Watertown Splash -- January 2019, Pages 1-8

The Watertown Splash The official newspaper of Watertown Middle School Winter 2019

Learning the ropes, making the rules Donna Martin takes over as WMS principal

“The more you put in, the more you get out, get involved.”

These were the words of Donna Martin, the new principal at Watertown Middle School.

Mrs. Martin replaced the former principal, Dr. Kimo Carter.

Ever since her first day, she said she loved the environment and the vibe she got from the school, as well as the kindness from teachers and students.

She said her goals for this year is to know as many students as possible, know the curriculum, and learn her way around the school, which she achieved.

“This is a very big school, and it was hard for me at first, I’m not a student but I was new,” she said.

Ms. Martin has many plans for the upcoming year. She said doesn’t like the idea of leveled classes, because she feels that there shouldn’t be a hierarchy and that leveled classes are more useful in high school.

She does in fact like DEAR because of her love of reading so, that will most likely not change.

“I understand that there are glitches to it,” she said, “but I don’t want to change it.”

This isn’t her first time in a school environment though.

Before Watertown, Mrs. Martin taught at Arlington Middle School for 12 years, she spent two years at Arlington High, two years at Chelmsford Middle School, was vice principal at Chelmsford High School for nine years, and is now here at Watertown.

Some advice from Mrs. Martin PRINCIPAL Page 4

QUITE A TALENTED BUNCH -- Singers, dancers, magicians, musicians, and more were on display at Watertown Middle School’s annual Variety Show in January. For more photos, turn to page 4.

President leads by example

Serving WMS with a smile and a wag

By Julianne Sabino and Anika Ziobro Chris Cotreau is one of many important and special people at Watertown Middle School. Chances are you’ve probably seen a man in a wheelchair rolling around the hallways with a service dog obediently following wherever the wheelchair is to go.

That’s Mr. Coutreau.

Mr. Cotreau loves working at schools. When he first started in 1994, he began as a student teacher. But in 1997 he started subbing. Mr. Cotreau has also worked in the afterschool program for Lowell.

His favorite subject to teach is math, which was also his favorite subject as a student.

COTREAU Page 5

By Naomi Baker

Naomi Baker photo Eighth-grader Tino Themelis is class president at Watertown Middle School.

Tino Themelis has been attending WMS for nearly three years of his middle school life and is finally getting to make a change!

Last year he decided to run for class president so he could make a positive influ-

ence and help represent the student body well. Now he is helping to make WMS a better place.

But who is he?

Tino describes himself to be hardworking, fun, and passionate, all important traits for a school leader.

PRESIDENT Page 4

2 Watertown Splash

Fits to a T -- or does it?

WMS students size up Brandy Melville’s unique clothing line

By Gabriela Bondaryk, Catherine Flemming, and Naomi Baker Brandy Melville is taking Watertown Middle School by storm with its basic but classy styles. There is one concern though: the one-size-fits-all policy. WMS students are split on the topic of whether or not it’s a good thing.

Brandy Melville, a clothing store, gained popularity after influencers such as Emma Chamberlain, Hannah Meloche, and Ellie Thumann were seen wearing the clothing in their YouTube videos. Girls who watch their videos fell in love with the look of the clothing. Soon Brandy Melville was blowing up at schools across America.

With all this new popularity came controversy. We can see WMS girls are having their own debate about the topic.

We decided to visit the store in Boston’s Back Bay to see for ourselves.

According to a sales associate, Brandy Melville began as a small European family business that didn’t have enough money to make multiple sizes. After the brand blew up in

the USA, the sizing just stuck. It was meant to fit everyone differently and look good on all body types.

We all tried on the same shirt and it fit our bodies differently. The clothing was stretchy enough to accommodate us all, which was a pleasant surprise.

It had a different look on every body type.

But how do the students of WMS feel about the marketing strategy?

Eighth-grader Alique Haserjian believes that the one-size-fits-all policy is a good thing.

“It’s not the same shirt on everyone,” she said. “It’s supposed to fit each body type differently.”

On the other side of the debate is

Amanda Cosco, another eighth-grader.

According to her, “The policy leaves out people of different sizes and prevents them from getting the clothing, even if they like the style.”

So what do you think, is the onesize policy good or not?

--WMS--

Italian class gets a taste of world travel

By Catherine Fleming In December, the eighth-grade students of Watertown Middle School who take Italian as a language, went on a field trip to Eataly -- an eat, shop and learning environment where people of all ages can explore the culture and, most importantly, the food of Italy.

