PINEWORD Second edition, 17th December 2013

Don’t peek, don’t sneak till

Christmas!

SCHOOL

NEWS

SCHOOL

NEWS

EXTRAS...

Pinewood never surrenders

Thanksgiving luncheon

TMUN

Door decoration

2

3

6

8

Wishes for the New

Year

Top English

Assignments

Funny Pictures

Who We Are

24

24

29

30

WORLD

NEWS

HUMOR

9

10

12

13

14

16

Anniversary of Sandy Hook

Massacre

Death of Nelson Mandela

Animal Abuse

5-Year-Old Girl Sends

Apology Letter to the Store

John Lewis

Welcome to the Santa Claus

Village in the Arctic Circle

RIP to Brian from Family

Guy

Agony aunt

Quiz

Horoscope

18

20

22

If you have any

questions, comments

or feedback, or you

would like to become

involved, please

contact us at:

Pineword@pinewood-

school.gr

Page 1

Pinewood Never

Surrenders

The Pinewood Girls’ Basketball

team successfully participated in

this year’s Aegean Tournament taking place from the 5th to the

8th of December. In the first game

Pinewood beat Arsakeio at Anatolia gym with a difference of

16 points. The final score was 32-

16. The team played good defense,

made jump shots, layups, passed, and controlled the game overall.

Although our team beat Arsakeio,

we could have won with a bigger difference in points if we had

made all of the easy shots. In the

second game, the basketball team played against Anatolia in the

Panorama Gym early in the

morning. Despite the cold and the fact that we were tired, we beat

Anatolia with a difference of 40

points. The final score was 47-9.

Our team was very well prepared and played good defense and by

the end of the first half, Anatolia

hadn’t scored any points at all. We played very good offense by

taking jump shots and making

layups. On the next day we played against ACS at Anatolia.

Unfortunately, we lost this game

but we fought until the last second.

Although we hoped that we would

qualify for the finals, for a third year in a row we were stopped by

the well prepared, big and skillful

American College team from Athens. At the end of the first half

the score was tight and we were

leading by one point, but in the second half we lagged behind in

the score because we were very

tired. Although the other team’s

players were tired, too, they were able to be substituted by others

because they had a very big team.

We did the best that we could and

we succeeded, even though we

didn’t qualify for the finals, because we played well which was

a result of our hard work during

our basketball practices. Throughout the games we had

great support from our wonderful

Cheerleaders, parents, Pinewood

students and teachers.

Page 2

The Cheerleaders were very supportive, shouting encouraging

cheers and performing their

dances during the

half-time

breaks,

showing the hard work

they have

put in all year round. We were thrilled with the great support

from the Pinewood community

that contributed to our winning two of the three games that we

played. Finally, this loss only

means one thing; that Pinewood never surrenders, especially

without a fight. Congratulations

to the basketball team!

Eleni Omiridou

Thanksgiving Luncheon

Thanksgiving is all about being

grateful for what we are given,

sitting with our friends and

relatives at one table, and sharing

what we have. That’s why

Pinewood held its annual

Thanksgiving luncheon on

November 28, bringing students

and teachers together for a

memorable meal. Middle School

and High School students were

taken to a picturesque restaurant

outside Thessaloniki called Perek,

with a view of Mount Olympus.

‘Perek’ is a traditional Pontiac

salty cake. Shortly after all the

students were seated, the special

presentations that each class

from 6 to 12 had prepared for

Thanksgiving began.

Grade 6 spelled the word

‘Thankful’, for which they had

written a sentence for each letter.

Grade 7 recited a poem about Thanksgiving and greeted all

students with a passage in their

mother tongues. Grade 8 had decided to write about the

importance of Thanksgiving for

them and presented in all the languages spoken in their class.

Page 3

Page 3

Grade 9 had prepared an

alternative story of how the Pilgrims and the Natives met, and

the students narrated and acted

out this story. Grade 10 smartly

raised our awareness of the world around us by comparing the

problems that they, as teenagers,

have to the problems millions of other children face every day.

They emphasized how ridiculous

it is to think that they are unfortunate when they have

everything they need to survive

while millions of children around the world don’t even have basic

things, such as running water or

electricity in their homes.

