News
The MMMS Podcast: The Monarch Experience
By: Zaina Saif
“Student voice is the road to change.”
- Anonymous
The students of our school have recently started production of The Monarch Experience podcast hosted by Mr. Ancona. The creators of this podcast wanted to give students a platform to voice their own opinions. Mr. Ancona was inspired by a teacher who was redoing his entire classroom to allow his students to have a stronger voice. He thought that a podcast would be an awesome opportunity to let students have power and talk about things that are significant to them.
When naming the podcast, Mr. Ancona wanted something that would stand out in an effort to intrigue the public. He said, “Our podcast is about student experiences at our school and therefore, The Monarch Experience would be the perfect title.” Mr. Ancona hopes that this podcast will help students of this school recognize that they are not alone and have more power than they realize. He said, “With this podcast, students can connect with the thoughts of other students. They embody the feelings and beliefs of other students in the school. There is so much power in knowing you are not alone.”
Mr. Ancona plans to come out with a new episode of The Monarch Experience every two weeks. So far, the podcast has released four episodes, and he plans to continue producing episodes “forever.” He hopes to cover a wide variety of topics as the school year progresses. For anyone wishing to appear on a podcast episode, visit Mr. Ancona’s room and bring a topic you would be interested in discussing. He says there are “limitless possibilities.” Anyone can access the podcast on Itunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Anchor, the hosting website. Look out for a new episode of The Monarch Experience on the school’s website, twitter, and across Google Classroom streams!
MMMS PODCAST
The second round was released and sixteen books were eliminated, leaving sixteen standing. The sixteen titles were Legend, All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Restart, The Hate U Give, Spy School, I Funny, Eleven, Red Queen, Prisoner B2087, Divergent, Refugee, One of Us is Lying, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Land of Stories, The Fault in Our Stars, and Twilight. After this, eight more books were eliminated, leaving eight standing.
There were eight final titles standing. The titles were I Funny, The Fault in Our Stars, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Eleven, One of Us is Lying, The Hate U Give, Spy School, and Divergent. Voters were encouraged to select their favorite four. The results determined which four titles faced off in the second-to-last elimination round. During the second-to-last elimination round, Spy School, Divergent, One of Us is Lying, and The Fault in Our Stars were left.
The final two titles left standing were...Divergent and One of Us is Lying! Voters determined which title was crowned 2019 Tournament of Books Champion on Friday, March 29th. On that fateful day, the 2019 Tournament of Books Champion title was given to...One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus! If the winner is not your favorite book, make sure to vote next year for a chance to steal the title!
Chinese Fidelity School Visits MMMS!
Peer 2 Peer: Knowledge is Power
Tournament of the Books
By: Amanda Sun
Harry Potter dueling Eragon fighting Edward Cullen? No, this isn’t some crazy crossover with thirty-two authors across thirty-two books. It is the Tournament of the Books! The first round of the tournament of the books was released, and students were invited to vote for sixteen titles from a list of thirty two books. Some titles from the list included Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Eragon, Twilight, Red Queen, The Hate U Give, One of Us is Lying, and Divergent.The second round was released and sixteen books were eliminated, leaving sixteen standing. The sixteen titles were Legend, All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Restart, The Hate U Give, Spy School, I Funny, Eleven, Red Queen, Prisoner B2087, Divergent, Refugee, One of Us is Lying, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Land of Stories, The Fault in Our Stars, and Twilight. After this, eight more books were eliminated, leaving eight standing.
There were eight final titles standing. The titles were I Funny, The Fault in Our Stars, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Eleven, One of Us is Lying, The Hate U Give, Spy School, and Divergent. Voters were encouraged to select their favorite four. The results determined which four titles faced off in the second-to-last elimination round. During the second-to-last elimination round, Spy School, Divergent, One of Us is Lying, and The Fault in Our Stars were left.
The final two titles left standing were...Divergent and One of Us is Lying! Voters determined which title was crowned 2019 Tournament of Books Champion on Friday, March 29th. On that fateful day, the 2019 Tournament of Books Champion title was given to...One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus! If the winner is not your favorite book, make sure to vote next year for a chance to steal the title!
Chinese Fidelity School Visits MMMS!
Random Acts of Kindness: Positive Post Its!
Read Across America Day: Mr.Bucci's 6th Grade Class Reads to Mrs.Bucci's Kindergarten Class
CLUBS AND SPORTS
Madagascar: A Musical Adventure Jr.
By: Rishika Raghavan
The Marlboro Memorial Middle School drama club is pleased to display their spring production of Madagascar! This production entailed three shows on Friday, March 22nd at 7 PM and Saturday, March 23rd at 2 PM and 7 PM.
The musical opens with the four main characters, Alex (played by Kavya Jain), Marty (played by Danielle Lirov), Gloria (played by Sami Khatri), and Melman (played by Alex Panico), at the Central Park Zoo. In this opening scene, they sing and perform for the visitors at the zoo.
Later, the audience learns that it is Marty’s birthday and that he made a wish to be able to go out into the wild. His friends believe that his wish is preposterous and that it is better living in the zoo. Marty, however, has other plans. He leaves the zoo and decides to take a train to Connecticut, which, supposedly, has an environment that reproduces the feeling of being in the wild.
However, Alex, Gloria, and Melman soon figure out what Marty did and run after him, but complications follow shortly afterwards. The four zoo animals, along with four penguins, Skipper (played by Madhav Ashanath), Kowalski (played by Sydney Katz), Private (played by Emily Cherny), and Rico (played by Lia Belitsis), get captured by animal control and are on the way to get shipped to a different zoo. The animals discover what is being done very quickly. The penguins wish to go back to their natural habitat, where it’s cold, so they knock out the captain of the ship and take over, attempting to redirect the ship to Antarctica.
As we can all probably guess, penguins are not the best at operating boats. The group lands ashore at Madagascar, where they soon meet the natives of the island, the lemurs and the foosa (Jamila Abreu, Ella LaRock, Dhruva Lepakshi, and Michael Petruzzi). The foosa are about to make a dinner out of Mort (played by Anamika Nath) when Alex arrives and saves him. The lemurs welcome Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman and introduce them to King Julien (played by Isabel Abreu), the king of the lemurs. King Julien wants Alex to stay on the island to defend them from the foosa, but Maurice (played by Sammi Pine) is doubtful of the plan and asks Julien to consider Alex’s predatory nature. Alex does not like staying on the island because the only food there seems to be is seaweed on a stick. Marty, Melman, and Gloria, however, enjoy staying on the island and try to make Alex enjoy it as well.
However, Alex’s carnivorous instincts begin to shine through when he accidentally bites Marty, thinking that he is steak. King Julien realizes then that Alex is a threat to the lemurs and banishes him to the far side of the island where the foosa (cat-like mammal) live. Marty, horrified, starts to realize how being in the wild is changing Alex and starts to regret his decision to leave the zoo.
Suddenly, the penguins return from their trip to Antarctica, finding it distasteful. The animals believe that the ship came back for them. Marty runs to save Alex so that they could all go back to the zoo, and Gloria and Melman rush to save Marty but are trapped by the foosa.
