Spring 2016
Holocaust Education Day
Issue 3
Students compete in Geo. Bee By Sofia Paredes
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Tennis
The Geography Bee was a competition in which independent schools from all over South Florida sent students to compete in, but in order to send these students, they had to go through a whole process. First, a quiz was given to all Miami Country Day middle school students in their social studies class. This quiz covered world geography and was very difficult, since we had learned about very little of questions in school. The quiz did not count for a grade, but the four students that scored the highest from each grade then moved on to the next round. The next round took place in an assembly in front of all of middle school in which the 12 were asked questions about geography. If you got two questions wrong, you were eliminated and were asked to sit down; the five students that were left on the stage were then going to move on to compete at the Geography Bee with other schools. At some point in the assembly, five students were asked to sit down, but there were four students left on the stage. The five students that were asked to sit down were asked to come up to the stage again, where they competed for the last spot on the Geography team. The last two students that were competing for last spot were Matias Lacau and Isabel Bozdogan. After being asked many questions each, Matias Lacau
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Photo by Mrs. Greenfield
From left: Luc de Wilde, Matias Lacau, Itai Arguetty, Sofia Paredes, Tamara Bhardwaj won the competition. Competing on the actual stage to be in the team made me very nervous because I knew that if I answered more than one question incorrectly, I would not be in the team; I was also nervous because I had to think fast when I was asked
a question in front of all of middle school. Also, some of the questions asked were very difficult.
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Thespians act like winners By Belle Greenberg
8th grade trip
The Jr. Thespians are back and better than ever! After leaving their first competition with seven 'superiors,' the highest rating, and two ‘excellents’, the second highest rating, the MCDS middle school Jr. Thespians rocked the stage at the state competition. The Jr. Thespians left the competition with 10 ‘superiors’, three EXCELLENT, one ‘good’, and even a Critics Choice Award! The Jr. Thespians performed in many different categories such as drama, singing, and makeup. All of the competitors performed amazingly and went home with nothing but wins.
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Staff Editor-in-chief: Ananda NavesPenkwitt Head Copy Editor: Belle Greenberg Reporters: Rachel Hodes Ilan Zenatti
“I am overjoyed and overwhelmed,” said Pops, the co-founder of the Jr. Thespians. “Mrs. Avalos and I took this project for the first time in MCDS history. Just with the idea of getting our feet wet and familiarizing ourselves with the competing for the coming years, so that they were SUPERIOR in Districts, and then again in
Photo by Rachel Hodes
Mrs. Avalos and Pops led the junior thespians to success at Districts and States. States was surreal. I’m so proud of them and I’m looking forward to next year, and adding more Jr. Thespians next year in the competition.” “I was excited to perform and see others perform,” said Anastasia Brosda, a competitor who performed a monologue at the competition. “I also liked watching the group acts in the big theater.”
“I was most excited about seeing other performances from the rest of our school, because each performance is different, and it is exciting seeing how everyone has improved both with confidence and style,” said Camryn Davis, who sang at the competition.
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Midterms move to January By Rachel Hodes Midterms, oh midterms, everyone's favorite. This year for the first time in many years, the midterms in the middle school moved from December to the end of January. “We felt students were too pressured before their winter break from midterm exams, plus it wasn't really enough time,” said Mr. Mathes, the director of the middle school. “The second quarter does not end until the end of January anyway, so it turned out they were taking midterms and then continuing with the second quarter for another two weeks, so it made no sense.” “I went to each sixth grade home room and talked to them,” said Mr. Mathes. “I think most of them think it is better to have one exam a day. Since we took off the table, at least for next year, the idea that it would be between before winter break that’s not an issue it has to be where it is. I think most of them wanted to see
one exam a day. So it isn’t impossible to go back to that. I want to get everyone’s opinion and I want to get parents opinions because many of the parents have problems with the kids coming to school for three hours… If we stay at two exams a day, there will be about a three hour break between exams which will include lunch, including probably an hour before the second exam where students return to advisory and have an organized revised study hall for that.” Ms. Cabrera, the assistant director of middle school, is in charge of the schedule for the midterms. Social studies teacher Mrs. Holcman said, “With the change it did not feel like there was a definitive ending to the first semester,” said She did not like the new change in date. She felt that her students were capable of more than what they were being asked to do in that time frame. English teacher, Ms. Lewis, said, "This means I
don’t have to grade six classes of midterms, and in English there is lots of writing." “I would prefer for it to be an hour and a half,” Ms. Lew said. “It’s because I do a lot of writing and if I ask them to write a creative story with vocabulary and then an essay question where they have a choice, they need to take some time to prepare it. Then, I would like them to edit their work and have at least, 10 minutes to go over everything.” Eighth grader, Giulia Zamboli, likes the new change in date for the midterms because it makes it easier for her to study. Giulia does not want a longer break because she doesn’t want to lose her focus in between tests. She also likes two test per day because she gets to get it over with. “I like the change, because it just made it easier studying so we don’t have to worry about it over the break,” said Jackson Halliwell, eighth grade.
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Holocaust Education Day
8th grade meets with survivors.
Photo by Mr. Fallik
Anastasija Moskvina, Ana Mota, Ana Julia Macedo reflect at the Holocaust Memorial, Miami Beach.
Photo by Ananda Naves-Penkwitt
Raquel Koss provided welcome remarks to her classmates and the visiting Holocaust survivors.
Photo by Mr. Fallik
The 8th grade had a unique and enlightening day learning about the Holocaust.
Photo by Mr. Fallik
Survivor Herb Karliner shares his story with Joel Cohen and Franco Ferreira de Melo.
Photo by Mr. Fallik
Joseph Weider, Jack Bergman and Tara Julien ask Marty Beranek about his experiences.
Holocaust Education Day
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Photo by Mr. Fallik
Holocaust survivor Magda Bader tells her story to Daniel Saydkhuzhin, Davin McCormack and Joel Cohen.
February 9, 2016 was a day no one will forget; Holocaust Education Day. All of the survivors were coming out of their cars waiting for us to greet them. They all had smiling faces and were ready to tell their stories. We are all privileged enough to hear such amazing but terrifying stories coming from someone who experienced the horrors of the Holocaust. The day started off with students either reading poems or stories, which were very influential. Each survivor had different stories to tell, all of the students were put into different groups to hear some of the survivors’ stories; we didn’t have time for them all. One of the survivors who stood out to me the most was Alex Gross. During his time in the camps he was side by side with Elie Wiesel, a very famous author. He never gave up; he always fought for survival, and never underestimated the power of God. He entered the camp when he was 14 years old with his siblings and that same day he saw his parents executed. He was separated from all but two brothers and had no idea where his other siblings were or if they were dead or alive. The fear and the pain he and his brothers went through was nothing to be compared to. We all sat listening and wondering if he could ever beat this war and ever be free again.
Student reflects on this special day. By Tyler Knohl
horrible times and defeated the doctor and his horrendous experiments.
and your courage you can defeat anything.
