The Falcon Chronicle May 5, 2016
Volume 1, Issue 7
Tea and Feathers! On April 21st, the Library Club held its first annual Tea Party. Club members met with Ms. Guerriero to share delicious snacks and to discuss Feathers, a beautiful and moving novel by award-winning African-American author Jacqueline Woodson. Feathers tells the story of Frannie, a sixth grader who, despite experiencing sadness in her life, is full of hope. For more information about the book or the author, visit www.jacquelinewoodson.com. Library Club members volunteer time in the Library/Media Center once a week and learn how to do all kinds of library work. If you would like more information about the club, please see Ms. Guerriero. Library Club
A Visit to Queen of Peace A 7th Grade Field Trip Last Week the 7th grade went on a placement trip to Queen of Peace Catholic School. The placement trip is helpful for 7th graders because it helps students to get a head start with the high school process. These visits give students an idea of where they might want to go to high school. Queen of Peace offered many opportunities. At first the students didn’t really have many questions. But as they started the tour, the students got more comfortable with asking questions. They learned that in high school you have to be able to maintain your academics and activities. The 7th graders got to witness how the classes work. The tour guides talked about how students get help from teachers and how they treat you like family at Queen of Peace. This trip was a good experience for the 7th graders who went. It let them know what they have to do to start getting ready for high school. Getting ready for high school and knowing what you want to do is not easy at all. So, let’s wish those upcoming 8th graders good luck and give them as much advice as we can!! Rayne Harrison and Kaylah Coleman
The Falcon Chronicle
www.pacsnewark.org Page 02 WHAT’S NEW @ PACS IN THE TEACHING KITCHEN The whole school learned what it means to “Keep it Local!” AT PACS
and how eating locally can benefit our health, the economy, and the environment, all while playing fun and April has interactive games on stage, such as a salad cook-off (1st been an Place went to Mrs. exciting Lemus!) and a fruit month, both and vegetable in the garden inspired round of and in the “Heads Up”. Our teaching Harvest of the kitchen! Our Month, leafy greens visit from the such as spinach, First Lady of lettuce, kale and the United collards, all made regular appearances on our plates in the States was accompanied by blooming tulips, daffodils, and dining hall after being expertly prepared by Chef Rob and perennial herbs (such as thyme and oregano) all throughout Ms. Vanessa. Many students participated in baking Vegan the garden. We worked hard to prepare for her historic trip Carrot Cake Muffins for the traveling Earth Day Farm to PACS by planting cold hardy lettuces, kale, collards, Stand, which were a great success among all grades! In cauliflower, and cabbage, as well as painting colorful signs, May we are looking forward to a new Recipe of the Month: planting annual flowers, and pruning our plum and Stir Fried Rice with Asparagus and Peas. Yum! hawthorn berry trees. Not long after Mrs. Obama flew back Hayley Klein to Washington DC, we celebrated Earth Day.
ENTERTAINMENT & FASHION BAPE
HOVERBOARDS
BAPE or Bathing Ape is a clothing streetwear brand that was formed in 1993. It was founded by Nigo, a Japanese fashion designer who also, along with musician Pharrell Williams, founded Billionaire Boys Club (another casual clothing brand).. This clothing store is located on 91 Greene St in New York City. It’s a very popular brand that is worn by popular rap artists. Bape is also very expensive, and their prices range from $300.00 to $3,000.00. I know! That sounds expensive, but it is worth it! Personally, I would buy it, and my friends would, too. BAPE sells bomber jackets, hoodies, long-sleeve shirts, short-sleeve shirts, joggers, and iPhone cases. It’s been so popular lately that Chris Brown has decided to model for the company. Check out some pics:
Hoverboards have become one of the hottest new gadgets this past holiday season. They are selling everywhere and everyone is riding them - on the streets, in parks, on college campuses. However, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, there have been 12 incidents in the United States where the batteries in these hoverboards reportedly caught fire, destroying bedrooms and even entire homes! According to the owners of the hoverboards, they actually exploded while charging. Some actually even exploded while they were being ridden on and people have gotten burned and seriously injured. Here's the really scary part - there’s no real reason why these hoverboards are exploding. There’s also a lot of companies that sell hoverboards and you never really know which one to buy from. Some of the people who sell the hoverboards promise their customers that it won’t blow up, but you can never be sure! Hoverboards are really fun, that’s for sure...but let’s hope you don’t get one that blows up.