Meanwhile, in the foosa territory, Marty is terrified, but determined to save Alex. Alex is afraid to come back with Marty because he doesn’t want to hurt him, but Marty eventually convinces Alex to overcome his predator instincts and come back with him. Before leaving, Alex scares away the foosa from lemur territory for good. The lemurs regain their respect for Alex and throw the animals a goodbye party, where they also satisfy Alex’s hunger with sushi. The show comes to a conclusion as the animals sing about how they will always be together no matter where they go. The cast and crew then proceeded to convene on stage as curtain calls commence.
After the show, Danielle Lirov, who played Marty, said, in tears, “Madagascar, and being in drama club in general, was such a great experience. All of us just became a family. We all worked so hard to make a really great show and I am so proud of this cast. I can’t believe this is over. I will miss you guys and I am so honored to be a part of this amazing cast. Stay crackalackin’, my bestest friends.”
The musical performance was truly wonderful, and the cast and crew cannot wait to announce the 2019 fall play!
Peer 2 Peer: Knowledge is Power
By: Danielle Ahearn
Peer 2 Peer is a group of 8th graders who conduct 7th grade outreaches related to substance abuse, drug prevention, and practicing skills on refusing uncomfortable situations. The program, which is composed of twenty eighth graders who have made a pledge to stay drug free, has a total of five outreaches a year. They also have other events they help out with, such as Family Night (which is completely ran by P2P), sixth grade orientation, and Back-to-School Night.
In Peer 2 Peer, the 8th grade students begin the year by educating themselves on the five gateway drugs. In December, they are put into outreach groups. Following that, they spend most classes preparing for their outreaches. When they go on their outreaches, each group typically does a lesson with three or four classes.
Though Peer 2 Peer teaches students about the negative effects of drugs, the peer leaders can also learn from their position as well. Peer leader Brandon Bachleda says, “I feel like there were two really big factors that had me apply for Peer 2 Peer. The first one is that drugs are an epidemic, and I find it very important to educate younger students about them. The second reason is that Peer 2 Peer really helps me with my public speaking skills.”
In all, though it can be sometimes challenging, Peer 2 Peer is a rewarding program that many people enjoy.
First Annual MMMS Academy Award Winners:
Best Actor: Nick Chang as Nick Chungus in Digital Citizenship with Nick Chungus
Best Supporting Actors: Mr.Ancona, Mr.Bucci, and Mr.Fine as the teacher recruiters in Memorial Penny Wars
Best Overall Commercial: Memorial Penny Wars
TRACK AND LACROSSE IN ACTION!
Behind the Scenes of The Lion’s Pride
By: Rebecca Zhang and Zehra Taqvi
“The digital magazine gives students a chance to use their voice and publish their writing. We have a lot of talented writers and photographers and artists in the club.”
~Ms. Didonato, sixth-grade English language arts teacher, co-founder of the digital magazine
Have you ever wondered how The Lion’s Pride functions? The articles, the website, the interviews? Well, today’s your lucky day! Here is a behind the scenes view of The Lion’s Pride.
The Club
The Lion’s Pride is the name of the digital magazine of Marlboro Memorial Middle School, with its headquarters in the computer lab 160. It is managed by sixth-grade social studies teacher Mr. Bucci and sixth-grade language arts instructor Ms. DiDonato. In this club, students use their senses of individuality and imagination to create pieces for the magazine. There are multiple roles within the club that consist of Editor in Chief, Technological Editor, editors for their respective sections, junior editors, and creators. Every student has a part to play and work together to help the magazine function as a team.
The Duties
Each member of the club has different duties. Students who take part in Digital Magazine are not only authors. In fact, they can complete a multitude of other tasks. The editors help to proofread the writing of their peers so that the completed works are up to their full potential. There are also photographers and artists who create visual elements for the magazine. Arca Baran, the current technological editor, and his junior editor, Zehra Taqvi, help with the digital aspect of the magazine.
“We have very hard-working editors who care about the content that goes into the magazine. They’re great people.”
~Mr. Bucci, sixth-grade social studies teacher, co-founder of the digital magazine
CREATIVE WRITING
The Sound of Luck
By: Mridula Kannan
The sound of luck
How rich and bright
Small green clovers fill my sight
I search here and there and everywhere
But they just don’t seem to appear
Suddenly, something catches my eye
It’s right there, trying to be sly
I reach to grab it, but then I stop
The reason is that, right then I look up
In the gleaming blue sky,
I spy it, for it is tall and high
Many colors put in a combo
Now you can guess that it is a rainbow
I follow it for it goes up and down
And around and around
The rainbow finally stops
And that’s when my jaw drops
I can see it and control my excitement
Overflowing, shiny, for it is gold!
I bend down to take it
Happy with delight
Suddenly it vanishes and is nowhere
I try and try and look everywhere
Then I hear a snicker behind me
I turn around and can’t believe what I am seeing
Right in front of me is a Leprechaun!
Right then I know
My life will never be the same
I am right because just now, I hear the sound of luck!
Fragments
By: Amanda Sun
Two people die every second
Four people are born every second.
Which means that the moment I die
Someone else will take my place
In the turning sea of auras
Will the empty space I used to fill
Become full once more?
Will my wrinkled aura
Of sun bleached cloth and the brittle pages of old books
Be replaced by a smooth aura
Of pacifiers, baby powder, and freshly painted tricycles?
Will the child born in my place hold a remnant of me?
Will he cut his sandwiches diagonally like me?
Will he color in his drawings like me?
Will he sit in front of the dishwasher
Every Sunday afternoon
And arrange the mugs by color
And face the Tupperware in the same direction
Will he adore the smell of coffee
But only drink decaf?
Will he look out the window
And see two butterflies resting on the same ledge
Next to a patch of overgrown weeds
And open his mouth to say
“Mommy, I’ve seen that before,”
But instead think for a moment
And close his mouth.
The tickling feeling of deja-vu
Already fading from his mind.
Perfect Poetry
By: Ana Kristine
Inside the letter A
Are always apricots
Assigning animals art
Inside the letter B
Are brilliant bees with buzzcuts
Bringing bananas to belligerent boys
Inside the letter C
Are concentrating charcoal clumps of
Comfy climbing cops
Inside the letter D
Are dynamic dingos drinking
Dunkin donuts Dr. Pepper
Aisle 9
By: Amanda Sun
Norman Parker had gone through a rough day.
The coffee machine had broken.
The cat had thrown up.
He had locked himself out of his car.
He was late to work.
He had spilled orange juice on his shirt.
And that is how he found himself
on 129 Levington Street in the heart of New York City
at the very end of aisle 9 of CVS
staring at the rows of Aspirin.
He scanned the array of boxes,
each advertising in bright colors,
and loud designs,
and song-like slogans,
for headache medicine.
He reached over and picked up a box on a whim.
Turning to leave, he caught sight of an old woman headed his way
with wispy white hair and a flowing cardigan
in a brilliant purple (the cardigan, not the hair).
Her eyes were that of a dreamer
in the city that never sleeps.
A trace of a smile danced on her lips.
It was as if they were trying to reach out and grab the smile
But it kept ducking away like an elusive sneeze.
She neared him,
the only acknowledgement of his presence, a slight nod.
So imperceptible that Norman doubted his eyes.
And he turned to look back at the Aspirin
pretending to consider a different brand
just to save himself from this awkward encounter
and when she whooshed past him,
her cardigan flowing behind her like the robes of some goddess,
the most peculiar scent filled the air.
