Berner Beacon

by Chloe Symington and Mia Cespites

Can you guess who the tiny teachers are below? The answers are at the end of the issue!

by Eleni Diakoumakis

by Joseph Rut-Wheeler

1. Would you rather swim in a lake or swim in a pool?

2. Would you rather pick flowers or do pottery?

3. Would you rather have the power to pollinate flowers or have the power to make flowers grow faster?

4. Would you rather write poems about bees or flowers?

5. Would you rather fight 100 bees or 50 hornets?

6. Would you rather jump over 10 hornets nests or jump over 10 Giant Asian hornets?

7. Would you rather become a fish or become a bee?

8. Would you rather be an eagle or a mountain goat?

9. Would you rather have the power to control time or have the power to control the weather?

10. Would you rather be a pirate or a war general?

11. Would you rather be a ninja or a Youtuber that talks about ninjas?

12. Would you rather be an Earthbender or a fire bender?

13. Would you rather be a panda or a dog?

14. Would you rather fight a rhino with a sheep head or a sheep with a rhino head?

15. Would you rather play chess or checkers?

16. Would you rather fight a rhino in the savanna or a goat on a mountain?

17. Would you rather scooter or skateboard?

That is all for now, goodbye Berner Middle school!!

by Lilyana Thanasas

1. Would you rather only eat fruit or only drink smoothies for the whole summer?

2. Would you rather grill your own burgers or have a personal chef cook summer meals for you?

3. Would you rather write a summer camp diary every day or draw a picture about your day?

4. Would you rather surf a giant wave or build a sandcastle as big as your house?

5. Would you rather go snorkeling with the fish or sailing on a yacht?

6. Would you rather celebrate your birthday every day during the summer or have a holiday dedicated to you?

7. Would you rather have a summer holiday where everyone gives gifts or a holiday where everyone play?

8. Would you rather go on a summer adventure with a famous explorer or a favorite storybook character?

9. Would you rather go on a treasure hunt or a jungle safari for your summer adventure?

10. Would you rather have the ability to read a book just by touching it or be able to enter any book you’re reading?

11. Would you rather read your favorite book over and over during the summer or get a new book every day?

by Candace Ramlogan

Do you want to do something fun over the summer with your friends or family, but not sure what to do with them? Well, here are some ideas to help you decide:

1. Going to the pool- During summer vacation, it is very hot outside. There's no better way to stay cool than going in a pool! Pools are a great way to hang out with friends and a great way to keep fit while having a fun time. A pool is a place to swim. Swimming is a sport and can actually make both your lower back and abdominal muscles stronger.

2. Going to the beach- Beaches are mostly a seasonal thing. So why not enjoy it while it is open! Beaches are a great place to play volleyball, look for cool shells, swim, tan, make sand castles, and there are many other things you could do. Beaches are a wonderful place to hang out with family and friends. Some beaches even have boardwalks! Boardwalks include places that you could shop in for clothes and merchandise. Some boardwalks even have some theme park rides. So put on some shorts and a t-shirt and head down to the beach for the summer.

3. Volunteering at a camp- Although volunteering at a camp doesn’t sound fun, it is very beneficial for you and it can be fun. Camp is a place to meet new people. You can help and teach other kids when you volunteer and you can talk with your friends when your campers are busy playing. Volunteering at camps can be very educational for you if you want to teach kids in the future or if you don’t know what you want to do in the future this can help you decide whether you want to have a career that involves interacting with younger kids.

4. Going on a cruise- There are many things that you could do on a cruise. Some cruises have giant water slides and pools. Some even have free food. Cruise ships can help you stay cool while finding new sea animals. Cruises are a great place to go with family and friends to have fun times. Even though the rooms where you sleep might be small, there are so many other things to look forward to like looking at the ocean, exploring the tropical islands that the cruise stops at, swimming in the pools and sliding down the giant waterslides, and trying new food.

5. Take a vacation in another country- Taking a vacation in another country can be fun and educational. Going to another country can help you learn about other cultures. They can also allow you to have new experiences. You can get cool merchandise, see something that nobody knew about, and take cool pictures in front of famous landmarks.

6. Stay at home and have fun- School can be very stressful. When you stay home, you can sleep in. You also don’t have to worry about doing homework. You can play sports outside, play a video game, keep in contact with friends and maybe even visit them. You can also just sit down with a book and read or maybe even draw. You can also just spend some time with your family and go out for dinner.

There are many things to do over the summer. These are just some ideas to have a fun vacation!

by Sofia Chaikin

Boston, Maine, Rhode Island, Oh my! These are just 3 places to visit in the Northeastern coast. There are so many different places to see that are within a couple of hours of New York! Here are some of the many places you can visit over the summer on the Northeastern Coast.

Maine

Maine has many places to visit and sites to see over the summer. The city of Portland is one amazing city to visit! In Portland, Maine, you can visit the Portland Head Light. This is the oldest lighthouse in Maine. The Portland Head light was made in 1791 and took 4 years to build. This lighthouse is in Cape Elizabeth, Portland, Maine. In Maine, you can also visit Acadia National Park, see bays, book tours to see deer, moose, and more! Maine is a beautiful place to visit and there are so many cities to go see!

Rhode Island

Rhode Island is a beautiful state to visit over the summer! There are a bunch of places to see and things to do in Rhode Island. There are many very popular tourist spots to see! One very popular place is the Vanderbilt Mansions. The Breakers Mansion is a great one to go see. This mansion housed the HBO Max show, The Gilded Age. This Mansion is so much fun to walk through and there are so many details/mosaics. This mansion is in Newport, Rhode Island. A cliff walk is a 2.5 to 3 hour walk that is also located in Newport. While on this cliff walk, you have beautiful views of many famous mansions and take in the amazing summer air. There are so many things to do in Rhode Island and so many more terrific sites to see!

Boston

Boston is a beautiful city with so many attractions to see! To start off, Boston has a lot of history sites. In Boston, you can go through a Boston Tea Party tour. In this tour, you can pour tea in the Boston Harbor and walk through the museum set up in Boston! This is a great way to learn more about American history! Another great adventure to embark on in Boston is visiting Paul Revere's house or going to Bunker Hills! The Freedom Trail is another great site that is also free of charge! Boston is a city full of sites, history, and is a city that you can not miss out on seeing!

These are just a few of the many places to see over the summer! All of these places are within driving distance of New York and make for the perfect weekend getaway! Boston, Rhode Island, and Maine are also budget friendly places to visit! Fill this summer with great sites and adventures in the hot sun! Happy Travels!

by Jaymee Carter

Places To Have Fun

• Adventureland: 2245 Broadhollow Rd, Farmingdale, NY 11735

• Splish Splash: 2549 Splish Splash Drive Calverton, NY 11933

• Concerts at MSG (Noah Kahan): 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY 10001

• Beaches: Tobay, Jones, etc.

• Adventure Park: 75 Colonial Springs Road, East Gate Wheatley Heights, NY 11798

• Parks: Burns, Marjorie, etc.

