August 2011 Issue of the Circle Gazette

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

Volume 2, Issue 11

AUGUST 2011

A Newspaper by Children for Children Green Tip of the Month

by A.J. Cross Page 3

by Sarah Thompson, Age 12 Boynton Beach, FL thoughts and prayers (I have Another Independence been writing to a soldier Day has come and gone. The named Tatiana since 2007). burgers are finished. The A very, very simple thing fireworks have all gone off. we can do to show our supAnd another month of sum- port for the U.S. Army in mertime fun waits before our community is to hang us. With so much excite- an American Flag outside ment going on, what better on holidays - or any day! time to remember the troops Here are some holidays that who fight for our freedom one might hang the Flag to and keep us safe each and show some respect for the every day? There are lots of soldiers: things we can do to support • President’s Day, the men and women servFebruary 21 ing overseas. We can send • Memorial Day, care-packages filled with May 30 the everyday items we take • Flag Day, June 14 for granted, but are actually • Independence Day, quite hard for the soldiers to July 4 get while serving in other • Veterans Day, countries - items like toothNovember 11 paste, snacks, shampoo, and By hanging your flag up blankets. We can write let- on these days, you’re showters to the soldiers and let ing local military families them know they are in our that you care.

What Do I Want To Be?

by Nora Krijestorac Page 13

The Mayor of Davie, Judy Paul

by Alizdair Ray, Age 7 Davie, FL I was very excited about meeting with Mayor Judy Paul on June 27, 2011.

First, she met me out in the lobby and shook my hand.

She took me and my Mom to her office. This was my second time meeting Mayor Judy Paul. The first was at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Poster and Essay contest in February. I was

surprised that she remembered me, but she did. I’m going to share some facts about Davie that I didn’t know before.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and davie-fl.gov: The town’s population was 91,992 at the 2010 census. Davie was founded by a group of settlers composed of workers from the Panama Canal Zone. The original name of the town was Zona

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Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

because of this. In 1909, Robert Parsell (“R.P.”) Davie assisted then Governor Broward by draining the swamplands that were infested with mosquitoes. Davie, a developer, bought about 27,000 acres (109 km2) in the area. He built a school in Zona and in 1916, the people of the town were so grateful they renamed the town after him. The town was carved

Please turn to page 9

Young Reporter Alizdair Ray and Mayor of Davie, Ms. Judy Paul.

Heartbreaking Defeat

U.S.’s Women’s Soccer Team Falls Short on Quest for Third World Cup

by Ismail Ercan, Age 14 Coral Springs, FL “There are really no words. We were so close.”

That’s what U.S. forward Abby Wambach said after she and the U.S. lost to Japan 3-1 on penalty kicks in the finals of the Women’s World Cup, Sunday night in Frankfurt, Germany. The United States team was looking for its third world cup, the first since 1999, when it hosted the World Cup, and won against China in penalty kicks. Wambach and almost the entire squad was also looking for their first world cup title, the jewel in any soccer player’s career.

Up until the finals, the U.S. had struggled, but showed their fighting “American” spirit by persevering game after game.

They even struggled to qualify and were the last team to make it into the tournament. And the challenges kept on mounting.

After falling to Sweden in the group stage, they were faced with Brazil, the most talented team in the world, in the quarterfinals. In the

Abby Wambach celebrates after leveling against Brazil the 122nd minute. last world cup, the U.S. was destroyed by the Brazilians 4-0 in the semifinals. Winning this game would take a lot of guts.

The U.S. came out strongly, looking for revenge. The U.S. were on the scoreboard immediately in the second minute when American veteran midfielder Shannon Boxx crossed the ball into the penalty area and the Brazilian defender Daiane put the

ball into her own net for an own goal. The Americans maintained the pressure throughout the first half as it came to a close with the score still at 1-0.

The drama began in the 51 minute, when American midfielder Carli Lloyd seemed to have deliberately handled the ball with her hand. Lloyd, who already had a yellow card, was lucky that the official over-

Please turn to page 12

Summer Adventures! pages 6-9

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE A Newspaper by Children for Children Monthly Independent Publication available to children of all ages.

This publication is an initiative of THE ENRICHMENT CIRCLE, INC. A Non-Profit Organization for the Advancement of Education 7551 Normande Ct. Margate FL 33063 Phone:954-9182541 info@enrichmentcircle.com

Editor in Chief

PATTY GOMEZ

Editorial Board Serena Serrano

Sandra Wolkov

Patty Gómez

Sandra Wolkov

Pedro Gómez

Christie Voss

Sandra Damas

Production Christie Voss

Sandra Damas

Serena Serrano

Prepress Technician Christie Voss

Graphic Designers

Dora Font

Matias Sosa Wheelock

Daniela Gómez

Christie Voss

Cartoonists and Illustrators

Daniela Gómez

Emma Gómez

Sofia Serrano

Regular Columnists

Aaron Cross

Bilal Amodu Sara Cross

Regular Contributors

Sarah Thompson

Maria & Natalie Schlecht, Daniela & Emma Gómez, Aaron & Sara Cross, Liora Elkoby, Sofia Serrano, Danny & Andy Hernández, Shadya and Bilal Amodu, Ismail Ercan , Matias Sosa Wheelock and Alizdair Ray

Proof Readers

A

AUGUST 2011

word from the editor: Cycles of Life

The cyclical pattern of our lives helps us maintain a healthy equilibrium. We have a natural desire to go through waves of excitement and calmness; cycles of activities that start and end. Our connection to nature through weather and seasons helps us regulate such cycles.

Though constancy and routine are inherent to human behavior and a key to success, we do better when we spice constancy and routine with subtle changes to which we have to adapt.

These changes make everything more exciting: The anticipation of a beginning, the dreading of an end, or vice versa. Seen from this perspective, monotony doesn’t seem to fit the human spirit well: we thrive on adventure.

This August, the Circle Gazette celebrates the end of the summer months. It will remain quite warm in South Florida, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Arizona for a while. But even in these climes, it will eventually start to cool down, and ultimately it will get cool everywhere, and in some places it will start to freeze. The green will be gone from Southern Alaska soon.

Regardless of where you live, kids will be back in school and in their fall schedules in a few weeks. If you are homeschooled, maybe you fol-

low the school year calendar, maybe you don’t; but fall will bring its own unique seasonal set of activities and classes to you too.

In Summer Adventures (p. 6-9), you’ll read the exciting experiences our writers enjoyed in the past months: visiting with family, cleaning up beaches, volunteering, traveling to another continent, relocating to a different country, hiking in the Grand Canyon, swimming with dolphins, and interviewing their city’s Mayor.

What did you do? Did you go to summer camp? Did you rest and watch movies? Did you have sleepovers and play-dates? Did you do something you have never done before? Maybe you traveled in a boat along the Eastern shore? Or performed in a musical? Played basketball? Did you bike around your neighborhood? Were you bored?

In our twitter page we received comments from parents all over the country reporting that their kids this summer were: OUTDOORS, PLAYING, FISHING, SWIMMING AND CAMPING. The Enrichment Circle held creative writing workshops at the North West Regional Library of Broward County and we had 106 kids, ages 6 to 17, join us to celebrate the power of the written word. We also offered

Kids & Politics Political Puppets

doll-making workshops for kids and parents that brought an opportunity of escaping the heat while quietly sitting with needle and thread for company.

A year’s worth of summer-like activities would not be fun. A year’s worth of school work would not be fun. Working on the same project for too long becomes old. But a healthy balance of beginnings and endings helps us stay engaged.

We tend to resist change when it feels unnatural or imposed, even when such change might be good for us. But when winter brings its chill (even to South Florida) few object to wearing warmer clothes or turning the heater on. When the time is right, we welcome change. Change gives us the opportunity to start again with a clean slate. Like the phoenix, we can emerge new and colorful from our ashes, from what we leave behind.

Celebrate the end of summer and embrace the beginning of the fall and all it brings to you. If what comes to you is not, at first, something you like, don’t resist. Don’t fight. Ride the wave and see what the new cycle brings.

We look forward to hearing all about your experiences as we head into the end of summer and embrace the beginning of fall.

Patty Gómez Editor-in-Chief

in order for a proper negotiation to be completed. While I am conWebsite Master tent with the President’s leaderVictoria Martinez ship throughout the conflict, I am dubious about his performance in Circulation office. Nationally, unemployment The Circle Gazette is available online and it’s distributed in paper via individual, classroom and library has escalated to 9.2%, and while subscriptions. Free copies are available at community partner institutions (libraries, museums and educational

by Bilal Amodu, Age 14 President Obama claims it is imorganizations). This publication is currently distributed in more than twenty cities in South Florida and has perative to topple these statistics, Deerfield Beach, FL subscribers and contributors from California, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, Virginia, he remains evasive regarding Caracas-Venezuela, Rivas-Nicaragua and San Jose-Costa Rica.

Salutations my fellow readers did not. However, unlike before, his administration’s intentions and welcome to the August edi- Medicare and Social Security are to reduce unemployment. As the tion of the Circle Gazette. A great becoming dominating issues. So- economy worsens, Republican Free Copies Available at deal has occurred these past sev- cial Security was created in 1935 presidential aspirants are benefitThe Coral Springs Museum of Art The Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theater eral weeks that has succeeded in as a payment system to the retired ing from these dismaying statisThe Northwest Regional Broward County Library The British School Caracas tarnishing the reputation of our elderly and disabled, while Medi- tics. Since my previous article, President as well as our elected care, initiated in 1965, provides two Republican new aspirants Sales, Advertising and Sponsorship leaders. You may recall my ar- medical treatment to the elderly. have commenced their presidenMindy Joseph Jodi Jaffe ticle about the narrowly evaded Expansion of these programs has tial campaigns, including former 954-684-9096 954-253-6584 government shutdown which had resulted in them occupying sig- ambassador to China as well TO SUBMIT WORK exposed to both Democrats as nificant portions of the federal as former Utah governor, Jon TO SUBMIT WORK The Circle Gazette is a publication available to public school, private school and homeschool students. Email a copy of your work, as a major word processor file or as a jpeg file, at info@enrichmentcircle.com. All entries should be accompanied by the parent/gua well as Republicans the essence budget. If the debt ceiling is not Huntsman, as well as Michigan The Circle Gazette is a publication available to public school, private school and homeschool students. Email a copy of compromise. Having avoided a raised by this month we could be Congressman, Thaddues McCotof your work, as a major word processor file or as a jpeg file, at Information info@enrichmentcircle.com. to contributors All entries should be federal government shutdown, it ofplaced in a scenario where our ter. McCotter possesses a paucity Circle Gazette theonline right toat edit, accept and refuse articles in the interest of brevity, clarity and appropriateness subject matter. accompanied by the parent/guardian consent to print.The Submission Form toreserves be found seemed that the legislators would nation would be unable to pay its of name recognition as well as a www.enrichmentcircle.com.

YOUNG CHILDREN PROVIDE A WEALTH OF WISDOM, beFRESHNESS zealous to commence a new troops. The President and con- dearth of experience; Huntsman, AND NEW PERSPECTIVES philosophy where compromise gressional leaders have held sev- on the other hand, efficiently Information to contributors would be ubiquitous while parti- eral meetings to discuss the debt served as governor of Utah posThe Circle Gazette reserves the right to edit, accept and refuse the interest of brevity, claritytoand Thearticles Circle inGazette is packed from cover cover with the latest stories and creations of children of all ages; about local affairs, the environment, art, sports, entertainment and puzzles that engage and inspire young minds! sanship would be scarce. Unfor- ceiling, though no solutions have appropriateness of subject matter. sessing experience as a diplomat, prevailed. In fact, the assemblies a position that he should have The Circle Gazette is a one-of-a-kind publication because: tunately, our representatives have failed to learn a lesson from the have prevailed in exacerbating YOUNG CHILDREN PROVIDE A WEALTH OF WISDOM, FRESHNESS maintained from my perspective. previous crisis, thus permitting a partisan • It transcends one school/homeschool community. Ithostility. goes beyond a state or a country. about widening writer’s and reader’s horizons!

On July It’s12, AND NEW PERSPECTIVES • It is addressedconcernto children and the content is created by children second crisis to emerge Republican United States Senate The candidates I discussed in my • It involves a multi-age/multi-level group of contributors ing the debt ceiling. Congress has Minority leader Mitchell McCo- last article are gaining momenThe editorial team keeps a holistic and nourishing quality in the selection of content and design tum, one of them being the ever The Circle Gazette is packed from cover to cover with the latest•stories and creations of children of all ages; about the poor habit of permitting the proposed an utterly partiIt’s a high quality mix of a variety nnell of styles and topics local affairs, the environment, art, sports, entertainment and•puzzles that engage and inspire young minds! federal government’s spending san solution where the President delusional Michelle Bachman, • It offers valuable feedback to authors to exceed its revenue. The result would have the task of raising the a woman who is addicted to the The Circle Gazette is a one-of-a-kind publication because: is deficit, which basically can be debt ceiling. This was an attempt ubiquitous media attention she defined as spending that exceeds to thrust implication on the Dem- receives while, from my point of • It transcends one school/homeschool community. It goes beyond a state or a country. It’s about widening available funding. In order to ocratic President, Barack Obama view, proving to be an incompewriter’s and reader’s horizons! enable the spending to become to condemn any Democratic pros- tent leader. From my assessment, • It is addressed to children and the content is created by children • It involves a multi-age/multi-level group of contributors equivalent to the revenue, the pect of success in next year’s elec- the politics from the forthcoming • The editorial team keeps a holistic and nourishing quality in the selection of content and design federal government must obtain tion. President Obama maintained election is stifling partisan negoti• It’s a high quality mix of a variety of styles and topics loans. As a result, its debt builds an admirable leadership position ation. With the discussions put to • It offers valuable feedback to authors up. In 1917, Congress ratified a by refusing to ratify any proposal a stop, our economy in the future law that regulated the limit to the that would extend the deadline appears dismal as well as threatamount of debt the nation was temporarily. The President stated ening. I wish the reader positive permitted to possess, thus fabri- that legislators all must sacrifice fortune in these pending days. cating the debt ceiling, which is the total amount the federal government is permitted to borrow.

