Spartan Times

Weber Middle School, Port Washington, New Yorkhttp://schools.portnet.k12.ny.us/~spartan_times/

Table of ContentsPages 2 and 3: Weber NewsPage 4: Club CornerPage 5: 6th and 7th Grade HappeningsPage 6: 8th Grade Halls of FamePage 7: Interviews; OpinionsPages 8: Book ReviewsPage 9: Creative Artists and WritersPage 10: “An Out of This World Experience”Page 11 and Back Page: Games; Spartan Sports

Lincolns On The Loose!(see page 3)

Creative ArtsCreative ArtsCreative ArtsCreative ArtsCreative ArtsFFFFFestivalestivalestivalestivalestival

Brings OutBrings OutBrings OutBrings OutBrings OutTTTTThe Besthe Besthe Besthe Besthe Best

inininininPEP students!PEP students!PEP students!PEP students!PEP students!

(see page 2)(see page 2)(see page 2)(see page 2)(see page 2)

Science Olympiad TeamPlaces 6th in the State

Championships!

CLUBCORNER;TALENTSHOW!page 4

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American TeacherAmerican TeacherAmerican TeacherAmerican TeacherAmerican Teacherby Cameron Appel and Julia Zehby Cameron Appel and Julia Zehby Cameron Appel and Julia Zehby Cameron Appel and Julia Zehby Cameron Appel and Julia Zeh

Do you ever wonder what goes on in (Blue 7 Science Teacher) Mr.Enright’s head? There isn’t much in there, but we still wanted to find out. Wevisited him during our lunchtime and asked him the questions everyone wants tohear answers about. Here are the questions we asked him and his well thought-out answers.Cameron/Julia: Why did you move from your previous school to Weber?Mr. Enright: I wanted to be closer to my home, and the class sizes were

smaller. I wanted to really teach. Ihad about 36 – 37 kids in a class inmy former school. I also wanted tocoach.C/J: How does Weber compare toany other school you taught at?Mr. E.: Weber is just so muchbetter. I didn’t have a classroom inmy old school. I was “Science on acart.” It wasn’t fun. Also, there wereno after school sports. (continuedon page 2)

In December of 2008, English teachers Mrs. Portmore-Davies and Mrs.Denise Fish initiated Weber Middle School’s 1st school –wide spelling bee. Thepreliminary competition was a written bee that yielded 38 top spellers. After amonth of preparation and practice, many of these spellers participated on Janu-ary 13, 2009 in Weber’s official Scripps Bee. Since Sydney Heiden was thewinner of our Bee, she went on to compete in the Scripps Long Island RegionWritten Bee on February 10th and, again, was one of the top scorers! This stu-dent competed on March 19th, at Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School in theScripps Long Island Spelling Bee Finals! Although she was not a winner in theSpelling Bee Finals, Weber is proud of Sydney and we congratulate her on herexcellence in spelling.

For her accomplishments, Sydney was presented with the Certificate ofExcellence by School Board President Larry Greenstein at the March 17 Boardof Education meeting.

Weber Speller Advances ToScripps Long Island Region

Written Beeby Mrs. Portmore-Davies

Weber’s DramaWeber’s DramaWeber’s DramaWeber’s DramaWeber’s DramaClub bringsClub bringsClub bringsClub bringsClub brings

The Music ManThe Music ManThe Music ManThe Music ManThe Music Manandandandandand

Prof. HaroldProf. HaroldProf. HaroldProf. HaroldProf. HaroldHillHillHillHillHill

to Weber!to Weber!to Weber!to Weber!to Weber!See page 4See page 4See page 4See page 4See page 4

W H OISHE?

page 3

The winner of theThe winner of theThe winner of theThe winner of theThe winner of the“Name That Snack Table” contest“Name That Snack Table” contest“Name That Snack Table” contest“Name That Snack Table” contest“Name That Snack Table” contest

is.....see page 3!is.....see page 3!is.....see page 3!is.....see page 3!is.....see page 3!

Congratulations are in order for Weber’s Science Olympiad Team,who finished in 6th place out of 38 New York State schools in the StateChampionship on Saturday, April 18 at SUNY New Paltz. The team won7 medals, including 1st place medals in Meteorology and Experimental De-sign. The team qualified for the State Championships in early March afterplacing 2nd in the Science Olympiad Regional events and winning 20 med-als. Team Two placed 6th and won 10 medals at this same event. Con-gratulations to both teams! The team has been working very hard all year,with multiple practices afterschool and on Saturdays. They are a very com-mitted and diligent team. Weber is very proud of all the team members,alternates and Coaches Mr. Grande and Mr. Buchman.

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Editors: Editors: Editors: Editors: Editors: Luke O’Connell, Robert G., Benny SchecknerReporters: Jesse Epstein, Jack Simon, Cameron Appel, Julia Zeh, Sandra Kumwong, Shoshanna R., Sarah S., Naomi Boico, Jamie Sall. Photo Scanner:Julia Zeh. Fun Page: Tal Oren, Faith Ausfresser. Artist: Nicole Boyd. Opinion Page: Jack Simon. Freelance Writers and Photographers:Mrs.Hall, Ethan B., Mrs. Portmore-Davies, Mrs. McAuliffe, Mr. Grande, Hanah Fagan, Mrs. Kornfeld, Holly Hubsher, Michelle Kim, Janessa Miller, Ms.Duffy,, Ms. Wright, Weber PE Department, Reed Kalash, Claudia Varner. Sixth Grade Happenings Editor: Shoshana R. Web Masters: BennyScheckner, Iggy L. Typists: Sandra K., Mirian Molina, Cameron Appel, Julia Zeh. Creative Writing Page: Sarah Sturman. Printer:New MediaPrinting. Advisor: Mrs. Susan McAuliffe

Weber News

Spartan Times Staff:Spartan Times Staff:Spartan Times Staff:Spartan Times Staff:Spartan Times Staff:

