OCTOBER 21, 2013 VOLUME V, ISSUE II
CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2013 PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE NFL predictions and history By Andres Mah-Candelaria Fall has begun and the NFL season has started! I think the Seattle Seahawks will make it to the Super Bowl and the 49ers will not make it to the playoffs. Of the 32 teams these are my favorite teams: Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, and the Green Bay Packers. In this article I am going to write about the teams best players and predictions that I made and predictions from 826LA students. I also interviewed my grandfather about his thoughts about the teams. The New England Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI (2001), XXXVIII (2003), and XXXIV (2004). They play at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Tom Brady plays quarterback and is the best player on the team. He has played QB in the NFL for 13 seasons. The Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV (2000) and XLVII (2012). They play at the M&T Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. Ray Lewis played middle linebacker and was the best player on the team, until he retired recently. Ray Lewis played for the Ravens for 17 years. Their best player who still plays on the team... “NFL Predictions & History” continued on page 5
GOOD TIMES FREE
HALLOWEEN SPOOKS A review of Halloweenthemed theme parks By Monica Lee Halloween is the time of year when the ghosts, zombies, mummies, and other monsters take over the night. Many amusement parks decide to frighten their guests to death. Amusement parks that are ready to scare their guests are Universal Studios, Knotts Berry Farm, Disneyland, Lego Land, and more. Many of these amusement parks are going to base their rides on movies and books.
Halloween at Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Legoland. Some parks are scarier than others.
Universal Studios is going to base their rides on Insidious, Walking Dead, Evil Dead, Halloween Horror Nights, and other famous scary stories. Universal Studios is also going to make mazes and haunted mirrors. A special and famous horror story reading is going to take place. Universal Studios would be the first place to go to since their haunted houses are the best. At the end of a haunted house there is usually a scary character that will chase you. Their commercial is very promising since they made it very creepy. Zombies and bloody clowns chase you until you are trapped. The commercial shows that part to give the audience a daring chance to come to their theme park. Disneyland, the happiest place on earth, is now the scariest place on earth… or is it? There are going to be a Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, pumpkin festivals, carnivals, a dance party of Alice in Wonderland, and other spooktastic themes. Disneyland isn’t the scariest place on earth since Disneyland is meant for kids. Nothing is going to chase you like other places, and lines for the scary rides are longer than they are on an average day. Disneyland is teeming with all the evil characters and there is a parade for the evil characters. Disneyland does not want to scare the kids, but they do want to celebrate Halloween so the whole amusement park is mild with the spook level. California Adventure wants Halloween to be a chill and a thrill. Knott’s Berry Farm is doing two types of Halloween themes. There is one called Camp Spooky, where
kids from ages three to eleven are allowed to come. It starts from 10 am to 5:30 pm beginning on October 5th. You can dress up, go treat or treating, watch parades lead by Snoopy and stage shows, and join the bale maze. The other section of Knott’s is Knott’s Scary Farm. This part of Knott’s is scarier since there are new exhilarating rides, mazes unlike the hay barrel, and scary story times. Legoland is deciding to do a theme called Brick or Treat (a.k.a trick or treating). There are going to be fun shows and a costume contest and everyone is a winner. They hand out little bricks with a ghost on it that says BOO! And there are mazes with booths where you can get candy. The best place to go if you want to be brave is Universal Studios because there is no way out. The next place, in order of scariness, would be Knott’s Berry Farm because there aren’t people who are going to chase you. The next would be Disneyland because there are going to be parades and a pumpkin festival. Legoland is the next scariest since there aren’t any scary people. Monica Lee is twelve years old and goes to Eagle Rock Junior and Senior High School. She enjoys going to journalism because she meets new people and gets to know the tutors more. Monica loves to hang out with friends and journalism provides her with work and friends.
Warning: make sure that the 8 balls aren’t raining, or you might get a hole in your newspaper. Ay, ay, ay!
