PINEWORD Second edition, 17th December 2013
Don’t peek, don’t sneak till
Christmas!
SCHOOL
NEWS
SCHOOL
NEWS
EXTRAS...
Pinewood never surrenders
Thanksgiving luncheon
TMUN
Door decoration
2
3
6
8
Wishes for the New
Year
Top English
Assignments
Funny Pictures
Who We Are
24
24
29
30
WORLD
NEWS
HUMOR
9
10
12
13
14
16
Anniversary of Sandy Hook
Massacre
Death of Nelson Mandela
Animal Abuse
5-Year-Old Girl Sends
Apology Letter to the Store
John Lewis
Welcome to the Santa Claus
Village in the Arctic Circle
RIP to Brian from Family
Guy
Agony aunt
Quiz
Horoscope
18
20
22
If you have any
questions, comments
or feedback, or you
would like to become
involved, please
contact us at:
Pineword@pinewood-
school.gr
Page 1
Pinewood Never
Surrenders
The Pinewood Girls’ Basketball
team successfully participated in
this year’s Aegean Tournament taking place from the 5th to the
8th of December. In the first game
Pinewood beat Arsakeio at Anatolia gym with a difference of
16 points. The final score was 32-
16. The team played good defense,
made jump shots, layups, passed, and controlled the game overall.
Although our team beat Arsakeio,
we could have won with a bigger difference in points if we had
made all of the easy shots. In the
second game, the basketball team played against Anatolia in the
Panorama Gym early in the
morning. Despite the cold and the fact that we were tired, we beat
Anatolia with a difference of 40
points. The final score was 47-9.
Our team was very well prepared and played good defense and by
the end of the first half, Anatolia
hadn’t scored any points at all. We played very good offense by
taking jump shots and making
layups. On the next day we played against ACS at Anatolia.
Unfortunately, we lost this game
but we fought until the last second.
Although we hoped that we would
qualify for the finals, for a third year in a row we were stopped by
the well prepared, big and skillful
American College team from Athens. At the end of the first half
the score was tight and we were
leading by one point, but in the second half we lagged behind in
the score because we were very
tired. Although the other team’s
players were tired, too, they were able to be substituted by others
because they had a very big team.
We did the best that we could and
we succeeded, even though we
didn’t qualify for the finals, because we played well which was
a result of our hard work during
our basketball practices. Throughout the games we had
great support from our wonderful
Cheerleaders, parents, Pinewood
students and teachers.
Page 2
The Cheerleaders were very supportive, shouting encouraging
cheers and performing their
dances during the
half-time
breaks,
showing the hard work
they have
put in all year round. We were thrilled with the great support
from the Pinewood community
that contributed to our winning two of the three games that we
played. Finally, this loss only
means one thing; that Pinewood never surrenders, especially
without a fight. Congratulations
to the basketball team!
Eleni Omiridou
Thanksgiving Luncheon
Thanksgiving is all about being
grateful for what we are given,
sitting with our friends and
relatives at one table, and sharing
what we have. That’s why
Pinewood held its annual
Thanksgiving luncheon on
November 28, bringing students
and teachers together for a
memorable meal. Middle School
and High School students were
taken to a picturesque restaurant
outside Thessaloniki called Perek,
with a view of Mount Olympus.
‘Perek’ is a traditional Pontiac
salty cake. Shortly after all the
students were seated, the special
presentations that each class
from 6 to 12 had prepared for
Thanksgiving began.
Grade 6 spelled the word
‘Thankful’, for which they had
written a sentence for each letter.
Grade 7 recited a poem about Thanksgiving and greeted all
students with a passage in their
mother tongues. Grade 8 had decided to write about the
importance of Thanksgiving for
them and presented in all the languages spoken in their class.
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Page 3
Grade 9 had prepared an
alternative story of how the Pilgrims and the Natives met, and
the students narrated and acted
out this story. Grade 10 smartly
raised our awareness of the world around us by comparing the
problems that they, as teenagers,
have to the problems millions of other children face every day.
They emphasized how ridiculous
it is to think that they are unfortunate when they have
everything they need to survive
while millions of children around the world don’t even have basic
things, such as running water or
electricity in their homes.
