Spring #1 2012 - Volume 2 - Issue 4 MVM Community Newspaperhttp://mvm.sweetwaterschools.org/departments/Pages/Journalism.aspx

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In this Spring #1 - 2012 Edition of The Viking Times

2012 Yearbook – The RunicBy: Leslie Marentes

Last year for 2010-2011, Mar Vista Middle earned a first place award at the an-nual San Diego Fair. It competed against many other middle school yearbooks and it was so good, it took first place in its cat-egory. This years’ yearbook is going to be even better than last year. Why you may ask? There are so many words to describe it; Amazing, 5 stars, Fantastic, Awesome, and winner. Yes, the yearbook class feels they have another first place winner in their hands. Thanks to all the help of our year-book students. The yearbook comes out May 15th and if you haven’t bought yours, get it for only $30.00 at the Viking Student Store.

So hurry and come pre-order your year-book before we sell out. WE WILL SELL OUT THIS YEAR.

5 Star Yearbook Class Creates Another Winner

2011-2012 MVM Teacher Of The Year.By: Jade EspinozaI got a chance to sit down with MVM’s Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Goodnough, to find out a little bit more about her and how she feels about this honor. Interviewer: What does it mean to be Teacher of the Year?Mrs. Goodnough: It means my peers have given me a vote of confidence. It also means my family is proud of me and will put up with me working at home since they see that it is important to me. Interviewer: How did you get nominated for it?Mrs. Goodnough: Staff are asked for nominations with explanations of why they are nominating the person for the honor. Then the staff votes for those who made the list.Interviewer: What keeps you motivated to be a teacher and not give up? Mrs. Goodnough: I try to keep a balance between my home life and work life, but honestly I fail mis-erably. Score one for school! But I really love the

students, they keep me from being too serious.Interviewer: What made you want to become a teacher?Mrs. Goodnough: I wanted to be a judge, but took a break before law school. In my mind I thought I would give back to the community and earn money for law school. I found teaching so challenging, but I like a challenge, so I stuck with it.Interviewer: What strategies help you become a successful teacher?Mrs. Goodnough: By setting up grading systems of support to help encourage students to get the best possible learning experience they can. For ex-ample: Tutoring, retakes on a test, peer discussion, and working together with students.Interviewer: Did you know that you wanted to be-come a math teacher?Mrs. Goodnough: No. But I love math a lot. I try to love anything that is good for me. I love broc-coli too.Thank You Mrs. Goodnough for all you do here at Mar Vista Middle School.

And The Award Goes To...These are just a few samples from yearbooks of Mar Vista’s Past, I wonder what the theme and cover look like this year?

Congratulations Mrs. Goodnough. You represent the best Mar Vista Middle School has to offer to this community.

- Save-A-Sweetheart Campaign - Pg 2- Future Mariner Day - Pg 2- Join the ASB - Pg 2- ASAP Program - Pg. 3

- Robotics Club - Pg. 3- Eco Club - Pg. 3- Adele, the Review - Pg. 4- The Hunger Games, the Movie - Pg 4- Viking Pets - Pg 4

Page 2 Campus News The Viking Times Spring#1 - 2012

Save-A-Sweetheart CampaignBy: Pablo Cuellar

Sometimes, not everyone agrees that Valentine’s Day is a magical day of love and friendship. It may be because not everyone receives giant boxes of choco-lates or abnormally large mutant teddy bears with bulging eyes that day, or perhaps some students don’t enjoy Valentines. However, no student or teacher at Mar Vista Middle can boast that they didn’t receive one small simple gift from someone’s heart this year. Why, you may ask? Because only this year for the first time your one and only ASB took the time and tedious labor in the adaptive building just to give back a little of what you give to them almost every day of the school year.

The ASB main goal 24/7 is to make school a little more entertaining, thus taking away from the mo-notonous sense that school can create. How do they do this? Simple, by creating events that gets students involved and giving recognition to those who strive to excel along with much more. ASB fundraises all year long for one purpose, to give the money back to the students in forms of incentives, rewards and awards programs. The money they make when you buy chips and drinks everyday always returns to you in unex-pected ways such as the grams you received during Valentines which were paid for with your money to supply to you with sweets, the circle of life you see. It took them days to fold more than one thousand pieces of paper into packets, inserting candy in it, and sta-pling them. This does not take into consideration the rest of such nimble labor, de facto you must take into consideration the process of sorting them into bags, making sure there is enough for every class, and hand-ing them out. Yet, the ASB still does this to make school a happier place for everyone and what better day to do it than February fourteenth, the day of love. On top of the candy everyone received that day in their individual mass manufactured packets, some for-tunate Vikings received a randomly placed stamp on their gram that entitled them to get any item from the

Giving Back to MVM Students

ASB concession stand. Thus that day many Vikings were delighted to see that they got candy and that they could claim a free snack.

Even the teachers received one big chocolate for all their hard effort to produce competent citizens for the future, and for that we thank you!

