Fridays Are Lunch Sale Days

By Tia Simone

Donna Waxler in line for mashed potato and topping sale.

Mashed potatoes, spaghetti, taco’s, and soup - oh my! These are the things that you can buy on Friday’s at Project Learn School (PLS). The eighth graders Ma’ayani GK, Kennedy AL, and Jim M, host weekly lunch sales in order to raise money for their trip to Costa Rica in April. These weekly sales have been going on for about four years. Going to Costa Rica requires a certain amount of money and these sales help provide that money.

      Food sale ideas are generated by the kids and when there’s one that everybody likes, then the sale is repeated. This years have been tested, with the help of the teachers, Liam Gallagher and Joan Fox. They all run smoothly. Last year, there were ten eighth graders and this year there are three, so it is a little bit easier to cook. However, since there are so few eighth graders, the seventh graders help serve.

      Joan is in charge of buying the ingredients. She uses some of the profit from the week before to purchase them. The teachers try to make it a goal to have a reasonable price for the sales, plus make enough profit that helps the cost for Costa Rica. The cost of each weekly meal is five dollars. The teachers make it a goal to not go over that price.

    Project Learn has recently gotten a new kitchen. Teachers and students have said that it’s a great help to the lunch sales, and using the kitchen in general, because it’s more spacious. The new stove, because it is a six burner, helps also because some of the meals require big pots. The old stove was too small, so the pots wouldn't always fit. Now that there is a bigger stove with six burners, cooking with bigger pots runs a lot smoother.

    “It’s kind of happier in there. More cheerful. The space just makes your spirits higher, you know, cooking is more fun in there. The sink also has been more helpful because it’s easier to wash dishes.” Joan says.

    Check out the weekly sale - it may just be the perfect meal!

Kitchen Changes for the New Year

By Penny Rhoads 

Portfolio Elective kids cooking in the new kitchen.

Last spring Ian Holbrook’s dad, John Holbrook, contacted Roni Anton, Project Learn School’s (PLS) Administrator about an IKEA grant for $ 10,000. The grant, sponsored by IKEA was for IKEA materials and design expertise for a given project. The staff thought it would be a great way to get the older kitchen remodeled. Daily votes was the way to win the grant. Roni sent out an email to the PLS community asking each person to vote. She sent reminders each day to go onto the IKEA website and vote for Project Learn. The results came back and PLS had the most votes. This meant that PLS won the ten-thousand dollars worth of IKEA planning and cabinets and hardware. So began the summer renovations of PLS’ old kitchen.

    Joan Fox, PLS’ art teacher, describes the old kitchen as old, dirty, and dingy. There were no doors on the cabinets and at one point, Roni brought some from her house.

    Roni says it took all summer to demolish and rebuild the new kitchen and they had to hire people to help put in the appliances. Lots of people came in to help put together the kitchen. Some of those people were Joan, her daughter Annie, Fran her mother in law, Roni, John Holbrook, Zulette Henry, and James Strauss, Aidan and Cora’s dad.

    Joan says that even before the remodeling the kitchen was used a lot. She says that cooking is a big part of PLS but the new kitchen has made it a lot easier.

    Nadja Anderson Oberman in sixth grade says,” It’s made cooking a lot easier. The new set up makes the kitchen look much bigger and the new kitchen has improved cooking at PLS, so much.” Cooking is a big part of PLS, but with the new kitchen  cooking is much easier.

     Roni says that five or six years ago an anonymous person donated a large amount of money to PLS. In the end, PLS only had to use a small portion of it to help offset the cost of the kitchen. With the extra money it was decided to buy new water fountains for the first and third floor.

     All the groups who cook in the kitchen agree the remodel has been a perfect addition to PLS’ cooking adventures.

Book Review: Wonderstruck

By Sylvie Goodblatt

The characters of the book Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, Rose and Ben, seem to have nothing in common, other than that Rose is deaf and Ben is deaf in one ear. They are from different time periods and places; Ben from Gunflint Lake, Minnesota, in 1977, and Rose from Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1927. Even though Wonderstruck is historical fiction, it is told in a way that I think, even people who don’t like that genre can enjoy.

Rose and Ben’s stories are even told differently; Ben in words and Rose in pictures; though both are pretty amazingly done.

    When Ben’s mom dies in a car crash, he moves in with his aunt, uncle, and cousins, and his house is left to be dealt with by his aunt and uncle, although he doesn't want them to sell it. On a stormy night, he visits the house and finds what might be information about his long lost father. Trying to contact him by phone, Ben gets knocked out by a lightning strike. He is sent to a hospital and his good ear is damaged. Then, without anyone knowing, Ben sneaks out to  New York City to find his father.