Part of Grade 11 sang a delightful
song, while the other part of the
grade had cooperated with Hamogelo tou Paidiou for a
Thanksgiving Clothes and Food
Drive. Some of the Grade 12 students had spelled the word
‘Thanksgiving’ and for each letter
had prepared a few lines with which they expressed their
thankfulness to the teachers in
Pinewood and their will to never
give up in life. The rest of Grade 12 summed up, adorably, the
Thanksgiving presentations by
giving roses to all teachers and thanking them for everything
they’ve taught them throughout
their years in Pinewood. They also danced disguised as turkeys at
the end and lifted the spirit of all
students and teachers.
Finally, Savvas and Fotis had
chosen a few songs related to
Thanksgiving and sang them, which brought a feeling of joy,
gratefulness and unity in all that
were present.
Niya Kafedzhiyska
Page 4
TMUN 2013
The Thessaloniki Model United
Nations Conference took place at
the American Farm School of Thessaloniki from 29th of
November to the 1st of December.
As a delegate of Thailand, I enjoyed a weekend debating over
issues such as illicit drug
trafficking, the pollution of marine
environments, the abuse of human rights during arrest and
imprisonment, the question of
Palestine and nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
As a delegate, the basic
preparation for the conference is many hours spent researching the
issues, researching the policy of
each country, and knowing your country’s allies and enemies. After
researching about the two issues,
each delegate writes a resolution
presenting solutions that abide by their country’s policy and law.
Additionally, each delegate writes
a policy statement of their country. All delegates are required
to dress formally for the
conference.
On the
first day in the
general
assembly, all of the delegates,
representing around 50 countries,
think about the issues that are discussed in the committees. This
was my first conference and on
the first day, which was a very
cold morning, our advisor, Mr. Harrington, was informed that I
would be the ambassador of my
delegation, Thailand. Within the next 30 minutes he helped me
write an opening speech that
expressed my country’s state and its hopes for a fruitful debate. At
the same time Bojana and Giulia
were also writing their
ambassador speeches. I clearly remember how my hand was
trembling and was numb from the
cold and even though we knew that we would have to deliver a
speech in front of 200 people in
one hour, we remained calm.
When the general assembly
president called for the delegate of Thailand, i.e., me, I stood up and
calmly went up to the podium.
During the speech I avoided any
eye contact with the crowd fearing that I would mess up my speech.
Fortunately, I spoke clearly and
delivered my speech successfully. After the long general assembly,
we had a break and we were given
packed sandwiches and croissants.
Page 6
Afterwards all delegates went to their committees where, for the
rest of the day, we formed
alliances and shared our resolutions which we later
combined to form a draft
resolution. We did this for both
topics, continuing the lobbying the next day. By the end of the
day I was very tired.
On Saturday we met at 9 in the
morning and were prepared for an
awesome day of TMUN. In the morning we continued our
discussions during lobbying and
then proceeded with debating resolutions. In the next day we
continued with our fruitful
debates and then we prepared
ourselves to debate on one of the resolutions. In the general
assembly the Drugs and Crime
committee decided to debate for the response to drug trafficking,
however, I was very nervous so I
made a speech about human trafficking which was the second
topic of our committee. I delivered
my irrelevant speech and realized that I was talking about the wrong
topic in the introduction of my
speech a long time after I finished
and took a seat again. Despite the fact that I messed up in front of
200 people, I really enjoyed the
fruitful debates that took place during the weekend.
By the end of the conference I was so involved in the experience that
I didn’t realize that the next day
I wouldn’t be coming back to the American Farm School for TMUN.
It was the longest weekend of my
life, and I would say the most meaningful and interesting that I
have had in a long time.
I would like to thank Mr. Harrington for advising us and
being right about every piece of
advice that he gave us before the conference.
I would like to congratulate all
Pinewood delegates for
successfully representing the delegations of Mexico, Ukraine
and Thailand. The delegation of
Thailand yields the floor, for the time being.
Eleni Omiridou
Page 7
LET THE DOOR GAMES BEGIN!
Are they willing to share some pizza or are they going to shove their sweet victory in our faces?
On Friday 13th of December, the
Christmas-door-decoration-
contest ended and the winners were revealed. But lets rewind a
little, shall we?
On Monday 2nd of December the beginning of the contest was
announced, and the prize as well:
a pizza party! As soon as we heard about the competition and the
heavenly prize we all started to
think about what our door could
look like in order to get that vital delicious delicacy party.
