Volume 1, Issue 1

The Fertitta Voice Fertitta Middle School 9905 W. Mesa Vista Ave.

Las Vegas, NV 89148

Main Office:

(702) 799-1900

Office hours: 8am-4:30pm

Inside This Issue:

Feature 1

Music 2-3

Yearbook 3

Staff Spotlight 4

Sports 5

Club Schedule 6

Clubs 7

Seasonal 8-9

Volume 1, Issue 1

Victoria Fertitta Middle School Mission: The Victoria Fertitta Middle School is dedicated to preparing students for life by challenging them

to be effective communicators, critical thinkers, and responsible learners.

By Alana Ohuche

Our new Student Council is:

President: Grace Carver Vice President: April Reyes Treasurer: Sophia Chan Communication Director: Carmen Pitts Historian: Abigail Cohen

Every child finds something to like about school — clubs, teachers, friends, and more. Some students enjoy giving back to their school. These students choose to join Stu-dent Council.

Student council at Victoria Fertitta Middle School consists of a presi-dent, vice president, secretary, communication director, historian, and three representatives in each grade. But, should Student Council be a thing?

I believe that Student Council is important because teachers and staff make a lot of the decisions for the students, but Student Council gives children the oppor-

tunity to change the way school is and make it an easier learning en-vironment. Students that join Stu-dent Council develop leadership skills and learn the importance of being responsible.

If you think that Student Council is a waste of time and just gives stu-dents unnecessary responsibilities, it doesn't.

Why is Student Council im-portant? “Student council is important be-cause it gives students the oppor-tunity to change the way school is, and learn leadership and responsi-bility skills that they can use in real life,” said Ms. Brittelli.

Were you in any after school activ-ities? Ms. Sharp responded, “I was in cheer and newspaper.”

Why is it important for students to be in charge in Student Council? Alana Ohuche said, “It is important for the students to be in Student Council because if the staff ran it, the problems that students were having would never get solved.”

Do you think that there is any-thing that we could improve in Student Council? “Have the students be more active in the events and assemblies. The children need to participate!” said Yosan Woldegiorgis.

In conclusion student council teaches life skills that students will need later on in their life or ca-reers. In Student Council students learn how to work around obsta-cles and find the best solutions to difficult problems.

Feature: Student Council

October 2018

Image courtesy of www.crossingsschool.org

Page 2 Volume 3, Issue 5

Music

By Megan Armamento Beethoven, to Mozart, to Bach, the whole advanced orchestra is able to play each composer’s work! Pretty much the whole advanced orchestra is ready for their Halloween concert taking place on October 24th (everyone should go support them!). Ad-vanced Orchestra will be having four more concerts take place this year and will all have their moment to shine during each and every one.

Mrs. Hekkert, a very coordinated and thoughtful orchestra direc-tor, has been demonstrating the ways of stringed instruments for

22 years! As the thoughtful teacher she is, Mrs. Hekkert tells us that she loves watching her stu-dents perform and “enjoys the pride they exhibit after a great performance.”

Orchestra is a form of musical art using instruments. The main stringed instruments taught are cello, bass, violin, and viola. Each instrument has their own ‘job’ in the orchestra and each pitch is different unless tuned a certain way. Not only do they sound the same, but all of their notes are different from each note too!

The Victoria Fertitta Middle School orchestra is a difficult elective in which talented stu-dents excel with each push and pull of their bows. All students in advanced orchestra have worked hard for their spots this year. I’ll be very excited to up-date you all after the concert!

By Elizabeth Klein

All the holidays are just around the corner, so the choir is starting to get ready for its holi-day performance. Save the date because the choir students will blow you away with all the amazing work they have put into the event. You will not want to miss this performance!

This wonderful event will be on December 6th at 6:00 p.m. in the Fertitta gym.

Ms. Fender is especially excited

for her students to learn “Dominick the Donkey.” She loves to sing the song and is anx-ious for her students to learn it as well. She is also looking for-

ward to the choir parents hear-ing the result of the hard work their children have put in to get this amazing concert ready.

These wonderful singers will be singing “Dominick the Donkey,” “Hot Chocolate,” “Welcome, Welcome Winter,” “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” “Mele Kalikimaka,” and “I Want To Stare At My Phone With You.” All these lovely songs are going to start being practiced by the choir.

Advanced Orchestra

Beginning Choir

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 1

Music

By Bailey Valiente and Andjela Zivanovic

We surveyed 11 people in all, and asked the ques-tion, “What is your favorite kind of music?” The choices were either Rap, Rock and Roll, Country, Pop, or Mix. One student chose rap, one chose Rock and Roll, four people answered Pop, and last but not least, one person chose Country. From all of the choices, Pop received the most votes for favorite kind of music.

The second question was, “What app do you lis-ten to for music?” The choices were Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon Music. No one used Pandora, and 2 used Spotify. After that, we found out that 2 people use YouTube specifically for music. The last app was Amazon Music and 1 person voted for it.

What’s Your Preference?

Guarantee your child a yearbook by ordering NOW!

