The Knightly NewsAn Evening of Dance Osama

BinGOT’EM

Bobby Morgan, a seventh-grader, performs a solo choreogrpahed piece during the Franklin Middle Schools Spring Dance Showcase in June. -Knightly News Staff Photo

What’s Inside Knightly News

What’s Hot Music ManiacsKnight Lounge Newbery Book Titles

RememberingMichael Jackson

Students look back on the legend’s life, legacy and tragic death.

Don’t NJ ASK Me Again!

Students share their ex-periences in taking the state test Alyshia Her-

C H A M -

The Girls Basketball Team brought another trophy to

Franklin Middle School, giving students back-to-back

championships after an undefeated season.

HIGH FIVE!

A Franklin Middle School student gets a warm wel-come from Slider at Somer set Patriots Park in Bridgewater during a field trip in May.

Lilly Ann AlonzoKnightly News Staff

It’s that time of the year again. Testing...UGH! It was four whole days of strict testing, strict rules and un-usal schedules. But the serious-ness of the event is not lost. At 8 am precisely, testing starts and all interaction between students end as test booklets are passed out. As the teacher begins to read the directions, kids begin to focus in. By the time pen-cils are raised and answers are being circled, stillness fills the school as drama and gossip are replaced with concentration. At the end of the first day we were tired! The biggest subject of conversation was how was the test. A seventh-grade student, Aly-shia Hercules, said she found the test to be rigorous but not defeating. “The test was fairly challeng-ing,’’ Hercules said. “Not that easy but not too hard.” Most students agree with Her-cules. Stephanie Rios had a more positive view of the test. “The test was okay, but the math part was easy though,’’ she said. For eighth-graders, well that was another story. Their test was 60 minutes longer.

NJASK continued on pg. 2

Alyshia Hercules Knightly News Staff

So, where were you when it happened? In 2009 if you were in 6th or 5th grade and attended school at Sampson G. Smith Intermediate School when it happened. What am I talking about? I’m talking about that ter-rible day when we lost an icon: Michael Jackson. Jackson amazed the world with his voice and his out-standing dance moves. He also shocked the world with some of his occasional eccen-tric behavior. As a young boy Michael Jackson was drilled by his father to sing and dance in a group titled the “Jackson 5”.

The group featured Michael Jackson and his other four brothers. In 1979 Michael Jackson released his first solo album “Off the Wall”. It did great on the charts which included iconic singles such as “Rock with You” and “Don’t Stop Til’ You Get Enough”. But later on in 1982 Michael Jack-son would astonish the world once again with his album “Thriller” that later became one of his greatest complish-ments. Thriller is the biggest sell-ing album in the world!!!!

KiNg continued in Music Maniacs section.

Jasmine CunninghamKnightly News Staff

In early May, the life of Osa-ma Bin Laden, a terrorist for many years, was brought to an end. Along with his life, Bin Laden’s many years of destruc-tion were brought to a close on May 1, 2011. Even though the death of Osa-ma seemed to have happened very quickly it took many months of planning and many smart people working together to take this felon down. There had been no trace of him since late 2001. They looked for many years, but on Sunday May 1,2011 he was fi-nally found. Many thought he would be hiding out in caves, but when they found him he was in an expensive custom built hideout not far from a military academy in Pakistan. gone. BiN LAdeN cont. on pg. 2

Ya gotta give

respect to get

respect

Justin Bieber vs. Lil Wayne

KiNg Cont. from pg. 1 On December 2, 1983 he went on to film what is credit-ed as the best music video of all time “Thriller”. He then went on and created the world’s sec-ond best selling album “Bad”. In 1991 he recorded “Dangerous” which be-came the biggest selling new jack swing record ever! He has so many ac-c o m p l i s h m e n t s . In the late 90’s, Jackson released his album History: Past, Future, Present. It fea-tured the iconic hit “Scream” which featured his also fa-mous sister Janet Jackson. In the 2000’s, Jackson was showered with false accusa-tions and rumors about him. It became almost impossible to not know who Michael Jack-son was. Many people never thought Michael Jackson’s popularity, humor, charm, and controversy would never end

