By Savannah Smith
Audiences of all ages were delighted to experience Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, in January of 2022. The special was announced as, “a celebration of the series on the 20th anniversary of the franchise's first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.” In the interview before the anniversary started, director Chris Columbus told the interviewer that his team had “Hail Mary” casted Radcliffe to be Harry Potter. Because his parents had worries about their young son taking on such a huge role, it took some convincing for Daniel Radcliff to actually step into the lead role. After all, Radcliffe's parents knew signing him to a seven-film saga would and could be a “huge disruption to his life”. Despite his parents' reservations, Radcliffe knew from a young age that he was a very resilient child and had apparently learned that he had a “really haunting quality that made him a perfect Harry Potter.” Rupert Grint, who is famous for portraying Ron Weasely in the film series was a fan of the books growing up and was “always attracted to the character Ron.” Grint saw himself in Ron, “in quite a deep way.” As for Emma Watson, known for her witty Hermoine Granger role, she said she and her brother were “obsessed” with the books and she knew immediately that she could be Hermoine. When rehearsing the lines the three just clicked like they were meant to play the characters they were auditioning for and perhaps they were even meant to meet. After securing the roles, they were warned that there would be a lot of media outside of their homes. Regarding the protective nature of the director Chris Columbus, it’s been said that he truly took on a father figure towards the young actors. The entire cast and crew looked back at their humble beginnings with warm hearts, and felt grateful for their experiences throughout the years.
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By Adrianna Bailey-Stewart and Miss Fontanez Encanto is a 2021 animated Disney musical. The film was directed Jared Bush with original music by Lin-Manuel Miranda. A little about the movie’s background (SPOILER ALERT; do not read if you’re planning to see the film) , the Madrigal family is forced to leave their village in Colombia because of civil unrest. Alma Madrigal, the mother of the family, loses her husband Pedro but is able to save her infant triplets due to the magic of her husband’s sacrifice. Though he is gone, his love leaves behind a candle that miraculously holds magical qualities. The miracle, or encanto, blasts away the villains, and creates a magical house, the Casita, for them to live in. The miracle also creates a magical realm bordered by mountains to protect the people who call the encanto home. Fifty years later, the candle continues to burn. The candle's magic grants gifts to all the Madrigals when they turn five years old, which they use to help the villagers. Well, almost all the Madrigals… Mirabel learns that she is the make or break of her family's powers and she must do everything she can to save their Encanto. The film is extremely moving, and has been praised for shedding light on family pressures often overlooked in pop culture and society. Criticized by some as being “too sophisticated” in content, overall, the film has broken barriers and created a new generation of exciting characters and stories for audiences everywhere. By Leo Martinez and Suyen Santiago The Super Bowl is one of the most exciting games of the year for sports fans. This year, fans got to see the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals play against each other. It was a very close game with a score of 23-20 and the Rams won against the Bengals! There have been 55 Super Bowl Games before this, each one being just as exciting as the last and fans get so into it every time. In football, there are many different positions and plays that make the game interesting. The players train all year round just to give their fans a good and entertaining game that will be remembered. While the Super Bowl itself is so fun to watch, the halftime show is enjoyed by even those who don't like football. The halftime show is an event where singers and performers put on a performance. Songs like “Next Episode”, “California Love”, “In Da Club”, “Family Affair” and many others were played during the halftime show all by the original artist who made it. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar And Mary J. Blige all performed in the Super Bowl. But something very surprising happened during half time too! A surprise performance was made by the legend himself, 50 Cent! The halftime show also includes many commercials that are entertaining. Such as "Bring down the house" and many others. In other cute news, Van Jefferson of the winning Rams rushed off to his wife who was going into labor mid game! They had an adorable son and named him Champ Curtis Jefferson. Not only did he have life changing news that day but his teammate, Taylor Rapp proposed to his girlfriend Dani Johnson following the Rams winning! Believe it or not, surprisingly more news came on for that team. Another player, Eric Weddle also made the announcement that he will be retiring again after claiming to retire in 2019 that same day. A final interesting fact about the game is that this was the first time in history that the Super Bowl was hosted the same night as The Olympics. The Super Bowl is and will continue to be a major event that connects people around the world in many ways. In conclusion, it is worth the watch and if watched will be an enjoyable experience. By Addison Markoja
