Paper! Paper! Paper!

By Genesys Jimenez, 8th Grade Reporter

At 214X there are 947 students, but including teachers, how much paper do you think is wasted?

I interviewed 50 people, staff and students, around the school and found out who recycled and who didn’t. Of those surveyed, 24% don’t recycle at all, but 76% do at least some of the time.

Most school waste consists of paper. According to the NYC Department of Education, an average of 28 pounds of paper is thrown away per person in a school year, which averages out to be 2.49 ounces of paper per person every day.

In the US, about 85 million tons of paper is wasted per year and only 44 million is recycled. So, think about how much paper is being wasted the next time you head to the garbage bin with your crumpled sheet of loose leaf. Think of how many trees are being cut down. What will happen when there’s nothing left at all?

Specialized H

by Xavier Fernandez, 8th Grade Reporter

Scores will be released in early February for 8^th graders that took the Specialized High School Admission Test (SHSAT). These students will have till the end of February to return their New High Schools Choice Forms back to their guidance counselor.

There are eight specialized high schools in NYC that students must test for in order to be considered for admission: Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Latin School, Brooklyn Technical School, High School for Math, Science, and Engineering at City College, High School of American Studies at Lehman College, Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, Staten Island Technical High School, and Stuyvesant High School. These schools emphasize math and science.

Fiorello H. LaGuardia of Music, Art, and Performing Arts is the only non-testing specialized high school. This school admits students based on auditions, or an art portfolio.

Eighth graders that missed the deadline to sign up, or were unable to attend one of the specialized high school testing sessions, have one last opportunity to take the SHSAT in the fall of 2011 as high school freshman.

Fear of Fear

by Xavier Fernandez, 8th Grade Reporter

Do you have a fear? Chances are you have a phobia. What is that? An irrational fear. They come in various shapes, sizes, and… animals.

Phobos is the root word in phobia. Phobos means fear in Latin. It is sometimes linked to deimos, or panic. Fear and panic both being closely tied together.

Phobias are named after the object the person is scared of. This becomes the prefix and it is added to the root word phobia. For example, the reasonable zemmiphobia is the fear of the great mole rat. Zemmi is the prefix for animals belonging to the mole rate family. The weirdest fear, in my opinion, is phobophobia—the fear of fears. Other phobias are named after a type of animal, like molluscophobia—fear of mollusks, which are snails.

All in all, phobias affect everyone. People are affected by phobias in a variety of ways, including fainting at the sight of seeing the thing one fears. Some extreme phobias can even lead to severe mental and/or physiological problems.

From my research, I have developed a minor case of zemmiphobia. For anyone that has panophobia, the fear of everything, you probably shouldn’t be reading this. For all of you with hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, the fear of long words, don’t read this.

For more information on fears visit: http://www.unusualphobias.com/Phobias.html

PAZ Rocks!

by William Baez, 8th Grade Reporter

Do you want to go snowshoeing and hiking? Well, come to Peace from A-Z (PAZ) Afterschool Program where there’re non-stop activities like cooking, sports, tutoring, and more.

PAZ, in its second year running, has proven to be an even bigger success at P.S. 214X than last year as evidenced by high student enrollment. PAZ is not only academic, but includes physical and hands on activities as well. Students receive tutoring in Math and ELA and can participate in fun activities like yoga, outdoor recreational sports, and explore nature with the Eco Club. Furthermore, PAZ offers a mediation program where students can choose peaceful ways to resolve their conflicts.

Vanessa Tricoche, PAZ Director, states that, “PAZ provides academic excellence for grades 5-8. It also provides academic enrichment [to students] for an extra 110 minutes.”

Students interested in joining PAZ can pick up applications in room 212A.

PAZ ends on June 16, 2011.

Epic Science Exit Project

by Tyrone Thomas, 8th Grade Reporter

SENIORS! Do you need help with your science exit projects? Do you know what websites and guides you could use? Do you want to get an amazing grade? Well, you can acquire all of this and more. Read on.

Here are the guidelines for the science exit projects. First, you need a scientific, investigable question; this is what your research title and hypothesis is based off. From your question, you can create an in-depth hypothesis. “A hypothesis is not a guess, but a prediction based off of prior knowledge,” says Ms. Christine Abraham, 8^th Grade Science Teacher and Urban Advantage Educator. All projects should include your research procedure, data, and results/conclusion. Do not forget graphs and/or illustrations to showcase your data. Finally, include a bibliography (a reference section of where you got your information).

The age old question: Why exit projects?

Seniors have to do an exit project, “because it proves that you have mastered the critical analyses skills needed to succeed and compete in high school, college, and the professional world,” answers Ms. Abraham.

Advantages

One thing that can help students complete their science exit project is Urban Advantage. Urban Advantage is a program for New York City schools, which encourages students to be interested in science. This program helps pay for field trips to places like: The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), The Bronx Zoo, The New York Botanical Gardens, The New York Aquarium, and The New York Hall of Science!

At the end of the year, Ms. Abraham picks four groups to present their exit projects at AMNH’s Science Expo.

Advice

“Students should try for a high three, or high four,” states Ms. Abraham.

Students can get presentation boards at Ms. Vronzella Ross’s, 602 Homeroom Teacher, store, Teacher’s Paradise located on 1111 East Tremont Avenue. It is near the McDonald’s driveway.

Students should visit: http://www.urbanadvantagenyc.org/resources/students. It has links to other great science sites and offers guides in several languages.

