In a gesture of goodwill, LMSA students worked together under the direction of art instructor Ms. Wielgosz to craft over 500 ceramic butterflies, which were donated to Children’s Memorial Hospital.

Children’s Memorial Hospital has made a tradition of offering ceramic butterflies to parents whose chil-dren passed away at the hospital. In the past, the owner of a ce-ramics shop made and do-nated them to the hospital. H o w e v e r , last year, that generous shop permanently closed its doors, leaving the hospital with no alternative source of ceramic butterflies.

“They didn’t think that would be able to offer the butterflies again,” said Ms. Wiel-gosz.

Ms. Wielgosz volunteered her own stu-

dents for the project. For weeks they came in before, during, and after school to help.

Students took part in every step of the process, putting the clay into the molds, pressing designs into the clay and fir-ing hundreds of the tiny sculptures in the school’s kiln. The students made plans to host a session with special needs students in order to paint the butterflies.

This project con-sumed over one hun-dred hours of student labor, but it afforded LMSA students the op-portunity to reflect and share about their own lives and losses.

Ms. Wielgosz said the purpose of the proj-ect was to give students “an opportunity to share about their losses and express themselves through the process of creating the butter-flies.”

To the recipients of these gifts, the but-terflies represent the lives of their deceased children. Though small, the ceramic butter-flies give parents some small comfort after the tragedy of losing a child.

Lindblom’s pom-pon team was briefly cancelled following their performance at LMSA’s 2010-2011 pep rally, but has of-ficially been re-opened for tryouts

The team was temporarily disbanded after their dance performance, which raised eyebrows amongst teachers and administra-tors. However, it has been reinstated by the administration; Principal Mather explained that they would like to “revive pom-pon in-stead of killing it.” A new pom-pon team tryout session will take place soon. The tryouts will take place over two days; at least 15 through 20 members are expected to make it in.

The National Dance Association, which supervises pom-pon teams, has been in-vited to come to LMSA during the winter break to teach dancers what is and is not appropriate for high school pom-pon per-formances.

On the day of the performance, many guests were invited to Lindblom’s pep rally including alumni and relatives of faculty. Many faculty were disappointed with the

dance and questioned the appropriateness of its execution at a school function. Prin-cipal Mather said of the performance, “We reminded them that there were going to be alumni at the event, however I don’t think that it was relevant that there were alumni. There’s nothing wrong with certain types of dancing, but there are places where these types of dancing are appropriate.”

Following the rally, pom-pon was im-mediately cancelled for the year by Ms. Franklin, gym instructor and club sponsor. The team had practiced the dance they pre-sented at the rally for several weeks. Pre-approval of the dance was required; it was performed for LMSA Assistant Principal, Ms. Mest.

Principal Mather said of the incident, “There were a number of discussions with the coach and the captains of the team about what was and was not appropriate.” While some members persist that they made the suggested changes in order to gain ap-proval, it remains that the performance was deemed unacceptable.

Mr. Mather and Ms. Mest were not alone in their disappointment; many faculty

members felt the same way and all had their own concerns about the dance. Though fac-ulty was disappointed, many students en-joyed the dance, saying it “made the pep rally fun.”

Senior Eric Echols said, “It was fine… there are different interpretations of vulgar-ity, but in my eyes, the dance was much more

conservative than other high school teams.”While the school’s initial reaction to

the dance caused a bit of an uproar, this incident can only serve to set a clear ex-ample of the schools parameters to other clubs and teams in the future. LMSA looks forward to checking out the new pom-pon team this year.

Volume IV, Issue 2Lindblom Math and Science AcademyNovember/December 2010

Mr. DudekAfter their performance at the pep rally, the pom pon team was temporarily disbanded. A new team is now being formed.

Butterflies for Lost Children Principal for a Day

Pom Pon Team Reinstated by Admins

Lawrence Whitman served as Lindb-lom Principal for a Day on October 21. He walked the halls, greeted the students, and took on many of the responsibilities of a principal.

“I was asked to volunteer one year, and I have been doing it ever since,” our Prin-cipal for the Day said.

Whitman is the President and CEO of Whitman & Associates, a local production company. Whitman said that he enjoyed being a Principal for a Day and loves the Lindblom environment. This comes to no surprise because Whitman, who has been to many schools for Principal for a Day, is a Lindblom alumus. He graduated from

Lindblom Tech in 1976.Although Whitman is an alumnus many

students were unaware that he was our Principal for the Day. Many students had no idea who he was and why he was here.

“I didn’t know we had a principal for the day,” junior Autumn Branch said.

Principal Mather and Mr. Whitman spent the day touring the halls and visit-ing classrooms.

According to CPS, the Principal for the Day program is intended to provide the guests with “an opportunity to learn about the Chicago Public Schools and interact with students, teachers and principals in an actual learning environment.”

The Talon

Dywon PerkinsLawrence Whitman and Principal Mather and enjoy a typical day in LMSA’s halls.

By Michael Alzate

By Dywon Perkins

By Breonna Galvin

LMSA Alumnus Becomes...

Social NetworkingPage 2

Farewell, Ms. FerrellPage 3

The Greatest Rapper of All Time

Page 6

There are many views on social networking. Teens think it is a way to connect, and parents think it is an easy way for their children to get themselves in permanent trouble. Facebook and Twit-ter might be the most popular networking sites, but there are oth-ers like Myspace, Bebo, My Yearbook, and Tagged.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace have added func-tions outside of social networking. For example, Facebook has many games to play and addicting things to “like.” Myspace is now attracting up and coming artists to release music to the world.

Twitter is more popular amongst most students this year. A lot of people are on Twitter and they feel like it is more private than Facebook. Senior Alex Williams said, “It has a more secretive edge. I don’t have

to put as much infor-mation out as with Facebook.”

With Twitter you do not have to provide as

much personal informa-

tion as other networking sites. Only your name, your picture, and what ever you want to provide in your information box is available

to the public. If you make your tweets private,

non-followers can not even see them.

Facebook can be the kiss of death for grade point averages all over the world. “I just go online to check my status and then next thing I know an hour and a half has passed by,” senior Keanna Young said.

Teenagers are easily distracted, and will be, since there are multiple distractions on Facebook, from the pages you can

“like,” to the games like Farmville and

Fishville. Simply reading everyone’s

status can be distracting depending on how many friends you have. Facebook is also known for drama. Everything from break-

ups, fights, and burn pages occur on

Facebook. It is extremely easy

for someone to know everything about you on the site.

