The 5th and 6th grade Journalism Club is get-ting started. The club is going to continue to meet every week on Wednesdays for an hour after school. We are working hard on writing articles and reporting on the latest news to keep you informed about Sta-ley events.

The 6th graders took a great field trip to the Daily Sentinel on Wednesday, January 11, 2012. The sixth graders enjoyed the whole trip from taking a tour of the

building to seeing how the newspapers are made. Every 6th grader was sent home with a newspaper, a pencil, a picture of Bob the Squir-rel, and most of all, a story to tell.

By Kayla Davis

A News-Worthy Club

The Dimension U Tournament Is On! by Isabella Cicci

The ultimate tourna-ment is here! Our very own Dimension U Tour-nament is happening now at Staley! The lo-cal tournament will start in January and run until March. It’s voluntary, and all 5th and 6th grad-

ers are welcome!

For those of “U” who are unfamiliar with Di-mension U, it’s an online video game-based math program that al-lows the students to sharpen their math and

literacy skills while having tons of FUN!

The teachers formed teams of 8 players and 2 alternates. It is a single elimination tour-nament, and the winner will get to play another round of Dimension U on stage! Good luck everyone!

Special Announcements! DIMENSION U TOUR-

NAMENT SCORES POSTED ONLINE

SCHOOL STORE OPEN

ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS

FUNDRAISERS GOING ON THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING

ONE SCHOOL-ONE

BOOK——HOOT

Index

JANUARY/FEBRUARY EDITION VOLUME 1

G E O R G E R . S T A L E Y U P P E R E L E M E N T A R Y S C H O O L N E W S P A P E R

The “Knightly” News

Headlines 1

Hot Topics 2-3

Month-opedia 4

Teachers 5

History &

Helpful Hints 6-7

Crafty Corner 8

Page 1

Frank Page sketches his fa-mous comic character, Bob the Squirrel for the 6th grade Journalism Club.

The 6th Grade Journalism Club pose for a photo in front of the Rome Sentinel.

Staley 6th grade band and orchestra kicked off the holiday season with wonderful music for students and families to enjoy. The 5th and 6th grade choruses sang us into the holiday season.

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The “Knightly” News

The Nutcracker Tradition The Nutcracker is a big event of the holiday season. It took place at the Capitol Theater in the beginning of December. I inter-viewed 6th grader

Sarah Benson to find out her opinion on the per-formance. “It was scary at first, but it always ends up being really fun.” She performed as a Mirliton, a Dream Fairy’s Attendant, Clara’s friend, and a Sweet. It took two months to learn all of her dances. This was her eighth year participating in the Nut-cracker. The Sweet scene is her favorite scene and she looks forward to doing it again next winter. We also interviewed Ms. Guiliano, a 6th grade teacher. She said that she loved it and can’t wait for next year’s performance. She saw the Rus-sian Ballet perform the Nutcracker at the Stanley Theater and loved it. The plays are her favorite part of the holiday season. Her favorite parts are the Bon Bons and when the Nutcracker’s head comes off. The one thing that she wishes that she could change is how many bows there are. The Nutcracker is a very important tradition to Rome citizens.

By Molly Closinski

“Cookies in a Jar”  By the Red House Journalists Mrs. Brement and her 5th grade class, as a Christmas activity, made “Cookies in a Jar”. For least four or five years, Mrs. Brement has been making these wonderful Christmas treats. Make sure to look over the ingredients list be-low if you would like to make these delicious cookies! Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar: Measure 2 cups of flour on a paper plate.

Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking soda.

Pour the flour mixture into your jar. Measure 1 cup of brown sugar and pour it

into your jar. Measure ½ cup of white sugar and pour it

into your jar. Fill the rest with chocolate chips. Trace a circle of fabric using a CD as a

tracer. Cut it out. Put it on the jar between the lid and the ring.

Tie a ribbon around the jar and put a bow on top.

You’re done! Good job! Mrs. Brement would like to thank Ace Hardware for the jars and the Staley PTG for helping to pay for the ingredients.