The survivors are all happy to tell their stories and would give anything up to educate the people still in the dark. All of the survivors had different experiences in the Holocaust and some were worse than others. Personally I felt that I could conquer anything after hearing their stories; with the power of yourself
When the morning was coming to an end more children gave their speeches and closed the beginning of the day. After we left the survivors all of the eighth grade class went to the Holocaust Memorial and learned a lot about the Holocaust and other things that happened during the horrible time.
One of the survivors was a twin. Doctor Mengele experimented on both him and his twin. Both twins were put under horrible and painful experiments and were not numbed or given any Tyler Knohl listens to survivor Alex Gross's story. anesthesia. They both survived the
We learned even more things than what the survivors told us. When we all finished the scavenger hunt we reflected about our day. While we were at the memorial I felt like I was influenced by the survivors to do whatever it takes to defeat a horrible dictator. It was a very hard and meaningful place to be in as well as had different things that were new to me that happened in the Holocaust. As we walked we saw different stamplike pictures that explained to us what happened in the Holocaust that some of us might not have known. My thoughts were rushing through my head and I was thinking many thoughts about how they actually survived the pain and the horrors. As reading the information on the walls and realizing how hard it was for all of the Jews to experience these times, I realized how lucky we are to be here and be safe. The students were very interested in all of what the survivors had to say and their stories. We all told what we were feeling, thinking, and really thought about it and what horrible things happened. Then, after reflecting and speaking our thoughts, we returned back to school.
Photo by Mr. Fallik
Not one person will ever forget the horrors and the terrors of the Holocaust and that we can’t ever rewind what happened, but we can prevent another one from happening. We will never forget the day that real Holocaust survivors told us their stories, so don't take what you have for granted because there are not that many left.
Around MCDS
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Students' voices should be
HEARD By Ananda Naves-Penkwitt
Six years ago was the first time in a while that the middle school eighth grade participated in the now annual oratorical contest. This year's prompt came from the question whether technology is an enrichment or a detriment to our lives, and each student has a lot to say about this topic. “Technology is definitely both an enrichment and a detriment to our lives," said Helena Perez, the second place winner and a 3rd year student here at MCDS. "Our generation would not be able to live without basic necessities like plumbing, refrigerators, traffic lights, transportation, etc. We also couldn’t live without our phones, laptops, and recreational uses of electronic devices. It only becomes a problem when we allow electronics to consume our lives, when we become dependent on them to succeed.” The prompt last year was very similar, written by Mr. Fallik, the eighth grade social studies teach and team leader, and Mrs. Lew, the eighth grade English teacher who has been working here for 31 years. It was the first topic that wasn’t given to the school by the prior organization used to sponsor the competition.
Mr. Fallik said, “We always try to find topics that are relevant and personal to the students and certainly technology is something the students use on a day to day basis, not only at school but in their personal lives.” The judges even had thoughts on the topic: The humanities department chair and English teacher that has been at Country day for 10 years, Mrs. Gallup, a judge in the competition, said, “I believe technology enriches our lives, though many students made powerful observations regarding the ways technology can also be detrimental.” Mr. Brown, an upper school humanities teacher said that is that it is a combination of the two, “We're using it now to communicate, so that seems positive to me," he said. "On the other hand, my wife got mad at me earlier this evening for looking at my phone instead of making eye contact with her while I was listening.” Living in today's society as part of a generation of people raised with accessible technology everywhere, one can be bias, but the kids have excellent points.
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Photo by Rachel Hodes
Winners (from left): Alexandr Bondarenko, Andrea Berman, and Helena Perez.
7th grade trip postponed By Ilan Zenatti
As every 7th grader was looking forwards to going to Washington D.C in December, a decision was made to postpone it to May. The 7th graders will have to wait another seven months instead of a week. Mr. Mathes said, “It was because at the time there
Roman Rabbat
was a terrorist attack in Paris, then the terrorists threatened us, which made the parents become concerned.” “The abundance of caution from other schools also warned the school,” said Ms. Pasqualin, a 7th grade teacher. The reason it was postponed was the attacks in Paris and threats made on America by ISIS. The number of concerns made by parents were enough to postpone the trip.
Lucas Zayden
Although many teachers did not like this decision at first, some did. Washington is a colorful place as we are going in the spring and also that we won’t have to wear heavy winter clothes. “I do not like the decision because it will be much hotter and we will not be able to go ice skating,” said Pietro Landell, a 7th grader.
“At first I was disappointed,” said Ms. Pasqualin. "Then we, the teachers, decided it was a better opportunity as it will be warmer, we will not have to wear winter clothes, and there will be more daylight for more activities.” “It is unfair because they weren't under a threat and we didn’t have a choice,” said 7th grader Mack Tracy. All in all, the question about why trip was postponed is because of ISIS terrorist threats. The 7th graders will be on the trip from May 2 to the 4th.
“I did not want to postpone, but I think I made good
Geography Bee cont'd We then had our five students to compete at the Bee: Luc De Wilde, Matias Lacau, Tamara Bhardwaj, Itai Arguetty, and I, but Sofia Paredes and Isabel Bozdogan were subs if one of us could not make it to the competition. The original plan was to compete for the spot of captain after the five were chosen at the assembly, but we did not have enough time. Ms. Pasqualin then decided to make me captain of the team because of my score on the initial quiz. Being captain meant that I was the one to answer questions at the competition between other schools, which meant that I had the final decision.
By Sofia Parades
decision,” said Mr. Mathes, “The weather was bad on the original date, the season we will be visiting Washington this year will be wonderful.”
On Thursday February 18, everybody on the team arrived at school at seven a.m. and we drove down to Coral Gables to a reception hall where the competition was. The competition was set up in a way where we were against another school: when we were asked a question, we all huddled to come up with an answer, and then I told the judges our answer. If we answered cor-
rectly, we received a point. If we answered incorrectly, the other team had a shot at answering the question. The same thing happened to the other team. Every team played four rounds in the morning, and one round in the afternoon: if you lost that one, you would be eliminated. Our team won that round in the afternoon, and we moved to the next one. At that next round, we lost against the team from St. Thomas the Apostle and were eliminated. Overall, it was a very good experience but I think that if we would have had more practice we would have reached further. Everybody on the team knew about different things, which would be a disadvantage sometimes because it made us argue about the answer, but most of the time it was an advantage because we were able to answer pretty balanced answers. I definitely think that Miami Country Day should send a team to this competition next year.
