Greta Thunberg’s American Tour

By: Daisy Lewis

Greta Thunberg is a popular name, but some are not as familiar with her. Greta Thunberg is a 16-year-old girl who speaks up about climate change. She gives many speeches and became known worldwide fast. Recently, she went to America to see how she can help it. She also gave a speech here. 

She says, “New York City smells. People talk really loudly here, they blast air conditioning and they argue over whether or not they believe in climate change, while in her country, Sweden, they accept it as fact.” It wasn’t hard to decide how to get from Sweden to America however. She didn’t want to fly so she crossed the Atlantic by boat.  

“Greta taking on this challenge of sailing across on a race boat with zero comfort really shows her commitment to the cause and how far she’s willing to push herself,” says Boris Herrman. This quote says a lot about Greta and how dedicated and determined she is against climate change. 

While in America, Greta joined up with some of her fellow activist peers. Together they gave speeches and more to prevent climate change. Greta was trying to get America to help, but in one of her speeches adults started laughing. She gave this speech to the United Nations. She This did not stop Greta though. She kept on giving speeches. 

She feels proud of what she has done, but feels like she has not done enough. Her peers think that she is doing great and really making the world change.

Should The Big Bang Theory Be Taught In Schools?

By: Lizzy Good

The idea on whether or not the Big Bang should be taught at schools is not one that is discussed frequently. I personally believe that it should be talked about more often because it is a very controversial topic. 

I personally think that the Big Bang should not be taught at schools. My main reasoning for this is that it goes against some student’s religions. The creation of the Earth is a big deal in most religions and something that is very important. The Big Bang Theory is based on science and the idea that no type of god created the universe. This is considered Atheism, the idea that gods do not exist.

I believe that when the Big Bang Theory is taught at schools that it is teaching us another idea of the beginning of the universe, which is fine in my opinion. Though to me what is crossing the line is when people and teachers say things like, “The Big Bang is the way the universe was created.” I think that this is not okay to say to students who have their own beliefs. 

What I would find okay would be saying things like, “We think that the Big Bang was the creation of the universe, but we do not know for sure.” I find this okay because it gives off the impression that the people who believe in the Big Bang and people who have their own beliefs and religions respect each other.

Additionally, I don’t see any need to have the Big Bang Theory to be taught in schools. The reason for this is that people like me and others who have their own beliefs are constantly worried about offending others and being offended, if we did not teach the Big Bang Theory in the school, then no one would have to even think twice about it. For these reasons, I believe that the Big Bang Theory should not be taught at schools. 

Chick-fil-A Takes Champaign By Storm

By: Matthew Ferrer

It can be safe to say that most people can enjoy a great meal.  I can say that for myself. In the past, I’ve prided myself on being a food critic.  I’ve reviewed food, it’s taste, and even the atmosphere of where food is served. Today,  I’m back with another food review for Chick-fil-A and is chicken-oriented food.

First and foremost,  Chick-fil-A has had its grand opening very recently here in Champaign.  Try to stop by Prospect Avenue for a delicious meal (if possible)!

With that aside,  Chick-fil-A offers a wide menu of chicken.  You can get your hands on chicken nuggets, chicken sandwiches,  and other chicken products. Of course, you’ll have access to sides and drinks.  I, for one, ordered a delicious grilled chicken sandwich: a simple option, yet very juicy and flavorful.

I can state that Chick-fil-A has taken Champaign over very quickly.  This fast-food restaurant has gained lines as long as the eye can see.  Whether it be cars or people, you currently may not want to invest time in waiting at the restaurant.  There are far too many people wanting to sink their teeth into Chick-fil-A’s food!

Though I haven’t been able to directly walk inside myself,  I’ve seen the inside of the building with a good gaze. There’s a counter to order your food and seats to dine in,  the casual fast-food interior. Now, once again, I do wish I could’ve dined with my family and eat some food there again,  but the lines are far too long.

To be completely honest,  I have no idea why Chick-fil-A has been such a wild craze lately.  I get that its food has been advertised by social media to be great,  but what’s the whole commotion? I can’t truly decide on whether the food is good or bad in terms of flavor,  though I do believe there’s better tasting food out there in the world. You can appreciate some good chicken,  though.

If you have the patience and willpower to wait through a horde of hungry customers,  grab yourself a seat at Chick-fil-A at Prospect Avenue!  The food is sure to feel satisfying, like finally receiving that gold medal.  Although, the waiting time and general service seem to currently be a concern.

Jenny’s Book Corner

By: Jenny Liu

In this month’s Book Corner, Jenny takes a look at three other releases you may enjoy reading:

A Journey to the Past, Vivibear
I was hooked by the amazing story and Artwork in the very beginning. It is a great story for Romance and Shoujo lovers. The story is about a little Master, Gong Yao Ying, in order to accomplish the assigned tasks, she travels across the different periods. The stories are created after meeting with the famous historical figures.

Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP
A great manga about Sakura opens a book containing magical Clow Cards and they accidentally get scattered around Tomoeda. A creature named Keroberos comes out of the book and appoints Sakura to retrieve these lost cards  Now Sakura will have to fight all the cards and also compete with rival Cardcaptore Syaoran Li. Genres are Magic, Adventure, and Romance.

The Young Elites, Marie Lu
The first book to a three book series. It is a great day and I hope you enjoy it if you do get it. Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

The Sweet Sounds of the Fall Orchestra Concert

By: Annika Blackburn

On Tuesday, October 7 the Jefferson Annual Fall Orchestra Concert took place at Centennial High School. Ms. Tsou, Jefferson’s string teacher, both directed and planned this event. Sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade strings students all performed in the concert with friends, family, and other members of our community watching. Violins, violas, cellos, and bases all rang out confidently in Centennial’s large auditorium on this night. 

This is Ms. Tsou’s first year teaching strings at Jefferson and she did a fantastic job organizing the first concert of the year. She selected all of the music for the event and also helped students prepare accordingly. Tying in the concert music with the class curriculum was also a very effective teaching strategy that she used. In my opinion, she has been doing an amazing job teaching strings at Jefferson. 

When asked about how the concert went she responded, “The first orchestra concert of the year was a success! The Jefferson Middle School orchestras and Centennial High School orchestras worked diligently for the last two months toward our big debut, and gave the best performance of all our rehearsals…every student and audience member was able to connect with and enjoy any of the pieces performed at our concert,”.

Ms. Tsou also says, “Our next orchestra concert will be on December 9th and 10th. Since it is around the holiday season, we will play some holiday-themed pieces, while still including a variety of genres for more people to appreciate. So save the date, and come enjoy another round of awesome music brought to you by your fellow orchestra students!”

Ms. Tsou was also asked about how it felt to direct her first concert and she responded, “The process was quite daunting at first since it required a lot of coordinating and some public speaking (yes, even teachers get nervous!). However, I left that night feeling very thankful for all the support from families and teachers, and for our students’ hard work. I’m so honored to be a part of this community and excited for more concerts to come!”

An example of a song that Ms. Tsou selected for the sixth-grade ensemble to play is “Coronation Scene” by George Best. Some sixth-grade strings students have just started learning how to play their instruments while some have practiced seriously for over a year. It was a challenge for Ms. Tsou to select a song that would fit everyone’s unique skill level, but she sure did deliver. The sixth graders performed the song beautifully as well as many other songs that they learned from their Essential Elements Book. 

The sixth graders began their performance with songs played through pizzicato and gradually made their way up to more difficult, complex songs with tricky rhythms. Pizzicato is a method of play where the musician “plucks” each string with their index finger rather than using their bow to play, it is generally a beginner’s method that is used when first learning a song. 

The seventh graders also performed a very special piece called “Petite Tango” by C.B. Kriechbaum Jr. The seventh graders learned about tango music in class, so Ms. Tsou decided to make a tango one of their concert pieces. The seventh graders were able to display their developed knowledge of rhythm, intonation, and mastery of difficult passages through this song. They also performed “Scarborough Fair” by Brian Balmages and “Nightrider” by Richard Meyer. 

The final group to perform for this concert was the eighth-grade ensemble. They studied Mozart in class, so they played a song written by him as their opening piece. The piece is called “Symphony No. 17 in G Major” arranged by Campbell. The second piece that was played by the eighth-grade ensemble was called “An English Folksong” arranged by Terry McQuilken. The final piece of this concert was “Black Sea” by Gary Gackstatter. The eighth-graders were able to show their knowledge of contemporary music through this piece. Contemporary music is often hyper-modern and includes strange rhythms. 

Along with Ms. Tsou there were many generous people in Centennial’s auditorium on the night of the concert. There was a shortage of cellists in the seventh-grade ensemble, but luckily six eighth grade cellists were willing to step in to remedy the problem. The volunteering cellists had to practice three additional songs at home and had to work during lunch with the single seventh-grader. Their generous spirits saved both the seventh-grader from being overpowered by the abundance of violinists and Ms. Tsou’s nerves. Four members of the Centennial High School Chamber Orchestra also gave a helping hand. Since there were so few base players, viola players, and violinists performing in the eighth-grade ensemble, these high school students volunteered to come and add more dimension to all three pieces. Both the eighth-graders and high schoolers did their part to improve the concert. 

Jefferson and Centennial custodial staff also did their part to make sure that everything was in tip-top shape the night of the performance. Administrative staff also made everything run smoothly both before and during the concert. Many other performing arts teachers from the Champaign Unit 4 district also came by to supervise students and assist Ms. Tsou on the evening of the concert. The night ran smoothly and on schedule due to the cooperation of students and with the support of school staff. 