until in 2009 on June 25th, 2009 , Michael Jackson passed away due to cardiac arrest. It took the world by shock and people didn’t believe. Websites like Wikipedia and Google crashed as people tried to find out if it was really true everyone was shocked. At the time, the King of Pop was rehearsing for a big come-back tour in Europe titled “This Is It”. It was all over the news for about three weeks straight. It left the world shocked. People honored him by bring-ing his name on the Apollo Theatre from years ago and putting sweet pictures, flow-ers cards and messages on his star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His music became more popular and many more people jumped on the MJ-love-train. Here are some of the stu-dents at Franklin Middle School and their remem-brance of Michael Jackson.

Tiana Webster, a seventh-grader, said she is a Jackson fan was very sad and shocked when she learned about his death. “I thought he was so cool I just couldn’t believe that he died,’’ she said. “I blame the doctor for Michael Jackson’s death. I think he acted irresponsibly.” Another seventh-grader, Catherine Gutierrez, said she’s also a fan and enjoyed listen-ing to “You Are Not Alone.” “Now that Michael Jack-son is gone, I just feel that he should’ve lived longer than he did,’’ she said. “Age 50 is a young age to die.” As you can see Michael Jack-son’s death hurt a lot of people and made people extremely sad. Michael Jackson’s mu-sic will live on forever and we will never forget him.

R.I.P MICHAEL JACKSON 1958-2009

Music Maniacs

“If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world

knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.”

“The meaning of life is contained in

every single expres-sion of life. It is

present in the infini-ty of forms and phe-nomena that exist in

all of creation.”

“Just because it’s in print doesn’t mean

it’s the gospel.”

Quotes from the

King of

Pop

Catherine Gutierrez Tiana Webster

Knightly News Staff I know what you’re think-ing: Why Lil Wayne and Justin Bieber? Well, we chose these two be-cause they are very different, everything about them is dif-ferent. For example, Lil Wayne is 28-years-old while Justin Bieber is only 17. However, they have the same amount of fame all around the world. Dwayne Michael Carter Jr, who we know as Lil Wayne the rapper, was born on Sep-tember 27, 1982. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. As you know already, Lil Wayne is one of the most famous rap-pers in the US. His labels are Young Money, Cash Money and Universal Motown. Some of the people Lil Wayne raps with are Birdman, Drake, T-Pain and Nicki Minaj. He has won 32 awards and has been nominated for 57. He is also one of the top nominees for the B.E.T Awards.

Most of the people I know love Lil Wayne. Maya Webster would defi-nitely pick Lil Wayne over Justin Bieber. “Justin Bieber has no talent,” she said. Jasmine Cunningham would also pick Lil Wayne. Although, she likes Lil Wayne more, Cunningham also said, “Justin Bieber is cool and he is a nice person.”As for us, we would pick Jus-tin Bieber. In our opinion is one of the best male singers out there. He has won many awards and he’s only 17-years-old. Lil Wayne won more than him but it’s just because he’s older and has been a singer for a longer time. So since Justin Bieber is only 17, winning more than 25 awards is a pretty amazing thing. Also, Justin Bieber is known all over the world and he only started his career two years ago. Okay, so Justin Bieber in my opinion is amazing but many

people think he’s not. One of the reasons being that he sounds like a girl (but he really doesn’t since he went through puberty). Johanna Romano, a seventh-grader, said the young pop star gets her vote. “Justin Bieber is a really good singer,’’ she said. “I would definitely pick him over Lil Wayne. I don’t like Lil Wayne’s music.” Romano explained that she can connect with him through his music. “Justin Bieber’s music is better because we can actually connect to it in many different ways like, love or just life,’’ she said. “And I think he’s re-ally cute.” Yvette Bedeau, a seventh-grader, said she would choose Justin Bieber because of his positive image. “I think Lil Wayne is a very bad influence because of what he does,’’ she said. So, who do you think is better?