C/J: How do Blue House kids compare to Green House kids?Mr. E: All kids are similar. They are all funny, and they like to learn. It’s allgood.C/J: How do Blue House teachers compare to Green House teachers?Mr. E.: See, now, that’s a touchy subject. We had the best house last year.Mr. Joseph, Mr. Dowling, Mrs. Sanicola and I worked together for fouryears. Although, I’ve got a great group this year, too.C/J: Do you truly think Mr. Bass is funny?Mr. E.: He definitely is! I’m pretty good friends with him. He’s VERYfunny. He’s also witty, too. I’m sarcastic, but he’s got the jokes.C/J: Where do you come up with all the things you say when you pickup the phone?Mr. E.: Things just come to me. I have issues. Hey, at least I admit it!Everything I do is a joke. I was even joking on my wedding day. I didn’tknow I had a microphone attached to me. So when I heard the recording, Iwas commenting on everything and everyone. When I REALLY need to beserious, I pretend.C/J: How do you rate the people in Blue 7?Mr. E.: Oh, kids are great. I like this age, even when I was in Queens. Kidsare different, and have different cultures, but they’re kids, and you deal withthem and that’s that.C/J: Why do you like to teach?Mr. E.: Oh, I love what I do. I look at it this way. If you’re driving to workand you’re miserable and on the way you say, ‘Ugh, I have to go to workagain,’ you’re in the wrong job. I whistle to work. I’m here early and I’mhere late. Every year my lessons change, so it’s always interesting.C/J: Is it your main goal in life to torture your students? Or is that Mr.Bass’s goal? Or both?Mr. E.: I think it’s both of our goals. I guess it’s working.We couldn’t resist making our interview a little more challenging.We decided to play a “question and answer game.” Mr. Enright couldonly choose one answer, not both.....C/J.: Corned beef or cabbage? Mr. E.: Corned beef. Anything meat.C/J.: Notre Dame or your children? Mr. E.: (Without Hesitation!) My chil-dren. My children easily. You’ve got nerve!C/J.: Connor or Keira? Mr. E.: Ooooh, that’s not fair! It’s even. But, Keirabeing Daddy’s little girl, she’s got me wrapped! Of course, Connor’s my littlebuddy.C/J.: Shackel or Joseph? Mr. E.: Hehehe! Those two are even. They’reawesome, the best; great teachers. Even after 30 years of teaching, I don’twant them to retire. I probably lean more towards Shackel, because he’s sar-castic, just like me. But the way Joseph is with kids, he’s unbelievable. Josephis Mr. Clean.C/J.: Shamrocks or leprechauns? Mr. E.: Oh, McMillen. That’s theleprechaun’s name.C/J.: Girls’ soccer or boys’ wrestling? Mr. E.: Hmmm. Wrestling. Yeah, Ilike wrestling. It’s probably more my type of sport. I jumped over to girls’soccer. But lacrosse is my favorite!C/J.: Us or them? Mr. E.: Us. It’s always us. Hehehe!C/J.: Mets or Yankees? Mr. E.: METS! But, NOTRE DAME over all ofthem!

What? P.E.P. Creative Arts FestivalWhen? February 10, 2009Where? A.P. RoomWhy? Creative, artistic expression!

(photos, below)Mrs. Meadows,PEP Instructor andMistress of Ceremo-nies and studentsenjoying the perfor-mances

We wish Ms. Mesa, former Social Worker at Weber, goodluck as she returned to her position at the North Shore Family andChild Guidance Center in early March. The “Helping Each Other”Club, of which Ms. Mesa was the advisor, met for the final time onMarch 4. Thanks to Ms. Mesa and her club members for theircommunity service and dedication to the “Helping Each Other”Club.

Reminder: Reading lists with required summer reading guidelines can be found by visiting the Districtwebsite: www.portnet.k12.ny.us. Click on the “schools and programs” link, then choose “Weber MiddleSchool.” All students may also obtain copies of grade level lists from English teachers and the PortWashington Public Library.

P.E.P. NewsStudents have been learning about the judicial system of the United

States. Students played the role of a jury in deciding a variety of cases andbegan to understand how difficult it is to get all members of the jury to agreewith one another to reach a verdict. Important U.S. Supreme Court caseswere also reviewed, including a case which gave students their Miranda Rights(“You have the right to remain silent...”).

After watching the classic film, “Twelve Angry Men,” 7th and 8th gradestudents began to prepare their own cases for a mock trial about the LindberghKidnapping case, known in its time as the “crime of the century.” 6th gradersdid their own experiments to see how differently people can perceive the sameevent and how that impacts on eyewitness testimony in a trial.

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Lincolns On The Loose (continued from front page)Mr. Grande and Ms. Robles’ Green

House 6th graders honored Abraham Lincolnby dressing as the popular 16th President onthe anniversary of the popular President’s200th birthday. 6th grade Green House stu-dent Mike Bellomo (right) celebrated the200th birthday of President Abraham Lincolnby creating a stove-pipe hat and beard thathe wore to school. Most interesting aboutMike’s homemade costume is that his stove-pipe hat contained reminder notes inside justas President Lincoln is said to have done whenhe was our sixteenth President.

Who is Mr. Mickus?

by Jesse Aaron Epstein Mr. George Mickus (pictured, left) is

a sixth grade Latin teacher at Weber. Mr.Mickus has retired from full-time teaching andhas been teaching at Weber, one period a day,since 2005. Since most Weber students donot know him, I decided to interview him. Mr. Mickus went to Fordham University forhis undergraduate degree, and Yale Univer-sity for his Master’s degree. Mr. Mickus wasa High School English teacher in Northport(Suffolk County) for the first 15 years of hiscareer and also taught American History fora short time. When Northport High Schoolneeded a Latin teacher, they asked him if hewas interested because he had studied Latin

in College. He took a Latin refresher course and then took the position. He hasbeen teaching Latin ever since – for the last 25 years! Mr. Mickus enjoysteaching Latin and thinks it is important because it “hooks us into the past in away that studying history may not, because when you look at the way a lan-guage works, you understand a culture and a civilization better.” Mr. Mickusalso enjoys teaching about Roman and Greek mythology. He believes thatmany ancient Romans and Greeks did not actually believe in the mythologicalstories, but told them generation after generation to explain science and naturebefore technology gave us the explanations that we have today.

When he was in college he wanted to be a doctor, but he changedhis mind after taking advanced chemistry, and realized that it was not his “cupof tea.” Mr. Mickus then realized that he wanted to become a teacher becausehe had some very good teachers in the past who inspired and influenced him.But, he never thought at that time that he would ever be a Latin teacher. Mr.Mickus realized that even though you can study a certain subject in college,“your career can take different, strange paths that you did not anticipate.” Mr.Mickus is really glad that he studied Latin in high school and college because itgave him the opportunity to become a Latin teacher, which he really enjoys.

I asked Mr. Mickus whether the name “Mickus” derived fromLatin because the subject case for the masculine singular noun in Latin is “us.”He laughed and explained that Mickus is actually a Lithuanian name, and anysimilarity to Latin is pure coincidence!

Grade 6: Hanthony Lopez, Iliana Ioannides, Sameer Nanda, Matheiu Guerra,Ledner Giron, Eric Klug, Jared Klug, Stephanie Martinez, Aimee Levinson ,Natale Scotto, Ethan Bookstein, Alyssa Marshak, Veronica Aguirre.

Grade 8: Erin Condon, Caleb Im, Robert Gray, Adam Gatehouse, ChristineCorbo, Alex Zahn, Yume Morimoto, Kim Nahas, Emma Zorfass,VictoriaBensen, Kate Fishbin, RJ Beil, Alex Zimmerman, Hanah Fagen, Ashley Ber-liner, Kelly McDonough, John Meyer, Daniella Philipson, Ray Illiano, EthanKerr, Eric Tiktin, Nathan Tang, Joey LaRocca, Isabella Tallarico, Aura Yanes,Andrew Cullen, Taehoon (Tony) Kim, John Blum, Ashleigh Scialo, DebbieOyarzun, Luke O’Connell, Jonathan Bellon, Ali Seltzer, Patricia Hoban,Victoria Brown, Alex Polk, Anna Guerra, Marni Wilkoff , Gina HernandezPerez, Aaron Moslow, Andrew Cullen, Rina Suzuki, Taylor Eisenberg.

Grade 7: Stephany Lopez, Aeduck Lee, Stephanie-Ann Thomsen,Elijah Wood, Chloe Margulis, Annie Kim.

