The Wildcat Roar
Volume 11
Number 3
Spring 11
A Quarterly Publication of Rocky Hill Middle School
French Fries for…..Jicamas?
By: Claudia Thomas
Assistant Chief Editor
Whole wheat pizza, sweet potato
fries, and apple sauce…nutritional
foods like these are what may begin
to appear on the Rocky Hill lunch
menu in the near future. Under Mrs.
Obama‟s Let’s Move Campaign, the
federal government is fighting the
growing epidemic of childhood obesity. Starting with school menus,
Mrs. Obama wants to create a
healthy, motivated generation of
young Americans.
1 out of every 3 kids in America
is obese, and 80% of these children
will continue to be so into adulthood.
These children are developing serious medical problems such as high
blood-pressure, high cholesterol and
type-2 diabetes. These conditions are
usually only found in adults! The
number of obese children has grown
at an alarming rate, and continues to
increase. Mrs. Obama has made it
her personal mission to tackle this
disease. Since most kids have 1-2
meals at school each day, school
menus are a meaningful way to provide nutritional food. Under the
Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of
2010, the USDA has required “…
more fruits, vegetables, whole grains
and low-fat milk in our national
school meals programs. In addition
to these healthy offerings, schools
will have new standards to limit the
levels of saturated fat, sodium, calories, and Trans fats in those same
meals.” In a speech after the Act was
passed Obama also notes that the
new plan “reimburses schools 26
cents for lunch.” Nevertheless, the
overall school budget may increase
considering that healthy foods are
known to be expensive.
So what does the Rocky Hill community have to say about these changes?
Mr. Whiting thinks that the idea of
serving healthier lunches at schools is
“excellent” and “long overdue.” “We
tend to forget nutrition affects learning. Students need fuel!”
When suggested that french fries
may be replace with sweet potato
fries, one student exclaims, “You
can‟t take away my fries!” Another
8th grader replies, “I LOVE sweet
potatoes!!!”
The sample menus shown were given
to Rocky Hill students:
Ms. Ault, the RHMS cafeteria manager also weighed in on the issue.
According to Mrs. Ault, “The new
guidelines for school meals are already closely followed by MCPS. We
are proud to be contributing to the
well-being of our students.”
Here‟s what some students had to say
in response:
Student 1: I don‟t like the fact that the
tater tots were replaced by sweet potatoes.
Student 2: The school is trying to
make us eat healthy…but it‟s not
really working.
Student 3: Refried bean? How many
times was it fried!? Aren‟t fried foods
bad for you?
Student 4: You do realize that we can
bring junk food from home…
Student 5: The „after menu‟ is okay,
but the „before menu‟ tastes better.
It seems like Rocky Hill students
aren‟t too impressed with the new
nutritious lunch, but we have to understand that eating healthy is never
easy. The human body is wired to
crave salty and sweet foods, that
aren‟t the healthiest choices. Have
you ever found yourself gorging on a
burger and fries, instead of a chicken
salad sandwich with fruit?
Food is also used to relieve stress or
fight boredom. Even Rocky Hill staff
may struggle with consistently maintaining a healthy diet. Mr. Whiting‟s
addiction is M‟n‟Ms, Ms. Tippet has a
hankering for pasta, and Ms. Odey
can‟t keep her hands off those KitKat
bars! It‟s perfectly fine to indulge yourself once in awhile, as long as you balance it out. As Ms. Tippet explains,
“It‟s ok to eat something that isn‟t perfectly healthy for you, as long as you
eat a small portion and counteract it
with eating healthy the rest of the day
and exercising.” Eating healthy can be
a little easier if we are given healthier
choices at school. And in case you
were wondering…Jicama is a vegetable root like a radish, that is crunchy
and sweet, and also tastes a little nutty.
TV, Friend or Foe?
Tanvi Shah
Staff Writer
The good old television is common
in most American homes. It could be
seen as the window to world, especially
in this new age of technology. There is a
fierce completion in the cable business
with some attractive offers for more
channels to watch. Television can be a
friend of many, but a foe to some. The
real question for you is whether the TV
is a true friend or a deadly foe?
Many of us watch TV for 2 or 3
hours a day and some parents don‟t
really care. Most other parents care
about school work and other extracurricular activities that kids engage in.
Dani Thorner, an eighth grader at
RHMS says, “I don‟t watch TV everyday but when I do it is for 2-3 hours.”
Although the television gives us access
to current events and provides entertainment, research shows that TV could
harm your brain! Besides many kids
watch a lot of TV causing them to forget to do their homework and as a result their grades drop. TV can also hurt
students‟ grades because it can make
them hurry and do their homework
without really taking the time needed to
do it properly. Television could also
distract kids in school. For example,
there is this one show that little Bobby
really want to watch tonight and it is all
little Bobby can think about. He doesn‟t pay attention in class and suddenly
his teacher says, “Review time is over,
it is time for the test!” Of course little
Bobby has no idea on what to do and
he will most likely fail his test. This
anonymous 6th grader says, “TV is bad.
It rots your brain and you will get addicted.” “Also when asked what they
would do without TV, Dani Thorner
says, “I would go on the internet.”
Devika Kapoor, also an eighth grader at
RHMS says, “I would find other ways
to watch it or I would be depressed.”
The internet is just as bad as TV, and it
makes you wonder if this technology is
helping or harming kids. Imagine a
student getting depressed because he or
she cannot watch TV or use the internet.
TV can be good in some ways, for
example, it could relieve stress in some
people after long hours at work or at
school. Students could sit back and
relax while watching TV and forget
about that gigantic math test they need
to get a B on to get that A in the class.
Some people like TV because it is entertaining. Devika Kapoor says, “TV is
a good thing because it is entertaining.”
