express - Galena Park Independent School District

‘S
TANG
EXPRESS
North Shore Middle School
Volume 01, Issue 01
The
North Shore Middle School • 120 Castlegory • Houston, TX 77015
Volume 01 • Issue 01 • November 2010
Got Sleep?
IMAGE /STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY
Most teens don’t get enough - page 8
02
The ‘Stang Express
Table of Contents
The ‘Stang Express
November 2010
North Shore Middle School
120 Castlegory Houston, TX 77015
CONTACT
PHOTO BY KAREN CAMACHO
Mailing address: 120 Castlegory Houston, TX
77015
Phone: (832) 386-2600
Website: http://www.texasschools.net/nsms
RESPONDING
Letters to the editor will be accepted. Letters
may be submitted in Room C107 or placed
in the mailbox of Mr. Burke. All letters must
be signed. Names will be published. Letters
must not contain personal attacks against an
individual and may be edited.
PURPOSE
The ‘Stang Express is a student publication
distributed to the students, teachers, and
parents of North Shore Middle School and the
administration at North Shore High School
and Galena Park ISD. Opinions expressed are
the opinions of the student writers and are not
necessarily the opinions of the Galena Park ISD.
STAFF
Editor in Chief Katy McKey
Cover Story Jocelyn Ramirez
Entertainment Karen Camacho, Natalie
Robinson, Shelby Mason
Features Jocelyn Ramirez, Mariana Estrada,
Sarai Flores, Carolina Hernandez
Teacher Features Cindy Barrera, Melany
Barajas
News Katy McKey, Abigail Sanchez,
Tania Amaya, Cindy Barrera
Photography Karen Camacho, Sarai Flores
Octavio Hernandez
Sports Octavio Hernandez, Edgar Gutierrez,
Steven Grimes
Sports Idalia Santos, Ingris Montoya
Technology Ismael Estrada
Fashion Mariana Estrada
Adviser Mr. Ron Burke
Principal Mr. Paul Drexler
Superintendent Dr. Mark Henry
(Main photo above)
The North Shore Middle School Fillies
help the cheerleades pump up the
crowd during an afterschool football
game against Null Middle School.
Be sure to check out North Shore
Middle School journalism on Facebook!
Tech
News
book are you
iPad blows
03 What
11 Feature-rich
reading?
laptops away
Shore Middle opens
04 North
its arms during Open House
Sports
Silly Bandz all the rage at
12
New program helps students
school
05
prepare for future
Features
06
07
10
North Shore celebrates
Homecoming
Former Airman is here for
the writers
North Shore welcomes new
Spanish teacher
Have what it takes to make
a relationship work?
A different kind of ‘Shore’
rules the North Shore
Cover story
sleep? Most teens
08 Got
don’t get enough
13
14
North Shore squeezes by
the Panthers
Mustangs play in nail-biting
tournament
North Shore dominates Null
in first win
Forest Brook’s last minute
score quells 90-yard
touchdown run
Entertainment
drill creates chaos
15 Fire
during Midnight Madness
16 Easy A easily gets an “A”
Fashion
17 Kickin’ it with Number 23
Editor’s Note:
Welcome to the new look of NSMS Journalism! Our name has changed
also...the newspaper used to be called The Mustang Rundown and the
staff of that paper went on to win state UIL honors.
This year we’ve gone with The ‘Stang Express and are working to bring
you the best in North Shore journalism and, hopefully, compete at the
state level once again.
North Shore Middle School
Volume 01, Issue 01
What Book Are You Reading?
As of October 20th...
8th Grade AR
point total:
12,625
7th Grade AR
point total:
10,657
who enjoy reading; in fact, I often have
students tell me what type of book
they would like to read,” she said.
Some students enjoy reading
because they like to learn new things
such as vocabulary. The main question you might ask yourself would be
why is accelerated reading important
for children?
“A.R. is an excellent program to
encourage our kids to set goals for
successful reading,” said the librarian.
A.R. also makes you smarter because
learn vocabulary faster.
Reading might be boring for some
students because they do not get into
the book the way they are supposed
to. Students have their own opinions
about Accelerated Reading too. Seventh grader Oscar Escamilla likes
reading. “I enjoy reading very much
because it has taught me a lot about
all of our presidents,” said Oscar.
This is a great influence for other
students to enjoy reading. “I love putting all my knowledge on A.R. tests,
to show how much I really understand
reading,” said Oscar.
Reading books can increase your
vocabulary and can help make you a
better reader. Reading can also help
you with grammar and it can prepare
you for high school and college. So,
what book are you reading? Hope it’s
a good one.
Top 10 checked
out books
8th Grade AR
point leader:
Neethu Thomas
7th Grade AR
point leader:
Alyssa Boudreaux
IMAGES / ALA.ORG
What book are you reading? Is it
non-fiction, fiction, mystery, or horror?
Reading books can prepare you for
the world of work, but who started
Accelerated reading?
“Mr. Crockett Dubose, the deputy
superintendent offered this special
program to our school”, said our
school librarian, Ms. Sivil. The Accelerated reading is a program for students
to improve their reading skills higher
by reading a higher level book. Who
thought of the Astros game in May?
“Well, to be perfectly honest I did not
think of the Accelerated reading trip. A
teacher that used to work here was a
huge Astros fan,” said Ms. Sivil. This
is a way to persuade students want to
read by encouraging and rewarding
them. Do you ever try to figure out
why students have to take Accelerated
reading tests?
“Reading is just a way to encourage
reading and literacy for our students,”
said Ms. Sivil.
The purpose for A.R tests is to see
how well students understand the
book they are reading.
“Reading is a foundation of all learning, we should all be life long learners,” said the librarian. Reading good
books is great for a student’s education because they can learn many
great things. “We have many students
PHOTOS BY TANIA AMAYA
BY TANIA AMAYA
News 03
04 News
The ‘Stang Express
November 2010
North Shore Middle open its arms during open house
BY ABIGAIL SANCHEZ
On September, 16, 2010, North
Shore Middle open its arms to parents
for its annual open house and teachers were very excited to meet the
parents of their students.
During open house, all the hallways
were full of parents. Mr. Drexler, the
principal, went around in different hallways meeting parents and asked them
how they’re doing and if they needed
anything. There was also a short
video that featured the principal, the
assistant principals, Ms. Castaneda,
Mr. Griffith, Mr. Eagleton, some of the
counselors, and also Ms. Daniels, a
seventh grade English teacher, and
Coach Dubose.
