The Bulldog Bark

 

  

By: Roderick Frye Jr. and Lauren Matthews  

History: Black History Month, which originated from Carter Woodson’s “Negro History Week,” came into fruition in 1976. It’s an annual holiday that’s celebrated 

during the month of February. The holiday is observed by America, Canada, United Kingdom,Germany, and the Netherlands. Although there are many 

 

African-Americans who made an impact on our lives, we’ve picked a few modern day examples and people from the past. In honor of Black History Month, here are a 

couple of modern and throwback people. For more research: 

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-facts   

    Chance the Rapper 

   Chancelor Jonathan Bennett, known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Chicago. Chance the Rapper was beginning to be seen as a songwriter in 2011.Although Chance the Rapper is a rapper, it doesn’t mean that he hasn’t done some amazing things for society. One of the things he’s done is make a special Olympics Concert. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics he included a couple other artists: Usher, Jason Mraz, and Francis and The Lights. All the money made went to the Special Olympics and some even to Chance’s own charity, “Social Works”. Chance the Rapper’s “Social Works” is a charity to inspire Chicago’s Youth with arts, education and civic engagement.

 

Nicki Minaj  Onika Tanya Maraj, Professionally known as Nicki Minaj, 

American,Trinidadian rapper,singer, actor, songwriter. Born in Saint James, Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago also raised in 

Jamaica Queens, New York. Nicki Minaj is an inspiration to young girls everywhere. At concerts Nicki makes sure every girl in the audience knows that they are amazing. But, Nicki 

Minaj has also done things for students. She’s paid of many of her fans’ college loans, and tuition. Fans told her on Twitter 

that they were struggling with their payments. Nicki being the amazing person she is said “How much do you need?”. Nicki all 

out made a contest for people who needed help with payments. After that she listed kids names and Nicki payed off 

their payments. YASSS NICKI!!!!! 

      

 

 “IF YOU EVEN DREAM OF BEATING ME, 

YOU’D BETTER WAKE UP AND APOLOGIZE”- Muhammad Ali 

   Those words were once said by Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay Jr.) Muhammad 

Ali, a world-renowned boxer and philanthropist. He was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942. He was born in the city of Louisville, Kentucky and 

was the oldest child of Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. and Odessa O’Grady. He changed his name to Muhammad Ali in 1964 after joining the Nation of Islam. Muhammad Ali helped the black community greatly. His power and heroism in 

the world helped black people be seen better than they were. Malcom X said that he “captured the imagination and support of the entire dark world” and many 

others had things to say about him too! Sadly, Muhammad Ali died in 2016 from Parkinsons disease. But, his legacy still goes on. 

    

 

   

Katherine Johnson  “Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they even have more imagination than men”.-Katherine Johnson  

  Katherine Johnson was a mathematician and scientist was born on August 26, 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia to Joylette and Joshua Coleman. She worked for NASA and helped with the historical Friendship 7 and Mercury Project. A movie was made called “Hidden Figures” (I just recently saw it and it’s amazing) that was about black women in NASA. The more recognizable women in that movie would be Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson. Going more into detail about Katherine’s time in NASA she helped them amazingly with math on “Notes of Space Technology”. She also has been very inspiring to girls, with her quotes (one above). She was one of the many black women in NASA. Her quotes are very inspiring and can help anyone despite gender with hard times. During when Obama was president he awarded her the “Presidential Medal of Freedom”. The highest civilian honor. If your wondering, she’s still alive. QUEEN! 

      

 

  

Resources for black history :https://www.one37pm.com/culture/music/chance-the-rapper-charity-gave-back-chicago-community 

https://www.socialworkschi.org/about-us/ https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/15/celebrities/nicki-minaj-pays-students/index.html  

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/muhammad-ali-2411.php  https://www.biography.com/athlete/muhammad-ali  

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/06/muhammad-ali-influenced-civil-rights-movement-160605055700822.html  

https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography  https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/katherine_johnson  

  

 

Student Opinions Sophia Matthews 

What is your Favorite video game? “League of Legends because it is fun to play with friends and there is so 

many characters to choose from!”   Kevin Werner 

6th Grade ------ 

What is your favorite food? “My favorite food has to be orange chicken. OoOo, that stuff is good.” 

