On September 10th, the Newspaper Club held its first meeting in N1032. Created by 8th grader Elina Hart and advised by Mr. McVey-Finney, the club has between 10 and 15 students attending regularly and several others that drop by occasionally. There are many jobs including reporter, editor, designer, cartoonist, and photographer.
Khalil, a photographer, says that he joined because he thinks “if people want the truth, they should get it” and right now his impressions of the club are that “I love it.” Leader Elina Hart said she started Newspaper Club because “Deal needs a newspaper.” Reporter Liam says, “it's fun, I like reporting.”
If you are interested in joining, you are welcome to come on Tuesdays at N1032.
Over the summer, there was a lot of construction at Alice Deal Middle School. As some former 6th and 7th graders might know, there used to be cottages separating the basketball court from the field. Last summer, Deal took out the cottages and built a new building on the far side of the cafeteria. The 7th grade teams, Acoma and Florianopolis have most of their classes inside the new building. RJ DaSilva, a 7th grader on Team Florianopolis, says “It’s really nice, but there are a lot of stairs.” He also talks about the lockers, which are half lockers and hard to fit students’ belongings into. RJ says that the bathrooms are both amazing and modern, stating that they even have marble sinks! They are clean and pleasant, unlike some of the regular building’s bathrooms. The bathrooms have less space, but more stalls for more people. The classrooms are large, and you do not have to worry about some students not having a seat. Colette, a 7th grader on Team Acoma, says that the new addition is very clean and nice, but also says that she does not like the bathrooms because “it’s almost like the boys and girls have to share” because of how close together they are. Colette does not like the lockers, especially because hers is on the bottom, making her reach down to get all her items. Despite this, most Acoma and Florianopolis students prefer the new building over the rest of the school building.
The new building is not just about how it looks, but what learning is like inside. RJ says that the new building mostly has a positive effect on his learning, but because of the great views of the field, some of his classmates get distracted by other students having recess. Colette also believes that the new classrooms have a supportive effect on her learning because they are less crowded and there are much fewer people, making it less chaotic getting to classes.
The teachers in the building also have ideas about the new building. Mr. McVey-Finney, an ELA teacher for the 7th grade team Acoma, says that he thinks the new building is very big and nice and that he likes it a lot. He says, “it’s a hundred times better” and that his students probably learn better in the new environment. Mr. McVey-Finney thinks the classrooms are spacious and beautiful, with a great view of the field. He can also fit everything in his classroom, which makes it easy to be organized and neat. He says that the bathrooms are very fresh but agreed with RJ and Colette that the smaller lockers are a bit of an issue for his students.
So, the big question we have all been asking: was this building worth the wait? Well, according to many Alice Deal students that have classes in the new addition, yes, the building is definitely worth the wait.
Deal hosted the 8th grade barbeque on Saturday, the 14th of September. Volunteers prepped hamburgers, hot dogs, cookies, marshmallows, whipped cream and much more. The event was held on the basketball court and field, in the same space where we have recess. There was music playing and activities happening on the field such as soccer, frisbee, tag and much more. There was something for every student that came. A 7th grader in attendance said, "The music was awesome! They played some of my favorite artists!" The DJ knew what he was doing and appealed to the students' tastes and requests. Some teachers also came to see the students and socialize with the families. 8th grader MaryJane Webb said, "It was nice to see the teachers outside of school and they seemed more relaxed and chill." Teaching can be a hard and stressful job but at the barbeque teachers can relax and not worry about getting students to focus. This revealed a whole new side of many teachers. A few parents also came and enjoyed the opportunity to socialize. Many adults and students volunteered their time to prepare food and set up the barbeque which, according to some students, was a really fun way to spend time and one of the best activities. 8th grader Owen Kunce said, "The highlight of the Barbeque was definitely flipping the burger patties. It was so fun!" It was also a great way to earn community service hours.
The 8th grade barbecue was a great start to the year. It had something for everyone. We definitely recommend going next year, especially if you did not make it this year. Even as a high schooler, consider earning volunteer service hours by helping out with setting up and serving. The legacy continues!
Interview with Ms. Thomas (6th Grade, Team Kyoto ELA Teacher)
Akira Vanegas: Why do you like being an ELA Teacher?
Ms. Thomas: I love literature, essays, overall, it’s exciting. I also love [the] students’ positivity.
A.V: Tell me something about yourself.
Ms. T: I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I lived in Ohio for a couple of years but mostly grew up in Maryland. I went to college in St. Andrews, Scotland, UK.
A.K.: What do you love about our school?
Ms. T: I love the diversity and learning from others.
Ms. Beckley teaches Math 6 and Math 7. Ms. Beckley was born and raised in Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland. She graduated from Towson University, in Maryland. Her favorite food, and cuisine are Ethiopian cuisine. She loves Ribeye steak, and in her words, a “Delicious, Fresh Salad.” Her favorite sport and hobby is cycling.