Yearbooks are ONLY $40 until October 26. Starting October 27, the price will go up to $45.

Please help Fertitta Middle School reach their goal of selling 550 yearbooks. Extras will not be ordered.

You can go to www.jostens.com to place your order.

Please email Sarah Green (greens9@nv.ccsd.net) if you have any questions.

Page 4 Volume 1, Issue 1

Staff Spotlight Ms. Cupp, 7th Grade ELA

By Kyla Gabriel

Ms. Cupp is a seventh grade Academy English teacher here at Victoria Fertitta Middle School. This is her second year teaching.

This year, Ms. Cupp is also the cheerleading coach. She initially first started coaching cheerlead-

ing because she personally spent 14 years cheerleading. Plus, she had already coached cheerlead-ing before, so it was fate that the position was open as well.

She grew up in California, but she studied English Teaching at Northwestern College in Iowa and graduated in 2017.

When Ms. Cupp was in middle school, she loved her teachers. Their examples made her want to be a middle school teacher. Her teacher, Mrs. Jacobsma, made her want to teach and made her the person she is to-

day. Ms. Cupp stated, “Teachers that let me teach the class made me want to teach.” To add on, her grandma was her inspiration.

Outside of school, Ms. Cupp en-joys baking, knitting, and watch-ing Netflix.

Ms. Knight, 7th Grade ELA & Gardening By Kylie Bishop

Ms.Knight is an excellent gar-dening and ELA teacher.

Ms.Knight went to Eastern Michigan and Lesley University. Ms.Knight lived in New York most her life, but she attended Eastern Michigan University and Lesley University.

Her dream place to live in is Bali because they encompass per-maculture. They truly exist in the ecosystem and there is no waste. The humans living there pretty much haven’t impacted the ecosystem at all.

Ms.Knight became a teacher, specifically a gardening teacher, because her time with her grandfather was such a wonder-ful experience that she wanted to teach it to many generations of students so they can share that same experience.

Mrs. Knight’s favorite part about teaching a gardening class is to see a kid’s face when they see something they plant-ed grow. The person who in-spired her to become a garden-ing teacher was her grandfather and Mrs. VanSchaik. Her grand-father instilled the passion in her and Mrs.VanSchaik distilled the knowledge to her.

Also she loves to work in the garden, sit by a campfire, and dance in her free time. Ms. Knight’s favorite food is papaya because she says it’s juicy, sweet, and refreshing.

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 1

Sports

Girls’ Flag Football By Melat Woldegiorgish

At Fertitta, Girls’ Flag Foot-ball is held on Mondays and Wednesdays. Several stu-

dents have grown to be involved in this activity and Ms. Eric has taken an interest in running this activity too.

Surprisingly, Ms. Eric played football in high school herself! Believing that school “should be more than just books and a classroom,” she took on the challenge to coach.

At practice, Ms. Eric has the players run and she notes that “stronger players help the girls who are new to the game.”

The game gives the players a mental break from just academ-ics. Ms. Eric hopes to see that it will “increase school spirit and camaraderie by having other students come out to support our girls.”

To conclude, girls flag football helps to bring out a new part of VFMS and shines a fresh light on the school.

Date Home Away

Tues, 10/2 Fertitta Garside

Wed, 10/3 Faiss Fertitta

Tues, 10/9 Johnston Fertitta

Wed, 10/10 Fertitta Lied

Wed, 10/17 Fertitta Robinson

Tues, 10/23 Becker Fertitta

Wed, 10/24 Fertitta Molasky

Tues, 10/30 Leavitt Fertitta

Sports Schedules

Girls’ Soccer Date Home Away

Wed, 9/26 Fertitta Tarkanian

Mon, 10/1 Fertitta Lawrence

Wed, 10/3 Canarelli Fertitta

Fri, 10/5 Sawyer Fertitta

Mon, 10/8 Faiss Fertitta

Wed, 10/10 Fertitta Rogich

Wed, 10/17 Tarkanian Fertitta

Fri, 10/19 Lawrence Fertitta

Mon, 10/22 Fertitta Canarelli

Wed, 10/24 Fertitta Sawyer

Mon, 10/29 Fertitta Faiss

Wed, 10/31 Rogich Fertitta

Flag Football

***First Game time is 3:45pm and 2nd game will start at approximately 5:00pm***

***Game time is 4:15pm for all games***

Page 6 Volume 1, Issue 1

Clubs

Debate Club By Samantha Cassidy

Speech and debate is a club that meets every Tuesday in room 603. This club is run by Ms. Stuhmer and teaches kids about struc-turing debates and how build up enough confidence to successfully complete a debate.

Furthermore. kids in this club are excited about learning how to improve their debating skills. One such member, Paige Esmaili stated, “I joined this club to gain a better understanding of how to correctly give a speech, or how to debate. I also joined

this as I have future plans to also become a politician so my opin-ions can be heard, and I myself can also be listened to instead of just heard.”

Not only are the members excit-

ed about learning to im-prove their debate tech-niques, but the things they learn in this club can be used in every class and will most likely improve how they work with others.

