tj happenings · the carolinas with buckets of rain, and in october, hurricane michael devastated...
TRANSCRIPT
By: Avital Nozic
In November, Thomas
Jefferson Middle
School’s seventh grade
went to the Fair Lawn
High School, along
with Memorial Middle
School, Glen Rock
Middle School, and
Paramus Middle
School, to see Lizzie
Sider perform. The day
before, Thomas Jeffer-
son’s sixth graders went
on the same trip to watch
Lizzie Sider. In addition,
fifth graders attended the
same trip two days before
the seventh grade. The
event incorporated several
fun and entertaining parts,
as Lizzie would sing and
dance for her audience.
However, she also
conveyed a very
significant message that
day: Keep climbing. There
will be struggles and there
will be pain, but as Lizzie
Sider has said, “there will
always be light at the end.”
You just need to find
yours. After the perfor-
mance and conversation,
students had an opportuni-
ty to meet Lizzie in person
and get an autograph or
picture.
Volume 5, Issue 1
2018-2019
THOMAS JEFFERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWSPAPER
By Katie Bazela & Christina
Hemsley
The Addams Family is a play
which revolves around plans made
by Wednesday Addams.
“In the kooky, upside-down world
of the Addams Family, to be sad
is to be happy, to feel pain is to
feel joy, and death and suffering
are the stuff of their dreams.
Nonetheless, this quirky family
still has to deal with many of the
same challenges faced by any
other family, and the spooki-
est nightmare faced by every
family creates the thing all
parents are scared of: the Ad-
dams kids are growing up.
The Addamses have lived by
their unique values for hun-
dreds of years and Gomez and
Morticia, the father and mother
of the clan, would be only too
continued on page 2
Lizzie Sider in Fair Lawn
Drama
Tj happenings
BRINGING YOU NEWS FROM ACROSS THE HALL, ACROSS TOWN, & ACROSS
THE WORLD.
It was a very entertaining day for
the seventh through fifth grades,
to listen to music as well as a
time for students to see a new
perspective on life. Seventh,
sixth, and fifth graders heard
Lizzie Sider sing her well -
known song “Butterfly” but also
understand that there is never a
reason to give up hope.
P A G E 2
The Addams Family Cast/
Understudies:
Morticia Addams-Madison
Haug/Giana Ingrati
Gomez Addams– Chase Rosen-
blum/Alexey Baranov
Uncle Fester- Alexey Baranov/
Simon Szotak
Wednesday Addams- Prema
Maringanti/Ariel Alania
Pugsley Addams- Joshua Bach/
Donavin Perez
Grandma- Audrey Naples/Jacey
Angerson
Lurch- Owen Abrams/Natan
Tsyrlin
Mal Beinecke- Simon Szotak/
Sam Kagan
Alice Beinecke- Giana Ingrati/
Katie Bazela
Lucas Beinecke- Assaf Izhar/
Jorden Patino
Cousin It- Donavin Perez/Mia
Marchan
Ancestors-Ensemble (6th, 7th,
and 8th graders)
more photos on page 6
happy to continue living that
way. Their dark, macabre, be-
loved daughter Wednesday,
however, is now an eighteen
year-old young woman who is
ready for a life of her own. She
has fallen in love with Lucas
Beineke, a sweet, smart boy
from a normal, respectable Ohio
family — the most un-Addams
sounding person one could be!
And to make matters worse, she
has invited the Beinekes to their
home for dinner. In one fateful,
hilarious night, secrets are dis-
closed, relationships are tested,
and the Addams family must
face up to the one horrible thing
they’ve managed to avoid for
generations: change.”
-stageagent.com
Drama continued from page 1
Lizzie Sider continued from page 1
Now, let’s move on to 2018
hurricane season. In September,
Hurricane Florence crushed
the Carolinas with buckets of
rain, and in October,
Hurricane Michael devastated
Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and
yet again, the Carolinas.
A hurricane even hit Portugal!
