Ms. Carrafiello to the Rescue! By Michael Vuong

Believe it or not, besides teaching at Voor-

hees Middle School, teachers like Ms. Carrafiello,

do have lives outside of school. Ms. Carrafiello

has been teaching both health and physical edu-

cation for three years. Have you ever wondered

what she does when she’s not teaching her class

or informing students?

Ms. Carrafiello currently works with the

Hammonton Rescue Squad part time as an emer-

gency medical technician. She has been there for

seven years, and it fills up much of her time.

Most of the extreme accidents witnessed were

automobile accidents. Ms. Carrafiello has been

trained to use equipment such as an AED

(automated external defibrillator) and the Jaws

of Life. In addition to that, she can also perform

high angle rescues and ice rescues. The squad

works as a team, so going solo hasn’t really oc-

curred a lot. From watching televi-

sion, we always find being involved

with these types of jobs dangerous.

If you are aware of your surround-

ings, you’ll be safe throughout every mission.

Again, the squad works as a team and one of the

jobs together are making sure everyone is safe.

Eventually, there’s going to be kids who want to

be EMT just like Ms. Carrafiello. Before making

that step ahead, note that there are require-

ments you must meet. First, you need to com-

plete a full time state approved class and pass a

hands-on practical test as well as a written exam.

The training course for this was three nights a

week for 15 weeks. The hardest and most chal-

lenging part of this job would be working in a car

accident scene when someone is trapped inside a

car. It gets very and stressful, but it’s also excit-

ing when everyone is doing their jobs to help

achieve the one common goal; save the people

that are involved.

Usually, everyone thinks doing jobs like

these are always action-packed, but the real calls

of excitement only come once and a while. All in

all, Ms. Carrafiello isn’t just a teacher, she’s a

hero. Risking injuries, she and her

team always come to the rescue with

just a push of a button.

The Viking Press The Student Newspaper of Voorhees Middle School

Volume 14 Issue 2 February 2009

Way to Go VMS!!

The students and staff of VMS have donated

approximately 400 boxes of Girl Scout cookies

for the dedicated soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On the week of Decem-

ber 15, 2008 thru December 19,

2008 VMS students took part in

Spirit Week. What is Spirit

Week? Well, it is a week of fun

dressing up of different themes.

This week is also a week of pure

goofiness and silliness when

you see what other kids are

wearing.

During this school year,

(2008-09) Monday was Pajama

Day or Viking Spirit Day. On

that day people wore their

spirit wear sweatshirts, shirts,

sweat pants and pajama

pants. People also wore sweat

pants and PJ shirts and slippers!

Tuesday was Retro or Decade

Day. This meant that you

could wear outfits from the

50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. On

Wednesday, the theme was

Cartoon dress-up! This day you

could dress up like a cartoon,

fictional, or make-believe char-

acter from a book or movie or

story. Kids were dressed up as

Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse,

SpongeBob Square Pants,

Captain Underpants, and

maybe even as one of the

many Disney Princesses. Then

came Thursday, and the

theme was…dress up as your

favorite holiday. Now, you must

be thinking how on earth did

kids do that?!? Well, kids

dressed up in Menorah hats

and Santa hats. One of my

friends dressed up in complete

green; she was Saint Patrick’s

Day. Other kids dressed up for

Easter and Valentine’s Day.

There was a variety of choices

(or should I say holidays) to

choose from. The last day of

the week, Friday, was Freaky

Friday! That was one of the cra-

ziest days of the whole entire

week! On that day kids wore

the craziest apparel you can

ever think of! There were

floaties and disco hats and bell

bottoms and the craziest jew-

elry! It was a great day!

The Spirit week was good

for the sixth graders who didn’t

know much about the week. It

was also an unforgettable one.

The Spirit Week of the 2008-

2009 year was an extravagant

one!