VOLUME 1

Staley students traveled to Utica to the Stanley Theater to watch the musical Scrooge, starring Fred Sebastian. Fred has been playing Scrooge for the past 29 years. Approximately 400 students entered the theater with excitement and sat in awe in the historic building. The ar-chitecture caught some of the students’ interest. As the smell of popcorn filled the air, the heavy red curtain opened. The students cheered and clapped. There were 450 cast members. The kids’ jaws dropped with amazement as the cur-tain closed, therefore they liked the musical. Story by: Raven Fallon, Gisele Faraino, and Alana Amo Photographs by: Tyler Waterman & Trinity Fink

By Madelynn Maiolo

On December 15,th 2011, I got the chance to interview some 5th and 6th grade students in the White House during 7th period lunch and some of my spare time. I got to interview some students from Mrs. Vega, Mr. Downs, and Mrs. Reilly’s classes about their views on bullying. I asked some students different questions such as “Have you ever been bullied since you’ve been at Staley?”, or “What’s your view on bullying?” There were numerous responses. Fifth grader Michael, in Mrs. Vega’s class re-sponded with “Yes” when asked if he had been bullied at all in his first 4 months at Staley. When I asked Mi-chael’s view on bullying, he later told me, “Yes, bully-ing is wrong because it can get violent.” Michael be-lieves that Staley should take more action because sometimes not everything is taken care of. Christian in Mrs. Reilly’s class had a different view on the situation. He thought that bullying wasn’t that wrong. He believes that it is funny when you’re the bully, but not when you’re the victim. He thinks that teachers should take more control over bullying. Another student I had interviewed in my spare time was 6th grader Tyler, in Mr. Down’s class. Having a few problems of his own every day, I had gotten the chance to interview him personally about his view on bullying. Tyler responded with, “I’ve been

bullied in every way. Bullying is wrong because it not only hurts that person, but it hurts the soul.” Tyler also threw in how kids now are committing suicide, and 75% of kids don’t take action against a bully when they see one. Tyler believes that kids, teachers, etc. should start tak-ing more control and people could have a better life. He’s been bullied on the playground very often as well as many kids in Staley. A well known 6th grader I also got to interview was Nick. Nick was excited to share his thoughts when I asked him if he thought bul-lying was wrong. He responded with , “Um, what do you think?” Not feeling quite comfort-able about the question, Nick let it go but later said that he would just walk away if he saw someone getting bullied, like most kids do. As you can see, some Staley Knights agree with the fact that bullying is WRONG, but some kids go along with it and step away. So if you’re a Staley Knight who has witnessed any kind of bullying, step up, say something, and don’t let it continue, because your words can make a huge difference.

Bullying

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The “Knightly” News

Groundhog Day-Feb. 2 The celebration of Groundhog Day began in 1886 with the English settlers on Gobbler’s Knob in a town called Punxsutawney. According to legend, the groundhog emerges from his bur-row every February 2nd. If he sees his own shadow, he returns to his burrow, and six more weeks of winter weather will follow. If not, then an early spring is expected. The recent and most famous groundhog is “Phil” (named after King Phillip), and since he resides in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, he has been given the name “ Punxsutawney Phil”. Today Punxsutawney Phil’s annual Groundhog Prediction still takes place on Gobbler’s Knob, which is now a historic site . Check this out; Phil lives in a real groundhog zoo all year round!

Chinese NewYear-Feb. 3 Although we all do not celebrate the Chinese New Year, it is considered the most important of the traditional Chi-nese Holidays. Since ancient times, the Chinese New Year is a time to honor your ancestors and heavenly deities. It is also a time for family gatherings and grand feasts. The legend associated with the Chi-nese New Year involves the myth of a dragon (monster) who would harass the villagers and eat their crops and cattle. The villagers would place food at the entrance of their homes in hopes that the dragon would eat it and go away, thus the huge feasts. 2012 marks the 4710th Chinese New Year, and according to the Chinese calendar, it is the Year of the Dragon!

