May 2011 Issue of the Circle Gazette

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

Volume 2, Issue 08

MAY 2011

A Newspaper by Children for Children

1st Anniversary of an Environmental Disaster A Different Way to Celebrate Earth Day

by Daniela Gómez, Age 11 Margate, FL The Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling rig, built in 2001 in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries and owned by Transocean, sank on Earth Day, April 22, 2010. It was leased to British Petroleum (BP) from March 2008 to September 2013.

On April 20, 2010 at approximately 9:45 p.m, the drill column released methane gas from the well and caused an explosion and a fire in the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the workers present at that terrible moment got airlifted out by helicopters or evacuated by lifeboats. However, eleven were not found, even after a threeday Coast Guard search, and are thought to have been killed in the explosion. Seventeen others were injured. The Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig burned on despite attempts to douse the flames. After approximately thirty-six hours in this condition, the drilling rig sank and the pipes carrying crude oil from under the Gulf floor,

by Ismail Ercan, Age 14 Coral Springs, FL As the search for more sufficient, cleaner, energy continues, nuclear energy has slowly become one of the main contend-

snapped, marking the beginning of a spill now today known as the largest marine oil spill in the history of the United States.

On Friday, April 22, 2011, communities around the world celebrated the 41st Earth Day and in the U.S., this day also brought the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

On July 15, 2010, BP managed to put a cap on the leak (after many failed attempts) using a technique called “Static Kill.” After two months and three weeks, 4,900,000 barrels of oil had been released in the Gulf of Mexico.

This is equivalent to 205, 800, 000 gallons. That amount of oil could fill 22,865 tanker trucks.

If they were all lined up right behind each other they would reach from Miami to Jacksonville, FL. Most of the oil in the Gulf went to the top of the water, as a slick blanket. The broken pipes released 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day. That amount of oil was spilled in one to two weeks in the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill off the coast of Alaska.

An oil spill happens at least once a day somewhere in the world, says Melvin Berger author of “Oil Spill,” a 1994 children’s book from the series Let’s-Readand-Find-Out Science. As found in the 1973-2004 Cumulative Data and Graphics for Oil Spills Report by the U.S. Coast Guard, 1.3 million gallons of petroleum were spilled into U.S. waters from vessels and pipelines in a typical year (source: www.fueleconomy.gov). Most oil spills are caused by human error. The term “oil spill” is often used to refer to marine spills; oil could be spilled from a leaking tanker, an offshore platform, a well or drilling rig.

An oil spill is a big deal, as proven by previous oil disasters. It takes months, even years to clean up. Ten years after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, four species of birds (common loon, cormorant, harlequin duck, and pigeon quillemont) and two species of marine mammals (killer whale and harbor seal) were still not recovering from the negative

whether or not nuclear energy is worth it, and whether it will be the next major energy producer, especially with human lives on the line when accidents occur.

The use of nuclear energy has been in effect since the 1950s, and has gone from just generat-

However, once it is built, the plant pays for itself and supplies millions of homes with electricity throughout its lifetime which ranges from 20 to 70 years. The power plants use uranium rods which heat up water to turn into steam. The steam powers turbines which spin inside a generator to produce electricity. Massive amounts of water are used not only to produce the electricity, but also to cool down the uranium, which, if becomes too hot, can cause a nuclear meltdown.

In Fukushima, nature wreaked havoc with the earthquake and the tsunami. Surrounding the nuclear plant is a nineteen foot seawall that was intended to protect the plant from tsunami waves.

However, the tsunami waves were forty six feet high, so they catapulted the wall and flooded the entire plant. Not only did the earthquake damage the structure of the plant, but the flooding it caused also broke the plant’s entire electrical grid. Without electricity, the cooling system keeping the highly unstable uranium rods under control in each of the reactors did not work, causing the reactors to overheat. The workers inside the plants frantically tried to cool down the rods with water; however, the rods were so hot that the water instantly turned into radioactive steam. Also, the zirconium casings containing the

Nuclear plant aerial view. ers to be the next main energy producer in the world. Currently it accounts for 6% of the world’s energy and 14% of its electricity. But after the nuclear power plant incident that occurred a few weeks ago in Fukushima, Japan, many people are left wondering

ing electricity to powering submarines, aircraft carriers, and even NASA spacecrafts. There is even talk of trying to make a nuclear powered automobile! The building of a nuclear power plant is quite expensive and is planned at least seven years in advance.

GASOLINE PRICES ON THE RISE

by Aaron Cross Page 3

Engineers performing clean up operations according to the guidelines of the Response and Restoration of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. effects of the oil in their habitat.

Twenty years after the spill, a team from University of North Carolina “found that the effects were lasting far longer than expected. The team estimates some shoreline Arctic habitats may take

up to thirty years to recover.” It is very difficult for wildlife to recover after the crude oil damages their environment.

The Deepwater Horizon oil

uranium rods could not withstand the heat from the rods and started to crack. The steam and the casings’ material reacted due to high temperatures generating hydrogen, a highly explosive gas. This

Dr. Özcan Tuncel, a former manager of Turbine Development Engineering at General Electric (G.E.). He is currently retired and lives in New England, so I called him up and had the privilege of interviewing him on this issue.

I asked Dr. Tuncel what he thought was the main cause of the Fukushima nuclear incident and what the effect would be on a nuclear power plant in the U.S. if a natural disaster of the same magnitude would hit it.

“Nature itself took over. The pumping of the circulation system was not working. Also the whole plant itself was flooded and the plant was a bit old. It was built in the early 1970s. I actually worked on the steam turbines of that power plant. These turbines were built by G.E. But then again, the plant operated perfectly for forty years. This means there wasn’t anything structurally wrong with the plant. Its problems were caused by a natural accident.” Dr. Tuncel went on: “If there were to be a disaster like that on the west coast of the U.S., where there are a lot of nuclear power plants that are in seismic areas, there should not be that much of a problem because they are designed to withstand earthquakes. The problem lies in the older power plants in

A police officer wearing a respirator guides people to evacuate away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Source: Allvoices.com is believed to have been the cause of the explosions at the reactors in Fukushima.

After seeing on the news the images of the Fukushima plant exerting massive amounts of radioactive steam into the atmosphere, I decided to look more into nuclear energy. I contacted

Kids & Politics 2011 Budget

by Bilal Amodu Page 2

Please turn to page 13

Please turn to page 12

Venturing to the Vatican

by Reagan Olenick Page 7

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

2

A

MAY 2011

word from the editor: April, May and more...

Editor in Chief

PATTY GOMEZ

Editorial Board

Serena Serrano

Sandra Wolkov

Pedro Gómez

Production

Patty Gómez

Serena Serrano

Christie Voss

Prepress Technician Christie Voss

Graphic Designers

Dora Font

Christie Voss

Cartoonists and Illustrators

Matias Sosa Wheelock

Daniela Gómez

Daniela Gómez

Emma Gómez

Regular Columnists Aaron Cross

Sofia Serrano

Bilal Amodu

Regular Contributors

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

Proof Readers

Serena Serrano

Sandra Wolkov

Website Master

Victoria Martinez

Circulation

The Circle Gazette is available online and it’s distributed in paper via individual, classroom and library subscriptions. Free copies are available at community partner institutions (libraries, museums and educational organizations). This publication is currently distributed in more than twenty cities in South Florida and has subscribers and contributors from California, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, Virginia, Caracas-Venezuela, Rivas-Nicaragua and San Jose-Costa Rica.

Free Copies Available at

The heat is here and it’s here to stay! At least six more months of high temperatures and humidity are upon us in South Florida. April serves as a prelude for what is to come. For those of us non-native to Florida it somehow always comes as a surprise. By May we have fully recalled last year’s hot season and are ready to embrace the shiny, sticky and long Florida summer and all the good things that come with it!

As well as bringing the heat home, April also brought holiday celebrations for many (Easter and Passover), and was designated as national poetry month. The Academy of American Poets, publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events. MiamiDade, Broward and Palm Beach counties had plenty of activities for everyone to enjoy poetry. The O, Miami Festival encourages every person in Miami-Dade County to have a poem encounter during the month of April. In Broward there were Poetry workshops at libraries with a theme of people, places and things the county. The free workshops included writing tips, writing prompts and group discussions. In

Palm Beach County, Lynn University invited 1984 Pulitzer Prize poet Mary Oliver for a reading and discussion of her work. At the Circle Gazette poetry is celebrated every month in our Poetry Corner and in our April issue we enjoyed sharing an array of nature inspired poems

by Shadya Amodu, Christ Thompson, Daniela Gómez, and Emma Gómez. Check them out in our online full color edition at www. enrichmentcircle.com. This May issue contains more captivating poetry by young authors Hannah Jaffe, Sara Jaffe, Sarit Swift, Sara Cross, Joshua Thompson, Elizabeth Abrams, Abigail Abrams, and Andrés McKeon.

April was also autism awareness month. Many organizations throughout the country dedicated the month to raise awareness about autism spectrum disorders. Autism includes a wide range of disorders that affect the brain›s normal development of social and communication skills. Such a condition is diagnosed in 1 in 110 kids in the U.S. every year; and this rate seems to be on the rise. Susan Suarez, Executive Director of Eden Autism Services Florida, joined experts in the autism care field in inviting families in her local community to increase their acceptance, tolerance and support to kids and families affected by autism syndrome disorders. She warmly points out that the need of a village to raise a

child is deeply felt and shared by all parents, but that “this village or community support system is even more important for children with autism and their parents.”

In this issue, we are proud to print excerpts from a letter written

by Julian Uribe, a 19 year old from Miramar, Fl. Julian writes about his own experience growing up with Asperger’s Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. Don’t miss his insights below.

May now brings the end of the school year and the beginning of summer, a good time to head indoors. The Northwest Regional Library in Coral Springs will celebrate the hot season with the theme “One World, Many Stories.” Tales from all over the world will shape the many activities and fun classes they’ll offer over the summer.

Other libraries have programs that will keep you out of the heat during the summer. Be sure to check them out.

As always, we invite you to share with us your plans and your adventures! The deadline for our June issue is May 15. Send us your poetry, stories, and art at info@enrichmentcircle.com. We are looking forward to hearing from you as we read our way through the hot months ahead.

Patty Gómez Editor in Chief

I Grew Up with an Autism Related Condition

we come across as socially awk- roster on the team and I bonded ward. However, we (people with with my teammates. I became Asperger) also tend to be secre- more social and less ‘awkward’ tive about our condition in fear of and became a really decent playSales, Advertising and Sponsorship You have no idea how much Mindy Joseph Jodi Jaffe being labeled by ‘socially normal er. I even was able to shoot free courage it is taking for me to 954-9182541 people’. kick accurately at 60 m.p.h. write this. Everyone has a story.

TO SUBMIT WORK Every year from second grade The social atmosphere inTO SUBMIT WORK The Circle Gazette is a publication available to public school,Some private school and homeschool 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 are stories students. of greatness, to freshman year of high school I volved with the soccer life helped The Circle Gazette is a publication available to public school, private school and homeschool students. Email a copy others are stories of adversity. of your work, as a major word processor file or as a jpeg file, at Information info@enrichmentcircle.com. was bullied, isolated, judged, re- me develop social and soccer to contributors All entries should be consists of and both and of subject matter.

Circle Gazette theonline right toat edit, accept and refuseMy articlesstory in the interest of brevity, clarity appropriateness accompanied by the parent/guardian consent to print.The Submission Form toreserves be found jected, and teased. I wasn’t good skills at a drastically high rate. I I’m finally sharing it. www.enrichmentcircle.com. at any sports or games so I would am still close friends with some YOUNG CHILDREN PROVIDE A WEALTH OF WISDOM, FRESHNESS I have an autism related condialways be picked last. Things of the guys, and I really couldn’t AND NEW PERSPECTIVES tion named Asperger Syndrome, Information to contributors never got physical, but the emo- thank them enough. Now in Cola stories developmental delay that The 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 and creations of children of all ages; aboutimlocal affairs, the environment, art, sports, and puzzles young tional damage hasentertainment affected me, that engage lege,andI inspire have a minds! stable amount of pairs the development of social appropriateness of subject matter. even up to today.

Middle school quality great friends.

I’m also a The Circle Gazette is a one-of-a-kind publication because: skills. The severity of the conwas mixed with new things and good driver and I fell in love for YOUNG CHILDREN PROVIDE A WEALTH OF WISDOM, FRESHNESS dition can vary greatly. Luckily it community. was still notIt’sfit the first • It transcends one school/homeschool It goesfrustrating beyond a state or ato country. about widening writer’stime. and reader’s horizons! for me, I have had help throughAND NEW PERSPECTIVES • It is addressed to children and the content is created by children in. Yet, I had a strange hope that I have improved a lot and out my life andIt involves I have amazed group of contributors • a multi-age/multi-level some people would accept me for there is still some more work to editorial team keeps a holistic and nourishing quality in the selection of content and design The Circle Gazette is packed from cover to cover with the latest•stories and creations of children of all ages; about countless peopleTheby how much who I am. be done. I’m still young, only • It’s a high quality mix of a variety local affairs, the environment, art, sports, entertainment and puzzles that engage and inspire young minds!