Part of Grade 11 sang a delightful

song, while the other part of the

grade had cooperated with Hamogelo tou Paidiou for a

Thanksgiving Clothes and Food

Drive. Some of the Grade 12 students had spelled the word

‘Thanksgiving’ and for each letter

had prepared a few lines with which they expressed their

thankfulness to the teachers in

Pinewood and their will to never

give up in life. The rest of Grade 12 summed up, adorably, the

Thanksgiving presentations by

giving roses to all teachers and thanking them for everything

they’ve taught them throughout

their years in Pinewood. They also danced disguised as turkeys at

the end and lifted the spirit of all

students and teachers.

Finally, Savvas and Fotis had

chosen a few songs related to

Thanksgiving and sang them, which brought a feeling of joy,

gratefulness and unity in all that

were present.

Niya Kafedzhiyska

Page 4

TMUN 2013

The Thessaloniki Model United

Nations Conference took place at

the American Farm School of Thessaloniki from 29th of

November to the 1st of December.

As a delegate of Thailand, I enjoyed a weekend debating over

issues such as illicit drug

trafficking, the pollution of marine

environments, the abuse of human rights during arrest and

imprisonment, the question of

Palestine and nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.

As a delegate, the basic

preparation for the conference is many hours spent researching the

issues, researching the policy of

each country, and knowing your country’s allies and enemies. After

researching about the two issues,

each delegate writes a resolution

presenting solutions that abide by their country’s policy and law.

Additionally, each delegate writes

a policy statement of their country. All delegates are required

to dress formally for the

conference.

On the

first day in the

general

assembly, all of the delegates,

representing around 50 countries,

think about the issues that are discussed in the committees. This

was my first conference and on

the first day, which was a very

cold morning, our advisor, Mr. Harrington, was informed that I

would be the ambassador of my

delegation, Thailand. Within the next 30 minutes he helped me

write an opening speech that

expressed my country’s state and its hopes for a fruitful debate. At

the same time Bojana and Giulia

were also writing their

ambassador speeches. I clearly remember how my hand was

trembling and was numb from the

cold and even though we knew that we would have to deliver a

speech in front of 200 people in

one hour, we remained calm.

When the general assembly

president called for the delegate of Thailand, i.e., me, I stood up and

calmly went up to the podium.

During the speech I avoided any

eye contact with the crowd fearing that I would mess up my speech.

Fortunately, I spoke clearly and

delivered my speech successfully. After the long general assembly,

we had a break and we were given

packed sandwiches and croissants.

Page 6

Afterwards all delegates went to their committees where, for the

rest of the day, we formed

alliances and shared our resolutions which we later

combined to form a draft

resolution. We did this for both

topics, continuing the lobbying the next day. By the end of the

day I was very tired.

On Saturday we met at 9 in the

morning and were prepared for an

awesome day of TMUN. In the morning we continued our

discussions during lobbying and

then proceeded with debating resolutions. In the next day we

continued with our fruitful

debates and then we prepared

ourselves to debate on one of the resolutions. In the general

assembly the Drugs and Crime

committee decided to debate for the response to drug trafficking,

however, I was very nervous so I

made a speech about human trafficking which was the second

topic of our committee. I delivered

my irrelevant speech and realized that I was talking about the wrong

topic in the introduction of my

speech a long time after I finished

and took a seat again. Despite the fact that I messed up in front of

200 people, I really enjoyed the

fruitful debates that took place during the weekend.

By the end of the conference I was so involved in the experience that

I didn’t realize that the next day

I wouldn’t be coming back to the American Farm School for TMUN.

It was the longest weekend of my

life, and I would say the most meaningful and interesting that I

have had in a long time.

I would like to thank Mr. Harrington for advising us and

being right about every piece of

advice that he gave us before the conference.

I would like to congratulate all

Pinewood delegates for

successfully representing the delegations of Mexico, Ukraine

and Thailand. The delegation of

Thailand yields the floor, for the time being.

Eleni Omiridou

Page 7

LET THE DOOR GAMES BEGIN!

Are they willing to share some pizza or are they going to shove their sweet victory in our faces?

On Friday 13th of December, the

Christmas-door-decoration-

contest ended and the winners were revealed. But lets rewind a

little, shall we?

On Monday 2nd of December the beginning of the contest was

announced, and the prize as well:

a pizza party! As soon as we heard about the competition and the

heavenly prize we all started to

think about what our door could

look like in order to get that vital delicious delicacy party.

