allicia Ouimet

42

Shamsa Nake

43

Image is the way you look, dress, and talk; real in the eyes of other people you want a good image before you meet someone and you’re amazed finding yourself doing something to impress the person you like or changing yourself because that person doesn’t really want to know you unless you do something different you feel common in that person’s eyes but if that person doesn’t want to meet you in the first image that means your second one is just changing you.

Joseph Di Mattia

Video Game (For Parents)

Man, I really like video games, They’re really a lot of fun,

Some are cool, some are lame, It depends for everyone.

There’s games you’ll play all night Like that trendy game Fortnite Some games are child friendly

But some show brutality Many require strategy

Or bring together family. Although they might block social life

And some things could make you strife But video games are a fun form of fiction

So keep in mind my very brief lesson Video games might make your kid dumb

Just give ‘em less time and that’ll be done

Eden Jean Paul Kendo Pindi

44

Floriana Valentini Digital Art

45

Julia Ruccolo Cut Paper Pieces

46

Really Fun Game (a limerick)

This really fun game called Fortnite I play it when it is in sight

I get better every day And then betray

My teammates who left the fight

Dimitri Vogas

The Beauty of Nature (A Sonnet) There are flowers blossoming everywhere Beautiful sun shining on everything Lots of plants and trees blowing in the air So many bees buzzing around in spring.

Lots of colourful leaves fill all the trees The blue river has a calming, nice flow All the pollen on the grass makes us sneeze During the night, lots of fireflies glow

Every morning we hear birds chirping We wake up to their wonderful music Every night we hear crickets cricking Till we fall fast asleep in the attic

In the green ponds there are so many frogs On the rough grass, there are a few small logs.

Jessica Luker

47

Kyara Piccolo

The Runaway Shopping Cart This was it, the outcast, the odd number, in a group of evens, he was going to final-ly escape from “The Evil Grocery Store”, known to humans as Costco. This entire time, for their whole lives, they have been carrying hundreds of pounds on their back every day. The only shopping cart who actually had any common sense was Jerry, Jerry Greenfield. All of the shopping carts at Costco were friends with one an-other, except for Jerry and his best friend Ben Cohen. They were the only outcasts of the cart group. When they were just young carts, Ben and Jerry always wanted to open their own ice cream shop when they got older. They would call it Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. They were nineteen and still planning, wishing, and hoping for Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream shop to be real.

Anyways, back to Jerry’s escape. Basically, he just wanted to somehow open the doors and roll out of the store, possibly travel the world, or at least New York. It was going to happen, it was just a matter of time. Jerry and Ben were standing in front of the doors thinking “how will we ever open those large rectangles of glass and metal?” Ben thought of a crazy idea, but didn’t say it just yet. He only told Jer-ry to watch what he does, and watch the large doors. Ben stared vigorously at the doors, slowly wheeling himself back an inch, then forward. Unexpectedly, the doors slowly slid open. Amazed, Ben and Jerry stood there expressionless.

“Do you think I have some type of secret

power?” asked Ben. “No way, they were probably just motion sensor doors,” Jerry jokingly replied.

They shared one last laugh, then looked at each other with tearing eyes. Ben gave him a look, a look he had never seen be-fore, as if saying not to leave him alone in the terrible store. But long ago, Jerry had made a promise that no matter what hap-pened, they would always find each other.

Jerry waited for the perfect time to es-cape, just before the store was about to close, and all of the employees and shop-pers were out of the store. Jerry said goodbye to Ben, and rolled out of the Evil Store with no one noticing the missing shopping cart.

“Good luck! I’ll miss you!” Ben shouted from inside of the grocery store.

Jerry looked back at his best friend with a loving smile, and teary eyes.

Jerry started his journey in Times Square, somewhere a little close to home. He had always dreamed of going someday, seeing all of the lights and buildings. Jerry had always seen posters in the store of Time Square, and all of the people that would go to see the large ball drop on New Year’s. He saw lots of things in Times Square he could never have seen in a gro-cery store. Jerry still couldn’t believe where he was, what he was seeing, what he was doing.

He made his way to the train station and got a free trip to Toronto. As much as he wanted to stay in New York, there was nothing there for a shopping cart like him, and he wanted to see the world. While Jerry was on the train, he got so bored

48

that he made up a song to the tune of something he’d heard in the grocery store one day. He was the only one on the train, so he sang louder than ever.

He’s just a Costco shopping cart Living in a lonely world He took the midnight train Going to Toronto! Hope to meet someone And reunite with my best friend Ben Midnight humans up and down the boulevard Shopping carts lurking in the night!

Then it was his stop. He got out of the train to see the bright sun, breathe in the cool air, and see the beautiful plants, trees, and grass. He had never seen the world outside of Times Square and Costco parking lot. He was amazed to see so many humans, even though he had seen them every day, but this was different somehow. And the air! He had never breathed in fresher air in his life. It was all so refreshingly different.

