My apology to our principal, Mr. Gonzalez, for theincorrect spelling of his name in the last issue. Editor

This is our last issue for the 2010-2011 school year.

Mount Vernon Central School District, N. Y.

Angela Addesso, Sylvia Allen, Andrene Bonner, Jeff Corsello, Desiree Grand, Ted Jenkins,

Jason Pritchett, Robin Prywes, Editor

Knightly NewsCommunications & Media Arts CommitteeMVTV + Knightly News + MVNet

The MVHS Science Club Goes Green

Issue #8-June 2011

The Science Club would like to give special thanks to the teachers who participated: Mrs. Sutherland, Mrs. Casey, Mrs. Weatherly and Mrs. Marshall. We would also like to thank Mr. Wynn for intro-ducing the idea of the truck. Extra special thanks to Mr. Costa, who was our contact at Westchester County. He was important in setting up the event. Special thanks to the “weighers” for accurately weighing all the boxes: Darnell, Vishal, Devin, Jose, Daniel, Chanel, and Jessica. Thanks to the videog-raphers and photographers for covering the event. Finally, special thanks to all of the administrators and faculty who supported and attended this project.

Muhammed Floyd, reporter / T. Jenkins, photographer

The MVHS Science Club members continue in their quest for increasing awareness of the importance of protecting our mother Earth by recycling and other “green” concepts. A huge paper recycling event was held that included the entire school. The event was intro-duced and promoted by Mr. Anselmo. The idea of the event was to have groups of students take paper that teachers and staff didn’t want. On the last day, the paper was weighed to see who had the most paper. The group with the most paper won a cash prize of $75. The event lasted for two weeks. Each group went to every teacher, office, and staff member trying to gather the most pa-per they could. The total weight of paper from all of the teams was 3511 lbs. The winners were the Salvag-ers from Mrs. Weatherly’s class. News 12 covered the event and showed it on the news that night!

Free like a BirdI want to be a birdThat flies around the earthLike it doesn’t have chainsTo lock it to one place.

To fly so high and not look backBecause I do not want to askI want to know what is ahead,To leave the world behind; it’s dead.

Like flying birds around the worldFor me there is so much to knowI have to find a little hopeTo free myself and to evolve.

No Place to StayI feel like a cascadeThat falls down to a streamSo powerful and freeKnowing that it can’t beBecause I’m not a birdThat flies so high to reachWhat I can’t ever see.

A mouse trapped in a caveWithout a plan to escapeBecause nothing’s aheadInside I feel I’m dead.

A snake looks for a placeTo try to hide itselfI must conceal my faceAnd never judge myself.

I haven’t found a placeTo live in total blissBecause there is no faithThere’s so much wrong to fix!

Marlen Blanco, poet

I am a Jamaican Hummingbird

I am a bird that respects my nationBut for me I was moving toward too many destinations.My life in Jamaica was dreadful and poorI wanted a better one that I could adore.I suffered so much that I wanted to be freeBut then, I thought this was the only prison for me.One day I found out I was coming to the StatesI was so excited; I started telling all my classmates.Coming to the U.S. was the right choice for meI was overjoyed to see the land I needed to seeSometimes at night I still cry in painI still have nightmares of me in Jamaica playing in the rain.For me America is a better placeI have not been discriminated, because of my race.I was a mocking bird caught in a cageI am mature and intelligent for my age.

Shaakira Findlay, poet

Successes of the Model U.N./U.N. Club and the Junior Achievement Program at the Mount Vernon High School for the academic year 2010-2011

l 64 active members in the Model UN/UN Club

l 30 students participated in the UNA/USA Westchester County Essay Contest; 2 students won awards for their efforts (2nd place and 3rd place)

l 30 students went on a trip to The United Nations and UNICEF

l 12 students represented Mount Vernon HS at Fairfield University’s Model UN competition.

l 25 students participated in the JA Global Marketplace Program

l 24 students participated in the JA Economics for Success Program

l 24 students participated in the Mount Vernon City Hall Job Shadow Day Program

l 35 students participated in the JA Be a Teacher for a Day Program

l 2 students emceed the JA Awards Dinner held in Tarrytown, N.Y.

l 15 students participated in the JA Titan Computer Program

l 32 students participated in various community service projects offered by the U.N. Club

l 35 students participated in the LINKS/U.N. Program; activities included: a book club, debates, eight week French immersion class, trip to the New York Metropolitan Opera and lunch at a French bistro.