Did You Know...

The debt ceiling can be raised only by Congress, which it has ...that there are many done on dozens of occasions regulations surrounding the during the past sixty years. In display and treatment of the the event that the debt ceiling is flag of the United States? not raised when more funding is needed, the nation would default One important rule is that the on its loans, which would exacflag should almost never be erbate our ailing economy into a dipped toward any person severe recession. Though agreeor thing. It is believed that ment that it should be raised is this tradition arose during ubiquitous, the Republican dominated House of Representatives the 1908 Olympics when the refuses to extend the debt ceiling American flag bearer refused until the expenditure is signifito dip the flag to England’s cantly reduced. Clearly this is a The Enrichment Circle King Edward VII. repetition of the budget crisis in A Non-Profit Organization for the Advancement of Education which Republicans supported reduced spending while Democrats Serena Serrano

Sandra Damas

AUGUST 2011

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

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3

Green Tip of the Month is Be Ready with Solar Energy

by A.J. Cross, Age 14 Boca Raton, FL

Solar energy is a common, green, alternative to gasoline energy. Using the energy from the sun as a renewable energy source, solar panels can produce hundreds of watts of electricity without harming the environment.

Solar backup generators use photovoltaic (PV) panels to convert the Sun’s energy into electricity and store it for when you need it most. If you have a blackout due to a hurricane, snowstorm, power surge, or circuit breaker blow, you can still have a sense of 21 century living.

Solar backup generators are not the only way to enjoy having electricity during a blackout.

The most common devices are gasoline generators. Solar energy is obviously a lot better for the environment than gasoline.

Gasoline starts out as oil buried deep beneath the ocean floor. The oil is drilled to the surface by oil rigs. Energy is used and pollution is released into the air while constructing an oil rig and operating it. From the oil rig, the oil has to be shipped to a refinery plant, which uses more energy and gives off more pollution. The refinery plant uses even more energy and gives off even more pollution converting the oil into usable gasoline.

The gasoline is then shipped to gas stations, a process in which more energy is needed and more pollution is released. The gas station uses more energy pumping gas into your container, whether it is the gas tank of your car or a portable gasoline container for your generator. More toxic fumes are released while your machine is burning the gasoline; so overall there is a lot more harm coming to the environment than just the fumes that your generator or other machine gives off.

There could be an accident that causes oil to spill and get into the ecosystem. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year is a prime example of how one small mistake can lead to an environmental disaster.

Solar generators do not use fuel that needs high amounts of processing and shipping. The Sun’s rays go wherever you go. Like anything else, solar generators do require some resources to make and some are made overseas and must be shipped, but they are relatively good to go from then on. The only thing that could be a problem is the fact that the batteries do tend to die and need replacing. The old batteries also need to be disposed of in a proper way and not just tossed in the garbage, or else they could become an environmental hazard themselves.

An easy way to make the batteries last longer is to not let them drain completely. Charging batteries at least every couple of months will help prevent them from losing their charge, which they will tend to do from just sitting around and not being used. Many generators come with a cable that allows you to charge your battery from any ordinary wall outlet.

There are a lot more reasons to

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Portable Solar Generator buy a solar backup generator than just the fact that it is green. First of all, gas generators are loud and you cannot keep them on at night, but solar generators use silent PV panels during the day to charge a battery you can use late at night.

Solar generators are practical to use all year round, and will eventually generate enough power to pay for themselves. You have to keep filling up gasoline generators in order for them to work, and during a storm there might not be any more fuel available.

Most gas generators are big, heavy, and hard to move around even with wheels, but most solar generators are small and compact

power and how much wattage it uses. Then you have to look at how much wattage the generator can handle, and how much wattage its PV panels can generate.

For example, if I want to run my 22 watt laptop, my 35 watt floor fan, and my 13 watt florescent light bulb, I would need a generator that can produce at least 70 watts. If the PV panels generate less wattage than I need, then the rest of the power would come from the generator’s battery. If the PV panels can generate more wattage than I need, they could support everything I am running off of the panels and not drain the generator’s battery; and any

remaining wattage that I am not using goes towards charging the battery.

Another thing to look at when you are buying a solar energy generator is to match up the PV panel’s power output (in watts) and battery’s capacity (in watthours [Wh] or amp-hours [Ah]).

For example, if your panels only produce 50 watts of power then it will take 10 hours to fully charge a 500 watt hour battery. Then the Sun goes down and your 500 watt hour battery can power 500 watts of electricity for one hour, or 100 watts of electricity for five hours (or any other combination of watts and hours that equal 500

Common gasoline backup generators Loud Big, heavy, and hard to move around even with wheels

watt hours). Calculate your watts and hours to find a generator with that number of watt hours. Also, you can buy extra PV panels to plug into your generator so it will charge faster, or buy more generators or batteries so you can use one while the others are charging.

Talk to your parents about getting a solar generator and let them approve of what is necessary during a blackout (your big plasmascreen TV does not fall into that category, and neither does your Wii or Xbox).

Visit www.mysolarbackup. com for more information on solar generators, why you would want one, and this company’s own brand.

Visit www.shtfblog.com to find out how to build you own solar generator.

Google search “solar energy backup generator” to find more information about solar generators and companies to buy them from.

A lot of people are switching to solar energy (including my family) and a lot of businesses have started producing PV panel solar generators. Solar backup generators are all in all a better choice than gas generators, better for you, and better for the environment. So remember, be clean, go green; be ready with solar energy.

Environmentally friendly solar generators Silent Compact and portable enough to transport in the backseat or trunk of a car Runs off of gasoline that is expensive to buy and harmful to the Runs off of the natural energy from the sun that you do not have to environment pay any money for Uses the same gasoline no matter what it is powering Able to power appliances directly from the PV panels, without draining the battery Will work at night, but may keep your neighbors awake.

Cannot charge off of the Sun at night but can let you use the power it has stored Able to power larger appliances like a refrigerator or air conditioner Can only be used to power smaller devices Can generate 800-10,000 watts of electricity Can generate 70-1,800 watts of electricity Gives off toxic fumes while generating electrical power Has no impact on the environment while making electricity Costs 300-5,200 dollars plus the cost of gas Costs 2,000-12,000 dollars and is free to run

Figure 1a. Comparison of gasoline generators to solar generators. enough to fit in the backseat or trunk of a car.

Solar generators may be more expensive and do not produce the quantity of power gas generators do, but with gasoline being expensive it costs a lot to run gas generators and nothing to run solar generators. See Figure 1a.

When you are looking to buy a solar energy backup generator, there are a few things to look at and compare. There are a lot of options available now, and finding the right one for your family can be a little challenging. The first thing you have to decide is what you want your generator to

Did You Know... ...that there are many different varieties of solar powered devices, including cell phones, laptops, cars, and even airplanes? The first solar powered airplane, the Mauro Solar Riser, was built by Larry Mauro and first flown in 1979 reaching gliding altitude for 5 minutes with a solar charge of 1.5 hours. This technology is being used now by NASA to develop high-flying, long-lasting unmanned satellite aircraft such as the Helios.

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

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AUGUST 2011

D’s

Good Luck Charlie A Review

by Shadya Amodu, Age 11 Deerfield Beach, FL The Disney Channel’s original show Good Luck Charlie is one of my favorite shows. This situation comedy (sitcom) started on April 4, 2010. The show is supposed to appeal to families as opposed to children only. This fantastic comedy revolves around the unusual Duncan family. To make this family realistic they made them a middle class family living in Denver, Colorado. The Duncans mostly find themselves in troublesome situations that they learn from. The show is not all fun and laughs but includes some life lessons too. The family members have some unique personalities that often cause them difficulties.

The producers had a bit of trouble naming the show so it could appeal to everybody. The series was originally named

“Love Teddy” but that title seemed like it might turn away the young male viewers’ attention. So the producers changed the baby’s name from Daisy to Charlotte (Charlie) and the oldest brother’s name from Casey to PJ and that was how the name “Good Luck Charlie” was created.

In different countries, the show is adapted to the country’s language. But in India they made a whole new show: “Best of Luck Nikki.” The episodes are similar and so are the characters.

Good Luck Charlie has 43 episodes and it’s hard to choose the best one. But so far, my favorite is “Teddy’s Bear.” In this episode Teddy gets a B when she actually deserves an A. Amy gets angry and takes care of’ Mr. Peter Piper while Bob accidentally gets Charlie kicked out of her ballet class and will do “anything” to get her back in. It

is the best episode in my opinion.

Good Luck Charlie is a phenomenal show

and I think it will be a huge success. So long for now, oh and Good Luck Readers!

One A Magical Library Afternoon Beautiful with Harry Potter World

Service Opportunities Made Easy for South Florida Children

by Claire Cabillot Smith, Age 6 Weston, FL

Children like to do good things and be helpful to others. Parents want their children to have opportunities to do good things. One Beautiful World, a Browardbased nonprofit for children, makes it easy for kids to help others and the earth.

For more information visit www.onebeautiful-world.org.

Empowering children to help others by offering opportunities to be of service, locally and globally.

BEACH CLEAN-UPS BOOK CLUBS NURSING HOME VISITS & MUCH MORE visit www. one-beautifulworld.org Email: info@one-beautiful-world.org

by Bilal Amodu, Age 14 Deerfield Beach, FL

With the final Harry Potter film available in theatres nationwide, the global Harry Potter obsession has grasped the nation. As someone who has read all seven books, as well as viewed a majority of the films, I can describe the franchise as a persisting one that has carved out a name for itself in history. In July, Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows Part Two was released into the cinemas. In honor of the then pending film, Northwest Regional Library hosted a Harry Potter program on July 9. The event was spearheaded by Teen librarian Katie Reusze along with the library’s Teen Advisory Board.

The event was a success. From 12:30 p.m. until 2 p.m., the room swarmed with eight to twelve year-olds who occupied

themselves with every mystical craft available, including origami activities, designing a bookmark at the Ravenclaw table, and folding one’s own Marauder’s Map at the Gryffindor table. At the Hufflepuff table, one could grow mandrake, or pumpkin along with peas. There was also potion broiling at the Slytherin table. The two House independent tables included

magical activities such as creating House bracelets and constructing magic wands.

Those who were not interested in crafts could indulge in the Harry Potter Quidditch Video Game.

The event was an excellent way to visit the Wizarding World without needing to pay a hefty price.

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

AUGUST 2011

SARAH’S CINEMA A Monthly Movie Review

Jim Carrey starred in Mr. Popper’s Penguins this summer.

Popper inherits six penguins; he and his children grow close to them while also growing closer to each other…now what? Other than an angry zoo worker who appears a few times and tries to take the penguins from Mr. Popper, and the fact that Mr. Popper’s newfound love for the penguins begins distracting him from his work, there’s no real challenge or problem for the characters to face, making the movie quite boring at times. The only time a real conflict emerges is near the very last half-hour or so of the

movie, when the zoo succeeds in possessing the penguins, and the Popper family tries to stop them before they separate the penguins and send them to different parts of the globe. As exciting an ending as that may sound, it’s the only part of the movie that will truly grab your attention and make you hope for the best for those adorable little penguins.

All that said, I will admit there are some funny lines…it’s just too bad that they’re buried underneath the bland moments and gross-out-humor jokes.

Theatre World How to Review a Play

by Daniela Gómez, Age 11 Margate, FL Hello theater lovers! This month I will show you how to write play reviews like the ones that have been in the previous issues of the Circle Gazette. It’s really simple if you consider a few steps: STEP ONE: Go to the theater It can be any kind of live performance -- a musical, an opera, a comedy, a recital, a skit, anything. You can take paper and pencil with you if you have decided on the play you are going to review before watching it. I tell myself excitedly sometimes: “That’s going to be next month’s Theatre World!” after a performance is over or during intermission.

STEP TWO: Interview (optional) This is only a step to consider.

If you choose to do it, you will need writing materials and some already-prepared questions. After the play, approach the company members (cast, crew, directors, choreographers, musicians, etc.) if they are available. If they are not available to answer questions, then go to the company’s website to find how to contact them and schedule an interview.

You could also arrange ahead of time to attend a rehearsal and conduct your interviews then.

Be sure to have your questions handy.

When speaking with your interviewee, listen attentively and take good notes. Start with infor-

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GREAT CATCHES! School’s Sunrise, Summer Sunset

by Bilal Amodu, Age 14 Deerfield Beach, FL

by Sarah Thompson, Age 12 Boynton Beach, FL Movie: Mr. Popper’s Penguins Rated: PG The plot: Mr. Popper (Jim Carey) is a successful realtor who is on the top of his game, when he inherits six trouble-making penguins.