Another advantage to this club is meeting with people who have the same inter-ests and opinions as you

this can lead to friendships that last a lifetime.

Speech and debate club mem-bers get to participate in class-room debates and attend UNLV sponsored workshops every Thursday.

Zoology

By Yosan Woldegiorgis and Lauren Taylor

The scientific study of the behav-ior, structure, physiology, classi-fication, and distribution of ani-mals is the meaning of zoology. At Fertitta we have a club called zoology that is directed by Mrs. Cohen every Thursday in room 609. We asked her a few ques-tions about how it all works and what they do.

During her on and off years of leading zoology, Mrs. Cohen has had 20 animals. In zoology she

stated, “The students main-tain all the animal habitats, interact with animals, learn about and experience ani-mal husbandry (the care of animals) and take the ani-mals for field trips to the garden- Freedom!”

Do you remember the first class pet you had? Well Mrs. Co-hen’s first class pet was Francis-co. Talking about him she said, “Francisco was a ball python who is now forever in our Cabinet of Death.” The cabinet of death has

a ton of animals that have died. If you want to know how many are in it, go ask her! She current-ly has 12 living animals all over her room for the kids to feed and to interact with all over the place.

Page 7 Volume 1, Issue 1

Clubs

Singer Songwriters’ Club By Kristine Strosser

Ms. Mills in room 812 is the new advisor for the singer song-writing club for the 2018-2019 school year and maybe even longer.

I talked to Eva Zhabilova who is one of the students at Fertitta who came up with the club. I asked her if the club was open to any new member and she responded, “Yes definitely, peo-ple just need to come and enjoy their time in the club. Anyone can come throughout the year and join everyone else!”

Eva and her friend Ashley Plant originally started the club but Ashley couldn’t participate due to NJHS, so Eva is the one who runs the club. She stated that

the kids who come are the ones who make the club what it is. She added, “We do different types of songwriting, singing techniques, and cool experi-ments with your voice. And fi-nally we do a lot of karaoke to just relax and have fun.”

I asked her if she had an unlim-ited budget for the club she said she would throw a huge concert at the end of the year for every-one to show off their abilities and show how much they had grown.

If you are thinking of joining, Eva says, “Be prepared because you need to keep the class fun, so people keep coming. Also, don’t listen to anyone, do what makes you happy and teach

what you think is interesting.” She created this club because she wanted something where the students could learn at their own pace and skill level unlike you would in choir. In singer songwriters club you can let loose and sing mash-ups of songs etc.

Students can let loose and cre-ate remixes for example, they can create different versions of one song from multiple songs.

Anyone who likes to listen to music or write songs would en-joy this club. This club takes place every Tuesday from 3:30-4:30 pm in Ms. Mills’s room 812. If you like to listen to music and write songs then this is the club for you!

Page 8 Volume 1, Issue 1

Halloween Monsters

Seasonal

Halloween Candy By Joseph Amen

On September 20, 2018, I asked 40 staff and students what their favorite Halloween candy was. The options were Fun Dip, Kit Kat, Skittles, Dots, Mexican can-dy, Hershey’s, M&M’s, Milky Way, Twix, Sour Patch Kids, Crunch, Candy Corn, and Star-bursts. Most of you said Kit Kats were the best Halloween candy!

Check out these facts from https://www.nestle.com/investors/brand-focus/kitkat:

By Chase Gayhart

Halloween has always been cele-brated in the United States, but it really became what we know today around the 1920s. In fact, Americans spend almost as much money celebrating Hallow-een as they do Christmas.

With Halloween just around the corner, I polled students and asked: What is your favorite Hal-loween monster? These are sta-tistics for the most well liked monsters at our school. Person-ally, my favorite monster is a banshee but no one else likes them sadly.

Page 9 Volume 1, Issue 1

Seasonal

Halloween Treats By Jasmine Lin

Halloween is the time for spooky stuff, so why not celebrate with some delicious treats? There are all kinds of fun Halloween treats, from some sweet cupcakes to some delicious pizza. You can take any food and turn it into something spooky.

You can also make dessert based on your favorite Halloween mov-ie. Not to mention you can also make some fun Halloween pet treats. There are lots of fun treats you can make. For exam-ple, Halloween themed cookies,

pies, cakes and even caramel apples!

Another popular Halloween des-sert is cake pops. Cake pops are delicious and you can customize them any way you want! First, you will need to prepare cake, then you will need to crumble the cake. Next, add some frosting into the bowl of crumbled cakes. Then, mold the shape of the cake pops. Use a clean lollipop stick

to add the molded cake on top. Finally, choose any color of melt-ed chocolate and dip the cake pop in and let the excess drip off. Finally, it's time to decorate, you can choose any decoration you want.

Halloween Costumes By Althea Ortaleza

I asked people around the school what they are going to wear this year on Halloween. The categories were scary, sweet, character, item, or noth-ing. It turns out that most peo-ple in the school are dressing up as a character — 16 out of 35 people. Some examples that they said were Wonder Woman, a pumpkin, and Harley Quinn. Happy Halloween!