The More The Merrier..right? Getting Through Group Work

By Chetna Thawani

When two or more people are working together on something, it can be quite a hassle. If you’re working on an

essay, sometimes you both end up having different ideas and different styles on your essay, which can be frustrating. Then

you all have to compromise your ideas. You need to get together at home to work on things, which may not work for

some people because of busy schedules. If you assign different parts of the assignment to people, they might not be able

to finish it, or they might forget about it, and the day you’re presenting, your group will not be fully prepared.

Of course, there’s always that little hope of having your friends in your group, and the fun of doing something to-

gether with them. Other people may come up with ideas that you’d never think of, and with that comes more ideas from

you. All together, you could make a very creative A+ worthy assignment.

All in all, working with a partner (or two, or three…) can be rewarding, yet exasperating at the same time. Just

make sure the person you’re working with is reliable and someone you can work well with. Make

sure that not only one person has the whole project or all of the responsibilities, because they may

lose it or not show up to school. Better yet, keep most of the project at school in safe hands with

your teacher, if that’s possible. Also, friend relationships might get in the way, like you might get

your feelings hurt. If your teacher decides on the members, try to compromise and listen thoroughly

to everyone in your group, because they may know something you don’t know.

Get Your Spirit On! By Yesha Dave

The Galactic Genius

By Kassandra Esposito

You’ve heard of Galileo Galilei, the world re-nowned Italian philosopher, right? If you know this, then do you also know that he’s an astronomer and mathematician? He was born in Pisa with six siblings, a famous music theorist for a mother, and a famous lutenist for a father. This influenced and molded his future greatly. He earned his education in the Camal-dolese Monastery at Vallombrosa and later enrolled for a medical degree at the University of Pisa, sub-mitting to his father’s request. He dropped out be-fore he graduated, but instead he studied mathe-matics. Farther down the road, he began teaching geometry, mechanics, and astronomy at a university called the University of Padua. He began studying and creating theories,

such as the existence of the universe, and suspected

him of heresy, a belief that is considered unorthodox

and wrong, by the Christian Pope. He was put under

house arrest and soon after became blind from her-

nia and insomnia in 1638, so they allowed him to

travel to Florence for medical treatment, but to no

avail. He began to suffer from a fever, adapted heart

problems, and, in 1642, he died.

Between this time frame of 1564 and 1642

he accomplished many things. He even sketched a

model of the first flying machine, namely an air

plane. When he obtained questionable descriptions

of a telescope, he created his own, and studied the

sky. When he noticed three stars that were con-

stantly moving and changing around Jupiter, he de-

duced that they must not be stars at all. He thought

that they were Jupiter’s three moons, and was a

strong believer of them. Philosophers denied this as

proof that planets orbit around the earth, consider-

ing that there was no proof that this included Earth.

He was ahead of his time and we would’ve

benefitted greatly if he was born in this time stream

instead of centuries ago. Galileo valued his educa-

tion more than almost anything, second only to his

family. He loved his education

and we shouldn’t take ours for

granted!

Treating Others Appropriately Remember the Golden Rule?

By Taylor Ramirez

How would you handle an argument or disagreement? Would you yell and

scream at the person or would you tell them that this is the problem and this is how your going to handle

it. If you want to get respect from people then you have to give respect to people. People won’t give you

respect if your being rude to them, especially if you have a business. If you own or work from a store, li-

brary, or restaurant then you have to be nice. People are coming to you to buy something from your com-

pany, they are spending money at your store when they can go anywhere else. If you’re having a bad day,

don’t take your anger or frustration out on your customers. Not everyday is going to be the best day, but

taking it out on a customer might not be the best thing to do. That person could also being having a bad

day so it could turn into an argument or worse, a fight. Some people aren’t confrontational so it can make

them physically ill. But with kids it’s different. All adults want their kids and every kid to treat them with re-

spect, but how are we supposed to be respectful if someone is being rude to us. Kids will get in trouble if

they are talking back, yelling, or even arguing with another parent or teacher. It’s hard for kids to take it

when teachers or parents are being rude because we can’t yell back. Everyone even kids should be re-

spected and treated the same even if someone else day isn’t going well. Just remember this saying: “Treat

people how you wanted be treated”.

