Students discuss good and bad aspects of classes

By Trevor Fischer

Everyone has had a couple of classes that they thought were really hard or really easy, and there has to be a reason why. It could be your friends, the teacher, or even the subject. So, I decided to ask some students about their classes and grades. These students requested anonymity.

Do you think having a lot of friends in class is bad for your grades?

A: No, because they can help you with your worksheets.

A: Yes, because sometimes they can distract you.

A: No, because they can help you with homework for that class.

What class would you say is the hardest and why?

A: Science, because the teacher can be mean and I'm not good in that subject.

A: Keyboard/typing because it’s boring and I need to practice a lot for typing.

A: Health, because students keep interrupting the teacher and we get more work.

What class would you say is the easiest and why?

A: Cooking, because I'm with some friends and I get to eat what I make.

A: P.E., because there is no homework and it's fun.

A: P.E., because I like sports and I'm with my friends.

Do you think any of your teachers could try harder to teach you information easier?

A: No, because they are already trying to teach us information in an easy way.

A: Maybe, but they are mostly focusing on the students with bad grades.

A: No, because there are a lot of students for them to worry about.

What advice would you give a student who needs better grades?

A: Do your homework so your grades go up and you don't get homework lunch.

A: Come after school for a little bit.

A: Ask the teacher for help.

In conclusion, some students aren't trying their hardest and they distract others in the classes. I would like to see students do more classwork in class and homework when it's assigned. Some students at Waldo are prepared for high school, but some goof around too much and they will probably have problems later.

Native American students discuss their cultures

By Nathan Ciriano

My name is Nathan Ciriano and I am a Native American here at Waldo. Being Native American at Waldo is hard because there are hardly any Native Americans at this school. I grew up on a reservation in Umatilla County. There aren't many people there, just about 3,000 people, so it's quiet. There are a lot of sweat houses for prayers. I speak some Umatilla Language.

There are a few Native Americans at Waldo. One of them is Chanti Manon. I interviewed her about being Native American here at Waldo, Pow Wows, and her tribe. These were my questions:

Q: What's it like being Native American in Salem?

A: It's a little bit annoying, but it's normal most of the time.

Q: Do you ever go to Pow-Wows?

A: Yeah, I've been to Chemawa, some in Montana, and Grand Ronde.

Q: What is your tribe?

A: I am Aztec, Osage, and Mazahua.

Q: Have you ever lived on a reservation?

A: No, but my family does. They live on the Blackfoot Reservation, and others live in Montana.

Q: Do you dance in Pow-Wows?

A: I used to, but not anymore. But I still go to Pow-Wows.

Q: What style did you dance?

A: Jingledress.

I think it would be cool if we had a group for Native American students here at Waldo. We could learn more about our languages and our culture. I hope that when I get to college I can find a group like this to become involved with.

Facts about Jared

By Yessica Rodriguez

My friend Jared has been at Waldo for about two years. Jared does not like Waldo because of the dress code and because she does not like the color of the clothes. Jared's favorite color is red because it is a bright color and it is half of her name.

Jared's favorite season is winter because it's cool and you can wear cozy clothes. Jared wants to be children's doctor or veterinarian because she likes to help kids and she likes animals.

Jared and I like to work together in science. She is a good person to work with because she is nice and fun. I'm glad that I met her this fall.

Mr. Sackley would like to be an astronaut

By Caleb Lawson

The first thing I asked my counselor was what is your full name. He said Gary David Sackley. Where were you born, and where did you grow up? Tillamook. What are some of your favorite foods? Popcorn, pizza, and Chinese food.

If he could be any animal it would be a bird. If he could pick any career he would be an astronaut. He likes action, adventure, and comedy. He likes to read non-fiction about people and history. If he could go any place in the world he would go to the North Pole because the North Pole is amazing and he wants to meet Santa.

He believes that there is intelligent life outside of Earth because the universe is huge and there has to be more life outside of earth. He’s been to all seven continents.

Mr. Pillegi plays up importance of P.E.

By Martin Ramirez

I interviewed Mr.Pillegi about Physical Education, or P.E., and why it is important to participate in P.E. We also discussed what games they play the most. This is what he said:

Q: How many years have you been teaching P.E?
A: He said five years.

Q: In what schools have you been teaching?
A: He said in Waldo and Parrish.

Q: Why is it good to do P.E?
A: Because it is good for your body.

Q: How many minutes or hours do you have to do each day?
A: You have to do about one hour a day.