During seminar all classes worked
on the decorating of their door. It was predicted that we would have
finished it all during that hour,
but honestly it was impossible. Friday was the deadline and we
all worked quite hard to finish in
time, some of us even had to remake their door decoration! The
final results were amazing: we
had elfs and reindeers;
snowmans; presents; jesus; an eye and the world; a giant Santa
Claus; a Bob-Marley-style Santa;
a giant gingerbread house; a reproduction of “A Nightmare
before Christmas“; a calendar and
more. They were all really awesome, but only one was truly
incredible: The giant gingerbread
house by grade 12B. Grade 12B did really unbelievable job in so
little time. The house was very
detailed and even had smiling gingerbread men...I’m sure we all
kinda wish it was made out of real
gingerbread..but it’s not so we
might as well just give up. Second place was grade 10 with “The
Vision of Christmas“. The
message was that we all see christmas in a different way (now
that was deep) and it has different
meanings for each one of us (now that was even deeper). Nice job
grade 10! Unfortunately, only first
place receives a prize. Third place was grade 7 with elfs all over the
place! The door had cute little elfs
attached and santa’s sledge
pulled by reindeers on top. I honestly loved those cute small
elfs and I hope they’ll let me take
one, although I doubt it :P All the doors where pretty cool,
but I honestly think we should all
gather to plan a way to steal some pizza from the 12th graders...after
all we’d just be kind by helping
them to keep fit ;) This was my first experience in
christmas door decoration
contests and it was pretty exciting
decoration our door and watching how everyone else was so into it
as well. I’m looking forward to
next years contest. Giulia Preponis
Page 8
Anniversary of Sandy Hook Massacre
Just a year ago on December
14th, Adam Lanza entered the
Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. He killed
20 first grade students and 6
school staff members. Adam had
killed his mother, Nancy, before driving to the school to begin the
shooting, after which he turned
the gun on himself and committed suicide. The motives behind this
crime have not yet been
determined.
The townspeople of Newtown are
asking for privacy from the public on the 1 year anniversary of the
massacre. They are dealing with
their grief in their own way.
The Newtown High School
football team has dedicated this
year’s season to those killed in the December 14th shootings and has
thus far been undefeated. Wilton,
Page 9
a small town in southeastern
Connecticut only a few hours from Newton, has created a
permanent memorial to the
students and six staff members killed in the shooting.
We will only spend one day of the
year remembering those who were
killed in this accident. Perhaps we should also keep in mind that
those who experienced this
tragedy first hand are reminded daily of what happened, and for
this reason they would not like
their suffering to be publicized. Georgia Rheault
Death of Nelson Mandela On Saturday December 7th the
great leader Nelson Mandela passed away at the age of 95 and
was buried in the village where he
spent his childhood in Qunu, South Africa. Nelson Mandela was
born in the Eastern Cape in
South Africa in 1918. In 1943 he
joined the African National Congress. In 1956 he was charged
with treason but after a four-year-
long trial the charges were dropped. In 1962 he was
sentenced to 5 years
imprisonment because he was charged with leaving the country
without a passport. In 1964 he
was charged with sabotage and was sentenced for life. In 1990 he
was freed from prison and after 3
years he won the Nobel Peace
Prize. In 1994 he was elected as the first black leader of South
Africa and stepped down in 1999.
During these 4 years he promoted the rights of black people,
establishing equality in the
country of South Africa where there was no longer a white
minority in power.
In 2001 Nelson Mandela was
diagnosed with prostate cancer, and in 2004 he retired from his
public life. In 2005 he sadly
announced that his son had died from an AIDS/HIV related
disease. Early this year he spent 3
months in the hospital suffering
from a lung infection.
During his burial many people
expressed their sadness and mourned his loss. The UN
Security Council in New York
stood for a minute of silence. Barack Obama said "he no longer
belongs to us - he belongs to the
ages," adding that Mr. Mandela "took history in his hands and
bent the arc of the moral universe
towards justice". Kofi Annan,
chairman of The Elders, a group of global leaders formed by Mr.
Mandela to ensure peace and the
protection of human rights, said the world has lost "a clear moral
compass".
David Cameron, the Prime
Minister of the UK, expressed his
sadness by saying that "a great light has gone out in the world".
The world has lost one of the
greatest peace makers of all time.
Eleni Omiridou
Page 10
The “ONE in FIVE” campaign is an initiative of the Network of Contact
Parliamentarians to stop sexual violence against children of the Council of Europe and
part of the wider inter European program titled "Building a Europe for and with
children" which has two strategic objectives: Combating sexual violence against
children through specific legal instruments and organizing comprehensive awareness-
raising actions throughout Europe.