The first Eataly is located in Alba, Italy. Eataly was such a success there, there are now many across the world including in Japan, Boston, New York, and many across Italy.

The Italian class was super excited to go on this field trip.

The eighth-grade class all took a bus to the Eataly at the Prudential Center in Boston. When asked about if kids liked the field trip and if it was a success or not, Angela Kuzemczak, the Italian teacher at WMS said, “I hope so! Any time you offer food, it’s a win.”

The kids indeed loved the trip.

The first half of the field trip was a tour talking about Italy’s history and the types of food all across Italy. The

founder of Eataly was Oscar Farinetti.

He traveled all across Italy learning about the different ways of language and food, and then made the first Eataly in 2004.

The kids also got to try many of the fresh samples, including different types of cheese, gelato, panini, chocolate, and many kinds of pasta.

Signora K also learned a lot while

on the trip and was super excited to introduce everything to her students.

She was asked if she would do this field trip again and said she would love too, as long as she has a great group of kids who love to learn about Italy and its culture.

She was also asked if she liked the way Eataly teaches with their motto of eating, shopping, and learning.

“I do,” she said. “They really understood the culture and the tour was super helpful.

“I just think that Eataly teaches the culture of Italy in a way kids can understand it better.”

This field trip was a huge success and Signora K hopes she can bring many more WMS students.

--WMS--

Business bubbling over at Boston Tea Stop

By Naomi Baker, Gabriela Bondaryk, and Catherine Fleming

If you happen to be in Harvard Square, you might come across the store, Boston Tea Stop. With a delectable selection of boba flavors and other treats, you’ll find yourself wondering what to order. With many flavors and options to choose from, it can seem like an impossible task to choose!

Douglas Cho, the owner of Boston Tea Stop,

gave us insight into what he does daily to make the store a success.

He mentioned that the favorite boba drinks are black milk tea, mango milk tea, raspberry flavor, and passion fruit. These popular drinks have a nice creamy, yet refreshing, taste along with your choice of boba, popping or regular.

Mr. Cho brought in popping boba to the store about a year ago.

“It blew up!” he said.

It is a unique take on the typical chewy boba to a pop (literally) of flavor! Mr. Cho and his staff make the boba themselves by cooking it in a pot for about 30 minutes while adding sugar.

On busier days, they have to cook it six times or more!

Boba is a popular item at Watertown Middle School. A lot of students preferred taro milk tea, smoothies, and popping boba over regular.

--WMS--

Stay informed with the Watertown Splash Articles appearing online and in this edition would not have been possible without the following people and their contributions:

STAFF: Aislin Devaney, Allison Fijux, Anika Ziobro, Athena Ahmad, Bridget Donohue, Caitlyn Ramshaw, Catherine Fleming, Gabriela Bondaryk, Julianne Sabino, Lalita Sokhamkaew, Liam Lawn, Naomi Baker, Nina Paquette, Noor Dia, Rohan Mannan, and Teagan Janis.

ADVISERS: Jim Kirkcaldy and John Vitti.

TWITTER Keep up with the Watertown Splash @cunniffkidsnews INSTAGRAM @whsraidertimes ONLINE Read the Watertown Splash online http://WatertownSplash.com

Watertown Splash 3

Important lessons for all during annual ALICE training An intruder bursts through your door, you know it’s not real, but it seems like it might be.

Alert. Lockdown. Inform.

Counter. Evacuate. All schools in Watertown practiced ALICE training this fall, in case an active shooter ever came into the school.

Every year, the Watertown Middle School goes over and practices this procedure so the students know what to do if an intruder comes in the building. But what happens during these procedures?

What procedures do they go through? How long does it take?

To some, this experience may seem exciting since the schedule gets to change and students miss a bit of class, but others are frightened by it.

Watertown Middle School had its ALICE training on Oct. 19, 2018, the same day as the first dance of the year and first-semester progress reports went home.

There were three scenarios of an intruder in the building and one fire drill. There were three counter drills, one for each grade.

Students involved with the counter drill had dodgeballs to use as their object to throw at the intruder. (The police and school didn’t want school objects being thrown and destroyed.)

Also, a Watertown police officer used 2-by-4 wooden blocks and clapped them together to impersonate the gunshots.

First, homeroom teachers told students about what they going to do. They were told about intruders coming from different parts of the school, then they were going to hide in the room during one of the intruder scenarios. Lastly, they would evacuate as a school.

“This is just a drill, repeat this is just a drill,” said the voice over the intercom.

