Volume 15, Issue 1

November 2012

Special points of
interest:

Welcome Teachers

The Library

Band Chorus

History of Halloween

Columbus Day

Math Class Mr.

Holmes

Watson Homestead

NWEA Testing

Physical Education

Physical Education is FUN

Math NWEA

Book Reviews

Pre-testing

Spirit Week at
Northside
Student Council

Around the Block

Staff

What is Veterans
Day

Khan Academy

Around the Block

Starting the Year Assembly By: Mackensie
On September 14, 2012 we had our first assembly of the year. You
might remember it because Mr. Marchionda almost had his head shaved,
and they talked about setting goals and also about things we do throughout
the year here at Northside! The reason why the teachers came together to create the assembly was to tell you about setting goals for the year. And just to
say welcome back.
At the beginning of the assembly we watched clips from Finding
Nemo. The first clip was Nemo getting ready for school and is all excited
and annoying his dad by telling him to get up because he has to go to school.
After this clip was done the teachers were saying how they hope that you
were excited and bugging your family saying that you had to get going, on the
first day of school. Then, we watched the second clip from Nemo, it was the
scene where Dory kept saying, Just keep swimming, just keep swimming,
just keep swimming swimming swimming. The purpose for this clip was
that even when things get hard and you are stressed just keep going on.
After the clips were all done, Mr. Marchionda talked about the New York
State Test and brought up kids from the first row to use as examples. Then,
he showed the video of Mr. Ginalski saying if 75% passed the New York
State Test that he would give us a pizza party, a dunking tank to dunk 5
teachers, and most importantly, shave Mr. Marchiondas head. Next, Mr.
Marchionda pulled out his razor and told us he was going to let us shave his
head because even though he didnt have the results yet that he was confident that we met our goal. So then he pulled out a bag and had everybodys
name in it and said that whoever he picked out of the bag was going to shave
his head. The great thing about it is that he pulled out his own daughter,
Olivia, name out of the bag. Then she came down, but then when everybody
was getting all excited Mr. Pronti busted in and yelled, Stop, the results are
in! Unfortunately we did not make our goal so Mr. Marchionda did not get
his head shaved. However, we could still get everything we wanted from Mr.
Marchionda and Ginalski, all we have to do is this year is get 70% of us to
pass. As long as we keep working hard and paying attention we could see Mr.
Marchionda with a new haircut!
Continued on page 2

Around the Block

Page 2

Then, came Mrs. Wolf and Mrs. Dickens and they talked about
The Dignity Act for All Students or the bullying prevention. They
showed us a video about a blind man on the street and he had a cardboard sign that said, Im blind please help, but everyone just kept
walking by. But then this lady picked up his cardboard and turned it
around and wrote something else on the back. While she was writing
the man felt her shoes and as she left almost everyone that was walking by put money down
by him. The lady came back later and the man felt her shoes and he knew it was her and
asked what she wrote on his sign. Then, the lady said she put an old saying it is Its a lovely
day too bad I cant see it. After the clip was done, Mrs. Dickens and Mrs. Wolf said if you
see anyone getting bullied or if you are getting bullied go to them or any teacher and they will
fix that right away. Something else you could do is go to the bully box in the nurses office.
Next, came the teachers talking about positive recognition coupons. Positive recognition coupons are yellow slips your teachers can give you if you are demonstrating good character. If you get a positive recognition coupon take it to the library and put in in the box for
your grade and every month they will pull someones name out of every grade and you will
get a prize. At the assembly they pulled names for each grade and the students won a Dunkin
Doughnuts gift card. So if you want a cool prize like that keep acting good because the more
positive recognition coupons you have in there, the greater chance you will win something.
Next, we talked about Honor Roll. To get Honors you have to get a 85-89 grade average. For
High Honor you have to have a 90-94 average. And last but not least for Honors in Excellence you have to have a 95-100 average. If you make anyone of these you will get a locker certificate at the end of every marking period so work hard.
The last part of the assembly was Mrs. Wilson telling us about what we were going to
when we got back to homeroom. During the assembly they were talking about goal setting
and how we should make a goal this year. So the activity we had to do was trace our arm from
the elbow down and write your name and two goals you hope to accomplish this year. You
had to make an academic goal and a character goal. Once all the arms from every homeroom
are done we are going to hang them around all over the school.
Lastly, welcome back!
By: Mackensie

