the bird on fire

The Palm Valley School Student Blog

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Everything About MAP Growth Testing

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Part of The Bird on Fire’s What’s in the News

By 8th-Grade Blogger Jackie Pretorius

What is MAP Growth Testing? It’s a test given out to students in kindergarten through twelfth grade about language, math, reading, or science (Purpose of MAP Growth). If you go too fast, your test will be paused until you are consulted by a teacher. Per section, there’s around forty or so questions. If you get a question wrong, you will be given an easier question, and if you answer correctly, you will be given a harder question.

Why exactly do we have MAP Growth Testing in the first place? NWEA, the founder of MAP Growth Testing, says that it is to show student growth throughout the years (nwea.org). This, in turn, helps teachers see areas each student excels in and areas that can be improved.

Although MAP Growth Testing doesn’t affect your grades, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Not only will your parents see what score you got, but so will teachers. Completely flunking the test on purpose destroys the reason why MAP Growth Testing was created in the first place. I know it’s long, and you just want to get it over with, but at least try your best, and if you don’t get a good score, it’s okay. Teachers can see where you’re struggling and help you out.

Photo credit: https://info.nwea.org/Email-Preferences-Center.html 

The Psychology of Hugs

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Feature Post

By 8th-Grade Blogger Jackie Pretorius

Why is hugging considered beneficial when all you’re doing is putting your arms around someone? From my experience, hugging makes me feel better whenever something stressful in Blog happens. Thanks, Dug (toy bear). I’m sorry if I squeezed you too much. You and my cats are just so cute!

Dug, as so named (and spelled) by sophomore Valeria, is the class pet in Upper-School #7. He gets and gives many hugs.

Anyway, according to the National Library of Medicine (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), affectionate touch like hugs can relieve stress systems such as the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. It’s a system of three organs: the hypothalamus (in the brain–controls mood, hunger, etc.), the pituitary gland (also in the brain–makes hormones, controls endocrine glands), and the adrenal gland (in the kidneys) makes hormones that help regulate bodily functions (my.clevelandclinic.org). These three organs regulate stress. Furthermore, the cortisol awakening response (CAR) can measure HPA, and it’s when you produce more cortisol than usual that you wake up stressed (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/). CAR is similar to HPA as they both make cortisol in the same way. There was a study with college students (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). When people hugged more often, they experienced less CAR, meaning less stress. Another study was done where women who received physical touch had less cortisol than people without it, as indicated through the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) (National Library of Medicine). The TSST is a test where participants do an interview presentation as well as a mental arithmetic (math) test in order to see how their stress response reacts (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/). 

From this information, I concluded that physical touch can reduce stress. However, I started thinking about people who dislike being touched. Does it stress them out rather than calm them down? Well, a study in Comprehensive Psychology found that people who experienced hugs through childhood tend to like hugs more than the ones who didn’t. Also Darcia Narvaez, who teaches psychology at Notre Dame, said how a lack of physical touch can mean that the vagus nerve (nerves that go from the spinal cord to the abdomen) is undeveloped and so is the oxytocin system which releases certain hormones that help humans bond with one another (time.com). Without these hormones it makes it harder to understand social cues. Also people with higher levels of self confidence tend to hug more frequently while people with social anxiety or low self confidence tend to find hugs nerve-wracking. However, it’s still possible for non-huggers to want to embrace hugging, but that’s not usually the case (time.com). 

If you want to hug someone, ask if they like hugs. If they say no, allow them to have their space. That’s their decision, and you shouldn’t tell them otherwise. Although hugging does have its benefits, that’s only if the person is comfortable with hugging in the first place. If a person, a cat, a stuffed bear is a hugger, feel free to hug as much as you like.

Jackie says, “The more Dug the better.”

CUÁNTAS PATAS!!!

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Op-Ed Post: How do we really feel?

By 8th-Grade Blogger Jackie Pretorius

My dad needed an evil ploy to get us to learn some Spanish. He thought to himself what is the most awesomest thing in the whole wide world–so awesome in fact that his children wouldn’t mind speaking in a whole different language? Thus, Cuántas patas (how many paws) was born. Out of the blue, our dad will quiz us by asking cuántas patas? The thing that annoyed me most was that the answer was always cuatro (four). Cats have four paws, and that doesn’t change! It’s like that didn’t matter though. He would pretend we are in some sort of a gameshow and would be so enthusiastic whenever we got the answer right.

One Easter day we were doing our normal thing, finding eggs, and stuff. Usually we would have to complete a URL code that leads us to a video showcasing where we were going to travel next. In order to find the missing characters in the URL, we’d have to do a fun activity. I think you know where this is going. One by one he’d pick up our cats and shout cuántas patas in the most animated way possible, and when we answered “cuatro,” he would celebrate. I’d come to find this extremely annoying while Max (my brother) has embraced it and joined our dad’s side in trying to irritate me.

Also one of my games in Scratch (a simple kids block coding language), was having to take care of a cat by playing four different mini games. In one of these mini games, I made it so that the cat you were taking care of would quiz you with various questions about how many ears, eyes, and of course paws does a cat have in Spanish and later English. Best of all I showed it to our dad, and you can’t imagine how much he enjoyed it. A little inside joke he made has turned into so much more. Although I still find the cuántas patas game annoying, I’ve come to like it as it has brought us so many memories. And, now, you can embrace it and see how ridiculous but yet so wholesome cuántas patas came to be.