The tart tinge of citrus intertwined with the sweet and rich smell of jasmine
a hint of sandalwood cutting the mixture.
And Norman closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
And suddenly he was standing in his childhood home,
enveloped in his mother’s hug,
sobbing his eyes out after losing his lucky penny on a field trip
the smell of sandalwood lingering from the wooden floorboards
his mother’s perfume permeating around him
the tinge of citrus from the tangerine she had undoubtedly just peeled
and he heard her saying
“Oh Norman, don’t cry. Eat this tangerine I peeled.”
And all the smells and the warmth wrapping him in a blanket of sensation
as he cried and cried just for the sake of the moment.
Then he opened his eyes.
And he was back on 129 Levington Street in the heart of New York City,
at the very end of aisle 9 of CVS,
Staring at the rows of Aspirin.
He sighed.
He headed for the checkout and paid,
never looking back,
Whistling as he exited those sliding glass doors.
If I Were a Superhero
By: Nicholas Rosado
If I were a superhero, I would definitely fly
Arms outstretched, racing up to the sky
If I were a superhero, I would help all the poor
And make sure they are hungry no more
If I were a superhero, I’m sure you would agree
The world would be a lot better because of me!
Supervillains
By: Mark Stolin
I have the evilest mind in all the land
Soon, the whole world will be in my hand
Fear me, for I am bad
Fear me, because being wicked, I am glad
No one can stop me, no one I say!
Get prepared for the greatest doomsday
You shall bow down to your new king
Compared to me, humans are a small thing
There is nothing you can do, just accept defeat
Be sad, look down at your feet
You shall know the definition of mean when you see me
I am witty,-defeating me is not easy
Ready, Set, Brawl!
As of October 2018, it was made official when the 2019 Tony Awards, an award show celebrating actors and the teams behind the shows that are performed on Broadway, would air. The date is June 9th, 2019. This will be the 73rd Tony Awards that has been held, the first one being held on April 6th, 1947. Some of the awards included are Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, Best Performance by a Leading Actor, Best Performance by a Leading Actress, and Best Direction. These six awards are called the “Big Six” because they are the most recognized and acclaimed awards. Only four musicals have gotten all six of these awards: South Pacific, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and The Band’s Visit.
The Strange Case of the Not-So-Super Bowl
By: Arca Baran
By Jacob Babich
Super Me
By: Mehreen Khan
This story isn’t about your regular Superman or Wonder Woman. Or about “saving the day”, no. It’s about the person behind the spotlight, deep in the shadows. It’s about--me. My name is---well it doesn’t matter. When I was younger I would always dream to run like the flash or fly like superman. Dreams die. I’m not here to tell you all about my depressing childhood--no. If you’re a person like me-unappreciated, unloved, no dreams--think again. I did and it changed my life forever. I’m here to “help.”
It all started somewhere in the multiverse 10 years, 3 months, and 6 days ago--but who’s counting? I was Superman’s assistant. Yes, Superman! The guy who flies in his undies. It would seem like a good experience, but if you looked deeper, you would see all the flaws. I had a crush. His name was Carl Sanders. My best friend. He was all into superheroes and stuff like that. I had to tell him about my job. He was so surprised and happy. He’ll be important later.
“Kate, (Yes, that’s my name) get my coffee. Double chocolate espresso, whipped cream, with a drizzle of raspberry toffee!” shouted Superman. I hate him so much. Ugh. Right about when I was going to get Superman’s coffee, I stopped in front of his meeting with The Justice League, but the Flash wasn’t there. I couldn’t help but eavesdrop.
“You ready?” Wonder Woman whispered.
“It’s just us, right?” Aquaman replied.
“Of course, we can’t get any other superheroes taking our jobs away from us!” Superman called out.
“What about The Flash?” Batman said.
“He’s just a kid. Let him live his life. We’re saving lives here,” Superman replied. Wonderwoman peeked her head into the open doors. I ran away as quickly as possible. What are they planning?
It ran through my head all day. I needed answers. The next day, I went through Superman’s room.
I had a key so if I needed to get something for him, I could go into his room. The paper I found his drawer was so surprising. The Justice League wanted to get rid of every superhero beside themselves so they can be the only ones. Remember Carl, my best friend? Well his secret identity was The Kite. Your friendly neighborhood superhero. He had the powers to manipulate minds and telepathy. With him gone, I would have no meaning in life. I had to save my best friend. What I couldn’t figure out was how the Justice League would accomplish this. I was going to look through the second page, but I heard footsteps. It was Carl. I ran out of Superman’s room. “Carl! What are you doing here, at work?” I asked him. “Don’t be silly. I want to take you out for your birthday!” Carl replied. “Right……” I told him. I didn’t want to tell Carl what I found out. He looked so happy. “How about tonight, after work?” I replied. “Fine… but I have to tell you something really important, so you better be there,” he said “Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. See you at 8,” I told him. I know what you’re thinking. “He asked you out. Eeeek!” It’s not like that. We went out for my birthday every year. This year was no different. I needed to find out about Superman’s plan more, if I wanted to save Carl. I went through all of The Justice League’s files. Nothing! Then I remembered that The Flash wasn’t at the meeting. I could ask him for help or advice. I signed his signal and met him on the rooftop. Me and Barry Allen (The Flash) had a complicated relationship. He used to like me and he is really obsessive. I rejected him. We met and decided to talk about it over pizza. We went for pizza and I told him everything! He wasn’t listening, though. He was just putting his hand over mine. It was very uncomfortable. I moved away. We spent so long talking that I forgot my birthday dinner with Carl. Carl was walking back to his house when he saw me and Barry together. What a friend I was… The next day, I went up to Carl, oblivious of what happened last night. He ignored me. My only friend--ignored me. I’m not usually the touchy type, but I asked him what was wrong. “You know exactly what is wrong!” replied Carl. And it was then that I realized my mistake. I had to figure out Superman’s plan fast and stop it. And then, I could make things up with Carl. I went to Superman’s room to look at the files again. It said that the plan was happening today at 5:59 sharp. It also said that they were getting help from Constantine. At 5:59 sharp, Constantine and the Justice League were going to alternate this universe with dark magic. The sky would become red and then there would be no going back. I was shivering when I read that. Were all the other superheroes going to die or disappear? It was dark magic. I needed Carl’s help, but he wouldn’t answer his cell. Guess I had to do this by myself. It was 5:47. Carl got out of work. I rushed to him. I said I needed him help. He walked away. I walked to him again. “What do you want?” he screamed at me. “Listen to me, Carl. You’re in trouble. You all are,” I replied. Soon the winds started to grow stronger. The sky turned dark yellow. I told Carl everything. “You need to go home. There’s nothing you can do. I’ll gather the crew,” he told me. “NO! You need all the help you can get,” I replied “Don’t you get it? You’ve helped enough. Why did you tell me this now? And of course you told your boyfriend, Barry, before me,” he said “My boyfriend?! I hate him. We were just talking. There’s nothing wrong with that. I didn’t tell you because you were so happy about my birthday. I didn’t want to hurt you. I like you. I always have. And to think I was afraid of love.” “You like--me? I like you too. You’re my best friend. The person I want to be with forever.” And it was then when I realized, I was about to lose him. I couldn’t, I wouldn’t. The dark magic soon surrounded us, pushing Carl to the side. Carl couldn’t fight it. He was going to disappear. I remembered reading a book about dark magic. The only way to get rid of it was to lose everything you love, the greatest sacrifice of all. “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? Just end this already!” I yelled. “Are you willing to risk it all, for strangers’ lives?” I heard, not knowing where/who it was coming from. “Yes...Anything...just don’t hurt anyone. They don’t deserve this. Who-who are you?” “You will know, in time. I know who you are. Kate Witherspoon. Daughter, assistant,--superhero.” “Wha-what?” “You can hear me. You can tame the bad. Conquer the good. All comes with a price.” “I-I can save them?” “Yes. Just know when you do this you are going to lose everything.” “I’ll do anything.” Soon, thunderstorms started to come, and the sky turned black. Pitch black. So black, you couldn’t see anything. The sky turned back to normal. And it was just me, standing there, everyone else gone. Swish. The thunderstorms calmed down. I woke up, but it didn’t feel normal. I was in my bed. Looking at my phone, it was November 15, 2022. 4 years after everything. My apartment looked different. I went to my phone and called Carl. “What’s up?” he said “Wait...you don’t remember what happened? April, 13, 2018?” I replied “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Wait…” he replied. “So you remember! The dark magic! The confession! You love me?” “What…Magic? I love you? The only thing I remember is when we tried to date, but it was too awkward. Is this what you wanted to talk about? I mean my wedding is tomorrow.” “YOUR WHAT?!” “How can you forget my wedding? You’re my best friend. Good joke.” I hung up, knowing what happened. This was a new world I was in. A world---where I couldn’t have love, there were no powers, and my life wouldn’t be meaningful. I sacrificed everything, to save the person I loved. I guess my story didn't end happily ever after. I did whatever it took. I hope you will too.