Ms. Castaneda enjoyed open
house a lot, “I loved meeting the
families and having conversations
with them. It gives parents a chance
to meet the teachers and to know the
administrators,”she said. There were
also a lot of parents that came to
open house. “There was a lot, I really
don’t how many came but I guess
Silly Bandz are all the rage at school
BY SHELBY MASON
PHOTO BY MARIANA ESTRADA
How many Silly Bandz do you have?
Do you have the colorful, fun-shaped
elastic bands everybody wears on
their wrist? They are the latest fad.
Silly Bandz have become so popular
that they were on ABC World News,
a national news agency, and showed
celebrities wearing them. You can get
them at many different places such as
Wal-Mart, the dollar store, Academy,
and more. Students all around the
school wear these fun, multi-colored
bands because they are bright colored
and fun to wear. Eighth grader Nina
Cervantes said, “I wear Silly Bandz
because they are cool, and they have
lots of colors.” Other students say
they wear them to bring style to their
uniform.
Here, the students can wear these
cool-shaped bands, but other kids at
some schools cannot. According to
USA Today, some schools in Texas,
Pennsylvania, New York, and Florida
(Above) Eighth graders Sofia Flores and
Christina Cordova show off their bracelet
collection inbetween classes. Silly Bandz are
a very popular fad in schools.
Eighth grader Katie Rowe gives a heavy
thumbs up for Silly Bandz while at lunch in
the cafeteria. She has over 100 Silly Bandz
but doesn’t keep count.
there were around 300 parents,” she
said. “I enjoyed meeting parents and
having the opportunity for them to feel
comfortable and discuss what I do
in class”, said Mrs. Wagner, seventh
grade English teacher.
Ms. Cadoree, an eighth grade science teacher, also enjoyed open
house, “It was a great opportunity to
meet my students’ families and tell
them about the science fair and what
they’ll be learning this year,” said Ms.
Cadoree.
are banning these multi-shaped bands
because the different shapes and
colors are distracting the kids.
Sometimes kids even have to go
to the nurse because they are wearing too many Silly Bandz at one time,
which was causing circulation to get
cut off.
Some schools use the popular Silly
Bandz as a fundraiser and teachers
give them out as rewards. Some kids
trade them with other people.
Larniece Miclin, an eighth grader
said, “I trade them only if they have
blue Silly Bandz.” While Katie Rowe,
another eighth grader said, “I don’t
trade them because they are mine
and only mine.” The Silly Bandz also
has competitors such as Logo Bandz,
Crazy Bandz, Zangy Bandz, and many
more.
Some students here even choose
there favorite of these silly-shaped
bands, seventh grader Moses Perez,
said, “My favorite silly band is a
green-shaped hippo.” While Nadia
Schannette an eighth grader said,
“My favorite Silly Band is a yellow and
blue boy sign.” Some kids may save
them up so they have a lot to show off.
An example is Katie Rowe who she
has an arm full of these weird shaped
bands. Many students have tried to
count her Silly Bandz but they stopped
at about one hundred and fifty.
The newest trend is quickly sweeping the nation. Silly Bandz makers
have already come out with silly ringz.
What will they come out with next?
News 05
North Shore Middle School
Volume 01, Issue 01
New program helps students prepare for future
AVID is a new college prep class
here at North Shore Middle. “The point
of AVID is to close the achievement
gap by teaching students skills they
need to be ready for college,” said Ms.
Parrish, the AVID teacher.
In this, class students discuss what it
takes to get into different colleges and
universities by learning how to take
good notes and study with them. AVID
was designed for 7th and 8th graders
so no one will miss out on their chance
to learn about higher education.
The students are working hard to
pay attention in order to become better
prepared for their future education and
“the real world” which is what teachers
call being an adult.
“Instead of having a binder for all
different classes, we have one binder
with all different subjects so everything
we need is right there. They taught
us how to take notes instead of writing things all out and just cut to the
chase,” said 7th grader, Brogan Allen.
Ms. Parrish is teaching the students
to be more organized by making
them carry a binder and learn to take
Cornell Notes, a study guide format of
writing notes that help keep thoughts
better organized.
“We talk about what you do once
you get into college, our paths to colleges, college courses and majors and
we look at college tours to find out
where we want to go,” said 8th grader,
Rebecca Pippitone. Ms. Parrish is also
trying to get the kids focused on what
they plan on doing with their life after
high school graduation.
There are many field trips planned
throughout the year to go to some
colleges and universities, such as The
University of Houston, Rice University,
and Baylor University, so the students
can see what it’s like on a bigger
campus where everyone doesn’t have
the same set time schedule.
“I hope to get organizational skills,
to be prepared before college, and
to make a habit of taking Cornell
Notes,” said 8th grader, Cynthia
Hernandez. Many students really like
this class, making AVID even more
effective, because they are actually paying attention to what they are
being taught. AVID’s goal is simply to
prepare students for the future, giving
them an advantage later in life to
become more successful. “I like this
class, it helps me because it shows
what you need to go to college and
how you have to work for it” said 7th
grader, Emonie Brown.
Through being focused and working
hard, students in AVID are preparing
for their future. AVID is continually
teaching and helping students become
“college bound.”
North Shore celebrates Houston
Fire Prevention winners
BY MARIANA ESTRADA
PHOTOS BY MARIANA ESTRADA
BY KATY McKEY
The 36th Annual Houston Fire Prevention Poster Contest had 8th
grader Curstin Boudreaux and 7th grader Estefany Gonzales fired up.
Each girl had to draw a poster containing a message about fire safety.
Estefany took home 1st place out of all 7th graders from all districts
in Houston area. “I want to thank my teacher Mrs. Haden for helping
me,” said Estefany. Curstin took home 3rd place from all 8th graders
in the Houston area. “Before I found out I won I was sweeping in the
girls’ gym. I ran to the art room screaming, doing high school musical
moves,” said Curstin. These girls worked hard and it sure paid off. Congratulations girls!
D.I.V.A.S. meet every other
Thursday and D.U.D.E.S. meet
every other Tuesday in the
Multipurpose room at 7:30 am.