During seminar all classes worked

on the decorating of their door. It was predicted that we would have

finished it all during that hour,

but honestly it was impossible. Friday was the deadline and we

all worked quite hard to finish in

time, some of us even had to remake their door decoration! The

final results were amazing: we

had elfs and reindeers;

snowmans; presents; jesus; an eye and the world; a giant Santa

Claus; a Bob-Marley-style Santa;

a giant gingerbread house; a reproduction of “A Nightmare

before Christmas“; a calendar and

more. They were all really awesome, but only one was truly

incredible: The giant gingerbread

house by grade 12B. Grade 12B did really unbelievable job in so

little time. The house was very

detailed and even had smiling gingerbread men...I’m sure we all

kinda wish it was made out of real

gingerbread..but it’s not so we

might as well just give up. Second place was grade 10 with “The

Vision of Christmas“. The

message was that we all see christmas in a different way (now

that was deep) and it has different

meanings for each one of us (now that was even deeper). Nice job

grade 10! Unfortunately, only first

place receives a prize. Third place was grade 7 with elfs all over the

place! The door had cute little elfs

attached and santa’s sledge

pulled by reindeers on top. I honestly loved those cute small

elfs and I hope they’ll let me take

one, although I doubt it :P All the doors where pretty cool,

but I honestly think we should all

gather to plan a way to steal some pizza from the 12th graders...after

all we’d just be kind by helping

them to keep fit ;) This was my first experience in

christmas door decoration

contests and it was pretty exciting

decoration our door and watching how everyone else was so into it

as well. I’m looking forward to

next years contest. Giulia Preponis

Page 8

Anniversary of Sandy Hook Massacre

Just a year ago on December

14th, Adam Lanza entered the

Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. He killed

20 first grade students and 6

school staff members. Adam had

killed his mother, Nancy, before driving to the school to begin the

shooting, after which he turned

the gun on himself and committed suicide. The motives behind this

crime have not yet been

determined.

The townspeople of Newtown are

asking for privacy from the public on the 1 year anniversary of the

massacre. They are dealing with

their grief in their own way.

The Newtown High School

football team has dedicated this

year’s season to those killed in the December 14th shootings and has

thus far been undefeated. Wilton,

Page 9

a small town in southeastern

Connecticut only a few hours from Newton, has created a

permanent memorial to the

students and six staff members killed in the shooting.

We will only spend one day of the

year remembering those who were

killed in this accident. Perhaps we should also keep in mind that

those who experienced this

tragedy first hand are reminded daily of what happened, and for

this reason they would not like

their suffering to be publicized. Georgia Rheault

Death of Nelson Mandela On Saturday December 7th the

great leader Nelson Mandela passed away at the age of 95 and

was buried in the village where he

spent his childhood in Qunu, South Africa. Nelson Mandela was

born in the Eastern Cape in

South Africa in 1918. In 1943 he

joined the African National Congress. In 1956 he was charged

with treason but after a four-year-

long trial the charges were dropped. In 1962 he was

sentenced to 5 years

imprisonment because he was charged with leaving the country

without a passport. In 1964 he

was charged with sabotage and was sentenced for life. In 1990 he

was freed from prison and after 3

years he won the Nobel Peace

Prize. In 1994 he was elected as the first black leader of South

Africa and stepped down in 1999.

During these 4 years he promoted the rights of black people,

establishing equality in the

country of South Africa where there was no longer a white

minority in power.

In 2001 Nelson Mandela was

diagnosed with prostate cancer, and in 2004 he retired from his

public life. In 2005 he sadly

announced that his son had died from an AIDS/HIV related

disease. Early this year he spent 3

months in the hospital suffering

from a lung infection.

During his burial many people

expressed their sadness and mourned his loss. The UN

Security Council in New York

stood for a minute of silence. Barack Obama said "he no longer

belongs to us - he belongs to the

ages," adding that Mr. Mandela "took history in his hands and

bent the arc of the moral universe

towards justice". Kofi Annan,

chairman of The Elders, a group of global leaders formed by Mr.

Mandela to ensure peace and the

protection of human rights, said the world has lost "a clear moral

compass".

David Cameron, the Prime

Minister of the UK, expressed his

sadness by saying that "a great light has gone out in the world".

The world has lost one of the

greatest peace makers of all time.

Eleni Omiridou

Page 10

The “ONE in FIVE” campaign is an initiative of the Network of Contact

Parliamentarians to stop sexual violence against children of the Council of Europe and

part of the wider inter European program titled "Building a Europe for and with

children" which has two strategic objectives: Combating sexual violence against

children through specific legal instruments and organizing comprehensive awareness-

raising actions throughout Europe.

Animal abuse

When we think of global issues, we often think of human abuse,

child abuse, human trafficking

and so on. The more individuals that are involved to stop these

tragic events, the better. However,

many of us ignore the fact that animals are tortured too, and

even more cruelly than humans.

