Acrostic Poem:

Sophisticated

Tender
Erudite
Philosopher
Hermit

Affectionate

 Negligent(day dreamer)
     Intellectual 
    Exceptional

I am:

I am the moon shining light to the darkest of path, making reason with others doubts
I am the sea that hold so much life in it,

 filled with the excitement of a new adventure

I am a life yet to live so much more

I am the wind that speaks my thoughts in whispers

I am a sophisticated philosopher living hermitlike in the deepest of all forest

I am but a girl trying to solve the unsolvable dreads of life

I am forever lost in the fog, for…
I am a negligent daydreamer who savors questioning reality
I am outer space and it’s endless vast of unknown mystery

I am daring, weird, and exceptional
I am unique and receptiveI am a philosopher, an observer, always looking for answers...synthesizing them into my own life

I am…the voice lost within the shadows

I am not:

I am not the sun, that brings light to all matters

I am not the summer, that cast endless laughter

I am not unfortunately the best person to make you smile

I am not a voice of rumors

I am not gossip lover

I am not intrigued by false opinions

 and less on false accuse 

I am not the sleeping owl

I am not the slowing turtle

I am not at any rate less eager and excited

I am not the fighting fox
I am not the poisoned serpent
I am not a violence lover or a conflict maker

Summer Plans:

My plans for after Richard Merkin middle school are to go ahead and attend Gertz Ressler high school. In fact, on Saturday the 7, all the people attending had to take an exam to see where they would be placed. I hope I did well. I also might apply to a boarding school for eleventh and twelve grade, only if I think it would be more convenient. Then there is also the slight possibility I might move to Washington because it would benefit my

 family. Most likely though that I will attend all four years in Gertz or at least try to.

Upon going to Gertz, I will join the soccer team, because it is a sport, I passionately love. A club I would be interested in becoming a part of would be journalism, but then again I am not so sure. Something I am excited about for high school classes is taking art class because aside from poetry and writing, art is what I would also enjoy to do during leisure time. I want to join SBA (Saturday Business Academy) and college match (when I am eligible) because they are two programs that will help me choose the right college for me. I know this for a fact because my sister went to both and is now a Bryn Mawr student.

Not only that, but the truth is that I have become accustom to my small school and all the support given to us at Richard Merkin. That is one of the reasons; I don’t want to go to my home school, Manuel Arts. Gertz in the other hand like, my middle school is very small; the teachers are supportive and helpful. This is because they are both part of the college ready alliance which is established to be this way. However, the languages taught there are only Spanish and English. Knowing both, I feel capable of understanding other languages. For that, hopefully I will take other courses aside from the ones given in that school, to learn other languages.

For summer, I will attend two weeks of summer school, because it is a requirement from Gertz. (In addition, on July 8 I’ll wish a very special friend/pirate a happy birthday.) Aside from those two weeks of school I will try, my best to spend quality time with my sister because she is going of to college on August 26. Therefore, I only have so much time left with her before she leaves. Most likely, we will spend a month, maybe more maybe less, in Washington to see my nephew who is probably 6 months. I want to see him so badly, because he is just about the most adorable thing in my life. The last time I saw him he was turning 3 months, and well you can guess that three months later, I’m dying to see him again.

After spending so much time with my nephew and I am pleased with the time I spend with him, we will hit the road and come back to what I guess I should call home. (The down side) Then I will say my farewells (August 24) to the light of my life, to the joy in each day, and the hope of each goal. Let my sister slip away into the world yet left for her to live, and for her to go to Bryn Mawr College. (The bright side) she’ll come visit when she can, and the fact being that she will be older and gone for longer, will only make her spoil me more when she does come visit. (Down side again) Unfortunately, she will not be here for my birthday (September 3).

-Stephanie M.

Acrostic Poem:

P-pirate
A-active
O-outgoing
L-loving
A-adventurous

I am poem:
I am the sea that is free
I am very wild and funny
I am green eggs and ham

I am squincy and peanut
I am a pirate
I am Johnny Depp's #1

I am senstive and quiet
I am sort of shy
I am italian or am I
I am adventurous

I am trustworthy
I am a person that expresses themselves
I am a tomb-boy(sort of)
I am Paola Perez
I am me!!!!!!!!

