holly ridge middle school hornet headlines
TRANSCRIPT
Holly Ridge Middle School
HORNET HEADLINES
February 2016
Sikh and Tired Pg 2
Zika Virus in Virginia Pg 3
Peyton Manning Allegations
Pg 4
The Twinkie Effect Pg 5
Aiimbo Pg 6
Sweet Traditions Pg 7
News from the Ridge Pg 8-9
Inside this issue:
A St. Louis mother was in tears
when she heard the terrible news
that her eight-year-old son was
rejected from going to the charter
school of his dreams because of
his skin color. Edmund Lee White
is a third grade African-American
student who was denied his
enrollment into the Gateway
Science Academy due to his race.
School officials would like to do
anything about it, but ultimately
can’t due to the regulations
made decades ago. These
regulations haven’t changed.
La’Shieka White, the very upset
mother, launched a petition to
draw attention to the issue. Even
some staff members have signed
White’s petition.
“To not see his face in the halls
next year would be extremely sad,”
said Edmund’s third grade teacher.
“I don’t want it to be just about an
African American boy,” White
noted. “I want it to be about all
children.” White has taken many
actions and the petition is currently
at 43,726 signatures as of late
February, 2016.
Justice for Edmund By Leah Nepo
“Women Propose to Men”
Irish legend has it that St. Brigid made
a deal with St. Patrick for women to
propose to men on February 29.
Gloves Hide Naked Ring Finger
Leap day in some places is known as
“Bachelors Day”. Men are supposed
to pay a penalty if they refuse a
proposal from a woman on Leap day.
Unlucky in Love
In Scotland, being born on February
29th was unlucky, similarly to if one
was born on a Friday the 13th.
We’re making
some changes to
the Hornet
Headlines! Tell us
what you think!
-Student Editors
Leap Year By Evan Brown
Page 2 Hornet Headlines News
Sikh and Tired
By Leah Nepo
Waris Ahluwalia is a famous
Sikh actor and designer who has
accomplished many things in his
career. Ahluwalia was even the
first Sikh man to be featured on a
GAP ad, but with success doesn’t
mean he gains it all. This includes
his rights. Ahluwalia has been
patted down and he has had to deal
with ridiculous airport security
checks for a while. Many airports
see his turban, an article of cloth-
ing, as a threat to America.
On February 8th, 2016, Ahluwalia
was boarding an Aero Mexico
flight when he was asked to take
off his turban due to a concern.
Ahluwalia, feeling offended,
refused to take off his turban. As a
result, he wasn’t allowed onto his
flight.
Ahluwalia took action through
social media, urging his followers
and fans to understand the situation
that had just occurred and the
racism behind it. He stayed in
Mexico City, not allowing himself
to go back to New York for fashion
week until he received an apology
on February 9th.
The airline agreed that future steps
would be made to make sure
discrimination against any race
does not happen again. Ahluwalia
is going to make fashion week,
wearing his very fashionable tur-
ban and suit.
National Prayer Breakfast
By: Eurusalem Gebire
President Barack Obama spoke at
the National Prayer Breakfast on
February 5, right after he made a
remarkable visit to the Baltimore
mosque. “Fear can lead us to lash
out against those who are different
or lead us to try to get some sinis-
ter ‘other’ under control,” said
President Obama making reference
to a decisively long speech on the
presidential campaign trail.
Last year, the President was
under fire for speaking about the
Crusades as an example of
violence committed in the name
of Christ, making the case for
religious violence not being
limited to any one religion or time.
Syrian Civil War By Roselyn Velasco
Bashar al-Assad is the leader who
caused the anti-regime uprising and
pro-democracy protest that erupted
throughout the country. The war
started on March 15, 2011 in Syria,
mostly because of religious beliefs
of the people. The result has been
that eleven million Syrians have
fled and many civilians have been
killed. Of those Syrians who have
fled their homes, three million
migrated to Turkey, Lebanon,
Jordan and Iraq. Syrians have to
cross the Mediterranean Sea from
Turkey to Greece, and not all of
them make it alive; they cross so
they can have a better life. Many
refugees have died from hunger
and cold; they are without
electricity and running water.
In February, a total of 522 more
people were killed including young
children. One million Syrians are
trapped. People are risking their
lives because of the fear of the war.
People have to walk at night to
avoid being shot and men fear
being captured and forced to join
the Regime.
