Ever since February 13^th and rolling on to the 14^th and 21^st, there has been a slight buzz in the air about the Soul Shoppe assembly where sixth, seventh, and eighth graders would get to enhance their character education. 

To kick off the first Soul Shoppe at Pine Valley, Soul Shoppe instructor Daniel Bruno began with an open discussion with his talk of, ‘Don’t make assumptions.’ When you hear that phrase, what does it mean to you? Assumptions are self-made thoughts that we think are true even though we have no proof. As Daniel Bruno said, “Assumptions sometimes protect us. They let us decide what we think about a person.” 

The main topic of the Soul Shoppe assembly was that assumptions come in many different forms.  Soul Shoppe is a program designed to enhance character education about various life challenges and to help us be a better person through discussions and activities. Mr. Bruno interacts with students and teachers to strengthen the characters of Pine Valley students. 

Sydney Louie said, “The Soul Shoppe was a good experience, I was expecting it to be cheesy but it was nice and was meaningful.” The Soul Shoppe has begun its journey to associate itself with everyday students as well as making an effect on peoples’ daily lives.                                                                          

The Youth to Youth benefit concert was on February 17 at Iron Horse Middle School. Youth to Youth is an organization devoted to preventing teens from taking drugs, tobacco, alcohol, etc. Their message is to not get negative peer pressure which causes you to make stupid choices. 

A few local high school bands performed such as: the Aperture, MDK, Minute2Midnight, Chance Slavens, and Brandon Herring. There were a lot of great performances, but some Pine Valley students had their own favorite. Olivia Duba said, “My favorite band was MDK.” 

With a different opinion, Haley Ramsey said, “I think Minute2Midnight was the best! I liked how the bands did a benefit concert for the Youth to Youth program. It was very fun and entertaining. I had a great time!” All in all, the bands performed for a great cause benefitting the Youth to Youth organization!

iPods, iPhones, iPads, what more do we need?  There have been many electronic devices that have come out this past year.  We want every new device or the latest upgrade that comes out. We ask our parents, they say no, then we’re sad, we still don’t get it and now we’re stuck.  We really don’t need more devices but we want them. If there were no more new electronic things, our world would go crazy. Like for instance when the iPhone 4S came out, millions of people had to get their hands on it.  They lined up overnight to be among the first people to get it.  Some even had to back order it.  Now that the iPhone 4S has been out for awhile, it seems like the excitement has wore off and now people want the next generation… the iPhone 5!  We become addicted; always wanting the next big thing.  When will we be satisfied?

Electronic devices are changing the way we communicate with each other.  Think about how our parents would talk to friends when they were in middle school.  They ONLY had a home phone!  No texting, no emails, no Facebook, no ooVoo.  Can you imagine?  If they were at the mall with friends, they would have to use a pay phone (with money) to call home or call other friends.  If they were at school and wanted to go home with a friend they couldn’t call or text their parents.  On one hand, these electronic devices make life more convenient.  But are we being sucked in to this electronic era and losing our social skills?

Yes, the devices are cool and awesome but do we really need to speed up our lives even more?  These devices give us quick and easy access to so many things; apps for Spanish, apps for math help, apps for games.  How often do you leave your iPod or iPhone at home and go outside and kick the ball around?  We are getting sucked into the electronic era whether we want to or not!  

The gum chewing rule should stay the same at Pine Valley. “Gum chewing shouldn’t be allowed at Pine Valley because it distracts students when they are trying to learn and trying to pay attention to the teacher,” says Melissa Mathison. 

Yes! That is one very important reason why students shouldn’t be allowed to chew gum because it distracts the students and even the teacher. 

Another very important reason is that the students will damage the desks when they are done chewing their gum, and the school has paid so much money to get the school redone, and some could consider this a form of vandalism. 

“Gum chewing shouldn’t be allowed at Pine Valley because it annoys students around them when they are trying to pay attention,” says Meagan Prasad. 

You want to keep YOUR school clean don’t you??? The answer is YES because you are at school for seven hours a day and you don’t want to have to walk around school in a trash can, and be stepping on gum and getting stuck to the floor. 

Also, if you step in gum it sometimes bugs people because if you walk into a friends house and other classrooms it can spread onto the floor. Gum chewing should not be allowed at school.

As awesome as watching late-night TV is, we all need our sleep. Sadly, though, a lot of us don’t get that much of it. Sleep deprivation, or lack of sleep, is now an everyday occurrence for most kids. 

