THE LAKELANDS PARK MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Volume 8, Issue 1 On the web in color: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/lakelandsparkms/ Winter 2015-2016

LPMS Presents “Legally Blonde: The Musical Jr.”

By EMMA LEE FREEMAN

With a 6-0 record, we wanted to interview Coach Reed about the Boys’ Basketball team. In five years, the team has only lost two games, so we wanted to see what are the keys to their continued success.

* * * What would you like to say about your team this year? “I was really impressed with their competitive spirit.” What were the high-

The team poses for a group shot and celebrates their 4th championship in 5 years and their 3rd undefeated season. Photo Courtesy of Mrs. Tsai

lights or proudest mo-ments of the season? “Going undefeated. I am proud that they were more worried about team success than individual success.” What (if any) were some challenges that your team faced? How did they respond? “Some injuries with key players, but the other boys stepped up so there was no decline in our lev-el of play.

Continued on Page 4

Boys’ Basketball: Undefeated Division Champions! By JEREMIAH WRIGHT and ASIM MEGHI

The spring play “Legally Blonde: The Musical Jr.” is happen-ing on May 12th, 13th, and 14th.

Come see your classmates act onstage and tell you a captivat-ing story about Elle and her adventure at Har-vard Law. Bring your family and friends!

For you Lake-lands Park Falcons, stu-

dent tickets only cost $5! Adult tickets are $10. They can be bought in advance online or purchased at the door. Make sure every-one knows that “Legally Blonde” The Musical Jr.” is happening at 7:00 pm on Thursday and Friday, and at 2:00pm on Satur-day. You are sure to en-joy the show!

NEWS THE FALCON FLIER—Page 2

Remembering 2015: Events at Lakelands Park! By DANNA HIRSHBERG

It’s a new year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t remember 2015. Here are some key events from last year. The Winter Concert and Art Showcase on 12/10/15. Violinists warm up for the concert and art is shown.

The Staff vs. Students Basketball Game on 12/23/15. A crowd watches the big game! The staff beat the students...again...

Author, Carol Solomon talks about her new book, Imagining Katherine and leads a writer’s workshop.

6th grade students and staff celebrate Greek Day on 12/11/15 with a variety of activities.

And these were just SOME of the great events! There were many field trips, sports games, the school play, and cooking experiences too. 2015 will always have a place in our heart, but 2016 will be even greater!

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 3 NEWS

“Fractured” Comes Together at LPMS! By EMMA WEBER

White, Belle, Cinderella, and Esmeralda’s fairy godmother Zelda, Es-meralda escapes to Chi-cago and finds Lance, but encounters Ciji, who is madly in love with Lance. Later returning to the Kingdom of Alu-minuminum, Lance is banished and Esmeralda forced to face her suit-ors. As she interviews each prince, Lance sneaks in disguised as Prince Hoodwink. The Queen and King allow this union, but the ‘Prince’ is revealed to be a mortal by Ciji, who snuck into the castle as Rapanzel. Not Rapun-zel. Rapanzel.

Zelda’s wand is snapped, as she was the one to teleport Lance back and therefore breaking her promise to never again help con-nect Esmeralda and her

mortal boo. Lance, who turns out to work at the largest publishing com-pany in Chicago, comes up with a plan to save the fairy tale world by sending his manuscript of a book back home. Zelda’s broken wand has enough magic to send the manuscript back, and the kingdom is saved.

As Lance has saved Aluminuminum, the King and Queen de-

cide to allow the two lovebirds to be mar-ried and Ciji goes mad upon hearing this. She runs off, never to be seen again. Lance and Esmeralda live happily ever after … so the story says. Worked on by many staff mem-bers, parents, and over fifty students, “Fractured” will be re-membered for ages as one of the best plays Lakelands Park MS

As most people know, the fall play was “Fractured” by Eddie McPherson and took place on December 3-5 2016. Directed by Miri-am Bowden,“Fractured” was given extremely high praise for the amazing cast and crew, as well as the comedic plot.

Starring Lindsey Gispert as the beautiful princess Esmeralda of Aluminuminum, a king-dom is stuck in limbo because no one is read-ing stories anymore. Esmeralda defies her parents, the King (Jeremiah Wright) and Queen (Yamini Mani-koth), to wriggle out of an arranged marriage and be with her true love, Lance A. Lot (Alex Roth).

With the help of her friends, Snow

March – April School Calendar By HANNAH FEDOROV

Spring Break : Thursday, March 24 - Friday, April 1

Spirit Week : Monday, April 4 - Friday, April 8

End of Third Quarter : Friday, April 8

Lakelands Park MS vs. Ridgeview MS - Student /Staff Basketball Game at Quince Orchard HS: Friday, April 8 at 7:00 pm

Spring Picture Day : Wednesday, April 13

Variety Show : Thursday, April 14 at 7:00 pm

Book Wars Competition at LPMS Media Center: Friday, April 22

Primary Election Day: Tuesday, April 26

SMOB Election Day : Wednesday, April 27

Take Your Child to Work Day : Thursday, April 28

6th Grade Outdoor Education

Session 1 : Monday, March 14 - Wednes-day, March 16 Session 2 : Wednesday, March 16 - Friday, March 18

Session 3 : Monday, March 21 - Wednes-day, March 23

It’s a happy ending for the characters of “Fractured” Photo Courtesy of Mrs. Tippets

FEATURES THE FALCON FLIER— Page 4

By now you’ve probably heard of the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, but what even is Mardi Gras? Well, surprisingly Mardi Gras started as a festi-val before Lent, a period of forty days ending on Easter, where several religions prepared for the resurrection of Jesus by prayer and penance.

