Summit Ink

1. Summit Ink December 16, 2011 Issue 6 Summit kicks off winter break with Snowflake Ball Regine Mitchell, Editor in Chief Students get ready for winter break with a ball to end the rest of the year. The Snowflake Ball and the 8th grade Snowflake party will be the last day of school for the year, which is Friday, December 16th. The apparel for the ball and party will be all white. Mrs. Vaupel added, “Nothing scandalous though.” The Snowflake Ball will be in the gym of the school while the Snowflake party will be in Mr. Logston, and Mrs. Crawford’s room and also the 8th grade hallway. The Snowflake Ball will begin at the start of 6th period (1:32pm) while the Snowflake party begins after lunch at noon (12:00pm). Only grade levels 9th-12th are allowed to attend the Snowflake Ball. The 8th graders are going to have a movie and video games and everything else will b in the 8th grade hall. The Snowflake Ball will have food and drinks; mostly all foods and drinks will be white. The 8th graders will have pizza and Christmas cookies. The area that we’re having the Snowflake Ball will be all white. When asked about the area being all white, Mrs. Vaupel responded, “We’ll attempt to decorate as much as possible, but yes it will be all white.” When Mrs. Crawford was asked about the 8th grade area being all white she said, “We’ll try to have everything all white.” When Mrs. Vaupel was asked what activities will be at the ball she said, “Dancing of course, corny little games, and a surprise guest.” There will be music provided by Mr. Sonny and Mr. McCarty. The 8th graders will not have any music except Christmas music. When both of the teachers were asked how they felt about the Snowflake Ball and party, Mrs. Vaupel said, “I’m actually very excited, I’m sure if it comes together it would be a very nice event.” Mrs. Crawford said, “I’m excited and hoping the kids have a good time.” Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! Speech team members celebrate a successful show on December 14! Speech performance shows true meaning of Christmas Brion Koenig, Sports/Special Events Editor First off, I would like to say Happy Holidays. For this holiday season, the drama class performed the play “Mr. Wilson finds Christmas.” The play was directed by Mrs. Belick, Mr. Rivello, Mr.McCartyand Mr. Sonny. It was Wednesday December 14th at 5:00pm. It was Mr. Sonny’s idea to have a Christmas play. This play was about a very busy business man who finds out the true meaning of Christmas. “The star actor is everybody, because they all worked so hard and and were productive”, Mrs. Belick stated. The people in the play were Alissa Rodriguez, Jalen Mason, Jonta Lafontaine, Julius Joy, Charmonique North, Marcus Magby, and Ryan Fisher. Also I talked to Mr.MCcarty who thinks he is doing a great job and he chosen to help direct because he love anything to inspire kids to show their talents. But on the other hand Mr.Rivello stated “this was an awesome opportunity to get to know the students and I want to be known as the teacher who shows that if you have a talent you should show it”’ Lastly I sat down with Ryan fisher and he said they practiced every fourth period he said “the practice helped us do well at the play”. Then I talked to Anthony Hughes, who was dancing with Corey White, Julius joy, mike Johnson to their own made up track. The play went off with a bang. from me, to all have a good and happy holidays from the newspaper staff.