I am not poem:

I am not mean
I am not lazy
I am not perfect

I am not preppy
I am not girly
I am not foolish

I am not a person who gives in to pressure
I am not a gossip lover
I am not a fake and neither do i appreciate those people

I am not rich or poor
I am not concided
I am not a two face
I am not stupid
I am just me, and thats all you need to know......

C-CALM
A-ACTIVE
R-RESPECTFUL
L-LAZY
O-ODD
S-SILLY

I AM POEM
I AM LOUD
I AM CALM SOMETIMES
I AM CRAZY SOMETIMES

I AM TALL
I AM ALWAYS HUNGRY
I AM A COMEDIAN

I AM HYPER
I AM A CHRISTIAN
I AM SALVADORIAN

I AM SMART
I AM CLUMSY
I AM CHUBBY

I AM NOT
i am NOT dis respectful
i am NOT and anti christ
i am NOT rich

i am NOT retarded
i am NOT poor
i am NOT short

i am NOT skinny
i am NOT a rebel
i am NOT a backstabber

i am NOT a serious person
i am NOT E.M.O
i am NOT a mean person

what i am going to do in summer

what im going to do in summer is going to my pregnant sisters house for a couple of weeks just take care of her and my little niece and to see her grow up. I never get bored in my sisters house because she has a collection of movies and her husband has a X-BOX 360 and a PS2. So me him go to hollywood video and rent so many cool games and basically i play the whole day while my sister is sleeping or reading her magizine. After i come back from my sisters house im giong to stay at my home for the rest of my summer vacation and what i do is is basically just eat junk food watch television. But of course my parents always leave me chores to do so im kind of busy but i always do the chores at the last minute because i am either on the phnoe or im watchting television and eating.-CARLOS M.

Marissa T.

Acrostic Poem:

M indful
A ctive
R ealiable
I intelligent
S illy
S ignificant
A live

I am:

I am Marissa T.
I am friendly
I am special

I am lucky
I am a star in the sky
I am intelligent

I am a person that will make you happy when you are sad
I am someone who is always happy and almost never sad
I am a person who cares for others

I am a person who stands out in a large crowd
I am a unique person
I am who I am

I am not:

I am not pretty
I am not ugly
I am not rich

I am not poor
I am not dumb
I am not a disrespectful person

I am not a mean person
I am not a perosn that will bring you down
I am not a stressed out person

I am not someone with a bad attitude
I am not someone who will cause you pain.
I am not someone I’m not

Plans for Summer:

I have tried my best, and I gave school my all to try to graduate. At this point I believe that I am going to be successful in accomplishing my goal to graduate the 8th grade. When I do graduate I am planning to attend Gertz Ressler High school. I believe that by attending Gertz I will have many advantages. For example, Gertz is similar to Richard Merkin Middle School. Both schools are smaller in size, compared to other schools. I think that the schools being smaller is an advantage because do to the fact that there are less students, teachers focus more on all students. Basically, our last day of school is on June 26, 08. So our break starts on June 27, 08, it is up to us weather we want to come on that day to school. On that Friday there is going to be a picnic at the park, they will have Barbeque(yummy). I guess this is how my summer break will start.
Starting on July, I will be obligated to attend two weeks at the high school. Those two weeks will be helping us get ready for English and Math for high school. So for the most part my first two weeks of summer break I will spent at the high school. I guess some days I will be all day at home and other days will be full of fun. I am planning to invite some of my friends to my house for a fun sleepover. Last summer I spent two weeks at Kentucky, this summer I am planning to spent two weeks at Mexico. I think that will be very fun because I will get to see all my family that live there. My goal for summer break is to have lots of fun and be happy with my family and friends.

Family Values

Families work in many ways. Some families don’t like other people to get in there business. Others want the world to know what their up to. Some like to go out all the time and others just like to stay home. Some families like to communicate. Some don’t communicate at all. But in a way families work the same way.

