by Brianna D.5th Grader

Mrs. Cannon is the new 8th grade Special Ed teacher. Special Ed is a department of teachers that provide academic support to students that need extra help in learning in their classes. I asked Mrs. Cannon why she teaches Special Ed, out of all of the teaching positions. “I love working in small groups of students,” Mrs. Cannon stated, “because it's something that I could have used when I was in school.” Mrs. Cannon has been working here since December. She came to KMS from Memorial Elementary School in Natick, where she was an SSF, (student support facilitator,) in other words, she was a teacher assistant. She didn't have a teaching job, but she loved Natick, so when the job opened up here, she applied, and was thrilled to hear that she got the job! Before she came to Kennedy, she was a teacher at Franklin High School. There, she was a math and English Special Ed

Mrs. Cannon working with students

HOOPLA PHOTOS- PAGE 7

CHECK OUT THE REVIEW OF GUYS AND DOLLS- PAGE 4

LEADERSHIP TEAM- PAGE 3

ALWAYS FREE ISSUE NUMBER 3

KENNEDY MIDDLE SCHOOL MARCH/APRIL ISSUE

Kennedy Edge

teacher. This is her 3rd year teaching. I asked Mrs. Cannon what inspired her to become a teacher. She knew her answer right away, and she told me with confidence. “My father. He was a teacher. After he retired was when I realized how much it can mean to help students who learn differently.” Mrs. Cannon also told me how much she loved watching the DDR tournament. To finish up my interview with her, I asked her what her favorite thing about Kennedy was so far. Mrs. Cannon looked around her room, looked at the kids in it, Then, she turned back to me and replied with a smile on her face, “The students and their humor and spirit. They make me laugh, cry, then laugh again!” As you can see, Mrs. Cannon is loves Kennedy, and we're happy to have her here.

TEACHER FEATURE: Mrs. Cannon

Five W’s for our Principal

by Kailee P. and Barbara 5th Graders

Ever wonder how and why the principal of Kennedy Middle School decided to be a principal? Here is your chance to find out! These five questions – all about the 5 Wʼs and H- will tell you lots about our schoolprincipal! At first, we asked the first W question, “Who inspired you on being a teacher?” She replied, “My dad thought that I would be a great teacher.”Then, “What do you do during your free time?” Her answer was, “I love to read, so during my free time, I would probably read a book.”Then, we asked the third W question, “Where were you born?”

“I was born in New York.”, was her answer. The last question the H,“If you could change the world in one way, how would you?” She replied with an honest answer, “I would have everyone get along, so no wars would ever happen with us!” We found out a lot of cool things about Mrs.Vickery! Did you know that she started teaching in 1993, but not at Kennedy, she taught at a preschool. After, she decided to be a principal at Kennedy Middle School because of the way Kennedy was designed: it wasn’t too big, nor to small! There was so many things we learned about Mrs.Vickery! Who knew she loved reading, and was so peaceful to the Earth?

Mrs. Vickery

Cougar Pride Leadership Team

by Brianna D. 5th Grader

• • •

Right when you walk into to Kennedy, you can see the big poster signed by the 54 kids on the Leadership team from last year. That’s the number of kids the Cougar Pride Leadership Team had last year. Amazingly, this school year, there are 103 Kennedy students participating in Cougar Pride. “We’ve doubled the amount of kids since the team started in January 2011.” Mrs. Hatt announced. What is Cougar Pride Leadership Team anyway? I went to Mrs. Hatt’s office to interview her, and she was the source of all the answers to my questions. Leadership Team is a team currently run by Mrs. Hatt and Mrs. MacDonald, it’s a big gathering of kids divided into groups. Each group helps out the community and other students in different ways, depending on what group you’re in. There’s a peer mentoring group that works with 5th and 6th kids who are in

the Access class. There is also an A.D.L (anti defamation league) group which is all about anti-bulling. The ELNA group is community service. Finally there is a Pep Rally group that helps with the Pep Rallies. “The students who get in, gave ideas for what kind of groups the team will have. At the Leadership kickoff night, kids signed up for the group they wanted to be a part of. There is one main group there on, but they can help out with any one they want.”

To join The Leadership Team, you need to be in 7th or 8th grade, then go through an application process. You answer questions and get two teacher recommendations. “As long as there are no discipline concerns, every student gets accepted.” Mrs. Hatt said. Mrs. Hatt fully believes “The Leadership team would not be successful without the support of the entire faculty.”