At first, he tries everything to get rid of them, but when his kids become attached to the penguins, Mr. Popper instead turns his apartment into a winter wonderland where the penguins - “Loudy,” “Bitey,” “Stinky,” “Lovey,” “Captain,” and “Nimrod” - can live. In fact, Mr. Popper becomes so close to the penguins that his business begins to suffer…

The verdict: Loosely based on the book “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” by author Richard Atwater, this movie could have been worse…but it could have been better too. Although enjoyable and mildly funny, don’t expect a lot of deepthinking coming from this one.

The first thing I noticed as the movie went on was that there really wasn’t much of a plot. Mr.

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mation about the person, such as where they are originally from (to break the ice), and then move on to their acting career, and then finally get information about the play you are reviewing. I end my interviews by asking for advice for kids. If I am interviewing an actor or actress, I would ask something like: What is your advice to people who want to audition for their first play? Remember to wrap up the interview and thank them for their time. Don’t ask too many questions. For a theater review, you want to have space to talk about the play and give your opinion of it. A brief interview is usually perfect.

STEP THREE: Research After the final bows of the curtain-call, you go home and that is where the fun of researching and writing begins! However, if you have decided on the play you are going to review before watching it, then you can look up things in advance. Don’t forget to check performance times and the summary of the plot. This will aid you while you do your research after the show. Use your favorite search engine (Google, Yahoo or Bing) to find information about: The producing company The director The main actors/dancers/players History of the play Different versions Remember the date of the play and go to the website of the company that performed the play to find extra information.

STEP FOUR: First Draft Now it’s time to fetch the pencil and paper and start to scribble

Salutations, my fellow readers and welcome to the August issue of the Circle Gazette. As we enjoy our final swims and barbeques, school gradually, as well as inevitably, approaches. In the midst of the emerging school market, allow us to cherish summer’s twilight as well as embrace the upcoming school year. I hope you have enjoyed your summer and I wish you success next school year.

literature expands in lunacy. Including a monstrous toy, a peculiar dance instructor, a haunted cafeteria dish, and a boy with an incorrect name, the novel is clearly an entertaining one that continues to amuse children, even our present generation. This novel is an excellent method of sending the reader into the school year with positive humor.

Lord of the Flies Author: William Golding Age Level: 6th grade and up Rating: As one of the world’s most re-

And Then it Rained… And Then the Sun Came Out Author: Crescent Dragonwagon Age Level: Kindergarten and up Rating: I selected this novel as a tribute

nowned yet controversial novels, Lord of the Flies has a plethora of psychological themes which may be strenuous for those at a younger level to comprehend. A throng of British boys of various ages are marooned on a barren island following a devastating accident.

Although they begin to endure this calamity with an initiative to survive as well as be rescued, disputes over hunting, authority, as well as a foreboding beast complicate the situation into a severe schism that divides the island into commonsense against savage pleasure.

Wayside School is Falling Down Author: Louis Sachar Age Level: 2nd grade and up Rating: One of the oddest schools in

away. Including all the information found in the previous steps, compose your article. Remember to add your opinion. Your readers want to know your point of view.

Ask yourself: What did you think of the way the plot flowed?

How did the actors portray the characters? Did you like it?

Were the costumes the way you would have liked them?

Was the setting appropriate?

What did the performance remind you of?

How about the dancing and

to the conflicting weather patterns in South Florida which were omnipresent this summer. Irate with months of heavy rain, citizens rejoice when the sun returns to illuminate the sky as well as dry the soaked municipality. Subsequent to months of sunlight along with heat, the citizens yearn for precipitation. When rain finally does fall, the citizens, after a period of jubilance, begin to tire of the rain.

No matter which side you commence the novel from, you will learn how too much of a desired item may not allow desired results to follow.

singing, if any?

Provide information on how to get tickets if applicable.

STEP FIVE: Be your own editor After you have a draft, read through it. Imagine that you have never read the article before.

Show it to your parents, siblings, teachers, and/or friends and ask them to help you edit your review.

Writing a review isn’t hard at all and it’s really fun to do!

To see your name and work in print, submit your review to the Circle Gazette, and come with me as the lights go out…

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

6

In The Water

AUGUST 2011

Summer Adventures!

Visiting Dolphin Cove

by Reagan Olenick, Age 10 Weston, FL

On June 4, 2011, I went to Dolphin Cove, which is in Key Largo, with my Junior Girl Scout troop, and left thinking that it was truly one of the best places on Earth! Eleven of us paid for the experience with some of the money we earned selling Girl Scout cookies and I hope we sell more cookies and get to do it again next year. The staff was very kind and prepared us for every part of the encounter. We all got a lot of oneon-one time with the dolphins.

We got to ride with them, play with them, and instruct them to do tricks.

With your life vest on and flipflops off, you’re ready to dive on in! When in the water with the dolphins, the best thing to remember is this: HAVE TONS AND TONS OF FUN!!! The dolphins are super cute and friendly.

Plus there was a little baby dolphin there that was three days old at the time of my visit. I highly recommend this place for kids

and adults looking for a fun and unique experience. You should really put it on your bucket list.

Another part of our trip to Dolphin Cove was dissecting a squid.

Unfortunately, I was unable to sit through the lesson, because the smell really got to me, but many of my friends loved it and thought it was really cool.

Nine of us (including me) decided to do the structured swim, while the other two girls did the shallow encounter. During the structured swim, we got to do lots of fun things: We got to hold up giant hulahoops and Alfonz and Kimbit (the dolphins who joined us) jumped through them.

We lay on our backs and stomachs while Alfonz and Kimbit pushed us by our feet with their mouths.

We got to rub their backs and stomachs.

We kissed them.

We shook hands (and flippers).

We made them sort of dance

Did You Know... ...that dolphins are very social animals and often live in pods containing a dozen or so family members? Pods have been observed temporarily j o i n i n g together to form super pods that can contain 1,000 individuals or more.

Swimming Lessons at C.B. Smith Park

by Alizdair Ray, Age 7 Davie, FL I’m 7 years old and I have been taking swimming lessons for a long time. I take lessons every summer at C.B. Smith Park. The life guards are nice and they really teach you a lot about swimming. I’m a great swimmer and take the classes each year to get better. Also, I meet old and new friends there. You have fun with

your friends and learn at the same time. They have preschool & parent, preschool, beginner, advanced beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses. Paradise Cove is a fun waterpark that is located at the park. Visit C. B. Smith Park for the lessons and the waterpark. The address is 900 North Flamingo Road Pembroke Pines, Florida.

and sing.

And… for the grand finale… a DORSAL TUG! A dorsal tug is when you have two dolphins and grasp each of their dorsal fins (dorsal fins, dorsal tug, get it?).

They then shoot across the water, tugging you with them!

After reading about Dolphin Cove, I’m sure you’ll want to check it out for yourself! It is located at MM 101.9 Bay Side, Key Largo, FL 33037. Phone Number: (305) 451-4060 or toll free: 1 (877) 365-2683. If you have any questions you can email them at info@dolphinscove.com, or visit online at dolphinscove.com.

Dolphins Alfonz and Kimbit give a ride to Reagan.

Monthly Kids’ Beach Cleanup Helps Mother Earth

by Claire Katherine Cabillot Smith, Age 6 Weston, FL Once a month, kids from all over South Florida meet to do something good: they clean the beach at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park.

The beach cleanup is a project of One Beautiful World, a Broward-based nonprofit for children. The organization provides the kids and their parents with gloves, bags, and grabbers, thanks to a donation from Walgreens. Drinks and snacks are also provided.

The cleanups are led by Project Manager Jenna Tiedje, the mother of three kids age seven and under. When asked what made her decide to lead a beach cleanup, Ms. Tiedje said, “I moved here seven years ago in November and have, of course, loved all the beaches that Florida has to offer. And it was just so heartbreaking to see all the litter that gets left behind on our beaches. I had always told my husband that some day I would have to start a beach clean up to give back, and not long after that the founder of One Beautiful World asked me if there was anything that I would want to do to give back to my community. Without hesitation I mentioned a beach clean up. And since I live in the Fort Lauderdale area, I wanted to give back to my local community. This has been a wonderful three years of giv-

“We want to teach our children that you need to have a sense of responsibility for your community and every little bit that you give back only helps to make this world a brighter place.” ~ Ms. Tiedje Photo: Courtesy of J. Cabillot. ing back. And a special thanks to Birch State Park for working with us to make this happen.”

Ms. Tiedje wants people to know that the beach cleanup takes place on the third Saturday of every month at 3 p.m., except for July’s cleanup, which will start at 4 p.m. There is a beach cleanup every month except for August, when many people are out of town, and December.

“This beach clean up is really directed for kids. We want to teach our children that you need to have a sense of responsibility for your community and every little bit that you give back only helps to make this world a

brighter place. And the bonus is that you get to be at the beach.

Plus, Birch State Park has been very generous with the time that we can spend at their park. Birch State Park is one of my most favorite places in South Florida.”

For more information about the beach cleanups, visit the One Beautiful World website at http://www.one-beautiful-world. org/local_programs.html. Service hours are given, everyone is welcome, and the parking is free for cleanup participants. As one child puts it: “It’s a wonderful way to help the earth and have fun at the beach. The beach cleanups are great!”

The third Saturday of every month at 3 p.m., kids and their families gather at the Birch State Park in Fort Lauderdale, to join hands cleaning up local beaches.

AUGUST 2011

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

Summer Adventures!

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7

Abroad

I Saw London, I Saw France… Literally

by Eric Cabillot, Age 8 Weston, FL My family recently visited Europe.

Our vacation had two parts: first was a repositioning cruise to Europe, then we traveled to Paris and London on our own. This was my first trip to Europe, and my parents’ first trip with kids. We learned a lot. I hope that what we learned can help others plan a family trip to Europe.

Cruising Europe The first part of our trip was a repositioning cruise. Once a year, cruise ships that spend the winter doing Caribbean cruises go to Europe for the summer. They return to Florida in the fall. When they make the transAtlantic repositioning journey, they take passengers. If you have the time, and especially if you live in Florida, a repositioning cruise is a great way to get to Europe. The trip takes almost a week, and the cruise ship changes the ship’s time by an hour a day, so you never feel jet lag. Kids can enjoy the ship’s kids’ activities, or just relax and eat a lot. We went on the cruise to celebrate my grandparents’ 50th

Eric and his sister Claire visit the Roman Colosseum. Photo: Courtesy of J. Cabillot. wedding anniversary and my grandfather’s 85th birthday, so we spent a lot of time with family.

Then, on the second week of the cruise, we visited ports in Europe.

We stayed up late as we went through the Strait of Gibraltar, when we passed out of the Atlantic Ocean and into the Mediterranean. If it had been daytime, we would have been able to see Europe to our left and Africa to our right. Even though it was nighttime, we could see the lights of African cities from our balcony!

Our ship stopped at ports in Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Monaco. My favorite cities we visited were Rome, Florence, and Barcelona.

Rome is not actually a port city.

We docked at Civitavecchia, Italy, and then took a private tour into Rome. That worked well since we had so many family members together, and we got to see exactly the sites we wanted to see. Our guide took us to see ruins, which really are all over the place in Rome. It is called the eternal city, and it is obvious from all the ruins that the city has been around for a long time. I liked seeing the Colosseum, the Piazza Navonna, and Vatican City, but my favorite part of the day was buying souvenirs. It would have been nice to see more of Rome, but we were back on the ship in time for dinner, and that was nice, too.

The next day, we woke up in Livorno, the port closest to Florence.

This time, we took a walking group tour of Florence with an afternoon free to look around on our own. Florence was packed with groups of tourists, and we all had little headphones so that we could hear our own guides.

At least that was how it was supposed to work. My sister and I took off our headphones and just followed along.

Luckily, our uncle bought us little Pinocchio puppets, and they kept us occupied. The author of Pinocchio lived in Florence, so the little wooden puppets are sold all over, but every one we saw had a little sticker reading “made in China.” When we were crossing a bridge in the town, we noticed that there were little locks all over the place. Our guide told us that there was a tradition of scratching your initials and your loved one’s initials into a lock, then locking it to the bridge, then throwing the key into the river, so that the lock could never be opened. That meant that your love would last forever. Our guide also said that there were so many locks that it is now illegal to put on another lock. My mom, sister, and I climbed the Duomo, the big church in the center of the town. It was 463 narrow, winding steps to the top of the Duomo, but the view from the top was amazing. My favorite part of the day,

though, was when we had gelato. It was one of the best treats I have ever tasted.

Our cruise ended in Barcelona, Spain. We got off the ship in the morning, dropped off our luggage at the hotel, and then went on a tour of the city. We saw a lot of architecture by Gaudi, including the famous unfinished la Sagrada Familia. Our hotel was right on the beach, so we spent the afternoon there.