George Okongwu and Jordan McMillan
Michael Torres
The Falcon Chronicle
www.pacsnewark.org SPORTS PAGE
Page 03
THE LADY FALCONS
VOLLEYBALL @ PACS
The Philip’s Academy girls' basketball team, The Lady Falcons, made a big impact this year, both with their spirit and their never-ending victories! They won the Girls Basketball Championship Game versus Passaic Charter on March 16th, 2016, with the help of Coach Arnecia and Coach Tee. This game was the biggest game of the year. At first, the team was down by 8, but the Falcons came back in the 3rd quarter. Surprisingly, when the crowd looked at the scoreboard, there was 0.2 seconds left on the clock. Then, Passaic Charter called a timeout and got two seconds back on the scoreboard. Things were very tense. When Passaic Charter got the ball, one of their players threw the ball half court and shockingly, Taraji, caught the ball and the game was over with our girls as the winner! The crowd went CRAZY and no one could believe what had happened. What an amazing way to end the season! GO LADY FALCONS!
Philips Academy Lady Falcons have had an awesome basketball season. They ended it with a close championship. The score was 24-25, and WE WON! So, what’s next? Baseball? Football? You’ll never guess what the next best Philips Academy sport is. Alright, Alright...I’ll tell you. It’s Volleyball! This is the first time PACS has ever had a volleyball team. The coach is our one and only spanish teacher, Ms.Yanez. The first tryouts were held on March 16. I, myself, didn’t tryout, but I’m pretty sure it went really well. The Volleyball team is a CO--ED team and there are 18 players on the team - 14 girls and 4 boys (next year the team is hoping that they really have more boys on the team). The team will play 10 games, 6 will be at home and 4 will be away. At the moment, the team does not have any special plays; they are just working on the basics, like serving, passing and setting. The team is really looking forward to an exciting first season!! Check them out!
Kaylah Coleman THE CHAMPIONSHIP March Madness! Villanova VS. North Carolina Last night, on April 4th 2016 was the 2016 NCAA Basketball Championship. There was even a special appearance by Michael Jordan who was ‘reppin North Carolina. In the beginning of the game, it was close. But by the end of the first quarter the score was 34-39 with North Carolina in the lead. Then, in the second quarter, things got serious, because if you didn’t know, Mens basketball only has 2 quarters. There was a lot of scoring back and forth. It then came down to the last 11.2 seconds. The score was 74-74. Villanova had the ball and with 2 seconds left, a Villanova player shot a 3 pointer and it went in, securing the win. The score was 74-77! Can you believe it? This game will be going down in history. Not only was Villanova the underdog, but they won with 2 seconds left! UNBELIEVABLE! Travis Derival
Naa Afoley and Kaya Moody
The Falcon Chronicle
www.pacsnewark.org
Page 04
2015-2016 PACS INTRAMURAL STANDINGS 5TH GRADE TEAM Syracuse Hawaii Arizona State TCU Syracuse
W 1 0 0
L 0 0 0
T 0 0 0
6TH GRADE PF 5 0 0
0 1 0 3 SCORES & SCHEDULES 5 TCU
PA 3 0 0
TEAM Florida Alabama Georgia Tech Baylor
5 3
4/20
Arizona State
Syracuse
TCU
Hawaii
5/16
Arizona State Syracuse Arizona State
TCU Hawaii Hawaii
5/24 6/3 6/13
TEAM Michigan Pittsburgh Ohio State Notre Dame Ohio State Michigan Ohio State Michigan
7TH GRADE W
L
T
5/6
PF
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 SCORES & SCHEDULES Pittsburgh Notre Dame Notre Dame Pittsburgh
Florida Georgia Tech Georgia Tech Alabama Semi-Finals Semi-Finals Finals
W 1 1 0
L 0 0 1
T 0 0 0
0 1 0 SCORES & SCHEDULES 5 Baylor 2 Alabama
PF 5 4 2
PA 4 2 4
4
5 4
4/21
4
4/29
Florida
5/9
Baylor Semi-Finals Semi-Finals Finals
5/17 5/25 6/6 6/14
8TH GRADE
PA 0 0 0 0
TEAM Rutgers Illinois Oregon LSU 5/2 5/10 5/18 5/26
Rutgers Oregon Illinois
W L T 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 SCORES & SCHEDULES 7 LSU Illinois Rutgers
PF 7 0 0 6
PA 6 0 0 7
6
4/25 5/3 5/11
Semi-Finals
Semi-Finals
6/7
Oregon
LSU
5/19
Semi-Finals
Semi-Finals
6/7
Semi-Finals
Semi-Finals
5/31
Finals
Finals
6/15
Semi-Finals Finals
Semi-Finals Finals
6/8 6/16
The Falcon Chronicle
www.pacsnewark.org SHAKESPEARE @ PACS
The Shakespeare Project: A Student’s Point of View An Interview with Yalsa Ngoma
Page 05 The Shakespeare Project: An Interview with Ms. Williams What is the main goal of the project?
