The Need to Go Green - Paul Revere Charter Middle School

Transcription

The Need to Go Green - Paul Revere Charter Middle School
April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
COVER STORY
Volume 58, Issue 4
Patriots and Principal
Prepare to Part Ways
By ALICIA ABRAMSON
and JOJO LEVEY
As the eighth grade class of
2014 culminates from Paul Revere, the school’s principal will
be culminating with them.
“After six unbelievable, enjoyable, outstanding years at Revere and 40 years as an educator
with the Los Angeles Unified
School District I am saying farewell,” Mrs. Somoza announced.
In a farewell letter, she
thanked the faculty and support
staff for all their help over the
years. She has been the principal
since the 2008-2009 school year.
In an exclusive interview with
The Town Crier, she said that
she feels very satisfied with her
time at the school. “I’m happy to
leave a high-performing school
always striving for better,” she
said. (See page 5 for her full
farewell Q&A).
Faculty and friends organized a party in Mrs. Somoza’s
honor after school on May 30
with the theme “Goodbye Tension, Hello Pension!”
A Principal Selection Committee has been interviewing
candidates to replace her and an
announcement is expected soon.
The Storm Before the Calm
Testing week ends smoothly after a chaotic start.
The Need to Go Green
Sammy Stahl, Chaya Brennan and Meilani Wang create a scene at Malibu Creek State Park.
Eco-friendly students clean up Revere, one plastic bottle at a time.
By GRACE DEAN
The Go Green Club feels that littering at our
school has become a big problem. We only have
so many janitors to keep this school of 2,100
clean. How hard is it to just pick up junk and
throw it in the trash? Apparently, it’s very hard.
So hard that two restricted lunches have been
held this year, one for sixth graders and one for
seventh. This club wants to change that.
During her time participating in the Go
Green Club and Eco Homeroom, Meilani Wang
has mostly done something that is the core of being green: recycling. “I have collected recycling
from homerooms and on campus,” she says.
Connor Bidinger marvels at nature in Malibu.
From the quad to the seventh and sixth grade
lunch area, Meilani and her fellow students
have accumulated lots of aluminum cans and
plastic bottles. In fact, being with her friends
is one of her favorite parts about participating
in school-wide cleanup. But what motivated
Meilani to join the club? “I wanted to make a
difference in the world, one bottle at a time.”
Another 7th grade Go Green member, Leah
Radow, is also enthusiastic about the club. “I
haven’t heard of any club that is similar to this
in any way,” she said. Started by Ms. Chen, the
club has been combating pollution and littering at the school since 2008 and is still going
strong. From the recycling-collecting homeroom to the informative announcements over
the loudspeaker in the morning, the Go Green
Club is trying to make Revere aware of the
damage pollution is causing to our planet, and
to our school.
Ms. Chen started the club after two students approached her and asked if they could
form a club that would help keep the school
clean. Ms. Chen had previously seen and noted
that there was trash around the school and was
more than happy to help. Six years later, the
club has many participants and a helpful homeroom. The club meets on Tuesdays in X-14 to
brainstorm new plans for upcoming events and
to carry out plans that have already been made.
“One of the club’s greatest achievements is
the number of participants we have,” said Ms.
Chen, referring to the forty or so people involved in keeping the school clean and green.
(continued on page 9)
By ALON LEVI
Throughout the school year,
the words “CST’s replaced” and
“the iPads are coming!” caused
a ripple on campus. Like guinea
pigs running around on a spinning wheel, Revere was chosen
to face the challenges of testing
2,100 students simultaneously
on LAUSD’s online “Smarter
Balanced” testing program. The
Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortium (SBAC) required
students to use the long-awaited
iPads. However, adjusting to the
modern era proved more difficult
than expected, at least at first.
Approximately 200 students
lined up outside of J-2 on Tuesday, the first day of testing, with
their malfunctioning iPads in
hand. Waiting to help them were
Mrs. Somoza, Mr. Shibata and
other administrators plus district
officials on hand to deal with
technical difficulties.
Frustrated students reported
that the tests would often sign
themselves out, or fail to open in
the first place.
The office was “pretty chaotic,” says Ms. Vogel. According to the office staff, phones
were ringing nonstop as teachers
waited patiently (and sometimes
impatiently) for help.
“Everybody was asking for
codes to help access the tests,”
said Ms. Berrellez. “We were
constantly on the walkie-talkies,
telling the counselors which
classrooms needed help.”
(continued on page 5)
Mr. Shibata organizes the many students with iPad issues in J-2.
Meeting Mickey 11
The Power of Love 15 Spotting Stars 19
X-Country Craze 20
Student Sport Stars 23
The Class of 2014 goes on a
magical journey to Disneyland.
Sarah Silvers in Revere’s P.E.P.
play “Once on This Island.”
Brent Smith is Revere’s fastest
Patriot by just 1.4 seconds.
Dora breaststrokes her way to
the top of the charts in swimming.
Spencer Davis is “Happy” to
meet singer Pharrell Williams.
2 April/May/June 2014
Opinion
Are We Green or Mean?
I’m sure that everyone has heard the talk about
global warming, but according to Gallup Polls,
47% of the American population don’t view it as a
serious threat. This leaves 53% who do view it as
problem, but what exactly are they doing about it?
Here at Revere, the Go Green Club and Student
Council are running around making sure that we
reduce, reuse, and recycle. In theory it’s great, but I
still see kids throwing their half-eaten sandwiches
into the “plastic only” bin. If you look in any trash
bin, you are almost guaranteed to find a plastic
bottle or two. It might not seem like a big deal, but
it adds up. That’s hundreds of dollars our school
could be getting in recycling fees, but some people
are just “too lazy.” I think that we need to go a step
above recycling plastics and paper.
There are many ambitious Patriots who help
clean the beaches in their free time, but many kids
at our school are too uninspired to be able to do
this. On the other hand, having a local event where
people come and donate their empty plastic bottles
to Revere is definitely possible. These containers
could be recycled at a special location where they
give money for glass and plastics. On a daily basis,
if each of the 2,100 Patriots brought just one bottle,
that alone could raise over $100 for our school
each day. At the very least we can all do a much
better job putting our empty bottles and aluminum
cans in the containers dotting our campus.
“Going Green” isn’t an easy task, especially
now when humanity has left such a huge scar on
the environment. The Go Green Club members
and many other individuals are definitely making a
difference, but as a whole, I don’t think that we are
doing enough for the environment.
—By Yoni Strugatsky and the Editors
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
Mrs. Somoza’s
Inspiring Legacy
AMIR EBTEHADJ
As an 8th grader about to culminate, I appreciate how the
faculty and staff of Paul Revere have worked with all of us, but
no one has worked harder than our principal, Mrs. Somoza.
The Paul Revere Class of 2014 emerges as a reflection of
the strength, dedication and model leadership demonstrated
by her. This year, she will be leaving Revere along with us,
although she’s been here for twice as long as we have. During
her six remarkable years here, our school has created the outdoor
learning environment, achieved an A.P.I. score of over 900 two
years in a row, piloted the iPad program, and become one of the
top-ranked middle schools in all of LAUSD—if not the best.
As a student council representative for two years, I have
worked closely with Mrs. Somoza. I was honored last year when
she picked me to serve as her student host when district officials
visit Paul Revere. Through these experiences, this extraordinary
woman has inspired me to be the best leader I can be.
As the Somoza Era comes to an end, so does our time at the
school we’ve known for three years. But the proud legacy she
leaves behind will continue to touch Patriots for years to come.
So-Called
Social Media
LOREN JACOBS
HUGS NOT
SHRUGS
We asked Paul Revere Patriots if we are doing enough for the environment and here are their thoughts.
“No! We aren’t even able to keep
our school clean with a trashcan
every 10 feet. We as Patriots need
to work harder.”
—Emily Glen, 6th Grade
“Patriots are doing a good job
helping the environment by
picking up trash from the ground
and patriots get trash and try to
put it in the right bin such as the
recycle bin or just trash.”
—Jennifer Villatoro, 7th Grade
“There is never enough a Patriot
can do to help the environment,
anything from recycling a water
bottle to using the back of your
paper from scratch work. I believe, because at school there are
large amounts of paper needed
for homework, projects, scratch
work, etc., we need to reduce our
use of paper and recycle unwanted paper instead of throwing
it away.”
–Amanda Harris, 6th Grade
“I mean I still see trash all around
our school. It would be nice to
have a trash free school, but
everyone would have to step
up. We have a go-green group
and a leadership group that does
recycling.”
–Kaveh Majd, 8th Grade
“Yes, we are doing a great job reducing all the water we use, and
also have a great club that collects and encourages recycling.”
–Dyan Nobel, 8th Grade
“Patriots are constantly recycling.
Not just bottles and paper but
they give away old books too.”
–Jake Takakjian, 8th Grade
“No! I see patriots littering and
disrespecting the environment all
the time. The Go-Green club and
some other patriots are doing a
good job at cleaning up though.”
—Luca Frye, 6th Grade
“No. I see people throwing away
potato chip bags in the “cans and
bottles only” bin. It’s dumb to put
Turning
Things Around
Two Patriots followed the lead
of the Clippers and protested
against Donald Sterling.
On Tuesday, April 28, a few of
my friends and I wore our Clipper
jerseys or red T-shirts inside out
in protest to Donald Sterling. The
reason I did this was because I am
against racism, and also because the
Clippers did this in their pre-game
warm-up. During the actual game
they wore jerseys only saying Los
Angeles meaning they were playing
for a city, not a team.
—Aaron Heisen
trash there since we have many
trash cans. They can help a bit
more by actually putting things in
the appropriate bin.”
– Leslie Rios-Mendez 8th Grade
Picture this: You just found out some very important news,
and you are really excited to share it with your friend. After
searching nearly all day with no success, you finally find your
friend and have one of those, “Awe Yes!” moments. Then, you
begin to tell your story in great detail, but there’s one major
problem: your friend isn’t listening! Instead the bright screen of
their cell phone has them under a seemingly unbreakable trance.
Annoyed, you decide to give up on your story and you storm
away to try to find someone who will listen. Friendship over.
You are enraged.
We live in a world where many of us are getting more
interested with what’s happening on our screens and less
interested in what’s going on right in front of us. I’m not saying
we should all go out and throw away our electronics, but I
think people need to do a better job realizing the importance of
communication with real humans, in person. It seems that even
the so-called “social media” isn’t very social at all.
THE TOWN CRIER POLL
“I think Patriots are doing a lot to
help the enviornment because we
have the farm, the go-green club,
the fun run, and much more that
helps.”
–Deven Radfar, 7th Grade
“I think we could be doing a lot
more, because I see trash everywhere. But it is not just the students, the teachers use an absurd
amount of paper as well.”
—Tess Black, 8th Grade
“No, around the school I have
seen children constantly throwing snack wrappers around. Also
many children in the boys bathroom come in and grab towels
and don’t even use the bathroom.
We can do so much more for the
enviornment.”
—Nicholas Gladkov, 7th Grade
Poll of 100 Patriots by Loren Jacobs and McKenna Brown
MESSAGE TEES
When I heard how the Los Angeles
Clippers owner, Donald Sterling,
described the Clippers players as
if they were slaves, I decided to
protest against him. I wore my
Clippers jersey inside out because
the Clippers team wore their warm
up shirts inside out before game
four of the playoffs. I usually
wore my jersey after a big win
for the Clippers, but I wanted to
wear it this time inside out just to
join the protest. The Clippers team
itself was playing for Los Angeles
and the fans—not for their owner.
Although I was only one fan
wearing my jersey inside out, all
the support they can get helps in a
time like this. –– Tristan Haddadi
Member of the National Scholastic Press Association
Published by and for the students of
Paul Revere Charter Middle School and Magnet Center
1450 Allenford Avenue, Los Angeles, California
Editors:
Contributors:
Loren Jacobs
Rachel Boiteux
Melissa Bunnapradist
Ethan Jones
Amir Ebtehadj
Brittany Darrow
Ysmael Kamgaing
Emma Edelman
Lyric Latshaw
Gabi Feingold
Liam Mathers
Jojo Levey
Shelby Tzung
Rebeka
Mehdizadeh
Alon Levi
Danielle York
Morgan
Novak
Sierra Margolis
Mai Robinson
Reporters:
Samantha Rene
Trevor Scholl
Alicia Abramson
Claire Spector
Julian Speyer
Jessie Bierschenk
Ally Stahl
Matteo Zabrucky
McKenna Brown
Yoni Strugatsky
Zwarych
Georgia Calvert
Amanda Thompson Maksim
___________
Grace Dean
Alyssa Wallin
Faculty Advisor:
Aaron Heisen
Mr. Wechsler
Brian Zargar
April/May/June 2014
Dress Code Dilemma
Countless students crowded
into the Student Services office
after school on Tuesday, April
8th, clamoring to receive their
confiscated clothing items that
had been taken away on what
came to be known as “Dress
Code Day.” Since the weather’s gotten warmer as summer
approaches, students are more
likely to break the dress code
by wearing skirts and shorts
that don’t meet the fingertip
rule or flaunting their shoulders in spaghetti strap tops. In
order to ensure that the dress
code is followed, at the beginning of each period, administrators waited by the entrance
to the girls’ P.E. locker rooms
to stop the students who were
violating the rules. They were
then required to turn in their
clothing articles and wear P.E.
clothes for the rest of the day.
In protest of only girls
getting dress coded, eighth
grader Isaac Pross showed
some support for his female
classmates and chose to wear
“short shorts” the following
day, simultaneously testing administrators to see if they’d be
willing to dress code a boy for
shorts. After no results for over
half of the day, he was eventually pulled out of his fifth period class and returned fifteen
minutes later wearing green
P.E. shorts to the sound of applause. “I decided to wear short
shorts because, one, it was hot
and sunny that day, and two, I
wanted to support and stand up
for all my female friends who
had been dress coded the day
before,” he says. “I was excited
that I made it past lunch, and
Mr. Koretz was fine about it.”
—Alicia Abramson
Mrs. Somoza and Kamran
make announcements at the
Revere music performances.
A Principal with
Different Principles
Kamran Allahvardy, a 6th
grader at Revere, was the Principal for the Day on May 12,
after being the highest bidder
in an auction earlier in the year.
“Honestly, I’ve been waiting
for this opportunity since elementary school, and I even
helped to pay for it.” Throughout the day, Kamran spoke over
the P.A, supervised the lunch
area with Mrs. Somoza, and attended a meeting with PRIDE.
He says that being the principal for the day taught him responsibility, and how to speak
in front of others. During the
music assemblies, Kamran introduced himself. “I was a little
nervous, and it was intimidating.”
Kamran says that he wants
to be an actor when he grows
up. He also would like to be an
elementary school principal,
because he would be able to
spend a lot of time with children. “I’d be responsible, and
treat people equally as if they
were my family and friends. I
would want to work with kids
as an adult, but not necessarily
as a middle school principal,”
he concluded after a long day.
—Yoni Strugatsky
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 3
Around Revere
News and notes edited by Alicia Abramson
Seventh grader Alexa Maghloubi admires the artwork in Mr. Mercado’s classroom at Open House.
Patriot Speakers
Pick Up Prizes
“Doing all the little things
right is what really makes the
difference,” Optimist Club
Oratorical Contest winner
Daniel Gottesman advised.
This March, Daniel participated (and received first place)
in a contest that required him
to write a speech along the
prompt of “How My Passions
Impact the World,” then memorize it and deliver it to a panel
of judges.
His first place speech was
written about his four passions: education, music, sports,
and compassion, for which he
won a cash prize. Daniel says,
“When Mr. Slavin mentioned
the contest, I thought it would
be interesting to try out.”
Along with Daniel, three
other Patriots, Alanis Abron,
Taylor Pike, and Ashley Miller
represented Revere. “Mrs. and
Mr. Somoza were there and it
was great to have the support,”
Daniel recalled.
