April 15, 2020 Volume 12, Issue 2

Respect

VMS Tournament Coronavirus: Before And After “Serves Up” Success! By Melissa Paucar Written on March 5th:

The VMS Volleyball Tournament is always an exciting event for both middle Starting towards the end of 2019 a disturbing new threat appeared. This threat is called the Corona- schoolers and teachers! The students that sign up are split into teams with virus. The Coronavirus seems to have started in December 2019, in Wuhan, China. The Coronavirus is a family of others in their grades and assigned a team name. This year, on February viruses that usually only infect animals but sometimes can mutate and infect humans. The virus came to be known as 13th, the teams faced off against other teams in their grade. COVID-19. The sickness caused by the virus often starts off mildly. In fact, the symptoms are very similar to other common How Does It Work? diseases. But soon the common symptoms grow into fevers and respiratory problems such as pneumonia. During this stage is when the authorities found out that the new disease was the issue, which was made on January 9th. Two The teachers create a tournament bracket for each grade and show how long days later, the first death from the Corona virus was confirmed. And soon 41 people were infected with the virus, with about another 700 possible infections. This confirmed to the authorities that the disease was easily passed on from each game will last, which was around 10 minutes per game. Each grade human to human through air. A few days passed and there was news of the first infections of the virus in other also has an assigned gym that they play at; the 6th graders play in the countries. middle school gym, and the 7th and 8th graders split the high school gym. After each game, the Written on April 11th: teachers update the bracket showing who Recently we have all been quarantined due to the Coronavirus, also rules such as social distancing each team will play next have been enforced. There is no need to worry, all that should matter to you is to practice social distancing, washing and when they will play your hands, and making sure you only go outside if it is completely necessary. During our time in quarantine many them. If a team has states have closed all schools temporarily for children’s safety, some states are Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and New Mexico, and of course, New York. lost two games, they Looking more into social distancing, you should stay 6 feet (2 meters) apart from other people. Why are out of the tourna- practice social distancing? Well it is proven that the virus is spread from people who are in close contact with ment. By the end, each others. This is basically why we are quarantined, to stay away from as many people as possible to avoid getting the grade has one team virus. Now of course you noticed that we now have to take online classes from home so that we won’t miss out on the left, and they are the things we should be learning in school. At this point in time there is a high chance that we will be taking online classes winners of the competi- for a long time. Proof of this generalization is that Bill DiBlasio, the mayor of New York City, has closed all schools in tion. the city for the rest of the school year, meaning the schools would open again in September. But the governor, Andrew Cuomo is saying he doesn’t have the authority to do such things. But this proves that a mayor is trying to do How Long Is The Tour- his best to keep not just the children but the teachers safe from the coronavirus by closing all schools to keep each child and teacher away from each other. Also this means that we may also have to take online classes for quite a long Students Take the “W” Over the Teachers! nament? time, though nothing is determined yet. Another thing going around is that some people are confusing quarantine with isolation. Now, before The tournament is usually about 2½ to 3 hours long, but you can leave as a counter with that the definition of quarantine is keep someone who might have been exposed to the coronavirus soon as your team is out of the competition, or you can stay and cheer on away from others. The definition of isolation is to separate sick people from healthy people. And just from those your friends! definitions you can see that they are two very different things. So, no, quarantine is not isolation because quarantine keeps people away from the virus, and yes isolation does that as well but in a different way. What Happens After A Team Wins In Each Grade? Now one final thing to mention is the essential workers that have been helping as much as they can to get us through this pandemic. Some essential workers are pharmacists, physicians, dentists, nutritionists, 911 call The final highlight of the tournament is the winners from each grade playing center employees, farmers, warehouse workers, psychologists, and many, many more. We should be thanking these people who may be taking their chances at getting the Coronavirus but are still helping us through these hard times. one final match against a team of staff members. First, the 6th6th----gradegrade team Helping us as best as they can to help us survive. And trust me, we will get through this. Together, we will beat the plays the teachers, then 7th, and finally the 8th8th----gradegrade team. This team of Coronavirus. teachers hadn't lost a game against the students in 6 years, and were confi- dent coming into the tournament. They won both matches against the 6th and 7th grades, but when they played the 8th8th----gradegrade team, they couldn't pull Team Wanted! through with a win. By winning, this 8th8th----gradegrade team received the title of being "the first team to beat the teachers in 6 years," and a handful of By Frank Scazafave gummy bears from Mr. Hayes. People might ask why we don't have a Boys’ lacrosse team, while we

do have a Girls’ lacrosse team. When you hear this question asked, many more Where Do The Proceeds Go? would wonder too. We should definitely have a Boys’ lacrosse team. It would When a student enters the tournament, they pay $10, and this money goes draw a lot of attention to the and the school. We have a coach willing to do to the nearby Blythedale Children's Hospital. This year, the students raised it, but we still have not been successful in making it a school sport. Many of nearly $1700 to benefit the hospital! the kids already have their own gear. Doing this would bring a lot of attention, so many kids would sign up. What could have an assembly and have the kids This year's volleyball tournament was a huge success and a lot of fun for vote on whether they would want this. The grades to start would be 88----99 grade, both the students and the teachers! This VMS tradition will be one that lives but the following year it would be 88----1010 grade. We should really get moving on on for a long time! a Boys’ Lacrosse team! P A G E 2 V ALHALLA M I D D L E S C HO O L CHRONICLE Volume 12, Issue 2 Annual VMS “Souper” Bowl Are You “Appy” Now? Shows Our “Can”“Can”----DoDo Spirit Tik Tok Takes The World By Storm By Arvind Shyam By Valentina Cipollone

