Monthly Archives: February 2020

Fire and Flooding Runs Rampant in Australia

Posted on by Standard Respond

By: Annika Deschler

The Australian wildfires are worsening before they are getting better and now there are floods too. They  are affecting the homes and lives of lots of animals and people.

The fires in Australia are damaging the forests and homes of animals and people. These fires are also known as the New South Wales bushfires. Lots of people are donating money to help get materials to fight the fire and supplies to give to people and animals. Around 100,000 sq. km of land has been burnt as of January 13th. The firefighters are using a combination of land equipment and aircraft to slow the fires and put them out completely. 

Let’s take a look at how the animals are doing now. The animals are running out of food to eat as it is burning in the fire. Koalas, Wallabies, Kangaroos, Cockatoos and more are some of the animals being affected. There are less than 100,000 koalas left. About 1 billion animals have died in the fire.

There are so many animals dying and people being affected. The temperatures are record-breaking. They are increasing because of pollution and global warming. The temperatures are making it harder to put the fires out. 

The fires are now getting slowly put out by the rain and we still don’t know if there is too much rain. It is now starting to flood. While this is being written the rain is coming down fast. The fires are being put out and it is flooded too. The floods are currently in northern Australia

In the end, Australia is at its worst and in some trouble. We need to try to help them in any way we can.

Remebering Gianna “Gigi” Bryant

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By: Campbell Phillips

Gigi Bryant was number 2 and the star player on her basketball team (2011-2020 Mamba Ballers). She was only 13 years old when she lost her life, she had much more life to live. Everyone feels a loss for Kobe and Gianna.

Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant was born on May 1, 2006. She was born in Los Angeles, California and her parents were Vanessa and Kobe Bryant. She was a granddaughter to Joe Bryant, Pam Bryant, Stephen Laine and Sofia Laine. Gigi was raised with her older sister Natalia and two younger sisters, Bianka and Capri. She had a very close relationship with her father, Kobe.

Gigi had planned to play basketball in college at the University of Connecticut. She decided to start playing basketball because her father had inspired her to. Kobe would always talk about how Gianna was a female version of himself. 

At 9:06 a.m., (Pacific Standard Time) on January 26, 2020, a helicopter departed from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, with 9 people aboard: Gianna and Kobe Bryant, 6 family friends, and the pilot. Due to the fog and rain that morning, most helicopters and aircraft vehicles were grounded. In the helicopter, they were on their way to a basketball game at Bryant’s Mamba Academy. At 9:45 a.m., the helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain in Calabasas. Kobe, Gigi, and the other 7 passengers were killed.

On February 7, 2020 Kobe and Gianna were buried in a private funeral in Pacific View Memorial Park. A memorial service will be held on February 24, 2020 at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. 

Solo-Ensemble Event Brings Talent to JMS

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By: Annika Blackburn

Recently, the Solo-Ensemble Event took place at Jefferson Middle School between four and eight o’clock in the evening on February 13. At the event, Jefferson students involved in strings, band, or choir volunteered to perform a song in front of a professional musician in order to receive helpful feedback. Even though students received scores based on their performance, the Solo-Ensemble wasn’t a contest event. I participated in Solo-Ensemble by playing my viola in a quartet that performed an arranged Mozart piece called “Andante”. Besides me, there were three violinists in the group. Playing in Solo-Ensemble was a very rewarding experience that helped me to grow as a musician and connect with other Jefferson students who have similar interests.

Almost every day in class, my strings teacher, Ms. Tsou, allowed my ensemble to practice “Andante” together. Playing a song with other music students makes you more aware of how important it is to play as a group when performing music. Everyone in our quartet had to follow the same rhythm and have the same “pulse” even though we were playing different notes. Participating in Solo-Ensemble helps to teach music students the importance of teamwork and how you can create something beautiful by working together. Learning to work as a group is the most difficult part of being in Solo-Ensemble for many students. My group got helpful feedback from our judge about breathing techniques and “sign language” that can help with this issue.

As previously mentioned, my ensemble performed a piece that was based on Mozart’s “Andante”. The song resembles a slow dance that is filled with lots of emotion. In my opinion, Mozart was one of the greatest classical musicians who ever lived. He composed many sophisticated classics during the mid-1700s. The Andante that my ensemble performed was based on a piece called “Piano Concerto No. 21”. “Andante”, another name for that piece, means slow and steady in the music world, a very fitting name for this song. 

