St. Anne's Newspaper
2020-2021
School Affairs
St. Anne's Newspaper
Simply the Best
-since 1920-
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Ash Wednesday
By Annika Watkins
Interview With Christopher Schaffer and Caden Chan
By: Zaara Dhaddey and Kate Spertzel
We (Kate and Zaara) have interviewed two new kids in our class, (6th) who both are doing distance learning. We have asked them about their experiences as being new students and being on zoom. We also asked them other questions, not about school.
Caden Chan
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Are you happy being on zoom or would you rather be in person? Why?
I am happy on zoom because I don’t have a risk of getting COVID-19 during class. Also, during recess/lunch, I don’t have to take all sorts of precautions, I just go to the dining room, watch i-pad and eat lunch; how convenient.
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What is one word to describe you?
I would describe myself as amazing.
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What is your dream job?
My dream job would be to be in ten NBA or NPL.
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What are you most enjoying at St. Anne’s so far?
The thing I am most enjoying at St. Anne is that the teachers are actually caring about the student’s actions such as whether they participate, turn on their video, etc..
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What school did you come from before? Was it different? Give some examples.
I came from Chinese Immersion School (CIS)
It was different because the teachers are all nice. Back at my old school, there were at least two strict/mean teachers out of five teachers.
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Why did you choose to come to St. Anne’s?
I came to St. Anne’s because not only my friend came, it was near my house, and it was a private school.
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What do you like to do during your free time?
Gaming, playing with my siblings, watching i-pad, and reading books.
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Do you like pineapples on pizza?
Yes, I do like pineapples on pizza.
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Which classes do you enjoy the most? Why or why not?
I enjoy English because I am great at English so it will be easy for me.
Christopher Schaffer
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Are you happy being on zoom or would you rather be in person? Why?
I am at home right now but I would prefer to be at school because I want to be in person with my classmates.
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What is one word to describe you?
I normally describe myself in many words but if I chose one it would be: kind.
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What is your dream job?
My dream job is a radiologist.
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What are you most enjoying St. Anne’s so far?
The people are just so nice and inviting at St. Anne..
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What school did you come from before? Was it different? Give some examples.
I came from St Finn Barr. The structure of the day to day was the same. The school was a little smaller than St. Anne’s. I grew up with everyone there and it was comfortable, but I enjoy the challenge of a new school.
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Why did you choose to come to St. Anne’s?
I saw an opportunity to make myself better, so here I am.
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What do you like to do during your free time?
I play fortnite and play hockey in my free time.
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Do you like pineapples on pizza?
No, I am not a big fan of pineapples. I love pizza though.
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Which classes do you enjoy the most? Why or why not?
They have all been really fun! I have enjoyed getting to know new classmates and teachers.
Ash Wednesday, officially known as Ash Day, is the day of salvation where Christians confess their sins and affirm their allegiance to God. During the Mass, the priest places the ashes on the forehead of the worshiper in the form of a cross. The ritual, which can also be done by a priest or preacher, is intended to demonstrate that a person belongs to Jesus Christ, and it also reflects the sorrow and mourning of a person for his sins, the same sins that Christians believe that Jesus Christ sacrificed his life when he was crucified. Ash Wednesday is significant as it marks the beginning of the Lenten time leading up to Easter, which is when Jesus was resurrected. The ashes are both a sign of death and repentance. During this time, Christians show remorse and mourning for their sins, since they believe that Christ died for them.
Traditionally, ashes used on Ash Wednesday are collected after the Palm Sunday of the previous year has been burnt. They are then blessed before being used for the ceremony. Palms are used in many Christian churches on Palm Sunday to symbolize Jesus' victorious entrance into Jerusalem on the Sunday before his crucifixion. The citizens of Jerusalem were said to have been waving palm leaves to welcome His arrival.
Ash Wednesday is a different day every year since it depends on the date of Easter. It can happen as early as February 4 or as late as March 10. It fell on Feb. 26 last year. Ash Wednesday is February 17th this year. Ash Wednesday typically takes place six and a half weeks before Easter. Easter will be observed on Sunday, April 4, this year.
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Is School Safe? An Interview With a Student at School.
By: Edwin Tam
Here you are, sitting on the couch in your house like a sack of grain, thinking, “When will this be over?” You go on the newspaper, first seeing the art of the month, “I can do that!” so you do, but after you finish you’re back to your bored old self. “Maybe I can read some articles,” you say not expecting much from it, but then you see, “School’s Open Again!” You say, “Mom, Mom! School’s open again!” But she lets you down, saying,” I’m not sure if it’s safe. That’s when you call your friends saying, “Is school safe?” They don’t know so you call Jimmy. He’s been going to school during covid for a long time so I think he’ll know. But first you have to charge your device because it’s at 10%. Then you call him. He says, “Oh yeah , I’ve been to school.” You ask him a ton of questions.