Some people like TV because it is informative. “TV is good because it is a
way to inform people,” says Mr. Molley. TV can also help kids escape from
real life. For example, in this fictional
situation, Cassie just got D on a test in
English and she knows she has a C
minus in the class. Cassie is down in
the dumps and when she comes home
she sits down in front of the TV to
watch her favorite show. After Cassie
sees the show she feels better after
watching the silly capers of her favorite
cartoon characters, Tom and Jerry.
Now Cassie feels that she can face her
mom‟s wrath. In this way TV could be
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a good thing for kids.
The truth is that the television has
impacted our lives in more ways than we
would want to admit. “TV can be a bad
thing because kids spend a lot of their
time in front of the TV, instead of playing with their friends. However TV can
be a good thing because people get a lot
of their information that way,” says Neil
Agrawal, Many people do get infomation
about snow days or delays on the news
on TV. Mrs. Kaelin, one of the RHMS
media center specialists commented on
the issue. “I think there are pros and cons
to TV watching. What you watch and
how much time you spend watching TV
determines this,” says Mrs. Kaelin. Both
Neil and Mrs. Kaelin agree that TV is
good and bad because of the amount of
time spent watching it. “I think TV is a
good thing when watched in moderation,” says Mrs. Schiller.
Although it makes sense to consider
the advantages of spending time in front
of the tube, the disadvantages should be
taken into consideration, and ultimately
adults have to make choices that would
benefit the students.
Editorial Page
How are Budget Cuts affecting MCPS Schools?

By: Melanie Antanesian
Chief Editor
The economy is in it‟s slow recovery from nearly plummeting
down towards its gloomy grave, and
schools are feeling the heat. Nowadays, everyone is sensing the differences around them, whether small
or big, due to cutting back. America
took a big hit towards public
schools in the past year. Clubs were
cut, field trips shut out of the picture
and teachers were laid off. Luckily
enough, MCPS is trying its absolute
hardest to keep everything the way
it is.
Many students are wondering how
budget cuts are going to affect our
school. Eighth graders have been
mainly been questioning their end
of the year field trip is still on. Mr.
Whiting light-heartedly says, “The
[end of year] field trip won‟t be
affected because your parents are
paying for that!” The students of
Rocky Hill shouldn‟t have much to
worry about. “We‟re trying our best
to keep the budget cuts from affecting the students. Class sizes might
grow...but student related activities
are tried to be kept going.” There
has been some debate about all
kinds of rumored activities cut
down due to these cuts. “Yeah, I
heard they had to cancel [the] dances
because they had no funds...” says
one 7th grader. To settle that right
now, dances were canceled because
of all the snow days MCPS
had. Compared to the rest of the
country, I‟d say Rocky Hill and
Montgomery County is doing an
amazing job of keeping everyone
involved and handling the slow economy.
As much as we‟d like for there to
be a certain serenity in our school
systems when it comes to budget
cuts, that supposedly just cannot happen. MCPS‟s own Superintendent,
Jerry D. Weast, has already stated he
and his staff have worked with the
County Executive and have since
then begun the process of determin-
ing where they will cut the budget.
MCPS already has an overall idea on
what‟s going to go down.
"Ultimately, this budget will require
MCPS to spend $1,000 less per student and that will most definitely
have an impact," Dr. Weast said.
"But as always, we will work with
our employee associations and the
PTAs to minimize the impact the best
we can." Dr. Weast said Montgomery
County anticipates a big increase in
state aid due to a very big enrollment
increase of about an extra 2,800 students. Even with that extra helpful
nudge, substantially large reductions
will still have to be made in order to
meet the county wide $137.7 million
budget cut. The cuts could very possibly include:
Field Trips are Taking After Waldo!
By Melanie Antanesian
Chief Editor
Nowadays schools are lacking
in funds, which could eventually lead
to fewer field trips for students. If kids
are glued to their desks, how will they
connect what they are taught in school
to the outside world? School memories
are always the best ones; the ones that
fade away are the ones that come from
textbooks. Of all the stories and experiences we have, the ones that we keep
closest to our hearts are the field trips.
These trips do not necessary
teach us how to read or how to magically find where “X” is hiding, at the
very least, not as far as we know, but
they show us what nature smells and
feels like, or how medieval knights
would duke it out on the battlefield.
Maybe even how Nelson Mandela
helped to end Apartheid in South Africa. Those field trips don‟t just leave
us with handfuls of memorable treasures, they simplify the sometimes diffi-
cult and bewildering lessons that we
learn in the classroom. There are no
official graphs that would help us chart
the frequencies of our school field trips
over the past decade, however students
do notice the differences. Anna Phan,
an eighth grader observed that “field
trips have decreased ...because the
school is too focused on school work..”
Some students tend to have a better
understanding of this biting economy.
A sixth grader explains, “I think that
schools are doing what they have to do,
and if that means not going on field
trips as often as usual.” Some school
systems across the county and here in
Montgomery County are definitely
feeling the effect of the crippling economy. With some of the harshest budget
cuts, many schools are finding out that
they can no longer afford the school
buses, ticket fees, and other costs incurred when students go on field trips.
In Iowa, according to a 2008 National
Education Association report, “75 percent of school districts cut back on
trips or asked parents pay for them.”
That same year in Kentucky, Michigan,
Missouri, multiple public schools
eliminated field trips altogether.
Some teachers and administrators across the country seem to disagree that the reasons are financial.
There are constant heated debates over
whether or not field trips qualify as
“educational.” Some opposed to field
trips argue that they are not educational. One school administrator claims
that field trips “waste kids‟
time.” (Edutopedia) “There have been
a lot of things we had done to revisit
our field trip guidelines to make sure
that they are educationally appropri-
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ate.” says Ruth Reilly, an assistant superintendent of schools in Pasco
County, Florida. “We had some situations where schools had annual field
trips that are not necessarily aligned
with the curriculum.” Nowadays, says
Ms. Reilly, “there is a real focus on
accountability and making the grades
with the test scores. And there‟s always
the nagging feeling in many cases that
field trips take time away from more
focused classroom time.”
