THE FLYER
Sycamore Junior High School
The Flyer is Back After an Eight Year Absence!
The 2015-2016 Flyer Newspaper Staff
Middle Row: Ella Wahlquist 7, Athena Eborall 8, Lindsey Brinkman 8, Kira Washington,7 Nikhil Gupta 7
Front Row: Gunjan Bahri 7, Mia Maniet 8
Not Pictured: Dahlia Wang 8, Caroline Skwara 8
What's Inside?
- School News
- World News
- Opinion/Editorial
- Spotlight ON
- School Sports
School News
It's BACK! The Flyer. Sycamore Junior High School's Own Student Written Newspaper
Check out the Sycamore Junior High’s school newspaper, The Flyer ! It's new, student-written, and student-run! The Flyer is online and accessible to everyone. It will have articles about school news, world news, popular gadgets, opinions, sports and many other topics. And guess what, you might be in it! To access The Flyer, check your Sycamore gmail account for an email from The Flyer, and click on the link!
The Flyer will have a new edition about once per month. It could have articles written by students just like you! It's never been so easy to be a reporter! Please send your ideas, articles, photos and entries to theflyer@sycamoreschools.org. Make sure it's quality writing and school appropriate. Don't embarrass yourself!
Coming soon, The Flyer will have it's very own Instagram account. Be on the lookout for thesycamoreflyer on your favorite social media!
Lindsey Brinkman 8
Make a Difference Day 2015
Saturday, October 24 was National Make a Difference Day. In 1992, Leap Day fell on a Saturday, so the magazine USA WEEKEND asked everyone to spend that extra day doing something for somebody else. Since then, it has spread across the nation, with millions participating. It is currently the largest day of national service. For the fifth year, the City of Montgomery’s Connect Montgomery has organized an effort to make a difference in our community. Go to http://connectmontgomery.org/make-a-difference-day/ to learn more about Make a Difference day in our community.
This year, on National Make a Difference Day staff and student volunteers went out into Blue Ash and Montgomery to rake leaves for the elderly and disabled. Led by Ms. Meyer and Mr. Dejoy, our students brought their own rakes and tools, and set to work. We had more families than ever before, and this year was a huge success. The weather cooperated and the patrons were very thankful. On Friday, October 30, some of our volunteers will go back to finish the job. Remember to make a difference everyday, and thank you to everyone who participated.
By: Athena Eborall
Should Mr. DeJoy be on that roof?
Stuffing Leaf Bags in Montgomery
Part of the MADD Crew
Second Quarter: Be Prepared
Second quarter is already here, and for some, it seems as if school has just started. Most students arrive on the first day of school, having high hopes of the oncoming year and expecting a productive and successful school year. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth for many students. Instead of joining many clubs, receiving perfect grades, and earning sports awards, students often scramble to finish assignments in Aviator Bell and during classes. Oftentimes, this is caused by putting off homework and the lack of planning. Here are some tips to not get behind in the new quarter:
1: Use a planner. Although this may not help all students, it is helpful to keep a planner to record homework assignments. A planner helps to keep students organized. However, they may find themselves forgetting to write down assignments. Students should build a habit to write down homework at the beginning of the bell, and to check their planner every night to make sure they have completed all of their assignments.
2: Eat breakfast and get lots of sleep. Students hear this all of the time, but it is essential to learn during the day. Many students are guilty of skipping breakfast in the mornings due to lack of time, but breakfast is very important to stay energized throughout the day. In order to make sure there is enough time in the mornings to eat breakfast, students can make their breakfasts the previous night or the weekend so that they can just grab the breakfast and go.
3: Practice taking notes and set good study habits. Many high school students admit that taking notes was the most important thing they learned in junior high that helped them to prepare and be successful in high school. Take notes in class while a teacher is reviewing a lesson or powerpoint, even if the teacher hasn’t asked the class to write anything down.
4: Prioritize activities. Friends and social media may seem extremely important to students now, but in the long run, many people regret not prioritizing school before friends. Balance social life and school life.
5: Set timers and goals to finish work. By setting time limits for themselves, students won’t get stuck on one subject. Students can also reward themselves after accomplishing a goal. This tactic gives students motivation to finish their work.
6: Think ahead and plan a homework schedule around extracurricular activities. If a student knows that they have a sport or club after school, they should plan ahead. On a busy night, students should try to find a way to complete their homework (for example, working on homework on the car ride).
By: Dahlia Wang
WORLD NEWS
A Small Football Dream
Who ever said that you have to be big to do great things? This one player achieves high above his goals, but stands below his classmates. Mario Herrera is 17-years-old, attends South Houston High in Texas, and was born with a birth defect called Unusual Facies Syndrome, keeping him at four-feet tall. But If you would have met him, he would be the big man on campus.