My Scratch game.

Spring Ahead

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Part of The Bird on Fire’s What’s in the News

By 8th-Grade Blogger Jackie Pretorius

Daylight savings is a stupid thing we do that changes our clocks twice a year. It’s stupid in my opinion at least. Why do we do such a thing in the first place? It just seems unnecessary. 

Well, according to usafacts.org, it all started in WWI to conserve fuel because working when it’s sunny out helps burn less fuel and it also makes people work later into the day. This was called the Standard Time Act of 1918 (https://usafacts.org). However, after the war ended so did the daylight savings, until it was enacted again in 1942 and then repealed again in 1945–all because WWII was going on. The daylight savings system we are familiar with began in 1966 due to the Uniform Time Act. Then, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 made daylight savings even longer than it was before! 

In spring, we “spring ahead” an hour. Photo credit: Ms. Zachik

Most states have daylight savings, but it is possible to opt out of it like Hawaii and Arizona. Meanwhile 19 other states wanted daylight saving to go year round. This in theory will make it less confusing as time won’t randomly switch while still keeping the benefits of more sun. To make this opting out official, Congress needs to approve it. That’s what the Sunshine Protection Act hoped to do, but it was only brought up in 2021 and 2025. Nothing has been done so far.

I personally think daylight savings is stupid, but do others think the same way? Ms. Schapiro says, “I am not a fan. I have a very difficult time adjusting afterwards. So I’ve been falling asleep at 7 p.m. since the time change, and then not waking up again until 11 p.m. and not going back to sleep until 3 or 4. I hate it.” I think she agrees with me.

The Dangerous Landscape of Roblox

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Feature Post

By 8th-Grade Blogger Jackie Pretorius

Roblox is a platform that has loads of games built by different creators on the site. The games are usually multiplayer–meaning that you can see other avatars in whatever game you choose to play. Some games require players to use the in-game chatting system. However, recently Roblox changed its guidelines to allow people to chat with each other only if they were in the same age groups. They did this because Roblox was getting sued regarding child safety. Even as recently as the 19th of February 2026, Roblox was sued by Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA). DCBA accused Roblox of failing “to implement adequate safeguards to protect children from predatory behavior and inappropriate content” (lacounty.gov).  

When you see this box within a box within a box, you are looking at the Roblox logo. Graphic Source: https://www.youtube.com/roblox 

Why exactly is Roblox so dangerous? It’s literally just a ton of “experiences” to have fun in. Well, according to the Los Angeles County DCBA, some people on the site have exposed children to sexual content, abuse such as grooming, or even assault! About 75 percent of children in the United States ages 9-12 play Roblox on a daily basis, and safety measures couldn’t have been worse (lacounty.gov)! 

The Los Angeles County of Department of Consumer and Business Affairs has locked horns with Roblox over child safety. Graphic Source: https://lacounty.gov/

This brings us to why Roblox implemented this group chatting system. Although this is the best they’ve done so far, Roblox chatting system still has some flaws. First off, it makes servers feel like a ghost town since people are quiet because of age restrictions; sometimes the system lags, still allowing inappropriate things to be said, and it ruins the social aspect of Roblox. However, Roblox is taking a step for child safety and will hopefully get better as time progresses.


Source Referenced: https://lacounty.gov/2026/02/25/la-county-files-lawsuit-against-roblox-dcba-urges-parents-to-report-complaints/

A Grade Ahead

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Part of The Bird on Fire’s What’s in the News

By Middle-School Blogger Jackie Pretorius

Once every year we have this thing called Move-up Day, where everyone goes to the next grade level. That means that the 5th graders get a sneak peek into middle school. 

The 5th graders joined us for Morning Soar on Move-Up Day. Photo credit: PVS Facebook.

This year’s Move-Up Day started off with Morning Soar, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, doing what we normally do in assembly. We introduced the Middle-Upper School to the 5th graders and the 5th graders to the Middle-Upper School. 

The schedule was different from a usual Friday, having all the periods from one to seven in order. This meant that students got to meet new teachers as well as revisit old ones. The classes showed us concepts we were going to do once we got to the next grade, while the electives stayed the same. The 12th graders went to college. Just kidding–they got a free day off, but they could also talk to the juniors and sophomores about the college-application process if they chose to during lunch.

PVS alumnus Sara Habibipour, now at UCLA, Facetimed with the Juniors and Sophomores, explaining the demands of the quarter system and midterms, and joys of college extracurriculars. Photo credit: PVS Facebook.

Let’s look at some quotes about Move-Up day.

Max (fellow blogger): I remember my first Move-up Day. It was a day like any other. My Move-Up Day buddy was Louisa Richardson, and she did an act of kindness that I’ll never forget. She bought me a bag of Cheetos at the vending machine for a dollar. I savored every last Cheeto.

7th-Grade Savannah had some words of wisdom for the 5th graders: “Don’t be nervous. Be yourself.”

Ms. Schapiro added, “Good advice.”

Sophomore John, after interacting with current college students, observed, I can see “hard work goes a long way.”

Overall, Move-Up Day was an exciting day as everyone got the chance to explore a bit of what the next grade has to offer.