When asked about her liking for “Andante”, Christina Tran, a violinist in my quartet, responded, “In all honesty, I enjoy the piece “Andante” because of how soothing, yet lively it sounds when played…This song is quite different from others that I’ve played, seeing as how the rhythm is more complex compared to the others that I’ve read. Listening to Mozart’s pieces, such as “Andante”, are quite enjoyable as his songs emit a certain feeling of nostalgia while listening,”

She later added, “Furthermore, the feedback we received, either from Ms. Tsou or the judge, helps greatly in seeing what I, alongside my peers, had done correctly as well as what could be improved for the future,”

In conclusion, the 2020 Solo-Ensemble was a success due to everyone who helped with it. Ms. Tsou, all of the judges, Jefferson’s custodial staff, and everyone who participated in the event are all to thank. I have enjoyed my three years of playing in Solo-Ensemble and look forward to participating in other musically-enriching events like this one. No matter what kind, music is a very important part of our community and our world.  

The True Cost of Fashion

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By: Savannah Cervone

The cost of fashion hurts everyone including the earth and its soil and the people who work to make the clothes we wear possible. The story behind the clothes we wear is very sad. 

Some people work in shops for over 10 hours a day for a low maximum wage of $10 a month. If they want a raise, more money, or to protest something, the owners who pay them or the police may beat them. They are trapped in this building sewing clothes. 

Fashion can hurt the environment. In one year, the average family buys about 70 pounds of clothes. According to the Huffington Post, an average family waste of clothes is 81 pounds.   From our country, that is 11 million tons a year. Can you imagine how many clothes get dumped in a dump a year and just get wasted and the environment has to break them down? Some clothes can even take over 40 years to decompose.

This is why fashion is harming the environment and people. Next time you go shopping, think about this and how what you buy can affect the lives of others.

Teacher Spotlight: Mrs. Williams

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By: Kiara Garcia-Reyes

In December, I did a teacher spotlight on Ms. Lopez and I really enjoyed learning more about my math teacher. So I decided to do a teacher spotlight on another teacher. I wasn’t sure which at first, but then we had a guest speaker in AVID and it turned out to be Mrs. Williams! After the class, I decided I wanted to do a teacher spotlight on the most enthusiastic science teacher I have ever met. Thank you to Mrs. Williams for taking the time to answer these questions. 

What got you into softball? What encouraged you to keep playing?
I started playing baseball when I was 6 as something to do in the summertime and then fell in love with softball after I learned to pitch when I was 10 years old. I kept playing for the love of the game and being decent at it.

Why did you choose to become a middle school teacher versus high school or elementary?
I am certified to teach grades 6-12 so I couldn’t be an elementary school teacher even if I wanted to (which I could not handle little bitties, haha). I kind of fell into this position since so many science teachers were retiring or moving positions the year I graduated. I never saw myself teaching middle school but now I love it. I get to teach a little bit of all the sciences which is really fun. 

Did you see yourself ever becoming a science teacher when you were a child?
As a child, I knew I wanted to do something with science and helping people but I always thought veterinarian or human doctor. 

What is your favorite part of being a teacher? What is your least favorite part?
My favorite part of teaching is getting to share my love of science with students and the deep conversations we get into.  My least favorite part is the disrespect, whether it is blatant or subtle. 

You’ve said before that since you were good at science you decided to study to be a doctor, why a doctor instead of something else involving science like neuroscience or microbiology?
I didn’t know all the of the options and directions that you could go.

What do you think is the most important thing for students to learn in middle school?
I think students need to learn how to navigate the world around them to find success in any type of situation.

What was the most challenging part of college for you?
The most challenging part of college was realizing that some things are out of my control and also Organic Chemistry 2, haha.

Mathcounts Adds Up to Great Experience for Students

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By: Annika Blackburn

Mathcounts is a nationwide math competition that is held every year for students ranging from grades six through eight. Teams compete through answering questions that test students’ knowledge of algebra, geometry, and their ability to think critically. Jefferson Middle School’s Mathcounts team is run by Miss Fox, a math teacher at Jefferson. For the past few months, students have been working together to solve practice problems at Friday meetings. Miss Fox picked two teams of students to compete at the Mathcounts Regional Competition. On Saturday, February 8 those students went to the Loomis Lab at the University of Illinois to compete against other middle schoolers in Champaign County. 