About 3 years ago, Mario hunted down the head football coach and requested to play on the junior varsity team. “I said, I tell you what. If the doctors approve you to play, I’ll let you play football.” said Coach Dwayne Lane. Mario did indeed get an OK from the doctors and got on the junior varsity team making varsity his definite goal. He definitely worked. He can do 62 pull-up in a row! This year, he finally got to put on that varsity jersey.
Then during the last part of one game, Mario made an incredible tackle that told the crowd he actually can do it. "And as he spins around I know I have him, I have him. I have to get him,” Mario said. "A couple seconds later I hear the PA announcing my name saying that I got the tackle. I hear the crowd cheering for me. It's an amazing feeling. That's a moment I will never forget."
Mario Herrera showed that you can accomplish anything if you have the passion and can put your heart and mind to what you want most. You gotta learn to have big respect for small things.
By: Gunjan Bahri, 7
Banned Books
Banned and Challenged Books Week was from September 27-October 3, but we can celebrate our freedom to read all year long. When a person or group of people try to restrict others access to a book, we call that book challenged. A banned book is when that book is actually removed off library shelves or from curriculum. This can be a threat to freedom of speech and choice. Our freedom to read is certainly a right we should celebrate.
Most of the time, a book is challenged by a concerned parent. However, the American Library Association, or ALA states that “Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents—and only parents—have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children—and only their children—to library resources.” This means that neither the government, nor libraries have the right to stop people from reading certain books. Only parents and guardians should have the right to restrict their own children’s access to library books and other resources. Thanks to the the efforts of many, including librarians, students and other supporters, as well as the First Amendment, we can read any books we want, without restrictions.
Celebrate your freedom to read all year round! Check out the banned books in our school library, or go to www.ala.org/bbooks to learn more.
The top three most commonly challenged books for 2014 were:
1.The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
2.Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
3.And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
By: Athena Eborall 8
Is Netflix Addiction a Real Thing?
Too much Netflix is having real effects on real people's lives, it distracts them and encourages teens & adults alike to lose sleep. Michael Hsu, a writer for the Wall Street Journal is one of them. He wrote an article called, “How to Overcome a Binge-Watching Addiction”. In this articlevhe shares that “it wasn’t until recently," when [Michael Hsu’s] compulsive late-night viewing of “Extant” was making [him] so tired that it was undermining [his] ability to be a good husband, father, and friend…” The Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-overcome-a-binge-watching-addiction-1411748602 . Who would have thought that something as simple as TV would be harming those aspects of people’s lives?
There are so many common side effects of binge watching shows that people have come up with a name for all of them: Netflix Streaming Syndrome or Netflix addiction. Though NSS isn’t a real disorder or acknowledged addiction by the medical world, there are two symptoms that indicate addiction according to an independent study from North Lake College: dependency and tolerance.
Dependency is when the matter of addiction interferes with the person’s life. Sixty-five percent of the studies participants reported sacrificing sleep and procrastinating their responsibilities so they could cuddle up with their laptop and do some binge watching.
Tolerance is a sort of numbing, where the viewer needs to watch more and more episodes in order to result in the same feeling of satisfaction.
Is Netflix just an easy way to watch some of the most popular TV shows, or can it actually spur serious issues? People should remember, everything in moderation. Having your eyes burn after watching one too many episodes of Friends is not the best way to spend your day.
By: Maya Goldenberg, 8
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT A&E
Movie Review "HOME"
Action, adventure, family, and friendship... these are all ideas that you will encounter when you watch the movie “Home”. “Home” is about an overly hyper, purple alien and the rest of his species who attempt to take over Earth. The Boov are peaceful creatures who are fleeing their most recent home because once again, their enemy the Gorg has located them. All of the humans are quickly relocated to these little towns that the Boov created in an isolated part of the world, all but one human. Left behind is a girl named Tip and her only goal is to find her mother which unbeknownst to her has been relocated.
Meanwhile, a little Boov, Oh, is trying to settle into his new community and make some friends. However, Oh is a very special Boov. He is different, he is unique and he has a happy, hyper personality which most Boov find irrelevant and annoying.
Eventually Oh and Tip go on a hilarious and heartwarming adventure together in order to fix Oh’s mistake and to get Tip’s mother back.