(Seeing a hurricane hitting
Portugal is as rare as
seeing a camel walk down
Morlot Avenue).
So what makes a
hurricane so deadly?
Hurricanes bring three
main components. Wind is
the one that most people
think of when they think of
hurricanes. Wind can greatly
impact a region. In fact, on
vacation, I got a chance to see
hurricane damage on the
island on Tortola. The
devastation was
unimaginable. Roofs were
torn off houses but
reconstruction was underway.
Rain is another factor that can
make a hurricane have more
or less impact. Finally, storm
surge, or really high waves
because of the storm, can
wipe out beaches, but won’t
impact inland areas like Fair
Lawn.
There are many things you can
do to prepare for hurricane
season. First off, you should plan
By: Jonathan Murray
Over the past few years, the
planet has been experiencing a
global phenomenon. I am talking
about hurricanes continuing to
get stronger. The world has seen
a rise in the strength of
hurricanes over the past few
years.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall
on August 25th of 2017. This
storm dropped massive amounts
of rainfall in Texas and
Louisiana, with totals nearing
four or five feet for some areas.
Not even a month later, there
was Hurricane Irma. Irma
reached a mind boggling 185
miles per hour wind speed
before hitting Florida on
September 10th with 130 miles
per hour wind speed. Finally, on
September 20th, Hurricane
Maria crushed Puerto Rico. The
island has been almost
uninhabitable in some spots
since. Puerto Rico has never
seen such a strong hurricane and
is currently rebuilding.
an emergency route. Know
where you would go in the event
of an emergency. Secondly, have
non-perishable emergency items
such as batteries and candles.
Lastly, make sure to make
copies of all your important
documents. That’s all folks!
P A G E 3
Hurricanes
V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1
By: Michael Vornovitsky
Elon Musk was born on June 28,
1971 in Pretoria, South Africa.
He is the co-founder and CEO of
Tesla, the co-founder, CEO, and
lead designer of SpaceX, the
CEO of Neuralink, and the
founder and CEO of The Boring
Company. You may not know
this, but he has done a lot to
make our lives better and he has
bigger plans for the future.
On December 18, 2018, Elon
Musk’s Boring Company opened
a test tunnel as part of a larger
plan to help alleviate traffic. In
this plan, a car would be
lowered into the the tunnel by an
elevator. According to BBC
News, it would then be “slotted
into tracks on the ‘loop’.”
According to BBC News, Elon
Musk wants electric cars to be
able to travel through the
tunnel at speeds of 150 mph and
hopes to have a complete net-
work of tunnels by 2028, even
though it only reached about 50
mph in
the test
tunnel.
The
current
proto-
type
tunnel
is located in Los Angeles and is
about a mile long.
According to Musk, there would
be “main arteries that are
travelling at 150 mph and when
you want to go to an exit, you
will have an off ramp.” He said
were able to land safely at
Landing Zones 1 and 2, but the
central core, which was
supposed to land on the drone
ship Of Course I Still Love You,
but instead
plunged
into the
ocean after
running
out of
propellant.
This
matters
because
SpaceX’s
rockets are
reducing
the cost of
space travel. According to the
United Launch Alliance (ULA)’s
Rocket Builder website, an Atlas
V 551 (a 5m fairing, 5 boosters,
and 1 Centaur engine on the
second stage) costs about 180
million dollars and, according to
the ULA, has a payload capacity
of 41,570 lbs to Low Earth Orbit
(LEO). On the other hand,
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has a payload
capacity of 50,265 lbs to LEO
and costs just 62 million dollars
(this is in a fully expendable
configuration).
Overall, Elon Musk, has done
many things to improve our
lives, and continues to find way
to reduce traffic and make the
cost of space travel just one third
of what it was!
P A G E 4
that the tunnel was built by the
Boring Company for just ten
million dollars, even though a
tunnel built with traditional
technologies would have cost up
to
one billion dollars.