After winning, Daniel
moved on to the next round.
The contestants were high
school students, mainly from
private schools. The competition was definitely a challenge
for Daniel, but he had a lot of
fun.
When Daniel was declared
winner, he was ecstatic. “I was
excited. I felt honored. I was
also happy that my hard work
paid off,” Daniel enthused.
While some middle school
students write speeches for
English class, 7th grader Nicole Joh writes speeches on her
own. “Speech helps me know
how to deal with emotions,”
she says. Nicole goes to My
Speech Club at the Wilshire
Academy to perform and to
practice writing speeches.
On Sat. Apr. 26 and Sun.
Apr. 27, from 7:00 A M to
10:00 PM, she went to the
Glendale Community College
and won 3rd and 7th place in
original oratory and declamation This was Nicole’s first
time to make it to the finals.
With her speech, “My Escape
from North Korea,” she made
it into the pre-nationals.
“Speech helps me fix my
Korean accent and helps me to
be confident in front of people
who discourage me,” she adds,
“It is also an amazing feeling to
work so hard on something and
to be able to receive an award
and recognition for it.”
—Lyric Latshaw and
Yoni Strugatsky
Aca-Deca
Achieves
Once every week, Patriots
meet in Mr. Hamanishi’s room
to compete and participate in
a mental sport also known as
the Aca- Deca club. This club
has spent their lunch hours
preparing themselves for the
intellectual challenges that
they predicted would appear in
competitions.
The club’s hard work is
demonstrated in their two first
place and one second place
awards in contests. “I think
we are FIRST among middle
schools!” exclaimed Mr. Hamanishi, coordinator of the
club.
On May 14, members met
in Mr. Hamanishi’s room for
the first round of the competitions. Each team was asked
about twenty-five questions
in all subjects. For each question answered correctly, a team
would earn one point. Teams
continued the competition in
the second round taking place
on May 16. Team Sutton led
with twenty-four points, only
two points ahead of Team Daniel and Team Monica. Team
Alex/John won twenty-two
points, ahead of Team Jonathan
by one point. These teams ended their competition in the final
round on May 19. On this day,
all teams competed against one
another for the champion title
along with gift card prizes. After the competitions, members
were able to reflect upon all
their hard work they’ve accomplished throughout the year.
—Jessie Bierschenk
Nicole Joh (left), Daniel Gottesman, Donna Kharrazi.
Investing in a Club
Cha-ching! Welcome to
the banking club. In this club,
meeting every Thursday in X4,
people talk about how money
works, how stocks change daily and how much certain things
cost. The head of the banking
club, Alexander Fradis, talks
about how you can earn your
money in real-life situations.
Like Alexander says, mimicking Michel Douglas in Wall
Street, “Greed is good, greed
is for the lack of a better word
is good, greed is right, greed
works, greed clarifies and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.”
They don’t only talk about
how prices change overtime,
but they talk about the prices
and percentage of brands. They
discuss profits and TSLA and
how it works and doesn’t work.
“Four reasons it isn’t good because of weak earnings, the
delayed model-X, low sales,
banned from selling in New
Jersey, Arizona and Texas,”
said Alexander. People who
join this club seem to be preparing themselves for the future.
—Ysmael Kamgaing
Prez is a Citizen Too
Donna Kharrazi is not
only the president of Paul Revere, but is also a big helper
in the community. On January 7, Donna was given the
Youth Citizenship Award at
the Brentwood Library on San
Vincente. Donna showed her
citizenship by working with
special education students and
she also conducted the Bookends program.
Paul Revere picked one
person out of the entire campus
who showed the most citizenship, and Donna was given the
honor of being chosen. To add
to the Youth Citizenship Award,
Donna also received three certificates, including one given to
her by the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. These were
also awarded to her for her
help in the community. For receiving the Youth Citizenship
Award and all the certificates,
Donna was written about in the
Brentwood News, and the account was a front cover story in
the local newspaper. She says,
“I felt proud and honored that
I got to represent my school. It
felt good to know that I was being recognized for all the good
I have done.”
—Alyssa Wallin
Mayors, Muscles
and Mass Media
Patriots rose for the 28th
Honorary Mayor of the Pacific Palisades: Jake Steinfeld
on Wednesday, April 9. During lunch, Mr. Steinfeld visited
Revere’s auditorium to speak
to Patriots about his life and
career as a personal fitness
trainer.
Mr. Steinfeld described
himself as a “fat youth with a
bad stutter.” When he was 13,
his father bought him a weight
lifting set. At first, he was not
enthusiastic about using it, and
his father did not force him into
it. As a result, the set remained
in his laundry room all summer. However, one night, Mr.
Steinfeld went into his laundry
room, retrieved the set, turned
on a Frank Sinatra record, and
began to lift.
Years later, Mr. Steinfeld
moved to California in hopes of
winning the Mr. America contest. He placed 2nd and refused
to return home as a loser, so he
stayed in L.A. Shortly after his
first customer bought one of
his pieces of equipment, Mr.
Steinfeld began to attract some
better-known clients, such as
Madonna, Steven Spielberg,
and Harrison Ford.
Jake Steinfeld’s story
shows a bullied junior high
student who has become successful in the fitness industry.
This “little, fat kid” now has
a fitness line, has met celebrities, and has hosted his own TV
show. He says he owes it all to
his favorite quote: “The world
Mr. Steinfeld speaks out.
lets you be what you let them
believe you are.”
Several weeks later, another Roads to Your Future group
came to Revere to talk about
their experiences.
“For us, everything started
at Paul Revere,” stated Youtubers Mark and Alex. The two
brothers, also known as the
Vagabrothers, came to Town
Hall on May 14 to tell Patriots
about their lives.
“Since we were kids, we
knew the world was a really
big place,” they said. One day,
they found a contest on Twitter called the Biggest Baddest
Bucket List. The competition
included a $50,000 cash prize
as well as an all-expensespaid tour of 6 continents for 6
months. Out of 1,600 entries
from over 100 different countries, the Vagabond brothers’
three-minute video took the
spotlight.
Now that they have finished their bucket list, Mark
and Alex plan to pioneer a
travel show with other Youtubers touring them through different locations. All they ask is
for students to subcribe to their
Youtube channel.
—Brian Zargar and
Amanda Thompson
Mrs. Somoza congratulates
Ms. Pan for her attendance.
4 April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
These Teacher’s Pets Get an ‘A+’
When it comes to their pets, four Paul Revere teachers admit that they practice favoritism, but no one’s growling about it.
“Sammie is a thoughtful and considerate
animal who puts her own self interest
behind the needs of other animals. She
does not bark when new people enter the
house. She nursed our kitten for 5 months
when he was 7 weeks old.” —Ms. Manes
Campus
Critters
“Silver likes to shred papers. There was a
student who never did his homework, and he
finally turned in his homework. I took all the
essays home to correct, and left them by the
bookcase, so Silver got on the bookcase and
shredded the essay on top. The next day at
school, the student eagerly asked, ‘Did you
read my essay?’ I said, “No, my cat ate your
homework.” —Mr. Hernandez
“Butterscotch thinks the broom is her
sworn enemy. Whenever I try to sweep,
this little five pound rabbit jumps from
about six feet away, trying to attack the
broom.” —Ms. Palmer
“Bella likes to play ‘shuffleboard’ with
her treats! She is on the receiving end
of course. She bats them around and
pounces on them before she finally
eats them.” —Ms. Stewart
The chickens living
at Mr. Honda’s Farm
share good times with
Revere’s students.
By SIERRA MARGOLIS
Why did the chicken cross
the East Driveway? To get to the
Paul Revere Farm!
While everyone else here on
campus is indoors, these 30+
clucking critters roam the area
around Rooms R-1 and X-17.
This, however, doesn’t mean that
students and staff don’t interact
with the chickens. Mr. Honda,
the 7th grade science teacher up
in Room R-1, and Mr. Denny,
the school gardener, make sure
the birds are well taken care of.
And when the animal science
unit comes around in Ms. Robertson’s agriculture class, students are always “egg-cited” to
mingle with the chickens as they
study them.
By observing the chickens,
students learn about animal
ethology, which is the study of
animal behavior. The class uses
them as a model when they learn
about animal body parts, also
known as animal anatomy. The
students also learn about animal nutrition by studying what
is healthy and unhealthy for the
chickens to eat.
“There are a lot of career
opportunities to work with ani-
Up at Mr. Honda’s farm, 8th graders Molly Abrams and Isabel Kaplan do their job of feeding the chickens their meal of “Chicken Kracket.”
mals,” Ms. Robertson said, “so
this is a really great opportunity for students to learn some
of the skills required in animal
science.”
In her class, students also
learn about what Ms. Robertson
calls “chicken hypnosis.” Students are taught how the chickens can be “hypnotized” by holding them in a way that produces
a substance called oxytocin.
“This is known as the feelgood hormone, or the ‘happy
hormone,’” Ms. Robertson re-
marked. “To release it, my students hold them along their
sternum [chest]. This makes the
chickens feel like they are at
their nest, relaxing and taking
care of their babies.” Holding the
chickens this way immediately
makes them calm down so that
students can work with them.
“Chickens always mirror
your behavior,” Ms. Robertson
told her class. “If you run at
them, they’ll run away. If you
approach them calmly, they will
respond to you just as calmly.”
However, Ms. Robertson is
not the only teacher who has to
teach students to how to treat
their feathered friends. During
nutrition and lunch, Mr. Honda
supervises the Farm area. The
students who eat there are never
too ‘chicken’ to interact with the
birds, and they even let them sit
on their tables as they eat.
“For the most part, the students are really respectful to the
chickens and handle them well,”
Mr. Honda stated. “However,
we do occasionally have to re-
train students on how to handle
them properly.” Students are
also allowed to feed the chickens anything left over from their
lunch except for candy, which is
inedible for the birds. “As long
as their main diet is ‘Chicken
Kracket’—made specially for
chickens—it’s okay for them to
peck on other foods,” he said.
This supplements their diet and
reduces waste at the Farm. Of
course, the campus critters enjoy
their special “treats” from their
student friends.
These Patriots received rewards, such as gift cards, for their “super” behavior including academic achievements and citizenship on campus throughout the past months.
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 5
April/May/June 2014
Mrs. Somoza Reflects on Her
Career, Revere and Shakespeare
Mrs. Somoza: Being an administrator, especially a principal,
is a form of teaching. Your
class is the entire school. Every
day I learned something new,
even if I would have preferred
not to. Teaching in any form
offers experiences that at times
reach thrilling heights, and/or
dramatic lows. I think it will be
difficult to live the rest of my
life without experiencing these
feelings on a daily basis.
By ALICIA ABRAMSON
and JOJO LEVEY
With only days left in her
40-year-career as an educator,
Mrs. Fern Somoza sat down with
Town Crier reporters for one last
interview before she says her
final farewell to ‘Revereland.’
Town Crier: What influenced
your decision to leave Revere?
Mrs. Somoza: I was not influenced into leaving Revere. I
have worked for L.A.U.S.D. for
approximately 40 years, and I
think it’s time to retire and move
on. Originally I had planned to
retire last year, but so many new
projects, programs and assessments were being introduced
this year, I decided to stay for
one more school year.
Town Crier: What are you going to do once you have left?
Mrs. Somoza: I had a small
hope to delay retirement completely and work on some of
these new projects at the District
level. However, I do not think
that is going to happen. I think
it’s nice to have two choices,
both equally beneficial to students and challenging for me.
Town Crier: What will you
miss most about Revere?
Mrs. Somoza: I will miss Revere,
period! Revere to me is teachers, students, staff, aides, plant
personnel, and wonderful supportive parents and community.
I will definitely miss a favorite
question heard outside my office
Ali Zafar-Khan
President
almost every day, “Do you have
a minute?” I hope I’ve always
had a minute or more for everyone at Revere.
Town Crier: What are you
glad to leave behind?
Mrs. Somoza: I’m glad to leave
behind a terrific group of selfassured teachers and students.
I’m happy to leave a high-performing school always striving
for better. It makes me glad to
leave a more beautiful, structurally sound campus, new roofs,
fresh paint, and level walkways
throughout the grounds. I’m
also glad to leave a still-exciting,
performing music program, a
thriving garden, electives other
middle schools wish they could
provide, and a school that has
new parents and students fighting to enter every year.
Town Crier: How is being an
administrator different from
teaching?
Jessica Breitman
Vice President
Town Crier: What was your
greatest disappointment during your time at Revere?
Mrs. Somoza: I have never been
disappointed during my time at
Revere. Maybe a little upset
that students do not always
realize the special middle school
they have at Revere. I have
worked at many schools as a
teacher, administrator, coordinator, volunteer and parent.
Revere is an example of what
a middle school should be for
students: caring professional
educators, rules and policies
that protect students (really), a
clean environment to enjoy the
educational experience, parent
involvement in every aspect of
the school, and a place where
students come first (whether
they like it or not) with all
adults on campus. Therefore I
can truly say I’ve never been
truly disappointed at Revere.
How could a person be disappointed when they see only the
best all around them?
Town Crier: Do you remember when you were in middle
Avery Krauss
Historian
school and what your principal was like?
Mrs. Somoza: My principal was
Mr. Sklar, and I remember him
very well. I was in leadership
for one year, and in choir for
one year.
Town Crier: Did your experience in middle school influence how you have run Paul
Revere?
Mrs. Somoza: Some of my
memories made me think twice
about my decisions, because I
remembered what I liked and
didn’t like about middle school,
so I think that helped.
Town Crier: Ten years from
now, what do you think Paul
Revere will remember about
you?
Mrs. Somoza: In the play
“Julius Caesar” by William
Shakespeare, Marc Anthony
spoke at the funeral of his
friend and mentor. He stated the
following: “Friends, Romans,
countrymen lend me your ears.
I come to bury Caesar, not to
praise him. The evil men do
lives after them; the good is
oft interred with their bones.
So let it be with Caesar!” Well,
I sincerely hope I have done
little “evil” and extra “good”
while I was principal at Paul
Revere Charter Middle School.
I’ll settle for students, past
and present, remembering
their wonderful experiences in
middle school, and a principal
(they might not remember my
name) who was always there,
good or bad.
Casey Neumann
Historian
Lenny Melamed
Treasurer
The five ultimate winners deliver their campaign speeches. On the day of the election, all candidates were given a turn at the microphone.
Patriots Elect New Student Leaders
By SAMANTHA RENE
Twelve votes. That was margin of victory that carried Ali Zafar-Khan to victory in the election for next year’s student body
president. He narrowly defeated
Caroline Ross and Rivata Dutta,
who will serve as representatives
for 2014-2015.
Also winning their races
were Jessica Breitman (vice
president), Avery Krauss (historian), Casey Neumann (historian) and Lenny Melamed (treasurer).
“I will improve all the activities in the school, such as the
dances, grams, and more,” promised Ali after he was announced
the winner. “I’d like to offer you
guys [students] more activities
and fun things to do at school.”
Ali is also confident that he will
match up to the position, saying
he has been in student council
classes since elementary school
and is proud to continue.
Ali was in the auditorium preparing for the talent show when
the winners were announced
over the PA system. “Right after Jessie was announced as
vice president, they said that the
president won by twelve votes,”
said Ali. “My heart was pounding faster than it ever had before.
When they finally announced me
as president, I was so relieved I
was rolling around the auditorium floor.”
Jessie Breitman was excited
to find out she was voted as student body vice president. “I was
so excited that I was screaming
out in joy,” she said. “I was secretary this year, but felt I wanted
more of a challenge to help the
school. I plan to be open to all
ideas that will help the school
along with all the members of
student council. I really want to
make the next school year the
best ever.”
Paul Revere’s elected historian is a current sixth grader
named Avery Krauss. It may
have been his election slogan
that gave him the edge: “Vote
for Avery and you will be A-very
happy person!”