I asked her what made her decide to be a math teacher. She said she always felt being a teacher was her calling, and she has had great math teachers in the past. She says her favorite part of the job is it’s good to see the process of solving a math problem, and that when they solve it, the students feel good about solving it. To close out our interview, I asked her what she likes about our school, Alice Deal Middle School. She loves the teachers on team Kyoto and coaching the Girls Cross Country Team and the Track team. She also loves her classroom! She says it’s like her "sanctuary," coaching the teams.
Background
Ms. Lindsley teaches on Team Kyoto, in 6th grade. She teaches 6th grade science. She was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. However, she grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. She graduated from Clemson University, in South Carolina.
Food, Sports, and Hobbies
According to Ms. Lindsley, her favorite food is “A juicy cheeseburger.” Her favorite sport to play is tennis, and she likes watching American Football. Her favorite hobby is cooking with her husband.
What she likes about Science
I asked her what inspired her to be a science teacher. Ms. Lindsley studied science in college and worked in a cell biology laboratory. She enjoyed learning about science and wants to share that with students. The part that she likes about science is that science explains the world around us, and we’re constantly asking new questions about how everything works.
What makes our school, Alice Deal Middle School, so special?
Ms. Lindsley’s kids went here and now she teaches here. She really liked the IB program, she enjoyed the staff/faculty that she works with, and the neighborhood.
Team Berlin teachers shared their views about the Gen Alpha slang they hear in their classrooms. Mr. Brown, the Berlin math teacher, says he used to know everything about slang and now, he has no idea what anything means. (We filled him in though.) When we did an interview with Ms. Trenkle, she said that she thinks it is fine, though she hates it when people yell out 'sigma'. We even did an interview with 6th grade principal, Mrs. Gathers! She says she had no idea what we were talking about, so we told her “Skibidy Sigma”. Her response was that she doesn't know what language we are speaking. You know what to do if you want to baffle the adults around you!
Ms. Wesselhoft is a 6th grade teacher on Team Abuja. She teaches World Geography. Ms. Wesselhoft was born in Maryland, lives in Virginia, and her family is from the U.S. Virgin Islands (a U.S. territory in the Caribbean). Her favorite part of Deal is the diversity of the students and staff. Her favorite part of geography is that she gets to be able to teach the importance of being global citizens and understanding the world.
Halloween is coming up and people are getting into the seasonal tradition! People are decorating houses, planning trick or treating routes, and buying costumes! And not only students, teachers too!
We have interviewed a lot of teachers on what they are being for Halloween. 6th grade Berlin teachers are being Inside Out characters. On team Acoma, Ms. Law is being a skeleton. Ms. Kaufman of team Florianopolis is being a black cat. 6th grade team Kyoto teachers are being Wizard of Oz characters. And finally, we have to wait to see what Ms. Gathers is going to be, she said it’s going to be a big surprise!
Today we are featuring the Deal Girls Soccer team. The Deal Girls Soccer are a hard-working and caring team. We have interviewed coach Pugh and assistant coach Curran for this article. We interviewed coach Pugh about what it is like to coach the girls. He has been coaching the girls' team for three years, same as coach Curran. Coach Pugh discussed how all he really wants to see is the girls showing hard work, improvement, and, most importantly, having a good time. The Deal girls have been working hard on their games and defensive work, due to the fact they have a large number of defensive-minded players. We also talked to player Kiki Czerwinski, who shared that all the girls are very welcoming, and it is fun to just play and hang out. One highlight we found from all our interviews is that the girls show teamwork and collaboration the most.
Coach Pugh:
- He likes to see hard work and improvement with the girls
- He and assistant coach Curran have been coaching the girls team for 3 years
- He likes to see that the girls learn and progress
- The girls are working on defense because they have a lot of defensive-minded players
- He has high hopes for the girls and wants them to have fun in soccer
Player: Sofia Neilson
- Everybody seems nice
- Learning a lot because a lot of the other players are better than her
Player: Kiki Czerwinski
- All the girls ae welcoming
- She thinks it is fun just hanging out with the team
- She loves to play with the girls on the team
Hello readers,
Welcome to our inaugural edition of What's the Big Deal, Deal's brand new monthly! All our budding journalists worked diligently over the past month and a half to put this issue together. It is amazing to see how much progress all our writers have made. We will undoubtedly continue to grow as writers as we publish more editions. And most importantly, THANK YOU to Mr. McVey-Finney for being our awesome faculty advisor.
If you have any questions or advice, don't hesitate to reach out at our newspaper email: whatsthebigdealnewspaper@gmail.com.
Best,
Elina Hart
Editor in Chief