People could spend days to weeks celebrat-ing and partying before Lent, but it depended on the location. Germa-ny’s celebration starts November 11th at 11am. In Rio De Janeiro, the festival lasts for four days. But New Orleans seems to be, by far, the most famous Mardi Gras celebration in the United States. The French brought Mardi Gras to Louisiana and the earliest celebra-tions started in 1766 with masquerades and street processions. It got so out of control

What is Mardi Gras? By NAOMI COCKER

What will you miss most about this year’s departing 8th graders? “Their leadership.” He would like to commend Noah Adnan and Omari Salvi. Why do you continue to coach at LPMS? Coach Reed said he likes the challenge. He admit-ted that he is getting old now so his playing days are over. There were a lot of people who had a posi-

tive impact on him. Now he wants to be a positive impact to other kids. What are you looking forward to next year? “7th graders who were on the team showing good leadership. The future is bright for some LPMS Basketball.” What would you say to any students who would like to be on the team in the future?

“Be a good student, and be a good citizen.” Is there anything else you’d like to share? “I would like to thank Mrs. Higdon for giving me the opportunity to be the boys basketball team coach here at Lakelands.

I would also like to thank Akiel Russell for volun-teering his time to help the team achieve all the success we have over the past five years.”

Lastly, he would like to thank the students and the staff for showing their support. He says they have no idea how important their support was at every home game.

“We have good kids at Lakelands- not just the basketball players, but also the entire student body.”

Interview with Coach Reed, Boys’ Basketball Coach (Continued from Page 1)

that in 1806, celebra-tions were outlawed, but the law was widely ignored. The law was revoked in 1826 after the celebration grew more and more popular. In 1827, teens and young adults returning from school in France took to the streets with masks.

Krewes are the groups that plan the celebra-tions and parades on Mardi Gras. They start-ed planning originally in 1857. Krewes have a king, queen, and court chosen from the promi-nent families in each

krewe. These ‘royalty’ are ranked highly in krewes and their identi-ties are hidden to out-siders until Mardi Gras celebrations. Nowadays, only one prevalent krewe plans parades, the Rex krewe, due to laws passed in the 1970s. The Rex king is also king of the carni-val and is usually a rich businessman. The krewe also passes out trinkets, such as plastic beads and brightly col-ored aluminum coins. So, I hope you enjoyed learning about the his-tory of Mardi Gras.

What do you think when you hear the words The White House, or presidential? Cool, right!

Well Chef Susan Morrison has a job that many people think is very cool. She is the first female executive pastry chef for the Pres-ident of the United States. What is a pastry chef you might ask? It is someone who focuses on making desserts like pastries, cakes, cook-ies, and more.

But before talking about her job, let's talk about her life. When Chef Morrison was in high school she did not want to be a pastry chef she wanted to be a nutritionist, it wasn't till the age of 15 when she started to work in restaurants, and because of that she was exposed to the culinary world. Then Junior year she knew that she wanted to go to school for being a pastry chef. She went to the Culinary School of Wash-ington.

Some words of advice from Chef Morrison were, "Now is the time you think of possibilities. Everything is important: school,

grades, working hard at studies, being nice to your parents, and making opportunities to talk to different people in your life."

Many people believe that an inspiration has to be someone famous. Well, NO! Chef Morri-son’s inspiration was her grand-mother--she taught Morrison some basic pastries and was a big part of her culinary world.

Now to the really inter-esting part of Chef Morrison's life. Back in 1995 a person who was working at the White House as a pastry contractor recom-mended her to the executive pas-try chef at that time, Roland Meshier. She started as a pastry contractor in May of 1995, then became full time assistant pastry chef in July of 2002. Then was promoted to executive pastry chef in October of 2013. “Amazing, an honor, a dedicated service, a privilege, and a wonderful place to work at” are just some of the words Chef Morrison said about what it is like to work for the President.

Her favorite thing about her job is all the people she gets to work with, the ability to be a part of a team who everyday strive to do whatever it takes to help the President, first family, and administration. " I wouldn't be successful in the job that I have without the team I work

with." Each year is a very busy

time for Chef Morrison, but all the events she does depends on the scheduling that comes from the social office. Her busiest sea-son is Christmas! Planning starts as early as SEPTEMBER.

Some of her favorite pas-tries to make are pies, cookies, tarts, and of course, ice cream. An easy recipe that Chef Morri-son said to make for a beginner pastry chef are cookies because they are something everyone likes, and it's for all ages. "Also cookies are such a fun part of family time," said Chef Morrison.

