Page 1: AcademicsPage 2: Student Life Page 3: SportsPage 4: ClubsPage 5: Student Highlights/Dear AbbyPage 6: From the YearbookPage 7: Staff HighlightsPage 8: Fun and Games

Fall2011

AcademicsHey, would you like to make a wonderful wood cre-ation? At Mr. Fredette’s class, you can make a wind mobile, a pen, cars, and many other projects all out of wood or plastic. The only thing you have to make sure of is to wear the proper protection such as safety goggles. The interesting thing about Mr. Fredette is that once you complete a project, he might send you to Mr. Jackson in the office who may sneak you a treat if you did an extraordinary job. Truly, woodshop is an exciting and interesting class.

WoodshopBy: Yash Narang

The WheelBy Ammet RahaneThe wheel, an option for incoming sixth graders, includes Life Skills, Woodshop, Computers, and Art. Life Skills offers you lessons that are impor-tant to know how to handle, such as avoiding drug abuse, dealing with bullying, and saying no to negative peer pressure. Computers teaches you how to be tech savvy and use computers bet-ter. Another class is woodshop which helps you extend your creativity without losing your exact-ness. Yes, Woodshop is where you make projects out of wood and plastic, such as a yo-yo and coin holder. Finally there is art, where you get to use your imagination to make wonderful pictures us-ing professional artistic techniques. In conclusion, the wheel is a great option for 6th graders.

At Balboa there are many different Language arts and History classes, and one of them is Mr. Duffy’s class in room 49. Mr. Duffy is not a robot teacher because whenever he de-scribes something he always cracks a joke to make the class entertaining. Faith Reeves exclaimed, “Mr. Duffy’s class is fun and entertaining, he keeps the class educational, yet enjoyable.” The class is under control and he is a fan of the Lakers and the Dodgers. Mr. Duffy is an excellent teacher.

Mr.Duffy’s ClassBy: Ethan Bates

Student LifeWelcome 6th graders to an exciting year at Bal-boa Middle School! At Balboa you will have an exciting time in your electives, fundraisers, and the 6th grade extravaganza! For the next two years here at Balboa you will have a larger var-iety ofelectives such as Yearbook, ASB, Home Arts, and many more! You will also be able to go to the dances and you will be one step closer to promoting to high school. So stick around and you will have a great time here at Balboa!

Hey Seventh Graders, it’s great to be back to Balboa! Every year you get closer to the top, and next year you’ll be running this school. But you should make this year count; make friends, join clubs, but most importantly, don’t let popularity get to your head. Friends are quality over quantity, but don’t let that keep you from making new ones. Who knows, maybe you’ll find a friend that you’ll be close to for the rest of your life. Another thing, don’t give into drama. Drama just holds you back and causes unneces-sary problems. Grades are important as well, so don’t let them fall. If you are struggling, ask your teacher for help, or you can also go to your coun-selor for advice. So go on, MAKE THIS YEAR COUNT!!!

Hello 8th graders! Hope everybody is having a great year so far. This is the last year before high school so have a blast, but always re-member to stay focused in class and to always do your best. Make sure to keep your grades up so you have a chance to make honor roll and travel to Magic Mountain for the honor roll trip! There is also always space available in clubs. Clubs are a great, fun way to make new friends so be sure to check them out! Don’t forget school sports. School sports are very re-warding and also a great way to prepare your-self if you want to play sports in high school. Make this year AMAZING!

8th Grade LifeBy: Sariah Flores

7th Grade LifeBy: Rachel Peek

6th Grade LifeBy: Andrew Brown

Sports

You may not be a fan of P.E., but it’s extremely important here at Balboa Middle School. P.E is an enjoyable safe environment where you can exercise and get good grades by simply running a mile, playing field hockey, basketball, running the neighborhood, or other sports. Although most kids aren’t fond of the various activities we do in P.E., they are all good for us in the long run. P.E. builds endurance and strengthens muscles The best part of P.E. is that the amazing teachers who are extremely friendly. Even though P.E. is usually looked upon as a period of running to most students, it’s a good thing if you do well and try your hardest.

