Newspaper published

Great job everyone! The newspaper came out today and I think it turned out great. We had lots of pictures, little quotes, recipes and random facts which made it less boring to read and more interesting. I think we had a great mixture of in depth and thoughtful pieces (opinion) but we also had informational and update articles (interview with Mr. Trumbo and basketball season conclusions). Awesome job!
Kari

Shamrock Ice Cream Sandwiches by Sophia Diehl

1. Color sugar cookie dough with green food coloring.

2. Roll out cookie dough to 1/4-1/2 inch thickness on a floured surface and cut into

shamrock shapes with a cookie cutter.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely.

4. Spread ice cream between two cookies and enjoy your sandwich.

From www.familycorner.com

St. Patricks Day by Sophia Diehl

St. Patrickʼs Day is a fun, Irish holiday that is also celebrated by many Americans today.St. Patrick was born in Scotland. His parents were wealthy Romans living in Britain. St. Patrick was captured by Irish raiders when he was about 14 years old. He became a slave that tended and herded sheep. He was very afraid, and so he prayed about 100 times a day! This gave him a very close relationship with God, and when St. Patrick was 20, he heard God telling him to go back to Scotland. So that was what he did. Once he had escaped to Scotland, he studied to be a pastor. Then, St. Patrick had dreams and visions of the people of Ireland calling him back to help them. So the saint went to Ireland and shared Jesus with the Irish and baptized them. This is how the holiday originated.

St. Patrickʼs Day is an important holiday in Ireland. March 17 is a feast and a holy day, so many Irish go to mass on this holiday. Then, this day is followed by week offestivities including fire works, parades, music, and treasure hunts. It is common forfamilies to gather and have a special meal together, usually of pink bacon or roastchicken. When you think of St. Patrickʼs Day, you probably think of shamrocks, leprechauns, and the color green, as this holiday has many traditions and symbols. One of the most popular symbols is probably the shamrock. The shamrock became a big part of St. Patrickʼs Day because St. Patrick used a shamrock to explain the trinity to the Irish. Leprechauns are also a big part of this holiday. The word leprechaun comes from the Irish word “luchorpanʼʼ which means little body. Legend says that leprechauns are Irish fairies that are about two feet tall, look like old men, and are unfriendly. They also have a hidden pot of gold! Green became a St. Patrickʼs Day color because of Irelandʼs incredibly green landscape. Wearing green on this holiday is said to bring good luck. Years ago, Irish children started pinching anyone who forgot to wear green. This is still a tradition today(so remember to wear green!). Last of all, St. Patrick took a powerful Irish symbol, the sun, and put it on the Christian cross to combine Irelandʼs old faith and new faith to make Christianity seem more natural to them.

Have a fun and wonderful St. Patrickʼs Day!

The Middle School Girls Basketball Season by Abby Watson and Kayla Soles

This basketball season, the Middle School Girls team was privileged to compete in the Millwood Middle School league. All together, our team consisted of 9 girls. Christa Schuping, Kelly Norfleet, Abby Watson, Kayla Soles, Sarah Walshak, Kari Martin, Sophia Diehl, Kara Gregory, and Amanda Young all participated in the middle school league. This league was good for some reasons, while some regulations were irritating. While in this league, we were able to play competitive games and meet new girls from other schools. Our team improved our teamwork, as it was many of our first years playing together as a team. We worked to improve our shooting and dribbling skills as well. We learned the basics of defense and offence, and also formed lasting friendships with one another. We developed jokes like “being a ballerina” and are exited for next season. Although the Millwood league was fun, some regulations were different from other leagues. At Millwood games, teams are not allowed to full court press until the final two minutes of the game, and our games were normally on Saturday mornings. Our team enjoyed playing in this league, and enjoyed the opportunity to play bigger teams, which will teach us to play our hardest despite the teams we’re playing. We love our teammates, our coaches, and the game of basketball. ‘Till next season!!

