Secretary of What...Bosnia?by Ismail Ercan, Age 14Coral Springs, FL

Recently, on Wednesday, Feb-ruary 15th, I traveled with sev-eral of my classmates from Pine Crest School to attend a lecture given by former U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright at Flor-ida Atlantic University’s (FAU) Boca Raton Campus. The lec-ture, which was held at a sold out 2,300 seat auditorium, was sponsored by the Alan B. Larkin Symposium on the American Presidency, a series of lectures put on by the FAU Department of History.

During Secretary Albright’s lecture, she reflected upon her early years and what stood out. What many people do not know about Madeleine Albright is

that she was actually born in Czechoslovakia in 1937 (dur-ing the rise of the Third Reich) and was a refugee for most of her childhood. She moved from her homeland to many foreign nations like Switzerland, former Yugoslavia, and Britain many times throughout a period of eleven years. She described the best moment of her life which oc-curred when she came to America at age 11 as a refugee. She said, “I believe that the combined ef-fects of World War Two, moving countless amounts of times from country to country as a refugee, and my home country’s govern-ment (Czechoslovakia) turning to communism really took an ef-fect on me. When I arrived in the U.S., where democracy reigned, I felt a great weight lifted off my

shoulders and I knew I had found a permanent home.” She did not have a hard time fitting in with American kids like most refugees

did however, because she already spoke three languages by this point in her life (English, French, and Czech). She would eventu-ally learn Russian while raising her children in the years to come.

Upon arriving in America, Al-bright’s dad, Josef Koerbel, once a politician in Czechoslovakia, obtained a job at the political sci-ence department at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado. He would become the dean of the international studies program and would teach future Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice! Josef’s occupation and involvement with global affairs stimulated Mad-eleine’s interest in foreign rela-tions and diplomacy. As a high school student, she founded her high school’s international rela-tions club and was its first presi-

dent in 1955. She would go on to graduate and major in political science from Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

Albright spent the next few years becoming a journalist and starting a family alongside her husband, Joe, who had major ties within the journalism business. His aunt, Alicia Patterson, found-ed Newsday, a daily newspaper in New York. However Albright was deterred from her journalistic dreams due to newspapers’ anti-nepotism policies. She did not want to bring down her husband’s career for hers.

Instead Albright went back to college while nursing her twin daughters, Anne and Alice. She decided at this time to attend

THE CIRCLE GAZETTE Volume 3, Issue 6 MARCH 2012

A Newspaper by Children, of all Ages, from all Over the World! Your Work can be Published too!

Please turn to page 10

March Madnessby Patrick and Robby Griswold, Ages 10 and 13Paoli, PA

Off the pick, he steps back, he shoots. It’s in! It’s in! He nails the buzzer beater. This is the beauty of March Madness. There are many teams that can pull off a victory like this in March Madness. In our opinion, these are the top four.

The University of Kentucky has a great history in March Madness. They have won 7 championships, and the 2012 team has a superb chance at getting one more champi-onship under their belt. Leading the team are the player coach duo of Anthony Da-vis and John Capilari. Forward Anthony Davis with 14.0 Points Per Game and 9.9 rebounds a game paces the team in points, while at the helm is John Capilari whose career includes 84 wins and 30 losses in March Madness.

The closest team to Kentucky though is the University of Syracuse. They have a player coach duo that could match Ken-tucky’s. Player forward Kris Joseph leads the team with 14.0 PPG and a free throw percentage of .771, while legendary coach Jim Boeheim who is third all-time in wins with 881 wins is at the head of the team.

The next two teams with the best chances this season are from the Uni-versity of Missouri and the University of Kansas. Missouri is led by players guard Marcus Denmon who averages 18.0 PPG and 5.3 rebounds a game and forward Ri-cardo Ratliff who averages 14.0 PPG and 6.8 rebounds a game. While Kansas is led by Forward Thomas Robinson who aver-ages 17.8 PPG and 12.0 rebounds a game and guard Tyshawn Taylor who averag-es 16.9 PPG and 5.1 Assists per Game. These four teams have the best chance in our opinion to go all the way.

These four teams have the best chance to win the National Championship, but there is one team that could be a dark horse. This team is The University of Murray State with guard Isaiah Canaan who averages 19.6 PPG and a .831 free throw percentage. This team could be a big surprise. It will be an exciting journey to see who will win the National Champi-onship. Mypick (Robby) is the University of Kentucky because of the depth in their roster. All of their players are strong and play well. My brother’s pick (Patrick) is the University of Kansas because of their amazing defense.

Three Generations of Girl Scouts

by Sofia Serrano, Age 6, Serena Serrano and Lee BrunoFrankfurt, Germany

Sofia – the daughterI am a Girl Scout Daisy. We have 6

girls in our Daisy troop. They are my new friends. The first song we learned is called “Make New Friends.” It is about making new friends but still keeping your old friends. We do paintings and arts and crafts to help us learn good things about helping people and helping the world. Girl Scouts is fun. I want to be a Girl Scout for a long time!

