On January 13, 2010, Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 quake. Sophomores at our school are raising money to help the people of Haiti heal.

“Fundraising for the people of Haiti is a good idea because we are able to help people less fortunate than us,” said sopomore Shara Joy Aya.

Advisories are collecting items to send over to Haiti such as blankets, tents, sleeping bags, bottles of water, gauze, gloves, bandages, and other first aid supplies. Other advisories are selling baked goods and lollipops to make money.

“Anyone can bring the specific things that are listed. We made posters and students are going around to talk to the advisories about this fundraiser. My class is raising money of their own to buy a tent to send to Haiti,” said Spanish teacher Ms. Violetta Suroweic.

Chinese teacher Ms. Pan’s advisory sold lollipops to raise a total amount of seventy-seven dollars. Ms. Weit’s advisory, on the other hand, raised about twenty-dollars and counting by having a bake sale. Similarly, Ms. Suroweic’s advisory is collecting the items listed to send to the MADRE organization.

The MADRE organization is an international women’s human rights organization. This organization partners with women to help other women all around the world. They collect donations and have helped women and families all throughout various countries such as Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, Kenya, Peru, and many other countries as well.

“After Haiti’s loss, I think it’s necessary for schools across the United States to raise Haitian relief,” said sophomore Christopher Smart.

Although, the advisories have raised a reasonable amount of money so far, they hope to raise even more money to help Haiti rebuild their nation.

“Caring for others in a time of need shows that people can really touch humanity,” said advisor Ms. Weit

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“Origins,” “The Babysitter,” “Prototype,” “Homecoming,” “The Duel,” “The Package” and “Odd One Out” all detail the history of some aspects of the Halo universe and reveal many significant events that tie in with the main story of the games. These episodes include the stories of what one has to endure to become and be a Spartan soldier, the world of Arbiters, and a comedic side of Halo with Spartan 1337.

Each one of these episodes gives you a piece of the Halo story never told in the game and is presented in a different version of sophisticated Japanese animation, such as anime, Japanese water colors, and regular cartoon computer-generated imagery. They were also directed by one of seven different directors, who are all leading animators of Japan, and produced by one of five different studios involved in the Halo Legends project.

“I thought Halo Legends was a great movie with cool animations and all, but I thought it was weird that they divided it into episodes. Also, I thought it was really weird that the Arbiter wasn’t anywhere in the movie while Master Chief was, which really doesn’t make sense because Arbiter is a main character after all,” said sophomore Matthew Taylor.

Apart from the seven episodes, there are bonus features that give you the first trailer of the Halo franchise’s next game, Halo Reach. Also, the directors and production teams of each episode were interviewed in “The Making of Halo Legends,” which shows the production process of how each episode was made, and “The Halo Story So Far,” which fills in the main storyline of the first three Halo games.

The first movie from one of the best selling games of all time is a thrilling sci-fi adventure through the Halo universe. However, it is recommended that violent content throughout may be inappropriate for children under the age of 13. Halo Legends is available anywhere movies are sold or rented in DVD single or two disk special editions and Blu-Ray, and digital download.

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The United States prevailed in gaining the most medals with an astounding 37: 9 gold. 15 silver, and 13 bronze. However, Germany came in second place with 30 medals.

Canada came in third place with 26 medals, 14 of them being gold, the most won in these Olympics. The hardest earned of these medals was the Men’s ice hockey medal.

The Canadian team had took an early lead in the game with a point in the first period, followed by another point in the second. But the Americans fired back with one goal in the second and one more in the third. With the game tied at 2-2, it was sent into overtime. Sidney Crosby scored in the third securing the gold for Canada.

However, there was a dark overcast this year. That would be the death of 21-year-old Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, who skidded off the luge track into a pole during a practice run. He never even had the chance to compete.

On the other hand, there have been many exciting moments in competition. One example would be the performance by Shaun White in the snowboarding half-pipe competition. To secure the gold, Shaun White had been extremely daring by performing “the most dangerous trick in snowboarding,” known as backside 1260 double McTwist. By doing this, he had became the first snowboarder to win back to back gold medals in the winter Olympics.

Another athlete is somewhat unheard of, who was dubbed the “queen of the Olympics” because she had won the most medals (5) in the games, Norway’s own Marit Bjoergen. She had won three golds, a silver and one bronze medal in the cross-country skiing event.

The opening ceremonies of the Olympics went quite well, with an entertaining display for all viewers. There were many interesting entrances along with effects. Unfortunately, one torch failed to rise at the end of the ceremony.