Although Jefferson did not make it to state, I still had a lot of fun last Saturday. During the competition, I worked on problems both individually and with the rest of my team. There are three rounds in the Mathcounts competition, the Sprint Round, the Target Round, and the Team Round. My favorite round of the day is the Team Round because working on complicated math problems as a team is much more fun than solving simpler ones by yourself. In order to determine the winner of the competition, the test proctor adds up all of the scores from each testing round that a school completes. That final tallied number decides which school is the champion. Mathcounts also has a special fourth round that is called The Countdown Round. The top-scoring individual from each school competes to answer challenging math problems in this round. The Countdown Round is an exciting oral test that is done in front of an audience with a strict, forty five-second time constraint. Every year I look forward to watching this round.

Recently, I interviewed Miss Fox, Jefferson’s Mathcounts coach, about her experiences in teaching math. Miss Fox has been coaching Jefferson’s Mathcounts team for about fifteen years. When asked about her experiences as coach over the years Miss Fox responded, “The experiences over the years have both similarities and differences each year. 

The same in that the students truly do embrace the high level of rigor that it takes to be successful in MathCounts. The problems are CHALLENGING! They cover all topics from algebra, statistics, and geometry,” 

Miss Fox was also asked about why math is important. “Math is the universal language. It is used at some level every single day in life, from grocery shopping to paying bills, to planning trips, to managing time. The language of numbers is truly like learning a second language. I believe everyone should be able to speak two languages to live a full and enriching life,” is her response. 

Miss Fox’s favorite memory of teaching Mathcounts was when Jefferson Middle School beat Uni High for first place at the regional competition and made it to state in 2003. “During the awards ceremony, the top three teams receive trophies. As the engineers were announcing the winners, the third-place team was announced as Franklin Middle School, the second-place team was announced as University Lab School – and the entire auditorium buzzed with excitement because Uni always seems to finish first. The first-place team was announced and it was us, Jefferson Middle School,” Miss Fox said. 

In conclusion, I have learned a lot from doing Mathcounts, not just math, but also how to work with other people in a team. During every practice meeting, students worked on problems in groups and compared answers. When doing math with others you learn more because you are able to combine the information that you know with the knowledge of other students in order to come up with the correct answer. Challenging problems help students learn more about math and teach them perseverance. I would recommend joining Mathcounts to any student at Jefferson who either loves math or wants to learn more about the subject. Mathcounts is overall an amazing program that helps students in numerous ways. It is a program that focuses on both team-building and growing your brain through solving new types of math problems.

Holiday Magic Show Reveals Magic Chemistry

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By: Matthew Ferrer

“It’s not magic;  it’s science!” – Noyes Lab Demonstrators

As the season is getting colder,  the University of Illinois’ chemistry department recently held a showcase.  The show could be viewed at Noyes Laboratory, a building by Campustown. It was shown on December 12 (7:00 P.M),  15 (2:00 P.M), and 16 (2:00 P.M). And, through it, my father and I learned the many wonders of chemistry.

Many children,  parents, and college students (including myself) attended to view the show on December 15.  We sat in the lecture hall of the laboratory. And, from this view, we were able to see the demonstrators that lead the show.  The atmosphere of chatting and energetic viewers gave me a boost of excitement. Then, as if on cue, the showcase had begun.

The demonstrators welcomed us very humbly with kind voices.  Then, they began their experiments. These ranged from color-changing water,  setting money on fire without it burning, and explosions! But, in all, they had chemical reactions in common.  If you paid close attention, you’ll see how each experiment dealt with substances and how they chemically reacted with each other.

The experiments continued,  each one getting more exciting as time went on.  Around the end, balloons were popping, substances were combusting,  and flames were putting reactions in motion. As the experiments concluded,  the experiments became much more bombastic and energetic. I was a little frightened at first,  but I was very entertained by the loud noises and great energy.

Although,  as with all things,  the showcase ended… But I’d been pleasantly surprised!  The evening concluded with a male demonstrator facing the audience.  Then, as the showcase was ending, he said that the area needed to be “cleaned up.”  Moments later, the front of the room exploded with bubbles, fully covering the demonstrator.  From the beginning until the end, experiments were done during the showcase. After all this, we grabbed some free punch and a cookie from the laboratory and went home with smiles on our faces.

If this story excites you,  and perhaps are thinking about viewing the show,  don’t fret! This science showcase is an annual event at Noyes Laboratory.  So, when it’s winter once again, just head on down by Campustown next year!  You’ll gain a stronger love for chemistry, as did I.