On February 6th, 2018, SpaceX
launched their Falcon Heavy
rocket for the first time with an
unusual payload. The rocket was
carrying Elon Musk’s red Tesla
Roadster which was playing
David Bowie’s song “Space
Oddity” with a mannequin
named
Starman.
According to
WIRED, “it
planned to
chase Mars
around the
sun, sharing
the same
orbit—forever approaching the
red planet, but never actually
reaching it. In the end, the
Roadster slightly overshot its
trajectory, so it will instead head
toward the asteroid belt.” The
Falcon Heavy’s two boosters
The rocket was carrying Elon Musk’s red
Tesla Roadster which was playing David
Bowie’s song “Space Oddity” with a
mannequin named Starman.
Elon Musk’s Plans for the Future
P A G E 5 V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1
Our Favorite Disney Movies
By: Trinity Patlori and Samantha Gauthier
Over the course of several weeks, we interviewed twenty-five students from TJ on their favorite Disney
movie. While many of our results were repeated answers, we were surprised by the variety of different
movies among our fellow peers. According to the outcomes, we found that certain movies are more
popular than others. For instance, Incredibles 2, Moana, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and
Cinderella were all answers that were favorites among our age group.
By Reilly Guy
Several sixth and seventh grade
teachers were interviewed to
discover what profession, other
than teaching, they are
interested in.
Here are the results!
6th Grade
Mr. Trento- 6th grade math
teacher- Pro Musician or Screen-
play writer- “I have always been
into writing scripts . . . I also
Mrs. Taormina- 7th grade social
studies teacher- Work in theater-
“I would work backstage or even
on stage. I even help out with
my local community theater
sometimes.”
Mr. Geib- 7th grade social stud-
ies teacher- Political campaign
manager- “I find it interesting
and I would like to help some-
one become president.”
P A G E 6
play the guitar.”
Mr. Altorfer- 6th grade science
teacher- Park Ranger- “I love the
outdoors.”
Mrs. Goldberg- 6th grade sci-
ence teacher- Veterinarian- “I
really love animals and like car-
ing for them.”
7th Grade
Ms. Forsythe- 7th grade science
teacher- Chef- “I would definite-
ly be a chef.”
Teacher 411 : If You Can Have Any Other
Profession, What Would It Be?
The Addams family play
pand our area into the grass and
make it larger. Five people said
that we don't need the extra
space and “The Jail Yard” is fine
as it is.
When speaking with the
20 students, several points were
brought up. One argument that
continually came up was the fact
that the school will change any-
way with the fifth grade coming.
Some students wondered why
bother; what’s the fuss? To
counter that point, we need an
appropriate recess space for
students. We should care today
because it is our recess time.
Another argument is that the
recess time is short, and it would
be more difficult for the lunch
aids to get the attention of the
kids playing in the grass. There
is a very easy solution to this
though; we spread out the lunch
aids. They could still communi-
cate with each other through the
walkie-talkie. Another person
also argued that the grass will
get wet and slippery and become
a tripping hazard. We could
By: Kate Garval
Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
It’s the place we call home for six
hours a day, five days a week, nine
months a year. Our school is just
like any other school. There are
nine periods a day, nice teachers,
and a recess period. However, there
is one difference. Our recess is
spent in a place the kids refer to as
“The Jail Yard”. The reason for
that? It is a fenced in area with no
grass, a few tables with benches,
and some slightly bad basketball
hoops. It is basically your quintes-
sential jail yard. So I took a poll. I
asked 20 7th graders whether they
wanted the school to expand and
reorganize “The Jail Yard”. Fifteen
people said that we needed to ex-
solve this by having blacktop
recess, where the students can’t
go into the grass when the
ground is dangerous.