My Yearbook is a site that gained

some popularity after Facebook was blocked on

school computers in the 2007-08 school year of. This fame quickly

died because there was little to do and most people didn’t like it. Other websites started to alter their appearance and op-tions when Facebook started to gain huge popularity. Tagged was once known as a teen site that only allowed people from age 13-21, but it now allows older people

to also join the site.Social network-ing has taken

over and changed the way teen-agers do things. With

Facebook and Twitter

you can send your status updates through

text message and also receive your friends and followers updates and notifications to your phone. These sites can also be downloaded as free apps to your iPod Touch as well as other handheld devices.

No matter what you think about these sites, it’s hard to deny that social network-ing sites are a huge part of our lives.

A Huge Part of Our LivesBy Chaniqua Hardy

Social Networking

Bebo and Xanga have the

Youngest CrowdMember profiles in Bebo and Xanga con-

sist of mostly teens and early 20’s.

Facebook vs. TwitterBy Asia Johns

Which social networking site do teenagers prefer: Facebook or Twit-ter? Most teen-agers are active participants in both websites, yet it is still hard for them to say which one they like better. Some argue that the two sites serve different purposes, so you really can’t say one is better than the other. “Facebook is more for sharing pictures, while Twitter allows you to see more of people’s p e r s o n -alities and l i f e s t y l e s through their tweets,” said se-nior Julian Clayton, a participant of both websites.

Facebook is a social networking site

where you can update statuses, share pictures/videos, instant message

friends, and join groups (based on what your interests are).

Facebook also allows a person to know almost everything about you if they see your profile page.

They can also see every-thing you do. Every time

you like a friend’s status, write on a friend’s wall, or even change

your profile picture, everyone can see it. This is what leads to a lot of drama. Kyesha Caver, also a participant on both websites

said, “On Twitter there is less drama because Facebook shows your

every move. Whose picture you like, what you said on a status and all that!”

Twitter is also a social networking site where all

you do is update your status at various times of the day. A

person can see everything you do or think about, just by reading your

posts on Twitter. Some people like sharing everything they do. Some people like Twit-

ter because they get to express their beliefs on the trending topics.

Junior Ashleigh Brogdon said, “I like Twitter because people are hilarious on the trending topics.” Also on Twitter you don’t have “friends” you have “fol-lowers.” Followers are the only people who can see your tweets, if they are protected.

Other teens said they preferred Twitter for privacy purposes. They believe Facebook just tells you everything. Senior Tavashane Brown, a Twitter par-ticipant, said, “On Twitter you can update your sta-tus, no one can reply, also no one gets caught up because Facebook tells it all.” Apparently, there are many other teens that think just like Tavashane. They feel that when people get on Facebook, they start acting senselessly and post things that are unnecessary, which break

up relationships and ruin friend-ships. Others feel that

people need to learn how to limit their

personal lives on Facebook and that way rela-tionships and friendships will

not be lost. Those people feel that

Facebook allows you to keep in touch with your

friends and keeps you posted on what they have been doing.

The debate on which web-site is better will never

end. There will al-ways be teens that prefer Facebook and there will always be teens that prefer Twit-

ter. Both websites offer something that

teenagers enjoy, which is why most teens are partici-

pants in both websites.

More Women on MySpace,

More Men on Hi5Although MySpace gender distribution is almost equal, the new profiles are

mostly Female.

The Women Are Young-

er, The Men are Older The younger demographics are female dominant while the older demographic

are mostly male.

MySpace is still the largest

Over the past 12 months, MySpace grew at a rate of about 157 member pro-

files every minute. 184.1 million active member profiles

The Average

Facebook User has 130

friends

110 million people use

Twitter’s

services

More than

150 million people engage

with Facebook on external

websites every month.

Over 60% of

Twitter use is outside

the U.S.

Page 2 November/December 2010Talon Feature

The teenagers of America are having a hard time finding low paying, minimum wage jobs due to the economy’s decline which has left mil-lions of American adults out of work.

America is currently experiencing its worst re-cession since the Great Depression. It is affect-ing every aspect that makes this country function from housing, to agriculture, to the little things, such as toys. No one is safe from the effects of the recession and teenagers are really feeling the stress when it comes to looking for a job.

Teenagers are struggling to find jobs for sev-eral different reasons, but the search has become much harder since adults are beginning to take the jobs that were once seen as teenage jobs. It is no longer uncommon to see adults working the cash register at McDonald’s, or lifeguarding at the beach or the local pool. Due to America’s growing unemployment rate, adults who were working pretty well-paying jobs have to settle for what they can get.

Senior Markeeta Bridges, is the exception to the jobless epidemic. She currently holds a good

job at Midway Airport as a cashier. Once she turns 18, she will either take a position in man-agement or security.

“To me, being able to get a nonprofessional job as a teen is essentially all about who you know, not what you know,” Markeeta said. She said her aunt helped her get het current job.

Connections are the biggest part of getting a job these days. The process is more than just filling out applications online and waiting for a reply. More initiative is needed. You have to go meet face to face with employers or just ask around.

Teen unemployment is becoming a crisis. Ac-cording to a Northeastern University study, ten years ago, 45.2% of teens had jobs. Today, only 26.4% have jobs which are the lowest levels since WWII. The employment rate for teens has to go up, or else the effects will be detrimental to the future of the country.

Parents are usually providers for the teenag-ers, but teen jobs benefit the entire economy and the job market. Teens without jobs spend less money and go out less which negatively impacts the economy since there are fewer consumers.

Ms. Ferrell has made the decision to leave LMSA staff for another job at North Chica-go’s Roosevelt High School.

She will become the new Director of Small Learning Communities at Roosevelt High School.

The decision to leave was not easy. Ferrell said, “I am very excited and a bit nervous about the transition, which will be a rough time for me and for you [students], as well.” Her new job will require her to break Roos-evelt up into houses.

While this system is unfamiliar to LMSA upperclassmen, the freshman and sophomore classes are divided by the house system.

Ferrell explains, “In my new job I will be redesigning this traditional neighborhood school into smaller ‘houses’ for the 2011-2012 school year, which is a really huge job but I will have the opportunity to influence an immense change intended to help students at this ‘failing school’ increase their freshmen on-track rate and graduation rate,” she said.

