December-January+Newspaper

=__December/January Newspaper__= __Interview with Senator Garrett by Maddie Hirsch:__

I got the opportunity to have a phone interview with Senator Garrett. She is serving her third term in the Illinois Senate. She is a community activist, businesswoman, and a respected leader. Throughout her term as a senator, she has fought for more accessible healthcare, quality education, and a well-planned community development. She holds meetings to hear directly from residents about these issues. During the interview, we talked about many things. In the interview, we talked about how she became a senator. At first, she was always interested in politics. Then she decided to work on social issues, too. Finally, many people asked her to run for office, and she did. In addition, we talked about how she was awarded with “Legislator of the Year” from the Life Service Network. When I asked her how she felt, she responded by saying, she felt honored to receive the award, but on the other hand it gave her more responsibility to insure that health care services are delivered.” Also, we talked about her being Chairman of the Illinois Senate Environment Committee. The committee has ongoing hearings about the Asian carp, and the damage it is doing to our water. Also, the Asian Carp is a national issue. Senator Garrett gave me some advice for future politicians. Firstly, a student should do some volunteer work at a local level to understand what peoples concerns are, and the issues that need to be addressed. For example, be an intern at a legislator’s office. Secondly, learn about politics in school and get to know the subject. Next, run for office. A few months ago, Senator Garret was considering running for a seat in the national senate, but she decided not to right now. She said she wants to run for a higher office someday. Finally, we talked about her kids interest in politics. She says that she wishes her kids would go into politics. They are aware of what it takes to run, and how demanding the job is. They are interested, but they haven’t taken a closer step. She would love it if they went into politics! It was an honor to interview her, and I learned so much from this experience. For more information, go to []

Carli Fox sat down with Ms. Hyman. Here's what she learned. Q. What do you teach at Northwood? A. “Resource”

Q. What kind of dog do you have? A. "A Shih Tzu named Gracie"

Q. What were you for Halloween? A. "I was one of the three little pigs, along with Ms. Lee and Ms. Solomon.

Q. Do you have any pets? A. "1 dog..."

Q. What kind of music do you like? A. " Anything I can sing to."

Q. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? A. " Chocolate Fudge Brownie"

Q. Do you have any siblings? Names? A. "One brother named Steve."

Q. What is your favorite book? A. "__Gone With the Wind__, and __Little Women__"

Q. What is your favorite Mall/Store? A. "Woodfield Mall"

Q. What is your favorite color? A. "Purple"

Q. What food can you “pig out” at any time? A. "CHOCOLATE!!! Any kind of chocolate!"

Q. Why did you choose your job? A. "I've always wanted to be a teacher. I love helping different kind of learners learn."

Q. What is your favorite part about your job? A. "I love the "AH-HA" moment, when a student finally gets what they have been having trouble with."

Q. Whose side are you on? Jacob or Edward? (For Twilight) A. "I love them both for different reasons, but if I had to pick one, Edward."

Q. What kind of things do you teach? A. " Within resource, I teach mostly reading and writing."

Max's Video of the Month [][]

** By Alyssa Decorating is an **  ** expression of your personality ****, which is why you should pick a theme  **   ** for your locker before doing anything. ** And a big thanks to www.kidzworld.com **  What color eyes do students and staff have at Northwood? Here are the results to this month's survey.
 *  Glam - Going glam is a fun way to  dress up  your locker cause even   superstars need a place to stash books and make-up bags! Glamour   queens   can decorate with pretty mirrors,  flashy stars, jeweled magnets and pics of   Hollywood celebs .  **
 *  Sporty - Put up posters of your   fave athletes   and place  trophies  that you've won from previous  championship games  on locker shelves. You can even play a short game of   basketball   between classes by sticking a small hoop onto your locker with strong magnets.  **
 *  Tropical - Create an  on-campus paradise  by hanging   fabric flowers, dried leis and  vacation pics  from when you   surfed   in   Hawaii   last summer. You can even take an old  hula skirt  and magnetize the grassy fringe to your locker shelf!  **
 * After you’ve picked a theme, the best thing to spruce up your locker is a cool, fresh locker wallpaper. Just make sure you have the right measurements, and if you can’t find a wallpaper to go with your theme then you can make your own out of wrapping paper. Little extras are what gives your locker a big welcome when you open the door. A necessity for girls is a mirror, but for everyone, a notepad, pencil holder, and a clock will do. You should always add magnets to the list because not only do they give your locker character, but it’s way easier to clean up at the end of the year instead of tape. Plus you can use them to hang up little family pics or clippings from magazines. And now for the trimmings. You should use them to accentuate your locker so ribbon, streamers, fabric pieces would work best. And now, for the final touch, add a little air freshener to relive you of that rotting food smell you receive when you open your locker.

__The Big Field__ by Mike Lupica Reviewed By Lior Millman The Big Field by Mike Lupica is a great book for any baseball fan. I would recommend it even to those who are not that much into baseball but like a good story about a father and son relationship. Hutch Hutchinson wants to win his little league baseball championship, the American Legion. But for the first time, he is not playing shortstop. Shortstop is special to Hutch because he likes having the ball hit to him, which often happens at shortstop. But this year, Darryl Williams is on his team and he is better than Hutch. Hutch is forced to play second base. Hutch is also having a difficult relationship with his dad. His dad almost made the major leagues, as a shortstop, but didn’t and it broke his heart. Hutch’s dad never talks to him about baseball or anything and he even stopped inviting him to watch games together. Not only does Hutch’s dad not give advice to Hutch about baseball, the one time he came to a practice, he gave Darryl advice instead. This causes fights between Darryl and Hutch. In conclusion, this book is about baseball, friendship, and parenthood. I think that it is a good book for a father and son to read together both for the fun of it and for understanding how important it is to spend time together and really get to know each other.
 * Mrs. Mele's Students' Book Responses**

__Winter War__ by William Durbin Reviewed by Sam Sherman

I like this book because it showed what is was like in Finland, Russia and Sweden during the late 1930’s before WWII. The story also showed how the United Sates went with the Russians. They sold them tanks and artillery while at the same time promising help to Finland. The story is told by Marko, a preteen boy who overcame polio, and was a fast skier even with his leg brace. Because his best friend was killed during the first bomb raid by the Russians, he joined the military to work as a messenger on the front lines. He meets Karl, another messenger who joined the army because his family was murdered by the Russians. Karl was a girl disguised as a boy. The messengers not only skied to headquarters but also worked numerous jobs in the war. There are lots of suspenseful scenes, such as when Karl and Marko go on their trips and experience the war. I liked how the author described the conditions of the war, and how the soldiers handled the cold weather. The Finnish soldiers wore winter white suits so that they could blend in with the snow and hide in the trees to attack the Ruskies. There were 4 Russian soldiers with tanks and guns as compared to one Finnish soldier with no ammunition or tank. Marko told the Lieutenant, who used to be his teacher in school, that the Russians were going the wrong way and that they would sink in the swamp. Because of this information, the Finnish soldiers were able to start a ceasefire. Minutes before the ceasefire started, Karl got shot in the leg and Marko saved him from bleeding to death. Karl met Marko’s mother at the hospital and offered her house and farm to Marko’s family because Marko lost his house and farm to the Russians. I felt the war was unfair because the Finnish beat the Russians, yet the Finnish had to give the Russians land, which included Marko’s family farm. The Finnish agreed to this because they thought the war should end and at least they got to keep their independence.