It is apparent that there
are a lot of opinions when it
comes to this area. However,
there is one big announcement
that we can share today. The
“Jail Yard” will be disappear-
ing! Yes! Since the addition of
new classrooms will go into the
teachers’ parking, they have to
move the parking area further to
the back. Mr. Weaver told me all
of this when I interviewed him
in March. He explained that be-
cause of how much space will be
used for new construction, we
will have to expand recess into
the grass. Finally! Not only that
but people aren't forced to be
outside anymore. If they want to
stay in, they are allowed to. Al-
so, Mr. Weaver is trying to make
it so that there are no assigned
seats, so you can sit anywhere
you want.
Continued on page 8
P A G E 7
Say Goodbye to the Jail Yard!
We should expand and
add more tables and
flowers or something to
make it more fun and
amusing for students
before school, during
lunch, and special
events.
5 said no- their arguments–
centered around the
following:
There is already enough
space and it will cost a
lot of money for some-
thing unnecessary.
It is pointless because
we don’t spend a lot of
time on the black top so
it wouldn’t be necessary.
construction for the new
fifth grade will change
everything anyway.
By Reilly Guy
25 8th grade students were
interviewed
20 said yes- their arguments
centered around the
following points:
We need more room,
especially for walk-a-
thon and special events
to fit everyone.
Should the blacktop be expanded?
P A G E 8
Our school community came
together to raise over $7,000
Tj cares volleyball
tournament
February 15th was Thomas Jefferson's Annual TJ cares event.
Each year, the event raises money for a charity of choice.
This year, the recipient was Fair Lawn's Opportunity Center,
a year round day program for adults with developmental
disabilities. Events included a parent-teacher-student
volleyball night and an in-school TJ Cares volleyball
tournament. With over 55 teams participating, and a large
amount of donations, our school community came together to
raise over $7,000 for this amazing program. The physical
education staff would like to thank everyone who donated,
participated, attended and ultimately helped make these
events a success!
Also a shout out to this years winners!
6th grade: TBH
7th grade: Aces
8th grade: The Big Doors.
In the interview, Mr. Weaver told me a story that
happened to him. He was at the doctor and when his
nurse asked him what his job was, he told her a princi-
pal. She then asked what town, and he said Fair Lawn.
Surprisingly she was also from Fair Lawn and her kids
had gone to T.J. She also said that when she drove past
the school, every time she would be disgusted by the
terrible “Jail Yard”. So, that gave him even more moti-
vation to improve this dreaded space. Even though by
the time these changes happen I will be in the high
school, it still makes me happy to think that other kids
will get to have a fun recess, so that is all, until next
year. T.J. out.
Recess continued from page 7
getting involved, unlike all the
odd experimental pieces of the
past that sound like they come
straight off lead singer Thom
Yorke’s own solo albums.
However, the intricacy and
delicacy of their previous work
is still their, with each element
playing a vital role.
“15 Step” slowly fades away
into the aggressiveness that is
“Body Snatchers”. The song
angrily builds to a climax to end
all climaxes. Slowly the song
fades into the warm strings and
sweet vocals of fan favorite
“Nude”. Yorke’s haunting
falsetto delicately wafts over the
orchestral backdrop.
At first it was unknown whether
the song would ever make it
onto an album, with it appearing
in some live shows here and
there. But it did, and the studio
version is amazing. Yorke’s
vocals shine once again, flowing
and almost becoming one with
the strings section at some
points. The strings give a
warmer atmosphere, and the
quiet, pretty guitar line
hangs around in the back of
the track.
Another fan favorite,
“Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”,
follows “Nude”. Once again
the arpeggios give one a
slightly dizzy, euphoric
feeling. “In the deepest
ocean, in the bottom of the
By Ulee Koslow
When Radiohead ended their
contract with EMI after releas-
ing Hail to the Thief, it appeared
as though they had reached the
end of their six album creative
streak. After having reinvented
themselves each album, some
2006 live releases seemed to
hint that they wouldn’t be
pushing themselves much
further. But then In Rainbows
was announced.
It had none of the crazy
elaborate marketing of preceding
albums. It was simply
announced, and that was that.