Years back, many youth
groups without a doubt spend three or
four days doing hikes. Now they are
finding fewer groups participating in
outdoor activities. Part of it is the cost,
and part of it is the attention on learning the newest technology. Amy Standen, a former editor of Edutopia says
“Sometimes schools are worried that
activities not focused on testing, or any
activity that doest affect test scores can
be considered too frivolous.” What
exactly qualifies as frivolous? In some
communities, a child‟s exposure to the
outside world can be incredibly limited. Cooped-up inside the rooms,
some on Facebook, using the internet
or playing video games doesn‟t give
kids the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. If field trips are meant to students experience nature, why limit this
aspect of their learning?
What do you think? Should we
allow field trips to be a thing of the
past unless we find a way to tie it to
our curriculum?
Elimination of all contributions to
the retiree health benefits trust fund
($42.9 million)
 Elimination of salary increments,
or steps, considering that nearly 90
percent of the Operating Budget pays
for employee compensation ($25.9 million)
 Increase of class size by one student at all grade levels, leading to a
reduction of 252 teacher positions ($16
million)
 Central services reductions ($6
million)
Other savings and reductions ($10.3
million)
(Most of the Information found in this
article can be confirmed by the MCPS
website)
Although some of us may not notice
that America is on tight money, we
need to prepare ourselves for possibly
making room for more kids in our
classes, changes in lunch menus, and
even a cut down in teachers. If you
have any other budget related questions
and/or concerns, please feel free to express your feelings by simply following the URL below.
http://
www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/
departments/budget/question.shtm
The Wildcat Roar Staff
Ms. Katie Odey
Supervising Editor
Chief Editors:
Melanie Antanesian
Claudia Thomas
Staff Writers:
Sarah Tew
Dani Thorner
Justin Garcia
Devika Kapoor
Neil Agrawal
Nina Agrawal
Parthiv Shah
Prajawal Choudhry
Tanvi Shah
Antara Joshi
Aparna Pooleri
Clara Wong
Fiori Gebrekidan
Sports Editors
Yash Kapoor
Dennis Kim
Comic Editors
Bharat Bojja
Sally Cho
Rahul Shah
Rocky Hill Page
Bus Overcrowding at RHMS, Improved?
Ah-Mazing Teachers
By: Devika Kapoor
Ms. Milstein
6th and 7th grade Special Ed teacher
Rocky Hill wouldn‟t be Rocky
Hill without its awesome teachers. The
teacher featured below deserves recognition for the great job she does at
school every day.
Ms. Milstein is our teacher of the
month!
Q: How long have you been at Rocky
Hill?
A: This is my first year as a teacher
but I was a long time substitute for
the past two years.
Q: How do you feel about being
nominated for teacher of the month?
A: I was very surprised. Not many
people know me but I was honored.
It made Ms. Odey jealous.
Q: What makes you special?
A: I have a special talent, I can read
upside down. I am also a very
happy person.
Q: What would you like your students to know about you?
A: I am an avid reader. I will read
anything I can get my hands on.
Q:What is one thing you have
learned throughout your career?
A: That hard work leads to great
success and perseverance is key.
Q: What is your favorite part of
teaching?
A: Getting to work with all my students. I love waking up in the
morning and coming to see my
kids.
Q: What made you decide to become a teacher?
A: Substitute teaching. I subbed for
four years because I couldn‟t get a
job in the field I wanted.
Q: Who was your favorite teacher
as a kid?
A: Mrs. Seguin, my first grade
teacher. She made everything fun
and interesting.
By Nina and Neil Agrawal
Staff Writers
For some of us, the bus ride
might be better than school. For others
the bus ride could be torture. One reason for their negative outlook is that
their buses are overcrowded. If you‟re
thinking, “What? That‟s no big deal,
who cares how crowded the buses
are?” But it is a big deal! Tanvi Shah,
a 7th grader says, “I had to sit on the
very edge of a seat with three other
kids. Every time the bus turned I felt
like I would fall off. I saw a three
seater seat with only one person in it
and that one person would not scoot
over. “I had to sit in the aisle of the bus
with my trumpet. There were no seats
left. I was in terrible pain!” says Rahul
Shah, a 6th grader at Rocky Hill.
Although some people still
don‟t find the bus rides enjoyable, we
have to agree that there have been some
improvements lately. “We don‟t have a
crowded bus anymore,” says 7 th grader
Parthiv Shah. Other buses might have
situations that are similar to ours, but not
quite as bad. Our bus driver claims that,
"We don‟t have a dangerous overcrowding.” Why do some lucky kids have less
people on their bus? Kids get off at that
stop, mainly because drivers are able to
knock off some bus stops and other buses
can drop. It‟s also likely that kids could
start car riding or transfer schools. Our
buses were or still are crowded because of
the population growth. If the population
grows then that means more kids. More
kids mean more buses. It‟s sad to say there
should be more kids next year since Gibbs
Elementary has recently been built. So
appreciate your bus since the number of
kids this year, may be nothing next year!
Willpower Basketball Game at RHMS
Meet Mr. Lee: RHMS Student Administrator
By: Claire Wong & Devika Kapoor
Staff Writers
You‟ve just come home after
watching Mr. Whiting dance in a leotard to a Beyonce song, winning a
brand new iTouch in the raffle, dunking Mr. Heinemann in a water tank,
and playing lots of fun carnival
games. The only place that you could
have done all this besides in a dream
is the annual RHMS Willpower basketball game. Every year, Rocky Hill
hosts a basketball game where the
parents and teachers face-off in a
tough match. If you‟re not into sports,
there‟s also a silent auction where you
can place bids on items, a raffle to
win a grand prize, and enjoyable carnival games to take on.