I have developed and improved. of styles and topics 19 years old and I feel success• It offers valuable feedback to authors The same troubles endured Asperger can make it difficult throughout my freshman year in ful, but I want to make the extra The Circle Gazette is a one-of-a-kind publication because: for people to read others’ facial high school until I found a pas- mile. I’m grateful to all who have expressions and body language, • It transcends one school/homeschool community. It goes beyond a state or a country. It’s about widening sion for soccer late that year. I overlooked my awkwardness, and can impair the individual’s writer’s and reader’s horizons! wasn’t good at it but I was just so and I thank them so very much • It is addressed to children and the content is created by children ability to demonstrate nonverbal happy with it. I was able to train for accepting me for who I am. I • It involves a multi-age/multi-level group of contributors communications. We actively try with the varsity team due to my couldn’t ask for better family or • The editorial team keeps a holistic and nourishing quality in the selection of content and design to socialize with others, even if • It’s a high quality mix of a variety of styles and topics dedication. I got good enough to friends.

The Coral Springs Museum of Art The Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theater The Northwest Regional Broward County Library The British School Caracas

by Julian Andrés Uribe Guest Editor

• It offers valuable feedback to authors

Kids & Politics

The Importance of Compromise

The Enrichment Circle

A Non-Profit Organization for the Advancement of Education

by Bilal Amodu, Age 13 Deerfield Beach, FL

Hello, my dear readers and welcome to this month’s edition of Kids & Politics. Much has occurred in the political scenario of recent which could make the next election a turbulent season. Let us first discuss the recent legislative battles that took place in Washington D.C. One of the biggest conflicts in Congress was the passage of the 2011 federal budget where

both Democrats and Republicans played chicken until the final moment. A federal budget is passed

by Congress annually before the commencement of the fiscal year, to fund the entire federal government for that year. The funded items in the budget such as welfare and social security benefits like Medicaid, Medicare, etc. constitute the government expenditure. The approved budget allows running the government for the whole year. If the federal government does not pass a budget before the year expires, the gov-

ernment will run out of money and close or shut down. When the government shuts down, “nonessential” government workers such as tour guides for the Smithsonian museum, and federal parks for example, are laid off until the government can make a compromise to fund them again. This occurred once in 1995 when the Republican controlled Congress and the Democratic President, Bill Clinton could not agree on a bud-

Please turn to page 15

MAY 2011

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

GASOLINE PRICES ON THE RISE

What are families doing to deal with this?

by A. J. Cross, Age 13 Boca Raton, FL This is what I have to say about the rising gas prices in the US: A lot of people are cutting down on their expenses and have stopped going places because it costs a lot in gas to get there. For example, if someone goes out for ice cream every week they now have to pay for the ice cream and extra for the gas it takes to get there. Therefore many families might only go out for ice cream every other week or less!

Experts say that only five percent of people’s monthly spending goes toward paying for gas, but that is not entirely true for everyone. For my family, nearly ten percent of our monthly expenses go toward paying for gas.

The most likely reason for that is that my father drives for fortyfive minutes to go to work every day and the same to get home!

This costs at least ten dollars a day in gas, which is fifty dollars a week (he gets the weekends off), or about two-hundred dollars a month or more! To try to keep our budget balanced, we buy most of our clothes at the thrift store, and my mom goes out of her way to buy what is on sale that week at the grocery store. These two things leave our gas expenses high, and our other expenses pretty low.

I spoke to some people I know and asked them what changes to their everyday life they were making due to the rising of gas prices. The first person I talked to was my Uncle, Dr. Russell Swift. He is a holistic house call veterinarian that has to drive far distances to get to his patients.

He also has three kids at home, so I thought he would be a good person to include. He obviously cannot reschedule his work plans to a major extent, because if there is a sick dog he has to go drive to it right away. But he is trying to cut down on the driving a lot by doing errands on the way to or on the way back from a house call. If he does not have a house call that day then he waits to do the errand when he does have one.

The next person I talked to was my grandmother, Phyllis Swift.

She is retired and on a fixed income. She has been dropping her gas usage by doing multiple errands when she goes out. She also comes over to my place often, so she does her shopping when she is already in the area.

Another person I talked to is my next door neighbor’s son, Andrew Colby, who happened to be over from Maryland when I went next door to interview. He said that he was not really making any changes. He still does his shopping and errands the way he always does and probably would still have driven to Florida from Maryland even if the gas prices were higher. Driving is still cheaper than flying for a family of four. Mr. Colby also had things to haul back north with him.

The last person I talked to was the editor, Patty Gómez from the Circle Gazette. She is significantly cutting down on her driving and only goes places if she

Image courtesy of R. Cross. absolutely needs to. She had a road trip planned for March and ended up canceling it because it would cost a fortune.

So that is what I have to say about the rising gas prices.

Some people have made significant changes, some none at all, and for others it has just been a minor inconvenience.

Look for a follow-up of this article in an upcoming edition of the Circle Gazette.

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3

Coconut Creek Police Explorers

by Ryan Smith, Age 14 Coconut Creek, FL So have you been looking for an activity to do that’s full of fun and excitement? Are you currently in high school and at least 14 years old? Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a police officer? Then why not join the Coconut Creek Police Explorers? This program is great for those of you who want to know what police officers do to protect the public. As an explorer of the Coconut Creek Police Department, kids can do a wide variety of things, ranging from riding with officers to practicing responses to staged scenarios.

When you first join, you are required to attend three meetings. Next you fill out an application and then go through a background check. Students are also required to take a drug test because they will be representing a police agency. Then comes the fun part: if you meet all of the requirements, you receive your uniform. Once you receive it, you are officially in the program! You can participate in the events and, upon passing a test, ride along with the police officers. You will learn about the different things police officers do. Then, if you study hard and are dedicated, you could possibly become a member of the explorer competition team. I am part of this program.

One thing that is particularly fun to do is the scenarios. When we prepare for state competition, we get to do a lot of these. Basically, a scenario is when there are role players that pretend to be bad guys doing various things that can get them in trouble.

Then, we respond to the situation like an officer would and look for clues, interview the bad guys, and potentially arrest them.

There are a lot of different situations we can be put in and each one is fun and interesting.

Sometimes, we can do ridealongs with real officers. We go in the police car with real police officers and respond to actual calls with them. This can be anything from traffic stops to medical calls. We go everywhere they go and spend about eight hours with an officer at a time. They show us how to run radar and look for speeders, write out tickets for traffic violations, write crash reports for people in car accidents, and anything else you could possibly think of.

Every year, in the month of June, Police Explorers participate in a very important event.

This is the state competition, where they get to demonstrate what they have learned. All participants pack their bags for five days and head to Orlando to compete in scenarios that they have been practicing all year long. Four members compete at

a time. These scenarios can be anything from traffic tickets to building searches to domestic calls. Last year, our team (Coconut Creek) got 7th place. Everyone in the police department was extremely proud of us.

Police explorers are also called when the city needs volunteers to assist in their events. This provides us with hands on training in foot patrol and traffic direction. We are out in force at all major events our city hosts, such as the Halloween Festival and the Butterfly 5K Run. We tend to do parking details, where we fill up parking lots with guests’ cars in an orderly fashion. Assisting in city events is one of the most frequent things we do. This is often the best time to learn more about us and get in contact with our Lead Advisor, Officer Zombek.

So, has this caught your eye?

Think you want to try your hand at Police Explorers? Join today by emailing Officer Zombek at michaelzombek@coconutcreek. net. You too can participate in events, go on ride-alongs, and perform scenarios with Coconut Creek’s future police officers! I am pretty new to this program myself. If you aren’t sure this is for you, look for my upcoming articles as I chronicle my experiences within the program. You never know, you just may find it as fun and exciting as I do!

My Karate Experience

At the USA GOJU Federation

by Alizdair Sebastien Ray, Age 7 Davie, FL never did so many pushups beI just finished up my Fall soc- fore and my daddy had to show cer season on January 18, 2011 me how to do it right. I paid atand I have been playing since I tention to the older kids in class was 3 years old. I decided to try because the moves were new and karate. I started karate on Febru- hard for me. I started doing the ary 2, 2011 and didn’t realize all Hard Blocking system well and I the work that you have to do. I was proud of myself. The Senseis are teaching us very well.

On February 19, 2011, I went to my first children “Shai.” This is a competition where you show what you learned in GOJU karate. I decided to do the Hard Blocking system and sparring. I was excited when it was my turn to compete against other kids for the Hard Blocking system. First, I was scared that it was time for me to stand in front of the Senseis. I talked loud and did my moves. There were two other kids competing against me and I received a second place trophy.

The correct name for the Hard Blocking system is: “Kata.” I could have had a first place trophy by .10 points but I forgot to say “Permission to begin.” I was still okay with coming in second but the other kids had green stripes and I didn’t get any stripes.

We had a rest and I didn’t plan to compete in the Sparring competi“I ran to my parents and tion but I wanted to try it out. We showed them the green stripe put on head gear and gloves. I did and hugged them.” well and it was fun and I received

“We put on head gear and gloves. I did well and it was fun and I received a third place trophy in sparring.” a third place trophy in sparring.

I was so happy and couldn’t believe it. I was going to watch but I wanted to compete and see how I would do. I knew I was only there a few weeks but it never hurts to try. I learned that from my parents that you will never know if you don’t try.

The classes are going great and I’m learning a lot and have been put in an advanced class.

On April 6, 2011, my mommy and daddy were there to see me get my first green stripe. I was shocked and happy but I have worked very hard on doing all the

moves. Sensei Greg called me up in front of the class and told me that I have been doing great. He put my green stripe on my white belt and I was smiling. I ran to my parents and showed them the green stripe and hugged them. I might be only 7 years old but I try to do my best in everything.

I went home and my parents and I look up how long it takes to get a green stripe. I see that it takes four months of testing and I did it in two months! I go to the GOJU federation located at the Pine Island Park Multi-Purpose Center in Davie.

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

4

Venturing to the Vatican

by Reagan Olenick, Age 10 Weston, FL Over spring break, I did many wonderful and exciting things, but the one that stood out the most was the art exhibit I went to. My dad and I went to the Museum of Art in downtown Fort Lauderdale to see the “Splendors of the Vatican,” a wonderful exhibit about the art treasures of the Vatican. When I was there, I saw many beautiful paintings, sculptures, articles of clothing, and other artwork. The Pietà, which in English means “pity,” was the one piece that caught my eye the most.

It was a sculpture created by Michelangelo that depicted a lifeless Jesus Christ in the arms of the Madonna, also known as the Virgin Mary (his mother), following his crucifixion. The part that really made it special was that the Madonna was depicted as the same age as her son. This is because Christians believe that she lived a life free of sin, and therefore, she never aged.

Another extraordinary piece was an ancient mosaic of an angel, which the exhibit used as its logo. It amazed me that people

so long ago made such wonderful treasure troves of beauty. One more thing that particularly interested me was the Vatican’s structure itself. I couldn’t believe it was built on top of the grave of Saint Peter, who was a Christian who was crucified upside down. He was crucified this way because he believed that he was not worthy of dying the same way Jesus did. According to Christian belief, Jesus told Peter that he would build his church upon him (Peter). This seems to have been done both figuratively and literally. At the end of the exhibit, you were able to place your hand in a cast of Pope John Paul II’s hand. I liked the idea of placing my hand in the very spot his had been.

This was a fantastic exhibit and my dad and I really learned a lot by seeing it. We felt so lucky to have the opportunity to be exposed to such cultural wonder. The masterpieces on display and the history they represent make a visit to the museum worthwhile, no matter what your religion is.

FOR AGES 9-16

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“Bust of an Angel” by Giotto di Bondone (after 1304). Polychrome Mosaic.

Image used as promotional poster for the “Splendors of the Vatican” Exhibit at the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale (January 29 to April 24, 2011).

at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Davie, FL I went to the Back Stage tour at the Broward Center for the performing Arts on April 11, 2011. I decided that it would be nice to interview Mr. Peter Neirouz, Volunteer and Intern Services Manager for my next article. A lot of kids and parents came to the field trip. I asked a lot of questions.

I got to see the actors’ dressing room. We all were on the stage and we learned a lot behind the scenes. I learned that the Amaturo Theatre can seat 600 people. The front of the stage is for the orchestra. They play all the music. I saw a live orchestra when my family and I went to see Cosi fan Tutte.

I love the theatre.