You may ask yourself, why? Well,

an animal can give you a lot to survive with, such as its fur and

meat. Then there is the fact that

animals do not have many rights, and the few that they have are

constantly violated.

Now you may ask yourself who violates animals’ rights? In order to give a complete answer, I would

need more than two pages. The

most common culprits are

cosmetic industries, who test the products on the animals’ skin,

important medical research

institutes (for example, cancer), some textile industries that

torture animals for their fur or

skin, and those involved in factory farming. Animal abuse happens

all around the world, and is not

confined to just one country. It is impossible to tell which country

does it to the greatest degree, as

many places use their

slaughterhouse walls as a shield to block people from seeing what

goes on within. China, and Asia in

general, has a very bad record, mainly because the videos of

animal abuse in China go viral, in

addition to a lack of animal

welfare laws in place.

I believe that the main question

that you should now ask yourself is how you, as an individual, can

stop animal cruelty. The first step

is to take action. You can easily

sign petitions or make donations to organizations against animal

abuse. However, it is

also important to make your voice heard about this issue. In this

way, you let the people around

you know what animals are going through and together we can fight

for their lives. Let’s be the voice of

innocent creatures that die in terrible ways due to the cruelty of

humans. Be their hero, take

action.

Ludovica M. Lunigiani

Page 11

5-Year-Old Girl Sends Apology Letter to the

Store John Lewis

This year on the 5th December the store John Lewis received a letter

from a 5-year-old little girl who wrote that she was sorry for

breaking a Christmas tree bauble.

In the letter the girl had also placed 2 pounds in order to pay

for the item and had written:

“I’m sorry I broke a Christmas

bauble. It cost two pounds. Here

is the money for it. Sorry again,

Faith aged 5.”

The storekeepers didn’t know

anything about the little girl, except that her name is Faith and

that she lives in Cambridge. For

this reason they started to search for her declaring that they would

like to thank her in person, since

this was the best letter that was written to them. This started a

search all over Britain for the little

girl and in the end the girl was

found through the image that was spread through twitter. The

shopkeepers finally had the

opportunity to thank her and Mr. Joyce, the shop manager, said:

“We'd like to thank everyone who has helped us to find Faith, the

response has been overwhelming.

We wanted to have the opportunity to say thank you and

we have now been able to do that.

We hope Faith and her family have a very merry Christmas."

So in the end the little girl was

found and even though she was

too shy to speak to the reporters, we all get the message of how

honesty pays off.

Anna Gjoleka

Page 12

Welcome to the Santa Claus Village in the

Arctic Circle Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas to

everyone all over the world! What a better way to have fun and

celebrate than go to Santa’s own

town. Although there is also a Santa’s Village in New Hampshire,

the Santa Claus Village in

Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland is

referred to as his official home.

The story behind this place is that

his previous home in Ear

Mountain (Korvatunturi) had been figured out for a long time and he

declared that he wanted a more

private place to continue doing his work. So the Elves decided to

build him a house in the North

Arctic Circle where he could have

that privacy and also be able to

meet with people from all over the world, near or far from the Arctic

Circle.

This is the perfect place for him to

continue doing his job and duty of

producing toys and spreading the

message of love, kindness, and goodwill. So it is therefore an ideal

trip for all

the children

and

parents, too,

especially

since you’ll

get to meet Santa

Claus in person. This is also a

beautiful area to see the Northern Lights since it is so close to the

poles. So find some time to see

this wonderful place and enjoy all of its nature and friendly,

welcoming character.

Inna Gjoleka

Page 13

C

RIP to Brian from Family

Guy The show's producers say they needed to shake things up, but

fans are very sorry for the death.

Brian, the family’s talking dog, has been part of the show Family Guy since it began in 1999, but

now it has been decided that he

has to leave. Family Guy is an American

cartoon TV show created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox

Broadcasting Company. The show

is about the Griffins, an American family with parents Peter and

Lois, their children Meg, Chris,

and Stewie, and their human-like pet dog, Brian. It’s set in the city

of Quahog, Rhode Island. Brian,

who can be considered one of the

most important characters, is very fond of martinis. However, he was

recently killed off in a road

accident during the November 24 episode, "Life of Brian". A week

later, Fox aired new opening

credits featuring the replacement dog, Vinnie (voiced by "The

Sopranos" star Tony Sirico).