Casey Neumann was one of
three students who ran for sec-
retary. “I love Paul Revere and
I think we need great leaders to
guide us, but at the same time
make it fun and enjoyable,” she
said. “I want to make the school
a cleaner place and have more
fundraisers and sports equipment.” Casey says she was encouraged by her friends to run
for this position and was confident she could win.
Treasurer Lenny Melamed
says he enjoys being a leader.
“I’ve had previous experience,
and I’m excited to continue what
I started in third grade,” he said.
“I want to have more school
dances.”
Added Ali, “I hope everybody’s looking forward to next
year—the best year of your life.”
Liam Mathers logs on in E-5.
Testing Week
With Tablets
Tests Nerves
(continued from page 1)
One 6th grader, Ben Nackman, kept a positive outlook
through it all. “I was stuck a
lot on a blank screen with nothing to do so I was bored out of
my mind. But it was for math,
so I was kinda happy. I didn’t
get why I couldn’t skip a problem. I’m just happy it’s over and
didn’t count for my grade.”
Another 6th grader, Maya
Beeri-Feldman, also faced obstacles. “On the first day, I
couldn’t take the test because it
wouldn’t go on single-app mode
on Safari,” she said. “Then after
I logged in, it asked for guided
access, and my teacher didn’t
know what to do. So that day I
didn’t take the test.”
As the week progressed, the
number of problems decreased,
especially after all students went
through a lengthy process to
make sure that all iPads had the
same operating system on them.
Mr. Shibata reported a “180 degree difference” once this process was completed.
For the “performance task”
section of the test, 6th graders
were given a task having to do
with a talent show. The 7th graders received a donut-solving
task, and the 8th graders traveled
to the South Pole to demonstrate
their math skills. The performance task was
somewhat challenging, according to 7th grader Danielle York.
“The concept was a subject
I knew how to deal with, but
working with it on the iPad was a
little confusing.” Being an essay
question exam with no multiplechoice questions, students found
themselves rewriting long paragraphs several times in a row.
Through it all, students kept
hearing two messages to help
them keep things in perspective.
“It is what it is,” said Mr. Shibata
over and over. And Mrs. Somoza
repeated the assurance that students were merely performing
a “test of a test” and their individual results would not even be
recorded.
Confusing or not, the Smarter Balance Assessments completely modernized the usual
“pencil and paper” approach to
testing. Whether the new assessments are smarter or not, working on the iPads was a unique
experience for the old fashioned
Patriots.
Outside Room J-2, an LAUSD
official joins Mrs. Somoza in
assisting students with their
malfunctioning iPad tablets.
20/20 VISION
6 April/May/June 2014
Twenty eighth graders make fearless predictions about where they will be in twenty years.
By ALICIA ABRAMSON
and JOJO LEVEY
“I see myself being a musician.”
—Jordan Koz
As the class of 2014 culminates from
middle school and gets ready for high
school, it’s time for them to start planning
their futures. The Town Crier randomly
selected twenty eighth graders and asked
them where they thought they’d be in two
decades. Here are their responses:
“I’ll be trying to surpass my sister, stealing her fame. After grad school, I’ll probably be traveling Broadway. And once I
wake up from my dream, I’ll be at home
watching Netflix.” —Sarah Silvers
“You might as well replace you guys
with computers. I’d like to be a computer
engineer or mathematician.”
—Yoshiki Takashima
“I’ll be successful, happy and content,
probably in some sort of business-related
endeavor.” —Daniel Gottesman
“I believe that all the continents will
be manually merged together as Pangea
once was. The world will break out in a
civil war and once the dust settles I will
emerge and take control. I shall lead a
campaign to become president of the
world and this planet will be a better
place.” —Nick Leader
“Twenty years from now, I plan to have
at least one child and be married. I’ll be
famous for either soccer, track, or singing.” —Jite Agege
“I’m going to keep doing what I love
best, which is to sing and act. I hope I
get the opportunity to be in movies and
such.” —Roberta Alaman
“Married, trying to start a family, working
as a lawyer or doctor.” —Maude Tipton
2034*
2014
“I see myself in the NBA,
playing for the Lakers, trying
to get my ninth championship. I see myself with two
boys, one girl, and a loving
wife for support.”—Nima Rafie
2014
“I will probably be a runner
or a track star.”—Flaviano Winther
“In twenty years from now, I see myself
as a young lawyer, serving the great
people of Los Angeles. I see myself in
politics and as the 2046 governor of
California.” —Amir Ebtehadj
2034*
“Petroleum engineering!”
*Artist’s Conception
—Jack Bookey
2034*
“I’m going to live in New
York, married to some sort
of band member. I’m going
to have two children and my
art will be in galleries everywhere.” —Ashley Miller
2014
2034*
2014
2034*
“I’ll be working on the east
coast as a therapist. I see
myself having a husband and
two kids that I love with all
my heart.”—Cienna Henry-Milton
“I’m going to live in Fiji, married to Garett Gardener. I’ll be the president of Fiji,
making $80 million per year.”
—Maggie Catalano
“I see myself with a small family, working as a big producer or director. And I’ll
be married to Harry Styles.”
—Donna Kharazzi
2014
2014
“I aspire to be working in a field of
computer science and working at a large
company.” —Sutton Shin
“I see two possible versions of myself in
twenty years. I’m either an optometrist
in the Beverly Hills area, or I’m supreme
ruler of the world, making my servants
cater to my every need. I prefer version
two.” —Brian Zargar
2034*
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
“I will be a grown man, happily married
with two children and the owner of a million dollar company.”
—Christian Jackson
“I see myself being a surgeon
and chopping people up.
Like brain surgery and stuff
like that.” —Noah Guirguis
Academic Excellence Exemplified
By ALICIA ABRAMSON
Three years and five report cards ago,
a new batch of sixth graders walked into
Paul Revere for the first time, with high
hopes of achieving academic success.
Thirty-six of those students (listed in the
captions of the photos) have now managed to earn straight AEE’s on all of their
20-week report cards, not including the
final spring report card of 2014.
So how did these students manage to
achieve such academic excellence? Says
Daniel Gottesman, “I just study hard and
work hard, make sure I know the material,
pay attention, and listen in class.” Many
others responded similarly. Sierra Margolis says, “I constantly monitor my grades
in my classes and check them. Ever since
the sixth grade, I’ve wanted to get on the
AEE list, so I made sure that I got everything done that I needed to accomplish. I
feel like I really succeeded in what I set
out to do and I can graduate Revere with
honor and no regrets.”
On the other hand, Alok Elashoff
doesn’t even study for upcoming tests. He
learns what he needs to know while it’s
being taught, in class. “Unlike others,” he
says, “I do not stress and I listen in class.
Those are the two keys to success.”
“Ever since sixth grade,” says Loren
Jacobs, “I set my mind to getting straight
AEEs, so that was my main focus, and I
accomplished it.”
Yoni Strugatsky has a different approach. He says, “I don’t stress too much
over school. I bribe all my teachers with
my contagious smile and positive attitude
in regards to life.”
From left: Zollie Daily, Oscar Gagne, Matteo Zabrucky,
Rayne Camden, Ashley Miller.
From left to right: Ethan Subel, Emmett
Giffin, Tara Hochberg, John Morgan.
From left to right: Yonathan Strugatsky, Karn Nanda, Sierra Somkin, Peter Jebsen,
Brendan Crum, Lynda Jauregui, Tania Shemtoub.
From left to right: Sasha
Vanley, Hannah Megery.
From left to right: Catherine Li, Janise
Shin, Emma O’Neil, Anna Davtyan.
Back row, from left to right: Sierra Margolis, Nicholas Kerkorian, Theresa Wellington,
Jake Greanias, Lyric Latshaw, Isaac Pross, Trevor Dalton. Front row, from left to
right: Daniel Gottesman, Tomomi Uruma, Jennifer Price, Helene Ren, Alok Elashoff,
Loren Jacobs, Alicia Abramson.
April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 7
Israeli Insights
International students visit Revere and share their
impressions of the school and the United States.
By CLAIRE SPECTOR
and SIERRA MARGOLIS
April 4 seemed to start off
like a typical day at Revere.
Administrators surveyed school
grounds, teachers began setting
up their classrooms, and cold
students milled about the campus
sharing stories with their friends.
But this was not just any normal
day. For among the hundreds of
Patriots, four newcomers walked
through the gates, about to witness a day here at Paul Revere
for their first time.
Daniel Heirshzon, Tomer
Halperin, Anna Reshidko and
Romi Bechor traveled all the way
from their homes in Tel Aviv,
Israel with a program between
their school and Leo Baeck, their
temple. This program enabled
the kids to stay at the homes of
the American buddies they were
paired with, who had previously
stayed with them during their
trip to Israel.
Daniel stayed with Eric Halperin, Tomer shared his time with
Nick Leader, and Anna and Romi
were paired with Molly Abrams.
The visitors and the hosts said
they enjoyed the trip. “It was a
positive, fun experience that has
taught me how to be more responsible and a good host,” Eric
said. “Throughout our weeks of
friendship we shared and embraced our cultural similarities
and differences.”
On April 4 the visitors talked
to 8th graders Ashkon Khalkhali
and Spencer Davis, showing us
our world through their eyes.
Town Crier: What was your
first impression of America
and Los Angeles?
Daniel: It’s a lot bigger (than
Israel), I liked it a lot. Everyone
here is a lot faster—life is just
fast paced. There’s also a lot
more traffic. One day we were
stuck in traffic for two hours. I
couldn’t believe it when Eric’s
mom said it was normal!
Tomer: Some things are different, but most are the same. The
similar things make it feel a
little more like home, except it
is more carefree here.
Town Crier: What did you first
think of Revere and how does
it differ from your school?
Daniel: It’s almost the opposite
of our school—not in a bad way
though. There are many things
that are different. For example,
in Israel, girls don’t have to do
as much P.E. as boys do. So
things like the Fun Run would
never happen. There are also no
murals painted by students at
my school. We also don’t have
electives like choir, orchestra,
band, journalism or yearbook.
Instead we have things like art,
sculpting, fashion, soccer, chess,
volleyball, basketball, jewelry
and drama classes to choose
from.
Tomer: Revere is really similar
to schools in our country, but
there are different things. We
don’t pledge allegiance to the
flag. There are different problems and different people. We
get less of a choice in classes
in Israel. The schools are more
‘The food here is
really good. I had
my first cheese
burger (un-kosher)
at an In-N-Out.’
—Romi Bechor
‘I will miss the
culture here
because you guys
have so many
shops and places!’
—Daniel Heirshzon
‘In Israel you would
eat snitchzel for
dinner. Here you
eat Starbucks and
burgers all the
time.’
—Anna Reshidko
‘People here are
really friendly. In
Israel, people are
friendly too, but
more aggressive.’
—Tomer Halperin
Romi, Anna, Daniel and Tomer (from left to right) point to their homeland, Israel, on the globe mural.
grey, and sadder. The teachers
do not seem much different
though.
Anna: Revere is a lot bigger,
because our school is five stories
high but just one building. It is
made from cement to protect
from bombs for emergency. It
kind of looks like a jail. Back
at home the teaching is very
different. The teachers at home
don’t explain as much. It’s a lot
of bookwork. They don’t talk at
all. If your first period teacher is
absent then you stay home, and
if your teacher isn’t there in a
daytime period you do nothing
for that hour.
Romi: Here, it is bigger and a lot
cooler than my school. Teachers
are more strict there.
Town Crier: How are the
people here in America different from the people back in
Israel?
Daniel: Back at home girls
don’t really do as many sports.
If a girl told people she did
soccer, she would probably be
laughed at or made fun of. Also,
another difference is that people
are friendly here in a different
way than in Israel. Here they are
more polite and inviting, but in
my country its like every one is
friends with each other. For example, one of my brother’s best
friends is a guy he met because
he accidentally stepped on his
foot in the street.
Tomer: People here are really
friendly. In Israel, people are
friendly too, but more aggressive. They are more stubborn.
However, they are both nice
groups of people. I have rarely
seen bullies back home, and
when I have seen them they
are reported and taken care of
almost immediately.
Anna: The kids here speak English! I haven’t really had a lot of
time to notice differences, but
they also seem a lot nicer.
Romi: In Israel people are
friendlier, but they are very nice
here too.
Town Crier: What new things
have you tried and experienced while staying in Los
Angeles?
Daniel: We went to Volcano Tea
on Sawtelle Blvd. with Nick
and Tomer, and tried boba and
hot milk tea for the first time.
I really liked the milk tea, but
the boba was weird. I felt like
I was going to choke on them!
I couldn’t even drink it all
because there were so many of
them!
Town Crier: How is the food
different from back in Israel?
Tomer: Some of the food here is
better and some of it is worse.
The pizza, donuts and burgers here are better. We don’t
have boba in Israel. Foods like
shawarma and humus are better
there.
Anna: The food is different.
There’s a lot more junk food
here than back home. In Israel
you would eat snitchzel for
dinner. Here you have Starbucks
and burgers all the time.
Romi: The food here is really
good. I had my first cheese
burger (unkosher) at In-N-Out.
In Israel, we mostly eat at home,
not out at fast food places. We
don’t eat as much junk food.
Town Crier: What are you
going to miss the most about
America when you go home?
Daniel: I will miss the culture
here because you guys have so
many shops and places! I wish
we could have them in Israel!
Tomer: The stores. There are
much more of a variety of stores
selling things you can’t get in
Israel like the different kinds of
clothes, candy and sodas. I will
also miss the people because
I have made some friends that
I know I am going to keep in
touch with for my entire life.
Anna: I’ll miss the American
food! I tried cheeseburgers for
the first time, and I’ll miss that.
Romi: I am going to miss
Molly—my life-long friend.
Molly points out the finer style of taco eating to her Israeli amiga.
Shortly after arriving at LAX, the Israelis insisted that they were up
for a tour Beverly Hills with their friends from Leo Baeck Temple.
8 April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
Three former Revere students now
teach at the school. They share their
memories of middle school life.
Mr. Fiser Faces the Future
By BRIAN ZARGAR
Mr. Roig Remembers
By GABI FEINGOLD
When Mr. Roig walked onto the Revere campus in
1971, he wasn’t teaching students. He was one of them.
“I was at Paul Revere Junior High School from 19711974,” the English teacher recalls.
“The only classes I really enjoyed when I was a student were P.E. and Art. The electives I remember (aside
from Art) were Theatre and Drama, which because of
B1’s stage was actually held there! I also enjoyed the
various “shop” electives—such as Print, Drafting and
Horticulture.” Mr. Roig also mentions a Student Store
that sold sweets at nutrition. “I would buy a glazed donut
or a round roll,” he remembers. “They were baked at Revere and were so good!”
The punishments were also different. “When I was
a student, they still allowed ‘corporal punishment.’ If
you got sent to the assistant principal, you were given
a choice—five days of after-school detention or three
swats from a wooden paddle. Most kids took the swats
because it was over with quickly and it made you seem
tougher!”
Mr. Roig can sympathize with students who have to
race around to different classes. “I remember how large
the school was and how much I hated going from P.E, to
the front of school. Back in those days, administrators let
kids run to class or the bus. Every day you’d see some kid
skid on his hands and knees running down the driveway.”
Mr. Roig noticed that not all things about Revere now
are different. “One thing I noticed as a teacher at Revere
was how little had changed.”
Mr. Fiser culminated from Paul Revere Junior High,
before it became a middle school, with the Class of ’81.
Many years later, he returned. “It felt kind of strange at
first [to be back], but now I’m used to it,” he said.
Though it has been over thirty years since he was a
Patriot, he believes that “Revere hasn’t changed very
much in terms of looks. The quad wasn’t here, and the
murals [on the east driveway] were different, but the
general layout is the same.” Mr. Fiser believes that the
dress code at Revere in ’81 was “more relaxed,” and that
he “could come to school in costumes during Halloween,
which was cool!”