Staying in Paris and London The next day, my grandparents and uncle flew back to the United States, but my mom, sister, and I flew

Eric and Claire at Musée du Louvre stand by the actual stone tablet in which is inscribed the Code of Hammurabi. to Paris. Before we even got to our hotel, I was tired of dragging luggage around. During the cruise, it was as if the hotel took us from place to place, and we never had to pack and unpack. On the other hand, on the cruise, we only had one day per city, and we got to spend several days in Paris. We traveled everywhere by the Metro, the subway system of Paris. We visited Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and all the major tourist sites, but my favorite part of our trip was visiting the Louvre. Well, that

and eating crepes and croissants all the time. The Louvre is an amazing museum that houses many of the famous works of art that you hear about all your life, like Leonardo DaVinci’s Mona Lisa, and all sorts of ancient things, from Egyptian tombs to Hammurabi’s Code – the actual stone tablet! The best thing for kids in Paris has to be the Jardin d’Acclimatation.

My mom read about it in her guide to Paris. It is a big amusement park for kids, but not like the Disney Park outside of Paris. There are rides and animals and playgrounds. We stayed until it closed. In my opinion, France is a great place for kids. If you and your siblings are not afraid of heights, you should climb the Eiffel Tower. If you aren’t grossed out by much, you should try frogs’ legs and snails, which are considered delicacies in France.

Our last stop was London. Again, we took the subway, called the Tube or the Underground, everywhere. My mom got a pass that allowed her to travel on the Tube and the bus. Kids’ travel was free. Almost all the museums in London are free, too. We went to the Museum of London, which was all about London, from before the Romans until today. We also really liked the Natural History Museum. We went to St. Paul’s cathedral, where Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married. We sat on the steps and fed the pigeons, just like in Mary Poppins. We also went to Westminster Abbey, where Princess Katherine and Prince William had just been married.

My sister was very interested in visiting the sites of royal weddings. We went all over the city, even on the red, double-decker buses, and saw the Big

We have lived in Germany for two months and these are some of the things we’ve done: The Zoo: We went to the Frankfurt Zoo on our first weekend here. It is a big zoo right in the middle of the city. We can take the underground train right to it! There were lots of different animals, but what I remember the most were the squirrel mon-

Typical Frankfurt Architecture. Photo: S. Serrano.

keys. While we were watching them, they kept trying to wet the zookeeper that was cleaning out the monkey house. I guess she is probably used to it.

Roman Ruins: We went to the Roman ruins in the middle of the city [of Frankfurt]. There are big rocks that used to be a house or wall or something and they let you climb on them. People were walking all around it and sitting on the steps that my mom said were hundreds of years old!

Park Day: One day we hopped on the bus close to our house and we found a new park. It had a big playground with a tall slide that I went super fast on…zoom! It also had a zip-line that I rode on like 25 times! There was a kid-size maze made out of wood that had lots of openings so it was easy.

When we were walking back to the bus stop, we saw a wet, brown animal eating grass near the lake.

I walked close to him to see if he

had a long tail or a flat tail because we thought it was a beaver.

It had a long, skinny tail so it definitely wasn’t a beaver. He came right up to me: he wasn’t scared at all! My dad told me to back up so I wouldn’t get bit, but I think it just wanted to smell me. Then another one came out of the water and the two of them touched noses and rubbed their bodies together. Then they both kept on eating grass. We found out it was a coypu because we looked in our new European animal ID book. It said that many of these animals, which are from South America, have escaped from fur farms and live in lakes in Europe. It was so neat because I never saw an animal like that before!

Fireworks: One night we drove an hour away to a town on the Rhine River [called Rudesheim] to watch fireworks. First they had fireworks from a faraway castle that I could hardly see, then they

Ben, the Houses of Parliament, No. 10 Downing Street (where the British Prime Minister lives), but there was not enough time to do everything.

There are a lot of great things for kids, like the giant London Eye, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, but we didn’t get to do any of those things. We did get to go to playgrounds, including one in Hyde Park. We made friends there, and visited almost every day of our visit.

While cruising makes it easy to get around, you have to go to a hotel and stay awhile if you really want to get to know a city. I’m glad we got to visit Europe both ways.

Did You Know... ..that the European Union, which was first established in 1951 as an organization to pool natural resources by Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, has grown from six countries to its current membership of 27 member states?

Most of these member states share common trade policies, defense strategies, and currency.

My Life in Germany

by Sofia Serrano, Age 5 Frankfurt, Germany

“Our last stop was London”

“My favorite thing that has happened in Germany is that we got a brand new puppy! … Her name is Coco.”

Photo: S. Serrano. had them in front of a closer castle across the river, but they still looked small. I was disappointed because I wanted to see big fireworks. When we turned around to leave the riverbank, we were

surprised because all of a sudden there were fireworks right above us from the castle on our side of the river! They were all different colors and some sparkled and made little flowers that went ssssssss-pop! I was happy to see them so big and close because it was almost July 4 and Germany doesn’t have fireworks for this day like they do in America so at least we still got to see fireworks.

We didn’t leave until midnight because the fireworks started so late: it doesn’t get dark here in the summer until 10:30 at night!

I slept the whole way home.

Coco: My favorite thing that has happened in Germany is that we got a brand new puppy!

She is a pomapoo, a Pomeranian mixed with a Toy Poodle. She has fluffy, curly fur the color of chocolate and her name is Coco.

I love to take her on walks in the park near our house and on trips to the market. She’s allowed to go lots of places with us, even on the train!

If you lived here, you would have lots of fun!

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

8

Across USA

AUGUST 2011

Summer Adventures!

A Canyon of Colors

by Halle Troadec, Age 9 Weston, FL I was in the car sipping my root beer while watching my little sister Arielle sleep. I looked out of the window to see a squirrel run across the ground which was full of leaves and sticks. On the side of the road I spotted a can of Sprite Zero. Little did I know that I was about to enter the most beautiful place on earth. There it was: The most beautiful rocky terrain I’ve ever seen! I couldn’t wait to get there.

We went to the visitor center to ask for directions. I looked at the maps and fun facts while my mom read the park newspaper.

Did you know very few people fell off the canyon, and most of them survived? After that we looked at the Grand Canyon from a viewpoint. My cousin C.J. said, “It looks like a sea of colors in rock formation.” Soon we were at the Bright Angel Lodge scraping the bottom of the artichoke dip with our rainbow chips.

We went to our lodge and watched Star Wars until we fell asleep. I woke up at four o’clock in the morning craving for water.

My mouth was so dry! I couldn’t take it. Uncle Rodney, C.J., and Arielle were still asleep when I started yelling, but they kept on snoring.

My mom and I went to a cute

little cafe at the Bright Angel Lodge. We bought breakfast and went back to our lodge.

Later on we all hiked the Hermit Trail, a mile and a half long.

It felt so cool to watch the Ravens soar over the Colorado River. I didn’t know that the Grand Canyon was so rocky! I felt scared when I slipped on some loose rocks. It was red and orange for miles in the blazing sun. “It looks like something carved by Michelangelo,” I said.

We ate a delicious lunch and had ice cream. After that we hiked the Bright Angel trail. While we were hiking up the trail we got caught in a dust storm. It almost blew me off the canyon! Going down the trail is much easier than going up. The Bright Angel trail was very steep. It was scary hiking because there was no railing and I am afraid of heights.

“I’m going to miss that big, hot, canyon of colors!”

The Canyon was spectacular. Rocks looked like they were carved by hand. There were very few plants there and most of them were covered with dust.

Finally, the worst part of all.

Going back home! But I knew that I would visit again.

In the meantime, I’m going to miss that big, hot, canyon of colors!

Did You Know... ...that the Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, 18 miles across at its widest, and a mile deep in places? This amazing geographical wonder exists all because of millions of years of water erosion from the Colorado River.

“It was red and orange for miles in the blazing sun.”

Sports Learning to Teach

by Daniela Gómez, Age 11 Margate, FL I was wearing a purple onepiece swimsuit and a red and white long sleeve rash-guard. A beige, wide-brimmed hat was on my head and I had on two pairs of glasses. One was my regular pair and the other was a pair of giant sunglasses I put on top. I looked like I was heading for the beach but I wasn’t. I was going to Mullins Park Pool where I would be helping little kids learn to swim.

This class, for children ages three and up, begins at 5 p.m. and ends at 5:45 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (and Thursday if one of the previous days is cancelled due to weather) are the days when I hop into the pool and go over some “basic” swimming techniques with the little ones. I participate in this class as an assistant to instructor Amanda Warren.

This swim class is part of the American Red Cross Learn to Swim Program that runs year round in the city of Coral Springs, at Mullins Park, Cypress Park and the Aquatic Complex. The American Red Cross Swimming and Water Safety program combines swim instruction with a strong

emphasis on drowning prevention and water safety.

I have fun working with Amanda. She is from Florida. She began teaching swim lessons about a year ago. She “like[s] working with kids.” For her, the best part of teaching is that kids learn a lot and go from not swimming to gliding swiftly along the water.

She doesn’t enjoy when children cry. She tries to comfort them when this happens.

One of the kids in the class had had a terrible previous experience.

When he joined our class he was terrified to go in the water and he cried the whole class. He had no fun the next few days. I felt sad that he was so scared. Amanda and I tried to make things better but he kept on wailing. In one of the classes, one of the other children swam to him and told him that Amanda was really nice and that he was going to have fun! I could only gasp in silence at this other child’s kindness. Slowly, the scared boy learned to trust that Amanda would keep him safe in the class. Now, he enjoys himself greatly when he comes and I feel much better to see him happy.

I saw that Amanda kept calm and assuring when she worked with him and that she smiled and tried

to make the class exciting for him. We were very happy when the boy hopped in the pool one day and shed not a single tear. He told me that he was having fun!

“I believe that everyone should learn to swim,” Amanda said.

Teaching people to swim is especially important in South Florida where we are surrounded by water. The ocean is near. There are also canals, lakes and pools everywhere.

When she’s teaching, Amanda feels a connection between herself and the kids. “Different kids, new challenges” she says.

I am currently helping out with the class for students 3 to 5 years of age, new to swimming. Skills introduced include: Pool safety, floating, treading, and arm and leg coordination (front crawl).

Swimming is the most popular summer activity. Follow these safety tips whenever you are in, on or around water: Don’t be over-confident or reckless Follow the rules of the pool you will be swimming at (e.g. diving restrictions) Never Swim Alone My experience as a volunteer has been quite interesting. I have learned that I have to be calm and secure, always attentive and very careful. I have to be helpful even if I don’t want to do something that I know I must. The kids are very excited and do everything they are supposed to do. Once,

while I was helping a little girl, she told me her mother was going to be so proud of her because she wasn’t crying! I thought that was adorable. She just smiled at me like she was really enjoying herself! Another time, a little boy heard his baby brother crying on the deck. He said: “My baby’s crying! My baby’s crying!” and he didn’t stop saying this until “his baby” stopped crying.

You have to be at least 15 to sign up for a lifeguarding course.

The First Time Lifeguard Program training covers Lifeguarding, CPR, First Aid and Oxygen Supplement, and Blood Patho-

gens. The Lifeguard course offers the Shallow Water & Deep Water Lifeguard certification. To become an American Red Cross Certified Swim Instructor you need to be 16 and a strong swimmer.

I’m looking forward to becoming a certified swim instructor when the time comes. I know this experience will help me achieve that goal. Until then, I’m happy to be of help and assist Amanda..

When I hop into the pool and the cool water swirls around me, I think “perfect,” smiling at the sun. This is a fun summer adventure!

Daniela Gómez and Amanda Warren at Mullins Park.

AUGUST 2011

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

Summer Adventures!

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9

Family

Flying to California My Grandmother Came to Visit to Visit my Dad A Summer Adventure Emily Greenfield, Age 5 Coconut Creek, FL I went to visit my daddy on an airplane. I had fun going with grandma. My sister Sophia and cousin Chuckie came too. Daddy

by Emma Gómez, Age 7 Margate, FL

lives in California. I love my daddy so much. I gave him big hugs when I saw him. I visited my daddy, my brother Michaelanthony and my aunt Angela.

“My big brother, Michaelanthony, pushing me on a swing at Plummer Park in West Hollywood, California”

The Mayor of Davie, Judy Paul continued from page 1

by Alizdair Ray, Age 7

out of Everglades land that was mostly under water. The early history of the town was dominated by drainage issues, some of which persist today. The Davie Town Hall was once used as a jail house.

Here are the questions that I asked Mayor Judy Paul during our interview: Alizdair: Do you like being Mayor?

Mayor Paul: Yes Alizdair: How long have you been Mayor?

Mayor Paul: Two and a half years but I was a council member for nine years. The term of Mayor is for three years.

Alizdair: How did you get elected as Mayor?

Mayor Paul: I campaigned and went out to the people. I told them what I wanted to do and they voted for me and I won in March of 2009.

Alizdair: What kind of things do you do as Mayor?

Mayor Paul: Oh! My Goodness! The most important thing is the budget. That’s how we spend our money. What we plan to do with the money that we raised from taxes. Fees and taxes is what we call our revenue. It is money we earned from taxes. (She added that the money is spent to help the people of Davie).

Alizdair: Were you born in Davie?

Mayor Paul: No! I was born and raised in New Jersey. I’m a cowgirl at heart. I have been riding horses all my life. This was the perfect place for me to settle.

I’m a horse lady.

Alizdair: Who was Mayor before you?

Mayor Paul: A gentleman by the name of Tom Truex and he was Mayor for two terms. I didn’t agree with some of the things that he was doing. I decided to run against him. I had retired from being on the council for nine years. I retired in 2007.