Page 3
Hornet Headlines News
Zika Virus in
Virginia
By Emma von Koch
On February 3, 2016, a mother in
Richmond, Virginia came down
with the Zika Virus, which is simi-
lar to yellow fever and spread by
mosquitoes. Heather Baker loves to
help others and even spent a year in
Haiti. In 2014, she traveled to
Zacapa and Guatemala to help spe-
cial needs children. Three days af-
ter she returned home, she thought
she had the flu. Unfortunately,
Baker is the first known person to
bring Zika to America. She began
to experience the symptoms. “Body
aches started, light sensitivity,
fatigue, brain fog, just a variety of
things, nothing completely severe
enough. I knew something was
wrong,” Baker said. 75%-80% of
people with Zika report no
symptoms. If you do end up with
symptoms, you will probably have
a rash, and your lymph nodes will
be severely swollen. They usually
last about a week or so, if not
shorter. Dr. William Schaffner told
Baker, “We don’t know if the virus
can persist or if it can set up an in-
flammatory response that can con-
tinue to make you ill for a period of
time.” Heather Baker is fortunately
not Zika causes problems for preg-
nant women who contract the virus.
pregnant. Infants are born with re-
markably smaller heads.
An Oscar! Finally! By Leah Nepo
Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the
best known male actors in Holly-
wood. The roles he plays are icon-
ic, such as Titanic, What’s Eating
Gilbert Grape?, Inception, and
The Great Gatsby. As a famous
and successful actor, it is surpris-
ing that he had never before won
an Oscar. The Oscars is an annual
American award ceremony that
recognizes actors and motion
pictures. Most people could not
believe he had never been awarded
one yet for he has consistently
made huge movie hits.
Some argue that he deserved his
first Oscar in 1993, at the age of
nineteen, after his first major role
in the film What’s Eating Gilbert
Grape?
At the 2016 Oscars ceremony
this year, DiCaprio finally received
his well-deserved prize, an Oscar!
He claimed Best Actor for his role
in The Revenant, portraying a
frontiersman from the 1800’s. It
was released last Christmas and
has received a huge amount of
positive feedback. He attended
with his previous co-star, Kate
Winslet from Titanic and made
several lighthearted jokes about
how long it took him to receive an
Oscar.
Great job, Leo!
Presidential Race
By Jack Blazer
As Super Tuesday ends, presiden-
tial nominees with enough momen-
tum to win this race are elected for
the primaries. The presidential
ballot includes Donald Trump win-
ning almost every state, and Hilary
Clinton almost doing as well. Don-
ald Trump has 316 Delegates, and
he has almost a 90 point lead over
Ted Cruz. He needs 1,237 to win
the nominee for the republicans.
With the democrats, Hillary Clin-
ton has about 700 delegates over
Bernie Sanders, counting Super
Delegates. Hilary Clinton has 1,001
delegates putting her half way to-
ward being the elected democratic
nominee for the presidential race.
Overall, Bernie Sanders needs to
slow Hilary Clinton down to be
included in this race. Ted Cruz and
the other candidates will need to
start winning more states to slow
Donald Trump’s lead over them if
they want to
have a chance
in this race.
Page 4 Hornet Headlines Sports
Peyton Manning
Allegations By John Duncan
A few days before the Super
Bowl against the Panthers, the
Broncos’ quarterback Peyton
Manning is being accused of using
performance enhancing drugs
called human growth hormones.
Manning said that the allegations
are junk and straight trash. The
NFL has spoken and are going to
start the investigation after the
season is over. This makes Patriot
fans angry because they could have
been going to Super Bowl 50 if the
allegations are true. They have
evidence from an Al Jazeera docu-
mentary reporter Charlie Sly who
spoke about giving professional
athletes medication to help them
cheat. Inside one of the scenes Sly
talks about giving NFL star Peyton
Manning HgH which stands for
Human Growth Hormone. Peyton
has responded by hiring private
investigators. Peyton has asked
why someone would publish a fake
story and wanted to find the source
of the story. Peyton’s investigators
discovered it was Charlie Sly, a
pharmacist. Sly has now said that
those allegations were not in the
documentary. Peyton’s career
could be ending with a drug scan-
dal, but that is beside the point.
THEY WON THE SUPER
BOWL!