Being a science teacher, Mr. Fiser is interactive with
the standards. His classroom in W-1 features things one
might expect in a 20th and 21st century science classroom. The arrival of the iPads will allow his students to
do experiments and learn in a way that wasn’t possible
when he was a student.
Mr. Fiser went on to say that eighth grade science has
grown more difficult. “When I was at Revere, California
did not have the science standards it currently has. Now,
science education is much better than before.”
Cmdr. Banner Is Back
By JESSIE BIERSCHENK
When she was a student at Revere, Cmdr. Banner
said she would have “never in the world imagined working here.” Yet that is exactly what happened.
As a student, Cmdr. Banner “wasn’t interested in science,” and was more interested in art and history. Academically, in the two years she attended Paul Revere she
said she did well but wasn’t a “superstar.”
As a former student and now a teacher, Cmdr. Banner has had a front row seat in witnessing Paul Revere
as it changes. In Cmdr. Banner’s eyes, Paul Revere is
very different now from when she was a student here. “In
those days Paul Revere Junior High was seventh, eighth,
and ninth grades,” she said. “During the time I was at Revere it was fairly dysfunctional,” she continued. “That’s when several of the
local private schools started up.” Another change in Paul
Revere is its electives. When Cmdr. Banner was a student
at Revere, there were various electives such as cooking,
sewing, and wood-shop. However these electives were
not available for everyone.
“At that time, only boys could take ‘manly’ electives
like woodshop or metal-shop—since those were viable
careers for a man.” Just like girls were restricted in taking “manly” electives, boys were not able to take electives considered more feminine.
Like Cmdr. Banner, Paul Revere has changed characteristics. From electives to behavior, it has revised features for students of all years.
For These Patriots, Sharing Is Caring
Patriots Jared Brecher
(left) and Josh Barad
sell baked goods with
friend Will Coquiard
(right).
Jared’s Big Bake Sale
For his Bar Mitzvah Project, 7th grader Jared Brecher
was responsible for doing something to help out in his
community. “I wanted to do something to help a single
family in need,” says Jared. “So my cantor told me about
a family he knew, and when I heard their story, I instantly
fell in love with them.”
The family includes a six year old who just recently
recovered from neuroblastoma (a rare disease that young
children get), an 11-year-old who is flunking school and
acting up, and a father with Parkinsons and dementia.
The mother works a triple overtime, and they have
downgraded their house three times already. They were
in desperate need of help.
Jared spread the word, and on a fine Saturday
afternoon, they set tables up and covered them with
baked goods such as cake, cupcakes, brownies and
cookies, as well as other snacks like Rice Krispie treats
and candy. His friends Danielle York, Josh Barad, Aaron
Heisen, Lucas Braun and some of his other baseball
friends, gathered to help raise money at the Palisades
Recreation Center.
“All my friends and family were so helpful,” he said.
“Without all their donations I wouldn’t have been able to
reach my goal.” After walking around the baseball fields
and park areas for a few hours, they raised $675.50.
Additional donations from and family and friends raised
the total to over $2,000. He says, “Overall, it was a fun
experience and I was happy to help out a family in need.”
By DANIELLE YORK
Gabby’s Shelter Help
For her Bat Mitzvah
Gabby hugs
project,
7th
grader
her furry
Gabby Weiner has been
friend.
volunteering at her local
animal shelter in Westwood.
“I really love dogs and
cats and just any animal
in particular, and I wanted
to do a Mitzvah project
that could benefit them,”
said Gabby. During the
weekend, she walks, feeds
and plays with the animals.
She also helps out with
adoptions.
“The toughest part is
when a dog or cat that I
have gotten attached to gets
adopted. But of course I’m happy for them,” she said.
“It was such a good experience. I’m still doing it and
looking forward to doing it for a long time.”
Emily
Cox
Emily’s Walk for Wendy
On May 4, Emily Cox encouraged more than a dozen of
her friends to join her on the 5th Annual Wendy Walk.
The 8th grader said, “Wendy Walk supports research on
rare sarcomas, which my family friend had. The walk
started and ended at Casa Del Mar Hotel. It was to the
pier and back and only took about 20 minutes. Luckily, I
have good friends who came to support the cause. Overall we raised over $300. Hopefully, next year twice as
many people will go.”
(from left to right) Brendan
Sanders, Jack Chudacoff
and Aaron Heisen.
A Homerun of a Donation
For his Bar Mitzvah project, Aaron Heisen was
able to combine three of his favorite things to do: raising money to help out the community, having fun with
his friends, and playing Wiffle Ball—another version of
baseball.
On Jan. 26, Aaron went to the Palisades Recreation
Center and held a “Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby” with
his friends. Held at the baseball field, Aaron and his
friends gathered sponsors and donations from the people
there. All of the money went to a non-profit organization
called Israeli Sports Center for the Disabled. This group
gathers money to buy sports equipment for disabled children living in Israel.
Aaron is traveling with his temple to Israel this summer and will be visiting the organization so he will be
able to hand deliver the funds. Aaron also helps out at the
temple with many mitzvah projects. On May 4 he helped
out making paper bags filled with lunches for homeless
people.
Aaron collected $765 in donations from sponsors, as
well as $500 he took out of his own Bar Mitzvah money
to donate to the cause, altogether raising $1,265.
The Patriot says, “I chose this because I think no
matter someone’s ability, or in this case, disability, they
should be able to play sports or do anything else they
want as well as any other person can. Sports are great
pastimes, and I think everybody deserves to enjoy them.”
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 9
April/May/June 2014
COVER STORY
Their Routine Is Clean and Green
(continued from page 1)
On Tuesdays at lunch, the Go Green
Club meets to discuss what they will be
doing in the near future. On some occasions, they race out of the room and collect as much trash and recycling as they
can in about fifteen minutes. The different approach that the club has to keeping
the school clean is what a club member,
7th grader Sammy Stahl, likes best. “I
like that we have hands-on activities,
not just lectures on how horribly we’re
treating the Earth,” she said. Leah also
enjoys how different the club experience
is. “The thing I like most about this club
is how unique it is,” she says.
Some homerooms have to stay quiet
and read or do homework. In others, the
teachers let students talk quietly among
themselves. But there is one homeroom
that does none of the above. Have you
ever seen people coming to your homeroom with trash bags in their gloved
hands? That would be the Eco-Green
homeroom.
They go on recycling rounds in the
morning, collecting plastic bottles and
cans. The homeroom also serves as motivation for some students in the class
to join the club. “I’m in the Eco-Green
homeroom and I thought it would be a
good idea to join the club,” Meilani explained.
The morning announcements over
the loudspeaker during homeroom inform everyone to first pledge allegiance
to the flag. Then, announcements for
upcoming events blare out of the speaker and into the room. The normal announcements come on about the Eighth
Grade Washington D.C travel trip and
sports, and then you hear the clubs come
on. “Hi, this is Leah! Meilani! Sammy!
And Chaya!” four girls’ bubbly voices
come over the loudspeaker. “And we’re
from the Go Green homeroom!” The
four girls proceed to tell the school to
“turn off the water when you are brushing your teeth, or when you are not using
it in the shower or when you are washing
the dishes!” This tip and more like it are
a weekly errand for the recycling homeroom.
Over the course of this year, the club
has held two bake sales, one in December and one in February, and made posters to raise awareness about the planet.
The bake sale craze started when posters
announcing the news were put up around
Revere. The date and time for the sale
was set on the school calendar and on
the morning of December 17, excitement
was in the air at Ms. Chen’s X-14 homeroom. Baked goods crowded the desks
in the classroom. The end of the day finally came, and hordes of students came
swarming to the tables set up outside of
the auditorium. The line was massive. It
wound around the railing as the students
eagerly bought pizza, brownies, cookies,
Meilani Wang:
Green Go-Getter
Gabi Feingold interviewed 7th grader
Meilani Wang about her thoughts on
how more Patriots can get on the Go
Green bandwagon.
Ms. Chen and Ms. Robertson took ther Eco-Green and Agriculture homerooms on a
field trip to Malibu Creek State Park to become familiar with their environment.
On Earth Day, the Go Green Club hosted an event in the gym to honor the celebration. (above) Patriots play a game of bowling using recyclable plastic bottles.
Club members Leah and Chaya sort through trash and recyclables in the quad.
Town Crier: Are you hopeful for the
future? Why or why not?
Meilani: Overall, our school is still creating more trash than we are recycling.
If we really commit ourselves, I believe
we might be able to make a difference,
but how things are going now, I do not.
Town Crier: Does it discourage you
when you see kids putting trash in the
recycling bins or putting recyclables
right in the trash?
Meilani: Yeah, because I have to pick
up all the trash in the recycling bins and
it’s a pain. I also know that other people
in other places won’t have someone like
us to pick out their trash and it’s just
going to waste.
Town Crier: Why do you think kids
avoid the recycle bin when it seems so
convenient?
Meilani: Maybe they don’t want to pick
up the lid, or they’re afraid to get their
hands dirty. It’s easier to throw it in
and other snacks and foods. After the
sale had ended, the money was counted, and the club raised about $500. The
“surprise” bake sale, held on February
14, was intended to have the proceeds
go to buying shirts for the club and Eco
Homeroom. Now, the club is working on
posters that they plan to put up around
the school about conserving water. The
state is in the midst of a drought, and
with the help of conservation tips on
the loudspeaker, the Go Green Club has
made their point clear.
Club members claim that they are
just getting started on their clean imprint
on the school. Students had their hands
full with all the following activities.
Green Day. Not the alt-punk band,
but the celebration on St. Patrick’s Day
during which students wore the color
green and won prizes from the Go Green
Club. Students who wore green on March
17 were allowed into Town Hall, and if
the question asked by the Green Squad
were answered correctly, you would get
a prize from Ms. Chen.
The club’s observance of Earth Day
on April 22 was a day to recognize and
improve the planet’s cleanliness. There
are celebrations all over the country, and
Patriots had their own celebration during
lunch in the gym. The recyclable admission fee was also extended to the use of
bottles and cans in the different activities
that were offered. Games there included
bottle and can basketball, a balancing
act, bowling for bottles and others, all
designed to appeal to the sixth grade
students. The lollipop and other candy
prizes motivated Patriots to do their best
in the activities, and by the time the fifth
period bell rang, students left the gym
informed and aware of how to have fun
being green.
Green Day. Not the alt-punk band,
but the celebration on St. Patrick’s Day
during which students wore the color
green and won prizes from the Go Green
Club. Students who wore green on March
17 were allowed into Town Hall, and if
the question asked by the Green Squad
were answered correctly, you would get
a prize from Ms. Chen.
Next year, she hopes to expand the
school’s green and clean efforts even
more. “I am hoping that we will enact
more projects, such as recycling contests
for bottles and cans as well as electronic
devices,” she said. “It’s important to keep
people involved and aware of why we do
these things. Recycling is great, but it’s
only the very basic thing we should be
doing. Even better, reduce the amount of
unnecessary items bought or reduce the
use of resources you don’t need.”
This is the fourth in a series of Town
Crier special reports about Patriots
who are making a difference in their
community.
the open bins. Kids are being rebels in a
way, thinking they’re cool by throwing
recyclables in the trash. We put recycling
bins and trash cans next to each other, so
it’s really easy, but they don’t take the
time or effort to take an extra step.
Town Crier: Are you green at home as
well or just at school? How so?
Meilani: I try to be as green as I can, but
I’m not as committed as Ms. Chen, who
washes her Ziploc bags and reuses them.
I don’t waste as much as I used to. I’m
more aware of what I spend and what
goes into the earth.
Town Crier: How will you know if all
your Go Green efforts are a success?
Meilani: One time, some LAUSD officials came to Revere and saw what our
club was doing. They thought it was such
a great idea that they wanted to start eco
homerooms in other LAUSD schools
also. So we’re setting a good example
and maybe inspiring others to follow us. Meilani recycles a plastic bottle.
10 April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
Travel
Monuments, Museums and Memorials
8th graders head east on
Spring Break to explore
historical landmarks.
By LYRIC LATSHAW
and SIERRA MARGOLIS
This spring break, after
months of planning and attending
lunch meetings, almost three
dozen 8th graders and their adult
chaperones got the chance to
visit the nation’s capitol during
the traditional Washington D.C.
trip. This privately-funded trip,
not sponsored by Revere or
LAUSD, was an action-packed
adventure.
Students woke eagerly on
the morning of April 12 to take
a 7:50 a.m. flight at LAX. On
board were thirty-four excited
Patriots and four equally
endearing chaperones.
Once they arrived in D.C.,
the pace picked up. During
the next few days, landmarks
were seen, history was learned,
and memories were made—
three perfect ingredients for a
memorable adventure.
The
memorials
and
monuments
added
some
interest to the trip. Patriots
visited the Lincoln Memorial,
the Washington Memorial, the
memorials for Vietnam and
Korea, Jefferson, 9/11, Martin
Luther King, and World War
II. Memorials, monuments,
museums, oh my! Several
museums were seen as well,
including Air and Space, the
“Newsuem,” and the Natural
History. These special places
made the experience worthwhile,
Mr. Anderson reported.
One student in particular,
Kaveh Majd, believes that he will
always remember this school
trip. “My favorite moment was
seeing Gettysburg. My buddies
and I enjoyed the opportunity
to expand our knowledge of the
wonderful subject of American
history,” Kaveh remembers. He
enjoyed the company of all of
his friends and the chaperones as
well. He says that he will always
remember the glorious sights
of our nation’s Washington
Memorial. His experience was
made worthwhile with the help
Rachel and Grace share a moment Taylor jumps for joy as she and her friend
with the marble Lincoln Memorial. Gabby enjoy the Capitol Building’s lawn.
Patriots join the crowd of tourists at the
new Martin Luther King memorial.
of the Gettysburg tour guide.
Apparently, he expressed the
importance of the battle and
made it interesting. However,
Kaveh recollected, “I thought
the food was a little…sub-par.
The best food I ate on the trip
was from Chipotle.” Overall,
Kaveh had a good time and he
would definitely go back.
Nick Leader reports that
his favorite landmark was the
Washington Memorial. “And the
Orioles game was a lot of fun,”
he added.
Ashley Miller’s experience
was made worthwhile because
of her roommates. “My favorite
moment was when I was in the
indoor pool with nine other
people,” Ashley said. “We
looked out the window and it
was snowing!” Apparently, it
was very magical. The only
Trevor, Mia, Ryan and Valentino wave despite the cold
weather in front of our nation’s Washington Monument.
Trevor and Rachel rub the engravings to
honor soldiers at the Vietnam Memorial.
unpleasant part of her trip was
the fact that they had to wake
up at 5:45 every morning. Her
favorite landmark was the
Vietnam Memorial. “We were
all really upset when we left and
I hope to get an opportunity like
that again,” said Ashley.
For Hannah Megery, it wasn’t
just the monuments that made
her experience memorable. “My
favorite moment from the D.C.
trip was when Mr. Augenblick
and Mr. Anderson sang all of
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ on the
bus ride to the Orioles Baseball
Game,” she said. Hannah, like
many of the others, enjoyed her
meal spent at Chipotle. About
the Vietnam Memorial, she
remembered, “The memorials
really showed me how lucky I
am because of the people who
fought for our country.” She said
Valentino, Josh, Ryan and Trevor reenact the
Battle of Gettysburg in historic Pennsylvania.
she would definitely go back with
family or friends. “I enjoyed the
Newseum (a museum dedicated
to the history of news) which had
awe-inspiring 9/11 exhibits, and
even an exhibit made especially
for the ‘Anchorman’ movie!”
Valentino Sterza’s time in
D.C. was “a blast” thanks to
his friends and teachers. “I will
always remember hanging out
with my friends and seeing all
the wonderful sights,” Valentino
recalled. Though he loved it all,
Valentino especially enjoyed
sightseeing, swimming and the
baseball game. His favorite
landmarks were Gettysburg,
because he enjoyed reenacting
the battle, and the KoreanConflict Memorial because it
was just a wonderful landmark.
