THE KNIGHTLY NEWS Northglenn Middle School February 2018 Volume 5, Issue 2 Career Expo provides students a glimpse of their futures By Joshua Gonzalez criminal justice, design, and information and Expo it gave us some experience.” technology, to name just a few. The intimidating swarms of profes- Some students even explored jobs that sionally dressed students could have Eighth grade students said they feel like they could never imagine themselves actu- caught you off guard if you were not pre- the Career Expo really helped with their ally doing, and admitted they discovered pared for it. The horde descended upon interviewing skills and knowledge about the these careers were enjoyable and interest- the Denver Merchandise Mart on Tues- different education and career paths availa- ing to learn about. day, November 14th with all the subtlety ble after they graduate from high school. Yet it was even more relevant for stu- of a bulldozer. dents who already have a career interest. The large group of Adams 12 students Victoria Thompson, for one, felt that the were there for the future, their fu- Career Expo was enlightening and helped tures. Every year in November, eighth her learn about her most appealing pro- graders are invited to go to the Adams fession. Thompson, who is interested in County Commissioners’ Career Expo, becoming an FBI agent or homicide detec- where they have the opportunity to meet tive, got to learn a ton about those fields. with professionals representing career “I got to learn about a branch of the Colo- options in most of Colorado’s Industry rado Bureau of Investigation," she said. Career Clusters. Overall, to most of the students that According to NGMS eighth grade attended, the Career Exposition was a Guidance Counselor Mrs. Teresa Biller, very relevant and rewarding field trip be- who coordinates the field trip, cause it provided information about differ- the Career Expo helps Northglenn stu- Eighth graders Jay Martin and Ethan ent jobs that students might be interested Florio meet with one of the career fair’s in. That’s why several eighth graders dents in a number of ways. “All eighth company representatives. Students had graders in Adams County participate in the opportunity to meet with profes- wanted to offer some advice to other stu- the Career Expo,” Biller explained. “The sionals representing career options in dents when they go next year. most of Colorado’s Industries. purpose of the Career Expo is to provide Northglenn’s Starlene Garcia encour- students the opportunity to practice in- aged students to take the field trip seri- Conrad Venegas, for example, an 8th terviewing skills and learn about different ously. “I’d recommend the Career Expo grader who attended the Career Expo career and education options after high to other students,” she said. “It’s fun and found the field trip and it’s focus on inter- school.” it helps you to check out other careers.” viewing preparation did help. ¨I believe that Biller noted that students had a Garcia speculated that the Career Ex- it (the Career Expo) helped us to prepare chance to meet with a wide variety of po could potentially be one of the great- us for the future,” he said. “Most people go professionals from a wide palette of ca- est learning experiences a student could in blind to interviews and with the Career reer fields, including human resources, See Expo cont. P. 2 Index P. 1—Career Expo. P.2—Career Expo. (cont.), Attendance Celebration P.3—District Orchestra Festival P. 4—Holiday Choir Recital P.5—NJHS Bike Wash, School Vandalism P.6—Vandalism (cont.), School Fights P.7—Digital Distractions P.8—Join a Club P.9— Minecraft Mania P.10—Volleyball Club P.11— “Stranger Things,” Build your own P.C. P.12—Fans of the Beautiful Game, Dress Code Article P.13— Dress Code (cont.), Your Picture Here? P.14 Spanish Writing Club Article P.15 Spanish Article (cont.), Can You See the Future? P.16—Future (cont.), After School Study Sessions, Poetry! 