Serena – the MotherGirl Scouts was a very important part

of my childhood. It allowed me to spend time with friends I didn’t see everyday at school, it offered participation in unique and fun activities that were not available through school or as a family, and most of all, it gave me a chance to spend valuable extra time with my busy, working mom. At home, mom was my caretaker and dis-ciplinarian, someone to depend on and, at times, rebel against. In Girl Scouts, she was my teacher, my outdoor guide, and my campfire buddy; someone to learn skills from and sing songs with. Through my Girl Scout Leader mom I learned how to start a fire, pitch a tent, and care for a campsite, I learned silly songs and songs with morals that were relevant for a lifetime, and most importantly, I learned to respect my fellow human. Now, as a leader for my own daughter’s Girl Scout Daisy troop, I hope to leave as mighty an impression as my own Girl Scout Leader left on me.

Lee – the GrandmotherFriendship and learning! These are

themes from my daughter’s and grand-

daughter’s experiences in Girl Scouts. They are also themes from my own ex-periences in Girl Scouts. I made friends as a girl that I still keep in touch with, over 40 years later. Being in Girl Scouts helped me make new friends when my family moved from New York to Florida. I have made priceless friends as an adult in Girl Scouts; very loving and support-ive friends. Among the things I learned as a girl were outdoor skills; my parents did not camp and hike. I then used those skills to take my husband and children camping and hiking many times. As an adult, I learned management skills when I took the position of Service Unit Manager. Then, I learned presentation skills when I took courses to become a trainer of Girl Scout adults. I’d like to add a third theme to my experience in Girl Scouts: choices. I chose what I wanted to learn as a girl; I chose the path I took as an adult volunteer. My daughter is choosing to continue her Girl Scout experience as an adult; I hope my granddaughter will choose what she wants to learn and do as a Girl Scout.

Lee, Sofia and Serena

64th United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

Did You Know...

… that the term “March Madness” is a trademark jointly-held by the NCAA and the Illinois High School Association, who battled over it in court? The precedent-setting case created the legal concept of “dual-use trademark.”

BIZTOWN: A Fun

Way to Learn

by Reagan OlenickPage 6

100th Anniversary of the South Florida Fair

by Sarah ThompsonPage 5

A Gift from the Heart

by Sara Itka CrossPage 8

by Nathalie ThelemaquePage 6

PAGE 2 THE CIRCLE GAZETTE MARCH 2012

Editor in Chief PATTY GOMEZ

Editorial Board

Production

Prepress Technician

Christie Voss

Graphic Designers Dora Font Christie Voss

Cartoonists and Illustrators

Matias Sosa Wheelock Daniela Gómez Emma Gómez Sofia Serrano

Regular Columnists Daniela Gómez Aaron Cross Bilal Amodu Sara Cross Sarah Thompson

Regular Contributors

Maria & Natalie Schlecht, Daniela & Emma Gómez, Aaron & Sara Cross, Liora Elkoby, Sofia Serrano, Danny & Andy Hernández, Shadya and Bilal Amodu, Ismail Ercan , Matias Sosa Wheelock

Proof Readers

Serena Serrano Sandra Damas

Website Master Victoria Martinez

Circulation

The Circle Gazette is available online and it’s distributed in paper via individual, classroom and library subscriptions. Free copies are available at community partner institutions (libraries, museums and educational

organizations). This publication is currently distributed in more than twenty cities in South Florida and has subscribers and contributors from California, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, Virginia,

Caracas-Venezuela, Rivas-Nicaragua and San Jose-Costa Rica.

Free Copies Available at The Coral Springs Museum of Art The Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theater

The Northwest Regional Broward County Library The British School Caracas

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TO SUBMIT WORKThe Circle Gazette is a publication available to public school, private school and homeschool students. Email a copy of your work, as a major word processor file or as a jpeg file, at info@enrichmentcircle.com. All entries should be accompanied by the parent/guardian consent to print. Submission Form to be found online at www.enrichmentcircle.com.

Information to contributorsThe Circle Gazette reserves the right to edit, accept and refuse articles in the interest of brevity, clarity and appropriateness of subject matter.

YOUNG CHILDREN PROVIDE A WEALTH OF WISDOM, FRESHNESSAND NEW PERSPECTIVES

The Circle Gazette is packed from cover to cover with the latest stories and creations of children of all ages; about local affairs, the environment, art, sports, entertainment and puzzles that engage and inspire young minds!

The Circle Gazette is a one-of-a-kind publication because:

• It transcends one school/homeschool community. It goes beyond a state or a country. It’s about widening writer’s and reader’s horizons!• It is addressed to children and the content is created by children• It involves a multi-age/multi-level group of contributors• The editorial team keeps a holistic and nourishing quality in the selection of content and design• It’s a high quality mix of a variety of styles and topics• It offers valuable feedback to authors

TO SUBMIT WORK The Circle Gazette is a publication available to public school, private school and homeschool students. Email a copy of your work, as a major word processor file or as a jpeg file, at info@enrichmentcircle.com. All entries should be

accompanied by the parent/guardian consent to print. Submission Form to be found online at www.enrichmentcircle.com.