The worst part? Leaving! “If I
had the opportunity to return,”
The entire Washington D.C. travel group, clad in red, pose for a group picture in front of the White House. Their bright smiles express how
much they enjoyed the trip. Top Row: Gabrielle Cheldin, Taylor Torgenson, Luna Gibbels, Laura White, Lillian Wollman, Theresa Wellington, Trinity Martin, Ryan Kaltman. Mr. Garcia, Mr. Augenblick, Madeleine Fowler, Meredith Haaker, Rachel Boiteux, Noah Guirguis,
Grace Bedecarre, Kaveh Majd, Emma O’Neil, Nicholas Leader, Joshua Salazar, Martin Somoska, Valentino Sterza, Isaac Pross, Mr.
Anderson. Second Row: Ms. Growsky, Libny Benitez, Shadie Rahman, Front Row: Hannah Megery, Ashley Miller, Emma Green, Trevor
Dalton, Perri Kahn, Lily Pike, Hailey Cadden, Shirin Shemtoub, Camdyn Kahn, Taylor Pike, Lucas Sisneros, and Mia Denari.
Valentino said, “I would take it
in a heartbeat.”
Mr. Anderson, trip leader,
declared the trip successful.
When asked what made the trip
different from all the others, Mr.
Anderson replied, “The kids!
Every year is special, and I had a
terrific group of students this trip.
They were a lot of fun to travel
with, and I laughed every day,”
Mr. Anderson said. His favorite
part was probably going to the
baseball game in Baltimore. “We
decided to root for the Baltimore
Orioles and they crushed the
Tampa Bay Rays!”
Aside from the interesting
views and the attractions, Mr.
Anderson made sure the group
had dinners and recreation
time planned ahead. “We had
many great places to eat (lots of
buffets!) and we stayed at a hotel
with an Olympic-sized pool!”
This pool provided a place to
get physical exercise while also
having fun. The buffets were
enjoyed by the students as well,
but not quite as much as the
beloved Chipotle.
This trip leader’s favorite
monument is the Lincoln
Memorial because he shares the
same birthday, February 12, with
America’s sixteenth president.
“When I stand there and read the
Gettysburg Address, it’s hard not
to get emotional,” Mr. Anderson
recollected. It was positive,
joyful emotion that the kids on
the trip felt when they heard the
unrehearsed duet of “Bohemian
Rapsody” on the bus. “Neither
of us can sing,” Mr. Anderson
laughed, “but it was a blast and
the kids couldn’t believe what
they were seeing!”
When asked what drove the
fearless trip leader to give these
students so many memorable experiences, Mr. Anderson replied,
“Seeing the expressions on the
faces of the kids as we witness
amazing things is very cool.”
April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 11
A Memorable
Journey to the
Magic Kingdom
8th graders take a trip to Disneyland.
By SIERRA MARGOLIS and CLAIRE SPECTOR
The whole school day, Revere’s eighth grade Patriots were preparing for and looking forward to a day
filled with fun. Friday, May 9, was the day they had all
been waiting for: the infamous Eighth Grade Disneyland Trip. Once the bell rang, they would be on their
way to the ‘Happiest Place on Earth.’
Like Thunder Mountain Railroad, the trip got off
to a rocky start for a few of the Patriot-packed buses.
The first buses to leave ran into some trouble at the
very beginning. “The freeway ramp was closed, so the
driver ended up at the Getty to ask for directions,” said
Johnny Amiri, a passenger on bus one. The second bus
also ended up at the Getty, and then took the wrong
freeway again, adding an extra twenty minutes onto
their trip. Despite the delay, all the buses ultimately
made it to Disneyland.
Though the Small World ride was closed that day,
Patriots made memories on many other rides. Cindy
Pace had an experience that was out of this world,
when she took a ride on Space Mountain for the first
time. “Roller coasters are my thing,” Cindy explained,
“So based on previous experiences on other Disney
rides, I was getting slightly apprehensive that the ride
would end up like the rest­­— a series of minuscule
turns and drops that leave me unsatisfied.” However,
she was “pleasantly” surprised by the ride. “Although
the ride was narrated by a cliché storyline, the ride was
much more thrilling than I had expected it to be. It was
amazing.”
However, “The Happiest Place on Earth” also
held one of the scariest experiences on Earth for five
Like Thunder Mountain Railroad,
the trip got off to a rocky start for
a few of the Patriot-packed buses.
From Thunder Mountain to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle,
Patriots found many backdrops for their fun photos.
of Revere’s Patriots. A Splash Mountain log carrying
Claire Spector, Loren Jacobs, Kaveh Majd, Peter
Jebsen and Lyric Latshaw was floating merrily along
through the groups of signing mechanical animals,
all the students enjoying themselves at the moment,
when suddenly they entered the area right before the
drop. And the ride stopped. Being at the bottom of the
hill, there was no real problem, until the ride started
up again.
“The ride started malfunctioning again and we
got stuck at the very top of the drop,” said Peter.
What followed? A log of hyperventilating children,
screaming to the point of voice loss. “I had a very
traumatic experience,” Lyric recalled, “If you’ve ever
been on Splash Mountain, you would know that, at the
end, these two vultures threaten you and tell you over
and over that you will soon meet your demise. After
about ten minutes of listening to them and watching
the water rush by, I started to believe them. At least I
had my buddy Peter to console me and scare me half
to death!”
Peter, however, doesn’t agree that he was the one
doing the scaring. “I wasn’t the one planning our
funerals. It was Lyric who kept saying we were going
to die,” he protested. “I tried to reassure her but she
wouldn’t listen.”
For some students, exiting the park was the main
issue. At the end of the day, Patriots were required to
get back to the buses by 11:00 p.m. or face a $100
fine. According to Jojo Levey, not all students were
able to meet the deadline. “Since other schools were
also visiting Disneyland,” Jojo explained, “the lines
for the trams to get back to the parking lot were very
crowded. People were pushing and shoving and some
were even breaking down into tears. After waiting in
a line for the trams that were even longer than some
of the ride’s lines, many Patriots were forced to sprint
back to the buses.”
Cienna Henry Milton was one of these sprinting
students. “My group went to Jamba Juice right before
the buses were supposed to leave,” She recollected.
“We all ordered our drinks and they took FOREVER!”
Cienna remembered that her friends got their drinks
before she did. “They ran out and left me!” She
exclaimed. Cienna ended up leaving Jamba Juice
without her drink and running to catch up with them
so she wouldn’t be left alone. Though some students
still didn’t make it in time, she doesn’t think anyone
was fined.
That night Patriots boarded the buses home with
aching limbs and cherishable memories from the
home of Mickey Mouse.
12 April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
Kourtney and Tnsae see the handwriting on
the wall at the California Science Center.
Magnet Students Attracted to Science Center
Students in Revere’s magnet program headed to the California Science Center to look at many scientific exhibits and participate in activities involving science and technology.
Smart Sal the Science Gal
I have a 120% grade
average in science
according to Jupiter
Grades!
Where’d you see that?
Pluto Grades? Did you
know that’s not even a
real planet?
By Mai Robinson and Brittany Darrow
Well, I have a
35% average...
Of course I
know Pluto’s
not a planet...
and neither is
Goofy!
A New Element of Science
Eighth graders
in Ms. Combis’s class
made and wore
their own element shirts.
April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 13
7th grader
Gineth Rios
watches the
dolphins
out in the
ocean.
Nikki shows off her
snazzy science board.
Scientific Showcase
By JESSIE BIERSCHENK
During his first year teaching at
Revere, Mr. Burke was surprised to find
out that there was no annual science
fair to showcase students of all grades
to participate in. So he decided to
take this issue into his own hands. Mr.
Burke states, “Very rarely do students
have choices of how to show their
understanding of concepts. I knew that
a science fair would be a great way for
my students to show their understanding
of the scientific process.”
With this idea in mind, he decided
to arrange a small science fair for all his
students to participate in and present
during Open House. Mr. Burke gave
instructions to his classes, guiding them
in how to make a successful science
project. He gave his students class time
‘I knew that a science fair
would be a great way for
my students to show their
understanding of the scientific process.’
to continuously take pictures
of their projects to make their
presentations more visual. Being a
technology enthusiast, he had his
groups of students film themselves
presenting their projects and then
upload their videos to their school
google accounts. Once uploaded,
students made a QR code (quick
response code) allowing people
observing their projects to scan
the code on their phone or other
device and be taken to the page of
the students’ video presentations.
At the science fair, parents
and other students were able to
observe the work put into each
of the students’ projects. In
this assignment, it seemed that
students learned to work as a
group to include others’ ideas and
conduct successful and interesting
experiments. By participating in
the science fair, “Students can use
science in many ways to better our
understanding of the natural world
and solve environmental issues,”
Mr. Burke said.
—Mr. Burke
to work on their experiments twice a
week and also encouraged them to work
on it at home.
During class, groups of twofive kids would work together to cut
and paste their results and findings. Students created QR codes like this
Mr. Burke encouraged his students for students and adults to scan and
then watch an online presentation.
A ‘Whale’ of a Time
By AARON HEISEN
With Mr. Honda and his campus
farm highly populated with chickens,
ducks and many other kinds of wildlife, seventh grade science teacher
Mr. Honda always loves making
learning fun in school. However, he
recently thought he would give his
‘The mammal came
out of the water and
“Spy Hopped.”’
—Mr. Honda
kids a splash outside of the school environment with a field trip to Redondo
Beach Harbor on the week of March
10-14. On the trip Mr. Honda was
hoping to see, whales, dolphins and
sea lions and he wasn’t disappointed.
“Our entire class had the time of
our lives out on the open water whale
watching,” said 7th grade student Samantha Rene, “it was an experience to
last a lifetime.”
Mr. Honda says about his experience, “It’s not just being out there that
makes it fun. It’s being able to hang
out with my students that makes it
fun.” Even though all three trips were
great, Mr. Honda’s favorite part was
when he saw a Juvenile Whale come
out of the water. “It was so neat,” the
7th grade science teacher expressed,
“The mammal came out of the water
and ‘Spy Hopped’. It raised its head
out of the water to take a look around,
it was curious about us as well!”
Mr. Honda exclaims, “We were
so lucky to see this behavior because
it is very rare with California Grey
Whales. Also at one point in the journey we were surrounded by hundreds
of dolphins, and dozens of sea lions. It
was great to see the curiosity in all my
students they were all snapping shots
and showing their friends.”
Simon looks out the boat for a whale.
SPOT THE
DIFFERENCES
Not all science is cold and
calculating. On Wednesday
March 26, 2014, Ms. Uchida’s
7th grade class examined,
observed, and dissected a
variety of exotic flowers.
In an attempt to distinguish
different flower parts, and
learn what the more complex
real-life flowers look like,
students would carefully rip
or tear off the different parts,
such as the pistils and stamen.
Of course, to familiarize
themselves with the parts, the
7th graders spent the preceding
weeks studying the flower.
The photo to the right has
been PhotoShopped to have
ten differences. How many
differences can you spot?
1. Pink pencil is now gone 2. Jacket changed from blue to red 3. Pencil changed from red to green 4. “2014” changed from red to purple 5. Scissors are now blue 6. Paper
has been added to the door 7. Pencil in the girl in the background’s hand is now gone 8. Leaves on plant are not there anymore 9. Water bottle is now pink 10. Binder is now yellow
14 April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
Entertainment
A Night
to Shine
Revere’s young authors
share their writing at
Young Authors Night.
By YONI STRUGATSKY
Chairs were set up in rows
and an open microphone was
set as Patriots and their families
gathered around the makeshift
stage. On April 22 at 6 p.m.,
Revere’s young authors came to
celebrate their published work
in the school’s 10th annual literary anthology. Pizza was served
with smiles galore as friends discussed their large array of works.
As the crowd settled and
took their seats, Mrs. Somoza
took the microphone to address
the audience. She introduced
herself and began to acknowledge the teachers who helped
out in producing the anthology.
Flowers were given to certain
parents and teachers that were a
critical asset in making the book,
including English teachers Ms.
Flenaugh and Mr. Wechsler. Afterwards, Commander Scott D.
Wagenseller presented a check
from the American Legion to
PRIDE booster club for $8,000
and Mr. Fred Votto from the Riviera Masonic Group presented a
check for $4,000.
Soon after Mrs. Somoza finished speaking, 8th grade English teacher Mr. Slavin stepped
up to the microphone to call the
names of the authors’ whose
works were published in the
book. Each student was given
a certificate of recognition for
participating in Revere’s Literary Anthology, and a copy of the
book itself. Though not all students attended, there were a total
of 221 written submissions and 7
art contest winners. The contest
was conducted by Mrs. Ernst.
The winners had their artwork
Front-cover artist Matteo Zabrucky proudly poses with Mrs. Somoza
while English teacher Mr. Carnine holds up the awards certificate.
Samira Ahmadzadeh
reads from her essay
“Struggling to Survive.”
placed on various pages that indicated the poetry section, essay
section, and so on. Eighth grader
Matteo Zabrucky drew the frontpage artwork.
Once all certificates were
handed out, students were given
an opportunity to read a small
portion of their stories or poems out loud. The first Patriot to
step up was Lucas Braun, who
read an autobiography about his
first rollercoaster ride. “It was a
sunny day. The sea sparkled like
glitter. The waves crashed on the
shore and pulled back again in
their usual routine. It was a perfect day for the pier.”
After many more speakers,
Alexa Maghloubi finished off
the night with a poem titled “My
New Life.” “Here I lay, 710 A.D.
my village has been hit, a victim of the plague. Hand clasped
to my mother, darkness paints
the room. Only soft whimpers
of crying, fills the dreadful silence…”
Overall, this year’s anthology was the longest in all ten
years, adding up to 206 pages, 22
more pages than last year. Some
English teachers submitted poems or essays from one specific
assignment in their classes from
various students, such as Mr.
Slavin’s Rip Van Stories or Mrs.
Ernst’s “The Day Is Done” poems, a homage to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem by
the same name.
Mr. Slavin said, “I felt a sense
of prevailing optimism as my
students approached the mic to
recite their published work, and
I felt honored to be surrounded
by such an accomplished group
Near the start of the program, Emcee Mr. Slavin announces names
while Ms. Flenaugh, Ms. Kruger and Mr. Wechsler distribute books.
An overflow crowd fills the quad in the early evening sunshine.
of young voices. Why wait until
our students grow up before recording their words for posterity? Their brilliance is happening
now, and I’m grateful for these
windows into their incredible
minds.”
This Young Author’s Night
was Mrs. Somoza’s last, as she
is leaving Paul Revere this year
(see page 1). “It has always been
a joy, these past six years, to read
the excellent contributions to the
Anthology,” she writes, “The
extensive efforts of teachers,
students, and parents to produce
this memorable publication have
contributed to demonstrating the
creative, academic and emotional growth experienced in middle
school.”
English and history teacher
Ms. Flenaugh was a critical part
in the production of the anthology this year. When asked why
she thought that it was important for students to publish their
work in the anthology, she said,
“Students who publish in the anthology receive recognition from
family, peers and teachers. They
develop pride in their writing.
They are forever part of a great
Revere tradition.”
(left to right) Iris Kim, Lucas Braun, Simon Goldsmith, Katie Thomas, Zach Wunder, Ms. Flenaugh and Isaac Pross at Literary Anthology Night on April 22.
April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 15
From left to right: Zachary Lin, Roberta Alaman and Sarah Silvers in “Once on This Island.”
Patriots in
the Caribbean
Singers, dancers and
actors take the stage for
‘Once on This Island’
Reed Wilson, the gods eagerly
wait to see what happens. The
god of water, played by Ethan
Jones, deliberately crashes the
rich boy’s Mercedes, leaving
him severely injured. Seventh
grader, Ally McCoy played the
goddess of love, who fights to
put some love in the main character’s heart. Will he die or will
love save the day? That question
is answered through a series of
musical numbers acted out by a
cast of 30 young actors.