Volume 15, Issue 1

Page 3

Welcoming Teachers
We would like to welcome the new teachers. In 8th grade there is Mrs. Zelko/Sandvik
and Mrs. Cotter and Mr. Wright and Mr. Fabian. Mrs. Zelko/Sandvik is a 8th grade history teacher and she
used to work at CFA as a 7th grade history teacher. Mrs. Cotter is a FCS teacher which is Family Consumer Science teacher which you cook and talk about career setting and she was another teacher at another
school for Family Consumer Science. Mr. Wright is a 8th and 6th grade French teacher he has been a
French teacher before he came here. Mr. Fabian is a Spanish teacher and he has been a Spanish teacher
from 6th grade to college. For 7th grade there is Mrs. Hurd. Mrs. Hurd is a 7th grade Humanities and we
would love to say welcome. For 6th grade there is Mrs. Fazzari and Mr. Zarate. Mrs. Fazzari is a FCS
teacher for 6th grade. Mr. Zarate is a 6th grade Spanish teacher and he is a Spanish teacher, and he has been
a Spanish teacher before he came here. For different help classes are Mr. Bronson and Mrs.Terwilliger.
Mr. Bronson is a special education teacher, helps you to get settled in. Mrs.Terwilliger is a speech teacher.
By: Kelsey

The Library
Do you have nothing to do, are you bored? Well heres a neat place to go
to, the library. You can check out books, read, and do homework. There are great librarian named Mrs. Cornell and Mrs. Olmstead her helping instructor. They are able to help
you find books and check out books. You are also allowed to use the OPAC to search for
books. The OPAC is a component that you can get onto; just ask one of the librarians.
You could also use the OPAC at home so you could see which books are checked out or
not. Heres an inside peek for whats coming up in the library. So far we have news that
we are getting Nooks! If you were wondering what a nook is it is an educational device
used for reading books. The nooks are for reading purposes only, they cannot be taken
home. Here are two educational charts on the library and the Nook. By: Vasu
100%

Library
0%

100%

Nook
0%

Those were the charts. That was my newsletter on the library.

Around the Block

Page 4

Band and Chorus

Band and chorus are two great ways for kids to get music into their lives but at the
same time they are having fun! Mrs.Bryson is the chorus teacher and Mr.Ellison
and Mrs.Harpster are the band teachers.
Band is so much fun! There are many different instruments like the saxophone, clarinet, flute,
trumpets, French horn, percussion and trombones. Band meets on A days 5th period. Lessons are available for people who want to learn to play an instrument and join band. Band offers All County for students. All County is where students perform in front of judges and see if they make it in. If you make it
in you go to a festival and the festival, is held in different places every year. You go and meet with kids
from another school, who have also made it in to All County and practice for the festival.
Chorus is another fun musical activity. They do fun warm up activities. Chorus meets at different times in the day. There are soprano and alto groups. They sing in harmony or unison. Students have
lots of fun, the whole time when they are singing. They focus on the Grand Staff. They have a rhyme
that helps them remember the parts of the Grand Staff. You get a folder with the music in it. You could
end up sharing a folder with a partner. Chorus also has All County but it is a little different.
Northside Blodgett offers a great music program. They offer band chorus and discovery music.
Northside has the best music teachers also. So if you do not play an instrument or sing, try it. It is so
much fun!
By: Madison and Arianna

The History of Halloween

This is the history of Halloween. Halloween wasnt always about people getting CANDY.! It started in Ireland the Celts. The way it started was when people went from
house to house getting bread. And when he or she asks for the bread they would say who do
I pray for. The person giving the bread would say who he or she wanted to pray for. And
they pick October 31 to be a time where people could get bread for free where people could
ask for food and not get yelled at. After time progressed people gave out candy to young
children's. So now you kids get candy. And there is your history lesson on Halloween.
By: Gabrielle

