The Whale - March 2022

The Whale Pierson’s Middle School Magazine May 2022

Spring into Kindness

Bulletin Board created by

Still Growing

Ms. Finnican’s 6th grade Art students

Reflections from the Pandemic

By Islay MacGowan

Over the past couple of years COVID-19 has affected us in many ways. There have been ups and downs, but we have all come out with new insights and talents. COVID lock down gave us the time to explore new ideas and hobbies that we may have not imagined.

Now that mask mandates are lifted, I decided to interview several of my 8th grade peers about their experience during their time

away from school throughout the pandemic.These students all have their own stories about how COVID 19 affected them. It's been a long, and at times, a tough journey. We were restricted from doing our favorite things and had to learn how to adapt to a new way of living. It was hard, but Pierson students shared how they persevered over the last couple years at home.

Interview with Zeza

Interview with Luna

What new hobbies or interests did you discover over the last couple of years while at home?

What new hobbies or interests did you discover over the last couple of years while at home?

I started self teaching myself volleyball, I felt like I needed to get more exercise and I planned to be ready for when sports started up again.

Now that Covid restrictions have been more relaxed for school, what is the best part of your experience?

I started to run which I didn't enjoy at first, but now I really look forward to it.

Now that Covid restrictions have been more relaxed for school, what is the best part of your experience?

I’ve met many new students, and also got to learn more about the school as we stayed in pods. This was helpful since I was a new student last year.

The best part of my experience is being able to meet everyone again and make new How has this experience helped you grow as an friends, especially because I’m a new student individual? at Pierson.

I had time to reflect on who I was as a person How has this experience helped you grow and really grew along with my personality development. as an individual?

It has helped me become more independent, take care of myself and not rely on others.

Interview with Paolo What new hobbies or interests did you discover over the last couple of years while at home?

I learned a few new instruments, played basketball a lot, and got better at skating.

Interview with Clio What new hobbies or interests did you discover?

I started playing the guitar and also began learning French.

Now that Covid restrictions have been more relaxed for school, what is the best part of your experience?

Not having to wear a mask and seeing my classmates without one.

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Let’s Go Surfing!

By Ben Ezeir The first surfers were discovered in a cave painting found in the Polynesian Islands near Hawaii dating back to the 12th century. The cave paintings showed people riding waves made from wood. After the Polynesians cut down a tree to make a board, they would bury a fish next to the tree's roots to give thanks.

Fast forward to 2022…Mr. Casse is a new TA at Pierson and has been surfing for 25 years. He agreed to share his experience as a surfer with us.

What was the biggest wave you ever rode?

That was a 20 foot wave in Puerto Rico.

Can you tell us a little about your recent safari to Hawaii?

Mr. Casse in the tube ⇒⇒⇒

I stayed on the north shore of Oahu for 1 week and surfed some of the scariest waves in my life at Pipeline and Sunset beach. The waves were up to 35 feet!

What is your favorite surfing spot?

My favorite is Ditch Plains in Montauk where I first learned to surf.

Have you ever won a surfing competition?

Yes, I’ve won a couple of contests and even earned a few thousand dollars in prize money!

Getting to Know You

By Jack Grzan Mrs. White-Dunne teaches grade 7 Social Studies and IB History. She has been a teacher at Pierson for 21 years and is well loved by students and faculty.

What made you become a teacher?

Okay, good question because when I was in college I did not think I was going to be a teacher. So I studied political science and I had a second major in environmental studies.

I also held a minor in French. After college I thought I might go to law school and focus on international politics and international law related to the environment. Before entering law school however, I joined the Peace Corp I like to live on the east end because of the where I met my husband. While there I also beautiful environment. taught scuba diving. It was during this time that I realized my passion was in teaching rather than law.

And there are a lot of beaches.

What do you want middle school students There is. That’s right! to know about you?

What do you love to teach?