Lauren Matthews 6th Grade   

----- What’s your favorite part about spring? 

Spring is ok. It is not to hot and not to cold. Saydie Herlitz  

6th grade  

 

⭐ Teacher Feature⭐  

By: Landon Steiner 

 

This Quarter’s Teacher is… 

Mrs. Sachse! 

 

Questions: 

 

Q: What part of Taft’s staff are you part of? What grade(s) do you work 

with? 

 

A: I’m a Guidance Counselor at Taft Middle School. I do all grades right 

now, but I’ve work with kindergarteners through 8th. I’m last names A-L. 

 

Q: Why did you decide to do the work you are doing now? 

 

  A: Well, I had a career in marketing before, and I didn’t care for it. 

I didn’t want to do it anymore. Then I decided to go to graduate school for 

counseling. I decide to do school counseling, and not mental health counseling. 

 

Q: What is your favorite thing about your job at Taft? How long have you 

been at Taft? 

 

A: I really enjoy working with the students to help them solve problems. 

I’ve been at Taft for 1 year. 

 

Q: What is your favorite memory at Taft so far?  

 

 

A: Wow, there’s a lot. However, my favorite thing so far is working as a 

team with my coworkers, and being able to really support kids going through 

hard stuff. 

 

Q: Do you consider yourself a morning person, or a “night owl?” 

 

A: Night Owl, I just always have been. I find I’m not at my best till 10 

AM. 

 

Q: What is your life motto? 

 

A: “Always be kind,” because you never know what someone else is going 

through. Another would be “laugh as much as possible.” 

 

Q: Describe your favorite thing in FIVE words. 

 

A: Traveling, discorving, laughing, learning, loving. 

 

Q: Describe yourself in ONE word. 

 

A: Unusual. 

 

Q: What has been the biggest challenge in your life outside of school? 

 

A: Probably when my mom died. She died in December of 2013. It was 

really hard. 

 

Q: If you could travel back to ONE place you’ve been to previously, where 

would it be? Why? 

 

A: I would travel back to Australia, because that is where my husband is 

from. I would want to go because that is where my in-laws live, and I love 

them. 

 

Q: Are you someone known to be late or early to an occasion? 

 

A: Late, just being real with you. However, I’ve been working on it. 

 

Q: If you were having a bad day, what are some small things that could 

brighten up your day? 

 

 

A: I would want hugs from my children, hearing something funny, and 

thinking about something I would want to look forward to. 

 

Q: And finally, what do you do to relax after a hard’s day work? 

 

A: I Go home, chill out and watch TV or a movie. My favorite show right 

now is  

“Brooklyn 99. 

 

 

⭐ Teacher Feature⭐  

By: Landon Steiner 

 

This Quarter’s Teacher is… 

Mrs. Duvall! 

 

Questions: 

 

Q: What part of Taft’s staff are you part of?  

What students do you work with? 

 

A: I’m the school’s librarian. I work with all students that come down to the 

Media Center. 

 

Q: What is your favorite thing about your job at Taft? How long have you been 

at Taft? 

 

A: My favorite thing about taft is the wonderful connections I made with some 

wonderful students. This is my second years as the librarian at Taft. 

 

 

Q: What is your favorite memory at Taft so far?  

 

A: One of my favorite memories at taft is when we did the merial project. I 

enjoyed the fact the the students participated well, and so did their families. 

 

Q: Do you consider yourself a morning person, or a “night owl?” 

 

A: I am a definitely a “night owl.” I enjoy the night time. It's a time to wind 

down and relax. 

 

Q: What was one thing that was different one year ago, that stuck out to you? 

 

A: When I started a year ago, I didn’t know many of the teachers. But now, 

they are like family to me. 

 

Q: What is your life motto? 

 

A: Treat others the way you want to be treated. 

 

Q: What is the most interesting place you’ve been? 

 

A: The most fascinating place I’ve been is the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful. 

 

Q: Where’s somewhere special you go when you have free time? 

 

A: When I do have free time, I like to spend it with my grandson. So, anywhere 

he is. 

 

Q: What is the most impressive thing you’ve done? 

 

A: I would hope the most impressive thing I’ve done is raise my children to be 

honest and nurturing adults. 

