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The Palm Valley School Student Blog

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The Vending-Machine Crisis

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Abigail Horwitt tells us about the controversy going on in the PVS Upper School. The vending machines are charging $1.25 instead of $1.00 for food and drinks. We find out what the students are trying to do about it and why the 25 cents is such a horrible idea. – Editor Lilah Nick

By Abigail Horwitt, Vending-Machine Objector

Recently, there has been a major problem in the Palm Valley Upper School. About a month ago our vending machines were hijacked. Instead of our drinks and snacks being a dollar, the price was raised to a dollar and 25 cents. This sparked an outrage between both students and teachers. Having to have an extra 25 cents is inconvenient and troublesome. Due to these issues, ASB Co-President Sara Habibipour has taken it into her own hands by putting up signs protesting against the vending machines. With the help of the students, Sara has managed to get many signatures with the hope of bringing back only having to pay a dollar for your Diet Coke. I have heard countless students and teachers complain about not having two dollars, or not having an extra quarter just to buy a snack or drink. The amount of students and teachers going to buy something from the vending machines has decreased due to the pain of carrying around an extra quarter. I used to buy a drink from the vending machine everyday until the price unexpectedly rose an extra 25 cents.

 

Not only is the food overpriced, some of the food had been reported to be stale. The Palm Valley Upper School students are also hoping for a different variety of snacks in the vending machine, since some of the food has been sitting in these machines for most of the school year. The selection is “not good,” says senior Jesse Denyer. Hopefully, the spark of controversy with the vending machines helps raise enough attention to the school vending market and helps to bring change to our machines. 

Bring back our $1 drinks and snacks!

Soccer News, Rumors, and Scores

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This week Oliver thrills us with the latest update on soccer, or football as we call it in England (or what the world knows as fútbol). In his article, Oliver provides us with the recent match scores and placings in the Premier League. On top of that, he shares up-to-date soccer rumors and news. – Sienna Price, Editor

By Oliver Martinez, Fútbol Enthusiast

Welcome back to soccer news, rumors and scores. Let’s start with the Premier League. On Saturday, January 15, Manchester City beat Chelsea 1-0. Manchester is now in 1st, and Chelsea moves to 3rd. On Saturday, January 15, the Wolves beat Southampton 3-1. The Wolves are in 8th, and Southampton is in 12th place. And, Aston Villa drew Manchester United 2-2! Because of this, Manchester U is in 7th and Aston V in 13th place. On Sunday, January 16, Liverpool beat Brentford 3-0, putting Liverpool in 2nd and Brentford in 14th. 

As for La Liga, there have been no relevant games since last week. 

Soccer Rumors and News: Big teams like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Manchester City are looking to trade for Erling Haaland. Erling Haaland is a great player that is currently in Dortmund; his contract ends in 2024, but there is a release clause that would allow him to leave in the summer of 2022 for a total of 75 million euros (amp.marca.com).

Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich are hoping to buy Spanish young star Pablo Gavi. One of Gavi’s accomplishments include being the youngest player to play for Spain’s national team. He was only 17. Another one of his accomplishments is being the fourth youngest to play for Barcelona in La Liga (espn.com). English soccer legend Wayne Mark Rooney, also known as Rooney, hopes to get a chance to coach Everton. “I’m the same as everyone else, I see the speculation on social media and in the newspapers. Of course Everton is a club I grew up supporting.” There is a strong possibility he will get the job–Everton just sacked Rafael Benitez (football365.com).

Isabella with the Words

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Congratulations to Palm Valley School’s US Poetry Recitation winner: Senior Isabella Goetschel. Isabella recited “Epitaph” by 17th-century poet Katherine Philips. In a striking twist of fate, Isabella was also selected Audience Favorite. Second Place went to Sophomore Indy Behr with a recitation of “be careful” by poet Ed Roberson. The Third Place recitation went to Freshman Lily Jones with “Poor Angels” by poet Edward Hirsch.

On the Friday before Thanksgiving break, the Upper School gathered for Poetry Recitation Finals in the Gym. Eleven finalists competed before judges Ms. Bernstein, Ms. Maguire, and Mr. Richardt. The judging criteria was that of Poetry Out Loud.

Isabella will advance to Riverside County Poetry Out Loud. She is our Palm Valley School representative. She will recite two poems before a panel of judges. If she wins, she advances to State Poetry Out Loud competition. Indiana serves as our alternate.