Mr. Lee stands proudly at Rocky Hill Middle School‟s entrance.
By: Devika Kapoor
Staff Writer
In the beginning of the year,
a lot of students were wondering
where Ms. Rogers was and who the
new staff members were. One of the
new staff members was Mr. Lee, a
new administrator. You might have
seen him around in the hallways or
the cafeteria, giving students high
fives or slipping into some of your
classes. When I asked him how he
likes Rocky Hill and why he became
an administrator, he said, “I really
like it here. It is one of the best
places to work. “The people and kids
are really great…I became an administrator because I really want to make
sure that all of our students succeed.”
The students are definitely succeed-
ing because Mr. Whiting says that
the Rocky Hill eighth graders are
among the best in the state.” Mr.
Lee‟s job, like most administrative jobs is not easy though, he
tries to make sure that everything
runs smoothly. He also works
closely with Mr. Whiting so if
you have any concerns or problems, he is a good person to go to.
He wants students to know “I am
always here for them if they need
any help.” So next time you see
him in the hallways, make sure to
say hi or to thank him for all his
good work.
Basically, it‟s a night of entertainment--especially midway into
the game. The Willpower Basketball
Game is more than just a match with
games, it‟s also a fundraiser. Each
year, there is a goal on how much
money the school wants to raise. If
the goal is met before half time, Mr.
Whiting will do something crazy that
will blow your mind! In 2009, he,
along with some staff members
danced to “Single Ladies (Put a Ring
on it)”! And just last year, he and Ms.
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Tippett ate a sheep‟s eyeball to the
amazement and horror of the crowd.
The “prize” is always insane, amusing,
and definitely memorable. At halftime, an award is presented to a special
student, and it is always a touching
moment.
The entire night is a fight
against cancer, in honor of Margie
Holmberg who lost her life to pancreatic cancer. When she worked at
Rocky Hill, she was a sixth grade reading teacher. “She was a very good
friend of mine,” says Ms. Odey. If
you‟ve noticed, there‟s a bench outside
the school, dedicated to her. The Willpower basketball game had been
around before her death, but it wasn‟t
till after that the school dedicated it to
her.
This is the tenth year that Ms.
Tippet has been organizing the Willpower game. What originally motivated her to start the tradition of having a fundraiser game was when the
mother of a very good friend passed
away from breast cancer. “Some of the
staff were in the Susan G. Komen walk
--60 miles--and all the money goes to
breast cancer research.” A lot of
money is raised every year at the
game, but the all-time record is
$100,00! She told us, “My favorite part
of planning is deciding what we‟re
going to make Mr. Whiting do.” Anything special planned for this year? Ms.
T admits, “This year‟s game, we‟re
still thinking and planning an original
idea for Mr. Whiting to do. It‟s up in
the air right now. I can‟t give it away.”
You‟ll have to go to the game to see
what happens!
Writer’s Corner
Dedicated To Mrs. Holmberg
The History of Anthony Horowitz
Book Reviews by Tanvi Shah and Parthiv Shah
Staff Writer
Parthiv Shah
Staff Writer
Anthony Horowitz is known to be one
of the world‟s best authors with his
best selling awesome Alex Rider series and the GREAT gatekeeper‟s
series plus so much more! Have you
ever wondered what gave him that
inspiration to write his stories? Anthony was born in 1956 in Stanmore,
Middlesex, into a rich family and
lived in an upper class lifestyle. His
dad was facing bankruptcy so he removed all of his wealth from his bank
accounts and put it under a pseudonym (different name) and when he
died the money was never recovered.
Anthony was sent to a boarding
school at the age of 8 and described
the whole experience as brutal. Even
as a young boy Horowitz loved reading books. Horowitz adored his
mother, who introduced his to Frankenstein and Dracula. She also gave
him a human skull for his 13th birthday. Horowitz said in an interview
that it keeps reminding him to keep
getting to the end of each story since
he will soon look like the skull. From
the age of eight, Horowitz knew he
wanted to be a writer, realizing “the
only time when I'm totally happy is
when I'm writing.” He graduated college in 1977 with a degree in English
literature.
Anthony Horowitz's first
book, The Sinister Secret of Frederick
K Bower, was a humorous adventure
for children, published in 1979. In
1981 his second novel, Misha, the
Magician and the Mysterious Amulet
Ark Angel
Author: Anthony Horowitz
In this best selling story by Anthony Horowitz Alex has miraculously escaped the snipers bullet in his chest. While he is recuperating in the hospital these eco-terrorists come to kidnap the kid
in the room next to him but, Alex stops them and they take him
instead. After a quick creative escape Alex is informed that he
saved Nikolai Drevins son. Nikolai is one of the richest people in
the world and he invited him to come to spend some time with him
at his million dollar resort. Alex agrees thinking it would be good
for a vacation. It must be safe their right? The place is awesome!
But, Alex has some doubts, when he was going go kart racing
against Drevin he was almost killed! Drevin is planning a project to
build a hotel in space and it’s not working that well so he plans to
send the whole hotel hurtling to the pentagon to destroy all the
information against him. Alex’s cover is blown as a spy and he is
locked in a boat when he goes scuba diving. Just before he runs
out of air a CIA agent comes and saves him. While trying to escape both of them are captured and told of the insane plane. The
CIA agent was shot in the leg and is badly injured so it’s up to
Alex now. Using some sweet gadgets Alex is able to escape, corner
Drevin and stop him. Unfortunately the plan has already started
and Paul is shot and Nikolai Drevin dies. Alex has to go into space
and deactivate the bomb. You’ll have to read to find out the thrilling conclusion of this best selling story Ark Angel.