To conclude, Jefferson’s Fall Orchestra Concert was a success due to all of the hard work that was put in from many different members of our community. Ms. Tsou directed beautifully, school staff ensured that everything ran smoothly, and students worked hard to support each other. Not to mention, the immense support that is consistently given by the families and friends of Jefferson Strings Students. It really is more work than you think to attend concerts, encourage practice, and offer a warm round of applause after every song that is played. If families didn’t come to watch, then there really wouldn’t be any concerts at all. So of course, this annual fall concert was both wonderful and peaceful. Ms. Tsou worked really hard on planning it and will also be directing this year’s JMS Winter Concert. Hopefully, that one will be just as good, or better than this year’s Fall Concert. 

A Few Thoughts on School Rules

By: Paressa Thomas

I know school has rules and they are there for a reason. But sometimes, I think they shouldn’t be there (or at least not all of them).

As a student, I think there are certain things teachers should let slide – like snacks – but only if it doesn’t make any distractions. Now, I can’t talk about other students on this, but when I eat a snack it’s because I’m hungry or bored (like if the teacher keeps going on and on and I start to zone out). For me when I eat candy or chew on gum it helps me focus more on the teacher. 

I also think we should wear hoods and hats etc. I think we should wear them because they’re not bothering anyone except the teachers.  Out of all the bad stuff happening in the classroom, you out me for wearing a hood? I think we should be able to wear a hood, hats, etc., because what if we had a bad hair day?   Or, when your hood is down, students always put things in your hood like notes, pencils, pens, and erasers.

Those were the rules I don’t get, but there are some I do understand.  I think no fighting is a good rule because it helps students with their safety and it helps students get along with each other. I also think that the no phones rules are acceptable because I know if we have phones in class no one would focus on their work then we wouldn’t be learning anything.

A Guide to Gen Con

By: Kaylee Kirkland

Next year is the start of the 52nd year of Gen Con. Gen Con is a gaming convention; to be more specific, mainly board games. But along with all of the board games, there are so many side things that you can sign up for on the web site. There are things like chain mail classes, a random craft room, championships, and much more. 

New board games can also start out at Gen Con. Light Seekers is a good example of this. The card game was small because the business was focusing on a video game, so they released a card version of it at Gen Con. The card game was blasting in numbers and growing for about a year. But this year the developers stopped creating the very expensive now card game for no reason. 

Gen Con is a convention that takes place at the  Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Let me give you an idea of how big this thing is: take Jefferson and Centennial and put them on top of each other. Then, take four of that, smoosh them together, and that is this building!  Of course, you also have to add the fact that it’s connected to a huge hotel with events taking place in it. Then it’s all so connected to a huge mall in the busy part of the city. 

There are two main rooms in the building: the exhibit hall and the entertainment center.  The exhibit hall has a row of stands where people are selling their games. The exhibit hall is cut into one section for art and books and one for all of the board games on one side. The convention center is where you can play the games for free or if you signed up for a tournament. 

Around the convention, there are pins. These pins are free to gather throughout the center. Once you have all of the pins, you go to the front desk then they give you the ULTIMATE PIN! The Ultimate Pin has a number of years that it is and a dragon.

Oh, and there’s a big balloon monster. Every year in the main hall, there’s a man that crates balloon monsters. No one knows what it is until the last day when someone is picked to pop the balloon monster’s nose. 

If you end up going to Gen Con then good luck. I would highly recommend it!

Hong Kong Protests Intensify

By: Lyla Ware

What is the Hong Kong protest?
The extradition bill was introduced in April. It could allow criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China, under certain circumstances. Some people say this risked exposing Hong Kongers to violent treatment, which I agree with, personally. 

Hong Kong’s protests started in June, against proposals to allow extradition to mainland China. City leader Carrie Lam agreed to suspend the bill, but demonstrations continued and developed to include demands for full democracy. The bill was finally withdrawn in September. 

Nearly 2 million people go to the streets, forcing a public apology from Carrie Lam, as suspension of controversial extradition bill. More than 1,300 people have been arrested. increasing clashes between protesters and police, who demonstrators have accused of abuses.

The shooting in Hong Kong protest
Criminal charges were filed Thursday against the 18-year-old Hong Kong student who was shot by a police officer as pro-democracy protests hit a new level of violence. 

Police told NBC News the student, identified as Tsang Chi-kin, was charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer and rioting as tens of thousands of black-clad protesters took to the streets of the semi-autonomous territory Tuesday.

Police Intervention
Police had turned down a request by the Civil Human Rights Front to hold the march, but the demonstrators were undeterred, as they’ve been all summer.

Protesters retreated, but regrouped in the nearby Wan Chai neighborhood, setting fires outside a subway station exit and on the streets. They fled again after riot police advanced and the cat-and-mouse battles went on for a few hours before calm returned.

Police fired tear gas again later in the nearby North Point area after protesters obstructed traffic after brawling there earlier with pro-government supporters.