SNEAK PEEK AT THE NEW WIMPY KID BOOK: HARD LUCK By Joon Kim The new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book will be released on November 5th. It is going to be the eighth book in the series by Jeff Kinney, and the title is Hard Luck. The plot is about Greg facing a new problem: finding a new friend. He is facing this problem because his best friend, Rowley, left him stranded. Luck seems to be the main theme of this book because the horseshoe and the 8 balls are involved with the title and the cover. These are the plots of the previous books: In the first book, lots of things happen such as Rowley getting injured in a tricycle accident. The second book stars Rodrick and Greg, but they don’t get along very well. The third book includes a threat of going to military school. The fourth book is summertime, and a lot of events happen besides playing video games. Greg rushes to grow up in The Ugly Truth. He gets into big
trouble and gets stuck in the house during a blizzard in Cabin Fever. And Greg needs to find a date to the dance in The Third Wheel. The book series has been very popular. Sharon, an employee of Children’s Book World in Los Angeles, said last year at her store they “sold over 300 Wimpy Kid books, and each time a new one comes out we sell more than 100 of that title within the first two months.”
excited that they wanted to be the first people to get it. This reporter is also excited about the book. Just watch out for the raining 8 balls. Joon Kim is 9 years old. He goes to Third Street Elementary School and what he likes about journalism is writing articles. Joon is also a talented cartoonist.
“Because the series became so popular so quickly, the sales have consistently been outstanding,” Sharon said. “The popularity built quickly after the first book came out, and has continued steadily with each new book.” Sharon also said that they got a dozen pre-orders, which means that people are so Comic by Joon Kim
GOODTIMES
VOLUME V, ISSUE II
A GOOD TIMES GUIDE TO HALLOWEEN
HALLOWEEN COSTUMES
Learn how to be a real Hallowinner
By Fritz Tossberg
Get your costume on
By Ivan Paz
Are you tired of regular and boring Halloween costumes? Never fear, Fritz is here. I will provide you with Halloween costume trends and cool ideas.
With Halloween just around the corner, this issue of Good Times is full of Halloween tips, guides, and plans to help you have the best Halloween possible. Read our guides for trick-or-treating in Echo Park, making grapefruit jack-o-lanterns, preparing candy apples, picking the right Halloween costume, and more. This is the guide for halloween DOs and DON’Ts: • Hit the streets early when everyone is stocked up with candy and get to houses with candy bowls outside. • Don’t eat candy while trick or treating. Serious kids will cover more ground on an empty stomach. • If candy matters more than your integrity, bring a picture of a loved one—who is “sick”—to get extra candy. • Kids who think they’re too cool to dress up won’t get candy. • Bring an extra mask or costume and hit the streets again. Fun fact: grapefruits make unique jack-o-lanterns and they’re easy to make. To make a grapefruit jack-o-lantern: You will need: one grapefruit, a plastic knife, a spoon, a battery-powered candle, and a Sharpie. Then...
Maybe you would like to be something from the past. What about a Spartan or a god? If you want to be something from the present you could be a superhero, a princess, or an animal. To be more futuristic you could turn to a robot, a cyborg, or to Star Wars. If you like a certain kind of movie you could be a movie character like Thor, Bilbo Baggins, Flint Lockwood, or Katniss Everdeen.
Ivan’s grapefruit jack-o-lantern hanging out in the Good Times’ newsroom
1. Cut off top part. 2. Scoop out filling of the fruit. 3. Draw face with Sharpie. 4. Insert candle in the middle of the fruit. 5. Top grapefruit. 6. Enjoy. Ivan, age 11, attends Gabriella Charter School. Ivan likes journalism because he can write about the things he loves.
Some popular costumes are ninjas, superheroes, Star Wars characters, or Skylanders. But if you don’t want to be something everyone else is being, then don’t choose anything from my most popular list. I, for one, would like to be either a unicorn or James Bond. If you don’t want to take my word for it, go to other websites and find costumes for yourself. This is Fritz helping you get your costume on. Fritz Tossberg is a 10-year-old awesome person in a 5th grade class. He loves basketball and is awesome at it. He goes to Eagle Rock Elementary School, and wants to be a famous basketball player when he grows up. Everyone in the world knows him as the most awesome person.
HALLOWEEN COSTUME PICKS Ivan’s Picks
Ana’s Pick
Fritz’s Picks
The Little Mermaid James Bond
Money
Matt & Kim’s Pick
Food
Ghost buster
A unicorn
GOODTIMES DIA DE LOS MUERTOS
VOLUME V, ISSUE II
WHERE TO TRICK-OR-TREAT IN ECHO PARK
By Yamilka Martinez-Lozano
Illustration by Yamilka Martinez-Lozano
Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican-American festival. It was created by Mexicans, and before them, the Aztecs. The Aztecs were celebrating for their ancestors. The Aztecs were the first to do skulls for Dia de los Muertos. The skulls today are made out of sugar. They taste like sugar, and people decorate them.