There is no doubt that different students and teachers have different opinions on ALICE training, some take it very seriously and think about the reason why we have to practice this, while others think, ‘Yay we get to miss classes and go outside.’ ” WMS started ALICE training five years ago. There have not been any real lockdown emergencies at WMS, but a shelter in place was held due to a robbery in the area.

According to Jason Del Porto, WMS assistant principal, “The purpose of the drill is to see how smoothly things go and how efficient we are and to create muscle memory.”

Most students knew what to do and what would happen.

“When the alarm came on, it was all expected,” said

Officer Miguel Colon of the Watertown Police Department talks about recent ALICE training at Watertown Middle School with reporters from the Watertown Splash. student Matty Marini.

Afterward, student Lalita Sokhamkaew said of the drills, “I thought it was fun because I know what will happen now, and it’s really good for students to practice.”

ALICE -- Alert. Lockdown.

Inform. Counter. Evacuate -is not the order things need to be done. According to Officer Miguel Colon of the Watertown Police Department, people in a school need to be flexible and be safe and to go wherever is safe in a real emergency.

“The goal is to have everyone survive in a situation with an active shooter,” said Officer Colon. “Stay safe.”

Officer Colon speaks with experience. He was honored with other Watertown police officers by President Obama for their work in the shootout with the Marathon bombers in 2013. They received the medal of valor, the highest award in public safety in the United States.

Originally the acronym was LICE. A husband and wife -- a police officer and a teacher -came up the idea, according to Officer Colon, but added the A because “lice” doesn’t sound good in school.

In one of the seventh-grade classrooms in WMS, a third of the class was bored, another third excited, and the last third was playing paper-io till the alarm. Mrs. McDonagh was serious and talked about the drill a lot.

Ms. Shock’s eighth-grade room is near the back door by the upper gym. It was tense and students talked about it

is scary to think about and to have to learn how to do this. ¨Attention!¨ the school’s intercom sounded, as the scenario was explained, students scattered around to push, chairs, tables, and shelves to barricade the door. Outside in the halls, they heard pieces of wood slapping together, making loud “gunshot” sounds.

Mr. Martin’s seventh-grade room was quiet. A lot of things were piled against the door.

People were whispering.

In Ms. DiDuca’s seventh-grade classroom, no one moved a single muscle, and the silence in the room was constantly interrupted by the banging noises that felt almost like a lethal disease digging into ears.

One seventh-grader described it this way: “I was getting nervous, my heart started to beat faster and faster and my lungs begging for more air, but I was scared to breathe since I would make noise, and the banging sounds that came closer and closer didn’t cope with my anxiety, which just made my lungs long for more air.

“My legs were getting sore from crouching so long, but we finally got an announcement that announced ended the procedure. We took down the chairs and tables into their original position, and I calmed down, glad that this so-called intruder didn’t come in.”

In Ms. Kline’s eighth-grade classroom on the first floor of the school, no one came in, but it was very fun. Students all curled up in a corner for

one drill and for another they went outside. It depended on where the intruder was located in the building, which was told to students over the announcements.

In one classroom, one student slipped and fell during an evacuation, while other students ran by on way out the door.

In Mrs. Lorigan’s seventh-grade room in Cluster 4, near the back parking lot on Bemis Street, the students had to barricade once (in the second scenario) and evacuated twice. The first time they evacuated, it was pretty cold and some kids were kind of fooling around and a teacher got mad.

In the next drill, Mrs. Lorigan’s class had to barricade. A police officer banged the wood slabs together to make the gunshot sound right outside our door. But one girl was laughing because her mom was the officer outside making the noise and her mother had told her she does a funny dance while she does it because no one else is around.

In Ms. Willoughby’s room, in the Cluster 5 hallway on the second floor near the stairwell, her desks are bulletproof, so when students had to lock up in the room, they could build a base and throw glass tubes from it.

In Ms. Smith’s homeroom, right by the stairs, but tucked away out of view, everything seemed normal, calm, nothing dramatic until this room got to experience something few others did.

A police officer came into Ms. Smith’s room pretending to be a criminal. The students were prepared, Mr. Del Porto came in minutes before with a bag of dodgeballs and gave one to each child to defend themselves. Of course, this would not happen in a real situation, but it was still a good experience to practice if this ever happened for real.

The elementary schools also have ALICE training.

According to Officer Colon, the elementary schools don’t use clapping of wood to simulate gunfire and they do not breach classrooms. They do the basics of evacuating or barricading.

In the elementary schools, Officer Colon explained, there is “Mother Duck syndrome” because the kids will follow the teachers wherever they go.

The Watertown Middle School did a good job, according to the teachers and officers. The students followed instructions and everything went as smoothly as planned.