“I barely get any rest because I’m up late studying most of the time,” says Blain Henok. Luckily, it’s easy to prevent sleep deprivation. Cutting your late-night TV marathons and web surfing is a start. Trying to keep it fairly low-key a couple of hours before bed will make a big difference in how quickly and easily you sleep. 

It should also go without saying that unless you want to be tossing and turning all night, avoiding Coke and Starbucks is key, no matter how tempting it may be. 

Try to keep the caffeine at a minimum unless it’s absolutely necessary for a test, which is easy to understand. Besides, all-night study sessions often do the opposite of what you intend--students often remember detailed test materials better if they have plenty of rest beforehand.  

Basically, your sleep is important. If you’re truly committed to doing well in school or in life, then sleep. 

Does eating ice cream give you a cold? If software is complicated is it sophisticated? In this article you could just find out what myths are false. Now, most of us have eaten ice cream and it is almost impossible to have caught a cold by eating it. So that’s busted, but what about other myths? We all know the Mythbusters have solved a lot of these mysterious mysteries. 

But there are a few that even they couldn’t solve. The biggest unsolved mystery is about the Bermuda Triangle. How is it possible that the radars on planes and boats go haywire? How do planes disappear out of thin air? There is no scientific explanation for these events. Supposedly, it could be just bad weather. Or it could be an alien abduction (which is highly unlikely). 

“I think that the Bermuda Triangle is cool, with all the disappearing planes and stuff” said Eyan Garcia. “I think that it is weird and cool on how people travel into the Bermuda triangle and not come out of there at all,” said Robert Li. 

Now there are some legends that are true. Here are a few. Some people can write but they are also illiterate. If a blind person uses one finger to read Braille, the brain area dedicated to the finger expands. And in order to get rid of a whale carcass you blow it up. And there are more of these myths out in the world, either waiting to be solved or wanting to keep people wondering forever.

Source:  http://listverse.com/2007/07/20/top-10-unsolved-mysteries/       answers.yahoo.com   

The SJ Sharks do more than just skate around. They compete in All-Star games! The All-Star games were held at Ottawa during January 26-29 Tim Horton picked the captains for the teams, Zdeno Chara from Boston and Daniel Alfredsson from Ottawa. So the teams were Chara and Alfredsson. No one on the Sharks played on team Chara but Logan Couture played on team Alfredsson as a forward. Though Couture got picked last he doesn’t take it personally. “I had fun with it. You can’t take it personally.” he said. The game was played from 4 pm until 9 pm local time ending with a score of 9-12 leading with team Chara. 

The first period led with team Chara who scored three goals, two by Gaborik and one by Malkin. Then team Alfredsson scored three times, first Spezza, then H. Sedin, and lastly Tavares.

The second period started out with a goal by team Chara’s Gaborik and then another goal by Chara’s Lupul. Then three more goals by Alfredsson and one more by Chara. 

On the last quarter Alfredsson scored three more, which gave them nine goals. And Chara scored six more giving them a score of twelve goals. 

“I like the Sharks because they play fantastic and I love the color blue. Plus I liked watching a Shark’s player play on an All-Star team.” said Raquel Hendrickson. The All-Star game went great! If you didn’t watch it this year you should definitely make it a priority to watch it next year. 

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_NHL_All-Star_Game; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/26/SP4D1MV1JD.DTL

- Has been teaching for six years

- Loves to be around her friends  

- Lived in Paris 

- Enjoys shredding the slopes while skiing and snowboarding  

- Was a blackjack dealer before becoming a teacher

Answer:  Ms. Krummes

Lockers should be at Pine Valley because of the basic reasons that everyone thinks of. Elementary schools have desks and high schools has lockers, so why do middle schoolers have to put the books on their backs? Some kids have backpacks that weigh half as much as they do. 

The web site, kidshealth.org states, “As practical as backpacks are, though, they can strain muscles and joints and may cause back pain if they’re too heavy or are used incorrectly.” 

So why do we make kids in middle school have back pains, when we should get lockers? Lockers can reduce the amount of books in your backpack at a time which leads to a lighter, more comfortable backpack. Also electronics can be stored in the locker to keep safe. Plus, remembering to bring things from home isn’t a problem. All your needs are in the spin of a locker combo. 

Kids could store their sport related activity gear in their lockers instead of carrying another load of things in your backpack for the whole day. Supposedly you would only need to stop at your locker at least three times a day. You could visit your locker before school, at lunch, and after school. When you would start the day, you would carry your morning class books and at lunch exchange them for your afternoon classes. Then, you would only be carrying fifty percent of your load. 

