Are they real?

Do they exist?

What do you do when your feelings take over your body?

Feelings show who you are as a person and what kind of person you’ll become.

It’s a way of life.

Everyone has feelings, either they’re good or bad.

You can’t control them, but sometimes they can become very powerful.

You can’t let other peoples feeling and emotions get to you.

You will be wasting your life trying to solve it, or trying to pretend like nothing happened.

You deserve to have an amazing, healthy, and jubilant life.

You deserve to live to be at least 100 years old.

Don’t let your pain get to you.

Feelings are very real.

They make you understand things that you probably wouldn’t have understood if you didn’t have any. 

A lot of people don’t believe in feelings, or emotions.

But how do you explain when you have water coming from your eyes when you are watching a sad movie.

See, when I said “sad movie” your mind thinks sad is an emotion, to which you believe is a feeling to become mournful and makes you want to fill yourself with sorrow.

See, your emotions and your mind makes you feel the way you do, by feeling.

That’s how you become who you are.

Not what other people think of you, or what you are trying to be to fit in, or anything else. You are who you are and nobody can change that.

That’s what feeling are.

A friend is a person who hangs out with you.

A friend is a person who I can tell my secrets to.

A friend is a person that laughs at dumb things I say or do.

A friend is a person that is unique.

A friend is a person that is very sweet.

A friend is a person that is one of a kind.

A friend is a person who is hard to find.

A friend is a person who is equally fair.

A friend is a person who will always be there.

A friend is a person who has a striking heart.

A friend is a person who is always smart.

A friend is a person who drys your tears.

A friend is a person who can ease your fears.

A friend is a person who picks you up when you fall.

A friend is a person who is there for you when you call.

A friend is a person who knows just what to say.

A friend is a person who will help you find your way.

A friend is a person who knows when something is wrong.

A friend is a person who makes you feel like you belong.

A friend is a person I am proud to call my best friend.

This is picture (left) of one of the many soldiers in America’s Army, and her name is Kelli Bordeaux.  She went missing on Saturday, April, 14 when she did not report to her station. Investigators say she was supposed to show up for duty, but she never did.  Now her family is worried for her sake… Have you seen this former soldier?

Investigators say that this female went missing at the Froggy Bottoms Bar, in Fayetteville NC, or near that area.  Since she went missing,  the bartender that she was last seen with is now being questioned. 

Now that she is missing , the family is stressed and really scared of what will happen to their little girl.  Other people that have their children or friends missing know what this family is going through.  The family is actually going through a very rough time with a member missing it makes it even harder on them. It has also come to light that the same bartender that she was last seen with and is being questioned, was also a former sex offender!  The information gathered by investigators led dive teams to a pond off of Dobbin Holmes Road late Wednesday afternoon after her disappearance.  This pond is a few miles from the Froggy Bottoms bar.

In conclusion, This is a serious case and while her family is really hopeful that she will come home, all they can do is search and pray. I will be praying for her safe return as well, and you should too!! I really HOPE she comes home.

To see a video on this, click the link below:

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/video?id=8626280&pid=8626014

I attend Howard Middle School in Orlando, Florida, an Orange County Public School.  On the crazy week we had of FCAT you had to stay with one teacher and one class all the days you were testing.  They put you in alphabetical order with your grade and selected a teacher based on the teacher’s last name.  On Monday, we had 70 minutes to finish part 1 of the Reading test.  The next day for part 2, was exactly the same.  On Wednesday, we took both parts of the Math and it was 140 minutes. Then on Thursday the 8th graders were taking their Science FCAT.  The newest edition to the FCAT this year was the 6th graders, having to take the Reading portion on the computers!

All year teachers prepare us for FCAT.  So everything you learned in Math and Language Arts was for a reason!  The stories in the Reading FCAT can be biographies, others will be poems or maybe a panflit. Questions will ask you what it’s mostly about or like what two words have almost the same meaning. You have to read the questions carefully. They’ll throw in questions talking about “which of these statements is NOT true?” So make sure to not skim the questions!