“Sometimes I have a barbecue. I think it’s important and part of my Mexican culture,” said Natalie, an 826LA journalist. People paint their faces to look like the dead. First you make up yourself, then put a crown on your head. It takes a long time. “I have seen it and I think I’ve tried it,” said Natalie. “I’m going to do it this year. I’ve seen and tasted the candy on Olvera Street. They celebrate it there too.” The first day of November is for children, and the second day of November is for parents to celebrate their ancestors. There are dances, painters, and people decorating sugar skulls. People pray to God for their ancestors and put money in a basket. “My grandmas, grandfathers, and ancestors celebrated it,” said Ivan, a Mexican-American student and 826LA journalist. After painting faces and putting on masks and crowns, people put on dresses and dance Mexican and Aztec dances. It starts during the day and people sometimes stay until the middle of the night.
Ivan’s candy map: “I make my way to four different houses on Echo Park Avenue. Then I go to the Sunset Boulevard businesses.”
Yamilka is 8 years old and in the third grade at Clifford Street School. She likes journalism because it’s fun.
CANDY!! A look at candy and Halloween candy alternatives By Natalie Sanchez Candy. Adults say it’s too sweet. Kids say it’s delicious. Twix, M&M, Kit Kat, Starburst... Today, Americans spend $2 billion on Halloween candy every year. Let’s go back in time to find out about CANDY! Before the 1930s, Halloween was about pranks and mischief. In the 1950s, when there were more kids because World War II had ended, trick-or-treating became very popular. At first, kids used to get coins, nuts, fruit, cookies, cakes, and toys. People hosted parties where they would have apples and jack-o-lanterns. Another popular Halloween treat is candy apples. In 1908, William W. Kolb invented candy apples. He sold them for five cents a piece. By 1948 they were all over the country. Candy apples are popular at Halloween because it is right after the apple harvest. In the 1960s and 1970s, the United States had a scare of people hiding razor blades in apples. After that, people were afraid that homemade treats were dangerous. See’s Candies is a popular store where you can buy Halloween candy. During an interview with Tracy Cioffi, VP of Marketing at See’s, a shock came when we asked her what is the most popular candy holiday. It was Christmas, not Halloween. We decided to make candy apples to see what people’s opinions were about candy apples vs. candy. Making candy apples was fun, but it was hard to make. It was messy. All the ingredients were everywhere, some of them got on the floor, some on the table, and some in our mouths!
Candy apples make a great treat to give to friends for Halloween. Candy apples bring people together.
This is how you make candy apples! You need: apples (red or green are ok) caramel (you can get that in a store) chocolate (white, milk or dark is ok) smashed cookies (any cookies are fine) nuts (the nuts are optional) sticks (to hold the apple)
Halloween. Three people said both and 13 people said candy apples, proving that candy apples can be a great Halloween treat too.
Put the caramel in a microwave for 20 seconds. Get your apples and ingredients ready--that means washing your apples! When the caramel is ready, take it out of the microwave and mix the caramel. Take out the apple stems. Then, put the sticks in to hold the apples. Now dip your apple into the caramel. Decorate the caramel apple with the ingredients (chocolate, smashed cookies, or nuts). Put the apples in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. Take them out and enjoy your caramel apples! I made some candy apples and surveyed people about them. Christina said they were, “Sweet, nice, and I liked it.” Ivan said they were, “Good, crunchy, and sweet.” I asked if they would like this or candy at
Natalie Sanchez is 11 years old and is in the 6th grade. She likes journalism because she gets to meet new people, write, and learn new things (like how to make candy apples!).
Kids and adults enjoy the fact that kids can dress up and receive candy. Halloween is where kids can have fun, eat, and get cavities. I bet dentists are happy!