G-O Let Me See You Go! To the Cheerleading Tryouts!

by Ta’Shea Parham, 6th Grade Reporter

Chatter, chatter, girls biting, nails falling! They anxiously waited to show off their stuff at the cheerleading tryouts. Well, that was how the audition went down; let’s experience deja vu and go back to the… PAST.

On November 30, 2010 – December 1, 2010, cheer coaches, Ms. Hannah Bass, of Pre-K03, and Ms. Latoya Radway, of Class 102, held two mandatory workshops for interested students to learn necessary choreography. Additionally, cheerleading hopefuls learned step material that they had to show off at the final audition on December 2, 2010.

Practice was long and hard because the squad coaches believed that all those auditioning had potential. Every practice was approached as a new learning experience.

The squad’s first performances were for the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Middle School Town Halls that took place from December 15 – December 17, 2010.

The cheerleaders had a bake sale to raise money for their uniforms. School faculty and students of all grades participated. Cheerleaders will be receiving their uniforms in February 2011 so that they can show their spirit in style!

The members of P.S. 214X’s cheer team are: Jaribel Almanzar, Jenny Baptiste, Kialin Bello, Asia Bobbitt, Autumn Brown, Patricia Elie, Jhane Hughes, Faith Johnson, D’ Andrea Jones, Deandra Lawson, Jocelynn Lora, David Martinez, De’Janae Middleton, Hailey Negron, Kim Oliver, Ta’Shea Parham, Cinthia Perez, Tatyana Pringle, Kendra Ramos, Dextine Rivera, Nayla Santiago, Thalia Vega, and Ashley Williams.

My New Years Resolution Is to…

by Destiny Colon, 7th Grade Reporter

• “Be on the 214X Eagles Basketball team,” Tyquan Priester, class 703.
• “Have the guts to try out for the baseball team,” Maria Hernandez, class 703:
• “Get a 4 on all the state tests and to get a good grade on my exit project,” David Lopez, class 801.
• “Take my career to the next level,” Ms. L, PAZ afterschool instructor.
• “Take care of my finances,” Mr. Victor Willert, Middle School Assistant Principal.
• “Do better in school,” Brianna Melendez, class 302, Eniyah Mendina, class 503, Leslie Tufino, class 603, and Perla Gonzalez, class 702.
• “Become more organized,” Dr. Haung, Homeroom Teacher of Class 303.
• “Get a better attitude, more organized, and to participate in sports and classes,” Jenny Baptiste, class 703.
• “Participate in many more school events,” Quiara Santiago, class 602.
• “Do better in math class,” Vanessa Aragon, class 802.
• “Pass the 6th grade,” Ashleen Gonzalez, class 502.
• “Be a part of the spring concert,” D’Andrea Jones, class 605.
• “Achieve more in school,” Luke Eziomono, class 702.
• “Behave better in school,” Celeste Colon, class 401.

Ms. JP’s Math Corner

by Ms. Kendra Johnson-Parham, Math Staff Developer

In this time of ever-increasing math standards and even ‘higher stakes’ testing, we seem to have lost sight of the MOST important thing… Math is FUN! Try this math brain teaser! I know you’ll enjoy it:

Janice has $2.46 worth of coins in her pocket. The coins are of four different denominations, and she has the same number of each denomination. What are the four denominations, and how many of each does she have?

Always remember, ‘A Winner Finds a Way’

(Answer next month.)

Go Green! Be Green!

by Genesys Jimenez, 8th Grade Reporter, and Tasnia Tussy, 5th Grade Reporter

Have you ever thought about the environment? Do you see people litter? Well, you can change that by joining Go Green! Be Green!; it’s the club for you.

Students from grades 5-8 gather and discuss different projects they can do to help P.S. 214X’s environment. Projects include planting a garden, planting trees, cleaning up litter, going on hiking trips, and even convincing students to carpool, ride the bus, or just walk to school.

Need more information? Want to join? Then have a conversation with Tasnia Tussy, class 503, founder of this green club, or speak with Michelle Gonzalez, Parent Coordinator. Membership is open to all P.S. 214X students and staff. So, get green and join now!

The Dangers of Joining A Gang!

by Destiny Colon, 7th Grade Reporter

Joining gangs can be dangerous and threatening to your life and the life of your family. You might even be pressured to kill innocent people. When you join a gang you join a dangerous group of friends.

Some might consider joining a gang because they want to fit in and feel cool, but joining a gang is not cool. After a while, you’ll feel bad about your actions, but be too scared of leaving.

Think about all the innocent people that are going to get hurt, or what you’re going to do when you get caught. Who’s going to bail out a gang member? Those people that you were once close to are now going to be afraid of you. So, obviously they won’t want to help you.

For those that might think that the gangster life is glamorous, it’s not like the life on TV, in movies, or in a music video. Yes, people admire the power that a gang member seems to possess in that particular community and wish to attain the same stature. Gang life might also seem exciting because of drugs, money, violence, and the respect acquired through fear and intimidation. This has attracted many people to pursue a life in gangs. However, there is nothing glamorous about gang life and you aren’t really protected either.

Once you’re in a gang, you are constantly living in fear of confrontations with rival gangs or the police. Having drugs around may also increase the chances of you developing a drug problem, or getting busted for drug possession or selling. Finally, being in a gang increases your chances of getting arrested, seriously injured, and worse, killed.

Before you join a gang, think about it first.