As Jerry was rolling around, he saw a big, white, van drive by, The van had big blue letters written on it “TCNWZ” it stood for Toronto Canada News. He decided to take a little break from all of the rolling he had been doing, at the same time he stopped, the news van stopped. Jerry took a little scoot forward, the van took a little scoot forward. Jerry started to roll again, then the van parked on the side of the road. Two humans stepped out of the news van, one with a microphone, and the oth-er with a camera.

“Excuse me? Are you Jerry the traveling shopping cart?” the news reporter asked. “Yes, why? How do you know me?”

Two weeks after Jerry’s encounter with the most viewed news channel, Toronto Canada News, and it turned out he was famous all over the world for travelling from New York to Toronto. He took a break one day and decided to roll around Ripleys Aquarium. All of a sudden he saw her .. Elizabeth Skarie! Jerry didn’t want to seem like every other shopping cart when they saw another beautiful shop-ping cart. So he just slowly tried to get closer and closer to her. Then, to his sur-prise, he could see her slowly rolling to-wards him. Jerry couldn’t believe it, but he decided not to get his hopes up be-cause maybe she was just rolling past him. Then all of a sudden …

“Hi!” Elizabeth shouted after creeping up behind Jerry. “Hi!” replied Jerry.

It’s been ten years! Jerry and Elizabeth are now married, and they have an amaz-ing son named Tyrone Greenfield. Ben and Jerry were reunited after Ben took the train to Toronto. They finally opened their ice cream shop, and lived their dream life.

49

Charlotte Desbiens

50

Catherine Pastuszko

Burn

All I could smell was the gasoline. All I could see were clouds of smoke with bright, crimson flames protruding. All I could hear were the screams of sirens and agonizing pain. All I could taste was the bitterness of guilt, overpowering all other senses. The guilt had been eating away at my conscience. As I thought more and more, the guilt grew. “This is my entire fault,” I scolded myself. “I could have saved them. They didn’t have to witness it. They didn’t have to experience it. I could have saved them from it all”.

The fire grew and grew along with its appetite, consuming everything in its path as it

rampaged through the room. I tightened the grip on my knees, hugging them closer to

my chest. I pressed myself as closely as I could to the wall behind me. I tried to imagine

this as some weird dream, a horrible fantasy, a hallucination. I squeezed my eyes to-

gether and clenched my fists until my knuckles became a milky white. A sigh escaped

my lungs and I loosened my grip on my now buckled knees. There was no way to es-

cape the inevitability of this situation. I had given up, surrendering to the roaring fire.

Now, all I could hear were the screams for my name from the outside. All I could feel

was the blistering heat increase as it began to envelope and suffocate me with its thick

smoke. All I could do was burn.

Students in Ms. Khozozian’s class were given an image, and asked to write a response.

51

Finding Me

It was a dark sea Too deep for me I fell in too deep

So I saw the real me Endlessly it didn’t stop

Drowning away into my envy It didn’t leave, so I had to see The true me of fake being me

I had no choice but to choose me Me and myself

All I need I’ve suffered enough

I’ve had enough No more goodbyes

Just hellos I feel desperately

So amazingly, I can’t seem to be Me, me and me

I’ve lost and I’ve found Who I truly am

The self I’ve been hiding For centuries

Ariana Perluzzo

Don’t tell me you love me Stop messing around with my emotions

You left me, so why do you Want me back after I let you

Not one but two chances. Stop telling me you cannot

Sleep knowing I’m not yours Even though I still like you I want you to prove to me

That you won’t break me again.

Kloé Lang

52

Ani Erciu-Marachlian

Cut Paper Pieces

53

Claudia Marra Cut Paper Pieces

54

Chiara Salerno

Anti-Bullying (essay)

Bullying is an imbalance of social or phys-ical power. There are many different forms of bullying.

Cyber Bullying Physical Bullying Verbal Bullying Social Bullying

Today we’re going to be talking about verbal bullying.

Why does bullying still go on in schools? I think bullying still goes on in schools be-cause students feel they have to defend themselves. Usually people defend them-selves by answering back or insulting them the same way they did.

Fight back? Some people think, when someone is getting bullied, they need to fight back. When I say fight, I don’t mean in a physi-cal way. Some might think insulting the bully back will make the bully stop. We have to think of bullying as a game. Bully-ing is a game of one person trying to have more power over another. Most people will respond out of anger, and that’s what the bully wants. The bully’s goal is to get you angry. The more angry you get, the more fun they have. As in a game, if you get angry, the bully wins.

Stay calm? Isn’t it better to just stay calm? Isn’t it better to be emotionally strong, mentally tough and resilient? As we said before, bullying is a game. It’s about winning and losing. If we wouldn’t fight back, the bully

would get tired of the game. What if we just let the man words bounce off us? What if we didn’t care what the bully said? What if we kept tough skin?

