the bird on fire

The Bird is the Word: Sophisticated Schoolyard Shenanigans

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Don’t Forget

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A compilation of “Forget-me-nots” by 8th-Grader Jackie Padgett

I find it very difficult to remember things, especially things from when I was younger, so I decided I wanted to do a “Don’t forget” or “Remember you said this” type of blog. I was also interested in what people of different ages wanted to remember. So, I asked two questions of two kids from every grade:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?
  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

Starting us off is…

6th-Grader Calum Webster with an indecisive response:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My dog, I think.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“I don’t know, umm, I don’t know… oh, uh, I’m good at basketball, wait, no, actually sure.”

6th-Grader Grace Ghaly has a confident reply:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“I never wanna forget my friends.” 

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“My attitude.”

7th-Grader Sam West quickly mutters out a reply while getting ready for his soccer game:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

”When I ate that breakfast burrito from the gas station it kinda hurt if you know what I mean.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”That I hold the record for the fastest unrecorded time of solving the Rubik’s Cube. Joking.”

7th-Grader Lorelei Behr says something very thoughtful:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“I don’t want to ever forget about my friends, even when they move away.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“I don’t want people to forget the things we laughed and cried about together.”

8th-Grader Hudson Fossey replies with a simple answer:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“The time I built a trailer for a gokart with my cousin and then having him shoot a bow and arrow off of it.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“I don’t really care if people forget about me.”

8th-Grader Ava Kerber shares a silly, but real, response:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“Umm, when I was born.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“Umm, that I was alive and a human on this planet.”

9th-Grader Zander Eaton replies with a math-focused answer:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My times tables.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”That I remembered my times tables.”

9th-Grader Louisa Richardson gives an imaginative reply: 

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“I don’t want to forget my imagination. I love that I have a sense of, um, creativity.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“Ugh. I guess I hope people don’t forget that I care about them.”

10th-Grader Rory O’Kane shares a sports-related answer:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“Sports.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”Sports.”

10th-Grader Melina Brodeur gets some help with her response from Louisa Richardson:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“What got me to where I am.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

Louisa inserted, ”Your sparkle!”

11th-Grader Alex Ratner:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My friends and family.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”My gaming abilities.”

11th-Grader Kristina Panagiotaros:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My friends.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”Me altogether.”

12th-Grader Sawyer Falzone says:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My I.D. and glasses.”

2. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”That I’m not a horrible person.”

12th-Grader Landon Elder a quick but significant response:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My lovely experiences.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”That I existed.”

I was actually surprised to get a few serious answers. I really thought most of them would be jokes. Since the way I chose people was completely at random (and whomever I saw first), if I didn’t get to you, leave a comment of something you don’t want to forget.

I Will Never Ski in Spring Again.

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By 8th-grader Jackie Padgett

During Spring Break, I decided to accept the invitation to go skiing with my friend. Last time I skied it wasn’t necessarily bad – but that was almost three years ago. I was also not prepared at all and that led to my, not so great, skiing experience that wasn’t even necessarily skiing as I… walked down a slope. After looking back at this trip, I have found three main reasons that led me to tread down that mountain: 

1) Equipment, 

2) Personality, 

3) Technique. 

Don’t feel bad about laughing in any part of this story; I survived the humiliation and danger.

So our trip started with us driving 10-12 hours up to Salt Lake City, Utah, and if you’ve ever been in a car that long, it could be the best or worst experience. Luckily, this one was good. We stopped in Las Vegas for a bit, went to Area 15 for the interactive art in Omega Mart and stopped at a Terrible’s gas station.

As advertised, they did in fact have clean restrooms, and also a grocery store set up for the vegetables. There was real food in Terrible’s, which is rare for gas stations. Photo Credit: My friend’s mom

Once we made it to my friend’s house in Utah (which feels like years away from civilization), we needed to prepare for skiing the next day. 

Skiing Problem #1: Equipment 

For skiing, you have the basic ski equipment: the skis, the boots, the pants, the sweaters, the jackets, the mask, the goggles, the helmet, and the poles. With skis, you preferably want them as long as the length of your foot to your nose or eyes (from what I’ve heard). Last time I skied, I was 11. I have grown quite a bit in those two years, so my old skis are too short. Similarly with my boots, they’re too small now. Luckily my friend has two older brothers, who weren’t on that trip with us, so we decided that I would use a pair of their skis. My friend and her brothers all have their skis and boots “tailored” to fit perfectly, so whichever boots fit me would relate to what skis I would be wearing. I ended up having skis a couple inches taller than me, not too bad, but it did make it more difficult to turn which also helps you slow down (this will be important later). The other equipment was fine. The goggles were a little big, which got snow in my eyes a couple of times–but that was okay. 

I’m on the left, and my friend is on the right; you can see how my skis look big and a bit awkward. My ski mask fell down on this slope, and I didn’t even notice until the next morning when I saw my sunburn (I swear I wore sunscreen). Surprisingly, the sun is very intense on the mountains.