The closing ceremony however, went off without a hitch. The games were closed with an extravagant ceremony, with musical performances. The Canadians managed to keep the ceremony upbeat even with another moment to honor the fallen luger from Georgia. Many tributes were made and medals celebrated. Now off to London for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Russia for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

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Similar to the school’s past two exchanges, students on this exchange lived with a host Swiss student and his/her family while touring the country, shadowing them while in school, and getting to know their host families.

“I wanted to see life from another perspective,” said junior Vanessa Kreytak.

The flight took off at 6:50 PM from Newark International Airport. After seven tiring hours on the plane, students couldn’t wait to land in Switzerland. The Americans arrived at 6:00 in the morning, where they were greeted by three Swiss students and one teacher from our host school, Kantonsshule Im Lee.

Students and teachers were taken to school where they were greeted by the Swiss principal and offered lunch.

“Their school food is so much better than our food; they actually have chefs working,” said junior Glenn Kugelman.

After the “official” welcome, the school day was over and the American students were free to go home and spend the weekend with their host students.

Some students had the pleasure to travel during the weekend, going as far as Bern, the capital of Switzerland and Rome, Italy.

On Monday, students arrived at school bright and early to start sightseeing. At first, the students went on a walking tour of the town where the Swiss hosts lived, followed by free time to shop and eat.

During the afternoon, the students were given the opportunity to tour the historic Kyburg Castle.

Tuesday was the day the students were able to see the Rhein falls. Students walked along the sight seeing paths taking many pictures with the falls as the background.

“One of my favorite students was traveling with the students, we had a lot of fun touring the cities and meeting the other [Swiss] students in their school and how they interact. I feel our students truly experienced the culture,” said Ms. Suroweic.

The Americans were set to attend school all day Wednesday. The Swiss hosts were all in the same classes, so the Americans weren’t separated. Our students attended classes such as Biology, Literature, and Calculus. This was also the day where the Principal of Kantonsshule Im Lee gave the students a fond farewell as well as a small gift. Each student received a Swiss army knife that was in the form of a credit card.

On Thursday, the American students, accompanied by their Swiss friends, traveled to Zurich where they went sightseeing around the town and finished up their last minute souvenir shopping.

That Friday marked the day of departure back to the United States. Our travelers had a connecting flight in Frankfurt, Germany before reaching there much wanted homes here in the United States. With each student’s family waiting and the crowd giving our students a round of applause as they exited the customs area. Each student couldn’t help but agree that this trip was anything but unforgettable.

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Guitars, drums, and a few more international instruments combined to open the second Holiday Concert with a bang. With proceeds going to Haiti, students and faculty filled the auditorium with joy. The performers breezed though the concert with seeming ease while the audience bobbed their heads in tune to the beautifully arranged music.

The highlight of the night was the Winter Wonder Rap. Screaming students were ecstatic when freshman Leo Krkuti rapped in tune with the instrumental music played by the remainder of music students.

“In guitar, we practiced real hard on the Winter Rap and I was happy with how it went,” said freshman Calissa Mc Cue.

Closing the second annual Winter Concert was an inspirational story, Christmas Eve Sarajevo. Narrator freshman Victoria Manzo led the audience through the story with a passionate voice as music accompanied her.

The audience left not only with an earful of good music and a great performance but also with the pride of knowing that they had a chance to help out Haitians who were devastated by the earthquake by dropping money into the upside-down drum just outside the auditorium doors. Overall, $250 was collected for Haiti.

“I felt great donating because knowing a dollar or two can help someone in need was the best part of attending the Concert. I think the performers were great and have wonderful talents,” said sophomore Gilana Levin.

Preparations for both events began in the beginning of the first semester. For the freshmen students in the music classes, a five month deadline for an anticipated perfect concert was difficult despite the amazing result.

” It turned out being an awesome concert even though we had such little time to prepare. It was very good, and the crowd loved it,” said freshman Samantha Escobedo.

Of course, Mrs. Packowski had her hands full juggling two events.Only one day after the Winter Concert, H Block music students participated in a community Drum Circle with special needs students from PS 37R.

A Drum Circle is just a simple gathering of two communities who intend to share music and play together. Our school hoped to share its unique international music and instruments with students from another school community.

The Drum Circle began with students from the visiting school listening to an introduction about drums by doing a drum roll. Junior Caileen Gonzalez broke the silence by playing a classic game of Simon Says with the kids. Who doesn’t love Simon? Afterwards, the kids had a chance to play a beat on the conga, a Cuban drum, according to the number of syllables in their name.

“I loved the Drum Circle,” said visiting student Christopher V.

The drum circle wasn’t only for students but for the participating adults as well. The teachers from PS 37R appeared to have a blast playing the drums with everyone.