Restaurants with Outdoor Seating

• Umbertos: 1011 Park Blvd, Massapequa Park, NY 11762

• Mercado: 4958 Merrick Rd, Massapequa Park, NY 11762

• The Good Life: 1039 Park Blvd, Massapequa Park, NY 11762

• All American: 4286 Merrick Road, Massapequa, NY 11758

Dessert Places

• Ralphs: 1045a Park Blvd, Massapequa Park, NY 11762

• Krish's: 11 Central Ave, Massapequa, NY 11758

• Carvel: 5596 Merrick Rd. Massapequa, NY 11758

• Marshalls: 1304 Hicksville Rd, North Massapequa, NY 11758

Things to do

• Bike rides

• Lemonade stand

• Go swimming (at someone's house, a beach, or a beach club)

• Make and sell bracelets

by Lilyana Thanasas

There are so many things you can do with your friends over the summer, but the hard part is choosing which activity to do. This article can help you choose what you would like to do with your friends over the summer season. Some ideas are:

• Go on a long bike ride

• Go swimming in a pool, ocean or lake

• Have a picnic on the beach, at the park or even at you house

• Go get ice cream

• Go to the mall or just go shopping

• Go on a walk with a pet or just with you friends

• Make ice cream

• Go to an amusement park

• Go to a festival or concert

• Volunteer to do work

There are just a little bit of things out of a lot of things you can do over the summer with friends. Hope this article helped you plan out your summer when hanging out with your friends. Have a great summer season.

by Candace Ramlogan

Winter break, spring break, and summer vacation are great times to go out of the state because you don’t have to worry about making up the work when you come back. Here are some places that you could visit.

France: France is a beautiful place. It has a good temperature which is not too hot or cold and has many famously known landmarks. One person said they went to France once during summer. They said that they went to 3 famous landmarks in France. They went to the Louvre, Disneyland, and the Eiffel Tower. They also said that they got to see the Olympic statue with a countdown clock until the Olympics. This person said that in France there were a lot of unique headbands in the Disneyland park that you can’t find in other countries or in the Disney store online. They also said that the culture there was very different than in the U.S. and that the food in France wasn’t really the best. The pastries were amazing compared to anything else that they tried. The person said that they would recommend going to France, but remember to bring an umbrella because it rained everyday, but also bring a short sleeved t-shirt and shorts because it is very warm there.

Bahamas: The Bahamas are a wonderful place to travel if you don’t want to be cold. The temperature is very warm. The temperature ranges from 75 degrees to 84 degrees. The beaches in the Bahamas are beautiful and the most infamous landmarks are the Hermitage on Mount Alvernia. The hermitage is a small medieval monastery where the creator, Hermitage, could get away from the world. Many people enjoy the beaches in the Bahamas. There are many beautiful coral reefs and the water is very pristine. It is a great place for diving and snorkeling. There are many underwater caves and you can swim with the variety of aquatic life in the Bahamas. The culture is mostly based on African culture in the Bahamas, but is also combined with some British and American influences. If you decide to go to the Bahamas, make sure to wear your summer clothes, but don’t go during the months of June - November because those are the rainy months in the Bahamas.

Hawaii: If you're a person who doesn’t like leaving the country, but wants to travel then you should consider going to Hawaii. The temperatures in Hawaii are very warm all year round. There is some history in Hawaii that is famously known and you can actually visit. The most iconic landmark is the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor which is for everyone who died on the ship from the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War 2. Most people enjoy the beautiful beaches, clean rainforests, and the volcanoes. The culture in Hawaii is the native Hawaiian culture. If you want to know more about the history of World War II or love warm weather, you should go to Hawaii.

Mexico: Mexico is a good place to go to over break. Mexico has warm weather and beautiful landscapes. One person said that they have visited Mexico once during winter. This person went to Cancun in Mexico and has seen a little bit of the Mayan ruins and saw cenotes which were sinkholes that contained water in them. They said that Mexico had a lot of new species of animals that were very interesting. Some of these animals were Coatis, Muscovy, and Agoutis. Coatis are small animals that look similar to raccoons. Muscovy are similar to ducks but they don’t look as cute as them. Agoutis are creatures that are the same size as a cat, but have the face of a mouse. The person said that the Agoutis were very funny animals. They also said that the culture in Mexico was really different, especially the food. Many Mexican foods contain different spices. Mexican foods have a lot of chili powder and garlic powder. This person said that this is a great place to go with friends and family. They recommended wearing a lot of sunscreen though.

Jamaica: Jamaica is a warm tropical country. The temperature can range from high 80's to low 70's. The hottest month in Jamaica is July. Jamaica is known for its beaches, food, and is known for the birthplace for reggae. The most famous landmark in Jamaica is the Bob Marley Museum. Bob Marley is the person who created the genre of music known as reggae. In this museum you can learn more about his life and his music. The culture in Jamaica is a mix of a lot of different things like Spanish from the Columbus era, Indians, Chinese, British, Africans, South Americans Tainos, and some roots are from the middle east like Libya and Syria. If you like to learn about different cultures or love reggae music, this is the place you should go to.

These are just some of the beautiful and warm places that you can visit over the breaks. There are so much more. Hope you have a wonderful summer vacation.

by Alexis Cepregi

Have you ever wanted to go to Paris? My family just visited Paris and it was absolutely amazing! We packed a lot of activities in the trip, and it was a little tiring at times, but it was all worth it! If your family is planning a trip, here are some tips and tricks to make sure you have the best time ever!

1. Sail and take in the scenery: Since there really is so much to see in Paris, I definitely recommend taking a boat tour. You can sit back and relax as you glide along the famous Seine River and pass all the amazing sights, including the Eiffel Tower, the Musee d’Orsay, the Louvre, the Institut de France, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Grande Palais. They offered us headphones on our cruise so we were able to listen to (or not listen to) the tour guide in English explain the historical importance of the sites. Just know it gets windy and can be a bit cold, depending on when you visit. I recommend visiting when it is warm because of that!

2. Appreciate the Art: Paris is known for its museums. My favorites were the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay. The Louvre is very beautiful and has great chocolate and macaron shops, but very big crowds. The Mona Lisa was also a lot smaller than I would have thought. I loved the Egyptian food room (cool but also usually had many people inside it) and Napoleon’s coronation! The Musee d’Orsee had a different version of the famous Starry Night painting, but they had so much other stuff that was so cool! There were giant clock windows, and tons of statues and sculptures in addition to the paintings and sketches. The Tuileries Garden which is between the two was so amazing! There are many interesting statues and fountains there, and there were baby ducks!!!!!

3. Disneyland Paris is a DEFINITE YES! While the park was not as large as Disney World (Florida) or Disneyland (California), it was amazing! It had a great mix of thrill rides (Big Thunder Mountain!) and family rides (It’s a Small World), great food options (La Table de Lumiere and the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlour are not to be missed!), and OMG...the shows were SO AMAZING! They had daytime parades and musical shows like the US parks, but they had this INCREDIBLE nighttime lights display to which nothing compares. They call it the Electrical Sky Parade, and thousands of drones are used to make pictures in the sky as projectors, lights and fountains light up the castle. It was really the most awesome nighttime show I’ve ever seen!

4. Visit Inspirational Places: One of the coolest things we did was take a tour of Monet’s actual house in a town called Giverny. Not only can you walk through his house (which has TONS of cool paintings and works of art inside), but you can also walk through his colorful gardens, strolling past the beautiful waterlilies and across the Japanese bridge that are in many of his most famous paintings. It rained a little while we were there, so not only did we get to take pictures of the gorgeous flowers, but we also found the cutest snail!

5. Go on a Shopping Spree! If you can, visit the Galleries de Lafayette. It’s an amazing shopping mall that is a large circle with a glass domed ceiling, and has tons of fancy stores and rooftop terraces. They also have fashion shows with exhibits by Chanel, Christian Dior, Givenchy and many others throughout the year. Just know your spending limit before you go - we saw the cutest baby onesie and it was 375 euros (that’s $408!)