Put Picture to Words

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Graphic Artists, we need you. National Poetry Month needs a poster. Create a graphic that features poet Amanda Gorman’s line: “There is a poem in this place–” Win money and esteem. The contest is open now through November 15. Details are below.

The Academy of American Poets invites students living in the United States, U.S. Territories, or Tribal Nations, in grades nine through twelve to enter artwork to be considered for the 2022 National Poetry Month Poster Contest for Students. The winner will be selected by judges Rafael López, -bestselling illustrator and artist, and Nikki Grimes, -bestselling author and poet and recipient of the 2020 ALAN Award for outstanding contributions to young adult literature. 

One student’s winning artwork, which will incorporate “There is a poem in this place—” from Amanda Gorman’s poem, “In This Place (An American Lyric)”, will be featured on the official National Poetry Month poster in 2022. The Academy will distribute 100,000+ free copies of the poster to classrooms, libraries, bookstores, community centers, families, and individuals nationwide in time for the April celebration. The winning student will receive $1,000 in cash and prizes and be featured in magazine and on Poets.org, which reaches millions of readers each year. The judges will also select a runner-up to receive Honorable Mention and a $250 cash prize. 

Submissions are open now until. The winner will be announced in January 2022.

For more information about the contest, including the full guidelines, visit: https://poets.org/national-poetry-month/national-poetry-month-poster-contest-students

We’re back!

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We hope everyone had a fun and covid-free summer. 

We are accepting posts from contributors outside of blog class, so send any creative prose, poetry, articles our way. 

Our new blog leaders include our food-industry enthusiast Ike Spry, our sports-life writer Roman Rickwood, and our mystical-spirit guide Jessica Denyer.  

See us at thebirdonfire.org. Subscribe, and you’ll get our posts delivered directly to your inbox.

Congratulations, Andrew!

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 Our Palm Valley nominee Andrew Hall was selected as a South Region finalist for the CSF 2021 Seymour Memorial Award!

Ten nominees from the South Region were selected as finalists. As a finalist, Andrew participated in the South Region Seymour Memorial Award Zoom Interview. Here, he’s pictured with his medal. In addition, he was awarded $2,000.

The winners will be announced at the CSF Virtual Awards Presentation on April 17. Each region’s recipient will receive an additional award of $3,000. Good luck, Andrew!

By Sara Habibipour

Local Music: Life Beyond the Classroom

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PVS students have active lives beyond the classroom. We acknowledge their accomplishments in “Life Beyond the Classroom.” Jake is on his way to being a producer of ground-breaking music.

In case you didn’t already know, I, Jake Sonderman, run my own studio with Luke Sonderman called Sondy Studios. Over the summer, I recorded Pescaterritory’s 9-song album in the extra room in our house. The album contains every type of rock and roll, from the nostalgic song I’m Fine to the hard rock hit Running Away. Whether you are pining away for old times, or wanting something fresh and new, this album has what you are looking for. I had so much fun putting together this album, and I am proud to call this my first major release as a producer. Give it a listen.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/pescaterritory/1536349886

2020 Seniors Paint Parking Spaces

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Celebrating School Events

Last Saturday the 10th, after Senior Sunrise, the 2020 PVS Seniors donned coveralls, grabbed their paint buckets and brushes, and set to painting their senior parking spaces. Drive by the southernmost lot to see their artwork, and DON’T park in their spaces.

Seniors Andrew Hall, Hannah Hall, and Caroline Scheil are well protected from paint blow-back in their matching coveralls. Photo Credit: Ms. Jen Clark
Senior Chelsea Xu–artist and anime fan–sketches anime character Pain in her spot. Photo Credit: Ms. Jen Clark
Seniors Evan Spry and Jake Sonderman with Junior Jessica Denyer cool down after the painting. The day’s temperatures reached into the 100s. Photo Credit: Ms. Jen Clark

Senior Sunrise

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Celebrating School Events

We celebrated the start of our seniors’ last year at PVS last Saturday EARLY morning with a Senior Sunrise. ASB Advisor Ms. Clark had seniors write down their year’s intentions. Then, as the sun broke over the mountains, she captured seniors jumping in joyful silhouette.

Photo Credit: Ms. Jen Clark
Photo Credit: Ms. Jen Clark