Therefore, you shouldn’t take in vain the small gift you received from your ASB. In fact you should cherish the fact and be grateful that your school was the only school in the district, in which everyone got a gift. As a result MVM Vikings couldn’t complain this year that they were “Forever Alone” on the day of love.

Crystabel Procopio and Omar Ramirez were two winners that had the special stamp that entitled them to free items at the ASB Student Store?

To Be or Not to Be... A Freshman in High School

Stephanie Morales is considering joining the Golf team at MVHS

ASB RecrutingBy: Jazmine Gonzalez Hey 7th graders, do you want to be in the ASB? This is what the posters advertised starting in Febru-ary. Over 70 seventh grade students came to that meet-ing to find out what they needed to do to become a part of an amazing student leadership group on campus. Lots of students don’t know what the ASB does “behind the scenes” as Mr. Lopez would say. The ASB isn’t just ta bunch of student that sells chips during lunch or nutrition break. We do things for the students like: dances, lunchtime activities, posters, we put up/take down the marquee, we organize award ceremo-nies, and lots more.

The ASB family is really fun because you make lots of new friends and learn how to do a lot of things that will help you in life. Taking initiative is one of the biggest things you learn while being in ASB.

At this very moment, we are in the middle of the selecting the new ASB strudents. Forty students ap-plied for twenty-one spots, and by the end of April the new ASB will be announced and training will begin almost immediately. We look forward to adding the new ASB students that are interested in being a part of this amazing group family.

Join The ASB!

Future Mariner DayBy: Caytlin Rico

At the beginning of semester two a group of high school teachers and students came to Mar Vista Middle in what is known as “Future Mariner Day”. The purpose of the event is to highlight some of the activities future Mariners can get involved in once they reach Mar Vista High School. They had booths lined up on both sides of the Viking Stage that showed all the different classes we could take. There were also so many groups and clubs that of-fer opportunities to get involved in many ways. Which ones did you choose?

Maybe you chose to learn a new language, or study the ocean in the Poseidon Academy. Or may-be you chose to play a sport like soccer, basketball, or volleyball. These were just a few of the many different options you had to choose from.

With the help of some high school students, our Vikings found out what they wanted to do next year. Whether its ROTC, band, football, basket-ball, golf or art, our future Mariners are prepared for the next chapter...high school.

Spring #2 - 2012 ASAP News The Viking Times Page 3

The After School Activities Program By: Melissa Hernandez

The After School Activities Program is a program where students from Mar Vista Middle can stay after school to do homework and extracurricular activi-ties. There are many activities in the ASAP like the homework center, fashion club, art club, game room, dodgeball and cooking class as well as many sports like soccer, basketball, softball, volleyball and foot-ball.

To be involved in the ASAP, you must turn in a reg-istration form to room 907 that enables you to stay after school at least three times a week. Once in the program, you have to sign in near the 900 building or the computer lab where they give you a snack and stamp your hand to know that you are a part of the ASAP.

The arts and crafts room is not a very well known activity but it’s very fun. It’s in room 607 every Tues-day and minimum day Friday’s. There is usually one thing they focus on every week or two. For example the week of February 19 to February 27, they were making an anti-bully poster for “College: Making It Happen” which occurred on February 29. “The arts and crafts room is really interesting, they teach us to make different kinds of creative art work”, says Leslie Jimenez.

The ASAP is a great program to have fun with your friends after school and to get involved.

Need More Time?

Samantha Ronquillo completes her Anti-Bullying poster in the arts and crafts room.

Robotics ClubBy: Melissa Carrasco

Do you have patience, are good with tools, and love building things? Then you should join the Robotics club. It is a fun way to use all of the characteristics and it is a great way to work in a team. But how did the club even start?

It all started when Mrs. Trejo received a robotics kit from Hilltop High School. She asked Ms. Tom if she wanted to help her in forming a club that joins math and science. They formed the Robotics Club

At the beginning, they had around twenty students which includes officers. They have the President, Os-car Ceja, and the Treasurer, Hagen Helmers.

To be in the club, you must be patient with the proj-ects since your robot sometime won’t work. You must have good building skills since you’re the one build-ing it, and lastly you must be good at teamwork since everyone works in a group and no one gets left behind.

The Robotics Club hopes to go to at least one com-

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto petition soon and hopefully win. They have also been fundraising to buy new parts for their robots. If you want to be in the club and stay in the club you must sign a contract and not miss more that 2 meetings

or else you are out. Remember that the club meets after school in Mrs. Trejo’s class at 3:30-4:30 every Monday.

Mar Vista’s Eco ClubBy: Jasmine S GutierrezWhat is the Eco Club? Its a new club that started in the after school program. But what are their goals? What do they want to accomplish? Lets find out what it’s it about shall we?Interviewer: Ms. Tom, why did you start this club?Ms. Tom: This club was started to empower students and to take part in making a difference in the com-munity.Interviewer: What other teachers are participating in this club?Ms. Tom: Ms. Hales and Ms. TrejoInterviewer: When does the club meet?Ms. Tom: The club is required to meet on each Tues-day of the week from 3:30 to 4:30 in room 608.Interviewer: Are there officers?