Currently, only 40 percent of their students graduate.

Senior Arturo Aguilar is one of many stu-dents disappointed that she is leaving.

“It’s sad to see her gone but she did want us to continue with GSA,” Arturo said. “Hope-fully she’ll be back to visit us soon.”

Ferrell isn’t totally excited about leaving her students behind; she wishes for us to keep in touch.

“I hope to visit LMSA often and to main-tain the meaningful relationships that I have made here with teachers, administrators and students,” she said. “Thank you all for being wonderful scholars; this was not an easy deci-sion to make at all!”

Although she is leaving, Ms. Ferrell wishes for the students that she has built bonds with to keep in contact and keep her updated with the things that are going on at Lindblom. She hopes to remain a part of the LMSA extended family.

Student activities have begun and are ap-parently going quite well. LMSA’s book club, sponsored by librarian Ms. Terry, starts another year with not only fresh reading material but fresh faces.

This year’s underclassmen have joined ranks with Lindb-lom upper-c l a s smen to discuss the liter-ary pieces of con-temporary storytellers and satiate their bib-l i o p h i l i c hungers.

“ T h e book club this year is p r o b a b l y

our best yet,” Ms. Terry said. Freshmen and se-niors alike are attending the book club meetings in unprecedented numbers. Even though pas-sion for reading is definitely present in the book club, not everyone was pleased with the first book choice of the year – Just Another Hero by Sharon Draper.

Senior Angie Guerrero said, “The first book we had to read was full of clichés. The author is so dramatic. The description on the back of the book doesn’t even happen ‘til the end of the book.” Though Angie doesn’t have many com-pliments for the first book of the club, she does agree when Ms. Terry says, “The discussions are in-depth. The last one went on for about 90 minutes.”

Though you are too late to get in on the “in depth” discussions of Just Another Hero, it’s never too late to join the book club to discuss upcoming novels. For a list of those, and other books that might pique your interests, head over to the Library and ask Ms. Terry. She’ll be more than enthused about your interest.

Happy reading!

File Photo

Ms. Ferrell (far right) will become the new Director of Small Learning Communi-ties at Roosevelt High School.

Book Club Kicks Off

Page 3 November/December 2010Talon News

Ms. Ferrell Leaves the Nest; Lands at Roosevelt

Teens Struggle to Find Jobs

LMSA Family Continues to GrowLast issue we introduced you to some of the new teachers and staff at LMSA. Here are four more newcomers to the LMSA family.

Who is Ms. Johnson? Ms. Johnson is the resident principal of Lindblom, or the lady who greets you in the morning along side Principal Mather.

Although her job title may seem simple, she actually oversees the academic center, works with student assessment, and works to increase community involvement.

Before taking on her position at Lindblom, she was a high school science teacher at VOISE, a school located in the Austin neighborhood.

Englewood is no Austin, but Ms. Johnson loves Lindblom. “I think it’s an incredible school. The student and teacher dedication, accountability, and culture are motivating,” Ms. Johnson said. Although she is the resident principal, one cannot question her dedication and passion for Lindblom. Her office is always open, and located in the counselor suite.

— Dywon Perkins

Ms. JohnsonLindblom has welcomed a number of teach-

ers this year; one of them is Ms. Nicole Hand, a graduate of Northwestern University. Before graduating, she worked as a paralegal, as well as in theatre and educational outreach.

She began her time here at LMSA running the Drama Club and filling in as a substitute teacher. When Ms. Ferrell left, Ms. Hand joined the English Department as a full-time teacher.

Ms. Hand’s experience at LMSA has been a success so far. “I love Lindblom. I feel honored to be a part of this wonderful community,” she said.

Most people would find LMSA’s year round schedule to be a challenge. Ms. Hand, though she has never been on the year-round schedule, feels differently. “I love it. It is a great way to keep everyone refreshed throughout the year.”

— Robyn Gregg

Ms. HandLindblom welcomes a new addition to the

counseling family, Mr. Perez is the new Guid-ance Counselor Assistant. His job is to assist students with school related problems and get them through the college process.

He has worked with Chicago Public Schools for 15 years. Nine of those years were dedicated to the special education department for children with autism. He recently came from Social Jus-tice High School where he worked in Adminis-tration. He was let go due to the budget cuts that swept Chicago Public Schools this year.

Mr. Perez feels his experience at LMSA so far has been an exciting and positive one. “I like what I see,” he said. He feels the faculty and students are awesome to be around. Mr. Perez looks forward to meeting and getting to know more students.

— Daivonne Lee

Mr. Perez Ms. Copper

By Kevin Whiteneir

By Carolyn Davis

By Cameron Fenton

Ms. Copper can be found in room 227, teach-ing freshman about biology and others about the environment. The question I’m sure many of you are interested in is: where did this teacher come from?

Well one thing is for sure, Ms. Copper’s re-sume is impressive. She graduated from Loyola, with a master’s in biology. She then continued her education at Illinois attaining a master’s in Education and Public Health. Ms. Copper has been teaching off and on for over twenty years.

“I’m happy to be here because I can teach and see immediate results,” she said. She enjoys that Lindblom gives her the opportunity to teach stu-dents who want to learn. One thing she likes at LMSA is the music played during the passing period! “You never know what you’re going to hear. You guys are used to it but its something new for me: sometimes it’s old school, some-times new. I really enjoy it!”

— Chazz Johnson

Homecoming and Spirit Week Festivities!

In a world full of raging hormones, which path is best to choose: safe sex or abstinence?

The words “safe sex” often give a false sense of security; the title gives off the perception that as long as you use pro-tection there’s nothing to worry about. Wrong. There’s a lot that comes along with sex, even with safe sex.

With that being said, is abstinence a better choice? Abstinence is the only 100 percent guaranteed way you can avoid pregnancy and STD’s (sexually transmit-ted diseases). It means no sexual inter-course, but are there any other options to help maintain physical and emotional stability?

Sex doesn’t always take place “just because” but in some cases because of physical attraction and/or emotional at-

tachments. Many feel that sex should be avoided in

order to prevent the development of feel-ings too early, but in what other way do you have to express yourself? Though it is called safe sex for using protection you still run the risk of becoming pregnant and /or catching a STD. Are a few moments of pleasure worth that risk?