Skiing Problem #2: Personality

If you don’t know me well, then you probably don’t know that I’m scared of falling and that I’m very “risk averse” (as my friend likes to say). These two things aren’t great when going down a ski slope. When you ski, there are different tiers of slopes: you have the greens which are pretty flat and easy, the blues which are a little harder and less flat, the blacks which are vertical slopes with moguls (little bumps in the mountain that are fun to some people), and finally there are the double blacks which I don’t even know how to explain–they are just like the black slopes but 10 times worse. 

A good example of slope tiers from Ski Profiles

Skiing Problem #3: Technique

Once we made it on the lift, up to the slope, I started to panic. Below me, I saw people wipe out left and right and others speeding straight down the slope. There were very different people on very different levels with very different techniques. Once we got off the lift and I looked down the slope (after watching my friend easily ski down it), I felt more relaxed. So, I started skiing down doing my little swerves across the mountain, but I wasn’t really turning fast enough, so my “free fall” moment was too long, which made me go faster, which I didn’t want to do. 

This homemade graph points out the little “free fall” moments where you go straight down before you turn. 

The problem was that the snow was pretty slushy, and I had never skied during slushy snow season before. I had never skied in the spring. So, I was pretty inexperienced in this type of snow, and, instead of turning, I would go straight down as my skis would get caught in the slushy snow. Being the wise and professional skier that I totally am not, I panicked and went into pizza mode which eventually let me pull off to the side of the slope, and I just stopped. I definitely thought I was going to go off the mountain when I reached the side. I was literally eight feet away from the “point of no return” rope (that’s what I like to call it). Then, and this is kind of embarrassing, my friend’s mom was like, “You got this! You made it down almost half way! Hooray!” and blah blah blah, super supportive, very kind, but I was not going down that mountain. So I just refused to move! Isn’t that great?! My friend’s mom eventually got fed up with me standing still for what felt like years, so she took off my skis and went straight down the mountain with them and waited for me at the end. Then, of course, I took the walk of shame, and had many people come up to me asking what in the world I was doing and what happened to my skis. After that walk, I retrieved my skis, and I skied down the rest of the run (the area was much flatter, I think; I really don’t remember it much at all).

It might look like I have skis on, but I don’t. I’m just struggling to walk. Also this photo does not do justice to how steep it looks. 

Side Note: I will not be giving the name of the slope because many people could have easily gone down it without having to walk. I witnessed everyone skiing past me – even five year olds. 

After I made it down the entire slope, we went into the little lodge where they had a buffet and I got myself a pumpkin bread, my absolute favorite (though this version put too much nutmeg in it, so it was pretty intense). I walked around while my friend and her mom skied five or so more slopes without me. I was very glad I didn’t have to continue. Have you had any embarrassing moments like this? I’d love to know so I don’t have to feel like too much of a coward.

Underrated, Maybe Undiscovered, Snacks

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By 8th-grader Jackie Padgett

Everyone always has some sort of secret recipe or combinations of food that not many people know about, so I’m here to share mine. You’ll notice a lot of these have peanut butter, cream cheese, and chocolate. Do I know why? To be honest, not really; I guess those three go really well with many things. Anyway, enjoy my five-course menu of odd and absurd food combos. 

According to PartsTown, “A typical five-course meal consists of one-bite hors d’oeuvres, a plated appetizer, a palate-cleansing salad, the main entrée, and dessert.” So, this is how I have organized my snack menu. 

The Hors d’oeuvres

Starting this five-course meal will be no other than the hors d’oeuvres, Oreos Dipped in Peanut Butter.

The Parent Trap’s Lindsay Lohan dips Oreos in peanut butter. So why shouldn’t Jackie? Photo Credit Devour Dinner

If this sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because they had this snack in The Parent Trap. When I first watched the movie, I felt the need to try the weird mix of food, and I immediately loved it. While talking to students about this, 8th-grader Hunter Harrington said, “By that point why don’t you just take the cream out of the middle and replace it with peanut butter?” So, I’m stealing this idea when I get an opportunity to talk to Oreo developers. 

The Appetizer

Enjoy your lovely appetizer of Crackers with Nutella and Cream Cheese.

Jackie prefers to use Saltines for her cracker base, but Ritz works, too. Photo Credit Ifood TV

I think this is probably going to be the weirdest one here. So grab some crackers, any crackers; I prefer saltines. Also, grab any type of cream cheese and Nutella. Then, you carefully apply on a cracker the cream cheese and on another cracker the Nutella. Stick them together, and you have your appetizer. My grandma used to make this for me a bunch, but she also added peanut butter to the Nutella side of the cracker (so you have one cracker with Nutella and peanut butter and the other with cream cheese). If you’re feeling adventurous, you could try that extra step of adding peanut butter. 

