December 14, 2015
Issue 1
The Official Student-Written Newspaper of Middle School 104
Available online at simonbaruchpride.com
Fast Food Leads to Health Problems in Young People
By Henry Wang
Nowadays, many of us in the U.S. eat too much fast food, and it has caused a number
of health problems. Fast food typically has a lot of sodium, which can cause health problems
like high blood pressure, heart attacks and kidney disease if you consume too much.
Researchers at Harvard say fast food restaurants like McDonalds, Burger King and Popeye’s have foods that are processed,
which are unhealthy for people.
Simon W. from class 791 said, “People like to eat fast food because it
tastes good or they just can’t cook their own food.”
According to healthyeating.sfgate.com, three out of ten teens eat at a
fast food restaurant four to six meals a week. Due to this, 15% of children
and a third of all people in the U.S. are obese, and many of them have other
health problems.
Jian Zhuang J. from class 792 said, “I guess the reason why so many
people in the U.S are obese is because so many people eat fast food.”
According to nutrition.mcdonalds.com, a burger often contains 300
to 500 calories. That means an average person needs to run around three to
five miles to burn it off.
Academic Clubs Seek Same Publicity as Athletic Clubs
By Maya Angles
about sports teams. This year, the office is announcing
“Good morning, MS 104.”
You look up from the book you were reading a lot more academic clubs. While I am somewhat hapduring homeroom. The loudspeaker continues with the pier about the new change, there still is more work to be
announcements and you go back to reading. Only out done.
of the corner of your mind are you listening.
Continued on Page 2
Last year, the announcements were mostly
at’s
h
W side
In
Coding in Schools
Page 2
Afterschool Pics
Page 3
You Said It
Page 4
Crossword
Page 4
Mayor Bill de Blasio Wants Coding in Every NYC School
By You Hyun Chung
On Wednesday, September 16, Mayor de Blasio basic skills for research and publication. Mr. Hinnant
announced something that could change the education hopes Mayor de Blasio’s program will be successful beof all of New York City. Public schools must have a new cause he thinks coding is a “good skill for everyone to
computer science program because parents want to help have.”
Saatchi S., a seventh grade student, said, “The
their children with future careers.
However, not everything is working out perfect- coding program might be beneficial to others, but not
ly for de Blasio’s new idea. According to the New York as helpful for me because there may be other jobs that
Times, “…there is no state certification in computer sci- do not require coding.” She added, “It might not be that
ence. This means that the government has to train the enjoyable” for her.
Seventh grader Sarah M. agreed with Mr. Hinteachers. Hardly any schools have it currently in their schools (less than 10% of the schools have it, only 1% nant. She believes it is a good skill to have, as technolof students receive it), so it will be a very big change for ogy is really changing our generation. Even for the rest
of America’s students, Sarah said that it will be good for
educations in New York.”
Even if people are trained, Students learn coding after school outside and inside of school, as well
as future situations. As “someone
they may not be willing to spend their
who uses computer technology a lot,
knowledge to teach students, but inI thinks that my life will be improved
stead work for more money in the
with the coding idea,” she said.
tech industry.
Mayor De Blasio expects every
The computer teacher, Mr.
school to offer coding within ten
Hinnant, said the program is a good
years. How do you feel about his new
idea. He himself does not know much
Photo by Evangeline N.
idea?
about coding. Instead, he teaches
Academic Clubs, From Page 1
Our principal, Mr. Macri, responds, “I do think we
have more [academic] clubs
available this year, so in
terms of what we were announcing last year, it probably was less.”
Mari R. from class 791
Photo by Camilla R.
says, “I think that Mr. Macri
and the other office officials sometimes forget about it
and so the leaders of the academic clubs have to do it
themselves, but they are in the announcements.”
Molly K. from class 791 believes, “Sometimes
they [office officials] forget to announce those [academic clubs] because of them not being important.”
Though the announcements are probably not
purposefully biased, I still wonder why they are this
Tasty Science Tuesday
way.
Mr. Macri adds, “That’s not something that was
on my radar. As of right now if that’s something we need
to consider in terms of when we make the announcements, then yes [he will try to include them].”
However, Molly thinks, “The office officials believe that kids would like to hear about sports more
than academics, so that’s all they talk about.”
“What reason would Mr. Macri have to be biased against academic clubs? It’s a school!” continues
Mari.
So is it that sports club teachers push harder for
their kids to be put in the announcements, or do the
officials forget to announce academic news because its
perceived lack of importance?
The truth is the office is getting better at announcing academic clubs. We still have a ways to go.
Send your thoughts to [email protected].
Manhattan Youth Afterschool
Photos by Evangeline N. and Camilla R.
y
Tasty Science Tuesda
Step
Study Lab
Basketball
Coding
Table Tennis
Basketball
Mixed Media Madness
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d
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On the Simon Baruch Pride Forum!
New Students Reflect on the First Marking Period
I’m a 6th grader and so far Simon Baruch middle school is awesome. I love all the electives they offer, and
everybody is so nice. - Polina G.
In the first marking period, I was in House 20 and I learned a lot of new things i did not know such as Prime
Factorization, The Neolithic Revolution, “Sewer Lice”, and all the words that where important in Dragonwings the book. I loved the first marking period. - Anthony C.
The first marking period has been a blast for me. Seriously. I’ve met a lot of awesome friends and teachers and
got to learn a lot of new things. Sometimes we could have quite a bit of homework but It’s mostly pretty chill
- Aleksander H.
My first marking period was great, I was able to make new friends stay in touch with old ones.
- Edward L.
In my opinion as a sixth grader the first marking period has been not only a great educational experience but
it also taught me about independence. Middle school can be an amazing or an awful experience and that you
control. Everything is scary and overwhelming at first but eventually everything gets better and you learn a
lot and build relationships with people that you never would have thought you would have. It can be hard to
handle all of the work but all the teachers are always there to help us. - Isabella C.
During my first marking period at Simon Baruch, I’ve had a great time. The teachers and classes are kind and
taught my a lot. I’ve also made a lot of new friends I’m glad I chose to go to this school. It was easy to get
comfortable in middle school. - Jasmine L.
NOTE: Forum posts are not edited for grammar or spelling.
Created by Sophie R.
Canned Food Drive Word Search
DECEMBER
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