I would love them to know how much I enjoy talking and listening to them, not just I teach history and I think that’s important because I teaching but hanging out with them. During like to teach my students about the positive and this year I mostly enjoyed learning all of their negative things in history so my students will grow slang like “that’s no cap,” “that’s crack,” uh up to become active citizens and make our world a “that’s legit,” and “bruh.” All of this new better place. vocabulary I have learned from listening to my middle school students.

Thanks for taking the time for the interview.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I like to do anything outside. I’ve run marathons and I have a cool garden. I raise chickens and ducks love to go to the beach.

No problem, you are the best! Are you going to continue to be a reporter, you think? Do you like journalism?

Yeah, yeah I think I’m going to.

Creative Corner

By Artist Zeza Tavares-Leitao

Inspiration Artist Zeza Tavares-Leitao couldn’t just buy another canvas to start over.

After moving here from Brooklyn, I had to start, or restart a new life. At first it was scary like looking at a blank canvas not knowing where to start, but really in the end, all I needed to do

This piece is a 30x45 inch canvas that I made for my room above my bed. The piece took me about 5 hours to create. Two of the 5 hours were used solely to figure out what I was going to do. My room itself is very bland and minimalistic and I wanted to add some dimension. At first I knew I wanted something that would pop in the room, but not something that would feel out of place. This contradicted many of the ideas I initially planned to develop for this space. I searched on Pinterest for inspiration or ideas, but couldn’t find anything that I felt would fit my room. After about an hour of staring at a blank canvas, too scared to mess it up, I put random colors on the canvas and allowed my inspiration to take the lead. I let go of my fear of messing up the canvas.

After moving here from Brooklyn, I had to start a new life. At first it was scary like looking at a blank canvas not knowing where to start, but really in the end, all I needed to do was continue to do what I was doing before. The fear of failure or changes in general can cause anxiety. But so is planning with the expectation of everything working out the way you envision.

You’re most likely going to be disappointed when nothing went exactly as you planned.

With this in mind I thought, “ why not just do what you want and be surprised and happy with the spontaneous outcome?” Of course, I am not encouraging someone to do something irresponsible and ignore consequences but sometimes a little spontaneity is exactly what we need. Many letters can be found in the painting except for “L” for Luna which is represented by a symbol. Try to find them if you like!

Culture Grams

By Ben Rywkin In this month’s column we will be looking at another proverb as well as some simple Japanese greetings.

Tsuki yuki hana wa ichido ni nagamerarenu.

The English translation is: “The moon, snow and flowers cannot all be viewed at the same time.”

The meaning of this proverb suggests that there is a season to everything.

If we accept this, we should also accept that there are things we may not see or understand right away. We just have to accept things as they are and be happy with that.

This was a piece I recently completed in art class. The idea I wanted to create was a sunset and body of water without making it too obvious. Unintentionally, when I look at the top of it I see a sun covered by a moon like an eclipse. I never really liked abstract work until now. I thought it was meaningless and too easy. But I learned that I loved that it could be seen and that everyone can perceive it in their own way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Japanese Greetings When learning a new language, it is good to begin with simple greetings and words that are commonly used.

Hello - konnichiwa (ko-ni-chi-wa)

Moon

Snow

Flowers

The trick to this word is to hold the n sound for a bit longer than usual but if you do it for too long it won't be the same thing. You can use this greeting at any time of day, but in Japan it is mostly used during mid-day.

Good morning- ohayo gozaimasu (oh-hi-oh-go-zi-mas) This greeting is different than konnichiwa because it is more formal than a normal greeting. You would use this to greet teachers, distant relatives, acquaintances, strangers, elders or anyone that is not your best friend or very close family member. For a less formal greeting simply use: youohayo(oh-hi-oh).

Thank you- arigatogozaimasu (ari-ga-toe-go-zi-mas) This is also a formal greeting to use with acquaintances, distant relatives, teachers, strangers or elders. Like good morning (ohayogoziamasu), you simply use arigato(ari-ga-toe) with close family and best friends. The trick to this word is in the arigato. You will need to roll the r. No one gets this right the first time since it's one of the harder words to pronounce.