“We crushed it,” said Mr. Del Porto.

(This story was reported and written by Watertown Splash staff reporters Anika Ziobro, Lalita Sokhamkaew, Julianne Sabino, Caitlyn Ramshaw, Nina Paquette, Rohan Mannan, Liam Lawn, Teagan Janis, Catherine Fleming, Allison Fijux, Bridget Donohue, Noor Dia, Aislin Devaney, Gabriela Bondaryk, Naomi Baker, and Athena Ahmad.)

--WMS--

4 Watertown Splash

New principal learning along with students

PRINCIPAL from Page 1 is to ask questions and to talk to adults about stuff, even if it’s small.

Mrs. Martin also has some advice for the sixth-graders, so if you are a sixth-grader listen up: Get involved.

“Get close to teachers.” She said. “To get involved in clubs, play sports, and play instruments helps you to get to know other people and even become close friends.”

She lived in Watertown from 1996-1998.

She left because her apartment was too small, so they bought a house in Tewksbury. She also said she “would’ve loved to stay in Watertown, but it was just too much money.” Now she lives in Belmont, with her family and her cat Tony, close to WMS. Mrs. Martin grew up in Concord, Mass., but after her parents moved to San Diego when she was a teenager, she enjoyed living there because of the weather, then finished school at University of California San Diego. She has two

New Watertown Middle School principal Donna Martin (back row, third from right), poses with student reporters after a recent interview in the Watertown Splash newsroom. children, Fiona (19) and Colin (15). Her daughter who is also at University of California San Diego and her son who is going to Belmont High.

She said the reason why she started teach-

ing was that she liked working with kids. In fact, she never thought she would become a principal or a teacher when she was in college. She originally wanted to be a lawyer.

She got her teaching degree at BU. She swore that she would never become a principal, but she obviously changed her mind. When asked if she would rather teach

Class president leads by example

PRESIDENT from Page 1 But one thing you might not know about Tino is he loves ketchup.

And to future presidential candidates, Tino reminds them to ”make you sure you are committed to making a change and not just do it for popularity.”

Over the course of his presidency, so far, Tino has been working on making changes. Many of you may know about the proposition to change DEAR to study hall, but he has also done things like change the bells.

Tino has learned that “things don’t happen with-

out working for it.”

A goal Tino has for this year is to take in account both teachers’ and students’ thoughts.

Tino’s term is almost halfway over. Soon one of the seventh-graders will be able to apply for his position. Soon, a new group of sixth-graders will enter the school, and Tino advises them to “pay attention, listen to people.”

Tino has been leading our school well for the past year and we are excited to see what changes he can make!

--WMS--

kindergarten or high school, she quickly responded, “High School.”

Besides enjoying working with older kids better than younger kids, her brother is a P.E teacher in elementary school. He told her that when teaching kindergarten, don’t let one kid cry because then they all start crying.

Her favorite subject in school was history, but liked math as well.

She has been to many different countries including, Aruba, Mexico, and England. Mrs. Martin hopes she can go to many more. Some of her favorite hobbies are

walking, movies, playing games, doing puzzles, and reading “If I had someone telling me to read for 20 minutes,” she said, “I’d be ecstatic.”

(This story was reported and written by Watertown Splash staff reporters Aislin Devaney, Athena Ahmad, Allison Fijux, Bridget Donohue, Caitlyn Ramshaw, Catherine Fleming, Gabriela Bondaryk, Julianne Sabino, Lalita Sokhamkaew, Liam Lawn, Noor Dia, Rohan Mannan, Teagan Janis, and Naomi Baker.)

--WMS--

TALENTS ON DISPLAY at WMS VARIETY SHOW

Watertown Splash 5

Happy to be back where he started

By Rohan Mannan, Allison Fijux, Catherine Fleming, and Gabriela Bondaryk Brian Donato is his name, but students at Watertown Middle School call him Mr. Donato.

“My favorite part about being a teacher is I love making connections with my students,” he said.

Mr. Donato grew up in Watertown and has stayed here ever since.

He enjoyed many summers at Camp Pequossette as a kid. He has a twin brother named Anthony, who went to Wake Forest and is a town councilor in Watertown. In

2007, he bought a house with Anthony.

Mr. Donato has seven people in his family. Mr. Donato went to school at Cuniff Elementary and then went to BC High, a private Catholic all-boys high school in Dorchester. Afterward, he went to Boston College to be a kindergarten teacher.

Mr. Donato was a student teacher at the Cuniff.