The Positive Aspects of Flag Burning by Kari Martin

“Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech”.This is the first amendment written by James Madison in 1791 which has been argued for centuries afterward. The question is; what did the author meanwhen he wrote the word speech? According to the dictionary, speech means “one's habitualmanner or style of speaking.” Flag burning is a way that a personwould express themselves if they disagree with the country. Flagburning is a style of speech. If Congress would want to change thelegality of flag burning they would have to change the consecratedBill of Rights authored in the early stages of our nation. This wouldserve as a precedent for changing the totality of this sacreddocument. Shakespeare so aptly put it, “And many an error by the sameexample will rush into the state.” When this was performed in his play “The Merchant of Venice”, he used this as an example of slack on the law, and others will follow making it assumed that there would always be slack.This is the same as in the Bill of Rights. If the first amendment is changed, thensooner or later the rest will follow in suit. Think of the Bill of Rights as thefoundation of American freedom. If that foundation is cracked,soon all of American freedom will come crashing down. Freedomis the essence of what so many soldiers have died for. Freedom is what theFounding Fathers were envisioning for this nation. Freedom is what somany Revolutionaries were impassioned by. If flag burning is not allowed by the government,then the foundation of freedom will crack and soon come crumbling down.

The Negative Aspects of Flag Burning by Josh Carter

Flag burning is an act committed both legally and illegally in the United States of America. Burning the USA flag illegally shows blatant disrespect towards our country. Some of the reasons an individual might burn a flag illegally would be because they would want to show protest towards the government and laws, insult our country’s citizens symbolically, and also demonstrate his/her rights. An American who burns a flag is demonstrating extreme disrespect towards the country that protects him/her self! Also, it is wrong to burn the flag because those who have a problem with anything pertaining to our government should argue their position in a calm and respectful way, not a chaotic and disrespectful way. Illegally flag burning our flag, a symbol of freedom and patriotism, is wrong, and shows disrespect to our country.

Spotlight on... Mr. Trumbo by Joe Burns

In the Upper School at Veritas, Mr. Trumbo teaches Ancient History and Latin II, as well as taking on the responsibility of the Upper School principal. Mr. Trumbo was led to Veritas through his belief in classical education, and his passionate goal to “equip younger Christians to bear witness to Christ.” Outside of school, Mr. Trumbo enjoys reading, gardening, and watching movies. His favorite food is a Scottish version of sausage and mashed potatoes called “bangers and mash”. The most interesting person that Mr. Trumbo has ever talked to in his life was John Brinkley, his Geek professor. The one thing that most people don’t know about Mr. Trumbo is that he was a singing cowboy in a musical play called “Annie get your gun”. On an end note, Mr. Trumbo would like to say “fac quod inte est” which translates as “do what lies within you”.

Funny Quotes collected by Abby Watson, Josh Carter, Joe Burns

FUNNY CLASS QUOTES!! (to remain anonymous)

6^TH Grade: “That trash can is rigged!!”

9^th Grade: “I’m going to find myself. If I’m not back before I leave, come get me.”

10^th Grade: “CHEEZ-ITZ!!!”

Yearbook Committee by Daniel Rainer

This year, instead of parent volunteers working on the yearbook, student volunteers from 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th grade, along with a few gracious parents, put together the Veritas 2008-2009 yearbook. The students arranged pictures and page layouts and helped take formal group pictures of the various houses, clubs, and music groups. The students’ favorite part of the Yearbook Committee was that they got to sort through funny photos of school activities such as cross country meets, house competitions, field trips, the Christmas Program, the homecoming basketball game, capture the flag competitions, the Thanksgiving celebration, the Valentines day banquet, and others. The Yearbook Committee was in charge of the yearbook for the whole school, not just for the Upper School. Although there was a lot of responsibility given to the students, they finished and have done a great job. The members of the Yearbook Committee are exited for the yearbook’s big release. Their favorite parts of the Yearbook are the house pages, the Cross Country page, and the collage of basketball pictures. This year’s yearbook may be the best yet!

An Inspirational Quote found by Joe Burns

A Quote for Inspiration…

“It is difficult to inspire others to accomplish what you haven’t been willing to try.”

-anonymous…

Update!