06 News
The ‘Stang Express
November 2010
Eighth grader Eunice Paz shows
her Homecoming spirit while at
lunch on Friday, the traditional
night where former students
‘come home’ for a big game.
Seventh grader Asia Burton, a
cheerleader, pauses to show off
her Homecoming boutonniere in
the cafeteria.
PHOTO BY MARIANA ESTRADA
On September 23, 2010,
our Fillies and cheerleaders participated in the North
Shore High School annual homecoming parade
in order to show support for
our future school and former
classmates.
Even though the Fillies
and cheerleaders are only
in middle school, they were
able to participate in a high
school parade.
“The reasons why the Fillies were able to participate
in the parade were because
it was an opportunity to
bring the North Shore area
together and it gives them
something to look forward
to in high school,” said Ms.
McWilliams.
The Fillies prepared for
the parade by learning
how to march and cheer at
the same time during fifth
period, while the cheerleaders prepared by practicing
their cheers. They walked
and cheered through the
neighborhood starting at the
North Shore Ninth Grade
Center and marching the
two miles to North Shore
Senior High School while
being cheered for by crowds
on the sidewalks.
“It felt awesome having
people cheer for us! Everyone was smiling and cheering us on while we were
doing our cheers,” said 7th
grade Fillie, Keilah Vargas.
Most of the Fillies and
cheerleaders said it felt
awesome to cheer in the
high school parade while,
8th grade cheerleader, Eryn
Woodfork, said, “It felt scary
because everyone was
older than me.”
The wearing of mums
started sometime around
her oversized mum.
1911. Back then it was a
Most students decided
great honor to receive a
to make their boutonnieres
homecoming mum. Nowaor mums so they can be
days they are worn for
unique. Even though were
homecoming spirit, and
only a middle school, we
they’re usually not a gift,
still showed support for
most girls buy them or make our annual homecoming
them themselves.
festivities and supported our
North Shore Middle
community.
School not only
“It felt awesome having
showed their support
people cheer for us! Everyby cheering the Fillies
one was smiling and cheerand our cheerleaders
ing us on while we were
on at the parade but
doing our cheers.”
the students also wore
homecoming mums or
- 7th grade Fillie,
boutonnieres.
Keilah Vargas
On Friday, September 24, students
all around the school wore
mums or boutonnieres to
show homecoming spirit.
There was a variety of
mums, many students had
mums pinned to their chest
while others wore them
around their arm or leg.
“My mom made it for my
leg because I don’t like
having the same thing as
everybody else,” said 8th
grader, Sandra Diaz. Most
students spent between $10
to $45, but eighth grader
Eunice Paz, spent $200 on
PHOTO BY MARIANA ESTRADA
BY KAREN CAMACHO
PHOTO BY MARIANA ESTRADA
North Shore Middle supports Homecoming
Eighth graders Sandra Diaz and Dei’Aunyse Hagger also participate
in Homecoming festivities by wearing Homecoming boutonnieres
and mums in AVID class.
Teacher Feature 07
North Shore Middle School
Volume 01, Issue 01
BY MELANY BARAJAS
Mrs. Daniels, a new
seventh grade English
teacher here, is a graduate
of Augusta State University
in Georgia. Mrs. Daniels is
a very special teacher who
loves to teach children. She
thinks it’s important to educate someone.
She has lots of patience
with children.
“It takes commitment,
patience, and lots of preparation to be able to become
a good teacher,” she
explained. She has lots of
fans, her students not only
like her, they love her!“She
makes us understand by
the way she teaches,” said
seventh grader Stephanie
Blanco. Most of the seventh
graders think she’s a cool
teacher and they love the
way she teaches. “She’s
the best teacher I have,
because she’s the teacher
I can tell my problems to,”
said seventh grader, Patricia
Ramirez.
She makes everything
more fun and easier for the
students in her classes. If
someone is acting goofy
she will too. She does
this to help you learn and
pay attention to what she
is teaching. This helps
because it helps her relate
to her students. Mrs. Dan-
iels pushes her students
to do well on their assignments. “She never gives up
if you have a low grade,”
said seventh grader Nicholas Villarreal, who is in her
1/6th period. Her students
are very happy to have
Mrs. Daniels. Many think
she’s an interesting teacher
because she came from the
Air Force. She joined the Air
Force because she wasted
a lot of time being off task in
school and she would never
listen in her classes.
“I knew the military would
teach me more responsibility,” she said. The hardest
part in the military for her
was using a weapon. “I
PHOTO BY CINDY BARRERA
Former Airman is here for the writers
always associated weapons
with violence, and violence
was never part of my
upbringing,” she explained.
We all welcome Mrs. Daniels to North Shore Middle.
If you want to meet her and
say hi she’s in room A201.
BY CINDY BARRERA
If someone came up to
you and said, “Hola como
estas?” would you know
what to say? Well, Ms.
Garcia would know what to
say. Ms. Garcia is the new
Spanish teacher here at
North Shore.
Ms. Garcia was born and
raised in Mission, Texas,
then, after eleven years,
she moved to Houston. Ms.
Garcia attended the University of Houston Downtown
to earn her teaching degree.
“It wasn’t difficult (attending college). It was very
inspiring,” she said. She
has been a teacher for ten
years and was an assistant teacher for 12 years in
Houston ISD.
This year, is Ms. Garcia’s
first year teaching in Galena
Park ISD.
“I feel that all students can
learn a second language if
Yeraldi Valdoeindos, an
they put their minds to it,”
she said. Ms. Garcia likes to eighth grader, likes writing
make a difference by teach- the Spanish alphabet, “I
like it because there’s some
ing kids a new language.
letters that are different than
“I enjoy teaching Spanish
the English alphabet,” she
because it’s a rewarding
said.
feeling when you accomStudents of Ms. Garcia
plish your goals which is
enjoy Spanish class and
hearing back the language
think Ms. Garcia is an aweyou taught them,” she said.
some teacher.
“It’s amazing to see how
“She’s really cool and she
fast and dedicated the stuis really fluent in Spanish”
dents are in learning a new
Courtlin McFarland said.
language,” she said.
“She’s
Not only
pretty
does Ms.
“It’s amazing to see how
cool.” CinGarcia like
fast and dedicated the
teaching
students are in learning a thia Flores
said. Ms.
Spanish,
new language.”