He works at the WMS as a special education teacher now, and has been a full-time teacher since 2006. He was teaching at the school he went to as a kid, with some of the teachers that had him as a student!

Sullivan Park was named after Mr. Donato’s uncle, who died in the Vietnam War. Some other interesting facts about Brian Donato are that his favorite number is 22 -- because he and his brother were born are 22 minutes apart -- he loves Cape Cod, he also loves photography, poetry, watching live hockey, and all types of music.

Mr. Donato answered some questions on what he would change about the Watertown Middle School, if he could.

Air conditioning and heating were his first choices. He would keep the clusters, but have the teachers teach five classes, instead of four.

“The environment you learn in is as important than the teachers and the students you sit next to,” he said.

He said when he was a child, his favorite places to go were Friendly’s and Papa Gino’s. But Mr. Donato isn’t a fan of the “new” Watertown. He doesn’t like the new apartment complexes coming and is afraid of the population of Watertown becoming too much. He likes the homey feel of Watertown and loves the old-fashioned buildings and stores.

“I hate seriously hate all the development in Watertown because it’s changing so much,” he said.

But he loves the rule of no drive-thrus in Watertown, and loves the construction on the Arsenal Mall, like the movie theater and bowling alley.

Mr. Donato has two boys with his wife, Jess. Watertown is also where they met while he worked at summer camp.

He used to buy her ice cream when she worked for the Recreation Department, but they never dated. Then, later in life, they met again and now there married.

Before he met her, he never thought of getting married or having kids, he said, “but once you get a kid, it changes your world.”

--WMS--

Serving the school with a smile -- and a wag COTREAU from Page 1 And one thing very incredible is that his whole teaching career is in Watertown.

Mr. Cotreau has mostly taught fifth grade, he prefers to teach groups of students in middle school or younger because he always gets a good laugh.

Mr. Cotreau lives in Arlington, where he grew up. His mother is from Italy and his father is from Nova Scotia.

For his education, Mr. Cotreau went to two colleges. He first went to Fitchburg State for shop teaching and, after he graduated, he went to Lesley College for early education.

Some of you might be wondering, “Why does Mr. Cotreau use a wheelchair?” You see, in 1992, Mr. Cotreau broke his neck while diving into a pool.

He started getting service dogs in 2003.

Mr. Cotreau only lives with Tippy, his current service dog. Mr. Cotreau says that it is a very long process to get a service dog. When someone asks for a service dog, you have to go through a very strict screening.

To train the dogs, Mr. Cotreau had to put cameras all around his home so the people at Paws for a Cause could make a model for the dog to become familiar with.

Tippy gets along with everyone very well, especially with the students. That’s one of the things that Mr. Cotreau really loves about Tippy.

The dogs are also very helpful at home. They help out with his everyday activities, like picking up the phone for

him whenever it rings. Tippy can fetch things for Mr. Cotreau when he can’t grab them, and he can also open the fridge. Tippy will be 4 years old this summer.

Mr. Cotreau said he has always been a dog person, but he does prefer bigger dogs than little dogs. His first service dog was Dallas. Mr. Cotreau had Dallas from 2003 to 2014.

Once when they were on the elevator, in 2003 or 2004, and Dallas

followed someone else out, but that wasn’t the floor they were supposed to be on. The elevator continued up to the next floor and Dallas was almost getting hanged until his leash ripped apart. Dallas safely landed on the floor. After this, Dallas never got off the elevator first.

Mr. Cotreau goes a lot of places with his dogs. His dogs, including Tippy, the one he has now, have been to the NBA finals, the World Series, and

around the world. After Dallas, he got another service dog and named him Tanner. But Tanner recently died with cancer last May. Mr. Cotreau likes to go to concerts, and, in fact, he takes his dogs to concerts. His favorite bands are The Grateful Dead and U2. But he isn’t very picky about songs. He will listen to anything.

Growing up, Mr. Cotreau’s favorite show was “Cheers”, his favorite movie is “Pulp Fictio”, and his favorite book is “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

His favorite ice cream flavor is mocha almond, and his favorite food is turkey, since you can eat the whole thing and nothing ends up going to waste.

Mr. Cotreau loves to collect comic books. He said he has more than 14,000 comic books, and he made a computer program to keep track of them.

Mr. Cotreau’s favorite superhero is Spider-man, and the power he would want to have is to fly.

“With great power comes great responsibility,” said Mr. Cotreau. “To be a teacher is a very powerful thing, and it’s also an important responsibility. You are in charge of a classroom of children and their education.”