Yummy For My Tummy Snacks

By Yesha Dave and Hannah Ali

Have you ever gotten home after school and thought to yourself “What am I going to eat? There are abso-

lutely NO snacks to eat after school!” Well, I certainly have. When I come home I want a healthy but sweet little

snack to munch on while doing my homework. Here are a few solutions to this very common problem. One recipe is

Ants on a Log. Ants on a Log is when you put one stick of celery under a big heaping pile of peanut butter, chocolate

chips, Oreo crumbs, or raisins. Here is another snack called MUD! NO, you don’t have to go out in your yard and get a

pile of mud. It’s actually is a sweet & chocolately mixture of pudding, crushed Oreos, chocolate pudding, and gummy

worms. Last but not least, there are great and tasty sandwiches called biscotti sandwiches. These are no ordinary

sandwiches they are delectable biscotti of any flavor or kind held together by yummy and fluffy whipped cream.

Never again will you think “What am I going to eat? There are absolutely NO snacks to eat after school!”

Fun with the

Environment By Morgan Outler

Recently, the Environmental Science club

has had some interesting experiences with the

outdoors. As a member of the fun, exciting

school activity, I have the inside scoop on all of

their events. At the beginning of their meetings,

everyone rushes in through the creaky door as

if they were afraid of their lockers. We put our

backpacks, coats and other belongings in the

back of the room and then we sit in our seats

before Mr. Sapovits can tell us to. We are all

usually really excited, no matter what we’re do-

ing. Although, it’s always really fun!

Anyway, the first meeting, after the infor-

mational one, was in October and was a scaven-

ger hunt. Before we came to the meeting, the

impressive Mr. Sapovits went into the woods be-

hind the school and observed the environment.

Then, when we had our meeting, he gave us a

list of items he had personally seen within a cer-

tain distance. He, obviously, gave us bounda-

ries and had a few eighth graders stay for mark-

ing our limits (with themselves). We were asked

to find quite a few natural things outside like ber-

ries, bugs and several types of leaves. Also, Mr.

Sapovits had cut out some shapes, like black

cats or jack-o-lanterns, and scattered them

around. When we got back to his classroom, we

all counted up our points and see who got the

most out of the possible total. After that, my fel-

low club members and I were called up by

score to take a treat of our choice.

At the next meeting, in November, we

were also excited to find out more about what

we were supposed to be doing. This time, we

were going to plant flowers. It ended up being

tulips. They looked really beautiful on the pack-

age. I just hope they come up that good in the

Spring. We were planting in the outdoor open-

ing in the C wing. A lot of us got to plant two of

them, but some people got the lucky shot of

three. There will be a lot of flowers growing next

year. When we went out there, some flowers

were already planted. All of us had to be extra

care full of where we

dug our holes. It was

cold too (really cold). I

felt bad for the people

who didn’t bring gloves.

Yikes!

Dear Vanessa

I am having a problem with trying to deal with my

previous breakup. I do not know how to concentrate on

school work when I can hardly stop crying. How do I stop

thinking about him? Please tell me what I should do.

Totally Depressed

Dear Totally Depressed,

It is completely okay to feel this way but you

should not have to deal with all the stress .

Let me tell you this I have dealt with this and the

best way to deal with it is to talk to your friends. Try to

talk to them about the good things and not the bad. Try

not to dwell on the subject that you broke up. It all may

be difficult at first so take your time and try as hard as you

can to concentrate on schoolwork. Think about all the

good things in your life. Middle school is pretty early to

worry about boys and relationships. You will have plenty

of time for that in high school. Just work hard and enjoy

life while you can.

Rock Star in Hiding By Keerthana Krishnaraj

What I’m about to say won’t be much of a surprise to most students, mostly because many of

us see him every week. He’s weird, wacky, and plays guitar and keyboards—he’s Reggie Wu.