The Broward Center for the performing Arts is celebrating twenty years. What a

long time! They have great plays and operas. My favorites this year were Stone Soup and the Nutcracker. I’m glad to have attended so many great shows. I think that the theatre is educational and fun. I visited the Au Rene theatre where Wicked is performed. I loved the props that they had on the stage and I hope my parents take me to see it.

Mr. Neirouz told us that it is about the story before Dorothy came to Oz. Here are the questions that I asked: Alizdair Ray for the Circle Gazette: How long have you been here?

Mr. Neirouz: 5 years Alizdair Ray for the Circle Gazette: Have done tours before?

Mr. Neirouz: Many times Alizdair Ray for the Circle Gazette: Do you like your job?

South Florida Plan your Summer Camp

Tradewinds Horse Camp

Back-Stage Tour

by Alizdair Sebastien Ray, Age 7

MAY 2011

Mr. Neirouz: I love the job and meeting new people.

Alizdair Ray for the Circle Gazette: Where do the actors’ clothes come from?

Mr. Neirouz: They have their own clothes and they bring it with them.

Alizdair Ray for the Circle Gazette: What is your job here?

Mr. Neirouz: I help the volunteers and the staff.

Alizdair Ray for the Circle Gazette: When you were a boy did you want to be an actor?

Mr. Neirouz: Yes, I did want to be an actor. A lot of people here couldn’t be actors and we decided to work at a theatre. We are close to our dreams.

Alizdair Ray for the Circle Gazette: What is your favorite play at this theatre?

Mr. Neirouz: Wicked

Summer Camp ArtShops at the Coral Springs Museum of Art Ten 1 Week ArtShops (Monday~Friday)

From June 13 to August 19 3 Hour Sessions: 9 to 12 or 1:15 to 4:15 CALL 954.340.5000

www.csmart.org

Summer Stage & TeenCore @ Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theatre Session I: June 13-July 8

Camp Rock & Willy Wonka

Session II: July 11- August 5

Summer & Seussical www.flct.org 954-763-6882

A Taste of Sudbury Summer Camp @ Sunset Sudbury School in Davie, FL A totally different summer experience!

From June 13 to August 19 Sibling discount Enroll by May 13

and save an additional 10% Alizdair at the Broward Center for the Arts.

Peter Neirouz, Volunteer and Intern Services Manager at the Broward Center for the Arts, meets Alizdair Ray for a brief interview.

www.sunsetsudbury.org

CALL 954-404-7785

MAY 2011

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

Theatre World My Son Pinocchio

by Daniela Gómez, Age 11 Margate, FL I’m sure most of you know about the wooden puppet Pinocchio whose nose grows when he lies. I’m sure most of you know the song When You Wish Upon A Star. From May 13 to 15, the Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theatre (FLCT) will present My Son Pinocchio, Geppetto’s Musical Tale. Let me say as the Blue Fairy does to start the play: “Once upon a time, there lived a little wooden puppet named Pinocchio. But alas! This is not his story. This is the story of that important but overlooked character Geppetto.” This play is indeed about Geppetto, the toy maker.

I play a child in My Son Pinocchio and this, my eleventh show, has been an exciting experience so far.

The script is by David I. Stern and the music and lyrics are by Stephen Schwartz. The songs When You Wish Upon A Star and I’ve Got No Strings were written

by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington. This show is directed by Sean Cutler.

My favorite scene is Toys, the opening number. In that scene, the children run around looking at Geppetto’s new toys. They sing: “Boys” (or “girls” -whichever is the case), “need toys to put a smile on our face…” Parents sing differently: “No dear, that’s much too fragile…” They

try to control the frenzy of children wanting every single toy they see. Geppetto sings a melody, saying that he is sure that he could be a better parent. The song ends with the children, parents and Geppetto singing their parts at the same time. The stage is set for excitement!

I spoke to nine-year-old Samantha Boisverg about her experience with FLCT and with My Son Pinocchio. Samantha is from Florida. This is her third time performing in an FLCT play and, like me, she plays a child in this one. This is her favorite play so far. She’s especially excited about her lines. I asked Samantha why she originally auditioned for the play. She said that she has had “very good experiences” with FLCT. Samantha auditioned with the part of Talia in mind. Talia is a ‘perfect child’ who comes from a child making machine. Even though Samantha did not get the part she wanted, her experience in this show has been really good.

Her favorite scene, like mine, is Toys. She said “it was really fun and energetic.” Samantha’s message to kids who are new to FLCT is to try hard and not to be afraid to get on the stage.

I also interviewed Miss Karen Kang Hancock. Originally from Berkeley, CA, she is the costume designer at FLCT. When she was a little girl, Miss Karen’s mother sewed a lot of her clothes. As a

mother herself, she began to sew her son’s Halloween costumes and sewing became a hobby.

Miss Karen began her career with the Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theatre as a volunteering parent when her son got into one of the plays. Miss Karen explained that when she designs the costumes she talks to the director who has a ‘vision’ of how the cast will look. She tries her best to see that vision and, following the criteria the director has set, she comes up with a design for the costumes.

Costumes take from a day to two weeks depending on the costume.

For this show, the costume of a child takes about a day to finish, but the costumes of the main characters can take two whole weeks! Miss Karen is usually sewing all the way until the last week of rehearsals, a week called “Tech week.” She tries to be finished by then but there is a lot of sewing involved in a single play.

Miss Karen’s favorite FLCT performances have been Les Miserables, Peter Pan (she didn’t costume this one) and Seussical the Musical. Miss Karen has two greyhounds and her other passion is to help with greyhound adoption. Her favorite costumes thus far in My Son Pinocchio are those of the Ringleader and the three different Blue Fairy costumes. I asked Miss Karen what the audience should expect to see on-stage on this upcoming production. She told me that the audience should look for the fun in the costumes. They should not expect to see the costumes they see in the Disney movie. The costumes are not supposed to be exactly like the Disney ones; they can be similar to them but they will have their own original touch. Miss Karen said that kids who are new to FLCT in this performance should not expect the costumes to be exactly like the commercial version of the play.

They will represent the same time period and they will be very similar, but not the same.

I asked what the mood in Geppeto’s costume is supposed to be and she said it should be “a little bit whimsical.” She told me that Pinocchio’s costume was supposed to be different from the other children in town. He will dress a lot like a doll.

Go to www.flct.org for more information on the current season. My Son Pinocchio will be on stage from May 13 to 15 at the Dillard Center for the Arts in Fort Lauderdale. The show begins with the Blue Fairy singing When You Wish Upon A Star and introduces the audience to Geppetto the toymaker and his hometown of Fallagio. So don’t miss this version of a famous story!

Get tickets for My Son Pinocchio and come with me as the lights go out!

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5

GREAT CATCHES!

Clinch the Springtime with a book!

by Bilal Amodu, Age 13 Deerfield Beach, FL Hello my loyal readers and welcome to the next addition of Great Catches. The month of May can be described as the month of farewells. After all, this is the final full month of the lovely season of Spring and our school year is nearing its end.

Before we can give way to summer, I think that we should reflect on the experiences we have had this school year, and the captivating sights of nature that we have witnessed and enjoyed. While you read the magnificent novels I have to offer you, please try to reminisce on what we are leaving behind before leaping into Summer time fun.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Author: Eric Carle Age level: 1st grade and up Rating:

This enjoyable children’s story illustrates one of nature’s most beautiful transformations. From the time it hatches, a young caterpillar is quite voracious, unable to satisfy its hunger despite the many things it eats. However, its hunger is quelled when it goes onto the next stage of its life cycle to transform into a gorgeous creature.

Among the Impostors Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix Age level: 4th grade and up Rating:

Usually, when one starts a new school, one tends to be nervous, being unknown, unfamiliar and in a new situation. No matter how new the schooling environment can be, it probably is not as bad as Luke’s first days of school.

Luke Garner spent most of his life in hiding as an illegal child and now emerges from his hiding place to attend a boarding school.

However, this school has no windows, unqualified instructors and reserved students. Can Luke survive this unusual background and still conceal his identity?

The Up and Down Spring Author: Johanna Hurwitz Age level: 3rd grade and up Rating:

Though spring break ended eons ago, this novel may serve useful to refresh your joyous spring break memories. Rory and Derek are both eager to visit their friend Bolivia in her home in Ithaca, New York over the spring break. The boys experience quite a bit during this visit, from a helicopter ride, to a terrible illness, to a late night mystery involving an elusive alarm clock. All in all, these events lead up to a memorable spring break that not only appalls the reader as much as it provokes spring break related memories.

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6

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

MAY 2011

Our Planet Earth MAY FLOWER

by Hannah Jaffe, Age 12 Weston, FL

Is the Earth round, Or is the Earth square?

Well obviously it is a sphere, A sphere, do you hear?

It rotates around the burning sun in a calendar year, Tilted on an axis it appears.

Did You Know... … that Earth Day is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. Earth Day activities are coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network. In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day. For over 41 years, Earth Day has inspired and mobilized individuals and organizations worldwide to demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection and sustainability.

This Earth I speak of floats in space, It rotates in space with beautiful grace.

And indeed I do remember this place, The question remains- have we left a negative or positive trace?

Give this huge planet an embrace, Because Our Planet Earth is our home base.

But as Earth is supporting us, we too must do something back, We must protect our place, we must not attack We love our planet, and that is a fact!

Our Planet Earth is back!

by Shadya Amodu, Age 11 Deerfield Beach, FL

May is the month of flowers It all started with April showers Pretty ones, dreamy ones, delicate ones All dancing lazily under the sun Swaying in the cool breeze Along with the green trees Spreading their beautiful fragrance And also their pollen grains Singing and rustling and humming away In chorus with the colorful birds of May They bloom and blossom each and every day Bringing so much joy in their unique way Flowers are so gorgeous, and I must say Just like the wonderful month of May.

SALAMANDER

ANIMAL ABECEDARY

by Andrés McKeon, Age 9

by Sara Cross, Age 11 Boca Raton, FL

Coral Springs, FL

The small salamander Is not bigger than a ball.

It is so shiny You might not think it’s tiny.

It’s black dotted If you spotted it.

You’d know how it looks.

It shows you its feet You’ll know it has four toes.

You’ll find bright yellow eyes In its short spaced face.

Now if you find a salamander Don’t run to hide Just try to find its pride.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M

ARDVARK

ABOON

ANARY INGO

CHIDNA

LAMINGO RACKLE

UMPBACK WHALE

GAUNA AGUAR IWI

YNX

Northern Red Salamander. Illustration by Andrés McKeon.

Color Pencils on paper.

ANNATEE

N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

UDABRANCH

POSSUM LATAPUS UAGGA

ACCOON

ILVERBACK GORILLA RIGGER FISH AKARI MONKEY

ICUNA OMBAT

YSTICUS BEETLE

ELLOW JACKET EBU

MAY 2011

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

I Am There

by Joshua Thompson, Age 13

Bad Fall

Parkland, FL

by Sara Jaffe, Age 12 Weston, FL

You can’t see me, but I am there Swinging by without a care Moving trees with all my might Kissing flowers in the light, You can’t see me, but I am there Without a care I am the wind.

Last week, when I took a long trip I fell and did a cool back flip.

I sway with the wind.

I start off small, Watching the sun all day Taking in its beauty, Then when I am big I will have seeds.

I am a tree.

I hurt my rear really bad And that made me very mad.

Later, in my new pants, I found a rip!

Trip to Bedners

by Sarit Swift, Age 11 Boca Raton, FL

I went to Bedners not long ago I went strawberry picking as you know I picked tomatoes and peppers too And I wish I went with you We had strawberries at a Sabbath dinner

And all in all the strawberries were the Sabbath winner

Phil

Now it’s time to say goodbye Until next time, I’ll say Hi!

Weston, FL

Phil hits the wall But does not fall.

Phil lives in a dome.

That’s covered with foam!

by Sara Cross, Age 11 Boca Raton, FL

If you go to the circus and the clown says a bad pun, Remember the important thing is to always have fun!

If it’s your birthday, your mom makes a bad cinnamon bun, Eat it and say thanks, but remember to have fun!

If you want to go outside, but the rain blocks out the sun, Take out a jigsaw puzzle, and just let yourself have fun!

If you have a stuffy nose, you can’t get your poem done, Lay down your head and go to sleep and dream ‘bout having fun!

If you’re reading the Gazette, this one, the May edition, talk to Editor Gómez ‘bout writing for it. Have fun!

by Elizabeth Abrams, Age 6 Fort Lauderdale, FL

I can imagine the soul as a red bone I can imagine numbers as colors I can imagine letters as flowers sprouting I can imagine sky as the world waving in the wind

Phil washes the floor with a mop And when he steps on the bubble wrap, you hear a pop!

Phil has a book And loves to read it so I guess he is hooked.

And if the book tumbles You will hear the mountain tops rumble.

Phil is like a big ball of fun Who likes to sit out in the sun.

Phil acts like a child Who is very wild.