Abstinence protects you from all the consequences of having sex, but does that necessarily mean it’s better? With self dis-ciplining yourself to such an extent, you soon become vulnerable to things such as sexual frustration and a lack of ways to showcase your feelings.

I personally believe that there’s nothing wrong with safe sex. Of course you run the risk of pregnancy and sexually trans-mitted diseases but that’s a cost you have to pay. Abstinence is not for everybody. Everyone seems to have an opinion on

safe sex vs. abstinence. Here at Lindblom, I asked three stu-

dents and they all seem to support safe sex.

Senior Endya Clark said, “I really think abstinence is better but once you’ve already had sex you can’t fight your temp-tations sometimes, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Senior Mariaton Tate said that safe sex should be practiced regardless of how many partners you have.

“Safe sex [is best] if you’re having sex with only one person or multiple people.”

Junior Brianna Hobbs says, “Abstinence is always better because you don’t have to worry about getting a disease or getting pregnant, but there’s nothing wrong with safe sex either.”

THE EDITOR’SCORNER

“Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now? Can we survive it out there? Can we make it somehow?”

Hearing the date June 11, 2011 brings about a flood of emotions. Excitement mixes with anxiety as high school seniors every-where prepare for the unknown that follows graduation. Initially the last year of high school seems to be the final stepping stone to the things we have always dreamed about. It’s natural to gain a high from the knowledge that in a few months there’ll be no more man-datory 8 am days, painfully lengthy advisory meetings and overloads of adolescent drama. Even with all the varying aspects we waited so long to leave behind, there is a bittersweet feeling that will always come with branching out into the unknown.

With recent news filled with tales of stu-dent suicide, murders and attacks there is un-doubtedly a fear for safety in all of us. You’re no longer answering to parent imposed curfews, and every party has your name on it. The pleasure of our long-awaited freedom comes with a sting. The sting of knowing that you can’t just run home and crawl into bed when things go wrong.

Senior Kyesha Caver said, “Well I’m nervous about college parties. Of someone taking advantage of me. Slipping something in my drink.” The importance of responsibil-ity will take on a whole new meaning when put in positions of temptation for drinking and other negatives.

Worries concerning the pocketbook, heart and mind tend to still ultimately override concerns over physical danger. Receiving the dreaded “we regret to inform you” or the coveted “we are pleased” resides as only one small part of the unnerving college process. Even with acceptance to a dream school there will be no guarantee for dream funding. Of-ten the more favorable option is influenced by the greatest offer of financial aid, which many students fear they may never gain enough of.

“I’m afraid that I will get into college, but I won’t be able to afford it,” senior Brianna Frison said. This concern is shared by many other seniors undeniably worried of not being able to receive scholastic support.

Four years of our lives are spent forming friendships, sometimes considered nothing less than family, and finding a place amongst the chaos of teenage living. When placed into a campus covering the span of an entire neighborhood, the extended blocks of hall-way will seem simple and even comforting.

We’ll all throw our textbooks up in the air, yet sorely miss the draining last period on a Friday afternoon. We’ll all fear the slow dy-ing down of calls, text and Skype conferences from the people who have been permanently placed in our worlds for the past four years. We will be sure to cover up the choking of tears in our phone calls to parents within the first days far from home, but hold our pillow tight on that one night when we wake up de-siring nothing more than our own beds. Al-though it is the goal of any academic setting to ultimately graduate as successful intellects who will storm the world with greatness, we build bonds along the way.

Building new attachments to places and people will always present a melancholy challenge. We combine the excitement of meeting new people with the sadness of knowing we grow further away from old friend. Venturing off to find new bonds to get you through your days will soon seem harder than any college math class. As senior Alexis McClure said “I took long enough establish-ing the ones I have.”

We’re all afraid of something

Issue on sex: Safe sex or Abstinence

PSAE testing for LMSA wasn’t the only thing that took place on October 16. This was also the day the Eagles protected their nest. LMSA defeated Kennedy, in our homecoming football game, 58-0. The vic-tory though, wasn’t complete, until after the 7 o’ clock dance. That night, LMSA, turned into Club Masquerade. The school was transformed into a pseudo-club, full of commercial music, and masks of all rays of colors. It had a great turnout, but at the same time, there were many conflicts that came along with that night. Veronica Smith, a junior, said, “I didn’t go to homecoming because so many people were unsure if they were going or not, which is why I stayed at home.” Along with Veronica others missed the dance for a variety of reasons but it was still a success to those who attended. This year there was an array of snacks provided including strawberries, cookies, a chocolate fountain, and not to mention the sweet punch. The decorations gave the dance a fun feel with balloons plastered on the gym floors and hand made masks taped near windows and doors. The DJ stand was custom made into the form of a boom-box but the music coming from it was all that mattered. From songs like “No Hands” and “Hello Good Morning”, the music presented at homecoming by R A Foster (Ryan Foster), a former LMSA eagle, kept the people on the dance floor and pertained to different ethnic backgrounds of the many LMSA students. “Homecoming was cracking, and I was surprised because last year, it sucked.” said senior Jasmine Oats. Being one of the most successful dances so far, LMSA students hope to see many more in future years including a victorious season in football. “Homecoming this year, will hopefully be nothing compared to what we want next year”, said sophomore student council representative Deion Owens. “This year we actually had real food.” The homecoming committee was very pleased with the output of stud ents who came to homecoming for the 2010-2001 school year.

— Arthur Jones

Page 4 November/December 2010Talon Opinion

By Tekhundra Stephens

By: Lovell Cates

Karina Banuelos shows her mask off at homecoming. King and Queen Davontay Kwaaning & Kyesha Caver.

Homecoming and Spirit Week Festivities!

Celebrities and the average person share one thing in common, the need for a little something extra. The popularity of weave that is taking over Lindblom and even the nation raises the question of what makes it so appealing.

For some women, weave is a relief to hair stress. Women have different hair types. Some have dry, oily, long, short, wavy, straight, thick or thin. Some people find that managing their natural hair is a major hassle. It is too thick to comb through, too wavy to straighten, can sweat out, and be an inconvenience all around. Weave, is the answer to some women’s prayers.

When you have weave, “you can wear your weave short, long, curled, straight, colored, layered and the changes will cause no damage to your hair’s health condition.”, said Senior Tavashane Brown,

who loves her weave. It is a fact that too much heat on your

natural hair will cause damage. With weave, you can add as much heat as you please and nothing will happen- if it is hu-man hair. When you take the cheap way out, you’re left with plastic, synthetic hair, which can be burned if too much heat is applied. Human hair, which can cost you more than $100, won’t burn as much.