First Meet Review We are very proud of our Meriden CO-OP swim team for their first swim meet of the season. Although we lost together, we won for the girls and lost for the boys. Congrats to the Girls portion of the team for their fantastic win against Plainville, it was a tough meet with some tough competition. And to the boys, congrats, we’re proud of how hard you tried and how much we accomplished together and how much we have all grown in this short period of time. This sure was a meet for the books, first Middle School Meet since 2020! Plainville has some tough competition, and kept us waiting in suspense as they took quite some time to arrive but I think we all surprised ourselves with the outcome and how we all did. Team spirit was definitely shown and heard at our meet; if non-swimmer had heard our cheering out of context, they may have called the police on us! Everybody showed their team spirit and not only worked hard for themselves, but for their teammates too, although we lost, we gained so much together. Final Meet Review Congratulations to our Meriden Co-Op Swim Team for their last meet of the season. This meet was against East Lyme, an excellent team with some tough competition. Despite East Lyme’s talent, we only lost by 3 points! Our Co-Captains Addison Markoja and Adrianna Bailey-Stewert are so proud of the entire team. In their words, “We all grew together.” They are happy with the outcome of this season, but wish there could have been more meets, and more fun end of season activities that they could have participated in. So, as their season concludes, let’s give them one more Wildcat Congratulations! Congrats, Meriden Co-Op– let’s see what next year has to offer! By Marieliz Cruz
Did you know that humans dump approximately 8 million tons of plastic into the oceans each year? If our behavior continues as is, the surface water of the ocean could be 150% more acidic than it is now; scientists estimate that unless we make a real change, by 2050, debris (or trash) in the ocean could outweigh all the fish in the ocean. When we pollute our waters, marine species consume toxic objects or become tangled in plastic debris, which causes severe injuries and death. The most visible species impacted right now are seabirds, whales, fish and turtles. These creatures often mistake plastic waste for prey, and many die of starvation as their stomachs are filled with garbage. While it seems like it may be too late to change anything, there are solutions to get us out of this mess. We need to save these sea creatures before we cause even more irreversible long term damage than we already have; we need to protect their home, not destroy it! Start recycling plastic properly or try to maybe even participate in (or organize) a beach or river clean up in your area. Start spreading the word to families, classmates and friends. Step up to the challenge! By Caylee Brown November marks the beginning of Native American History and Heritage Month, a month dedicated to celebrating and treasuring the sacred traditions and ancestry of Indigenous people around the world. A month dedicated to recognizing and combating the issues in our society associated with the historical disenfranchisement and alienation of Native American people is crucial to Indigenous communities and how their voices impact the lives of outside communities and characters surrounding them. But certainly, as a result of historical oppression and colonization, the remains of history make it much harder to tackle, with such deep roots festering in our society. The question is bound to arise, how can non-Inigenous people support and respect the causes that Native Americans take initiative toward to create a better, open-minded, society? Thanksgiving, a celebrational feast that can be dated back to November 1621, where Plymouth pilgrims and Wampanoag Native-Americans are said to have celebrated the fall harvest with foods such as beans, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and, of course, corn. (According to history.com) As claimed by multiple records from the settlers, Thanksgiving was a holiday that might have lasted 3 days to a week. Although historical accounts of the settlers are written to paint their alliance with the Wampanoag in a positive light, historians recognize that the Wampanoag had only formed an alliance with the settlers because their population, too, was decimated by English originating disease. Furthermore, our own art teacher here at Washington Middle School, Mr. O’Neil, suggests that we focus on the Indigenous perspective of Thanksgiving during the holiday. As a descendant of the Wangunk and Nipmuck tribes of Connecticut, Mr. O’Neil advocates that the consequences of the colonization of America are devastating to present-day Indigenous culture around the country. He says, “We helped them get through the winter, they wanted our medicine in the beginning because it was helpful but then we became what was called ‘primitive people’. We were always put in that category, as a result we really didn't have a place in their mainstream community.” Mr. O’Neil expands on the dehumanization of Indigenous people and touches on how Native-Americans tried to integrate themselves into society. He says, “We were always on the outside and that was not only hurtful, but my great grandmother said we learned strategies of how to become accepted. We gave up our language, we gave up our culture, we tried to assimilate as much as we could.” Recognizing the harmful roots of Thanksgiving is a crucial step in understanding how misconstrued Indigenous history is when recorded by settlers. Furthermore, educating yourself about the detribalization and erasure of Indigenous identity outside of Thanksgiving can be an essential turning point in your activism and supporting the causes of Native-American people. You can visit The Institute For American Indian Studies for a more local look at Native history, or even look to your Native-American peers or elders for their stories. After all, celebrating and educating yourself about Indigenous heritage and history should be important year round! By:Jahzara Adorno