Volume 15, Issue 1

Page 5

History of Columbus Day

Some people might think of October 8 as just another day. However, if it was just another
day then why would we have the day off of school? We have school off because its Columbus Day. Columbus Day is the day that Christopher Columbus arrived to America on October 12,
1492 after sailing all the way from Spain. It is a very important day.
The Life of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451.He was said to be born into a middle
class family. During the time Christopher was born, children were expecting to start preparing for a career at a very early age. In the writings that Christopher wrote, he was sailing when he was 10 years
olds. Columbus sailed and found trade routes, but he knew he wanted to always do more. They say that
Christopher thought that there was a quicker way to India than Marco Polos route. So he went to King
John II of Portugal in 1485 and asked for three ships and a years supply of things needed to discover.
However, the king turned him down and thought it was a waste of money. Christopher was not going to
give up there so he went to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I of Spain. The first time they said no,
but then they realized they could not let an opportunity like this slide. So after a lot of though they said
they would provide everything and they also arranged to give him and his crew lodging and food in every country. On August 3, 1492 Columbus set sail with 90 crewmen.
He set sail with his three
ships called the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Two hard months later his crew wanted to turn back, but
Christopher wasnt stopping now, so they kept going. Finally on October 12, 1492 he saw land. Columbus had come across America.
Columbus Day in the United States
In 1972, the first Columbus Day was celebrated. It was all because of a lady named Tammany
Hall who through an event to remember historys was needed. Italian and Catholic communities were
full of pride so they organized parades through the streets and started organizing religious ceremonies.
Then in 1892, President Benjamin Harrison declared a proclamation stating that the 400th anniversary of
Columbus Day was encouraged to be celebrated by all Americans. Finally, in 1937 Franklin D. Roosevelt made Columbus Day an actual holiday. Columbus Day was originally October 12, but in 1971 they
changed it to be celebrated the second Monday in October. All over the country Columbus Day is celebrated within the Italian- American heritage. To celebrate some traditions they have parades with bright
costumes, food, and music.
In conclusion, I hope you now know why we have October 8th off from school, but most importantly how amazing this holiday is to our culture. It is important because on October 12, 1492 Columbus stumbled upon America. By: Mackensie

Around the Block

Page 6

Mr. Holmes 8th grade Math Class!!

Who likes Math? Well I have Mr. Holmes in 8th grade and we have learned a lot of
things. Our 1st unit was Rational and Irrational numbers! People think, why do we need
this crazy math stuff. Well you dont use them in our life but, you always need your learning. Examples
are 3.14 is irrational even though you think it is rational because 3.14 is equal to PI but, its not!! If you
are in 7th grade you sometime use 3.14 as PI which 3.14 is PI but, in 8th you use the PI symbol and 3.14
is an irrational number. Our 2nd unit is changing decimals to fractions and fractions to decimals. You
can use this for cooking and measuring which is what you learn in FCS in 8th grade which is a different
subject but thats what you will use it for. Our 3rd unit is adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing
integers. This is another thing you wont use in life but you still have to learn something and being
taught because thats what teachers are for and to help you if you need any help. For example, 3-(-3)=
KCC which is Keep Change Change. Keep Change Change is a method to use in math for integers.
Well you keep the 3, change the subtracting to adding, and change -3 to 3 so its 3+3=6. Our 4th unit is
combining like terms and evaluating like terms. Combining like terms is easy after you get the hang of
it. Examples: 3p-8p+1p-6= -4p-6 is your answer which you combine the ones with ps and the real numbers. Our final unit is Exponents but there is way more left to come but I dont know currently. 3 4 and
122 is all examples of Exponents. 34 is 3x3x3x3=18 and 122 is 12x12=144 and that is all exponents.
What do you think of math now?
By: Kelsey

Watson Homestead
On Friday September 21, 2012 the 6th grade students went to Watson Homestead for
a Get-to-know you day. There the students made new friends, played games and ate lunch outside.
They played games such as, a scavenger hunt, the human knot, mini golf, basketball, volleyball, football,
kickball and went on a nature walk!
For the scavenger hunt they had to find items such as, a feather, a penny, a spider, an earring, a
belt, a wildflower, a paperclip, a piece of plastic and more!
The human knot was a game that made them think. They got in a small group of people and
crossed their arms. Then they took hands at random and tried to get untied.
On the nature walk we saw lots of interesting things. We saw a snake, we saw a maze made of
stones, we saw a rock wall (no, we did not get to climb it), we got to walk over a stream.
The 6th grade students had a wonderful time at Watson Homestead and met lots of new friends!
By: Paige

