DISPATCHES
tips on how to win elections in a democracy. First, he said, you have to reach out to constituents. Meet From Page 18 them, shake their hands, look at the fourth center, we looked at butthem in the eyes, introduce yourself, tons from the Civil War era, the tell them what you stand for and Union side. In the fourth center, we why you are running. And do not measured the tibia bone to deterforget to tell them that you want mine the person’s height, which their vote! He also said you must be was 5 feet, 8 inches tall. In the last prepared for the position. center, we examined the pelvic Lauren Batson-Roberts said that bone and determined that it was it was really special that he came from a male. here and spent time with us. Jadyn Due to drill holes in some of the Mercedes and Nour Mahmoud bones that matched the drill holes in remember that Mr. Jacobson said he a model skeleton, we concluded really likes schools and he wants to that the bones were from a collechelp students get a good education. tion, not a crime. We had a lot of Max Akridge, Arnold Nguele and fun solving this mystery using math Jennifer Cruz said that it was neat and science to discover history. to see his campaign poster. — Jasmine Reid and We now wait to see Ms. Mary Meghan Ourand, fifth-graders Lord, the person currently holding that seat, and compare the points of Lafayette Elementary view of the two candidates. All five kindergarten classes at — Third-graders Lafayette put on plays about vegetables this week. St. Ann’s Academy Ms. deJonckheere’s Pink Base In school, we have a new club performed a play called “The called Mastery Club. For now, it’s Enormous Potato.â€? It was about only for fourth-graders. Our teacher, farmers who grew a potato so big Mr. DeWitt, set it up. that it took 12 people to pull it out. In Mastery Club, we choose In the end, they all ate it. from a long list of challenges that Ms. Allen’s Red Base performed we want to master. Some examples a play called “The Enormous of challenges are “Name the eight Carrot.â€? It was about two people colors of the rainbow in order,â€? or who couldn’t pull a big carrot from “Name the first 10 presidents in the ground and had to call on lots of order.â€? There are more than 100 their friends to help. Together, they challenges! We also make up some pulled and pulled until it finally of our own challenges. came out of the ground. Once you get 16 challenges, you Next was Ms. Hill’s Purple get inducted into the Hall of Fame. Base, and they performed a play You get to wear a Hall of Fame about a big squash. How big was badge, and you can win prizes. the squash? So big that it couldn’t “Mastery Club is my favorite be moved. In the end, the gigantic after-school activity,â€? said Addie squash was turned into a house. Robinson, a fourth-grader. Ms. Shapiro’s Green Base put on “Mastery Club is challenging,â€? a play called “The Gigantic said Michaela Herdoiza, a fourthTurnip.â€? This play was about two grader. farmers who grew a turnip so big — Danielle McPhail and Kayla that ‌ well, you know the rest! Davis, fourth-graders The last play was performed by Ms. Haigler’s Orange Base. It was School Without Walls called “The Giant Cabbage.â€? In this At some schools, the week play, it’s the “mooseâ€? that try to before spring break is one where pick an overly large cabbage. They the work tempo slows, the reins are are sure it will be a prize-winner slackened, and nothing of much and want to take it to the Alaska consequence seems to occur. But State Fair. Many people and aninot at Walls. mals use tools from a big toolbox to The week began with the return try to remove the reluctant cabbage. of the choirs, orchestra and band When they finally succeed in getfrom a music festival in Atlanta. ting it off, the people eat it. Though the students were thorough— Rose Kelleher and ly sleep-deprived, the news neverMaya Forcier, fifth-graders theless made its way around school: Walls students came, saw and Ross Elementary brought their A-game. In social studies, we have The show choir and concert learned how to run a campaign. choir were given silver awards. The There are four positions available in orchestra placed silver and was our class. The Task Master will rated second overall. The stage make sure everybody stay on task. band earned gold and first overall. The Teacher Helper supports the A special recognition went to vocalteacher by taking on little jobs like ist Brigid Carmichael, who received handing out pencils. The Hall a maestro award, a recognition of Monitor makes sure that everybody students who display “extraordinary is quiet on line while walking music ability and sensitivity,â€? for though the school. The Line Leader her performance in the stage band’s leads in front of the line. We will rendition of Amy Winehouse’s have elections for these four seats. “You Know I’m No Good.â€? On March 29, we had a special Overall, the entire Walls music guest in our classroom. department was awarded the festi Mr. Jack Jacobson is running for val spirit award for the group that the Ward 2 seat on the State Board “best represented their school and of Education, and he gave us a few community.â€?