was published and he moved to Paris
to write his third book. In 1983 the
first of the Pentagram series, The
Devil's Door-bell was released. This
story saw Martin Hopkins battling an
ancient evil that threatened the whole
world. Only three of four remaining
stories in the series were ever written:
The Night of the Scorpion (1984), The
Silver Citadel (1986) and Day of the
Dragon (1986) later rewritten and
renamed as Ravens Gate, Evil Star,
Nightrise, and Necropolis. In the new
generation he made his newest and
my favorite series Alex Rider. The
Alex Rider series are about a teenage
spy and his adventures with the MI6 a
British intelligence. The stories are so
detailed and realistic it gets you very
hooked. There are recurrently 8 Alex
rider books: Stormbreaker, Point
Blanc, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike,
Scorpia, Ark Angel, Snakehead, and
Crocodile tears. The series are amazing and the last book is coming out
soon Scorpia Rising and the rumors
say he won‟t survive…
Currently Anthony Horowitz
lives in North London with his wife
Jill Green, whom he married in Hong
Kong on 15 April 1988 and they have
two kids Nicholas Mark Horowitz
(born 1989) and Cassian James
Horowitz (born 1991). Anthony
Horowitz is still writing strong and I
can‟t wait until he comes up with the
next great series!
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater.
Shiver is a very captivating book written by Maggie Stiefvater. This book takes place in Mercy Falls, Minnesota and is
about a high school girl named Grace who was attacked by wolves
when she was 6. However one wolf saved Grace and she watches
him every winter and he watches her with yellow eyes. Sam is that
wolf, and in the summer he becomes human once more and in the
winter becomes a wolf. The pack of wolves is actually werewolves
who were bitten by wolves. Suddenly, a boy named Jack Culpeper is
attacked and killed by the wolves. The whole town is in uproar and
Laugh it Off!
Mr. Culpeper sets out into the woods with a hunting party to kill
By Rahul Shah
the wolves. One of the bullets grazes Sam’s shoulder and he
changes into a human and makes his way to Grace’s house as a hu-
1. An electric train is going 65 mph west. Which direction will the smoke
man even though it is the winter. As soon as Sam heals, he stays at
blow? Electric trains don‟t smoke!
2. Have you ever wondered why fat chance and slim chance mean the same
thing? Maybe it‟s hard to tell the difference.
3. Bob says to his mom," Mom, I don't think I can go to school today. I feel
sick. My stomach hurts." His mom says, "It's Saturday." Bob replied," Bye
mom! I'm going out to play!"
4. "NO! I'M NOT GOING TO SCHOOL! They pull on my hair, put glue on
my chair, yell in my ears, and annoy me to death!" Her husband replied," No
one said teaching was easy, honey."
Why is the letter T like an island? It‟s in the middle of waTer.
Grace’s house and the two get to know each other and Grace begins
to learn about Sam’s past and about the pack. This book is full of
twists and turns that keep you guessing until the end. If you like
Shiver don’t forget to read the sequel, Linger.
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Sports
A Second Chance for Michael Vick
Michel Vick, making big plays for Philadelphia Eagles
By Denis Kim
Sports Writer/Editor
Michael Vick is one of the veteran quarterbacks in the NFL. After gaining popularity for his performance, Michael Vick became a household name.
He led the Atlanta Falcons to two playoff
appearances during the six seasons that
he played on the team and had a bright
future with the NFL. In April of 2007,
Michael Vick got arrested for dog fight
and he was convicted and served two
years in prison. It was almost the end of
the road for Vick‟s career but his surprising comeback to the NFL this season
stunned most football fans, players, as
well as the NFL officials.
Michael Dwayne Vick was born
June 26, 1980. Vick played college football at Virginia Tech. Vick left V-Tech
after his sophomore year in college to
enter the 2001 NFL draft; he was drafted
by the Atlanta Falcons as the number 1
overall pick. Vick became the first African-American quarterback to be selected
first overall in an NFL Draft. In six seasons with the Falcons, he gained wide
popularity for his performance on the
field, and led the Falcons to the playoffs
twice in those 6 seasons. In April 2007,
Vick was arrested for dog fighting. After
Vick was released from prison, former
Colt‟s coach Tony Dungy mentored him.
By Yash Kapoor
Sports Writer
The NFL is always full of
surprises, some rather bizarre, to say
the least. In the DC area, the Redskins
had one of their most eventful seasons. Some surprises this year include
the Carolina Panthers ending with 214 record and the Seattle Seahawks
beating the New Orleans Saints in
spite of their losing record going into
the playoffs. Who can forget Donovan McNabb who got traded from the
Philadelphia eagles to their rival the
Washington Redskins? “The McNabb
saga played like a bad Shakespearean
tragedy,” says Ms. Odey, teacher at
Rocky Hill.
The NFL drama started from the
off season when the St. Louis Rams
took Sam Bradford as the #1 pick
overall and almost made it to the
playoffs. When the season began
there were lots of questions about the
Eagles quarterback position. During
this season the two quarterbacks who
made big plays for their team were
Michael Vick for the Philadelphia
Eagles and Tom Brady for the New
England Patriots. Michael Vick led
Falcons‟ owner Arthur Blank did not want
Vick on the Falcons at the time, so after
attempts to trade Vick failed, Vick was
released. He signed with the Philadelphia
Eagles and was reinstated in Week 3 of the
2009 season. Donavan McNabb was very
instrumental in getting the Philadelphia
Eagles to sign Vick. He was the one who
encouraged Coach Andy Reid to give Michael Vick a second chance, when most
teams would not accept him.
Most football fans have very
strong opinions about Vick considering the
crime he committed. Mr. Burke said: “He‟s
a cruel person that is not smart.” Mr. Ortman on the other hand said: “That Vick is a
very dynamic player who is learning from
his mistakes.” This season Michael Vick
was the backup quarterback behind Kevin
Kolb since Donovan McNabb (their former
QB) got traded to the Redskins. However,
in the first game of the season Kevin Kolb
was injured with a concussion but when
Vick came in he played phenomenally.