Animal abuse
When we think of global issues, we often think of human abuse,
child abuse, human trafficking
and so on. The more individuals that are involved to stop these
tragic events, the better. However,
many of us ignore the fact that animals are tortured too, and
even more cruelly than humans.
You may ask yourself, why? Well,
an animal can give you a lot to survive with, such as its fur and
meat. Then there is the fact that
animals do not have many rights, and the few that they have are
constantly violated.
Now you may ask yourself who violates animals’ rights? In order to give a complete answer, I would
need more than two pages. The
most common culprits are
cosmetic industries, who test the products on the animals’ skin,
important medical research
institutes (for example, cancer), some textile industries that
torture animals for their fur or
skin, and those involved in factory farming. Animal abuse happens
all around the world, and is not
confined to just one country. It is impossible to tell which country
does it to the greatest degree, as
many places use their
slaughterhouse walls as a shield to block people from seeing what
goes on within. China, and Asia in
general, has a very bad record, mainly because the videos of
animal abuse in China go viral, in
addition to a lack of animal
welfare laws in place.
I believe that the main question
that you should now ask yourself is how you, as an individual, can
stop animal cruelty. The first step
is to take action. You can easily
sign petitions or make donations to organizations against animal
abuse. However, it is
also important to make your voice heard about this issue. In this
way, you let the people around
you know what animals are going through and together we can fight
for their lives. Let’s be the voice of
innocent creatures that die in terrible ways due to the cruelty of
humans. Be their hero, take
action.
Ludovica M. Lunigiani
Page 11
5-Year-Old Girl Sends Apology Letter to the
Store John Lewis
This year on the 5th December the store John Lewis received a letter
from a 5-year-old little girl who wrote that she was sorry for
breaking a Christmas tree bauble.
In the letter the girl had also placed 2 pounds in order to pay
for the item and had written:
“I’m sorry I broke a Christmas
bauble. It cost two pounds. Here
is the money for it. Sorry again,
Faith aged 5.”
The storekeepers didn’t know
anything about the little girl, except that her name is Faith and
that she lives in Cambridge. For
this reason they started to search for her declaring that they would
like to thank her in person, since
this was the best letter that was written to them. This started a
search all over Britain for the little
girl and in the end the girl was
found through the image that was spread through twitter. The
shopkeepers finally had the
opportunity to thank her and Mr. Joyce, the shop manager, said:
“We'd like to thank everyone who has helped us to find Faith, the
response has been overwhelming.
We wanted to have the opportunity to say thank you and
we have now been able to do that.
We hope Faith and her family have a very merry Christmas."
So in the end the little girl was
found and even though she was
too shy to speak to the reporters, we all get the message of how
honesty pays off.
Anna Gjoleka
Page 12
Welcome to the Santa Claus Village in the
Arctic Circle Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas to
everyone all over the world! What a better way to have fun and
celebrate than go to Santa’s own
town. Although there is also a Santa’s Village in New Hampshire,
the Santa Claus Village in
Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland is
referred to as his official home.
The story behind this place is that
his previous home in Ear
Mountain (Korvatunturi) had been figured out for a long time and he
declared that he wanted a more
private place to continue doing his work. So the Elves decided to
build him a house in the North
Arctic Circle where he could have
that privacy and also be able to
meet with people from all over the world, near or far from the Arctic
Circle.
This is the perfect place for him to
continue doing his job and duty of
producing toys and spreading the
message of love, kindness, and goodwill. So it is therefore an ideal
trip for all
the children
and
parents, too,
especially
since you’ll
get to meet Santa
Claus in person. This is also a
beautiful area to see the Northern Lights since it is so close to the
poles. So find some time to see
this wonderful place and enjoy all of its nature and friendly,
welcoming character.
Inna Gjoleka
Page 13
C
RIP to Brian from Family
Guy The show's producers say they needed to shake things up, but
fans are very sorry for the death.
Brian, the family’s talking dog, has been part of the show Family Guy since it began in 1999, but
now it has been decided that he
has to leave. Family Guy is an American
cartoon TV show created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox
Broadcasting Company. The show
is about the Griffins, an American family with parents Peter and
Lois, their children Meg, Chris,
and Stewie, and their human-like pet dog, Brian. It’s set in the city
of Quahog, Rhode Island. Brian,
who can be considered one of the
most important characters, is very fond of martinis. However, he was
recently killed off in a road
accident during the November 24 episode, "Life of Brian". A week
later, Fox aired new opening
credits featuring the replacement dog, Vinnie (voiced by "The
Sopranos" star Tony Sirico).