Weber STARSWeber STARSWeber STARSWeber STARSWeber STARS

The School Wide Enrichment group recently finished its unit onWorld Art. Students created Benin tapestries, which tell stories in brightlycolored cloth, and decorated masks for Mardi Gras and Carnival. The nextunit will focus on exploring adventures through the alphabet. Some of theprojects that we are working on include Asian inspired jewelry boxes, butter-fly wind chimes, clay sculptures, and dream catchers. SWE meets as follows:“A” days —6th and 7th grade and “B” days—8th grade (during your lunchperiods). Come and join the fun. All are welcome!

The Math Olympiad Contest is completed. Thank you to allwho participated. Official scores and awards will be posted next month.

Welcome to the Stop-N-SnacStop-N-SnacStop-N-SnacStop-N-SnacStop-N-Snackkkkk!The winner of the “Name The Snack Table” contest is 6th grade Green House student Jesse Aaron

Epstein (pictured, right). Jesse’s suggestion, Stop-N-Snack, will be the new name for the cafeteria snack table.

The contest began with suggested names submitted by students to members of the Human RelationsClub during lunch periods. The Human Relations Club then took the five best choices and included them on a ballotform distributed to all homebases the following week. After students voted during homebase, Weber’s StudentGovernment tallied the results and the final name for the designated area was chosen. The winning name, Stop-N-Snack, will serve as a springboard for the HSA to design decorations for the space.

Jesse’s winning entry, “Stop-N-Snack” will now grace the new snack space in the cafeteria to the sideof the food service area.. This contest was sponsored by a combined effort of the Human Relations Club, StudentGovernment, and the Weber Home School Association. Thank you to all who contributed to this exciting contest!

School-Wide EnrichmentSchool-Wide EnrichmentSchool-Wide EnrichmentSchool-Wide EnrichmentSchool-Wide Enrichmentby Mrs. Hallby Mrs. Hallby Mrs. Hallby Mrs. Hallby Mrs. Hall

Letter From the EditorsLetter From the EditorsLetter From the EditorsLetter From the EditorsLetter From the Editors Well, we believe that there is only one way to sum up this paperand that is with a highly disciplined form of Japanese poetry: Haiku!

Enright, Kid Rock andSkiing, Bob Button, Sports pics,

Emily, Iggy! Nothing like good haiku, eh? There are many exciting articles inthis edition including page 10 for Naomi’s interview with Bob Button,page 9 for Sarah’s creative writing and poet of the month, EmilyDickinson. Stop-n-Snack, Club Corner, and Halls of Fame make for agreat edition. Our last edition as editors! On to High School for us! Sincerely, Benny S., Iggy L., Luke O., & Robby G.

Many students and staff members at Weber Middle School go throughtheir day being respectful and caring, helping those with crutches, holding doorsfor others, helping a student who has dropped their books, or saying a gracious“thank you” to others. However, once a month, those recognized for these littlerandom acts of kindness are noted with a Weber STAR award. A WeberSTAR is a student or staff member that displays one or more of the followingqualities: respect, responsibility, good character, commitment to community,academic improvement, effort, and/or exemplary behavior.

Every Weber student or staff member has a chance to be a WeberSTAR! May/June STARS will be announced during the week of June 22.Congratulations to following the STARS from January, February, March andApril:

Club CornerClub CornerClub CornerClub CornerClub Corner.........................The Music Man

by Holly Hubsher

On February 6th, 7th, and 8th, The Music Man came to town! The audienceenjoyed the hilarious lines, fabulous costumes, and the wonderful plot! In theplay, a con man named Harold Hill, comes to Iowa to sell band instruments andpromises to teach the children how to play them, even though he doesn’t knowhow to play them himself! Throughout the play, Harold meets the interestingpeople of Iowa, who have very interesting sayings and songs! When the townfigures out that he is a liar, Harold is prepared to leave, but realizes he has fallenin love with the local librarian and refuses to leave town. As soon as the mayorfinds Harold and is about to punish him, the whole town sticks up for him and heis saved! Some of the popular songs from the show include: Iowa Stubborn, 76Trombones, and Wells Fargo Wagon. Everyone in The Music Man should beproud of themselves for putting on such a terrific, enjoyable show!

Pictured, below: Cast and crew during a live performance.

Art ClubArt ClubArt ClubArt ClubArt Clubby Ms. Wrightby Ms. Wrightby Ms. Wrightby Ms. Wrightby Ms. Wright

Weber’s Art Club meets on Thursdays from 3:15-4:15. The Art Clubis open to all, and students may join at any time. During Art Club, I demon-strate a suggested project, for example, plaster face masks. However, stu-dents are not obligated to follow that particular project, but can work indepen-dently, using the art studio as a resource. One group of students elected towork on creating their own comic book characters, using resources such as thebook How to Draw the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema. Threestudents are learning new water color techniques, and a few are creating origi-nal fashion designs. Some are even perfecting extra credit illustrations for theirbook reports. The cartoons published for the February edition of the SpartanTimes were created at our Art Club’s “free choice table.” In this edition,Nicole’s picture of the bird on page 5 was created during Art Club. The ArtClub is a place for free expression and ideas; students are welcome to join usanytime. No idea the students bring in is rejected!

Weber Green Updateby SandraKumwong

Weber Green Club haschanged Weber by makingit “greener.” We are sellingreusable water bottles thatsay “Go Green” on them.That will save a lot of en-ergy, material, and moneyin the future! If you buy acommercial water bottle, itwill add up to a lot of wasteand spent money over time!Refilling a commercial wa-

ter bottle is dangerous to your health because of BPA chemicals that get releasedinto the water. Weber Green has also distributed recycling bins for the school!One is for plastic and the other is for paper. Keep recycling in school and athome! If you did not recycle bottles, they would be in a landfill for hundreds ofyears. Please recycle and do what it takes to save our environment. It is ourresponsibility to save our planet!

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Student Governmentby President Arianna Kosloff

Human Rela-tions Club

Talent ShowFriday,

April 3, 2009

The Student Government hosted “Spirit Week” during the week ofFebruary 9-13. Each day had a theme; students and staff enjoyed sports day,crazy hair day, pajama day, dress for success day, and teacher-student switchday. During fourth quarter, we are going to use some of the money raised frompizza sales to contribute to buying new uniforms for the Weber Track Team.We chose the Track Team since it is both a girls and boys sport. The StudentGovernment will have one more pizza day for all grades as well. We are al-ways looking for new members and ideas! If you are interested, the StudentGovernment meets on Tuesday mornings at 7:30 a.m. in Mr. Holzer’s room108.

The 2009 Weber Tal-ent Show, AFUNdraiser for theLauri Strauss LeukemiaFoundation, was heldon Friday, April 3. A

great night of entertainment was enjoyed by all! The auditorium was packed,filled with excited students and parents as they watched a wide array of talentedWeber performers. There were singers, dancers, musicians,and even actorsgracing our stage. Also present was Mrs. Evelyn Strauss, mother of LauriStrauss and founding member of the Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation.

Ms. Duffy and Mrs. Lax would like to thank the Human Relations Clubmembers for their dedication and professionalism as they ran the show. Theywould also like to thank all who supported the talent show. With your help, theHuman Relations Club will be able to make a donation not only to LSLF, butalso to the Children’s Health Fund.