The cast rehearsed with director Kristy Pace about three to
four times a week during afterschool P.E.P. sessions. The cast
was often called upon to deal
with some challenging issues.
“Some of our rehearsals took
place during a fire alarm testing period,” said director Kristy
Pace. “We had four rehearsals
that had strobe lights flashing for
the full three hours. Add in a few
alarm sounds and the entire cast
had to use their ultimate focus to
keep rehearsing.”
But to make things easier,
most of the costumes were reused from previous productions,
and the tropical set was built
by a professional set designer.
More challenges appeared when
opening night rolled around on
April 4 and some more mechanical difficulties added drama to
the show. “Half of the microphones weren’t working (including mine), but besides that this
year’s musical was a rewarding
experience,” said Ally McCoy.
“The cast did a fabulous job
under hard circumstances,” stated director Kristy Pace after the
final Sunday afternoon matinee.
Aidan Gianassi plays Papa Ge.
By ETHAN JONES
The cast of the musical took the stage on April 4th, 5th and 6th.
The cast of Revere’s P.E.P.
musical took Revere by storm
on April 4, 5 and 6, dancing their
way into the auditorium during
their three shows.
“Once on this Island” is a
modern day story with a mythological twist. A number of gods
watching over the Antilles island
in the Carribean Sea make a bet
on which is more powerful—
love or death. When a young
villager played by eighth grader,
Roberta Alaman falls in love
with a rich young man played by
The colorful costumes and creative choreography add to the drama.
President Donna Kharrazi and the other Student Council hosts take the stage at
the evening performance of “Revere’s Got Talent” with the cast for their final bow.
‘Revere’s Got Talent!’
Patriot prodigies take
the stage to show off
their unique artistry.
By JOJO LEVEY
and SHELBY TZUNG
Students arranged into two
lines with their 4th, 5th, and
6th period classrooms filed in
to the auditorium on Tuesday,
April 8. There was a buzz in the
atmosphere, and any bystander
could feel the excitement pulsing through the air as teachers
shouted and signaled across the
aisles to silence their classes.
As Patriots took their seats, eyes
were turned towards the stage
and students eagerly awaited the
anticipated show.
The “Revere’s Got Talent”
Show is one of the most important events hosted by Student
Council each year. Interested
Patriots were encouraged to sign
up by filling out a sheet with
their name, their act, and what
props they needed for their audition. Auditions officially began
on Tuesday, March 4th in the
auditorium. Slowly, Ms. Istrin
and eight other Student Council
members began assembling the
cast of the show as countless
performers attempted to wow
them with their talents. President
Donna Kharrazi said, “Everyone
who auditioned for the Talent
Show was great and very brave.
Probably the hardest part of the
whole process was picking who
got in.”
After the cast was chosen,
Katie Duke demonstrated her
violin skills to Revere audiences.
there was a rehearsal during
lunch a few days before the
show. The performers were also
excused from their first, second,
and third period classes the day
of the show in order to get in extra practice before they took the
stage.
In the evening after performing during the school day, 16 different talented acts performed in
front of many eager parents and
students. From contortionists to
original guitar compositions to
brave soloists, Revere’s eager
Patriots used their vast amount
of talents to wow the crowd.
After a short introductory vdeo
about the Student Council Hosts,
Hannah Shabtian and Cindy
Pace began the show by singing “All of Me” by John Legend
as Cindy also played the piano.
Following their performance
were fifteen more acts that ended
with the TYB Dance Crew. Even
though the show was expected
to last 2 hours, it only ran for
nearly 50 minutes because all
the performers were ready and
prepared. In addition, many
acts didn’t get to perform due
to stage fright or other technical
difficulties. For example, one of
Revere’s many musicians, Katie
Duke, played the violin and was
accompanied by an instrumental
karaoke song. However, nearly
half way through her song, her
music skipped multiple measures, so she was forced to leave
the stage. After being motivated
by the crowd, Katie returned
to the stage to resume and finish her composition without the
background music.
Out of all the Patriots in the
show, only one sixth grader got
to perform: Chloe Quinn. She
performed “Feelin’ Good” by
Michael Buble acapella style. “I
was very impressed with Chloe;
she was he only 6th grader in the
whole show and had an amazing
voice and lots of confidence,”
said Donna.
Finally, at 7:50 PM, the 2014
talent show came to a close. After seeing the final production,
student council advisor, Ms.
Istrin, said, “It was amazing to
see all of the talent at Revere. So
many students worked hard to
perfect their acts. I also want to
encourage anyone who tried out
that was not in the talent show
this time to try again next year!”
Chloe Quinn “feels good”
onstage as the only sixth grader.
16 April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
Nothing Seems Impossible to This Year’s Yearbook Staff
...THE CLIPPERS PRACTICED AT REVERE. —Alex Vaupen and James Shannon
...THE QUAD WAS AN ICE-SKATING RINK
OPEN TO ALL GRADE LEVELS. —Rebeka Mehdizadeh
...EVERYONE AT THE SCHOOL
HAD SUPER POWERS. —Maksim Zwarych
...KANYE WEST BECAME PRINCIPAL.—Julian Speyer
...THE EAST DRIVEWAY WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A GIANT
INNER-TUBING WATER SLIDE. —Emma Edelman and Rachel Boiteux
...FRIENDLY UNICORNS REPLACED THE
CHICKENS UP AT THE FARM. —Gigi Feingold
...ALL PATRIOTS LOOKED LIKE JULIAN BUDGE.—Julian Budge
...THE BEATLES PERFORMED
AT REVERE. —Liam Mathers
...EVERYONE WAS A MERMAID. —Emma Green
Beliefs, Dreams and Inspirations
April/May/June 2014
Reflections contest
winners are honored at
grade level assemblies.
By ALYSSA WALLIN
The annual Reflections art
contest is considered a time for
students to display their artistic
ability and show everyone
their talents. This year, three
Patriots, one from each grade
level, gave Revere something
to cheer about with their
showing in this year’s program.
With her dance choreography
gaining special recognition,
6th grader Amanda Harris
joined 7th grade writer Zachary
Garai and 8th grade musician
Harrison Garff in moving on to
the state level of competition.
This annual national arts
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 17
program has been going on since
1969 and it gives students the
chance to unleash their creative
talents and be inspired as they
experience the joy and fun of
making art. The categories
include music, photography, art,
writing and dance choreography.
Earlier this year, 33 students
submitted entries inspired by
the theme “Believe, Dream,
Inspire.” During the week after
Thanksgiving, Mrs. Esebag,
Revere’s Reflections chairperson,
collected the entries and sorted
them out. She determined that
almost all qualified to be sent to
the LAUSD judges for the next
round of evaluation. But since
there were so many entries in
the visual arts and photography
categories, she needed to work
with an independent judge to
determine which entries in
those two categories could
move on to the District level.
Once the LAUSD judges
evaluated entries from all the
participating schools, they chose
three entries from Revere to
move on to the state level. At this
time they also decided which
entries would receive an Award
of Excellence, an Award of
Merit or an Honorable Mention.
“I am very impressed with
this year’s participants and
what they achieved,” said
Mrs. Esebag. “There are many
talented students at Paul Revere,
and I look forward to seeing more
wonderful entries next year.”
She encourages Patriots
to start thinking about their
possible entries for 20142015, when the Reflections
theme will be “The world
would be a better place if…”
Mrs. Esebag presents an award to 6th grader
Amanda Harris for her dance choreography.
8th grader
Harrison
Garff was
honored
in the music
category.
Revere’s Reflections Awards 2013-2014
Film Production
Visual Arts
Amanda Harris-6
Zachary Garai-7
Harrison Garff-8
Award of Merit
Morgan Esebag-7
Award of Excellence
Yucheng Che-6
Blaize Smith-8
Literature
Honorable Mention
Megan Mizrahi-8
Award of Merit
Ava Kerkorian-6
7th grader Zachary
Garai was honored
in the literature
category.
Music
Award of Excellence
Photography
Award of Excellence
Honorable Mention
Inessa Martins-6
Alyssa Berman-7
Isabella Pocknell-6
Caitlin Chen-7
Roeltje Van Heijiningen-6
Award of Merit
Muhammad Khalid-6
Charlotte Andrews-7
Judith Zhang-6
Janna Handler-7
Miros Valipour-7
Award of Merit
Asaph Bay-7
Marina Caro-6
Molly Jebsen-7
Alice Kim-6
Hyunhee Kim-6
Honorable Mention
Justin Hayes-6
Award of Merit
Jessica Garff-6
Honorable Mention
Alexander Pitcher-7
Certificate of
Participation
Jonathan Shu-6
Sophia Wlodek-6
Matteo Zabrucky-8
Owen Holland-7
Ally McCoy-7
Celine Rahnama-6
Kira Davis-6
Town Crier film critics grade five recent releases.
Million Dollar Arm
A
This homerun of a movie features sports agent J.B. Bernstein, who is struggling to keep
up with his financial situation.
In a final attempt to save his
and his partner Ash’s business,
Bernstein organizes an event
called “Million Dollar Arm,”
which targets cricket players in
large untapped market of India.
Bernstein, with the help of retired sports scout Ray Poitevint
and pitching coach Tom House,
hope to turn two Indian cricket
players into major league
baseball pitchers. Although the
movie starts off relatively slow,
we are quickly able to grasp the
situation that the characters are
placed in. The pan of the camera
expertly gives us a sense of the
change the Indian ball players
are struggling through, with the
ever-looming deadline by which
they must be ready to compete.
Filled with clever jokes and interesting plot twists, by the end
of the movie we are thoroughly
immersed in the story of the two
young Indians. A new look on
the classic theme of teamwork
and the values of family, Million
Dollar arm is a movie to see.
—Amanda Thompson
Godzilla
B
Gareth Edward’s monster of
a film kicked off Summer
2014 with the first blockbuster
of the year. It’s as thrilling,
loud and full of energy as
the title character itself. With
impressive visual effects and
an interesting plot, this reboot
gives an exciting new take on
the 1950’s classic. The film
takes place in present-day
San Francisco where actor
Aaron Taylor-Johnson portrays
Lieutenant Ford living with his
wife, Elle, played by Elizabeth
Olsen. When a previous nuclear
disaster awakens prehistoric
beasts forewarned by Ford’s
father, the lieutenant must be
called upon to aid Godzilla in
the defeat of two evil monsters
intent on destroying society.
With an average level of
suspense and a dark sountrack
to keep audience members on
edge, this semi-disaster movie
is just what we might expect
from a big-budget summer flick.
Unfortunately, the mediocre
acting and dull dialogue weigh
down the otherwise satisfactory
film. This movie ultimately
shoots more confetti than fire.
—Julian Speyer
Divergent
Amazing Spider-Man 2
Captain America
Director Neil Burger brings
us into a world separated by
many different factions, each
dedicated to the cultivation
of a virtue, in the exciting
action-romance “Divergent.”
Different factions each
represent knowledge,
fearlessness, selflessness,
honesty and tranquility. In the
film, Beatrice Prior, played by
Shailene Woodley, finds out
she’s Divergent, and can fit for a
number a factions, not just one.
This gives her an advantage
over others. She soon discovers
a plan to kill all Divergents and
has to fight to survive. At first,
the movie captured its viewer’s
attention, but by the end, it had
broken their hearts. Viewers
may have been disappointed
to see minor changes between
the movie and book, but the
amazing and complicated
storyline made it just as good
to see and read. The soundtrack
accompanying the heart-racing
action scenes make the bits
even more intense and keep the
audience on the endge of their
seat. “Divergent” is an amazing
film — a must-see movie for
many years. —Ethan Jones
The long-awaited sequel of
“The Amazing Spider-Man”
hit theaters on May 2, leaving
fans shocked and electrified.
Ordinary Max Dillon becomes
villain Electro when he is in an
electrical accident and attacked
by genetically altered eels.
Spider-Man swoops in to save
the day (yet again) with his
spidey senses. Electro teams
up with Peter Parker’s longlost friend Harry Osborn in an
attempt to destroy Spider-Man.
But in the end, the beloved
web-spinning hero prevails,
defeating both enemies with the
help of his intelligent girlfriend,
Gwen Stacy. But with the joy
of victory came a tragic loss.
Despite the tear-jerking ending,
the acting was spectacular—the
actors were not at all afraid
to show emotion and didn’t
shy away from anything. The
special effects and CGI are quite
impressive; it can’t be easy to
include a man that consists of
electricity in approximately
half the movie. All in all, The
Amazing Spider-Man 2 was an
excellent film, and we’ll all be
hoping to see a third.
—Alicia Abramson
The latest film in the everevolving Marvel universe is
directed by the Russo brothers.
The film takes place in the
present day during an uprising
involving an underground
corporation inside the
government group Shield called
Hydra and Captain America has
to take it down. The plot may
seem fairly simple but the twists
and fantastically brutal action
sequences accelerate the story.
The CGI is on point and doesn’t
ever break away from the
immersion of the film as well
as the surprisingly witty acting
from Chris Evans, Scarlett
Johansson and Samuel L.
Jackson. Those who find Marvel
films too generic in storytelling
and action will be pleasantly
surprised by the overall quality
of this film. Although it has
some predictable plot twists,
“Captain America: The Winter
Soldier” has pretty much
everything else a great action
movie needs. It combines brutal
action with a funny/witty script,
memorable performances and
noteworthy characters who keep
things interesting.
—Trevor Scholl
A
A-
B+
18 April/May/June 2014
Spring Performances
Conduct Excitement
By GRACE DEAN
On a warm spring morning, dancers, singers, and musicians alike stood outside of the
auditorium doors, jumping up
and down, speaking in hushed
whispers. Mrs. Somoza came
on, and announced the start of
Revere’s Spring Concert. There
were three performances in all:
one for sixth graders, one for
seventh, and one for eighth. And
who were the performers for this
annual show? Ms. Cronin’s array
of singers, Mr. Miyoshi’s assortment of bands, and Ms. Jacques
selection of orchestras displayed
Revere’s musical mind, which
through many rehearsals, including the Monday daytime performances, was tuned to perfection
by the evening shows later in the
week. As students swayed and
instruments played on the auditorium stage, Revere enjoyed its
very own unique performance.
As classes filed into the auditorium, Mrs. Somoza and Revere’s principal of the day, Kamran Allahvardy, greeted students
that were settling into their seats.
The usual procedure followed,
with a reminder to stay quiet.
Then, the show started.
Ms. Cronin’s choirs performed a variety of songs, including a medley of Adele’s
songs, “Rolling in the Deep”
and “Set Fire to the Rain,” the
hit pop song “Firework” by Katy
Perry, “Count on me” by Bruno
Mars, and more. In addition to
“Firework,” Show Choir also
performed “Can’t Stop the Beat”
from the m Hairspray. Later, Ms.
Cronin conducted the Revere
Singers in a variety of songs.
This chorus group performed the
same medley for the rest of the
shows. Concert Choir performed
in the next two shows, singing
“Africa,” the folksy rock song
by Toto, and 6th grade choir
sang “Count on Me,” and were
accompanied by students playing ukuleles.
Mr. Miyoshi’s bands also
struck up many tunes on campus, including “Chinese Folk
Fantasy,” “25 or 64” and “Under
My Skin.” In one memorable
performance, 7th grader Katie
Thomas conducted the Patriot
band in a rendition of “Australian Sea Ballad.”
Ms. Jacques’ orchestras featured songs sad and uplifting,
haunting and mysterious. Sym-
phony Orchestra played the “Romeo and Juliet Suite” and “Overture.” Other songs played were
“Hall of the Mountain King,”
“Fague in G Minor” and “The
Chase.”