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Middle school chess is on the board Our MCDS chess team is a team of lower, middle, and a few upper school players who are considered to be superior players. Traditionally, chess is not easy to play and nobody is born knowing how to play. It requires a lot of training and practice in order to even try to match up to our strong competitors. It’s a lot more than just moving a few pieces until you get to eat each of the pawns. “My dad inspired me, and he said that I would be good at it because I have a very good memory,” said Dario Martin, a sixth grader on the team and in the elective. “Learning how to play is easy,” said Connor Sastre, “but you may play against someone who’s better than you. I would say it's hard because you have to be strategic and think outside of the box to be a good player. Most players in chess will just move pieces. You have to learn how to gain initiative to want to win.” “It is not hard but it takes a lot of focus and patience for long games,” said Joseph Aming, an eighth grader on the team and the winner of various different titles at multiple competitions. Chess is a
very difficult sport. That’s a fact. But it’s not just the challenge that drives the players to work hard, it’s their genuine love for the sport. Their determination really shows how much they love the sport. “I enjoy going to the competitions because it’s fun competing against other people,” said Justin Kleidermacher, a seventh grader who is on both the chess team and in the elective. “I like going to competitions,” said Connor. “I like going because I feel like it's a chance for me to get better. I can also practice in the chess elective with other players. We normally study chess. I like going because I get better and I get a lot of experience.” Competitions are hard. In order to compete in national competitions like the chess team, you must practice, train a lot, and work hard for it. The amount of skill and strength that the players have is extraordinary. It’s no wonder that the players have won titles at national tournaments. “I am confident in my team because we have many good players that always do their best,” said Justin. Dario Martin, a sixth grader, has won some amazing titles. In fact, Dario finished second in the US National Grade Champions in Orlando in December! For someone with his age and experience, that’s quite an impressive accomplishment. “I am confident in my team because we are all good players and we play as a team and we behave as a team,” said Dario. “I feel confident when I play because I have the mentality that I’m gonna win everytime and I have
trained enough to play.” “I am very confident because our team has won regional, state and national championships in the past, and we are even stronger this year,” said Joseph. “I have grown since taking extra lessons after school and especially now that I have chess as an elective with Grand Master Henley. I believe that my two coaches will take me to the next level before ninth grade.” As many of you know, competitions are stressful. That’s just how it is. Many people probably crack under pressure, but that doesn’t apply to our strong group of players. “Playing chess is only stressful when playing extremely strong opponents in serious tournaments,” said Ron Henley, the chess elective teacher and chess coach. “At that level, chess consumes a lot of nervous energy. As for teaching chess, when one has students who really want to learn, it is a pure joy to see their eyes light up as they find a solution or work things out for themselves. That moment when a teacher sees their eyes light up is more thrilling than winning trophies could ever be.” “It can be stressful if people are watching close to your game or you are in the last round, competing for a trophy,” said Joseph. The team is doing very well. Many of the members have been playing for many years. But there are a few players who have shone through who haven’t been playing for that long. Based on the results from the tournament, you can bet that they dedicate as much time as they can to memorizing strategy and practicing. “Joseph and Connor have each
gone up a few hundred rating points and between them have won several K-8 sections in local events,” said Mr. Henley. “They both have considerable upside left and I believe they may still be under-rated. Our top four MCDS players are more mature and developed, so improvement comes at a much more incremental pace. You never know which one of them will break out and have a big result followed by a another upward rating spike.” Chess is very time consuming. From finding time to practice and training to competing at various locations, it’s no surprise that chess takes up a lot of time. But with the right mindset and determination, the players manage their time well. “Chess is time consuming because you need to practice a lot and you compete throughout the week,” said Justin. “Chess is time consuming because you have to think a lot before you move and you have to wait for your opponent to move before you can go,” said Dario. All in all, the players are doing great. All of the players are competing to the best of their abilities. Each of them are confident. The players all enjoy the sport very much and everyone can agree when we say that this won’t be the last you hear of the MCDS chess team!
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G h t 8
p i r T e d ra
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8th grade tours the South Contributors: Maria Silva, Isabella Stripling, Tatiana Barnes, Autumn Flint- Burns, and Asha Yearwood 1st Day I wake up at 3 am this morning and head to the airport. There’s a huge line and group of kids waiting there, surrounded by teachers. All the kids with checked luggage need to wait in line for about 20 minutes before getting in their groups to head to security. The way our trip will be organized is in buses and the sub groups will consist of our chaperones having up to 12 students. My group consisted of Hannah Amoils, Hanna Cohen, Jack Finvarb, Jack Bergman, Sophia Cabarcos, Sami Loeb, Alex Levine, Julian Kovacs, and Ethan White with our group leader being Mrs. Cabrera. My bus is also bus three, including everyone else's in my group and Mrs. Cabrera’s. The group leaders are the following staff: on bus one, Mr. Fallik, Mrs. Mahoney, and Mr. Johnson. On bus two, Mrs. Fulton, Mrs. Lucchi, and Mr. Fifer, and last but not least, bus three included, Mrs. Finny, Mrs. Avalos, Mrs. Cabrera, and Mr. Dearacama. We boarded the SouthWest airplane at 5:40 am to Georgia getting to choose wherever we want to sit. We landed at 7:40 am at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport meeting up in our groups and walking to the bus. We drove straight to CNN Studio with the tour director on the bus pointing out things and places about the city. CNN Studio is massive. It has the longest freestanding escalator in the world. It is a former amusement park, with the original awning painted like a globe. We receive tickets to a tour at a specific time depending on each group. I have the second to last tour so I get to have lunch at the food court.
Photos by Mr. Fallik
Being disoriented with times because of getting up so early, Hannah Amoils and I end up having lunch at 9 am at BurgerFi and getting drinks at Starbucks. The inside of the building is like a small city. The Omni Hotel is placed right behind the Cartoon Network shop and it’s all inside of one building! The tour starts and we head up the escalator into an area with a replica of the desk used on T.V. We take pictures before being lead through a sliding door that reveals a movie theater room with multiple TVs at the front of the room showing us how the director dictates what people should see at what times on the news channel. They even put on the sound so we could hear her talking. We walk around and learned how the weather green screen works and even got to see the shows being filmed in action. We see the food court from the top and where they keep the breaking news room. We see the CNN people working and learn about their social media and apps which are surveyed and worked on 24/7. At the end of the tour we are all emptied out at the gift shop were the popular purchase ended up being the snapbacks. We left shortly after this, crossing the street over and walking to the Georgia Aquarium! The aquarium is huge and we walk in pairs of
two. There are tons of marine life here and even a glass hallway revealing all the kinds of fish, turtles, sharks, and more, to us. There is a huge glass wall in a sectioned off area where a staff member of the sea-quarium had dived in and teaches us about what she does. A presenter who was with us in the room would also help answer any questions we may have had and held a microphone attaching to the woman's ear piece so she could also answer questions. Did you know that the reason sting raise do back flips in the water is to clean out the passage in their bodies were food moves through? After this we only have a few more minutes so we go see the Beluga Whales and back to the bus for our three hour ride to the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, AL. We eat our lunch on the bus and get off at an old looking building. We enter the Rosa Parks Museum by going through security and meeting on the other end. It was more of a tour in the end, so we walked around listening to the guid. There were videos depicting her life and her situation. She was one of the many people who represented the civil rights movement in the 60’s. The museum held a lot of lessons, but so did the city in general. Where the museum ended the tour just began. We got to visit The Court Square and Fountain. From the courtyard we had
a view of the Alabama State Capitol. The ‘Big Basin’ as the fountain is referred to, had, earlier in history been used as a slave market. To have all these experiences was touching and inspiring. To see how much we’ve evolved is eye opening, but it’s important to learn from these mistakes. On the way to Odeza’s Blessings, a restaurant that kindly hosted us, we stopped by Martin Luther King Jr’s house and saw were his porch was bombed. We saw the governor's home as well as other important government buildings in the area. To experience the full western dinner experience was amazing. The trip was filled with new cultures and especially dinner was exception. In addition to colorful foods, we got to speak with Rosa Parks’s neighbors, the Reverend and Mrs. Graetz!