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6th Grade Happenings6th Grade Happenings6th Grade Happenings6th Grade Happenings6th Grade Happeningsby Shoshana Rabinowitz, 6th grade Editorby Shoshana Rabinowitz, 6th grade Editorby Shoshana Rabinowitz, 6th grade Editorby Shoshana Rabinowitz, 6th grade Editorby Shoshana Rabinowitz, 6th grade Editor

7th Grade7th Grade7th Grade7th Grade7th GradeHouseNews...HouseNews...HouseNews...HouseNews...HouseNews...

Constitutional Convention of 1787Constitutional Convention of 1787Constitutional Convention of 1787Constitutional Convention of 1787Constitutional Convention of 1787Red 7 Team Reenacts History!Red 7 Team Reenacts History!Red 7 Team Reenacts History!Red 7 Team Reenacts History!Red 7 Team Reenacts History!

Students wrote and delivered speeches to their classmates as delegatessuch as James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington.

Blue 7 NewsThe 7th grade Blue House, under the ad-

visement of Mrs. Sanicola, and the 7th grade accel-erated students, under the advisement of Mrs.Kamerer, participated in a Mathathon to raise moneyfor St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for cancerresearch. The children got sponsors for solving math-ematics problems. There was over $3,000 raised inall to help the children of St. Jude’s Hospital.

As Sixth Grade Staff Reporter, I visited various teachers and askedthem to share some of their units, projects, and class activities for quarter three.Although the classes are doing different activities, I found out that one thing is thesame: quarter three was very busy for the sixth grade!

All sixth grade core teachers had two big events quarter three: theABT (American Ballet Theater) visitations and the Ulysses production. Stu-dents learned expressive dance through literature. Mrs. Sharon Frank (Green)did her formal Greek Debate featuring philosophy loving Athens vs. war loving

Sparta.Mrs.Cavallo’s students (Green) partici-

pated in the River City Project. It was fundedby Harvard University. Students visited com-puter labs to visit the River City website. Oneof The River City Projects allowed studentsto pretend to be a doctor who travels back intime to cure a disease. Yellow house studentsalso participated in this project as well.

The Grande/Robles Green Team did ex-periments in the Science lab and created EarthDay recycling posters (pictured, left).

Ms. Mulqueen(Blue) and her students experi-mented with chemistry and Mr.Martin’s students studied Greekphilosophers. Also in the BlueHouse, Ms. Mulfield and Ms.McCarthy celebrated MarchWomen’s History Month with fa-mous women scientists projects.Many of the wonderful posters arehanging in the hallway (pictured,right).

Over in the RedHouse, Mrs. Gianatempo will betaking pictures while Mr. Smith willbe doing projects.

The Yellow Team of Ms. Silvestri and Ms. Suk participated in thefamous Olympic Games.

The Green 7 Team hallway reminds students that team-work, effort, and an organized weekly calendar are the

key to success!

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Yellow 7The Yellow 7 team has had en exciting semester. The Periodic Table ofElements rule in science. Math class includes an “Everything you need toknow before the math final (well almost)” review sheet on PEN for the final,and the English/Social Studies classes have been enjoying the presentations ofstudents who researched important figures in history such as Rosa Parks, DianFossey, Todd Pennington, Walt Disney, and Roald Dahl. Thanks to Caitlin’sawesome presentation as Dian Fossey, the audience didn’t go hungry as sheshared bananas as part of her presentation as the famous American zoologist!Brava!

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Blue 8th grade English stu-dents of Mr. Novinski cre-ated artistic interpretationsof “The Hairy Ape.” (left)

Mr. Holzer’s Blue 8 SocialStudies students’ work cre-ates a border around the en-trance to his door (right).

The Blue 8 integrated En-glish/Social Studies unit in-cludes research related toevents during the 1980’s.Students will be researching,writing, and creating an origi-nal powerpoint that will bepresented to classmates asa final project assignment.

Yellow 8 studentsof Mrs. Sims andMrs. Manzo leteveryone knowthat they have theblues (above) andshare their WorldWar I propagandaprojects with theirpeers (right).

The Red House hallway is colorfully decorated withmath students’ creations of “rotational symmetry drawings”made in class with math teacher Ms. Silverman (right).

Also during this final quarter, Red House studentshave attended a presentation by Mr. Reich, a Holocaustsurvivor, have written orginal poetry as an integrated En-glish/Social Studies unit. Red 8 students also created fly-ers and brochures with weather themes in Science class.

GREEN 8 TEAM AGREEN 8 TEAM AGREEN 8 TEAM AGREEN 8 TEAM AGREEN 8 TEAM ACTIVITIESCTIVITIESCTIVITIESCTIVITIESCTIVITIES

8th Gr8th Gr8th Gr8th Gr8th Grade Tade Tade Tade Tade Teamseamseamseamseams’’’’’HHHHHAAAAALLLLLLLLLLS OF FS OF FS OF FS OF FS OF FAAAAAMEMEMEMEME

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The Green 8 team has had a very active final quarter. Mr.Spotteck’s math students created “rotational symmetry draw-ings” in class (above). The final English/Social Studies inte-grated unit focused on research with the final presentationbeing a powerpoint demonstration related to the decade ofthe student’s choice.

Red 8 Team Hall

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After the play The Music Man, I interviewed my cousin,Michael Szanto, whose part was a reporter. He gave me a very interestingpersonal account of his experience performing in a play.

Q. What was it like being on stage?

A. I was pretty nervous at first, but after a while I felt better because Iwould get to show everyone that I’m a good actor.Q. What was it like when working with the other actors and ac-tresses?

A. In the beginning it was a little difficult, but later on I got to know theother actors and actresses and became friends with some of them.Q. Was it difficult when it came to the singing and dancing?

A. Honestly, I don’t think it was difficult because the songs were prettyeasy to learn and the choreographers were very nice and understanding.They were very good dancers; they knew what to teach us.Q. Did you like your part?

A. It was an exciting part because I got to work with three other people(Wyn, Steven and Eric). I really thought it was not going to be a fun part,but I really enjoyed it.Q. Were you already in the Drama Club?A. No, I wasn’t in the Drama Club. But now I’m starting to go.

An Interview With....Michael Szanto

by Shoshana Rabinowitz

In A Play

The Rhythm of Spainby Alize Margulis

Schreiber student and former Spartan Times staff reporter

“Ole!” yelled the sixth grade students as they clapped along to thecastanets of the performers. On March 31, Director of the Sol y Sombra dancecompany, Ms. Maria Loretta and other members of the dance company per-formed in the auditorium of Weber Middle School. The Sol Y Sombra dancecompany created the image of a street scene in Spain. Ms. Maria Loretta andher partner glided across the stage as the singers and guitar music drifted in theair. The Dance Company performed dances based on the Hispanic culture andlanguage. Ms. Maria Loretta told the students a brief history about TraditionalFlamenco dancing and there was an explanation of the techniques used.

“Traditional Flamenco dancing originated by the Gypsies who trav-eled to Spain. This dance was performed in the streets or Spain. It is a joyfuldance and is performed in time of celebration. As you all are aware, flamencodancing is usually performed with a singer, a guitarist, dancers and other instru-ments including Palmas (rhythmic hand clapping), footwork and castanets. Thedancers act like the drums, keeping the rhythm in their body to depict stories.”

