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INSIDE NEWS Auditorium Renovation p. 3 FEATURE New Teacher Interviews p. 6 How to Eat Everything Locally OPINION The Infamous Policy 5516 p. 8 A&E Two-Door Cinema Review p. 3 SPORTS Freshmen Who Made It Big p. 8
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OCTOBER 2012
Pinwheels for Peace Charlotte Finegold
The project revolves around a paper wheel symbolizing childhood innocence and simplicity. By creating childhood toys, Pinwheels for Peace strives to help “students make a public visual statement about their feelings about war/ peace/ tolerance/ cooperation/ harmony/ unity and, in some way, maybe, awaken the public and let them know what the next generation is thinking.” This project, which has been implemented in schools in more than 40 countries, came to Highland Park Middle School from September 11th to the 21st. Says Ms. Falcone-McLoughlin, a middle school English teacher and the pioneer of the HPMS initiative, “It all started when I was reading an article in a magazine called School Arts about 5 years ago about the Pinwheels for Peace project. It seemed a great way to start the year and so I did it with my Read 180 classes. We used pencils and pushpins and I taped them all over the room. They loved it and so did I. We have been creating them ever since.” Last year, however, Ms. McLoughlin decided to suggest implementing the project on a larger scale. She was inspired after Mary Curran, the associate Dean for Local-Global Partnerships at Rutgers (and a Highland Park parent) spoke about Global Competence to the middle school staff, urging the teachers to incorporate global thinking into their lessons. Ms. McLoughlin approached the previous principal of the middle school first, but then after she left, ran the idea by Mr. Lassiter, the new middle school principal. Lassiter agreed enthusiastically, and over the summer, the two worked with Ms. Curran, the town council, Mainstreet HP, and Elsie Foster-Dublin.
Says McLoughlin, “Then it just grew and grew!” The team developed a two-part program. First, middle school homeroom teachers had their students craft their own pinwheels (they made 250), which were then sold at various HP businesses for $1 each. Then, art teacher Ms. Hawthorne incorporated the project into her plans, having her classes make 20-30 large pinwheels. These were then sponsored by groups, individuals, or companies, for $25 each. The middle school used the money raised to buy Heifer International Hope Baskets (this charity is the same one that Global Awareness Group fundraises for with its iLlama fundraiser in December). On Thursday, September 20, the entire middle school staff and student body made a human peace sign on the turf. When asked about the success of the program, McLoughlin said, “I think that this year went really well, considering it was a pilot program…I think it could easily become a district wide event as well.” The middle school sent the picture of their human peace sign to HPMS’s sister school in Mexico and encouraged a co-participation in the project next year. Says Julia Marks, a sixth grader, “I think that it was a great idea for our town to show people that we care about peace , and that it’ll make Highland Park stand out to people who drive through and see the pinwheels on the poles.” In these tense times of violence and unease all over the world, the middle school’s pilot program was a comforting sign that the wheels are still turning for peace.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Tigger Belle Gabel
“He brightened up my day,” says senior Violet Simonyi. She continues, “Whenever I was feeling down or bored in class, I would look over my shoulder and see him smiling down at me. I miss him...” Violet is not mourning the loss of a friend graduated or a pal transferred to another school; she is mourning the loss of a beloved mural. From its creation in 1994 (by a student named Brian) to its passing in 2012, an oversized painting of Tigger playfully reposed, mid-bounce, on the wall of Room 112. Most know Tigger, sized about 7ft in height for his classroom portrait, from his appearances in the A.A. Milne children’s book series Winnie the Pooh. Tigger, who has since appeared in a fondly remembered
movie of his own (The Tigger Movie), is known for being hyperactive, competitive, and mischievous, among other things. One could argue that the Tigger mural was a shrine to those undesirable classroom behaviors. Perhaps that is why Tigger was erased, but before Tigger’s disappearance can be questioned, his mysterious appearance must first be uncovered. In my US History II class, we were certain that a longgone HPHS student painted Tigger as a mental illness representation for an ancient Psychology class. The theory, which was as sourceless as an old wives’ tale, was that each character in Winnie the Pooh represents a different mental illness: Rabbit, Pooh’s prim, curmudgeonly neighbor who hoards carrots, has Obsessive Compulsive OCTOBER 2012, THE HIGHLAND FLING