Information to contributors

The Circle Gazette reserves the right to edit, accept and refuse articles in the interest of brevity, clarity and appropriateness of subject matter.

YOUNG CHILDREN PROVIDE A WEALTH OF WISDOM, FRESHNESS

AND NEW PERSPECTIVES

The Circle Gazette is packed from cover to cover with the latest stories and creations of children of all ages; about local affairs, the environment, art, sports, entertainment and puzzles that engage and inspire young minds!

The Circle Gazette is a one-of-a-kind publication because:

• It transcends one school/homeschool community. It goes beyond a state or a country. It’s about widening

writer’s and reader’s horizons! • It is addressed to children and the content is created by children • It involves a multi-age/multi-level group of contributors • The editorial team keeps a holistic and nourishing quality in the selection of content and design • It’s a high quality mix of a variety of styles and topics • It offers valuable feedback to authors

THE CIRCLE GAZETTEA Newspaper by Children for Children

Monthly Independent Publication available to children of all ages.

This publication is an initiative of THE ENRICHMENT CIRCLE, INC.

A Non-Profit Organization for the Advancement of Education

7551 Normande Ct. Margate FL 33063

Phone:954-9182541

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Serena Serrano Sandra Wolkov Pedro Gómez Robyn Rader Christie Voss Sandra Damas

Patty Gómez Sandra Wolkov Christie Voss Sandra Damas Serena Serrano

and Alizdair Ray

A word from the editor:

100 Years of Girl Scouts

The Enrichment Circle 501(c)(3)A Non-Profit Organization for the Advancement of Education

Lee Bruno, Guest Editor

Kids & PoliticsKids & Politics

One-hundred years ago on March 12, 1912, Juliette Gor-don Low called a friend and said: “Come right over, I’ve got some-thing for the girls of Savannah and all America and all the world and we’re going to start it tonight!” She gathered together a group of 18 girls in Savannah, Georgia, and that was the beginning of Girl Scouts in the USA. This amazing woman was the vision, energy and philoso-phy that grounded this wonderful organization.

Giving away my age here (let’s call it experience, shall we?), I’ve been involved with Girl Scouts for 35 of those 100 years. And, would you believe I recently had lunch with several Girl Scout friends from my troop in Melbourne, Florida, when I was a teenager – over 40 years ago!

Let me give you some high-lights. I remember selling Girl Scout cookies as a Brownie in the 1950’s for 25¢ a box. I used to pile many boxes of cookies in my bicycle basket and ride for miles selling and delivering cookies.

In 8th grade, I learned the alphabet sign language for the hearing im-paired for a speech in English class. Later, my Girl Scout troop went camping in a state park near Dayto-na Beach and met a troop of hearing impaired Girl Scouts! I spent the whole night with my friends in my tent, teaching them how to spell us-ing the alphabet sign language. The next day, we were learning names and talking with our new friends!

After high school, I took a 15-year break from Girl Scouts, but when my daughter became Girl Scout age I jumped right in again – first as a leader, then as a service unit manager (managing 40 troops). Finally, I spent many years as an adult trainer. That is the wonderful thing about Girl Scouts – you can make of your experience anything you want. As a girl or an adult, you can learn and try anything that in-terests you. There are many variet-ies of programs for girls, and many jobs for adult volunteers.

Another point I would like to make about Girl Scouts is the flex-ibility of the organization. You can

imagine the scouting experience I had in the 1950s and 1960s was much different from the experi-ence girls have today. As society and educational philosophies have changed over the last 100 years, the Girl Scout organization has changed the program and opportu-nities they offer to fit girls’ interests and needs. Imagine – we now have robot competitions! We didn’t have that in the 1960’s!

And though Girl Scouts will make some changes to their programs, the organization will not change its ba-sic beliefs. They believe in finding educational opportunities in fun ac-tivities; they believe in developing leadership in all girls; and they be-lieve in offering their activities to all girls – no matter their race, religion, or background.

So, please wish a Girl Scout a Happy 100th anniversary. Many famous women were Girl Scouts as children, and while learning new things they developed leadership skills they are using as adults. And I’ll bet some even had lunch with Girl Scout friends 40 years later!

Decision 2012 Countdown: Eight MonthsBilal Amodu, Age 14Deerfield Beach, FL

Salutations, my loyal read-ers and welcome to the March edition of the Circle Gazette. A plethora had occurred since my article in the previous edition, in-volving debates, applause, sing-ing as well as expensive negative advertising. However, before I discuss these affairs, permit me to review the events from the Florida primary.