Volume 15, Issue 1

Page 7

NWEA Testing
Do you guys seriously understand what NWEA is? NWEA is Northwest Evaluation Association. This is what we take in the fall and spring. This is the test we
drag about and hate but we get through it. Today, there is 24 million assessments. NWEA comes together with more than 2,200 different districts meaning more than 3 million students. NWEA testing goes
through a scale called RIT which measures a students achievement and growth. The average range is
from 140-300, when you are in 3rd grade and up you should score 140-190, when you are in middle
school the range is from 200-230 and in high school you should score 240-300. You are not timed but
they say you can complete it in 2 class periods which is 80 minutes together. Like I said, you are not
timed so DONT rush. All student take different test depending on their averages and grades! Some
ways to help the student prepare are.. Meet the students teacher or teachers and ask what the student
can do to do better. Have a quite comfortable environment at home to study or do homework.
Make sure the students go to bed at a decent time and have a good breakfast Give your student a
well-rounded diet, a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. This test is given to the students 2 or 3 times
a year, on math and ELA. Parents can help with their childs homework, discussing school matters, and
organizing and monitoring a childs time. NWEA testing are important to teachers because then they
can keep track of process and growth in basic skills. They let teachers know where a students strengths
are and if help is needed in any specific areas. Teachers use this information to help them
guide instructions in the classrooms. By: Kelsey

Physical Education is FUN

Physical Education is so important! Northside Blodgett offers a wonderful Physical Education
program. We get to play fun games while getting in fit at the same time! Like running the mile that is
so much fun, I love cheering others on! Not only is exercise important but eating right is too. The cafeteria offers many healthy choices. They serve fruits, vegetables, and meats. Another good thing about
the cafeteria is that the lunch ladies take the time to make the food healthy and taste good!
I think it is so cool that we have gym with our friends because it is a lot more fun to do things
with your friends. Like running the mile, half of Mrs.Rijo gym class runs in pairs. There are three gym
teachers Mrs.Rijo, Mr.Knapp and Mrs.Wilsoncroft.
NorthSide Blodgett has many sports teams: football, soccer , swimming ,volleyball and others.
Northside Blodgett also offers intramurals in the morning. Mrs. Wilsoncroft runs intramurals. Intramurals is a way in the morning to get physical education into your day and also gets your brain working!
By: Madison

Around the Block

Page 8

How to Interpret Your Math NWEA Score

By Mackensie

Recently, in all grades we have just taken the math NWEA,

and youre probably wondering what your score means and if the score you got is where it
should be. Well, NWEA determines your score by doing a RIT scale. A RIT scale is a curriculum scale that uses individual item difficulty values to estimate a students achievement. The
factors that go into the RIT scale are the achievement scale, the accurate scale, the equal interval scale; it also helps measure growth over a period of time, and the grade and age of a student. NWEAs in the fall help teachers know what level you are at when you walk into their
classroom. The NWEAs in the spring tell teachers how much you have grown and learned
this year.
Math NWEA Scores
Fall
Grade

Spring

Below

Average

High

Below

Average

High

6 Grade

209

209-222

222

215

215-229

229

7th Grade

214

214-228

228

220

220-236

236

8th Grade

220

220-235

235

226

226-243

243

th

The chart above shows if the score you got is below, average or higher above than what the
state thinks you should have. So now that you know how good your score is try to set a goal
for the spring NWEA. To show the teachers how much you have learned in that class. Try to
get in the average range if your below our if youre in the average range push to get a higher
score in the spring.