Do they succeed? What this funny movie and find out!By: Bethany Brown 8
Duolingo
Are you struggling with your global language classes? Would you like to learn a new language? Well there’s a solution right here for you! This app is the next best thing since Rosetta Stone©. Duolingo has tons of different languages like Spanish, French, Chinese and so much more! What is even better about Duolingo, is that it’s FREE! Yes, you read that right! It’s free unlike Rosetta Stone© which costs $500 just for the subscription. You can download this app on any device, from an Android to an Apple phone or tablet.
Most of the global language teachers at SJH recommend this app for students struggling with their global language classes. Duolingo is fun and educational at the same time. Duolingo got the “iPhone App of the Year” award for 2013. It also got “Google's Best of the Best” award for 2014. All you have to look for is a green face of an owl and there it is! So go take your phone out, (not at school of course), and download Duolingo today!
By: Nikhil Gupta 7
Advice Column
Need Advice? Ask Fly Girl!!
Email Fly Girl at THE FLYER
(or)
Write to Fly Girl and
put it in the box found in
the library
(It will be completely anonymous!)
THE FLYER- theflyer@sycamoreschools.org
Example
Dear Fly Girl,
My friend started hanging around with this girl who is really mean to me and I think that my friend will start to be mean to me too. What do I do?
-BFF Girl
Dear BFF Girl,
I understand what’s going on. I would just talk to your friend
when you two are alone, then just tell her that the girl she was
talking to is always mean to you and that you are scared that
your friend will become mean to you as well. You and your friend will most likely be able to compromise and figure out a way that you can still be friends and get along.
Your Friend,
Fly GirlHow to Get the Look: Fall Fashion 2015
Yes, it is finally autumn which means pumpkin everything, the weather is becoming a bit nippy, and fall fashion is in swing. All of the designers of the fall/winter collections are coming off the runways and new trends are being concocted and integrated onto the streets. It is a very exciting season in the fashion world, but is there really ever a dull moment in that universe? It can be difficult for people to incorporate some of the amazing, new trends from that world into their everyday outfits, but all one has to do is take a certain trend or element they saw that caught their eye, and dress a look around it.
If there is one mode that can’t be ignored, it would be chunky knits. They’re everywhere. Whether your sweater is a light pink or a deep maroon, it is sure to be in style, cozy, and easy to pull on. Maybe throw on some laid back boyfriend jeans, or even a tea-length skirt, the options are endless.
The 70’s are a trend that’s still going strong. It started this spring, continuing throughout the fall collections, and also popping up in some of the fresh 2016 spring looks. There are so many ways to take that era and add a splash of it to any outfit. How about a fitted suede skirt with some buttons to give it even more personality? I’ll take one… or two. If you’re not into skirts and are searching for a more edgy 70’s accent then fringe is the answer. You can add some fringe on a vest, pants (bell bottoms would go along with the theme), or even on a shirt. Flowy fringe can be found on pretty much any and all clothing items.
Lastly, let’s talk about boots, an autumn staple. This year boots have taken an unexpected turn… they are over the knee. Over the knee can look really fashion forward and make an attention grabbing accent piece. They are super versatile, and look adorable with everything from jeans to dresses, there are no limits.
There is always something new and exciting, and this season has been no
exception. I can’t wait to see what the designers have in store for spring. From
what I have seen so far, it is nothing less than amazingly innovative, while quaint
and classic all at once.
By: Article and Artwork by Maya Goldenberg, 8
EDITORIAL/OPINION ED/OP
What is Editorial/Opinion? Ed/OP
The Flyer Editorial Staff
Ding!Ding! Ding! Do You Need More Time?
Beep! Beep! Beep! No! I need more time! Have you ever had the problem of not having enough time at your locker? Are you always late to classes? Lately, there have been a lot of complaints about needing more time at the lockers. Finally, we can express our opinion!
We have four minutes to get our books out of our locker,use the restroom, and that doesn't even count getting to the classroom on time. This year we have a new principal and vice principal. We can share our ideas about why we should have more time in between bells.
It is quite difficult to travel all the way across the school, use the restroom, and get our supplies out of our locker, all in four minutes. Hopefully this year our new administration will be more open to changing the timing schedule in between bells.
By: Mia Maniet 8
SJHS Dress Code
The opinions of students vary, but there is a clear distaste for the dress code among the majority of students. “The dress code is only directed towards girls,” said Trey Yengo (8th). Many students feel this way. Jocelin Arbenz (8th), also stated, “It is offensive towards men because it implies that they can not control themselves”.
Many students don’t understand the reasons for the rules in the first place. Caroline Skwara, (8th), made a strong point about her opposition to the current dress code. “Instead of indirectly teaching boys that it’s okay to objectify girls, why not teach them that girls’ legs and shoulders should not be so distracting?”