A new intro has been made

almost identical to the old one,

except that Brian has been

replaced by Vinnie. In the new intro, Vinnie performs Brian's

exact same dance moves in his

exact same costume. Many believe this is a lack of respect towards

Brian.

After the shocking episode, more

than 128,500 fans signed a

petition to bring him back which became the top entertainment

petition on Change.org. But did it

work? Will Brian return? Fans got very upset and criticize the

decision: “The writers of Family

Guy didn't just kill off one of their

creations, they killed off the dog who has lived in our homes for

the last 15 years. They killed the

dog we all have come to love. They killed America's dog!” Fans might

have exaggerated just a bit when

saying that, but still we get their point.

Producer Steve Callaghan

explained their decision to kill Brian: "We thought it could be a

fun way to shake things up. As

soon as this idea came up, we started talking about what the

next couple of episodes could be

and we got very excited about the way this change will affect the

family dynamics and the

characters."

Page 15

So there it is, Brian is gone, and

Vinnie seems to be here to stay. However, according to EW, Brian

might appear in the December 15

episode "Christmas Guy." On its

official description it says, "Stewie devises a master plan to get the

one and only thing he wants for

Christmas." If not a call for Brian, what else? Do you think Brian will

actually come back, or is he gone

forever?

But still, why kill off such an

inspirational character? Let’s look

at Brian’s profile and background: Brian, an 8-year old talking white

Labrador:

drove a car

went to Brown University in Rhode Island, but did not

graduate

loved to sing opera and jazz was a fan of John Coltrane

spoke fluent French and

Tagalog was a member of MENSA

was an avid writer (having

once been invited to write for The New Yorker,

although he was fired once

the magazine learned he did

not graduate from college)

We will always love him♥

Giulia Propponis

Page 16

Page 15

Agony Aunt

Message# 1

Drear agony aunt,

In my class there is this guy who is bulling me and the rest of my since he

is bigger than us. What can we do to stop him?

By Sad-man

Dear Sad-man, I see what your and your class's problem is and I believe I can give you some helpful advice. Have you tried solving the problem in the classical way by trying to talk to this boy? If you're scared to do so, ask one of your older friends to kindly go talk to him with you. Try to understand the reasons for

his action. If this doesn't work, ask the teacher you feel most comfortable with for help. Don't be scared, it's better to do something about the problem instead of trying to hide it. Be brave and remember to always treat others the way you would like to be treated! Good luck!

With love,

Agony Aunt <3

Message# 2

Dear Agony Aunt,

Why does everyone forget about the things I do and ask for?!

From “Lost in the crowd” Hey Lost in the crowd, I know exactly how you feel, it has happened to me many times as well. What I did was try to see it from their point of view: maybe they’re having a really hard time and just can’t seem to take others into consideration? Maybe they’re old, very old. Maybe they’re very busy? Sometimes it can be

because they don’t care. When it is like that, it kind of hurts, but it means that we’re not choosing wisely the people we surround ourselves with. If you feel like the people around you don’t really listen to what you have to say, go to someone new and see if they care! The worst that can happen is that you make more friends. Make your voice be heard,

With love, Agony Aunt

Page 17

Message# 3

Dear Agony Aunt,

How do I care for a plant?

From “Wilted“ Hey Wilted! I’m not much of a plant expert, but I might give you some tips! First of all, make sure your plant gets enough sunlight and water (daily). Watch out for plant pests, which could destroy your whole plant; use a nice pot (why not decorate it yourself?); water the plant when the pot is noticeably lighter than it was when it was watered last. Anyway, I advise you to look it up on the internet, or to go to your local plant store and ask them for advice. Good luck with your plant!

With love, Agony Aunt

Message# 4

Dear Agony Aunt,

I sit next to someone who always picks their nose! I don’t want to

embarrass them but I don’t want booger on me! HELP! From “Trigger Finger“

Hey Trigger Finger, I remember when my brother had a similar problem only that he was sitting in front and the person behind would literally throw booger at his neck. Quite disgusting, yes. Well, fortunately this isn’t your situation. You seem like a really nice person, and I understand you don’t want to embarrass this person, but you could simply tell this person to stop it because it’s not very nice, you know what I mean? There’s no need to be rude, you’re just being honest :) Or if you really don’t feel like saying that, just ask the teacher if you can change seat, saying you can’t see the board from where you sit. That should work. Whatever you do, make sure not to put the other person in a difficult position.

Good luck on your booger quest! Love,

Agony Aunt

Page 18

Personality Quiz

Are you a relaxed type of person or a stressed out

one?