I had a key so if I needed to get something for him, I could go into his room. The paper I found his drawer was so surprising. The Justice League wanted to get rid of every superhero beside themselves so they can be the only ones. Remember Carl, my best friend? Well his secret identity was The Kite. Your friendly neighborhood superhero. He had the powers to manipulate minds and telepathy. With him gone, I would have no meaning in life. I had to save my best friend. What I couldn’t figure out was how the Justice League would accomplish this. I was going to look through the second page, but I heard footsteps. It was Carl. I ran out of Superman’s room. “Carl! What are you doing here, at work?” I asked him. “Don’t be silly. I want to take you out for your birthday!” Carl replied. “Right……” I told him. I didn’t want to tell Carl what I found out. He looked so happy. “How about tonight, after work?” I replied. “Fine… but I have to tell you something really important, so you better be there,” he said “Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. See you at 8,” I told him. I know what you’re thinking. “He asked you out. Eeeek!” It’s not like that. We went out for my birthday every year. This year was no different. I needed to find out about Superman’s plan more, if I wanted to save Carl. I went through all of The Justice League’s files. Nothing! Then I remembered that The Flash wasn’t at the meeting. I could ask him for help or advice. I signed his signal and met him on the rooftop. Me and Barry Allen (The Flash) had a complicated relationship. He used to like me and he is really obsessive. I rejected him. We met and decided to talk about it over pizza. We went for pizza and I told him everything! He wasn’t listening, though. He was just putting his hand over mine. It was very uncomfortable. I moved away. We spent so long talking that I forgot my birthday dinner with Carl. Carl was walking back to his house when he saw me and Barry together. What a friend I was… The next day, I went up to Carl, oblivious of what happened last night. He ignored me. My only friend--ignored me. I’m not usually the touchy type, but I asked him what was wrong. “You know exactly what is wrong!” replied Carl. And it was then that I realized my mistake. I had to figure out Superman’s plan fast and stop it. And then, I could make things up with Carl. I went to Superman’s room to look at the files again. It said that the plan was happening today at 5:59 sharp. It also said that they were getting help from Constantine. At 5:59 sharp, Constantine and the Justice League were going to alternate this universe with dark magic. The sky would become red and then there would be no going back. I was shivering when I read that. Were all the other superheroes going to die or disappear? It was dark magic. I needed Carl’s help, but he wouldn’t answer his cell. Guess I had to do this by myself. It was 5:47. Carl got out of work. I rushed to him. I said I needed him help. He walked away. I walked to him again. “What do you want?” he screamed at me. “Listen to me, Carl. You’re in trouble. You all are,” I replied. Soon the winds started to grow stronger. The sky turned dark yellow. I told Carl everything. “You need to go home. There’s nothing you can do. I’ll gather the crew,” he told me. “NO! You need all the help you can get,” I replied “Don’t you get it? You’ve helped enough. Why did you tell me this now? And of course you told your boyfriend, Barry, before me,” he said “My boyfriend?! I hate him. We were just talking. There’s nothing wrong with that. I didn’t tell you because you were so happy about my birthday. I didn’t want to hurt you. I like you. I always have. And to think I was afraid of love.” “You like--me? I like you too. You’re my best friend. The person I want to be with forever.” And it was then when I realized, I was about to lose him. I couldn’t, I wouldn’t. The dark magic soon surrounded us, pushing Carl to the side. Carl couldn’t fight it. He was going to disappear. I remembered reading a book about dark magic. The only way to get rid of it was to lose everything you love, the greatest sacrifice of all. “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? Just end this already!” I yelled. “Are you willing to risk it all, for strangers’ lives?” I heard, not knowing where/who it was coming from. “Yes...Anything...just don’t hurt anyone. They don’t deserve this. Who-who are you?” “You will know, in time. I know who you are. Kate Witherspoon. Daughter, assistant,--superhero.” “Wha-what?” “You can hear me. You can tame the bad. Conquer the good. All comes with a price.” “I-I can save them?” “Yes. Just know when you do this you are going to lose everything.” “I’ll do anything.” Soon, thunderstorms started to come, and the sky turned black. Pitch black. So black, you couldn’t see anything. The sky turned back to normal. And it was just me, standing there, everyone else gone. Swish. The thunderstorms calmed down. I woke up, but it didn’t feel normal. I was in my bed. Looking at my phone, it was November 15, 2022. 4 years after everything. My apartment looked different. I went to my phone and called Carl. “What’s up?” he said “Wait...you don’t remember what happened? April, 13, 2018?” I replied “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Wait…” he replied. “So you remember! The dark magic! The confession! You love me?” “What…Magic? I love you? The only thing I remember is when we tried to date, but it was too awkward. Is this what you wanted to talk about? I mean my wedding is tomorrow.” “YOUR WHAT?!” “How can you forget my wedding? You’re my best friend. Good joke.” I hung up, knowing what happened. This was a new world I was in. A world---where I couldn’t have love, there were no powers, and my life wouldn’t be meaningful. I sacrificed everything, to save the person I loved. I guess my story didn't end happily ever after. I did whatever it took. I hope you will too.
POP CULTURE
Pokémon Detective Pikachu- Movie Review (Spoiler-Free)
By: Arca Baran
Recently, the trailer for the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie brought along plenty of memes, disappointed fans, and affirmation of one long-lasting “fact:” The video-game movie adaptation curse is real. Ever since the infamous failure of the Super Mario Bros movie in 1993, nearly every single attempt by movie studios to make a decent movie based on a video game franchise has been poorly received by fans and critics. So, if you told the haters one year back that a live-action Pokemon movie was in the works, they would probably insist that it would turn out terrible. But luckily, one film seems to have broken that curse. One film based on a Nintendo franchise, with live-action pocket critters and the voice acting of Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds. That film would be 2019’s Detective Pikachu, released a few weeks ago.