For the other women who do not wear weaves, they are left dealing with their natural hair. Though there are more struggles dealing with natural hair, it is al-ways cheaper. When a woman wears her natural hair, she never has to worry if her tracks are showing or worry if her weave looks bad. Senior Tay Stephens, a natural hair go-er, prefers her natural hair. In response to dealing with her natural hair, she said “some people are just used to natural hair and deal with it better.” She agrees with many women who say that

they have never had weave, but are always willing to try it.

While women are getting all “dolled up,” do they stop to think that boys are not thinking about their hair? It is true; most boys either do not even care or notice. Then you have the boys who actually care. Senior Cody Bailey said, “Not everyone can just get a weave and look good, but those who get the weaves have to keep it together.”

Some boys like that women can be ver-satile and experiment with different hair looks and different hair types and not feel stuck with their natural hair.

On the other hand, other boys like girls with long hair, only if it is theirs. Now-a-days, boys are more accepting of the short hair cut on girls. They feel that if it is their own hair, it is better.

Weave vs. Natural hair: Which hair works best?

“Lindblom is boring,” said Junior Michaela Lowe.

The average day for students consists of trying to wake up on time, spend-ing approximately seven hours in class, spending 50 minutes in a crowded lunch room with nasty, but ‘healthy’ food, then going home and attempting to balance the sometimes harsh realities of life with the overload of homework that teachers have assigned. High school should be fun, not stressful.

LMSA needs more fun! Compared to other Chicago public high schools, LMSA seems to be lacking in the activity department. Whitney Young Magnet H.S. has more than 100 extracurricular groups. Even underprivileged neighborhood schools like Harper H.S. have more than 60 activities. LMSA has less than that. LMSA does deserve a bit of sympathy however; after all, it did just reopen a few years ago. It also has to deal with recent budget cuts that have spread throughout CPS.

This year more clubs have been intro-duced, like Drama Club and the wres-tling team. Some students still remain, however, without a group they feel they belong to.

“We have the common extracurricu-lar activities, like football, basketball, swimming, but not anything like tennis, [or] even a card game club,” senior Alim Muhammad said. “Many students do not participate in extracurricular activities due to the lack of activities that fit their inter-est,” he said.

Extracurricular activities have a positive impact on students. If students are in the safety of their school, they are not out in the dangerous world. Sports and clubs keep teens off the streets. They also give students a positive way to direct their time, energy, and talents.

Playing sports and being active in high school also prepares teens for the future. Students have the opportunity to learn and grow in a particular area during high school, that way they are prepared for challenges in college.

If LMSA doesn’t offer that particular extracurricular activity, how will the stu-

dent ever learn without paying extremely high rates for training or lessons.

LMSA’s students are at somewhat of a disadvantage because we aren’t being prepared for things we may want to do in the future. Yes, we understand how to write a paper. Yes, we know how to find the missing angle of a right triangle using inverse sine, cosine, or tangent. Yes, we can speak Chinese or Arabic. But what about the students who want to be chefs? There is no cooking club or home eco-nomics class. What about the people who want to play sports that aren’t offered? Many people have expressed interest in men’s volleyball, even lacrosse, but so far, LMSA doesn’t offer them.

“We don’t follow like a normal high school, with a full band and majorettes,” junior Ashley Houlden. School spirit is also something LMSA lacks.

If students were able to be apart of something they enjoyed doing, spirit would increase, and grades would come up in the effort to stay a part of whatever extracurricular activity those students are involved in.

They would walk around in apparel representing their club or sports team with pride, instead of wearing clothes from other high schools, which students have been seen doing.

When reminiscing about their high school years, most alumni immediately say how much they enjoyed them. They had surplus clubs and ethnic groups, and there was always something of interest going on. Why not now? LMSA’s graduat-ing classes have expressed disappointment regarding the activities offered during their high school years. “There are enough sports, [but] the clubs are lacking,” alum Abdullah Hassan said.

Something needs to be done about this. Students deserve to enjoy high school; be-sides, you only live this life once so let’s make the most of it. If you have interest in a club or sport, try to find a sponsor and make it happen.

High school only lasts so long.

LMSA Lacking in Extracurricular Activities

Page 5 November/December 2010Talon Opinion

By Victoria Jackson

A group of stu-dents dances along to the

music at home-coming.

A group of ju-niors smile say cheese for the

camera.

Seniors Carolyn Davis and Fa-

biola Davila pose for the camera.

By Autumn Branch

From listening to lyrics such as, “Clap your hands everybody, if you got what it takes cause I’m Kurtis Blow and I want you to know that these are the breaks,” to “She got that good-good, she Michael Jackson bad,” we have found ourselves witnessing the evolution of hip hop with the emergence of different types of rap-pers. With rap being one of the most well-known genres of this age, one of today’s most frequently asked questions is, “who is the greatest rapper of all time?”

When hip hop first evolved in 1970s with DJ Kool Herc, many did not expect it to last as long as it did. MCs took a beat with a funky groove and a tight baseline and began to rhyme in tempo during late night house parties on the east coast. Rappers such as Kurtis Blow, the Sugar Hill Gang, and Afrika Bambaata, took control of the rap game and made this genre a crowd fa-vorite. Over time, rappers became the new rock stars. Styles went from rapping to the beat, to the beat accompanying the rapper. By the 1980s famous rappers such as LL Cool J, Run DMC, and Slick Rick emerged as the most listened to rappers during the decade. By the 1990s rappers such as the Notorious B.I.G, Tupac, Nas, and Jay-Z began their careers, which to paved the way for the rappers of today’s age. So who is the Greatest Rapper of All Time?

How do you determine who is the best rapper alive? Do you judge it by the num-ber of album sales? Is it the way they rap? Is there a certain fan base they need to have? What makes them the best at their craft? Listeners make rappers their favor-ites based on their style of rap. Everyone wants a versatile rapper, one who brings a different and interesting dish to the dinner table every time. No one wants to hear the same verse or style twice. The more cre-ative you are, the better and stronger fan

base you have. So who is Lindblom’s fa-vorite rapper?

