10 April VLUS Weekly
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http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ April 10, 2015 VLUS WEEKLY Stories by and About the Vassal Lane Upper School’s Scholars Vassal Lane Upper School, 197 Vassal Lane, Cambridge, MA 02138 Image by Susan Peloquin Connect to the VLUS Update on the April 17th VLUS Day of Silence Weekly: By Susan Peloquin http://vassallane.cpsd.us/ school_news/school_newspaper/ Just a reminder that VLUS students and staff will be participating in the National Day of Silence as part of our In this issue of the work in the Gay Straight Alliance next Friday, April 17. VLUS Weekly: Students can choose to participate in 2 ways. The first is to wear a sticker stating that the student pledges to be silent Essays! Reviews! that day to recognize the silence that LGBTQ peers and Articles by New families feel regularly. The second is to wear a sticker that Authors! states the student supports the Day of Silence and its Our First Reader’s purpose but isn't committing to be silent. Teachers will be Write Original Story! modifying the classes that day to allow for students who are choosing to be silent to be able to participate through writing. http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ !1 http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ April 10, 2015 On the Road Again: Journalism for a Moving World Effects on Streets By Fiona O’Loughlin Image by Fiona O’Loughlin After three weeks of almost constant blizzards and snow, Cambridge streets were nearly impassable. Plows pushed snow to the sides of streets, causing them to lose one or more lanes of traffic. Certain streets in East Cambridge changed from two-way into one-way streets to reduce accidents. The Cambridge Police Department expected these changes to remain until April, and asked citizens to be patient as they “manage[d] historic amounts of snow in our city”. Another problem was the issue of where to put all of the snow. Some piled up on street corners, causing traffic problems when drivers couldn’t see around the massive heaps. Even more snow piled in the corners of parking lots, forming mountains tall enough to ski down. Some of these mountains are still there, even into April and 60 degree days. A huge danger that came with 2015’s “snowpocalypse” was the danger to workers clearing snow, especially off of roofs. This is a necessary job to prevent roof collapses, but slippery conditions and concealed skylights can make workers much more likely to fall. http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ !2 http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ April 10, 2015 This year, two workers died in Canton while cleaning snow off of roofs, and two more were hospitalized in Burlington and Avon. Another man was hit and killed by a snow plow in the Whole Foods parking lot. These deaths and injuries have prompted the state of Massachusetts to make a new law. Property owners Image from http://www.sickchirpse.com/ are now legally responsible for the sidewalk in front of their property. The law states that the sidewalk must be wide enough for a stroller or wheelchair, and completely free of ice. Cambridge residents have had to grab their shovels and head out, to keep the streets of Cambridge passable. J. Cole’s New Album: 2014 Forest Hills Drive Album Review by Ayana Sterling Images from http://en.wikipedia.org and http://www.hiphopdx.com/ Jermaine Lamarr Cole, better known as J. Cole, an American hip-hop recording artist, songwriter, and record producer from Fayetteville, North Carolina, dropped his recent album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, on December 9, 2014. Article continues on page 4 http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ !3 http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ April 10, 2015 The title of the album is the address of J. Cole’s home, where he grew up as a child with his mother, brother, and stepfather. After graduating high school in 2003, J. Cole attended St. Johns University in New York City. In 2014, J. Cole re-bought this house. It was his first house. On December 9th, 2014, J. Cole released the “Apparently” music video. On that day, his two songs from the album, “Apparently” and “G.O.M.D”, were also released to American mainstream urban radio. "Apparently" has since peaked at number 90 on the US Billboard Hot 100. 2014 Forest Hills Drive got great reviews from music critics. Exclaim! said, "J. Cole is determined to make music that matters to him. He shines without any features, standing strong in his delivery and carrying his story to the forefront of the 13-track project. While it may not be his Late Registration, he has definitely graduated into a class of his own.” According to Wikipedia, 2014 Forest Hills Drive “debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling a total of 371,000 copies consisting of 354,000 sold and 17,000 streamed copies, marking the best first week sales of [J. Cole’s]career. I personally am not the biggest fan of J. Cole but I listen to his music sometimes. I love this album because I like how he raps about stuff that other rappers usually don’t, and it has very positive messages. I also think that J. Cole is showing his fans his life through this album. My favorite songs on the 2014 Forest Hills Drive album are “No Role Modelz,” “Love Yourz," and “Adolescence”. I saw that a lot of people really liked this album, so I decided to listen to it, and it is now one of my favorite albums. Well done J.Cole. http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ !4 http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ April 10, 2015 I Believe Essay written by Katerina Ohanyan in Ms. Anna Marsh’s 6th Grade ELA Class I believe “Fear is just another reason for trying harder’’. It’s always important to fight your fear and never give up. I started to believe in Fear being another reason for trying harder when I was watching a show. In that specific episode, one of the sisters was scared to do her own scene in a movie and so the other sister told her “Fear is just another reason for trying harder”. It worked. In the start of 6th grade, it was really hard for me to open my lock. I tried and tried it wouldn’t open. I was very nervous, so my mom came in the morning to help me. The first time it did work it and so she left. It still would not open so I tried my best and believed in myself. The lock opened. I was very happy and came up early a few days to practice. I became very good at it, because I believed in myself. There are also times that it’s hard to face your fear, even the things that you love. Their is something that I am scared of and whenever I am on the edge of facing it, fear wins. I am scared of dogs a little. I love them, the are the cutest animals in the world, but for some reason I get scared they might jump at me, so I keep my distance. I believe in myself, I believe that one day I will face my fear. Essay continues on page 6 http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ !5 http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ April 10, 2015 There was also another time when I was scared of something and I faced it. It was when we went to Canobie Lake Park, with our family friend. There was a crazy huge ride, which went up where you could see the whole park and then it dropped down from a huge height. Me and our family friend’s son ( who is nine years old) also wanted to go on that ride, but we were scared. While we waited in line we saw the ride before us go up. There was a girl who was almost crying because she was scared it might be horrifying. We waited for that ride to come and when it came back, we saw the girl saying “It wasn’t that bad, it wasn’t that bad” It was finally our turn and we sat on the seats and buckled up. Even when the ride hadn’t started we felt like falling down. The ride started and I tried to stay brave and not scream but it was too late, the ride started to go high up. From there I could see the whole park, it felt like I was flying. Suddenly it started dropping, I started screaming and crying a little. The ride did the same thing for a few times, then it went down. When we came back to our parents, I was laughing and my feet were shaking. I didn’t care about that, the only thing I cared about was being able to face my fear and be brave. So thats why I believe that “Fear is just another reason for trying harder.” You only live once, never be scared of anything. There is nothing in this world that you are scared of, you can’t face. Always believe in yourself, be brave and never give up. Being scared of something means that you have to try harder. http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ !6 http://vassallane.cpsd.us/school_news/school_newspaper/ April 10, 2015 Reader’s Write Are You A Writer? If so, we would like to recruit you to participate in the new “Reader’s Write” section of the VLUS Weekly.