One month prior to these
year-end performances, Revere’s top music groups traveled to the Forum Music Festival, where they performed and
competed with music groups
from other middle schools. The
select groups from Revere that
participated all received either a
silver or gold ranking, meaning
that they were placed in the top
10-20% nationwide. They celebrated their victory with a trip to
California Adventure. Said 7th
grader Leela Gowland, “I would
like to give a special thanks to
Mr. Miyoshi, Ms. Jacques and
Mrs. Cronin for all of their hard
work and efforts to put together
such a fabulous program.”
The sixth grade choir included Patriots from both periods 5 and 6.
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
Luke Ferrene plays the clarinet.
Spencer Zaid plays the violin.
Ms. Cronin (left), Ms. Jacques and Mr. Miyoshi at the concert.
The show choir perform the number “You Can’t Stop the Beat.”
Book Talk: THE FAULT IN OUR STARS
Patriots discuss John Green’s bestseller “The Fault in Our Stars”
Hitting theaters on June 6th is a tale of two teens with cancer who happen to meet and fall
in love; “The Fault in Our Stars.” This bestseller by John Green is a book Patriots have been
raving about. The Town Crier interviewed three 7th grade girls and asked them to give their
opinions on the story. Okay? Okay.
“I have read The Fault in Our Stars
at least four times, and each time this
absolutely incredible story only gets better.
I have never read a book that made me feel so much
a part of every character’s life. The love between
Augustus and Hazel is so real and the tragic situation
they find themselves in is so suspenseful and I couldn’t
put it down. Every time I read the hospital scenes I ended
up in tears because I felt like I was there. The writing
really makes every page come to life. I cannot
wait for the movie to come out and I hope it’s
as amazing as the book.”
—Ella Schumaker
“When I started to read The
Fault in Our Stars I entered an enchanting
journey. I liked this story because it proved that
even disabled people can find happiness. I love
the character’s daring and heart-warming personalities.
The plot was romantic and humorous with unexpected twists.
The theme shows that even in a world of darkness, love can
still be found. His detailed descriptions make the scenes
come alive right off the pages. My favorite thing about The
Fault in Our Stars was that I could feel the strong love of
the main characters, and how they shared the love with
not only each other, but the readers, too.”
—Skylar Smith
“The Fault in Our Stars
is an inspiring book that suggests
that life isn’t a fairytale. After reading it over
spring break, I couldn’t leave the story behind.
Every time I read the book, I never get bored or tired
because the plot is suspenseful throughout the whole book.
John Green mixes the perfect amount of romance and
reality to gain the presence of my tears and laughter.
It’s delightful plot twists and its sweet sudden surprises grab my attention no matter where I am or
what I am doing.”
From left to right: Nicole Joh, Ella Schumaker and Skylar Smith read from Green’s book in the library.
—Nicole Joh
April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 19
Shooting Stars
Students share photos and behind-the-scenes
details of their close encounters with celebrities.
By YSMAEL KAMGAING
On TV, on the radio, across
the headlines of newspapers, celebrities are all over the media.
It’s not every day that Patriots
have the opportunity to meet famous personalities in person, but
when they do, it’s photo time.
The star-studded collage
on the left shows snapshots of
over a dozen chance meetings
between famous stars and their
fans from Revere. Here are the
stories behind the pictures:
(1) Georgia Calvert was a
real “New Girl” meeting Max
Greenfield with his wife and kid
at The Grove. “I was so scared to
meet him, and his wife noticed
my nerves,” said Georgia. “She
came up to me and asked if I
wanted to meet him. I said ‘Yes’
and took a picture with him. After that I felt really thrilled.”
(2) Spencer Davis (pictured
on the front page) and Sammy
Speiser were “Happy” to run
into Pharrell Williams at the Pali
High football field. The superstar
musician was filming his “Come
Imagine how excited
“Belieber” Avery
VandeVort was when
she won backstage
passes to see Justin
Bieber in concert at
Staples Center.
Get It Bae” video. “Spencer and I
both live near Pali,” said Sammy.
“We heard the loud thundering
music from the field and decided
to head over. Pharrell was a very
down to earth guy who took time
to talk and take pictures with every single person there.”
(3) Ava Sahebi was dancing
at an event attended by Abby
Lee Miller, who is famously featured in the “Dance Moms” reality TV show. “There were about
a hundred people there,” said
Ava. “After our dance routine
was over, everyone lined up to
take pictures with Abby. It was
a long wait but it was worth it.”
(4) Imagine how excited
“Belieber” Avery VandeVort was
when she won backstage passes
to see Justin Bieber in concert at
Staples Center. She had with her
a letter she had written to Justin
describing how much she liked
him. As she gave him the letter, Justin smiled as he thanked
and hugged her. “I was afraid to
give him my letter,” said Avery.
“I was about to not do it until I
thought ‘YOLO’ and gave it to
him. That must’ve been the happiest day of my life.”
(5) On May 4, Nick Leader
was walking with his friends to
Santa Monica Place. “When we
got there,” he said, “we saw a giant crowd.” It turns out that Nick
Cannon, the host of “America’s
Got Talent,” was there shooting
an intro for the show. When the
boys saw that the actor/comedian/rapper walked into a store
nearby during his break, they
went up to him to ask for a picture. “He was well dressed and
he was very nice,” Nick said.
(6) Also in Santa Monica,
Rivata Dutta, Janna Offenberger
and Danielle York were on their
way to Starbucks when they
ran into Peyton List, who plays
Emma in the Disney show “Jessie.” When they asked what she
was doing there, the actress said
she was hanging out in L.A. for
the weekend. “Some celebrities
are rude but she seemed really
nice,” Danielle reported. (7) Aspiring rapper Jair Miles
met singer Macklemore at the
West Los Angeles Children’s
Choir. He came to record his
new song “Wings” while Jair’s
class sang in the chorus. Jair
went up and asked the singer
lots of questions and they shook
hands. “I just love his songs,”
said Jair. “This was one of the
greatest moments of my life.”
(8) Colette Nassirzadeh got a
real birthday surprise when she
met the world-famous One Direction singer Niall Horan at the
W Hotel. Huge crowds of people
were waiting to get his autograph. “I was speechless when I
saw him,” she said. “It was one
of the greatest birthdays ever.”
(9) Miros Valipour was at the
premiere of the animated movie “Mr. Peabody & Sherman”
when she ran into Ariel Winter,
who plays Alex on the TV show
“Modern Family.” Miros said,
“I wasn’t that thrilled to go to
the premiere because it was for
a kids’ movie. But then when I
was in line for popcorn, I noticed
someone really familiar. I’ve been
watching ‘Modern Family’ for a
long time, so I was really excited
to see Ariel. She was so nice and
sweet and after the picture she
even complimented me. I’m so
glad I got to meet her.”
(10) After an amazing soccer
game, Mariana Paleno met the
famous movie star Russell Brand
while he was watching his kids
play on the field. She was the
first person to notice him since
he was bundled against the cold
with sweaters and scarves. She
managed to pose for a picture
with the “Arthur” star. “I was
very pleased to see him,” Mariana said. “It’s not very often that
people get to see movie stars.”
(11) After a long day at
school, Ysmael Kamgaing went
to Westwood Charter to pick up
his little brother and sister from
school. On the yard, he recognized a familiar face. He approached one of the teachers and
asked, “Is that the soccer player
Jozy Altidore?” When the teacher nodded yes, Ysmael excitedly
took out his phone and sprinted
to the famous international soccer player from Team USA. “I
couldn’t believe my eyes when I
saw him,” exclaimed Ysmael.
(12) Jessie Bierschenk met
the famous TV and movie star
Jennifer Garner at the Starbucks
down the street from Revere.
She didn’t notice her at first until people kept crowding around
her. When she finally saw Jennifer, Jessie asked her friend
Gabi to take a picture of the two
of them. “After I left Starbucks,
I giggled because I realized her
husband Ben Affleck was also
there but I didn’t even notice.”
(13) Last but not least, the
force was with Claire and Oliver Spector and Haley McCarthy
when they met Harrison Ford at
a cross country meet. The mega
movie star of “Star Wars” and
“Indiana Jones” fame was cheering for his kids who attend school
in Brentwood. After posing for
a picture, the star wished them
good luck on their race. “Oliver and I have seen most of his
movies,” said Claire. But Haley
admitted, “I never watched any
of his movies, but by the look of
everyone’s faces I knew he was
famous for something.”
20 April/May/June 2014
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
Sports
1.4 Seconds Puts Brent Smith in First
By MELISSA
BUNNAPRADIST
Runners position themselves
for the race. The grass smells
fresh and the mild wind seems
to cut through their P.E shirts,
which are variously worn for
athletic achievement. All runners wear set, determined faces,
eyes focused only on what was
ahead of them. Spectators eagerly wait for the race to begin. The
whistle blows. The same runners
sprint towards the beginning of
the grass lap to start the course
for the title of Revere’s fastest
Patriot. This is the scene of the
Cross Country run.
During second period, seventh grader Brent Smith ran
across the boys’ finish line,
achieving the title of 2014’s
Fastest Patriot. With a time of
7:47, Brent is the 2014 Cross
Country champion for seventh
grade as well as the school, behind all time record setter Charlie Sherman by thirteen seconds.
Beating runner up Flaviano Winther by a staggering 1.4 seconds,
Brent received a trophy for his
acheivement.
“I was really overjoyed for
what I had just accomplished,”
says Brent. “I was really nervous
at the start of the race, but my
friends calmed me down. All of
my senses were focused on the
sound of the whistle, and the
moment it sounded, everything
rushed forward in a blur. Before I knew it, I was leading the
group of seventh grade boys. Every muscle in my body screamed
for me to stop, but I was determined to push on and beat my
previous time: 7:58. I did beat
it with 7:47—blowing that time
out of the water.”
Seventh grader Brittany Darrow, Revere’s fastest girl, also
stated she went all out during the
race. With a time of 8:38, Brittany was second to all time record
setting girl Marissa Williams by
25 seconds.
“I went out hard on my first
grass lap,” she says about the
race. “And to get a good lead,
I kept that pace until I got up to
the front of the school, where I
slowed down to preserve my
energy for the uphill part.” She
also says that this race felt tough
for her. “I felt like my legs were
made of metal because they felt
so heavy! I am a really competitive person, and since I didn’t get
to run last year, I was really determined to win. ”
The race, however, was a
process for everybody—not just
the finalists. The preliminary run
had every Patriot—all 2,100 of
them—running the course during their P.E periods. The top ten
from each gender were selected
from each class to run semifinals. The top ten boys and girls
of each P.E period qualified to
run the finals.
‘In the final sprint
down the driveway,
adrenaline coursed
through my veins
and pushed me to
the finish line.’
—Brent Smith
Flaviano
Winther
“I thought it was a fun
course,” says runner Samantha
Rene. “Because it was all around
the school. By the end of the
race, I was out of energy and I
was proud of my time. I thought
it was good exercise, and even
though running isn’t my favorite
activity, it was a fun change from
running the same course every
week.”
The race proved to not just
be an easy walk in the park for
most who did make it to semifinals and finals—the run itself
was postponed a week due to the
sweltering weather on the designated days.
When temperatures finally
cooled down, Patriots ran the
semifinals on May 20th. However, period two had a malfunction—several seventh graders
started about 15 seconds late
because they thought the seventh
graders were running after the
eighth graders, instead of all together.
But not all of the second period semifinalists suffered from
the malfunction—titled fastest
girl Brittany Darrow ran that period.
“Mr. Foxson actually had
told us that seventh graders were
running second,” Brittany continues about the malfunction.
“However, as the race began,
some seventh graders started
running. About ten seconds into
the race, we asked about it and
he yelled at us to start running.
Though I got an 8:41, I still
was kind of annoyed because I
would’ve had those extra fifteen
seconds to get a better time.”
The finals finally rolled
around on May 22 a cloudy
yet sunny day. Excited spectators watched eagerly to see who
would receive the trophies for
Revere’s fastest Patriot. Finalists
felt the stress of the competition.
“It was pretty intense,”
claims finalist Ryan Breitman.
“But I was excited for beating
my goal. I wanted to be in the top
five finishers for my grade, and
so I tried to stay with the faster
runners. A lot of them were trying to pass me, including Jack
O’Rourke, who I ran really
closely with for the majority of
the race. However, I didn’t give
up, and passed four people at the
end by the big tree. I ended up
getting fifth place for my grade
overall, and was really happy.
My main strategy was to keep
trying to pass people and keep up
with runners I knew were slightly faster.”
At the end of the finals, the
first place winners received trophies, and the winning period
medals.
“Running in cross country
feels great,” says finalist Andrew
Cardona. “It felt like taking a trip
down Memory Lane—I loved
running with my friends in such
a big event.”
Dora
Seggelke
Jayson
Antonio
Fastest 8th Grade Boy
Fastest 8th Grade Girl
Daniel
Yin
Devin
Fry
Stella
Collin
Fastest 6th Grade Boy
Brent Smith: Fastest Patriot
TOP TEN BOYS’ TIMES
1) Brent Smith: 7:47 (7th)
6) Kaveh Majd: 8:21 (8th)
2) Flaviano Winther: 7:48.4 (8th) 7) Christian Jackson: 8:23 (8th)
3) Ben Hamer: 8:02 (8th)
8) Jayson Antonio: 8:25 (7th)
4) Mauricio Martinez: 8:09 (8th) 9) Chris Howard: 8:26 (8th)
5) Finn Cawley: 8:17 (8th)
10) Diego Huttepain: 8:27 (8th)
Brittany Darrow: Fastest Girl
Fastest 6th Grade Girl
TOP TEN GIRLS’ TIMES
1) Brittany Darrow: 8:38 (7th)
2) Dora Seggelke: 9:05 (8th)
3) Daniela Flores: 9:08 (7th)
4) Sammy Stahl: 9:24 (7th)
5) Stella Collin: 9:25 (6th)
6) Alyssa Berman: 9:37 (7th)
7) Lilia Weissmuller: 9:39 (6th)
8) Jordan Darrow: 9:41 (7th)
9) Lizzy Rene: 9:42 (7th)
Amanda Harris: 9:42 (6th)
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 21
April/May/June 2014
Brittany Darrow
has the track all to
herself.
On the Fast Track
Patriots set the pace for a successful track season.
By SAMANTHA RENE
As the first race started, so
did Paul Revere’s track season.
The track team went to a total of
four track meets and performed
in several different events. They
performed well in several categories, especially in the 1,600
meter, 400 meter, and 800 meter
runs.
During the track meets,
points were tallied depending on
how athletes placed in competition. Only the top five competitors in each event earned points
for their school. For instance,
a first place win would result
in five points, while fifth place
would earn one point.
At Paul Revere’s first meet
of the season on March 27, 2014
at Chaminade High School, the
Paul Revere track team showed
all the private schools that they
were threats to their titles. The
Paul Revere boys earned a total
of 46 points putting them in second place, losing only to Laurel
Hall. The girls earned 32 points,
putting them in second place
to Immaculate Heart. “It was
a great way to start the season.
And I really think this will give
us a boost of confidence for future track meets,” says Brittany
Darrow, a member of the track
team.
At Paul Revere’s second
track meet on April 3 at Chaminade, Paul Revere earned less
points than before, with a total of
55 points. The Revere boys tied
for first along with Chaminade
having 42 points overall. The
girls from Paul Revere came in
fourth with a total of 13 points.
Revere’s runners improved in
some categories. For instance,
the girls earned two more points
in the 200 meter than before,
the girls earned one point in the
4x400 meter relay. The boys also
showed their improvement when
they earned two more points in
the 1600 meter, and two more
points in the high jump.
On April 26, Revere’s girls
went to a meet at Harvard West-
lake, but only two boys showed
up. It was up to the girls to win it
for Revere. However, they only
scored a total of 16 points, putting them in 5th place.
On May 1, Paul Revere students ran their last races before
the championships. The boys on
Paul Revere’s track team scored
Charlotte Heide
throws the shot put.