“I think it was a wonderful introduction. My students loved it. I can’t wait to do it again,” said teacher Darlene Bowman Archer.

Along with the teachers and students, the H block students also enjoyed working with everyone and teaching them how to play drums.

“It was a great experience. I enjoyed it very much because I love little kids,” said senior Brittany Llorca.

The entire Drum Circle was a success, though of course it had to conclude with a even greater bang. H Block students began to play a familiar song, The Lion Sleep Tonight, on their instruments as the visitors clapped in tune. Aisha Musa sang while everyone else clapped and played their instruments.

“I liked the song at the end, The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” said visiting students Joshua M.

Later, the H Block students shared cupcakes with their guests as they said their good-byes.

The community drum circle that took place on January 15, 2010 was a complete success and went as planned. Now, Mrs. Packowski is awaiting the next one to yet arrive.

“I think it went very well. It was a first time experience for the facilitators to work with students close to their age outside of this school. I think it’s wonderful that we can reach out to our community and bring them this rare and rewarding experience,” said Mrs. Packowski. “The Staten Island community at large will have an opportunity to participate in a community drum circle offered in late February.”

As the music department grows and established itself within our small yet mighty community, we can expect many more opportunities and events at school. For now, we give you all a big thumbs- up!

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As of January 31st, one of our schools founding teachers, Mrs. Nancy Kaplan will be taking a study sabbatical leave for one semester and will return in September of 2010.

Teachers that have taught for seven consecutive years are eligible for a sabbatical leave. During study sabbatical, teachers chose to return to a college or university and take graduate level classes in their licensed subject. They must take eight credits, and the teachers have to pay for their own courses. The Department of Education must approve of these classes before they are taken, and while on the leave, teachers on receive 70 percent of their pay.

“I’m taking a sabbatical so I can recharge my batteries and teach for many more years before I retire,” said Mrs. Kaplan.

Mrs. Kaplan will be attending Brooklyn College where she will be take three classes: Comparative Ethnic Literature, The Short Story, and Faulkner.

“I wanted to take journalism classes, but my sabbatical might not have been approved since my teaching license is English and History. I hope to sit in on some journalism classes at Brooklyn College, though,” said Mrs. Kaplan.

If the course work a teacher applies for is not rigorous enough or if they teach in a shortage area, they can be denied sabbatical leave.

Normally, when the teacher contract is renegotiated, sabbatical leaves are always discussed.

The NYC DOE would like to omit sabbatical leaves from the teacher contract. However, the United Federation of Teachers is always supporting sabbaticals.

“The DOE wants to remove sabbatical leaves to save money, but it’s not going to happen in the future,” said UFT representative Jim Sherlock.

Although she will be busy with her schoolwork at Brooklyn College, Mrs. Kaplan still plans to help her students and the newspaper whenever she is available.

“I’m only over the bridge and an email or a phone call away if The Insider staff and my students need me,” continued Kaplan.

“I know that along with me, the entire staff and faculty wish Mrs. Kaplan a wonderful and productive sabbatical. We will all miss her, her creativity, her passion, and her dedication to our students and our school, and look forward to her return,” said Principal Ms. Aimee Horowitz.

Also making her leave easier is the recent grant Mrs. Kaplan won. Mrs. Kaplan is the 2010 Middle Atlantic States Region winner of the Bob Costas Award for the Teaching of Writing given by the College Board every year.

“It’s a relief knowing the journalism fund will have plenty of money this year and next,” said Mrs. Kaplan.

Temporarily replacing her will be Mr. Frank Duffy. Mr. Duffy will be teaching Ms. Kaplan’s English classes as well as running the school newspaper.

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“We decided as a department to read memoirs this year, but we wanted the students to choose which memoir to read. So we gave them a list, and they selected and formed book clubs, which met weekly to analyze the plot,” said English teacher Mrs. Nancy Kaplan.

The students also wrote their own stories detailing their own experiences and life stories. According to Kaplan, the purpose of starting this memoir project is to read and write about one’s life.

The students paired up, and recorded their stories in a booth in downtown Manhattan.

“By listening and connecting with each other, it makes the experience of sharing stories a lot more enjoyable than if people went one at a time to record. That is why we encourage people to go into the recording booth and record their stories together,” said Lucy Zhou from the communications department at StoryCorps.

After the recording, the people at StoryCorps choose which stories they will broadcast on NPR’s Morning Edition and the rest are sent to the Library of Congress to be preserved.

This project allows every one who shares their story a part to be a part of our nation’s history. This project makes people more than just a silent nameless face in the crowd, it gives them a voice. This is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind.

