Teachers New to the GIS Education Station

Mrs. Rampulla

Mrs. Bowden

Mrs. Wildrick

     This school year brought with it new teachers to GIS. Mrs. Wildrick, Mrs. Bowden and Mrs. Rampulla have paved their way into the heart of our school.

     Mrs. Wildrik is extremely nice and a great music teacher. Mrs. Wildrik used to teach at SAS (kindergarten-2nd grade). She has also taught at Orange-Ulster BOCES and Round Hill Elementary School. Mrs. Wildrik has been teaching for 5 years! One of her favorite, funniest experiences teaching was at Round Hill Elementary School was when “the second graders performed a short musical comedy for the school that was very funny to watch. The best part was seeing all the students and teachers enjoy it.” She said that one of her most challenging teaching experiences so far, was putting on her first concert 5 years ago. “ Even teachers get nervous!” she said. I am glad that she has joined our school this year! (continued on next page)

     Mrs. Bowden is an  amazing new fifth grade teacher this year! She has been teaching for four years and has taught at a couple different schools including Haldane Elementary School, Liberty Middle School and Maplehill Elementary School. Mrs. Bowden said the most challenging experience of teaching this year is teaching hybrid with kids at school and at home. Mrs. Bowden sounds like a very lovely teacher to have.        

     This year is Mrs. Rampulla’s first year as a full time fifth grade teacher at GIS but she has worked at GIS and CJH as a leave-replacement teacher so her face may be familiar.  Mrs. Rampulla has taught in many different grades, school districts, and states. Mrs. Rampulla has taught 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th/8th grade math. Mrs. Rampulla has taught in Lindenhurst, New York and Boca Raton, Florida. One of her funniest experiences teaching was when her students read the book Matilda. After reading, they put Mrs. Trunchbull on trial. The students designed a play that explained why Mrs. Trunchbull should be put in jail for her actions, and they acted out their parts. It was a great way to learn about the judicial system while reading. Mrs. Rampulla misses seeing all of her students in person. She wishes they were all together as a unit in their classroom. Mrs. Rampulla seems like a very fun and caring teacher.

      We are very lucky to have such dedicated teachers as part of our GIS family.-Autumn Dobbs

What’s Going on in Third Grade?

     We all know school’s been a bit weird right now. Well, life has been. What about the students coming to a completely new school? Sure, there’s elementary school, which, in our school district, is SAS, but the kindergarteners are mostly just led around the school and have nothing to worry about, and the sixth graders at CJ Hooker are older and more used to this. For third graders, it’s their first real move from schools. For some kids, it might be intimidating. Maybe confusing. It might be interesting, awesome, or maybe just flat out scary. Now, things are a bit different. The kids have to do A and B groups if they’re doing the hybrid plan, and some are just fully virtual! Sure, the virtual students would have a chance to switch to the hybrid plan, but that’s not up to the students. Even students who are using the hybrid plan can barely walk around the school! What’s going on now might make some kids feel even more scared than if they were just switching schools. So, how are they doing now? Let’s find out!

     I’ve interviewed third grade students and teachers to tell us a bit about what third grade is like. Mostly, the pros of the situation are: you get to be home with your family, you get to eat whenever you want, you can wear pajamas ‘in school’ without anyone noticing, and it benefits your health. Cons: slow internet, sometimes, it’s hard to understand what the teacher is talking about, and, for the teachers, it’s hard to explain certain things sometimes. Finally, the biggest con of all, mentioned by students and teachers, not being able to socialize. Sure, you’re not supposed to socialize in class, but what about recess? Lunch? Snack? Breaks? All times you can socialize. Well, due to Covid, you’re going to have to wait until after school. Another big con, siblings. Even if you’re not in the same room or class, even, you can still probably hear your siblings while you’re in class, plus, there are many other distractions, like your pets, the TV, and even your parents! Let’s get done with cons. One thing some of the students love is Art class, taught by Mr. Hoover. He’s a great artist and makes art fun for everyone! Some people have other opinions, like that they like P.E better, or Library. Of course every special is great in its own way, but there’s no way to mention all of them here.

     There’s been a change since virtual learning from last year to now. Some differences include longer periods of time on meets, doing activities, and technology glitches. We can’t forget about everyone knowing a lot more about google meets than last year. Wow, there’s a lot going on in third grade, isn’t there? Let’s just hope things get back to normal in time for the students to see their school how it would normally be! -Alexa Krabbe

Happy Holidays!