Volume 15, Issue 1

Page 9

Book Review Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

Think of the beginning of the series like this. You begin your day as a normal
teenager at the age of 12.Beginning your day normal at middle school not
knowing that you are a child of a god from Greece. Later on in your day, you
might just get attacked by your Math teacher, or even your language arts
teacher. In the situation of being attacked, you are saved by your best friend
who might just be a Satyr (half-Human and Half-Goat). Later you will be rushed off into a
remote area while your best friend is trying to explain about the gods of Greece. Later
through your normal life, well you thought, you will be shown around a camp called Camp
Half bBood. Later you might even be claimed by a god and be put into your cabin mates,
your brother and sisters, you might be so unusually that you are the only child from your parentally god.
This is a normal day for a teen that is learning that he or she is a demigod. This day
was much similar to Percy Jacksons who is the main character for the Percy Jackson series.
His best friend is a Satyr named Grover. In the series, Percy is the son of Poseidon. At camp
Percy meets another important main character, Annabeth, she is the daughter of the Athena,
the goddess of wisdom. Later Percy is shown around camp half-blood and later finds out
that his mother has been taken away by Hades the god of the underworld because Hades
thinks that Percy has the master bolt, the weapon of Zeus the god of the sky. Percys quest is
to find his mother and find out who has the master bolt to prove that he is not he lightning
thief in the book Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Lightning Thief.
By: Chandan

Pre- Tests
By: Mackensie and Julia

Just recently all grades have taken the pre-tests in many of their classes. These classes are Humanities, Science, Spanish, Art, French, Health, Band, and Chorus. These tests are to see what you know about
that subject. They also give you a basic idea of what you will learn about in that specific class. They are
graded and then put away the whole year, and then at the end of the year you take a post test to see how
much you have learned/improved. The post tests at the end of the year will have some of the same questions, but most of the questions will be a little harder. The tests might be a little bit longer to just to show
that you have improved. Dont be worried about what you get on the pretests because they dont count on
your report card. Its only to see what you know. The post tests are like a final. They will count on your final grade. I hope this gives you a little more idea about the pretests and post tests.

Around the Block

Page 10

Spirit Week at Northside Blodgett!

Spirit Week at Northside Blodgett is a randomly picked week which means like
Monday is sports day, Tuesday is crazy hair day, Wednesday is costume day, Thursday is twin
day, and Friday is sprit day. Monday is sports day which you wear your favorite sports teams
like Jets, San Francisco 49ers, or even Syracuse. There is plenty more but this is the day you
can show people what team you like. Tuesday is crazy hair day which you do whatever you
want to do to your hair. One example, food coloring/kool aid dip your hair all different colors. Another example, use gel and spike your hair into a Mohawk. There are a lot more
things than what I told you, you can do whatever you want to do with your hair. This is the
day to show people how crazy your hair is and tell them how you did it and maybe people
might want to that the next time it is crazy hair day. Wednesday is costume day which means
you wear your Halloween costume to school but it cant be to bloody or inappropriate for
school. So its like Halloween at school which is pretty cool. Thursday is twin day which you
dress up as the same person. If you think sports day, crazy hair day, or even costume day
looks fun well twin day is so awesome. On twin day you ask someone to be twins with, like
last year I was triplets to 2 other people so it doesnt matter if its twins or triplets. Friday is
sprit day this is where we celebrate our school by wearing our colors which is black and orange. Last year 6th grade wore black, 7th grade wore orange and 8th grade wore black and orange. Northside Blodgett has been doing this for a long time and the students love having
these different things to do to make our week more fun than it usually is. By: Kelsey

Around the Block Newspaper Staff

First Line Editor: Divya

Advisor: Mrs. Howe

Articles Submissions:
Mackensie, Kelsey, Vasu, Madison, Arianna, Gabrielle, Paige, Chandan, Julia, Brooke,
Irfaan and Emma

Volume 15, Issue 1

Page 11

What Veterans Day is About

Some people may think that Veterans Day is a day to honor

American military that have died in war or battle. Thats not quite true. Veterans Day is
really a day to honor our American military that have passed away in war, or is still living
present day. Factually, Veterans Day is intentionally meant to thank the living veterans that
have done loyal service to their country. Veterans Day is held on November 11th every
year so our veterans know how we appreciate them, and what they did for our country, so
we can live free of danger. So it is a very vital day in history and present day.

Why We Honor Our Veterans On this Day

We honor our risk taking veterans on November 11th, 1918 because they are a part of
our history. After the ending of World War I the U.S. military force celebrated at 11:00
A.M. on November 11th . Thats when they came up with Veterans Day. The World War I
also known as The Great War formally ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed
on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside of the town Versailles, France.