I had a great time inter-viewing Chef Susie and enjoyed getting to tour one of the kitch-ens of the White House. If you enjoy baking, be inspired by this story, and maybe one day you could become a pastry chef like her!

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 5 FEATURES

A Day in the White House

with Chef Morrison! By JASMINE ECHEONA

Chef Morrison working on recreating the White House: just one of her baked crea-tions while working for the President. Associated Press

FEATURES THE FALCON FLIER— Page 6

Catch up with the SGA! Our student gov-ernment has organized many great activities this school year like the Val-entine's Day dance, sell-ing lollipops, “Teacher for a day,” canned food drive, Pennies for Pa-tients, and many more. Here is a quick update for what's coming up in the next couple months. The SGA is hosting the annual spirit week through the week

of April 4th. Get pre-pared for a Twinning Tuesday, Pajama Day, and more fun themes! It's almost time for the SMOB elections. Our current SMOB, Eric Guerci, came to talk to us about what they are planning for the rest of the year. Eric and the MCPS system are work-ing on the parcc tests, phone use, and final ex-ams. Election day is coming up on April 27th,

READ UP ON SGA! By CLAIRE SULLIVAN

I know, I know. The SGA Valentine’s Dance was forever ago, but let’s just remember the awesomeness of that one afternoon.

If you were bust-ing out your cool moves or sipping a soda, and talking to your friends, we all had one memora-ble experience. There

The Valentine’s Dance By DANNA HIRSHBERG

and classes will be voting during the day. Also, May 27th will be our Ty Williams Fundraiser and honoring Matthew Bittner. Each grade level will make their own flag football teams and there will be a tournament on the turf field, so get ready! The week of the 27th we will also be sell-ing our lollipops for one dollar.

That is the SGA update for the upcoming Spring. If you have any questions, feel free to ask an SGA member or Mrs. Azizirad, who is filling in for Mrs. Don-nellan. Only a couple months left of school, and it's going to be great!

were yummy Valentine’s snacks to purchase, fun balloon games, dancing, and great music. You have a picture of that moment in your head

and we have a few pic-tures here! Let’s take a look. I can’t wait until Valentine’s Day next year. Can you?

Photos Courtesy of Mrs. Tsai Yummy Valentine’s Day snacks! Dancing! Hanging out with friends!

Student Receives President’s Volunteer Service Award!

Congratulations to Alexia Antonio, who was awarded the President’s Volun-teer Service Award. Her letter from the White House and President Obama congratulated her on receiving the award and thanked her for “helping to address the most pressing needs” in her community and her country. The letter also said, “Thank you for your devotion to service and for doing all you can to shape a better tomorrow for our great nation.” Photo Courtesy of Mr. Lubin

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 7 FEATURES

Overcasting Shadows By JACK ALLNUTT

Autism is defined as, “a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with oth-er people and in using language.” Autism feels like an overcasting shadow that came and betrayed the light within me. Most people do not believe autistics are smart and can do oddly special acts others may see as strange and differ-ent; but we are very smart. A normal day for autistics starts casting shadows and is quite challenging. Any stimulation can cause my body control severe distractions passing on au-tistic behavior. Keeping eye contact is very hard for me. Being loud can cause a lot of distractions. Certain comfort of sound helps me concentrate so I may hit or bang certain items for the sound they give back to me. Each person is different in casting their own shadows pursuing an endless escape from going back into a prison of the body. I say let sincere beings do acts of kindness as a fa-vor to all autistics. Many lack empathy and don’t show an understanding of autism’s true sacrifices. In the future, you can say hello, smile, ask students to join your group, and not stare at students with autism.

Delectable Rosogollas By SABRINA CHOWDHURY

Have you ever tasted a scrumptious rosogol-

la? A rosogolla is a Bengali/ Indian sweetmeat. It is healthy and yummy at the same time. This treat takes about 1-1 ½ hours to make. I recommend this for lunch, dessert and for special occasions.

The ingredients and kitchenware to make a rosogolla are...whole milk, white vinegar or lemon juice, cold water, flour, semolina ,butter, sugar and water. Two kitchen tools you will need are a big pot, a strainer, and a metal spoon.

First, boil one gallon of whole milk for 20 minutes. Then, cascade juice from four lemons and water or discharge half a cup of white vinegar into the milk. Then pour 1 pitcher of cold water into the sanaa. Let it rest for 2-3 minutes. Next, cascade all of the sanaa over the strainer. Put 1 teaspoon of self-rising flour into the sanaa.

Later on, we include 1 teaspoon of semolina. Soon after, throw in 1 teaspoon or 2 teaspoons of unsalted butter or use salted butter and add the same amount. Afterwards, rub it for 2-3 minutes and then form medium sized meatballs.

In order to cook them, you have to boil sugar and water for 5 minutes. Afterwards, take four car-damom pieces and rose water. Soon after, put ro-sogollas into the sugar syrup pot carefully. Then boil sugar and water and put them into the sugar syrup.