Apart from its unique pay-what-
you-want system its release was
not notable in any way. Every
Radiohead fan was repaired for
what would likely be a decline in
the bands activity. It would
become a side project,
something separate from the
band members solo careers. But
despite all this, the album is
likely their best so far.
The album embraces much
warmer and accessible tones
then its predecessors, but fails in
no way when it comes to
creativity. When you first start
the album and hear the dizzying
drums and Jonny Greenwood's
lively guitar line it immediately
strikes as you as different. It
immediately strikes you as a
Radiohead song. This first song,
“15 Step”, shows the band being
a band, with all five people
sea, your eyes.” The next song,
“All I Need”, which starts out
simply consisting of a small bit
of bass and minimal drums,
slowly evolves into an epic,
crashing finale. Late in the
album, the song “Reckoner”
features a backdrop of clanging
percussion and a looping guitar
line, upon which sits Thom
Yorke’s vocals and, yet again,
the orchestral section.
As the album draws to a close,
we arrive at the final song,
“Videotape”. A syncopated
piano accompany minimal
percussion and a small bassline.
It almost feels like Thom Yorke
and his piano are locked in a
rhythmic battle with the
percussion. For most of the song
it seems as though it is going to
build to a climax, but, in a
welcome change of form, it does
not. The beat is working against
the melody here, but Thom
Yorke continues to sing, “You
are my center when I spin
away/Out of control on
videotape.”
P A G E 9
Review of Radiohead’s Album in Rainbows
V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1
By Kiernan Anderson
Wow, look! A game from the
90’s! Bet you didn’t expect that
on a school newspaper. Donkey
Kong Country is a 2D
platformer for the Super Ninten-
do that blew everyone’s minds
when it came out in 1994. These
3D-looking graphics were
thought to be impossible on the
system, until the developers
from the UK, Rareware, used 3D
rendering software used
generally for movies, and
transferred them into the Super
Nintendo, pushing the console
way past what it was originally
thought to be capable of. When
the game was released, it was
met with critical acclaim, and for
a short time, Donkey Kong took
the spotlight as Nintendo’s
mascot, instead of Mario. Was
this praise deserved? Or was this
just because the beautiful look of
the game made people flock to it
immediately? Let’s find out!
The game opens with DK
bursting out of his home.
Immediately you can tell what
this game is about, a 2D
platformer that has this sort of
flow to the levels with plenty of
secrets to find. You can go back
into DK’s house and find an
extra life, you can go into a cave
in the back and find out that
DK’s banana hoard has been
stolen by King. K. Rool, who is
the king of the kremlings (these
crocodile looking things that
stand on two feet), you can jump
onto the trees that look like
bad.
In every world, you can find
other members of the DK fami-
ly. There is Cranky Kong who is
said to be the original DK from
the arcade game, and the Don-
key Kong you are playing as is
his grandson. There is Candy
Kong who will let you save your
game. Finally, Funky Kong, who
is the funkiest of them all, and
my personal favorite. He lets
you travel to previous worlds
you have visited. Then there's
the soundtrack. It’s absolutely
beautiful! It was composed by
the legendary David Wise and is
an absolute blast to listen to!
One of the big reasons David
Wise’s music is so brilliant is the
fact that a lot of the tracks start
out slow and extremely quiet,
but then build up to become
louder and bigger and then truly
show how amazing they are. I
recommend going on youtube
and listening to it all, heck, I
recommend you get the game
right now!
It isn’t out for too many con-
sole’s people own. It’s out on
Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Virtual
Console, the Super Nintendo
Classic, or on the original Super
Nintendo.
Overall, just play this game
as well as the sequels and see
what I see in this outstanding
series. It’s a fantastic time that
controls great, plays wonderful-
ly, looks great even for today,
and is just overall amazing.
P A G E 1 0
background objects but are
actually interactable and you can
skip parts of the level by doing
this. There are so many more
secrets in just the first level!
This is one of the many reasons
why I love this game. The
platforming is rich, and if you
get to know the level design, you
can breeze through it and create
this true flow to the levels.
