Issue #6

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January 1 5, 201 4

Bret Harte Pioneer IN THIS ISSUE… News Bret Harte’s Annual Winter Concert Page 2 Opinion Jordan’s COD: Ghosts Review Page 3 Features Ask Dr. Harte Page 4 Get to know Tommy Dang Page 6

OUSD Blocks Music Websites at Bret Harte By Andrea Pineda and Tana Strong

Bret Harte Participates in the 31st M.L.K. Oratorical Fest

By Ahnyah Shannon

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Recently, music sites such as Pandora and iHeartRadio have been blocked by OUSD on all computers at this school. Principal Mr. Hughes explained why these sites were blocked. “The music was blocked by OUSD because of problems with the internet bandwidth. Basically, the network can't handle hundreds or thousands of people all over the district streaming music at the same time as they are also streaming videos for Khan Academy or another online curriculum,” he said. The district technology department was in charge of making this decision. Mr. Hughes does not agree with the ban on music sites. “I think listening to music often helps me concentrate when I am working alone and also helps keep people from talking to each other. I wish we could find a way without messing up the internet connection,” he said. Many students are outraged by it. 8th grader Henavea Robertson stated, “I think its preposterous because we need music to focus on our work.” “They should put it back because no one

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will pay attention or care about school,” 8th grader Yasmine Portillo agrees. However, 8th grader Ivy Tu responds to the situation neutrally. “I don’t care because it’s distracting and really noisy anyway,” she said. Some teachers also think that music is important to students’ working time. Mr. Christensen, 8th grade math teacher commented. “Students generally do better focusing on their work when they can listen to music.”

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Have you ever heard of the Martin Luther King Oratorical Fest? Well, the MLK Oratorical Fest is when you perform a poem, speech, or rap about African American history. The Oratorical Fest is coming to Bret Harte this year on Friday January 17, 2014. If you get picked you can advance to the finals which will be held at the Acts Full Gospel church located on 66th Ave. in Oakland, CA. The Oratorical Fest has been around for 31 years. Every year, approximately 5,ooo students and parents come together to make this event happen. There will one performance that are in your class and there will be one that involves the whole school. According to tapestryleps.com, “The competition honors the life of a great orator - who made the highest sacrifice in his dedication to combat injustice and fight for the rights of all humanity regardless of nationality, race, or color. The fest allows

Students in Mr. Browns Men of Color class reciting speeches for the Oratorical Fest Photo%Credit:%Ahnyah%Shannon%%

The screen that comes up when you try to access music

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students to develop a strong sense of self, their talents, and their own voice developing into tomorrow’s leaders resounding with ...Sounds of Hope.” Ms. Gilpinwright learned about the Oratorical Fest when she was a student teacher at Sequoia Elementary and she “really liked it.” “I wanted to bring the Martin Luther King Oratorical Fest to Bret Harte because a lot of our students have really good performing skills and I wanted them to be able to perform and lift up Martin Luther King’s message,” said Ms. Gilpinwright. Students at Bret Harte like the Martin Luther King Oratorical Fest. 6th grader Faithanne Sherrill said, “I have never participated in the Oratorical Fest but I am going to participate in it this year. It is kind of boring but I like the speech.” 6th grader Christian Livengood said, “I have never participated in the Oratorical Fest, it’s going to be my first time.

News Issue #6

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January 1 5, 201 4

Bret Harte Hosts Annual Winter Concert By Ariella Katzman

Bret Harte Jazz Band performing Photo Credit: Ariella Katzman

Bret Harte’s Advanced Band performing Photo Credit: Ariella Katzman

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On Wednesday, December 11, 2013, Bret Harte hosted its annual Winter Concert. Bret Harte students taking Mr. Duane Worm’s music elective classes got a chance to show off their musical skill and abilities to their parents, siblings, relatives and fellow students. The Orchestra performed ‘March From 2nd Symphony’ by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, ‘Rondeau’ by Jean-Joseph Mouret, ‘Pizzicato Polka’ by Josef and Johann Strauss, and ‘Pachelbel’s Canon’ by Johann Pachelbel. In addition, there was also a performance by four students from H.O.U.S.E (Home of United String Ensembles) who played ‘A Christmas Carol,’ a traditional Christmas song. The Advanced Band performed ‘Barrier Reef’ by John Higgins, ‘Triton’ by Anne