6. Baguettes Instead of Escargot: The food in Paris was surprising. While we saw many boulangeries (bakeries) and cafes, the longest lines we saw were for KFC and Subway! It was crazy! Additionally, if you are going to Disneyland Paris, BEWARE! There are NO BAGUETTES! (Actually you can ask for plain bread at one store, but that's it!!!) Also, be careful with your pronunciation. We went to the Lindt chocolate store (I LOOOOVE chocolate) by the famous opera house and my mom ordered 2 chocolat chauds (hot chocolates in French). However, she didn’t pronounce it well and the barista thought she said chocolate SHOT. He ended up giving us 2 cups of melted chocolate - BEST MISTAKE EVER!

7. Know Your Own Limits: The Eiffel Tower, one of the most famous monuments in the world, is very beautiful. I mean breathtakingly, SUPER gorgeous, especially when it lights up at night with twinkly lights. However, it is NOT the place to go if you have a fear of heights as the bars seem thin, some of the floors are just plastic sheets, and it is really tall. It is also very, very cold. You could also see out the sides of the elevator (scary!)

8. Beware of Pickpockets: Although you should always be careful when traveling (and just in general), Paris has a pretty bad reputation for people trying to pickpocket or scam you. Paris definitely lived up to its reputation there, especially around big attractions like the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe. If anyone comes up to you saying “One euro, one euro,” just get away. They will distract you by asking for directions, showing you things, and holding up glow-in-the-dark-flashing-nonsense and try to take your things. Just move quickly and purposefully, and keep your valuables in a crossbody bag to be on the safe side.

9. Hold Your Breath: If you thought smoking was a problem in the US, just take a look at Paris. EVERYONE SMOKES! Most people sit on the sidewalk tables at the cafes lining the streets just so they can eat AND SMOKE. It’s really awful. Although no one misses having to wear masks for COVID, they may be useful if you are sensitive to smoke.

10. Make Memories Wherever You Can! My whole family must have taken a thousand pictures, and I am glad we did. We saw so many cool sights and had so much fun. If we ever go back, I want to spend more time in Montmartre - which is known as an artsy city. I also will remember it as the area with too many steps, but it was still one of my favorite places. My sister and I had our portraits created while people played music and danced under twinkly lights, and I will remember that, and the entire trip, forever! I loved Paris, and if you are going on a trip there, I know you will too!

by Caitlin Cepregi

My family has been planning a trip to London for a few years now, and we finally were able to go on the trip this year for April break. I was very excited to travel to London for the first time. I did a lot of research on things to see and do, and helped my parents plan our trip. Now that I have come back from my great vacation, I have a few things I would like to share with you.

1. Monuments: We saw so many monuments in London. One that actually surprised me was Big Ben. Big Ben was actually not as big as everybody might expect, and it is actually the name of the bell inside of the clock tower, and not the tower itself. The hotel we got was right by Big Ben and Parliament so we passed the tower every day. Even though I expected it to be larger, it was pretty tall and a beautiful piece of architecture nonetheless.

2. Royal Residences: London has several castles, palaces, and really fancy stained glass churches. While most people may think Buckingham Palace is where the royal family lives, it is actually just used as an office space. The royal family actually lives at Kensington Castle, which is gorgeous. In addition to fancy paintings, beautiful statues, and sparkling chandeliers, there is a room with a giant dollhouse that belonged to the Queen and a church beneath where the royal family is buried. There are also gardens, and there is a town nearby where you can get the best ice cream ever (and it looks like it is straight out of a Harry Potter book).

3. Historic Sites: There are a ton of historic sites in London, but one of my favorites to visit was definitely the Globe Theatre. The Globe Theatre is the famous theater where William Shakespeare’s plays were performed by his company. It is a circular, “open-air” theater (meaning there is no real roof on top) and there is a thatched awning that partially covers the top area where people sat. We did a tour and learned so much about the theater, as well as about the plays performed there. They showed us the beautifully painted ceiling and the meanings of the symbols used on the stage, trap doors that were used for special effects for good or evil characters, and how they had characters and objects drop down or rise up to the stage level, and where different classes of people would sit in the theater based on how much they paid (the cheapest “seats” were standing-room-only, meaning they just stood in a group on the floor in front of the stage, and the most expensive were actually in a special balcony on the actual stage so everyone watching the play could also see you). The seats didn’t cost much, just a couple of pennies, but it was expensive back then in the 1400s! They also told us about how the original theater burned down. Apparently, they used a cannon in one play to launch a fireball out of the theater, but the embers dropped on the thatched roof and it caused a huge fire. Nobody was hurt, but one guy had to put out a fire on his pants with his drink!

4. Mysterious Landmarks: One really cool thing we did was take a tour of Stonehenge. It is outside of London so we had to take a bus ride out, but it was worth it. Stonehenge is a huge circle of tall, old stones that is one of the wonders of the world, as it is a prehistoric structure and no one is 100% certain of how it was created and what its purpose was. It is believed to have been a type of calendar system based on the sun, and contains an inner and outer ring of huge stones.

5. Cool Attractions: While there are many things to do in London, one of the coolest was the Warner Bros. Studio Tour of Harry Potter. Our tour started with a walking tour through London, so we were able to walk through some of the streets that inspired J. K. Rowling when she was writing the stories, including alleys that gave her ideas for Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, and Gringotts. The tour at Warner Bros. Studio was incredible and we learned all about how the movies were made, and were able to see tons of actual props and sets from the movies. It was really cool to walk through the Dursleys house, swing on the Night Bus, and walk through parts of the Forbidden Forest and Great Hall. There is also a huge Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon in the lobby, places where you can practice using wands and broomsticks, and you can get butterbeer ice cream from the Chocolate Frog sweet shop (which is literally shaped like a chocolate frog). At the end of the tour, they dropped us off at King’s Cross Station where you can see Platform 9 3/4 and take pictures with a trolley going through a wall. Overall, it was awesome!

6. Local Food: London is not particularly known for its food, but is known for its pubs. They were really great! Fish and chips were sold almost everywhere, as were baguettes (which was surprising), and there is also a huge market in the middle of the city where you can find just about anything. One thing we were warned about which is true is that they do not serve lemonade in most places in Europe. And if they do, it’s fizzy lemonade, or sprite!

7. Money: In London, they use pounds instead of dollars, or list things in Euros. Luckily, they still accept US credit cards. I don’t know how much we spent on things but it seemed pretty expensive there!

8. Road Safety: One thing to be careful about in London is walking around. The streets are very narrow, and buses and bicycles are everywhere! There are actually words and arrows painted on the ground telling you which way to look because most people are tourists and forget that the cars drive on the opposite side of the street in London compared to America (and a lot of other places). Most of the time, we all thought we were going to be hit by a car and die!

9. Happenings: If you plan to visit London, definitely check the calendar to make sure you know if there are city events taking place. We did not realize it, but the London Marathon was held on the last day of our trip and we almost missed the train to Paris as a result of all the roads being blocked off!