At the end of the performance students interacted with the perform-ers, performing a short choreography. The Assistant Principal of the Green House,Mr. Swinson, elaborated on the event.

“When we looked to bring the events to Weber, several things comeinto consideration: cultural exposure, academic relevance, and an event whichthe students are able to relate to. Watching the kids’ response during the showaddressed all three points. Teachers and students responses were positive.”

The Weber HSA sponsored the performance and extended the in-vitation to Ms. Nancy Klotz’s dance students at Schreiber High School. Theperformance was a connective activity to the master classes that Ms. MariaLoretta taught to each Schreiber dance class.

“The performance provided Schreiber’s dance students the oppor-tunity to see a full length Flamenco performance with costumes and music; whichreinforced the steps they learned during the master class taught by Ms. Loretta.The performance was educational as well as entertaining; allowing the studentsto experience and take part in traditional Flamenco music and dance. This was aunique and comprehensive learning experience for both Weber and Schreiberstudents.”

The opinions stated in this paper are strictly the views of the authoror authors and not the views of the Spartan Times Staff

or Port Washington School District.

OPINIONS

Kid RKid RKid RKid RKid Rococococockkkkkby Jack Simonby Jack Simonby Jack Simonby Jack Simonby Jack Simon

Sixth graders may have heard me singing Kid Rock songs to myselfin the halls and classrooms. Robert James, better known for his stage name KidRock, is a Rock’n’Roll legend. You have probably heard his most recent hit, AllSummer Long; however, other songs on his new hit album are Amen, Sugar,Low Life, Half Your Age and Rock’n’Roll Jesus. Some of his old school hitsyou have probably haven’t heard are Bawitdaba, Devil Without a Cause andCowboy. He could play almost every instrument you could think of: guitar, drumsand vocals. He also worked with another legend, Lynard Skynard. In 2006, hereleased the album he had the most hits on, Live Trucker. All Summer Longwas his first worldwide hit. In his own words, in one of his songs that I can’tmention, he’s “goin’ platinum, sellin’ rhymes, he went platinum, seven times.”That number stood a long time ago so you can trust me when I say he has goneplatinum many more times than that. There are some who do not like the musicof Kid Rock, claiming it is too loud and obnoxious. One of his most famousalbums, Devil Without a Cause, was certified eleven times as platinum by RIAA,one of the most of all time. Kid Rock married Pamela Anderson but that mar-riage only lasted two short months. Which I think makes it obvious that KidRock can not settle down. Kid Rock, in my opinion, could be the greatestRock’n’Roll artist of all time.

TTTTThe Bohe Bohe Bohe Bohe Boggggg,,,,, J J J J Johnnohnnohnnohnnohnny Mosley Mosley Mosley Mosley Mosleyyyyy,,,,, J J J J Johnnohnnohnnohnnohnny y y y y WWWWWitt:itt:itt:itt:itt:Great SkiiersGreat SkiiersGreat SkiiersGreat SkiiersGreat Skiiers

by Jack Simon Most of you don’t know the famous names I have listed in my title.These two men are, in my opinion, the best mogul skiers ever. I have had theopportunity to meet both of them and received an autograph from both of thesegreats as well. Another great mogul skier is Johnny Witt. I have had the oppor-tunity to be coached by Bruce Boleski (The Bog) and Johnny Witt. Bog and Wittare retired now. They saw their coaching tradition passed on to Johnny Mosley,who came to Stratton Mountain two weeks ago, signed autographs and gave ajump session. Bruce, when he was younger, was rivals with another great, WayneWong. Bog was the first to do a 1080, which is three spins in the air, in a mogulcompetition. In ballet skiing he was able to do an amazing 720 standing up withall his equipment on. Johnny Mosley was the first to do an Iron Cross 360 in acompetition, which is one full turn in the air. The Iron Cross is when your skis arebehind you and they make an X. He was also the first to invert in competition,called the Dinner Roll. Johnny, who is younger than Bog, wowed us by doing astanding up 540 right in front of us. All of these men are great skiers and rolemodels and inspire me to ski every weekend. I hope they inspire you, too.

You’ve probably heard about the North Shore Animal League, butmany people haven’t heard of the North Hempstead Animal League. TheNorth Hempstead Animal League (NHAL) provides a clean and healthy placefor stray and abandoned animals. The North Shore Animal League (NSAL)and the NHAL are very similar, but the North Shore Animal League is morewell-known; more people donate money and adopt pets from there.

There are many wonderful animals being care for at the NHAL, likeDaffy, a young terrier mix, or Noelle, a disabled dog that was picked up off thestreet years ago with a slight limp and complete blindness in one eye. She hasbeen cared for at the NHAL ever since and needs a loving home.

If you want to adopt a pet from the NHAL or NSAL, talk to yourparents or guardians because adopting a pet is a big responsibility and com-mitment. You can help these animals another way: by volunteering. To volun-teer at the North Hempstead Animal League, you can visit their website athttp://theshelterconnection.com/shelterinfo.shtml/ or call 944-8220.

The North Hempstead Animal LeagueNeeds Your Help!

by Cameron Appel and Jaime Sall

Page 8

Book Reviews

Yellow 8 students of English teacher Mrs. Sims contributed two excellent bookreviews for this edition.

SHOPAHOLIC IN DEBTby Michelle Kim

Confessions of a Shopaholic

by Sophie Kinsella

“OK. DON’T PANIC. Don’t panic. It’s only a VISA bill. It’sa piece of paper; a few numbers. I mean, just how scary

can a few numbers be?”

In Sophie Kinsella’s contemporary novel, fashionable and fun BeckyBloomwood is introduced for the first time. Becky wants to be that trendy, suc-cessful journalist that everyone likes. Her only problem is… she can’t affordanything.

When the novel starts, Becky is in her office afraid to open herVISA bill. Becky knows that she is in debt. She has a low-wage job as a finan-cial journalist, but she spends as much as a millionaire would spend. Becky lovesthe good stuff: Prada, Chanel, etc. She lives in a trendy apartment in London,which her roommate pays for. After her attempt at the lottery fails, Becky tries tocut back on her spending with the help of David E. Barton’s Controlling YourCash. She follows his advice, but ends up spending even more than usual.

After bad dates and larger VISA bills, Becky finds comfort in shop-ping. Becky is so desperate that she tries to marry the fifteenth richest bachelor inLondon. She even tries to get a second job, which she fails at miserably. Beckycontinues to avoid the bank by making up outrageous excuses such as the deathof her dog and the acceptance of the Lord. Becky lies to the bank and herparents and she falls deeper into debt.

Kinsella tells the story from the eyes of Becky Bloomwood, whoappears to be superficial and ignorant in the beginning of the novel. However,Becky grows on us and she becomes our best friend. We cry with Becky andlaugh with Becky. Through Becky she reveals that lying doesn’t solve your prob-lems.

No matter how big your debt is, it is never too late to visitthe bank.

The upcoming movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic incorporatesKinsella’s Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. Kinsella’s Shopaholic books are funny and entertaining, perfect for a movie. Weare able to see Becky Bloomwood come to life and change before our eyes.Becky has that reality TV show life that everyone can be interested in because ofher dramatic responses to her problems.