Okay, so we had a meeting today on Friday, the 13th. Here are the assignments:
Latane- Opinion (negatives of having a prom)
Daniel-Opinion (positives of having a prom), rising 5th graders, random fact, funny quote from eighth grade
David- Interview on Mrs. Schuping
Christa- Guess Who? (with Lexi)
Lexi- Guess Who? (with Chista), funny quote from seventh grade
Sophia- Easter, 6th grade visitor
Joe- Speech, House Elections, funny quote from 10th grade
Josh- Track and Field, funny quote from 9th grade
Mitchell- 6th grade update
Kayla- 7th grade update
Sara Kathrine- Spirit Week
Mary- Interview Emma (new student)
Kari-Literature in the school, inspirational quote, 7th grade superlatives
Abby- sixth grade superlatives, funny quote from sixth grade
The other thing we talked about was a ongoing fiction story. We concluded that the main character would be a girl, the story would be set around the Great Depression, it would be a mystery, and finally it would include a robbery and suicide. You can email your ideas of a plot, or anything else along with your version of what the first chapter should be like. Also Latane came up with the idea of superlatives. We came up with two for the sixth and seventh grade class which are the two classes we are doing this month. The seventh grade ones were "Most likely to become famous" and "Most likely to win Jeporday". I made these up and for Abby (who is doing the other one), you can make yours up if you don't like the ones you have. There needs to be a girl and boy for each one.
REMEMBER: Email all you articles to Mary at cheerupgrey@aim.com
One last quick thing. The articles that are going out in the paper next week will be published on here as soon as possible.
Kari

DUE DATE!!!!

Okay everyone we got a due date that all articles are due: March 10th
REMEMBER:
-Times Roman font, 12 pt.
-150-200 words
-everything should be emailed to Mary at cheerupgrey@aim.com
-she will then edit or email it to Joe or Josh to be edited

Article Assignements

This is a list of the articles that we talked about from the meeting on Feb. 20th. Please tell me if anything is wrong on the list.
Kayla- Middle School Girls Millwood tournament (with Abby)
Abby- Middle School Girls Millwood tournament (with Kayla); quote from 6th grade
David- Middle School Boys basketball season; quote from 7th grade
Daniel- Yearbook; Random Fact; quote from 8th grade
Sophia- Spring Poll (with Sara Kathrine); St. Patricks Day; recipe
Sara Kathrine- Spring Poll with (with Sophia)
Kari- Opinion piece on the positive aspects of flag burning
Josh- Opinion piece on the negative aspects of flag burning; future track and field; quote from 9th grade
Joe- Spotlight on Mr. Trumbo; quote from 10th grade
Mitchell- 6th grade field trip
Christa and Lexi- Guess Who
Mary- Inspirational or thoughtful quote

The New Building by Kayla Soles

The new building is very nice. The girls and the boys have separate locker rooms. The classrooms have more space and the upper school has very nice desks. Everyone seems to like the new building. The new building has the house behind it which Mr. Trumbo's and Mr. Diehl’s offices are. The upper school has more room for P.E. and the church is letting the school use the sanctuary for music class. Since the school has its own school building, all the teachers have decorated their rooms. The science lab is also very nice and safer for the upper school students.

Motivations of Journalists by Daniel Rainer

The Veritas journalism program has grown and changed a lot in the last few years, mainly because of the interest and motivation of the its devoted members. Let’s take a look at the motivation of some of the key members of the Upper School newspaper.

“I think it is important for students to learn how to write and journalism is important to learn about the world around you including your school. Journalistic writing is different from scholarly or creative writing. You wouldn’t learn it in class.”

–Miss Mills, leader of the Upper School Paper

“I like writing. I like that the reporters are into it and like to be involved. I like to see people’s opinions on things… its good to have responsibility.”

-Mary Coggins, Editor of the Upper School Paper

“I think that my motivation was that I enjoy creating news stories with information I have collected and seeing the finished product.”

-Josh Carter, Sports Editor of the Upper School Paper

“I love to write… It’s a good thing to know about the world around you [and] Mary’s a good leader.”

-Christa Schuping, Reporter for the Upper School Paper

“[My favorite thing about the school paper is,] attending meetings and helping to edit.

Joe Burns, reporter/assistant sports editor

Over all, the writers for the newspaper are thrilled to help produce something important for Veritas, and also love working together with friends and teachers.

Random Fact by Daniel Rainer

The tallest volcano on Mars is 17 miles high. That’s 61 times taller than the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago. –From National Geographic Kids. February 2009

School Poll on the Outcome of the Super Bowl by Sara Kathrine, Kayla and Sophia

Who did you want to win the Superbowl???