The Current
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Not bad for their first time. Later that week, Walls’ student activists took their turn. Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of Walls students took to the streets. Nearly the entire student body marched, accompanied by a police escort and students from George Washington and Howard universities, from the school to the White House. The march was to protest the manner in which the Trayvon Martin killing was handled. — Keanu Ross-Cabrera, 12th-grader
Stoddert Elementary
My experience in coming to America from Russia was really difficult. The flight is long. There are different time zones to adjust to. The next two weeks was really hard. I couldn’t sleep. My nerves were really bad. I had to start Russian after the third day. Russian school here compared to Moscow is about the same. I had to learn new customs, new schedules and new classes. That was all very hard, too. The first time at American school, I got ill. I had to stay home. I was really worried about what would happen to me and what the principal was like. I thought I might be put out. I thought I might be named badly. Finally, when I came to Stoddert, everything turned out all right. Everyone was friendly in the fourth grade. I was amazed at how pretty, how shiny and how really big the school was. The library is really my favorite place. After a week in American school, the counselor asked me to begin going to English class. I have been learning English, but I wasn’t good at speaking my own thoughts. It was really fun to go to ESL class.
We did science activities like making flashlights. Now, I can speak English after two years at Stoddert. I can easily ask anyone about anything. I now know a lot and Americans are friendly to me. I will return to my native country. In Russia, I think in school I will be top in my class in English. — Victor Gunar, fifth-grader
Wilson High School
It’s Monday morning, and I’m sitting across from the most powerful man in a building full of almost 2,000 people. It’s safe to say I’m a little intimidated. Our principal, Peter Cahall, was born in 1964 in New Jersey. He attended a public school of about 1,800 kids, where he was class president for three years. He played sports and went to church four times a week. He was a good student, but he also had an “ornery side.� He coordinated the senior pranks. “We got a big sheet and wrote ‘teenage wasteland’ across it and hung it in front of the school,� he says. In 1982, he graduated from high school and went off to the University of Virginia on a full football scholarship. He describes his college years as the “best time� and “toughest time� of his life. He spent four and a half hours a day playing football and the rest of his time desperately trying to keep up with his schoolwork. He majored in physical education, and his first job out of college was teaching P.E. to disabled children at a school in Virginia, where he worked his way up to assistant principal. Next, he worked in Montgomery County as a principal at two schools and then as director of school performance before com-
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ing to Wilson. The hardest thing Cahall has ever had to do is attend a student’s funeral. Cahall was close to Mike Tyler and his family. Mike died after being paralyzed in a wrestling tournament. — Shane Achenbach, 11th-grader
Washington Latin Public Charter School
On March 14, many schools celebrated a very special day: Pi Day! Pi, the ratio between a circle’s circumference and diameter, begins at 3.14, and hence the celebration occurs on March 14. Each year, our school has a contest to see who can recite the longest section of Archimedes’ infinite ratio. At Washington Latin, the contest began in each individual math class. The winner of that subsection would receive various prizes, then advance to the grade-wide contest. Then, the winners of each grade faced off on March 14 in front of the whole school. The overall winner recited a whopping 241 digits. I came in second, with a respectable 231 places memorized. My strategy was simple: memorize five digits at a time. I would recite what I knew with a new set of five, recite that again with another set, and so on. This method works for me because I am able to practice the ones I already know while committing still more numerals to memory. But there are other strategies as well. I have seen rhythms, memorizing patterns or palindromic numbers, so as not to get lost in the wave of numbers lapping though one’s brain. I have even seen people set the digits of Pi to a melody or treat them like lyrics to a well-known song. — Nico Stauffer-Mason, eighth grader
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