(answer all the questions and see what kind of person you are)

1. It’s Friday, you have the whole weekend to do homework, so you:

a) Call a friend and you go out with them

b) Spend a games night with your family

c) Start doing your homework for Monday

2. There is a math test tomorrow, you’ve been studying the whole week for

it, you: a) Decide you’ve been studying a lot and it’s time for a break

b) Give yourself a break and promise that you’ll study a bit more later

c) Continue with the studying, it is never bad to study a bit more

3. Just before the period, you find out there is going to be a quiz, you:

a) Don’t really care, you’ve read your notes, you know the theory, no need to stress

b) Just scan through your notes to make sure you know the stuff

c) Nervously start reading your notes, thinking that you’re going to fail if

you don’t read them once again

4. You get a test back on which you’ve received a much lower grade than

you expected, you: a) Tell yourself everything’s OK and you can always fix your grade with the

next test

b) Are a bit angry at yourself for getting a low grade, but you’re optimistic that you’ll do better on the next test

c) Nearly cry and feel desperate, and your mood is spoiled for the whole

week

5. Summer vacation is finally here, you:

a) Start calling your friends to go out and you make plans how you are

going to spend your summer b) Lay on the couch for a few days and then gradually start planning your

summer

C) Start working on the summer assignments from school

*Look at your results on the next page :)*

Page 19

RESULTS:

Mostly a):

You are a relaxed person who enjoys life and does not stress easily. You don’t care about things that might bring tension to your daily life and you

are very optimistic about low grades on tests or quizzes, because you can

always fix them. You like going out with friends, even before tests and you

believe that you’ve done your best in studying for tests or quizzes. tip: Although grades are not as important as what you actually learn in

school, you can always put a little bit more effort in your preparation for

tests and quizzes.

Mostly b):

You are somewhere in the middle, you don’t stress unnecessarily. However, you care about you performance in school and you always try to

do better the next time. You like double-checking whether you know your

stuff before tests and you sometimes get a little upset if you score lower than you expected.

Tip: keep up with the good effort, but don’t overwork yourself.

Mostly c): You need to chill out! It is not the end of the world, it is just a bad grade

on a test you studied for, but obviously did not do as well as you expected.

There will be many more tests, so relax and maybe try a new tactic when studying that may be more effective. You care about your grades and how

you do in school. However, everyone needs a break sometimes, and you

definitely deserve one. Tip: don’t stress too much when you have tests or quizzes. Relax every

time you feel tired and most important of all, don’t worry whether you

know everything for the test, because no one knows everything (except Mr. Harrington, of course :) ).

Page 20

Horoscope

Aries: (21 March - 19 April)

YOU WILL WIN THE LOTTERY! Oh no, just kidding. What will happen to you is that you will meet somebody special, but somehow you will embarrass yourself in front of them. So careful what you say or do, but particularly where you walk.

Taurus: (20 April - 20 May)

Jesus himself could not have done a better job than you will do today. You will make your loved ones proud of you and your enemies jealous of you. So check twice that bottle of water you leave unattended in algebra class when you go to get something from your locker.

Gemini: (21 May - 21 June)

Just because people laugh at your jokes doesn't make you a comedian. Today you will face a terrible crisis of identity. It would be very helpful if you carry a mirror with you just in case your crisis gets worse.

Cancer: (22 June - 22 July)

Today you will disappoint someone and you will feel their pain because the will slap you in the face. Leo: (23 July - 22 August)

Not to make you feel bad, but even Dora the Explorer has a better social life than you do. But today you will have an amazing adventure, and it will change you completely.

Virgo: (23 August - 22 September)

The workings of the human heart have always been a mystery to you, but you'll soon figure them out, thanks to Mrs. Paliouris.

Libra: (23 September – 22 October) Love is in the air. Unfortunately, so is the flu. Breathe at your own risk. Scorpio: (23 October – 21 November)

You know that crush you’ve had since third grade? The one you lovingly stare at all the time? Yeah, we all know. It's not going to happen. We all feel sorry for you, life is unfair.

Sagittarius: (22 November - 21 December) People love you. You're perfect. Oh wait, this was actually intended for the Capricorns. Sorry!

Capricorn: (22 December – 19 January) People love you. You're perfect.

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Aquarius: (20 January – 18 February)

Don't kid yourself. You're not going to get a date to prom.

Pisces: (19 February – 20 March)

High school doesn't last forever. Except it will for you. That sucks.