In the beginning and middle section of this book Kinsella introducedus to Becky Bloomwood. Kinsella took her time getting to the main conflict.Throughout the book, we got to know Becky through her small conflicts andhow she handled them. The whole novel was Becky’s conflict, but there was noresolution until the very end. Becky’s life was so elaborate, but the ending wasrushed and everything happened very quickly. Confessions of a Shopaholicwas fun and easy to read, and seems like the perfect book to turn into a movie.Becky has that fun, attractive personality that you can definitely connect to. Beckyis so overwhelmed with her problems we have to laugh at how she handles someof them. Witty and charming, Becky Bloomwood will capture your heart fromthe very beginning.

JAMES BOND TRIUMPHS AGAINby Reed Kalash

From Russia with Love

by Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming does it again, in this action packed, romance filled novel.From Russia with Love puts James Bond right in the center of the action whenhe is forced to overcome his greatest challenge yet. When Russia’s counterintel-ligence agency, known as SMERSH, forms a nefarious plot against the Englishgovernment, only James Bond can save them. With the help of a select few,including M, an agent of MI-6 (The British Secret Service) and a Turkish spyknown as Darko Kerim Bey, James Bond must stop SMERSH at all costs.

In From Russia with Love, General G of SMERSH formulates asinister plan to not only destroy the English Government and MI-6, but JamesBond as well. SMERSH’s head executioner, Red Grant, and the beautiful agentTatiana Romanova are assigned to the task of ending James Bond’s life. Theonly way to fool the English Government is to lure James Bond to a foreigncountry that has some tie to Russia (Istanbul). With the help of Kronsteen, amaster planner, and all of the other extremely sinister agents of SMERSH, theodds are against our hero. When SMERSH introduces the Spektor Machine(an invaluable tool used for creating and breaking codes) into the mix, the stakesonly get higher. Because the book is set around the time period of the ColdWar, that machine would be an extremely important tool to have. As tensionsrise a daring move is made when the Russian agent Tatiana Romanova tries torun away from her home country. Tatiana knows that she would not be wel-come in Britain unless she brings an offering; she takes the Spektor Machine.Unknowingly MI-6 accepts. This leads to a whole host of conflict and decep-tion that boosts the story into overdrive. With Russia’s plans in full effect thestory only gets more and more intense. The closer “Tania” (Tatiana) gets toBond, the better the story gets. As the lies and trickery progress, the EnglishGovernment falls deeper into SMERSH’s web of deception and evil. Withtwists and turns around every corner, and an extreme ending that will shockyou to your core, From Russia with Love is the best Bond story yet!

As the story progresses many themes emerge from the plot. Themain theme is that good will always triumph over evil. This is clearly shown inevery James Bond novel. Bond, the good guy, always triumphs over his adver-saries, in this case, SMERSH. Even though this specific theme is easy to spot,there is a deeper, more meaningful theme intertwined in the writing. The othertheme is that people can change, no matter what the circumstances, when giventhe opportunity, people can change. This is shown through the catastrophicchange in Tatiana. Without this transformation, the end of the book would havebeen extremely different. Tatiana isn’t the only character that goes through achange. Even though James Bond has the hard exterior and does not seem tochange, in every novel he changes a little bit. Whether it’s his outlook on hisjob, or his relationships with other people, the changes he goes through makethe story that much better. Many people don’t think that the “007” series is fullof life lessons and morals, but if you really look, you can find them. The themesIan Fleming expresses are not that of many other books, but all of his themesare crucial to the plot of this story and every other James Bond novel he wrote.

Every book in the James Bond series is phenomenal, but I thinkthat compared to all of the rest, From Russia with Love was rather lackluster.In this novel, Ian Fleming uses extremely descriptive and very specific details,which makes the story a slight disappointment and rather dull, but at the sametime paints a terrific picture in your mind. Every scene, every building, it’s as ifyou’re there. Mr. Fleming’s writing style is rather dark and mysterious, but atthe same time uses clever plots and sequences to keep the reader interested.From Russia with Love is not the best book for a reader looking for a non-stop action filled, shot em’ up kind of novel, but for someone who is interestedin a fantastic drama and a suspense filled novel this is the book for you. Todate, Ian Fleming is one of the best action writers in the world, and I do notthink that there will ever be a novel series that could hold its own next to the“007” series.

Page 9

Emily Dickinson(1830-1886)Short Biography:

Emily Dickinson, regarded as one of America’s greatest poets, is also well knownfor her unusual life of self imposed social seclusion. Despite liiving a life of sim-plicity and seclusion, she wrote poetry of great power; questioning the nature ofimmortality and death, with at times an almost mantric quality. Her different lifestylecreated an aura; often romanticized, and frequently a source of interest and specu-lation. But ultimately Emily Dickinson is remembered for her unique poetry. Withinshort, compact phrases she expressed far-reaching ideas; amidst paradox anduncertainty her poetry has an undeniable capacity to move and provoke.

Biography Reference: http://www.biographyonline.net/poets/emily_dickinson.html

One of her Most Famous Poems:I’m nobody, Who are you?Are you nobody, too?Then there ‘s a pair of us — don’t tell!They ‘d banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong dayTo an admiring bog!A few Quotes:

“ I hope you love birds too. It is economical. It saves gong to heaven.”“The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experi-ence.”“There is no Frigate like a book to take us lands away nor any courses like apage of prancing Poetry.”

Horror Story 2009by Sarah Sturman

Addie is brave. Going inside. Someday she’ll get herself blown up,and take the world along with her. Carrie hesitates, follows. Honestly, those twoare gonna end up in a real jam someday. A scream. Another. A moan. I stand upand click my flashlight on. A raspy voice calls out my name.“Elizabeth?”I freeze.“Who’s there?”My voice comes out like a squeak.“Elizabeth Monterell.” The raspy voice again. “Elizabeth. You are -” The voicestops short, followed by another moan.“Addie?” I call, my voice still like a mouse. “Carrie? Meryl? Hanna? Ivy?”Something click-clacks against the stone floor. “Ellie?”Meryl! I’ve never heard anything so comforting in my life! I almost fall overwith relief. Luckily, Meryl supports my back with one hand, carrying herflashlight in the other.“Where is everyone?” she asks. Her tone is worried. “I...um... uh......well,Addie went off into the-......over there.” I gesture towards the place where Ihad last seen my two comrades. “What!?!” Meryl cries.I can almost feel the grief in her heart. “How...who...wait. Then Carrie’s overthere too, huh?” I nod.“What did you hear?” Meryl asks, her voice suddenly quiet and hopeful. “Tellme!” “Screams. Two. Then...” my voice trailed off, leaving me about to cry.Meryl comforted me, wrapping me in her arms.“I see.” she sighed. I finally mustered up the courage to ask where Hanna andIvy were. Meryl told me the same sad news. “I only heard one scream, though. I didn’t hear any moans, either.” She wasblanketed in darkness, only her face glowing dimly from a strand of moonlightthat had crept into the room. “They were excellent girls.” I murmur. Meryl’s face suddenly turns angry. “And what makes you think they’re gone?!” She practically shouts.“Meryl, no!” I cried. I still haven’t told her about the raspy voice! Too late.“Well, well, well” it chuckles. “What have we got here?” I glimpsed twoyellow eyes, gleaming like stars in the blackness. Meryl shines her flashlight onwhat she thinks is the body, trying to see if she knows it. Oddly enough, thereis no body. Meryl’s flashlight reveals just sticks for everything. A live stickfigure. Better than a zombie.“Ms. Meryl and Ms. Elizabeth.” The voice could be male or female. “What atreat.” A low shuffling sound goes around us. Feet. I feel as if my body wasbeing searched, down to the nearest bone. It found what it’s looking for. I slipthe knotted bracelet off and close it into my fist.“Elizabeth...we both know what I need. Make this easy and hand it over.”Meryl gasps. “No. You didn’t!” she says, astonished. “I did.” I whisper “and Idon’t regret it.” The shuffling comes towards me. I feel a cold breath down myneck. I shiver. Something brushes against my face. Something hard. Almostlike a bone.A stick! “Ellie...” I hear Meryl’s voice whisper. “...Help...?” She says, hervoice barely audible. I feel my wrists being clamped in hands – stick hands. Ihear Meryl scream, right beside me. My mind shouts NO! OH GOD, NO!! Ifind the strength to wrench free of my captor, grab Meryl, and run out, my newcomrade slumped in my arms. Once on the street, I stop and catch my breath,horrified, waiting for the moan to come. Headlights. A car. BIG mistake. It’s Mr. Myron.Oh god, save Meryl.Save me!