2. 2 Opinion Page The Chronicles of the Jelly Fisher Task force takes on new duties Brion Koenig, Sports/ Special Events Editors I have had the honor to sit down with Deputy Buente about the Summit Knight’s Task Force. I talked to him about what the Task Force is. “It is a selected group of students that gets special benefits and responsibility to help staff and students,” Deputy Buentestated. “Well, also the Task Force members get unlimited passes, and once in a while the Task Force will get treats from me. “ I then talked to Deputy Buente about how Task Force members will be identified. “The Task Force members have received lanyards; and Mrs. Newbrough made badges for all the members who are on the Summit Knight Task Force,” Deputy Buente stated. “Now some of the things they will have to do are morning scanning in, attendance checks. and any extra help the teachers need,” Deputy Buente said. Deputy Buente also picked these students because they demonstrate how students should act. Also, they represent the student body and Summit Secondary School. Some of the stipulations are that you can’t get any office referrals, or even be a disruption to class. If you get in trouble; that means you will loose your job on the Force I also sat down with Mr. Pallantehe stated, “I think the Task Force is a great idea also it gets the students to focus on positive behavior.” Then Mr. Pallante talked about some goals like helping out staff and what ever Deputy Buente needs done during the day. Lastly, I sat down with Mr. Shelton he stated, “The Task Force is a great idea; it also builds partnership with students and staff,” To me it is a great thing because it shows that students can make a difference, too! Ryan Fisher, Opinion Editor My opinion on Christmas is that it is a great time to spend time with family, a time to forgive, forget, and remember how much your family means to you. On Christmas my family watches Christmas movies. My personal favorite is Jake Frost and How The Grinch Stole Christmas. I love Christmas because many of my family members come down for the holidays to visit. I can not wait for Christmas break. I was supposed to be going to Florida for Christmas break but now I am going to be going to Florida for Easter break. Christmas is a time for family gatherings. There is a lot of people who are alone on Christmas. Some people think that Christmas and many other holidays are depressing. If the people who are alone on Christmas could be with people they love I am sure that they would think different about the holidays. Christmas means nothing if you are not spending it with the people you love. Kids think Christmas is about gifts but I am not going to lie. I like the gifts too. As you get older you want more expensive which means less gifts under the tree. Slowly you start to under stand the true meaning of Christmas. At my house Christmas is a big deal. On Christmas eve everyone of my family members come down and we open all their gifts. On Christmas we open all the gifts that were given to us by the people who live with us. I hope no body is alone on Christmas and I hope everyone has a great Christmas. Merry Christmas and a happy new year! Have a holly jolly Christmas. Brion Koenig, Deputy Buente, and Jonathan Koenig all members of the Summit Task Force

3. Christmas Traditions 3 Ryan Fisher, Opinion Editor I recently sat down and interviewed several people here at Summit Academy. I asked them about there Christmas traditions because there are so many different traditions people could have around the holidays. The purpose of these interviews is to inform everyone on just how many different traditions people have. Traditions are passed down from generation to generation and its up to you if you want that tradition to continue on. The students I interviewed I great students with big plans for this Christmas season. My first interview was with Ausanae Cameron. She seemed like she really likes the holiday seasons. When I asked her does she have any Christmas traditions she told me yes, she gets to open one present once every year on Christmas Eve and perform her secret Santa tradition. I open gifts on Christmas Eve to but that is only because all my family that doesn’t live with me come down and watch me open their gifts. Ausanae has been doing the tradition for years and plans to keep thetradition going because if she doesn’t then her family would of started the tradition for nothing. The one question I planed on asking all the people I interviewed was if you don’t have any traditions would you like to. When I asked Ausanae this question she said she would like to sing songs and drink eggnog. I then interviewed April Hamlett she told me every Christmas her and her family go on vacation to spend the holidays with more of her family that she does not see that often. She told me she has been doing this tradition for over 10 years. If she could have another tradition she would want to go to the North Pole. Both these girls like Christmas and seem like they are going to have a great Christmas. The next person I interviewed was Amber Slaven. Like Jonta is in the giving spirit, and passes a gift to Charm Ausanaeand I, every year she gets to open a gift on Christmas Eve. Amber has been doing it for years and does not plan on ending the tradition anytime soon. She would like to beable to spend one more day with her aunt that died if she could have another tradition. I then went on to Javevelle Anderson. His tradition is to celebrate his birthday the day before and the only reason that is his Christmas tradition is because the day before is his birthday. This has been a tradition in his family since he was born. He was an early Christmas present for his mom. He would like to eat a lot more food for another tradition. Then I interviewed NajeeMuhammed about his tradition. He told me every Christmas he pray before he opens a gift and has been doing it for two years. He wouldn’t want to do anything else on Christmas because what he and his family