GOODTIMES
VOLUME V, ISSUE II
A BRITE SPOT FOR PIES The Brite Spot restaurant is the place for yummy pie
FALL FASHION TRENDS
By Christina Lee
By Arianna Mah-Candelaria
At the Brite Spot they sell huge pies. They sell about 9 to 10 different kinds of pies. They sell chocolate cream pie, apple pie, chocolate caramel banana cream pie, peanut butter pie, key lime pie, bourbon pecan pie, whiskey buttermilk pie, cherry pie, and, last but not least, peach pie. There are two bakers who bake the pies in the back of the restaurant. The restaurant opened in 1949. “We always bake them here and other restaurants don’t,” said Monica Schrock, a server from The Brite Spot. Her favorite type of pie is key lime pie. The pie is sweet and sour. It is also creamy and comes with white chocolate. The pie is also huge. Another pie they sell is the salted honey pie. It is sweet and salty. It is also rich and huge. At the Brite Spot the employees are nice and awesome. Schrock said there was an old man who would buy two pies and would give them away to people at the home for the elderly.
The people in medieval England would stuff the pies with meat, beef, wild duck, magpie pigeon, spiced with pepper, currants or dates. To keep food from spoiling the colonists would make pie. Pumpkin pie was not popular in America until the early 1800s. Apple pie came from England. One pie contest was held in Los Angeles. Sharon Grave is the winner of Good Food Pie Contest with an apple pie that beat out more than 250 pies, according to the Los Angeles Times. In a survey of 826LA kids and tutors about their favorite pie, 1 person liked key lime pie, 3 people liked apple pie, 2 people liked pumpkin, 1 liked huckleberry pie, 3 people liked chocolate pie, 2 people liked cherry, 2 people liked banana, and last but not least 1 person liked pecan pie. Chocolate and apple were the most liked pies. Cristina Lee is in the fourth grade. She attends Eagle Rock Elementary, and she wants to be a doctor when she grows up. She likes journalism because she likes to write.
What to wear and where to find it Many people love to keep track of what fashion or clothing are in every season or year. If you are one of those people this article is for you. Fall 2013 had many options and styles that are in. Roxy. com, Glamour.com, and Forever21.com are all websites you can go to shop and find out more about what to wear. Right now there are many types of things you could wear: hats, heels, boots, and peplum are all items you should wear during this time. Peplum for example is basically any shirt that flares out at the bottom. This type of shirt would go well with jeans and flats or heels with a simple jacket. Patterns like houndstooth and animal skin like leopard are all items that should still be kept in your closet. Roxy.com also has a lot to offer when it comes to fashion trends. It is definitely a good place to go shopping if you are looking for warm fashionable sweaters. But if you think that your closet is too full to buy any more clothing, then Glamour.com is a place you should visit. It doesn’t sell clothes but it has slideshows on clothes to wear. It talks about what to wear and what not to wear so that you could easily pick out a closet full of fall-fashionable clothes instead of buying any more.
Pie has a gross history. The Greeks were the first people who made pie according to Time Magazine.
Fall fashion is all about warm and comfortable clothes, it has many different types of clothing that anyone and everyone can wear. There is no limit to the styles and patterns of fall fashion and the creativity is fully up to the wearer.
APPLE’S IOS 7 The good or bad war
Arianna Mah-Candelaria is 12 years old and attends Eagle Rock High School. She is in 7th grade and as of right now her favorite subject is English. She lives with her mom, dad, brother, sister, and dog Charlie. She loves animals, but ironically she would like to become a doctor.
By Eddie Song Apple, the favorite electronics company to many human beings, has made itself better with the one and only iOS 7, the latest software update for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod. Judging by posts on Twitter, people have a wide range of opinions about the new software update. Users like @tn_bradford said “ios7 to the rescue,” while @JesseAmazesYou said “I’m pretty sure IOS 7 is a pointless update.” This reporter wanted answers from an expert. Dan Moren, a senior editor from Macworld, was nice enough to answer my questions which are stated below: Q: Many people say the new IOS 7 has features that are similar to Android and Samsung. Is this a good thing? Why? A: iOS 7 does have some features that are similar to those you might see on Android devices, such as the new Control Center option that gives you easy access to certain features. I think that’s a great addition for iOS, since not only does it make life easier for users of Apple devices, but it also shows that the company is keeping an eye on what’s going on elsewhere in the market—and that it listens to its customers when they ask for features they’ve seen elsewhere. Q: Are you worried that the new multitasking will be confusing for grandmas and grandpas? A: If anything, I think the new multitasking interface will be easier to understand. The old model relied on app icons and wasn’t very visual; the new
model is a little similar to what we’ve long had on our Macs and PCs. And certain actions, like force-quitting a misbehaving app, are more intuitive in the new interface. Q: If you could build your own operating system, what would you put on it? A: Building my own operating system would certainly be a time-consuming endeavor, but I’m sure it would have all the features I use every day: email, Web browsing, a text editor, a calendar, Twitter, and, of course, some pretty killer games for some leisure time. Q: What do you think about the iOS 7 features, designs and etc.? A: Obviously, I could write a lot about this (and I did!), but I think that on the whole that it’s a very positive update for Apple. The new design is very sleek and minimalist, and I think it really gets out of your way and lets you concentrate on the tasks at hand. Control Center and AirDrop are super handy innovations that make what used to be complicated tasks way easier, and I really love the new organization of the Photos app. Q: If you get iOS 7, what would you AirDrop first?