The Salad

After that appetizer, enjoy a Cheesy Rice Stuffed Green Bell Pepper.

Meat in your bell-pepper concoction is optional. Jackie prefers the vegetarian option. Photo Credit Food Network

This isn’t technically a salad–more as something green, but this is my menu, so it works. I’m also aware that this is an actual thing and definitely has been discovered, but I feel like more people should try it as a snack. All you do is cut off the top of the bell pepper, then scrape all of the bell-pepper insides out. After you fry some rice with whatever you want in it (for example eggs, onions, etc…), put the rice into the bell pepper, top it off with a cheese of your choice, and boom. You have the most meal-like thing on this menu. 

The Entrée

Now for our main meal–Pasta with Cream Cheese. You choose a pasta of your choice (I recommend bowtie or just spaghetti), and we will make it however you want. 

Cream cheese on pasta can be yummy, so says Jackie. Photo Credit: Don’t Go Bacon My Heart

I think this is one of the easiest snack dishes to make. You make any pasta, drain it, then put some cream cheese and a bit of salt into the bowl with it, then enjoy! I have this a lot at my grandma’s house as this is her secret combo that I stole. This is definitely a comfort food for me as it brings back a lot of summer movie-night memories.

The Dessert 

For dessert, you will be served Any Ice Cream or Sorbet, with Any Cereal, and Optional Fruit. 

Ice cream with cereal is like a birthday surprise. Photo Credit Hil and Dairy

This along with the entrée is pretty self explanatory and not that unique. You scoop out some ice cream. Put it in a bowl, take out a cereal of your choosing, sprinkle it on top (just a bit, don’t over do it), maybe add some fruit and milk–those are optional, then bam: Ice Cream and Cereal. My favorite combos have been Count Chocula with chocolate ice cream, raspberry sorbet with Fruit Loops, and finally vanilla with Honey Nut Cheerios. I personally like this a lot because it adds a lot of customization into the ice cream, like you could literally try any fruit and cereal combo, and I doubt anything would taste that bad together. 

I promise I eat other things that are different colors than beige, white, and brown. These snacks just happened to be similar food groups and colors. Do you have any underrated, maybe undiscovered, snacks? Share in the comments below; I’ll try them out!

Teaching Advice 

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. . . from PVS teachers

Compiled by 8th-Grader Jackie Padgett

Everyone in life has had a moment where they’ve needed some advice on a situation. I know I have. So, who else to get advice from than our PVS teachers? I asked all of them the same four questions:

  • What advice would you give to the middle and upper-school students of PVS?
  • What advice would you give your high-school self?
  • What advice would you give your middle-school self?
  • Is there any extra advice you want to share through our blog?

Let’s hear what wise advice our Palm Valley teachers have to spread, starting with none other than . . . 

Ms. Zachik, the multitasked Blog and English teacher–

  1. What advice would you give to the middle and upper-school students of PVS?

“Get lots of sleep; read everything you can; enjoy the camaraderie of the classroom. This time goes fast.”

  1. What advice would you give your high-school self?

“Loosen up. Have fun.”

  1. What advice would you give your middle-school self?

“This time will pass. You won’t always be 7-feet tall, bespectacled, with braces and flat hair.”

  1. Is there any extra advice you want to share through our blog?

“The Bird on Fire is such an enchanting shared platform. Everybody should read it, get their face on it, their ideas, their opinions.“

Ms. Zachik enjoys Blog Class. Immensely. And, she can solve Wordle in three.

Next, Mr. Satterfield, our Daily Journal history teacher, shares a short but insightful answer.

  1. What advice would you give to the middle and upper-school students of PVS?

 “Identify what you can control and what you can’t, and prioritize your efforts accordingly.”

  1. What advice would you give your high-school self?

“Talk to more people. Your friends are great, but so is everybody else.”

  1. What advice would you give your middle-school self?

  “Pretty soon you won’t even remember the mistakes you made, so go ahead and make them.”

Mr. Satterfield gives all the right answers at Faculty meetings.

Ms. Maguire, the English teacher, shares a kind response:

  1. What advice would you give to the middle and upper-school students of PVS?

“I would advise middle school students at Palm Valley School to give many sports and activities a try. You may think you are terrible at basketball, let’s say, but if you practice and play you will get better. It’s a small school and everyone’s participation is welcome and even needed, so why not put yourself out there and give it a shot? I would actually give the same advice to upper school students.”

  1. What advice would you give your high-school self?

 “I am one of the lucky ones whose high school self had things pretty much together. I would definitely tell myself not to leave that project for Mr. Schultz’s class until the last minute, though. That was my first all-nighter and it was no fun.”

  1. What advice would you give your middle-school self? 

 “My middle school self was acutely self-conscious and, in sixth grade, in a state of low-grade misery pretty much all the time. I would tell myself not to bother with what the mean kids were doing and saying. I let them get into my head too much.”