Have you ever thought about joining cross coun-try? If you like running or would like to improve, you should try it out! Practices are on Tuesdays and Fridays and meets are every Thursday. You get to run at places like Arroyo Verde and Mount Sac! Plus running cross country helps you finish the mile faster because you have ex-tra practices. Sabrina Urick, a student who runs cross country here at Balboa shared her opinion about it, “Cross country is a great school sport to join. It’s really worth it and extremely enter-taining.” Cross country is also amusing because if your friends join, you can run side by side or challenge them to see who gets the best time and who still needs to improve. In conclusion, cross country is exciting and helps you remain fit a great deal! Even though the seasons over there is always next year.

Balboa has many different sports, and Girl’s Volleyball is one of the most favored. Devon Echols, a volleyball player, says, “I like volley-ball because I get to be active and it’s ex-tremely fun.” Mr. Hertenstein, the volleyball

Physical EducationBy: Josh Solis

Cross CountryBy: Renee Steiminger

VolleyballBy: Eric Wise

High for a tournament. Their tournament was October 1st at Oxnard High School and there were in total, twenty two teams. One of our teams placed fifth, another placed eleventh, and three other Balboa teams placed around fifteenth. Great job Balboa!

coach sends the volleyball team to Oxnard

Clubs/Upcoming Events

There are many different clubs here at Balboa. In fact, Balboa is one of the few middle schools that has a variety of clubs. Clubs are a great way to get motivated and a great source of teamwork. Some clubs include drama club, Followers 24/7, glee club, and outliers club. One club called the Followers 24/7 lets kids express their love to god and take in their own religious views. Students may also create clubs if a teacher is willing to sponsor it in their classroom. It also will take the office workers approval. Truly, clubs satisfy kids wants and needs.

Battle of the books is an amazing club that meets in the library every Friday at lunch, for people who enjoy reading. In this club, there is a book list, filled with great, interesting books. You read as many books off the list as you can, and at the end of the year, you have a Battle. In this battle, Balboa, and other schools meet together to conduct a battle with questions based on the book list. You are separated into teams and you work to-gether to win the battle. Book talks are held almost every Friday to talk about the book of the week. During the book talks, there are raffles, popcorn, and more! I would definitely recommend joining Battle of the books!

Upcoming EventsBy: HaeYoun KimNovember 11 Veterans’ Day -HolidayNovember 23 Non-Student Contact DayNovember 24-25 Thanksgiving Day -HolidayNovember 28 Canned Food Drive BeginsDecember 19 -2 Winter BreakJanuary 3 School Resumes January 16 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day -HolidayJanuary 27 (Minimum Day) End of 2nd Quarter

Battle of the BooksBy: Keaton Dadigan

Balboa ClubsBy: Eric Albaugh

Brittny Wise is a returning student at Balboa, who is cur-rently a 7th grader. However the name she prefers to go by is Britty. Her favorite hobby is playing the violin and she enjoys singing. She also likes to be on stage in front of a crowd. Her favorite teacher is Mr. Fitz and she loves World Geography. Her favorite movies are Despicable Me and Super 8. She said if she had to pick between being an elephant or a giraffe she would be a giraffe. Britty’s favor-ite singers are Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. Truly Brittny Wise is a great student her at Balboa, and if you see her around give her a wave.

Student Highlights/Dear Abby

Robert PillaBy: Lilliana Guzman

Dear Abby, I have no friends in my classes and I don’t know anyone. What should I do? -FRIENDLESS FREDDear FRIENDLESS FRED, DON’T BE SHY. Make friends with your neighbor or people around you. Dear Abby, I am having trouble focusing in class. What can I do to make me focus? -SPACINGOUT SALLYDear SPACINGOUT SALLY, Get your mind of the distraction. You can easily ask the teacher if you can switch seats. Dear Abby, My friend keeps asking me if they can copy my homework. Should I let them copy or not? -TROUBLED KATE Dear TROUBLED KATE, Try to help them understand the problems. If they still don’t listen talk to your counselor.