“The Good” - Cartoon by Eddie Song
A: While photos and videos are the obvious choice for AirDrop, I’m most excited by the ability to quickly and easily share locations with my friends via Maps. That way when we decide what restaurant we’re going to, it’s super easy to send the location to all of them at the same time. Q: If you like iOS 7 and think it is an awesome (or something like that) software update then what makes it so good? A: I do think iOS 7 is pretty awesome. And I think the most awesome thing about it is that it’s available for current iOS devices for free. It’s great that software updates like these roll in all these new abilities that we can take advantage of without having to spend a dime. Pretty great, right? Eddie Song is an 11-year-old 6th grader from Walter Reed, Home of The Wolves, and likes journalism because it entertains him and keeps him busy.
GOODTIMES
VOLUME V, ISSUE II
“NFL Predictions & History” continued from page 1 is Ray Rice. The Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl 1996 (XXXI) and 2010 (XLV ). Their best player is Aaron Rodgers. He played for 4 years as a quarterback. The stadium that they play in is called Lambeau Stadium. They have also gone by the names the Indian Packers, Blues, Big Bay Blues, The Pack, and Green and Gold. The Seattle Seahawks have won 0 Super Bowls. Historically, the best player on the team was Steve Largent. The stadium they play in is Centurylink Field. The Seahawks were established in 1975. I asked my grandpa five questions and this what I asked him: What was your first football game you watched, what team do you think will make it to the playoffs, who’s your favorite football team, who’s your favorite player, and what’s your favorite position. He said: Rams when they were in LA, Seattle and Baltimore, 49ers, Tom Brady, and Quarterback. I wrote down my favorite teams and asked 826LA students about teams that might make it to the playoffs and the Super Bowl. These were the votes: Green Bay - 2 votes, Baltimore - 10 votes, Seahawks - 5 votes, New England got 1 vote, Denver Broncos got 2 votes, and 49erss got 11 votes. Andres Mah-Candelaria attends Eagle Rock Elementary. He is 9 and likes journalism because he gets to write stories about things he likes.
FIFA 14 HITS STORES Digital soccer; now with more spinning footballers By Ana Martinez-Lozano FIFA 14 came out on September 24 for Xbox, PC, Wii, iOS, Playstation, Playstation Vita, Playstation 3, and Android. I love FIFA 14 because it is cool and better than any game in the world. The release comes with updates including players like Javier Chicharito and Giovani dos Santos, new ball physics that help to make the ball stand out in the game so that it looks 3D, and secret codes and there’s one distracting one player while the other rushes in and steals the ball. Players can spin. “I’m not the world’s biggest soccer fan, but it’s gotten great reviews,” said Brian Hanson of Next-Gen Video Games in Los Angeles, where 20 copies of the game were available for the September 24 release. “EA goes to great pains to make sure they have the biggest players and teams in their games.” Twenty people pre-ordered FIFA14, said Brian Hanson of Next-Gen Video Games. FIFA 14 costs $59.99. According to EA Sports, FIFA is played by 3.4 million people daily. Andres Mah-Candelaria, a fellow journalist at 826LA, said, “I play FIFA 2008.” Andres wants FIFA14 because he says it’s better. Andres said that he wants to play as Manchester United on FIFA 14. He does not imagine being in the game. He wishes it was more like hockey because then people could hit each other. Ana Martinez-Lozano is 10 years old, she’s in fifth grade, and she goes to Clifford Elementary School. If she could do anything in the world, she would play soccer. She likes journalism because it’s cool.