  1. Is there any extra advice you want to share through our blog?

 “It costs you nothing to be kind, so just do it. Whatever momentary ego boost you may feel after being mean to someone, even if you are allegedly ‘just joking,’ is not going to last. And friendships formed on the basis of excluding or targeting others can blow up in your face if you become the new target. If you are consistently kind to people, they will reciprocate eventually. If they don’t, why would you want to be friends with that miserable human being anyway? Be kind.”

Ms. Maguire has constructed the famous “Know, Wonder, Learn” board in her classroom.

Up next Mr. Hesson, our math teacher, shares his serious but humorous response– 

  1. What advice would you give to the middle and upper-school students of PVS? 

“Don’t conflate confidence with arrogance. If you have to look down on others to feel good about yourself, then your confidence is fake and easily shattered. True confidence is predicated on your ability to remain humble and to recognize that your talents and privileges exist to be shared, not hoarded.”

  1. What advice would you give your high-school self? 

“The concept of giving my past self advice is kind of disturbing to me. We make mistakes in our lives, and we learn from them, and over the course of several mistakes we build a foundation of accumulated knowledge that is wisdom. The idea of forcing that wisdom onto a version of myself that never had to make the mistakes seems fundamentally wrong, like teaching a person to speak without teaching them the meaning of the words.”

  1. What advice would you give your middle-school self?

 “Buy a bitcoin in 2010.”

  1. Is there any extra advice you want to share through our blog?

 “Every once in a while, spend some time listening to music without doing anything else. No screens, no conversation, no distraction. Just close your eyes and listen.”

Mr. Hesson performs a reenactment of the thought process it took to think of his answers.

Ms. Castellano, who teaches science and loves plants, says, . . .

  1. What advice would you give to the middle and upper-school students of PVS? 

“Be proactive, it will make you stand out in a positive way! “

  1. What advice would you give your high-school self?

 “Do what you love and people will support passion. Be a crazy plant lady and grow all the plants!”

  1. What advice would you give your middle-school self?

 “Don’t give yourself bad haircuts; do that and more! Express yourself!”

  1. Is there any extra advice you want to share through our blog?

 “Life is too short to please others, pursue your own bliss!”

Ms. Castellano knows to sprinkle your leftover coffee grounds in your garden to make your garden grow.

Mr. Griffin–GSA leader and excellent English teacher–says…

  1. What advice would you give to the middle and upper-school students of PVS?

“Teach yourself to not procrastinate. Believe me, it feels better to have something done early than to wait and be rushing because it’s too late. Also, the weight of an assigned task grows in direct proportion to the length of time you carry it. Do it. Get it done and off your mind.”

  1. What advice would you give your high-school self?

 “Be yourself, for yourself.”

  1. What advice would you give your middle-school self?

 “Start early determining who you are. Then you’ll be ready to be yourself, for yourself in high school.”

  1. Is there any extra advice you want to share through our blog?

 “Experience as much as you possibly can at every opportunity.”

Always generous, Mr. Griffin steps into Blog Class to share advice. 

Ms. Schapiro, note-taking professional and history teacher, provides a thoughtful response:

  1. What advice would you give to the middle and upper-school students of PVS?

 “Ask thoughtful questions. Don’t always look for the easiest answer or course of action: think critically and carefully. Don’t assume you know what other people are going through.”

  1. What advice would you give your high-school self?

“Don’t stop taking math after your freshman year. Don’t be so worried about what the popular kids think. Be proud that you’re so smart and recognize that you are NOT fat, in spite of what your mom thinks.”

  1. What advice would you give your middle-school self?

 “Choose your friends more carefully and don’t believe everything everyone tells you. Don’t take everything so personally. Don’t kiss David Seidel when you’re going out with Scott Singer.”

  1. Is there any extra advice you want to share through our blog? 

 “No matter how important/life-changing/immediate EVERYTHING may feel now, I promise you it’s not. Try to focus on the things that will still be important to you in the future, as well, not just now. Also, don’t wear so much perfume/body spray: you don’t want people to know you’re coming from a mile away.”

Ms. Schapiro gazes toward the horizon through her mountains of advice. 

Advice is such an important thing, and I think people shouldn’t be embarrassed or shy when needing help with a situation. If you ever find yourself needing advice, I would definitely recommend our PVS teachers. I think they’ve proven themselves to be pretty wise. 

Valentine’s Day. What’s the Point?

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By 8th-Grader Jackie Padgett

Lots of people associate Valentine’s day with love, hearts, chocolate, and those little candy hearts everyone gets. But what’s the backstory of it? Surprisingly it is as happy and candy associated. 

How did this start? 