Faculty on the Leadership TeamMrs.  HattMrs.  VickeryMrs.  MacDonaldMrs.  MorinMr.  CotterMs.  RossMs.  MarshallMr.  LythMs.  ReedMrs.  Dwyer

Mrs.  AndreotesMr.  LaneMr.  KittlerMr.  KaplanMr.  PowerMs.  RotkiewiczMrs.  LemonMs.  SmithMs.  NorrisMrs.  Chakiris  

Guys and Dolls!

Take Oneby Hadley B.

8th Grader

• • •

! Have you ever been to one of Kennedy's school musicals? Well, if you haven't, you should go, because they are really well put together! This year's show was called Guys and Dolls. Guys and Dolls is about a mobster named Sky Masterson, (played by Jacob S.), who makes a bet with another mobster, named Nathan Detroit, (played by Dylan L.) that Sky can't take a certain doll (female), who also happens to be a missionary, to Havana, Cuba with him. Normally, any doll would want to go to Havana with Sky Masterson, except this doll. This doll, Sarah Brown, (played by Hadley B. and Christina M.) is a mission doll. She works all day to protect sinners and gamblers from the devil. She doesn't want to go anywhere. Sky has to convince Sarah to come to Havana with him, or else he owes Nathan 1,000 dollars. Now, Nathan Detroit has his own little problems. He is having trouble finding a place to run his gambling game, which makes all the gamblers in town angry with him. Nathan also has been engaged for fourteen years! His fiance, Adalaide, (Played by Mackenzie P., and Maddy W.) is also getting angry with Nathan, but along with her Nathan troubles, she has a

very bad cold, which is making her work as a hot box girl, harder then it needs to be. The overall show was fantastic! Great job to all the cast and crew of Guys and Dolls! Lastly, thank you to Ms. Norris, Mr. Griffin, and Mr. Lane for all your hard effort and work!

Take Twoby Kailee P.

5th Grader• • •

! Did you see the Guys and Dolls performance on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? Well, we did, and it was great! Guys and Dolls was originally from Broadway in New York City. Itʼs about two unusual couples, and a dice game. The first couple was engaged for 14 years but they havenʼt married yet. Itʼs really funny, because the women lies to her mother saying they are already married so her mom wonʼt be disappointed with

her, but she goes a little too far when she tells her mom that she had four kids and one on the way.! Then, thereʼs the other couple. The women is trying to stop Sky Masterson from gambling, but when she goes on a vacation with him, it makes it worse. The actors really practiced hard, and it showed by how well the performance was! I would give a big hand to Mr. Lane, for working to get the play happening, and Mrs. Vickery for making it possible. Plays here at Kennedy are so much fun and amazing to watch, and should be seen by everyone; you, too!

GUYS AND DOLLS

Valentine’s Day History

by Margret S.5th Grader

Valentine’s Day has a very interesting story. The person who made Valentine’s Day an

official holiday was Saint Valentine. Saint Valentine was a Catholic priest. He wandered

around Rome spreading Christianity and his strong belief in God. The emperor at the time was jealous of the man who was

called God. The emperor was afraid that he would lose his power to the man. So, he had

Valentine arrested and sentenced him to death. While

Valentine was in prison, he spread his faith to the other prisoners and guards. The

emperor’s daughter Claudius heard about Valentine and went to visit him. She began to visit

him often bringing food, clothing, and kindness. Valentine appreciated all she did for him. So, the night before he was to

be executed, he wrote Claudius a letter thanking her for her

kindness and generosity, and he signed his letter “ Your

Valentine.” Saint Valentine had a lot of love in his faith and that is why today we send our loved

ones valentine cards expressing our love.

In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico,

the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. According to the greeting card association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card sending holiday of the year. Theres more card sending on Valentine’s Day than Easter.

On Valentine’s Day you may receive,

A nice card

Chocolate

Candy

Red or pink stuffed animals

A big hug

A big, wet kiss

Candy message hearts

Red heart shaped lollipops

Flowers

The month February is a romantic month. A Valentine is card expressing your feelings for another. In elementary school, the children make colorful boxes on Valentine’s Day. The boxes are usually the colors white, pink, or red. The children will either bring in a card or candy to all there classmates. The children will put there card or piece of candy in the person’s box. We think that Valentine’s Day history and traditions are very interesting.