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Class Trip
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Asha Yearwood: "Overwhelmed with gratitude." Continued from previous page
They sacrificed everything for the civil rights cause. They put their family in danger and when asked Mrs. Graetz replied that the threats only made her want to stay more because it proved that there was so much more to fix still. With both The Reverend and Mrs. Graetz being white, moving to Montgomery for her husband to pursue his job as a priest in an African American community could have been a very risky decision. Nevertheless, they both moved and started a family while being welcomed to the community nicely. Their move only became dangerous when the Ku Klux Klan started threatening their family, home, job, and even their lives! One night, The Reverend explained, the KKK left a bomb that no one could stop once the fuse was lit under their house. It could have killed his family and even his nine day old baby! The bomb, by some miracle didn’t go off, but unfortunately it was one of the many strategically placed locations where they one was left. There were bombs all over the houses around their neighborhood that the main bomb, the one mentioned earlier, was supposed to set off. Of Course this attack didn’t go without destruction. Thankfully, captured and tried the culprits were stopped. This family is one example of the many people involved in supporting the African American community throughout the bus boycott and standing up to the government in efforts to bring justice to such a great crime against humanity.
Day 2 We woke up the second day and had breakfast and got ready for the day. By 8:45 the last bus left the hotel and we were set. The first stop was at the Civil Rights Memorial Center. We walked in and got to browse the museum for a few minutes before we were given a talk about civil rights and then were ushered into a room where we saw a video about the more specific people who helped forge this cause. Our tour guide lead us through more informative parts of the museum to a room with a huge screen wall. Names were falling from the top down like on a computer screen. She explained that it’s called The Wall of Tolerance. There are a few stations of smaller touchpad computer screens underneath which we each got to sign. Essentially, we had signed a code to accept and perform tolerance with any and everyone we met. After everyone signed she lead us outside to the main part. The civil rights memorial was very powerful. It is a dark granite fountain in the shape of a circle. On the outsides are the names of the people who died during these desperate times and acknowledges their importance. Kids got to run their hands through the water and it moved each of us to touch something with such a strong meaning. Maria Silva, an eighth grader says, “It was very enlightening to be given the opportunity to sign the wall because it signifies that everyone who signed it, which ended up being all if not most of our grade, will work to make the world a place with more equality and less discrimination.” Next, we stopped at The First White House of the Confederacy. We walk in, shoulder to shoulder in two lines. A woman descends from the stair case and proceeds to tell us that the house was moved from across town to be in its current location. We are sent on a scavenger hunt throughout the house and in the end we have a quick meet up, regarding the infor-
mation we just learned, and the winners of the scavenger hunt. After the meeting we all got lunches and set out to Selma. An hour later our first stop was The Edmund Pettus Bridge, as described in eighth grader, Asha Yearwood's words, “Walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in between my integrated class made me grateful for the school I am apart of and the opportunity that I had at my fingertips. Back in the 1960’s the dynamics of my eighth grade class was unthinkable. Even the mere idea of having an integrated school caused some to rage out or panic. When I think back upon what happened on that bridge, I become so overwhelmed with gratitude. I become thankful for the fact that I am living in an era where African Americans have achieved so much, I become thankful that I am at such a diverse school, and lastly I become thankful for all of the opportunities God has blessed me with.” An hour after this, we made it to Gaineswood Plantation. As said in Asha’s words once again, “The plantation really caused me to take a step back and think about the beginning of the civil rights movement. At first, I was reluctant to go to a slave plantation, after all, slave plantations are places not many people may want to visit. However, in the midst of walking around on that brisk winter day, I realized that because the south couldn’t bear the fact of letting their slaves go, they took it upon themselves to belittle African Americans. Because of their desire to keep their property, they began something bigger than they could ever imagine.” After the plantation, we drove to Birmingham and at seven in the evening and had dinner. After dinner we got to go to Vulcan Park Lookout! “In Vulcan Park, which is also located in Birmingham, Alabama, we went atop the Vulcan Statue which is 56 feet tall. The view from the top of the statue is breathtaking. You have access to a 360 degree bird's eye view of the city. Because we went to Vulcan Park at night, it was dark, which only gave a better experience. From the balcony of this statue you could feel the wind against your skin while you saw the lights of the city from above. You could see all your peers below, but from your perspective they looked like ants. It was a spectacular experience that some may considered terrifyingly amazing!” Explains Isabella Stripling, an
eighth grader. This wrapped up our day and we headed back to the hotel.
Day 3 Day three was the last full day that we had on our trip. All the kids are out of the hotel at 8:30, headed to Kelly Ingram Park. As shared in Isabella’s words, “ From January 26th 2016 to January 29th 2016, the 8th grade class of 2020 took a trip to some of the south western parts of the Unites States. In this trip, we went to many different locations. Two of which were Kelly Ingram Park and Vulcan Park. In Kelly Ingram Park, which is located in Birmingham, Alabama, I was impacted by the statues that surrounded me. The experience of walking in this beautiful park, with the statues all around you, giving you information, telling you stories all in themselves, was very impactful. From the statue of the four little girls, to the people behind bars, Kelly Ingram Park is a place where you can appreciate your freedom and reflect on the terrible monstrosities of the past. “From Kelly Ingram Park to Vulcan park, and everything in between, this school trip was like no other. We got to learn about history for ourselves, and experience it through others. We got to learn things, feelings, experiences, that no textbook could teach us. This trip, as well as these parks, were a reminder of the past, as well as a lesson, so that we, the students of this new generation, can learn from our mistakes and flourish.”
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Jr. Thespians go Speaking to States out Continued from page 1
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“What I am most looking forward to going into the State competition is the experience,” said Natalie Berman, a competitor who acted at the competition. “Whether I come home with a trophy or not is not what really matters. No matter how I do, I will be able to improve as an actor because I get to hear professional feedback from the judges on what I can do to improve for next time.”
Natalie Berman
This is the first year that MCDS has had a middle school Jr. Thespians team, and they certainly started off with a bang. Not only are they some of the most talented students in the school, but they are definitely some of the best performers in the state with some of the highest scores at the competition!
