Volume 1, Issue 7

April/May 2012

HILLTOP MIDDLE SCHOOL

falcon times

OUR falcon CHAMPION !

One direction

Inside this Issue:

Titanic

Hawaii

The Smurfs

SDSU Trivia

SBCC Youth Forum

April Fools’ Day

D.J. Skrillex

Surviving High School

Black Ops

Surviving Bad Days

Photo and Article by Kazendria Cardenas

Do you know who was the spelling Bee champion for Hilltop Middle’s

Spelling Bee? Well her name is Jenna Bischler! Fortunately, I had the oppor-tunity to talk with Jenna about her experiences.

To start off, Jenna said she never thought she would be the winner, but she always hoped. She says that she did study before the Spelling Bee be-cause it was a good way to be pre-pared. She was a tad nervous before-hand— her heart was beating when she was spelling her word. This was actually her first time competing in a spelling bee contest. When she got the surprising shock of finding out she

By Lizbeth Horta

Five good looking, talented, creative, funny, random guys! Yep One Direc-tion baby!

Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, & last but not least Harry Styles. These guys each share one thing in common— their passion for music. After they won third place on the reality show "X-Factor", these five boys became the most famous band in the world! Their biggest song hit was "What

Makes You Beautiful."

The reason this band is named One Direction is because of Harry Styles. He suggested the name since he be-lieves in “one band, one dream , One Direction."

Here are some fun facts about One

Direction: Harry loves cats, Zayn is obsessed with his hair, Louis adores carrots, Liam is afraid of spoons, and Niall loves chicken wings. Interesting right?

So now you know a little some-thing about One Direction. Re-member it's not good to hate.

won, she was very happy and excited.

For next year’s students par-ticipating in Hilltop Middle’s Spelling Bee, Jenna suggests to study if you want to win, and try your hardest!

Photo courtesy of Google Images

Photo courtesy of Google Images

P A G E 2 F A L C O N T I M E S

Titanic’s 100th anniversary

Hello Hawaii!!

Little blue creatures By Dhamar Perez

Did you know that there are 105 Smurfs in total?! The main Smurfs are Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy Smurf, Greedy Smurf and Grouchy Smurf.

However, did you know that Smurfette was not originally a Smurf? She was made by Gargamel to cause hatred and jealousy among the other Smurfs. She was very mean and she wasn’t very pretty either. Then Papa Smurf took her to his lab and made her a

By Alexia Lopez

Aloha! This means “hello” or “goodbye” in Hawaiian.

Hawaii’s nickname is “The Big Is-land”. It is the only U.S state made up entirely out of islands. The cap-ital of Hawaii is Honolulu.

In Hawaii there are many cultural traditions, and it is home to many cultural events. For example, there is an annual Merrie Monarch Festival, which is an international hula competition.

Next, Hawaii is a great vacation spot because you can chill out on the beach, go shopping, go surfing or even swim with dolphins. Simi-lar to how we have our national

By Carlos Salas

Everyone knows about the Titanic and how it sunk. This famous sto-ry has even been recreated into movies.

The Titanic was a five-star cruise liner engineered by Harland Wolf in Belfast, Ireland. He began build-ing it in 1909. At this time, Titanic was the largest ship to have been built. After it was constructed, reports concluded that the ship

was virtually unsinkable. Its maiden voyage was to be from Great Britain to New York City.

Unfortunately , on her maiden voy-age, this “unsinkable ship” struck an iceberg. It collided with the iceberg in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. It sunk on April 14, 1912 at 2:40am. The Titanic took thousands of its crew and passengers along with it as it sank down towards the icy ocean floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

This year marks the 100th anniver-sary of its sinking. Thousands of lives were lost, and people today still remember the Titanic as “the unsinkable ship.”

anthem, Hawaii’s is called “Hawaii’s Own True Sons.”

Finally, Hawaii is one of two states that does not observe daylight sav-ing time. The other is Arizona.

These are just a few facts to pre-pare you to visit the beautiful state of Hawaii.

Photo courtesy of www.hannabarbara.com

Photo courtesy of Google Images

Photo courtesy of www.allhawaiiatours.com

Photo courtesy of Google Images

better looking Smurf.

According to www.cmt.com, Peyo ,a Belgian artist, created the Smurfs. The Smurfs were very

popular in the 80’s. They even added new characters to the se-ries: Grandpa, Nanny, Sassette, Nat, Snappy, Slouchy, and Baby Smurf.

When the Smurfs lost their popu-larity in America they released a Baby Smurf doll. The doll didn’t last long because it’s muddled voice appeared to be saying inap-propriate words. Even though the Smurfs aren’t as popular now they can still be seen occasionally on TV.

P A G E 3

SDSU trivia

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 7

“LIVE TO celebrate tomorrow”

By Alexia Lopez

Have you ever heard of, or been to SDSU before? SDSU, or San Diego State University, is great college in San Diego, and close to Chula Vista and the Sweetwater school district.