Boil the rosogollas for 20 minutes in medium heat until they are double their size. Next, remove from heat and set it out to cool for two hours. Finally they are ready to serve!

Making rosogollas for the first time may be hard, but if you keep on making them, it will get easi-er. At first, it might taste awful, but as you gain expe-rience your rosogollas will be terrific. Enjoy your deli-cious Rosogollas!

Artwork by Josh Acapulco

Artist’s Note: The symbols

floating represent thoughts swirling.

Many of the symbols represent historical figures who had autism, but were able to

change the world.

FEATURES THE FALCON FLIER— Page 8

PRE SUPER BOWL 50: SUPER BOWL 50. The 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl. And this is big for Cam Newton and the almost unbeaten Carolina Panthers, but also for Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. If you were deciding who to root for, let me tell you about them. CAROLINA PANTHERS: If they win, this will not only be Cam Newton's 1st Super Bowl, but also the Carolina Panthers 1st Super Bowl. This will be huge for them, and for Cam Newton being the quarterback behind it. And the odds are in their favor. They were

only beaten once, and have decimated most of their other opponents. These guys truly de-serve it. DENVER BRONCOS: If they win, Peyton Manning will have a great retirement gift, along with a squeaky-clean, giant forehead. The Broncos do not de-serve it as much as the Panthers, and the last Super Bowl they were in was Super Bowl 48, which was a huge blow-out. POST SUPER BOWL 50: In a horrid game, the Panthers were not up to the task to defeat the Broncos. The Broncos won 24-10 as Denver takes back the Lombar-di Trophy. Happy retire-ment, Peyton Manning!

SUPER BOWL 50! By LIAM LAMPHIER

Were you born in the Year of the Mon-key? Did you ever won-der what it means to be born in the Year of the Monkey? Well, now you will figure it out! Ac-cording to the Chinese Calendar, if you were born in the year of 2004 after February 8th then you are a monkey! This year happens to be the year of the fire monkey and in 2004 it was the year of the wood mon-key, but our personali-ties are still the same. Well now let's get on with what is lucky and what is not-so-lucky for monkeys.

Lucky Numbers: 1, 7, 8

Not-So-Lucky Num-bers: 2, 5, 9

Lucky Flowers: Chrysan-themums

Lucky Colors: White, Gold, Blue

Not-So-Lucky Colors: Red, Black, Grey, Dark

Brown

PERSONALITY If you are a monkey you are most likely lively, flexible, quick-witted, gentle, and honest. Alt-hough you may have many good personali-ties you probably also have some downsides.

For instance, you may be jealous, suspicious, selfish, arrogant, and at times have a temper or a tendency to look down upon others.

PERFECT MATCH

Now this is where this topic might not apply to you so feel free to like whoever you like, but if you want to know who you may possibly like, then keep reading. If you are a monkey, your perfect match will most likely be an Ox or a Rab-bit. Now stop for just a moment: I am not talk-ing about the actual ox and the actual rabbit. I mean the person that was born in the year of the ox or rabbit.

HOROSCOPE

During this year you will have exciting ideas and passionate confronta-tions. Expect surprising turns of fortune come October. Teamwork supports your interests. Displaying confidence and humility gets you noticed.

Manning celebrates a Super bowl win. AP Images

2016 :Year of the Monkey By VIOLETA SALCEWICZ-GOMEZ

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 9 SPORTS / OPINIONS

SPORTS CORNER By LIAM LAMPHIER

Predictions (As of March 1, 2016)

NBA Division Leaders:

Toronto Raptors

Cleveland Cavaliers

Atlanta Hawks

Oklahoma City Thunder

Golden State Warriors

San Antonio Spurs Lamphier Prediction: I say that the Golden State Warriors or the San An-tonio Spurs will become the best in the NBA. Both teams are very good, are unbeaten at home, and have little losses. The Spurs are tough, but the War-riors have a better record...

NHL

Best Two From Each Division:

Florida Panthers

Detroit Red Wings

Washington Capitals

New York Rangers

Dallas Stars

Chicago Blackhawks

Los Angeles Kings

Arizona Coyotes

Lamphier Prediction: I say that the Washington Capitals or the Chicago Blackhawks will come out on top of the NHL. The Blackhawks are on a eight game winning streak, while having a worse record than the Capitals. The Capitals, however, have the best record, and are on a four game winning streak.

BEST SUPERBOWL COMMERCIALS!

Super Bowl 50. The Carolina Panthers versus the Denver Broncos. Many like the game, but some watch just to see the commercials. In case you didn’t see the Super Bowl, or its commercials, let me tell you about some of the commercials that were shown during Su-per Bowl 50.

MOUNTAIN DEW: PUPPY MONKEY BABY

In this commercial, Mountain Dew takes off the cap on weirdness. As three guys are hanging out, a puppy-monkey-baby comes into the room and gives them each a Moun-tain Dew bottle. As the creature goes out of the room, chanting over and over, “Puppy Monkey Baby,” the three guys join him, in this very weird Mountain Dew commercial.