Also, kids love to accessorize and personalize their lockers. It’s one of the great ways to express yourself. Whether you add mirrors, stickers, or pictures you can be creative in your own way. You can also store jackets inside your locker when it becomes hot and an umbrella to use when a rain storm happens. 

Bottom line is, lockers are a great storage area and reduces your backpack weight by a lot.

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

The Lost Hero is the first book of the The Hero of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, about Greek and Roman mythology. The book is reviewed as “good” by many all around, from reviewers from magazines and newspapers, regular readers, and die-hard Percy Jackson fans. Almost all of them thought it was satisfactory, just not excellent, especially in comparison to the books The Lost Hero follows, Percy Jackson & The Olympians. Though it may be a bit harsh, it’s a little true; the book lacked action in some places, there was awkward and unneeded dialog, and three major and half a dozen new minor characters in one book was a little much.

The book has its perks too, of course. We get to meet new, interesting characters and the writing in some areas are excellent, with fast-paced moments and thrilling, action-packed fights that made you turn the page constantly. There’s an educational value to the book, too. It talks about Greek gods, goddesses, and titans, and some Roman gods are in there too. All in all, the book is worth a read.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief is a sad, yet compelling, book about a girl named Liesel, who lives in Nazi Germany. It is narrated by Death, and you get to see through its eyes what it’s like to pluck up life after life during the horrific World War II. Contrary to what you might be thinking, it’s not like “I kill you, and you, and you”. Death actually has somewhat of a personality in this book, and it’s interesting to see what it’s like to see through the point of view of Death, since it always foreshadows in war.

This book is described as “life-changing” by many, and it’s no surprise either. This book has won a dozen awards throughout the years and has been praised for originality and just overall goodness. The way the book is written takes time, though. But don’t fret, you have 500-plus pages to get used to it.

March 23rd - 25th: Band & Chorus trip to Disneyland

Monday, March 26th: PTA meeting 6:30 pm.

Friday, March 30th: End of 3rd quarter, students of the month honored at lunch

April  9th - 13th: Spring Break

April 23rd - 27th: Spring Book Fair in the Library

April 30th: PTA meeting  6:30 pm

Editor in Chief:

Tracy Elizabeth Schluntz 

Staff Writers: Nicole Baer, Shaelah Burke, Sarah Chi, Sophie Cipolla, 

Tracey Counts, Savannah Garcia, Rachael Gasparini, Noah Gonzales, Brandon Graham, Kaitlin Groleau, Alisa Horiike, Stephanie Jahncke, Emma Kroger, Sammy Morgan Nicholson, Kieran O’Connor, Jamie Quilalang, Sydney Quilalang, Lela Reagan, Allison Schiffman, Charlotte Tan, Sophie 

Vergara and Stephanie Yip.

Blogmaster: Akarsh Rao

Questions?  Comments?  Suggestions?

Contact Mrs. Schluntz at

tschluntz@srvusd.net

Or leave a note in her box in the office.

Recently, a stomach virus has been going around California. Despite the common misconception, it is not stomach flu; it is actually an infection known as norovirus. 

It has especially hit schools – many students have fallen ill due to norovirus in just a few weeks. The virus recently hit one school so hard, in fact, that it had to close. More than one-fifth of their student body was staying home sick before they decided to temporarily shut down the school. 

Pine Valley is no exception to the outbreaks. “We were very busy,” said Mrs. Arieta of the attendance office, “There were a lot of kids out, and we just hope they stay home until they are well enough to come back.” 

The disease is known to be very contagious, and has even sent people to hospitals. This is not the first time that norovirus has terrorized educational settings; in 2009, a small college in Massachusetts closed for about half a week. 

This virus has been sending people to hospitals for years (it is blamed for twenty percent of infectious outbreaks in hospitals by a survey by the American Journal of Infection Control, according to the Huffington Post)¹, but it now seems worse than ever. 

Unfortunately, experts don’t entirely understand how it is transmitted and how dangerous it is. They say that the most likely way to get it is by food contamination, but no one knows for sure what has caused so many people to get sick. Luckily, the disease seems to be regressing … for now.

¹ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/-norovirus-hospitals-infections_n_1244457.html

What?   They’re killing puppies for money? The Hayden Act was proposed by California Senator Tom Hayden on February 18, 1998, and activated on July 1, 1999. It extended the time of an animal’s stay at the shelters to four to six business days. Before this law was passed, animals only got three days and were then put down if not adopted. 