10. Overrated Events: Although a lot of people may tell you otherwise, my advice is to not try to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. It is one of the top tourist attractions so it is extremely crowded, people are always yelling at each other (often in different languages, which could explain why everyone seemed to be yelling but nobody understood each other), and you have to sit on a wall or arrive 5 hours early to be able to see anything at all. While it was pretty cool to see the bands and guards on horses march down the street, the actual ceremony was pretty boring (just some people walking around), and it took a really long time to leave. If you want to see it, I suggest just watching it on tv!

by Eleni Diakoumakis

Europe is the ideal place to visit for summer vacation, but why not try somewhere different in Europe? Have you ever been to Greece? Greece is located in southeast Europe and is on the tip of the Balkan Peninsula. I have been there 5 times, for I have a lot of family there. If you are interested in visiting this gorgeous country, keep reading! This article covers all the wonders of Crete, and is the perfect travel guide!

Crete is beautiful. In Greece known as Kriti, Crete is a beautiful island right at the bottom of Greece. It is the largest island out of the huge variety, and is just perfect for vacationing. I am from there, and my Dad lived there in Chania (pronounced Xania) for a year and visited every summer. The beaches have crystal clear water and soft sand. Here are a few beaches I recommend.

BEACHES

Frangokastello: This beach is my favorite. It has little to no waves, and the beach is right next to an ancient castle. In Greek, castle is kastro, which is how this beach gets its name. I love this beach!

Falassarna: Falassarna was a lot of fun when I went there with my family. The waves were a bit much at times, but still, it was great and beautiful.

To Kokkinos Pirgos: I visited this beach with my great aunt and uncle. I don’t get to see them often, so I really enjoyed the time I spent with them. This beach was so much fun!

RESTAURANTS

There are so many eating places in Crete! If I named all the ones I love, the list would go on forever! Here is one of my favorites: Mylos Tou Kerata: I love this place. I have been going to this restaurant in Crete every time I go. The food there is great, and at the end, they give you a flaming orange, literally on fire! It is so cool!

I really love Greece, and I love when I get the opportunity to visit it! I hope you follow my tour guide if you ever plan on going. Thanks for reading and happy summer!

by Zack Stutz

There are tons of tropical islands in the world, but these ones are some of the most tropical out of all of them.

1. The first one is Hawaii, the 50th state in the United States of America. Hawaii had 1.44 million people in 2022 sourced by “United States Census Bureau.” Most of the race of Hawaii is Asian/Pacific Islanders and the race that is the least common is American Indian/Alaskan Native which was sourced by marchofdimes.org.

2. The next tropical island is Bali, which is located in the coral triangle, and is made of multiple islands. And most of the race is Hindi and currently has 2 active volcanoes! Contrasting that is that they have a plentiful amount of vegetation and crops. Sourced by clubmed.com

3. Maui, home to the largest dormant volcano, is one of the most tropical islands in the world. Maui is home to a rainforest that you can drive through, multi-colored sand, and the mother reef is about 1,500 years old! This was sourced by madeinmauicountyfestival.com

Those are some of the most tropical islands in the world. If you're looking for a tropical place to go, you can always look to book a flight to one of these, and you will be amazed at how amazing they are!

by Chloe Symington

Surfing is an activity that I love, but might not be for everyone. But, you don’t know till you’ve tried it! With that in mind, you will need a surfboard to actually try out surfing. Of course, you don’t just need a surfboard for surfing, but it’s always a pretty good start. Or, you just are in need of a new surfboard. Regardless of whether you’re new to surfing, or a seasoned surfer, here's some types of surfboards, and which one might be best for you!

Before I start going on with all shapes, fins, and sizes, it’s very good to know about the material. There’s many different materials surfboards can be made out of, believe it or not. Each material has its own perks, and disadvantages. First off, foam. Foam surfboards are always good, and getting bashed in the head with it doesn’t hurt as much as it would with a hard top surfboard. I first started learning how to surf with foam boards! However, foam boards can get waterlogged easily. If you don’t already know, waterlogging is when a board’s surface breaks, and is exposed to water. This can make the board fill up with water, and cause some serious damage to the board. Next up, fiberglass boards. These boards are considered hardtop boards, and the meaning is pretty self explanatory. Fiberglass boards provide a stable surface to paddle and stand up on. But, with a bad wipeout, you could get pretty hurt, being that the board is not as soft as a foam board. Last but not least, epoxy surfboards. They are hard top boards so they will hurt, but they are more stable and not as dense as other boards. These aren’t all the surfboard materials, but just some common ones.

Boards, as I said, come in all shapes and sizes. These are some good ones to buy. Quick thing to note, boards with a lot of volume are best for beginners, and it’s best to choose a board that’s taller than you. Going from biggest to smallest, first up is a gun surfboard. It is a little taller than a longboard, and I’ve never surfed on it, so I couldn’t tell you what it’s like. The front and the back of the surfboard are both pointed, but the back is just a bit duller. They might not be the best for beginners, but make up for it when surfing big waves. It’s really best to only use a gun surfboard when the waves are giant. Gun surfboards are usually 9 to 12 feet. Next up, is a longboard, my personal favorite. It’s not too good for tricks, but is stable and good for beginners. It has a rounded tip and back. However, they can be a little heavy when it comes to carrying them to shore. Longboards are usually 8 to 10 feet. But, it is best to buy a longboard that is at least 3 feet taller than you are. Thirdly, funboards. Funboards are on the slightly smaller side. They are basically a longboard’s cousin, just wider and shorter. The back is also a bit more rounded out. Funboards are usually 6 to 8 feet on average, and don’t have too much volume to it. Funboards are best for smaller waves, and provide a fun experience if you feel comfortable and confident with surfing and the ocean. Fourthly, hybrid boards, which have a few variations. However, I will just be talking about some of the more common types. Hybrid boards can basically be a mixture of any two boards, or more. Most hybrids look like a combination of a gun surfboard and a shortboard, and are usually 6-7 feet tall. They are best for whatever combination you want them to be. Hybrids are made to fit your needs and wants when it comes to surfing! Fifth, shortboards. Shortboards are not good at all for beginners, and are best for doing tons of cool tricks. Shortboards are usually 5-6 feet, but it’s best recommended to buy one that’s 2-6 inches taller than you. Lastly, and the shortest, fish surfboards. These surfboards are 4-6 feet tall, and it’s best to buy one that’s 2-6 inches shorter than you are. Fish surfboards are short and wide, and best for more advanced surfers.

That just about sums up surfboards! There’s plenty of surfboards to buy, and I’m sure that you can find the perfect one for you! And, if you haven’t started surfing already, I highly recommend it! It’s a fun way to pass your free time in the summer, and it’s even better if you do it with friends! Have an amazing summer and thanks for reading!

by Eleni Diakoumakis

During the months January-March, did you hear your music teacher talking about NYSSMA? NYSSMA stands for New York State School Music Association. Many people come to different schools for NYSSMA! But, what is NYSSMA? NYSSMA is when you prepare a solo, whether it’s for your instrument or for your voice, and you perform in front of a judge in a private room. Sounds scary right? Well, I am going to give you some tips that can help you out and give you a head start on your piece so that it’s spot on!

SIGNING UP

Around late January-early February, your music teacher will be constantly informing you of NYSSMA. If you wish to participate, grab those forms! On the forms, you write the name of your solo, the composer of the solo(the writer), your instructor, grade level, school, level you will be performing,etc.Then you attach your check. The price ranges by level. Levels 1-4, the fee is $16. Levels 5-6 (non all-state) costs $24. And finally, All-state solos cost $30.