T-MOBILE: STEVE HARVEY

Mocking his own mistake, Steve Harvey is hired by T-Mobile to put together this hilari-ous ad, telling Verizon that they were wrong in their counts, and that T-Mobile doubled its coverage, making the other commercial wrong. And Steve Harvey might have said that it wasn’t his fault…

POKEMON: 20 YEARS IN THE MAKING

As the Super Bowl celebrates its making, so does Pokemon. They are now 20 years old, and have a inspiring commercial too. It’s about several people seeing common people doing great things, and then they excel at doing another thing. And it ends with a dad telling his son that he can do great at Pokemon too.

Okay, let’s be real for a moment, “The Force Awakens” was a great movie, and if you haven’t seen it yet, I don’t know where you’ve been. But if you haven’t seen it yet, this review is spoiler free. Can we start off this review with the cast? For the first time in maybe movie history, a beloved movie series, one that everyone has have at least heard of, has cast a woman, a black man and a latino man in leading roles. The amount of movies with only white men as leading roles is huge, and having such a beloved movies se-ries casting these actors was such a huge and amazing step in the movie industry. Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Ex Machina) is a superb ac-tor, and he fit the role of the char-

ismatic and suave pilot Poe Dameron. John Boyega (Imperial Dreams, Junkhearts) played the stormtrooper turned rebel fight-er, Finn, wonderfully. Daisy Rid-ley (Scrawl, The Inbetweeners 2) played Rey, an introverted scav-enger, dreaming of adventure, but steadfastly holding onto the belief that her parents will finally come home after all these years. Adam Driver (Girls, This Is Where I Leave You) played the impulsive and petulant villain Kylo Ren like a champ. But, the great acting was not great because of the casting, but because of the great direc-tors and writers. J.J Abrams (Star Trek, Star Trek:Into Darkness, Lost) was the director and head writer of The Force Awakens, and wrote a beautiful script that had us laughing and then sighing in nostalgia. The plot was well spread-out and set at a nice pace. Every-thing was well explained and

there were no major plot holes. The characters were well-written and reacted to events the way they were expected to. Kylo Ren had tantrums when things didn’t go his way, and that is ex-pected. Kylo was swayed to the dark side at an early age and had no Jedi training, (at least not in controlling emotions). Finn want-ed to do the right thing but his fear of The First Order almost barred him from helping Rey, but with the quiet strength we lik-ened to Leia, he overcame his fears and saved Rey. Rey was awkward and independent from her isolation in Jakku, and shared her intelligence and wits with Luke. Poe, a confident and funny pilot reminded us of Han Solo, but brought a refreshing spin on the character. So all in all, this movie was a great movie that likened to the original, but also brought new life to a beloved series, without being a total clone. If you haven’t gone and seen the movie, you must see it! It's a great movie and is worth every penny.

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 10 OPINIONS

Go See “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” By NAOMI COCKER

ART COMIC submitted by Mrs. Hoover Selected by Editors JACK ALLNUTT and MIKE KELLER

Comic by Dylan Bucy, 8th grade

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 11 OPINIONS

On Super Bowl Sunday, February 7, 2016, the halftime perfor- mance featuring Beyoncé, Coldplay, and Bruno Mars was a performance that was envisioned to, “honor the past, present, and future at the Super Bowl.” The show started off with Chris Mar-tin of Coldplay jumping into a colorful stage surround-ed by an orchestra of children. Chris began with sing-ing the classic “Yellow,” followed by the upbeat, yet sorrowful, “Viva la Vida.” Martin ran around the stage before jumping in the middle of the swirling stage of lights, and shortly began to hum “Paradise.” Marching bands surrounded the stage playing along with the tune. The whole performance seemed to depict an army of peace and love, as many held colorful flags, and giant flowers, up high.

All of a sudden, Bruno Mars jumped in, with his crew, all wearing black leather. They danced to the beat of “Uptown Funk.” Sparks began to fly, as Be-yoncé jumped in the middle of the field, with her per-formers, while fire and smoke spewed behind of them. They began to assemble together, as Beyoncé sang her new single Formation, which came out a day before the Super Bowl. Beyoncé’s “Formation,” is a song about black pride, as well as a way for her to ad-dress all of the rumors that have been swirling around her.

Bruno Mars started to sing along with the Queen Bey, as she and her crew of dancers, marched towards the stage with Bruno. Once they reached the stage, the crowd became wild. Knowles and Mars both began to try to outdo each other’s dance moves with a mashup of the songs “Uptown Funk,” and from Beyoncé Knowles’s earlier days, “Crazy in Love.” Few have noticed, but Beyoncé almost fell when bouncing on her heels, but being the great profession-al that she is, she just went with it and made it seem like it was a part of her intended dance move.