Walk to the right ‘cause you know it’s right.

AccESSORIES! AccESSORIES! AccESSORIES! What’s Hot What’s Hot Summer Has Arrived

Students ditch books for vacation plans, light outfits and theme park visitsJustin Bieber vs. Lil Wayne

Johanna Romano Taylor Jordan

Ayanna ForskinKnightly News Staff

Before you head out to the beach ladies, make sure you complete your outfit with accessories. During the summer, acces-sories are a perfect way to tie your outfit together. There are several accessories to choose from but we will fo-cus on three that are favor-ites among the students here at Franklin Middle School. Our short list includes wrist-bands, necklaces and rings. One popular trendy acces-sory nowadays is wristbands. Wristbands are a cool and fashionable way to express yourself. Wristbands are also great to wear when you want your accessories to be simple. When you wear wristbands, you are not only express-ing yourself, but you are giv-ing yourself a fun and easy way to look fashionable. Wristbands are a great way to express yourself and can

have fun sayings like “I Love Cheese!” or “I Rock!” They come in tons of different colors and patterns that can be mixed and matched with your outfit. If you want the design, you’re bound to find it on a wristband. Some people like a de-sign more than others. Jordyn Williams, a seventh-grader and self-proclaimed fashionista thinks rainbow wristbands are simply the best. “I like wristbands that come in a lot of colors, espe-cially neon colors,” she said. What is a great way to show you believe in some-thing? Wristbands of course! Wristbands can show your love for your favorite band or show your support for defeating global warming. Alyshia Hercules, sev-enth-grade, said she likes to support quotes that have an impact on the world. “I would like to see a wrist-band with ‘We Are the World’ on it,” said Hercules, refer-ring to the words of the great

Michael Jackson. “That song really means some-thing to me. I’d like people to know the importance of it.” Another popular accessory for girls is a necklace. They go great with jeans and fancy tops. “I like to wear gem necklaces,” said Lillian Alonzo, a seventh-grader. “You can pair a neck-lace with almost any outfit.” Dana Hilton, seventh-grade, said some neck-laces can be very versatile. “Necklaces come in a million different designs, shapes and sizes,” she said. We agree, maybe you are wearing a nerdy outfit there are plenty of necklaces with nerd glasses on them. No mat-ter what your theme is there is a necklace for that. Neck-laces can also have sayings on them, like Barbie or Hello Kitty. It would go great with pink shirts or cute graphic tees. Very long necklace go great with plain solid colored shirts. And short necklaces go great with fancier shirts.

Our last, but not least, fa-vorite accessory is rings.Rings compliment any outfit. There are all kinds of rings that you can buy. Silver rings, gold rings and gem rings are the most popular types of rings. “My favorite kind of rings has pictures inside of them,” Alonzo said. Who wouldn’t like rings? There so colorful and come in different sizes and in different designs. But the best thing is that they match with anything. These are only a few of many ac-cessories that can complement the coolest of summer outfits. Whatever you wear or how you decide to wear it, remember to accessorize to look your best.

Dana Hilton Knightly News

What are you going to say when summer vacation comes? Are you going to go on vacation? Or how about getting a summer job? Well I know one activity that people love to do in the summer. Amusement parks! There’s Six Flags, Dorney Park, Keansburg. Whichch one are you going to? A lot of kids enjoy going to different theme parks. Here are some of the theme parks students at Franklin Middle School are planning to visit. Jordan Williams, a seventh-grader, said she likes to go up to one of Pennsylvania’s famous amusement parks. “My favorite theme park to go to in the summertime is Dorney Park,’’ she said. “I like going there because I like the rides.”Johanna Romano, a seventh-grader, also said she likes Dor-ney Park. “I like the food and games,’’ she said. 8th grade students: Nicole Johnson, an eighth-grader, said she likes to go to one the biggest theme park in New Jersey “My favorite theme park is Six Flags at Great Adventure,’’ said Johnson. “I like the rides and the water rides.” Another eighth-grader, Cristian Smith said he likes to go to one of the most obscure water parks in the area. “I like going to Keansburg because the water rides excite me but I do not like rollercoasters,” he said.