MONTH-OPEDIA By Raven Fallon and Tyler Waterman

Valentine’s Day-Feb. 14 Originally named after a Saint Valentine, the Saint of Love, February 14 is called Saint Valentine’s Day and was later short-ened to Valentine’s Day. On this day, in honor of Saint Valentine, hand written notes and gifts are sent to ones love or life part-ner. It’s a day of romance, love, and affection. It is believed that a poem writ-ten by Geoffrey Chaucer, in honor of the first anniversary of the engage-ment of two young lovers, King Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia, was the first mention of “Love Birds. Modern day Valentines include heart shaped outlines, doves, candy, flowers, and a figure of Cu-pid. Don’t forget your Valentine!

President’s Day-Feb. 20 President’s Day is a federal holiday. It is the first fed-eral holiday to honor an American citizen. It was estab-lished in remembrance and honor of our first president, George Washington and our 15th president, Abraham Lincoln.

Ash Wednesday-Feb. 22 Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent for people of the Christian faith and occurs 46 days before Easter. Ashes were used in ancient times to express mourning or re-

morse for one’s sins. It derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of people as a sign of repentance. Many people today receive ashes on this day.

Leap Day-Feb. 29 Leap Day is always celebrated on February 29, which is an extra (intercalary) day added during a Leap Year making the year 366 days long and not 365.25 days long like a normal year. Leap years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the sun. It take the Earth ap-proximately 365.242199 days in a normal year to circle once around the sun. If we didn’t add a day on February 29 every four years, we would lose almost six hours every year. Af-ter only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days! Were you born on February 29th? How old would someone be if the were born on a Leap Day?

By Imani Turner

Mrs. Reilly is a 5th grade ELA teacher. She has a son named Matthew Reilly who is 10. It was a surprise to all of us when we found out he was in her class!

Mrs. Reilly has a husband and they have been married for 14 years. She met him in high school when she was 16. Mrs. Reilly also had two dogs but sadly lost one

because of cancer. After that Mrs. Reilly bought a new dog named Bella. Mrs. Reilly’s favorite food is sausage pizza, and her favorite color is red. Mrs. Reilly’s favorite animals are dogs and least favor-ite are snakes and bees.

We learn a lot in Mrs. Reilly’s class.

All About Mrs. Reilly

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Volume 1, Issue 1

Lollipops for Sale By Jon Casler, Adriana Beckwith, and Mya Crate (Fifth Grade Journalism Club members) The fifth grade Red Knights’ goal for 2012 is to sell $2,500 worth of lollipops. They are $0.50 a piece. There are 72 lollipops per box. We (the fifth grade Red Knights) are selling them for a field trip to go to Rochester Science Museum. The Red Knight teachers that are participating in this event are Mrs. Tuttle, Mrs. Cook, and Mrs. Brement.

Welcome back, Mrs. Sergott! Mrs. Sergott is returning not only as a 6th grade teacher in the Black House, but the mother of a beautiful baby, girl! We met with Mrs. Sergott to discuss her return.

Question: Are you excited about your new class? Mrs. Sergott : “ I was very excited to get to know my new class and be back at Staley. Though I

know I would miss my daughter Mya, my class was welcoming and made coming back not as hard.” Question: Why did you become a teacher? Mrs. Sergott : “I come from a pretty large family (8 kids), so growing up I became an aunt at a

young age. I also started babysitting before ever getting a “real” job. I always enjoyed being around kids and felt I interacted well with them, therefore I knew I would like working with them when I was older.”