A new intro has been made
almost identical to the old one,
except that Brian has been
replaced by Vinnie. In the new intro, Vinnie performs Brian's
exact same dance moves in his
exact same costume. Many believe this is a lack of respect towards
Brian.
After the shocking episode, more
than 128,500 fans signed a
petition to bring him back which became the top entertainment
petition on Change.org. But did it
work? Will Brian return? Fans got very upset and criticize the
decision: “The writers of Family
Guy didn't just kill off one of their
creations, they killed off the dog who has lived in our homes for
the last 15 years. They killed the
dog we all have come to love. They killed America's dog!” Fans might
have exaggerated just a bit when
saying that, but still we get their point.
Producer Steve Callaghan
explained their decision to kill Brian: "We thought it could be a
fun way to shake things up. As
soon as this idea came up, we started talking about what the
next couple of episodes could be
and we got very excited about the way this change will affect the
family dynamics and the
characters."
Page 15
So there it is, Brian is gone, and
Vinnie seems to be here to stay. However, according to EW, Brian
might appear in the December 15
episode "Christmas Guy." On its
official description it says, "Stewie devises a master plan to get the
one and only thing he wants for
Christmas." If not a call for Brian, what else? Do you think Brian will
actually come back, or is he gone
forever?
But still, why kill off such an
inspirational character? Let’s look
at Brian’s profile and background: Brian, an 8-year old talking white
Labrador:
drove a car
went to Brown University in Rhode Island, but did not
graduate
loved to sing opera and jazz was a fan of John Coltrane
spoke fluent French and
Tagalog was a member of MENSA
was an avid writer (having
once been invited to write for The New Yorker,
although he was fired once
the magazine learned he did
not graduate from college)
We will always love him♥
Giulia Propponis
Page 16
Page 15
Agony Aunt
Message# 1
Drear agony aunt,
In my class there is this guy who is bulling me and the rest of my since he
is bigger than us. What can we do to stop him?
By Sad-man
Dear Sad-man, I see what your and your class's problem is and I believe I can give you some helpful advice. Have you tried solving the problem in the classical way by trying to talk to this boy? If you're scared to do so, ask one of your older friends to kindly go talk to him with you. Try to understand the reasons for
his action. If this doesn't work, ask the teacher you feel most comfortable with for help. Don't be scared, it's better to do something about the problem instead of trying to hide it. Be brave and remember to always treat others the way you would like to be treated! Good luck!
With love,
Agony Aunt <3
Message# 2
Dear Agony Aunt,
Why does everyone forget about the things I do and ask for?!
From “Lost in the crowd” Hey Lost in the crowd, I know exactly how you feel, it has happened to me many times as well. What I did was try to see it from their point of view: maybe they’re having a really hard time and just can’t seem to take others into consideration? Maybe they’re old, very old. Maybe they’re very busy? Sometimes it can be
because they don’t care. When it is like that, it kind of hurts, but it means that we’re not choosing wisely the people we surround ourselves with. If you feel like the people around you don’t really listen to what you have to say, go to someone new and see if they care! The worst that can happen is that you make more friends. Make your voice be heard,
With love, Agony Aunt
Page 17
Message# 3
Dear Agony Aunt,
How do I care for a plant?
From “Wilted“ Hey Wilted! I’m not much of a plant expert, but I might give you some tips! First of all, make sure your plant gets enough sunlight and water (daily). Watch out for plant pests, which could destroy your whole plant; use a nice pot (why not decorate it yourself?); water the plant when the pot is noticeably lighter than it was when it was watered last. Anyway, I advise you to look it up on the internet, or to go to your local plant store and ask them for advice. Good luck with your plant!
With love, Agony Aunt
Message# 4
Dear Agony Aunt,
I sit next to someone who always picks their nose! I don’t want to
embarrass them but I don’t want booger on me! HELP! From “Trigger Finger“
Hey Trigger Finger, I remember when my brother had a similar problem only that he was sitting in front and the person behind would literally throw booger at his neck. Quite disgusting, yes. Well, fortunately this isn’t your situation. You seem like a really nice person, and I understand you don’t want to embarrass this person, but you could simply tell this person to stop it because it’s not very nice, you know what I mean? There’s no need to be rude, you’re just being honest :) Or if you really don’t feel like saying that, just ask the teacher if you can change seat, saying you can’t see the board from where you sit. That should work. Whatever you do, make sure not to put the other person in a difficult position.