Garcia
but students like
- Ms. Garcia tries to be
a really
learning it
too.
laid back
and relaxed teacher during
Eighth grader, Courtlin
class so her students feel
McFarland‘s favorite part of
more comfortable learning
class is when Ms. Garcia
and speaking a new lansays something in Spanish
guage.
and the class has to try to
Spanish class is mandafigure out what it means.
PHOTO BY CINDY BARRERA
North Shore welcomes new Spanish teacher
tory class for 8th graders
take. When it’s time for
7th graders to sign up for
their classes, students who
don’t know Spanish or can’t
speak it very well should
sign up for Spanish 1.
Students who can speak,
write, and read Spanish
should sign up for Spanish
for native speakers.
Why not help welcome
Ms. Garcia to North Shore
by stopping by PBR5A and
saying, “Hola.”
08 Features
IMAGE /STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY
The ‘Stang Express
November 2010
Got Sleep?
Most teens don’t get enough and the distractions are out there
BY JOCELYN RAMIREZ
When’s the last time you caught
some Z’s? Last night? Last class? According to the National Sleep Foundation, teenagers should get nine to ten
hours of sleep compared to an adult
who only needs seven to nine hours of
sleep.
Teens need more sleep than an
adult because they are still growing
and most importantly, because of
school! Getting even one less hour of
sleep than your recommended amount
can affect your performance in school,
from falling asleep in class to failing a
test.
Nowadays, most teens usually get
five to six hours of sleep and some get
even less. One of the reasons for that
are all the distractions that could be in
your room at night.
“The television, those video games
that they [students] play, the Internet,
all those distractions is what keeps
them up,” said Ms. Nguyen, the school
nurse.
The convenience of a laptop or
cell phone is hard to resist at night,
especially if you have a nice phone,
with your friend texting you every two
Cover story 09
North Shore Middle School
Volume 01, Issue 01
Benefits of sleep
Sleeping well helps us teens recharge and get ready for the next
day so that we won’t be sluggish.
When we work out during the day
our muscles are broken down,
important growth hormones are released during sleep which rebuilds
our muscles and makes them bigger
and stronger.
We also restore our mental energy
during sleep which can help in
school.
seconds or Wi-Fi in your house.
“I stay on the computer or watch TV
because there is nothing else to do
at night,” said eighth grader, Briana
Tobias.
Getting better and more sleep at
night is not very difficult, it just takes
self-control and discipline in order
to resist late-night distractions. You
should always turn off all your electronics before going to bed, that
includes your precious cell phone,
because you might get the urge to pull
it out and start texting.
Some helpful tips on getting better
sleep at night are: avoiding caffeine
that’s in soft drinks, coffee, tea and
chocolate, and exercising regularly
which is important to getting better sleep at night because you burn
energy. Just make sure your exercising session is over three hours before
your bedtime.
Two of the most important tips on
getting better sleep a night are making
sure you have a dark, cool, and comfortable environment for sleeping, and
establishing an orderly schedule for
sleeping. That means going to sleep
at the same time and waking up at the
same time every day.
When you don’t get
enough sleep...
Grumpiness
Less attentive in school
More prone to health issues
Increased aging of skin
Memory loss
GET SOME
SLEEP
NOW!
On average
a teenager
sends 119
texts per
day. Though
texting addicts
send more, some teens send less. Not
only that but 87% of teenagers sleep
with their cell phone next to them to
answer a text at moment’s notice.
Decrease in metabolism
Ms. Nguyen also explained that you
should set a schedule by waking up
at the same time everyday, take a nap
if you lost sleep the night before, and
get nine to ten hours of sleep everyday. Just make sure you do not take a
nap in class because you could suffer
some consequences.
Seventh grader Opal Goforth has it
down, “I try to go to bed before nine
every night. By doing so I feel very
energized throughout the day and it
keeps me focused on my school work.
Here at NSMS, getting enough
sleep is important, especially the night
before a test so you can do well in
school. Sleep can make or break your
day. Getting seven hours of sleep a
night compared to nine can be the
difference between failing or passing
a class, as well as being cranky and
lazy.
So, next time you are laying in bed,
even though you are supposed to be
sleeping, and you pull out your phone
to check for text messages, turn it off
and go to sleep. By doing so, you will
realize how much it paid off when you
wake up for school the next morning
energized, and ready for school.
About half (45%) say the TV is left on
“most of the time” in their home, even if
no one is watching. Seven in ten (71%)
have a TV in their bedroom, and half
(50%) have a console video game player
in their room.
Not only do teens love to text they love
listening to music. The average time
a teen spends listening to music is 2
hours per day.
Social media websites
are what most teenagers spend their nights
on. On an average
day, teens spend 4
hours on the internet.
GRAPHICS / PSDGRAPHICS.COM
010 Features
The ‘Stang Express
November 2010
Have what it takes to make a relationship work?
think it`s impossible to find your true
love, but it`s not really impossible,
Think your friend has
you just need to
good luck, because
know what a good
their relationship with
relationship is and
their boyfriend or
make it happen.
girlfriend is so good?
Love for sure
Well it`s not luck,
will always be the
your friend and their
most important
boyfriend or girlfriend
thing you need to have
probably know what
a good relationship, be
bea good relationship is. Do
cause love leads to honesty,
you?
which builds a bridge of trust
GRAP
HIC / P
“A good relationship
boybetween
you and your boy
SDGR
APHIC
S.COM
is having love, trust, and
friend or girlfriend. If there`s
honesty in each other,” said 7th grader
no love in your relationship
Matthew Sanchez. Out of 100 stuyou won’t be honest to your boyfriend
dents, the majority agreed with him.
or girlfriend, and there will be no trust
Why do they think a relationship needs between you`ll. If you`re not being
love, trust, and honesty?
honest to your boy friend or girl friend,
“I think you need love trust and honsooner or later they will find out, and
esty in a good relationship, because
your relationship will most likely break
if you don’t have them your relationapart, because nobody likes to be lied
ship will end up falling apart,” said 8th
to.
grader Jacob Smithwick. You probably
Having problems in your relationBY CAROLINA HERNANDEZ
ship? If you have a good relationship you shouldn’t really have many
problems but if you do, what should
you do?