During January, middle school students participated in a “Souper bowl” Tik Tok has taken the world by storm! Many people find it competition. Students brought in canned food, and one class won a prize. The goods cringy and annoying, while others find it fun and enjoyable. Some peo- were given to needy people. Valhalla Middle School did quite well on the collection of ple can even get “famous” and have Tik Tok become their full-time canned goods. Still, the winner of the competition was Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s class, a seventh- grade math teacher. job! Tik Tok is iconic, but some people think it’s on its way out. On I asked Mrs. Fitzpatrick a few questions (PLEASE see picture). She told me that the other hand, a lot of people think it’s here to stay. she was excited about her class and that she hopes that her next year’s class wins too. When she found this out at 10:35 PM on Sunday night, Mrs. Fitzpatrick immediately told If you don’t know about Tik Tok, it’s a social app where you everyone this on Google Classroom, and created a sign to put on our door announcing make videos to sound and music. If you are not aware, Tik Tok has a that we beat every class. Although our class was happy at this news, some other teachers weren’t. Dr. Letzia tried to steal some of our boxes of pasta, but his plan failed. Although total of 500 million downloads! If you thought that was crazy, 467 we won, we still felt that it was a little bit of luck (after all, Mr. Erenberg and Mr. Hayes million of that 500 is from India alone! had more cans than us). I got some information from Mrs. Gannalo about the Souper Bowl. She has Many people can even make a living off Tik Tok. For exam- done the Superbowl for 18 years now. She loves doing it for two reasons: it teaches math ple, a group on Tik Tok called “The Hype House” is a group of teenag- and helps the needy. The idea of the Souper Bowl came from a principal from a different school where whoever brought in the most cans would win a trophy. When Mrs. Gan- ers who have taken Tik Tok by storm not only as a group but as indi- nalo came to Valhalla, she expanded the idea by adding the math concept of percent- viduals. One member of the Hype House is Charli D’Amelio. I’m sure ages. The winner of the Souper Bowl gets a special lunch served by the cafeteria and Mr. you have heard about Charli D’Amelio. Still, if you haven’t, she has Schrammel’s parking spot for February. VMS donates about 1000+ items every year. Here is some information about the Super Bowl: over 22 million followers and a total of one billion “likes” in total for • Mr. Hayes brought the most cans in all of her videos. (164) You’re probably wondering, “What do people even do with • the music on Tik Tok?” The answer to that is they dance, lip-sync, Not many people brought in cans on Monday (January 27) make a series based off of music, and sometimes tell embarrassing • People really brought in pasta on stories for some clout, because after all, they’re getting paid to do so. Thursday (465 cans!!!) Some other people make original sounds that could be very funny and • Mr. Erenberg and Dr. Letzia brought in interesting. You could also create slideshows of pictures and green the same exact amount of cans (122) screen photos and laugh at yourself in a video. • 1095 cans were brought in this year Tik Tok has pretty much taken over VMS. It’s taken over the morning halls in the sixth-grade wing, the lunch periods in other • Grade 6 contributed the most cans this year grades, as well as after school and in the courtyard. People have even gotten in trouble for using Tik Tok during the day and or in the morn- At around the third quarter, Mr. Hayes’ class was winning (0,0). But then, after a couple Mrs. Fitzpatrick proudly shows ing. of Chief’s interceptions and touchdowns, off her temporary takeover of Tik Tok has conquered the world. It has its flaws, but every- Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s class won (0,1). Mr. Schrammel’s parking spot! one pretty much loves it. It’s safe to say that Tik Tok is everyone’s Congratulations to Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s period 1 class! favorite thing, and it is here to stay. Comic By Leonidas C. Toth Comic By Jordan Hickman