In this game there is DK’s
cousin, Diddy Kong, who is
superior to DK. He runs faster,
he throws barrels faster, he rolls
longer, so when you try to roll
into multiple enemies at once,
the timing to roll is less strict.
He is just a better character than
DK all around. When you take a
hit, you lose the character you
were playing, so if you ever get
hit, you end up playing as DK.
You know that we are on the
topic of getting hurt, let’s dis-
cuss the difficulty of this game.
The difficulty is well, difficult.
It’s not the toughest game ever,
but it can be a challenge. Despite
my love for this game, I can’t
defend… world 5. It’s not
terrible, but more than half the
levels are filled with off-camera
enemies that can kill you easily,
considering you lose either DK
or Diddy in one hit. If you lose
the other character you die. It’s
the cheap kind of difficulty that
is going to get you a few times
and is just unfair. This can make
for some frustrating moments. It
does pick up in world six
though, so at least it doesn’t end
(Super Nintendo 1994 Game Review)
play basketball. I knew that he
loved the sport, and he even
managed to have a basketball
with him on the Europe trip and
was able to "pick up a game" in
Barcelona with the local boys. I
told him that he should do both
,and that it could work out. He
did in fact continue to do both
and when he was a senior he
asked that "Madame Blair" be
asked to wait for him after the
show was over. I always try to
go see my former students in the
H.S. productions. I did remain
and he proceeded to tell me that
I made a difference in his life
and that because of "me", he was
able to pursue both passions and
he wanted to thank me. That was
a defining moment and was a
memory that I will always
cherish!
MS. NAIK
How long have you worked at
T.J?
Including my first 2 years of my
voluntary services, I have
worked 22 years at T.J
Plus, 5 years of voluntary
services at Warren Point with
Mrs. Lesser.
What is your favorite part about
working her at T.J?
Meeting, greeting and working
with wonderful students and
staff of T.J is my favorite part at
T.J. Also, working with Ms.
Collins, Mrs. Murray and Mrs.
Parkinson all these years have
Madame Blair and Ms. Naik were
deservedly acknowledged as this
year’s Teachers of the Year. We
asked about this experience.
MADAME BLAIR:
How long have you worked in
TJ?
I started in September of 2000.
What is your favorite part about
working here at TJ?
I would have to say my
colleagues and my students.
What was your initial thought
when you heard your name an-
nounced for Teacher of the Year?
I was shocked! I was writing on
the whiteboard, with my back
turned to the students and heard
my name. The students were
cheering and I started to get teary
eyed and tried to keep it together!
What is your favorite memory at
TJ so far?
This is a difficult one to answer
because I've been here so long. I
love hearing back from my former
students. It means so much to
hear that I might have touched
their lives or made a difference.
Not just with the language in-
struction, but with the personal
aspects. I'll try not to be too
"wordy". For example, one 8th
grade student was staying after
school for extra help and we were
talking about how great he was in
the school plays at TJ. I asked
him if he was going to continue at
the H.S. and he said that he
couldn't because he wanted to
P A G E 1 1
been a wonderful
experience. They have taught me
so much that I would not have
been able to learn on my own.
What was your initial thought
when you heard your name
announced for teacher of the year?
I was shelving books when I heard
my name announced as,
Educational Specialist of the Year
Award. My initial reaction was,
“Why was my name announced” I
could not believe what I
heard. Ms. Collins stood up and
said “Yay!! Did you hear your
name?” She gave me a very very
big hug. I had tears in my eyes. I
cannot explain how I felt but it
really meant a world to me.
What is your favorite memory so
far at T.J?
T.J. has been part of my life for
22 years. The wonderful stu-
dents, staff and the very
environment of T.J. will be my
lasting memories.
Both of these amazing women
are appreciated for all they give
to the TJ community. They are
always seen with a smile and an
enthusiasm that makes each day
a little brighter.
V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1
Tj Teachers of the year!