“At the competition I showed the judges my drawings, pictures of the makeup I did, instructions, and concept statement on my makeup for the three witches from Macbeth by William Shakespeare,” said Giulia Zamboli, one of the Thespians that competed in makeup design at the competition. Giulia not only received a ‘superior’ rating, but she also was awarded with the Critics Choice Award (Best in Show) for makeup design!
Pops
Photo by Belle Greenberg
From left: Aden Karp, Sabrina Cohen and Natalie Berman “Just watching all the amazing actors in the halls rehearsing, and watching some perform set the standard higher and higher. It was quite exciting too because it was great to see all of our hard work channeled into the day we all waited for.” “Well I thought I seemed a little nervous which was good for me because I was extremely nervous,” said Giulia, “I think I explained things well and that they understood my reasoning. So overall, I think I did well in the ‘performance.’”
“The competition was not very stressful, but intimidating,” said Camryn.
When it comes to acting, singing, dancing, and makeup, this talented group of performers are ready for anything. This
8th grade class trip Continued from previous page
We went to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute next. We walked around and learned many crucial things about the movement. We got to see electronic and interactive exhibits and even art. To finish off the day we travelled to Memphis to attend a blues concert and have dinner! One of the more unique experiences we had on the trip was going to the New
Stevie Port, an eighth grader and nominee said, ”My favorite part is that I get to influence other with my opinion and my least favorite part is that it was hard for me to reach the required time frame.”
He says that the hardest part of judging was that all eight of the speakers could have won. That just to pick three out of this unusually talented group of kids was very difficult, and since he spends most of his time in Primary Hall and not with the students it was very nice to see what they’re doing.
The entire grade participated in the contest to get nominated. Ms. Lew judged the competition and says, “When I see them in my tracks, and I get to pick the ones in the semi finals, that’s incredible to me. I have to tell you this, today I was almost in tears with all the wonderful papers I was reading, I’ve taught you how to write and it’s coming out, and that means the world to me.”
“I think I performed really well,” said Sabrina Cohen, who performed in the drama portion and received a ‘superior’. “Being nervous actually helped because it made me not laugh.”
“I thought the experience at 16th Baptist church was very sad to see all the things that happened to innocent people. Stemming from the four little girls that died in the bombing, to all the people that came there after running away from the police to be protected from being beaten or injured. To be in the same place and same position they where made you feel what they did but can never truly do that because we weren't there. The video that was shown showed how many people of different races supported what Martin Luther King Jr. said. He was true and right, and after all of the pain and suffering came to an end, we are where we are now. There's still much work to be done to have true equality,” Joseph Aming, an eighth grader says.
not only developing the content but then the delivery of their message.”
The nominations included Sofia Paredes, Helena Perez, Amaris Rios, Jack Finvarb, Stevie Port, Asha Yearwood, Andrea Berman , and Alex Bondarenko although the entire eighth grade participated throughout the competition.
Competing in a state wide competition is nerve-racking enough, but it’s even worse when you’re all by yourself on a stage with several judges watching you and you’re on a time limit. But that didn’t stop the fearless competitors.
Directly after the the park we walked over to he 16th Street Baptist Church.
The contest nominees each were happy for all their hard work paying off.
Daisy Theater in Memphis, Tennessee. Once we unloaded off of the bus, we crossed the street to a venue were Bad Apple and Big Boy were performing, a local blues band. The duo consists of, Sean bad apple, lead guitarist and vocals, and Big Boy, the drummer. Although, unfortunately, Big Boy couldn’t make it so one of Sean's friends stepped in. The music was loud and people even were invited on stage! By the end of the show we had a dinner of soft shell tacos, and people were on the stage having fun. Soon after we got to the hotel and got ready for bed. Day 4 Today is the last day and everyone is already used to the schedule that works with the hotels. We’re all shuffled out by 8:30 and head to the National Civil Rights Museum. Maria explains, “In this memorial, we got to see the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. He was killed in the balcony of a motel room and on that balcony there is a flower wreath. This was a very powerful museum. The exhibit that I
experience has taught every single competitor a thing or two about performing. And those lessons will not be soon forgotten. “They all did absolutely amazing,” said Pops. “They exceeded my expectations in Districts and certainly in States by scoring the highest scores, SUPERIOR, out of all the States teams.” “There are many things I could have done better,” said Camryn. “No performance is ever perfect and you can never deliver the exact same performance twice.” At the end of the day, every Thespian did their best and gave it all they could. Even though not everyone went home with a ‘superior’ rating, you can bet that this won’t be the last we see of the Jr. Thespians.
The speeches were to be in between a time span of 5 minutes long and had criteria regarding the author's performance. Some of the things she looked for while grading was, voice projection, hand motions, and interaction with the audience. Once the nominees are in, the chosen students are assessed by a panel of judges, which included the staff and more. Some of this year's panel included: Rick Muhlig, Amy Gallup, Samuels Brown, Dan Bronish, Glenna Milberg, and Christy Angelo. Mrs. Gallup says, “...I love to see our students participating in events such as this one. Ms. Lewis asked me to judge a few years ago, and I told her I would be honored. I believe that I’ve been a judge almost every year since the competition started, though I didn’t judge last year when my son was in 8th grade.” Dr. Davis elaborates, “The opportunity to hear a young person on stage in front of all their peers, and teachers and to present and to have spent all this time and energy
There are many things to learn from this competition and with a message to all the sixth and seventh graders, Ms. Lew states, “ Well the ones that behave themselves and didnt laugh and carry on like banshees, I would like them to understand that they’re going to get to do that and that if I'm here when the 6th graders are 8th graders it’s an ongoing process, and the ones that didn’t behave better learn how.” All in all the competition is for the students and audience to learn from their experience. The 1st place winner being, Alexander Bondarenko, 2nd place, Helena Perez, and last place, Andrea Berman. “From these speeches, I want people to learn the power of words. If they get up onstage and present a speech regarding an important topic, they have to understand that what they present will influence someone one way or another. it is important to be mindful of what you put out there for everyone to see. We all have the power to inspire and connect.” Says Helena. Some advice the winners give to the upcoming nominees is to practice your speeches before you deliver them because it’s just as scary each time they go on stage, and to make sure there are no pauses or ums in their presentation. They say to even memorize some parts. As shown with Alexander who memorized the entire speech! Although technology might not be an enrichment the oratorical contest continues to be.
remember the most was one where there were people drawn onto glass and wherever I would walk their eyes would follow me. There also was a voice monitor that would explain the lives of these people and the struggles they went through such as being attacked by the KKK.” Tatiana Barnes adds, “The national civil rights museum, to me, was the most powerful museum of the whole trip. This museum was the most dynamic because of the motel showing the room where Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated, the room where James Earl Ray shot him from, and the gun that he used.” We soon had lunch at Central BBQ, “The food at Central BBQ was amazing! I have had southern BBQ before but It wasn’t like that before. The meal felt so comforting and being there with my friends made it feel more like home,” says Tatiana. The last stop of the day was Graceland! In Autumn Flint Burns’ words, “Elvis Presley has been one of my favorite artist since I can remember. So as you can imagine, being at Graceland was like a two year old being at Toys-R-Us. I was told the time limit on the bus, and I had then decided, I was on a mission. I was to see Elvis’s house, his airplanes, his amazing car collection, and still buy gift for my family. I didn't see the car collection. As a whole, the eighth grade trip was one of the best school trips I have ever been on.”