At one point Phil will break a joint.

But what is very strange about Phil Is that he likes to eat a lot of dill.

Poem About The Soul

by Abigail Abrams, Age 4 Fort Lauderdale, FL

7

Having Fun

I Can Imagine

by Sara Jaffe, Age 12

Over the stones he stepped and slashed What destructive things he does in a flash!

PAGE

Shells, tails, nails, mails, and loves, cows, bows I imagine the soul as a Dorothy that’s purple

PAGE

8

by Sara I. Cross, Age Boca Raton, FL In previous chapters...

In the last seven chapters, you have been following the adventures of Malana and Teresa, two 16 year old girls. They are very poor and living in a cottage alongside a lake.

The lake has a small water fall on a part of the lake that curves outward.

When the two teens find a pink pony, they sell it for money, and one of the dollar bills turns into a map.

Following the map, it leads them to the waterfall which then turns into a full size waterfall, the gateway into another world. Malana and Teresa keep the map close at hand, overcoming challenges, and meeting interesting guardians of the different realms within the world.

These guardians are Anatwa of the Waterfall, Botato of the Cliff, Celinina of the Forest, Devere of the Ice Mounts, and Elariyana of the Fire Pits. In their travels through the forest realm, Celinina gifted them a Great Jacamar Bird to accompany them on their quest. They do not know that following close behind them is a group of bullies that they know from school. The boys have found their way into the magical world and have ever since left a path of destruction in their wake.

In this final chapter you will find that Malana and Teresa now have to use wit, skills, and confidence to complete their mission. This is not a journey of curiosity anymore, but a battle for an unknown prize.

Now even Teresa was scared.

She and Malana had just entered the next chamber. It was a vast open space, with nothing in it besides a lot of miscellaneous objects hung on the wall. Malana was furious.

“I can’t believe we came all this way for nothing!” she screamed.

Just then a five foot tall rectangle rose up like a garage door into the rock walls. It revealed a young woman, dressed in a pajama shirt and pants, and a pompom hat, all with little tiny crystals on them. She had short white hair that shimmered purple. When she saw the girls, she gasped, and ran up the staircase. A minute later she was back, dressed in a long purple gown and her hair was wrapped up in a bun.

“I’m so sorry about my appearance. My name is Alowanita, one of the Guardians of the Great Treasure.”

“Ooh, this sounds exciting,” Teresa whispered into Malana’s ear.

“I’m, Teresa and this is Malana.

What is the Great Treasure, why are you guarding it, and why is there more than one guardian? We’ve met the others.” She wasn’t scared any more.

“Whoa, ease up on the questions!

I can’t tell you what the Great Treasure is yet. We are only guarding it because it is one of the most powerful things in the world, no really important reason. There are normally two elder guardians and five younger ones. The elder guardians live to be very old.”

“What realm did you used to live in?” Teresa asked.

“I used to be the guardian of the waterfall before Anatwa. Bitwix, my husband, was the guardian of the cliff and often visited me, for I did not usually leave my place at the gate of the realm.”

“Where is Bitwix anyway?”

“Probably sleeping,” she answered. “Bitwix,” she gently called her husband. He lumbered down the stairs and stood next to his wife.

He wore a golden suit with a purple tie, his white hair gently combed back. Looking at the couple together, the girls noticed that they looked

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

young, despite their age.“Bitwix,” Alowanita began, “I would like you to meet Malana and Teresa. They seek the Great Treasure.”

“Ah, it has been so long since we had visitors. Well come on, no reason to sit around doing nothing, is there?” Just then, Elariyana and Devere [two of the younger guardians and the girls’ friends from previous adventures] flew in on the backs of the frost deer.

“We are going home, whistle if you need us.” Anis, the deer said.

The two deer flew off into the sky.

“Bad news!” Devere said, for Elariyana was still out of breath after rescuing him. “Visitors are on their way! Not coming in peace.

Need to prepare!” Devere was still recovering from being frozen.

“Whoa there, what happened here? Explain.” Alowanita commanded.

“No time, they are already here.”

Elariyana gasped. Sure enough the two remaining traitors charged in. Arnold held Devere’s Ice Staff in one hand, ready to strike. The other boy was named Stanley and held Botato [another of the young guardians]’s ring on his finger, with his hand in a fist.

Arnold shot a spray of water out of the Ice staff, and was very disappointed when it didn’t freeze Malana.

Arnold tossed the staff aside in disgust.

Malana gasped. She was soaked! She grabbed a sword off the wall and prepared to defeat her enemy.

“Hey Malana,” he laughed, “What do you think you are doing with that thing, you probably do not even know how to use it.”

Arnold plucked another sword off the wall. “I will show you how it is done.” With that, he walked over to Malana, who got prepared to fight.

“Wait! Malana, let me take care of them.” Alowanita said, walking towards the teen.

“No, I can handle this.” She answered. Stanley grabbed a short pole off the wall and joined Arnold in the fight. Malana was nervous, but confident in what she could do.

She remembered something her mother had always told her: You can do anything if you try. Now she truly believed it. Then Arnold swung the sword at her. She ducked to the ground, dodging the blow.

She kicked him in the leg, stood up, and crashed her sword into his.

While Malana distracted the boys, Teresa took a plank and half-cylinder off the wall. She put the cylinder on the floor flat side down and laid the plank down on top of it.

She found a small rock and placed it on one side of the plank.

“Yoo-hoo! Stanley,” Teresa called. Stanley stopped fighting Malana and charged at Teresa, stepping on the side of the plank without the rock. The semi-cylinder worked as a fulcrum as the plank launched the rock right into Stanley’s forehead. He groaned and started to fist fight Teresa. She blocked his every move and gave a few punches in the stomach too. On the other side of the room, Malana deflected all of Arnold’s blows, but he also deflected all of hers.

“You’re pretty good,” Malana admitted. “You too,” Arnold said with a smirk, “for a girl.”

“Wow, I think that is probably the nicest thing you have ever said to me.”

The guardians stood watching from the corner of the room. They talked about what had been going on in their realms, but mostly they just watched. They wanted to help, but they realized that this was Malana and Teresa’s fight to be

MAY 2011

Malana fights Arnold. Art by Aaron Cross.

“The guardians stood watching from the corner of the room…They wanted to help, but they realized that this was Malana and Teresa’s fight to be fought.” fought.

“Hi-ya!” Teresa screamed. She flung herself over Stanley and kicked him in the back. Stanley bumped into Arnold, who then staggered towards Malana. She stepped back away from her opponent and they continued fighting. Teresa sighed. She had failed her attempt to end the battle and leave her and Malana victorious.

She would have to come up with a better plan. Meanwhile Stanley was coming toward her, and he was mad. She kicked her shoes off and started running towards her opponent. She quickly put her hands on his shoulders and catapulted herself off of him. She did a somersault in the air and grabbed onto a bar hanging from the wall. Below her, she saw Malana drop to the ground and swing out her leg, tripping Arnold.

Teresa jumped down and landed on him, causing a grunt of pain to be released. The two girls exchanged a high five, Teresa not daring to leave her place on top of the groaning and moaning body below her.

Malana went over to Stanley and started to fight with him, now glad that she decided to let Teresa talk her into taking Tae Kwon Do lessons. Her skills were really coming in handy. As she kicked him in the face, she grabbed onto his shoulders and slung him to the ground.

She landed on her back.

“I must work on those landings” she mumbled to herself, getting to her feet. She jumped on top of Stanley and punched him in the face. Elariyana, who had just landed, handed Malana a chain and she bounded her prisoner. She looked at Teresa. Devere, also now on the ground, was giving her a chain just like the one she used. Teresa chained Arnold and gave Malana a thumbs-up. The battle was over and Teresa and Malana were victorious.

“So when do we get to see this ‘Great Treasure’ you were talking about?” Teresa asked.

“First you have to pass this test, and then you have to prove that you are capable of doing a few things, and then–” Bitwix began.

“Bitwix! Did you see what these girls just did? They have definitely proved themselves worthy of the Great Treasure.” Alowanita exclaimed.

“You mean we get to keep it?!”

Teresa said in amazement.

“Of course,” Alowanita looked at her like she was speaking a whole new language. The guardian tilted a pole on the wall and the floor sank into a staircase leading downwards. She and Bitwix led the way down the staircase with Malana and Teresa following close behind her. Beneath the floor there was a room with purple walls with a golden border. The room was beautiful, but what was in it was even more breathtaking. In the middle of the room was a golden statue of a rose and in the middle of that was a gleaming clear crystal. The jewel glimmered in all the colors of the rainbow, and was a distinctive oval shape. Bitwix removed it from the rose and gave it to Teresa.

Alowanita pulled a string and an alarm sounded.

“What are you doing?” Malana asked her.

“I’m summoning the guardians,” Alowanita answered, ringing the bell another time.

“No one is coming” Elariyana sighed, “I wonder what the boys did to them.”

“We are six people; the crystal can take a group of two to find each guardian.” Bitwix stated.

“Elariyana and I shall go to Celinina’s realm” Devere said. His companion nodded in approval.

“Then we will go to Botato,” Alowanita said, flinging an arm around her husband.

“We will go to Anatwa’s realm, but how will we get there?” Teresa asked.

“The crystal will take us,” Alowanita answered her like it was a perfectly normal thing to do. Teresa handed her the gleaming crystal. She said a few words under her breath, and a stream of light shot out of the stone. It formed three circles, each one leading to a different place. The two girls stepped into their portal and found themselves back at the waterfall.

When they saw Anatwa, they rushed to her side and lifted her out of the water. They carried her back through the portal and laid her down on the floor of the room.

A second later Alowanita and Bitwix were back, laying Botato down next to her. Bitwix went and got air mattresses for the guardians.

As they were lowered onto the mattresses, Elariyana and Devere walked through their portal and

laid Celinina down on the mattress beside them. Alowanita took the crystal and aimed it at Anatwa.

“Hey! Can I try?” Teresa asked.

“Sure, it is your crystal now.”

Alowanita handed it to her.

“Heal Anatwa,” Teresa said, pointing the crystal at the unconscious guardian. “It did not work.”

“Maybe you have to use a spell.

Can I see that please?” Malana said to her friend. Teresa handed it over.

Malana thought for a minute.

“Magic Crystal,” she began, “gleaming in the light! Heal the guardians, and make them all right!” The Guardians were engulfed in a beam of light.

The guardians were healed and there were a lot of hugs, kisses, and thank yous. Devere went upstairs and got some water for them. The girls now had to go home. They said goodbye to the guardians and opened a portal. Devere stepped forward and awarded the girls two necklaces. Hanging from the chains were two charms shaped like butterflies.

“They will allow you to come back any time you please,” Devere explained to them. “Use them soon.”

“Shall do,” Malana said as she and Teresa walked through the portal.

The two girls found themselves back at the little waterfall outside the cottage. They opened the door and entered their home. Malana looked at the clock.

“Teresa!” she exclaimed, “It has only been fifteen minutes since we left!” Teresa was not surprised. It happened in movies all the time.

The next day the girls went back to school. The boys were in school, all ten of them. They did not mess with the girls anymore. They had learned their lesson. Eight of them remembered dying, and were in a very weird state. At the end of the day, Malana could not stop thinking about the other world. She grabbed her notebook and pencil.

“I have got to write a book about this...” she said.

MAY 2011

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

BUSHY TAIL

A story based on a math tale my mother told me

by Daniela Gómez, Age 11 Margate, FL Imagine if you knew someone who could be very helpful. This someone would be able to do things such as: running up a high wall to fix a leak in the ceiling or reaching down low to plug in a computer in a narrow space without having to twist uncomfortably. You might not find someone like that in many places, but I know one and I will tell you her story: Bushy Tail is a squirrel. A gray squirrel, actually, and she lives in Virginia in a squirrel town known as Crescent Farm. Bushy’s house is an oak tree right by a human peanut farm. Bushy Tail and the rest of her family loved the peanut farm and its inhabitants.

Bushy was friends with the oldest human daughter, Luna. Luna was twelve years old and tall. Her hair was two shades of auburn and her skin was fair. She had eyes as green as the stormy sea and freckles dotted her face like little ships riding across the top of her nose.

Bushy Tail could make any shape out of pretty much anything. She could use two pieces of dried mango in the shape of a squirrel tail. The first piece would be expertly balanced on the table and the other piece would rest on an angle resembling the curve in Bushy’s tail. There was no glue to attach the snacks or string to tie them together. Bushy used her math and physics knowledge to find just the right angles and balance of forces to create structures without anything to bond or hold them. Any piece of nut, fruit or even glass could become a masterpiece with the careful guidance of Bushy Tail’s nimble paws.