“If there`s a problem between me
and my boyfriend, I will discuss it with
him and figure things out,” said 8th
grader Febe Campuzano. Don’t ever
let your problems ruin your relationship. If there`s a problem talk them out
nicely, don’t scream, it will help you
keep a good relationship, if you don’t
talk nicely your boyfriend or girlfriend
they will break up with you, because
nobody likes to be screamed at.
Even though you won`t find your
true love right away as a teenager, if
you find a person that loves you and
you love them back, your relationship
will most likely be good and may last a
very long time. Now that you probably
understand what a good relationship
is, if you don’t have a good relationship, now it`s your chance to make it
work.
A different kind of ‘Shore’ rules the North Shore
BY SARAI FLORES
Do you watch Jersey Shore? According to MTV more than one million
people do. Do you ever wonder why
it’s so popular? Well the fans know
why and according to them they love
all the gossip, drama, fights, and of
course, their tans.
Another 50% of the students like
Snookie because they love her personality and how easy going she is.
“It’s like watching animals but they
talk, and I love their accents. I think
Jersey Shore is hilarious,” said 7th
grader Ricardo Gutierrez.
“There are a lot of fights, going to
clubs, and it’s funny,” said
8th grader
TV.COM
IMAGE / M
Sarde Resendez
There are eight adults living in one
house and, obviously, they get mad
at one another or they say things they
don’t mean to say and that can cause
tension. There’s also relationship
drama with Sammi and Ronnie.
The show does have it’s sweet side
and they all help one another out and
they all love each other no matter
what they do. They’re a dysfunctional
“family”.
Everybody likes diffrent things about
the show and not everybody that
watches the show is going to watch it
for the same reasons. It’s either they
like the fights, the drama or even the
relationships. And it’s interesting
to watch what they all do during
their spare time.
Many people probably ask
themselves, why do they fight?
Why is there so much drama?
And maybe even, why is there
gossip? The drama is based
on themselves as each mem-
ber of the household creates their own
drama by talking about each other
behind their backs. Or when someone
reads a rumor about the other and the
other finds out and they get mad at
each other which causes their drama/
gossip.
The bickering is another story because when they fight that’s because
they just can’t stand each other anymore. For example, when Snookie and
Angelina fought they were both tired of
one another and that’s basically how
their fights start.
But in the end, no matter what happens, no matter what they do to each
other, they’re all a ‘family’ and they all
love each other.
Maybe that’s the message that the
show is trying to get across. We’re all
different and we need to learn to live
with one another and accept each
other’s differences. We can learn from
that right?
Tech 011
North Shore Middle School
Volume 01, Issue 01
Feature-rich
iPad blows
laptops away
Are iPads better than laptops?
There are many features that iPads
have that many laptops don’t. One
of the many features that the iPads
have includes the ability to carry
books.
Even though you can also use
laptops to read books, with the
iBookstore you can get many books
for free, or for an affordable price.
That way you don’t need to carry your
laptop around just to read a book. The
iPad screen is so big (9.7-inch highresolution) you can get the letters of
the ebook in an actual readable size
so you don’t have
to squint and
strain your eyes
like you have
to on any other
phone.
Plus, all you
have to do to
start reading a
book on your
iPad is to downThe App Store as
shown on an iPad.
load the free
iBook app. The App
Store has more than 200,000 apps
that you can download on your iPad,
and you can find the apps in categories such as games, lifestyle, social
networking, education, and dozens
more. The iPad also has iTunes
where you
can download millions
of songs,
thousands of
movies, and
TV shows.
You can also
If you think you’ve seen
play your
the periodic table, think
favorite songs
again. The Elements:
A Visual Exploration
with the iPod
lets
you experience the
and flip through
beauty and fascination of
your albums
the building blocks of our
like if you were universe in a way you’ve
never seen before.
looking at your
IMAGES / APPLE.COM
BY ISMAEL ESTRADA
CD’s, all you need to do is to tap on a
song you want to hear and enjoy. You
can also watch HD movies, TV shows,
podcasts, and music videos. Thanks
to the lithium-polymer battery in the
iPad you can keep on watching for up
to 10 hours.
Another cool thing for people that
have a lot of contacts is that the iPad
can help organize them for you in a
cool new way. For example, if you are
part of a soccer team or a book club
you can type in “soccer team” or “book
club” and then sort your contacts into
different groups so they can be easier
to find.
You can also type in important things
like birthdays, anniversaries, or other
important dates, then you can put that
date in your calendar, so you don’t forget about that date, your iPad reminds
you by ringing an alarm or sending you
a message. There are many people
that don’t have very good memory, so
with the iPad note program you can
take your notes anywhere, that way
you don’t have to carry your notebook
around to see what you have to do
next on your schedule.
Another cool thing that iPad can do
is that even though you can also get
email on your laptop, whenever you
get emails on your iPad you can flip
the iPad to landscape mode then you
will get a split screen where you can
see both: what you are typing back
and the email that they sent you.
With the maps that Google provides
to the iPad you can do many things.
For instance, you can find the best
routes to your house and then email
it to your
friend,
then you
can see
how your
destination looks
iPad with Wi-Fi finds your
with the
location using known Wi-Fi
street
hotspots, and Wi-Fi + 3G modview
els use Wi-Fi, GPS, and cellular
towers. So you can get routes, mode. If
get directions, and get there in you don’t
no time.
know your
neighborhood well enough and, let’s say you
want to go to a restaurant, then you
would type in something like “restaurants,” and then the iPad gives you
directions to the nearest restaurants
from where you live. Even though
most laptops are bigger than iPads,
all the features that the iPads have
proven that iPads are better in a way,
plus the iPad can also make phone
calls. This makes the iPad a really big,
smart phone that is capable of anything a laptop can do and much more.
How much do the iPads cost
though? The prices vary because of
the 3G, the fastest network apart from
4G, and the internal memory options.
At Best Buy, the cheapest iPad that
doesn’t have 3G has 16GB costs
around $500.00. The most expensive
iPad that has 16GB and 3G costs
around $630.00, about the same as
a laptop. So, if you didn’t want to buy
the iPad because you thought the iPad
costs more money than laptops, now
you know that some iPads cost about
the same as some laptops.
012 Sports
The ‘Stang Express
November 2010
North Shore squeezes by the Panthers
BY IDALIA SANTOS
On Thursday, September
30, 2010, the 7th grade
Lady Mustang red volleyball
team played against the
C.E. King Panthers here at
home.