In my opinion, the Reading was straightforward and not all that confusing. Every question I was able to go back and re-read and find the answer somehow. It had a few fictional stories, I guess to entertain us. The Math is personally where my heart dropped.

In conclusion, next time I know I should pay more attention when we were reviewing, because I literally didn’t know how to do solve certain problems. Also, I’m going to try and re-read some questions because on the Math I had read a word wrong and when I went back I noticed.  It was too late though, the papers were collected out my hand.  For the Reading, I think I did okay because I read everything and picked what made sense to me.  Sadly, I was the first one done, so now I’m like,” what did I do wrong?”  I guess we will all find out when the scores are released… Good luck!!!

The Titanic was built by White Star Line in Belfast, United Kingdom.  Many accepted challenged to build the biggest boat but when Bruce Ismay, the owner of White Star wanted to build the worlds biggest boat, and he wanted it to be unsinkable too.  They started building the Titanic in 1909 and it set sailed in 1910.  Bruce’s mission was almost complete, he just needed to sail across the ocean in the Titanic and he would achieve what he set out for in 1909. That was probably the greatest irony, that this was looked at as, “the unsinkable ship”…

When the Titanic sank, all of the passengers went down with it, all except most of first class. There were only half as many survival boats to the amount of people on the Titanic and that means the rich went first, along with the women and children.  After most of women, children and first class boarded all the survival boats, the rest of the second and third class and the men prayed for their lives as the Titanic sank in the middle of the Atlantic ocean at 28 degrees Fahrenheit.

After the Titanic was submerged under water it left 1500  people in the ice cold water of the Atlantic trying to survive. Leaving only chairs and tables behind for the people to try to survive on helped a little but not enough to save them all. Only 6 out of the 1500 people dropped into the ocean survived!  The beginning of 1973 Bob Ballard started searching for the forbidden Titanic.  Many followed in his search, but it was not until 12 years later he found her at the bottom of the Atlantic.

April 14Th, 1912 was one of the most tragic days in history. 1500 citizens from the US and England died that day, but only a few lived on to tell the tale of how the glorious Titanic sank and how they survived.  We are still finding out new facts about it with every dive.  Hopefully one day we will figure out the entire true story of how it sank and why so many died.

The Cup itself was donated to Lord Stanley of Preston, Canada, in 1892.  The cup has been won 94 times and is a prestigious honor to hoist it above your head as a sign of great triumph.  The players on the winning team that have played 41 regular season games get to have their name encrypted onto the trophy.

The most memorable moments are not “arguabily” the fights. The NHL is known for fighting and has frowned upon, but can’t get rid of it and most the fans agree that it sure does make for an exciting game.  When there is a fight the players that are involved in the fight go to the penalty box for 5 minutes.  It’s not very uncommon to see a few teeth go missing after a good hockey fight.

The playoffs consist of 4 rounds of grueling hockey games.  These are Conference Quarter-finals, Conference Semi-finals, Conference Finals, and Stanley Cup Finals.  Most teams were in the Semi-finals with the exception of the LA Kings, who were blown out by the St. Louis Blues.  My prediction is that it will be the Washington Capitals vs. the LA Kings in the Finals.

Even if your team doesn’t make it to the Finals, it’s still fun to watch.  So sit back in your chairs and get ready for a great series!!

On Tuesday, April 3rd a tremendous twister hit regions of Texas.  Houses smushing like cake, cars flying like feathers, and Plywood flying at deadly speeds.  No suprise there, since wind speeds were up to 165 mph in Forney.  Forney was one of the towns hit hardest by Tuesday’s twisters and they are cleaning up along with Lancaster and other areas. About 650 homes were damaged in Tuesday’s Texas tornado outbreak. Thank goodness nobody died, though dozens were injured.

“If you really think about it, the fact that everybody who woke up in Forney yesterday is alive today in Forney, that’s a real blessing,” Mayor Darren Rozell said.  Anything that can throw a tractor, is no j0ke.