Super Bowl 50 Champions
By Giovani Vazquez
Around the world, people believed
the Carolina Panthers were going to
beat the Denver Broncos, but it was
the other way around. The Denver
Broncos were Super Bowl 50
champs. They won 24-10 against
the Carolina Panthers. Carolina
never had the lead. In the first half,
the Broncos scored thirteen points
and Carolina scored seven points.
In the second half, the situation
worsened for the Panthers. Their
quarterback Cam Newton was
sacked seven times, one leading to
a fumble and a touchdown at the
beginning of the game. Cam
Newton threw one interception, but
managed to get 265 passing yards.
Bronco’s quarterback Peyton
Manning also threw one
interception, but had 141 passing
yards. The Most Valuable Super
Bowl player was the Broncos
linebacker Von Miller. He sacked
Cam Newton twice and both lead to
a fumble. Cam Newton was named
the Most Valuable Player for the
season. This was Peyton Manning’s
second Super Bowl win; the other
one was when he was with the Indi-
anapolis Colts. Is this Peyton
Manning’s last rodeo?
Player Transactions
By: Jacob Scannell
Name Position Team Transaction
Randy Starks DE Browns Terminated
Jim Dray TE Browns Terminated
Jared Allen DE Panthers Retired
Tavon Rooks OT Chiefs Non-Football Injury
Richard Gordon TE Ravens Free Agent Signing
A. J. Cruz WR Bears Free Agent Signing
Roy Philon DE Lions Free Agent Signing
Page 5
Hornet Headlines Editorials
The Twinkie Effect
By Leah Nepo
Big Macs and Twinkies sure are
delicious, but after a while of
eating them, the result is potentially
gaining weight. So much weight
that some overweight people have
to be forklifted with their bed into
a hospital for help. Sounds ridicu-
lous? Well, kind of, but it isn’t
impossible.
Khaled Mohsen Al Shaeri is a
young man who lived in Saudi
Arabia. Is it really living if you
haven’t left your bed in three
years? Al Shaeri had weighed
over 1,300 pounds and hadn’t
left his comfy room for the past
1095 days.
After gaining so much
controversy…and weight, the
king of Saudi Arabia decided
he needed medical attention.
The past three years have been
difficult for Al Shaeri, but
hard work, determination, and
daily exercises have helped
him lose seven hundred
pounds. He still weighs 600 lbs.
and has a long way to go, but this is
miraculous and a healthy weight is
in his future. He even walked in
February 2016 for the first time
since 2013.
www.fairfaxunderground.com
What a Nice Surprise... By Olivia Friend
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s an
alligator?
Joshua James, a 23 year old man
is charged with aggravated assault
with a deadly weapon. He also is
being charged with second-degree
larceny petty theft.
According to the police report,
Joshua James illegally stole
and threw a 3 ½ foot alligator
through a Wendy’s drive-thru
window. James was arrested
by the Florida Police and will
be serving jail time for a
while. As for the Wendy’s
crew, well they must feel a
little scared for their next
drive thru surprise.
http://images.starpulse.com/news/bloggers
/1340985/blog_images/alligator-.jpg
A Fishy Museum By Leah Nepo
Museums are a great way to
showcase history and art. Some
more famous ones are, the Louvre,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and
the National Gallery in London,
but none are quite like this one.
British artist, Jason deCaires
Taylor has decided on opening
his own museum…underwater.
He has already been successful in
dropping nearly 500 sculptures
down into the Atlantic Ocean.
Located around fifteen meters
underwater, you can view sculp-
tures of humans and animals, all
done with great detail. He even
captures the chaos of the current
civil war going on in Syria, paying
tribute to the fallen refugees, escap-
ing it. Taylor has other museums
open also, such as the museum off
of the island of Grenada that was
named one of the 25 Wonders of
the World
in 2006 by
National
Geographic.
Taylor
crafts all of
his statues
out of an
eco-friendly concrete. These statues
can act as artificial reefs. They are
home to all kinds of coral. This job
takes time though, and the museum
is set to open off the coast of
Lanzarote, in 2017.
Page 6 Hornet Headlines Editorials
Amiibo are the new-old toy line
that includes a huge array of
characters from Super Smash Bros,
Splatoon, Mario, and Animal
Crossing. Amiibo act as computer
players to fight; they can unlock
bonuses, and can even add new
levels to certain games. The most
popular amiibo to date is the
Smash Bros. Link figure in the
U.S. and in Japan the Splatoon line
of amiibo is the most popular,
including the Inkling squid, girl
and boy. Amiibo have sold 21.3
million units worldwide! Many like
to collect amiibo in boxes, but they
cannot be used because they have a
sticker directly under their base
that prevents them from being
scanned. However, the Shovel
Knight amiibo does not have this
sticker on the bottom, so it can be
scanned in the box. Sticking with
the topic, the Shovel Knight amiibo
unlocks the ability to customize
Shovel Knight in the game. You
can change his color, armor style,
power ups, and special effects.