It’s amazing to have a helpful teacher like Mr. Cotreau around. Without Mr. Cotreau, just imagine having days where we have no one to substitute for the class, and we wouldn’t even have service dogs roaming around the school.

--WMS--

OPINION

Is the lunchroom the place for more grades?

By Teagan Janis

At school, we are constantly being judged. Graded on how we write and if we can solve algebraic equations. Lunch used to be everyone’s favorite time of the day for that reason. The one time where we could talk to our friends, eat, play games, all without much punishment.

Starting early this year, Watertown Middle School has gone through a big change. We are getting graded at lunch. Graded on what we do and how we act during our 30-minute lunch period at school.

Many students are not thrilled about what is going on.

As an attempt to make students behave better, assistant principal Jason DelPorto offered a small reward of going down to the lower gym to eat lunch, listen to music, and/or play basketball, to the tables that earned it. Many students, however, decided

not to take part in the reward, for their own reasons.

Whether it be they just didn’t like basketball or would rather be in the cafeteria with a table to eat on.

Mr. DelPorto added that he would be open to other alternative ideas within reason.

How does it work? We are graded on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the absolute worst and 5 being perfect -- or as close to perfect as humanly possible.

You have to wind up with an average of at least a 4 by the end of the two-week period in order to have

the privilege to go the gym. Many tables end up with all 5s, many others end up with a mix of 1s, 2s, and 3s.

“I think [the lunch grading system] is working great! We will definitely be starting back up after [winter] break,” Mr. DelPorto said in December.

From an administrator’s perspective, it may seem to be working well, in the sense that some kids are behaving better a lunch.

But what about a student’s perspective?

Many people have friends who are in a different cluster or just aren’t in any of their classes, and lunch is the only time during school when those in this situation get to hang out with friends. We should be able to get up and talk, be a little loud, and just be kids!

As long as everyone is safe, everything is OK. No need to be judged.

--WMS--

6 Watertown Splash

WMS discovers fun path at Geo Bee

By Noor Dia What is the second-largest country in South America?

If you’re participating in the National Geographic Geography Bee, you’d probably want to know the answer to this.

Every year, more than 10,000 schools in the United States host a Geography Bee in which students take tests based on their knowledge of the world.

Our school district, Watertown Public Schools, has been competing in these competitions for about 20

years now! Some students have gotten to the state competition against other schools from Massachusetts, while others have gotten as far as making it to the national competition.

If you win a state competition, you take a test and, if you pass that, you move onto the national competition. The prize for the winner of the national competition is a college scholarship!!

“It’s a really great competition,” said Chris McDermott, a Watertown Middle School sixth-grade World Geography teacher.

Mr. McDermott thinks that this competition is

great for kids who never really get to be the center of attention, because they really get to show off what they know. He also said that it’s a great school community building activity -- kids cheer for each other, they make signs, and overall have fun.

James Kirkaldy, a seventh-grade humanities teacher at WMS, thinks that the past couple of years have been more fun.

“A few years ago, it was just serious,” he said.

“People just watched it, but now, it’s more interesting and fun.”

--WMS--

Oh, D.E.A.R. Students, staff at odds about how to use time

By Aislin Devaney

‘Community service is addicting’

By Caitlyn Ramshaw Do you need community service, and like working with kids?

If so, then all of the elementary schools offer two sessions of community service at the beginning of the school year, and in the spring.

Once the school day has ended at Watertown Middle School, you should try to get to the elementary school as quick as you can, because the people there would like you to get there

around 3:15 p.m.

The most hours/days that you can can work is two days a week, and two hours a day. You can request to be with a grade, but there are no guarantees because another grade might need more help. But you could ask to be with a certain age group, like the younger kids, and there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll get with that age group.

If you are a middle schooler or older, then you may work there, and you

can get community service for it.

“Community service is addicting, because it makes you feel good,” said Andrew Allegro at WMS. Mr. Allegro, Aine Dirrane, and Chris McDermott all help with community service around Watertown. People who need help with anything and want kids to help, will give them community service hours or email one of them, saying “We need some help!” -- and they put it on the announcements.

--WMS--

WMS wins grand prize in Coats for Kids drive

By Lalita Sokhamkaew and Julianne Sabino Did you have an old, unwanted coat? The Watertown Middle School had a donation for kids who don’t have coats that ended Jan. 3, right after the holiday break.

The school was so suiccessful at the annual challenge, that it won the grand prize.

The Coats for Kids program is sponsored by Anton’s Cleaners and just finished its 24th year. The program donates coats to people who can’t afford one themselves.

After all of the coats were counted, WMS was awarded the grand prize!