SDSU is a university, but what you don’t know is it used to be a mis-sion. In the 1920s, SDSU began to outgrow its Park Boulevard loca-tion. Because of this, the school ex-panded its current location. It be-gan as a small school then eventual-ly it became a university.

Each year San Diego State allows

more than 35,000 students to be able to learn there. It is very hard to be admitted into this school be-cause there are a lot of people who want to go to SDSU. For example, according to newscenter.sdsu.edu, over 60,000 students applied in the Fall of 2011. Students have to go

through a long process to get ac-cepted.

SDSU is the oldest and largest higher education institute in San Diego region. Now that you know a little bit about there his-tory you should come by and vis-it sometime.

By Carlos Salas

The Community Youth Forum was held at Hilltop Middle School on April 18. It was a Wednesday Night. It began at 6:00PM and ended at 8:00PM. The main goal of the Forum was to inform parents and adolescents on the dangers of alco-hol abuse and the rules of the Social Host Ordinance Laws.

The Forum was organized by the Institute for Public Strategies (IPS). The South Bay Community Change Project is one part of this Institute, which is run by parents and com-munity members.

Their focus this year in particular,

Photo courtesy of Google Images SDSU Campus

was the Mexican tradition of a Quincenera, a coming of age cele-bration when a girl turns fifteen. They targeted this particular cele-bration because, many times, alco-hol is used as a right of passage, or just served for adults. Minors at-tending these parties are some-times served alcohol by the family members, unaware of the dangers of underage drinking.

The Social Host Ordinance Law states that any adult, family mem-

ber or friend that is over the 21, can NOT serve alcohol to minors, regardless of whether it is their own family or children. The reason for this is that minor’s are not de-veloped fully yet, and the alcohol running through their systems can cause severe damages, and many times, death.

The Community Forum explained that there are other alternatives to having safe and alcohol free par-ties. One way is to not rent a place for a party that provides alcohol.

Photo by Ms. Torng Over 300 people attended

the Forum

South Bay Community

Change Project

Photo by Ms. Torng

Photos by Ms. Torng

Members of IPS

Presenters for the Forum

Photos by Ms. Torng

P A G E 4 F A L C O N T I M E S

The sounds of skrillex

Month myths

The history of April fools’ day By Carlos Salas

Do you enjoy pulling pranks, mak-ing silly gags, and laughing at other people's expense? Then you must celebrate April Fools’ Day with a passion.

April Fools’ Day originated in The Roman Empire as the festival of Hillaria. According to www.britannica.com, Hillaria was a festival that celebrated the merri-

ment and rejoicing in the Cybele-Attis cult and in the Isis-Osiris cult. In later years this developed into the holiday of April Fool’s we know and love today . April Fool’s Day is celebrated

around the world the same way—by

pulling practical jokes. Some classic

jokes for April Fools’ are the pull-my

-finger-gag, the classic knock-knock

joke, and fake vomit.

By Jessica Bennett

Did you know that January and February were never really part of the calendar? They were added when King Numa had to come up with two new months of his own.

There were originally only 10

months: Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Jun-ius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December. King Numa added two extra months to make the calendar correspond with the solar years.

The month of Qunitilis first became known as July somewhere between 100 B.C. and 44 B.C. This was be-cause Julius Caesar renamed the

By Isabel Uerkvitz and Vivann Gaus

Though you may know him as Skrillex, his real name is Sonny Moore.

According to www.starpulse.com, Sonny was born on January 15, 1988 in Los Angeles, California. Skrillex is known as an American electronic music producer and singer-songwriter. He had also joined the American post-hardcore band, From First To Last, as the lead singer in 2004.

Sonny began his solo career and tour in 2007. After 3 years, he re-leased his EP, “My Name Is Skrillex”. Then, he released his 2nd EP, “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” with the club hit “Kill Everybody”.

Moore is known to be a combination of Benny Benassi and Deadmaus. He has also remixed Lady Gaga’s song “Bad Romance”.

Photo courtesy of Google Images

Photo courtesy of www.factmag.com

month Quintilis after himself. Also Sextilis became known as August because Julius’ grandnephew, Cae-sar Augustus , defeated Marc Anto-ny, became emperor, and wanted to honor himself.

If you want to more about where our months came from, visit www.monthsthroughthestars.com.

Photo courtesy of Microsoft ClipArt

Statue of Julius Cesar

Photo courtesy of www.bible-history.com

Statue of Cesar Augustus

Photo courtesy of www.adobelibrary.org

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 7

Super 8th graders! By Dhamar Perez and Kazendria Cardenas

She likes shopping, eating pizza, and fashion. Can you guess who it is? It’s Kazendria Cardenas, our student of the month.