The coaches soon decided to start him over
Kevin Kolb. Vick is a very fast runner who
scrambles a lot but this very risky because
you can easily get injured. He has already
been injured, being hit gruesomely by a
player on the Redskins which led to rib
problems, which led him not playing for 3
games. A very astonishing game Vick
played was against the Redskins on November 15, 2010 in Week 10 Monday
night football game; he passed for 333
yards and four touchdowns, while he
rushed for 80 yards and had another
two rushing touchdowns in a victory of
59-28. Vick led the Philadelphia Eagles
to the playoffs this season with a record
of 10 wins and 6 losses, but lost in the
wildcard round to the Green Bay Packers 21-16. Vick is a player that has
made an amazing comeback and definitely is a candidate for the MVP
award.
Everyone says Michael Vick
is such a bad person for what he has
done but he has done whatever the authorities told him to do such as paying
fines. Michael Vick is actually a person
to look up to because he has proven
that he has learned from his mistakes
and that the past is the past and there is
nothing you can do about it. Even with
people saying bad things about him,
Vick shrugs it off and keeps on doing
what he does best, proving them
wrong. Like all people Vick makes
many mistakes and he deserves a second chance just like us. Just because of
one thing people shouldn‟t dislike him
but watch and see what he does for his
actions. All Michael Vick wants is a
second chance to prove he‟s a good
person. Think about a person who paid
for his mistakes and made a remarkable
comeback by leading his team to the
Play-off. With all the drama and trash
talking that goes on among some NFL
players, we have not heard any of that
from Michael. Clearly he deserves a
second chance. He definitely is a role
model because nobody is perfect after
all.
Even though the Eagles did
not make it to the Superbowl this season, Michael Vick made headlines, this
time for the right reasons. He definitely
got best come back player of the year
award.
The 2011 NFL Season
from the New England Patriots to the
Minnesota Vikings and finally to the
Tennessee Titans. With the Tennessee
Titans he only caught six passes!
Speaking about the Tennessee Titans,
did you hear about their plans to release franchise quarterback, Vince
Young?
Some rookie players stepped up big
for their teams for example Matt Cassel for the Kansas City Chiefs and
Jason Campbell for the Oakland raiders. A lot of rookies were surprisingly
good for instance Anthony Armstrong, Sam Bradford and Ndamukong Suh.
the Eagles to a 10-6 season a NFC
east win while Tom Brady led the
Patriots to a 14-2 season and the #1
seed overall in the AFC. The New
York Jets have been very good in the
playoffs pulling off victories against
the reining NFL MVP Peyton Manning and MVP candidate and the #1
seed Patriots. There has been lots of
drama with the Washington Redskins,
suspending Albert Haynesworth and
benching Donovan McNabb for three
games and then dropped McNabb to
third string one week later. One of the
more elite players, Randy Moss, has
been almost forgotten this year, going
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The Rocky Wildcats and their coach,
Mr. Heinemann.
By Denis Kim and Yash Kapoor
Sports Writer/Editor
The boy‟s basketball team did
great against Kingsview MS on Feb.
8th. Although they lost the game, it was
was a very close game where the
Wildcats lost 45-43. Our Wildcats did
great on defense while producing numerous amounts of turnovers which
usually converted into fast breaks. Our
team doesn‟t lose easily there was a
point in the game where the Wildcats
were down by 11 but came back.
There was a point in the game where
Kingsview had a ton of momentum but
the boys kept on fighting and made it a
ball game.
The crowd also had an effect
on the game by yelling as loud as they
could when Kingsview players took
foul shots. Even if they were tired the
boys kept on hustling. There were
some times when our team made poor
choices which let Kingsview gain
some points. A lot of people in some
ways might of thought our team could
never come back when down by 11,
but the perseverance throughout our
boy‟s basketball team made it a whole
new ball game. A member of the team
who got the team‟s adrenaline pumping was the coach Mr.Heinemann who
throughout the game always had faith
in his team to make the game close.
Overall our boy‟s team did a phenomenal job against Kingsview. Way
to go Wildcats!
There have been some playoff surprises like the Seahawks pulled off a
victory over the former NFL champions
New Orleans Saints with a terrific run
by Marshawn Lynch. Also a big surprise: the Jets winning over the Patriots
and the former AFC champions, Indianapolis Colts. They did much better than
originally anticipated, but they still
came up a little bit short to the Pittsburg
Steelers. Therefore, the Stealers advanced to SuperBowl XLV. The Green
Bay Packers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons and the Chicago
Bears, to earn them a spot in SuperBowl
XLV.
The week of the SuperBowl is always
exhilarating as it starts off with the 2011
Pro Bowl. This is where all the big stars
in the NFL for this season come together and face off AFC vs. NFC. Then
it comes to media day. Believe it or not,
Chad Ochocinco (Who has once again
changed his name back to Chad Johnson) will be there representing his news
company OCNN. After that is SuperBowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Special Feature
Building For Life
Music!