Principal Donna Martin sent out a note to the WMS community, talking about the clothing drive: “Congratulations to Watertown Middle School for being the Grand Prize Winner in the Coats for Kids School Rewards Program! Our school collected a total of 425 coats!

Additionally, Watertown Middle School placed third for

participating middle schools based on coats collected per student enrolled in the school!

“The school was awarded the grand prize, which is $1,200 donated by Jordan’s Furniture toward sports programs or after school programs!”

People could donate their coats by bringing them into Watertown Middle School and putting them in the boxes labeled for each grade located near the front door by the stairs.

Coats of any size and any color could be donated as long as they have a working zipper or attached buttons.

Before break, the school had already donated more than 250 coats.

Watertown Middle School has participated in Coats for Kids since 2003. Andrew Allegro, one of the organizers of the Coats for Kids program at WMS, said, “As long as I am in the community service, then yes, I’ll continue doing it.”

--WMS--

A popular discussion currently in the Watertown Middle School is D.E.A.R. If you are someone outside of the school system, D.E.A.R (which stands for “Drop Everything And Read”), lasts for 20 minutes on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Some people hate it, some love it and some don’t care about it. Whether you’re on one side or the other, many agree that some things may need to change.

The subject has been debated more since Student Council sent out a survey via email to the entire school asking for opinions on D.E.A.R. It included whether you liked it and, if you didn’t like it, what the school could do with that time. One of the most popular ideas was study hall.

Many kids are for study hall, while a lot of teachers are against it. A big argument from students is lots of kids don’t read during D.E.A.R and instead wander around “looking” for a book.

“D.E.A.R should be turned into study hall, but still be quiet, so you have the option of either doing your work or reading,” said one student, who wished to remain anonymous.

Out of 12 students interviewed by the Watertown Splash, nine of them said they would rather have something in the place of D.E.A.R. Some students are also on the fence about the two.

Cicily Langdon of the seventh grade said, “D.E.A.R. is nice to have, but I think everyone would benefit from having time to do their homework.”

Another popular opinion was voiced by seventh-grader Rebecca Hughes: “People have sports after school and, with the new time change, there is less time to do homework and spend time with family and friends.”

On the other hand, teachers and faculty have different opinions. Jason DelPorto, the school’s vice principal, said, “We want to figure out how to get kids more engaged and actually reading because right now about 50 percent of kids just sit there and look at their books.”

Out of three teachers interviewed for this story, two of them strongly support D.E.A.R while the other didn’t mind either structure, as long as students have the option to read.

--WMS--

Watertown Splash 7

Secret’s out about ‘The Black Coats’

By Athena Ahmad There is a fine line between Justice and Revenge, and if Thea Solomon isn’t careful, she’ll end up crossing it.

Fans of strong, smart heroines and plotlines that make you cry and laugh at the same time, will love Colleen Oakes new girl-power filled book, “The Black Coats.”

The book, by the author of the Wendy Darling

Saga, is expected to come out Feb. 12.

The book’s about a secretive society that delivers justice to women who have been harmed or harassed after the co-founder, Robin Peterson, was raped near her school. Thea Solomon, the former track star, is devastated about her cousin Natalie’s death. About a year later, she’s invited to join the secretive black coats. After completing trials, she and four other girls (including her school’s queen bee, Mirabelle) make up Team Banner -- The Black

Coats’s newest team run by Nixon. Things get complicated quickly and Thea discovers some startling things about a certain butterfly and learns the truth behind the coat.

This daring, emotional, and friendship-full novel is great for 12- to 18-year-olds . The best part of the book is seeing the chemistry between the five girls and how they fight for justice. Their were no rough parts and it was overall a great read.

--WMS--

‘Every Falling Star’ shows North Korea through new eyes

By Nina Paquette “When we stop dreaming, we’re almost as good as dead.”

These are the words from “Every Falling Star” written by Sungju Lee. This book is an autobiography, the story of how Sungju Lee makes an epic escape from North Korea, with many emotions along the way.

A brief summary of this book is that 12-year-old Sungju grew up in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, but is forced to move to Gyeong-seong, an unpleasant and unappealing location.

After his parents leave him alone for a few years in search of food, he soon becomes homeless without family, hope, food, and much more. He later learns to steal, lie, and fight among others, and uses these skills to survive.

I like this book because it contains Korean, which is such a diverse language from English, and it suits the book well considering the context. I have learned a few words in Korean such as “eomeoni” (which means mother) and “gaeguli” (which means frog.)

Another thing I like about this book is how well the author describes his feelings, making his readers feel them.