does is enough for him. The last two people I interviewed was Desmond Simmons and Armani. Desmond gives gifts to people because you get blessings back. Armani receives gifts because she asks her mom for them. These interviews let me know how many traditions you could have. Have a holly jolly Christmas! New school rules to create new attitudes at Summit Tashawna Alvarado, Sports/ Special Events Editor New rules have been applied to the school, so that students will become more responsible and to keep everything in order. Students may not like these rules, but it’s helping them out in the long run. For more information about the new rules, I interviewed Mr.Pallante. The first question that I asked Mr.P was why the students have to skee when they come in class. Mr.P responded, “Because it’s been apart of the Summit model and we have to get the discipline back, because there are a lot more students in the school. Some people lost respect from each other and we need to get that respect back and show visitors how discipline we are.” Mr.Psays “Yes students are aloud to talk in the hallways with low voices, while changing classes long as they are walking to class and not hanging out and is one the right side of the hallway.” I don’t think that this is unfair It’s ok, because we still get to talk to our friends for that little bit of time and we get to class on time more, because the hallways are not that crowded. Next I asked Mr.P if students improve will it go back how it use to be. Mr.P says, “They will be reviewing this on a weekly basis but I will talk to the students of student council and teachers about how long the new rules will be going on.” (Continues on p.4)

4. Rodney McMeans Ms. Oldham Brion Koenig, Photographer Cevon McMullen, Student Liason For this article, we choose to write about senior Rodney McMeans. Recently, I sat down with him and learned more about him. We started talking about some of his funniest moments in life. One of them was when he heard what happened to Mr. Laney at the park on the last day of school last year. I then asked him what was his funniest birthday he ever had, and he responded, “It was when my mom smashed my cake in my face at my sixteenth birthday party.” When asked what songs meant the most to him he responded, “Christmas songs , ‘cause it’s around the holidays.” Then, when I asked him what would he bring to a deserted island, he responded, “I would bring an iPod, so I can jam, a book for my entertainment, and a cell phone to call for help.” When I asked him if he had any superpowers what would they be, Rodney said, “I would like to be invisible so I could rob a bank.” Then he told me that his favorite moment in his life was when his dad got out of jail. When asked if he discovered that he have won $1,000,000 today, what would he do and he responded, “I’ll give $50,000 to my mom for everything she did for me and for bringing me into this world.” Recently, I sat down with the new Language Arts / special education teacher, Ms. Oldham in Mr. Hart’s room. Since this is the holiday season, I asked her a holiday question. ”I love the holidays especially sleeping in and I love spending extra with my family,” she said. Then, I asked Ms. Oldham why did she come to Summit, she said “I was thinking I was coming to a good school and I was right.” She also loves shopping and spending time with her family. Also, in her spare time, she listens to hip-hop and rhythm and blues. Also, she has some talents like cooking, because she is Italian. “My favorite kind of food is pasta,” She said. “Because we are Italian and I also like mashed potatoes they are awesome.” “Staying in school is important because it open up so many opportunities.” She said. “She went to university Toledo I loved it.” She said. And I asked her if she could teach any subject she stated, “ It would be History because the past is a blast.” And I enjoyed talking and getting to know Mrs.Oldham. New rules to create new attitudes at Summit (continued from p.3) “Skee is just a sign of respect, not for good or bad students,” Mr. P responded. Then, I asked Mr. P if he thought this will improve the school and, he responded, “It will if students understand why they are doing it, because it’s my job to make the school better.” My last question to Mr.P was to describe the changes about the school, and he responded, “Its more quiet in the halls, less arguing, more respect for behavior, less tardies and no more students just hanging in the halls.” To get a student opinion about the new rules and changes, I interviewed Julius Joy aka Ju-Ju. My first question to Ju-Ju was what he thought of the school rules and if he thought that they were going to improve our school. Ju-Ju responded, “Some of the rules are good and will improve our school and others are dumb and not needed.” Next, I asked Ju-Ju if he thought walking on the right side makes it less crowded in the hallway. Ju-Ju responded, “No it doesn’t, it makes everyone squished together and hard to get around more; people are going to bump into each other and that can start a fight.” Julius feels that the rules might improve our school, but he thinks that it will also cause more drama because students want their freedom. Ju-Ju says, “Am even on time if the rules changed sometimes are late because all the clutter in the hallway.” Then, I asked Julius if he could add one rule to the school what it would be. He responded, “Treat everyone with respect and never result to fighting unless you have to.” My last question to Mr. Joy was if he like the new school rules, he responded “No I don’t like the new rules because I want my freedom, and everyone shouldn’t get punished as a group because it isn’t fair.” My opinion about the new school rules is that I don’t like the rules but I follow them because I don’t want to get in trouble. The rule that I dislike the most is walking on the right side because some students walk fasters than others and it makes me mad when I am walking behind some body that walks slowly.