Gingrich had successfully re-vived his campaign to threaten the Romney campaign after winning the South Carolina pri-mary. As the Florida primary approached, Gingrich seemed probable to prevail in our home state. However, Romney resorted to a negative advertisement cam-paign, slandering Gingrich on several television stations. Prior to the primary, there were two debates, both of which had not occurred in favor of Newt Gin-grich. In the initial NBC debate, the audience was instructed not to clap or cheer any of the can-didates, to avoid a situation that would provide Gingrich support in the previous debates. Gin-grich had publicly complained about the restricion subsequent to the debate. However, during the CNN debate which followed the earlier one, merely three days subsequently, the outbursts of the audience had been to the ad-vantage of Romney, compelling Gingrich to complain about the audince, which was contrary to

his initial complaint, merely days ago. Also, he had earned much ridicule for his proposal to place a colony on the moon, which was an attempt to please the astron-omy industry. On Election Day, January 31, Gingrich suffered a miserable defeat to Romney, with the former Massachussets gover-nor obtaining 46% of the popu-lar vote to Gingrich’s 32%. Rick Santorum finished in third place with 13% of the vote and Ron Paul, who had not even actively participatd in the primary, won 7% of the popular vote.

Romney’s victory in Florida completed the January primary season with two victories to Romney to one each for Gin-grich and Santorum. As the Ne-vada caucuses approached, Rom-ney -who had won the caucuses with ease in 2008- was expected to be as victorious. The solitary interest was who would finish in second place. Ron Paul had campaigned actively in Nevada, aspiring to finish in second place, though he had narrowly been de-feated in this attempt. On Elec-tion Day, Romney, as expected, won the Caucuses with 50% of the vote to the 21% of Newt Gin-grich, 19% going to Ron Paul, and 10% going to Rick Santo-rum. Once again, Romney had been considered invinsible. As the primaries for Colorado, Min-nesota and Missouri approached, Romney again anticipated a strong performance. Howerver, Santorum and Paul had actively campiagned in these states, aspir-

ing for victory over Romney. On Election Day February 7, Santo-rum won all three of the contests to the surprise of several jour-nalists, analysts, as well as vot-ers. Santorum won the Missouri primary with 55% of the popular vote, 25% of the vote going to Romney, and 12% going to Ron Paul, while Newt Gingrich failed to even qualify for the ballot in the “Show Me State.” In Min-nesota, Santorum prevailed with 45% of the poular vote to Paul’s 27%, Romney struggled to place third with 17%, and Gingrich fin-ished last with 11%. Though it took a little longer for Colorado to declare a winner, Santorum emerged victorious with 40% of the popular vote. Romney, who had been expected to be the vic-tor in this contest, finished in sec-ond place with 35% of the popu-lar vote to Gingrich’s 13% along with Paul’s 12%.

Once again, Mittt Romney has lost his front runner position, despite his victory in the Maine Caucus where he defeated Paul (who had been heavily favored to win the caucuses) with 39% of the vote to Paul’s 35%. Rick Santorum came in third place with 18% of the vote to Gin-grich’s 7%. As the primaries in Michigan as well as Arizona ap-proach, Romney is desparate to regain his position as the front runner by prevailing in these two contests. However, at the mo-ment, the circumstanes for his victory are far from favorable.

Did You Know...… that when Girl Scouts recite the Girl Scout Promise they use what is known as the three fingered salute? The salute, done by holding up the first three fingers of the right hand and holding down the pinky with your thumb, palm facing out, is popular throughout most scouting organizations but has different meanings for each. In Girl Scouting the three fingers represent the three parts of the Promise: serving one’s spiritual beliefs and country, helping people, and living by the Girl Scout Law.

Please turn to page 11

“Girl Scout Daisy” by Sofia Serrano, Age 6

Crayon on paper.

MARCH 2012 THE CIRCLE GAZETTE PAGE 3

Green Tip of the MonthEvery Drop Adds up to a Lotby Aaron Cross, Age 14Boca Raton, FL

MY EXPERIENCES WITH WILDLIFE Birds of Preyby Emma Gómez, Age 8Margate, FL

On a regular January day, my dad asked me if I wanted to play catch, and I said yes. So we went outside to get my catching gear. After we got everything ready, we went to my backyard and we prepared to play catch. Right be-fore we began, my younger sis-ter, Ellie, came looking for my dad, and decided to join us. She got her glove, which used to be mine, and came to catch with my dad. He only tossed to her but he threw overhand to me because I am more experienced than she is. I had started to play travel softball only a few months be-fore; I had practiced several catching skills and I was getting better at it. My dad, who used to play softball when my older sister, Dani, was little, taught me the basics of catching and batting. Now, I have a lot more technique than I had before.

Ellie got tired after about five minutes of playing toss-catch and ran off to play on the scooter. Dad and I kept on playing. Sometimes, one of us would go inside and grab a cup of water. Occasionally, Ellie would go in and fetch water for us. I was still playing, and I

was improving, according to my dad. It had been quite a while since Ellie had brought back wa-ter, and we were about to ask her when, SCREEEEEECH!

We looked up. Soaring above us, gliding through the air, we saw an osprey! Amazingly, Ellie did not see the giant bird. She didn’t even ask about the huge shadow crossing the sky, nor did she ask what we were staring at. Eventu-ally, she noticed. We all saw that the osprey was carrying some-thing. We waited until it dropped a little to be able to see what it was. It was a fish! The weirdest fish we’d seen. It looked like a tadpole except it was many times bigger and it was a lot greener. The osprey was brownish grey and its beak was a beautiful grey -- it looked as if there was a hint of pink in it.