Celebrating Hanukkah

      Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday. Hanukkah is the Jewish festival of lights.  Every year people that celebrate Hanukkah light a menorah for the 8 days of Hanukkah. Hanukkah starts on the 10th of December this year.  The word Hanukkah means rededication. Here is the story behind Hanukkah. The Greek King Antiochus did not like the Jewish people. He did not like people who were different from him. Antiochus’s guards destroyed the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. A small group of ordinary Jewish people fought the big group of the king’s soldiers and the Jewish people won.  After the Jewish people went into their temple and cleaned up, they found a little bit of oil to light the menorah. There was only oil for one day, but they lit it anyway, and the little bit of oil lasted 8 days, which was a miracle.

     We celebrate Hanukkah to remember the miracle of the lights and the victory of Jewish people getting to practice their religion. In the story, the oil was very important.That's why we eat a lot of fried food, like potato latkes and jelly donuts. Jewish people get presents each night of Hanukkah. They play a game that is called Dreidel. The reason why they play Dreidel goes back to what happened with the Greek King Antiochus. He did not want the Jewish people to study their religion, so he made a rule that the Jewish people could not practice their religion. So the people played this game to make the soldiers think they were playing a game, while they were really practicing their religion. To play Dreidel, you need a dreidel and gelt, which is money. You spin the dreidel and see what alphabet symbol is on the top.The alphabet symbols are Nun, meaning you do not take anything from the pile. Gimel, means to  get all of the pile. Hey, means to take half of the pile. Shin, means to give one gelt to the pile. When you put the dreidel letters together, they make an acronym NGHS which stands for nes gadol hayah sham and means, “A great miracle happened there.” I hope you liked learning some things about Hanukkah - Olivia Jordan

Celebrating African Heritage

As a family from African descent, we celebrate Kwanzaa every year. First, Kwanzaa is celebrated in the last week of each year. It starts on December 26 and ends on January 1st . My family, like many others, celebrates it by illuminating candles. Each day we light a candle for celebration such as Umoja or unity in day 1, Kujichagulia or self-determination in day 2, Ujima or collective work and responsibility in day 3, Ujamaa or cooperative economics in day 4, Nia or purpose in day 5, Kuumba or creativity in day 6 and Imani or faith in day 7. My parents tell us about the importance of unity, working together and having faith. Finally, on the last day of Kwanzaa my mother cooks a big meal also known as the Kwanzaa Karamu. In fact, my sister and I get the table ready with the colorful candles as well as harvest fruits decoration. As you can see, Kwanzaa gives us the opportunity to celebrate as a family by honoring our African Heritage. -Tahirou Barry

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

     Christmas is a fun holiday that some people celebrate. It’s a time for joy, cheer, and gifts. Or you can just say the time for giving. People celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ around this time. But do you want to know more about this important day? After all, it would be great to have some knowledge about this time of year- especially because it’s only getting closer and closer to Christmas. If you do, continue reading about this fun-filled holiday.

        It takes two days to celebrate Christmas. December 24th is Christmas Eve, and December 25th is Christmas day. Families set up a Christmas tree and decorate it with festive ornaments. Some might hang up some candy canes on their tree too. People usually use fir or pine trees as Christmas trees. Stockings, things that look like oversized colorful socks, are things that you can hang up, usually above a fireplace. Santa Clause fills your stocking on the night of Christmas Eve. Setting up a Christmas tree and hanging up stockings are  only two of the exciting traditions December brings. Different people have different traditions. For instance, my family has a big dinner on Christmas Eve.

     When the night of Christmas Eve does finally arrive, children wait eagerly all night for Santa Clause to stop off at their house and deliver their share of presents under their Christmas tree. Santa also fills stockings with little gifts and candies. Stocking stuffers, for short. They open their presents on Christmas day. Even though presents appear under Christmas trees, nobody truly knows if Santa and his nine reindeer, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and the famous Rudolph, really exist. But still, people put out cookies, milk, and sometimes carrots for him and his reindeer. After all, it must be tiring to travel all over the world, so some snacks would be the perfect fuel to keep them going!

     Christmas is probably my favorite holiday. But anyway, I like it most because I like giving someone a present, and seeing their face light up with joy. And the Christmas tree is fun to decorate. You should give someone a present for Christmas because it’s a great way to spread Christmas spirit, and you know how much parents love homemade gifts. You’ll give a gift you made all by yourself and a few years later, they’ll show it to you and say that you made this when you were six years old and start making a big deal about it… but that’s not the point. The point is you should spread some holiday spirit and make some people happy because of all this crazy stuff about the virus. So get out there and spread some Christmas cheer! -Olivia Gawronski

What are YOU cooking up?