Reggie used to play in a band called Heaven’s Edge, and he released two albums with his band, but

sadly (at least, it is for him), all that ended after the 90’s. He currently lives in Voorhees and teaches

guitar and piano (big surprise…). His insane personality and weirdness makes lessons fun…and

half the time we’re just talking.

In 1990 Reggie was named Philly Musician of the year. But again, that was the ‘90s. Right

Now, Reggie works with the world-renowned producer/engineer Shelly Yakus to

promote local and unsigned bands, other than giving lessons. So I guess you

can say that Reggie’s good at multi-tasking.

Reggie is a pretty cool teacher, since his teaching isn’t really like teach-

ing. You talk a lot, and play music. So, I guess I would call it learning without

knowing it. I would suggest Reggie to anyone who really wants to learn guitar

(or piano).

The “Help A Shelter Club”

is seeking

donations of the

following items: Large and small paper plates

Dish detergent

Laundry detergent

Trash bags

Spray bottles

Paper towels

Old blankets and bath rugs

Cat toys

Non-clumping cat litter

Cat beds

Rubber mats for dog kennels

Bleach

Stainless steel buckets

Gift cards for PetSmart to buy kitten formula

Canned or dry pedigree dog food

Friskies cat food

See Mrs. Saggesse

Drop off items in

A-10, B-2, B18

NHL Young Stars Game and All-Star Game By Jeff Hernandez

The NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, Quebec was an awesome showdown as the

sensational Eastern All-Stars faced off against the excellent Western All-Stars for the 2009

All-Star game. However the night before was the Young Stars game and the skills competi-

tion. In the Young Stars game, the Rookies faced off against the sophomores of the NHL.

Surprisingly, the rookies blew out the sophomores. 9-5. In the Superskills Competition,

Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, won the fan favorite award for the break-

away showdown. First, Ovechkin went down then dropped the puck off and he went to the bench to get some sun-

glasses and a cowboy hat! Then he got two sticks and started passing the puck between the two sticks. Then he

threw one stick away and made a move and scored! It was an awesome move by Alex Ovechkin of the Caps. Believe

it or not, but the All-Star game itself was more riveting than the skills competition. The Western All-Stars lit the lamp

first, but then the Eastern All-Stars came back to tie it up. It went back and forth. But the third-period had to be the

best. It was all up to the goalies here. Until then, the goalies weren’t good but now, it was Roberto Luongo of the

Western Vancouver Canucks VS Tim Tomas of the Eastern Boston Bruins! Both goalies allowed 1 goal. Then it was a

rare occasion- An All-Star overtime! There hasn’t been an overtime in the All-Star game since 2003 in Sunrise, Flor-

ida. The West took that win. Now it was the East to get their overtime win! After 5 minutes, the game couldn’t be

decided. So then it went into a shootout! Even rarer!!

By Marcos Aquino

You might know who he is, but you probably don’t know his his-tory. To tell his story, we should go back to early 1938. The success of Superman in Action Comics made edi-tors of National Comics (now known as DC Comics) want more superhe-roes for its comics. With that, Bob Kane wanted to create a superhero who looked like Superman with red-dish tights with boots, no gloves, with a small mask of some sort, swinging on a rope, and with two stiff bat-like wings that stuck out. Collaborator (a kind of partner) Bill Finger suggested that the character had a cowl instead of a regular mask, a cape instead of wings, gloves with points, and all that was mentioned would be black in-stead of red. Mr. Finger (I can hear the jokes right now) wanted Batman’s real name to be Bruce Wayne. He

wanted Wayne to be a billionaire playboy. When he was a young boy, he saw his parents get murdered by a robber. After that, he vowed to make sure that what happened to his par-ents won’t happen to anyone else by becoming…THE BATMAN.