You know how in families every parent has a job, they may earn more or less but they always do it for one reason: to pay for taxes, bills, and (most important) for their children. In every case the parents or parent earns money for their children and their happiness. Many families for example know where the money is head to without even earning it yet. Children try to stay strong and not think about all the stress, sweat and pressure that parents go through every day but, sometimes it doesn’t work like that. I think that that’s what every kid worries about even if they don’t show it. Economic systems are always the same even if your rich or poor and hate to deny it, yes this is how they ALWAYS wok.

Every parent worries about what their children wears and it always ends the same. In the mall or at home, the child picks clothes they want. The parent comes and does an exception on it. If they like it they approve it but if they don’t ……...well it’s like this. The parent says a comment that the child doesn’t like. The child ALWAYS says “But I want it”. Then the parent says why not to buy and tries to use the excuse of “it doesn’t look right on you” or “look at the price, we can’t buy it”, or the classic “you have many other shirts”. In the conclusion the child tries to fight back and the parent gets angry and gives us an order. And as children we have no choice but to follow them. We wine and don’t speak to the parents for about 30 minutes and then it was like nothing happened.

Now the big question that children ask themselves is “what do they expect from me”? Well, if a child tries to understand thoughtfully enough (and not ignore them when their giving speeches about life) they will know that a parent wants there child to be successful and to be happy in life. DUH…………..kids, don’t you see they discipline and push you around because they love you. They don’t want us to make the same mistakes they made in life. And I’m not saying that every parent is good because some aren’t. Some parents do it because they think its best but, they don’t know that in reality their thinking about themselves and not their children’s happiness. And that’s when we kids, need to stand up for our rights, when you KNOW when your parents are doing something wrong.

I think the important things that should matter in families are the joy and happiness of everyone in the family and to know that you could help your family in a way. Us children as future of our families must think about the choices we make in life and in the present. I know it shouldn’t matter now but in time it will and that’s when we have to choose what’s best.

Posted by: Paola Perez

What is beautiful?

Every year a beauty pageant is held in which a beauty queen is selected to represent the state. The queen is chosen based on beauty, which the media has defined as a skinny, tall woman (5 ft 6 in) with the weight of approximately 100 pounds... In which one is attracted mostly by the appearance rather than the personality. This is what American society chooses to be represented by. In which almost every form of media gives us images of beautiful people with perfect bodies. We are told how we should look, as if the ever-lasting smiles in magazines mock us for not looking as great as they look.

In an attempt to reach, the standard vital consequences have emerged. People begin to turn anorexic, bulimic, and have surgery for the sake of being “beautiful”. They switch from cardio machine to cardio machine, always lifting more weights than they should with expressions of pain.

Have come to dying or becoming very sick due to trying to be what everyone else is.
The truth is that America’s average females are not as “fit” as they “should” be. What is hard to understand is how America lets the media define it’s beauty, that is limited to only a few in it’s population. While the rest of the population, struggles to catch up.

Before beauty would be described as someone, a bit chunkier or fuller if you will. Only to the fact that it meant they had more to eat and didn’t suffer from poverty. Look at were we came to be at now.

Relating to the old age time comes a book where looks also matter, ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’. A talented man, he himself being Cyrano de Bergerac fell in love with Roxane and feels that the only thing between them is his big nose.

When finding out that Roxane has fallen in love with a much more handsome figure, he is forced to stay loyal to her and befriend his new rival. Like Roxane described Christian, (his rival) was handsome but what she misinterpreted to be the wit of knowledge in his look was just the shy figure of a person who is left speechless. Yet to see her happy, Cyrano and Christian make a deal. Cyrano will be the soul of the relationship and Christian the body, both working together to conquer Roxane’s heart as one. Moreover, the plan works, Roxane falls in love but with what the appearance of Christian’s bright eyes, or the letters he writes (being Cyrano’s in disguise).

Comes the time when Roxane confesses to Christian that she loves him for his soul alone. That his beauty attracted her to him, but that she was mistaken to have first noticed his looks rather than his talent. (For Cyrano’s words alone) At the hearing of that, Christian goes out to battle, to die. Roxane however finds out the truth, about the deal made, and understands that all along she had fallen in love with Cyrano, despite his looks.

Though today like other days we look into the mirror and see the imperfection in us, we should come to know that beauty isn’t all that matters…. “At last yourself are vanquished by yourself: I love you for your soul alone”, said Roxane.