Stephanie Rios Knightly News Staff

Why do kids like summer vacation? For starters, it’s warm and you can go swimming at the pool or beach. Another reason why would be to hang out with family and friends. Some people don’t get to see their family because they might live in another country. If they are lucky, some kids might go visit family in another country. Also, they might go to water parks, like Six Flags, Dorney Park and a bunch of other ones! In the summer kids may go on vacation to Miami, Mexico, and many other special places. Some kids might even take their friends with them on their family trips. Dana Hilton, a seventh-grader, said she’s heading down south. “I’m going to North Carolina to visit my family,’’ she said. “When I get there I’m going swimming and shopping.” Hilton said she may also go to a camp when she returns to New Jersey. Amanda Gray, a seventh-grader, said she will take up a new sport. “This summer I’m getting tennis lessons,” she said. Johanna Romano, a seventh-grader, said she’s going out of the country. “I’m going to Puerto Rico to visit my grandmother,” she said. Divine Coleman, a seventh-grader, said he will be a busy man this summer. “I’m going to four places,’’ he said. “I’m going to the zoo, Six Flags, the aquarium and Hershey Park.”

Divine Coleman Atiya Gladden

Knightly News Staff Do you know what to wear for summer? I could tell you! You might not want to wear long sleeves anymore because it’s getting hot outside. It isn’t cold like it was before in the winter. Pull out your shorts and short sleeve shirts because it’s going to be a hot summer! People already have their clothes for summer. People are still wearing jeans even when it is so hot! So how do you determine what to wear in school? Do you look at magazines or do you ask people what they are going to wear for the summer?

To help you out with picking out your summer outfits, we asked peo-ple what they are going to wear for the summer. Avery Dickey said he was wearing Hollister tee shirts and shorts, Nike sneakers, sunglasses and a hat. Nana Kissi said he was wearing cargo shorts, jean jacket button up’s, graphic tee’s, snap backs and hats. Dewad Brown said he was wearing shorts, and tank top and Jordans. As you can see people are wearing shorts. So you should wear shorts because it is too hot for jeans. Now, we helped you with your clothes.

Community news

Thank You!Principal Roberta Mitchell

Vice-Principal Nikkii Tatum

Vice-Principal Michael Rich

Sunil Fernandes

For your assistance and

support

The Knightly News Volume III, Issue II

2010-11

ReportersLillian Alonzo

Divine Coleman Yvette Bedeau Rochelle Regis David Dequina Alexis Gibson

Nana Kissi Nick Rossi

Adrian FernandezAlyshia Hercules

Taylor Jordan Ayanna ForskinEmily Krempa

Rebecca LawrenceJordyn Williams Selena Brown

Brent PearlmanSamantha LlanosStephanie Rios

Zoya Ali Crystal Santos Ghalia Dhrimi

Claudia Carrillo

Adviser Rodney Point-Du-Jour

The Knight Lounge

Newbery Medal Recommended Reading

The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the Ameri-can Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution

to American literature for children

Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

dark emperor and Other Poems of the Night

by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

NJASK cont. from pg. 1 During fifth period where all the seventh-graders we’re goofing off, celebrating the end of another test day, the eighth-graders were still test-ing for another hour. Seventh-graders were not allowed to be a distraction so upstairs was off limits. Even after sixth-period, some eighth-graders were still testing. Sidney Elliot, eighth-grade, simply said, “It was hard.” By the second day all sched-ule tweaks were smoothed out and testing became the norm. Well at least for that week. But to add to the pressure of the testing, an unexpected fire drill happened during seventh to eighth period passing time causing chaos in the halls as kids ran to the nearest exits. “It was fun at first, but then we heard the sirens then I knew

something was up,” said one unidentified student. The issue did not affect test-ing on the whole but did affect the schedule for that day. But like always the next day we were back on track. The rest of the testing days ran smoothly with very little to no inter-ruptions. The last day of test-ing was a celebration and kids were very happy. Even teachers gave their kids a little slack. “After testing, I had no work to do in any of my classes” stated on seventh-grader, who wanted to protect their iden-tity. The NJASK was a big mile-stone for FMS that was over-come, and now the rest of the year is focused on finals. We enjoyed the small victory but our work is far from done.