“Ummmm…Mf Doom…he’s multi-di-mensional,” said senior Michael Moore. “He’s lyrical, poetic, and you can just lis-ten to him and feel and not know what he’s talking about.” MF Doom was a hip hop artist who first emerged on the scene with the group KMD. After breaking away from the group MF Doom began his to work on his own collaborating with famous rapper Ghostface Killa. So how can MF Doom be considered the greatest rapper of all time? Does he even have a fan base at Lindblom? I asked a few students and no one seems to have heard of him.

“I don’t even know who he is,” said Keith Davis. “I didn’t know that was a rap-per,” said Nicholas Thomas. So where does he stand, is this just a personal favorite, or does MF Doom have the standards to be-come a Lindblom favorite?

Julian Clayton, a Lindblom senior, says that the greatest rapper of all time is Nas. He says that, “Nas brings hip hop to the table and does not conform to the media.” He says his rhymes are detailed stories that no one else has yet to tell. Nas is more pop-

ular than Doom, so can he be the greatest of all time? Even though Nas is more popular and has sold many albums, he is still not considered the greatest rapper of all time.

After asking many students, Lindblom finally made its choice. The votes were tallied and the results are in, Lindblom crowned Lil’ Wayne as the Greatest Rap-per of All Time.

Many students pick Lil’ Wayne as the greatest rapper because Wayne has ex-perimented with all types of rap. Wayne started out as a hardcore gangster rapper, who evolved himself into a rapper with a rock star caliber. He is a rapper that many choose to listen to as a club banger or as a radio favorite. His style is unique. In his words, he is not a human being. This type of style gives listeners that edge that makes them want more and continue to listen. “Wayne, because he is versatile,” answered Davontay Kwanning. “Weezy F. Baby,” said Kamaria Patterson, “because he is one of the few rappers that experimented with different types of music and was successful with it.” There you have it. Lil Wayne. The Greatest Rapper of All Time.

The Lindblom drumline beat up a storm of entertainment and talent at this year’s Pep Rally. Drumline instructor Mr.Flygt said, “I was excited that the drumline could perform at this year’s pep rally. The drum-line brought a level of discipline and pro-fessionalism that stood out from the rest of the pep rally.”

Despite some of the pep rally’s contro-versial incident, the drumline performed at the high standards approved by Mr. Flygt. Most agreed that the drumline positively executed their school spirit throughout the pep rally and have set a high level of expec-tation for future performances. The drum-line performed Coco B at a high level and played an opening cadence that sounded great.

At the conclusion of the Pep Rally, the group led the students outside to show off their skills. It was loud fun and pumped the school up. Even residents of the neighbor-hood were outside enjoying the rhythyms played by the Lindblom drumline.

One of the drumline members, Jibri Wright said, “The Pep Rally was really good!” The Lindblom drumline consists of nine members. On the Snare Drums: Jason Dunn, Alim Muhammad, Travante Thompson, and Jamel Williams. On the Cymbals: Ashleigh Brogdon and Shanice Turner. On the Bass Drums: Kevin Brown, Agustin Casterjon, and Robert Lockett. On the Multi-Toms/Quads: Davontay Kwaan-ing, Richard Thomas, and Jibri Wright. Mr. Flygt said, “Lindblom is ripe for a group like this to takeover the school.”

Students enjoyed the enthusiasm and professionalism exhibited by the drumline. Many also stated that the best part of the pep rally, was dancing and listening to the drumline outside.

Since then, the Lindblom Drumline has also performed in the Fall “Edutainment” Concert.

Marching to the Beat of a LMSA Drum

Page 6 November/December 2010Talon Arts

Four decades of rappers have changed the face of music

LMSA Presents “Edutainment”

Who is the Greatest?

The Lindblom Fine Arts classes all “edutained” on Thursday October 21, 2010 in Keeler Hall. The chorus, the band, the drum line and all sections of Experi-ences in Music put on performances that will be remembered.

This year’s concert was very educa-tional and entertaining at the same time. This new technique was called “edutain-ment.” It showed off Lindblom’s many talents and exposed many people to different types of music and cultures. This year Lindblom’s fine arts classes had new teachers with different styles. These teach-ers include Mr. Gallo, chorus director and Experience in Music director and Mr. Flygt the Experiences in Music director.

The new way of performing this year was praised and accepted by many people in the audience. Lots of audience mem-bers talked about the “edutainment” done by the chorus. “I enjoyed the way the choir interacted with the audience because it kept me engaged,” Tammy Thomas

said. In this year’s concert Mr. Gallo taught members of the audience chorus warm-ups, and even had them singing along with the choir. One of the choir members Asia Johns said “I felt that the concert went well. Everyone got to share their talents with the audience.”

Lindblom had a total of eighty mem-bers, many of which did not have a lot of experience, but it all came together. By combining both of the choir classes, the choir grew in just a few days. Asia Johns said, “as a part of the choir, I felt we did well with the short amount of practice and experience most of us had.” This year Mr. Gallo’s plan is to have a choir with a hundred members or more. He is working to recruit people within the school even with no prior experience in hopes to make next season’s concert even better.

The band and the drumline were also hits at the concert. Everyone enjoyed their selections and it kept them wanting more. Tammy Thomas said “I thought this concert was good. There were many moments that I will remember. As a whole

the concert was a success. The perform-ers enjoyed themselves and the audience loved the interaction and enjoyed them-selves as well.”

This season’s concert was just the be-ginning of many more concerts to come. A concert is done every season to display the

growth and improvement within Lind-blom’s fine arts. “Next season I hope to expand the choir. I also hope that the next concert will be as good as or even better than this one,” said Mr. Gallo.

A Night of Music to be Remembered

Cardewll 2121- Photobucket.comIn the last ten years many rappers have attempted to claim the title of, “The Greatest Rapper Alive.” Now, LMSA studetns share their views of who has the greatest flow, lyrics, and beats.

By Richard Thomas

By Endya Clark

By Alandrea Mosely

Mica DugasEmmanuel Garcia explains the history and use of the pan pipes in the Andean region as Rebecca Garcia looks on.

Lindblom Eagles are Conference Champions!

Team Englewood’s victory over North Lawndale, the first place team in the conference, on October 20th, opened the door for the Eagles to take the crown.

The Lindblom Eagles had previously beaten Team Englewood in a com-manding 32-6 performance. Because of this win, they placed first over North Lawndale and were able to win con-ference. Coach Charles Frazier said, “Our only goals are to win conference and go undefeated.” Well the Lindblom Eagles can now celebrate for complet-ing one of their goals.