-- P A G E 3 V ALHALLA MIDDLE SCHOOL CHRONICLE Volume 12, Issue 2 PLEASE TAKE A SEAT: Random “Student of the Issue”: Kemari Miller ARRANGEMENT DEBATE RAGES ON By Leonidas C. Toth BY RAYCHEL FIMMANO For this issue, we chose a random student in middle At VMS, we have teachers that give assigned seating school, and interviewed them! For this issue, we randomly decid- ed on. . . . Kemari Miller! and some who don't. But why do some teachers have assigned seating? I had the chance to interview some teachers and ask Kemari Miller was born on May 11th, 2008 Mothers’ why they make these decisions. Day (a real “mommas boy”, am I right?) I asked Mr. Silano if he used assigned seating. Mr. Sila- Kemari enjoys playing video games, , war, solitaire (the last no said that he doesn't normally use it. He believes that 6th 2 were card games), Sorry, Monopoly, graders are at the age where they are finally able to choose reading, etc. their own seat. If his students are following directions, he Kemari, (although he had to doesn't have a think about it a little) describes him- problem. His desk self as kind, weird, and friendly. And I do believe (as someone who’s arrangement is in met him) I speak on behalf of everyone groups. Mr. Silano when I say that those words are entire- says that if a stu- ly accurate. After asking around, I dent can not han- was able to find 4 words (when I Someone looks excited to dle a free seating asked for three) that perfectly describe have been chosen randomly! Kemari. By the way, these are all from choice, he will Photo by Leonidas C. Toth other people. These words are weird, move that stu- talented, athletic, and charismatic. Art contributed by Raychel Fimmano dent's seat to an This might surprise you, but assigned seating. While teaching, he does not have too many Kemari’s favorite subject is . . . MATH! Shout out to Ms. Pazona! problems with student-picked seats. Talking about the teachers here, Kemari’s favorite thing about VMS is the many different and exciting personalities of I had a chance to talk with Mr. Erenberg about his all the teachers. seating arrangement. He says that it is easier to have assigned Kemari says It was shocking and cool that he was chcho-o- seating to get to know everyone's name at the beginning of the sen. He actually said, “Surprising.” So I guess he enjoyed this year, but he also says that it is still useful later on in the year interview very much. Look for new “random students” profiles in future issues! to keep the assigned seating. Mr. Erenberg says that he wants to encourage students to work together in groups. Although it VMS Chronicle Staff can lead to some conversations while he is talking, he would rather not have kids in rows so students can more easily work Staff: Advisor: together. Raychel Fimmano Mr. Erenberg I got to talk to Mrs. Baffuto about how she does her Grace Condura students’ seating arrangement. She does have assigned seat- Frank Scazafave Student Editor -in -Chief and ing. She has her assigned seating because she uses a lot of Melissa Paucar Layout Artist: group work. She has her students sit in a group. Mrs. Baffuto does this because she wants her students to discuss their Arvind Shyam Grace Condura thoughts. She also has assigned seating so her students can Valentina Cipollone work together on various tasks she assigns. Leonidas Toth In my opinion, sitting in assigned seats or free seats Jordan Hickman doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to me because when I'm in Ethan Tejera assigned seating, I automatically know where to go. When I'm in Mr. Silano's classroom, I sit in the same spot every day be- cause I am so used to sitting in that particular chair. This makes life easy. What do you think? P A G E 4 V ALHALLA M I D D L E S C HO O L CHRONICLE Volume 12, Issue 2 STUDENT OPINION: What Makes Your Teachers “Ticked” CAN’T “STRESS” IT ENOUGH, HOMEWORK IS TOUGH By Arvind Shyam BY ETHAN TEJERA BY ETHAN TEJERA These are the seventh-grade teachers’ “Pet Homework is something lots of people are familiar Peeves”, in case you wanted to know: with. Some in a good way, some in a bad way. But the majority see it in a bad way, as 55% of students find homework to be a source of stress. Stress is already a bad thing, but with home- Mrs. Fetzer - People making crunching noises work it’s almost guaranteed, and getting that stressed out can (like when eating chips) lead to depression. Students could complain for another dec- ade but that won’t stop teachers that give lots of homework and Mr. Erenberg - Kids doodling on the chalk- convince them to give less. Some teachers give little to no board homework, and students tend to really enjoy such classes. Mrs. Fitz - Kids not returning calculators to The worst case scenario is when teachers give home- work on stuff they didn’t have time to teach. That is something the bin even worse then just getting homework. In some classes, tests Ms. Martino - People blocking the wheelchair and quizzes are so frequent there is no way anyone could ex- aisle section pect it. Some teachers even give homework on the same day of a test or exam. Its like all this stuff gets forced into our head Mr. D’Ascoli - When students show up for instead of letting it sink in. But that’s not even the worst part. class without a writing implement During the school year we don’t have many days off. In terms of hours it’s a different story, but in terms of how many Ms. Booth-Freda - When students don’t push in days we spend in school it’s a lot of days! You think once their chairs after class you’re near the break you are relieved on anything to do with school, but no! Some teachers assign entire packets over the Mr. Chapeton - When People don’t respond to break. It’s called a break for a reason! We are supposed to en- him while joy the short time we have away from school doing fun things. looking on Not working on packets. The amount of homework many teachers give is just their phones. too much. We are forced to do it, so it basically feels like a pun- Dr. Letizia - ishment (unless teachers don’t give it everyday), and if we don’t Mrs. Fitzpat- do it, we are punished some more, when our grades are affect- ed. Based on research I’ve done, homework did originate as a rick’s Insta- Dr. Letizia gets absolutely triggered by Mrs. punishment. I know it’s hard to accept, but many kids still see it Fitzpatrick’s Instagram! gram (see left) as exactly that. VMS Club; “Spare” Some Time To Come! By Frankie Scazafave

- Members of the VMS Bowling Club “strike a - pose”. -