“The mission of StoryCorps is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our time. As a public service, we try to offer the interview experience to as many people as possible in order to showcase the richness and diversity of the American people,” said Zhou.

In a way, this enhances our democracy by giving everyone a voice and a chance to be a part of our nation’s history. It is truly amazing to know that by doing something as simple as going into a recording booth can make our stories become a part of our nation’s history and something for future generations to remember us by.

The eight volunteers are: Elliot Santiago, Paul Casella, Amber Figerio, Christopher Frank, Brianna Recinos, Alex Lopes, Djenne Jean-Louis, and Radwa Achmed. The first four students are recording their stories on Jan. 16, 2010, and the rest are recording on Jan. 30, 2010 in Manhattan.

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Sonia Rykiel, the “Queen of Knits,” began designing in 1962 when she was pregnant and unable to find any soft sweaters. Rykiel, who recently made an appearance on NYCTV’s, Video Fashion Daily, explained how her knitted approach is both fresh and elegant. Her style is depicted throughout her numerous embellished studded and sequin belts, wrapped over tailored knitted cardigans and dresses.

According to The Fashion Book, published by Phaidon Book Company, Rykiel states how she loves knit because it is “very magical, and sophisticated enough for the evening.” A shimmering Sonia Rykiel dress was worn by Kate Bosworth at the Grand Palais in Paris, celebrating Rykiel’s new lingerie collection for H&M. February 20, 2010, will mark the release of a second collection featuring an iconic knitwear collection for women and girls as well as playful accessories. After all, frivolity is a major theme this season. According to Nathalie Rykiel, president and artistic director of Sonia Rykiel, “The world is tough and you just have to have fun. Play around with your clothes in a way that’s different.”

Bright stripes, colorful scarves, 70’s style frizzy hair, and neon heels are also crucial to this coming season. According to style.com, Rykiel also hit the current idea of the big soft fun fur as a huge bubble of color; in her case, baby pink, purple knitted fox or teal-blue Mongolian lamb. During Paris Fashion Week, Sonia Rykiel showed her own collection for next spring.

There, she displayed gorgeous ruffled dresses in vintage floral and polka dot prints. By the time three models vamped their way down the elevated runway in metallic silver-and-black striped sweaters and skirts, it was inevitable that this seasons clothing was boisterous yet couture. Rykiel’s smocked dresses had a 70’s vibe, while crystal-strewn knit dresses mirrored the embellishment on her popular Domino bag. The seasons slogan read garçon manqué, which means tomboy, which was inspired by Rykiel’s tree climbing youth.

“Sonia Rykiel’s dresses are unique, but some girls are able to pull off her designs better than others,”said junior Danielle Ianazzi.

However, Ennio Capasa, the “mix of couture and the street,” is very different from Rykiel. His elegance is depicted throughout his use of toned down colors and sheer fabrics. His moment in fashion is used to open minds, and create fashion diversity in the future. According to Capasa, “Open backs, royal blue and black, and the mixture of dresses and high boots” is very important to him. Ennio Capasa is the creator of Costume National, the Italian fashion house he founded in 1986. He is now an internationally renowned designer label, famous for his subtle shapes, dark tones and sartorial detail.

“Capasa and Rykiel are both very different, but they both have a style in which I enjoy. I would wear Sonia Rykiel if I were going to a party or a club, but I would wear Capasa if I were going to a white tie affair, or an elegant event,” said senior Samantha Wong.

Both elegance and fun are essential to the fashion industry. So remember ladies, peace, love, Sonia Rykiel and Ennio Capasa.

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If you rode the New York City Subway on January 10, 2010, you probably experienced an unusual holiday. For the past nine years, January 10 has been declared No Pants Day by the comedy troupe Improv Everywhere.

The idea of No Pants Day is for thousands of New Yorkers to ride the subway in their underwear and act as if nothing is unusual. The reactions from fellow riders are priceless.

The event began at 3:00 pm at six meeting points through out the city, Foley Square and Central Park in Manhattan; Prospect Park and Bushwick in Brooklyn, and Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Astoria in Queens. The participants were then split up into groups by their birthday and the last digit of their cell phone number to be assigned their route and the car they would be riding in.

“We used 10 subway lines spread out all over the city, though sadly we didn’t use Staten Island as there is no direct subway route. We picked routes that would lead our participants to Union Square in about a half hour’s time,” said Charlie Todd, founder of Improv Everywhere.