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Wishes for the New Year:

1. Health and lots of laughter. Alina Tavlaridou

2. We hope that everyone will be happy. We hope that we have less

responsibilities and homework as students. Grade 9 students

3. I hope that you have happiness and never fight. - Sindi Poda

4. Stay healthy because without health we can't do anything else. Be

strong and keep a smile on your face. Laughter is the best cure for

both the spirit and the soul. Keep the mind healthy and everything

else follows. Above all have fun and enjoy yourselves! Petroula Rosiou

5. Moral equality in the world with less hunger, poverty and fear.

More kindness, understanding and tolerance among people, combined

with respect for our environment. Above all, friendship for everyone.

David Gibson

Top English Assignments

English 9:

What is a Literature Log?

A literature log is a reader’s record of how s/he understands and

reacts to the literary works that s/he is reading. Each time you write in your log, you create an entry. In each entry, you choose how you want to

respond to the story, and you can use various modes of expression, such

as writing and / or art. The main requirement is to read the story very carefully, to think deeply about what you have read, and to respond

personally to the text. After you have read the text carefully and have

begun to reflect on what you have read, you are ready to write in your literature log.

Dr. Manney

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Eleni Omiridou

Literature Log #1

Fahrenheit 451, pages 9-64

Connect a part of the story to your life

I believe that there is no such thing as an ideal society because

there will always be people that are not happy with the environment that

they live in. Similarly in the book Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, we

have two types of female characters, a depressed yet happy and narrow-

minded housewife, Mildred, and a young open-minded, mature and wise

girl called Clarisse. Mildred is satisfied with her life which includes

speaking with “iconic” relatives through a smart TV, taking happy pills

and listening to voices all day with sea shells that she places in her ears.

These are some methods that society uses to satisfy people, but they are

cheap tricks that society uses to provide occasional happiness. Clarisse

wants to live life, learn about new things, explore new things and to read

books. The way in which society deals with people like Clarisse is making

all the people think in one way. They chose to do so by providing narrow-

minded education, changing history and burning down all the books that

exist. The effects of this educational system is that people think about the

same things such as cars and clothes and never talk about other topics.

There is no depth in their lives because everything is made obvious so that

they don't have to think. Even art is abstract, it contains no depth or real

meaning but it’s only splashes of paint on a canvas. In the joke-boxes

there are always the same jokes playing again and again. These are

examples of the negative effects that such a society has. In other words,

life is monotonous and everything and everyone is the same because there

is no difference.

Another example is when Montag, while at work, realizes that all of

the firemen have the same look. This is another example of the negative

effects of unification in a society. By making everything be the same, there

is no difference, therefore there is no discrimination. Although there is no

discrimination, people lack freedom and are restricted to a look that

society sets. Furthermore, people are restricted to thinking according to a

mindset that society sets. However, people have partially succeeded in

creating a controlled society because people like Mildred are satisfied with

their lives. Society wants to maintain the people's satisfaction by not

allowing them to learn the truth that is found in books.

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By not knowing the truth, they are happy with what they have. In the

society that is described in Fahrenheit 451, there are people who track

down people with books with the help of mechanical beasts (hounds) and

burn down their books. These men are called firemen. This specialized

department has been established by society because the rulers fear that if

the people have access to history through books and compare the way that

they live in their society with the way that people have lived in the past,

they might protest and rebel.

The theme “Ignorance is bliss” can describe this society. In many ways

society aims to destroy history and anything from the past or at least

change it in ways that satisfy their needs. A specific example on page 15 is

when Clarisse asks Montag “Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out

instead of going to start them?” On page 48 Montag asks the other firemen

the same question and they take out their rule books where it is written

that the fire department has been “Established, 1790, to burn English-

influenced books in the Colonies. First Fireman: Benjamin Franklin.” These

two passages clearly demonstrate the way in which society manipulates

historical facts and changes them so that they can satisfy their purposes.

The aim of society is to drug, brainwash the people, make them to not

think and not question the laws and history. On the other hand, there are

people that are not happy with this society, like Clarisse. She is one of

those unsatisfied people who isn't happy with the knowledge that they

teach in schools, thus she doesn't attend school. Additionally there are

people that own books and don't agree with the act of burning books.

One of the major issues of futuristic societies that Ray Bradbury

criticizes through Fahrenheit 451 is the dangers that might come with the

evolution of technology. I believe that technology can be used to better our

lives; however it all depends on the user and how they will chose to

manipulate it. They have two options: to use it in a bad way or a good

way. To conclude, not everyone can be satisfied in a society and not

everyone's needs can be met, thus a perfect society doesn't exist.