All names and characters in this story are fictional. Any relation to a per-son, living or dead, or animal is STRICTLY a coincidence.

Poet of the Monthby Sarah Sturman

Are you a writer? Would you like to have yourwritten work published? If so, please submityour original creative writing story or poetry tothe Spartan Times mailbox outside of room 7 (A.P.Room hallway).

Creative Writers

Weber MiddleSchool hallways areawash in creativeprojects, drawings,and writings. Althougheach and every hall-way is alive with thepersonality and talentsof the student work, inthis edition of theTimes, we have cho-sen the “I Pledge”quilt by art 7 stu-

dents of Ms. Schrauth displayed in the art hallway to highlight.Inspiration for the creation of this quilt (above) by Weber Middle

School’s seventh grade artists came from historical figures during Black Historymonth and from Barack Obama’s Inaugural speech in which he asked all Ameri-cans to “summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility...where each of usresolves to pitch in, work harder and look after not only ourselves but eachother.” These words became motivation for students, as each was asked toformulate a pledge that would guide him in becoming a positive role model forchange in his family, school community and country. Famous individuals inBlack History studied for their courage and strength of character such as HarrietTubman, Martin Luther King, Jr., Langston Hughes and artist Faith Ringgold.The artistic style of Faith Ringgold was the model after which this quilt wasdesigned. African-American artist and author Faith Ringgold was born in Harlemin 1930 and is best known for large painted “story quilts” using a variety of artmaterials including acrylic paint, canvas and fabric. As in Ringgold’s quilts,Weber students incorporated images and words within the quilt design. Our “IPledge” quilt is a motivational art piece for all to share.

Viewers may be motivated to ask themselves, “What pledge will I makein order to be the change that President Barack Obama spoke about?”

Creative Artists

An Out of This World Experienceby Naomi Dominique Boico

“May the wee ones ride with you, John.”

Tom O’Malley as he launched John Glenn in 1962

Three Purple Hearts earned during the Korean War, a hijackedLunar Module from the World’s Fair; a nomination for an Academy Award,writer and a news reporter. Who is this man you may be asking yourself? Well,that’s Bob Button for you. He is a man with no ordinary life. Button accom-plished many things that are part of American history. Here is the life of a pilotwho has a story. I went to meet Bob Button (pictured left) and his wife Regina attheir friend’s apartment in Midtown Manhattan. When we walked in, we weregreeted by Bob with a warm smile, a steady voice and a sharp mind. Then we satdown and started talking. Bob Button served in the Air Force when it was stillcalled the Army Air Corps. He moved from place to place quite a bit, but wasalso stationed not far from here, on an air field which was called Mitchell Field,and which stood on the grounds of what is now the Cradle of Aviation Museum.Then came college, and an English degree, which explains his enthusiastic writingand facility with words. He experienced several colleges, one of which happens

to be Midwestern University lo-cated in Texas. He became a newsreporter for all kinds of news aboutaviation. He was still a reporterwhen NASA began launching theirfirst rockets into space. Since thenext step in aviation was space ex-ploration and travel, Button beganwriting about it. Button made con-nections with people from thespace industry. “…and the nextthing you know is that I was in-vited to go work for NASA.” Well,sort of. Button made a film aboutthe original seven Mercury astro-nauts picked by NASA in 1959out of 69 candidates, to fly onmanned spacecraft. His research

on the subject was so extensive that he caught the eye of NASA who thought hehad great knowledge of their space programs and was asked to come work forthem as a Public Affairs officer in 1960.

“Oh, yes! There IS a difference between Public Affairs (PA) andPublic Relations (PR), you know!” says Button right away in answer to myquestion, and continues, “PA is what the public and press need to know.Business, movie-making and even organizing educational school programs arealso a part of Public Affairs. Public Relations is more political in nature – theyhave a goal to accomplish; a product to sell.” Now that Button got that job, hehad to deal with the astronauts. He would plan press conferences that theastronauts would need to attend, and schedule any other events that theastronauts needed to be involved in.Since these were the famous original sevenastronauts – Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Schirra, Shepard andSlayton – they were in high demand to be interviewed, which caused a lot oftension and stress. NASA eventually decided to let the press have one day outof the week to talk to the astronauts. Friday became the press day, “…and Ihad to be strict with the astronauts who always wanted to escape the pressday!” says Button.

After the Mercury missions, Button became the go-to person forthe Gemini missions – the first missions to send two astronauts together intospace. His job was not only representing the astronauts, but also to be in chargeof the news center, alternating with the other Senior Public Affairs Officers. Hewould be in charge of the place in Houston where the reporters would go to getthe details of a current space mission. A new press site was also built at CapeCanaveral around the time of another Apollo/Saturn rocket launch. That presscenter was built about 2 miles away from the launch pad. Button described this“center” as no more than a small area with only enough space for each reporterto write things down on a pad, like covered bleachers with a slanted iron roof forthe rain to wash off. “It was like a Gypsy camp” Button commented on the newpress site – a far cry from today’s press center at Kennedy Space Center, whichhe described as a small city made up of permanent mobile homes. He remem-bered how several seconds after the launch, the sound and shock waves wouldarrive at the covered press bleachers. He still remembers how impressive thatforce was! (That experience must have been a front pager!!)

Another part of Button’s job, when he wasn’t in charge of the newscenter, was working at the PAO console in Mission Control, where he wascalled the “Voice of Gemini Control.” He would work there during missions.It was a far cry from the block house days at Cape Canaveral where the launchconductor, Tom O’Malley, an Irish man, pushed the button that launched theFriendship 7 spacecraft that carried John Glenn, the first American to orbit theearth. Just a month earlier NASA launched an unmanned Mercury-Atlas rocketthat exploded 42 seconds later in front of the eyes of everyone present, includingthe astronaut Alan Shepard, who said to Button: “Well, there’s a confidencebuilder for ya!” Button turned to me at that point in the interview and said in avery somber voice that astronauts did not fear death and that “the one thing theywere most afraid of was messing up a mission.”