Now, what exactly made video game movies in the past bad? Well, poor storylines, unfunny humor, bad CGI, poor acting, and blatant attempts at “fan service” actually just being cash-grabs all spelled doom for countless video game film adaptations in the past. I guess I will debunk each of these points one by one, to prove that Detective Pikachu is an electrifyingly fun and hilarious tale that will not disappoint hardcore Pokémon fans, newcomers to the series, or the average moviegoer.
First, the story. Now, without spoiling anything, I will say that the film is loosely based on detective mysteries that you have probably heard of in the past. The film starts out with the main conflict point: A car crash near a Pokémon research center leads to the disappearance of an ace detective, Howard Goodman. The only one last seen at the site would be his furry Pokémon partner, a Pikachu who now seems to have gotten his memory erased. When Howard’s son, Tim, hears the news, he goes to his dad’s office, where he meets Pikachu for the first time. But it becomes obvious that this is no ordinary Pikachu; he insists on wearing Howard’s detective hat, has no idea of what happens next, and can talk to Tim. Only Tim can hear him, however; whenever Detective Pikachu speaks to someone else, all they can hear is a regular “pika-pika!”
As Detective Pikachu and Tim dive deeper into what happened in the car crash that day, they learn that not everything around them is as it seems. So expect constant plot twists and turns that, while sometimes are a bit predictable, still managed to make me engaged throughout the relatively short movie. (It’s no 3-hour long Endgame beast of a movie, don’t worry.) The story isn’t super complex or deep either, but you shouldn’t go in expecting that. It is just a kid’s movie, after all. But it’s certainly not a bad or lazily-made one. It’s full of heart and humor, with a good message about friendship and family mixed in for good measure.
Next, the humor. I’d say that the humor is one of, if not, the best thing about this entire movie. Of course, casting Ryan Reynolds to play a cute and fuzzy Pikachu that makes jokes about caffeine addiction was an absolute stroke of genius from the corporate executives over at Warner Bros. I can just imagine then sitting down at a meeting and asking, “Okay… Who should play adorable little Pikachu in this kids movie?... Oh, I know! Deadpool!” So while there still are the moments of sillier humor aimed at young children, there is still constant edgier humor thrown in there by D.P. (Detective Pikachu? Deadpool?) that is sure to keep the older audience laughing out loud. The gags with the live-action Pokémon creatures interacting with each other are equally hilarious, and it makes the entire movie feel, well fun. There is no other word to explain it. I haven’t watched a movie this simply fun in quite some time; the last few months have been filled with deep cinematic universe lore and dark storylines that I honestly forgot that I could still appreciate a good ol’ adventure comedy. Not many of the jokes felt particularly awkward or cringy, which I greatly appreciate. Besides Reynolds’ comedic gold, the other acting in this movie was also mostly on point, and I can’t remember a single performance that didn’t feel mostly genuine and well-done.
And of course, one of the other stand-out things about this movie is its visual effects and CGI. Unlike particular other video game movies in 2019 (like a fast blue hedgehog), all of the Pokémon look believable and creepy enough to be funny but not to be terrifying. Audiences will be able to behold real-animal inspired fire-breathing Charizard, magic-wielding Mewtwo, and a Psyduck with anxiety disorders (whom was probably my second favorite one), as well as countless other goofy ones, like a grumpy Jigglypuff, tricky Ditto, and tongue-wagging pink thing I can’t remember the name of. Of course, out of all these CGI creatures, the one that the most detail and care was put into creating was the film’s title character himself, Pikachu. He looks shockingly realistic, like a mix between a cat and an obese rabbit (Big Chungus anybody?) with adorable bead eyes and that gosh-darn button nose and mouth. His entire body is covered with an impressive computer-generated layer of fur that I haven’t seen in any animated movie since the Angry Birds Movie three years ago. In other words, as soon as you see him, you’ll want to hug him for eternity, regardless of the fact that Deadpool is the one voicing him.
Next, the fan service. As you could probably tell, a movie based on the single most money-making media franchise of all time (fun fact, it’s #1 on the current list of rankings with and estimated $90 billion total revenue, ahead of even Star Wars), is going to make some attempt at pleasing the fans of a much-internationally-beloved three-decade-old franchise in ways that only the fans would appreciate most. Now, I’m not even remotely close to a true Pokémon fan (I think the concept is cool, but I’ve only touched one Pokémon game in my life), but I could still tell the amount of enjoyment that fans would receive from say, Pikachu comedically belting out the anime Pokémon trainer theme song, or the level of detail put into Ryme City, and the multiple references to the games and anime all lovingly put into the film. As a casual moviegoer, I thought that the idea of a city in which Pokémon and humans live together in harmony, rather than fighting or training as you have seen them before, was a good move and made it very interesting and magical. IGN’s official review of the film states that the amount of magic in Ryme City hasn’t been felt in cinemas since the first Harry Potter flick, and I’d have to agree. It gave me goosebumps seeing the introduction to Ryme City, crawling with hyper-realistic Pokémon critters, and I’m not even a massive Pokémon fan. It’s either that the moment was just that magical, or I’m just geeking out for no reason.
Unlike other video game movies, there is one main distinction about how this was made. You see, the people who made this movie are true fans who actually care about what they are doing and want to do proper service to the Pokémon franchise. The point of this movie wasn’t to make money (even though, let’s be real, the #1 media franchise in the world will make a truck-load of “moola”), and since the people making it knew very well that they didn’t have to put any true effort into it for it to be successful… That didn’t stop them from making it a phenomenally funny and true-felt adaptation of the Pokémon franchise as a whole. The references are done well, a more than adequate amount of effort is put into every second of the film, and it is enjoyable and funny from beginning to end. They knew that they didn’t have to try for it to be successful, yet they tried to make it a good movie anyways. Thus, that is the sole distinction that makes this the first movie to truly break the videogame curse, and if other studios follow lead, then the future of videogame film adaptations finally looks bright. But wait a minute… I see something blue in the distance. It’s speeding past faster than the speed of sound.
This is Arca. My power went out a few hours ago. All I remember was a flash of blue, and someone screaming out “GOTTA GO FAST”. I also distinctly remember that all the speakers in my home were blaring out Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise”. Oh well, just a nightmare. Hopefully it doesn’t come true… Because otherwise, the future isn’t bright, it’s blue.
By: Anish Pallati
Brawl Stars is a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) mobile game that was released globally on December 12, 2018. Supercell, the company behind Brawl Stars, first released this game in June of 2017 to some countries, and slowly released it to more and more countries throughout the rest of 2017 and the beginning of 2018. It is finally available in the United States!
In Brawl Stars, you start with a brawler named Shelly, although you can earn another one for connecting the game to your Supercell ID. Before you can do any of this, you are given a tutorial on how to play. The controls are relatively simple: left joystick to move, and right buttons to shoot. You can click the shoot button again and again to fire rapidly (also known as quickfire), or hold it down if you want to aim your shot. Dealing damage to enemies and other players charges up the brawler's super, which is a special attack that differs for each brawler.