l The advisor for the program, Mr. Mihailidis, was honored by 3 different organizations this year for his continuous work in enhancing the knowledge of students in the field of Global Studies

l 2011 Junior Achievement Educator of the Year Award

l 2011 UNA/USA Westchester United Nations Award

l 2011 Mount Vernon City Hall Recognition Award

As part of Mr. Mihailidis’ Model UN/UN Club, thirty students from the Social Justice Academy entered the UNA/USA 2011 Essay Contest by submitting essays on the UN issue of “Child Soldiers: What Can Be Done?” The essays were to address the causes, problems, and measures to be taken by the United States and international organizations to find a solution. This year, sophomore Jada Smith won second place in the county wide competition. Junior Nadia Floyd tied for third place. These two young ladies topped high school students all over Westchester County. In the past six years, Mount Vernon High School has had four essay contest winners, a major feat for Mount Vernon. This year’s essay contest winners were honored at the UNA/USA-Westchester annual meeting on May 15 at the Unitarian Church in White Plains. Jada Smith, Nadia Floyd, and Mr. Mihailidis were presented with awards, Mr. Mihailidis for his long-term support of the UN and UNA/USA. He has partnered with the chapter for years to educate students about history, achievements, and the continuing role of the United Nations in today’s society. He has created an interactive experience to personalize the UN organization for them. The awards were presented by NGO to the UN. Dr. Brenda L.G. Smith, Councilman Yuhanna Edwards and County Legislator Ms. Mary Jane Shimsky were present. Big congratulations to Nadia Floyd, Jada Smith, and especially Mr. Mihailidis! Anne-Marcelle Ngabirano, reporter Under the guidance of Mr. Mihailidis, the Junior Achievement Program came to a close for the 2010-2011 school year. Twenty-four students from the Social Justice Academy participated in the program this year. The Junior Achievement Program introduced new business and global economic concepts to the students. Twenty-four students from Mr. M’s 2nd period class participated in the Job Shadow Day Program on May 5th. The Job Shadow Day Program showed the students the inner workings of the retail business and government. They were allowed to shadow key Mount Vernon officials during their work day. All students were given certificates and

congratulated by Ms. Maureen Walker, Comptroller of Mount Vernon. They spoke to Mayor Young. Mr. Mihailidis was also recognized and honored by Ms. Walker with an award for his years of service and work with City Hall and the Junior Achievement Program. A big special thanks from the students to Ms. Walker and Ms. Susie Valentine, Second Deputy Comptroller of Mount Vernon, for their continuous support and volunteer work. Finally, thank you again to the Junior Achievement staff, Ms. Angela Giustino and Ms. Geraldine DeAngelis. The Junior Achievement Program will resume in the Fall Semester.

Anne-Marcelle Ngabirano, reporter On May 12, 2011, thirty students joined Mr. Mihailidis and Mr. Carlos on the annual trip to the United Nations. This year’s trip included tours of the United Nations, UNICEF, and the United Nations’ Chapel. Students were addressed by Brenda Smith, who took the time to give the students a word of encouragement. Students were given a history of the United Nations and its structure. They replaced diplomats and had to ask themselves what actions they would take concerning international issues, such as disarmaments, extreme poverty, and child soldiers. Students looked at artwork from all over the world and learned the effects of wars on not only soldiers, but civilians-especially children. Students were educated on the measures taken globally by the United Nations to help refugees. They saw the real tarps refugees use as shelter and the makeshift schools volunteers use. These moments were sobering. Students saw the hard facts and many were quick to get involved.Students were provided lunch from the lovely United Nations Diplomats’ Cafeteria, sampling food from a variety of cultures: Japanese sushi to the all-American cheeseburger. Students even interacted with people from different countries. A group of Asian tourists were interested in our students, taking many pictures with us and discussing our cultural differences and

similarities. During our tour, our group was split in half and led by two different tour guides. One tour guide hailed from Italy and the other from Japan. Both discussed their cultures and experiences at the United Nations. As always, the annual trip did not fail to inform and engage the students in world affairs. A big thank you to Marcia Wallace, all the UNA/USA members, NGO, and Dr. Brenda L.G. Smith for volunteering time with the Model UN Club. Karen Carfley, Anne-Marcelle Ngabirano and Mr. Mihailidis, reporters The members would like to give a special thanks to Mr. Gonzalez, Ms. Hyacinth, Ms. S. Jackson of the Career Center, Ms. Petilli, Ms Jones of the Foreign Language Department, Ms. Fantini of Technology, Mr. Beram of the Math Department, the UNA/USA Association, the Youth Board, the Strong Program, the JA Staff, the Links Organization and of course the entire group of Teachers and Staff of the MVHS for their constant support.

To the members of the Model U.N. /U.N. Club:

A note from Mr. M:

I am very proud of all the members and their accomplishments this year. You are exemplary students and represented MVHS with distinction. You truly are future ambassadors. I wish you a good and safe summer vacation. See you in September.

Take Care,

Mr. Mihailidis