One day many moons ago (squirrel years), Bushy was counting nuts outside her house and an owl appeared in a tree right next to the squirrel. Bushy Tail was scared and alert because she didn’t know what a bird of that kind would be doing in broad daylight standing next to her unless she looked like lunch. “Bushy Tail”- the owl said. “I have seen that you have a problem. Your family needs to finish counting nuts and all the food before winter time, and I can help you do it faster.” Bushy Tail couldn’t understand the bird. “You can help me? How? What do you mean?” she said. “I am Mr. Owl and I will give you a symbol”. Mr. Owl grabbed the math symbol “PLUS” (+) and handed it to her. “This is the plus sign. It stands for addition. This is how it works: if you find a mango you know you have one, but then if you find five more mangoes, you add them to the one mango and you’ll have 6 mangoes.”

Like that Mr. Owl taught Bushy Tail to used math to count nuts, fruits and vegetables. After this meeting with Mr. Owl, Bushy and her family started a company called the Tail’s Collect Nuts where a lot of squirrels helped to gather and store food for the winter.

Bushy Tail clearly remembered the day that Mr. Owl had given her the first math symbol. When she had gotten very good at adding, Mr. Owl gave her the next symbol, “MINUS” (-) and when Bushy could easily subtract, Mr. Owl moved on. Nowadays, Bushy was ten moons old and working a lot with the “Divison” (÷) symbol. Besides math and physics, Bushy Tail enjoyed writing and reading as well. She was currently writing about a world completely different to hers. A world in which creatures had magical powers.

On a cool morning, Bushy sat on her swing up high in the tree, when her friend Sandy Ears came out of the forest and jumped and climbed up to the swing startling Bushy. “Oh! Sandy! It’s just you!” Bushy sighed. “You scared me.”

“Oh! Sorry Bushy, I just came to bring the weather news.” Sandy was the weather squirrel’s youngest daughter so she knew if it would be hot, cold, rainy or sunny before anyone else in Crescent Farm. Sandy let Bushy know early too; so Bushy and Sandy knew most of the weather forecast

before it actually came out. Bushy read through the whole page. It was on the front of the Printed Rain Weather News. On the back of the paper, in Sandy’s handwriting, there was a an article about storing food that she wanted to print in the Tails News Times, a newspaper that Bushy’s mom and dad (Momma Tail and Papa Tail) ran.

“It’s really good Sandy,” Bushy smiled and continued to read. A frown appeared on her face and she pointed at a particular paragraph. “I don’t really understand, from what you say here, how winter can affect squirrels.” She paused and then added “also, it needs a title.”

Bushy and Sandy were the best of friends and when they wrote stories each would edit the other one and then brainstorm ideas. This was something Bushy did with Momma Tail as well. When Bushy made her comment about Sandy’s story, her friend began thinking on ways to improve it and suddenly she exclaimed: “Bushy! I know what the title should be: STORING FOOD, SAFE FOR WINTER: FOR ALL SQUIRRELS.” Bushy smiled: “I like that Sandy!” her ears went up as she spoke. “I’ll show it to my mom.”

Bushy and Sandy sat on the swing writing and erasing until Bushy Tail said: “By the way, I’m writing a story about a squirrel named Felina. Could you help me edit it?”

Sandy agreed as she said goodbye. She had to go. Bushy was left alone in her high perch.

Swinging her legs off the swing she started out toward the hole in a large root that marked the entrance to her home. There was something on her mind that worried her. Pushing the flap of borrowed fabric (borrowed from the humans), Bushy sighed softly: “I don’t know what to do with the counting. Last Tuesday there were 247 acorns and now there are 215 acorns in the acorn bag.” Bushy didn’t know if it was a wrong count or if someone had actually stolen 32 acorns from her.

A vicious squirrel had already advanced in her plan to rob Bushy’s family and take over the power that the Tails held in their paws: the power of the counting company.

For squirrels to have a counting business was an honor. This squirrel’s name was Ilin and it was the name of the bad squirrel of Bushy’s story. This mean squirrel wanted the Tail family’s nuts. She knew that they were kept inside a cellar in the roots of the ancient tree that the Tails called home. She knew how to sneak into the cellar as well.

What Ilin didn’t know was that one of the many squirrel children of Mr. and Mrs. Tail was a total math whiz and that she could tell when there was a single hazelnut, apple or sun-dried mango slice missing.

The World of Stars is the world that Bushy had created in her latest story. She wove difficult patterns of conflict between an evil yet cowardly squirrel, Ilin Spyeye who had no age, and eleven-moon-old squirrel, Felina Nimblepaw. Felina was the heroine of her land, a world of infinite beauty on one side and infinite sadness on the other. Felina was a fast and clever squirrel. She was shy in crowds of over twenty squirrels if she wasn’t familiar with them.

She was very brave and daring when those squirrels were good friends, or archenemies! She needed to know the squirrels around her. Felina had a few good friends that were very encouraging, comforting or funny. Whenever a particular feeling was needed, it seemed to be there. Felina lived with her father, stepmother, Annah, and her step-siblings fifteen-moon-old Jeah, one of the best gymnasts on her team, and sevenmoon-old Milo, the fastest swimmer in town.

Ilin, the bad squirrel, had unfortunately found a way out of her world and into BushyTail’s…

Later in the evening, Bushy Tail was playing near swing with a walnut, trying to make a sculpture out of it when a voice chilled the already-below-freezing-point night air.

“Well, if it isn’t Bushy Violet Tail!” Bushy wrapped her acorn-brown cloak closer to her sweatshirt. She was unpleasantly sur-

prised. She never told anyone her middle name and except for Sandy’s family, and of course her own, no one knew it. There was something suspicious about someone calling her ‘Bushy Violet Tail.’ The voice was cold and upsetting. It was like the hiss of a cobra, with a threatening edge and a reptilian rattle all mixed into one.

A squirrel in a black hooded cloak walked up to the swing. The hooded squirrel was Ilin. She considered herself a good spy and excelled at finding out anyone’s ‘personal information.’ Bushy Tail scampered to the front door of her house and reached quickly for the doorknob. She was terrified. Before she could make it inside a cold hand slid onto her shoulder. Bushy turned and saw Ilin. The scared squirrel blinked. That could not be.

She recognized the face. Ilin was a fairytale character. When she opened her eyes, her imaginary character was still there. All the fear drained out of Bushy Tail and curiosity took its place. What was Ilin doing here?

How did she get out of the World of Stars?

Was she actually standing in front of her?

“Okay, let’s get to business!” Ilin said trying to wrap her own cloak around the younger squirrel. The evil squirrel took Bushy’s fluffy tail and smiled. Bushy yanked her tail out of reach noticing the acorns inside Ilin’s bag. She recognized the symbol that all of her nuts and fruits had.

There were three little squirrel tails carefully carved into the shell or peel. “You stole my 32 acorns!” Bushy threw her paw forward accusingly. She was very angry and not too surprised. Ilin was a thief and a cowardly squirrel. She lived best in a fearful environment. She needed to steal, rob and kill to be feared. Ilin did all those things with no other excuse. She needed everyone to be scared of her.

Ilin stepped back, awed by the bravery of such a young creature. No one had ever dared to accuse her. In her world, everyone feared her. Well, all except one. That small weakling Felina who thought she was better than Ilin. But this could not be happening in this new world. Ilin was starting to hate it. If Bushy Tail could not fear her, nothing was the same. She could not have the satisfaction of being absolutely evil.

There was no room for fear in Bushy Tail’s mind, she was certain there was only room for anger. Like all squirrels, she always had even the tiniest space for alertness. Somehow, Ilin had popped out of her fairytale world and into hers. Bushy knew that this was the bad character her story.

Ilin counted on Bushy Tail being scared of her. Her plan was to ‘brainwash’ Bushy to help her succeed in her stealing plans.

Ilin started promising Bushy rewards that she had no intention of fulfilling.

Bushy Tail was brave and strong; two out of the three traits that were necessary to defeat Ilin. The third one was knowledge, and Bushy had that too. Ilin knew a lot about the world she was from but Bushy Tail knew more. She knew every secret of the World of Stars because she was its creator. She knew the one word that could be the destruction of that bright and sunny place. She knew that there were two words that could banish all the good. But she also knew that there were three words that would defeat Ilin. Bushy Violet Tail was the only squirrel, or living thing to be more exact, that knew it.

Bushy stared at Ilin. It would be a pity to banish her or take her cunning away. Bushy remembered all her time in her room, biting the pencil and brainstorming all that Ilin would be able to do. All that time creating her character would go to waste. If Bushy Tail sent her back to the World of Stars, Ilin would damage and wreck even more out of anger and defeat. To leave Ilin out in the real world would destroy a balance. The feared yet fearful squirrel was one of the very few robbers and corrupt squirrels in the World of Stars. Many problems would also come to Bushy’s world if Ilin stayed.

“I don’t believe you know who I am darling.” The cold voice was back again and it had turned to honey when Ilin said ‘darling.’

Bushy Tail flinched at what she was being called. It sounded worse than the noises that the human machine called a “car” made. “I do, Ilin” the young squirrel kept her voice calm and patient. “I know about the World of Stars and of your archenemy Felina.” It was Ilin’s turn to flinch. She had not introduced herself and this fearless squirrel knew her name. She seemed to know everything about her rivalry with Felina. For the first time ever Ilin felt like her fear was showing.

Bushy Tail didn’t back off. She now knew what would save both worlds. She pointed at her rival and before Ilin could say anything,

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“Bushy Tail” illustrated by Daniela Gómez. Pencil on paper. she said in the same calm yet tense voice: “Remember not this darkened place.

Go home to all your joy and brightness And do your deeds with your same old grace” It was a spell that a gnome taught Felina on her quest to stop Ilin. The spell transferred a squirrel (or any other creature) to the place they called home without memory of the happenings in the place both creatures were at when the words were spoken.

Swirls of blue light carried each word in perfect calligraphy through the air and caught onto Ilin’s cloak, her face and her fur. In twenty-two seconds, there was no sign of Ilin ever escaping the firm grasp of a pencil and the scratch of it on paper.

Bushy sighed with relief. The spell could have gone wrong. She was glad that Ilin was in her own world now. She suddenly remembered the thirty two missing acorns and she looked around to see if Ilin might have dropped them. There was a shimmer of light coming from the swing. It travelled down and when it touched the ground it turned into a see-through polka dotted package containing acorns labeled with the three squirrel tails.

Bushy ran over a few small roots and carefully grabbed the acorns. She counted and found thirty two. She hugged herself trying to get warm and shakily walked back home with the acorns in her front paws.

It was hard to get to sleep. The happenings of that night would not get out of her head. Bushy Tail got up and walked outside. She met Luna, the human girl, who was looking around with a flashlight. “Hi Bushy!” Luna waved and her fluffy tailed friend scurried toward her. “I heard some noises outside and I came to see what was going on” Luna explained. Bushy smiled slightly and told her friend the extraordinary things that had happened to her that day. Bushy showed Luna the polka dotted package. Her friend stared open-mouthed and said “That’s unusual Bushy!” she said.

“You did really well. I’m glad that thief is gone” Luna paused and looked back at the peanut farm. “I wouldn’t like for her to steal your peanuts” Bushy said. Luna and Bushy parted ways. When Bushy was in bed again she shuddered and stood up. No use trying to go to sleep. Bushy lit a candle and searched for paper and her pencil.

It was late but there was one squirrel who was wide awake.

Epilogue Ilin could feel herself falling. Then thump! She hit the ground. Getting up Ilin looked around and realized that she was in her castle of darkness. “That’s odd” she said to herself in her cold blooded voice. “I wasn’t here twenty two seconds ago” But try as she might, Ilin could not remember where she had been instead. She shrugged and walked up the steps with her head held high to plan her next evil scheme.

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10

Fables THE BIRD THAT HID IN FEAR

by Daniela Gómez, Age 11 Margate, FL Once there was a bird that stole things because he was lazy. He took leaf-umbrellas, nest pieces and old, molted feathers, but the bird loved to steal food. He was a poor hunter and to get a ‘good’ meal he had to take it from another, better hunter.

About every other day, he had a ‘comfortable’ supper. At times he would not hunt or steal and stayed without food for at the most five days. He was happy and rich but he didn’t have a pantry simply stuffed with worms and lizards as he would have wished.

One stuffy afternoon that thinkers would use for brainstorming, the bird sneakily crept up to another nest. He saw a large and splendid feast of worms and cockroaches! He decided to take the food home but first he grabbed two fat slices of lizard ham, a cockroach patty and mouse cheese. He cut up a loaf of birdseed-bread and made a sandwich. He would not have to hunt for supper that night!

The nest and the supper that was stolen belonged to two young adult birds that were superb hunters and fast fliers. The two had prepared the festive banquet for their friends who were coming for dinner.

When the birds came back to their nest, they found that the food was gone! They searched for the thief until they found the lazy bird, cramming the last of his sandwich into his beak! He made a screech.