In 1966, the absolutely cheesy 1960s Batman TV series pre-miered with Adam West as the Dark Knight. It was cancelled in 1968. After the cancellation of the TV series comic book sales went down. In order to save the comic book, Frank Millar (creator of 300 and Sin City) brought the Caped Crusader back to life in the comic book miniseries ”Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.” In 1989, Tim Burton (the creator of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissor-hands, and Beetlejuice) brought Gotham’s winged protector to the big screen in “Batman.” It became the year’s biggest hit. Soon followed Bat-man Returns, Batman Forever (kinda

cheesy), and Bat-man and Robin (absolutely worth-less). A few years later, the director of Memento, Chris-topher Nolan, brought Batman back to the screen in Batman Begins, and continued in The Dark Knight, which is now the second most money mak-ing film EVER (topped by Titanic). Last fall, Cartoon Network put Batman in their Friday night action lineup in Bat-man: The Brave and the Bold. What’s next for the Caped Crusader? No one knows. Maybe Angelina Jolie will be Catwoman and Johnny Depp might be The Riddler in his next film. Maybe someone else will play Batman. Who knows? Until then, this is Marcos Aquino, pop culture extraordinaire saying, don’t stop believing, y’all.

Forever Be The Knight:

The History Of Batman

Cracking the Celiac Disease Code

By Prajnika Chugh

Celiac Disease. You have probably never heard of it right? Well, this disease af-

fects every 1 in 133 people. However, 97% percent of people who have it don’t know it. What exactly

is Celiac Disease? It’s an autoimmune disease that damages the villi of your small intestine and in-

terferes with the digesting of nutrients when certain substances are digested. You might be saying

“English please!” It basically means when you eat anything with gluten in it (which is in wheat, oats,

barley and rye) your body starts to react in unpleasant ways. If Celiac Disease (CD) is left untreated

there are serious consequences such as severe headaches, discolored teeth, delayed growth, and

poor weight gain. The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) is trying to make sure every

doctor and every chef in the country know of celiac disease. Why doctors? So people can get diag-

nosed as soon as possible so there will be less suffering. Why chefs? So you can go to any restaurant,

anywhere, and be able to have gluten-free food. To make more people aware of CD, the NFCA holds

an annual Appetite for Awareness where doctors team up with chefs to make gluten-free food. All of

the chefs are from restaurants in the surrounding areas. The doctors are there to make sure the food

is gluten-free and to help out! Before the restaurants can enter to be in the contest they have to sign

a contract saying that they will have gluten-free menus at their restaurants. Restaurants such as P.F.

Changs, Pasta Pomodoro, and Outback Steakhouse have gluten-free menus. After the

food is tried by three judges, then four finalists are chosen to compete in the final

round. Whoever wins that final round, is the winner. In conclusion, celiac disease is a

common disease, but most people don’t know it. For more information please go to

the NFCA’s official website, www.celiaccentral.org. Do you have celiac?

Shake Up Your Life with IPod

By Nicole Plotnick

Have you heard of the newest workout companion? If you haven’t heard or just want more infor-

mation on it, then read on! Apple came out with the newest armband recently. If you like to run on the

track, or just like having an extra hand, then the newest Apple armband is for you. Just strap it on your

wrist, and then press play, and you’re ready to jam, wherever you are! Worried about your new ipod get-

ting dirty, or dusty? Then have no fear, the newest iPod accessory cases are here. Just stop at one if the

many stores, and choose one of any possible color. I’m sure that we’ll have some colors that you’ve never

even heard of before! By purchasing more than one hand bag, when you’re feeling blue, just pop your ipod

into your blue hand bag. That way, it can also match your outfits! Don’t forget, it keeps your ipod safe, and

clean. Trust me, you won’t regret this!

How Well Do You Know Ms. Pryzbylkowski?

By Ruchi Khatiwala

You may not be able to say or spell her name, but her personality is very easy to get to know. So

what is her personality? She started working at VMS just about a year ago in January 2008. Due to some

switches, Ms. Pryzbylkowski is now a Language Arts teacher. She went to Rosa International for student

teaching.