When you attack, the first mode you unlock is Gem Grab. In this mode, you try to grab the most gems from the middle and win. Killing someone results in the dropping of their gems. The next few modes you unlock are Showdown and Heists.
When you win in a mode (method of winning is different in each mode) you get trophies, which upgrades your brawler's tier. This does not help with the progression of the game, and can just be used to boast of your advanced skills. You can also earn coins and power points. Naturally, the coins can be used to buy things from the shop, just like any other game. Power points, however are special and very useful. Power points are used to unlock treasure chests. Some treasure chests contain star tokens that can be used to unlock even bigger chests.
Trophies can help you progress on the trophy road and reward you with special prizes, like abundant amounts of power points of coins, more brawlers, or large chests.
Trophies can help you progress on the trophy road and reward you with special prizes, like abundant amounts of power points of coins, more brawlers, or large chests.
Supers are the normal special attacks that you normally get multiple times within a round in a mode. To unlock your star power, you have to upgrade your brawler to level nine. Both of the special attacks can be very helpful in all of the modes. There are different brawlers and strategies that are effective in each mode, like picking between a short, medium, or long ranged brawler, picking a lobber, ranged, or tank brawler, or the method of dodging shots that you can use.
The different modes are Bounty, Brawl Ball, Gem Grab, Heist, Showdown, Duo Showdown, and Siege, which don’t cost tickets, and Robo Rumble and Big Game, which both cost tickets. Tickets can be earned from special chests or from buying them with gems. In Brawl Stars, there are different maps every day. You can each a star token from playing a different map on each game mode once, every day.
Every time you play, there is at least one reward waiting for you. There is a free item in the store and a chest waiting for you to open every day you play, and the items you can buy in the store for coins are very cheap.
If this sounds like the game for you, download it now and give it a try!
All About the Samsung Galaxy S10 Series
By: Krish Shah
Have you heard about the new flagship phones? Flagship phones are phones that are most important to the manufacturer and are the highlight to the consumer, which means they are more expensive than the other phones in the company. For Samsung, the main flagship phone is the S10. There were other smaller ones that came out, but in this article, we will expand on the S10 Series. They are each high-end flagship phones, but they are different in many ways. Read on to find out which one appeals more to you.
The S10 came out on February 20, 2019. It came out with 3 versions this year with the Note 10 or Note X still to come. This year, Samsung also released the Galaxy Fold, a folding phone that turns from a phone to a tablet. It costs $1980.
The S10e is a cheap version and it is a more affordable version of the S Series. It’s kind of like Apple’s XR. The S10e costs $749. The S10e has 5.8in OLED Display (organic light-emitting diode). It weighs 150 grams and has a 10MP selfie camera. On the back it has a dual camera, 12MP Wide-angle Camera and a 16MP Ultra Wide Camera. It also has intelligent features like Scene Optimizer, Shot suggestions, Flaw Detection. It has camera modes like Food, Panorama, Pro, Live focus with bokeh effect Photo, Video, Super Slow-mo, Slow motion, and Hyperlapse. Additionally, it also has AR Emoji. The resolution is 4K and it has a 3100mAh battery, plus a 64-bit Octa-Core Processor. It has 2 memory types, 6GB RAM with 128GB and internal storage 8GB RAM with 256GB internal storage. It is a single SIM model one Nano SIM and one MicroSD slot (up to 512GB). It runs on Android Pie (9) and has stereo speakers and Earphones sound by AKG and IP68 water resistance. It also has a Fingerprint sensor and Face recognition.
Now let’s move on to the S10. It is the regular model of the 3 versions. The S10 is $899.99 and has a 6.1" AMOLED (Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode). It weighs 157 grams and has a 10MP Selfie Camera. On the back, it has a triple camera -- a 12MP Telephoto Camera, 12MP Wide-angle Camera, and 16MP Ultra Wide Camera. It also has intelligent features like Scene Optimizer, Shot suggestions, and Flaw Detection and camera modes like Food, Panorama, Pro, Live focus with bokeh effect Photo, Video, Super Slow-mo, Slow motion, and Hyperlapse. It also has AR Emoji. The resolution is 4K. It has a 3400mAh battery, and a 64-bit Octa-Core Processor. It has 2 memory types, 8GB RAM with 128GB and internal storage 8GB RAM with 512GB internal storage. It’s a single SIM model one Nano SIM and one MicroSD slot (up to 512GB). It runs on Android Pie (9) and has stereo speakers and Earphones sound by AKG and IP68 water resistance. It also has a Fingerprint sensor and Face recognition.
Finally, let’s discuss the S10 plus. It is the biggest model of the 3 versions. The S10 is $999.99 and it has a 6.4" AMOLED (Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode). It weighs 175 g for the glass model and 198g for the Ceramic model. It has a Dual Front Camera, 10MP Selfie Camera, and 8MP RGB Depth Camera. On the back, it has a triple camera with a 12MP Telephoto Camera, a 12MP Wide-angle Camera, and a 16MP Ultra Wide Camera. It also has intelligent features like Scene Optimizer, Shot suggestions, and Flaw Detection and camera modes like, Food, Panorama, Pro, Live focus with bokeh effect Photo, Video, Super Slow-mo, Slow motion, and Hyperlapse. It also has AR Emoji. The resolution is 4K. It has a 4100mAh battery, and a 64-bit Octa-Core Processor. It has 3 memory types, 8GB RAM with 128GB internal storage 8GB RAM with 512GB, internal storage (Ceramic models only)12GB RAM with 1TB, and internal storage (Performance Edition only). It is a single SIM model with one Nano SIM and one MicroSD slot (up to 512GB). It runs on Android Pie (9) and has stereo speakers and Earphones sound by AKG and IP68 water resistance. It also has a Fingerprint sensor and Face recognition.
Now that you have learned about each phone in the S10 Series, you can make an informed decision about which phone fits your needs the best.
The Best Budget Phone, Great For Kids!
By: Krish Shah
Motorola has come out with the next phone of their G Family. Its reasonable budget makes it ideal for all ages to use. The Moto G7 sells for $299.99 for a 64GB version. It weighs 172 g (6.07 oz) and the front and back is made out of glass (Gorilla Glass5). It has a dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) and is splash-resistant. It has an LCD (liquid crystal display), capacitive touchscreen, and comes in 16M colors. It is 6.2 inches and runs on android 9.0 (Pie). It has a Qualcomm SDM632 Snapdragon 632 (14 nm).
Some unique features of this model are sensors, fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, and compass. It has a card slot and microSD, up to 512 GB (dedicated slot). It has 64 GB of storage and a 4 GB RAM. The main camera is dual 12 MP, f/1.8, 1.25µm, PDAF, 5 MP, f/2.2, depth sensor. It has an LED flash, panorama, HDR, and can take videos in 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS. The selfie camera is single 8 MP, 1.12µm, HDR and can take videos in 1080p@30fps. It has a loud speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack, active noise cancellation with dedicated mic, and Dolby Audio. It also has a non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery and fast battery charging 15W. It comes in Ceramic Black and Clear White. There are also motorola-exclusive shortcuts which are natural shortcuts to do things.
Now you can decide whether or not you want this phone!