GRAND THEFT AUTO V The newest and best GTA By Gem Anthony Galicia
fame, and many more are included in the game. One of my friends also searched up his house and found it on the same street he lived on.
Grand Theft Auto V is the most expensive game ever made in the history of gaming; it cost $137 million to make just one game. It is more expensive than Call of Duty. GTA 5 made over $800 million dollars on its release date on 9/17/13. The original game that held the record was Call of Duty: Black Ops 2,which made $500 million.
Tons of cheat codes can also help you own this trigger happy world. With cheat codes you can just do nothing but sit back and relax while your guy gets shot a billion times with the cheat invincibility; or you can knock out people with your guys “explosive” personality (a.k.a. your guy’s explosive bullets and punches). One final comment, C4, boom!
There are now not just one, but three main character with three different main stories. The deadly trio are known as Trevor, Michael, and Franklin. Having three characters is better than one because you can switch back and forth from one character to another exploring each others campaign. There are two main ways to play this game: campaign mode, which you can follow through the entire story; or free-kill-drive-run-flyand- more mode, which is basically trolling around and being a total derp about it. Multiplayer and online will be up by the time this article comes out so you can derp around with your friends and run away together from the cops.
GTA 5 has dominated YouTube with walkthroughs and funny moments including tips and cheats for the game like explosive melee, which is basically when you hit someone an explosion will come out of your fist. These are the cheats that are meant to help you kill, drive, jump, fly, and derp around.
Los Santos, the setting of GTA 5, is the fake version of Los Angeles, but with the same Los Angeles style that can make you feel at home. Every detail of Southern California like the Santa Monica Pier, the walk of
The price of the game is $59.99, and if you’re willing to pay that much you are making a good choice, my friend, because in the game you can follow the story or just DESTROY anything in your path. The game has great reviews on YouTube and on Machinima and other gaming sites. So pick up a copy because you won’t be disappointed. Gem is in the eigth grade and attends Bancroft Middle School. He loves watching YouTube videos and making newspapers.
MADDEN NFL 25 TAKES YOU DOWN By Dayanara Martinez-Lozano The new Madden NFL 25 just came out on August 27, 2013. It is available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, iOS and Android. It is the 25th anniversary of the game the first one came out in 1988. This reporter played it on the iPhone. It was hard to play on the iPhone because it was small and blurry. And I saw that the graphics were better than the older version but there were no instructions. I liked the type of sport it was based on. Before I played I thought I would love the game because of the graphics and the players. I did not like it when I played the game. I wouldn’t recommend it on iOS or Android. If it was on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, the graphics would be better.
My favorite team is the Baltimore Ravens and the team is in Madden NFL 25 (so are all the teams). I like their mascot and they won the Super Bowl last season against the 49ers by three points. So far this season they are 3 and 2. Dayanara Martinez-Lozano goes to Clifford Street Elementary. She’s in sixth grade and she likes to play all the EYS season games.
GOODTIMES Q&A with 826LA BOARD MEMBER LOUIS LUCIDO By Kaylin Lopez Louis Lucido is a new member on the board of directors of 826LA. The 826LA Good Times interviewed him about his new job here at 826LA. Louis gave some really great answers to the questions. Q: What is your job? A: I am the Chief Operating Officer of DoubleLine Capital Group, L.P. My firm is an investment management company which manages approximately $53 billion in investor assets. We are located in downtown Los Angeles and will be 4 years old this December! Our investors range from public and private pension funds, hospitals, charitable foundations, corporations, municipalities, foreign investors and individuals. A number of these investor types are invested in our public mutual funds, others are managed in individual accounts and limited investment partnerships. Our firm has 108 employees and I am broadly responsible for the daily operation of the company. Q: How do you feel about joining the Board of Directors of 826LA? A: Wow! That’s what I felt when I was asked to join the Board of Directors of 826LA! 826LA can help change the outcome of your life by providing a spark. That spark is providing students with a voice, an ability to not only tell a story but write it! Not to be afraid of expressing yourself and looking for opportunities to do so. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of the team that’s mission is to help more students? I’m both excited and proud to be on this Board! Q: Is 826LA your favorite place? A: Now that’s a tough question!! My favorite place is to be with my family, I have 4 children, one son-in-law (who I get along with), a seven year old granddaughter and a wife who has put up with me for 41 years! My next favorite place is to help students, so although not first, a most important second favorite place for me is 826LA. Q: Why did you join 826LA’s Board of Directors? A: I joined the 826LA Board of Directors because I think I can help the organization grow so that it can
help more students. 826LA provides the support for students who are interested in learning how to express themselves, how to prepare for middle school, high school and college. Over the next three years we’ll see how the organization grows! Want to interview me on October 1st, 2016? I’d be happy to meet and speak with you then and you could give me a report card on what we’ve been able to accomplish over the next three years! Q: What is your favorite kind of quesadilla? A: Ha!! What an easy question! There’s no such thing as a bad quesadilla! I equally like cheese, vegetarian, chicken, beef, and ham quesadillas. If you had a nice assortment of dessert quesadillas, with fruit, chocolate, butterscotch and caramel, you would not have to twist my arm too much for me to eat them all! Kaylin Lopez is 12 years old, she attends Bancroft Middle School and is in 7th grade.