LEVEL SELECTION

In NYSSMA, there are 6 levels. 1 being the easiest one to do, and 6 the hardest. NYSSMA levels are not like game levels where you need to pass the previous level. In NYSSMA you can jump from level to level as you wish. Obviously if it’s your first time doing NYSSMA and you aren’t that experienced, start with a level 1. Go to your music teacher and they will have something called the NYSSMA manual, a book filled with solos of all levels in which you can choose from. My first year of NYSSMA, I did a level 1. I sang “All Through The Night.” Fairly easy for my first time. The levels increasingly get more difficult and complex. If you are doing above a level 2, I definitely recommend a private teacher. You can only do so much in NYSSMA extra help!

PREPARATION

I would say that NYSSMA prep is the scariest part of the whole process. I recommend starting your piece at least 4-6 months prior to NYSSMA. With your private tutor or whoever is helping you, attack the piece in chunks. If there are multiple movements, conquer half of the first movement first and so on. Make sure that you are paying attention to important little details, such as crescendos (increase in volume of sound) and decrescendos (decrease in volume of sound). Dynamics also play a huge role in your piece. Think of dynamics as the cherry on top of a sundae. Dynamics determine the volume that you are playing/singing. Forte means loud and strong, while Piano means soft, and quiet. Another extremely important thing to know(for instruments, voice does not require scales) is scales. For levels 1-2, you choose 3 scales and play them for the judge. Levels 3-4 require 7 scales to be memorized, and the judge picks 3 at random. MEMORIZE YOUR SCALES!!!! The next part of your performance is also crucial to scoring well; sight reading. Sight reading is when your judge gives you a random, short piece of music for you to play without practice. The point of this test is to see if you can play and identify music on the spot, for that's what professionals do. To get full points on sight reading, you play/sing the notes correctly, make sure the timing is correct(cut time, 3/4,4/4,6/8), and make sure you are in the correct key. One thing you need to purchase for NYSSMA is 2 original copies of your piece. That means getting 2 books that have your song in them. For example, “The Singer’s Anthology” has original copies. That's all you need to do to prepare for NYSSMA!

DAY OF NYSSMA

On the day of NYSSMA, don’t over practice. I recommend practicing your piece just one time. Then practice a few of your scales, and boom! You’re good to go.Once you get there, do whatever you need to do. Oil your valves, vocal warm-ups, etc. One recommendation I have for voice soloists is to drink absolutely nothing carbonated. If you do, you’ll be bloated during your solo, and you could possibly burp! Nothing with bubbles! When you get into your room, imagine that you are in the shower. Sing/play like no one is there. Pretend the judge isn’t even there. Then, you’ll be fine! During the sight reading part, the judge will give you about 1-2 minutes to look it over. Take the whole time. Run it through until the time is up. Then give it your all. Good luck!

SCORING

Levels 1-4 of NYSSMA are scored out of 28 points, and level 5-6 is scored out of 100. The majority of the points are from your piece. Then 3 for scales (for instruments), and another 3 for sight reading. Make sure you don’t lose points on silly things, such as dynamics (volume) or scales.

TIPS

A tip that does wonders for me is annotating. Your English teachers probably always tell you to annotate or take notes. Well, it is pretty helpful with music, although it is only useful for instrument players. Once you get your original copy, annotate things you might want to remember at NYSSMA, for that's what you will be using to play there. I like to write in the amount of beats I have to hold a note for and sometimes I even write in the note names! Another thing to write on your copy are 2 letters, “NB.” NB stands for no breath. This will help you train yourself not to breathe at certain points in the music where there is no breath mark. Another tip I have is on the day of NYSSMA, don’t run your song more than once. You don’t want to over practice and get frustrated. This could lead to you messing up at NYSSMA, or your mouth hurting from practicing so much. Instead, do it once so it is fresh in your mind, and then you’re all set. Those are my tips.

I hope this article helped you understand what NYSSMA is and how to prepare for it. For those of you who feel scared to do it, do it. The walls are pretty thick and nobody’s going to hear you except for your judge, trust me. Go give NYSSMA your all, and start preparing early!

by Kennedy Eslinger

Did you know about intramurals? Intramurals are a place where you can play sports with your friends. The new sports are flag football and wiffle ball. All year, you could go to the weight room (fitness center) after school. You could go every day of the week except for Tuesdays. The past sports from earlier in the school year were soccer, flag football, volleyball, and basketball. The one I liked the most was volleyball but they were all very fun. The fitness center has many types of cardiovascular machines, such as the treadmill, leg press, and fitness bike. The weight room also has things you can lift like weights and medicine balls. The weight room usually isn’t busy, the average amount of people is around 7 people (20 machines). Intramurals, however, are always quite busy during warm months. Although, you want more people to be there so you have a lot of people to play sports with. So, what do you say? Do intramurals sound fun? You should come to have fun and to work out!

by Emerson Millman

Hello Berner learners! Today I’m here to educate you guys on an uprising problem...deforestation! But there’s good news too! We are the solution. As you know deforestation is the process of depleting rainforests for other uses such as power, money, and even just room for more houses. This decreases biodiversity and harms animals. As inhabitants of the Earth it should be our goal to strive to keep rainforests alive, they are the lungs of our Earth. Although new this national day, “Founded in 2017 by Rainforest Partnership, World Rainforest Day celebrates the importance of healthy, standing rainforests for climate, biodiversity, culture, and livelihoods— and convenes a global movement to protect and restore them.” (worldrainforestday.org) This was initially created to spread awareness of the uprising problem, but how can we help? Below is a small list of ways to leave a big and lasting impact on our rainforests future:

• Support charities!- Every dollar contributes to the cause! It doesn’t just take one person to save our rainforests, it's about bonding together and solving this problem.

• As silly as it sounds, recycle! Recycling prevents more waste from entering the environment and is a productive way to save rainforests!

• Buy a tree! Not for you silly, but for the grounds in which they were robbed of their trees! This allows more oxygen to cycle for us, allows a cleaner environment, and can help rainforests begin to repopulate as they once were! (Trees can be purchased on certain charity websites such as Team Trees)

• Inform others. By reading this article you educate yourself, so why not educate others as well!

Thank you for reading this article, and I hope you learned some new information. There are some beautiful animals that live in the rainforest, and rainforests even support us! Still iffy about even contributing? This cause concern our future. With depleting rainforests on the rise, there is less oxygen to cycle through our planet. This might be a clique topic, but it sure is an important one.

by Mia Cespites

Braces can be so annoying but at least in the end you will have amazing teeth. I am going to give some tips for dealing with braces.

• When you brush your teeth make sure you brush above and below the brackets otherwise you might get stains if you don't!

• The first couple days you get braces and maybe when you get them tightened it's going to hurt, so taking medicine will help a lot.

• A water flosser is really helpful because it's harder to floss with braces so it just makes your mouth all nice and nice afterwards.

• Either ice or ice water is a big help because he wire used is activate by heat so the coldness will like make the wires not do anything.

• If you want to try flossing the orthodontist might give you these loop thingies that you can use to thread the floss. If not you can ask them for that or they can give you your normal flossers that can go through the wire.

• You probably know this but from personal experience braces pain for the first time can last up to around two weeks if not less. But that's a while so try to figure out some soft food you can eat that you like, so you don't eat the same thing everyday and get sick of it.

• Don’t chew on your nails or non-food stuff because it will hurt even more.

