The Difference between Golden Globes and The Oscars?

By Serena

You may have wondered of what the difference is between The Oscars and The Golden Globes. Well, the difference is that the Golden Globes are awarded to different kinds of media. The Academy Awards are more prestigous and are given to only motion pictures. Another difference is that the Golden Globes are distributed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association while the Academy Awards are disributed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I asked some fellow classmates of mine and they said either, "I don't know" or "Aren't they the same?" Anyways, next time you see a friend or family member, ask them what the difference is; see if they know.

Footloose the Musical

By Serena and Angelica

     Come see the drama kids Footloose the Musical onBy Serena and Angelica

     Taylor Middle School's Drama has decided to take on Footloose the Musical. Footloose is about Ren McCormack, a city boy who moves to Bomont. He learns that Bomont has banned rock music and dancing. He starts to fall in love for Ariel, who already has a boyfriend, Chuck. But Reverend Shaw, Ariel's father, and Chuck is in the way of Ren. 

The drama musical will be preforming the play on March 28th and March 29th at 7PM. Many of the Drama kids are really into the play. Andres, an 8th grader who plays Wes, says," I like Footloose, its really fun. The musical has a good meaning to it and the songs are nice." "Drama students are really close," Saman, who plays Chuck, says," We're all a big family. You can be yourself without being ashamed of it. We really care about each other." "You might think we get nervous before a preformance, but I basically joined Drama because I'm always nervous." David, who plays Reverend Shaw, says honestly. "Does you do anything before stepping onto stage or wear anything for good luck?" Serena and I asked. "Not really, but before everybody goes onto stage, we have a tradition that we do that's very top secret." Kayla, who plays Ethel McCormack, replies. 

The Drama cast of Footloose!

Keep Black History in Schools?

By Serena and Isheba

Carter G. Woodson

Should Black History be celebrated as its own month? Many people are wondering if Black History should only be taught in February. Black History Month was once Negro History Week. The week was chosen becuase it was the birthday of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Carter G. Woodson created this holiday becuase he hoped that one day it would be eliminated and be thought of as American History. The government thought as popularity grew in was good to dedicate an entire month to Black History.

Many people say we should keep Black History Month because it is important for children to know Black History. Robert Ellis, a teacher, says, "If we didn't have Black History Month, black history might be overlooked, minimized, or ignored." Robert also says, "Black history is a part of American history and should be incorporated into regular history lessons, but we shouldn't give up the scarce opportunity to highlight the contributions of African Americans during February." Karen Warrington says, "America is so diverse that we should be teaching the stories of all its people evenly."

  Many are doubting the idea of celebrating Black History only in February. Some think that Black History should be celebrated all year round. "Black people are like everyone else," a source says," it should be celebrated all year." Julius Thomas, a teacher, says that we should celebrate black history all year round because, "American history should be inclusive of all cultures so we can minimize prejudice, racism, and ignorance."

     All races are celebrated around the world. But in such a melting pot of a country, there's not enough time to celebrate all the cultures. What do you think? Should we have Black History Month celebrated only in February? or all year round?

Black History Month

By Serena and Isheba
     Black History Month is a month that recognizes the history and accomplishments of African Americans. It was first announced by the name of "Negro History Week" by Carter G. Woodson in 1926. It was celebrated in the second week of February because Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass's birthday fell in the same week. Once popularity grew, people of all races had more interest in black history. It wasn't until decades later in 1976, the federal government acknowledged Black History Week and changed it to Black History Month by the Black United Students at Kent State University. Now thirty-seven years later, we still acknowledge the accompishments of African Americans in the United States and the United Kingdom. Here are some important figures who changed our society for African Americans:

• Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County, Maryland in 1820. Born into slavery, Tubman was beaten by masters. When she was a child, she suffered a harsh head wound from a heavy metal weight. Later this injury caused her seizures, narcoleptic attacks, headaches, and vivid dreams sent from God. Later in 1849, Tubman escaped from Maryland to Philidelphia to rescue her family from slavery and bring them back to Maryland. And over a span of ten years, Tubman traveled a total of 19 trips and brought over 300 slaves to freedom. She got so many people by using the Underground Railroad. She "never lost a passenger" as Federick Douglass once said.
• Malcom X, or El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was an African American Muslim minister and civil rights activist. At the early age of 13, his mother sent to a mental hospital and a series of foster homes. A rumor said that Malcom's father died because of white supremacists; and on top of that, his uncle was lynched. Later in 1946, Malcom was sent to prison for breaking and entering. When in prison, Malcom joined the Nation of Islam. After his parole in 1952, he became leader of Nation of Islam. But the head of the group led him to go out of the country in March 1964. During his "vacation", Malcom traveled through Africa and the Middle East. Once he came back home, he founded the Muslim Mosque Inc. and the Orginization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year after in February 1965, he was assassinated by three members of the group. We thank him for spreading the idea of integration and black supremacy.
• Martin Luther King Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. In 1955, he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King also organized the 1963 March on Washington where he spoke his "I Have A Dream" speech. On October 14, 1964, King recieved a Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence. In 1965, the SCLC also orgainized the Selma to Montgomery marches. In the last years of his life, he moved his movement to Chicago to expand mhis focus on poverty and the Vietnam War. But sadly on April 4, 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee allegedly by James Earl Ray. The man convicted may have been framed or have acted together with government agents. But his assassination lead to riots around the country. We'll all know Luther for his efforts to make people of all nationalities come together as one.
• Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. He is the first African American President,  and is of the Democratic Party. He was re-elected and will serve for another four years. In 2009 Obama won the Noble Peace Prize. He was awarded this prize for, "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."  

• Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Robinson played for the Dodgers and ended racial segregation, that regulated black players to negro leagues. Jackie won MLB Rookie of the year in 1947, National League Most Valuable Player in 1949, and was also inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1962. In 2004 MLB adopted a new tradition, "Jackie Robinson Day," where all players on all teams wear #42. He helped establish the Freedom National Bank and in recognition of his actions, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congress Gold Medal.
• Rosa Parks was a woman who the United States Congress called the, "mother of the freedom movement." In 1955 Rosa Parks refused a bus driver's order to give up her seat to a white passenger, when their section overfilled. Rosa was arrested for her actions of civil disobedience. Her acts of defiance helped the Montgomerty Bus Boycott go into place.
• Gabby Douglas was a member of the U.S. Gymnastics 2012 Summer Olympics team. She was the first African American woman to become the individual all-around champion. She is also the first American to win gold in both the individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics. At the 2012 World Olympics she was a member of the gold winning U.S. team.

Without these national heros, African Americans would not be treated how they are today. By the actions caused, African Americans can live freely without slavery and division. These are all honorable members in our history today.

Good Journalism

  I learned that the news was more informative before the 21st century.
     I wonder how the news will be in the 22nd century
         I still want to know how people got so much information from the news back then

Remember 2012?

By: Serena

There's no doubt that "Gangnam Style" has dominated 2012; but what were the other trends in 2012? Well, that's why I'm here to tell you.

                   Music

     There were many great songs last year. Many were so memorable. This includes Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Getting Back Together", Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe", "Die Young" from Ke$ha, Bruno Mars's "Locked Out of Heaven", Justin Bieber's "Beauty and a Beat", Fun's "Some Nights", and last but not least One Direction's "One Thing", "Live While We're Young", and "Little Things". But tune in to the Grammy's on February 10, 2013 for some awesome performances and see who wins what.

                                                                              Word Up                

"Swag" was a commonly used term, except no one really knows what it means. The proper definition for "swag" is actutally an ornamenatal festoon of flowers, fruit, and greenery. So when people say, "I got swag", they're really saying," I have a decorative bouquet of flowers". Or in other words, they can also be saying,"I got Edible Arrangments" if they were talking about fruit. Another abbreviation that people were using was "YOLO"; which stands for "you only live once". When "The Motto" came out by Drake feat. Lil Wayne and Tyga, people on Twitter were tweeting things such as, "Didn't do my science project #YOLO" or,"Gonna try to go on #16&Pregnant!#YOLO." This "motto" was basically an excuse for people to do stupid things. But thankfully some people took the motto to experience something that will benefit them, instead of trying to get themselves killed.   

                                          Fashion

Fashion in 2012 was a twist of 80's and 90's fashion. This includes light colored jeans, crop tops, the Aztec pattern, cropped jean jackets, and combat boots. As for the guys, baggy pants, hats and caps, and varsity jackets were in style.

                                                         TV Shows

Shows such as X Factor, Pretty Little Liars, The Simpsons, Modern Family, Glee and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo were favoured in 2012. But unfortunately, Jersey Shore ended.

Sports

The San Francisco Giants won again last year. We won 2 years before and before that we won in 1954. And for this year, we are going to the Superbowl. We'll be going against the Saints on February 3, 2013. Make sure you cross your fingers!

K-Pop vs. J-Pop: Coming to America?

     You probably have heard Psy's "Gangnam Style" recently. He has been in the K-Pop(Korean Popular music) industry for quite a while now. But have you ever heard of J-Pop? J-Pop is short for Japanese popular music .
 Now that "Gangnam Style" has come out, K-Pop and J-Pop is slowly coming over to America.
     "I think that K-Pop and J-Pop should come to America because American pop music is getting kind of boring." a source says. While another source says, " I think that K-Pop and J-Pop should stay in Asia because we can't even understand it!"
      A popular group of J-Pop is called AKB48. They have hit record sales in 2011 of over $200 million in Japan. They also have a total of 91 members! WoW! But can K-Pop compete with that? Well, with the group" Girl's Generation", the  K-Pop industry may have something going on. But it'll be up to America to decide if K-Pop or J-Pop will make charts here.