Other similar holidays are

Remembrance Day, Armistice Day
Some similar holidays that are celebrated around the world are Armistice Day and
Remembrance Day. These holidays are also very vital days in history. By: Brooke

AROUND THE BLOCK

Kids who like writing, taking pictures or just something to do after school should attend this
program. You should come to Around the Block. Mrs. Howe runs this proram. Around the block is a fun
after school program. Around the block is in room 218 after school from 2:50 to 3:15 twice a week.
We usually meet on Monday Thursday but never on Fridays. If you know where the Computer Technology
room is then there is schedules of when we are meetings in a folder on the board outside the room. It is very
fun. All the writing pieces you do get published in one large newsletter. The whole school reads our writing
how great is this! We would love to have new members. By: Gabrielle

Around the Block

Page 12

The way students learn has changed throughout the years. At first, students would use textbooks and have the teacher
teach a lesson by using a chalkboard or whiteboard. Now, students learn and teachers give lessons through the interactive SmartBoard or other technologies. Using the SmartBoard, students can learn in new ways. Instead of using the
textbook and having the teacher talk nonstop, technology has changed learning in positive ways. Learning is different
and more efficient than before. There are students who struggle with a certain subject and students who are more advanced for a particular class who will find self-pacing beneficial. What if students can learn and work at their own
paces without being behind or learning something you already know? We can do this at our school if we incorporate
Khan Academy into our learning system. Using Khan Academy will help our school learn more and become more
successful in the future.
What is Khan Academy?
Khan Academy is an online organization that helps many students all over the world. Khan Academy teaches
students through video tutorials of many topics. Khan Academy teaches lessons in subjects including Math, Science,
Computer Science, Finance & Economics, and Humanities. A section for test prep is also available. As you can see
there are a variety of topics covered in Khan Academy. Khan Academy is not limited to a certain age group; it is for
children not even in school to students who are in college, adults and senior citizens. Khan Academy enforces individualized learning to help you learn at your own pace. To use Khan Academy, you choose your subject and then you
choose your topic. You would then choose a video that has the lesson you are looking for. For example, I want to
learn how to add and subtract negative numbers. I would choose Math as my subject, and then I would choose my
category Arithmetic and Pre-Algebra, and after that I would choose my topic, Addition and Subtraction. Now, I
want to learn about adding and subtracting negative numbers. I would click on that video tutorial and watch it. I can
pause anytime and rewind a certain part if I dont understand something. There are about 200,000,000 lessons delivered through Khan Academy, so everything you need help with is here at Khan Academy. Lessons are organized very
well so it would not take very long to find what you are looking for. If you want to practice certain math skills, you
can complete exercises as well. You work at your own pace, there is no limit on how fast or how much you learn in a
time period.
Who founded Khan Academy?
The founder of Khan Academy is Salman Amin 'Sal' Khan who was originally was a hedge fund analyst. The
beginnings of Khan Academy started when Khan was tutoring his cousin. When other friends and relatives of his
needed tutoring, he thought it would be reasonable, easier, and efficient if he posted his tutorials on YouTube. His
tutorials began to be noticed from people he did not know. There were about 20,000 views on each of his videos.
Once his videos started to get popular, he quit his job to develop his YouTube channel, Khan Academy. Now, he has
more than 6 million students using Khan Academy and his videos have been viewed over 160 million times. Khan
has been very successful with his development of Khan Academy. He has made appearances in all kinds of media
and his learning resources have been mentioned by Bill Gates.

Volume 15, Issue 1

Page 13

Why is Khan Academy helpful?