Pieces of bread, ham and cockroach burst out of his dirty brown beak and he took to the air. His pursuers gave up eventually but to be safe, the bird didn’t stop. He dropped his booty and took only a few, lightweight provisions so he could get farther away.

His pack had a few items to eat.

The bird never stole again and he never was rich again. He had to get by with what little he could catch. The bird was always running thinking others were still after him. He lived regretting that he had ever been so lazy, regretting that he had stolen.

He tried to run from such a memory but, unlike the two birds who didn’t chase him anymore, that memory haunted the bird for the rest of his life!

Never be lazy because you will not be successful later and never run from your problems because even if you are not punished for doing bad, your memory will always say to you: “You are GUILTY!”

Word Search

The Lion and the Lizard

by Emma Gómez, Age 7 Margate, FL Once upon a time there was a young, big Lion with black, long sharp claws. He lived in the African Savannah and he had a servant: a lizard. The lizard was brownish gray. He had a long tail, tiny claws and was a daydreamer. The lizard was in charge of sharpening the lion’s claws, but with a short attention span, he was not good at his job.

One day as the lizard was carelessly sharpening the lion’s claws, he thought of what he was going to get in return from the lion once he had polished his nails. Was he going to get paid? Or was he going to stay as a servant for the rest of his life?

The lizard was too busy thinking and swung one of his front legs in front of the lion’s claws and scraped himself badly.

He stopped working after that and the lion fired him from his job.

From that day on the lizard never did anything carelessly again.

BE CAREFUL OR YOU MAY LOSE EVERYTHING

MAY 2011

Lions vs. Gorillas vs.

Rhinos and a …Mouse

by Brandon Dasent, Age 10 Lauderhill, FL Once there was a lion who ruled the African jungle. None of the animals liked his decisions. The notorious gorilla wanted to overrule the lion. The lion, wanted to stay forever. The lion planned for his son to take over when he died. Nobody really liked that idea so a rhino decided he was going to do something.

The rhino and the gorilla decided to invade the lion’s kingdom. But they forgot he was not the only lion there. They gathered their families and attacked. The lion was furious! A mouse named Brandon did not like the war. He tried to stop it by getting in the middle of the war. When the animals saw the mouse, they decided to ram into the mouse for getting in the way.

Then there was a huge crash! Amazingly no one was hurt…except for the mouse.

The mouse died that day. The other animals felt badly for what happened to the mouse because of their actions. They decided to make a deal that every animal tribe would have their own leader. All mice were given the honorary title of Senator over the jungle because of the brave actions of Brandon, the mouse.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE Part V

by Ari Swift, Age 13 Boca Raton, FL

Word Search

“I was lifting a 250 pound weight.

After about three lifts my muscles were screaming. I put down the weight, closed my eyes and could hear the wind blowing through the bushes and taunting me. I sat there and imagined a twister lifting the weight. Suddenly everything was quiet, too quiet. I opened my eyes and saw it: There WAS a twister around me, lifting up the weight,” said Quat as he, Lark and Barky sat at lunch. “I wonder if your power extends to other areas,” said Lark.

“I don’t know,” said Quat. “See if you can burn this,” said Lark picking up a blade of grass. Quat took the blade, closed his eyes and after a couple of seconds the blade burst into flame. “Hmmm, how about this?” asked Lark picking up a piece of damp wood. Quat took it and closed his eyes and the wood started to smolder. Suddenly, as if they were dropped into a bucket of cold water, they felt the temperature drop. “Quat stop! Whatever you’re doing I think it’s draining all heat,” said Lark, shivering.

Quat stopped and the temperature instantly rose back to normal. “I think you take heat out of your surroundings and put it into the object of your intention,” said Lark.

“I wonder if I also have some type of power,” said Barky picking up a piece of wood. Barky closed his eyes. Instead of burning, the wood just vanished. “Barky, what did you just do?” asked Lark. “I don’t know. I imagined the wood bursting into flame. When nothing happened I thought, maybe I can suck the heat up out of it and hence, this,” said Barky. “Well, where could it have gone?” said Lark. “I can feel it in me, at my finger tips, almost as if when I push a little more it will come out,” said Barky. Wooden tentacles instantly popped out of his fingers, started to intertwine in mid-air and the piece of wood fell to the ground. “I think your power is that you can absorb and release matter on demand,” said Lark.

“Lark I wonder what your power is,” said Barky. Lark closed his eyes, picked up a rock and tried to absorb it: nothing. Then he tried to heat it up: nothing. He was about to try something else when he heard someone else’s thoughts.

“I wonder what his power is,” thought Quat. “How did I know it was Quat,” thought Lark. Then it hit him. He was a telepath.

MAY 2011

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

My Imaginary Journey to Uranus

by Amirah Rashed, Age 12* Coral Springs, FL One day I dreamed that I was on the Voyager 2. First, I passed on the moon, then Venus, Jupiter, and finally I landed on Uranus. When I first landed on Uranus I saw that it was a blue green color because the methane covering Uranus looks blue green in the sunlight. I studied Uranus and found out that it is a gas giant just like Saturn, Jupiter and Neptune. I also discovered that Uranus is tilted on its

side and is spinning on its axis. I counted that Uranus had nine rings altogether**. I started walking on Uranus and I noticed a huge crater. It was so chilly on Uranus that I almost turned into an ice cube. The average temperature of Uranus’ atmosphere is -350 degrees Fahrenheit. I discovered that Uranus has twenty-seven moons in total.

At the end of my dream, when I woke up, I became sad to see myself on Earth. *The author wrote this story at the age of 8 **Total number of known Uranian rings is 13.

Did You Know... … that the Voyager 2 probe was launched 33 years, 8 months and a few days ago?

On August 20, 1977, Voyager 2 was sent out in it mission by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a Titan IIIE/ Centaur launch vehicle.

The closest approach to Uranus occurred on January 24, 1986, when Voyager 2 came within 81,500 kilometers (50,600 miles) of the planet’s cloud tops. Voyager 2 also discovered the moons Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, Perdita and Puck; studied the planet’s unique atmosphere, caused by its axial tilt of 97.8°; and examined the Uranian ring system.

Did You Know...

… that Voyager 2 is not the only probe exploring the outer solar system? There have been three other spacecrafts operating far away missions since the 1970s: Voyager 1, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11. Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 have not been transmitting data since the late 1990s. Voyager 1 is transmitting data regularly and is expected to continue to do so until at least 2020. Voyager 2 is currently transmitting scientific data at about 160 bits per second. Information about continuing telemetry exchanges with Voyager 2 is available from Voyager Weekly Reports. Information on the current location of Voyager 2 can be found at HeavensAbove (www.heavens-above.com). The pressed plutonium oxide power source will allow operations to continue until at least 2025. As of March 28, of this year, Voyager 2 was traveling at 15.464 km/s and on April 23 the probe was at 13.747 billion km from the Sun. A new outer space probe, New Horizons, was launched on January 19, 2006. New Horizons flew by Jupiter on February 28, 2007 and reached the orbit of Uranus on March 18, of the present year. It is projected to reach Pluto on July 14, 2015, after which it will continue farther into the Kuiper belt.

Did You Know... … that Uranus is the third largest (Neptune has a larger mass, but a smaller volume) planet in the Solar System? It orbits the Sun at a distance of about 2.8 billion kilometers (1.7 billion miles), and it completes one orbit every 84 years. The length of a day on Uranus as measured by Voyager 2 is 17 hours, 14 minutes.

Uranus is unique among the planets in that its axial tilt is about 90°, meaning that its axis is roughly parallel, not perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic. This extremely large tilt of its axis is thought to be the result of a collision between Uranus and another planet-sized body early in the history of the Solar System. Given the unusual orientation of its axis, with the polar regions of Uranus exposed for periods of many years to either continuous sunlight or darkness, planetary scientists are not at all sure of what to expect when observing Uranus.

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A Letter from Abraham Lincoln A fiction work

by Aaron Cross, Age 13 Boca Raton, FL Dear Adam, I know you have heard awful things being said about me. I know there are a lot of people who want me dead. I want you to know, in case I do not make it, that what you hear is untrue. I hate the idea of people being treated as animals, and am willing to do anything in my power to extinguish it.

I have tried abolishing slavery the peaceful way, but the South refuses to obey my wishes. A lot of people think it is not my business dealing with other peoples’ ways, but there are also people who admire me, and I predict that they will do so long after I am dead. After the South attacked Fort Sumter, I decided to make war. I didn’t want to but it seemed to be the only option.

I hope you think good of me. Everybody likes a compliment.

The war is still going on, and I am starting to get anxious. Ulysses S. Grant has led the army through many victories, but equally as many defeats. If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance. I am constantly trying to come up with new ideas that will help to win the war, but I think I am out of them. The railroads are a much faster way to transport weaponry and supplies across the country, but I fear they might not be fast enough. The telegraph gives me the ability

Abraham Lincoln by Scottish photographer Alexander Gardner. to send commands to my army in just a few seconds, but what is that really worth?

Hundreds of people die in every battle, and many more die from disease. Doctors and nurses like Clara Barton try their best to help the wounded, but most die anyways.

I feel like I age by the minute. Every one desires to live long, but no one would be old. Living in this small room most of the time should be taking a toll on me, but I never get claustrophobic. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.

Sincerely, Uncle Abe

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

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MAY 2011

Did You Know... continued from page 1

by Ismail Ercan, Age 14 the area.” He added: “On those we should improve some of the safety features of the plants.”

Dr. Tuncel also commented on the overall quality of our nuclear plants and said that they should be productive an extra twenty or thirty years, if they don’t get hit by unfortunate natural disasters.

Dr. Tuncel also believes that several of the reactors at the Fukushima plant will still be operational after everything is sorted out in Japan. Reactors 3 and 4 are beyond repair while reactor 2 is still questionable. “They are already pouring cement into reactor 3. It was severely damaged. I do hope that they can fix the plant quickly because many people in the area depend on it for electricity.” Dr. Tuncel said.

Another major issue that the news channels were broadcasting was how the high levels of radiation would affect everyone around the globe. For example, there have already been levels of radiation found in spinach in Japan. Along the Pacific coast in the

U.S. high radiation levels were found in milk and fish. However, Dr. Tuncel believes that although these levels of radiation have been confirmed, it is in very small amounts that are not extremely harmful and that the news media is over exaggerating the problem.

Immediately after the Fukushima plant started to malfunction, the Japanese evacuated citizens living close to the plant in a twelve mile radius. The United States recommends evacuating civilians that live up to fifty miles from the plant. I personally thought that the Japanese government should have evacuated their citizens from further areas and I asked Dr. Tuncel for his opinion.

“They (the Japanese) should have at least evacuated their civilians within a fifty miles radius, just to play it safe. They could let them return to their homes after some time of monitoring the radiation levels in the area.”

I asked Dr. Tuncel’s opinion with regard to the main lesson to be learned from the nuclear power plant incident in Japan. He answered saying that he thinks, “everyone, especially in this country,

Did You Know... … that the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant also known as Fukushima Dai-ichi is a recently disabled nuclear power plant located in the towns of Okuma and Futaba in Japan. First commissioned in 1971, the plant consists of six boiling water reactors (BWR). When operating, Fukushima I was one of the 15 largest nuclear power stations in the world.

The plant suffered major damage from the 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan on 11 March 2011 and is not expected to reopen.

The earthquake and tsunami disabled the reactor cooling systems, leading to nuclear radiation leaks and triggering a 30 km evacuation zone surrounding the plant.

should review all the plant’s safety procedures, check how old the plant is and check if it has it been upgraded over the years.

And if it is very old, then they should upgrade it, or completely tear it down and build a new one in its place. In Fukushima, if the plant had been upgraded, maybe it would have suffered less damage.”

Countries such as France, which produces 85% of its electricity from nuclear energy, have taken the initiative in experimenting with nuclear energy and improving it, while the U.S. has taken a few steps back the past few years from using nuclear energy.

There is much controversy about whether nuclear energy should be used, especially after the Fukushima accident. I asked Dr. Tuncel whether or not the U.S. should be increasing its dependency on nuclear energy.

“It should be used more. Just because there have been a few accidents such as Fukushima, which was due to natural causes, doesn’t mean we should stop using it.

Under normal circumstances, nuclear energy is very good and reliable, and over the years, technology has been developed and improved considerably. So there should be more and more nuclear energy used, especially in this country in which the oil prices keep going up. There needs to be more use of nuclear energy. There is no other energy producer that generates the same quantity of energy that nuclear does at the same price. One nuclear plant produces up to 500 megawatts of electricity, enough to power up to 400,000 homes. So yes, in my opinion nuclear energy should be used more.”

Uranium has become one of the most precious elements in the last seventy years with the build-

that…Dr. Özcan Tuncel is the author of the book: When I First came to this Country: Another Immigrant Story? Özcan Tuncel, Ph.D. After forty years of an engineering career at General Electric Company’s Power Generation and Jet Engines Businesses, Dr. Özcan Tuncel now lives in Lynnfield, Massachusetts and Pompano Beach, Florida with his wife of 41 years, Ilkay.