Photo courtesy of Andrea Nelcha
From left: Isabella Stripling, Andrea Nelcha and Camryn Davis
Sports Making a splash! By Belle Greenberg
“Water polo is extremely fun and enjoyable to me because I am doing it with my friends and there are amazing coaches,” said Elliot Karp, a player on the boys team. “I have been playing water polo for four years,” said Giulia Zamboli, a player on the girls team. The coaches are very excited for this season because, although many of the players from last year have gone to high school, it just opens up the doors for new and skilled players on the teams. “I’m really pleased so far with the teams,” said Mr. Fallik, the water polo coach. “There’s a lot of talent out there. We got a lot of athletes from other sports, and they seem to be picking things up really quick. They’re a nice group of kids who seem to respect each other.” “My favorite part about water polo is the games that we compete in,” said Jack Lombardo. “It's really intense and everyone is really happy." Water polo is very hard and requires a lot of
strength and endurance. It also takes a lot of dedication, time, and practice. “The hardest part about water polo is treading water,” said Giulia. “It is basically the type of leg/kick motion we use to float. It gets easier as you play, but you have to tread for 30 seconds with your hands out of the water maybe on top of your head which is definitely hard.” “Coaching is hard,” said Mr. Fallik, “It’s not just about teachings skills. It’s about motivating athletes and creating enthusiasm.” “Water polo is extremely fun and enjoyable to me because I am doing it with my friends and there are amazing coaches,” said Elliot. “This season we have a lot of girls on our team, and I'm excited to get to know them and see how they play,” said Giulia. “I love the teamwork in water polo,” said Olivia, “If you want to be on a hard working team, this sport is right for you.” The water polo teams are two great groups of athletes who will strive for victory. Whether they win or lose, nothing can break the bond between the players. That is the greatest victory of all (although winning isn’t that bad).
Photo by Open I Studio
This is 7th grader Helena Ramos's first year playing water polo.
Lacrosse team Serving up thrives aces By Jovan Joseph
Have you ever seen those boys running around with their sticks, passing a ball smaller than your palm around? You might have heard of our MCDS middle school lacrosse teams. The A-team is a group of talented young men who work hard every day to improve their game. With Annika Janzon and Catharina Giacian as the managers, this group of bold, talented athletes are sure to win the championships this year. For those of you who don’t know about the sport let me teach you a little. In lacrosse, there are 10 players on each team and these include a goalie, three defenders, three midfielders, and three attackmen. Within these positions, there are four captains who are chosen to represent the team at various times on and off the field.
Our middle school captains are scholar-athletes named: Jovan Joseph, Ryan Mendelson, Noah Markofsky, and Jack Finvarb. You may have seen these young scholars walking around, you should stop them some time and ask them a few questions about being a great lacrosse player. The A-team have a winning record of 11-3 and have their chance of winning the middle school championships on April 9th at Ransom Everglades School. Come support your fellow Spartans! On the other hand, the middle school B-team is a team full of bits of talent and upcoming stars such as Patrick Lovelace and Daniel Estupinan. The B-team had stars like Aden Karp who won every faceoff and took off for the goal, Lucas Zayden who scored when goals mattered most, and Romain Vinois who played every position needed no matter what the cause. Maybe you should join the lacrosse team next year and join the MCDS lacrosse family.
By Rachel Hodes
There are two middle school tennis teams, a boys and a girls. “Last year the girls won the conference championship and boys were runner-up . We have a strong team and hope to do well,” says head coach Janet Haas, who has coached for 10 years. “We do a lot of drilling and we work on our serves and we do ground strokes," says Coach Janet. Maria Salazar, 7th grade, says, “I have been playing tennis for four years now. When I came to MCDS my dad said to pick a sport and tennis always caught my attention. Simona Halep always inspired me.” Jackson Halliwell, 8th grader, has been playing tennis for 9 years. He looks up to Nadal, and he has won five matches and lost only two. “When you want something you
have to train really hard, you have to really know what you want,” exclaimed Maria Salazar. “I have been playing tennis for about eight years now. I decided to start playing because my dad played professional tennis when he was around fifteen years old," said 6th grader Lucas Chemla. "My coaches have helped me improve on my stroke and strategies to play tennis." Allexii Bassette, seventh grader, said, “My favorite drill is touch the fence. My least favorite drill is, actually none of them.” “My dad was a champion in his school and college and I was kind of brought up with tennis," says Camila Burton. "I look up to my dad." Helena Perez, also in eighth grade, says, “I have been playing tennis for nine years. I first started playing tennis because my parents forced me to. I grew to really enjoying it."
"“When you want something you have to train really hard, you have to really know what you want!”
- Maria Salazar
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Home run, Spartans! “I have been doing it since I was three and a half years old,” said Zachary. “My dad played and I like watching and I saw my dad sign me up “Growing up I had a lot of friends that came for it.” Zachary’s favorite practice is when he and his to this school and it gave me the opportunity to help my friends little brothers and family friends dad work on sliding on the slip and slide. His grow up,” said Head Coach Jimmy Simpson, the least favorite is straight up conditioning and running. head coach at MCDS. “I think the coaches Assistant coach Haderer are helping me imsaid, “The kids are a lot of prove,” said Dhillon fun to work with, they lisMurphy, seventh grade. ten really well, they are a “I like IO’s (infield outlot of fun to be around, and field) and batting. they work hard.” There is no least faCoach Haderer said that vorite practice, baseball right now the team is strugis baseball.” gling a bit. Although, they “Because, I just finare getting a lot better at ished soccer and I had practices, they played a nothing else to do, so I doubleheader in Marathon decided to try somethe 27 of February where thing new,” said Davin they won 8-7. McCormack, eighth “Probably wiffle ball is grade joined baseball. the kids favorite practice “We are doing pretty and their least favorite is good, but we're missing probably when there is a lot Joseph Weider catches a fly ball. a couple good players of running involved,” said this year so we are tryassistant Coach Broderick. ing ourbest overall.” “They do not like that at all.” “I think I am doing pretty good this season,” Seventh grader, Zachary Wyka; eighth grader, Daniel Saydkhuzhin; and Jacob White, also an said Daniel Saydkhuzhin, eighth grade. “They eighth grader, according to all the coaches, are just refined form so that I don't get injured.” Considering all of this the baseball team is durthe star players of the middle school team. ing well for such a young team!
By Rachel Hodes
Wrapping up winter sports By Ilan Zenatti The Winter sports this year went over the expectations of most people. There were three athletes of the week for middle school basketball and two for soccer. The girls basketball team went undefeated for the whole season! Anyways, all the results of the middle school teams are below: (Middle school soccer boys/girls ; Middle school basketball boys/girls) The girls middle school basketball team ended the season with twenty wins and no losses, they went undefeated for the whole season. The team contained ten players and three coaches, not including head coach Shenequa Johnson, and basketball director Ochiel Swaby.