I was going to go on cruises and have a good time. I saw things that were happening that I could do better. I ran against him and won.

Alizdair: How many hours do you work in a day?

Mayor Paul: Oh! Wow! Some days I’m here all day. Some days I’m here four to twelve hours. I do events at night and on the weekends. I average about five to six hours a day, and that’s including weekends. Seven days a week.

Alizdair: What do you do when you’re off from work?

Mayor Paul: I take care of my animals. I have a horse, two donkeys, two dogs and four cats.

I love gardening. I have a butterfly garden and I take care of my animals.

Mayor Judy Paul asked me what I would want to do when I grow up. I told her I would like to be the President of the United States. She told me that when she was little her parents told her that she could do anything she wanted. She added that she became a teacher because she loves children.

I was looking around her office and she told me that she took

I’m going to tell you about one of my summer adventures.

Late one night my sisters and I hid because my grandmother and dad were coming. When my grandmother walked in I would flash the light on. After we surprised her, we gave her a tour of the house. We talked for a long time until my mother said it was time for bed. We went upstairs to the room that our grandmother would sleep in with my sister and me; we said goodnight and we went to sleep.

The next morning, after we ate we got presents. We got one of my favorite kinds of cards: the Spanish cards used to play a Venezuelan game called Caída (‘To fall’ in Spanish). We got chocolates and hair bands. I love to play Venezuelan card games.

My grandmother, my sisters (Dani and Ellie) and I also knitted and crocheted lovely things. I knitted a wonderful little tapestry of a boat sailing on the sea. Dani

was making a beautiful basket of flowers and Ellie, who knew how to finger knit, was starting to learn how to do real knitting.

One day my grandmother was making a pair of slippers for me but when I tried them on, the part that would stretch on my legs was too tight, so I ended up making it into a bag for Dani’ s phone. I made it with a special loom that my grandmother taught me to use. Then she made a little chain so Dani could hang it around her neck. We made many more bags for other electronics and Ellie made a bag for my mom. We said that we were going to sell the bags we made but we really never did so.

We took grandma to our swimming practice and a few of our swim meets. We went shopping with her and we took her to see the horses at Tradewinds Park.

We also did many more one-day activities.

When she had to go back to

Venezuela we gave her some presents. We gave her a few pictures of a recent play that we had been in and we wrote down the lyrics of a song she liked.

It’s been one month and a few weeks since she left and we still have not finished some of the projects that we started with her!

I really enjoyed overall just having her with us…

karate classes and was given an Honorary Black belt.

Mayor Judy Paul told me that she gets her ideas a lot from her favorite President, Thomas Jefferson. I added that my favorite President was Abraham Lincoln.

She told me that she met Presidents John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

Regular town meetings are held the first and third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m.

Davie Digest is the local free community newspaper serving the Town of Davie with community news and an interactive website http://www.daviedigest. com allowing for the community to submit news and subscribe to the paper.

Did you know that Davie has lots of famous people?  Jerry D. Bailey, retired American Hall of Fame jockey  Chris Chambers, San Diego Chargers wide receiver  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, actor/wrestling personality  Rocky Johnson, wrestler, father of Dwayne Johnson  Jim Leyritz, former professional baseball player  Chad Ochocinco, professional football player for the Cincinnati Bengals  Rick Ross, rapper  Shannon Spake, NASCAR correspondent for ESPN  Jason Taylor, professional football player  Vanilla Ice, rapper  M.C. Hammer, rapper

Lastly, Davie is a great town with friendly people. I have enjoyed many local events with my family. You have to visit the Orange Blossom parade, festival and rodeo in February. I love to visit the Fire Rescue van. I love the Bergeron rodeo. It was exciting to see a live cowboy and cowgirl on a bull. I love the Alvin Sherman library. The librarians are the best there. I love the recreational sports at the Pine Island Multi-purpose center.

I want to thank Mayor Judy Paul for making time for me to interview her. She is nice and cares a lot about the town. I wish I was older because I would vote for her.

“Knitting loom that my grandma taught me to use.”

Young Reporter Alizdair Ray and Mayor of Davie, Ms. Judy Paul.

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

10

AUGUST 2011

Living Healthy Adventures Carbonation is cool, Chemicals are not.

by Sara Cross and Daniela Gómez, Ages 10 and 11 South Florida Hi kids, and welcome to Living Healthy, a column that talks about how to keep your body healthy and energized. Last month we talked a little about soda and its chemical harms. This month we will expand on this topic as promised. Here is a recap from last month: You know all those fruit flavored sodas? No matter how hard you try, you are not going to find one ounce of fruit in most soft drinks—absolutely ZERO fiber.

So before you pour that bubbly beverage into your cup, STOP! Soft drinks might be delicious but they are not your health’s best friend. The typical soft drink consists of carbonated water, a sweetener, artificial coloring, and a flavoring agent. Sugar, highfructose corn syrup and sugar substitute (such as Splenda) are used as the sweetener.

Well, carbonated water is okay by itself, and it is sold under the name of unflavored seltzer. So let us move on to the next ingredient on the list. High-fructose corn syrup is a common sweetener and is in all conventional sodas (with the exception of diet). An excess amount of this sweetener in your diet has been proved to cause obesity, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and various assorted heart problems. White, brown, and organic cane sugar, have a similar effect. According to Wikipedia, high-fructose corn syrup is made of combined corn syrups processed to turn some of its glucose into fructose to provide a much wanted sweetness. But what are fructose and glucose?

Glucose is simply a sugar. It is your cells’ food and is produced by photosynthesis. Plants, like you, need to eat. They live entirely off the glucose that comes out of this step-by-step process to create their food. The glucose left over (in the case of fruit-bearing plants) goes into the fruits it creates. We, humans, pick the fruits and eat them and consume the glucose.

That, however, is not the only way to consume glucose. It comes in many of the carbohydrates that we eat. Fructose is another sugar, similar to glucose. It can dissolve in water and is the most water-soluble of the three dietary monosaccharides. (The other two are glucose and galactose).

The next ingredient is food coloring. All food dyes, beside caramel, have been proven to aggravate the symptoms of ADHD (Attentive Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and ADD (Attentive Deficit Disorder.)

Now that you know what is wrong with soda, here are some alternatives: BlueSky and Izze sodas are a couple. We chose to talk about these because they are the ones that we like to drink if we get a soda. They have no highfructose corn syrup, no artificial coloring, no artificial flavors, and no artificial preservatives.

BlueSky has drinks that vary from flavored seltzers, to soda, to energy drinks. Their flavored seltzers are literally just carbonated water and fruit extract. For the diet soda, they use erythritol and

of a Police Explorer

by Ryan Smith, Age 14 Coconut Creek, FL

“Before you pour that bubbly beverage into your cup, STOP!” stevia (a plant that makes sweet tasting leaves). For the certified organic sodas and energy drinks, they use pure cane juice. These all natural sodas use all real sugar.

Go to www.blueskysoda.com to learn more.

If you are looking for an alternative diet or sugar free soda, consider Zevia brand. They also use erythritol and stevia as a sweetener, and use no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. They might be a bit more expensive, at five to six dollars for a pack of six twelve ounce cans; however, they are only more expensive because the stevia and erythritol cost more than the white sugar and corn syrup that conventional sodas use.

Because they do not use these ingredients, they are healthier. For example, the orange flavor Zevia is composed of: carbonated water, erythritol, citric acid, orange oil for flavor, stevia, and annatto.

We suggest you visit www.zevia. com to learn more.

Izze is another sparkling choice.

At www.izze.com, you will find their products and their nutrition facts. There are four choices of different kinds of equally cooling Izze drinks: Izze Sparkling Juice, Izze Esque, Izze Fortified, and Izze Natural Sparkling Juice.

Steaz is the next suggested “soda substitute.” They have a variety of drinks --energy drinks, sparkling green teas, and iced teas, with or without calories. The homepage of the website, www.steaz.com, states: “We created Steaz with one purpose—to provide people with the best tasting organic and fair trade beverages on the planet.

Mission accomplished.”

Zico is not exactly a soda-like drink but the nutrition facts, along with its tasty coconut water and sweet flavor choices makes it a perfect Gatorade alternative.

After all, these “sports drinks” aren’t completely off-the-hook.

PowerAde has high-fructose corn syrup and Gatorade has no fruit juice, yet Zico has more potassium than a whole banana, contains five healthy electrolytes, and has a natural, coconut-like taste. Go to www.zico.com if you want to find out more about these drinks.

You can also make your own soda, and it can be made without artificial ingredients and be nutritious too! Take a bottle of unfla-

vored carbonated water, and add some all natural flavorings. If you want a fruit flavored soda, add three or four ounces of fruit juice concentrate per liter of seltzer.

For a different flavor try adding one or two tea bags depending upon how much flavor you want your soft drink to have. When adding a liquid sweetener, be sure to pour slowly or the soda will bubble out of the bottle. If you want to you could even carbonate your own water with the soda machine made by Sodastream.

Keep in mind that although these sodas are healthier than others, you should not drink them instead of water as your only fluid.

As Mary Rivkin wrote in her book, The Great Outdoors, people born in the 1920s through the 1940s remembered their childhoods when the smells of pine, blueberries and fresh air reached them. In contrast, people from the 1960s and ‘70s became nostalgic when they smelled things that smelled similar to chlorine, Windex, and garbage. What kind of smell do you think will remind you of home, family, your community? What tastes? Cake?

PowerAde? Extremely-sweet pink lemonade? How about fresh oranges? Apples? Grapes? You can’t find nature in every bite of that store-bought cake or in every sip of the Pepsi, but you can in juicysweet, organic fruits and in freshsqueezed orange juice and in cool, crystal, shining, spring water!

So, whenever you crave a soda-like taste, get Izze, BlueSky, or any of the others mentioned above instead of a tempting but unhealthy soda. See you in September!

GLOSSARY

ERYTHRITOL: Erythritol is a sugar alcohol (or polyol) which has been approved for use as a food additive in the U.S. and throughout much of the world. It was discovered in 1848 by British chemist John Stenhouse. It occurs naturally in some fruits and fermented foods.

STEVIA: Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to subtropical and tropical regions from western North America to South America. The species Stevia re-

June 19 Seven carefully chosen Police Explorers from Coconut Creek headed towards Orlando, Florida. I was one of them. It is there that we would be put to the ultimate test and have to show our excellent skills in police work. We were going to participate in events ranging from traffic stops to active shooters to suicide calls. As we arrived at the hotel where the competition would be hosted, we checked in with competition officials before heading up to our rooms to prepare for the first training session with our three advisors. We practiced and honed our skills to complete precision in preparation for the upcoming events.

After the draining session, we headed out to a restaurant across the street to replenish our energy for the next day.

Early the next morning, we took the elevator down to the hotel lobby to eat breakfast with our fellow explorers from different posts. Immediately after, we changed into uniforms and headed to the first scenario of the competition. The four explorers who made up our specific team quietly anticipated the upcoming scenario, speculating as to what it could be. Not too much later, our inquiries were answered: we would be completing a felony traffic stop. In this case, the explorer officers had visual confirmation that the vehicle and its driver were involved in a mock store robbery that occurred just a few minutes ago. While we had little practice in felony stops, we handled the

situation to the best of our ability and managed to pull through with an outstanding score.

Later that day, we all played football in the grass outside the hotel before heading to a meeting held by the explorer delegates. The following day the explorers woke up bright and early so we could practice for the next scenario. Then, we departed for our scenario, which was a crime scene. This took place in an apartment complex, where someone broke into the victim’s back patio and stole some items.

While searching the patio, we found an alligator skin that was confiscated by an officer on a real call. It was really neat.

Before leaving for the next scenario, we ate lunch and debriefed back at the hotel. Our next scenario was crisis intervention. In this scenario we were required to successfully keep a teenager from wanting to hurt himself. In the end, we were able to complete this task with flying colors.

Finally, to end the day, we had dinner and were given some time for a break before heading to bed.

To be continued in the next article…

baudiana, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its sweet leaves. As a sweetener and sugar substitute, stevia’s taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, although some of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.

HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP: High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) — also called glucosefructose syrup in the UK, glucose/fructose in Canada, and high-fructose maize syrup in other countries — comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose to produce a desired sweetness. In the U.S., consumer foods and products typically use high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener. It has become very common in processed foods and beverages in the U.S. GLUCOSE: Glucose exists in several different structures, but all of these structures can be divided into two families of mirrorimages (stereoisomers). Only one set of these isomers exists in nature, those derived from the “right-handed form” of glucose,

denoted D-glucose. D-glucose is often referred to as dextrose. The term dextrose is derived from dextrorotatory glucose. Solutions of dextrose rotate polarized light to the right. Starch and cellulose are polymers derived from the dehydration of D-glucose. The other stereoisomer, called L-glucose, is hardly found in nature.

FRUCTOSE: Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a simple monosaccharide found in many foods. It is one of the three important dietary monosaccharides along with glucose and galactose. The organic fructose molecule was first discovered by French chemist Augustin-Pierre Dubrunfaut in 1847. Fructose is a white solid that dissolves in water – it is the most water-soluble of all the sugars. Honey, tree fruits, berries, melons, and some root vegetables contain significant amounts of molecular fructose, usually in combination with glucose, stored in the form of sucrose. About 240,000 tons of crystalline fructose is produced annually.