All of the routes required a transfer at Times Square and converged on Union Square for a pantsless celebration. The three thousand participants formed conga lines around the park, held break dance competitions, and sang a pantsless rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

The participants flooded the local businesses. Some were on high alert, while others such as Heartland Brewery and Starbucks warmly welcomed the pantless brethren.

The event’s most exciting component was the reactions from fellow passengers.

“I was on the 1 train when two college age boys entered the train at Franklin Street without pants. I thought it was an initiation for a fraternity until two pantless women got on at Houston St. After that, I thought I was losing my mind until somebody told me it was a prank,” said a rider who wishes to be referred to as Denise.

Tourists looked on in awe at the unusual sight. When asked why they were not wearing pants, the participants were instructed to say they simply forgot their pants and they didn’t know why the other participants aren’t wearing pants.

“No Pants is always a fun event for me personally because I enjoy watching the reactions from the New Yorkers we encounter. Even as it gets more popular as the years go by, there are always people seeing it for the first time,” said Todd.

The New York event has grown from seven participants to over 3,000 in this year’s rendition. The No Pants Subway Ride has also become a global holiday, with participants in cities all over the US, as well as in South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

While the event began as a prank, it has evolved into a de facto underwear parade. However, the spirit of the event has not been lost. The priceless reactions are what keep the event going.

If you are seeking a memorable experience and a feeling of comradery, think about participating in the 2011 No Pants Subway Ride. Remember, don’t show up if you are not going to take off your pants.

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“It doesn’t have to. College is still a smart choice. The options may be tougher to weigh, and students and their families will need to dig a little deeper, but there is still a wide variety of opportunities out there,” said Cheryl Brown, director of undergraduate admissions at Binghamton University.

Scholarships are a great way for students to help pay for their education. A scholarship is a financial grant given to a student by an organization or school to help pay for their education. In simpler terms, it’s free money for school.

There are many places to find scholarships. On the internet, there are scholarship search engines that help. Scholarships.com and fastweb.com are two examples.

Fastweb.com, the oldest online scholarship matchmaker, gives students a list of schools matching their preferences and a profile on each school. In addition each school’s applications and scholarships are available. Scholarships.com allows students to create a profile and find scholarships based on academics, talents and interests.

According to bookrags.com, millions of scholarships go unused each year. Some of these unused scholarships suffer from lack of publicity. Others have few applicants because of lack of interest or qualifications, for example the Student Inventors Scholarship.

Merit based scholarships are awarded to students with academic achievement. They are given based on GPA, SAT, and ACT scores. The Walton Family Foundation Scholarship, which is administered by the Wal-Mart Foundation, awards a $3,000 scholarship based a high school grade point average of at least 2.5 on a 4-point scale.

Furthermore, Need-based scholarships are given to low income families that are financially unable to pay for school.

Also, universities and colleges award athletic scholarships to promising high school athletes. To obtain an athletic scholarship, one must have the interest of a coach from a university. According to college-athletic-scholarships.com, you can be sought after by a coach or contact a coach yourself. If you choose to take the latter route, you should create a resume which includes your relevant statistics, varsity experience, awards won, current coach’s name and full contact information, as well as GPA, ACT and/or SAT scores, and any honors or AP courses you may have taken.

“A college coach will not recruit any athlete without good grades,” said physical education teacher Mr. Dennis Barrett.

There are also scholarships given to students by the school they are attending, which vary greatly based on each school. Schools often receive grant money from federal organizations to give to their students.

“Long Island University gave me my first scholarship for academic achievement. I was surprised and pleased that a school wanted me enough to offer me money to go there,” said senior Winsome Cheung.

And there are lesser-known scholarships and unusual scholarships given to those that qualify. These include scholarships for being left-handed, gay, tall, or even drinking milk on a regular basis. For example, the Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year award goes to ‘graduating high school senior scholar athletes’ that send in

photographs of their milk mustaches while the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America gives scholarships to students that are being treated for allergies or asthma.

An important tip when applying for scholarships is to start your search early and applying before the deadline. If you start early, you should have plenty of time to prepare your information and submission requirements to an organization. For instance, the deadline to register and submit your essay for Do Something Awards is March 1, 2010. One should read the qualifications carefully to be able to qualify. And as always, have someone review your work before submitting it.

“Students should be proactive in researching scholarships they may be eligible for as early as summer ‘10 for juniors,” said guidance counselor Mrs. Marie Pastena.

Although many scholarships are competitive, don’t be discouraged. Every student is unique and has an equal opportunity at scholarships.

However, be on the lookout for scholarship scams. Scholarships that say they are “guaranteed” or require an application fee are most likely scams. Being a finalist for a scholarship you never applied for is also most likely a scam. As always, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

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