His life spans from impoverished beginnings in Izmir, Turkey, to America as a student and later a successful educator, engineer and manager. While he has achieved significant professional success throughout his career, he never forgot his roots. By combining the cultures of his native land and his adopted country, he contributed to both while raising a wonderful family. Source: www.Xlibris.com

ing of the first atomic bomb and then the first nuclear power plant.

Although it is believed to be a very rare substance, it is actually one hundred times more common than silver. I asked Dr. Tuncel if there was enough Uranium on Earth to last for its growing demands and for the years to come.

“Yes, there is enough. There are many places on Earth that you can find the basic material. However, the enrichment of rods to be used in a nuclear power plant is expensive. What really annoys me about the U.S. nuclear plants policy is the way uranium rods are used. There is still a certain amount of life left in the uranium rods and we don’t do anything with it. The French government, that uses nuclear energy a lot more than we do, re-enriches the rods. We just throw them away to add to the toxic waste. Even though there is enough uranium in the world, we should still be using its complete value.”

After all this, I was still left wondering whether nuclear energy was the next major energy source for the world so I asked Dr. Tuncel directly. He answered: “No. I think natural gas is the

next major energy producer after oil runs out. There is more natural gas than oil and electricity can be generated with gas turbines. We can use natural gas to power automobiles and for electricity.” Thus concluded my interview with Dr. Özcan Tuncel.

As for nuclear energy, everyone has different opinions on whether or not it should be used and expanded more in the years to come. Personally, I think that it is a good energy source as long as we can keep it safe and manageable. When oil does run out, natural gas will be the main energy source of the world. As for now, we should continue trying to expand nuclear energy for the years to come.

Acknowledgments I would like to thank my dad for managing to get in contact with Dr. Tuncel. Without him, I would have no interview and no answers. Also I would like to thank Dr. Tuncel for allowing me to interview him on the phone and provide answers to my curiosity.

Saturday, May 21 at 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 22 at 2 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.

Olympic Heights Performing Arts Center 20101 Lyons Rd. Boca Raton, FL 33434

To purchase tickets call 1-877-725-8849

MAY 2011

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

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“Violette” the Purple Fairy

by Daniela Gómez, Age 11 Margate, FL

Name: Violette Age: 64 Color: Purple Size: 2 ¾ Hobbies: Anything that is related to art Least Favorite Thing To Do: Anything boring Favorite Bird: Purple-breast Hummingbird Favorite Insect: Bog Copper Butterfly Animal Friends: Pillar (butterfly), Sapphire (hummingbird) and Aladdin (hummingbird) Favorite Season: Spring Home: Field of Flight, a meadow close to Pixie Place, a fairy town Favorite Flower: Hibiscus Favorite Accessory: Her pine-needle pin Violette the fairy loves to sketch, write and talk about her garden as much as she loves tending to it. Her hibiscus bushes are her favorite in the whole garden and she is constantly checking that they are comfortable. This story is narrated by her red hibiscus bush. It explains her love for animals and plants… ~Sunny, the Gold Fairy I sighed happily as firm, light and careful fingers let me slide into the soft, fluffy soil. The only problem was that the soil was hot and dry. It had no nutrients and my leaves crumpled with disappointment. A finger tugged gently on a dry, yellow leaf.

The stem groaned and gave the leaf up. The small, delicate face of Violette smiled at me. Her indigo bangs slid down her forehead and touched her light purple eyelashes. “You are the thirstiest plant I’ve ever grown” she said decidedly and flew away.

Violette amuses me. She either looks nice, horrible or funny. Her laugh is better than any spring shower. Her frown makes fairies and flowers worry. Violette has indigo hair and long bangs that hover above her eyes. Her skin is tinted in a very light violet color. She wears clothes that come from the petals of the flowers in the garden, including mine. Violette takes the petals when the flowers are wilting but not yet wrinkled and spoiled. She sews them together and makes colorful dresses, skirts and shirts. She sprinkles Pixie Dust on the petals to preserve them. She draws

and paints my blossoms, leaves and seeds.

Sometimes she carefully grabs a flower and brings the big Gardening Golden book that she wrote about us plants and presses flowers between its pages. When the red, pink or white petals are pressed, Violette comes outside and shows me.

Yesterday, one of my most watchful leaves looked up and saw Violette dragging a muddy hose through the garden.

She dropped the long green water-sprayer and grabbed a handful of shiny gold and silver Pixie Dust. She spread the magic powder on the hose and lifted it as if she was lifting a hummingbird feather. Water sprinkled on me and after I got showered and my soil was no longer fluffy and light, but a rich and moist chocolate brown that felt heavier on my roots, Violette sat in the shade of the old weeping willow and wrote on pieces of pressed-oak-leaf-paper.

She called them her “sketch-and-write pad.” She grabbed a hibiscus-pink colored pencil and sketched a bit. Then she bit her lip, the sign that she was deep in thought and best not disturbed.

Suddenly, Violette jumped and dropped her pencils and her sketch-and-write pad.

She flew into the air and caught a baby Purple-breast hummingbird. A screech broke through the quiet air and my scoutleaves all looked up. A Peregrine Falcon was soaring above Greenhouse Parlour, Violette’s ice cream and snack area. The falcon was flying higher and faster than Violette ever had, according to my very best memory-leaves.

Violette flew down with the baby bird and ducked under the shade of the willow tree. “Don’t you have a family?” Violette asked the shivering infant bird. In bird sign language, the hummingbird replied, “No, my momma was killed by a human when she was watching my siblings and me. We were still in our eggs and my daddy had to watch us until we hatched. When we came out of our eggshells daddy got sick.”

The babe heaved his tiny violet breast and then continued: “He went looking for our food, nectar and honey. He got a cough, I don’t remember much.” Violette touched the shiny beak and asked “where are your siblings?” The question seemed to hurt

Violette by Daniela Gómez. Color pencil on paper. the hummingbird. “In a human cage” he signed, and hugged closer to the fairy for protection. Violette promised to see that the baby bird’s family got safely out of human reach and named the little one she had saved “Aladdin.”

I watched the fading sun. It was a fiery hibiscus that was gently placed between the indigo pages of night and that will come out in the morning to bring light and happiness to the world. I folded my own leaves and flowers shut and my scoutleaves closed their tiny eyes. Fireflies danced and rejoiced in the moonlight and I silently celebrated that I had been planted in good, fertile soil and had a caring gardener that had not gotten killed or sick or

crammed in a cage. I smiled into the peace and dark purple of the night.

Special thanks to Violette’s hibiscus bush for sharing a most inspiring story.

Also thanks to Wasp, Violette and her other pets, Pillar the butterfly and Sapphire the hummingbird for helping translate the “hummingbird sign language” for this story. The introduction of Violette and her garden is by Sunny, the Gold Fairy, as is noted above. She sent her work from far away. The picture accompanying this story is courtesy of Violette and Aladdin, the hummingbird. Thanks to all the fairies, birds and flowers involved in making the story possible. ~Daniela Gómez

1st Anniversary of an Environmental Disaster continued from page 1

by Daniela Gómez, Age 11 spill badly affected sea turtles, whales and dolphins. The oily coat on the Gulf of Mexico makes it difficult for such animals to breathe. Brown Pelicans that had been recently taken out of the endangered species list have been hit heavily as well. Many sea birds got themselves either stuck or completely covered in oil, hurting their feathers and their overall health. Many nature centers are helping “clean” the oil from hundreds of affected birds. The Calusa Nature Center in Fort Meyers, FL is offering care and a home to many permanently disabled birds from the Gulf.

Rebecca Kessler and other National Geographic contributors report the following species were drastically affected: brown pelicans, bottlenose dolphin, oysters, insects and spiders, 5 species of already endangered sea turtles, undersea invertebrates, Wilson’s plover, pancake batfish, and Atlantic blue fin tuna. The Florida manatee and the deep-sea coral were affected but not as much. However, the long term effect on these two species is still unknown.

Scientists have confirmed that large amounts of oil can be found under the surface as well, again becoming a barrier

between the animal and survival, this time diminishing food sources instead of access to air. The oil spill interrupted the reproductive cycle of many species of fish. This in turn affects the food supply of pelicans and other sea birds.

There is not one ‘superior’ way to clean up spills. Many methods combined are used to get rid of or break down the oil.

There is a lot of waste generated from these processes. That is a situation that BP, local governments, and organizations still face today in the Gulf of Mexico and along the coasts of the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The difficulties of the clean up process add to problems caused by an oil spill.

After the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the U.S. Congress passed the Ocean Pollution Act (OPA) and since then many more regulations have been developed and are being created today to prevent oil spills and to ensure that responsible parties pay for the clean-up and damage to people and wildlife. These laws require oil industries to pay for each ton of oil spilled, to have emergency response plans, to use double hull tankers for transportation, to have a spill fund, and to navigate their tankers only through areas approved by the Coast Guard.

Through laws and money, the govern-

ment is trying to help prevent oil disasters and to clean up the current one. They are not the only ones contributing. Everyday people are also helping ensure that this spill gets cleaned, some in very odd ways.

Some hair salons donate the hair they clip to make ‘booms’ that act like fences and keep the oil from spreading and harming other ecosystems. They stuff the hair into old nylon stockings and send them to Matter of Trust, a renewable resources and eco-enthusiast non-profit organization in California. Their natural fiber oil spill booms have been used to contain and collect oil in the Gulf. Thousands of people all over the country are volunteering their time to help the clean-up efforts.

What can be done to prevent future oil spills? The top oil user in the world is the USA, consuming 17 million barrels of oil per day (source www.offshore-environment.com). Oil use can be reduced by bike riding to the nearby grocery store or park instead of riding the car; by reducing the amount of electricity used (turning off computers, TVs and lights when not in use); by not using as many plastic toys, plastic bags; and by using more environmentally friendly and natural detergents, cleaners, dyes, and makeup. For a list of all products that come from oil visit www. endoil.org.

There are many things that can be done to help the animals and plants affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. There are many ways to help that start right at home.

Eleven-year-old Olivia Bouler, from New York heard of the oil spill and its effect on birds and decided to take action. She wrote to the National Audubon Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to bird conservation. Olivia included a drawing of a cardinal. The organization loved the drawing and suggested that she should draw birds in return for a donation. Olivia wants to be an ornithologist and agreed to that plan. She drew for many people, receiving donations ranging from ten dollars to $150! People asked for specific species and got an original piece of lovely artwork.

AOL offered to give $25,000 to put a drawing of a bird on its homepage. CNN, BBC and the Huffington Post reported on how fifth-grader Olivia Bouler raised money to save the birds dying in the Gulf of Mexico.

Olivia has raised more than $200,000 for the National Audubon Society. She is truly committed to saving the birds.

Every day should be considered Earth Day. Nature has a delicate balance. When tilted one way, taking one of the organisms out, or the other, adding invasive species, the equilibrium topples and falls. It is not an easy fall, nor a short one.

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

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MAY 2011

Super Pup Goes to the Doctor

by Shadya Amodu, Age 11 Deerfield Beach, FL Super Pup flew around the corner of the forest. He was running from Tolerance, the butterfly. Tolerance was scary and all, but she had pushed it too far this time. She wanted Super Pup to go to the doctor. There was nothing Super Pup hated more than getting a check-up. He had been running or flying away ever since Tolerance told Super Pup he had to go see a doctor.

“Tolerance will never find me!”

Super Pup cheered. Suddenly something lifted him up in the air.

It had a strong force on him and he couldn’t break free from it.

“Help! Help!” cried Super Pup. “Why am I the brave super hero crying for help? Am I as brave and awesome as I seem?”

Super Pup thought. He struggled again but it was no use.

“Can’t run away this time doggy!” a familiar voice cried.

Tolerance, Super Pup’s trainer had finally caught him.

“No! Please don’t make me!

This is torture! Nothing ever good happens in a doctor’s office!

Please don’t!” Super Pup cried at the very thought of the stethoscope and the uncomfortable chairs and the spooky fish tank in the waiting room. Super Pup trembled. His lips were quivering with nervousness. The only good thing would be the huge lollipop the nurse gives at the end; it was usually a surprising flavor, like cooked turkey or strawberry doughnuts. His favorite was the key lime pie flavor. Yum! “Tolerance, how do they get lollipops to taste like key lime pie?” Super Pup asked.

Tolerance was silent for a moment. “I have no idea but I do know you aren’t going to escape!” Tolerance cried as she grasped Super Pup even tighter.

Just then a green and white truck came into view. Inside was a middle aged man with fading brown hair, also known as Tom, Super Pup’s owner and best friend.

“Sorry about this Leroy, I mean Super Pup, but you HAVE TO go to the doctor.” Tom explained.