Coconut Creek Police Explorers

AUGUST 2011

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

August

The Fun is Done!

by Shadya Amodu, Age 11 Deerfield Beach, FL

We jumped, we laughed, we played, We made the best of everyday!

We danced and ran around We probably lost some pounds!

We had our break, it was fun But now the fun is done!

One more month we might say But school gets closer every day!

What can we do? The fun is done And now it’s time for school!

I know we may all like to play, And go to the pool every day, But summer will come again very soon!

The Baby

by Kaelah D. Crespo, Age 7 Coral Springs, FL

My character is sad.

My character has a green hat.

My character has a dress.

My character has a red mouth.

My character is white.

My character is wrapped in a dress.

My character has a round face.

My character has round eyes.

My character has round lips.

My character is bald.

My character has a tiny mouth.

My character has tiny eyes.

My character has dark brown eyes.

My character has a dark red mouth.

My character’s name is Lola.

My character has a Mom and a Dad. My character has a hard head.

My character has cute lips.

My character makes sense.

My character is a baby.

My character is a toy.

My character is a doll!

PAGE

Here Comes the Sun

by Sara I. Cross, Age 10 Boca Raton, FL

Here comes the sun, shining bright, giving light, summer brings fun.

Here come the clouds, the rain falls, the bird calls, dew can be found.

Here comes the joy, song and play, nice warm days, pools to enjoy.

Here come the trees, the wind blows, the flowers grow, sway in the breeze.

Writing Is…

by Daniela Gómez, Age 11 Margate, FL

W riting is…

R ound and plump circles, symmetry I nteracting T alking without speech I nteresting N ever-fading words G rowing I t is S o much…

W riting shows…

R acing minds on a summer day I magining

T houghts so delicate

I cicle-like N earing whispers, warm G iving

I t is so fun

S o much WRITING!

11

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12

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

Heartbreaking Defeat

U.S.’s Women’s Soccer Team Falls Short on Quest for Third World Cup continued from page 1

by Ismail Ercan, Age 14

looked the call and did not send her off. However, the U.S’s luck changed when in the 65th minute, Brazilian star striker Marta was brought down inside of the penalty box by American defender Rachael Buehler. The referee not only called a penalty kick for the

time. In was 12 years to the day when the U.S. had won the world cup against China in penalties.

Could this forecast penalties in this game? The U.S. would have to survive extra time for this to happen.

But by now, Brazil had had

Abby Wambach and Hope Solo bitterly hold their awards as they watch Japan celebrate their win.

Both players have yet to win their first World Cup. Hannibal Hanschke/European Pressphoto Agency Brazilians, but also sent Buehler off, leaving the U.S. with only ten women against Brazil’s eleven!

Christiane, Brazil’s other striker lined up for the PK. She took the shot and Hope Solo, the American keeper, saved it! Just as the Americans began to celebrate, the referee, Jacqui Melksham of Australia, blew her whistle for it to be retaken. No explanation was given.. The rules of penalty kicks are that the goalkeeper must remain on the goal line until the kicker has begun to kick the ball and that all field players must remain outside the 18 yard box until the ball is struck.

Usually, slight violations are ignored by referees, but Melksham awarded Brazil a do-over penalty kick, this time to be taken

by Marta. This time Solo guessed wrong and Marta buried the kick, tying the game 1-1.

The U.S. was now faced with the Herculean task of winning a soccer game, down a woman, against one of the best soccer teams in the world. When down a person, most teams try and hold on for the tie, however this was an elimination game, and the U.S. had to win. Surprisingly Brazil did not press during the last twenty minutes of regulation, so the game headed to extra

enough. Two minutes into the first period of extra time, Marta scored an amazing goal off a cross from a teammate, with her back to goal, by wheeling the ball with her left foot into the corner of the goal. Hope Solo could only watch with despair as she saw the ball spin past her into the net.

The United States team continued to press during the second half by sending more players up to join Abby Wambach, but to no avail; they could not score! And they were running out of time…

With a few minutes remaining, the Brazilians attempted to stall. Brazilian defender Erika pretended to be injured and burned 3 minutes off the clock. She was given a yellow card for stalling. The three minutes were then added to stoppage time and the U.S. was at elimination’s door.

They had never exited earlier than the semifinals before in a World Cup and this would be their worst finish ever.

Two minutes into stoppage time, magic happened. A streaking Megan Rapinoed on the left wing crossed the ball to her club teammate Abby Wambach who was waiting for the ball at the far post. In Wambach’s internation-

Alex Morgan scores in the 69th minute against Japan.

Hannibal Hanschke/European Pressphoto Agency

al scoring career, 49 of her 121 goals (40 percent) were scored with her head. There was no way she was missing this. She confidently headed the ball into the net and ecstatically celebrated on the side of the field with her teammates. The American crowd was going crazy while the Brazilian fans held their heads with disbelief. It was the latest goal in Women’s World Cup history. But the game wasn’t over yet! The score was still 2-2 and we were headed to a penalty shootout.

The United States was up first with 34 year old veteran Shannon Boxx to take the kick. Her kick was saved by Brazilian keeper Andreia, but she was clearly off the line before Boxx kicked the ball. The referee respected her call from earlier in the game and called for a re-kick. Boxx went the same way with the kick; however it was too hard and far away for Andreia’s gloves to punch away. (1-0 U.S.). Christiane made her kick with Hope Solo guessing wrong. (1-1). Lloyd delivered her ball into the back of the net as well. (2-1 U.S.).

Marta stepped up and showed no signs of pressure as she brushed the ball into the corner of the net.

(2-2). Repinoe made her kick as well with a bullet to the left corner of the net. (3-2 U.S.). Then came Daiane, the defender who had the own goal in the second minute. This would be Hope Solo’s best chance of making a save.

And she read the Brazilian’s kick perfectly and blocked the shot!

She rolled around after the save smiling with delight. Abby Wambach knocked her kick in making the score 4-2 U.S. up. Brazil made the next kick, which left American Alex Krieger to finish the historic U.S. comeback. She slotted the ball into the bottom left corner of the net and the U.S. had won!! They were headed to the semis! Surely this was their year to win the World Cup! On the other side of the tournament bracket, Japan had pulled off the upset of the tournament by defeating two time defending champions and host nation Germany in extra time 1-0. No soccer analyst in the world could have predicted that outcome.

However Japan would still be considered the underdogs when they would play Sweden in the semifinals while the U.S. played a dangerous French team.

The U.S. game got off to a quick start when Heather O’Reily crossed the ball to a streaking Cheney who deflected the ball past the French goalkeeper. The French however would respond by dominating possession for the rest of the half and contained the U.S. from doing further damage. The French squad got their chance when in the 55th minute, Sonia Bompastor’s dangerous ball into the penalty area eluded Hope Solo and the ball deflected off the post and into the net. The French now looked as if they had all the momentum. But then, U.S. coach Pia Sundhage quickly introduced 22 year old Alex Morgan (the youngest player on the team) and Megan Rapinoe from the bench to change the course of the game. The two players wreaked havoc in the French de-

fense. Soon Abby Wambach had scored another header off a corner kick. The U.S. finished the deal when Rapinoe delivered an excellent ball to Morgan and she chipped it over the French goalkeeper for the 3-1 win. The ecstatic players chanted “I believe that we believe!” on the field after the final whistle, excited to be into the finals. Surely this year would be their year!

Japan, meanwhile, stunned the world for a second time by defeating Sweden 3-1. Homare Sawa, their captain had 4 goals in the tournament already, including one in this game. The Japanese had already knocked out the number two team in the world, Germany, and the number five team in the world, Sweden. Could they top off their miraculous run by defeating the U.S., the number one team in the world, whom they had never defeated before?

The sold out stadium packed with about 50,000 fans, screamed as the players walked onto the field. The U.S., no doubt was the favorite, after their impressive win over the French. The Japanese would have to stun the world again if they wanted to hoist the trophy.

The U.S. got off to a hot start, controlling the ball in midfield, winning the 50-50 balls, and having plenty of shots. The only problem was that they couldn’t finish any of their opportunities in the first half, such as Abby Wambach’s shot which hit the post. The Japanese were delighted not to be in any goal deficit by half time with the score still 0-0.

Pia Sundhage made a change at halftime, substituting Alex Morgan in for the injured Cheney.

Morgan nearly scored in the beginning of the second half, when she redirected a cross toward goal, but it was cleared off the goal line by a Japanese defender.

The Japanese continued to dodge every challenge the U.S. sent their way.

Finally, in the 69th minute, the U.S. had their breakthrough. Megan Rapinoe started a counterattack against the Japanese and floated the ball up-field where Morgan was one on one with a Japanese defender. Morgan received the ball and shot a bullet into the bottom right corner of the net, past Japan’s goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori’s hands! This was Morgan’s second career world cup goal, and what a time for it.

The U.S. seemed to have run away with the game, but the Japanese continued to press.

They got their chance in the 81st minute, off a U.S. defensive error when two defenders failed to clear the ball. It landed in front of Aya Miyama and she poked it past Hope Solo for the equalizer.

This game would be heading to extra time…

In extra time, there is no Golden Goal, so when one team scores, that is not the end of the game.

The thirty minutes of extra time divided into two periods, must end for the game to be called over.

Alex Morgan continued her impressive World Cup Final debut when she crossed a perfect ball to a wide open Abby Wambach in the 104th minute. Abby easily headed the ball into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the tournament, and, more importantly, the lead. Now all the U.S. had to do was defend their lead and they would win!

But Japan would have none of that. Off a corner kick, Homare

AUGUST 2011 Sawa scored her fifth goal of the tournament with three minutes left to play! The goal was the latest goal in Women’s World Cup finals history.

Yet the U.S. still had a shot at winning in extra time when Morgan was brought down by Iwashimu just outside the Japanese box. Iwashimu was given a straight red card, and the U.S., an opportunity to win the game.

But the U.S. failed to take advantage and the free kick was poorly taken. The referee then blew the whistle for penalty kicks.

Penalty kicks are one of the most brutal ways to end a game.

The game is thrown up into the air and it can land in either team’s hands. This time, it was Japan’s.

The U.S. missed their first three penalty kicks while Japan made two of their three. (2-0 Japan). Boxx and Lloyd, the first two kickers, had made their penalties against Brazil, but they missed on this occasion. Hope Solo nearly saved Japan’s third shot, but it still went in. Wambach came up clutch and made her penalty kick but the U.S. now needed help from Japan’s Sai Kumagai to stay alive. (2-1 Japan). Kumagai rolled her head, looked off to the side and approached the ball. Solo guessed correctly, however Kumagai’s ball was struck too high and hard for Solo to punch it away. As the ball went in, Japan’s whole bench leapt off their seats and rushed onto the field. Kumagai leapt up with delight and ran into goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori’s arms in an embrace. The U.S.’s players looked down solemnly, most of them with tears in their eyes. They had come so close to winning, and came just short.

The maintenance crew came immediately onto the field and started preparing for the awards presentations. The Japanese had done the impossible and had won the world cup! They became the first nation from Asia to ever win this colossal sporting event in either men or women’s soccer.

The sun is rising now in the land of the rising sun, just a few months after the tragic earthquake and tsunami there killed thousands of people and left millions homeless. Japanese coach, Norio Sasaki, had used images of the disaster to inspire and will his players throughout the tournament. Following the game, the Japanese players walked around the field holding a sign saying: “To our friends around the world, Thank you for your support.”

The award ceremony started off with the FIFA commissioner awarding the Golden Glove award to Hope Solo, the Bronze Boot and the Silver Ball to Abby Wambach, and the Golden Ball to Homare Sawa. Wambach and Solo attempted to look pleased having won the awards, but were still visibly sad. Then the four pound trophy was given to Homare Sawa, the captain of the Japanese team, and the celebration began.

This year’s world cup was a huge success for the Japanese squad, which nearly did not contend due to the disaster in their nation. As for the U.S. team, they will have to wait until the next World Cup to win their third world cup. However, next year is the Olympics in London, and the United States women’s team is the two time defending champions. They will look to defend their title and come out strong.

Let’s go USA!

AUGUST 2011

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

PAGE

What Do I Want To Be?

by Nora Krijestorac, Age 12 Coral Springs, FL “How am I supposed to know what I want to be when I grow up?” Amu exclaimed in exasperation to her friend Rima at lunch.

“Well I know what I want to be,” Rima replied before taking a bite of her sushi. “Let me guess... a comedian,” Amu replied with a smile, knowing very well that her friend liked to make people laugh. “Shhhhh! someone will hear you!” Rima replied in a whisper. Amu smiled and tried to concentrate on her rice ball. “This is unfair.” Amu said, “I am only in the sixth grade, and they expect me to know what I want to be when I grow up.” “Well it is an assignment so there is no crying over it,” Rima said packing up her lunch. “Yeah, I guess so,” Amu said after stuffing the rest of her rice ball in her mouth and getting up.

Walking down the hallway on the way to her next class, Amu was thinking what she should write for the assignment Mr. Nikiadou had given them for homework. The assignment was to write a paragraph on what you want to be when you grow-up.

Amu knew that for some kids who have had one dream their whole life this assignment would be easy. But for Amu, who had

always wanted to be so many things, it was hard to choose only one. Just then the bell rang, and Amu had to run to art class.