Dance Dance Revolution

BY SARAH H.5th Grader

Kennedy Middle School has been chosen to host the Dance Dance Revolution Tournament! It was held on Friday, February 17th, the day before vacation. During school, students of all grades will be participating in the competition. The students needed permission slips to be able to play. Permission slips were available on the Virtual backpack. During Physical Education students practiced in the Fitness room. Individual people played against each other, and 14

people at a time danced to a song for 3 minutes. The top 16 got a prize and the top 2 got $100.00 in cash, and even get to move on in the competition in Boston against others schools and represent Kennedy and get one day off of school to compete. The highest score depended on reflex and coordination. We interviewed Tim Chung (also student body president)and Kurt Borgman about their victory in

Kennedy Dance Dance Revolution. Tim said, ''It was surprising to win, and amazing. '' He also told us that Kurt and him were really good friends before and now after the competition. We asked if he thought he could win the competition in Boston. ''I will try really hard and maybe make it,” Tim said confidently. At the actual competition in Boston against the winners of other schools, Tim and Kurt became

triumphant again- Tim got 3rd place and $1000, and Kurt took it all with

1st and $5000!! This one great event was perfect for Kennedy Middle School to partake in; and we made the most of it, too.

by Sabrina F. and Tim M.5th Grader and 7th Grader

• • •

The holiday of Saint Patrick's Day has been around for many years, but the modern holiday is in some ways far from the truth. The actual St. Patrick story was what the holiday originated from. He was originally born in southwest Britain in 390 A.D. At age 16 he was captured by Irish pirates! During his 6-year imprisonment he served as a shepherd in the county of Mayo. When he was 22, he finally managed to escape back to his home. Back in Britain, he trained to be a priest. However, he was sent back to Ireland by the church authority of Britain. Once in Ireland, he created a mission for the rest of his life. Around 460 A.D., he died in Ireland in his mission.

There are many myths of St. Patrick's life and the time around it, however. Take the shamrock, for instance. This is a very mythical object. Even though the shamrock is often the symbol of St. Patrick, it was created a thousand years later after St. Patrick's life to represent Irish Christianity (the Trinity). Another common myth related to him is how the saint drove Ireland's snakes away, symbolic of changing Ireland’s religion to Christianity. However, St. Patrick did not play a very important part in planting the seeds of Christianity in Ireland. Another common symbol of St. Patrick's Day is the mysterious Leprechaun! The Leprechaun was a green creature that gave coins and candy to little children. The original Leprechaun myths say that the Leprechaun is

a small, impish thingy that is part of the fairy folk. They are dressed in dressed in well fitting fitting suits made of fine silk. They also wear hats and buckled shoes( that look like the pilgrims wore them). They like playing tricks on people and other living creatures and they usually have hidden pots of magic gold. They also like playing music! The modern beliefs of many Irish legends has developed into new myths that are, in some cases, extremely different from before.

Saint Patrick's Day – Fact and Fiction

Star Lab!by Kailee P.

5th Grader

Hello  star  lab!  This  fun  event  was  done  for  the  5th  graders  here  at  Kennedy  Middle  School.  Lets  look  at  their  experience!  

I  asked  a  fiCh  grader  what  is  what  like  in  the  star  lab,  their  response  was,“  Well  I  think  it  was  really  cool!  We  went  in  a  blow  up  lab,  but  first  we  had  to  go  through  a  tunnel  to  get  in.  In  the  middle  there  was  a  projector,  which  showed  stars  on  the  ceiling.  We  could  see  Jupiter  and  other  planets!  We  also  saw  the  northern  star!  The  lady  there  showed  us  all  of  space!  I  learned  a  lot  from  the  star  lab!”

ACer  I  asked  the  fiCh  grader  what  they  thought  of  the  star  lab.  ACer  a  while  of  thinking,  

they  replied,“  It  was  really  cool  and  fun.  I  learned  a  lot  about  space!”

I  also  think  star  lab  is  cool,  and  entertaining!  5th  graders  really  liked  this  event!

FINAL SCORE

Blue Team

23Red Team

20

Photos  by  M.  Clarke

Hoopla!

DANCE, DANCE REVOLUTION WINNERS

Kurt Borgman Tim Chung

WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT FIFTH GRADE?Created  on  WORDLE    by  Madeleine  W.