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McGinty, ‘Do You Hear What I Hear,’ another traditional song during the winter holidays, and ‘Streets of Madrid’ by John Moss. The Jazz Band performed ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing’ by Duke Ellington, ‘Harlem Nocturne’ by Earle Hagen, ‘Moten Swing’ by Buster and Bennie Moten, and ‘Georgia On My Mind’ by Hoagy Carmichael. 8th grader Jason Laxa says the winter concert was “okay!” One thing he did not like was that the “jazz [band] was last.” D’Angelo Jackson, another 8th grader at Bret Harte said, “Our orchestra wasn’t really ready,” when asked what he thought about the concert. He believes that “people were

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lost too much.” The one thing he believes was done well at the concert was “the amount of emotion.” According to Mr. Worm, students have been performing at a winter concert “since this school was built over 80 years ago.” He believes that the concert went “unexpectedly well,” and that “they were extremely well rehearsed.” There were, however a few things that he believes did not go so well. He stated that he expected more from his students. To make the next concert better than this one, he would like “all students [to] learn to play their music perfectly.”

Opinion Issue #6

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January 1 5, 201 4

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Call of Duty Ghosts is the tenth installment in the Call of Duty franchise. Just like any other Call of Duty, it has a campaign, a multiplayer, and one or two other modes that you can play. When you first enter the main menu there are four different modes you can choose from, campaign where you go through the events that happen in the game, multiplayer, where you play against people around the world, extinction, where you fight against aliens, and squads which is like multiplayer, but it’s bots instead. Call of Duty is basically the same game from its previous years, the same gameplay, the same modes, and the same thing people try to do every time they play a video game, which is to have fun. Will the game be as fun as the last few Call of Duty games or will it be as boring as a wet cardboard box? Let’s find out. So on to what I liked about the game. First off, what I noticed was that they have replaced the old weapons and finally replaced them with new and improved weapons. The weapons have a good feel to it, it looks good, fires good, attachments are good and it’s not like the last two Call of Duty games where they are the same weapons, but different names. The next thing that I really liked was that the knife animation was so much better then all of the other games. Every time I knife someone in the game I get really happy because of the

Call of Duty Ghosts Review By Jordan Phal

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Photo%Credit:%edge9online.com%

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awesome animation where you knife someone then just throw their body on the floor with your foot. What was disappointing in the game was the extinction mode because I had high hopes and those high hopes were crushed. For one, it’s the same thing as zombies from the Black Ops series, but with aliens. I’m not saying that it’s not fun, but it’s the same old game. The other thing I didn’t like was the storyline. I played the story one time and I’m already tired of it. It’s not interesting at all, it’s just way too easy to get through, and there are a lot of better modes to play in the game. The campaign is too predictable, the events that happen are just like the last Call of Duty games, and the characters feel like they were just like the characters from the last games. Overall the game is fun, but it’s not a game that you can play for 4 to 5 hours straight without stopping. Eventually, you’ll either get mad or just get plain bored of the game after straight hours of playing it for so long. The game is good, but it can use some improvements in the next year or two when a new Call of Duty game comes out. I have to give this game an 8 out of 10 because the multiplayer is great, but extinction mode and the storyline can use a little bit of improvement.

Opinion Issue #6

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January 1 5, 201 4

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Catching Fire Review By Yasmine Saechao The Hunger Games sequel: Catching Fire (146 minutes) was released in theaters on November 22, the science fiction adventure PG-13 film was directed by Francis Lawrence. As the movie starts out, Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence) is hunting in a clearing with her best friend, Gale (played by Liam Hemsworth) - where she is haunted by the memories of the 74th Annual Hunger Games, where her and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) were the surviving tributes from the previous year. When Katniss arrives home, President Snow makes an unexpected visit, explaining the rebellion Katniss and Peeta caused when they threatened to commit suicide, and he demands Katniss to convince the districts - as well as Snow, himself - that their love is real, and the cause behind their actions or her loved ones will pay the price. Chaos arises at District 11 when an old man whistles the tune Katniss sung for Rue, and everyone salutes her out of respect. But to Katniss’ horror, the Peacemakers go through the crowd of people and began executing. Their mentor, Haymitch Abernathy (played by Woody Harrelson) realizes the effect that Peeta and Katniss have on the districts and informs that Peeta and Katniss should get engaged. When they return home to District 12, President Snow announces a special version of the Hunger Games. For this specific version, the ‘’new’’ tributes would consist of the existing victors from the past. Katniss makes Haymitch promise that he’d do whatever it takes to prevent Peeta from entering the games once again when Katniss is