Valentine’s Day has been around for a long time and has been celebrated in many different ways. It includes a mix of Christian and ancient Roman history. Some say Canterbury Tales author Geoffrey Chaucer gets credit. If you didn’t know (surprisingly not everyone did) the full name of the holiday is Saint Valentine’s Day. Who is Saint Valentine? Well, the Catholic Church has multiple martyr saints who go by the name Valentine (Britannica). One of the stories says that Valentine was a priest who worked during the 3rd century when Claudius II of Rome ruled. Cladius II thought that men who didn’t have families or wives were better soldiers, so he banned young men from getting married. Valentine thought this wasn’t right, so he secretly helped young couples get married. He was soon ratted out and executed (History). Another story says that Valentine (another priest under Claudius, but this one was imprisoned), wrote letters to the jailer’s daughter and signed his name as “Your Valentine.” Other versions say he was an imprisoned bishop and healed the jailer’s daughter from blindness then wrote her letters (Britannica). 

Traditions around the World

In America, people celebrate Valentine’s Day by gifting chocolates, writing letters/cards, making a nice flower bouquet, or going out to a nice dinner, sometimes even presenting a loved one with nice new jewelry. Celebrations of love occur around the world. Come with me to see the variety of love tokens. In Argentina, they don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day, but they do have a July “week of sweetness” (Travel Triangle). Couples go out on dates and give each other chocolates. In Korea, people celebrate days of love every 14th of the month, and every month has a different “ theme.” For example, December 14th is the day of hugs. Ghana decided to change Valentine’s Day to national chocolate day. They get tourists to come and visit the restaurants and performances all based on chocolate. In Bulgaria, they celebrate San Trifon Zartan (Day of Winemakers) on the 1st and 14th of February, where they enjoy a nice glass of wine with their loved ones. The men in Spain, for Saint Dionysus Day, will make their partner a macadora, a little figurine made out of marzipan. [Can you find a picture?] These figures get gifted on October 8th. If you’ve ever felt lonely on Valentine’s Day, Estonia has you covered. On February 14th they celebrate a friends and family version of Valentine’s Day. Don’t worry–couples are included as well. In Japan, the women have to buy all the gifts for their partner, and the partner can return the favor a couple months later. Finally, Wales celebrates in a very interesting way. On February 25th, couples exchange handcrafted wooden spoons as a gesture of love. 

An example of handcrafted spoons related to the Wales tradition. (I absolutely love this. It’s strange but in a good way, it’s special.) Photo Source: Travel Triangle

Short and Sweet Surveys–

I was curious as to what our school thought of Valentine’s Day, so I asked a few Palm Valley teachers and students the following questions:

1. What are your opinions on Valentine’s day?

2. What do you think the “point” of Valentine’s Day is?

They surprisingly had very varied opinions. 

Freshman Louisa Richardson is surprisingly suspicious of couples who join together right before Valentine’s Day.

“Valentine’s Day is impeccably overrated for couples who have just started dating a few weeks before. However, that is not always the case, but usually it is. For couples who have been dating more than a week, they can celebrate Valentine’s Day just fine. Buy the chocolate. Otherwise it makes me a little suspicious. It’s all a little too convenient.“

Louisa Richardson

Mr. Hesson, one of our math teachers, shares a very thoughtful answer. 

“I’ve never much liked this holiday. When you’re single, it’s meaningless at best and miserable at worst. But even when you’re in a relationship, it tends to feel more like an obligation than a real reason to celebrate being in love. In my relationships, the anniversary was always the important day, the day when I would get excited about finding the perfect gift and planning the perfect day. Birthdays could be like this too. But on Valentine’s, the celebration was always pretty forgettable – a nice dinner, a fancy dessert, or some other bland pseudo-romantic indulgence.
“I believe that the purpose of holidays is deeply personal, and that each of us should enjoy whatever celebrations we find meaningful. If some people value Valentine’s and use it to celebrate love with genuine gratitude and joy, then it could be a great thing for them. But I would imagine for many it serves no real purpose.
People often decry this holiday for being overly commercialized too. And yeah, it is. They all are. It doesn’t really bother me in this case. It would be nice if more of our celebrations could be dislodged from the machinery of business and capital, but that’s difficult to achieve in this country, and V-day is no more egregious in its commercialization than any of the other major holidays.”

Mr. Hesson

6th Grader Millie Flemings answers simply:

“Personally I like Valentines, and I think of it more as a way to show your appreciation to people as a holiday for love.”

Millie Flemings

One of my favorite responses comes from one of our history teachers, Mr. Satterfield. 

“Valentine’s Day, like any other holiday, is what you make of it. Critics will tell you that it is over-commercialized, that it puts pressure on those who are in relationships, and that it excludes those who are not. All of this is true, and the day can be a bleak one for many. 

“Even so, you don’t have to go buy an overpriced gift of dubious utility. You don’t have to out-do last year. And you don’t have to wallow in loneliness. Instead, you can use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to show someone how much you love them in whatever way you see fit (even if that person is yourself). That doesn’t have to cost a cent — it simply requires a thoughtful assessment of what your special person wants. More often than we realize, what that person really wants is time — quality time, uninterrupted and undistracted — with you.”

