THE MIRROR New Paltz Middle School Student Newspaper Edition I Fall 2007 School News The Middle School Barbeque By Courtney Smith and Dakota Reinike There were hamburgers and hotdogs that Dr. Wiesenthal and other staff had prepared and On August 17, 2007, the middle school had a served. The sixth graders got to meet their old BBQ for the fifth graders who were moving into friends and play on the new playground equipment sixth grade. Parents that the school built. The attended the barbe- new playground equipment que and the assem- is not just an ordinary bly where Dr. playground; students can Wiesenthal told exercise and still have fun. everyone about the Dr. Wiesenthal had school. tips for the sixth graders on Some of the how everything goes in the seventh graders school, like the Co-Recs, helped out by set- lockers, field trips, and the ting up, and pack- classes. Also, he answered ing up the tables. any questions the students They also gave the had asked. (soon to be) sixth graders a tour of the The students had a great school. time and they may even These incom- Aodhan Fogarty, Jamie Ferrante, Lindsay Takacs, Deja Clement, want to give a tour for the ing sixth graders set up and Honour Butler, and Michaela Labare upcoming sixth graders next learned how to open their year! lockers. They received their schedules and then went on the tour. Table of Contents News-pp 1-4 Poetry-p4 Short Story-p5 Reviews-p6 Advice Column and Student Thoughts p7 Fun Page-p8-10 1 Final Farewell Koi,” followed by the band’s presentation of “Echoes By Caroline Aurigemma of Kyoto.” After that, the students left the stage and the Japanese students performed a dance for the stu- This fall, the new sixth graders took a bus to their dents of New Paltz. last Mohonk trip. The students had great weather most After the assembly the Japanese students fol- of the time, but they also got a little chilly as they lowed their hosts around to their classes and saw what walked up near the mountain. Students went to study school life is like in New Paltz. the effect of acid rain on the Mohonk property. Some The next day Japanese students returned and of the lakes tested were Lake Mohonk, Lily Pond, and enjoyed their day by continuing to follow their hosts, the Reservoir. but they also made their own tie-dye t-shirts to take All the lakes tested were in Mohonk. Students home. later tested the water from Lake Minnewaska which For the next few days, the Japanese students was kept in a container in a freezer for 2 weeks so the traveled around New York. They visited Mohonk and ph was probably a little off. Students find the ph of a hiked to the Sky Top Tower. Also, they got to go to lake by using a testing kit like the La Motte testing kit. New York City where they got to enjoy the rest of Students drop 10 drops of this chemical substance, their stay before leaving on Thursday morning, on shake it and then slide the test tube in the color coated September 27th. box to read what the ph is. They had to drop down a 4 tube container that Cross Country filled with water and that’s how students got the water. By Evan Pallor It took about 3 minutes to fill the container to the top. Students had to ask about the bottom material in the Fall Sports have started again. Among these lakes and they had to look for any life in the lakes. sports is cross country. Coach Vance coaches this Then students climbed all the way to the tower to magnificent sport with first time coach, Coach Shafer. eat lunch. Students thought hiking and testing the wa- Every Monday-Friday directly after school, people in ter was fun. cross country go to the locker room to get changed. Ashley Mazzei said that she liked testing the water After they are changed, they meet in the cafeteria for a sources and finding the ph. Kelly Wingfield said, “It snack and attendance. When they leave the cafeteria, was fun but my legs hurt.” the running starts. Sixth graders would like to thank the Mohonk Cross country runs at home, at an apple or- preserve educators for helping them learn. Students chard, at the college, and at the rail trail, among other will miss Mohonk. places. There is also an optional practice on Saturday which can be at an even wider variety of places. After From Nimi to New Paltz this Saturday practice, there is bagels and juice for all. On Fridays, cross country runs to Hasbrouck Park to By Matthew Landolfa play fierce and unforgettable games of capture the flag. After playing this extreme form of capture the In September, New Paltz Middle School had flag,normal capture the flag feels tame. Cross Country the students of our Japanese sister city visit once more. can be really busy! On September 21,, Ms. Pereira and Ms. Gruver picked There have been seven meets, six of which New Paltz has won. The first one was against Wallkill. up the Japanese students at J.F.K. airport. For the next The second one was against both Ellenville and Rhine- week the students of Nimi, Japan stayed with host stu- beck. The third one was run against Coleman, and the dents and enjoyed the sights of New York. fourth one was against Saugerties. The fifth was The host students were Emily Copeland, Anna against Marlboro. The sixth was an invitational and the and Leah Sturgis, Brendan Purcell, Margaret Stanne only one that was not won. The seventh was the and Annette Rodriguez. For the next five, days the MHAL (Mid-Hudson Athletic League) championship. Japanese students lived with these students. There were over 500 people at the MHAL meet and On their first day in New Paltz Middle School, New Paltz won handily. the Japanese students took part in an assembly wel- Cross country is an incredible sport, but much coming them to New Paltz. First, the seventh and harder than some people might think. Many just eighth grade choruses sang a Japanese song “Hotari 2 think,“Oh, all you have to do is run. Anybody can do these books? Some of us had useful ideas. Honour that.” But in reality not everybody can do it. You need Butler says, “Maybe there should be a book of the speed, stamina, and most importantly, determination. week, and the book is displayed for people to read it.” Without all 3 of these, you will never succeed in cross The librarian thought it was a great idea. Then, Camila country. However, the reason determination is the Ferguson suggested, “What if we have a Newberry most important thing is that if you keep up and stick Award Winner week?” with it, you’ll gain speed and stamina. Some of these books haven’t been touched for Cross country is a fabulous sport that will months. Have you ever picked a book up that had strengthen your resolve until you conquer your doubts nothing stamped in it? This means either it has had a a run like the wind. It ended on Friday, October 26. full card of stamps, or nobody has checked it out. Usu- ally, nobody has checked it out since it was ordered. Remember that cross country is a good sport There are many of these books in the library, and we and it is as challenging a sport as football or soccer. want to see them checked out. A few others made some suggestions. SPIRIT WEEK!!!!! Quinn Harlow says, “There should be a hand- out that teachers give that comes out each month list- By Tamara Tasker and Kristia Thomsen ing the new books that were ordered.” “There should be posters on the walls so every- Spirit week is a week when students dress differ- one can see them when they’re walking in the halls.” ently to encourage unity in the school. Spirit week was Verenice Castellanos suggests. October 22-26. Students are encouraged to tune out Another great idea we received was from drugs. Camila Ferguson who said, “We should post quotes On Monday, to kick off spirit week students wore outside of the library with the title of the book. After red. It was so much fun to see everyone in the halls reading some quotes, people might like the style of wearing red. Students got a red ribbon for wearing red writing so they can check that book out.” shirts or pants. Michaela Labare told us, “There should be a Tuesday was come to school dressed like a twin genre week every week. Ms. Lis-Simmons could pick day and students walked around together dressed alike. a genre and say one best seller in that genre every day At recess and lunch, Ms. Pines gave a sticker to all that week.” Those are some great ideas but we still twins. need help. If you’re ever in class and you think of an Then on Wednesday, students came to school with idea to get people to read more, jot it down and tell wacky hair and wacky clothes, like striped pants and a Ms. Lis-Simmons. The Mirror asks you the reader to pink shirt, or blue leggings and a green skirt, and a yel- tell people about books if you hear about them. And low shirt and red hair. Remember On Thursday, students wore their favorite sports jerseys.