This info was by me and found on https://www.belmarorthodontics.com/tips-wearing-braces/

by Lilyana Thanasas

1. September 9: 12,301 kids were born that day

2. September 19: 12,220 kids were born that day

3. September 12: 12,200 kids were born that day

4. September 17: 12,148 kids were born that day

5. September 10: 12,143 kids were born that day

6. July 7: 12,108 kids were born that day

7. September 20: 12,100 were born that day

8. September 15: 12,087 were born that day

9. September 16: 12,072 were born that day

10. September 18 :12,055 were born that day

As you can see, most of the popular birthdays are in September.

by Nate Stutz

The Balkan peninsula is an area in southeastern Europe that is one of the most chaotic places in the world. This area includes places like Greece, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Bulgaria, and many others. There are many disputes, threats, and political entanglements that make this place very unstable. In this article, many present day disputes and threats will be discussed, as well as why they exist.

Croatia-Serbia Danube Dispute: The Danube River is a major river in Europe that runs through many countries and the capitals of them. In the 1800s the Austrian monarchy controlled much of this river, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was founded in 1867, they decided to straighten the river, to make trade and transport easier. When the empire fell after the end of WWI, Austria-Hungary collapsed and the land was seized by Yugoslavia. When Yugoslavia collapsed in the 1990s, Croatia and Serbia found themselves as 2 separate countries. The two countries had a dispute over their border, which was on the Danube River. The Croats claimed the borders between the countries are the way they were before the Danube was straightened out. Serbia claims the border is the way the river flows now. This dispute has led to a small area of land to be unclaimed. A Serb came and established the Nation of Liberland. Although not recognized by any country, it maintains relations with countries like Haiti. Many military units are deployed to keep watch on this border between the 2 nations.

Kosovoan Independence: This dispute is yet another border dispute including Serbia. In 2008, people in the southwest of Serbia declared independence. This mainly occurred because most people in that region are ethnically Albanian, not Serbian. The Serbian government does not recognize Kosovo as an independent nation, but only as a rebellious region. 104 out of the 193 countries in the United Nations, including the United States, most of Europe, and Japan, as well as some Arab countries recognize Kosovo as independent. Nations that don’t recognize Kosovo as independent include Russia, India, China, and Spain.

Dispute over Transylvania: The region of Transylvania in Romania has been disputed for at least 100 years. The region, traditionally owned by the Hungarians, was transferred to Romania in the Treaty of Versailles. This region is ethnically Romanian, with Hungarian communities spread around the region. The Second Vienna Award in 1940, transferred Northern Transylvania back to Hungary. This pleased Hungary, so they joined WWII on the side of the Axis Powers. In the end of the war, the Axis lost, and even though Romania ended up joining the Axis, they recieved all of Transylvania back. The Hungarians were angry as many ethnic Hungarians still lived in this region. This brings us to today where this dispute is still ongoing.

Greco-Turkish Rivalry: Greece and Türkiye (Turkey) have a very long history. It all started in the early 1800s, when Greece fought an independence war against the Ottomans, today Türkiye. In the years leading up to WWI, a “Balkan League”, between Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria, seeked to expel Ottoman influence from Europe. The League ended up winning the war, in about 8 and a half months. Both countries still would not have their present day borders until the end of WWI, where they fought on opposite sides. In WWII and the years after, the two countries feared the spread of communism and both joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), but they were still enemies, Türkiye did not like the Greeks having control of almost all of the Aegean Islands, and the exploitation of resources in the sea. WWII also led to a wave of decolonization, and the island south of Türkiye, known as Cyprus became an independent country. Having a large Greek population, the Cypriot government seeked to join Greece. The Turks saw this as an aggressive move by the Greeks, so as a result, they invaded Cyprus, installing a vassal government, known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The Cypriots never ended up joining the Greeks. Those are only a few examples of why the nations of Greece and Türkiye have such complex relations, and despite being in a military alliance together, commonly threaten each other with military force.

The Macedonian Name Dispute: The last dispute/conflict discussed in this article will be about the Greco-Macedonian dispute. In 1991, after the brekaup of Yugoslavia, many new nations gained their independence, such as Crotia, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Macedonia. The only problem with Macedonia, was that a region in Greece already had the name, and the Greek government did not like that. They believed that anything with the name Macedonia would mean a claim on the Greek region. There were multiple attempts with the UN to change it. This dispute led to the Greeks not allowing Macedonia into NATO, and even the European Union. In February 2019, The Republic of Macedonia officially changed its name to The Republic of North Macedonia. The Greeks then allowed North Macedonia into NATO, but still not the EU, and North Macedonia’s progress of getting into the EU is not that far on, so they may not join for a while.