I recommend this book to the middle school students or above because it uses a more advanced vocabulary. Also, people who like historical fiction or Asian cultured books should definitely read this book.

--WMS--

A picture of the 2009 WMS cast of “Once on This Island” hangs in director Abigail Casey’s classroom.

Mrs. Casey sets course to return to the ‘Island’

By Teagan Janis, Nina Paquette, and Aislin Devaney This year’s Watertown Middle School musical will be “Once on This Island.”

“It is the story of Romeo and Juliet told in the Caribbean,” said Abigail Casey, the musical theater director and Watertown Middle School’s music and choir teacher.

“2019, marks my 10th year of doing musicals at WMS, and in 2009 we did ‘Once on This Island,’ ” said Mrs. Casey.

The main role is an orphan girl named Ti Moune, who tries to prove the power of love is stronger than death. Other

characters include the gods/goddesses of love, water, earth, and death.

The actors aren’t the only people that make up the school play, WMS has a production crew made up of students!

This core of this year’s production team is made up of five dedicated and hard-working students, according to Mrs. Casey.

These students are responsible for directing and overall helping students perform their best.

Some musicals that have been done at WMS in the past were “Once on This Island,” “Wizard of Oz,” “Lion King,” “Peter Pan,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Into the

Woods,” “Once upon a Mattress,” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Some musicals Mrs. Casey would like to do in the future are “Hairspray,” “Matilda,” “Aladdin,” and “Beauty and the Beast.”

When asked what she liked best about directing the school’s musicals, Mrs. Casey answered: “Musical theater brings a combination of magic and real life right in front of your eyes.

“It’s unpredictable, anything can happen during a performance.”

So get hyped for this upcoming musical, it will be one you will not forget!

--WMS--

There’s fun in finding ‘If You’re Out There’

By Julianne Sabino “If You’re Out There” by Katy Loutzenhiser is a book that will be coming out in March 2019.

This book is about a girl named Zan. At the start of the book, Zan’s best friend, Priya, moves to California and Zan feels very sad and insecure that she left and it is very hard for her to cope.

Priya doesn’t reply to any of Zan’s emails. People tell her to leave Priya alone and do her thing, but she won’t believe her friendship has ended with Priya until she says it to her face.

Further into the book she meets the new guy in Spanish class, Logan, and she begins to let go and talk about her feelings.

Later on, Logan and Zan find a clue in Priya’s latest selfie that might explain why Priya is not answering. They start to think maybe it’s not that Priya doesn’t want to answer -- maybe she can’t.

I think this book would be great for students in the middle school who likes funny books, love stories, and mystery. I would totally recommend it to anyone.

--WMS--

‘The Grinch’ offers some gifts not worth keeping

By Anika Ziobro Looking for a mediocre remake of a classic, enjoyable movie to watch with your 5-year-old child whose mind is not coherent enough to interpret flaws within the film and perceives said film as an amusing, fun, and entertaining movie?

I’ve got the perfect movie for you!

Here I present you, “The Grinch.”

Like any normal movie, “The Grinch” has its own significant pros, and its own significant cons. Let’s start with the good parts of the movie. Every

movie at least has some positive aspect to it that appeals to the viewers.

You can tell with this movie being an animated film with a soft, colorful art style that the main audience the creators are trying to attract are small children. Because of this, these children might be enthralled by the visuals, but small children aren’t the only people that are enthralled. With the modern CGI animation, viewers might actually agree that the visuals and the animation improved the characters’ display and put creativity into the Grinch’s inventions.

One certain con that complements this pro is that people might say that the art style made the Grinch appear more soft and friendly, unlike his usual mischievous and intimidating demeanor. The movie’s soft art style wasn’t able to make up for the original iconic grin that we all know and love.

Another con that might’ve bothered viewers is the pacing of the movie.

Some parts of the movie were too long and lengthed, such as the Grinch planning on how to steal Christmas,(over half the the movie) and other parts were too short, such as when

the Grinch actually came to stealing Christmas (several minutes long).

Although the first half of the movies also contained scenes with Cindy Lou and the people of Whoville, over half of the movie was finished when the Grinch stole Christmas (a fairly critical part of the movie, hence the title of the previous works it was adapted from).

Even though this movie wasn’t entirely bad, it wasn’t the best either.

For those that didn’t enjoy the movie, maybe next time the Grinch will really steal your Christmas.

--WMS--

8 Watertown Splash

SOUNDS OF THE SEASON

WMS Winter Concert, Dec. 11, 2018

Photos by Lauren Cole/Raider Times