Please- onegaishimasu (oh-ne-guy-shi-mash-s) You would use onegaishimasu formally but with best friends and close family members you could use onegai (oh-ne-guy).

If you want to ask What something is (what is this) you would say: kore wa nihongo de nandesuka (ko-re-wa-ni-hong-go-de-nan-des-uka) Don't expect to get this right the first time if you are new to learning Japanese. This phrase is used as a beginning to a sentence. Once you are comfortable

Japanese Fashion A wafuku is the traditional Japanese dress which is worn for social events or special occasions. It is like a kimono with a haori on top with a long pleated skirt for the bottom.

Kimonos are another traditional piece of clothing worn by both women and men but mostly women. It is a long baggy robe with long sleeves and tied with a obi sash for women and a string like belt for men.

Women wear black kimonos for funerals.

Obi sashes are special sashes that have flower-like designs to tie kimonos.

Okobo shoes are tall wooden shoes. The traditional versions usually have two thin blocks to stand on. These are usually worn by professional entertainers known as maiko or geisha. They usually wear kimonos with these shoes.

pronouncing this, you can add on “what is this meant for” which is similar to “what is this” in Japanese.

Fun fact! There are 50+ ways to introduce yourself in Japanese!

How to introduce yourself There are 3 different main ways to introduce yourself. The most important part is to know how to say your name. You say it like normal but just add desu(des) at the end of your name.

For example, let's say my name was Haru I would say Haru-des. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dog Facts

By Jack Grzan Did you know that dogs' behaviors have special meanings? Understanding why a dog behaves in a certain way could help you to build a better relationship with your dog and help you to train them more effectively. Here are some examples of common behaviors.

If your dog misbehaves when you walk them on a leash, you could use something called a sensation harness. A sensation harness will make your dog more comfortable because it is not attached around the neck which is a very sensitive area for a dog. Yanking on a neck collar will hurt your dog and cause him to try to break free.

A dog on its back might look like it wants a belly rub but it could mean something else. When you see your dog in that position it actually means that they trust you and think that you're the boss.

And sometimes they might just kick their legs out.

That is just a reflex.

Did you know that your dog might not like being hugged? If a stranger tries to give your dog a

To introduce yourself as a woman you would say: watashi wa (wa-ta-shi-wa) then , your name-des.

As a man you would say: boku wa (bo-ku-wa) (name)-des.

If you were more gender neutral you would say: hazimemashite(ha-gi-mi-mash-te) (name)-des which means nice to meet you my name is (name).

With all of these introductions, you could add hazimemashite at the end or beginning.But out of everything we have learnt today, this might be the hardest. Don't expect to get any of these on your first try. They are not easy! hug, it restricts him from moving and causes him to become scared. But if your dog trusts you then it will be ok with you hugging it. So the best thing you can do for your dog is get it used to being hugged a lot so it can learn that it is a sign of affection.

Sometimes when dogs whine it not might mean that they are sad but it is also a way of telling you that they want something. The thing that they might want is to get your attention, food or just to hang out with you.

When dogs make a baying sound it means they are trying to tell you that they found something.

Baying is like howling but it sounds more exciting.

For example, some dogs that make baying sounds are Beagles and Basset Hounds When a dog barks really fast it means that something urgent is going on. The dog could just be saying that the mailman is here or that something is seriously wrong. The way to know is to respond to your dog and they will try to show you.

These are just some of the amazing things that dogs do.

If you want to learn more about dog behavior, read this book. You can find it on Amazon.

Newman, Aline and Gary Weizman. How to Speak Dog.Washington D.C.,National Geographic, 2013.

On behalf of all the writers and editors of “The Whale”, we would like to wish everyone a safe and wonderful summer!

Senior Editor: Isabelle Caplin Advisor: Ms. McLaughlin