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Does it seem like students don’t care about their work anymore when they reach middle school. Some students may not care about anything because they are distracted. According to Rebecca Fraser-Thill, a psychologist and lecturer in Bates College, some students do change in middle school. She said, “In general, students' intrinsic motivation toward school - their desire to do schoolwork for its own sake rather than for an external reward - has been found to decrease with age. Intrinsic motivation especially drops during transitions between schools, such as from elementary school to middle school.” Some students may think that they need to get good grades because their parents say so. Most do not like to be controlled and that may be a reason they don’t care about themselves or their education. It is a good thing that parents pressure their kids to do well, but they should at least explain to their kids how they will end up if they do not care instead of just making them mad

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reaped along with Haymitch, until Peeta volunteers - then the two of them are rushed into the train without a chance to say goodbye to their families. In my opinion, I think that Jennifer Lawrence did a great job playing as Katniss Everdeen - as an actress, she continues to grow and develop, and I could definitely see how improved her acting was compared to the first movie. There were certain parts in the movie where things were super intense causing this character to react a specific way to a scene, like when Katniss tried

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and putting them under pressure. 6th grade administrator, Ms. Tapia thinks it depends on their maturity. “In general I think most do care. I think their home difficulties and maturity levels play into their level of caring about their education. Their parents also play a large role in a student’s attitude toward school,” she said. Ms. Harris said, “If I think about the majority of the students, majority are thinking of how they need to prepare themselves for high school.” 8th grader Elisha Carlisle said, “Of course I do [care about school].” Ms. T, Restorative Justice Coordinator, wrote in an email, “I do not believe that middle school students don't care about their education at all. I believe that too many times there is a disconnect between students and "their" schools, their teachers and ultimately their education.”

How the Transition to Middle School Affects Students By Ariel Thomas

Catching Fire characters Photo Credit: nattywallpaper.com

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whatever it took to ensure Peeta’s safety - but when his heart stopped, you could understand how devastated and helpless Katniss felt while she continuously tried to revive him. Overall, I think the movie was okay, a five out of ten. It started too slow in the beginning - but later on, things became a little too fast-paced for my liking - leaving out details until it came to a point in the movie where it was all about survival, and for a sequel - I think that they could have done a much better job.

Features Issue #6

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January 1 5, 201 4

Daylight savings can be really hard to understand, mostly because you have to set the clock back an hour and it starts to get darker earlier than it did in the summer. Daylight savings can be beneficial, however, because you can get get an extra hour of sleep, or get out of school earlier! There are also some bad things about Daylight Savings - it gets darker earlier and that means that you can't stay out as long with your friends, you go to school earlier, and it seems that the days are shorter. According to National Geographic, “Most U.S. residents set their clocks one hour forward in spring and one hour back in fall. However, residents of Arizona and Hawaii—along with the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, among others—will do nothing. Those locales never deviated from standard time within their particular time zones.” “According to some sources, DST saves energy. Studies done by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1975 showed that Daylight Saving Time trims the entire country's electricity usage by a small but significant amount, about one percent each day, because less electricity is used for lighting and appliances. Similarly, in New Zealand, power companies have found that power usage decreases 3.5 percent when daylight saving starts. In the first week, peak evening consumption commonly drops around five percent,” stated on webexibits.org. Students and teachers at Bret Harte have mixed opinions about Daylight Savings. 8th grader Yasmine Portillo said, “When you get an extra hour it’s good, but when you take away an hour it stinks.” 7th grader Olivia Montiel said, “I think it’s very confusing and I feel that time is going slower.” Ms.Tapia, 6th grade administrator, said she likes it. “I like the fact that days are longer days and I like the extra hour of sleep when clocks are turned backwards,” she said.

The UEFA Champions League is a European tournament that is the most prestigious tournament in the world and for the European football. The four best teams of the European leagues are the ones that go to the tournament. The tournament begins in mid-July with three knockout qualifying rounds and a playoff round. The 10 surviving teams join the 22 best teams in the group stage, in which there are eight groups of four. The tournament begins to expand, incorporating a round-robin group phase and more teams. Europes strongest national leagues now provide up to four teams and will have five teams in 2015-2016. According to Wikipedia, the UEFA Champions League had the most views it has ever had in the final of the 2013 tournament. They had around 360 millions television viewers during the final. It was also the most watched in the world. No other game has beaten that record, not even the World Cup final. According to Wikipedia, Real Madrid has had the most wins in the UEFA Champions League. They have won nine times, including the first five seasons. Spanish clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories, with 13 wins, followed by England and Italy with 12 each. There has been 58 years of the UEFA Champions League and Real Madrid has only won 11. 7th grader Emanuel Adeyeye thinks that Real Madrid will win this year because “Real Madrid has very good players.” However, 7th and 8th grade science teacher, Mr. Orona disagrees. He thinks “FC Barcelona will win because they have been the best Spanish team for many years.” The only bad thing about the Champions League is that the games are around the time we are at school so we can’t see them live. The time in Europe is different than ours so, in the afternoon they will play.