There are many reasons why Khan Academy effectively helps students learn and master skills and techniques. Being able to work at your own pace is a key tool for success for students. At Northside Blodgett, each period is
about forty minutes long. There is usually a set schedule of what is going to be taught during that period. Most of
time, all students in a class must learn the same thing. They each do the same worksheets after a lesson. If one person is done, that person has to wait for the other students to finish. Instead, that student could be learning something new. The last student should not be worried or pressured. Khan Academy does not rush you or pressure you
at all. You can complete your exercises at your own pace whenever you have free time. Khan Academy is a great
form of individualized learning. Once you complete your lesson, you get your results and stats instantly. You do
not have to wait forever to get your graded assignment back. At Khan Academy, you get your results instantly.
There is no need for a progress report or report card because you know what your results are. It even shows other
information such as how much progress you have made. Khan Academy remembers what you have done and even
shows many neat statistics. As you work on Khan Academy, you get badges based on certain achievements. These
achievements are like bragging rights. It is really addicting to achieve these certain badges. The system of Khan
Academy is student-friendly so it is very easy to use.
Why would Khan Academy benefit the students and teachers of Northside Blodgett?
Now that you know about Khan Academy, you are probably wondering why Khan Academy is being mentioned in Northside Blodgett. In most schools, students learn in a group or in a class. Khan Academy is a system
of individualized learning. While learning in a group is beneficial, individualized learning is also important. Most
schools tend to focus on learning with the whole class. A great skill to have is to learn independently. Learning
independently is really important because there will be many situations that you will encounter where you will
need to depend on your skills without assistance. There would not be a teacher with a Smartboard teaching you
how to solve the issue. Khan Academy will help students learn the ability to learn independently. In a modern
classroom, the teacher is usually standing in front of the room giving a lecture on how to solve a problem or task
by learning a new technique. Students have the ability to do this, but they might not always completely understand
it. Teachers should spend their time during the class period helping students with understanding the learned lesson
or topic instead of teaching the lesson whole. Doing this will help students learn faster and learn more efficiently.
As we know from the assembly from the beginning of the year, our school was not able to reach the goal we set
for our NYS Math and ELA tests. If we do incorporate Khan Academy into our learning, we could improve our
NYS Math scores for the following years. As of right now, Khan Academy does not have any teachings for ELA.
If we can incorporate Khan Academy in Northside Blodgett or even the school district, Khan Academy would
spread throughout many schools in the nation and the world. It would be reasonable to incorporate ELA in Khan
Academy if it is used everywhere. There are already schools that have students learning through Khan Academy,
so why are we waiting? Khan Academy is the foundation for future education. It will make learning easier and
make school more enjoyable. What do we do now? Try Khan Academy today right now at
www.khanacademy.org.Learning just got more exciting!
By: Irfaan

Newsletter Title
Page 14

History of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is traditionally told to have started in the autumn of 1621 with the Pilgrims and
Native Americans. It was not a holiday but more of a gathering.
How it started:
The Pilgrims first left their home in England to find religious freedom in Holland. After a short period of
time they found the Dutch practices ungodly and left to negotiate with a London stock company to finance
a pilgrimage to America.
They arrived on December 11th, 1620. The first winter for the Pilgrims was devastating. Forty-six of the original one hundred and two people had died. Soon, when the harvest came, it was bountiful. The remaining
Pilgrims, along with some Native Americans celebrated surviving their first year in America. Their feast was
more of an English gathering, rather than a true Thanksgiving feast that we know now.
Their Governor, William Bradford sent men after fowling. It is not certain that turkey was actually served, as
it was a term for all wild birds. The feast also did not include pumpkin pie, as flour had long diminished, so
there were no sweet treats as we know them, but they did have a type of boiled pumpkin. No milk, butter,
cider or potatoes were served either. They did not have any domestic cows and the potato was considered
poisonous in England. However the feast included fish, berries, watercress, lobster, clams, venison, dried
fruit and plums.
The Thanksgiving feast was not repeated for many years after. It wasnt until June 1676 that a
Thanksgiving was proclaimed again. On June 20th the Charlestown, Massachusetts council held a meeting
to determine how best to express thanks for their good fortune over the years. They instructed Edward Rawson to proclaim June 29th as Thanksgiving Day. The future thanksgivings did not include the Natives, as it
was celebration of the Americans success. Now, the Natives were a threat to their expansion.
One hundred years later, on October 1777, all of the colonies gathered to have one last celebration about
the British defeat at Saratoga. George Washington officially proclaimed Thanksgiving a nation al holiday in
1789. Many felt the hardships of the pilgrims did not deserve a holiday. President Thomas Jefferson also opposed Thanksgiving.

Eventually, Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor pushed and President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving. The date was changed a few times, lastly by President Roosevelt, to create
a longer Christmas season. It became official in 1914. By: Emma