Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Eric Mitchell and Trevor Bowes: Satirical Suggestions for New Clubs at Woodlynde


By Eric Mitchell and Trevor Bowes
Staff Writers

Extra-curricular activities are fun; I think we should add a few. The new clubs could meet after school and would cover topics such as...

-Yodeling
-Wild Goose Chasing
-Yankees Fan Club
-Eye Spy for the Visually Impaired
-Seal Cub Clubbing Club
-Gaddafi Supporters Club
-Gangsters Reading Club (first book, Little Women)
-Fight Club (I would tell you more but I can't talk about it)
-Accordion and Kazoo Ensemble
-British Humour Club (it's jolly good fun)
-Star (both Trek and Wars) Fan Club
-Woodshop (meets same time as Easily Startled Support Group)
-Loitering Hooligan Club
-Eric's Hair's Fan Club
-Map Making Club for the Shaky Handed (on odd days Open Heart Surgery Club)

As you can see we have taken this very seriously.

Eric Mitchell: Zulu is the Best Movie Ever, Filled with Violence

By Eric Mitchell
Staff Writer

The best movie ever is Zulu. It is a well known fact that romance, talking and even plot are only things to put between more meaningful gunfights in movies. Zulu contains no romance and no talking other than what is truly necessary; there are about 30 minutes of drunken missionaries and yelling Englishmen and then the violence. Oh the violence. All 100 minutes of the conflict is a cinematic masterpiece.

The plot is loosely based on the battle of Rorke's Drift, fought in 1879 during the Anglo Zulu war; the battle is one of the many miraculous victories that graced England under her majesty Queen Victoria. The movie, which was produced in 1964, contains massive gun/spear and bayonet clashes that devastate the Zulu force and leave the outnumbered English troops victorious. The only plot in the movie is the gallant fighting on both sides and the glories of that era. This is my favorite movie and is what I watch when I want to see violence and not have to deal with a substantial plot or romance.

Nick Scaramuzza: 9 Years at Woodlynde Have Been Terrific


By Nick Scaramuzza
Staff Writer

My experience in my nine years here at Woodlynde has been terrific.
I learned how to be a better reader after I arrived at Woodlynde. Another thing was that I have made a lot of new friends here, like Victoria Hartzell, Alec Kravitt, Matt Reott, Matt Savitz, Tristan Bosna, Eric Mitchell, and Marcus Ford (who no longer goes here). Another thing that I did in my nine years is play goalie for the Middle School Soccer team. Also, I have had great teachers, such as Mr. Campbell, Mrs. Charnitski, Mrs. Elliott, Mr. Koch, Mr. Purdy, Miss Gal, and Mr. Brennan.

My favorite memories here at Woodlynde were going to McDonalds in UT4 during school because we wanted to go and try the chicken sandwich. Another memory was getting to go outside at the end of the day if we got all of our work done. The last memory was in 8th grade, when at the end of the year we got to go to Hershey Park for an end-of-the-school-year trip.

Nick Spino: Paper Airplane Contest Was a Great Time

By Nick Spino
Staff Writer

Recently, Head of Upper School Mrs. Dougherty held a paper airplane contest for the Upper School. Each grade level was instructed to customize a paper airplane that they would use for the contest. The contest was split into three categories: distance, accuracy, and stunts.

On consecutive mornings, a representative from each grade competed in each category. The representatives for each grade were Peter Mayer and CK Etherington for 12th grade, Evan Fairman-Guinessy for 11th grade, Ryan Harvie and Luke Alonso for 10th grade, and Tristan Bosna for 9th grade.

This event was a great time during morning assemblies, and hopefully, events similar to this one will be planned in the near future.

Joel Cureton: 2 Great New Albums by Drake and Mac Miller

By Joel Cureton
Staff Writer

There has been a lot of new, catchy music that has come out lately.
One new album that has caught my attention is Drake's Take Care. This is Drake's first album in 15 months. It appears to be really taking off. I didn't like Drake before because I thought he was cocky and overrated. Now I still think he's overconfident, but his new album has won me over because he's doing more rapping than singing -- and that's a good thing, since he portrays himself as a hip hop artist.

Another pretty good album that just came out is Mac Miller's Blue Side Park. I think it's pretty bad, because most of the songs are slow and have no flow to them, but other people seem to like him. I don't see why.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Day 4 Anti-Bullying Meetings Are Unnecessary -- By Nick Spino

By Nick Spino
Staff Writer

Many students find the new bullying meetings that Woodlynde has organized to be unnecessary. Every Day four, middle and upper school students meet with their advisors for a mandatory meeting about bullying.

Freshman Joel Cureton said, "They are pointless in my opinion. They do not matter. Kids know what they are doing. I think we should have guidance classes to talk about bullying and we should bring back X-Block for everyone's benefit."
Many Woodlynde students are against the fact that they must attend these meetings because they would rather complete homework or just socialize.

"They are not necessary because there isn't much bullying in school," freshman Nick Scaramuzza said. "This school is a safe school."

From rumors and what is mostly heard up and down the hallways, students want these meetings eliminated. Most students say they understand why bullying is wrong and don't feel the need to review this topic. Basically, from what people believe, these meetings forbid academic time, which is not what people want.

Highlighting Two Boys' Varsity Soccer Players -- By Nick Scaramuzza

By Nick Scaramuzza
Staff Writer

Peter Mayer, a senior on the Boys' Varsity Soccer team, has a very strong kick when he fires the ball at the goal. Also, he is extremely fast and he has some amazing moves on the soccer field. He is a captain and deserves to be a captain because he scores a lot of the team's goals and he is a senior.
I think if he keeps playing at a high level, whatever college he goes to, he will make their soccer team, because he is one of the best soccer players I have ever seen in my eight years here.

Senior CK Etherington is also a great player and team captain. He deserves to be a captain because he is in 12th grade and he tries his best to score a goal and he shows Coach Brad Price that he is taking soccer very seriously. Also he tries his best to win the game and he plays very clean, meaning he's not a dirty player who throws elbows and decks people.

Bring Back X-Block -- By Joel Cureton

By Joel Cureton

Staff Writer

Last year at Woodlynde, there used to be a period in the middle of the school day where the students in seventh through twelfth grade had fourth period off to do basically whatever they wanted.

Now there's no more X-Block.

That is the most ridiculous thing that this school could have ever done, along with the bullying program. Even though we have a free period at the end of the day which I do like, I still miss my club time, where we could join a club like board games or recreation.

They should switch back to the rotating schedule every day. It was much better like that and plus, we had our X-Block and club time. The new schedule really doesn't make much sense because we aren't getting our work done, and every Day four, we have to have a bullying talk. That's also something that bothers me. They can't have X-Block, which I thought was a much more productive period than teachers gave it credit for. But they find it necessary to have something on bullying, when to my knowledge, not that many people at Woodlynde are getting bullied.

I really think they should bring back the period that most of the students loved.

BRING BACK X-BLOCK.