CULTURE COLLIDE The best festival in the whole wide world
By Rachael Kim Pat McGuire, editorin-chief of Filter magazine, has put up a music festival called Culture Collide. The festival ran from October 10th-12th in Echo Park at Taix, The Echo, Echoplex, 826LA , and the Methodist Church of Echo Park. There were about 70 bands from different countries playing for the festival. Pat said, “We had to do a lot of paperwork with the governments of their home countries, and buy airplane tickets, and get hotel rooms.” The countries some of the bands came from are Costa Rica, like The Great Wilderness; Latvia, like Instrumenti and Pratra Vetra; and The Netherlands, such as Birth of Joy and Bombay Show Pig. “A lot of people think Latvia is a made-up country, but it exists, I assure you,” says Pat. “That is another good thing about Culture Collide...Even if you never get a chance to go to a country like Latvia, we can bring their best bands here to your backyard for you!” Pat Mcguire started the festival in the year 2010. This year’s festival was the 4th Culture Collide. Rachael Kim is 8 years old and attends Third St. Elementary School and likes Rhye and The Raveonettes, who are both playing in Culture Collide. She is in 3rd grade.
VOLU N T E E R AT 8 2 6 L A ! 826LA, a non-profit tutoring center for students and
VOLUME V, ISSUE II
LOS ANGELES COUNTY FAIR If you like rides, they’ve got rides
By Veronica Tossberg The L.A County Fair goes on for 30 days every year. Many things go on at this exciting place, including games, prizes, and all of the delicious fried foods. One thing that stands out are the rides. There are 72 rides at the L.A County Fair, and all of them come with a height requirement. Though there are a lot of rides, that doesn’t mean that they are all alike, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some people love all of these rides, but others aren’t as impressed. Most people are satisfied with their experience with the rides though. If people don’t like the rides, it is probably because they either get sick or they aren’t getting the thrill that they could get at Six Flags Magic Mountain. They have crazy rides at the fair such as G-force and UFO, but they have really crazy rides at Six Flags, and maybe people are looking for that level of intensity and they aren’t getting it. So some people love the rides, and others throw up after them. Some different opinions come from Rose Engle, Emily Engle, and Veronica Salcido. Rose, age 13, says: “I like most of the rides except the ones that spin. I don’t like the ones that spin because I get dizzy and kind of sick. I also don’t like the ones that go straight up, and straight down.” Emily, age 15, says: “I don’t really like a lot of the rides, but some of them I will do. I mostly like the walk through rides the best. Some of these rides include Jungle Safari, and Ocean Escape. “ Veronica, age 49, says: “I don’t really like like roller coasters. They make me sick, especially the ones that spin and the really crazy ones. I do like the log rides though. “ There are many different rides and many different opinions about them. Some people love the rides, and others get sick from them, and a few people aren’t getting enough thrill from them. Most people love the fair and the rides are their favorite part. Veronica Tossberg is 11 years old. She is in seventh grade and goes to Eagle Rock Junior/Senior High school. She loves scary movies, roller coasters, and her dog Lucky. She likes to attend journalism because she likes to write and enjoys spending time with her friends there.
The Good Times is written by the
students of the 826LA in Echo Park Journalism workshop.
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