I also want to give a huge thanks to the Noyes Laboratory demonstrators,  staff, and the showcase funders. With all their help and expertise, they managed to pull off a chemistry show that entertained people of all ages.  Additionally, I’m giving a shout-out to Ms. Williams, the Scholars 7th-grade science teacher at Jefferson! She gave me the idea to attend one of the chemistry showcases.  Thanks to her, it’ll be a great experience that I’ll remember!

The Tragic Loss of Kobe Bryant

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By: Dayaneira Gomez

Lakers fans around the world are mourning the loss of American basketball icon Kobe Bryant. The 41-year-old died on January 26, 2020, when his private helicopter crashed onto the hillside in Calabasas, California, about 30 miles away from Los Angeles. The crash also killed eight other occupants. Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna (Gigi), her middle school basketball assistant coach Christina Mauser, Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa, Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton, and the pilot, Ara Zobayan.

The helicopter was believed to be going to the Mamba Sports Academy, where Gianna and her teammates Alyssa and Payton had a basketball game. It is located in Thousand Oaks, California, the training facility was co-founded by Bryant in 2018 to support young and aspiring athletes.

Los Angeles County fire chief Daryl Osby said paramedic teams rushed to the site after receiving a 911 call just before 10 a.m. on Sunday. “We had one helicopter fly into the incident with firefighter-paramedics on board,” he said. “Those paramedics were hoisted down to the incident, early into the incident, they did a search of the area for survivors. Unfortunately … all on board were determined to have been perished.” The cause of the crash will take a few weeks to determine, the fog was dangerously thick, which had prevented police helicopters, the fog is believed to be the cause of the crash.

“Have a good time. Life is too short to get bogged down and be discouraged. You have to keep moving. You have to keep going. Put one foot in front of the other, smile, and just keep on rolling.” — Kobe Bryant, 2008.

Book Review: Heroes of Olympus

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By: Lizzy Good

Have you ever heard of the Percy Jackson book series? Well, if you haven’t, it is about a young boy named Percy who discovers that he has the powers of a demigod. He goes on many quests in order to prevent an awful war from occurring. If you have heard of or read the Percy Jackson saga, I would recommend The Heroes of Olympus series. Many fans consider it a ‘second series’ to the Percy Jackson series. I will be reviewing this series, as I have just recently finished reading it.

There are five installments in The Heroes of Olympus series. They are called The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena, The House of Hades, and The Blood of Olympus. The page count ranges from 502 to 583. The plot follows many teenagers who are demigods. Their task is to prevent the end of the world. The main characters are Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, and Nico di Angelo. Frank and Hazel are Roman demigods, while all of the others are Greek. 

The Greek and Romans have always had a rough relationship, due to a theft that was performed by the Greeks. The Greek teenagers that were mentioned earlier are going to attempt to bring an alliance between the Greeks and the Romans, in order to protect the world from destruction. 

I would give this book series a four out of five stars. This series is very engaging and has a lot of action. The downside is that the books are very lengthy, and might take a long time for people to read. If you are a fan of Percy Jackson, then I would highly recommend this book series.

The Houston Astros Cheating Scandal

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By: Jake Mercer and Jackson Liong

Do the Houston Astros really deserve to keep the 2017 World Series title? At first, when the baseball organization found out about the cheating scandal the general manager and manager were suspended for a season. Then, the organization said, “nope, we’re not going to put up with this,” so they took it further and they decided to fire the Houston Astros general manager and manager. The Houston Astros were fined 5 million dollars and lost their first and second-round draft picks.

The former bench coach for the Houston Astros, Alex Cora) is the recently-fired manager of the Boston Red Sox.  This stinks for the Los Angeles Dodgers because that means that they lost two World Series titles in a row to cheaters. The Red Sox are being investigated for stealing signs and using electrical equipment to help them do so. The Astros might be guilty of using electrical equipment like buzzers to indicate what pitch is coming because after a walk-off home run by Jose Altuve in the 2019 ALCS, he didn’t want his team to ripping off his shirt (which is tradition after a walk-off to do that).  But then, he comes out of the dugout like nothing happened which makes everyone wonder if he actually did have a buzzer.

We interviewed Mr. Carpenter the 6th-grade Legends writing teacher at Jefferson Middle School and he said this “as a Yankees fan, it’s disappointing because I would have loved for them to win another World Series or two. Hopefully, the penalties will keep other teams from cheating as the Astros did.”

Now you have heard from Mr.Carpenter. This is Jackson Liong Jr. and Jake Mercer – Champaign Unit 4.