During college she started out as a business major, but then felt the field was just not right for her

so she switched to education. She is absolutely glad that she switched her college major because she

loves being a teacher. She went to The College of New Jersey. One thing that she didn’t learn in college is

how to teach grammar in a way that students can relate to it .

Ms. P, as we call her, says the best part about VMS is the students and how they grow up to be in-

dividuals as readers and writers; she also loves when they make her smile. Since she has started at VMS,

all of the students have been welcoming to her. Students and staff have helped her by directing her

around the school building. In addition to teaching Language Arts, she also teaches Tennis

for CER. She feels it is important for students to use their personal experiences as a basis

for their writing. She also using a Writers Notebook for each student to write their jour-

nal entries in. She believes “You write to be read”. She is an encouraging type of teacher

that most students would appreciate having!

Hands On

By Imani Taylor

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like if you didn’t have any

hands? I have, and I don’t think that it would be very easy. Hands are some-

thing that we use every day. Performers, that do acrobatic shows, would have

to be flexible to carry their stuff with their feet. You probably couldn’t even

open a locker, eat, type, brush your teeth, wash your face, play a guitar, or even

do sign language. Some things, we can still do without hands like run or kick a

soccer ball. Some sports could not even be played, Like football, lacrosse, base-

ball, or bowling. They would only be able to play with their feet. So even though

you don’t think about it, you use your hands ever almost single moment of every

day.

Rock Band 2 Will Rock Your World!

By Nicole Plotnick

Stumped on what to ask for your birthday. How about the latest Wii game…Rock Band 2? The

game is $50. You can buy a drum set, a, microphone, a guitar, and a bass guitar seprate as ac-

cessories for your new game. The instruments do not come with it, it is bought separate. The

drum set has a stand, and it connects to four pads. Those pad you tap on with the included

drum sticks. The four pads have four different colors. One is blue, red, yellow, and green. By

tapping the pads, you can hit the notes just by one tap! Four people can play at once! Create your characters, assign

them their instruments, and watch your fans crave more and more! This game has won the highest-rated musical and

rhythm game known to mankind! Choose one of the 500 songs to play. While you’re rockin out, be sure to notice the

astounding work of the artists. They have designed not only the clothing, the characters, but they also make the looks

of the instruments as well! You can purchase this one of a kind game at your nearest Game Stop store. This a great

deal, and this game can be all of your for only $50. Remember, you can buy this game for multiple game systems like

the xBox. This is a beyond doubt the most breathtaking game that will blow your mind, and rock your world!

Book Fair

Brings Buyers By Nikita Nayyar

The book fair was very successful this year. The

goal of the book fair is to raise money for the library

and the school. The book fair this year also had some

very interesting books, such as, Schooled, Coke or

Pepsi along with many others. The highest selling

books were Twilight and Hello, Cupcakes. The book fair

made about nine thousand dollars this year. A compe-

tition was held for all the reading classes. The reward

was participation in the Chocolate Buffet. The reading

class that bought the most books was Mrs.Zielinskis

homeroom. The treat is supposed to take place during

reading class. The party boasted a chocolate theme

and included such items as chocolate cupcakes, choco-

late fountains and more. On December 12th, Mrs.

Zielinski’s homeroom was excited to learn that they

won. The book fair this year seemed to be a great

success. We hope the same for next year.