5. 5 Summit stars bring ‘A’ game, earn first win against East Anthony Hughes, News Editor Summit Basketball Schedule January 23 All day Round Robin Tournament Event The Summit Knights have there first win of the season. So I was lucky to interview some of the team players. The Summit Academy Knights defeated the East High Panthers 35-32 in a hard fought game. Recently I sat down with some of the players and we disgust some of the highlights. First I asked senior John Stewart, junior Jaivon Spearman and senior Jordan Jackson how they think the basketball season is going. According to Stewart, “It’s going good.” Spearman stated, “We are doing a good job, we just have to work on our team work.” Jackson thinks, “It started off pretty good.” I then asked them who shot the most points and who the star player of the game was. According to the players, they all thought that Rodney shot the most points and he was the star player of the game against East High. With that said, I then asked them which of the players they thought is the most improving. According to John Stewart thinks he is the most improved player. Cyrus said “Most of us are.” Spearman stated “Everyone is improving, just at their own pace.” Lastly I asked the players what the final score of the game was, how it felt to win and why do they think they won. According to Stewart, Spearman and Jackson “The funny score was 35-32. It feels good to win. We won because we played as a team and used teamwork.” Matthew said “It feels good to win but, we can not get too cocky.” Well there you have it. Apparently the basketball team is having a good year so far and they are looking forward to playing more games.

6. Merry Christmas Shout OutsCeVon McMullen, Student Liason Instead of Summit doing the same old shout outs we deiced to change it up and go with some Merry Christmas shout outs. To: Danielle and Brianna From: Anthony Hughes Message: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I love you guys. To: Carl Fleeton From: DaVail Dow Message: Shout out to my dude Carl. Good luck. To: Daniele, CeVon, Arianna From: Dehavlynn Thanks for being there for me. To: Everyone From: Mr. Shelton Message: Merry Christmas to all. To: Dre J’s friends From: Dre J Message: Merry Christmas to Bri, Ed, Carl, Tabraya, Ta’Shawna, Tiera, Cevon, Ashley Menton, Ashley Davidson, Jaivon, Davail, Regine, Mr. P, Mr. Trip, Mr. Laney, Mrs. Brown, Mr. Shelton, Mr. Sheely, and Mrs. Dimas To: DaVail’sbrah From: DaVailDow Message: Brah Cevon, Brah Jared, Brah Jason, BrahQwon, BrahTrevon Merry Christmas and yall my brahs no matter what. To: PattRichley From: Edward Dothard Message: Merry Christmas baby I love you Patt To: All juniors From: Corey White Message: Calling all Juniors, Calling all Juniors it’s time for the season to be Falalalalalahaha To: Qwon’s home boys From: QwonDow Message: Shout out to all my home boys love yall no homo! To: All Jared’s people From: Jared Kliene Message: Shout out to all my people Cevon, Andre Jacobs, Free, Rodney, and cuddy Jason swag! To: All students and staff From: Mr. Pallante Message:Have a safe and wonderful holiday break! To: Mrs. Crawford From: Mr. Logston Message: Happy Christmas, thank you for your hard work! From: Ashley Menton To: Jaivon Spearman Message: I love you! Fatty aka chunky! Marcus Harris, Artist To: Tia’s teachers From: Tia Harris You are a special teacher to me because you are a fun respectful person to hang out with and that will never change. To: Ashley Menton From: Jaivon Spearman Message: Merry Christmas what you get me. To: Alyssa Rodriguez From: Mrs Dory Message: I will take good care of the children!! To: Cevon McMullen From: Anonymous Message: What’s good bro! To: All Tabraya’shomies From: Ta’Braya Dow Message: I wanna give a shout out to all my homies I love you. To: Mrs. Newbrough & Ms. Oldham From: Mr. Hart Message: Thanks for being awesome partners! Have a Merry Christmas and a blessed holiday season. To: All of Summit From: Deputy Buente Message: Hope everyone has a great holiday break! To: Mrs. Dory and Mr. Hart and Art students From: Mrs. Newbrough Message: Thanks to all the hardworking students in Art. A special shout out to Mrs. Dory and Mr. hart for being such great people to work with. To: All Summit Staff From: Mrs. Dory Message: Merry Christmas to all staff and students and may God richly bless you all in 2012! To: My new Summit family From: Mr. Rivello Message: happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and have a safe and wonderful break!