Good luck on your booger quest! Love,
Agony Aunt
Page 18
Personality Quiz
Are you a relaxed type of person or a stressed out
one?
(answer all the questions and see what kind of person you are)
1. It’s Friday, you have the whole weekend to do homework, so you:
a) Call a friend and you go out with them
b) Spend a games night with your family
c) Start doing your homework for Monday
2. There is a math test tomorrow, you’ve been studying the whole week for
it, you: a) Decide you’ve been studying a lot and it’s time for a break
b) Give yourself a break and promise that you’ll study a bit more later
c) Continue with the studying, it is never bad to study a bit more
3. Just before the period, you find out there is going to be a quiz, you:
a) Don’t really care, you’ve read your notes, you know the theory, no need to stress
b) Just scan through your notes to make sure you know the stuff
c) Nervously start reading your notes, thinking that you’re going to fail if
you don’t read them once again
4. You get a test back on which you’ve received a much lower grade than
you expected, you: a) Tell yourself everything’s OK and you can always fix your grade with the
next test
b) Are a bit angry at yourself for getting a low grade, but you’re optimistic that you’ll do better on the next test
c) Nearly cry and feel desperate, and your mood is spoiled for the whole
week
5. Summer vacation is finally here, you:
a) Start calling your friends to go out and you make plans how you are
going to spend your summer b) Lay on the couch for a few days and then gradually start planning your
summer
C) Start working on the summer assignments from school
*Look at your results on the next page :)*
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RESULTS:
Mostly a):
You are a relaxed person who enjoys life and does not stress easily. You don’t care about things that might bring tension to your daily life and you
are very optimistic about low grades on tests or quizzes, because you can
always fix them. You like going out with friends, even before tests and you
believe that you’ve done your best in studying for tests or quizzes. tip: Although grades are not as important as what you actually learn in
school, you can always put a little bit more effort in your preparation for
tests and quizzes.
Mostly b):
You are somewhere in the middle, you don’t stress unnecessarily. However, you care about you performance in school and you always try to
do better the next time. You like double-checking whether you know your
stuff before tests and you sometimes get a little upset if you score lower than you expected.
Tip: keep up with the good effort, but don’t overwork yourself.
Mostly c): You need to chill out! It is not the end of the world, it is just a bad grade
on a test you studied for, but obviously did not do as well as you expected.
There will be many more tests, so relax and maybe try a new tactic when studying that may be more effective. You care about your grades and how
you do in school. However, everyone needs a break sometimes, and you
definitely deserve one. Tip: don’t stress too much when you have tests or quizzes. Relax every
time you feel tired and most important of all, don’t worry whether you
know everything for the test, because no one knows everything (except Mr. Harrington, of course :) ).
Page 20
Horoscope
Aries: (21 March - 19 April)
YOU WILL WIN THE LOTTERY! Oh no, just kidding. What will happen to you is that you will meet somebody special, but somehow you will embarrass yourself in front of them. So careful what you say or do, but particularly where you walk.
Taurus: (20 April - 20 May)
Jesus himself could not have done a better job than you will do today. You will make your loved ones proud of you and your enemies jealous of you. So check twice that bottle of water you leave unattended in algebra class when you go to get something from your locker.
Gemini: (21 May - 21 June)
Just because people laugh at your jokes doesn't make you a comedian. Today you will face a terrible crisis of identity. It would be very helpful if you carry a mirror with you just in case your crisis gets worse.
Cancer: (22 June - 22 July)
Today you will disappoint someone and you will feel their pain because the will slap you in the face. Leo: (23 July - 22 August)
Not to make you feel bad, but even Dora the Explorer has a better social life than you do. But today you will have an amazing adventure, and it will change you completely.
Virgo: (23 August - 22 September)
The workings of the human heart have always been a mystery to you, but you'll soon figure them out, thanks to Mrs. Paliouris.
Libra: (23 September – 22 October) Love is in the air. Unfortunately, so is the flu. Breathe at your own risk. Scorpio: (23 October – 21 November)
You know that crush you’ve had since third grade? The one you lovingly stare at all the time? Yeah, we all know. It's not going to happen. We all feel sorry for you, life is unfair.
Sagittarius: (22 November - 21 December) People love you. You're perfect. Oh wait, this was actually intended for the Capricorns. Sorry!
Capricorn: (22 December – 19 January) People love you. You're perfect.
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Aquarius: (20 January – 18 February)
Don't kid yourself. You're not going to get a date to prom.
Pisces: (19 February – 20 March)
High school doesn't last forever. Except it will for you. That sucks.