Mr. Satterfield

I don’t have too many strong opinions on Valentine’s Day myself, but the raspberry milk chocolates that arrive from See’s Candies are something I look forward to every year. I might even add spoon making to my calendar now. 

Fun fact– if you want to see Saint Valentines in person, you can! His skull is supposedly in a church in Cosmedin, Rome (National Geographic).  

What do you think about this holiday? Tell me in the comments!

Movies I’m Excited to See in 2024

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By 8th-Grader Jackie Padgett

I absolutely love movies–especially movies in movie theaters. It’s always been a “tradition” in my family to go to the theaters, get popcorn and pretzels, and sit in those black (sometimes slightly uncomfortable) cushioned seats. So I compiled a list of movies I’m excited to go see in theaters in 2024. 

#7: Inside Out 2

The bottom of this can’t-wait-to-see list is Inside Out 2. Trust me I’m as shocked as you that it made it to the top seven. The reason for this is because I can’t even count the number of times I watched the original Inside Out when I was younger, so the franchise has a special place in my heart. Surprisingly, we don’t know too much about it other than there are four new emotions. Anxiety is orange and has this kind of high ponytail feather hair and is voiced by Maya Hawke. The other ones are Embarrassment, Ennui (“a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.”– Oxford Dictionary), and Envy. 

Photo Source: imdb.com

#6: Night Swim

I have a love-hate relationship with horror movies, and Night Swim is definitely on the love side of that. It’s my #6 because I don’t know if I’ll feel compelled to see it in theaters (‘cause I’m a little scared) or watch it at home. What stuck me in the trailers were the horror events. In one, you reach into the pool filter (the one by the side), and a monster grabs you and tries to pull you in. Terrifying, I know, but I’m sure we all thought this would happen to us when we were younger. I don’t know about you, but I feared the pool lights going out and a monster hanging around at the deep end of the pool ready to drown you. Some of the shots they show in the movie are really cool-looking–like blood floating in the chlorinated pool water. The reason I might not see this in theaters is because the monster they have looks terrifying, and it’s the same producers as M3GAN, so they definitely have the creepy doll monster thing under their belt. 

Photo Source: imdb.com

#5: Wicked

Surprisingly for me, I put Wicked at #5. I really love the original musical, so you’d expect it to be higher on my list. I’m mostly worried that it isn’t going to be as “magical” as it was when I first watched it. (It was also the first musical I’d ever seen, and if you know me, you know I love musical theater.) I do really hope they keep the songs similar as movies tend to slow down some tempos, and most of the time the slow-down ruins the song. 

Photo Source: imdb.com

#4: Mean Girls

Mean Girls is my #4 most-anticipated movie of 2024. As with most of these remakes, I loved the originals, so they automatically get bumped up on the list. I was also in a high-school production version of Mean Girls with Musical Theatre University at Palm Canyon Theater, so seeing the play I was in not too long ago become a movie is very exciting. Sadly, the movie had to cut a lot of songs as the musical had 21 (the movie version only has 13), and they cut one of my favorites, “Where Do You Belong,” as it doesn’t really move the plot along. Another thing they did was exactly what I didn’t want them to do–slow down a song. They ended up having, in my opinion, weird background music to “World Burn” (one of Regina’s big solos) that was slower compared to the one on Broadway. I’m seeing this movie really soon, and I can’t wait to hear how the actors sing and how different or similar it is to Broadway versions. 

Photo Source: imdb.com

#3: One Love

#3 on my wish list is One Love. I love these types of movies. I think they are called dramamentaries…? They did this with Elvis, and I thought that movie was pretty good. I really liked the Priscilla one, too. Well, this one is about Bob Marley, and I like his songs, but I don’t know that much about him, so I’m excited to learn. They apparently already made a movie called One Love back in 2003, which references Marley’s music but is not about his life. It still seems worth watching to compare. I really have no expectations for this movie. It just sounds really cool, and I love the poster. 

Photo Source: imdb.com

#2: Dune Part 2

Dune Part 2 is #2 on my watch list. It took me a hilarious amount of time to fully watch through the first one with Timothée Chalamet. I  watched the first 30 minutes of it then thought it was boring. Then I watched the last 30 minutes of it at a friend’s house. After that I got motivated to watch the full thing through but ran out of time as I rented the movie. Finally I re-rented it and watched the entire thing. During this saga of watching Dune, I really enjoyed the camera angles, so I’m excited to see more of that. I don’t remember loving the blue eyes in most shots, but maybe I’ll change my mind. 