“My family and I happened to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream during the summer and loved it, so I was already familiar with the play. When I found out we were doing the play, I was so excited. I didn’t even think about any fears until auditions. I was so nervous, I could feel my ears wobbling and my legs getting hot.” “I feel like this project is a great chance for me to step out of my comfort zone and create bonds with my fellow eighth graders. Project based learning like “the Shakespeare Project” is important and beneficial for student exposure to Shakespeare before high school and even college where it may come across during class discussions. I am really enjoying the project especially when it comes to learning my character and her lines. I have a lot of fun listening to my family members try to recite the lines. I view this project as a chance for me to overcome my stage fright and recite my lines to the best of my ability while frolicking around in my cute fairy outfit.”
Kaya Moody
“The main goal is for it to be project based learning so the kids can learn through experience and that will help them to retain it in the future. It’s also a way to build relationships between each other and between students and teachers as well. So the goal of the project is to engage in experiential learning, build relationships, and have something fun to do.” How do you imagine the finished product will look? “Hopefully amazing! Hopefully everything will come together. I know there will be moments of “this is not going to work” or technical difficulties, but I think in the end, if everyone continues to work as hard as they’re working right now, then it will be a beautiful final piece. I don’t expect it to be perfect because nothing ever is, but I do expect it to be the best that you guys have done.” Who is involved in the project? How did you choose them? Everyone is involved in this project because the entire 8th grade is doing it. Mr. Porta, Ms. Ito, Mr. Newman, Ms. Yanez, Ms. Wolpert, and Mr.Carr are helping us out by covering for teachers when they have classes. We also have Mr. Farrell who is helping out with videography, along with Ms. Alonzo. Everyone is pulling in to help - even the librarian, Ms. Guerriro is helping out by offering us a place to be. Basically, everyone is pulling together and I think that’s another one of the benefits of this project; it’s a way for all the students to see how we all can work together and pitch in as a community. Why did you choose a Midsummer Night’s Dream? “Last year we did Romeo and Juliet and that had a lot of elements to it - and a lot of range in terms of a fight scene, there were death scenes, there was comedy, there was romance. But I thought with this particular class, it needed something different, something that tapped into the uniqueness of this graduating year. I thought a comedy would probably be the best choice for them.”
Kaya Moody
The Falcon Chronicle
www.pacsnewark.org
EDITOR’S NOTE It is hard to believe, but this is the 2nd to last issue of the Chronicle. In about 8 weeks we will be heading out the door for summer vacation. Teachers and students are busy, busy, busy, and there is still so much left to do! Here are some highlights from the past few weeks: One of the biggest and best highlights of April was the visit from the First Lady of the United States. Mrs. Michelle Obama visited our school garden and learned about our Aerofarms program. She also had lunch in the dining room with some of our students. Al Roker of NBC’s The Today Show visited, as well. It was quite the day and we felt very lucky to have such special and honored guests. The PACS volleyball team lost their first game, but there is always a next time! We also had our annual Earth Day Celebration where older students read to younger ones. It was such beautiful weather and lots of reading was done outside on the turf! Plus, we did our very own version of the TV show Chopped up on our stage. Mrs. Lemus, Mr. Augello and Ms. Maggie, accompanied by students, competed with the finest of veggies – fresh avocado, broccoli, carrots and radishes, to name a few. The goal was to create the tastiest salad; Team Lemus emerged victorious! The 7th and 8th graders finished PARCC testing. The 5th and 6th graders will be done by the end of the week; all PACS students worked hard and tried to do their best! The 8th grade class spent a week on an Outward Bound trip, hiking along the Appalachian Trail with the help of our dedicated teachers, Ms. Jahn, Mr. Porta, Ms. Beckles and Ms. Flowers. It was quite the adventure…stay tuned for a detailed article coming out in our next issue. These highlights are just a few examples of the great things happening at Philip’s Academy. Happy MAY!!! Sarah Wolpert Editor-in-Chief
Dominick McKoy Design Editor
Page 06