Once our ladies walked
into the girls’ gym, the crowd
roared to welcome them.
When the team was finally
prepared, they placed their
hands together and loudly
yelled “Go Mustangs!”
The Mustangs were
anxious to start the game
and had their game faces
on, meanwhile the Panthers were getting prepared
as well. As the first match
started, Deanna Rosales,
#4, had a great serve, which
received a point.
As several minutes
passed in the game, the
score was 11 to 8 in favor of the Mustangs. The
game seemed to be pretty
well fought. As the game
came to an end, one of the
Mustang players finished it
off with an amazing serve,
ending the game 25 to 13 in
favor of the Mustangs.
“I remember the first
game, the other team won
and I was really shocked
and depressed, but I didn’t
give up the way Coach Parrot trained me and taught
me volleyball,” said Brittani
Bush. “Coach Parrot is a
supportive, kind, and is de-
termined to train me and all
the other volleyball athletes
too,” she said.
“The most difficult experience I ever had while teaching the students is getting
them to move their feet and
communicate for a group of
people,” said Coach Parrot.
In the end, the Mustangs
won the game against C.E.
King with a score of 25-17
and made the whole crowd
shout with excitement.
Coach Parrot was extremely
happy with the team.
As long as we support
our team like we did against
the C.E. King Panthers, we
will have many victories to
come.
As the 8th grade white
team began their Saturday
morning tournament on
October 2, 2010, they were
getting ready to play against
their first opponent, Forest
Brook. Our Lady Mustangs
were filled with excitement
at the start of the game.
Ebony Smith served and
scored the first point to the
team, the crowd screamed,
“Go Mustangs.”
The girls were really
focused on what they had
to do to win. The crowd was
getting nervous, because
after a while, Forest Brook
started catching up.
There were only a few
minutes left in the game.
When Arlyssa Perry served
to Forest Brook, Forest
Brook started getting better
but our defense picked up
and got the ball back. Cera
Montez served and scored
won with a score of 25 to 8.
Coach Wait said “I’m very
happy that the Lady Mustangs were trying their best
to beat Forest Brook.”
After their 1st bracket the
girls had to wait a while.
The second bracket started
with opponent Deepwater.
The game started off poorly.
Even though they were
losing, the crowd was supportive and shouted, “Go
Mustangs.’’
Ebony Smith served to
Deepwater whose defense
tried to dig up the hard
serves. Coach Sanford said,
“Even though our Lady Mustangs were losing, I believe
they shouldn’t worry about
winning, all they should
worry about is trying their
best. That’s all that matters.”
As Arlyssa Perry served
and scored a point, our
team began to pull forward,
but it wasn’t meant to be.
had a sideout, and we lost
with a score of 12 to 15.
Our Lady Mustangs
played their last game
against Cunningham. They
were ready to beat Cunningham no matter what.
The crowd screamed with
excitement, “Go Mustangs!”
When our Lady Mustangs
started the game, Vanessa
Martinez served and had
side out. Our defense was
digging up hard serves to
beat Cunningham and everybody cheered anxiously,
hoping to win.
When Cera Montez
served to Cunningham ,
their defense tried to dig
them out but, unfortunately,
they had a side out. Finally,
we caught up to Cunningham and Destiny Scott
served and had a side out.
The game was over and we
lost to Cunningham with a
score of 20 to 25.
VS
7th White
Johnson
W Alice
25-21, 26-24
Null
25-19,
23-25,
W C.E. King15-9
L 25-14, 25-17, 12-15
Park
W Galena
25-17, 25-18
Acres
W Woodland
25-17, 25-15
7th Red
Johnson
L Alice
13-25, 21-25
Null
L 16-25, 26-24, 15-8
Forest Brook
W 25-20 & 25-20
C.E. King
W 25-17,
25-13
B.C. Elmore
W 25-23, 12-25, 15-6
Galena Park
24-26, 25-12, 14-16
W
Mustangs play in nail-biting tournament
Woodland Acres
25-8, 25-15
W
Madison Molina served and
the last point. Our ladies
BY INGRIS MONTOYA
8th White
Alice Johnson
L 3-25,
28-30, 6-15
Null
W 25-11,
25-6
C.E. King
L 14-25, 12-25
Park
W Galena
25-12, 25-21
Woodland Acres
W 25-14, 25-18
8th Red
Johnson
L Alice
19-25, 21-25
Null
W 12-25, 25-15, 15-10
Forest Brook
W 25-20, 26-16
C.E. King
W 20-25, 25-23, 15-4
B.C. Elmore
W 25-16, 25-12, 15-5
Galena Park
W 25-14, 25-12, 15-12
Woodland Acres
19-25,
W 25-11, 15-10
Sports 013
VS
North Shore dominates Null in first win
North Shore Middle School
Volume 01, Issue 01
7th White
BY EDGAR GUTIERREZ
PHOTO BY SARAI FLORES
A hard-hitting defense showed up for the game against Null. Null’s
quarterback and running back were introduced to the ground several
times by the swarming defense of the Mustangs.
got the lead 14 to 0.”
As the football players
went to their coach during a
timeout, all of the coaches
told their players, “You guys
need to keep your eyes
open they almost had us
there for a little bit, but don’t
worry guys we are winning
14 to 0. Don’t let them fool
you guys they are really
good at football, go make
me proud,” he said.
As the second half started, the players got down in
their position. The ball was
passed to a Null player.
Coach Sanders screamed,
“Don’t let them run the ball!!!
Woods passed the ball to
Miguel Castillo, “Go Miguel,
go! Runnn!” screamed
Coach Thiel. The time was
running out and the score
board said 42-13. The
buzzer went off, “Yessss, we
won!” screamed all of the
coaches and the crowd.
After tying Alice Johnson
a week before, it was a
good win for the red team.
They play Forest Brook next
week.
W
Canceled
Galena Park
19-14
7th Red
Alice Johnson
6-6
Null
42-13
Forest Brook
37-0
C.E. King
28-20
B.C Elmore
27-0
Galena Park
42-0
Woodland Acres
34-0
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
8th White
PHOTO BY SARAI FLORES
The seventh grade red
football team faced off
against Null on September
21, 2010, here at home.
The crowd screamed with
excitement as the football
players made their way to
the football field.