The football team recently played their homecoming game and won 58-0 over Kennedy. Alumni and students filled the stands at Stagg Stadium as the Lindblom Eagles embarrassed their opponents with the highest homecom-ing score in the last three years. Senior players, Cody Bailey and Davontay Kwaaning, led the team to victory with

a total of 530 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. They both could agree that, “this was the best homecoming ever.”

The last game of the season was Oc-tober 20. The Eagles were again vic-torious in a conquering 60-0 victory against Hirsch. This raised their record to 6-3 overall, to match last year’s re-cord. “To go 6-3 again, that’s a damn good thing,” Coach Frazier said after the last game.

This season for the Lindblom Eagles has been more than just crushing de-feats. The Eagles have gone through more upsets than any team could imagine with the lost of their starting quarterback in pre-season games, and starting players due to grades. Still, they prevailed as conference champs and have gone on to complete a fan-tastic season.

Starting December 1, the returning players of the Eagles will begin their off-season workouts to prepare for the next season. After coming off of a good season, the Eagles hope to be as successful as next year or even better.

With Lindblom moving up to a new conference because of their champion-ship, the following season will only have tougher teams and more chal-lenges. That won’t stop the eagles

though as they prepare with help from graduating seniors. Although they are getting ready for college, the seniors say, “We’ll be there to help every-day.”

With the 2010-2011 NBA season quickly approaching the biggest question on every-one’s mind is “Will the Miami Heat’s ‘Big Three’ sacrifice enough to win the cham-pionship?”

The off-season acquisitions of super-stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play alongside Dwanye Wade instantly makes the Heat the favorite to win the Eastern Conference and a favorite to contend for the championship.

The off-season has seen many moves that have changed the landscape of the NBA. With the signings of these two superstars by the Heat, every other signing has gone under the radar, but the other deals will have a similar impact.

The signing of forward Matt Barnes and guard Steve Blake gives the Los Angeles Lakers depth on a bench that will play a vital role in their quest to repeat as the de-fending champs.

The hometown team Chicago Bulls are expected to finish fourth in the eastern con-ference standings, according to ESPN.com. The addition of forward Carlos Boozer should have the biggest impact on the Bulls. Senior Richard Thomas said, “Boozer will give the Bulls a low post presence that they haven’t had in a while and his presence

will make Noah’s life easier because he wouldn’t have to do all the work anymore.” Not only will Boozer make his life easier, he will open up opportunities for shooters Keith Bogans and Kyle Korver.

Not only could LeBron win the MVP award again, but he’s a favorable candi-date to win the defensive player of the year. His main competition could be teammate Dwanye Wade, who led the league in steals last year, and two-time defending defensive player of the year Dwight Howard, of the Orlando Magic.

Derrick Rose and LeBron James won the Rookie of the Year Award in their first season after being selected as the #1 draft pick by their respective teams. Can John Wall win the 2010-2011 Rookie of the Year Award after being selected the #1 overall draft pick by the Washington Wiz-ards? It will be hard for Wall to win this award with the talent of his fellow rookies Evan Turner, DeMarcus Cousins, Wesley Johnson, and Blake Griffin who are also battling to win the award. In a recent sur-vey conducted by NBA.com, 68% of the NBA’s general managers said that John Wall would ultimately end up winning the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

Page 7 November/ December 2010Talon Sports

Eagles Take Conference Title

NBA Season Preview

Do You Think this Year’s Basketball Team will be successful?

Super Bowl XLV will be played at Cow-boys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sun-day, February 6th. Half-way through the NFL season, it is all but certain who will get there.

As a die hard Chicago sports fan I would love for the Bears to reach the super bowl, which seemed reasonable when there re-cord was 4-1 after a triumphant victory at Carolina in week 5. All of the questions surrounding the offensive line seemed to have faded only to reappear in inglorious fashion against the Seahawks and at the Redskins in the following weeks. In week seven the Bears turned the ball over nine times (an NFL record) against a Redskins team that posess the worst ranked defense in the NFL. Jay Cutler has been sacked 17 times in four weeks. I can’t see the Bears even making the playoffs if Jay Cutler, one of the premier quarterbacks in the league, can’t even get a pass off.

I predict the Atlanta Falcons will come out of the NFC South and make their first Super Bowl appearance in 12 years, beat-ing the defending Super-Bowl-champ New Orleans Saints in the NFC championship game. Saints Quarterback Drew Brees is becoming one of the league’s best quar-terbacks, and has found a favorite target

in the four year veteran Marques Colston who is also maturing as an NFL wideout. Their defense again ranks in the top ten in total yards allowed. The Falcons boast one of the best conference records in the NFC, have a great coach in Mike Smith, solid running game, passing game and defense. I see them coming out of the NFC.

There are so many good teams in the AFC this year that any team could be a possible Super Bowl contender. I predict the Ten-nessee Titans will make an appearance in the Big Game beating the NY Jets in the AFC Championship Game simply because the Titans are too good offensively. After a touchdown against Dallas a few weeks ago, offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger said “you’ve got to take your shots,” sum-ming up the Titan’s offensive mindset. Titan’s quarterback Vince Young is one of the most mobile quarterbacks in the league and can pass the football when he needs to. Up to this point the Tennessee Titans have scored more points than any team in the league and I don’t see them slowing down.

As for who will win Super Bowl XLV, I’ve got the Atlanta Falcons beating the Tennessee Titans 32-27.

We will all see soon enough.

Super Bowl Predictions

Player Manager Coach Student Student

“ Yes because I feel like Lindo is going to push us hard and we’re strong in every position.” -Lorenzo Chavez

“ Yes because they’ve had experience with each other in the previous year already, so this year their experi-ence will be better.” -Endya Clark

“If they put in the work this could be the best team Lindblom’s ever had.” -Mr. Linderman

“No because throughout my four years being at Lind-blom, they’ve never been good in my opinion.” -Jac-quelyn McCune

“Yes because Lindo said this year there’s more talent on the team.” -Demetrius Thomas

By Cody Bailey

Nia WilliamsLMSA wins their homecoming game 58-0

By Keith Davis By Cavin Pledger

AXA Achievement Scholarship- The AXA Achievement Scholarship in asso-ciation with U.S. News & World Report awards a total of $670,000. Ten National winners will receive $25,000 and 42 State winners will receive $10,000. To qualify, you must demonstrate: Ambition and drive, determination to set and reach goals, re-spect for self, family and community and the ability to succeed in college. For more information about this scholarship pro-gram, go to: www.axa-achievement.com . Deadline date to apply is December.