Q: Do you like P.E?
A: Yes, I do.

Q: Do you like teaching?
A: Yes, a lot.

If you want to learn more about Mr. Pillegi then go to the boys locker room and he would be there to answer some questions. Mr. Pillegi is my P.E. teacher and he does a good job with our class.

Karate Kid packs a punch

By Juan Avina

There are 5 movies of the karate kid. I liked the last one best because Jackie Chan was in it. But it was about kung fu and the title is called the karate kid, so the title should be called the kung fu kid. It is still awesome.

The main characters are Jaden Smith (Dre Parker), Jackie Chan (Mr. Hun), and Taraji P. Henson (Sherry Parker) the mother of Dre. The movie is PG so everybody can watch it. It's about Drew, who moves to China. I liked the last part best, the kung fu tournament. The fighting was pretty cool. Jackie Chan didn't fight in the tournament, but he did some fighting in the middle.

If you haven't watched the movie then go and watch it today or you're going to miss out. I would give this movie 8 out of 10 points. It would've been better with more fighting, but it was still pretty good.

Thanksgiving a time for family, friends, and shopping

By Alejandra Ochoa

Every year there is a special holiday. This special holiday is called Thanksgiving. We celebrate Thanksgiving because of the harvest that was grown in the early years. Native Americans helped the Plymouth colonists that were freezing and starving, and Native Americans taught them how to plant food in the new world.

Some people gather with their families and cook dinner, like turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and many more foods. Now every year there is a special event after Thanksgiving; this event is called Black Friday. Black Friday is when all appliances and clothes are really cheap. People wake up really early to be the first ones in the stores. I went and interviewed some students about their Thanksgiving break, and these are what their responses were:

Q: What did you do over Thanksgiving break?

Cristian’s answer: I went to my friend’s house, to Woodburn Outlet stores, and had a lot of fun.

Q: Did you enjoy your Thanksgiving break? Why or why not?

Emberly’s response: Yes, I did, because I spent time with my family and friends.

Q: What did you do for Thanksgiving Day?

Abi’s answer: I went to my dad's house, and my cousins came from California. We ate turkey and watched movies.

Q: What do you give thanks for?

Jorge’s response: I give thanks for having everything I have, and for my family and friends.

Q: Did you go to Black Friday?

Mathew’s answer: Yes, I did. I bought new shoes and clothes.

These were all the answers I got from the people I interviewed. There are some people in different religions that don’t celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I hope you do because it is a special holiday where you can spend time with your family, and a day when you can give thanks for everything you have. Well I hope you learned some things about Thanksgiving Day, and why we celebrate Thanksgiving.

What do you want for Christmas?

By Abi Martinez

Christmas day is only a couple of weeks away, and a lot of people are excited. The food, spending time with your family, and of course the gifts are all part of celebrating the holiday. So, I went around asking people what they are going to give for Christmas, and what they want for Christmas. Here is what they answered.

What do you want for Christmas?
Mr. Curran: World peace, an Xbox 960 and a 75 Cent CD.
Mathew: A new phone.
Vanessa: A new phone

Do you think you are going to get it?
Mr. Curran: No, because one of them isn’t possible, and the other two haven’t been invented.
Mathew: No, because I haven’t behaved well.
Vanessa: Yeah, because I have good grades so far.

What are you going to give for Christmas?
Berenice: I’m going to give love. (:
Alejandra: Gifts and happiness.

How did you choose the gifts?
Berenice: I flipped a coin.
Alejandra: It seemed like the easiest thing to give.

In conclusion, there are a lot of gifts to choose from, but some people choose some gifts that aren’t possible and haven’t even been invented (Mr. Curran). Also, some of the people I asked chose something from the heart, or they flipped a coin. Remember that Christmastime is a time to spend with your family, friends, and to open gifts, so have fun. Now, what do you want for Christmas?

Life above!

By Danielle Garcia

This story you are about to read is a story I made up. I made up this story because a lot of young teens smoke and they don't know what will happen to them. I'm hoping this story will change anyone's mind about smoking.

It was November 6, 2009, and I was cleaning my room when I kept hearing noises outside of my window. I went to go look at what it was. I thought it was a bird or something, but when I opened my window something came in and jumped on my bed. It was three inches tall. It was purple and fluffy. I started screaming, but it said, "My name is Isaiah." I said, "What are you doing here? And what do you want?" Isaiah said he wanted to be my friend.