Before the football game
started, Coach Thiel put
his had up and screamed,
“Come over here guys
fast fast fast!” He gave the
football players some tips
on some different plays and
then the football players put
their hands together and
screamed, “Go Mustangs!”
Null started the game with
a kick off and Chris Woods,
number 34, caught the ball
and tried to run to the end
zone, but in a blink of an
eye a Null defender tackled
him with a hard hit, and
Woods took a nasty fall he
held his left leg. When he
stood up and walked it off,
the crowd started clapping.
“Down, set, hut,”
screamed Erik Monroe and
he passed the ball to Chris
Woods. As Woods ran towards end zone, the crowd
screamed, “Keep running
keep running!!!” As Woods
ran, a Null player tackled
him hard and fast.
It was Null’s turn, “Down,
set, hut!” As the players
tackled each other, they
didn’t see that Null’s runningback had been making
his way to the end zone.
The buzzer went off.
“We got lucky! Null was
about to make a touchdown,” screamed Coach
Thiel. As the players went to
their coach, Coach Sanders told them to keep their
eyes open. Coach Sanders
smiled, “Well don’t worry we
Johnson
L Alice0-26
Null
L Forest0-20Brook
L C.E.19-25
King
W B.C.32-0
Elmore
Aizac Tucker-Kennard fights his
way downfield as several Null
defenders try to bring him down
here during the team’s second
home game.
Thompson
Canceled
Alice Johnson
12-44
Null
38-12
Forest Brook
13-7
C.E. King
78-19
Forest Brook
13-13
Galena Park
40-0,78-6
L
W
W
W
W
8th Red
Thompson
Canceled
Alice Johnson
34-12
Null
46-12
Forest Brook
18-18
C.E. King
34-7
Galena Park
38-78
Woodland Acres
26-0
W
W
W
L
W
014 Sports
The ‘Stang Express
November 2010
Under pressure, our
eighth grade red football
team tried to extend their
undefeated record against
Forest Brook here at home
on September 28, 2010.
“The team had a nice
week of practice because
they listened and cooperated with us,” said Coach
Davis. “The team was
prepared for a tough game
against Forest Brook,” he
said.
The game started with
Forest Brook kicking the
ball over to North Shore.
Tristan Houston, the running
back, caught the ball and
ran towards the end zone,
flying past his pursuers
and scoring a touchdown.
The crowd’s reaction to his
touchdown was explosive
while our defense was intimidating the Bulldogs. The
Mustangs went for the extra
point but missed it. The
Mustangs then kicked the
ball over to their opponents,
but Forest Brook couldn’t
put a drive together and
they were stopped by our
awesome defense. The first
half ended with the score 6
to 0.
The second quarter
started with our strong defense pushing Forest Brook
backwards, as if they had
something to prove.
Back on offense, a pass
caught by the running
back, Tristan Houston, who
gained some yards for North
Shore.
Back on defense, Nathan
Canales was all over the
field making tackles. There
was a big interception by
Rick Branch, but soon we
ended the quarter.
The score was now 12 to
6, in favor of North Shore.
At the beginning of the third
quarter North Shore was
winning but Forest Brook
scored. The Mustangs had
something to fight for now.
Before the play, the Mustangs were yelling fired it
up!
The fourth quarter started
off with a 90-yard touchdown from running back
Tristan Houston and the
crowd exploded with excitement. North Shore was
having a nice game and
that was the last play for the
Mustangs.
The game ended with
Forest Brook forcing a tie of
18 to 18 in a very tough, but
good game for North Shore.
The Mustangs would go on
to win their next two games
in preparation for their last
game of the season versus
Cunningham.
(Above right) Coach Banks talks
to his player during a time out
here during the Forest Brook
game after school. Coaching
does not stop with practice, it
continues throughout the game.
Tristan Houston lays a hard hit
on a Forest Brook player during
the game here as North Shore
fought to maintain its winning
record at home.
PHOTO BY SARAI FLORES
BY OCTAVIO HERNANDEZ
PHOTO BY KAREN CAMACHO
Forest Brook’s last minute score quells 90-yard
the ball back to
touchdown returned
Forest Brook. That play
Entertainment 015
Fire drill creates chaos during Midnight Madness
North Shore Middle School
Volume 01, Issue 01
PHOTO BY NATALIE ROBINSON
The band directors, Mr. Hampton
and Mrs. Killough, held the fourth annual Midnight Madness here at school
from 6 pm to 12 am to help Wind
Ensemble and Symphonic bands with
their regional music.
“Midnight Madness is an intense
session to focus on music,” said Mr.
Hampton. The band members started
the night by finding their correct sections room, and at six o’clock everyone had to warm up and prepare to
work hard throughout the night.
When the students were done
warming up for an hour, everybody got
to take a break to eat pizza and drink
sodas.
By 8pm, the students were getting
ready for a long night. Once in their
seats, everybody was ready to learn
their music for the upcoming regional
audition.
After the two hour practice session,
everybody went to the gym take a
40-minute break from their regional
music. The students got to relax and
hang out with their friends until 9:00
pm.
“I loved the breaks because we
got to play in the gym with all of our
friends!” said 8th grader, Jazmin Her-
rera.
When the students were done playing around in the gym they had to
make their way back to their sections
room. When everyone had settled
down and started back on their regional music, that’s when a fire alarm
went off.
The teachers and students sat
in confusion until Mr. Hampton ran
through the hallways telling everyone
to get out of the building, that’s when
everyone evacuated the building,
leaving behind their instruments and
personal belongings.
The students sat out in the dark humidity waiting to go back inside. When
everything was cleared up, the students went back into the school to get
their stands and instruments to come
play as one band in the cafeteria.
“The fire alarm sucked, I got bit by
ten mosquitoes and it was humid and
hot,” said 7th grader Auriel Hampton.
By 11:30pm, everybody had settled
down, and Mrs. Killough picked a hand
full of students to show off what they
had learned.
Near the end of the night, everybody
got to work together on football music
for the pep rally, when the band finished the music around 12:00 am. The
students got to go home after a long
Seventh graders Izak Salinas and Diana Moreno practice hard on their bass drums in the
cafeteria during Midnight Madness in preparation for Region band auditions.
day of school and
much needed
rehearsal.
“Midnight
Madness was
okay, but I got
tired of playing around
9:00 pm and
10:00pm.