Question: Where did you go to college? Mrs. Sergott: “I graduated from SUNY Cortland with my Bachelor’s degree and Touro College for

my Master’s Degree.” Question: When you were out, did you miss teaching? Mrs. Sergott: “I enjoyed my time at home with my daughter, but did look forward to seeing my co-

workers, again and getting to know my new class.” Question: Was it weird coming back not on the first day of school? Mrs. Sergott: “A little bit! I never came back in December to “begin” my school year, so instead of

my students having to learn the schedule, I was having to get used to learning our new schedule. Interview by: Jackie Carman and Trinity Fink

Welcome back, Mrs. Sergott

The “Knightly” News Studying Tips

By: Madison Bray Have you ever failed a test? Did you blame it on yourself for not studying right? Maybe you just didn’t know how. Here are some tips to make sure you get your perfect grade. 1. Stay Organized. If you can’t find what you need to study, you can’t study at all. 2. Take a break. You should study, but you shouldn’t study all the time. If you are studying from the time you get out of school until the time you go to bed, you are go-ing to be tired when you have to take the test. Make a schedule so that you still have some time to have fun 3. Calm down and stay confident. Don’t make a big deal out of a test, or you won’t be able to remember any information come test day. Also, don’t feel scared about a test. You don’t know what the questions are yet, and you could be totally prepared. 4. Pay attention. Most of the answers on a test have already been taught in class. If you really want to do well, stop talking, and fooling around, and just listen to your teacher. Make sure to take notes during class in case you forget something. 5. Think of a song. Whenever I get a test I always play a song over and over in my head, and it helps me concentrate. But be careful…you could possibly get a song stuck in your head for the next week or two! 6. Ask a friend or teacher for help. If you’re really struggling, you should ask your teacher or a friend for help, and they can give you more studying tips, homework help, and help you get the grade you want.

New York State Assessment Dates Grade 5 & 6

ELA April 17, 18, 19 Math April 25, 26, 27

**Be sure to visit STUDY ISLAND for some extra practice before the ELA and Math assessments!

www.studyisland.com

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Four Square I’m a reporter here to tell you the news. Four Square is my topic. Do you like Four Square? Read this article about the 7th period players in 5th grade. I’m going to give you all the most updated facts about today’s players! I have interviewed the best play-ers I could find! This just in—I did an interview with Mariah True, and here is what she said. She said she does like the game and feels it is very fun. Here’s a tip from her: pass to one person five or six times then hit it really fast and hard. She also thinks it is a way to stimulate thinking , and I agree. Carley Ann Reed says practice makes perfect. Cecilia Macri also plays. She said it is fun, however it is a little chal-lenging. She said when the ball comes, if you get nervous, count to four and hit with all your might. Now we have the V.I.P paragraph. It belongs to Kiley Marlow. The reason why she gets this paragraph is she plays fairly and works hard at the sport. But mainly she plays to have fun , not to win. So next time you see Kiley Marlow give her a high five. As you can see Four Square is fun, and people do like it. Next time you walk past a Four Square court, please stop and play. Remember to HAVE FUN. by Haley Marshall

HISTORIAN’S CORNER

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Volume 1, Issue 1

The History of George R. Staley School

It was 1958 when Lyndon H. Strough was the Superintendant for the Rome City School District, and the Assistant Superintendant was Louis V. Denti. These superintendants took part in a dedication cere-mony where Alex Guiliano’s grandmother, Paula Versace George, presented Mr. George R. Staley with a plaque for Rome’s newest school, George R. Staley Junior High School where she was a student. The school was named after this past superintendant. When this land was purchased , it cost about $52,000 for 52 acres.

A lot has happened since 1958. In the summer of 2002, George R. Staley closed for renovation and re-opened in 2003. Since then, George R. Staley has been filled with children!

By: Kayla Carpenter, Alex Guiliano, Jillian Iacovissi,  

The Tree in the Courtyard By Bryce Slachciak

Hey, Staley Knights. Have you ever wondered about the tree in the center of the school courtyard? Have you wondered if it was here be-fore the school was built? Or what kind of tree it is? I wondered if the custodians planted it or if someone else did. So I did some detective work to find out. The tree itself is a Sycamore tree. I couldn’t find any information on how old the tree is, but in my opinion, I don’t think it

was here before the school was built in 1958. Person-ally, I hope they don’t ever cut it down. It has been here for a long time, and it seems like a monument for Staley. In the summer when all the leaves are back, it actually looks very cool. It’s so alive with all the animals like birds and chipmunks who live in it.

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