Photo Source: imdb.com

#1: Lisa Frankenstein

#1 I-can’t-wait-to-see is none other than Lisa Frankenstein. I think this movie just looks really cool. I really like the neon theme with the pinks and teals they have in the trailer and the poster. Though many people say romance movies are pretty cheesy, I still really like them. Lisa Frankenstein happens to have some romance, lots of comedy and a bit of horror. I think that makes a pretty rounded-out movie. Plus, it’s set in the 80s, so we get my personal favorite music style and really fun outfits and hair. The trailers do make Cole Sprouse’s makeup as Frankenstein’s monster a little bit weird looking, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for that. 

Photo Source: imdb.com

Some of you may think I have “horrible movie taste” (Quote Louisa Richardson), but this is my opinion. If you are excited for any movies this year, tell me in the comments, I’d love to add them to my list.  

The Chaos of Family Dinners

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By 8th Grader Jackie Doyle Padgett

Gil, that sneaky master of mischief, challenged the Blog Class to write about Chaos. As we are here sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Winter Holiday fare, Jackie immediately thought of the chaos of sitting down to dinner with family. Multiple generations coming together, the extra leaf in the table, the dogs loose–what could possibly go wrong?

You’ve probably had at least one big family dinner where all of your grandparents and cousins and friends come over for the holidays, and, if so, you know it can be utter chaos. Maybe your new little cousin is running around, and you’re stuck watching them, or your uncle brought up the same embarrassing story he tells all of your friends when you bring them to dinner. There are a lot of complicated layers and minefields to family dinners: the food, the miscommunication, the animals, the kids, the occasional assault, and disease.

Food

A lot can go wrong with food: the process of cooking it,  the process of eating it; and (in Ms. Schapiro’s case) regarding what to wear while eating it. 

Ms. Brady, our current French teacher, told me when she was younger her mom was cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Her family normally ate between 2 and 4 p.m. Her mom would get up early and begin cooking so that all the family would wake up to the smell of the turkey. For some reason one Thanksgiving morning, Ms. Brady didn’t smell turkey cooking. The family soon realized the oven was broken. After hours in the oven, the turkey hadn’t even started to cook. They decided to eat pizza instead. 

French Teacher Brady and her parents (sans turkey)

Matteo Lam, sophomore, said he was around six years old when he held the belief that he “could swallow grapes whole.” He tried it. It didn’t end well. Matteo said, “I could’ve died; I’m okay now though.” 

Zoe Groendycke, 7th grade, said one Thanksgiving her grandpa came over to dinner, and he started choking on the turkey. Zoe’s stepdad ran to the rescue and did the Heimlich Maneuver. Then her grandpa decided to leave because he thought the food tasted bad.  

Zoe Groendycke remembers a Thanksgiving mishap. (No relatives were harmed in the telling of this chaotic tale.)

Ms. Schapiro tells us her mom is “basically a professional cook,” so for her big family dinners they focus on the food. Since she and her brother are grown adults and have their own homes, they’ve developed their own dining habits–some different from their mom’s. Sometimes dinner etiquette is an issue. Ms. Schapiro said, “My mom doesn’t like me eating barefoot during dinner–even though my feet are under the table.” 

Ms. Schapiro, it is rumored, did wear shoes at her son’s wedding.

Miscommunication

Whether you text or talk in person, there’s bound to be some miscommunication regarding dinner plans. Rhys provides a prime example of the chaos that can ensue when the hosts don’t get the message.

Rhys Foxx, 8th grader, told me, “My sister came to dinner without a boyfriend, and we realized they broke up. . . . We never knew.” Until dinnertime.

This is what happens when Rhys misses key background context before sitting down to dinner.

Animals

Originally I wasn’t going to make a section for animals, but animals kept coming up in the middle of family dinner chaos. I decided these creatures could be a main source of mischief. 

Sierra James, 8th grader, said at one dinner “My dad spent like 30 minutes cooking burgers, and once he set it on the table, my dog Bo jumped on the chair and ate like half of the hamburger bun.”

Bo lives in the James household and is known to steal hamburger buns. Don’t let the innocent expression fool you.

Kimberly Sayers, 8th grader, said once, “During dinner my cat was scratching the table cloth, and its nail got caught. She ended up almost pulling the entire thing off–it was filled with food by the way.” 

The sharp-clawed Robo, who rules the Sayers household, attempts the dinnertable Houdini maneuver on the bathtub.

Ms. Maguire once put chicken on the counter. One of her cats, Thor, jumped up and stole an entire chicken breast.

Known to steal chicken breasts intended for dinner, Thor the cat lived out his nine lives in the Maguire household.

John Webster, 8th grader, recalled A Case of Missing Turkey: “My mom left the house, after making turkey, to pick me up from soccer. She accidentally left turkey out on the counters, and when we came back it was all gone. We assume the dogs ate all of it.” 

Miscellaneous

I couldn’t choose where to put the remaining stories, so here’s a grab bag of Miscellaneous family dinner mishaps. You’ll find all sorts of things in here: music, collarbone casualties, and, sadly, sickness; try not to get lost.