 

Q: What’s something you’ve always wanted to try, but haven’t gotten around to 

doing? 

 

A: I’ve always wanted to bungee jump of a bridge, over water. 

 

Q: What is the one thing that gets on your nerves? 

 

 

A: One thing that gets on my nerves is when people don’t appreciate what they 

have in life. So many people are without simple things that we take for granted. 

 

`

 

Orchestra I have come here on behalf of the newspaper club to ask you a few questions about the recent orchestra concert and Issma.

1. How were the most recent concert and Issma?

It was a really good time and they were all well prepared.

2. How well do you think the orchestra did? They did really good because they both almost made gold

but in 8th grade missed it by half a point.

3. Was there anything challenging about your issma “journey”? Playing really hard music and playing late at night.

4. How did you overcome those challenges

They had a lot of practicing for December to march and luckily had some downtime.

4/5. What was your most favorite song in both?

The 7th/6th grades were Fiddles on Fire and the 8th grades were Alla Tchaikovsky

5/6. Do you have any plans for the next time?

Same groups and more fun and exciting music.

 

 

Top Ten Most Subscribed Youtubers By Thomas Uram and Allison Cicero

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4. Canal KondZilla 48.3 subscribers

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P.S all numbers are in millions   

DO IT Yourself!

  DIY Easter Eggs 

Materials  - 1. Small Balloons 

- 2. Embroidery Thread - 3. White glue 

- 4. Waxed Paper - 5. A medium sized bowl  

 Steps 

 

Step 1. In your bowl add your glue and add a small amount of water to thin out the glue and then mix it together! 

 Step 2. Place your string in your mixture and mix so the string is completely covered in the glue and water mixture. 

 Step 3. Blow your balloons up. 

 Step 4. Take your balloon and wrap the string around it. 

 Step 5. Take your wax paper and let your balloon string 

eggs dry overnight.  

Step 6. Once your string egg dries pop it with a needle.  

Step 7. (Optional) Take your needle and scrape off leftover glue if needed. 

  

There you have it! A DIY Balloon string egg! I have recreated this craft and below I have included picture of my recreation 

vs the pintrest one! 

 

 This is what we were trying to make... 

  

  This is what we made! 

Overall I think this project went really well. However, we did have to throw away some of our eggs because we did not put enough string on 

them for them to hold. I am really happy with the outcome of this project. I hope you can try it and get even better results! Happy Spring!  

Band Article

 

On March 8th, the Jazz band, 6th grade band, 7th grade, and 8th grade band all performed for the pre-issma concert. Lots of people attended the concert. Many great songs were played by each ensemble. Songs including “Shepherd's Hey”,

“Anasazi”, and “Sword of Kings” were played by the 6th grade band. The Jazz band played “Embraceable You”, and “Living for the City”. The 7th grade played songs

including, “Arabian Dances”, “Wonders of the Universe”, and “Asian Folk Rhapsody”. The eighth grade played songs including,“Encanto”, “Park Street Celebration”, and “The Great American Frontier”. We even got Mr. Turman’s opinion: He was very

proud because all bands have made such big strides and improvements. Although there was a few things everyone could’ve worked on, everybody did an outstanding

job! -Iris Balderas and Saydie Herlitz

 

A Review of “Once on this Island, Jr.” 

Once on this Island is a story about a girl named Ti Moune (Ella Moon), who was saved by the gods (Miabella Gundich, Ethan

Ogrentz, Lilly Ogrentz, and Samantha Zivkovich) and adopted by two old peasants (Logan Schumacher and Olivia Helmuth). She then comes across a boy named Daniel (Davison Rager), whose car has crashed. She travels very far to find him, claims that he is

the love of her life, but is left heartbroken when she finds out Daniel has an arranged marriage. The gods decide to end her

suffering by turning her into a tree. This is a story of love, death, and sacrifices you make along the way. All of the cast members were very devoted to their roles and portrayed them perfectly. The props and background music were a great complement to

the performance. The members of the stage crew and the directors were able to combine with the actors in the show to

come together for one awesome musical. I very much enjoyed the show, and I will certainly come to the next one.

Editors: Lila Pack and Nora Hagerman