Spring 2013

Student Earns National Art & Writing Recognition

We are pleased to announce that Lexi B. 8th grade,  from Southern Lehigh Middle School has earned national recognition in The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards 2013 for her digital photograph entitled" Out of My Mind".  This student has been identified by panels of creative professionals as the most talented young artists and writers in the nation.  This year, 230,000 works of art and writing were submitted.  Only the top 1% were recognized at the national level.  These students have been invited to attend a ceremony at the world famous Carnegie Hall on Friday, May 31.  The Carnegie Hall  Ceremony will also be webcast live at 6pmET.  Learn more at artandwriting.org.  Congratulations Lexi!

A book critique on The Boy Who Dare 

By Anthony K 

This is a stunning book written through the eyes of Helmut Hubner, a young boy, which rebels against the government to fight for his beliefs. Author Susan Campbell does a wonderful job of tying together truth and fantasy to make a truly amazing piece of art that shows first hand how tough it was during the time when Hitler was the leader of Germany.

Not for one second will you not believe you aren’t actually living right beside Helmut. Helmut always wanted to fight for the Fatherland as Germany was called.  He was very religious and believed that no matter what he should follow the Fuhrer of Germany. That is until his friends and family were put in danger when Hitler commands that no one shall listen to foreign radio stations. Helmut must find a way to obey the law while still listening to what he wants. After his brother Gerhard brings home a radio from his tour of duty in Europe, Helmut sneaks it out and listens to the truth. He realizes the Nazis have been feeding the people of Germany lies. Helmut decides to stand up for what’s right.

He devises a plan to get all the people of Germany to figure out the truth, but he can’t do it alone, so he enrolls the help of his two best friends Rudy and Karl. They secretly drop fliers in important places throughout Germany. It is all going well until a fellow apprentice turns him in to the German police called the Gestapo. He knows he must figure a way to convince the judge and jury to punish him to the fullest extent in order to save his friends. He is put on trial as an adult and is sentenced to death. The courageous actions of Helmut saved his friends from death. 

Your heart will be beating through your chest until you turn the last page of the book. It is full of suspense and filled with many incidents that will keep you guessing what is going to happen next. Rudi and Karl, both of which were interviewed, believed that Helmut’s actions saved their lives.                                                     

Academic Showcase

On Wednesday, February 27,2013, the 2^nd annual Academic Showcase was held at the Southern Lehigh Middle School.  It was a time for students and teachers alike to show parents and the community the work that they had done so far throughout the school year.

“Students will be making projects to put in the showcase and putting in their Science-Fiction stories,” stated Mrs. MacIntyre.

At the Academic Showcase there was live music, poetry, a broadcast from Studio 22, a QR scavenger hunt, and Chinese and Arabic culture presentations.  

“ I think the Academic Showcase is something all students should participate in, because it allows them to present their work in a unique way,” mentioned seventh grade student Madison R.“ I liked the Academic Showcase because there was live music from the orchestra,” another student, Hayley H proclaimed.

Chinese New Year at the Middle School

Students at Southern Lehigh Middle School have recently been given a great opportunity to glimpse another culture.  The Chinese New Year began on February 10^th and was the main theme of a recent assembly held at the Middle School. This information was conveyed to students in the form of a slide show, hosted and designed by the Chinese teacher, Ms.Tian Hua.

 This assembly went in depth about the Chinese New Year and included information about what it is, what the Chinese people do for the New Year, and the history of the Chinese New Year. For example, students learned that the Chinese wear red during this holiday because in their culture they believe that it fends off an ancient beast. Another entertaining part of the assembly is that in China on the last day of the fifteen-day Chinese New Year celebration, the Chinese release paper lanterns to float away into the endless sky, and that is exactly what SLMS did. The art department created a balloon lantern and during the assembly there was a live Studio 22 broadcast of Mrs.Tian launching the balloon with a Studio 22 reporter.

Student feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive. Cody stated, “I think it was good because you got to learn about Chinese culture and that is good for the kids who don’t take Chinese and know about the Chinese culture.” Another student, Will, mentioned “I thought it was pretty interesting because I didn’t really know about the Chinese New Year. I just thought it was a new year in China.”

The only complaint that a few students had was that is was hard to hear over the din of over 225 people, but that is completely understandable. 

Watch coverage of the Middle School Lantern Launch.

Middle School OotM Team Moves On To States

Lockers 

“Clang,Clang,Clang!” go the lockers as students at Southern Lehigh Middle School hurry off to their next class. Unfortunately, there are several lockers that are not closed and this problem is a growing issue at SLMS. Apparently, students at the school are intentionally leaving their lockers open. We can confirm with 95% certainty that it is intentional considering research done by the Southern Lehigh Newsletter staff. It was found that the lockers that were left open were the same lockers over a 5 week period.

“But why is this a problem?” you might ask. Well, for starters it specifically says  in the student handbook, “To prevent personal belongings from being stolen, lockers should be kept locked at all times.” This leads to another great point, why would you give people the opportunity to steal your belongings?

If someone desperately needed a pencil they could just open your locker and take them, because you did not properly close your locker. You are not blameless, considering you were careless and left your locker open.

Another reason, according to Dr.Donahue, is that it causes safety problems. For example, when fire drills take place and there are hundreds of students in the halls it is already troublesome.  Now imagine that in the chaos of a real fire, lockers on both sides of the hallway are making the corridors smaller then they already are; someone could be seriously injured.  

Now some students may argue that they don’t have enough time between classes to put in their combination and get their belongings and hurry to their next class. Well, if that is truly an issue and not an excuse Dr.Donahue urges student to bring it to the office’s attention.

Now, if you are doing this intentionally please don’t get worried and think your going to get sent to the office. Just begin to realize the issues you are causing and close your locker. If you are still not closing them you still shouldn’t worry immediately, because Dr.Donahue stated, “Before we consequence we need to know the reason why.” 

One student, Ian, may have found a compromising solution in the idea that students could just put in the first two numbers, considering the second it takes just to input one number it would still be speedy and it would also be safe. Because the school’s primary goal is to keep students safe!