BiN LAdeN from pg. 1 The operation was not a long process it took less than 40 minutes. It started when two US helicopter flew in from Af-ghanistan and came in to where they thought Osama was hid-ing. After killing four others Osa-ma was finally killed. And a DNA test proved it was him. This was considered a mo-mentous achievement that marked a victory against ter-rorism for the United States. Many were thrilled with the news, and glad that he could no longer cause harm. Now after a long 10 years of waiting and hiding, he is dead and won’t be missed by many people.

Alyshia Hercules, a seventh-grader, she’s glad Bin Laden will no longer cause harm to innocent people. “He was a cruel man,’’ said Hercules. Catherine Gutierrez, a sev-enth-grader, said that people and victims of Bin Laden’s ter-rorism can now move on with their lives. “The world is now a safer place,’’ she said. Lillian Alonzo, a seventh-grader, also felt the world is more secure with Bin Laden gone. “I’m going to feel safe riding on a plane and taking the sub-way,’’ she said.

Across1. Assign a duty5. Amazing or wonderfuloccurrence6. Bane7. Firedog

down1. Pungent nitrogen andhydrogen compound2. Egyptian tomb3. Tooth4. Perfidy

NUMeRATOR

The Numerator diagram is made up of eleven ovals. Use the clues tofind the correct location for each number 1-11. Each number should

be used only once and each oval must contain a different number.Note: 'Left or right' is from your point of view and means any location along the same horizontal line.'Above or Below' means any location along the same vertical line.Clues:Number 4 is left of 7 and below 10.Number 8 is right of 3 and below 9.Number 11 is below 2 and right of 1.Number 4 is above 6 and right of 5.Number 8 is above 7.

Just for Laughs

What do you call a fish With no eyes?

A fsh!

LiMe gReeNIt represents luckCalms me down when I’m on edge Greatest color to me!

A Hiaku by Crystal Santiago

Zoya Ali

Amanda Gray Knightly News Staff

In January all Franklin Middle School students participated a pep rally that was loud and full of scream-ing children in the 500 hall gym. It was a celebration to recognize FMS sports. The pep rally featured the athletes for all fall and winter sports, as well as the FMS cheerleaders and Aaron Ramos’ advanced dance class, who performed in front of a crowd wild. Niasha Palar, an eighth-grader, was looking forward to the cheerleaders. “I really want to see the cheerlead-ers doing there extraordinary cheers,” Palar said. Gabriel Wilson, a seventh-grader, said he was excited to perform. “Mr. Ramos let me do my gymnas-tics there so I’m happy I hope every-body sees me and cheers for me,’’ he said. Kimberly Barallaga, an eighth-grad-er, said she was ready to scream her head off. “All of us will have a chance to be free with no teachers yelling at us!’’

Pep Rally Re-cap

Serena BrownKnightly News Staff

Name some things that will make you angry: arguments, cheaters, someone hits you hard (and doesn’t apologize), and someone breaks your promise. These things will make you blow your top, here’s some tips to cool down. 1.Take deep breaths: one of best ways to come down. All you need to do is inhale for 5 sec. and exhale for 5 sec. It’s just easy. In: 1 2 3 4 5 Out: 5 4 3 2 1…done. 2. Carry a stress ball: If you start to get all tensed up, pick up your stress ball and squeeze! 3. Take a break: During your lunch period, try to take a walk around the lunch room to calm you down. 4. Play some calm music 5. Write it down in your diary/journal.

Keeping calm, cooling Down