Britty WiseBy: Marissa Mendoza

Robert Pilla is currently a 6th grader, here at Balboa. He enjoys playing baseball, and in his spare time likes riding his bike and going to the skate park. He loves pizza and his favorite colors are black and orange. He likes the Lakers and he likes playing Black Ops. His favorite animal is a tiger because they have big claws. His favorite movie is the Sandlot. His nickname in baseball is Pops and he enjoys math. Mrs. Corsentino is his favorite teacher. Robert also likes to hang out at the field with all his friends, at lunch. Magic Mountain is his favorite Amusement Park and the ride he enjoys the most is Ninja. He has made a ton of friends here at Balboa so if you see him around,say hey.

Hey Balboa students! The yearbook staff is working on the Get Inspired Project. The Get Inspired Project is about people getting inspired to make this world a better place. We are using the power of media to bring awareness to the world’s problems hoping to make a difference. Last year we raised $183 for St. Jude’s children’s hos for those in need. We already haveus in our effort to make a difference.

From the Yearbook ClassGet InspiredBy: Devon Echoles and Marissa Mendoza

Balboa Middle School has a new web-site. Everyone’s talking about our new website! On this distinct website you can now listen to the audio newscast, call our attendance line to let us know if you will not be here, see the weekly bulletin, updated every week, and even check the Balboa weather! You can also check our office hours. As well as all of these great features, on the bottom right corner there is a place where you can click to see more. When you do so you can learn all about Balboa’s past, and additionally you can read about our vision and mission stat-ments. The website can be used as a tool to help get to know this school better, or find out information you did’nt know before. So visit our new website soon!

Hey Balboa students, the yearbook staff would like to give you a few reminders. For starters we would like to remind you to order your yearbook either online or in the office soon. The price will continue to rise. Also, now there are cool new features that you can purchase with your yearbook. For example, now you can purchase additional signature pages, your name engraved on your year-book, and clear, plastic protective covers for your yearbook. If you would like to purchase any of the items go into the office or go to Jostens.com. Another reminder is, don’t forget to listen to the newscast. However, if your first period class is say physical educa-tion and you are unable to listen to the news-cast you can go to balboamiddleschool.org to hear it. So, don’t forget to purchase your yearbook and listen to the newscast every Monday.

RemindersBy: Shelby ColletBalboa’s New Website

By: Alicia Harrison

many great ideas in the works this year. Please join pital and we collected clothes and canned food

Search for “Balboa Yearbook” on Facebook and “Like” our page!

Staff Highlights

Mrs. Willis teaches Life Science for 8th and 7th graders. She has been teaching at Balboa for 4 years. She has taught 7th grade life science, physi-cal science, earth science, US History, and math intervention for one week. Her favorite subject to teach is physical science. She enjoys teaching physical science because there are more hands on experiments for students. In her free time Mrs. Willis enjoys to read and go camping. Her favorite sport is football, and her preferred teams are the Jets and Chargers. Her favorite famous person is Harrison Ford. Her favorite movie is When Harry Met Sally. Clearly Mrs. Willis is a fantastic Science teacher.

Mrs. Young is a wonderful 7th grade world ge-ography and Language Arts teacher. She grew up in Pasadena, CA. Her favorite time period in history is the Medieval Age. Her favorite project that she assigns in her class is the 3D Medieval Project. Some past projects include a 6ft Halberd, a real size shield, and a mini guillotine. If she could teach any other subject she decided it would be scuba diving. When asked who her favorite president was, she re-plied Abraham Lincoln was her favorite overall president and Ronald Reagan was her favorite president in her lifetime. Clearly Mrs. Young is an amazing teacher at Balboa.

Mr. Roth teaches life science in room 17. In fact he has been teaching here at balboa for 3 years. Mr. Roth has a wife and two kids, named Olive and Sammy. In his free time he likes to go camping and to the beach. His favorite movie is

Mrs. YoungBy: Clifford Danza

Mrs. WillisBy: Evan Short

Mr. RothBy: Annette Cordova

Jaws because it was his first horror film. His favorite color is green and his favorite subject has always been science. He enjoys reading, riding his bike, playing soc-cer, and eating healthy. Over all Mr. Roth is an extraordinary science teacher. Also, don’t forget to check out his enviromental hortieculture classes garden.