Button was also part of the team that made a movie FriendshipSeven. The movie is 58 minutes long. Button was the second writer and theresearcher. Being the researcher, he got to watch every space mission, includingJohn Glenn’s. He also had to travel all around the world to different trackingstations in order to shoot certain scenes for the movie. After a lot of hard work,the movie was complete. The film was nominated for an Academy Award. Thestory goes that Jack Warner, of the Warner Brothers, did not want the film to benominated, but the Academy Awards committee insisted that they would nottake a good film off the nomination list. I mentioned the movie The Right Stuff toButton. It’s a famous movie about those original seven Mercury astronauts fromthe time Button worked for NASA. Button didn’t like the movie. He said thatthere is not a lot of accurate information about the astronauts that one can learnfrom the movie. When it comes to space movies, there’s no doubt that BobButton is a good critic!!

During our interview, I was told about the landing on the moon.Button said that it just so happened that the hatch to the vehicle opened inward,and because of how the two astronauts were situated inside and the lack ofspace to maneuver, it was Neil who made it out first and therefore the first manon the moon. Another interesting story was that before countdown, every per-son in charge of something specific is asked whether they are a “go.” It’s onlyafter everyone gives their “go” that a countdown can begin. One person noticeda pressure problem and called for a “hold.” The launch conductor decided to“scrub” (cancel) the mission. At that point, all of the reporters present “ran fortheir cars, and were out of there in a split second” as Button recalls. But Buttonasked the reporter Walter Cronkite to stick around for a while and see whathappens next, because scrubbing a mission that costs millions of dollars is noteasy. What happened next is that Werner von Braun, the man who built theSaturn rocket, stormed inside Mission Control to find out why the mission wascalled to scrub. He was told that there was a pressure leak. When asked for the“rate of the leak.” Button was told, “the leak would give us problems only aweek and half from now, when the mission would be long over! Resume themission!” Walter Cronkite wasn’t the only news reporter that covered that mis-sion but his TV Network was the only channel to broadcast that unmannedlaunch. A long time before Button was associated with NASA, he was asoldier and received three Purple Hearts. A Purple Heart is a prestigious awardreceived by a solider of the United States who is wounded in action. The lastPurple Heart was received because while he was calming down a scared newsoldier and telling him that the bombs have been falling far from where they werestanding, a bomb happened to land next to them, sadly killing the young soldierand badly injuring Button.

Bob Button was a fascinating person to interview and an evenmore amazing person to just meet. He accomplished so much in life, and all onhis very own. I would love to get together again with him sometime. I mean,come on! He is a pilot with a story!

More Spartan Sports

Page 11

Above: Mr. Enright’s 7th and 8th gradeBoys’ Wrestling Team

Above: Mr. Shackel’s 8th grade Girls’Basketball Team

Above: Seventh Grade Girls’Volleyball Team

Fun and Games

A P ROOM AWESOME BLUE BOYS CRAZYDANCING DISCO BALL FIVE DOLLARS FRIDAYFUN GIRLS GREEN HAPPY ID CARD LOUD MUSIC PRETZELS RED SINGINGSIX MIX SIXTH GRADE SNACKS YELLOW

I R M U S I C O C B L L F S LOA L O U D I E I O A L R S SS P L I P C R A Z Y P R I A EI A U O I A E F R S R C D Y CA E E U F R D I S C O B A L LP P D A U D N V H H O Y Y Z UGR E E N A WE S O M E C U GI E I P L N L D E C P L S S LI T S G Y C X O R R A L G D BD Z I T G I R L S R R O V R AL E N X E N B L U E T WI M SE L G M L G H A P P Y C R I SD S I X T H G R A D E O M P PS S N A C K S S I X M I X R ZOD G A I D E I O X L D O T I

SSSSSix MMMMMix, the Puzzleby Faith Ausfresser

Six Mix Dances were fun! Although we had our last Six Mix Dance lastmonth, we can relive the memories with my puzzle! Can you find the

words listed below in the puzzle? GOOD LUCK!

TAL’S RANDOM PUZZLEby TAL

What’s so great about organized categories? I think youwill like this random puzzle I created. The words are not orga-nized; they are random words that are not connected to eachother in any way (unless you want them to be). The word list isbelow the puzzle. Good luck finding my random words.

ORANGE PENCIL PIG PINK POPCORN QUEENRACE RED RULER SAD SCHOOL SCIENCESISTER SIX THREE TWO FIVE FOURFUN GAMES GOOD GYM HAPPY HOUSEJOY LOG MATH MUSIC ONE

O Z Q N N S D X L R J EN O D W E R I O I O Z CO R A N G E O S Y S H NC I S U M H U C T A K EP O U X C E E Q P E B IE T N S G S F P H O R CN F H E Z U Y D E R P SC I A R S O R U L E R WI V D E E H G F E C A RL E M O T E O P I N K FS A W A O U L P I G N UG T M B R G M Y G W L N

Word List Mr. Spotteck and the 8th grade boys’ base-ball team finished with an 8-4 final record.

Weber Gymnastics did an amazing job thisseason with 8 wins and 2 losses!

Spring Sports Updates*Spring Sports Updates*Spring Sports Updates*Spring Sports Updates*Spring Sports Updates*

*available updates as of this printing

Spartan Sports

PORT WASHINGTONUNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD OF EDUCATION 2008-2009

Lawrence Greenstein, PresidentKaren Sloan, Vice President

Sandra Ehlich, Dr. Roy Nelson, Jean-Marie Posner,Robert Seiden, Susan Page Sturman

Geoffrey N. Gordon, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools,Nicholas A. Stirling, Ph. D., Asst. Supt. for Curriculum, Instruction and AssessmentKathleen A. Mooney, Asst. Supt. for Human Resources and General Administration

Mary M. Callahan, Asst. Supt. for BusinessAdministrative Offices

100 Campus Drive, Port Washington, N.Y. 11050www.portnet.k12.ny.us

Coach Park and the 8th grade Girls’ Volleyball team Above: Mr. Shackel’s 8th Grade Boys’ Basketball Team

Above: 7th grade Girls’ Volleyball team with Coach Regan Above: Mr. Cain’s 7th Grade Boys’ Basketball Team

Physical Education Students ofthe Month

Each month the Physical Education Department gives deserv-ing students a “Physical Education Student of the Month” Award. Eachstudent’s name is announced during homebase announcements, a certificateand t-shirt are awarded, and each student’s name is prominently displayednear the gym. Congratulations to the following Weber students who re-ceived a Physical Education Student Of The Month award: Blanca Leiva Caroline McDermott Kim Suzzan Alyssa Lugo Thomas Greenstein Ezra Hyman

Congratulations to all Winter I and Winter II Sport Teams! All team players and coaches represented Weber withsportsmanship, pride, and an excellent attitude. As of this edition’s printing, Winter sports have commenced andSpring Sport Teams have begun. Good luck to all! If you did not have a physical at Weber on June 4 or June 5, youmust make an appointment to have a physical with your pediatrician if you are entering grade 7 or planning on playingon a school sport team next year.

Above: Boys’ 8th Grade Volleyball Team with Coach ParkAbove: Boys’ 7th Grade Volleyball Team