Swaby. Noah Markofsky, an eighth grader, won the most valuable player award, Ryan Mendelson, a seventh grader, won the spartan award, Ethan Mayer-Perez an eighth grader, won the most improved player award, and Jack Finvarb ,also an eighth grader, won the coaches award. The girls middle school soccer team ended the season with nine wins, eight losses, one tie, and eighteen games overall. The team had twenty seven players, and the team had five coaches not including soccer director Kyllene Carter-Weiss. Andrea Nelcha, an eighth grader, won the most valuable player award, Becky Bibas, an eighth grader, won the coaches award, offensive player of the year award went to Mia Batista, a seventh grader, defensive player of the year award went to Mia Larson, an eighth grader, and the Spartan award went to Maria Silva, also an eighth grader.
Congratulations to all our winter athletes!
Jordan Fishman, a seventh grader won the hustle award, eighth grader, Tatiana Barnes won the coaches award, Rianna Washington, also an eighth grader, won the most improved player award, and sixth grader, Sydney Shaw won Rookie of the year.
The boys middle school basketball consisted of two groups. First, the middle school junior varsity team, who ended the season with five wins and thirteen losses and eighteen games overall. The team had eleven players, had three coaches, and basketball director Ochiel Swaby. Frantz Blanc, an eighth grader, won the most valuable player award, Connor Batchelder, also an eighth grader, won the coaches award, and Torrence Mack, a sixth grader, won the most improved player award. The middle school varsity team had four wins, fourteen losses, and eighteen games overall. The team had fourteen players, four coaches, and basketball director Ochiel
The boys middle school soccer ended the season with nine wins, five losses and two tie, sixteen games overall. The team contained twenty four players and five coaches not including boys middle school soccer director, Jeffrey Watson. Alejandro Roye, an eighth grader, won the most valuable player award, offensive player of the year award went to Itai Arguetty, a seventh grader, defensive player of the year award went to Ethan White, an eighth grader, most improved player award went to Brandon Slavescu, an eighth grader, and the coaches award went to Edoardo Tardy, also an eighth grader. That is it for the Winter sports results and awards. As you can see, the Miami Country Day Middle School sports teams were very successful overall and the school hopes to see amazing results for the spring seasons too.
Icebergs vs Humans By Daniel Tzalik
7th grader Zachary Wyka prepared for the pitch.
My day in Middle School By Sophia Guarini I was so afraid of making a huge fool out of myself in front of all sixth grade! My teacher called our names to take attendance, and then they took us to one of the sixth grade classrooms to meet our buddies, my buddy’s name was Rachel Hodes. We started the day by going to her advisor. While we were in that room with about nine people she color coded all the tracks and told me what they meant. After that we went to Spanish, which was way more active and fun than Lower School! But one thing was for sure; this specific class made it easy to reduce the emotion of the special day. Everyone was presenting a dialogue, and it was interesting to watch everyone presenting. The bell rang and we all ran out of the Spanish classroom. Next was Journalism. As we walked, Rachel said that they have a really funny teacher and they always joked around with him and made fun of him. She opened the door that said Mr. Fallik on it and came rushing in saying, “Sorry I’m late the Spanish teacher held us back to finish our dialogue.” He said nothing and came right to the point, he had to make an announcement something about not doing this and that or doing that and this wrong. But anyways he calmed down and became his “normal” and funny self. So in the end we had fun, and we figured out that he was the teacher I saw at the
supermarket about one or two months ago. Then we had break, with a bake sale and lots of people including seventh graders and eighth graders (I think maybe even high schoolers) I never saw such thing. So then after that we have PE ( physical education ) which is basically the same as Lower School PE: Stretching, two laps running and then muscle and strength exercises. The only thing is that in Middle School you change before and after PE. After changing back into our school uniforms we went to STEM. I think middle school science has more experiments, and those really cool. After STEM we had lunch and what’s cool about it is that you get to choose a place where you could get your food and you can choose where you want to sit. After lunch we went to English where we learned about recognizing nouns. They also had a test about them and then they did a quick worksheet and then Rachel left me for the rest of the day (two more Tracks ) with one of her friends which was fine by me. Then with my new buddy we went to social studies, I never really knew what social studies was till then. Math in any case is way harder in middle school than in lower school, so many negative numbers and so many algebraic terms I didn’t even last 50 minutes… but other than that it had lots of interesting sides to it like how they calculate it and how they look at the numbers, I mean it might have only been like that when I was there. So I made it out of one day of middle school but I guess there’s more to life than one day of what’s hard, we’ll see how many scars I have when I get out of one year of middle school.
Have you ever thought about the similarities between an iceberg and a person? I know it sounds weird, but I have, and I am going to tell you about a few of them. Even though people and icebergs sound like completely different things, they are actually quite similar. Both icebergs and people start out with their families, as one. Icebergs start out as one big sheet of ice called a glacier, then a piece of the glacier breaks off and this piece is called an iceberg. This iceberg then floats off on its own into the ocean. Children are born, live with their family, become adults and then once old enough, they move out and float off into the world on their own. Another thing that people have in common with icebergs is, both icebergs and people are partially visible. Eighty-five percent of an iceberg is under the water which means you only see fifteen percent of them. This is a similarity they share with people, because when you look at a person you only see the physical appearance of that person and some aspects of
their behavior, whereas most of a person’s character, interests, and thoughts, remain invisible. For example, you are unaware of most of their, feelings, fears, ideas, etc. Finally, icebergs and people both can be dangerous. For example, an iceberg sank the Titanic. People can also be dangerous, when, committing crimes, stealing, and polluting the earth. In conclusion and much to my surprise, icebergs and people have a lot in common.