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Wishes for the New Year:
1. Health and lots of laughter. Alina Tavlaridou
2. We hope that everyone will be happy. We hope that we have less
responsibilities and homework as students. Grade 9 students
3. I hope that you have happiness and never fight. - Sindi Poda
4. Stay healthy because without health we can't do anything else. Be
strong and keep a smile on your face. Laughter is the best cure for
both the spirit and the soul. Keep the mind healthy and everything
else follows. Above all have fun and enjoy yourselves! Petroula Rosiou
5. Moral equality in the world with less hunger, poverty and fear.
More kindness, understanding and tolerance among people, combined
with respect for our environment. Above all, friendship for everyone.
David Gibson
Top English Assignments
English 9:
What is a Literature Log?
A literature log is a reader’s record of how s/he understands and
reacts to the literary works that s/he is reading. Each time you write in your log, you create an entry. In each entry, you choose how you want to
respond to the story, and you can use various modes of expression, such
as writing and / or art. The main requirement is to read the story very carefully, to think deeply about what you have read, and to respond
personally to the text. After you have read the text carefully and have
begun to reflect on what you have read, you are ready to write in your literature log.
Dr. Manney
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Eleni Omiridou
Literature Log #1
Fahrenheit 451, pages 9-64
Connect a part of the story to your life
I believe that there is no such thing as an ideal society because
there will always be people that are not happy with the environment that
they live in. Similarly in the book Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, we
have two types of female characters, a depressed yet happy and narrow-
minded housewife, Mildred, and a young open-minded, mature and wise
girl called Clarisse. Mildred is satisfied with her life which includes
speaking with “iconic” relatives through a smart TV, taking happy pills
and listening to voices all day with sea shells that she places in her ears.
These are some methods that society uses to satisfy people, but they are
cheap tricks that society uses to provide occasional happiness. Clarisse
wants to live life, learn about new things, explore new things and to read
books. The way in which society deals with people like Clarisse is making
all the people think in one way. They chose to do so by providing narrow-
minded education, changing history and burning down all the books that
exist. The effects of this educational system is that people think about the
same things such as cars and clothes and never talk about other topics.
There is no depth in their lives because everything is made obvious so that
they don't have to think. Even art is abstract, it contains no depth or real
meaning but it’s only splashes of paint on a canvas. In the joke-boxes
there are always the same jokes playing again and again. These are
examples of the negative effects that such a society has. In other words,
life is monotonous and everything and everyone is the same because there
is no difference.
Another example is when Montag, while at work, realizes that all of
the firemen have the same look. This is another example of the negative
effects of unification in a society. By making everything be the same, there
is no difference, therefore there is no discrimination. Although there is no
discrimination, people lack freedom and are restricted to a look that
society sets. Furthermore, people are restricted to thinking according to a
mindset that society sets. However, people have partially succeeded in
creating a controlled society because people like Mildred are satisfied with
their lives. Society wants to maintain the people's satisfaction by not
allowing them to learn the truth that is found in books.
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By not knowing the truth, they are happy with what they have. In the
society that is described in Fahrenheit 451, there are people who track
down people with books with the help of mechanical beasts (hounds) and
burn down their books. These men are called firemen. This specialized
department has been established by society because the rulers fear that if
the people have access to history through books and compare the way that
they live in their society with the way that people have lived in the past,
they might protest and rebel.
The theme “Ignorance is bliss” can describe this society. In many ways
society aims to destroy history and anything from the past or at least
change it in ways that satisfy their needs. A specific example on page 15 is
when Clarisse asks Montag “Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out
instead of going to start them?” On page 48 Montag asks the other firemen
the same question and they take out their rule books where it is written
that the fire department has been “Established, 1790, to burn English-
influenced books in the Colonies. First Fireman: Benjamin Franklin.” These
two passages clearly demonstrate the way in which society manipulates
historical facts and changes them so that they can satisfy their purposes.
The aim of society is to drug, brainwash the people, make them to not
think and not question the laws and history. On the other hand, there are
people that are not happy with this society, like Clarisse. She is one of
those unsatisfied people who isn't happy with the knowledge that they
teach in schools, thus she doesn't attend school. Additionally there are
people that own books and don't agree with the act of burning books.
One of the major issues of futuristic societies that Ray Bradbury
criticizes through Fahrenheit 451 is the dangers that might come with the
evolution of technology. I believe that technology can be used to better our
lives; however it all depends on the user and how they will chose to
manipulate it. They have two options: to use it in a bad way or a good
way. To conclude, not everyone can be satisfied in a society and not
everyone's needs can be met, thus a perfect society doesn't exist.