Many teachers have different opinions. “We are not allowed to wear shorts to school, I wear them on the weekends but not to school”, said Mr.Callahan, (choir teacher). He and many other teachers believe that school should be a professional environment. Mr.Rodriguez, (world history teacher), believes that they have our best interest at heart, “The dress code is there to protect students, more than anything.”
So what are your personal opinions on the dress code? What changes need to be made to have an effective code of conduct for students? Write into the newspaper theflyer@sycamoreschools.org for a chance to appear in the newspaper and have your voice heard too.
By: Lydia Masset 8
School Sports
7th Grade Football Last Game
Tuesday, October 13th, there was a big game between Sycamore and Princeton. It was also their last game of the season. They played hard and rigorously on the field and scored 2 touchdowns. One touchdown was made by Ronnie Washington, with the help of Adam Kling’s interception, and the other one was made by Nolan Bieber. Unfortunately they lost 16-22.
Also, the team was celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness month. All the football players and cheerleaders were wearing something pink to honor Breast Cancer Awareness. Even the crowd is wearing a touch of pink! There were also many people wearing the cool necklaces and bracelets that the cheerleaders were selling during lunch.
By: Gunjan Bahri, Staff Writer 7
Spotlight ON
Andrew Fehr- 7th Grade Football Quarterback
On Tuesday, October 13th, our 7th grade football team’s had its last home game! I interviewed Andrew Fehr, the 7th grade football team quarterback, before the game to see how our team was getting ready to dominate Princeton.
How did the 7th grade football team get ready for their last home game on Tuesday?
We practiced very hard and watched Princeton’s film, so we knew what we were up against.
Do you think your team was ready?
Yes.
What did you look forward to most?
Playing with my teammates and singing the Fight Song at the end of the game.
What is your favorite play?
Any play that scores a touchdown.
If you could go back and change one game or one play in a game, what would it be?
The Plains game because it should’ve been a closer game than the score showed.
If you look back at the season, what were your team’s strengths? How about your weaknesses?
Strengths: When we got momentum we kept it, mostly everyone knew what they were doing, and when one of the coaches needed a volunteer everyone was ready and willing to go in. One weakness was sometimes we were not focused and would lose momentum and fall behind in a game.
Who in your life do you look up to?
My coaches and parents.By: Gunjan Nehri, Staff Writer 7
Dr. Traci Rea, Principal, Sycamore Junior High School
Question: How long have you been an administrator?
Answer: I have been an administrator for a total of 20 years,but have been at Sycamore for 3 months. prior to that I was an assistant superintendent and principal, and prior to that an assistant principal at Forest Hills.
Question: What has been your biggest challenge coming to Sycamore Junior High?
Answer: I think my biggest challenge was learning the programs that the school offered,and the details of the school as well as learning the building in general. For example when someone would say, “It’s just in the courtyard”, I would be confused because I don’t know where the courtyard was! It is still a learning process.
Question: As Students and Staff members,we make comments or suggestions to the school board, how are those comments and or suggestions processed, what steps are taken into account?
Answer: At SJH we have a school committee called PAC, Principal’s Advisory Committee, and we discuss the issues that have been appointed and we see what we can do. The suggestions and or comments also go to other committees for further discussion.
Question: At Sycamore we focus more on students with higher academic excellence and students with lower test scores. As an administrator, how do you think we can we make the average of Sycamore students feel included.
Answer: In classrooms we try to use different activities and teaching mechanisms so that we focus on everyone's learning ability. Staff members use different activities such as technology, group work, and one-on-one learning to even the playing field to help everyone grow.
Question: Do you have any children? If so how has that shaped you as an administrator to teach middle schoolers?
Answer: I do have children actually, I have a thirteen year old daughter who is in the 7th grade, she is a great kid. Also, to a certain degree, being an administrator has helped me understand my daughter and via-versa with middle school students.
By Mia Maniet 8
The Flyer Staff 2015-16
Our staff includes thirteen brilliant writers, four editors, thirteen photographers and 850 student contributors.
Editors: Athena Eborall, Mia Maniet, Caroline Skwara, Dahlia Wang, Bethany Brown
Layout Editor: Lydia Masset
Flyer Secretary: Bethany Brown
Cartoon Artwork: Ella Wahlquist
Staff Writers: Gunjan Bahri, Allison McElroy, Mikhil Gupta, Maya Goldenberg, Lindsey Brinkman
ALL editing done by students.
Email: theflyer@sycamoreschools.org
Location: 5757 Cooper Road, Cincinnati, OH, United States
Phone: 513-686-1760