(Anthony) Tony Ratner, 8th grader, recalled one dinner when “We’re in this tiny 150-square-foot room, and we have this big speaker . . . . I put it full blast playing Gangnam Style. Then I showed the fools (aka his family?) in that room the best moves they’d ever seen. They took videos and everything and we had pumpkin pie. COSTCO PUMPKIN PIE. Put that in all caps, please. Then, we lived happily ever after.”

Tony Ratner often travels with his own music, and inflicts it upon friends and family.

Sawyer Falzone, senior, recounted babysitting a gaggle of kids during one holiday dinner. They think they were 9 years old and their parents asked them and their cousin (around 7 years) if they could help babysit these kids. The kids were . . . 5 and under. One problem was that there were 5 kids . . . on a huge ranch. “Somehow we managed to keep everything under control.” 

Ms. Zachik had a family tradition of playing flag football while her mom would make dinner. The entire family (except Mom) would go to the park with neighbors and friends. Well, during one game she pushed her dad to the ground. He ended up in the ER. “I forgot whether it was a dislocated shoulder or a broken collarbone,” she said.

Ms. Zachik is guilty of rough flag-football play in pre-Thanksgiving-dinnertime warm up.

Rachel De La O, junior, said, “Last year Thanksgiving around an hour after we ate, my sister went into labor.”

Finally in our last response, Charlie Cowley, 7th grader, faced a very contemporary Thanksgiving problem: “Everyone got Covid after our dinner.” 

When I started this blog post idea, I didn’t expect to get some of these crazy stories, but, honestly, they’ve been so fun to read. If I missed you in my interview session, make sure to put your chaotic dinner story in the comments below. 

What’s Your Favorite Color?

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By 8th-Grader Jackie Doyle Padgett

We have a new addition to the Blog Staff: Jackie Padgett. Jackie breaks out with great enthusiasm for her favorite color: Orange. According to Jackie, the vibrant color of citrus fruit just doesn’t get enough representation and not nearly good enough press. She’s here to change your mind.

Knowing someone’s favorite color is probably one of the most asked questions when you meet someone–after asking their name of course. It’s used to start a lot of small talk. Well, my favorite color is orange. It’s one of those colors people either love or hate (According to Color Matters). 

You may have seen results of the Statistics class surveys (posted outside of MS E-3, aka Mr. Gil’s room). Statistics class members went around the school asking people’s opinions on things. One Statistics group asked people What‘s your favorite color? On the posted findings, I noticed that no one said “Orange.” Orange didn’t even make it on the graph. This inspired me to change people’s minds about the disliked color orange. It deserves some spotlight, and, who knows, maybe after these facts, it will be your new favorite color.

HISTORY OF ORANGE

Surprisingly, orange didn’t really have a name until the 16th century (MyModernMet). It was mostly called yellow-red, but when orange trees were brought to Europe, people saw the vibrant fruit and named the color after it. Orange was used a lot by painters in 1809 after the first fully orange color was produced around 10 years prior (Pigments through the Ages). Van Gogh used shades of orange in a lot of his paintings to contrast the blues, purples, and blacks (Van Gogh Museum). Monet also incorporated lots of oranges in his work–mainly in sunsets and flowers.  

Claude Monet’s Bouquet of Sunflowers

THE MEANING OF ORANGE

With basic art knowledge, you should know that orange is a mix of red and yellow. Red is used in many things like stoplights/signs which are meant to capture your attention. Wearing red tends to give people confidence. Yellow tends to help people’s memory (SpringerOpen), and, apparently, wearing yellow makes people try to engage in a conversation. It makes people feel more active/talkative (SensationalColor). That’s why when you wake up, you might feel a lot more energetic after going outside and seeing the sun. Orange is said to project confidence and energy but also optimism. When you wear orange, it might make you more outgoing and adventurous because it’s such a bright color.

Photo from Verywellmind

ADVERTISING

Thus, many famous companies use orange for advertising:

  • Snapple
  • Reeses 
  • Nickelodeon 
  • Dunkin
  • Amazon

They do this because the right color combo draws attention. This is similar to when on the highway some people will turn their billboards upside down to make you look. The companies who use orange are mostly toy stores, gift shops, and food places. Orange can symbolize cheap but good quality. So, if you’re shopping on Amazon and see that little orange arrow, it sparks a little voice in your head that pulls you in if you’re looking for good deals (even though they might not be). Also, children are more likely to pick up or play with things that are orange (TreeFrog.). They’re drawn to it. See Nickelodeon; it could’ve been any color, but Nickelodeon executives chose orange.

Orange will forever be my favorite color. I expect to see it on the next-color related chart (Statistics Class, I’m looking at you.). If you have any fun facts about your favorite color, feel free to share it in the comments below!