First Amendment Essay Contest 2010- The New York Press Association Founda-tion is sponsoring its second annual First Amendment essay contest for 11th and 12th graders. This contest is designed to foster knowledge and understanding of the First Amendment. The first prize is $10,000.00; the second prize is $250.00 and the third place is $100.00. For complete contest de-tails, visit the “What’s New” page of the NYPA website at www.nynewspapers.com. Deadline for entries is December.

Student of Integrity Award- Spon-sored by The Better Business Bureau and is designed for high school seniors who are interested in pursuing secondary edu-cation. Two awards will be given to the High School Seniors who best exemplify the ethical standards set forth by the BBB and its members. The scholarship amount is $2,100. Applications will be accepted from November 17th until January 16th, and the M-W Guidance Office has applica-tion materials at this time. Full application details are also available at www.bbb.org.

AAA Travel High School Challenge- More than $100,000 in scholarships and prizes will be awarded to students in 9th through 12th grade. The challenge begins with an online quiz. The top five scorers in each of the 50 states and the District of Co-lumbia will then take a 40-question written exam. The top scorer will be named the state champion and advance to the national contest. For more information, please visit

www.aaa.com/TravelChallenge. Any stu-dent who is interested must enroll at the website noted above.

Scholarship Essay Workshops for Stu-dents – 4pm – 7pm. This is a hands-on workshop to work on scholarship essays. We will focus on writing and revising a re-flective essay, which is an essay that speaks about a personal event or experience. Re-flective essays are the most common types of essays used for scholarship and college applications. Register at www.chooseyour-future.org. December 20-21 and 27-28.

Gates Millennium Essay Workshops – 4pm-7pm. This workshop will provide support to seniors who are serious about completing for the Gates Millennium Scholarship. The first 50 students will be accommodated. Register at www.choosey-ourfuture.org. December 29, 2010.

You could win a scholarship just for your height! The Paramount Tall Club has a scholarship if you meet the following height requirements:Males - minimum 6’2” and Females - minimum 5’10”. Also, you must be a senior and planning to attend a 2-year or 4-year college this fall. Applica-tion is available at: http://www.tallchicago.orgCopies will also be in the Counseling Office. Deadline is 2/7/2011.

Here it is! The “No Excuses” Scholar-ship! Okay - that’s not the real name - but that’s what it works out to be. It’s the US Bank Scholarship! No GPA - No Essays! That’s right. All you have to do is be a se-nior heading to a 4- year college (okay that might be the one catch). Just go online to usbank.com/scholarship. You have from now until March 2011. We had a winner last year! Good Luck!

Alpha-Phi Alpha Fraternity. Male, Af-rican-American high school seniors. Ap-plication available in College and Career Center and Counseling Suite.

•Santa is taking a break from the North Pole on Saturday December 4 to take his reindeer on a little vacation to beautiful Montrose Harbor for Adrenaline Sports Management’s Santa Hustle 5K run/walk! The only problem is, he needs helpers for his race to cheer on the runners and provide them with water and candy, but he can’t fit all of his little helpers in his sleigh. That’s where Santa needs your help! ASM and Santa are calling out for volunteers to help with water and hot chocolate stations, candy stations, registration, and on course duties. Our generous helpers will receive food and hot chocolate before, during, and after the race along with elf hats and elf volunteer t-shirts to keep with the Christmas Spirit! ASM asks that the volunteers be at Mon-trose Harbor between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. to check in with the volunteer coordinator and receive their hat and shirt. Please note to dress warm! Hot chocolate can only help

you stay warm for so long!

•DCFS is looking for volunteers to help sort Christmas toys for the children they support. You can earn 10-20 hours in one weekend. Volunteers are needed: De-cember 4th from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. December 5th from 9 a.m.- 7 p.m. Work one or both shifts. Please see Ms. Lindsay is you are interested in volunteering for this amazing opportunity.

•Earlier in the year a peer mediator pro-gram was mentioned. If you are interested in helping your peers resolve situations, a good listener, a person who respects confi-dentiality, good at encouraging others you should consider being a mediator. See Mrs. Weathers to receive an application for sign-ing up!

Scholarships! Scholarships!

Reminders & more...back page

November/December 2010 Volume IV, Issue 2

EDITOR IN CHIEF:Tekhundra Stephens

MANAGING EDITOR:Asha Walker

EDITORSKiersten Porter (News)Porsha Stennis (Opinion)Tyehimba Turner (Arts)Tammy Thomas (Sports)Chazz Johnson (Features)Alexandria Williams (Features)Mica Dugas (Photo)

BUSINESS MANAGERChardeney Mason

STAFF Kezia Darring, Chaniqua Hardy, Niara Norvell, Maleiya Porter, Joshua Romero, Jessica Simmons, Chanel Ware, Alexandria Williams, Nia Williams

PRINCIPALMr. Mather

STAFF ADVISORMr. Dudek

TALON (tāl’ən) n. - The claw of an eagle. Among its many functions, the talon is used to dig. It is a symbol of strength and integrity.

Please send all comments, ideas, letters to the editor, and sumbissions to lind-blomnews@gmail.com

The Talon

Fill all the blank squares with the correct numbers. In a 9 by 9 square Sudoku game:

* Every row of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order* Every column of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order* Every 3 by 3 subsection of the 9 by 9 square must in-clude all digits 1 through 9

Sudoku

Opportunities For You

Coming Soon...Boys’ Basketball Home OpenerThursday, December 2, 4:30 p.m.Eagles vs. Richards

LMSA vs. St. Francis de SalesTuesday, December 7, 4:30 p.m.Boys’ Baskeball.

Winter Break Begins Friday, December 10, 3:04 p.m.Have a safe and happy holidays!

Winter Break Ends Monday, January 3, 8:00 a.m.Welcome back.

Acad. Center & Make-up Picture DayWednesday, January 12To order pictures you must bring your order envelope with money on this day. Enve-lopes will be distributed in December.

Martin Luther King DayMonday, January 17No school.

Semester Final ExamsJanuary 24 - 27, 8 - 11:55 a.m.It’s never too early to start studying.