Well, we figured that the osprey was just taking the food to her brown-winged children.

After a while, we did go back to ask Ellie for water. Well, at least I did. Hope you’ll be around for the next issue of: My Experiences with Wildlife.

The water on Earth has been here since the beginning of the world. It is the same water that dinosaurs, Neanderthals/humans, and every other creature that has ever lived on Earth used and thrived from. About 72 percent of the Earth’s surface is water. Only three percent of that is fresh water, and one percent total is the water that is actually drinkable. With the rising population and the growing demand for clean water, that one percent is grow-ing to be not enough. That is why

we must do all we can to con-serve the water we have.

World Water Day is an inter-nationally celebrated day de-voted to raising awareness of the need of clean water. It has been celebrated since 1993 when the United Nations General Assem-bly declared March 22 as ‘World Day for Water.’ Like its close relative Earth Day (next month’s article), World Water Day is a day for improving your lifestyle for the good of the planet. Here are some tips to get you started...

Leaky pipes:Fixing leaky pipes and fau-

cets will greatly decrease your amount of wasted water. It may be only one drop at a time, but it adds up quickly. It is fairly easy to fix a leak, and it will save you a lot on your water bill. If you do not know how to fix a leak you can easily find how-to’s online or go to the hardware store and get technical help. Also getting a nozzle for your hose that allows

you to stop the water flow with the flip of a lever can allow you further to save water.

Flush when you must:Flushing a regular toilet uses

four gallons of water per flush. If you only flush when necessary (after you poop or every other time you urinate) it can save a lot of water. If that option is too gross for you then consider get-ting a water efficient toilet that uses less than half the water of a regular toilet per flush! Also there are some companies that make

special flush handles that have a full flush or a half flush option. Google search “dual flush toilet handle” to find out more about these green flushers.

Run when loaded:Running your washing ma-

chine and dishwasher consumes over 23 percent of your water use . Running on a full load of clothes or dishes will reduce the total number of loads needing to be done. If you need to run a small load for whatever reason, make sure your washing machine or dishwasher’s settings are set appropriately.

Time is water:Rinsing all your dishes before

putting them in the dishwasher is a total waste of time and wa-ter. It is an old habit from when dishwashers were not as efficient as they are today and it does not get the dishes any cleaner. Unless there is dried on food and grease, washing the dish beforehand is not necessary.

Sink your teeth in:Here is a tip you have prob-

ably heard before. Turning the water off when you brush your teeth is a simple thing to do, and according to Go Green In Your Home it can save up 10 gallons of water each time you brush! It is not like you use the water any-way, and even if you do it is not that hard to turn the water on and off again. Also, get easy install aerators that can attach to your sink and will greatly reduce the amount of water that comes out your faucet. According to earth-easy.com, attaching an aerator can cut your water use in half and can cost as little as five dollars!

Down the Drain:Taking shorter showers can re-

duce your water use. Less water down the drain gives water treat-ment plants less to clean, thus saving resources and benefiting the environment. This is true with all water uses. Aerators are also available for shower heads as well as faucets.

According to Lisa Wilson Da-vis, Operation and Environmen-tal Compliance Manager of the Boca Glades Water Treatment Plant, the largest water filter treatment plant in the world, it only takes one day for water to go down the drain, get cleaned, and come back out of the faucet; and the continuous cycle of wa-ter can sustain the people. But when water leaves the cycle like when you leave the hose running or a sprinkler blows then there is a problem. As the water seeps through the streets it picks up toxins like pesticides, chemical cleaners, and other pollution, and thus makes the water unfit for drinking. These toxins cannot al-ways be filtered out, The one per-cent is shrinking. We as humans must do all we can to preserve the water on Earth so it will still be here for generations to come. Every drop adds up to a lot.

Did You Know...

… that the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), sometimes known as the sea hawk, fish eagle or fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey? It is a large raptor, reaching more than 24 in (60 cm) in length and 71 in (180 cm) across the wings. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts, with a black eye patch and wings.

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PAGE 4 THE CIRCLE GAZETTE MARCH 2012

Adventures of a Young Police Ex-plorerby Ryan Smith, Age 14Coconut Creek, FL

Did You Know...… that Dr. Rollo Dilworth was recently appointed as Associate Professor of Choral Music Education at Temple University’s Boyer School of Music in Philadelphia, PA? In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in choral music education, he serves as conductor for the University Chorale. Prior to his appointment at Temple, Dilworth served as Director of Choral Activities and Music Education at North Park University in Chicago, IL for 13 years. Dilworth has written and/or arranged over 150 choral works that are currently in print.

ART WORLDCarnegie Hallby Alyssa Fantel and Daniela Gómez, Ages 15 and 12South Florida

Hello readers and welcome to this issue of Art World! This month I write about Carnegie Hall and about what it is like to prepare to sing there. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

Have you heard of Carnegie Hall? It is a concert hall in New York City and is perhaps the most famous concert hall in the entire world. It was built by and named after Andrew Carnegie, a philan-thropist from Dunfermline, Scot-land. Here is some information on the concert hall, Andrew Carn-egie, and the exciting trip that I will be taking to the concert hall.