-Stephanie M.

LIFE AS A STUDENT IN RICHARD MERKIN MIDDLE SCHOOL

Being a student is a fairly hard thing to put up with. For example, there are many kids who are very cocky and ignorant. There also teachers and classes and projects that are sort of difficult. School it self is very odd and uncomfortable sometimes. But there are some days that are very cool days but there is some day that you just want to ditch school, which I think every one goes through some day. Another thing that really bothers kids are the huge homework assignments that we have to do. The worst part is when you do the assignment and bring it to class, the teachers are so in hurry to make the class catch up to the other class, and forget the assignment. And when you don’t bring the assignment they remember to collect it. But Richard Merkin middle school has very good education but has too many assignments. Also the school is fairly small which has good advantages like, everyone knows everyone. You know there are some schools that the principle does not know 50% of the kids name but our principle basically knows everyone’s names. But only because it is a small school does not mean there aren’t cliques. I mean we are still having the infamous cliques that everyone tries to avoid but there is no way to avoid that. But in our school there cliques that you cant really count because there is a person that just go around and hang out with different people that aren’t in their “groups”. Which is very cool because there are other schools that don’t allow other people to talk to other people unless they’re in the group. The teachers, what can the students say about the teachers. I mean there is nothing to say except the fact that the teachers do there jobs really good. They really expect us as students to do our work and to give it our best. Teachers actually, I guess you can say, care because they talk to us privately and they encourage us to the extreme and that helps us a lot. So that is what our life is as a student at Richard Merkin middle school

-carlos

Fire breaks out!!!

Universal Studios has recently Though new attractions were created the fire that occurred around 4:30 Sunday morning opened a new ride known as the Simpson ride. destroyed others. It was the second fire at the historic site in nearly two Decades. In this disastrous sequel the fire ripped through a lot at Universal Studios, destroying a set from “Back to the Future” a King Kong exhibit and a streetscape seen frequently in movies and TV shows. The fire was contained to the lot, but about 400 fire fighters were still trying to put it out several hours later.
Though the cause is unexplainable its damage is expected to be millions of dollars. Fortunately none of the things burned down are irreplaceable, they had duplicates. Some say the fire was started by a security guard who was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to arson. The park remained closed Sunday afternoon as hundreds of visitors waited outside the gates.
The fire will not affect the 2008 MTV Movie Awards, which is to broadcast live Sunday night from the Gibson Amphitheatre in the adjacent Universal City Walk, according to the music network. It has effected however six firefighters who unfortunately suffered form minor injuries. And though the fire could have been worse, in the end it was nothing vital. The park is now open again (June 1) with the exception of the lost sites.
Learn more.....

If you are interested in knowing more go to this link:
http://www.oanow.com/oan/news/local/article/fire_at_universal_studios_destroys_sets_videos/19149/

to look at a video relating to the fire click the link below:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1488655367/bctid1583536391

-Marissa T.

Eclipse-Vampire lover

Greetings people, my name is Stephanie Muñoz. I go to Richard Merkin Middle School, and I am an 8th grader. My school is a college ready charter school, and we will be the first graduating middle school class in its system. I am 13 years old.

I am a Twilighter and am crazy about Vampires and philosophy! I’ve always liked watching Underworld, Queen of the Damned, Van Helsing, and Interview with a Vampire since I was small. I love reading, in particular about fantasy and romance.

Some of the books I will never get tired of reading are the Twilight collection of three (soon to be four), Vampire Kisses, House of Night novels, the Vampire Chronicles, and other fictional books.

I am afraid of clowns, because of a movie called ‘it’ that I saw when I was very small. Music is something I can’t live with out, I like rock (old school rock, alternative, some metal and punk). I love the piano.

My favorite sport is soccer, since my uncles, cousins, and my family goes to Elysian Park to play it. I have many friends that I value and each equally play and important role in my life.

I guess I have a best friend though, and she is my other half, the person I was looking from the beginning to heal my heart and bring me joy!

She is my Sun, just as surely as I am her Moon; together we form an Eclipse!