Nintendo has also made amiibo
cards for the Animal Crossing
series. The waves of these cards
each come with one hundred differ-
ent ones to collect. They have even
made two Skylander amiibo, which
include Donkey Kong and Bowser.
And finally, at the end of February,
the gold Mega Man amiibo comes
out in a bundle with the
Mega Man Legacy
Collection, a collection of
all six Mega Man games!
With so many amiibo
characters coming out,
Nintendo’s product doesn’t seem to
be coming to an end anytime soon.
By Sam LaScola
CORY IN THE HOUSE:
HISTORY ON THE
INTERNET
By Angel Torrijos-Duran
Cory In The House is a TV show
that aired on Disney Channel on
January 12, 2007 and ended on
September 13, 2008. The character
of Cory was played by Kyle
Massey. Since then, Cory has
spread across the digital world,
including the Nintendo DS.
The Cory In The House video
game received a rating of 3/10 by
gaming’s best reviewer, IGN. The
game has gained a great reputation
on the Internet in the past three
years and is available for sale on
eBay. Cory has also become a
“meme” which is a term that is
given to a humorous character. This
live action TV series started out as
a Disney sit-com, and has now
become an “anime” as some refer
to him as. The Cory In The House
anime that others have been talking
about recently is not a real anime.
First of all, you may be wonder-
ing, what is an anime? Google
sources claim it as “a style of Japa-
nese film and television animation,
typically aimed at adults as well as
children.” If we look at what the
show Cory In The House has to of-
fer, we can see it’s a live-action
show. Anime is an animated car-
toon as mentioned, in which Cory
Baxter is not anime, because he is
not animated, but why do people
call him this?
Perhaps because the Japanese
dub makes him look like an anime
so people said that the Japanese
dub is the original show and the
English dub came later. A dub is
the anime term for something that
is aired in English, as well as in
Japanese. Is this true? No, Cory the
Anime started from a YouTuber by
the name Filthy Frank, who said in
one of his videos about anime that
his favorites are Cory In The House
and Thomas The Tank Engine. He
was obviously joking, but people
thought it was funny and it spread
quickly. There is even a Cory
Baxter Smash Brothers 4 trailer and
a fan-made digital amiibo.
Cory Baxter is still going strong,
gaining popularity for Kyle Massey
for better or
worse!
Page 7
Hornet Headlines Editorials
February is the second month
and is also the month of a romantic
holiday. Valentine’s Day comes
once a year on February 14th, and
it is a day to show a bit of extra
love and affection to your special
someone.
One of the most popular
Valentine’s Day traditions is the
gift of chocolate. The beginning
of this sweet tradition started in
Japan in 1936 by a Kobe-based
candy company ‘Morozoff LTD’
when it ran the very first Valen-
tine’s Day ad in a local English
newspaper. By the 1950s, other
Japanese chocolate makers began
promotions to boost chocolate
sales.
Around the time of Valentine’s
Day, another common tradition is
receiving and sending Valentine’s
Day cards. The very first known
Valentine’s Day message was sent
in 1477 in letter form. Although
that may have been the first, the act
didn’t catch on until the 1500s.
With cheap postal rates in the
mid-1800s, sending cards became
the ultimate trend. By the late 19th
century, printed Valentine’s Day
cards were mass produced and were
being mailed across the nation.
New traditions are being started
every day and the more people that
participate in them, the more likely
the chance of them catching on.
Although old traditions continue to
be in use today, it’s never too late
to start making new traditions for
the generations ahead of us.
Sweet Traditions By Julia Kearney
DIY Valentine’s Day Chocolate Oreo Pops! By Olivia Friend
Happy Valentine’s Day! Here is a quick and easy recipe for Chocolate Oreo Pops!
Ingredients:
White chocolate
Double stuff Oreos
Sprinkles
Coffee Stirrers
Procedures:
Melt the white chocolate in a small bowl, once melted stir for
30 seconds
Pour the sprinkles onto a big plate
Remove one side of the Oreo cookie, put the coffee stirrer on
the filling side
Place the top of the cookie back on
Dip the cookie pop into the chocolate
Place one side of the Oreo Pop on wax paper, put in fridge for
about 20-30 minutes
Enjoy!