48.2 points, coming in first
place. They improved in the 400
meter by earning one more point
than last time and in the high
jump, with .2 more points than
the previous meet, they obtained
a total of 7.2 points in the high
jump. The girls however, scored
a total of 15 points putting them
Eric Halperin runs
the 200 meter dash.
Ben Hamer leads in
the 1600 meter run.
Rayne shoots off the starting line as he begins to
run the 100 meter dash.
in fourth place.
Many Revere runners are
beating records and coming in
first, second, or third place, but
who are these special patriots?
Eighth grader, Rayne Camden,
broke Revere’s 100 meter record
on May 1, running a time of 11.5
seconds, beating the record, 11.8
seconds by .30 seconds. Representing the seventh grade girls,
Brittany Darrow has won several
races. Her strongest race is 1600
meter run, her best time being a
5:34. Eighth grader Jite Agege
ran two of the fastest times in
the 200 meter dash—27.1 and
27.5.
Revere’s final meet of the
year was the Delphic League
finals. During this prestigous
meet, Revere had several medalists. Another medalist from Revere was Brittany Darrow, who
finished the 1600 meter run in
5:34, resulting in a first place
win. eighth grader Ben Hamer
took third place in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:11. As
for the relays, Paul Revere took
second place in the 4x100 and
4x400. Rayne Camden was another high-performing athlete
from Revere. Rayne jumped
over 5’4” and ran the 100 meter
dash in 11.92, making him the
Delphic League champion in
both events. “When I had finally
crossed the finish line I felt great,
for I had claimed the title in the
entire league for the 100 meter
dash,” Rayne said.
Their numerous hours of
training resulted in several wins
for Revere’s athletes on the track
team. Despite having to compete
against many private schools,
Revere was able to end the season in sixth place for girls and
third place for boys.
Softball Team Has a Home-Run Season
By ALYSSA WALLIN
In six years of Revere softball, the 2014 team seemed to
be the most successful team.
Against all odds, in their first
year in the Delphic League, the
team made their way into the
championship game. With a re-
cord of 4 wins and 3 losses, the
Riders were awarded second
place in the league, losing to
Village Christian School in the
championship game.
In this defeat, the softball
team started off the game with
one hit by Calia Hunter, however no runs were scored. In
The girls on Revere’s softball team are all smiles before their game.
the bottom of the third inning,
Village Christian put the first
run of the game on the scoreboard, and eventually all four
were scored in that inning. Revere went throughout the game
with no runs, and was defeated
4-0. “Really all we had was one
bad inning in the field, but that’s
how softball goes sometimes,”
softball coach Mr. Kirby stated.
“Our pitching was solid all season long, it was just our hitting
that would sometimes sputter
out. We had our chances to get
a couple of runs, it just didn’t
work out.”
Although they lost the championship, the team dominated
their opponent, Chaminade, in
the semi-finals. The 23-0 win
was led by Talia Hunter’s two
home runs and Alyssa Wallin’s two grand slams. Talia also
pitched a shutout up until the last
inning, when Gabby Weiner’s
pitching closed out the game,
also giving up no runs.
More highlights of the season
include the game against Harvard Westlake, where the girls
defeated the Wolverines for the
first time in Paul Revere softball
history. “Our game against Harvard Westlake I would say was
the best overall game. Mainly for
the fact that, simply as a game,
it was the most exciting and had
some of the best highlights of
the season for us,” Mr. Kirby
describes. Alyssa Wallin lead off
the game with a home run over
the left field fence. Talia Hunter
carried the team throughout the
game with her pitching. In the
end, the Riders won 2-1.
The Rider’s victory against
Campbell Hall was another
Alyssa Wallin
focuses on
home base as
she prepares
to run.
game that could be called a highlight of the season. The 19-0 win
was another dominating experience for the girls. With Talia
Hunter’s pitching and the work
of the team, Revere won easily.
“In my six years as head
softball coach, this was the best
team I ever coached,” Mr. Kirby
said. “Wins or losses, as long as
my girls had a good time and left
everything on the field, I was
happy.”
22 April/May/June 2014
Fun-Rai$ing in the Sun
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
By ALLY STAHL
The timers are ready, the
runners are ready to start for a
thirty minute running period.
Patriots start at their first
checkpoint at the bottom of the
course. With music blasting and
muscles pumping, the whistle
blows. This year, over $24,000
was raised at Revere’s annual
Fun Run. This money is donated
to an environmental charity
every year, chosen by the Go
Green Homeroom. This year,
the money was donated to the
docents of Malibu Creek Park.
Along with getting exercise,
students have a chance to earn
community
service
hours.
With pledges from family
members and friends, some
students run to get the most
checkpoints they can get,
and others to fill the twomile requirement. At the first
checkpoint in the lap, Mr. Amos
stands ready to blast runners
with his massive water gun.
According to 7th grade runner,
Alyssa Wallin, “The weather was
on the warmer side so it felt good
and refreshing to get sprayed.”
The Fun Run is required
for Patriots at Revere, but not
for the teachers. Some teachers
including,
Mr.
Steinhoek,
Ms. Kruger, Ms. Asahina,
Mr. Amos and Ms. Palmer
ran for fun to encourage their
students. Ms. Chen, Go Green
club chief and PE teacher said,
“The Fun Run has been going
on since 2011, and I hope it
goes on for many more years.”
Patriots ran their way to fun at Revere’s annual Fun Run.
Volleyball Team Serves the Heat
Miles Toland fights for the ball against his Chaminade opponent.
LAX to the MAX
By CLAIRE SPECTOR
With the spring 2014 PEP
session drawing to a close, so is
the season for the Revere boys’
lacrosse team. An overall record
of 3-5 sums up the final few
games, but prevents the boys
from competing in the playoffs.
Despite this, the team
feels they did well and pulled
themselves together with their
camaraderie. “Our teamwork was
all right the first couple of games,
but once we started winning
our chemistry really started
improving,” said Jake Takakjian.
Revere’s first game was
against Oaks Christian and
resulted in a 2-11 Patriot loss.
Following this was a loss to
Harvard Westlake with a score
of 6-8. The next games both
ended in victories for Revere,
one against Chaminade with a
10-8 score, and another against
Culver City with a score of
6-2. Next came a 4-8 Revere
loss to Brentwood, a 6-7 loss to
Westside Neighborhood School,
and a 8-12 loss to Saint Pauls. The
team ended the season on a high
note with one last win against
View Point with a 5-4 score.
“I liked playing on the
team because I got to represent
Revere,” Jake added. “Having a
jersey with my school’s name on
it is something to be proud of.”
Patriot James Shannon runs to the offensive zone to try to score.
By YSMAEL KAMGAING
The boy’s volleyball team
seemed to be spiking up some
wins this year. These Patriots
entered the playoffs in the 2nd
seed, because they won a total of
four games: Campbell Hall, Culver City and twice against Oaks
Chritian. They lost three games:
twice to Chaminade and once to
Campbell Hall.
The Revere boy’s volleyball roster consisted of Samuel
Ingram, Will Clifford, Mickey
Moore, Will Elander, Brandon
Boone, Zach Hausner, Justin
Howard, Brent Smith, Simon
Goldsmith, James Mitchell, and
Nicholas Conte.
This group of athletes worked
diligently at their practices twice
a week, and they worked hard
to improve their skills in serving, passing, setting and spiking.
Alongside their fundamentals,
the team often used skills such as Nicholas Conte tees up the volSam Ingram serves the ball to
blocking and diving to imorove leyball for a serve.
the other side of the court.
their game, which ultimately led
to victories.
Revere’s boy’s volleyball
team, consisting of five seventh
graders and four sixth graders,
finished the competitive league
play with a record of 4-3. “It was
better than what I expected,”
said outside hitter Brent Smith.
“Our success as a team and the
team chemistry made the season
really fun.”
In the first round of the playoffs, Revere beat Campbell Hall
20-25 on May 6, but in the second round, Revere lost to Chaminade 17-25 and the second set
22-25.
“Even though we didn’t win,
overall our team had a fun time
playing,” said Justin Howard,
who said he’s already looking
forward to next year.
The volleyball team is all smiles after winning second place overall.
Paul Revere Charter Middle School 23
April/May/June 2014
Braun the Baseball
Phenom
Edited by Jojo Levey
Rolan Panza
heads toward
the goal.
Many Patriots participate in a
wide variety of athletic sports.
From dancing to swimming, and
soccer to gymnastics, the six athletes on this page have quite a bit
to say about their extracurricular
activities.
Twirling in Tutus
Since she was a little girl,
Alexandra
Shlosman
has
dreamed of being a dancer—
and it seems her dream is on
the path to becoming reality.
With rigorous practices for a
minimum of 11.5 hours every
week and relentless training to
keep her flexible and strong,
Alexandra’s aspirations to one
day dance professionally may
not be so far-fetched. “I started
dancing when I was four,” she
says. “My older sister did ballet
and I really wanted to also. I
would just dance around the
Shoots and Scores
Ballet is
definitely
her forte.
house as a child and my parents
thought it made sense for me to
take classes.”
For some, the constant
efforts required to excel at ballet
may seem cause to give up, but
Alexandra finds ways to stay
motivated. She is inspired by her
improvement every day, which
“motivates me to come back
the next day and improve even
more.”
So where does she see her
dancing skills taking her in the
future. Since Alexandra trains
at a very intense Russian school
of dance, very few are chosen
to become professional dancers,
but, she says, “it is definitely a
goal of mine.”
—Alicia Abramson
Rolan Panza is also a student
sports star, who is a left defender
on his soccer team, Santa Monica United. He has been playing
soccer since he was six. Now
he has advanced to a silver elite
club team that practices three
times a week and usually has a
game on the weekends.
Rolan’s first soccer tourna-
when he was younger. His sister
used to always play soccer and
he wanted to be as good as her.
“One of my greatest moments
in soccer was the time when we
had a one point lead but the other team had the ball. The other
teams best scorer chipped the
ball over our goalie. At the last
second I came and headed the
ball out of the goal and we won.”
—Ysmael Kamgaing
Lucas
tags off
the season.
Life in the Fast Lane
Nastasya
soars.
Keeping Up the
Rhythm
Nastasya Generalova’s career is beating the competition
by leaps and bounds. She has
been doing rhythmic gymnastics, which combines ballet and
creative dance to music, while
working with the apparatus,
such as ribbon and hoop for over
ten years. She trains with the
Dancing
Through Life
Lights!
Camera!
Passe!
ment took place when he was
only ten years old. Since then,
his club team has won about
twenty tournaments. They also
participated in a National tournament held for silver, silver elite,
and gold teams. Rolan’s team
reached round of thirty-two until
they were finally defeated with a
close loss.
Rolan says his older sister inspired him to start soccer
Lucas Braun is a member of
the Hawks club baseball team,
who is about to play in a tournament in Cooperstown, New
York. “I am extremely excited
for Cooperstown because it will
be my first time playing baseball
out of California,” says excited
Lucas. “It is the biggest baseball
tournament for 12 year olds and
I’m so excited my team and I are
playing in it.”
This 7th grader has been
playing baseball since age 4 and
he practices Wednesdays and
Fridays every week. “The fact
that we get so many secondchances is why I love baseball so
much.” Lucas said. “I never have
to get myself down about a bad
at-bat because a great baseball
player fails 7 out of 10 times.”
Lucas has made great memories while playing, but his overall favorite, he says, “When I
was 10 years old my all star team
won the District Championship
because I pitched 3 innings, only
allowing 1 run, struck out 4 batters and at-bat I hit a three-run
Home Run.” —Aaron Heisen
Almost every little girl has
dreamt of becoming a ballerina
and wearing pink tutus and sparkling tiaras at one point in their
life. For 7th grader Sarah Hurty,
this dream could someday be a
reality.
Through lots of hard work,
Sarah is confidently becoming a star. She dances six days
a week, including two hours of
United States team, and California Rhythms. “I train five hours
everyday except Fridays from 4
to 9 pm and usually get home at
9:30, do homework, and go to
bed at 1:00 am. My main goal
is to work my hardest and be the
best I can be,” she tells us.
Her hard work has paid off.
Nastasya has won 6 gold metals,
and 5 silver. She is ranked number 2 in the junior USA team and
has been the USA gymnastics
Athlete of the Year for five years.
And last but not least, she
was Sportskid of the Year in
USA Sports Illustrated. “My favorite part about rhythmic gymnastics is that you get to express
your feelings to the audience,”
she said.
“When you share your feelings with the audience, they can
feel it too, and it’s one of the best
experiences possible.”
—McKenna Brown
technique classes a day and ten
hours of Nutcracker rehearsal a
week during the fall season. “I
would like to dance seven days
a week, but my mom says that I
need a day of rest,” Sarah tells
the Town Crier. Sarah is talented
at many types of dancing: modern, Horton, ballet, jazz, tap, hip
hop, flamenco, and African.
Since ballet is her main
focus, the emphasis is not on
competition. There is one ballet competition in the future that
she hopes to dance in, though:
the Youth American Grand Prix.
Only the best ballerinas get to
participate in the YAGP, so for
Sarah, it would be an honor. Sarah exclaimed, “I love every part
of dancing, from class to performances. Dancing makes me feel
happy and joyful. Sometimes
dancing can be painful, like
many long hours of rehearsal
on pointe, but no matter what, I
always feel on top of the world
when I dance.” —Lyric Latshaw
Dora is ready to dive off the
blocks and into the coolness of
the pool. This is an everyday
routine for Dora Seggelke. She
is an experienced and skilled
swimmer. She works very hard,
juggling schoolwork with swim
practices and competitions. She
loves the water, and has been enjoying it since she was a child,
even if it was just splashing
around and having fun in the
sun!
Dora enjoys her sport beyond
just the pool. She said, “When
I’m in the water I swim like a
shark is chasing me!” Dora is
very athletic and has the skill
Dora makes
a splash.
and experience to power past her
opponents.
She participates in competition and looks forward to them
weeks in advance. As for her
career in swimming, she says, “
I have no clue how long I want
to continue swimming, but I will
try to continue as long as I can.”
Even when Dora was 5 or 6, she
knew she wanted to be a swimmer. She is dedicated to her sport
and committed to being the best
she can be. When she swims, she
always wants to be first. “Pulling
ahead of her competitors is what
keeps her going,” she said.
—Ally Stahl
24 April/May/June 2014
“Shoes make
the outfit.”
Style
“Accessories
are key.”
Madeline
Fowler
Leyla
Dekhanova
“Your own style should make
you happy, confident and—most
importantly—comfortable.”
Paul Revere Charter Middle School
“Be comfortable
with whatever
you wear.”
“Don’t forget
to dress for
yourself!”
“Always check
the weather.”
Sarah
Silvers
Alexis
Gorlick
Maude
Tipton
“My favorite clothing stores in- “Don’t be afraid to mix patterns “Layering clothing always works
clude Pacsun, Urban Outfitters, and colors. If someone doesn’t like and high-waisted jeans and high
what you’re wearing, too bad!”
Brandy Melville and Varga.”
socks go with anything.”
“Make sure not to be afraid of
what others think about your
style. Just be yourself!”
The five girls and boys voted best dressed in the yearbook poll give some tips on how to spice up your style.
Kent
Fukahara
“Make sure
colors don’t
clash.”
Daniel
Grzesiak
“Wear clothes that represent
your specific style, clothes that
make you feel comfortable.”
“Don’t
steal other
people’s
style!”
“Prepare
clothes the
day before
school.”
“Dress with
swag.”
“Wear cheap
sunglasses.”
Isaac
Pross
Victor
Paredes
“Don’t wear the same clothes
over and over again in one week.
Shop at different stores.”
Jason
Park
“Pacsun, Urban Outfitters, Vans,
American Apparel, H&M and
Zumiez are my favorite stores.”
“My favorite stores include
Abercrombie and Fitch,
Zara and Uniqlo.”
“My favorite clothing stores are
Opening Ceremony, J. Crew,
Clarks and thrift stores.”