What is Hanukkah? Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration that people of the Jewish faith celebrate. Each day they light a candle on a Hanukkah Menorah. Now why do they celebrate Hanukkah? Well it commemorates an event that is written about in their holy book where a miracle happened for a group of people called The Maccabees. The story goes that there was only enough oil to shine a light through one night but the light lasted a miraculous eight! During the eight-days, Jewish families spend their time lighting a candle, reading Scripture, recitation of some of the holy words, and singing special songs. Throughout history, many Jewish people have been questioned for their culture due to the fact that other people's beliefs don’t always match up. Despite any struggles, many people spend happy Hanukkahs cooking and baking delicious, traditional foods like latkes (potato pancakes), playing games, and enjoying the fun of Hanukkah gifts. While it’s usually less acknowledged in pop culture than other winter holidays, Hanukkah has gained cultural significance in North America over the years. It's important to learn about other cultures and what different people like to do so we can be more open-minded, well rounded people. By Savannah Smith Washington Middle School has a relatively new club on their roster! The Anime Club, led by Mr. Bryan Sorak, is designed to bring together lovers of all things “anime”. If you watch classic shows like One Piece, Haikyuu, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, or other shows, you may be interested in joining! In my experience, the Anime Club is a very fun place to be after school. Personally, I’ve been attending the club meetings for some time now and I will say it’s been an amazing experience. Here’s a more in-depth look at the genre of anime. Osamu Tezuka, Japanese manga artist and animator is credited as the “Father of Manga”. He and other artists started animating with defining characteristics of the anime art style we know today first emerged in the 1960s. It takes a lot of skill to create anime since it’s almost entirely drawn by hand. To create and animate one episode of any given anime, it can take anywhere from two months to five depending on the situation. Lots of hard work and dedication goes into the craft. Anime originated in Japan, but has been adapted, borrowed, and changed by many different cultures around the world. If you're interested and want to join the anime club, look out for joining info on the Morning Announcements, join the Google Classroom, and we’ll see you at the next meeting! .By Adrianna Bailey-Stewart
Home Alone is a 1990 American comedy directed by Chris Columbus and written by John Hughes. Home Alone is a well known movie watched during the Christmas season. If you have never seen this amazing film I definitely recommend that you watch it this holiday season. Home Alone is about a bratty but witty 8 year old boy named Kevin McCallister who acts up the night before his family leaves on their trip to Paris. His mother punishes him by making him sleep in the attic and the next morning they mistakenly leave for the airport without him. Kevin wakes up to an empty house and is very happy because he made a wish that he would have no family the next day. Soon his excitement goes away when his peace is shattered by two men planning to con and rob his family's home. All by himself he must save his family's home no matter what it takes. For a classic comedy to enjoy with family and friends this holiday season, check out Home Alone. By Emma Garceau
Since the start of the year, our music students have put in much effort in preparation for their 2021 Winter Concert. While this year the concert was split up and presented over the span of multiple nights for COVID-safety purposes, each show was successful! Regarding the orchestra concert, the four groups that performed included, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade and Chamber Orchestra. The concert opened with the songs “Jingle Bells” and “Instinct”, played by the 6th graders who played very beautifully in their performance. “Zombie Dance” and “Angels in the Halls” were played by the 7th grade group and they had an outstanding performance. Our 8th grade group played the songs “Caravan of Kings” and “Hiawatha”. This performance was exceptional. Lastly, the last group in the concert was the Chamber Orchestra. This group contains accelerated 7th and 8th grade students in orchestra. They played the songs “Appalachian Hymn” and “Dramatic Essay”. Their performance was absolutely phenomenal and a great way to end the night! The audience thoroughly enjoyed it and everyone was so proud to see our students' effort and progress. Regarding the concert’s success, Mr. Potts comments, "This year's winter orchestra concert went extremely well! The students performed admirably and their hard work paid off as the final product we performed at our concert was of extremely high quality. This being our first live performance in almost two years, a lot of students were performing for the first time as Washington students and did a great job of conquering their nerves when playing in front of a live audience. Orchestra students should be proud of what they were able to accomplish for the winter concert and I am excited to see how this group grows throughout the rest of the school year!” Overall, it was a lovely night and the students had a great time performing for their friends and family! |
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