      The Christmas holidays are a great time to bake. Does your family bake cookies during the Christmas season? It is that time of the year again, time for holiday cooking! The holidays bring family and friends near and far together and what a better way than to enjoy great food. For dinner, you can make ham and mashed potatoes and some corn or mixed vegetables. Prime rib is also on the menu at some people’s houses.  Some people eat turkey on Christmas.  And then for the 3rd round...dessert!

     The holidays bring with it a time to bake. Everyone loves freshly baked goodies such as cookies. Some of my classmates like cookies, raisin cookies and sugar cookies. They also like gingerbread cookies, along with their ham or turkey dinner. You can also make cookies like sugar cookies and you can also make gingerbread  cookies. Ms. Salamone enjoys eating Struffoli and cookies like chocolate chip cookies. Macaroons look like shells.  Some people are also wondering what they do with the rest of the cookies. Some can be used for gingerbread houses and then on Christmas Eve you can set out cookies and a carrot for the reindeer. Some people leave some cookies for Santa and then carrots for the reindeer. Just don't forget to leave milk out with the cookies for Santa.

     So, I hope you enjoy your Christmas dinner and desserts. Happy holidays everyone!!! -Ashleigh Galinus

What are YOU doing over the holiday break?

Some things that I usually like to do over Christmas break are not going to be open this year. I used to go to the Castle, the bowling alley, and the movies. Many of my friends said that they were going to do Christmas and New Year crafts, board games, playing out in the snow and birthday parties. You could build huge forts in your room and have a sleepover with your best friend. I really hope that we get a ton of snow over break so we can go sleigh riding, skiing, and snowboarding. You could also try flips in the snow with your friends. Something that I know I will be doing a lot is playing on my Xbox, drawing, putting up decorations, and flipping in the snow. We all know that we are not allowed to go out of the state to see family so you could make a big facetime call with all of your family on Christmas Eve night! Even if we can't do all of the same things that we would usually do I think it will still be an awesome Christmas! -Jillian Church

A Countdown of the Top 20 Christmas Movies to Watch on Christmas Break 

20. The Santa Clause was released in (1994).

19. Gremlins; Some may not think it is a Christmas movie but it is based around Christmas time (1984).

18.National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989).

17. Scrooged,, a story that will tell you that people can change,let out in 1988.

16. Die Hard was put in theatres also in 1988.

15. Miracle on 34th Street, which was put out in 1947.

14. White Christmas was put out in 1954 for all the people to enjoy.

13. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

12. Trading Places (1983).

11. Home Alone, a loving and silly movie for the whole family can enjoy.

10. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,a loved Christmas movie (1964).  

9. The Year Without Santa Claus (1974).

8. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992).

7. Bad Santa is a movie for parents to watch after the children go to bed,

6. Love Actually(2003) that includes Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You.

5. How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

4.  Elf.

3. Charlie Brown Christmas(1965).

2. A Christmas Story(1983).

1. It’s A Wonderful Life; It’s a special movie for everyone to enjoy.

 How many of these movies have YOU seen already? Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! -Amanda Rodriguez

Roblox: Oh, the Possibilities!

Roblox is a fun game for all ages.  You can access it from many different electronic devices, for instance, IOS/Android.  Roblox is a game that has a bunch of mini games inside of it and you can do so many different activities, for example, customize your avatar, or make your own game. Roblox grew this year by so much because so many more kids are home more.  Roblox all started in 2006. Roblox became a word by combining robots and bloxs.  Roblox has its own currency, it is called robuxs.  One of my favorite games is bloxburg.  Bloxburg is a game where you can build houses to roleplay.  To do that you need to make money at one of the many jobs, like a pizza delivery person, a cashier at Bloxy Burgers, a Miner, and many more.  Another one of my favorite games is Adopt Me.  Adopt me is a game where you can adopt cute pets to raise in family roleplays. There are so many other games on robloxs like Work At A Pizza Place, Jailbreak, Spider, Piggy.  Roblox has over 1 million players.  Roblox can shape the future by giving kids ways to create new ideas. -Amanda Mulligan

This month in history... 