ANDREW CARNEGIEAndrew Carnegie was born

on November 25, 1835, and he lived to the age of 84. He died on August 11, 1919. He started out a poor man, but in time, be-came a very rich philanthropist. He founded Carnegie Steel Com-pany, but in 1901, he sold it to J. P. Morgan for 400 million dollars. The steel company was renamed U.S. Steel. Some places that are named after Carnegie as well are: Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, West Virginia, Carnegie Muse-ums of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Hall in Dumfermline, Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Homestead’s Carnegie Li-brary. By the time he died, Carne-

gie had given away $350,695,653 of his fortune of $380,695,653 to charities and the building of plac-es like Carnegie Hall. His remain-ing $30,000,000 went to similar causes that he had supported.

CARNEGIE HALLCarnegie Hall is perhaps the

most famous concert hall in the world. It is located at 881 Sev-enth Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue be-tween West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park. The construction was paid for by Andrew Carn-

egie. The official opening night was on May 5, 1891, where Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Walter Damrosch conducted a concerto. In the 2008-2009 Season alone, Carnegie Hall was home to 200 concerts and 600 other events.

There is a Carnegie Hall joke that includes a pedestrian and Jascha Heifetz, who is widely re-garded as one of the greatest vio-linists of all time. The joke goes like this: “Rumor is that a pe-destrian on Fifty-Seventh Street, Manhattan, stopped Jascha Heif-etz and inquired, ‘Could you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?’ ‘Yes,’ said Heifetz. ‘Practice!’”

THE TRIPOn March 4, the National Mid-

dle School Choir will perform at this concert hall. This concert will take place in the Isaac Stern Auditorium/Ronald O. Perelman Stage. Nationally renowned con-ductor and composer, Rollo Dil-worth, will help young singers from all over the country bring to life works by Mozart, Copland, M.E. Valverde, André J. Thomas, and Jeffery L. Ames. The perfor-mance will also include tradition-al music from Germany, Sweden, Japan, and America. I am part of this choir and this is what it is like to prepare for the exciting adven-ture coming up.

For months I have only prac-ticed with my school choir. My choir, the Pine Crest Middle School Chorus, is part of the Na-tional Choir. We rehearse several

times per week. We work on one or two songs per rehearsal, focus-ing on learning the music well, understanding their meaning and the story behind them. The more we know the story, the better able we are to perform the piece as the composer envisioned it.

When we get to New York we’ll meet up with the rest of the choirs and the orchestra that will join us for the concert. We’ll have full day rehearsals and long ses-sions to integrate ourselves with the rest of the singers and the ac-companiment.

During rehearsals, I don’t let my focus stray -- if I’m going to sing at Carnegie Hall, I’ve got to be ready. There is always some-thing to improve on. A huge chart on the whiteboard shows all the people in the chorus and all the songs we will be performing. Next to each person’s name is the amount of songs they know by memory, or at least 90%. There is

always something else to memo-rize or a song to practice over break or when time allows. We are all working very hard.

We are constantly reminded of what to bring to the trip and what will be expected of us. We are given papers for our parents to sign, and packets of informa-tion on what to do when we get to NYC. Then there’s packing to think about. New York is a lot colder than Florida in March; a lot colder.

I can’t believe that that I’ll be visiting Carnegie Hall and performing in its main hall; the same hall in which the composer of the Nutcracker, Swan Lake and the Sleeping Beauty, once stood! Sharing the stage with my friends, with lots of equally excited singers and getting to meet and work with conductor Rollo Dilworth is as meaningful to me as it is for a painter to fin-ish a favorite artwork.

SARAH’S CINEMA

A Monthly Movie Reviewby Sarah Thompson, Age 13Boynton Beach, FL

Movie: The Girl Who Leapt Through TimeRated: Not rated

The plot:This 2006 anime film, based

on the novel of the same name by Yasutaka Tsutsui, tells the story of a high-school-student named Makoto, who discov-ers she can travel back in time. At first, Makoto enjoys this and uses it whenever she needs to correct a mistake or wants a “do-over.” But eventually, she finds a numbered tattoo on her arm, and sees that with each time-leap, the number gets lower. Makoto learns that this number tells her how many time-leaps she has left. Makoto tries to use her last few leaps to correct mis-takes she’s made involving her friends, but ends up using them impulsively, and instead, endan-gers a dear friend.

The verdict:I am a BIG fan of anime,

which for those who don’t know, is Japanese animation. Any an-ime fan can tell you it can be dif-ficult to find anime movies that are translated into English. And some of the best anime never is. Which is why I really appre-ciate when I can get my hands on a good anime film with an English-dub, such as, The Girl

Who Leapt Through Time. Most of the anime I watch is fantasy, so this was a little different for me, as it is more of a “drama” genre. I enjoyed this movie from beginning to end. The animation is great, the writing is relatable, and the characters are thorough-ly loveable. The plot keeps you engaged and really makes you concerned about what the end-ing will hold for the protagonist. It has a really nice flow to it, without too much or too little of anything. Another nice element to the film was the beautiful piano music that plays through-out. I would really recommend this movie to anyone, anime fan or not. It really puts the whole “time waits for no one” idea into perspective, and does it with the perfect combination of suspense, romance, and humor.