“Yup,” Tolerance added, “It is not like the doctor is a super villain or something.”

To be continued…

Fairytale Gossip

by Shadya Amodu, Age 11 Deerfield Beach, FL

We all know the loving heartwarming tale of Beauty and the Beast. It is a big fat lie. Beauty is the actual beast and Beast isn’t that bad, just a little hot tempered.

Beauty though, is not all roses and daisies. They own a French restaurant together, and even though the

food is good, the service is terrible.

In fact, the couple isn’t a perfect pair. They are alright but definitely not perfect. They take monthly visits to Divorce Court with Judge Goose. Are they together or apart?

It might even be both since they constantly fight. Their poor neighbor Rip Van Winkle has a hard time sleeping at night because of the incessant yelling. They have

“Super Pup had been running or flying away ever since Tolerance told him he had to go see a doctor” Super Pup is exclusively illustrated by Matias Sosa Wheelock, Age 13. Saint Paul, MN.

been fined many times, but somehow they manage to keep up financially. They appear to be rich since Beast is the President of the island.

Though they act like a royal pain, they aren’t really royalty. Next time you hear the story of Beauty and the Beast put the pieces together and find the real story of this ‘not-so-perfect’ couple. Look out for the next one! Some surprising things about Goldilocks and the Three Bears!

Killer Whale

by Leilani I. Thuraisingham, Age 7 Margate, FL

Once upon a time in 1809 there was killer whale named Henry. He was so excited about school that he ate the book and some students, but he burped

them out. The next day, Henry the killer whale ate his teacher, and when it was time to leave and Henry’s mother asked “how was my Henry today?” he answered: “Good!”

“Henry” an illustration by the author. Pencils on paper.

Living in Albuquerque

by Abigail Slentz, Age 9 Albuquerque, NM I’m living in Albuquerque, New Mexico now.

It’s very dry here. We have lots of hot air balloons that float past our house many days of the week. I’ve gone to the Rattlesnake Museum, the Bandera Volcano and the Ice Caves, to the Petroglyphs, and a lot of other places.

I’m going to start by talking about the trip to the rattlesnake museum, and I have some fun facts for you. I went to the rattlesnake museum and there were a ton of snakes. They also had a scorpion, and that was very freaky! We watched a movie about reptiles (Life in Cold Blood, available at the library), and it was very cool. I love snakes. There were also box turtles. In the gift shop they had stuffed snakes as tall as me!

They had little rubber snakes and snakes you could grow.

There were gummy snakes and much more. It’s time for the fun facts now. Did you know snakes don’t have any eyelids? Did you know that snakes have between 150 and 450 ribs?

Now about my trip to the Bandera Volcano and the Ice Caves:

Did you know that the ice caves are cold in the middle of summer? There is ice there year round. The ice is 20 feet thick and has been there for 3400 years. The Bandera Volcano is 1200 feet across and 800 feet deep. The rocks at the volcano are very sharp, and my sister got cut on one when she fell.

The petroglyphs have lots of stone carvings, and in some places there are some you can touch. You can climb a huge hill, and at the top they have old sheep pens made of rocks. We saw a striped antelope squirrel. Prairie dogs also live in that area. There were warnings for diamondback rattlesnakes.

There is a ton of sand in Albuquerque. It’s like living in a giant sandbox. And there’s almost no grass. There are wild rattlesnakes and scorpions here.

Life in Albuquerque is very different from life in Ohio, Florida, and Texas. There are no oceans anywhere near where we live. I miss the ocean, but I love it here.

To learn more about the Rattlesnake Museum, the Ice Caves and the Petroglyphs, visit the following websites: www. rattlesnakes.com, http://www. icecaves.com and http://www. nps.gov/petr/

Abigail Slentz in Albuquerque. Photo courtesy of G. Slentz.

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

MAY 2011

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15

Tom, Dick & Harry

by Shadya Amodu, Age 11 Deerfield Beach, FL It was a breezy Saturday morning, the wind blowing through the windows and the whistle of the wind blowing loud…well at least in Tom’s ears. Tom was sleeping when he woke up because of the howling wind. It was 5:08 am and everyone was fast asleep. His parents were sleeping right across the hall. His brother Dick was enjoying his beauty sleep, cuddling a mirror, and Harry, his other brother, was snoring away while clutching his own foot. Tom was the only one awake on the whole island. He could hear the snoring from all around. Fairy tale characters really cherish their sleep.

Harry twitched in his sleep for a moment but kept sleeping. Tom walked over to the closet and put on his coat. He had decided to go out for a walk.

Outside he met Robin Reilly Hood. She was Tom’s friend who lived next to Tom’s next door neighbor, The Little Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe (a.k.a.

T.L.O.L.W.L.I.A.S.). Robin was the only person who seemed hu-

man other than his family. Robin lived with an old woman and their pet wolfish dog. Sometimes a man came out of the house but Tom wasn’t sure if it was Robin’s dad or grandpa.

“What’re you doing up so late?

I thought you were Mr. GoodieTwo Shoes?” She questioned with a smirk.

Tom smiled “How about you, ‘Miss Better than anyone else?’”

Just then a wolf’s howl was heard in the distance. Robin jumped into Tom’s arms out of terror. A wolf rushed out of the bushes and after a searching look at the two of them, it disappeared.

Robin was embarrassed to be on Tom’s arms… and so was Tom. He lost no time in getting her away from him. Just then, the man who sometimes came out of Robin’s house, walked towards them. He grabbed Robin and threw her on his shoulder roughly and speedily walked away. Tom heard a bit of shouting, followed by the slamming of the door.

What was that about? Who is he? Was Robin okay? Tom wondered and hurried back to his house before the man came back and pounced on him. When he

went to his room, Dick was already up, kissing the dresser mirror. “Uh what are you doing here?

I thought you were with Robin.”

Dick stammered. Tom sighed.

Dick loved himself but didn’t want to show it too much. Everyone knew of course, but Dick didn’t know that.

“A creepy man took Robin back to her house. I don’t know him though. I might regret this but, Dick can you do some snooping?” Tom replied.

Dick flashed Tom a mischievous smirk. Tom sighed. He’d never thought it would come down to this. “Your wish is my command. I think I know who

you are talking about. Strange guy, sometimes very hairy and sometimes bald. Always stays with Robin and her grandma, never goes near the wolf looking dog. Very cranky, sometimes he sounds British.”

Dick was a good for nothing self centered fool whose mouth was much bigger than his brain.

Tom had certainly made a huge mistake. Telling Dick to snoop was like telling someone to set you on fire; nothing good ever comes from it. Just then Harry awoke. It startled Dick and Tom, since Harry, the youngest of the brothers, was definitely not a morning person.

“Hey, what time is it?” Harry asked. Dick’s gaped mouth turned into a mischievous smile.

“Why! it is just time for a big cherry pie. Go outside to Miss Rose’s house right now and you will find a nice cherry pie.” Dick retorted. Harry immediately jumped up out of bed and ran out the door. Dick ran to the window and chuckled. Harry didn’t even look back but just kept running.

Tom soon joined Dick at the window only to see a big hairy man walking angrily toward the house dragging Harry behind him.

“Uh oh, this is not good...” Dick moaned.

To be continued…

Did You Know... … that the phrase “Tom, Dick and Harry” is a placeholder for multiple unspecified people; “Tom, Dick or Harry” plays the same role for one unspecified person. The phrase most commonly occurs as “every Tom, Dick and Harry”, meaning everyone, and “any Tom, Dick or Harry”, meaning anyone, although Brewer defines the term to specify “a set of nobodies; persons of no note”. The masculine names in these phrase do not in themselves imply exclusion of females, but use of either version when the context implies necessarily being female − for example, “Your mother could be any Tom, Dick or Harry” − would normally be seen as careless or ironic. The phrase may be used with or without the serial comma, as “Tom, Dick, and Harry” or “Tom, Dick and Harry”.

Kids & Politics

The Importance of Compromise continued from page 2

by Bilal Amodu, Age 13 get for the year 1996, causing the federal government to run out of money and shut down twice for a total of 27 days. Finally, a compromise was made that reopened the government.

This nearly occurred again this spring where the republicans in Congress had one budget plan while the democrats in the Senate and President Obama had another, which resulted into conflicts between the two sides and became a serious issue.

Congressional republicans had vowed to reduce spending in last year’s election, and unlike the plethora of promises they broke before, this was one they had every intention of keeping. The new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican John Boehner even pledged, “Read my lips, we are going to cut spending,” to show how determined he was to push his plan forward. Many democrats disagreed with these spending cuts, fearing that they would terminate jobs and have a negative effect on the indigent. Mr. Boehner was so determined to cut spending he publicly said, “If the government is to shut down so be it,” a risky proposition to make with unemployment at more than 8%. Although the rate is receding from month to month, millions of Americans are concerned about jobs.

Unlike in 1995, when republicans controlled both houses of Congress, this year democrats still had a grip on the U.S. Senate; and Senate Majority Leader democrat Harry Reid was the leading force of opposition to the republican side. The democrats felt that the republicans in Congress were unwilling to compromise, no matter how many terms of theirs the democrats were willing to agree to. Not to say that the democrats are entirely innocent. We would

Did You Know... … that President Barack Obama signed the budget agreement covering federal spending for the remainder of the current fiscal year on Friday April 15, 2011?

Bringing an end to any remaining fears of a government shutdown, the bipartisan deal, which won approval Thursday from both the House and Senate, cuts $38.5 billion in spending while funding the government through September 30.

(Reported by Alan Silverleib, CNN).

not have this issue now if the budget had been passed last October when the democrats controlled the Senate and the House of Representatives, having sizeable majorities in both chambers. However, with this issue in the midst of a challenging last election season, the democrats appear to have decided that passing a budget then might have been a measure that could hurt them in that election. Their fear actually became a reality because their inability to pass a budget gave voters reason to believe that the democrats in Congress were ineffective. Perhaps if the democrats had passed a budget last year, they might still be in position to control the House of Representatives.

President Obama attempted to convince Senator Reid and Speaker Boehner to compromise, though his attempts were unsuccessful until late at night on Friday, April 8, 2011 when the government was merely minutes away from a shut down.

Congress swiftly passed a short term budget, funding the government long enough for a compromise to be made. Luckily, a compromise was made the following Thursday. The budget does contain spending cuts, at least not as many as the republicans had in mind. The plan was not completely popular in either party, with fifty nine republicans voting against it and even the former democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not voting in favor of it. Beside the fact that the republicans controlled Congress, they needed the votes of the democrats for the budget to pass. The budget was passed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and President Obama officially signed it into law. Though more battles lie down the road for the 2012 budget and increasing the debt limit, it was nice that both parties in Congress could come to a compromise.

ABOUT THE RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Now to turn to the upcoming election season: Last month, President Obama officially announced that he was running for reelection, and political analysts gave him an advantage over the republicans.

He is pledging to raise the billion dollars mark for his reelection campaign. Though Obama has some accomplishments on his side such as the Health Care reform passage and the slight reduction of unemployment, what could be fatal to him would not be what he did, but what he failed to accomplish such as ending the war in Afghanistan or closing the infamous prison center Guantanamo Bay. However, Obama

hopes to use the slogan of “we are not done yet,” to win reelection. With the election more than a year away, President Obama has yet to devote much energy into his campaign in order to attend to his presidential duties. The republicans are still having trouble finding a worthy candidate, though a few have entered the stage of forming an exploratory committee to determine if they want to run for the nomination. Among the few ones are former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia. It will be exciting to see which party will have an upper hand come next November.

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THE CIRCLE GAZETTE

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MAY 2011

“The Dog and the Bone” Soft pastels on paper

by Emma Gómez, Age 7, Margate, FL

“Birds” Pencil on paper

by Jala Robinson, Age 10, Tamarac, FL

“Lines & Color”

by Damion Mohammed, Age 7, Sunrise, FL Crayon on paper. Welleby Elementary School project.

Inspired by Pet Mondrian art.

“Marbles on Paint”

by Jackson LaFrance, Age 7, Sunrise, FL Crayon on paper. Welleby Elementary School project.

Inspired by Jackson Pollock art.

“Running Girl” Papier-mâché Sculpture

by Ellie Gómez, Age 5, Margate, FL

“Swimming Girl” Papier-mâché Sculpture

by Emma Gómez, Age 7, Margate, FL

“My very own coat of arms” Markers on paper, by Aaron Cross, Age 13, Boca Raton, FL

“Hello Birdie” Wet on wet watercolors

by Maya Hacker, Age 2, Fort Lauderdale, FL

“Boats” Watercolors inspired in a transparent watercolor by artist Miles Batt, currently on exhibition at the Coral Springs Museum of Art.

by Ellie Gómez, Age 5,Margate, FL

“Odin” Soft pastels on paper

by Emma Gómez, Age 7, Margate, FL