As Amu was painting the finishing touches on her flower pot an idea came into her head. She thought maybe she could write that she wanted to be an artist when she grew up, but, then again, it would be nice to be a cook, or an athlete, or a singer, or a… AGHH! It was too complicated to decide. Amu decided to go to friends after school and ask them what they thought.

“Well, if I were you, I would be a baby when I grow-up because they are so cute and everybody pays attention to them,” Amu’s friend Yaya said. Amu smiled a small smile and tried to explain for the millionth time it is impossible to grow up and be a baby, but seeing that Yaya wasn’t listening to a word she said, she decided she would ask another friend. “I would like to be a dancer because they are so graceful,’’ said her best friend Nadeshiko.

Amu thought that was a good idea, but it only added to her list of ideas. She heaved a deep depressive sigh. Wanting to cheer up her friend Nadeshiko said, “Hey relax, I mean you’ve got until…Wait, when is this due?”

“Tomorrow,” was the solemn answer. “Well you can always pretend you lost it,” Nadeshiko said

trying to start a pep talk. Amu replied with all hope gone from her voice, “Yeah, well that would be another missing assignment on top of the 20 others I ‘lost.’”

Just then, Amu looked at the time and exclaimed in surprise, “Oh no, I was supposed to be home by 4:30. Uh, sorry Nadeshiko, I’ve got to run!”

Sitting in her room later, Amu was wondering what she should write. After wondering for several minutes, she finally settled for something. But she was nervous the whole night wondering if her teacher would like it. She fell asleep with butterflies in her stomach.

Amu didn’t know if butterflies could multiply rapidly, but the ones in her stomach sure did. She knew that if she got a bad grade on this then she would have a really bad grade overall, and she would get in trouble. When it was time for Mr. Nikiadou’s class, Amu was just about ready to throw up. “Ok, I want to see the homework I gave you yesterday.” Mr. Nikiadou said as he walked into class. Amu nervously shuffled up the aisle to turn in her work, and when she got back to her seat she felt much better. She decided that she wasn’t going to let her assignment ruin her day. And it wouldn’t have until Mr. Nikiadou called her from the middle of P.E. Amu, with her ears red, walked

down the hall with Mr. Nikiadou towards his classroom, and knew something was wrong.

“Amu, I called you here because of your assignment,” Mr. Nikiadou said. “I’m sorry, but please don’t flunk me, I couldn’t decide on only one,” Amu replied near tears. Mr. Nikiadou replied with a strange look on his face.

“I didn’t call you here to flunk you; I called you here to tell you how much I liked your work.”

“You liked it?” Amu asked in surprise. “Why wouldn’t I,” said Mr. Nikiadou, “you explained everything I was looking for from someone in the class. I’ll read it to you to see if you see what I am seeing.” He continued by reading her paper: “My mother and father are always saying that children’s lives hold infinite possibilities,” Amu’s work said, “and that we should cherish every one of them. That’s why I don’t think I can choose only one and turn away from all the others. I’d like to treasure this time when my dreams are still dreams.” “That was a good paragraph.” Mr. Nikiadou said.

So it turned out that Amu got extra credit and was more confident about herself. She still wonders what she will be when she grows up, but some things are better left unanswered.

The Missing Money

by Nia Knox, Age 10 Coral Springs, FL

“Order up,” said sixteen year old Tara. It was a cool fall day and it was very close to Halloween. Business was booming at Pizza Palace, the place where Tara and her friend, Monica, worked.

Tara was tall, had blond hair, brown eyes, and wore a lot of handmade things. Monica was medium height, had brown hair, blue eyes, and loved the outdoors.

Tara was taking orders when two familiar people, one tall with blond hair in a ponytail and one medium height with brown hair also in a ponytail, rushed up to her. “Hey Candy! Hey Diamond! What are you guys doing here?” Candy and Diamond were Mr. Guss’ daughters. Mr. Guss was the boss of the pizza joint.

Candy said excitedly “You and Monica are invited to our Halloween party Friday night!” Then she added: “Diamond and I will have to wear the same worn out costume because our dad won’t raise our allowance!

He is so unfair. Bye.” Tara told Monica the good news about the party and she was ecstatic. Pretty soon it was time to count up the money they had made for the day.

When Monica opened the cash register her face froze

13

and her hands started shaking. Her hands turned chalky white. Tara knew something was wrong. “Monica, what’s wrong?” Tara asked. Monica replied: “The money is gone!” And sure enough when she looked in, it was.

The girls did not want to be blamed for this so they hurried to Mr. Guss’s office.

When they told him they were surprised that he was so calm. But what surprised them the most was what he said next: “Why did you do it? I mean, as if I don’t pay you enough you go and take my money that I worked for?”

The girls looked pretty clueless so he explained. “At lunch time while everyone was on lunch break but you two, the cameras caught two girls taking money out of the cash register. One of the girl’s hair was blond and the other girl’s hair was brown.

Your hair looks like that. The girls who took the money had ponytails and you two have ponytails. The girls who took the money had a sack from the bank that had a dollar sign on it and Tara, doesn’t your dad work at the bank? Why, yes he does!”

Then he continued, “even though I have enough evidence for the cops: did you or did you not take the money? I want the truth girls.”

The girls answered “No, we didn’t and we couldn’t because we were out on a delivery way out on Plumy Street and that takes thirty minutes to get to.” Monica said proudly. “Lunch is an hour.” Mr. Guss said in an irritated voice. They didn’t know what to do because the rest of lunch break they went to the mall when they were not supposed to be at the mall, so they kept quiet the rest of the time and while Mr. Guss was calling, an answer came in. Actually, two answers came in.

One had blond hair in a ponytail the other had brown hair in a ponytail. And, to top that, one of the answers had a sack with a dollar sign on it.

“Candy! Diamond! How could you? How could you take your dad’s money like that? Why?” Tara screamed.

“What are you talking about?” Candy asked. “I would never steal money, I…” her eyes veered over to the tape of the girls stealing the money. “Oh I get it, Dad you don’t trust us to take a couple hundred dollars to the bank, right so you monitor us, huh?” Candy and Diamond were mad and Tara and Monica were confused but then Mr. Guss understood.

“Girls, I told you to take the money out of the safe,

not the register. Allow me to explain: Before lunch break I told Candy and Diamond to take my money to the bank.

I meant the safe money but they took the other money instead.” He paused and then said, “I’m sorry for this mix up girls and since I told you to take the money out of the safe and not the register I

thought you were stealing it.”

“What about that sack Diamond? Whose is that?” Mr. Guss asked. “It is Tara’s.

She let me borrow it.” Diamond answered. Then Mr. Guss said “I’m sorry Tara and Monica for blaming you guys. Will you forgive me?”

And of course they forgave him.

PAGE

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

14

The Goggle-Wearing Soccer Ball

by Olivia Mason, Age 8 Parkland, FL Once upon a time there was a soccer ball who wore a pair of goggles on his face all day long. He thought it was normal. Whenever his owner, Polly, looked at him she would ask, “Why do you wear goggles?” The ball wouldn’t answer. He thought to himself “Why do I wear goggles?” He thought harder and harder until he remembered, “That’s right, I used to be on a professional swim team for soccer balls.” Polly was always wondering why the ball wore goggles.

One day, Polly had her very first soccer game. How exciting it was for the soccer ball and her at the same time! It was so exciting that he jumped out the window of the car and rolled his way to the park. Polly was amazed at what she just saw. When

they got to the park they found Polly’s ball sitting on the field where they were supposed to play. When the game started, the other soccer balls in the field started laughing at his face because of those goggles he was wearing. They wanted to start playing but then they realized that their team didn’t have a ball to use so they used Polly’s ball.

The goggle-wearing ball turned around so the other balls couldn’t see his face but the ball didn’t notice that they didn’t have other balls to play with. When they picked him up, he thought that the game was over and that they were going back to the car so those other balls wouldn’t humiliate him in front of a BEAUTIFUL pink ball.

He was a very good ball to Polly’s team.

Whenever the other team got the ball he would stop moving with his humiliating goggles set tight. The kids in the other team kept running, thinking that they were carry-

ing it at their feet. Then someone on their team said: “You guys aren’t trying. The ball is on the other side of the field and you guys are just standing there! Go run all the way down the field and help the goalie. Their whole team is up there! Run, go, hustle, move it, yah, you!” Pretty soon the game came down to an end. The score was 99 to 0. It was all because of the ball. Polly’s team was so happy the score was that high.

Afterwards, the parents made a tunnel for their great success.

At the next soccer tryouts, Polly was begging her dad to sign her up. Then, every year that followed, Polly was always the first one to sign up. Soon she was in the Olympics for soccer. And she was still using the same ball she was using seven years ago! Soon it was the playoffs. They won every game until… THE FINALS! They played the hardest team in the uni-

Puzzle

Last name

First name

Carrot

Bread

Apples

Food Cheese

White

Black

Blue

Red

Shirt color Soccer

Hockey

Baseball

Sport Football

Don

Bert

Bird Barn Dare Crin Food cheese apples bread carrot Shirt red color blue black white Sport football baseball hockey soccer

Larry

Last name

verse and the players were older than them.

First it was tied 0 to 0. Then the other team got a goal. Next the ball kept going out of bounds. Polly kicked the ball in and one of her teammates got a goal out of it. The second half was interesting. The game was tied two to two. Time was running out.

“One minute left,” the referee said. Polly took the kickoff. Her teammate passed it back. The field was wide open and Polly was dribbling across the field. She took a shot. She scored! And time had run out too. Her team was fascinated with her shot while the other team was very disappointed and wondered how Polly’s team beat them.

Everybody celebrated and then everybody went home.

Polly was about to get on the couch when she heard: sssspppllllaaaaattttt! Her ball lost all its air. Then sadly she threw it away.

She told her dad that she needed a new ball so they went to the store and got a brand new ball. They played soccer with the new ball and lived happily ever after with the old ball in the trash can.

Hints:

First name Bob

by Ari Swift, Age 13 Boca Raton, FL

JULY 2011

Sport

Shirt color

Food

Bird Barn Dare Crin

(1) Bob did not have a last name of Dare or Crin (2) Larry’s last name was Barn (3) The four people were: Bob, the person who played baseball, the person who liked cheese and Bert.

(4) Bert did not have a black shirt.

(5) The person who played football had a white shirt but did not eat carrots.

(6) Don Dare had a black shirt (7) Of Crin and Dare one was Bert and the other ate apples (8) Of cheese and bread one was eaten

by Larry and the other by the baseball player (9) Crin did not eat a carrot (10) The football player did not eat the cheese (11) Bird did not wear the blue shirt or play soccer

Cherry Blossom – A New Series

by Natalie Thelemaque, Age 12 Coral Springs, FL I was nervous for once in my life; I was practically shaking with fright as I combed my dyed brown hair over and over again.

I had been homeschooled from Kindergarten to the seventh grade. I have never visited another school before. But now, since my mother had gotten sick during her job in Spain, Dad had to go stay with her.

So I was forced to go to the local Charter School. Yay. I was shocked when I found out. “Wait, what about Chris?” Chris was my younger, yet smarter, twin brother. He was doing the same homeschooling business as me.

Dad shook his head and said, “Remember, Chris got into the exchange program in France so you’ll be going to school by yourself.” Sure enough, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about that; I had taken the same test but wasn’t accepted into the program.

“Let’s go, Saki,” my older sister Stefanie said. She goes to FAU so she’s able to stay with me until my mother gets better. I cringed and put my hands deep into my sweater pockets.

“School isn’t so bad,” she said. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel of her black Honda. “It’s really fun sometimes, especially eighth grade.”

“Well that’s easy for you to say,” I snapped. “You don’t have a bizarre name.”

She couldn’t fight with that. My name is Sakura Richards. My parents were visiting Japan when they had me, so they wanted to have a traditional Japanese name for me. Seeing that I was born in Tokyo in April, the Sakura trees were in full bloom.

Thus, the name came to be.

We pulled up to the school in less than two minutes. I swung my backpack onto my shoulder, said goodbye, then cautiously walked to the door. I kept my head down until I came into the middle school hallway.

Bam! I stumbled backwards but caught myself so I didn’t fall.

“Sorry!” I blurted. I looked up at the tall boy with a now empty Monster can in his hand. “Did I spill that on you?”

He nodded and said, “It’s okay, it wasn’t a lot.” He shook out his dark brown hair and added, “You’re new, aren’t you?”

I bit my lip and said, “Yeah…”

“I’m Ryan,” he grinned. His smile was sparkling and as long as a river. “Welcome to Charter new girl.”

I couldn’t keep myself from smiling.

“Thanks, I’m Saki.” He put his hand out and I took it happily.

With one friend, maybe school wouldn’t be that bad.

As time passed, I realized that I was just overreacting. School was different than what I was used to, studying all the time, with my brother Chris as my only friend, and not getting out of the house a lot.

School was pretty much a paradise.

A week passed and I had already entered a group of friends. Later in my first week, I realized Ryan was at the top of the school.

The people in my group; Tori, Nicole, David, and Jason, agreed that I was lucky to be friends with him.

“It was an accident!” I said, but they always waved it off and said otherwise.

“You are a lucky soul,” Nicole said and Tori agreed. “Many girls would want to bump into him like that. You’re lucky you’re new.”

I had to suppose I was lucky to be clumsy, if that was possible.