Fiori Gebrekidan
Staff Writer
By Neil Agrawal and
Justin Garcia
Staff Writers
Everyone listens to music, it is safe to say everyone or at least most people
enjoy some kind of music. Music is the international language because of its
ability to and affects everyone no matter what nationality In Rockyhill you might
have heard students singing songs in the halls or during class. It‟s a huge part of
our society. We listen to it but do we ever wonder how music affects us? Research has shown that music has a profound effect on your body and psyche. But
unlike other things that we love but gives bad symptoms for our personal health
like junk food, it affects us in an outstanding way! It is now greatly know that
music effects your mood, body, memory, heart beats, habits, sleep and much
more and this is all in a positive manner. Music is one of the few things that require most of your brain. Music can even helpful for therapy and reducing pain
and distress. Music is a medicine of the heart, speeds post stroke recovery,
chronic headaches & migraine remedy boosts you immune system. It can even
make you smarter! Not only that but it also……
Effective therapy for pain
Reducing blood pressure
Medicine for the heart
Speeds Post-Stroke Recovery
Constant headaches & migraine remedy
Boosts immunity
Enhances intelligence, learning and IQ
Improves memory performance
Improves concentration and attention
Music improves body movement and coordination
Improves productivity
Reduces stress
Reduces negative emotions
Slows down and equalize brain waves
Reduce muscle tensions
Ends Boredom
Stimulates digestion
Induce sleep
Generates your emotions
Can elevate your creativity
Increases concentration
Lego has been a pastime for
people of all ages. It all started out
with a Danish carpenter named Ole
Kirk Christiansen. He began working in a shop in Denmark that made
sofas. When his small shop was
burned down accidently,
Christiansen created a bigger shop
and expanded his business. While
also making sofas he created toys
for kids such as piggy banks, pull
toys, etc. Another idea of
Christiansen was to create wooden
interlocking bricks that are a bit
like the classic ones we have now
only ours are plastic. When you fit
them together they made a tiny
little truck. Christiansen called
these Legos. This word comes from
the Danish words Leg and Godt
which mean play well. If you take a
look at Lego now, you can create a
lot more than one tiny truck. You
can build creations such as houses,
boats, robots, or you can use your
creativity. The Lego Company created many different themes to go
along with these sets such as Lego
Space, Lego Pirates, Lego Miners,
Lego City and many more. “I liked
the Medieval Village Lego, because,
it was intricate, had a lot of detail,
and was complicated to build,” says
Tanvi Shah, a 7th grader.
You might think Lego is just
The saying “music smoothes the savage beast” is correct, music calms
us. It has the power to elevate our moods above our worries and relieve unbearable depression. Music is powerful because it can draw multiple responses and
release our deepest emotions. Music has many positive effects for you but it does
not mean to go out and listen to music 10 hours a day because there is a need for
a balance. So remember music can be your ally with its positive effects but it can
also be your foe with its negative effects. Studies have showed classical music is
the one with most benefits and hard rock might have negatives effects.
Music plays an important role in a teenager‟s life therefore there is concern among older generations that it has possible negative effects on behavior.
People have suggested that music imitates life, and that rap and heavy metal music simply reflects the hostility, powerlessness, and aggressiveness among some
groups of adolescents. Adults blame music for a child‟s angry outbreaks, but
there are further studies that show that an individual‟s antisocial, aggressive response is normally shaped by early experiences with their parents or adults.
When these role models are unavailable, children seek others to replace them,
and music, including the people who play or sing it, may fill these gaps providing the listener a sense of identity, peer acceptance, and feelings of power. Overall there are more positives then negatives effects.
6
for little kids, but actually grownups love it as well. Many who have
used their creative minds; built
creations that would BLOW YOUR
MIND!! A man named James May in
Surrey, England, built a huge life
size Lego house. Yeah, I’m not kidding. It came complete with a bathroom, a kitchen, a Lego kitten, and
even a bed which got crushed under
James May’s weight! Real life companies use Legos to advertise ideas
for their company. Singapore Airlines has even built one of their
largest aircrafts, the Airbus A380
entirely out of LEGO’S! Even Volvo
and Legoland have built a complete
life-sized Volvo XC90. This was
just to promote driving safety and
family values. “Legos are fun because they give you something to
do, and they help with expressing
your creativity,” says Rahul Shah, a
6th grader.
When asked if they liked
Lego’s, one 8th grade girl said,
“Yeah, I think Legos are okay.”
Another one says,” I babysit these
two kids who have an entire room
filled with Star Wars Lego’s. I
really enjoy playing with them, although I wouldn’t admit to it.”
While most people like Legos, some
have different opinions,” I don’t
like them,” says Yash Kappor, a 6th
grader.
Technology
The New Dawn of Technology
Prajwal Choudhry
Staff Writer
Last year many new technologies were introduced, but
few made their mark. After
hours of dedicated research, I
have reviewed some of the
most promising ones which
might revolutionize our society.
Mac Book Air
Steve Jobs, founder of
Apple, had said that this is
the future of computers. Mac
Book Air is the thinnest and
the lightest laptop in the
world, with weighs .74
pounds and has a depth
of .68th inch. This laptop is
small but very efficient and
productive as normal
Macbook has been.
3-D Television
Imagine watching a football player jumping through
your T.V screen into the
comfort of your home, you
can experience this feeling
only with 3-D. 3-D Television arrived last year in
2010, when many T.V.
manufacturing companies
got the idea of providing the
3-D entertainment as part of
home entertainment. Though
3-D entertainment still requires glasses in order to
watch it but it is still better
than regular T.V. in terms of
experience.
iPad
The Apple iPad is one of the
most successful tablet computers. Launched on April 3rd
of last year, it became instantaneous hit. Not only its software
and processors is good but the
overall design made it a success. With just a weight of 1.5
pounds the iPad is easy to
carry and able to fit into a medium-sized purse or backpack.
It‟s built in option of 3G, WiFi, or both, allows the users to
access the iPad from anywhere
and makes it easier to access
on the go. One quote that
shows the success of the iPad
is from Mr. Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal, who called it a "pretty
close" laptop killer. In conclusion the iPad is one of the
greatest inventions of 2010.
Android Phones
Apple‟s iPhone, I
think the time has come that
we should forget about it and
move on towards other
phones. Well that time came
last year, when people
started to buy Android
phones. The Android Phones
probably have beaten Apple
or are about. They are just
simply better than the
Iphone. If you compare both
of them Android Phones just
beat out Apple. Not only
does the Android operating
system have more phones
underneath its belt, but it has
more service providers.