Kazendria loves spending time with her friends and hanging out with her cousin, Stephanie. Kazendria is also a very good student. Her histo-ry teacher Mrs. Taylor says she is “very attentive, responsible and helpful. But she has got to stop chewing gum!”

Kazendria’s friends say she is, “very

funny, outgoing and friendly.” Also,

Kazendria hates pickles and her fa-

vorite subject is lunch! When Kazen-

dria grows up she wants to be an

actress, model and singer.

Do you know Carlos Salas ? He is a stu-dent here at Hilltop Middle and I’m go-ing to tell you a few things about this kid!

Carlos is 6’1. He doesn’t care much of his height. In his spare time, Carlos likes to write poetry, sleep, and watch Netflix. He likes to watch Family Guy, Futurama, and American Dad.

Carlos has been at Hilltop since sev-enth grade. His favorite color is black; his favorite singer is KT Tunstall; his favorite author is P.C. Cast; and his fa-vorite food is pepperoni pizza .

Those are the main facts about Carlos Salas. Be sure to say hello next time you see him!

Correction in March issue, “LGBT Bullying Awareness” article: “According to a recent survey by Kosciw's

group on gay bullying, nine out of 10 gay, lesbian and bisexual students are bullied in school, and they are

four times more likely than heterosexuals to attempt suicide.”

From <http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18563_162-6916119.html>

Kim Meraz is our AVID Standout this year!

Kim is in 8th grader and she has been in AVID for 2 years. She says she found out about her award in her 1st period, and she was very excited and happy. She says her parents were very proud when she told them.

To be an AVID Standout you have to be in AVID for two years and your grades have to be good. Then, stu-dents submit an essay. The AVID teacher chooses the top five essays. Then the AVID teacher and the prin-cipal choose the winner.

As the AVID Standout, Kim received an award, a certificate and a medal. Way to go Kim!

Do you know who our 8th grade Poem Contest winner is? Well it’s Monique Yamsuan!

She said that she feels really good about being the winner. She like’s to write. To know that people liked her poem feels really good.

In her poem, Monique wrote about her 8th grade experience here at Hilltop Middle. What inspired her was the friends she won’t get to see in high school. This was Monique’s first time being in a poem contest.

She was very shocked when she found out she was the winner. When the po-em contest winner grows up, she says she wants to become an inspiring au-thor!

Photo by Dhamar Perez

Photo by Lydia Nelson

Photo by Ms. Torng

Photo by Dhamar Perez

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HILLTOP MIDDLE SCHOOL 44 East J. Street Chula Vista, CA 91910 Phone: (619) 498-2700 Advisor: Ms. Deborah Torng, Teacher Email: deborah.torng@sweetwaterschools.org

We’re on the web!

htm.sweetwaterschools.org

Click on “Clubs”

Black ops

How to survive high school

Dealing with a bad day By Lizbeth Horta

"Today is not my day. "

These are words you never want to

hear yourself say. Well, today is

your lucky day, because I will be

giving you tips on how to deal with

a bad day.

What I recommend you do first is

forget about what's on your mind

By Lydia Nelson

ATTENTION ALL EIGHTH GRAD-ERS!!

Are you nervous about going to high school? Read these helpful tips on how to survive your next year of school.

Go to all of the orientations. If you find your way around the campus before school starts, then it will be easier to find you classes.

Be nice to everyone!! Give every-

one a chance.

Join as many clubs and sports that interest you. Keep yourself occu-pied.

Talk to as many people as you can. Being friendly helps people know that you are willing to makes friends and meet new people.

Be yourself!!! This is the most im-portant step of survival. Lying about yourself will do you no good. It sends the wrong infor-

mation about you and you can lose your friends because they won’t know what to believe.

These are simple steps to follow in order to be comfortable with going to high school. Good luck Falcons!

By Cesar Sandoval

All images courtesy of Google Imges

I like Black Ops because it`s fun,

and competitive. It`s fun because of

the campaign. The campaign is fun

because there is so many levels

that are fun and cool. As you beat

one, the next level is more fun than

the last one. Also, the multiplayer

is fun because it has Capture the

Flag and team Death Match.

Another reason why Black Ops is

cool is because it has Nazi Zom-

bies . Nazi Zombies is fun because

it`s challenging. As you get to a

and put a smile on your face. This

will help you keep positive thoughts

in your mind. Smiling forces you to

think positively. You can also talk to

the closest person you know, who

you trust your life with. Talking to

this person helps because he/she

knows you best, and can help you.

Now, the best thing to do is to just

simply deal with your problem.

Once you face your problem, you

can start to get over it.

You never know when these days

will come, but we all hope we are

ready for them.

higher level, it`s harder than the

last level.

Finally another reason Black Ops

is cool is the guns. You can fake

different gun combinations, like

with snipers, sub machine guns,

assault rifles, and light machine

guns.

Photo courtesy of Google Images

Photo courtesy of Google Images