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And the Oscar goes to... Mad Max: Fury Road wins the most Oscars at this year's ceremony. By Ananda Naves-Penkwitt
This year's Oscars were on February 28, 2016. The show was hosted by Chris Rock. Leonardo Dicaprio finally won for his role in The Revenant after 5 nomination. The night was also filled with controversy. Due to all of the white nominees, the trending hashtag and boycott, #OscarsSoWhite, which was addressed by the host. One highlight was Lady Gaga’s moving performance of ‘Till it Happens to You’. As we all know, this prestigious event isn’t only known for its film recognition but also for its massive impact on fashion. Jennifer Lawrence was gorgeous in her sheer black lace Dior Haute Couture, and Alicia Vikander shined in a yellow Louis Vuitton gown that stood out against the carpet. Another nominee, Rachel McAdams, was stunning in a bold emerald August Getty Atelier dress with a cut out running down her leg. For the boys, I would say the best dressed would have to be John Legend wearing a grey Paul Smith suit. Next, Kevin Hart was dapper in a black suit with matching diamonds down the collar, Jared Leto was shocking in a black and red suit with matching rose. The list of nominees and winners were: BEST PICTURE The Big Short Bridge of Spies Brooklyn Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian The Revenant Room Spotlight - WINNER ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Bryan Cranston, Trumbo Matt Damon, The Martian Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant - WINNER Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room - WINNER Jennifer Lawrence, Joy Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road - WINNER The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared The Revenant
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Christian Bale, The Big Short Tom Hardy, The Revenant Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies - WINNER Sylvester Stallone, Creed
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE) Bridge of Spies Carol The Hateful Eight - WINNER Sicario Star Wars: The Force Awakens
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight Rooney Mara, Carol Rachel McAdams, Spotlight Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl - WINNER Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) “Earned It,” Fifty Shades of Grey “Manta Ray,” Racing Extinction “Simple Song #3,” Youth “Til It Happens To You,” The Hunting Ground “Writing’s On The Wall,” Spectre - WINNER
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM Anomalisa Boy and the World Inside Out - WINNER Shaun the Sheep Movie When Marnie Was There
VISUAL EFFECTS Ex Machina - WINNER Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian The Revenant Star Wars: The Force Awakens
COSTUME DESIGN Carol Cinderella The Danish Girl Mad Max: Fury Road - WINNER The Revenant
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY) The Big Short - WINNER Brooklyn Carol The Martian Room
DIRECTING The Big Short Mad Max: Fury Road The Revenant - WINNER Room Spotlight
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) Bridge of Spies Ex Machina Inside Out Spotlight - WINNER Straight Outta Compton
After 5 nominations in his career, Leonardo Dicaprio finally won for The Revenant.
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
8th grader attends Grammys
Track from: X BEST NEW ARTIST Meghan Trainor BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE Thinking Out Loud Ed Sheeran Track from: X BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE Uptown Funk Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars Track from: Uptown Special BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM 1989 -WINNER Taylor Swift
Here is a list of winners. By Ananda Naves-Penkwitt Hosted by LL Cool J for the fifth year in a row, the Grammys raised many opinions. Along with having really interesting categories this year's performances didn’t have the enticing theatrical sense that it did in the past years. We all love knowing who wins but the performances are a huge part and I feel like they were a bit repetitive. MCDS even had a student who attended! Katie Russakoff in the eighth grade says, “This year I went to California with my dad, and he took me to the Grammys. It is an experience I will never forget. It was a really cool experience to see the show in person and not on the TV. The performances were amazing. Its cool knowing that everyone there has something in common and that is that you all love music. Even though I left early, it was still an amazing experience and I hope I could go again some day.” One of the more surprising events that occurred was when Adele sang and her microphone and piano techs broke down. “The piano mics fell on to the piano strings, that's what the guitar sound was. It made it sound out of tune…” she Tweets on Valentine's Day. My favorite performance though, was Justin Bieber, Skrillex, and Diplo. Their song, Where Are Ü Now, not only won an Grammys but was a hit performance. With other performances touching people's hearts like Kendrick Lamar's powerful performance of his hit song “Alright”, “The
Blacker the Berry” and an all new debut song. It started with him behind bars and being freed, to him singing “Alright” and breathing fire. Easily one of the most important and poetic performances of the show. Lady Gaga came in close second when she honored her long time hero, David Bowie. From dimly lit shows to major scale performances the Grammys had it all. Taylor Swift was definitely in the latter category. Her, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber with Diplo and Skrillex, and many many more performed entertaining shows throughout the entire event. All in all, from the dresses, to the show and the winners, the Grammys is always a sight to behold. Winners: RECORD OF THE YEAR Uptown Funk Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars Track from: Uptown Special ALBUM OF THE YEAR 1989 Taylor Swift SONG OF THE YEAR Thinking Out Loud Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge, songwriters (Ed Sheeran)
BEST DANCE RECORDING Where Are Ü Now Skrillex And Diplo With Justin Bieber Sonny Moore & Thomas Pentz, producers; Sonny Moore & Thomas Pentz, mixers Track from: Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü BEST DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü Skrillex And Diplo BEST METAL PERFORMANCE Cirice Ghost BEST ROCK SONG Don't Wanna Fight Alabama Shakes, songwriters Shakes)
(Alabama
Taylor Swift walks the red carpet at the 2016 Grammy Awards.
BEST ROCK ALBUM Drones Muse BEST R&B SONG Really Love D'Angelo & Kendra Foster, songwriters (D'Angelo And The Vanguard) Track from: Black Messiah
Kendrick Duckworth, Kawan Prather, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar) Track from: To Pimp A Butterfly BEST RAP ALBUM To Pimp A Butterfly Kendrick Lamar
BEST R&B ALBUM Black Messiah D'Angelo And The Vanguard Label: RCA Records BEST RAP COLLABORATION These Walls Kendrick Lamar Featuring Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat Track from: To Pimp A Butterfly BEST RAP SONG Alright
BEST COUNTRY SONG Girl Crush Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose, songwriters (Little Big Town) Track from: Pain Killer BEST COUNTRY ALBUM Traveller Chris Stapleton
Disney Leadership By Alexandr Bondarenko
Photo by Mrs. Greenfield
The Leadership class took a trip to Disney Hollywood Studios to learn about decision-making and self-image.
This year the new leadership class (taught by Ms. Greenfield) went on a trip to Disney during late February. The main reason was to take the very famous leadership/personal-branding course in Hollywood studios. Since the course only took 3 hours and 30 minutes, the students got to spend their day in Disney on all sorts of rides, not considering lines. The students left on a Thursday, and took the course first thing Friday. The participants explained that the course was very hands on, and fun.
Sofia Gomez explained, “On Rock and rollercoaster, we learned about decision-making, and how when you take decision you can’t take them back, and once you make a decision it can be positive but you can’t prepare for it. We also watched the Muppets which showed us what being a leader was about; like not giving up, being courageous, making decisions, and motivating speeches. Lastly we talked about a spatula, how it could be a tennis racket, and how it could be used as a catapult it taught us how we can change,
BEST LATIN POP ALBUM A Quien Quiera Escuchar (Deluxe Edition) Ricky Martin BEST LATIN ROCK, URBAN OR ALTERNATIVE ALBUM Dale Pitbull BEST MUSICAL THEATER ALBUM Hamilton BEST MUSIC VIDEO Bad Blood Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar Joseph Kahn, video director; Ron Mohrhoff, video producer
and we can be whatever we want.” They also learned about how important Image is and how you can apply the same branding apple and McDonalds use to create an image of yourself. They also participated in many activities one of which was the “iceberg” activity were you would write things about yourself that you can find out by just looking (eye color, hair color, stereotype etc.) and things you have to talk to the person about to find out (traveled world, artist, known 3 languages etc.) and learned how important image is so that people will want to see beneath the ice berg. (Which you can’t see in nature due to light refraction index under water) Finally the students left for home tired and enlightened Friday night still having time to enjoy their weekend.