Pirate lover

Hey there person, my name is Paola Pricilla Perez, I’m thirteen years old (going on to fourteen) and I was born on July 8, 1994 at 7:00pm. I’m going to a school named Richard Merkin middle school. My class will be the first graduating class of 2008. We will graduate in June so I’m very excited but I still have a long way to go. My father named me after a very famous Italian soccer player named Paolo Mandini. Most people don’t know who he is because he plays in the Italy but anyways. My dad named me after him because he thinks that he is the best and he likes the way that he does tricks with the soccer ball. So he decided to name him after me (I was five when he told me his story). I’m the middle child (you can say that) of four girls and the fifth person of a family of six. I’m the loudest person in my family as well as in school. I have a thing with marvel and dc characters. I’m a big fan of Tim Burton and Tim Burton movies. My best friend is Angelica Waner. My favorite kind of music is soft rock and old school rock but I mostly listen to whatever I want new and old. I love classical music especially when they play the piano. I think it’s romantic and beautiful. The first piano solo I heard was Beethoven ‘s moon light solo and if I ever find a guy, he better play piano. My favorite Italian singer is Andrea Boceili. His songs are in Italian but I understand it for some weird reason. His songs are romantic and beautiful. I’m very crazy and wild and my friends say that I always put a smile on people’s faces even though I ‘m sometimes quiet and don’t like to talk about my feelings that much to people I don’t really know. I have a thing with pirates and they inspire me to be free and to kick some butt with swords. I’m very energetic, trust worthy and always have a plan for everything. My idol is Johnny Depp. He has taught me to be yourself and not care what people think, say, or do to me because in the end it really doesn’t matter. As an actor and a person he has inspired me to follow my dreams and that it wouldn’t matter if I were rich or poor and to never give up or give in. He is man of success. He broke all the rules to get where he is today. I want to be an actor when I grow up because it’s about the chance to feel in another person’s footsteps and get to feel what they feel. Also because it’s my passion and an art to me. I believe in being free (like a pirate) and to follow your dream. To express yourself and to never give up to what you believe in.

Blood, Guts and War

Hi my name is Carlos Menjivar. I like to watch television, listen to music, EAT, I also like to e on the computer and I like to sleep and be lazy all day and mot be bothered at all. I’m 14 years old and my birthday is on December 18th 1993. I am tall, chubby and hyper but am calm in people’s house. My favorite show is “DRAWN TOGETHER”. Even though it is kind of gross comedy but I like gross comedy. I like horror, action, and thriller, my favorite movie right now is “THE STRANGERS” and I love the fact that the movie kept me very nervous. Another movie is “PLANET TERROR”. This movie is bloody to the maxim and it is gory to the extreme, but I love every single second of the movie. Know I love this one model her name is DITA VON TEESE she is a Vegas girl and she is hot. I praise her with glory. She is my wife. My favorite food is hot wings and hamburgers. My type of music is Rock, Alternative, and a little metal.

the one and only...Marissa T.

Hi, my name is Marissa Gabriela Tafolla. I guess you need to know my name to get to know me. I am 14 years old. I was born on January 31,1994.Well, one of my favorite things to do is eat . Yeah, I know you might think I am weird. Well, it’s true I love to eat. A definition of my family would be me, my brother, my mom, and my uncle. To me this is a perfect family… my perfect family. I have many friends but I don’t consider any of them as being my best friend. Not to be mean or anything but that’s just the way I feel. I would rather have a large amount of friends rather than just having one specific one. Well, to tell you the truth I actually kind of consider one person as being my best friend. The person that I consider my best friend is a guy, who’s name I would rather not mention. He is a very interesting person he is very funny and he is one of the few people who can cheer me up when I’m feeling down or upset. He is probably the only person I can really trust to tell my deepest, darkest secrets.
My favorite sport to play is soccer. When I don’t play soccer I kind of get grumpy. I think that I could play soccer all day if I could. What’s your favorite sport to play? I attend Richard Merkin Middle school, in the 8th grade. I am on my way to graduation, and I am very excited. I would like to attend USC after I graduate High School. My favorite types of music are Reggaeton , R&B , and Hip Hop. One of the most important things my mom has taught me is to never give up, always try my best, and always follow my dreams.