    Rose spends her time looking out her bedroom window at New York City and making models of the buildings she sees. She keeps a scrapbook of an actress named Lillian Mayhew, who is actually her mother. Her dad does not like Rose going out in the city, as he feels it’s not safe for a deaf girl to be out alone. However, Rose sneaks out to the movies anyway, and then sneaks out to New York City to see her mother. Lillian Mayhew gets very annoyed and gets someone to bring Rose back, but she sneaks back home by herself.

   These two stories intertwine in unpredictable ways, not unlike the way the characters in Brian Selznick’s last book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. In Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick takes Ben and Rose, and joins their stories together, helping both protagonists.

Wonderstruck has slight mystery, and even though it is short, it is very thoughtful.

Brian Selznick has found a creative new way to write books for kids.

    I would rate Wonderstruck three out of five, because even though it is very good, it is a little too short in my opinion. The concept is so thoughtful, I would have liked to have read more. In the beginning it was also a little hard for me to get into the book because of all the illustrations.

 I think Wonderstruck is good for a lot of different ages. From a nine year old who is a good reader and who wants a more interesting story, to an eleven or twelve year old who wants a quick read with pictures, that still has a good story.

Jr. High Engineering Challenges

By Ian Holbrook

      What does Rube Goldberg and Project Learn school junior high have in common? They both designed machines.

    This year, in the beginning 2014 Project Learn School spring electives, eleven kids and two teachers walked up Germantown Avenue to create art with senior citizens at the Germantown Home. While they were doing that, the rest of the Junior High, nine of them, stayed at the school and made Rube Goldberg machines and potato cannons, in what was called the “Engineering Alternative.” Most of the kids enjoyed this. Most of the kids made a section of the Rube Goldberg machine and one just helped other people. This alternative was a good combination of fun and learning.

 The kids also made a potato cannon. A potato cannon is a cannon made out of PVC pipe with an igniter taken from a gas barbeque grill, to set it off. The name is self-explanatory but a potato cannon is basically a cannon that shoots out a potato at a very fast speed. These cannons are pretty dangerous, but sometimes things need to be dangerous to be educational. The pieces of the cannon were secured with PVC glue.

    The Rube Goldberg machine students built moved a marble from one place to another. The machine included a weight going down a string like a zip line. That weight then hit a golf ball pushing into a tube; the golf ball came out of the tube and hit a domino that set off a domino chain. That went up stairs made out of blocks. The last domino hit a marble that went through a marble track and fell out at the bottom.

    Rube Goldberg was an artist who made comic drawings of machines that helped people do everyday things in unnecessarily complicated ways. Goldberg did not make the machines, only drew them. Then people were inspired to make the machines. He was born in 1883. Rube Goldberg’s comics were syndicated in the early 1900s. He won the Pulitzer Prize for cartooning in 1948. Rube Goldberg died in 1970.

    The machine did not work the first time because they are complicated and take a lot of patience. The participants learned how to make an effective machine while having fun, too.

  

Jr. High Does Art with Seniors

By Kennedy Alston-Lucky

For ten Mondays, during January, February, and March,  Project Learn School’s (PLS), Jr. High students walked up Germantown Avenue to do art with Senior citizens at The Germantown Home. Lots of their projects had to do with nature and other earth elements. The last project they worked on was collaging pictures they found in magazines that fit the genre and the projects went on a wooden canvas.    

    Jill Sherman, the founder of this program, is an artist and a teacher of college students. Jill, being very comfortable with college students, originally started this program for them. Fortunately for PLS, she decided to use Jr, high students instead. Jill is new to working with seniors and middle school children but, said she enjoyed the experience. Having her own kids, Jill has always enjoyed the interaction between age differences, and feels as though everyone experiences something positive when leaving her program.

    Jill’s program took some preparation before she got it started. She needed to write an essay on what her project was about and show some example of her own artwork.  A jury then judged it to see if they thought it was a good idea. If it’s okayed the program would be official, and would run. Jill didn't have much trouble with the program, it was a little difficult deciding the lesson plan and sticking with it consistently. The project had a few bumps in the road, like lots of snow days. But went quite smoothly, for the most part.

    The kids also enjoyed the project as much as the adults. “ I like the senior citizen project because I am able to work with people outside of my age group, and helping them do stuff that might be difficult on their own,” said Nasya, one of the kids who attends the senior project.

    Project Learn was very grateful to be  apart of Jill Sherman’s project, and hopes to be able to participate in other activities like this very soon. This art project was fun and allowed the kids to interact with new people in their community. Everyone involved will remember their experience with fondness.  

Art in the Community

By Kennedy Alston-Lucky

For ten Mondays, during January, February, and March,  Project Learn School’s (PLS), Jr. High students walked up Germantown Avenue to do art with Senior citizens at The Germantown Home. Lots of their projects had to do with nature and other earth elements. The last project they worked on was collaging pictures they found in magazines that fit the genre and the projects went on a wooden canvas.    

