The Oil Spill: Criminal or Just a Freak Accident?

Ms. Baas, the red hall 8th grade math teacher.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was perhaps one of the worst things to happen to America in the last few decades. The result of it will stay with us for many many years to come. Some may think that the oil spill was really just an accident. Now BP, the company that owned the oil that spilled, now might be faced with criminal charges. Would our country really face this company with criminal charges if this "accidental oil spill" couldn't have been helped? This is what I wanted to know more about. I interviewed a few teachers in my school about this and here is what they said: Mr. Gross, the 8th grade science teacher in green hall said, "Since I'm not really an expert on oil spills, I can't really tell you what I think they should do but I think they should be faced with criminal charges because this oil spill was their fault.". Ms. Baas, the 8th grade math teacher in red hall said, "I think they should just continue doing the little things they are doing to help but also sit down and formulate some big ideas on how to stop this problem." Finally Mr. Badyrka, the 8th grade science teacher in red hall said, "These people are responsible for this problem. They are adults and they need to take responsibility for their actions." Using the information we gathered and the opinions of the teachers, we formed our opinions of whether or not we thought BP, the company that owned the oil that leaked, should be faced with criminal charges. I think that since there were many precautions they could have taken that they didn't, then it really is there fault and like Mr. Badyrka said, they should take responsibility for that. What's your opinion?
- Taylor T.

Summer Time, Fun Time!

Lewis C. a sixth grader in blue hall.

What are Stoller kids doing this summer?

It is nearing the end of the summer. Kids are day dreaming, dreading about their finals that are coming up, and thinking about their summer plans. Of course there are also the NBA finals and the question is Lakers or Boston? Some kids are going to watch the FIFA World Cup 2010 that occurs in Africa. But in summer what to do? Some kids (like me) are going to lie down on the couch and watch T.V. The dream of sleeping in late will finally come true. Other kids will be busy with sports and tournaments. Hanging out with friends is another option kids would love to do. And pity the kids who have to take tutor or have summer school.

School ends on June 17th for students. The people who are watching the NBA Finals and FIFA World Cup 2010 will be in for a surprise. For the NBA Finals, it is the long time rivals Celtics and Lakers. Kobe Bryant vs. Paul Pierce or Pau Gasol vs. Kevin Garnet. For the World Cup it is any teams chance to win the cup. Right now Spain is hot coming off the win from the UEFA European Football Championship. Both events happen in the summer, and we will see who will come out on top.

People have been groaning and moaning when they are forced to go to school on Monday. The annoying sound of the alarm clock going off will make anyways day start off wrong. In the summer everyday seems like a weekend, no more alarm clocks, no more Mondays, and no more school! New movies are coming out too, like: The A Team, Karate Kid, And Toy Story 3. Students can hang out with friends without the nagging feeling of procrastinating. No more projects or long annoying finals.
Summer is not like winter, or spring; its sunshine all day. Perfect weather with the sun out no clouds but always HOT! Without rain and wind people like to go and play sports, there is basketball, football, soccer, swimming, lacrosse, baseball, and etc. Tournaments will be out and kids will be more active and having fun outside.

As we know this is Stollers 10th "birthday". People want to remember this year because it is so special. Some eight graders got no field trips (which is quite sad), but there is a graduation party at the end of the year. An important transition is going from eight grade to freshmen in high school. There is gonna be a lot more home work than middle school and grades are important. So that is why some people are going to go and take a tutor during the summer or have summer school. It may be a pain but they are getting ahead. Some other people are going to a learning camp or a camp for fun. Legos robotics, math, reading, or writing camps almost like summer school. Also people are going to camps to have fun, despite their parents tears.

We interviewed some kids who gave us an idea about what they are doing for their summer. One sixth grader Lewis C. says he is going on vacation, going to Spain. He is also going to plan in soccer tournaments also during the summer. We asked if he could do anything during the summer, he would go on vacation with his family, what a sweet boy. We also interviewed Nathan P. and he said if he could go anywhere he would go to Hawaii or Mexico; anywhere to enjoy the summer sun. He said he would hang out with people even though he is planing to have fun. We hope you will have fun too during the summer time.

By Joshua Yi and Jackson Wahl

Stealing hurts ones feelings

Mr. Jerde the vice principle for Stoller.

Stealing is an ongoing problem at Stoller.