Eventually, Beyoncé, Chris Martin, and Bruno Mars came together and joined forces. They contin-ued by singing the rhythmic Uptown Funk. The sing-ers then retired from singing, and Chris ran to the pi-ano to play the purely gripping, and hopeful, melody of Clocks. Flashes of previous iconic halftime perfor-

mances, of artists such as Michael Jackson, Be-yoncé, and Paul McCartney. began to play, that created an inspiring feel. Knowles and Mars joined back with Chris Martin to sing the loving and opti-mistic song “Up & Up.” All of the dancers, per-formers, and instrumentalists, all came together to join in unison. The whole show ended with Be-yoncé’s and Chris’s high yet strong vocals. Behind the stage a huge colorful sign appeared and read, ‘BELIEVE IN LOVE!’ Which is also the last phrase in the last song of Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams album. The Super Bowl 50 halftime show was defi-nitely a memorable experience and will be remem-bered for the generations to come. Every detail was perfect; I especially loved how the singers and performers all worked together to make some-thing so grand and legendary. I can’t see how the next Super Bowl halftime show will be able to compete with this one.

Unforgettable Superbowl Halftime Show By JOSH ACAPULCO

The Do’s and Don’ts of Spring Break

Do: Have Fun, Don’t: Forget Everything By DANNA HIRSHBERG

Nobody’s thinking about studying and tests dur-ing Spring Break while zooming down the slip n’ slide. Why would we? Were having fun and no al-gebra is messing with that. A do? Having fun. But in the long run, not thinking about schoolwork for a week in a half won’t help your GPA. A little studying here and there won’t hurt your grade, even if it's just doing multiplica-tion in the car. A Don’t? Forgetting everything. So please, please, please, don’t flush your grade down the toilet dur-ing Spring Break. Review your classwork. But the most important thing is to have fun. Have a great Spring Break!

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 12 OPINIONS

The Know It Alls We are a group of three 8th grade students who help others decide what to do when stuck in a conflict. From arguments with others to trouble with home-work, we have solved problems by giving advice!

Dear Know it Alls,

I am a student at LPMS. Lately, my best friend has been acting like she's mad at me ... and I don't know why! She has been rolling her eyes, ig-noring me, and giving me the silent treatment. I don't know how to talk to her without her storming off. Could you give me advice on getting her to tell me what she is mad about?

-Confused Friend

Listening to Twenty Øne PilØts for the First Time

By Josh Acapulco To be quite honest, at first I thought that

Twenty Øne PilØts was just a depressing emo band, and it is, but it is more than that. I finally gave the band a chance after several demands from friend. After I heard their amazing song, “Stressed Out,” I thought it was a very relatable song about the sim-pler old days of childhood. Twenty Øne PilØts is a band that has blurred the lines of genres such as ukulele screamo, hard-core piano, pop, rock, and even rap. Twenty Øne PilØts is a band that consists of two members who can play many different instruments. According to a local emo with cool hair, Tyler Joseph plays the vo-cals, ukulele, piano, keytar, bass guitar, accordion, and keyboard while Josh Dun plays the drums. Tyler Joseph’s rhythmic poetry (which al-most sounds like rap) is like the thoughts of a mad genius reminiscing on old times. At first their songs sound upbeat and cheerful, but if you listen to the lyrics, you’ll be crying in no time. It’s great. I definitely recommend everyone to listen to them. But if your soul is weak, you will not survive.

Dear Confused Friend,

We totally understand! It's hard to understand what went wrong when someone is not talking to you. Take a couple steps back and think if there was any miscommunication between you two. Approach her, making sure you two are alone. A crowded hallway is not the place. Explain to her how you feel and how you don’t understand what’s going on. Start with “Hey, I'm sorry if I hurt you in any way. Can you please explain to me why you are mad at me?” Mak-ing sure she realizes that you are upset too, and it will help her realize that you care.

From, The Know it Alls :)

Dear Know it Alls,

I am struggling in school. This year was a lot harder than my past year here at LPMS, and I need much more help with my school work. I am not sure who to go to for extra help. What should I do to improve my grades?

-Lost In School

Dear Lost In School,

There are many ways you can improve your grades, inside of school and outside. For example, if you are not understanding the things you are being taught you can talk to your teachers about seeing them dur-ing Fly Time or Lunch. Also, you have to make sure you are doing your responsibilities at home too. Make sure you are making time to fully finish your homework and review your notes. A good tip we know many people use is setting a timer for 20 minutes to concentrate on your work, and then when the timer goes off, set a new timer for 5 minutes of free time. Then, repeat until you are done!

I hope this helps and don't forget to study and work hard!

From, The Know it Alls :)

Here is a list of a few upcoming movies to look forward to in 2016. Zootopia (PG) - Friday, March 4, 2016 The Divergent Series: Allegiant (PG-13) -

Friday, March 18, 2016 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (PG-

13) - Friday, March 25, 2016 Collide (PG-13) - Friday, April 1,2016 The Jungle Book (PG) - Friday, April 15,

2016 Captain America: Civil War (PG-13) -

Friday, May 6, 2016 The Angry Birds Movie (Not yet rated) -

Friday May 20, 2016 Alice Through the Looking Glass (PG) - Fri-

day, May 27, 2016 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Not yet rat-

ed) - Friday, June 3, 2016 Finding Dory (Not yet rated) - Friday, June

27, 2016 The Secret Life of Pets (Not yet rated) -

Friday, July 8, 2016 Ice Age: Collision Course (Not yet rated) -

Friday, July 22, 2016

2016 Movie

Releases By JULIE KASAYAN

Nerdy Pickup Lines by JXW

Do you have a lovely person you want to impress? Well these aren’t the lines for you, but this is a little thing just for laughs.