by Bridget Feola

Ethan stayed far in the back of the room. Violet looked at him, and then North. “You two really do look alike.” She said, trying to lighten the mood. “Violet. You are not helping.” Ethan said to her. His voice was oddly stern and stiff. He seemed uncomfortable. Violet really couldn't blame him, to be honest. His literal brother was an imposter of him for a large amount of time, and now that same brother is literally just standing in front of him awkwardly. They looked like they were having a very concerning staring contest. Violet stood there awkwardly while the two brothers fought with each other. Soon enough, Sapphire stepped in and broke up the fight. “Alright, both of you need to stop. Neither of you are helping with anything, fighting like that.” Sapphire stood between them. “FIRST OF ALL, Why are you here???” “Glaciators have decided. We are going to war.” “You can't just barge in here and declare war?” Katherine said from the other side of the room. “Well you decided to interfere with us. Also, don't blame me, I'm just the messenger! ” He sounded kind of angry. “Ok then... SECOND OF ALL, Ethan! Maybe don't get yourself murdered right in front of us by imposter Ethan. ” North looked like he wanted to punch her in the face. Probably wanting to say ´I'm not named imposter Ethan!´ or something. Violet had really no info on the situation. So she couldn't help much. Suddenly, Sapphire snaps her fingers, and both of them fall into separate walls. Ethan´s glasses fall off. “What was that for Sapphire!?” he yelled as he shoved his glasses back on. “I'm trying to get both of you to stop fighting!” She was standing between them again. “Ugh..why did I agree to this…” Violet heard North mumbling in the corner. “We aren't done with you!” Sapphire yelled at him. North looked terrified. That makes sense though. Sapphire was nice, but at times, she could be very scary. Sapphire stared at him for at least a full minute. “What made them decide they would declare war on us? What did we do? This was YOUR problem in the first place.” Sapphire argued. “Don't ask me. I don't decide this stuff.” North was trying to act less jumpy and nervous than he actually was. He fixed his glasses and sighed. “Do both of you have glasses?” Orion suddenly asked from the corner. “Yes. obviously. Would we not be? We are clearly both wearing glasses.” Ethan answered angrily. “There's no need to get angry at him, Ethan.” Katherine tried to calm him down. “Can I leave now…?” North asked. He was very clearly uncomfortable. “No you're not leaving.” Sapphire answered plainly. At that answer, North froze up. Literally. Violet guessed ice spirits just froze slightly when shocked or scared. He did not freeze completely, North just had a bit of frost cornering the edges of his body. But after that, Ethan stopped acting all angry. “That's…not normal…” He said, walking slowly over to North. North flinched as Ethan approached him. He sank himself into the wall to try to escape him. However, it was a wall. He couldn't do much, being cornered and all. Ethan grabbed North´s hand. “How long has this been going on?” ”he asked. His voice still stern. “A few months maybe…?” North was quivering slightly. “Violet. Do you have any books on medical issues? Your mother might have had some.” There was a hint of panic in his voice, but Violet ran to find something. She ran up the stairs to her mothers room. She searched through the books and found one titled, “Magical Illnesses and Ailments” Seemed right. She ran down the stairs and handed the book to Ethan. He flipped through it. The panic from his voice spreading to his eyes. He stopped at a page. Violet couldn't see the page. “Are…you okay…?” Katherine asked from the other side of the room. Ethan showed North the book. North´s face changed as he read the page. “The frost plague…?” They both looked at eachother. “Never heard of it? Can kill you if you're not careful.” Orion suddenly said. “Since when were you an expert on medicine?” Sapphire asked. “There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Sapphire.” He said back. “Weird Orion aside, what's the frost plague??” Katherine asked. "A magical illness which freezes you on the outside, distracting you from your insides, slowly taking your body over until you are no longer in control of your own body, making you evil, forcing you to watch on in horror as you do horrible things and have no way to stop it. Forever." Orion explains it plainly, as if it was nothing. "Orion! Don't say it like that! EVER." Katherine yells at him. "Yeah Orion. Never." Ethan looked VERY angry at Orion. Or maybe just angry altogether. "Why did none of those Glaciators see any of this happening…" Ethan mumbled under his breath, which was pretty loud, as Violet heard him from across the room. "North. Answer me. How long has this been going on." Ethan demanded North. "Maybe a couple months…? Like I said…I don't know…" North answered shakily. "I uh…have a calendar i was writing down on…?" Ethan seemed to perk up slightly. "Where?" He demanded. "Uh...in..my room?" Ethan facepalmed. "Of course. Alright then. Let's all go and pay a visit to the Glaciators." "What?! You cant do that…!" North tried to protest. Ethan shoved him against the wall. "Who said you had a say in this? Do you want to have what Orion described to you? Or do you want to live." North squeaked slightly and stayed quiet. Ethan looked at all of them. “If you all aren't coming I don't care. I'm going.” He started to walk out, when Violet suddenly said, “I'll come with you.” Violet gets up and walks. “I guess I might as well…” Sapphire follows her. Ethan walks back in, and says, “Before you all start coming, some of you have to stay here. Make sure both yourselves and North are fine.” Kathrine nodded her head, while Orion rolled his eyes and stayed put. “Crazy how people's personality can change so fast…” Violet whispered to Sapphire. “Orion, Ethan, and North all changed…” “North has always been like that. He only acted differently around you because he had to convince you. He changed again from that weird health scare and the way I was acting. Orion…I have no clue what's going on with him.” Ethan replied. “He's probably fed up with your attitude.” Sapphire muttered. “I heard that.” “Can you both not argue? We are trying to do something important right now.” Violet tried to intervene. “Yeah Sapphire. We are doing something important right now.” “Ethan-” “Nope. You know what? I'm not listening to you anymore." Ethan just kept walking as Sapphire stopped to process this. Violet followed Ethan, as she was not about to get on his bad side. "Where are we even going? Do you think we could just walk on over to the Glaciators’ doorstep and day, ´Hey! We need a calendar.´??" Violet was very confused. "Gosh. Fine, you want to barge in some random room where there is most definitely a Glaciator who will probably get us killed? Fine then." Ethan snaps his fingers, causing Sapphire to re–appear. "What was that?!" Sapphire yelled. "Be quiet, or you will get us found out." Violet looks around and realizes they were now in where the Glaciators decided to live. "Walk quietly." Ethan whispered to them. He Casually looked around, as if he really was still a Glaciator, but Violet knew that he was just pretending so that no one would think anything of him walking around. Soon they reach a door. A door with North´s name on it. No last name. Did Ice Spirits not have last names or something? Ethan opens the door, but stops. Violet nearly falls on top of him from the short stop. She looks in the room, and stops as well. Her Dad was in the room. Ethan then snapped his fingers, and he disappeared. Violet then said, "What did you just do?" "Relax. I just teleported him back to his house." Ethan casually said while picking up a calendar. "Seems like the one. Lets go. I don't want to be here anymore. Suddenly, they are all transported back to Violet's House. "It's only been 5 months…Wait what?! 5 MONTHS?!" Ethan ran up to Orion. "How do you cure this stupid illness." He demanded. "Why should I tell you??" Orion shot back at him. "Because if you don't, my brother will most likely die." Ethan was staring at him, menacingly. "Fine. Take this potion thing and give it to him." Orion handed a small vial to him. "YOU HAD THIS THE WHOLE TIME?!" Ethan didn't ask questions however. He ran straight up to North, gave him the vial, and North drank it. The little bits of frost that had fallen to the floor from him shriveled up and disintegrated. Violet could see North glow a lot more than he had ever. Ethan was breathing heavily, hoping with all his heart that it would work. North was breathing less shallowly at this point, the frost still disintegrating. Violet didn't know what to say. They had all gotten what they wanted, and most…everybody was happy. So why didn't she feel like it was over. North was okay, Violet was happy. Ethan was happy, she didn't get why she had this feeling, and then it hit her. They were about to go to war. "Guys! We still have to worry about, you know, going to war???" "War...right..That's not great. We only have 2 capable fighters. Me and Sapphire." Ethan said. "What about me?" North asked. "I have no clue how you became a Glaciator, but you are not a capable fighter." Ethan explains. “Well when anything comes, we have to be ready. Ethan was one of their best fighters as well, they have a disadvantage.” Sapphire said. “Your right. We have to be ready. Yet we have a much bigger advantage than you think.

by Joseph RutWheeler

Mario Wonder is the newest game in the Mario series, and the first 2D Mario game in almost a decade. But how good is this new Mario game? I will have three categories to rank this on. The first one is the story, the second one is the amount of content and how good the content is, and the last one is the game's replayability. Each of these scores will be out of ten and then I will average it out and summarize the points I made. With that being said, let’s a-go.

Category one: Story 8/10. The story is not the best but is quite good. It starts with Mario and his friends visiting the Flower Kingdom on the request of Prince Florian. When Mario and his friends get there, Prince Florian is showing off a Wonder Flower with his castle in the background. Suddenly, Bowser in his clown car shows up and touches the Wonder Flower, Which then fuses him with the castle and Bowser is now castle Bowser. Now Mario and his friends have to get to Bowser and stop him from doing the AMAZING WONDER. Along the way you rescue poplins (residents of the flower kingdom), collect badges to use, and take back castles that Bowser Junior took over, collecting Wonder Flowers along the way. Eventually you get to Castle Bowser, go through the craziest levels in the game, then fight Bowser himself where he does his AMAZING WONDER. And what is this you ask? He turns the world into his own stage called Bowser’s Rage Stage. And when you defeat him the world goes back to normal. Overall, this has the best plot of a Mario game. But that is not the best when you consider the plot usually is just that Bowser captured Princess Peach, But still a great story.

Category two: Content 8/10. There is quite a lot of content in this game, there are 77 levels and 52 bonus levels. The bonus levels are short but are quite good and are a fun break from the main game. Almost all of the levels are good but the problem is the bosses. Now Castle Bowser is one of the best bosses in a Mario game but all the other bosses are either a Bowser Junior fight or nothing at all. There is a total of 8 worlds but 1 is just the Bowser fight and another is the secret world, which is the best world in the game despite only having 9 levels. There are also 12 characters and 24 badges which alter the way you play, but they are less major (The badges are still a very good part of the game). Overall, most of the content is amazing but the bad stuff does bring it down.