This was the Veritas' response:

Steelers- 33%

Cardinals- 24%

Who is Mr.Gilchrest? by Joe Burns

Here at Veritas, we are honored to have a very strong science department that competes with any school in the state. The Head of the science at the Veritas Upper School is Mr. Gilchrest, who apart from teaching five days a week, is also the father of a family in Mechanicsville. Over the course of the recent move of campuses from Stony Point to Crestwood, Mr. Gilchrest devoted hundreds of hours into completing his masterpiece, the lab, and making sure that it was absolutely ready for the students. Mr. Gilchrest sacrificed hours during Christmas break and lab preparatory time at school to ensure the abilities of the new science lab. Outside of school, when the time is available, Mr. Gilchrest enjoys kayaking and “basically everything outdoors”. He was a kayak instructor as one of his previous jobs, and was in law enforcement before he decided to become a science teacher. When asked about his present occupation he said “growing up, I was always interested in science, but never intended to become a teacher”. While in law enforcement, he felt God calling him to become a science teacher. One thing few people know about Mr. Gilchrest is that he met Bob from Sesame Street. We are very honored to have Mr. Gilchrest as one of the Veritas faculty, and want to thank him for all the work he’s put into the new lab. Thanks!

Or exams before Christmas break? by David Heide

Veritas should have exams before Christmas break because many students in the school think that they would benefit from it. One reason is that if we had exams before Christmas break the students of Veritas would not have to study for exams during Christmas break. If Veritas students studied and took the exams before break we could relax and not worry over the exams anymore. After Christmas break, everybody (teachers, too) could possibly look forward to the beginning of the second semester more as the exams would be over. I think that students, teachers, and parents could benefit from having exams before Christmas break.

Exams after Christmas break? by Josh Carter

I believe that it is better for Upper School exams to be after Christmas break because by having exams after over two weeks of break, we can take full advantage the break to study for the upcoming exams. Many individuals found themselves bored over the holidays, so by studying, one can get rid of his/her boredom and be productive by studying at the same time. Also, studying isn’t as stressful over the break because students typically aren’t as busy as they are during an average school week. Therefore, everyone is able to study without feeling any pressure. If exams were before Christmas, there would be less time available to study ahead of time, while having exams after Christmas is better because one is able to study more ahead of time.

Richmond's Mayor by Mary Coggins

Because of the importance of the Presidential election, the election of Richmond’s new mayor was somewhat overshadowed. Earlier in the year, the tenth grade class had the privilege of attending a mayoral debate at St. Catherine’s School and listened to the perspective mayors answer political questions submitted by students from many different city schools. We listened to their answers about how each would act to better the city and the means they would use to get there. In each of Mayor Jones’ answers was an underlying theme concerning the neighborhoods of Richmond . He believes that Richmond will improve itself through hard and honest work, as he said during one of his sermons in his church on Cary Street. Mayor Jones used immigrants in America as an example of hard and dedicated work, explaining that they’re not picky about the jobs given to them, and as a result of working hard for 10-15 years, have improved their situations vastly. Richmond’s new Mayor, although criticized for some of his words, is dedicated to work hard alongside of the citizens of the city to help better the community of Richmond

The Spring Program by Mitchell Kruger

Veritas presents a Spring Music Program every year in April. Some pieces are long and some are short, while some are slower and some are more upbeat, but the song selection never fails to please. This year the songs for the entire Upper school are "With Songs of Rejoicing" and " Wayfaring stranger". I talked with a few students in the Upper school about which song is their favorite and why. Sophia (6th) answered that she likes “"With Songs of Rejoicing" because of how it sounds.” David (7th) said he also likes “"With Songs of Rejoicing" because it’s not sad and I like the how the altos start and bass come in.” Abby (6th) said she likes "Wayfaring Stranger" “because it is low.” Riley (6th) said he likes "With Songs of Rejoicing" “because it is a fast and up-tempo song”. Jack (6th) said he likes “"Wayfaring Stranger" because it was more interesting because it tells a story and the least happy.” Mary (10th) said she liked "Wayfaring Stranger" “because it’s an old folk song.” Mr. Kim, our music director, picked these two songs specifically for the voices in the Upper School. A lot of people like the songs that are in the Spring Program and to pick your favorite you’ll have to come and see!

OUR OWN WEBSITE!

Veritas' Upper School Newspaper officially has there own blog! This is a site where all the newspaper articles will be posted for you and any others to read. Also we will post any announcements on who has what articles, when papers are coming out and when articles are due. Your articles are now out there for the world to see. This is just another way for us to share Veritas and Christ's mission. I hope you like the blog and feel free to comment on anyone's articles. I hope to organize them by name so you are able to read a certain person's article. Enjoy and show everyone whether they know about Veritas or not what Veritas students are really like through our writing.
Kari