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Inna Gjoleka
Literature Log #1
Fahrenheit 451, pages 9-64
Diary Entry Written by Clarisse
I happen to have very interesting news that I have retrieved from my
observations. I have been communicating with one of my neighbors called
Guy Montag who is a fireman, although he acts really differently from the
rest of them. It kind of reminds me of myself, you don’t know how much
he has changed. The first time I met him he was simply laughing at
everything I said without a reason; I never said jokes of any kind to him.
Now he has changed, he listens to me just the same as he did before
but he thinks about what I say, I can see he does, and I find it interesting.
What will happen if the rest of the firemen discover that I asked him about
books, or the fact that he thinks about things in the first place? In this
society thinking can only be obtained by reading, which is illegal, but I
think that Montag has turned this around.
I think he is trying to demonstrate to the world that even one person
can make a big difference and as impossible as it might seem I think that
it is an important lesson in life. I mean it feels awkward to have a fireman
interested in books or nature rather than fire. I often wonder how many
people’s lives can it change? Maybe even whole societies.
Although I have to admit people here need to learn lessons way more
sophisticated than just that. Believe me I have gone around this whole
place and I have seen others as well, and I am disappointed that they are
just the same like people in other neighborhoods I’ve been to. No one here
talks about anything, they just keep repeating the same things in every
single conversation. I really think that this technology is brainwashing
everyone into forgetting everything they do, and not leaving space for any
information to be said. Everyone acts the same way, all workers of one job
do the same thing and think the same way. The firemen are a good
example of that, well, except for Montag. I think that people should learn
how to control their lives and how not to allow for other to take over them.
It’s actually scary how many people get killed from car accidents by others,
or how many have been getting overdosed lately because someone said it
was good for you (I have heard the emergency people pass by my house
several times), and random television voices hypnotise people to make
them believe in another world.
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I may be crazy about liking leaves and rain and by not going to school but
at least I have figured out how to own my life and make something special
and useful with it.
Clarisse
Anna Gjoleka
Literature Log #1
Fahrenheit 451, pages 9-64
Connect a part of the story to your life
The book Fahrenheit 451 has a lot of messages to offer. If you study
these messages, then you figure out that they have many connections to reality, even though they come from a fictional book. An important
message that this book transmits is that technology is starting to make
people feel empty and confused. An example of this is on pages 59-60. In this passage Montag is thinking about how he wouldn’t cry if Mildred died
from overdose, and also he realises he doesn’t have feelings for Mildred. In
his opinion they are very separated because of the television walls. This is
central to the meaning of the book for various reasons. So far throughout the book Montag has been changing from an ignorant fireman into a man
that is knowledgeable, and this passage symbolises his change. It gives us
a better perspective of where the story is heading to, for it allows us to get a better view of how fast knowledge can transform people. Also, this
passage gives a perfect demonstration of how the families are in the world
Montag lives in. Everyone seems to be taken or hypnotised by television, and this makes them forget about everything. No one seems to remember
what happens and yet they don’t care. In my opinion this shows that
people have started losing their sense of feeling, and knowing that the book is an action story, I would say that this has an effect on the plot. I
mean Montag is changing and he wants to change the rest as well.
This passage can also be used to explain what is going on in reality. Ever since technology came to be, people are so caught up watching
television, or playing video games, or even chatting with friends through
social networks, that they don’t really have time to stay with others and
develop clear feelings. It is as if each person gets trapped in their own world that they forget about reality. For them reality is but a blur, that
passes by without them realising. I would say that the message above
that technology is starting to make people feel empty and confused is relevant to reality in many ways; now people are more individual. A good
example of this is when people go on the bus with headphones, and they
don’t bother to say good morning. Also often the information that people get on the Web isn’t accurate, and can be misleading. For example, when
you look up a word and you get thousands of results, how many of them
could possibly be true?
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Something else that the use of technology may do is distract people; for
example, if you speak on a cell phone, you are completely blocked out of reality. Your concentration level is so low that you don’t know what’s going
on. In a television show once they did an experiment where a clown on a
monocycle passed in front of people that were talking on the phone, and no one noticed him, even though he was so out of place. This proves that
the message is relevant to reality. So just because a book is fiction it
doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a connection with reality.
Funny pictures :D
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Editor-in-Chief Reporters
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