Let’s Make A DifferenceMs. Tom: There is only a president and that’s Oscar Ceja.Interviewer: Are you looking for more officers and people to be in the club?Ms. Tom: Yes! I’m looking for more people to join.Interviewer: How many people are in the club right know?Ms. Tom: There currently are 11 members and more have approached me to join.Interviewer: Will there be any field trips and if so then where will you go?Ms. Tom: Yes there will be field trips like the beach clean up on March 10th, a trip to Balboa park, and helping animal shelters. Interviewer: How will this club help the environ-ment?Ms. Tom: Well, I give information to the students on

the environment and hope that they pass on the infor-mation to their fellow peers. Now that you have a little information on the Eco Club I really think that you should join. Also you will be able to make a difference in your community.Interviewer: Anything else?Ms.Tom: Join!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s open to any MVM stu-dent.

Hagen Helmers, Brian Hayes and Oscar Ceja work great as a team during one of the Robotics Club meetings.

The Eco Club take a break from one of their presentations.

Page 4 Entertainment News The Viking Times Spring #1 - 2012

Music at MVMBy: Alexis Harrell

“We could of had it all.” Have you heard that before? “Rolling in the Deep”, written and sung by Adele. “The lyrics are powerful, emotional, meaning-ful” says Danadyia Otero.

According to RollingStone.com, “Rolling in the Deep” is described as a song with “the emotions of a scorned lover.” The song is considered to be a “cross-over hit”, the largest in the United States. In March 2012, “Rolling in the Deep” became the highest sell-ing song by a female artist. That song was also an in-ternational success.

This song was also nominated music video of the year. It also won several awards; Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction. “Rolling in the Deep” reached number one in 11 countries. Her album “21” sold 6,679,00 copies, this album helped Adele receive 6 Grammy Awards in one night.

The success of 21 earned Adele numerous men-tions in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 2011, Billboard named Adele Artist of the Year.

Adele is very successful artist who inspires young people with her music. She has numerous awards for her tremendous songs. Many students at MVM enjoy Adele’s music.

The Hunger GamesBy: Leslie Olvera

The Hunger Games written by Suzanne Collins, is a fictional book for teenagers. It has romance, action, and drama all going on at the same time. “It’s such a good book I just couldn’t wait to know what was going to happen next. I just couldn’t put the book down,” said Yvanna Estrada. The story is set in the future, but it also has some ideas from Greek myth of Theseus and Minotaur.

The story takes place in a country named Panem which is present day North America, but it was by nat-ural disasters. It’s divided into twelve districts which is ruled by a brutal government. Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year-old takes her younger sister, Primrose Everdeen’s, place to be a tribute in the Hunger Games in the Capitol.

The Hunger Games are a competition to the death for children from the ages of twelve to eighteen. These games were created when the districts tried to rebel.

Rolling In the Deep..... “May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor”The Hunger Games are televised and mandatory to watch for everyone in Panem. Katniss is not only try-ing to survive but also keeping up a romance at the same time with her district partner, Peeta Mellark. Katniss struggles with many obstacles throughout the book which are love, hunger, thirst, injuries, and survival.

The Hunger Games is the first book in a trilogy that was released in 2008. Followed by Catching Fire in 2009 and Mockingjay in 2010. The Hunger Games won many awards and is a New York Time best seller.

Some people prefer watching the movie and then reading the book. Which did you do first?

Pets At Mar Vista MiddleBy: Sophia Fisher

Mar Vista Middle is a school full of kids with dif-ferent personalities who love to do different things. Everyone at one point gets bored, and what better way to keep you company then having a pet?

People have pets for many reasons, one being companionship. Animals will always be there when you’re lonely, they’re great playmates. Most people who have pets when they’re younger tend to let their

Woof, Meow, Chirp!children get pets because they want them to experi-ence the same joy.

I went around the school during lunch-time and asked kids what kinds of pets they had at home and surprisingly 29% of students don’t have any pets at all. A large majority of students, 33%, prefer dogs. “Dogs make great hiking partners,” said Mr. Wasson. The third most popular animal was cats reaching 16%. The fourth most popular was fish, coming out at 12%, probably because they’re low maintenance. The last 10%, which are chinchillas, mice, rats, lizards, birds, hamsters and turtles, the least desirable pets to have.

All in all, animals are always fun to have around. Although it takes a lot of responsibility to care for one, they are completely worth it. Mar Vista Middle has students that prefer a certain type of animal, but it all depends on your personality. In my opinion I prefer reptiles, like snakes, because they’re curious and ev-ery day I learn something new about them. Everyone wants someone they can hangout with out of school and pets are the perfect option.

Journalism ClassThe Viking Times

& The Runic Yearbook Staff

Melissa CarrascoPablo CuellarJade EspinozaSophie Fisher

Jazmine GonzalezJasmine GutierrezBreanna HamlinAlexis Harrell

Melissa HernandezLeslie OlveraCaytie Rico

Mr. David Lopez Journalism Class Advisor

Thank you all for your hard work this 2011-2012 year.