An End to Slavery

The 13th amendment        was made on January 31, 1865 and ratified, making it officially valid,  on December 6, 1865.  The 13th amendment is the abolishment of slavery.  The 13th amendment helped the country because it gave African American people the freedom to fight for their rights against their “owners”.  The 13th amendment was passed at the end of the Civil War.  The Civil War was the deadliest and most expensive war fought on US land.  It started because the northern and the southern part of the country were fighting and didn’t agree about slavery.  At that time, more than 4 million people were slaves, but mostly African Americans.  Abraham Lincoln wanted to stop slavery, but he didn’t know how.  In 1863, Abraham Lincoln made an order called the “Emancipation Proclamation” which would end slavery in 10 states in the south but it did not end slavery.  It wasn’t until the 13th amendment was ratified that slavery was abolished throughout the United States. Now there is no more slavery. -Lila Snyder

Rosa Parks and the Bus Boycott

Rosa Parks was African American. Rosa was born February 4,1913, in Tuskegee Alabama.  She is best known for the Montgomery Bus BoyCott. Rosa Parks died on October 24, 2005 in Detroit. Rosa’s parents were separated when she was young. Her mom sent her to a special school in Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa had to work hard for her education. Years later she married a man named Raymond Parks in 1932.

The Montgomery Bus BoyCott started in 1955. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was riding a segregated Montgomery City Bus. Segregated means that the white people and black people can not sit together or in the same area. Rosa sat in a section of the bus where white people got the first pick of where they get to sit. A white man decided that he wanted to sit where Rosa was sitting, but Rosa refused to give up her seat. She didn't have to make a loud scene, Rosa protested quietly and calmly.She was arrested, jailed,and fined.

 It was because of Rosa's bravery to stand up for what she believed that the African Americans decided to boycott riding buses. This means they did not ride any buses until the segregation laws were changed. The boycott was led by Martin Luther King, Jr. who was starting his career as a civil rights leader. The bus boycott happened across the United States and lasted 381 days. Rosa Parks was nominated by Time Magazine to be one of the 100 most influential people in the 20th Century. -Madison Taylor

December 7, 1941: A Day that Will Live in Infamy

     On a nice Sunday morning in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, many people were sleeping, or eating breakfast. Little did they know that that day, December 7, would change everything. For two years World War II had been raging in Asia and Europe. Japan was trying to take over a lot of Asia. Japan worried a lot about the U.S. Navy. They attacked to prevent the U.S. from attacking.

     The Japanese thought that if the battleships in Pearl Harbor were destroyed, the U.S. Navy would be extremely weakened and would not attack. They were wrong and the attack brought the U.S. into World War II.

     The attack was extremely top secret. Even the pilots being trained for the bombing didn’t know what they were being trained for. They only learned what their mission was right before the attack. They had fighter planes [nicknamed Zeros] that could dive low to the ground and were faster than any U.S. planes.  They also had dive bombers [known as Vals] which carried bombs under both wings and one huge bomb on their underside. These could swoop down low to aim well. There were also high altitude bombers [called Kates] that could drop very heavy bombs from high in the air. They also had aircraft carriers that could allow the planes to fly to Pearl Harbor and submarines to attack from underwater.

     The attack started at 7:55. The following 15 minutes killed many people. In the first wave of planes, bombs damaged ships and torpedoes punctured vessels. One ship that capsized was the USS Oklahoma after a hit from a torpedo, an underwater missile. But the greatest loss was the USS Arizona. The USS Arizona was a home to over 1,500 sailors. It also housed many weapons. When a bomb hit the USS Arizona, all of those weapons exploded. The USS Arizona immediately broke in two and sank.

     Today, the USS Arizona is a memorial for everyone who died during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. People take boat rides to it every day to pay their respects. President Roosevelt was correct when he said, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.” Americans will remember this attack forever. -Brennen Banas

Celebrating Birthdays

Happy Birthday Taylor Swift!

Did you know that Taylor Swift's birthday is December 13th? This December on the 13th Taylor Swift turned 32. She was born 1989. She has 56 singles already in her career, and by December 2016 she had sold over 150 million singles worldwide. Her first hit was in 2006. At that time she was only 17 years old. Taylor Swift is known for her pop songs. One of her biggest hit songs was Shake it Off. But did you know that when she was a teen she was a country singer? One of Taylor Swift's hits as a country singer was Our Song. She stopped being a country singer because she thought that people would stop listening to her music. She also felt like her producers were telling her what to sing and not sing. She thought that if she switched over to pop music that she would be able to perform the music that she wanted to perform. Did you know that Taylor Swift plays 4 different instruments? She plays the piano, banjo, ukulele and guitar. Happy Birthday Taylor Swift! -Skylar Mahoney   

The Wonderful World of Walt Disney           Walt Disney came from humble beginnings.  His family did not have much money. His father sold their farms and they moved to Kansas City, Missouri.  Walt dropped out of high school when he was 16 to enlist in the Army during WW1.  He was rejected because he was too young but eventually found employment as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross.  His first company was called Laugh-o-Gram and went bankrupt less than a year after opening.   He then started working in the movie industry producing Alice's Adventures in Wonder and expanded into amusement parks.  He developed a character called Mickey Mouse, which was later incorporated into the park's theme.  He first built an amusement park called Disneyland near Los Angeles.  Prior to his death he started building his second park in Orlando, Florida called Disney World.  Some of Walt Disney’s famous cartoons/movies that he helped start or produce include:  Alice in Wonderland; Mickey Mouse, The Three Little Pigs, Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella, Treasure Island, The Story of Robin Hood, and Mary Poppins.  He produced many more cartoons and movies throughout the years.  Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966, of lung cancer.  His legacy is cemented on many young children across the World with Disney Park.  You can see many of his movies incorporated into rides.