Have you ever gotten an item stolen from you while you are at school? Well you are not the only one. One of the main complications at Stoller is the issue of stealing. A lot of people say “Well why don’t we get lockers so thefts can’t steal anymore?” The answer to that is that the school has been cutting down on its budget. They have even canceled the field trip for eight graders. It is hard to know when something is going be stolen or what is going to be stolen. Have no fear; we have some advice straight from the source (Mr. Jerde) on how not to get your things stolen out of your s-cube.
One piece of advice we can give you is a fairly obvious one. Don’t bring electronics to school like your I-pod or your cell phone. "We understand that I-Pods are a part of the 21st century, but if your must bring these valuable things to school, keep them with you at all times." Thefts like to take valuable items. Some people like to even take snacks or food from your back packs. Another “no brainer” is to not show off any of the items you have. An example is to not go around to your friends saying “HEY! Look at what I have!” saying this will make those sneaky little thefts to know what you have and if they have any interest in it. The next advice from us to you is that you should always keep your backpack closed. If your backpack remains open people can take things without having to going through the trouble of unzipping your back pack making it look more suspicious. A good way to avoid this is to lock the zippers of your back pack where your valuable possessions remain. The final tip we have is to not buy cool or expensive looking school supplies. Keeping it simple will make the theft lose interest and you will have a higher chance of keeping it safe. If you have troubles with stolen property follow those tips.
We don’t want stealing to continue on. A lot of other problems are going around Stoller and we don’t want this to become a major problem. We could stop these thefts, when stealing doesn’t happen anymore, the stealing will eventually subside until it’s not a problem anymore. Some people put signs that say “Don’t Steal!” on their s-cubes, which tell thefts that they know that someone is going around stealing items. It makes them feel that they are being watched and intimidates them. Other people will just give their valuables to their core teachers to keep until the end of the day. Or just put your I-pods and phones in your pockets but make sure you don’t violate the new school rule. Taking action will tell the stealers that stealing is bad and is not a good choice to do. This will make our community a lot safer.

By Joshua Yi and Taylor Tupper.

Fear Not the Bully Police is Here!!

Ian K. a member of the Bully Police.

             Have you ever been bullied? Well don't worry the there is a new program called the Bully Police who will help you! Or that's what they want us to think. On May 7th 2010 there is an assembly for sixth and seventh graders about bullying. Of course hosted by the bully police. It seems that the message the bully police is saying is that sixth and seventh graders are more vulnerable to bullying than eighth graders. But that's not the truth. "I don't see any bullying anyways so I guess not" quoted from seventh grader Tom W answering the question about the use of the Bully Police. The Bully Police doesn't seem to be helping anyone. Almost every Friday they get pizza. Now where is that money coming from? A lot of eight graders are disappointed about losing the Oaks Park field trip. But we could of used the money that the Bully Police raises to get field trips back. Our interview team found out that all the sixth and seventh graders we interviewed did not see or experience much bullying. While the eight graders, reported more bullying seen than the sixth and seventh graders. So why is the sixth and seventh graders being taught about bullying. In my opinion we should have older people to help eight graders about bullying. Maybe students in high school. Because there is a high chance that eight graders will probably not have much respect for their fellow peers. As we learned in Media Literacy, kids ages 13-18 is more exposed to cyber bullying and bullying. And eight graders are ages 13-14. So with the addition of help for eight graders, there should be the topic of cyber bullying. The average teen spends 9 hours a week on media. Which probably contains a lot of talking to other people, maybe even bullies.  But with all the danger out here what is the Bully Police doing? Sixth and seventh graders don’t even seem to know about the Bully Police or a lot about bullying. We should find different ways about stopping bullying at our school.

By: Joshua L.

The Cell Phone Compromise

This is Mrs. Kendall, a teacher in Red Hall that we talked to about her feelings on the new cell phone policy.

Olivia, Veronica, and Payton, students in 7th grade red hall that we talked to about their feelings on the new cell phone policy

          Have you noticed that new cell phone policy, well it is called the "off and away", or as we say "off and away or its taken away"; this applies for everyone. Yes, were talking to you sneaky little students who try to text without looking. It is a rule that not only takes your cell phone away, but gives the teacher the power to take away any other electronic devices they see. When asked, teachers told us that even though the students were unhappy with the new policy, they didn't think there was any need for a compromise. Ms. Kendall, a seventh grade teacher in Red Hall stated, "Students can't use the 'it's an emergency' excuse because if they have emergencies, they can go to the office and use the phone down there." She also thinks that the big problems with kids having their cell phones on in class is cheating on tests by texting their friends. She said as a compromise, she would be fine with kids texting during passing times and lunch as long as they weren't doing it during class. We also talked to Olivia B., Payton B., and Veronica M., seventh graders in Red Hall. Payton said, "It shouldn't matter if it is on as long as they aren't disrupting the class or texting." Olivia said, "I think it should be able to be on as long as we aren't texting anyone in school." Veronica stated, "It's not effecting the teachers teaching and it's not distracting anyone in class. Also this new policy is stupid unless we are taking a test. I think they should just collect the cell phones at the beginning of class if they are going to have a test and give them back when they are done with the test." Obviously, students and teachers aren't going to ever agree with each other on weather or not we can have our phones on or out. Through talking to the people of Stoller, though, we have found a compromise that seems to be fine with both the teachers and the students. When we asked two teachers if they thought it was fair that students couldn't text during passing times or lunch, they said they thought it was fair but since that doesn't effect their learning or others learning that they would be fine with it. I also think this would also be a fair compromise because this would encourage some students to text during passing times and lunch only and not during class. In the end, we are in an agreement, well, for the most part.
                                                                                -Taylor T.