VALHALLA UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT ronicle School ch la Middle The Valhal A newspaper published by and for the students of Valhalla Middle School. Volume 1, Issue 4 June 10, 2009 5th and 6th Grade Cross Paths Editor’s note: On May 15, 5th graders from Kensico Elementary School spent time with 6th graders from VMS as a part of the annual 5th grade orientation. Here are perspectives from 5th and 6th graders, respectively. 5th graders enjoy visit 6th graders welcome By Ian Dopsch (5th grade student at Ken- sico Elementary School). 5th graders By Claudia Halbauer “What’s going to happen?” I wonder as I am in the library. My head is spinning and my emotions are racing. I’m going to middle As everybody waits in their pe- school and fear is the last thing that I need. riod D class, the fifth graders come down I got on the path of feeling slightly more the hallway. This was an experience no- relaxed, and walked to the school. I strolled body wants to miss. The fifth graders into the auditorium and talked to my friends. came in during period D and stayed till It was an immense confidence booster for lunch and Core (which was period B). some odd reason. Mr. Garcia came out and Their lunch, that day, was a sandwich, talked to us about what was going to hap- chips, water, and a BIG cookie. pen. Well, to be honest, that pretty much wiped all the fear away and turned me into Everybody gets assigned a quite the eager and inquisitive boy. “buddy,” but I got two! When we were allowed to leave I showed them my I was off to my first middle school class with locker, and told them hints so that when Mr. Tripaldi. Apparently the 6th graders were th learning about the Renaissance. They had they are 6 graders they won’t lose their written quite impressive poems featuring books. I gave them the locations of the great people such as the genius Galileo bathroom, Middle School office, front Galalei, and Michelangelo. Then they filled office, library, water fountain, and cafete- out sheets that simply baffled me. They were ria. about government. We learned about a man who helped change the structure of various The fifth graders seemed a little governments with his own thoughts, and nervous when they first met me. They beliefs (John Locke, not Mr. Tripaldi). He also didn’t talk much. As the day went on thought of a more open minded government. they seemed to get used to me. At lunch Ian Dopsch, a 5th grade stu- All of this newly, learned knowledge provided I sat with my friends and their buddies. dent at Kensico Elementary me with an idea of what life would be like Everyone got along really well! And I School, offers his insights next year. Next, Mr. Tripaldi paired us up with wasn’t nervous even a little bit. regarding the 5th grade ori- an experienced (or what I’d call a entation at VMS. Photo “professional”) 6 th grader. This is when I met The thing that bothered me was taken by Courtney Accocella. up with an old friend named Sami. that people were worried who they The highlight of my day, though, was when I would get as their buddy. We needed to gained the most comfort and confidence, and demonstrate a positive attitude to the I began coming out of my shell: I saw my 5th graders; they came to partake in an From the VMS news- brother! Yay, finally! enjoyable experience with us. paper staff, have a On the walk back from school, I had a great All in all, it was a wonderful day, feeling of readiness. I knew then, that next and we look forward to welcoming the wonderful summer— year was simply going to be a fresh start, to a current 5th graders to the VMS family see you in September! great new year!! next year. P A G E 2 T H E V ALHALLA M I D D L E S CH OO L CHRONICLE V O L UM E Volume 1, Issue 4 7th Graders Declare Their Independence (figuratively speaking) By Courtney Accocella The 7 th grade had a wonderful time visiting Philadelphia. To start the trip, every seventh grader visits the Liberty Bell. Afterward, groups of students were allowed to go their separate ways to roam historical Philadelphia. My group visited an historical art museum, which contained patriotic art pieces and artists’ interpretations of America. Through the eyes of these artists we viewed the hiding of European Jews under floorboards during the Holo- caust. We viewed a wall showing all the faces of the fallen 9/11 victims and heard the story of one of the many heroes. After leaving the museum we visited Ben Franklin’s former residence and printing shop. There are rooms to ex- plore in that house, but we were only able to look in from the ground level. After some more walking around, my group got hungry. And what was on the menu? You guessed it – Philly Cheesesteak, and it was DELICIOUS! Following our heavenly lunch, we ventured off to see Betsy Ross’s house. Homes back in the Revolution were much smaller than today’s homes. We saw the room where George Washington asked Betsy Ross to create the Ameri- can flag. We saw a bedroom, a dining room, the cellar and another small room. Some items in the house were the actual furnishings while others, sadly, were only replications. Our next stops were the United States Mint and the Signers Hall, where our Founding Fathers signed the Decla- ration of Independence. These were very popular sites! At the end the day, we did what all good tourists do - hit the gift shop!!! But, overall, this was a wonderful field trip because of all the historical sites we had the opportunity to visit. Mrs. Lustig deserves our appreciation and gratitude for coordinating such a wonderful, curriculum-based excursion. Snack Shack on the Attack! By Courtney Accoccella To the students who don’t know: yes, we do have a snack shack! It is located behind the football field, opposite Kensico. The store has not been used much recently because of the track remod- ling and has been left to collect dust. So why are we writing an arti- cle on a decrepit store, you may be wondering? Well, recently the Helping Hands club was asked by the sports booster to paint said store, and with that helping hands went to work. The shack was in a seriously decayed state, from quite a few spiders to orange splatter paint. We had a lot of work ahead of us. We quickly cleaned out the small room to get out the dirt (remember it hasn’t been used in close to a year; there was bound to be some dirt). The next two days were devoted to repainting the room its original crisp white, with out the orange splatter and webs. That was all that was supposed to hap- pen until the adventurous Helping Hands Club sprinkled in some fun ideas to incorporate the Viking colors in the store to demonstrate school pride. What was originally a messy place with a Viking hotdog poster has now undergone a complete makeover. If any of you have ever seen the Viking Café before get ready to see a whole new one The Liberty Bell, pictured above, was one of the many historical in the fall. And, don’t worry, there will be not one spider in that landmarks the 7th graders visited on the field trip to Philadel- place when we’re done, we promise. phia on April 30. Picture taken by Courtney Accocella. Staff: Advisors: Stephanie Athanasatos Brett A. Erenberg Claudia Halbauer Andrew R. Tripaldi Presenting the Vms Apaula Islam chronicle Kristen Kurlander Photography and s t a f f . contributing writer: From all Monica Mishra Courtney Accocella The Snackshack has opened. Food for everyone! Photo taken by o f u s — Jessica Oshanani Courtney’s Accocella. E n j o y ! Jordyn Gardener T H E V ALHALLA M I D D L E S CH OO L CHRONICLE V O L UM E 1, I S S U E 4 P A G E 3 Editorial: Athletics For All By Jessica Oshanani With school almost over, most of us VMS stu- dents have one thing on our minds – SUMMER! But a bunch of us are thinking about something for next year already – SPORTS TEAMS! Most of the 7 th and 8 th graders have already decided what sport they want to play for next year, Kris Allen (left) and Adam Lambert (right) were the two finalists th and the 6 graders are most likely still figuring it out. for American Idol this past season. In a close decision, Allen But I want to take a closer look at what I feel is a won. Photo access from http://blog.nj.com/entertainment very important issue – the question of whether or not girls and boys be on the same sports teams? American Idol Compelling As Always I can give my honest opinion on that with just three words: it all depends. With a complicated By Monica Mishra matter like this, there is no simple “yes” or “no” re- sponse. For kids (and teens) our age, I say it’s best For the past eight years, American Idol has taken over to keep boys and girls separate. It would be so much television—this highly-popular program has dominated the ratings.