7. Christmas Crossword Excitementbuilds upabout Christmas break plansAnthony Hughes, News Editor Christmas vacation is approaching fast. So, I decided to do a survey about where people spend there Christmas vacation. I came back with some great responses from both lower classmen and upper classmen. My question to them was where would you spend your Christmas vacation and why? Here are some responses from the ninth graders: Amber Slaven - “Florida because it’s warmer and no snow!” Jonathan Koenig - “At home with my family.” Tre’von Dow - “At home with my family because it’s my family.” Terrance Fiumara -“I spend Christmas at my house, my mom cooks and family comes over.” Simone - “I’d say with my aunt Gena.” Amber Rivera- “Florida so I could be with my great grandma.” Anonymous - “At home with my family.” Now for the upper classmen: Corey White - “Hawaii because it will be warm and fun.” Julius Joy- “I would spend my Christmas vacation in Tokyo because it is romantic and beautiful.” Anonymous – “I’m spending Christmas vacation in hot Florida with my family.” Anonymous – “Hawaii because of the warm weather.’ Anonymous – “I would spend my Christmas vacation in Tucson, Arizona because my sister and brother in law just had a baby and I want to see my niece.” Anonymous – “At home with my family because that’s what Christmas represented.” Created by Keegan Caban, Entertainment Editor

8. Horoscopes • Eric Rumph, Artist • Happy Birthday, Capricorn • Capricorn (December 22 – January 19) • The sign of the Goat is traditionally practical, ambitious, disciplined and patient. • Aquarius (January 20- February 18) • The sign of the Water Carrier is traditionally friendly, humanitarian, honest, loyal and original. • Pisces (February 19 – March 20) • The sign of the Fish is traditionally imaginative, sensitive, compassionate, selfless and unworldly. • Aries (March 21- April 19) • The sign of the Ram is traditionally adventurous, courageous, enthusiastic and confident. • Taurus (April 20- May 20) • The sign of the Bull is traditionally patient, reliable, warmhearted and persistent. • Gemini (May 21 – June 21) • The sign of the Twins is traditionally adaptable, communicative, witty, intellectual and eloquent. • Cancer (June 22 – July 22) • The sign of the Crab is traditionally loving, intuitive, imaginative and cautious. • Leo (July 23 – August 22) • The sign of the Lion is traditionally generous, warmhearted, creative and broad-minded. • Virgo (August 23-September 22) • The sign of the Virgin is traditionally modest, meticulous, reliable and practical. • Libra (September 23- October 22) • The sign of the Scales is traditionally diplomatic, romantic, charming and sociable. • Scorpio (October 23- November 21) • The sign of the Scorpion is traditionally determined, forceful, emotional and passionate. • Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) • The sign of the Archer is traditionally optimistic, freedom-loving, good-humored and honest. Eric Rumph, Artist