Category Three: Replayability 10/10. There is so much replayability in this game. As stated before, there are 12 characters and 24 badges you can choose. While some badges don't really affect gameplay, three of them drastically change the game and most of the other badges somewhat change the gameplay. Along with the 12 characters (4 are Yoshi, 1 is Nabbit, and the other 7 are normal characters) and the 77 normal levels you get 22176 thousand unique level possibilities and along with the wonder flower being optional in most levels and you get over 44 thousand possible level possibilities. Safe to say that there is a lot of replayability, and that is not including the fact you can have up to 8 different saves of the game, which would make the total 354,816 possible level playings that are different.

Overall: 8.5/10: Overall this game is amazing. The story is quite good and the content would be even better if it weren't for the boss levels. The replayability is the best this series has ever been and overall the entire game is much better than most Mario games and the only reason it is not the best is because of the boss fights. Still, even the bosses are good and everything else about the game is better than the other Mario games.

That is all goodbye, Berner Beacon!

by Melissa Jave

NO! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!

This. Is. Bad.

My family is coming over for dinner tonight, and they expect me to cook my ‘home-made pasta’ for dinner. But the truth is…

I can’t cook. I’m just a big bragger and got jealous when my sister started talking about her famous Lasagna A La Mole. So, I told everyone I can make amazing pasta, but now, they expect me to make it. I am freaking out!! What do I do, I know literally nothing about pasta! I need a plan-

and money.

I have to fake this, even if I got 100 cooking lessons, that pasta would taste terrible. My best shot is to fake it. I need to somehow trick my family into thinking I made this dinner! But how do I do it? Oh! I know what I'll do. But now I have to go to the store.

7 hours later:

Well that was a bust, sort of. I guess you could say-

Oh wait! You don't even know what happened! Well, even if you don’t want to know, I’ll tell you anyway. Once I arrived at the store, I bought the pasta I wanted. Then, I bought 1 single tomato, and a can of tomato sauce. After my purchase, I unpacked at my own house. I put the meal on plates, ready to go just in case somebody came early. Good thing no one did. The rest was easy, and quite fun. I grabbed a random plate, and demolished my tomato on it. I dirtied it, and a spoon, fork, and knife. I then threw some tomato chunks in my sink, and made it seem as if I tried to wash them off. After that was done, I took the can of tomato sauce, and dumped it out in my backyard. I took the now empty can, and left it on my counter. Everything was going well after that. I served drinks in my dining room, and got all ready. Little did I know, my sister had parked earlier in my driveway, and saw everything. She confronted me immediately about it, and I begged her to keep my secret. She said she would, but clearly that wasn’t the truth. A few minutes into dinner, and everyone was eating and complementing me for a job well done on the food. I smiled and acted politely, but before I could say anything, my sister spilled the beans. My whole family was shocked, and I had to admit what I had done. Surprisingly, they weren’t mad. They just asked where I got it, and my mom said she wanted to eat this for her birthday. That’s the whole story! Not a complete bust, but it wasn’t what I had planned. I thought the plan was originally going to work, but it didn’t because of my sister. Here’s my advice if you ever do this. MAKE SURE NO ONE IS IN YOUR DRIVEWAY, AND THAT YOUR SISTER (IF YOU HAVE ONE) DOESN’T RUIN IT FOR YOU!

by Sofia Chaikin

It’s a hot summer day in July and you just got out of the pool that you have been swimming in for hours. You can feel how dehydrated you are and how you are in desperate need of a cold glass of water and some fresh fruit! Then, comes out a basket full of fresh watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, and some honeydew! This was not the best part though; the basket was a watermelon! This was the perfect way to refuel from your long day in the pool and you feel so refreshed immediately after eating some! This was the perfect, fun snack for a hot summer day like this one! This watermelon fruit basket is such an easy and fun treat to bring to a barbecue or gathering! So, let’s learn how to make it!

To start, you want to buy 1 whole watermelon, 1 whole cantaloupe, 1 whole pineapple, 1 whole honeydew melon, and some grapes!

Next, you want to take your watermelon and start to make a plan on it. One way to visualize your plan is with rubber bands or just a marker. If you choose the rubber band method, you are going to first take a rubber band and spread it along the width of the watermelon. Next, you are going to want to have another rubber band going up and down the watermelon. This should make almost the “t” shape on the watermelon. Now, you are going to place 1 last rubber band adjacent to the last rubber band you just placed, leaving about an inch or two of space between the two. This plan will help you make straight lines in a little bit. If you choose a marker to use to plan your lines, make the same shape as if you were using rubber bands, but trace it instead.

Now that you have your plan, use the lines you created to cut your watermelon. When cutting, you are going to cut to the left and right of the 2 adjacent rubber bands and only use one half of the watermelon. In other words, don’t cut through the rubber that is going all the way through the middle of the watermelon. Once you have cut the 2 sides off, you should have the shape of the basket. If you have the correct shape, you should be able to cut out the middle of the basket’s handle. Be very careful when cutting and make sure your hand is out of the way of the knife. Now you should have half a watermelon with a handle on top.

After you have the correct shape, you are going to take a spoon, ice cream scooper, or any small round utensil you can use to take out all of the watermelon. You will start creating little watermelon balls. You are now going to do that for the pineapple, honeydew, and cantaloupe. If you would like to, you can cut up all the fruit into squares or other shapes.

Lastly, you are going to want to put all the fruit inside the watermelon basket. Keep in mind that you can put any fruit you would like in the basket, these are just some ideas of fruits you can use. In addition, if you cut up too much fruit, you can bring some in a separate container to refill.

This is a fun, healthy, and very refreshing treat to bring to gatherings. You can use an unlimited variety of fruits and make this basket your own! This is the perfect summer treat to try! Have a great summer full of smiles and some fresh fruit!

Don’t you just LOVEEE cookie dough? If so, this recipe is for you! Enjoy the taste of fresh (edible) cookie dough without any of the hassle of baking it! Here’s the link to the original recipe: https://tasty.co/recipe/edible-cookie-dough-4-ways

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 2 tablespoons milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 350˚F (180˚C).

2. Bake the flour for 5 minutes to kill any bacteria.

3. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, butter, vanilla, milk, and salt until combined evenly.

4. Refrigerate mix for 30 minutes.

5. Enjoy!

Now that you’ve made the base, feel free to add in ingredients of your choosing! I recommend chocolate chips! Simply put the ingredient of your choosing into the bowl and mix!

I hope you enjoy this no-bake edible cookie dough recipe!

*(Note: This recipe was completely made by Tasty, I’m just sharing it because it’s a great recipe that more people should know about!)*

Huge thank you to all of the journalists who worked tirelessly to produce such thought provoking articles, beautiful creative writing, and fun comics this year! We continue to be amazed by your tenacious attitudes and commitment even during these unusual times! We look forward to working with you again next year! Wishing all 8th graders the best of luck moving on to AMES! We will miss you!

Best wishes,

Mrs. Cangiano and Ms. Waterman

Mrs. Meoli's lie: My favorite place to relax is on the beach with my dog.

Teacher #1: Mr. Viola

Teacher #2: Mrs. Martelli

Teacher #3: Mrs. Harbeck

Teacher #4: Mrs. Tuniewicz

Teacher #5: Mrs. Gropf

Teacher #6: Ms. Bendetti