You don't understand anything until you learn

it more than one way. ~Marvin Minsky

HOLIDAYS IN MARCH (A.K.A. National Sclerosis Education and Awareness Month)

Doctor Who:

An Introduction/Review By Marcos Aquino

First of all, if you have never heard of Doctor Who,

then let me introduce it to you. To do that, let’s go to back

to November 23, 1963. The British Broadcasting Corpora-

tion (or BBC for short) is about to transport

their viewers to unknown worlds every week at

5:15 pm in the afternoon. The show is about an

alien (that looks like a human) who travels

through time and space in a spaceship that

looks like a blue 1950s British police box. Every

season or so he travels with a different com-

panion. With that companion, he travels

through time and space, solve problems, and

right wrongs. The most famous Doc is the 4th

Doctor played by Tom Baker. It ran from November 23,

1963 to December 6, 1989. Then the series returned on

March 23, 2005, and the new Doctor was played by Chris-

topher Eccleston and his new companion was played won-

derfully by pop star Billie Piper. In the second season,

David Tennant joined the cast as the 10th Doc. Every three

seasons or so, if the Doctor gets hurt real bad, he regener-

ates and heals. But when he does that, he changes his

looks. He may look different, but he’s the same smarter-

than-an-average-human, good hearted Doctor who would

rather solve problems with his wits than with violence.

Rose Tyler was the Doctor’s companion for the first and

second season Then Martha Jones became his companion

for the third season. After that, Donna Noble (introduced

in the season 3 opener “The Runaway Bride”) was the Doc-

tor’s third companion in the reboot (a redo). After the

fourth season, last year’s Christmas special, and 4 specials

premiering this year and early next year, David Tennant

(and the original writer/executive producer) announced

that he would leave the series. Unknown actor Matt Smith

will take his place. The Guinness Book of World Records

had crowned the show as the longest running science fic-

tion series of all time. The introduction is done. And now

for the review for Doctor Who: The Complete

Fourth Series.

The good Doctor’s companion in this sea-

son (or series as they call it in the television busi-

ness overseas) is Donna Noble, played by Catherine

Tate. She was introduced in the 2006 Christmas

special “The Runaway Bride.” The fourth season of

the longest running sci-fi series tops the first three

as the best season ever. Especially the season fi-

nale, with all of the Doctor’s companions, and an

old rival from the original series, Davros. If you ask me, his

face looks like a moldy, brown rubber glove. The special

features include a 12-part documentary on the making of

series 4, trailers of every episode on each disc, David

Tennant’s Doctor Who video diaries (this feature shows us

David’s feelings on playing the Doctor, how he feels about

filming the fourth series, and it takes us backstage and on

the set of the show), a retrospective featurette, deleted

scenes, and a little treat for those who are familiar with the

original series. The 5th Doctor meets the 10th Doctor. All in

all, I give Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series a 5 out

of 5. Look at the bottom for my other article.

Meet Mr. Moskowitz By Shadley Hobour

By this point in the year most of the seventh grade students already know Mr. Moskowitz, the 7th grade assistant principal.

Mr. Moskowitz can be heard and seen throughout the E wing all day long making sure that every one is getting to their classes and be-

having properly. Mr. Moskowitz has been in education for several years and held many positions. Before coming to VMS he was an

elementary teacher in Franklin Township. He was later promoted to Curriculum Supervisor in that district. This has been a year of

changes for him, since he became assistant principal here and he will be getting married in just a few months. Mr.Moskowitz said that

he enjoys working here because it’s a great place to work and because the kids are very nice. He sees himself as a people per-

son and enjoys working with children. In his free time he likes to spend time with his fiancé and work out at the gym.

Voorhees Middle Vikings Hockey

is a No-Go By Jeffrey Hernandez

This year, A lot of students who play hockey

thought they were ready to play middle-school hockey. To

their surprise, the Voorhees Middle School Vikings hockey

team did not have enough players to play. The hockey

players would have been going to the Flyers Skate Zone in

Voorhees.

They would have faced-off against Cherry Hill

East, Cherokee, Shawnee, and Lenape. All those hockey

teams had a lot of players. The Voorhees Middle School

Vikings would have had a lot of fun challenging four other

skilled teams.