1 have in middle school, and an excellent Seventh graders win Attendance Competition way to learn about different careers. by Trista Abbott and Jena Schug She also offered a last bit of advice, “Be Confident when speaking,” she said. You're a seventh grader walking down the D-Hall on your way to another boring lunch, Snapchatting and messing around with your crew. You’re about halfway down the hallway when you feel the featherlight punch of a good bassline thumping through the cafeteria doors. “What’s this?” You think to yourself. What it is is the very first Attendance Celebration, hosted by Northglenn’s own At- tendance Team lead by Assistant Principal Mrs. Teresa Barajas. The seventh graders pulled out a narrow victory over the sixth grade, and were rewarded with ice cream, dancing, and, of course, a D.J. “We try to promote good attendance because we know if students are here then we know they are not falling behind,” Barajas explained. “We want students to be here eve- ry day, so they are learning and getting all the wonderful information that they need to Above: Emiliano Salcido tries out a tractor while Octavio Aguilar and Cesar be on their way to the next grade level.” Lopez Espino look on. Barajas is excited about Northglenn’s improving attendance. “Right now we have 91 % attendance as a school,” she said. Still, she wants to improve that even more. “I’d like to get that up to 92 or 93 percent,” Barajas explained, “because in the last five years it has been consistent at around 90 or 91 percent.” So, Barajas and the attendance team thought that the lunch time D.J. and ice cream celebration would be a good way to Isabela Castaneda Rodelo, Karem Ca- Mrs. Barajas was extremely proud of cheiro and Teressa Briones pause to get students motivated. the seventh graders for their excellent pose at the career fair. From the feedback the team has gotten attendance. so far, she’s right. “What I hear from all grade levels is that they want the D.J. at lunch and they want the ice cream party,” she said. “So they are trying to motivate their peers to come to school so they can win the competition.” If your grade didn’t win the competition, don’t despair. Another one just recently started at the beginning of the third quarter. To keep track of how you’re doing, see the race track themed score board on the way to the cafeteria. The entire attendance team hopes students take the challenge seriously. Who knows, there could be ice cream and a D.J. in your future. Above and below: NGMS students at the career fair. Seventh graders jump and sway on the linoleum dance floor while Attend- ance Team mem- bers Mrs. Teresa Barajas, Mr. Julian Proctor, and Mr. Carlos Trujillo look on from the stage. 2 The Adams 12 District Orchestra Festival: Music to Your Ears said. by Victoria Thompson and Breanne Martin There was a total of five combined orchestras. Each combined orchestra played two songs. For the grand finale, all the orchestras united to play one final song, an encore of sorts. For many con- ductors and students alike, this seemed to be a favorite part of the concert. Eighth grade bass player Aiden Zavala, from Rocky Top Middle School, certainly thought so. “The ending, where we all played the same song, it was the best part,” he confessed. Festival organizer Danielle Johnson also found the encore to be a goose bump mo- ment, a just reward for all her hard work. “For those couple of minutes, all the or- Mr. Stopperan’s eighth grade orchestra students take a break from rehearsal to pose chestra students were playing together, for a pic. Stopperan especially enjoys observing his merry band of musicians in their natural habitat. “I like hanging out with kids from our class in a different setting oth- and all the orchestra teachers were con- er than our class,” he explained. ducting together to put such fun music out there. It was a wonderful collaboration,” All at once, music rang out throughout the halls of Northglenn High School on Sat- she said. “It’s gratifying to know you had a urday, November 4, as hundreds of bows struck the strings of the instruments of most hand in bringing more than 500 young peo- every middle and high school orchestra student in the district. As the song ended, the ple together to create a little bit of beauty clouds of rosin hadn’t even had time to settle before the audience erupted into ap- in the world.” plause. Both conductors and students alike glowed with pride, soaking in the praise the applause represented. This was the Adams 12 District Orchestra Festival. The Orchestra Festival has been around for about 40 years, created to showcase orchestra programs throughout the Adams 12 district. It also provides the 500 plus or- chestra students in the seventh through the 12th grades a chance to show off their skills and demonstrate to their families and the community just how big of an impact orches- tra has on their lives. Danielle Johnson, the Mountain Range High School Orches- tra teacher who organized this year’s Festival, believes the festi- val does even more than that. She thinks that not only has the festival grown into a great tradition within the community, but that it also provides orchestra students an opportunity to expe- rience what it’s like performing in a formal setting in front of a large audience with a large orchestra.