The 73rd Annual Tony Awards!
By: Danielle Ahearn
As of October 2018, it was made official when the 2019 Tony Awards, an award show celebrating actors and the teams behind the shows that are performed on Broadway, would air. The date is June 9th, 2019. This will be the 73rd Tony Awards that has been held, the first one being held on April 6th, 1947. Some of the awards included are Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, Best Performance by a Leading Actor, Best Performance by a Leading Actress, and Best Direction. These six awards are called the “Big Six” because they are the most recognized and acclaimed awards. Only four musicals have gotten all six of these awards: South Pacific, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and The Band’s Visit.
This Broadway season (2018-19), there were many musicals and plays that had potential to be nominated. The nominations were recently announced on April 30, 2019. Here are the nominations for some of the awards:
Category Nominee Show
Best Musical
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X
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Best Score
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Best Book of a Musical
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Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
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Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
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Best Direction in a Musical
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The Strange Case of the Not-So-Super Bowl
By: Arca Baran
I am not a football fan, and I basically only watch it Super Bowl Sunday. I am not super familiar with the sport, but I find watching it somewhat entertaining. However, I wasn't there for just the game, of course. I was there for all the "extra noise." But this year's Super Bowl felt inexplicably strange.
Many people said that the game itself was boring and uneventful. I only watched half of it, but I do distinctly remember that at least an hour of it was spent without a single score. It remained zero-to-zero until the Boston Patriots got a three. I predicted they would win (I wasn't truly rooting for anyone, in particular, this year), and I was right. I woke up the next morning, and it was a victory of 13-to-3. So while they did beat the LA Rams, it probably wasn't a very exciting game. Only one touchdown was scored the entire time. Sure enough, it happened to be the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history. So no wonder that everyone (even my science teacher) was talking about how boring it was the next day.
But even for what I was actually watching for, it was somewhat underwhelming. Like any non-football fan, I was mostly there for the commercials. The Super Bowl is a very special annual event, with millions of Americans tuning into it every single year. That is why advertising spots are at an all-time high in terms of cost. A single ten-second advert can cost millions of dollars to purchase! That is why the companies that shell out this money to advertise usually make them extra-special and interesting. They are typically more original and fun to watch, since they want to be able to get more publicity and public attention. My favorite commercial in the Super Bowl was actually from last year, which is an M&M commercial where my idol, Danny Devito himself, turns into a human M&M. He also gets run over by a bus and asks people on the street, "Do you wanna eat me?"
This time, though? Most of the commercials weren't super memorable. Some of the few that I was awake to enjoy were the movie trailers for Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel. Oh, and the Pringles ad where Alexa complains about being a cold, cruel metal device without a soul, until she gets interrupted by a request to play "Funky Town." Apparently, all of the good stuff appeared after the Halftime Show. When I was asleep. Some examples of stuff that I missed out on were an Amazon commercial with Harrison Ford, a Toy Story 4 trailer, and a tear-inducing ad for Xbox's Adaptive Controller (made for people with disabilities).
But the part of the entire Super Bowl that got people talking the most would almost definitely the Halftime Show. I was actually looking forward to it, ever since I heard about it weeks earlier, and it had nothing to do with the people performing. I was excited about the fact that there would be a tribute to Spongebob Squarepants in it. In case you didn't know, the creator of the cartoon, Stephen Hillenburg, passed away last November due to ALS. So, in his honor, fans put up a Change.org petition asking for organizers of the NFL event to play the song "Sweet Victory." This was a song that was played in an episode of the show, which was a parody of the real-life Super Bowl Halftime Show, back in the 2001 episode "Band Geeks."
Things were looking good for the petition. It got over 1.2 million signatures. Both the NFL and Maroon 5 tweeted hints that they would fulfill the promise. And along came the week of the Super Bowl, and the voice actor for Squidward confirmed he was involved. So during the Halftime Show, lots of people were at first overjoyed at seeing the appearance of Spongebob and his friends, decked out in their band performing outfits, and the trumpet fanfare began! Then, it was interrupted by Sicko Mode, and the moans of disappointed fans could be heard everywhere.
Fans had mixed reactions to this. While overall the reaction was negative, some felt grateful that we got any clip of Spongebob to begin with. Even if it was just a few seconds, it was still a tribute to Stephen Hillenburg. However, others pointed out that it wasn't "Sweet Victory" like what was promised, and that it just seemed like the fans had gotten baited into watching it. Personally, while I love the fact that there was a Hillenburg tribute in any way, shape, or form, I still think that it wouldn't have been too difficult to make it longer. Even if it was too difficult and last-minute of a feat to choreograph an entire new song for Maroon 5, they could have just literally played the two-minute song clip from the episode, and the reaction would be much better. Even Nickelodeon seemed to be upset, since the day after everything was said and done, they tweeted this: “Def would have appreciated more SpongeBob, but maybe we’re biased?” Many YouTubers have attempted to recreate what an actual halftime show with “Sweet Victory” would look like, and some of their attempts are pretty good. They are exactly how this year's Super Bowl was meant to be remembered, but unfortunately, it didn’t turn out to be reality.
Teacher Spotlight: Ms. Ricker
SPOTLIGHT
Mrs. Ayala: Destined to Teach
By: Jianna Milan
Mrs. Ayala has always wanted to be a teacher. When she was nine, she would create lessons for her younger cousin and“teach him.” Her original goal was to become a special education teacher and work with deaf students. However, she “got distracted with life,” and finished getting her cosmetology license instead. She worked as a hairdresser for ten years before returning to college and getting several degrees.
When asked about the colleges she attended, Mrs. Ayala said that there were too many, and instead opted to list off those that she graduated from, those being California State University, East Bay and the University of Phoenix. Currently, she is a student at Georgian Court University in the hopes of receiving her special education certification. Despite having spent many years in education and currently being a math teacher, Mrs. Ayala claims that she was a mediocre student in math.
“I was just an okay student,” she says. “I started off in elementary education, but when I wanted to teach middle school and high school I had to choose a subject. [In] math [there] was always [a] right answer. I liked that.”
When not teaching, Mrs. Ayala spends her time taking care of babies. Recently, her wife gave birth to two twins, and the couple had another child a few years prior. She would like her students to know that “success in school is more about working hard and being a good student by persevering, sticking with things when they get tough, as opposed to how smart you are.”
Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover: A Short Film
By: Riya Prakash
This March, a small group of our school’s 8th graders wrote, directed, acted in, and produced a short film titled “Don’t Judge a Book by It’s Cover” and entered it into the Count Basie Teen + College Film Festival. Despite being one of two narrative films in the middle school category, this group of student actors was able to win the audience choice award, besting the 23 other films that were able to make it into the festival out of the 83 total submissions.
Written by Victoria Dillon, this film starred Benjamin Amstislavskiy, Danielle Lirov, Damian Rogowski, and Danielle Ahearn and featured Anna Petruzzi, Arca Baran (in the deleted scenes), Somrishi Banerjee, Rishika Raghavan, and Rithvika Gunupudi as extras. Additionally, the film was produced by Danielle Ahearn and directed by Damian Rogowski.