If there had been at least twenty players, two of

which had to be goalies, then there would have been

enough. There would be an exact equivalent for three

lines and three defensemen. Ethan Shields would have

been one. And one of the two goalies would have been

me myself. But during tryouts, there just weren’t enough

players for a team. However, Cherry Hill East allowed play-

ers to go to their practice, and join Cherry Hill East. There,

Ethan Shields and I found ourselves a team to play for this

hockey season.

The Voorhees Middle School Vikings would have

most likely been a great team if there had been more

players. If there had been more players, the team would

have been successful with great defensemen Ethan

Shields and awesome goaltender me; Jeffrey Hernandez.

With some great shots from center men and great passes

from the wingers, and fast clearings by the defensemen,

and a wall in the net by me, absolutely nothing could stop

the Vikings. But that is what would have been. This fan-

tasy could have been true if there had been more hockey

players. That is all we needed; more players willing to play

and represent our school in Middle School Hockey!

Hockey is a great sport to play. By checking people

in hockey not school, you release all that energy you have

been holding in from the school week! Slapping the puck

off your stick into the goal net can be very fun unless the

goalie is me! If you score on me, it can be very ugly for

you. These are some of the many reasons why hockey is a

great sport. Take my word. I am a goalie and I don’t do

much in hockey but its’ fun for me regardless of the score.

Next year, hopefully we will have enough players.

Then they will play High School Hockey. The current sev-

enth and sixth graders will still have a chance to play mid-

dle school hockey for the Vikings in

the future if a team can be assem-

bled, but for the current season, no

Voorhees Middle School Vikings jer-

seys will be worn.

Basketball Stars as Role Models By Judah Jamison

Usually, NBA (National Basketball Association) players are looked up to and thought as role

models. Most players aren’t like Josh Howard from the team known as the Orlando Magic. Josh

Howard has been on a rampage of crime including the fact that he disrespected the national an-

them. During the summer of 2008, NBA star player Allen Iverson from the Detroit Pistons was having his an-

nual Charity Flag Football Game, when Howard was caught on a cell phone video camera. He is quoted as be-

ing very unpatriotic and making a rather racist comment. After he was caught last year allegedly using illegal

drugs as Pegasus News states, he was dubbed basketball’s “bad boy”.

Some students at VMS often question the fact that the boy’s basketball team wears a collar shirt and

tie. Have you thought that it could be to keep their dignity nad put them in a respectful frame of mind. That’s

exactly why the school’s basketball team wears a shirt and tie. Some students do not understand the basketball

team’s dress code, but it is to remind them that they are making a commitment to playing basketball and if

they are late or absent for any reason any other than an emergency, there will be consequences. That is also the

reason why a player must not have a failing grade (F) in any academic subject or else he will be put on proba-

tion.

The Environment Page By Navneet Guleria

Our environment is in desperate need of help! Nature is calling an SOS signal

to us all, and now’s our chance to help out!

The Recycling Section

By Navneet Guleria

-Did you know that recycling reduces the

amount of greenhouse gas emissions emitted

into the atmosphere? In 2006, 32.5% of peo-

ple recycled and 49.7% of green house gasses

were prevented from entering our atmos-

phere!

-If you just recycle ONE aluminum can, it can

save enough energy to run your TV for three

hours!

-Thanks for this section’s information from: http://

www.resourcefulschools.org/facts.html#did

The Global Warming Section

By Navneet Guleria

-Global Warming is making our planet warmer every year… and

that’s a bad thing.

-Many scientists are predicting a bad future for our Earth. By 2040,

we may have to polar ice caps at all; all the ice will be gone.

-Global warming is taking ice away with it, along with our loveliest

animals, polar bears. They have already been put on the endan-

gered species list, and slowly, they are disappearing, one by one.

-Global Warming may be making our polar ice caps melt, but it is

also making our oceans warmer. Warm oceans are a threat to under

water ecosystems like coral reefs. They are bleaching, meaning that

they are dying out and are also endangered. That’s also bad for fish

that live in coral reefs, because they now have no home.

Thanks for this section’s information from: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

news/2004/12/1206_041206_global_warming.html