Hornet Headlines
Page 8 Hornet News
Science Fair
Regionals By Olivia Friend
On February 13th, the science fair finalists attended
the regional fair at Hillside High School. Ashleigh
Nicoll won 1st place in Broadcom Masters in physics
and astronomy. Olivia Friend, Jenna Hood and Tori
Steed won 1st place in Broadcom Masters in Biologi-
cal studies. Laina Hosey placed 3rd in Biological sci-
ence. Ryan Kuhn won the US Metric Association
Award.
The NASA Earth System Science Award went to
Kassie Jesrani and Deondre Partridge.
This was by far Holly Ridge Middle School’s best
year for science fair. Please wish Ashleigh Nicoll,
Tori Steed, Jenna Hood and Olivia Friend the best of
luck as they move on to the state science fair on April
2nd at Meredith College.
Immigration
Gallery Walk By Cindy Martines
On Friday, February 12, 2016 the
eighth grade social studies classes
walked through a series of projects
focusing on immigrants who came
to Angel Island and Ellis Island in
the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. Students created a
collection of facts and documents
to describe how the process of im-
migration occurred during this
period in history. Presentations
included: identification card, a
work visa application, photographs,
drawings, and many other
necessary documents.
Did you know that 40% of
Americans can trace their ancestry
to their arrival at Ellis or Angel
Island?
Cheerleading Champs By Eurusalem Gebire
The Lady Hornet cheerleaders brought home an
impressive 1st Place trophy at the Wake County
cheerleading competition on January at Athens Drive
High School. Cheer Coach Waltz, an eighth grade
social studies teacher at the Ridge for five years
commented how she felt, “Very proud! The girls
worked hard, and they earned that trophy. I was excit-
ed to see their excitement!”
The team celebrated by having an ice cream sundae
party!
Hornet News Hornet Headlines
Page 9
Coach Behrend and the girls bas-
ketball team practiced every day
after school with dribbling and
shooting drills. Coach B, assisted
by Coach McMillan, believes they
had a really good season because
of their hard work doing drills in
practice which helped lead them to
victory. There were some challeng-
ing games, but the first game is
always the most challenging.
Everyone has improved since then,
but all the girls have improved in
different ways. Most of what they
have learned is off the court, which
he hopes had a big impact on them.
This group of players have all
grown throughout this season, and
the girls will continue to get better.
Although the losses can be painful
sometimes, it’s always great to win
games, especially several games
in a row.
Coach Behrend is extremely
proud of the girls. They worked
really hard to get to where they
were. The eighth grade players will
do really well in high school next
year knowing that they learned
what they learned from Coach
Behrend. The seventh grade players
who return next year will learn
even more from Coach Behrend.
Coach B and the Team By Braelyn Rathbun
Perfect Streak
By Evan Brown
Perfect losing streak in fact. The
HRMS basketball team had a lot of
talent, but they just didn’t have
enough luck this season to get a
win. The season just ended to a well
fought game against West Cary.
The team members, pictured
right, did a lot of fighting this
season. The starting line-up
included Seth Steinman, Connor
Marcus, Will Clemente,
Eric Patino, and Kyle
Crawford. The fifth quar-
ter team consisted of Joey
Phillips, Solomon Kiger,
Jake Blendermann, Gary
Williams, and Ben Aube.
There is still hope for
the HRMS basketball
team, because there is al-
ways next year!
Hornet Honor Roll
Recognition By Philasia Johnson
According to WCPSS Board
Policy 5522, principals have the
option if they choose to recognize
students’ grades. The selection of
honor roll students at the end of
each grading quarter is based upon
that grading period only, and is not
an average. Conduct
grades are not includ-
ed in the calculating
of grades. Principal
Emily Mountford led
the three grade-level
ceremonies on February 1, 2016.
Parents were invited to attend
and hear their child’s name an-
nounced by the team’s appointed
teacher leaders.
The printed out programs included
student names with A and/or B
Honor Roll color-coded for each
quarter’s grades; red first quarter,
and blue for second quarter.
A special thanks was noted to
all supportive parents and guardi-
ans for their hard work in contrib-
uting to these recognitions.
Congratulations to these Super
Hornets!