“Girl, they call me Wolverine; once you’re with me, you’ll forget about your other X-men.”

“My love for you is like dividing by zero; it cannot be defined.”

“Are you a tower? Because eiffel for you.”

“You must be a star, I can’t stop orbiting around you.”

“You are the Renaissance to my Dark Ages; you light up my world.”

“This must be the eighth castle because I just found my princess.”

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 13 JUST FOR FUN

Every summer, Hal and I go to his beach house to stay the summer. In his backyard you can see the Chesapeake Bay, smell the distinct aroma of the brackish water and the strong scent of crab. I will never forget the sum-mer of 2013, and never again will I enter the inviting waters of the bay again. This was the year I en-countered the creature I call Frog-man.

Hal’s dog was loyal and an excellent swimmer who loved to wade around in the bay. She was also a crafty dog and often found a way out of the house through the back door (which was always locked), usually for the purpose of swimming. Some mornings we could find her on the porch, soaked and whining to come in the house. Some days we could even hear the splash as the dog jumped into the water. Hal’s dog was a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, a breed of dog that was bred for swimming in the bay.

Suddenly on the day of June 20th, she mysteriously disap-peared without a trace. We thought at first that she was just taking a stroll around the neigh-borhood as she always enjoyed taking walks without a leash, and she knew the town well. The day had passed and Hal started get-

ting worried that someone had stolen her. The next day we put up missing posters on all the tele-phone poles. A week went by a still there was no sign of Hal’s dog.

A month had passed and we decided to go swimming for a while in the bay. The water was warm in the summer sun, I no-ticed it was the warmest day of the season, and at the time I did-n’t think it was a big deal. We played in the bay for at least 5 hours until it got dark. We came inside for hamburgers and hotdogs.

During that night I heard the familiar croaking of frogs, but there was something off. The croaking was much,much louder, as if they were parading through the streets. I went outside to check what was creating all the ruckus. As soon as I stepped out-side, everything went quiet. Dead silent. No more croaking, no wind to move the wind chimes, no distant sounds of cars; nothing. I stood outside ad-miring the silence for a minute or two. Then I heard it.

The sound of what seemed to be a giant frog echoed throughout the bay. And just like magic the entire bay quaked with the croaks of hundreds of thou-

sands of bullfrogs. It was the ee-riest sound I had ever heard. I never was a brave kid, but my curiosity got the best of me. I stepped outside and followed the noise. It led me right towards the bay. The noise grew and grew until all I could hear was the end-less wails of bullfrogs. I kept walking across the bay until I was led into a dense patch of trees on the beach. Just like before, all noise stopped as I entered the overgrowth. I stood there hold-ing my breath for what seemed like hours. A cold sweat began to seep into my clothes. My heart skipped beats and my adrenaline pumped.

I turned around to expect something to be looming just be-hind me. Nothing except the bay. I took a step forward into the ee-rie silence of the miniature for-est. Out of the corner of my eye I saw it. A sleek tall figure with ragged torn clothes, it was horri-bly disfigured, having one leg- knee pointing the wrong way like an ostrich. Its hands and feet were webbed and its back was arched upwards like a hunch-back. A giant fin ripped through his back making the surrounding skin bruised, red with irritation. Its head was atrocious. It was stained green, full of blisters and

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 14 CREATIVE WRITING

...THE BAY’S DARK SECRET... By HAYDEN ANDERSON

Continued on Page 15

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 15 CREATIVE WRITING

Falling. That’s what I was doing just a couple of days ago. The wind was so fast that I was actually moving diagonally, and I was terrified. Crack! A bolt of lightning flashed in the dark night sky. I’d been through this process time and time again, but I nev-er got over the fear of plummeting into the un-known. Luck shined upon me on this cloudy day, though, and I landed on the slope of a mountain. “Jimmy, is that you?” said a familiar voice. I grinned as a much larger group of water engulfed me. Right in the middle of the huddled group was Aidan, my best friend. “I haven’t seen you since that hurricane in Florida!” I yelled over the thunder.

“I know, right? It’s been way too long. How’s your fa...”

Splash! We made it to our first destination. We collided with a bunch of other water droplets in a flooded stream, but they didn't mind. Aidan and I continued to talk until the storm finally calmed, and I fell asleep just late enough to experience the sec-ond crash that brought us to an even larger river.

I woke to a deafening scream. “Mommy!” someone cried.