Diary of a Wimpy kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff KinneyBook Review

by Alizdair Sebastien Ray, Age 8Davie, FL

It was Christmas and Greg had junk for his presents. It was not fun. Greg and Rowley got scared of a kin-dergarten kid. It was not good. Also, there was no playground because something really bad happened. Greg’s Mom bought Greg a doll and it was called Alfrendo. One day he lost the doll and it took him months to find it. Also, Greg’s Dad bought a sports car and didn’t

tell anybody in the family about it. It was big news. I could go on but you just have to read the book to see what happened. Here are other books by Jeff Kinney: 1. Diary of a Wimpy kid2. Diary of a Wimpy kid: Roderick Rules3. Diary of a Wimpy kid: The Last Straw4. Diary of a Wimpy kid: Dog Days5. Diary of a Wimpy kid: The Ugly Truth

“I don’t let my focus stray -- if I’m going to sing at Carnegie Hall, I’ve got to be ready.”

Carnegie Hall at 881 Seventh Avenue, New York City

MARCH 2012 THE CIRCLE GAZETTE PAGE 5

100th Anniversary of the South Florida Fairby Sarah Thompson, Age 13Boynton Beach, FL

If you’re in the mood to pet a cow, ride a Ferris wheel, and eat a Donut Burger, then the place for you is the South Flor-ida Fair. It comes around only once a year, so it makes sense that when the fair is in town, we all try some things we wouldn’t usually; say, flying and spinning in the air on a ride called Zero Gravity, or eating a greasy, sug-ary plate of fried dough, better known as a Funnel Cake.

My family and I arrived at the fair on Friday, January 20th, pre-pared to go a little overboard. My family and I were lucky enough to receive not only free admission tickets to the fair, but also a folder of $5 food vouch-ers that when added up equaled a whopping $100 worth of free food! We were also given free ride vouchers, which enabled my sister and me to ride all the attractions we wanted. Now, if there’s anything the Thompson family enjoys more than a fair, it’s a free fair! We were prepared to do as much as we possibly could that day, and see if, per-haps, we would actually be able to eat $100 worth of free food!

The fair does not specifically

say if offers “tasty” food, but rather boasts the greasiness, sug-ariness, and overall “weirdness”, of its offerings. Among them this year: fried beverages such as lem-onade and Kool-Aid and, yes, real BUGS! Fried, dipped in choco-late --you name it. While I com-mend those willing to place such foods in their mouth, I am more of a smoked-turkey-leg-kind-of-girl. (The fair’s giant, juicy, deli-cious turkey legs are another of its big-sellers, and can be found at several different food-venders.)

For dessert, I stopped at an ice cream cart called Kones which

sold all things ice cream; from milkshakes, sundaes, to good old-fashioned cones. I got a va-nilla ice cream cone dipped in chocolate, which was delicious! I enjoyed my creamy, refreshing snack so much, that as dinner-time rolled around, I got more ice cream. (Hey, don’t judge! It’s only once a year!) This time I got a big waffle cone filled with chocolate ice cream from a little cart in Yesteryear Village. The ice cream was cold and creamy, and tasted perfect with the warm, crunchy waffle cone!

Now, I’ll admit it: I was mostly

there for the food! But when I had finally finished eating, I did enjoy visiting a horse stable, petting zoo, and some different exhibits. Among them were two intricate-ly crafted sand castles. One was made to look like a huge birth-day cake, in honor of 100 years of the fair. The “candles” on the “cake” even lit up, which was beautiful to watch. As for rides, I only did two, but both were really enjoyable. Probably my favorite memory from the fair, (besides the yummy food), was when the Ferris wheel stopped at the very top, and I was able to look out

over the entire fair, just as the sun was beginning to set.

After everyone had eaten din-ner, my mom looked in our trusty envelope, containing all the dif-ferent vouchers. We had one $5 voucher left. $95 worth of food, finished. We couldn’t stop now! My family finished off the vouch-ers by purchasing a funnel cake. Funnel cake not being a favorite of mine, I passed on this one, but my family’s feedback was all positive! The sun had just set as we drove off, and ended a day of laughter, fun, and good food, at the South Florida Fair.

A model of the 2012 South Florida Fair An ice cream cart selling all kinds of ice creams

• Birthday Parties• After-School Programs• Kidz Night Out• School Field Trips• Summer Camps• Mommy & Me Classes

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• 954-255-5233 • www.bricks4kidz.com •

PAGE 6 THE CIRCLE GAZETTE MARCH 2012

BIZTOWN: A Fun Way to Learnby Reagan Olenick, Age 11Weston, FL

I walk past Holy Cross Hospi-tal, FPL, The Humane Society, and a few other businesses as I go to deposit my first paycheck.