     My family and I have been to Disney World many times and we love it.  Every time we go I am fascinated by the rides and adventures we can go on.  We have stayed in the park and outside.  We have gone to multiple parks during our stay and have even expanded from the four main parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios) to include Sea World.  I love them all and hope all of you get to experience the various rides like the Tower of Terror, Winnie the Pooh, Mt. Everest, Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride and my least favorite, because of how fast and scary it is, the Rock-n-Roller Coaster.  Many rides are hard to get on because of the long lines.  The newer the ride, the harder it is even with a fast pass.  It truly is the happiest place on earth for kids and even my parents!- Kaylee Croughan

And in Sports...

Goshen Loves Soccer

The Goshen Red Wolves are a travel soccer team for players that are serious about soccer.

     Goshen offers a lot of travel sports but my favorite is my soccer team the Goshen Red Wolves. The Red Wolves are a U12 soccer team which means we technically verse sixth graders.The Red Wolves are a travel team which means we travel from place to place for games. The team is made out of mostly fifth graders and some fourth graders. This team is not just some classmates, they are all my friends. We were first until we lost our last game to Cortland and that's what gave away first place for us. Throughout the time that I have played I have learned sportsmanship and how to become a better soccer player.

     Coach Joe wanted to coach the Red Wolves because he really loved playing soccer growing up. “It is a great way to exercise and make friends that I still have today, 40 years later.” The best part of coaching is seeing that kids are learning what he is coaching, while having fun and also becoming great people off the field. Coach Joe says, “My goal in coaching is helping kids learn the sport but also to help them become better individuals, so that they realize their full potential. Seeing the kids becoming great players but also learning how to treat others off the field is definitely the best part.”

      Coaching during Covid has been different.  It has meant not being able to get together as a team in person as much as we would like to and has meant less practices and games. We have practices on zoom and the coach has had to rely on the team practicing on their own in their backyard. When we are able to get together, Coach Joe can see that kids have been practicing on their own though which is great. The good news is that this is only temporary and in time we will be back out on the field together playing soccer as much as we were before!

     This is my team and how the coaches helped us learn during Covid-19. The coaches are trying their best to help us learn and become a better player during Covid. -Jaxson Markiewicz

Hockey:

You have to be tough to play!

Jacob Loter with a famous hockey icon Glen Anderson, a 6 time Stanley Cup Champion.

     Hockey is a game which is usually played on ice. The materials you need to play hockey is a hockey stick, a puck (or ball), ice skates,  and protection. NHL stands for the National Hockey League, which is made out of 32 different teams from all over North America. The most goals a player has scored in the NHL is Wayne Gretzky with 894 goals during his career.

     The object of the game is to try to put the puck(or ball) into the net when there is a protector of the net called a goalie which tries to stop the puck(or ball) from going into the net. There are a max of 6 people including the goalie to be on the ice. Hockey players swap in and out and are divided into lines. Line 1 usually starts every period off first in which the centerman has to do a faceoff. A faceoff in hockey is when the referee drops the puck and it is a battle for which team gets the puck. There are usually 3 periods in a game, each period being thirty minutes long. If all 3 periods end and the score is a tie, they go into overtime. Overtime is a 3v3 with goalies that try to score the finishing goal to win. If the five minutes are up and overtime no-one scored  they will go on a shootout. A shootout is a best out of 5 and whoever scored more goals in a 1v1 situation is the winner.

     Hockey is dangerous and a player could get severe injuries like broken bones, concussions, and lots of cuts, which is why you should wear protection when playing hockey. A penalty is given when one or more players break a rule during the game. They are seated in a penalty box for 2-4 minutes long. Once the time is up the player opens the door and starts playing again. One of the injuries that I have gotten during my time playing hockey was only a minor concussion because my head hit the ice too hard. I love hockey and I hope for the new season of the NHL to start soon! ( I root for the Toronto Maple Leafs.) -Jacob Loter