The fire drill
was annoying
GRAPHIC / GOOGLE IMAGES
and a waste
of time but other than that I learned a
lot,” said 8th grader Sydney Burnett.
The band students put a lot of hard
work into their music, and it all showed
at the end of Midnight Madness. The
students are now prepared for the
upcoming region auditions.
And Mrs. Killough and Mr. Hampton
were very proud of the bands at the
end of the night.
IMAGE / ALA.ORG
BY NATALIE ROBINSON
BY KATY McKEY
Easy A starring Emma Stone, is
a movie about how a rumor ruins a
good girls’ reputation, which gets her
into bigger problems than she ever
expected.
She is trying to raise her social
status and obtain an “identifier” like
her popular best friend Rhiannon
(Aly Michalka) says she needs, Olive
Penderghast (Emma Stone) tells a
little white lie, thinking it wouldn’t be
a big deal, about losing her virginity
to a college guy, but is unfortunately
overheard by the school’s proclaimed
“Jesus Freak” Marianne (Amanda
Bynes).
The story spreads quickly throughout her California high school and
soon, Olive is being offered bribes in
exchange for a fake hook-up.
Soon she understands her English
assignment when her life starts looking more and more like “The Scarlet
Letter,” a book in which a married girl
named Hester has an affair and gets
pregnant. In her time period adultery
was not accepted and she was forced
to wear a red “A” for “adulterer” on
her clothes. Being a stubborn- smart
aleck, Olive follows
Nina, one of Marianne’s friend’s,
request to sew a red “A” on her new
not-so-modest wardrobe.
Even Marianne’s boyfriend, Micah
(Cam Gigandent), uses Olive’s new
distinction to his advantage when he
needs to cover up the fact he had an
affair with the guidance counselor,
Mrs. Griffith (Lisa Kudrow).
In Olive’s anger of being used, she
makes a huge mistake and tells Mr.
Griffith (Thomas Haden Church), who
happens to be her favorite English
teacher, the truth about his wife.
What will happen to Olive now that
she is stuck with a horrible reputation
and is blamed for two ruined relationships?
This “romantic” comedy is hilarious,
portraying how the gossip and popularity of a typical high school spreads
quickly throughout the students. Easy
A is a great movie if you need a good
laugh, but it also teaches a lesson that
being ‘popular’ isn’t always a good
thing and keeping a good and truthful
reputation could mean everything for a
high school career.
I think all the cast members did an
Opening soon...
NOV.
5
IMAGES / TRAILERS.APPLE.COM
PG
“MEGAMIND”
Megamind is the most brilliant
super–villain the world has ever
known...and the least successful.
Over the years, he has tried
to conquer Metro City in every
imaginable way.
A
The ‘Stang Express
November 2010
IMAGE / SONY PICTURES
016 Entertainment
“Easy A” easily gets an
excellent job of playing their part, making the movie better than just having a
funny storyline.
Easy A, by Sony Pictures, is directed
by Will Gluck, and is definitely one of
the best movies I’ve seen this year. It’s
a perfect movie for mature teenagers
(it’s PG-13, due to language and some
mature elements) to see, because it’s
on our level as far as life situations go
and it is hilarious!
NOV.
12
NOV.
19
Not yet
rated
PG-13
“SKYLINE”
In the sci-fi thriller Skyline, strange
lights descend on the city of Los
Angeles, drawing people outside
like moths to a flame where an
extraterrestrial force threatens
to swallow the entire human
population off the face of the Earth.
“HARRY POTTER AND THE
DEATHLY HALLOWS”
Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows, the seventh and final
adventure in the Harry Potter
film series, is a much-anticipated
motion picture event to be told in
two full-length parts.
Fashion 017
North Shore Middle School
Volume 01, Issue 01
Kickin’ it with Number 23
BY MARIANA ESTRADA
The first Air Jordans
were created in 1985.
The black/red
model was
banned by the
NBA due to
color rules which ended up giving
the shoes more publicity.
of Jordans since their first release
date. Some students would go to
extremes just to be in style. Some
students would go as far as waiting in
long lines for hours or even days.
“I was outside of Footlocker for two
days, it was in December and it was
cold, and someone stole them,” said
7th grader Britany Gutierrez.
Not only do students wait in line
but, they are going to stores such as
Footlocker, Finishline, Foot Action or
online, getting Jordans every time a
new pair come out.
“Every two weeks I get Jordans,”
said 8th grader Carla Reyna.
Jordans have been around for many
years now, and are still in style to this
day. Whatever your taste, Jordans
come in many styles, colors, and
range in price.
The 3rd version of the
shoes were the very
first pair to
have a visible
air pocket and
the first with
the “Jumpman” logo.
The Air Jordan V was
released in February
1990 and had a
longer silver
relex tongue, a
clear rubber
sole, and was easier to strap on.
PHOTO BY MARIANA ESTRADA
Did you know Jordans [shoes] have
been around for 25 years? These
shoes, made by Nike, have been a
fashion hit since they came out in
1985.
Nine out of ten times when you look
down at someone’s shoes here you’ll
see that famous Michael Jordan logo.
Although Michael Jordan has retired
from the game, his “shoe game” (the
sales of his shoes) is still a slam dunk.
A recent survey shows that 75% of
the students here at North Shore like
Jordans. But what makes these shoes
so popular? Well, truth be told it’s because Jordans are in style nowadays,
and the students like being in style.
“I like the colors and the style,” said
7th grader Michael Alonzo.
There have been 20 different types
The Evolution of Air
The Air Jordan IX was
released in February 1993 and
had a very
detailed sole
and a very large number 23 on the
back.
The Air Jordan XIV was
released in November
1998 and was
all leather and
EVA reinforcement. It was
modeled after Jordan’s ferrari.
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The Air Jordan XIV was
released in February
2006 it’s retro look
featured Italian
suedes and the
new, independent podular suspension (IPS).
The 2010 Air Jordan celebrates the
25th anniversary of the evolution
of the shoe. It’s the brand’s first
see-through basketball shoe, featuring a
unique, transparent, perforated
TPU window
in the side.
IMAGES / JORDANZONE.COM
Like to submit nominations for “15
minutes of fame”?
We’re looking for that one student
who stands out in a crowd.
Let one of our staff know or stop by
C107 and let us know.
The ‘Stang Express
November 2010
IMAGE / VA.GOV
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