    Jill Sherman, the founder of this program, is an artist and a teacher of college students. Jill, being very comfortable with college students, originally started this program for them. Fortunately for PLS, she decided to use Jr, high students instead. Jill is new to working with seniors and middle school children but, said she enjoyed the experience. Having her own kids, Jill has always enjoyed the interaction between age differences, and feels as though everyone experiences something positive when leaving her program.

    Jill’s program took some preparation before she got it started. She needed to write an essay on what her project was about and show some example of her own artwork.  A jury then judged it to see if they thought it was a good idea. If it’s okayed the program would be official, and would run. Jill didn't have much trouble with the program, it was a little difficult deciding the lesson plan and sticking with it consistently. The project had a few bumps in the road, like lots of snow days. But went quite smoothly, for the most part.

Margaret and Elya making art
together.

  The kids also enjoyed the project as much as the adults. “ I like the senior citizen project because I am able to work with people outside of my age group, and helping them do stuff that might be difficult on their own,” said Nasya, one of the kids who attends the senior project.

    Project Learn was very grateful to be  apart of Jill Sherman’s project, and hopes to be able to participate in other activities like this very soon. This art project was fun and allowed the kids to interact with new people in their community. Everyone involved will remember their experience with fondness.  

Junior High Ski Trip

By Ian Holbrook

The Project Learn school (PLS) Junior High-only ski trip is an adventure to the Pocono Mountains that occurs annually in February. If you ski or snowboard, this trip is for you and, takes place at Jack Frost Big Boulder Ski Resort. The mountain is small but as a new skier or snowboarder, it will seem big and very entertaining.

Map of Jack Frost

    Liam Gallagher, teacher at PLS and sometimes chaperone for the ski trip, said the trip is at the mountain for about 5 hours. In the past, Liam would help get equipment for the kids and then hang out in the lodge. Liam hasn't been at PLS long enough to have never gone to Jack Frost but he said that one year they did not go. Liam said there have been injuries in the past and that two people have broken their wrists on the ski trip. He added that the food is not good there.

    This year, Aisha Anderson-Oberman, Junior High Social Studies teacher at PLS, Sean Leber, who teaches math for the 5th through 8th grades at PLS, and Rebecca Zeldin, the PLS Junior High English and Spanish teacher, were the teachers who went on the ski trip this year. The parents who joined were, John Holbrook, Linda Pollson, Tanyikia Alston, David Brommley and Brian Murphy. Two former PLS students, Sarah and Emily Grubb also joined the trip.

    Aisha Anderson-Oberman said  this was her first time going on the trip. Aisha really enjoyed the trip because she thought it was fun spending time with and talking to parents outside of school. Aisha was hoping to go tubing but the tubing section was closed. Aisha would like to go again and she hopes that the tubing will be open the next time.

    This was Sean’s first ski trip since he is a new teacher at PLS this year. He had a great time! Sean skied and he thought he did really well, even though he hadn't skied in six years. While the kids were skiing, he went down the green slopes and when they were not skiing and were doing ski lessons, he went down the blue and black slopes. Sean said it was hard for him to remember what it was like to learn how to ski so it was hard for him to help people ski. Sean was excited to go on this trip so he could see all of the new skiers attempting to learn a new skill.

    Rebecca Zeldin, also a new teacher at PLS, went on her first PLS ski trip and had a good time. Rebecca wishes she could do it every week. This was not the first time Rebecca has skied and she really enjoyed herself. It was hard for Rebecca to help kids who kept falling but it was easy for her to ski with people who had skied before. Rebecca skied down all of the slopes and she was excited to ski with people she liked hanging out with. She would go again in a heartbeat!!

     Fae Lobron is a first year Junior Higher, so it was her first ski trip and she had a blast! This year was Fae's first time to ever ski and she fell a lot. It was her first time skiing. However, she thought it was very fun. Fae thought it was easy to put the skis on but the actual skiing was hard for her. Fae went down a green slope -- only once. Fae was excited and wants to do the trip again.

    Jake Grubb is a eighth grader so this was his second ski trip because there was not a trip when he was in sixth grade. Jake has always liked the ski trip. Jake snowboarded and he did great. It was not the first time he had snowboarded. Jake had a hard time learning to get his balance in the air. He went down black diamond and terrain (ramps, etc.) slopes, which were very challenging. Jake was excited to snowboard and he would do it again.

At the mountain there are, five green circle slopes, seven blue square slopes and eight black diamond slopes. Green circle slope are the easiest slopes, blue square slopes are harder than green circles but not the hardest, while black diamond slopes are the hardest. The mountain also features a Slope style run. 

This trip is a very entertaining trip.  Many kids look forward to being in the Junior High just so they can go on this trip.