“School is pretty decent,” I said into my webcam. “It’s not as bad as we all thought.” Chris stared at me with disbelief.

Leaning back in his chair, he said. “For me, it wasn’t that hard to make friends because I actually went out of the house. But for you...”

I thought for a moment and said, “That is true. On the first day of school, I bumped into the most popular kid apparently.”

He sighed. “You are very, very lucky then.” I frowned, said goodbye, and stared at my math homework.

I was anything BUT lucky, just clumsy. Sure, Ryan kept talking to me after the incident, but Jason just said it was because I was interesting; nothing more, nothing less.

I finished my homework quickly, walked over to the living room, and glanced out of

the window.

The sun was shining brightly over the tall palm trees as birds flew from area to area. I had never really taken a look, let alone walk, outside of the door. It was actually really pretty; it looked like it was calling me. I bit my lip, left a note on the refrigerator, and jumped out of the door.

I never knew how much I wanted to go outside.

I ran down the drive way and onto the side of the street; skipping around like I was in a field of daisies, not a neighborhood across from McDonalds. I followed the direction of the sun until I made it to a dead end. But seeing that I had never been outside, I was lost.

“Great,” I muttered. “That’s what happens when you go outside.”

After minutes of wandering around and yelling at myself for being so stupid, I sat down on the front lawn of a house and rested my head against the mailbox. I can’t believe that I’m lost, I thought bitterly.

I sat there for a couple of seconds when suddenly the front door of the house began to open. I scrambled up to my feet but stumbled back into a ditch.

“What are you doing here?” a voice said. Out of curiosity, I glanced up to the person.

“Ryan?!” (… to be continued)

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

JULY 2011

Name: Fern Age: 67 Color: Tan Size: 1 inch Hobbies: Drawing, writing and reading. Writing books Least Favorite Things to do: Disagree with anyone Favorite Bird: Mallard Duck Favorite Insect: Owl-eye Butterfly Animal Friend: Miria (Fay word for watchful) Butterfly Favorite Season: Autumn Home: Empty Beaver’s Dam in Frozen Pond, a fairy village in a Canada FairyLand Favorite Flower: Common Cattail Favorite Accessory: Her stone pencil and wingshaped locket “She had dirty blond, curly, medium length hair and dimples spread across her face when she smiled. Her eyes were large like a horse’s and blue as a clear stream in the summer; they usually caught the eyes of other people as they passed. They were just so sparkly, like they were really made out of crystal clear water. Her mouth was thin and when she spoke, it was a lovely, sunny sound. ‘Smile’ rode on every move.

Her name was…”

I muttered her name softly. It reminded me of home and my long-lost family. It was Haylie, the Fay word for flight. Fay is the language of this Montreal FairyLand.

I smiled as the words stretched across the wrinkly leaf-paper and turned to my sketching area. I made the rough shape of a head

and sketched in the eyes, nose and mouth.

I sprinkled Fairy Dust on the sketch. Color went in every direction, I moved my left hand to one side then I flicked my middle finger off my thumb twice. Blue, as clear as a glacier went into the girl’s eyes, bringing them to life. I closed my hand into a fist and brought it over her mouth. I circled the mouth once clockwise, then counterclockwise. A light strawberry color spread into those lips. I could hear her voice in my head. I placed my left hand, facing down, on my right hand and like that, I circled her head. Hair grew and I kept circling until the hair was about shoulder length and her head was covered with extremely precise curls. Then I dropped my hands on the top of the sketch’s head. Color raced here and there to reach every lock in her hair. This is the Fairy Dust Magic Medium or FDM. It uses the magic powder to add color to a black-and-white sketch.

After I had finished coloring the drawing, I continued with my book. The main character is Haylie, the human girl. She has a dog, Shining, and a kitten, Lydia. She lives with her aunt Jillian who is a widow.

Jillian hadn’t liked children but decided to take care of Haylie and her pets. Haylie had traveled on her own, without food, water or resources to Montreal, where her aunt lived, when her parents, John and Pam Smith, died of sickness. The book is about her adventures getting to Montreal alone to find her only relation. When Haylie finally found her aunt, she told her that John and Pam were dead and that she had no home.

Jillian immediately took her in, admiring the strength and spirit of her young niece.

Her opinion about children was different

Imagine That

by Nora Krijestorac, Age 12 Coral Springs, FL

While walking on the beach with Kaori, I couldn’t help but think: It is nice to have our own little sanctuary, this island. This was Kaori’s, Riku’s, and my get away. This was a place where we could all just close our eyes and have everything melt away.

Kaori woke me up suddenly from my day dreaming. “Sora,” she started off by saying, “we can’t stop ourselves from enjoying and having fun. But it all ends at some point, whether we want it to or not. So stop wasting time and let’s do something!” I smiled at her. “Ok, we can do something. How about starting off with getting you all wet,” I told her. I started to run to the ocean to get water to splash her but I saw something that made me stop short.

Riku was in the water. He looked like he was looking for something. He was deep enough in the water so that it came up to his hips. He had his back towards us and was looking out toward the ocean as if staring at something on the horizon, but every once in while he looked down, either to see something in the water or just to make sure nothing bit off his toes. I looked at Kaori to see if she knew why he was there. But she looked just as blank faced as me and shrugged her shoulders.

When I looked back I saw that the water around Riku was very frothy and bubbly, as if it were boiling. I didn’t know what to do, but I did what any best friend would do. I ran towards him, jumped in the water, and started swimming freestyle to him.

When I was just barely ten feet away from him, the frothy water that was around him, shot up in to the air as if it was a geyser, not an ocean. And when it all came down I was under water. But I wasn’t in the same spot I was standing in. I was much deeper in the ocean. While I was looking around I couldn’t see anything. It was just water as

far as I could see. Just then on the horizon I thought I saw our island. Yes, it was our island. As I frantically swam in that direction, a strong ocean current pulled me under and away.

When I woke up, or rather regained consciousness, for I was never sleeping, I saw that I was at the edge of a forest. Now forests don’t really grow along the edge of the ocean, but I was too dizzy and tired to notice that. Suddenly I felt as though I shouldn’t lay down a second longer. So I stood up and brushed myself off. As I looked out toward the sea, I saw that it looked calm, as if nothing had just happened. I turned around and walked into the forest.

Strolling around in the forest I noticed that there was a clearing up ahead. I was in no rush to get there. I just continued walking normally. When I reached the clearing, I saw something that I had not expected. I saw a mansion right there, in the middle of a clearing. The walls were white while the shutters were painted light blue. On the windows were lace curtains. There were no fancy plants around the mansion, but then again it was in the middle of the forest, so there was no reason to have them. I decided that I would go and ring the doorbell to see if anyone was home. When I came up to the door I saw that there was no doorbell, so I very politely knocked.

Then someone sneaked up behind me and very impolitely knocked me out.

When I regained consciousness, again, I was lying down on something super warm, soft, fuzzy, and rug like. I felt like I could stay there forever. But just then I heard a deep voice. “Oh, so I see that you are awake. Sorry about that knocking you out on the head, it just happens sometimes.

You know animals. It’s all about instinct.”

I was so surprised at the voice that I just leapt up into the air. I looked at the person who spoke to me. By the sound of his voice I thought he was some huge monster.

But I did not expect to be looking at a per-

15

but they, unlike fairies, can adapt to living pretty much anywhere. These two were orphans and they lived in Montreal with their grandfather, a Polypore Gnome. The three gnomes helped me find a home and inspired me to write my first book. Before I met the kind gnomes, I had written about how it felt to be starving and either too cold or too hot. After meeting the gnomes, I wrote about how it felt to be loved and wanted, a feeling I had long forgotten. I wrote a book of poems about those feelings. Here is one of them:

“Fern” the Tan Fairy

by Daniela Gómez, Age 11 Margate, FL

PAGE

Sadness vs. Happiness A Diamante Poem

by Fern

“Fern, the Tan Fairy” by Daniela Gómez. Multimedia art. ever since.

The story is based on what I had to do to find a home when my parents and sister were killed. I had to travel a long way to this FairyLand. I was sick and starving and, well, it was really hard! My family was killed by a human car. Fairies can get killed but they cannot die of old age. They always appear as teenage boys or girls but they can be much older.

When I was little, I had had a sneaking interest in humans, and then I began writing. My passion for humans exploded!

When I was ten years old, I befriended Cameron and Lisa Jane, twin gnome-girls.

Gnomes are usually the size of their mushrooms; they have mushrooms just as Fairies have colors. Cameron was a Fly Agaric Gnome and Lisa Jane was a Portobello Gnome. They were both about 1¾ inches tall and they were very young. Gnomes live in kingdoms known as GnomeHavens son that resembled an elf. Just then I felt the rug beneath me move. When I looked down I saw that I was leaning against a lion! I was so freaked out that I hid behind the elf-man. Elf-man just laughed and told me to relax. When he finally got me calmed down, he brought me a cup of hot cocoa.

“Well,” he started off by saying, “it first started when me and my lion, Nagi, decided to take a walk in the morning. When we were coming back from our walk, we saw you in front of our house. So Nagi thought you were a burglar, ran to you, and knocked you clean out. Now you had a pretty nasty gash on the back of your head, but I took care of that.”

I realized my head was bandaged.

“You were out,” he continued, “for about three days. But I think you are fine now. How are you feeling?”

“I am actually feeling great. How long do you think I will have to wear this bandage?”

“For at least one more week. I didn’t recognize you from around these parts.

Where are you from anyway?”

It was hard to tell him exactly where I was from, so I stood up and motioned for him to follow me. I led him on to the terrace that was facing the ocean.

“Do you see right past that horizon?” I asked him.

“Yes.” “Somewhere over there is my home.”

We remained silent for several moments until the elf-man asked, “Would you like to go back?”

“Of course, I have friends there.”

“I can help you.”

I stared at him in awe. How could he help me? He smiled at me and said, “Do you want to or not?”

“Yes please, if you can help me.”

He started giving me a list of instructions. First of all, I had to finish my hot cocoa. Then I went into the water so that it came up to my naval. As I was standing there I was thinking about what elf-man told me. He told me he knew a spell that could send me back home, but in order to do so I had to go in the water and look in the direction of home. As I stood there, I could hear someone saying something.

Sadness Dark, Unwanted Freezing, Frowning, Pouting Silent, Pensive, Sunny, Joyous Smiling, Waving, Jumping Sweet, Beautiful Happiness This poem shows how unlike each other sadness and happiness are. I wrote many other poems about the differences between being alone and having friends.

I turned away from my memories and I picked up my pencil again and grabbed a spare sheet of leaf paper. On it, I wrote: “Humans and Fairies, a Diamante Poem

by Fern…”

I kept on writing.

NOTE FROM DANIELA: Special thanks to Jay for translating Fay into English, to Fern for sharing information on FDM and for sharing her lovely writing with us, and to the Gnomes: thank you so much for the drawing!

If you (the readers) find one of these magic creatures mentioned above, remember to thank them for bringing Fairy Diaries to life!

But it didn’t sound like elf-man’s voice. It sounded more like, huh! I turned around.

Riku! He was looking down at the ground saying something.

“Riku! Come back with us!” I cried.

Riku stopped speaking and looked up at me. He smiled and put two fingers up like he was saluting me.

“So long Sora. Tell Kaori I said hi. See you later.”

I tried to step towards him, but a strong ocean current pulled me away and under.

This time I was conscious during the whole thing. Every once in a while I would go up for air then return to the current.

After five minutes I could see our island, and after 30 seconds I was able to wade to shore. I barely took a breath before Kaori came running and knocked me over. She was hugging me so hard, I swear it took all my strength just to breathe. After the happy moment, she asked me where Riku was. So I sat down and told her the whole story from beginning to end. We then agreed that we should look for him. And we still are to this day. We just haven’t found him yet.

The Purple Pixie

by Natalia Knox, Age 7 Coral Springs, FL

Once upon a time, there was a tiny purple pixie. She had beautiful brown hair that was long and flowing. She wore the cutest purple outfit and she even had wings!

Purple Pixie was in a rush because there was a big emergency happening.

The emergency was that the plum tree was missing! The plum tree was important because plum was what the pixies ate. If there was no plum tree, then there was no food. The purple pixie thought: “How could I solve this emergency?”

She found a plum and pulled out the seed.

She planted the seed. The tree grew and the pixies were able to eat more plums.

PAGE

16

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

“Eastern Bride” Pen and color pencils on paper

by Shadya Amodu, Age 11 Deerfield Beach, FL

AUGUST 2011

“The Old Woman and Her Son” Watercolors and watercolor pencils on paper

by Elizabeth Abrams, Age 7 Fort Lauderdale, FL Inspired by the story The Polar Bear Son by Lydia Dabcovich

“Sunset Bloom”

by Abigail Abrams, Age 5 Fort Lauderdale, FL

“A Blanket of Stars” Watercolor pencils on paper

by Ellie Gómez, Age 5 Margate, FL Inspired by the story How the Stars Fell into the Sky, A Navajo Legend written by Jerrie Oughton and illustrated by Lisa Desimini

“Trucks” Pencil on paper

by Daniel Castellon, Age 6 Coconut Creek, FL

“Milky Way, My Dog” Acrylics on Canvas

by Emma Gómez, Age 7 Margate, FL Painting developed at class with artist Lynne Stewart