Many people supported this newly added law, but now it is subject to removal. Governor Jerry Brown is fighting to remove this act for the good of California. Understand the governor is not doing this because he hates puppies and kittens, but for the sake of the economy. There is nothing left for us to cut our expenses on. It takes a lot of money to feed the cats and dogs and California is losing too much money already! 

The governor has to make a choice that will help the people, so he can’t cut the budget of nursing homes or education. The animal shelter is the only thing left to choose from! Ileana Vasquez said, “I think it’s really terrible, mostly because it’s like saying you have the right to kill something for money.” If you don’t want these poor, defenseless animals euthanized, you should donate to or volunteer at your local animal shelter!

Even though it’s second semester, you still have to work hard and keep studying for tests. People are getting excited for summer, but some students are slacking off. You should still try your best to get good grades. Some teachers expect more from the students in the second semester. For some students, you might have to work harder in the second semester just to get the same grades as they did in the first semester. Allison Schiffman said, “I think that it’s unfair that sometimes we have hours of homework, and sometimes have only a few minutes. I do think that homework is one of the many causes of stress, but a simple cure is to breathe.” A few ways to stay healthy, and get better grades are:

Have a healthy breakfast, lunch, and snacks.

Study for tests, and quizzes.

      Get a good night’s sleep every night especially before a test, or quiz.   

On lovely afternoons in AP have you or your friends ever wanted to lay your head down sleepily and just sleep the rest of AP away? This can be hard because most teachers don’t really like it when you just shut down during AP, because don’t you have homework to do. 

The whole point of AP is so that you can get some of your homework done before you go home, this way a lot of the stress of homework is lifted from your shoulders. 

Shelby Jones commented saying “ I think nap time during AP would be cool because we could catch up on sleep if we were up late studying.” 

If you were tired from doing homework or studying sleeping during AP would be ideal for you so that you could catch up on your sleep.  But when you stop to think, sleeping during AP gets less of our homework done, therefore would make it a cycle of staying up late because you could do homework in AP then having to sleep in AP because you stayed up late. 

So nap time is something that may be a possibility but it’s best to stick with homework in AP so that we can have more time to do fun things after school and a good night’s rest.  

              1985, 1986, 2012! Changes happen in Pine Valley every year, whether it’s the students, structure, or even the teachers. 

Some teachers have been here since 1985, like Mrs. Loughery and Mrs. Rowland. Even a third, Mrs. Hegarty.  All of the changes made to our middle school are meant to make Pine Valley better, though. “I think having a new structure gave everyone a lift and it is like working in a new school. Having a nice building, just makes P.V. even a better place to work,” Mrs. Rowland says. After the major structure change, the school has become more contemporary, and students like it.

Though some students have left the school when it was being constructed, some of the teachers stayed. Life goes on, and the changes are new people and buildings. People’s preferences of clothing and hairstyles have changed. When you become a seventh grader, you have only two periods of core and your lunch is moved to either fifth or sixth lunch. Academic Prep had been added last year. 

Most teachers like to see all the different kids come and go, and follow through the regular steps of teaching. Change is a definite thing in life.

    Since we were in diapers, we have enjoyed the writings of Dr. Seuss.  Yes, The Cat in The Hat, The Lorax and Green Eggs and Ham are all a part of the great works of Doctor Theodore Geisel, and they will stay in our hearts forever.  An interesting fact about Dr. Seuss is that he wrote his stories to three different audiences.  The first audience was the people in power (the president, congress, the senate etc.) His second audience is the parents and his third audience is the children.  Did you know that Dr. Seuss was so popular, that they made a musical out of some of his books?

Each of Dr. Seuss’s books has a message, for example.  In Horton Hears a Who, Horton is the people in power and the Whos are regular people who need help from pollution and dangers of the forest.    Another story is The Cat in The Hat.  This story speaks to the parents warning them about what kids might do when they aren’t at home.  Over all, Dr. Seuss is most popular for his funny rhymes, lyrics, and tongue twisters in his novels for children.  We will all remember the sad day that he left us and Dr. Seuss will always have a place in our hearts. 

Pine Valley students are interested in the upcoming movies of 2012. From Dr. Suess’ The Lorax (March 2) to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (December 14), these movies are our modern day entertainment. 

Seventh graders Ayza Murcia and Haley Ramsey both agree that they are most looking forward to The Hunger Games (March 23), based on the trilogy by Suzanne Collins. 

The Hunger Games isn’t the only movie being released that’s based on a book. Diary of a Wimpy Kid :Dog Days (August 3) and Snow White and the Huntsman (June 1) are both based on books, alongside many other movies. 