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Inna Gjoleka

Literature Log #1

Fahrenheit 451, pages 9-64

Diary Entry Written by Clarisse

I happen to have very interesting news that I have retrieved from my

observations. I have been communicating with one of my neighbors called

Guy Montag who is a fireman, although he acts really differently from the

rest of them. It kind of reminds me of myself, you don’t know how much

he has changed. The first time I met him he was simply laughing at

everything I said without a reason; I never said jokes of any kind to him.

Now he has changed, he listens to me just the same as he did before

but he thinks about what I say, I can see he does, and I find it interesting.

What will happen if the rest of the firemen discover that I asked him about

books, or the fact that he thinks about things in the first place? In this

society thinking can only be obtained by reading, which is illegal, but I

think that Montag has turned this around.

I think he is trying to demonstrate to the world that even one person

can make a big difference and as impossible as it might seem I think that

it is an important lesson in life. I mean it feels awkward to have a fireman

interested in books or nature rather than fire. I often wonder how many

people’s lives can it change? Maybe even whole societies.

Although I have to admit people here need to learn lessons way more

sophisticated than just that. Believe me I have gone around this whole

place and I have seen others as well, and I am disappointed that they are

just the same like people in other neighborhoods I’ve been to. No one here

talks about anything, they just keep repeating the same things in every

single conversation. I really think that this technology is brainwashing

everyone into forgetting everything they do, and not leaving space for any

information to be said. Everyone acts the same way, all workers of one job

do the same thing and think the same way. The firemen are a good

example of that, well, except for Montag. I think that people should learn

how to control their lives and how not to allow for other to take over them.

It’s actually scary how many people get killed from car accidents by others,

or how many have been getting overdosed lately because someone said it

was good for you (I have heard the emergency people pass by my house

several times), and random television voices hypnotise people to make

them believe in another world.

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I may be crazy about liking leaves and rain and by not going to school but

at least I have figured out how to own my life and make something special

and useful with it.

Clarisse

Anna Gjoleka

Literature Log #1

Fahrenheit 451, pages 9-64

Connect a part of the story to your life

The book Fahrenheit 451 has a lot of messages to offer. If you study

these messages, then you figure out that they have many connections to reality, even though they come from a fictional book. An important

message that this book transmits is that technology is starting to make

people feel empty and confused. An example of this is on pages 59-60. In this passage Montag is thinking about how he wouldn’t cry if Mildred died

from overdose, and also he realises he doesn’t have feelings for Mildred. In

his opinion they are very separated because of the television walls. This is

central to the meaning of the book for various reasons. So far throughout the book Montag has been changing from an ignorant fireman into a man

that is knowledgeable, and this passage symbolises his change. It gives us

a better perspective of where the story is heading to, for it allows us to get a better view of how fast knowledge can transform people. Also, this

passage gives a perfect demonstration of how the families are in the world

Montag lives in. Everyone seems to be taken or hypnotised by television, and this makes them forget about everything. No one seems to remember

what happens and yet they don’t care. In my opinion this shows that

people have started losing their sense of feeling, and knowing that the book is an action story, I would say that this has an effect on the plot. I

mean Montag is changing and he wants to change the rest as well.

This passage can also be used to explain what is going on in reality. Ever since technology came to be, people are so caught up watching

television, or playing video games, or even chatting with friends through

social networks, that they don’t really have time to stay with others and

develop clear feelings. It is as if each person gets trapped in their own world that they forget about reality. For them reality is but a blur, that

passes by without them realising. I would say that the message above

that technology is starting to make people feel empty and confused is relevant to reality in many ways; now people are more individual. A good

example of this is when people go on the bus with headphones, and they

don’t bother to say good morning. Also often the information that people get on the Web isn’t accurate, and can be misleading. For example, when

you look up a word and you get thousands of results, how many of them

could possibly be true?

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Something else that the use of technology may do is distract people; for

example, if you speak on a cell phone, you are completely blocked out of reality. Your concentration level is so low that you don’t know what’s going

on. In a television show once they did an experiment where a clown on a

monocycle passed in front of people that were talking on the phone, and no one noticed him, even though he was so out of place. This proves that

the message is relevant to reality. So just because a book is fiction it

doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a connection with reality.

Funny pictures :D

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Who We Are

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Editor-in-Chief Reporters

Pineword: written by the students for the

students.

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