Q: What do you think about the safety of the school?
A: I think I should be cautious about the social distancing thing.
Q: How does the school handle safety?
A: The school handles safety very well. They have six feet apart warnings on the ground, and they are strict about wearing masks.
Q: What about P.E?
A: We still play and sometimes we're not being socially distanced, but we have our masks on.
Q: And the classrooms?
A: The desks are about four to six feet apart from each other. There are going to be less students in classrooms. Classes might be split up.
Q: What about when you get up from your desk?
A: When you get up from your desk to go get a tissue or blow your nose, you go into the hallway and take off your mask and sneeze. Immediately after you’re done, you put your mask on and go back inside and take your seat.
Q: What about entering the school?
A: For 6-8, we wait at the gate until 7:55 a.m. when it opens, and then we wait for the person to take the medical slips from you and then you sanitize your hands and go up to your classroom with the designated staircase.
You hang up, with all this new information in your head. You wonder about going back to school, and soon, your head is full of thoughts.
St. Patrick’s Day at St. Anne School
By: Ella Gorospe
St. Annes celebrated St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. Everybody, both in school and at home, wore green and/or gold for this interesting Irish holiday. After lunch, there was an all school assembly out on the black top. Max Spertzel, Valeria Fuentes, and Isabella Guzman who are on the Student Council, spoke about the life and teachings of St. Patrick. After this, the “Spirit Squad” did a funny and enthusiastic performance. Then, one student from each class was picked to participate in a freeze - dance competition with Irish themed music. Aileen Ward from the 6th Grade won 1st place and was awarded three packets of Skittles! Afterwards, Mr. Campbell went to each class and made them say something like “Give me back me gold!” Whichever class was the most enthusiastic and loud was the winner. The 1st Grade won with a loud and enthusiastic yell. They won a Tiki trophy that has St. Patrick’s Day decorations.
Once the assembly was over, every class went back to their classroom (or zoom). In the 6th Grade, we played a Kahoot about St. Patrick and some fun Irish facts. One of the fun facts include St. Patrick’s name was originally Maewyn Succat before he changed it to a Christian name! After this, we played a trivia game like Jeopardy. It was split into two groups, the in school versus at home students. The at home students won but only by two points. Then, Ms. Gotch passed out Skittles and a card with St. Patrick's Day prayers to everyone in our class. The St. Patrick's Day assembly was fun and we also learned some fun facts about St. Patrick!
First Communion
By: Jimmy Ng, Jr.
First Communion is a special day for Catholics. This is where people that have been baptized will receive Jesus’s body for the first time. But, at St. Anne School, you would have to do Reconciliation before Communion. After a person receives First Communion, whenever they would have a mass, they would receive the body instead of getting a blessing. This exceptional thing goes on with Catholics as one of the Sacraments. A Sacrament is when there is a religious ceremony or ritual as making divine grace. Some of the Sacraments are Baptism, Communion, Penance, Matrimony, and Anointing of the Sick. Students at St. Anne School will usually receive the First Communion if they are baptized before the second grade.
Since Covid-19 came before the second grade last year and didn't get a chance, both second and third graders are going to be baptized. The body enters their bodies and they can become one with God. I was once baptized before and it was a great moment of my life. Although it looks like them just eating bread, Christians would have this as a Sacramental achievement. As we become closer and closer to God through the Sacraments, we will grow as Christians in our faith. People who receive First Communion, which is these second and third graders will not just be growing as Christians though, they are growing a closer connection to God as they pray. The parents would look back to this moment and love and cherish this moment for life.
Alexander Ting, Tomas Palacious-Delmundo, Kaley Perea, June Dalkert, Ozzy Tang, Matthew Lee, and Alannah Burke. They were great during the Mass and sang, “Share the Light of Jesus”. Mrs. Flaviani did the music and the singing which helped a lot. This brought back memories of when I had my First Communion!