Sixth grader Jack Reynolds said, “I’m looking forward to G.I Joe: Retaliation (June 29) and The Avengers.” (May 4) Whether it’s spending more than seven dollars on movie tickets or just waiting for it to come out on DVD, some of these new movies will make this new year special.

Source: http://www.movieinsider.com/movies/-/2012/

Many of you have heard of the SOPA censorship act. For those of you that have  not, SOPA is the stop online piracy act, and PIPA is the PROTECT IP act. If SOPA is passed it could shut down major sites like youtube, tumblr, imgur, and Reddit. SOPA could also restrict search for many things on google. Also if SOPA is passed it would prevent people from posting pictures from major sites like reddit, 9gag, and Tumblr.  It would also not let people share pictures on Facebook and Twitter.  PIPA could also affect the internet in a big way.

10. Criminal Minds: this show is about a team of people from the FBI unit.

9. 60 Minutes is an American news magazine show on CBS.

8.  The Mentalist, another crime show about a man who works in homicide investigations. 

7. Person of Interest, another crime/drama show about a CIA agent recruited to prevent crime in New York City. 

6. The Big Bang Theory a comedy centered around 5 characters who deal with relationships. 

 5. NCIS; Los Angeles a TV series dealing with military drama and police procedures. 

4. The Voice is a great show if you like singing competitions. 

3. American Idol- Result show. 

2.  American Idol is watched by people of all ages; it is a music competition where 24 people sing to win a record deal

1. NCIS, a police drama revolving around a team of special agents. 

Source: Nielsen, week of Feb 6-12, 2012.

There’s always been a debate about having lockers between the students. If you think about it, you’ll agree that we shouldn’t have them. 

It’s sport season and homework time is becoming smaller and smaller, and having lockers would make the four minute passing period not long enough. Even with the extra time, some people take longer than others or have troubles with locks making the rate of being late to class rise. We all know lockers don’t come free and the costs could cause the school to cut corners in other places. With most things in a locker, the carefree days of having everything in a backpack are over. Forgetting homework, books, or even a pencil could make your grade go down from being unprepared or turning in late assignments. 

Not only could you forget things, but losing things in a disorganized locker could be a struggle. In the rush to get everything, you may carelessly toss things in and eventually forget where you placed it. Now the most important thing is being forgetful and forgetting to lock your locker, or just having sneaky students break into the locker and steal valuables. This would not only be a bummer to you, but wait until you get home to your parents. Busted. 

This is why lockers would be a bad idea for Pine Valley.

1.  Make up a song about the rain and email it to all your friends asking what they thought.

2.  Look up singing puppies on youtube and say “aww!” every time something cute happens.

3.  Invite all of your closest friends over and create a music video to one of your favorite songs.

4.  Go outside and collect as much fresh rain water as you can and then bring someone outside saying something like, “Look at how pretty the rain is!” and then dump it on them.

5.  Find someone in your house that looks bored and every few seconds make a noise while hiding to convince them that they’re hearing things.

6.  Make a list of your favorite things to do and attempt to do all of them in less than an hour.

7.  If you’re bored then make a very good argument to tell your parents that says you shouldn’t ever have to do chores again.

8.  Create your own recipe for cookies.  Tell one of your friends to make a recipe too and see whose are better.

9.  If you see someone watching a movie come up from behind them and grab their shoulder while yelling “Boogala Boogala” and see if that scares them.

10.  Sit and stare out the window in awe that it is actually raining in the forever dry winter of 2012!

Dear Puma,

I have a boyfriend who goes to another school and I never get to see him except on the weekends.  I’m usually busy during the weekends. What should I do?

Sincerely,

Not Seeing

Dear Not Seeing,

I’m sorry you don’t see him much, but there’s a solution to everything!  You can maybe plan something out ahead of time so you are both available on that day. Hope I helped solve your problem!

Dear Puma,

I like this girl in my math class, but we don’t talk. I’m really shy and don’t really have the guts to talk to her.  Can you help me?

Sincerely,

Shy Guy

Dear Shy Guy,

You need to overcome your fears and talk to her. There is nothing that can possibly go wrong. Start with a little conversation such as just saying “Hey!”

Dear Puma,

I haven’t been getting very good grades lately and my parents are getting mad. What should I do to get my grades up?

Sincerely,

Troubled Grades

Dear Troubled Grades,

You should ask your teacher for extra credit or maybe do any zeros for half credit. Half is always better than none. After, become more organized so you can keep up with all the assignments.  When you get home, talk to your parents and say that you have learned your lesson, will do better, and have worked things out with your teacher.