In this production of truly superior acting and film making, the eight-member cast produced a narrative of flawed stereotypes and conveyed the overall theme “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” hence the name. This message is displayed through a collection of scenes which look into the stereotypes made and wrongfully assigned by our society. As the film came to an end, the characters revealed their true interests and natures in order to nullify the stereotypical standards that the video portrayed them with.
All in all, as a result of hard work, creativity, and sheer talent, this group of students was able to create a sincerely original and inspirational media masterpiece worthy of every praise it received.
Watch the film:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUWjn1DsEi4
Teacher Spotlight: Ms. Ricker
By: Zaina Saif
“A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind, and touches the heart.”
Author Unknown
Ms. Ricker is one of Marlboro Memorial’s greatest English Language Arts teachers. She began her teaching career at MMMS when the school first opened in 2001. She was inspired to teach Language Arts by her own teachers in middle school. With their encouragement of her as a student, Ms. Ricker found that she had a knack for writing and literature. She went onto get her Bachelor's Degree at California State University in Sacramento and her Masters at Georgian Court University.
Ms. Ricker found her place at Memorial “by sheer luck,” she says. Madam Barthole, the French teacher at the time, told her about job openings at our school. “Shortly after I arrived, I slowly began to fall in love with the welcoming environment and people that I was surrounded with,” she says. She says that the students and staff in our school are all so wonderful. “Everyone is very helpful and eager to succeed.” She never envisioned herself teaching 8th graders but is lucky that she seized this opportunity. She sees so much potential in 8th graders and understands the journey of the transition between middle school and high school. She says, “They are still kids who are discovering our world, so teaching 8th grade -and in a middle school in general- is like seeing the world through a different set of eyes.”
Outside of school, Ms. Ricker loves to watch hockey and read. She grew up in Southern California and likes to use social media to keep in touch with her best friends from back home. She has two boys and says, “When I’m not a school you can most likely find me at a hockey rink supporting my sons.” She is also Quad N team leader, aside from teaching. Before becoming a teacher at Memorial, Ms. Ricker worked in banking at Santander Bank in California and for Bank of America.
She advises that 8th graders should embrace the challenges that life offers them and learn from them. “When in doubt, always choose to be kind,” Ms. Ricker says. She is inspired by Mother Teresa and sees her as a reminder that you can’t control what other people do and you have to be the person you were meant to be, regardless.
Clearly, Ms. Ricker is not only teaching her students Language Arts, but is also guiding them through their journey as 8th graders. Our school is lucky to have such a remarkable teacher providing for our students. I would like to thank Ms. Ricker for her services to Memorial!
Teacher Spotlight: Mrs. Stein
By: Saketh Ayyagari
Mrs. Stein, one of Memorial’s teachers, makes reading fun for everyone. She uses many teaching strategies in her lessons, and they seem to have worked well! Mrs. Stein majored in both psychology and education and went on to receive her Master’s Degree in reading. If you look on her teacher page, you can see she is a “certified reading specialist.” She has been teaching at Memorial since the minute it opened.
“The nation's children don't like to read, and their reading scores can reflect this disdain. While they are proficient at haiku length, phonics-based texting and Tweeting, their eyes glaze over when they have to read a book,” she says on her teacher page. She hopes that people get interested in many titles so that books turn into a passion for people, just like what happened with her.
What’s surprising is that when Mrs. Stein was three, she TAUGHT herself to read! Since then, her passion for literature has never lessened. To encourage others to read, she sometimes gives a treat to other ELA classes when she comes in for “One Chapter Wednesday” or “First Chapter Friday.” Every week, she’ll come in and read an excerpt from a different book. In addition to these classroom visits, she also introduced Memorial’s “Tournament of Books,” which asks students to rank their favorite books and vote on the best one. She says that the opportunity that it gives is that it “recommends” new and unfamiliar titles that kids may be interested in.
When outside of Memorial, Mrs. Stein visits the library EVERY DAY! She has two children, both girls. Her oldest one is in 10th grade, and her youngest is in 6th grade. Her husband is also a teacher of math and science in another district.
In conclusion, Mrs. Stein is a one-of-a-kind teacher, who always has reading in the center of her heart. Thank you, Mrs. Stein, for your passion for books and for inspiring others to love reading!
Student Alumni: Angelica DeFalco
By: Sreeja Paruchuri
Angelica DeFalco is a 19 year old student who is currently a sophomore at the University of Miami. She graduated from Marlboro Memorial in 2013. Currently, she is majoring in psychology and minoring in chemistry. Angelica loves reading, and her favorite book series is Harry Potter. Another hobby of hers is yoga. She states,”I like to do yoga to exercise and keep my mind at ease during college!” Her favorite music genre is indie/alt rock, but she says that “...nothing beats a good (new) Jonas Brothers song.” She also enjoys writing, tanning, and going to the beach with her friends.
Angelica is planning on attending a graduate program, and she wants to become a Doctor of Psychology. She says,” I have a passion for mental health and treating and diagnosing mental illness.” If that does not work out, another dream of Angelica’s would be to become a college professor because she would like to inspire college students just like her teachers did for her. Angelica’s favorite subjects in middle school were science and social studies, so she says that her experiences at MMMS did spark her interest in the correct areas and showed her where her talents and passions lie.
Angelica said that middle school was definitely an important part of her life, and that it introduced her”to a lot of aspects of [herself] that were essential to [her] growth as a young woman.” She adds, ”It was an awkward phase, but if I had done it any differently I think I’d be a different person today.” Angelica loved going to school and she thought she was really lucky to have had such amazing teachers. She says,”All of my teachers helped me as much as they could and really built my foundation and prepared me for high school...I was so lucky to have a supportive MMMS staff. They were empowering and understanding!” In fact, some Angelica’s favorite teachers include Mr. Bucci, who she says made social studies interesting and memorable, Mrs. Hendrickson, who she says was very relatable, and Ms. Bruzzi, who she says built her foundation for high school math.
One of her most memorable moments from middle school was the Mesopotamian Song, which she says “was a big highlight of 6th grade.” Additionally, she also really enjoyed field days—especially her 8th grade one. During middle school, Angelica was in Conflict Managers. She says it ”sparked the mediator in me. I am known to be the mediator with every conflict and I am able to find compromises and resolve conflicts well today.”
When asked what she would do differently if given the opportunity to redo middle school, Angelica says,”I would’ve stopped thinking everything was the end of the world...In hindsight, everything seems clearer, but if I had just been a little bit more relaxed and understanding, I would’ve enjoyed my experience a lot more.” Her favorite part about MMMS was the friendly and supportive MMMS staff. She says that her experiences with them gave her a positive outlook on teachers and people in general.
Some advice Angelica has for middle school students is, “Don’t be afraid to reach out to your teachers! They are great sources of support and, in the end, they are people! They know what it’s like to be your age and they are understanding. They’re not scary or intimidating.” Her final message to students is “.have fun! Being young doesn’t last forever (not that I’m that old). Get off your phone sometimes. Go outside, listen to music, listen to your environment, be observant. The entire world doesn’t exist online or on your phone.”
MMMS Art Gallery
An Original Painting by Zaina Saif
An Original Painting by Zaina Saif
Vector
By Saketh Ayyagari
Cozmo
By Saketh Ayyagari
By: Suhani Pandya
Bob the Leprechaun
By Jacob Babich
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| Joker By: Alexander Smith |
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| Superman By: Mridula Kannan |
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