Bystanders Bystanders are as bad as the bully. They might not think it’s right, but by filming they are encouraging the bully and letting him / her know it’s good what they’re do-ing.

How NOT to be a bystander Call the police – 911 Approach the victim, not the bully, to

diffuse the situation Bring the victim to where they can get

help from an adult

Brooks Gibbs Brooks Gibbs has earned a reputation as a leading authority on youth issues like bullying and life choices. Brooks wrote a book called “Love is Greater Than Hate: The Ultimate Guide to End Bullying”. He empowers students to resolve problems. The Golden Rule Game

Way #1 BULLY: You’re an idiot! VICTIM: I hate you! BULLY: No one likes you and no one ever will. VICTIM: One more mean thing and I’m going to punch you out! BULLY: Try me. I could pin you down with one finger. VICTIM: I’m a black belt in karate. BULLY: Did I ask?

In Way #1, you’re letting the bully get to you and that’s what the bully wants. The bully wants to play the game because the bully knows he / she could win.

55

Way #2

BULLY: You’re an idiot! VICTIM: I know, sometimes I do make some poor decisions. You’re so smart. BULLY: No one likes you and no one ever will. VICTIM: I’m so glad I don’t believe that. BULLY: Well you should! VICTIM: You’re so nice and smart. BULLY: Thanks, I know VICTIM: Well, have a great day.

In Way #2, the bully gets off track. The bully’s goal is to offend the victim, but it the civtim is being so nice, it’s a bit hard for the bully. Now, the bully lost the

game. When people keep losing games, they quit playing. If you keep up this method, the bully will eventually get bored.

I Have A Dream

I have a dream that teenage women can be who they want to be without being judged.

I have a dream that all women can stick together and not talk badly about each other.

I have a dream that women can stop comparing themselves to models.

I have a dream that teenage women can stop harming themselves over reasons they can’t change.

I have a dream that every woman could look in the mirror and love themselves.

Sarah Vacca

56

Alice Contestabile

57

Emma Lucia

58

Christina Ghannoum

59

Steve Kostoulos

The Third Floor Bedroom It was a very hot summer night, and there was not one cloud in the sky. Many stars lit the blue sky above me. After a long day at my summer job, I had some supper, which my mother prepared, and walked up to my bedroom to prepare myself to sleep.

The room was very warm, then I saw my window curtains moving a little, and I fig-ured there would be a little breeze for me to sleep. I said good night to my mother, and lied down to sleep. There was not a sound in the house, and it was very dark, the only light was from a small night light plugged into the wall.

Lying on my bed, I began to think of my future. Thinking of how I would get enough money to pursue my studies and my dreams to become a doctor. Working the whole summer did not get me much, nor can I expect the money from my mother. My mother is a single mom try-ing to make ends meet and she told me that she would help me as much as she can. My father left us when I was three years old to work in the mines. At eight-een, I have not seen him at all for fifteen years, but I think of him a lot, and miss him very much.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes, I fell sleep. The sun rose and I felt the warmth on my body, and opened my eyes. To my surprise, there was a white dove sitting on my bed. I took the dove in my hands and looked at it. It was very beautiful and very white, and it was wearing a collar.

Taking off his collar, I noticed there was a note hanging on it. I took the dove to the window and let it fly away, I unfolded the paper, and it said “Hi, it’s your father, please call me 873-4719.” I ran down-stairs and told my mother, she smiled, and said, “I think you should call him.” Running to my room, I called him and he asked me if we could meet tomorrow at the part at 6:00pm. I agreed.

As I hung up the phone, I could not be-lieve what had just happened. I felt a little nervous, and anxious at the same time.

The next day finally came. I went to the park and waited for my father. Not know-ing what he looked like or who he was. I waited impatiently. An older looking man approached me, and introduced himself as my father.

He started by saying that he was sorry for all of the years he had been away, and that he thought of me every day and that he loved me very much. He asked if he could be a part of my life, and if I could forgive him. He also told me that he had retired from the mine, and that he wanted us to be a family again.

I was shocked, and I hugged him, telling him that I had not stopped thinking of him and that I would like him to come back. We went home together, he saw my mother after fifteen years, they em-braced, and he was welcome back into the house. I looked at them and thought it all began when someone left the win-dow open.

60

Nicolas Jones

61

Fog

Fixable Fog follows from far away Politely and pleased playing and praying Dancing and daring during the whole day

Super subconsciously sliding saying

Long live the lovely language about land Who hurried through the high hills and hoards

Terrifically tired and too tanned As accepted as being awarded

Each everlasting emotion enters

Roughly raging rapidly round and round Carefully commit to hold the center Boring behavior balances the bound

Giving gathering and galloping good

Mysterious fog is misunderstood

Lauren Melo

Too Bad Andy

Skittles are my favourite candy I always like to have them handy

my favourite is red I eat them with Ted

but not with my best friend Andy

Luca D’Amato

62

Alexia MacDonald