April 11, 2014
Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com
Page 9
Winning posters say ‘no’ to drugs NATALIE PURSCHE
MDES CORRESPONDENT “Drugs are chemicals that change the way a person’s body works. You’ve probably heard that drugs are bad for you, but what does that mean and why are they bad?” asks the website Kids
Health, where kids can find more information about the effect of drugs on their bodies, brains and health. (kidshealth.org) On Wednesday, March 26, two fifth graders from Mt. Diablo Elementary School tried to answer that question with their No Drug/Alcohol Posters. Audrey Carlson and Matthew Hubbard were informed their posters won a “No-Drug/Alcohol Poster Contest” in an annual, state-wide contest sponsored by St. Bonaventure’s Knights of Columbus. Audrey and Matthew, from Mrs. Kerr’s fifth grade class, were
stunned, yet excited about being recognized. Although Audrey and Matthew did not win the state-wide contest, they did win for their school. Audrey’s poster slogan rhymed, “Do what’s right, get up to fight, say no to drugs!” “I chose something that rhymed with right because if people would do the right thing there wouldn’t be as much drug use as there is now,” Audrey says. Audrey also believes that drugs are bad for your mind and can ruin your life. Drugs don’t solve problems, of course. And using drugs often
CVCHS Air Band does more than pay lip service Air Band, the annual lip-syncing competition at Clayton Valley Charter High School, took place on April 3 and 4. Weeks of preparation resulted in one show with 16 unique acts performed by the students of the Public Speaking class at CVCHS. Maureen Allan, the Public Speaking teacher, worked with her students throughout the third and fourth quarters of this year to put on this event. For as long as any of the current CVCHS students can remember, administrator Neil McChesney was the Public Speaking teacher. However, with his transition from the classroom to an administration post, Allan took on the challenge of teaching this diverse class. “Teaching this class has been both challenging and rewarding; it has been a great opportunity for me as both a student and a teacher,” Allan said. Allan fervently believes that public speaking is an essential life skill, and although there have been some challenges with planning Air Band for the first time, she is excited to have partaken in it. Air Band practices started tak-
ing place sixth period, but during the week of the performance, the students stayed after school rehearsing for several hours. Gregory Hile and drama teacher Kevin Cline offered what advice they could to students when they visited the rehearsals. The Tech Team also worked long hours for “tech week,” helping the students achieve their desired lighting and sound affect. Air Band began with the entire public speaking class dancing to the song “Let’s Get it Started,” where the audience was surrounded by dancing students. Sam Myers and Luis Molina were the Masters of Ceremony of Air Band and kept the audience’s attention in between songs. Senior Myers, also having taken Public Speaking two years in a row, says, “I was not really nervous for being an MC, except maybe afraid of forgetting my lines in front of the audience. Otherwise, I felt confident because of my prior experience in Public Speaking and Air Band last year as well.” Some of the songs acted out by students included the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” “Heartless,”
LILIANA HERNANDEZ
TEEN SPEAK “A Thousand Miles,” “Burning Up,” and many more. The Public Speaking students did not only learn staging and lighting techniques, but also gained confidence with this event. “I have benefitted because when I work with other people I feel more confident performing and sharing my thoughts,” freshman Spencer Tamichi says. All in all, Air Band is always an event to watch. Often comedic, the individual performances are only limited by the students’ imagination. A lot of work was put into Air Band, and the Public Speaking students can be proud of what they achieved. Liliana Hernandez is a Senior at Clayton Valley Charter High School. She loves to read and plans to pursue her interest in writing in the future. Send email to her at liliana@claytonpioneer.com
AUDREY CARLSON
causes other problems on top of the problems the person had in the first place Matthew’s poster focused on alcohol. His slogan was more straight-forward, saying “Alcohol is bad for y’all.” Matthew says he wanted to tell kids taking drugs or drinking alcohol doesn’t solve problems, but creates them, and kids should focus their lives on more important things like doing well in school and following their dreams. “It is easier for kids to become addicted,” says Matthew.
CARLIE BEESON
PINE HOLLOW REPORTER The transition from middle school to high school is exciting. We will be leaving behind memories at Pine Hollow Middle School, and creating a new ones at Clayton Valley Charter High School. But making that transition can be scary and overwhelming. As an eighth grader, we have many things to do before we begin our first year of high school. We have to fill out registration paperwork, pick our classes, figure out which activities and sports to participate in, all within a new environment. Figuring out classes was, for me, the hard part. At Clayton Valley Charter High School, there are many different opportunities for incoming ninth graders. For instance, the school offers academies that students can participate in that focus the learning standards to fit different areas: Engineering, Arts, Medical and Public Service. Choosing to do an academy can make picking your classes for the year difficult. In a way, by joining an acade-
my, you have to choose what you could potentially want to do for the rest of your life. It can be a little nerve-wracking to have to make those choices. If you do choose an academy, it affects what other classes you will take. That’s hard enough because you do not know what the classes and electives are like. In addition, with all of the mandatory classes, you only get to choose maybe one class or elective that could be of interest to you. Needless to say, picking my freshman year classes was not as easy as I thought. Many students at Pine Hollow feel excited to experience these new options, while others are nervous. Approximately half of the students I spoke with feel a little overwhelmed by the whole high school process. A variety of students at Pine Hollow said that CVCHS needs to improve on some of the things at registration, especially for incoming freshman. Emma Ramirez, an eighth grader at Pine Hollow, thought that the process of registering for high school was very overwhelming. “There were so many students and parents in one room, and most did not understand what to do. The registration process was very overwhelming and disorganized,” Emma said. Even though this is only CVCHS’s second year, students at Pine Hollow feel as if the high school has many things to improve on before next year. Eighth grader Rylie Bowerbank thinks that the high school should make registration not so complicated.
“CVCHS should try cutting the freshman class in half during registration to make things less crowded, and they should explain the different scenarios more clearly.” Although students may feel like they were overwhelmed with the whole registration process, many of us think that there is always room to improve. Hopefully next year, the incoming freshman feel differently, and CVCHS will consider making their system easier and more organized. Carlie Beeson is an 8th grader at Pine Hollow Middle School. She enjoys reading, playing soccer, and singing. Questions or comments? Send her an Email at carlie@claytonpioneer.com
“Their bodies and minds are not developed yet.” Instead, “kids should be playing sports and enjoying life not worrying about drugs, because drugs can ruin their life and the lives of their family.” Drugs and alcohol, of course can be dangerous, since drugs and alcohol can have unexpected adverse health effects even with one use; and drugs and alcohol affect your ability to exert good judgment — making it more likely that you might engage in risky behaviors that can have serious
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consequences. Audrey and Matthew are now happy and proud about winning, but also happy about getting a very important message out to other kids: “Don’t do drugs, be healthy, be happy, is wise advice!” Natalie Pursche is a fifth grader at Mt. Diablo Elementary School who is an avid reader, enjoys writing, loves the outdoors, and is a member of the MDE school council. Send comments to natalie@claytonpioneer.com.
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