I looked up, and caught a glimpse of a rather large droplet floating through the air. I was feeling a little light-headed by the time I found Aidan, and he gave me a quick goodbye. We had been through this before, and it was always too hard for him to watch me go, so I had grown accustomed to this type of goodbye. My whole body began to feel lighter, and before I knew it, I was rising up into the atmosphere. I looked out and saw the glorious mountain that I had fallen down to the other night, and was awed by the glistening river that Aidan and I had been caught in.

The heat really did its job, because I rose quicker than usual, and found myself in a stadium of other water droplets. A few days later, after I was

done exploring, I noticed a significant drop in tem-perature. I was also having trouble seeing, and wished I had someone to talk to. Everyone around me was complaining about the cold, but I kind of liked it. I looked down at my body, and realized that I was turning white. My arms and legs became points on a star, and my whole body shined in the moonlight.

I felt myself begin to drop, and relaxed as I glided through the sky. This was so much nicer than my previous experience, which was horribly scary and loud. However, I really wished I could see Aidan again. As if on cue, a smirking snowflake flew right beside me. I grinned and greeted my old friend. “Here we go again!” he said.

Here We Go Again! By ALEX QUIGLEY

The Bay’s Dark Secret Continued… scars, and it wore a twisted grin as if it loved the sight of my terrified appearance. Its cheeks were stretched apart into the shape of a frog's head. The creature stared right into my soul.

I ran like the devil. As soon as I stepped out of the overgrowth I heard the distorted and bellow-ing sound of a croak, followed by the overflowing tsunami of other croaks. The sounds followed me all the way home as if they were in pursuit and I was the one who got away. As I ran into the house I turned to look at the bay one more time. In the wa-ter I could see the coal black eyes of the Frogman staring right back at me, the rest of his body was submerged. It was just his lifeless eyes, looking right at me. I slammed on the back door, but like always, it was locked. Hal walked over to the door and let me, terrified and sobbing into the house. Hal then locked the back door. He had no idea what I had just witnessed.

There is something in that bay. Something waiting. Watching. Hunting. Next time you jump into the inviting waters of the Chesapeake Bay, just remember that you may not be alone.

Submitted by Mrs. Textoris. In 8th grade science, students had the challenge option of writing a creative story to describe what it might be like to be a water droplet going through the water cycle.

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 16 JUST FUN AND GAMES

R P P U D D L E S J Q M T H R C B D D S

O U V W R J U D Y R P G R U A U K A L B

L S B G Y D K R M M E Q N T Q L F E B Z

O A R P M K C M P M J W E U F I G W J Q

Y B H S G L N S T J J R O C M R R I Z V

U O U A O E N U S H P M V L A P D O X Y

C Q D U E N F E B I M R J S F A X G O P

S Z D R K A I U L B C N A N P V H S N A

R S G N F S Y L F R E T T U B R K O N S

E I V C I U A E P C A Z A M B L I E V T

W T L A G R M Y R R M B R N T Y F N N E

O Z D E R U T A N V A E C F N X T C G L

H J E N B Z A D D N K I E W T I F M Y V

S V B L O O M M Q B U K N J L J P Q K R

O L E Z B A M F B Z R B J N E S S H M E

APRIL CLOUDS PASTEL

BLOOM DAISIES PUDDLES

BUNNY FLOWERS RAIN

BUTTERFLY GREEN SHOWERS

Would You Rather… by JXW

Ask your friends these question and see what they select!

Always have to say everything on your mind OR Never speak again?

Be able to change your age OR

Your gender whenever you want?

See into the future OR Change the past?

Live like a royal but have no friends

and family OR Be homeless with your friends and family?

Have vinegar eye drops OR

Sandpaper toilet paper?

Be super fast OR Super strong?

Have a rewind button OR A fast-forward button in your life?

Be without internet OR Your phone for a week?

End world hunger OR

War and violence?

Know your future spouse OR Your great-great-great

grandparents?

Surf in the ocean OR Surf the internet?

BY DANNA HIRSHBERG

Artwork by

Meili Soriano

THE FALCON FLIER—Page 17 COMICS

ART COMICS submitted by Mrs. Hoover Selected by Editors JACK ALLNUTT and MIKE KELLER

By

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Lakelands Park Middle School

1200 Main Street

Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Falcon Newspaper Staff:

Josh Acapulco Jack Allnutt* Hayden Anderson Naomi Cocker Sabrina Chowdhury** Johanna Depaz Jasmine Echeona Hannah Fedorov*** Emma Lee Freeman Clarise Halton Danna Hirshberg Hanne Kaplan Julie Kasayan

Mike Keller* Liam Lamphier Priyanka Madhavan Malcolm Martin Asim Meghi Lauren Portis Violeta Salcewicz-Gomez Audrey Soriano Meili Soriano Claire Sullivan Brady Wales Emma Weber** Jeremiah Wright

*Art Editors **Copy Editors ***Editor-in-Chief Sponsor and Layout:

Mrs. Kirsten Tippets

The Newspaper Club meets on Wednesdays in Room 168 for snacks and then works in Lab 157. Come join us to have fun and see your work published in the next issue! You can also join our Google Classroom to submit your work for publication.

STICKMANIA! comic by BRADY WALES