I said OK. So we sat on my bed and he was talking about where he came from and his parents. Then out of nowhere he was saying his leader saw some kids who had white sticks in their mouths and they wanted to know what they were. They didn't have those sticks on his planet.

I told him that they were not white sticks; those are cigarettes. Isaiah asked, "What are cigarettes? Can I try one?" I told him, "NO, don't ever try those!" Isaiah asked why. "That stuff is not good for you," I replied.

Isaiah asked, "Then why do they do that?" I said they do it to look cool, to fit in, or some people do them because of the way they are feeling. Or for no reason at all. Then he said, "You told me that they can kill you. How can they kill you?"

I told him that there are things like lead, nicotine, cresol, and much more that stuff in them that can kill you. Or they can hurt your body. He asked if that would have happened to him, and I said yes.

Then he asked, "Wait, what else can happen?" I told him the results that are not that bad are yellow fingers, bad breath, and yellow teeth. Then he looked at his hands and said, "I don't want that. What's the worst that could happen?"

I told him that you can get cancer. You can get lung cancer, heart cancer, and throat cancer. You can even die. When I told him that, Isaiah's face went blank. He asked, "Do people even know that this can happen to them? I told him yes, most people do. He asked, "Well, can we do something to help?" I told him that there is not much we could do. I told him people have already hurt themselves. He told me that he does not want that to happen to him, so I told him that he would be OK if he didn't smoke.

Now you know some things that will happen to you if you smoke. I hope none of you reading this smoke or think about smoking.

Three Heavenly Poems

By Novalynn Bodda

Souls

Everyone has one
Some think they’ve sold it to the devil
Some think they don’t exist
People don’t usually think about them
They tell your conscience what to say
Your conscience will never doubt them
But you might doubt your conscience
Most of them go down under the ground to the sadness and loneliness
Few of them go up to the clouds to the happiness and love
It’s not their choice to go up or down
For the body they are in determines if they go up or down
A soul is what they are
And they do exist

Conscience

A voice is all you hear
Although I am much more
And if you don’t believe me
I can’t stop you
For there is no proof of my existence
Your soul will never doubt me though
For your soul is my only friend
And you may never hear me
Just know that I am there
And I know your past and your future
Unless of course you were to believe in me
Then you would hear me when I send messages to you
For I am your conscience
And I am always there

Love Kills

A friend once told me love kills
And I agree
I can feel myself dying as the days go on
I can slowly feel myself slipping away
What I’m really worried about is if it’s a childhood crush…...or more
Love can kill slowly and painfully
Or it can just kill you quickly
Love can repair you
Love can damage you
But mostly love just kills
Love will definitely change your life
But will it choose to kill you or live alongside?

New Year's Day plans shared

By Efrasia Afonin

New Year's this year is on Saturday. It's always on January 1st because it's the first of the new year. On the 1st, you get to refresh the new year and start over. It's a time to celebrate the new year. I decided to ask what people like to do on new year's and if they celebrate it.

Do you do something to celebrate new years?
A: Yes.
A: Yes.
A: Ya.
A: I guess, yes.

Do you know what you are going to do on new years? If so what is it?
A: I am going with my family to my dad's friend's house and have a party there.
A: I am going to a party with my family.
A: Me and my family are going to my aunt's house and have a party.
A: I'm probably going to have a family dinner and later watch fireworks.

Do you have any new year's resolutions? If you do, are you excited about any of them?
A: No I don't really have any yet.
A: Get good grades.
A: I think I am going to try to get good grades.
A: No, I don't really have any new year's resolutions.

Are you excited about what you're going to do on new years?
A: Yes, because I am going to see all my friends.
A: No, because it's getting old.
A: Yes, because I'm going to be with family.
A: Yes, I think I'm excited.

If you could celebrate new year's day anywhere in the world, then where would it be and why?
A: New York, because it's cool there. There are a lot of people and the ball dropping happens there. I think that's cool.
A: Mexico, because I want to celebrate it with my other entire family.
A: It would be New York because they put up a lot of lights and it's colorful. It looks cool at night.
A: I would say New York because it's beautiful there.

On new years eve my family and I are going to my aunt's house. I'm not sure, but I think we might do fireworks. I can think of one new years resolution. It's to get good grades for every class and maybe keep my room clean. Those are my new year's resolutions. If I could celebrate new year's day any where in the world then I would celebrate it in New York because there are a lot of lights and lots of people. Don't they have parades on New Years?