While the Iphone, not even
three. Another thing that
factors in here is what the
price is. For the Android
you‟re getting the phone at
least under $200, while the
Iphone is above $200 for just
the newest models. And my
last reason is major problems. It has been a year and
Android phones haven‟t had
any glitches or major bugs.
While the Iphone 4, it already had 2 major issues.
The first one was just immediately after its launch in
2010, the antenna issue. Now
people have to put on cases
on their Iphones just in order
to talk. That‟s not expected
from one of the top notch
companies. And another one
was most recently before
New Year‟s, where many
Iphone failed to wake up
there owners. That is why
Android phones are over the
Iphone 4 at number 7.
Xbox Kinect
Tired of playing the same
old Wii, well now there is a
solution. In November of
2010, Microsoft launched
Xbox Kinect. The Xbox
Kinect is a remote less video
game that put the user in
control through wireless sensor. This is not like the Wii
where you just swing the
remote and an action is performed. Unlike the Wii, the
user may have to perform
many task such as jumping,
running in place, and kicking. The main reason Xbox
Kinect is successful because
whole family gets to play
and enjoy the games.
Facebook
Ever since its launch
in 2007, Facebook has been
connecting millions of people
across the world through the
internet. People all around the
world are now able to connect
to each other, view photos, and
play games together through
this site. One can say Facebook is providing a forum for
reuniting and making new
friends. Even Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook
says it on his wall “I'm trying
to make the world a more open
place by helping people connect and share.”
most anticipated phones of
2010. It is a one the most successful phones invented in the
world. Last year it was considered to be the best Iphone to
come out yet. The new features included a more stylish
design. A bigger resolution
and camera display. One of the
major changes was the operating system update, which allowed users to do much more
and download new apps.
Windows Phone
It was a great attempt
from Microsoft to get to
the top notch class. It
helped Microsoft in certain ways and in some
ways it didn‟t. But let‟s
get to the point. The reason why the Windows
Phone is on here is because not only is it from
Windows but of its feature. The phones home
screen is spilt up into tiles.
The user gets to choose
which hubs they want to
put on their home screen.
Hubs are small apps that
contain internet content.
Some examples are Hotmail or Facebook. These
small tiles allow the user
to access their content
easily without much of a
hassle, unlike other
phones.
iPod Touch 4th Generation
The iPod has been
and will probably be the
best Mp3 player in the
world. It not only allows
the user to listen to music,
but also allows them to
play games and check
their emails. Last year
Apple made the iPod
touch even better by updating the operating system, and also added a
camera. The new operating system IOS 4.0 allowed the Ipod 4th generation to multitask and also
gave the user more of a
iPhone feeling.
You may agree and you may
not agree, but millions of inventions
are made each year, which help us enjoy and connect with our friends and
families. As far as I am concerned
these were the best technologies of
2010, let us hope the 2011 will bring
better and more innovative technologies for us. Our parents and teachers
will have to work harder to catch up
with the newest trends. For us kids, we
happen to be waiting anxiously for the
next best thing in technology. One has
to wonder how our parents and teachers survived without these new technologies when they were growing up.
E-Books
No need to buy
books!! Sound amazing, you
don‟t even have to go all the
way to the book store and
buy book, just go online and
buy a book, download and
transfer it to your E-Reader,
which is portable. You can
have many books on one
device, and you take it out
anywhere, this one device
can give you easy access to
many books. Best of all, it
might help save the environment.
iPhone 4
iPhone 4 was one of the
7
Test Taking Tips and Strategies
By Melanie Antanesian
Chief Editor
all the difference
6. Pace yourself
It‟s okay to take a break.
Time management is very important,
but not if it means that you‟re going
to burn yourself out before the end of
the test. If you feel that tests are overwhelming and exhausting, know that
it‟s perfectly fine to put your pencil
down and relax before you start back
up again. Know that your teachers
and administrators understand and
are willing to help you.
The MSA's are right
around the corner! Make sure you
are as prepared as you can possibly
be with these few tips, tidbits and
strategies.
1. Put forth your best effortThe biggest thing most kids
tend to forget is that even
though the MSA test scores
don't count towards your regular report card grade, they are
still very important in determining your future. The MSA
scores show how well you are
learning the concepts that you
need to learn. It also helps to
show how well your teachers
are preparing for your future
classes.
2. Read all the directions carefully
Oftentimes in test-taking
environments, the adrenaline gets
pumping through your blood, and
you possibly misread through the
instructions. Remember, taking the
extra time to slow down and make
sure that you understand the question not only saves you from selecting the wrong answers, but also
saves you lots of time in the long
run. A good guideline you should
follow is to read each written direction at least twice.
7. Be alert and focused
the competition. Practice the process of elimination. A large portion
of the MSA is multiple-choice, so
knowing how to eliminate the obvious wrong answers will help you
make an educated guess. Use this
method when necessary. Narrowing
down four options to two definitely
doubles the likelihood of choosing
the correct answer.
3. Learn how to skim
Let me guess. Most of you
hate reading those super long passages, right? The solution is easy;
learn how to skim! Skimming means
reading fairly quickly through a passage to get the basic idea and then
read the questions that go with that
passage. Reread the passage to ease
any confusion you might have.
The absolute best thing you
can do for yourself before the test is
to get a good night's rest and have a
nutritional breakfast. As they say,
breakfast is the most important meal
of the day, and it can truly do wonders to your overall score.
5. Have good time management
skills
4. Practice the process of elimination
Answer some easy questions first.
By attacking a few easy questions
right off the bat, your child will
build confidence and manage her
time well. Starting off an important
test with the right attitude can make
We've all come across that
one dreaded question and the one
answer that you have no idea which
letter to choose. Get rid of some of
PRIDE at Rocky Hill
Let the Photos Speak for the Themselves. Pride is not just a class act, it’s a school act.
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