History of Walkathons
By: Princewill Onyebuchi
Since the annual St. Anne Walkathon is coming up, here is a brief history of walkathons. The word 'walkathon' came from danceathon and marathon. A Puerto Rican comedian actor and singer known as Ramon Ortiz Del Rivero Rally Bound first invented it around 1953. The very first walkathon hosted by Rivero, was eighty miles long. He did this for the Puerto Rican League against Cancer to raise money for them. Today, we hold walkathons to raise money. Rivero was so dedicated that in just 4 days, he accumulated $85,000. The performance of Riveros brought inspirational Puerto Ricans to the local community. After this, walkathons became very popular in Puerto Rico. In 1968, the United States did the same thing to raise money against hunger. The first formal walkathon was registered in 1968, although there are theories that the US was the first to hold walkathons, and not Puerto Rico. An association called The US Freedom From Hunger Foundation established by President at the time John F. Kennedy funded the event. A prominent promoter, Johnny Carson, who was a popular comedian at the time, was also a highly publicized supporter. The festival drew an amazing 3,000 people on foot because of its coverage. They went on a 33-mile path in Minneapolis to raise awareness and raise money for hunger. Just a couple years back, one of America's biggest walkathons was organized following this popular walkathon. The 150,000 Americans marched more than 2.2 million miles and raised $1.2 million in hunger in particular. The initial single-distance walkathon event took place only in 1985 in A Walk for Hunger in Boston, in which over $1.5 million was obtained. Work environment staff participated in this fundraising event.
Some walkathons can be lengthy, but always remember to have fun!
It Went Over Again
By: Joshua Lee
I’ve been noticing, at recess and lunch, there was usually a repeated occurrence that happened occasionally. Almost every day, there would usually be a ball going over the fence. And then after that, someone would wait for another person to come by to ask them to throw the ball back over. As it usually happens daily, we might want to come up with a solution to fix this. I have a couple ideas for a solution to this.
Of course, we can’t do anything over the top, like spending money or anything. But there are different ways to prevent this. You might want to address the problem to the students and make sure they are farther away from the gate. Maybe restrict some areas in the courtyard to avoid the balls getting over the fence. Or just being more careful and observant can also help.
The reason that this problem is worth writing an article over is because of the damage a ball being thrown over can cause. One day, it might hit a car or an actual person, and then the school might have to pay damages or fees, which will affect the students as well. And nobody wants that. So that’s why it might be nice to change or modify some of the recess rules.
5th Grade U.S. States Project
By: Zaara Dhaddey and Ella Gorospe
The 5th Grade is learning about U.S. states! Ms. Der, the 5th Grade teacher assigned them a project that has two mandatory and one optional parts, a lapbook, presentation, and an optional state float/diorama. First, Ms. Der randomly picked the states for the students out of a box. After everyone got a state, they were allowed to trade the states in order to get the one they wanted. Once they got their states, they did research on them and created a lapbook all about their state. In addition to this, they created presentations too. If it wasn’t for COVID-19, each student would bring in a food that is popular in that state to class and everyone would get to try some. We got some input from 5th graders about which state they chose and about the assignment.
Dash Gorospe
Q: What state did you get?
A: Oregon
Q: Do you like the state you got? Why or why not?
A: Yes because I learned new things about Oregon.
Q: How long did it take you to finish it?
A: The lapbook took 2 weeks, but the presentation took about 1 week.
Q: What’s an interesting fact about your state?
A: The beach scenes in Goonies were filmed in Oregon.
Aeshaan Dalal
Q: What state did you get?
A: I got Vermont.
Q: Did you do the float?
A: No because I forgot.
Q: Did you enjoy researching for your state?
A: Yes because it was easy to find facts about my state.
Q: What’s an interesting fact about your state?
A: Vermont produces about 500,000 gallons of maple syrup a year!
Nicholas Zung
Q: What state did you get?
A: I got Massachusetts.
Q: Do you like the state you got? Why or why not?
A: Yes because I learned a lot of new things about Massachusetts.
Q: How long did it take you to finish it?
A: The lap book took two and a half weeks and the presentation took four days.
Q: What’s an interesting fact about your state?
A: The oldest college in America, Harvard, is in Massachusetts.
Q: Did you like this assignment?
A: Yes because I enjoyed learning something new about many of the states.
8th Grade Sweater Designing
By: Joshua Lee
A new year is almost starting soon. And it’s a time where we design new specific sweaters again for the next 8th graders. For those of you who don’t know what happens then, I’ll enlighten you. Each year, the 8th graders get to design a special sweater unique to only their year. It’s a bit different from other private schools, some do have generic sweaters, but it’s the same each year. At St. Anne, you get to have a customized sweater that you can contribute into making for your 8th grade year. It’s the first year to make your 8th grade unique and memorable.
The first decision in making the sweater is to pick a color. Usually, people put navy blue or a shade of gray. Hopefully, something different might pop up this year, afterall, the year is very different from others. The next step is to put designs on it. Usually includes parts of the school, what represents your class, and personal things that relate to you very much. The last thing, which might be the most important, is to put your name. Well, not just your name, the entire class, as they are part of your community.
Have a fun time designing your sweaters when it’s your year to do it. It will certainly be a fun and enjoyable experience!
*note only for future incoming 8th graders only.