The Good and Bad Things About Daylight Savings By Myani Merchant

By Antonio Sanchez-Ruiz

The UEFA Champion League

Photo Credit:www.aspengrovechurch.org Photo Credit:www.freefever.com

Features Issue #6

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January 1 5, 201 4

Better Know a Student: Tommy Dang

By Jordan Phal

Q: What’s with the hair? A: I don’t know. Q: Tell me about your “girlfriend.” A: I don’t have a girlfriend, what you talking about? Q: What is it like living with Calvin? A: It’s like living with a fat panda. Q: What is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to you? A: I ate a hot dog in front of people. Q: How many phone numbers have you gotten from girls? A: Zero. Q: Who is the scariest person you’ve ever met? A: Your mom. Q: What do you hate most about school? A: The ratchets.

Better Know a Teacher: Ms. Colt By Tiffany Lay

Q: What is your greatest achievement in your life? A: My children are definitely my greatest achievement. Q: If you had a chance to go back in time for a day what would you do? A: I am completely against violence in principle, but I think I would go back in time and somehow organize the assassination of Hitler in about 1930. Q: How did you become a teacher a Bret Harte? A: When I first moved to Oakland, I came to an Expo at Bret Harte and the projects that were displayed were so awesome, I had to work here! Q: What are your favorite songs? A: My favorite songs are “Broken” by Jake Bugg and “We are only Human” by The Killers. Q: What do you enjoy about teaching? A: I love it when kids are working on projects and seem excited by their work, and I can walk around to talk to them. Q: How is it working with middle school students? A: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”- Tale of Two Cities

Photo%Credit:%Jordan%Phal% Photo%Credit:%Sylvia%Colt9Lacayo%

Features Issue #6

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January 1 5, 201 4

Dr. Harte

What do I do when someone forces me to twerk? -TotallyNotRachet

Go ahead and twerk with them

Haters gonna hate, potatoes gonna potate. Who cares what they think of you, don’t waste your time stressing over people acting stupid. They don’t deserve your time, just keep being you because they are just jealous.

So many people dislike me. What should I do? -AloneInTheDark

My parents have been fighting recently. Who should I talk to? -SlenderKidd

You can talk to anyone you trust, like a best friend, uncle, the school counselor, or your siblings.

I think my boyfriend is cheating on me. What should I do? -SpontaneousBird

Don’t start assuming that he’s cheating on you, unless you see him flirting or kissing another girl. Talk to him if you really wanna stay with him.

How can I tell if someone likes me? -AppleCider

Obviously they do if they’re flirting with you or if they like to give you gifts once in a while. But really, if you want to be sure, just go and ask them. Take a risk. Life is too short to be wondering about something like this.

Features Issue #6

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January 1 5, 201 4

Gold Pioneer Staff

Editor In Chief: Adriana Villegas-Rodriguez Senior Editor: Ariella Katzman News Editor: Tiffany Lay Features Editor: Andrea Pineda Sports Editor: Jordan Phal Special Section Editor Sylvia Colt-Lacayo

Staff: Adam DeAnda Irvin Gamino-Sayula Myani Merchant Yasmine Saechao Antonio Sanchez-Ruiz Ahnyah Shannon Tana Strong Ariel Thomas Advisor: Mr. Rukin

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Puzzles for the New Year

S Q N Z X U T T I J N J S J A

C U K S G S W R N Q C A S A Y

F Q D Z K N M G A U N X E N T

E R A U Q S S E M I T B N U R

C E L E B R A T I O N A I A A

K R E S O L U T I O N S P R P

S E I T I V I T S E F B P Y O

X B A L L D R O P Q S C A I E

R A E Y W E N D T R G P H U W

D S C X I L G Z W A F Y P C M

CELEBRATION FESTIVITIES FUN HAPPINESS JANUARY

NEW YEAR PARTY RESOLUTIONS TIMES SQUARE BALL DROP