But the tornados weren’t consistent, they jumped from place to place, passing many heavily populated areas overhead and perhaps limiting what could have been a more damaging, deadly storm.  Most of Dallas was spared by the full wrath of the storms.  Thankfully, most of the tornado was off the ground and could have been way more devastating. Over 1,000 plane flights were canceled in just two days at one airport, and over 110 planes were damaged by hail.

In 1977, at the age of thirty-four, she was officially diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  Multiple Sclerosis is disease that attacks the central nervous system which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. MS affects people differently.  In my Nonna’s case, the disease progressed slowly at first.

She taught in Orange County, at Chickasaw and Hidden Oaks Elementary schools. In 1993, she was a top five finalist for Orange County Public Schools Teacher of the Year. For several years prior to her disability retirement in 1998, she managed her classroom from a wheel chair.

She was a member or Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Orlando. For several years, she was also active in the Episcopal Cursillo Community.

In addition to her husband, she had three children. Michelle (John) Schmidt; sons Jim (Michele) and David (Betzy) all of O-Town. This is where I come in. She then had seven grandchildren all of O-Town, David (17), Sarah (15), Carly (14), Jack (12), Dean (11), Ethan (10) Sam (7).  During her life, she remained to keep in touch with aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Then on Sunday June 13, 2010, she died due to her illness. She was only sixty-seven years old.

My Nonna has influenced me so much, that in fifth grade I came in first place in the Modern Woodmen of America school speech contest.  Every day I think of her and her accomplishments.  I tell myself that I am going to be just like her when I’m older.  Maybe not become a teacher, but Definitely have her kindness, intelligence, and her personality.  I want to wake up every morning and feel like I’m supposed to be in this world just like her.  Even though she is not alive, she will always be in my heart till the day I die.

                                                                                               
I would recommend a hotel with a view, so you could wake up every morning with the beautiful sunset on the ocean with the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.  It’s amazing to see the pelicans soaring above the water, especially when you think that they are going to crash but they don’t. Then when you get ready for the day ahead of you, you walk on the beach with the water touching your toes and that feeling of the sand crunching underneath your feet… The excitement  that fulfills you when you find seashells!

 The places I would recommend for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is all at the Bombay Grille. You can enjoy their amazing buffet or the Jhinga Masala, which is a dish that contains rice and chicken it can serve up to 20-25 people.  So, if you’re undecided where to go over the summer, come on down to Daytona Beach, FL.  If you would like to spend time with your friends and family the beach is one of the suggestions where you could visit to spend an amount of time with them.  As my coach once said, “we aren’t put on this team just to show our independent skills, we were put on this team so we could work like a family, so we could work as one, like a fist.”  Take your family out to Daytona this summer… bond… and have FUN!!

The passage above is a sneak peek of the Yearbook… For further details, you will have to purchase one!

Howard Middle School has shared so many memories throughout the year! The moments we share varies from school work, sports, clubs, student life… but through it all, the Yearbook Staff has continuously snapped pleasurable photos. The Yearbook artwork has to do with our theme “Bursting with Pride”. The colors has to do with our school now being a Visual Performing Arts Academy which is why we are also a Magnet school. School ideas for red and blue which we have been doing for years were low on thoughts. The Yearbook is basically a display to show our improvements, fun and hardwork we’ve had this past year. 

General Advice: I strongly believe that 8th graders should really consider purchasing a Yearbook because it is their last year, and later on in the future it would be nice to reflect back on your 8th grade year with the inclusion of the cool memories.
 
The spreads consists of Student Life which shows students having fun outside of academics. Superlatives, where students cast votes on a student in a particular category. All about the Boys and All about the Girls shows a bit of competition between why they have pride in their gender. There is also the Academics spread just to name a few.

Currently there are about 85 Yearbooks left (if that), so make sure to cop yours A.S.A.P!  The 2011-2012 Yearbook of Howard Middle’s Visual Performing Arts Academy displays cool graphic that shows pride. Yearbooks are available upstairs in room number 202 which is Ms.Sfalanga’s. Books are set at the price of $30 dollars. If you’re not first then you’re last. Therefore, don’t wait to the last minute to get yours. Once we’re out of Yearbooks thats all their is to it. First come, first served! Purchase your Yearbook NOW!