I then stop by the JA Cafe and buy myself a snack with my hard earned money. On my way back to, I go into Comcast and get a movie and popcorn combo for four dollars. No, this is not a dream. Well now you’re saying, “If it’s not a dream, then what is it?” The answer is Junior Achievement (JA) of South Flor-ida’s Biztown! And if you’re asking, ”What IS Biztown?” here’s your answer…

Biztown is a small “town” consisting of several business simulations geared to teach stu-dents in the fifth grade about free enterprise. Sponsors in-clude: Bank Atlantic, ASP Radio, Spherion, The Miami Dolphins, Holy Cross Hospi-tal, Broward College, The Sun-Sentinel, WPLG/Channel 10, IKEA, Metro Signs, S. Davis & Associates, Yoss, PA, McKinley Financial Services, FPL, NSU, The Humane Society of Broward

County, Bluegreen Corporation, and Title Sports Drink.

This year, I was lucky enough to go there with my class. Before we went, we spent one day learn-ing about checking accounts and debit cards. At the end of the day, my teacher, Mrs. Sharon

Spring, announced our jobs. I would be the CFO of IKEA. For the next two days, we worked with the other people in our busi-nesses to prepare for the big day. We wrote radio, TV, and newspa-per ads to promote our business. We found out what our salaries were going to be, how our days would play out, and what we could buy with the money we earned. As we left the cafetore-um, all of the fifth grade students felt confident that they could ac-complish what they needed to when we finally got to Biztown. When January 11, 2012 arrived, we got into the four school buses awaiting us. We were all wear-ing our “Class of ‘12” t-shirts and khaki pants. Once the buses pulled into 1130 Coconut Creek Boulevard, we were greeted by a woman named Miss Con-nie. She told us what to expect, what the laws in Biztown were, and just to have fun. She then

guided us to where our Biztown was. There are two Biztowns located on the same complex. Our class was placed to Biztown 2. When we walked in, we sat on the “lawn” in front of the Town Hall. There, another em-ployee, Mrs. Dana Shoenberger, elaborated on what Miss Connie said. We were then dismissed to our businesses to set up for the day. Ms. Shoenberger told us that she would call out the name of a business and that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) would get our BizPrep packets, then all of the other employees would follow them to their respective store. When IKEA was called, I expected our CEO to run up to the front, but it turned out our CEO was absent that day. I took the packet and my friends and I rushed to our storefront. Each business was also staffed with a parent volunteer who would help keep us on schedule and as-sist if any problems arose. None of the students were paired with their own parent to keep things professional! Once my team ar-rived at Ikea, we met our par-ent volunteer, Mrs. Beth Cohen. Miss Amy Gasper, a fifth grade teacher, was also there. We were all really stressed out about miss-ing our CEO but we “promoted” one of our classmates from sales-person to CEO and everything worked out just fine.

As quick as lightening, I plopped down in front of the CFO’s computer. I started print-ing our paychecks (which was really fun), business checks to pay other businesses for their ser-vices, and our loan application. Since we had a white board in addition to our open/closed sign, Miss Gasper sent Nicole out to list our products and our prices. Meanwhile, I was following my instructions on how to deposit the money we received. Twenty minutes later, we were told to step outside our businesses and go to the Town Center. There, we

sang the national anthem and said the pledge of allegiance. Then we all headed back to IKEA.

Like bees, other kids came swarming to IKEA to pick up checks, deliver invoices, and take surveys. It was a mad house. Frequently, I would say, “Hold on,” “I answered that already,” “Your check is printing now,” or “Where are you from exactly?” Things settled down as we all be-gan to take our scheduled breaks. By the time my break time rolled around, I was ready to have some time off and relax!

I went to Bank Atlantic and deposited my paycheck and bought a snack with my hard earned money. On my way back to my job as the CFO of IKEA, I went into Comcast and bought a movie and popcorn combo for four dollars. I stuck the popcorn next to my apple-cinnamon Bud-dy Fruit in my red Bank Atlantic bag that one of the Bank Atlantic employees gave us all when the day started. I popped by the Mi-ami Dolphins retail store where my parents were volunteering and waved hello to my school’s principal, Mr. Eliot Tillinger, who was visiting the various businesses and taking photos. Then I ran back to IKEA and the breaks were over and all busi-nesses closed for a staff meeting and to do whatever they needed to do without costumers around, such as: organizing, printing, and signing checks; rearranging mer-chandise; entering sales into the computer to print deposit slips; and catching everyone up on what they missed during their break.

Then the businesses reopened. We took our lunch breaks in shifts. After lunch breaks were over, we went to the Town Cen-ter to hear the student assigned to be our mayor make a speech. He announced the employees of the day, a student Bank Atlantic employee announced who paid off their loans (I am sad to say IKEA was not one of those busi-

nesses announced), and a student working for the Broward Sheriff’s office told us all what the surveys had revealed about the average cit-izen of Biztown. Sadly, that was the end of our wonderful field trip.

For eighth graders, JA offers another simulated experience, JA Finance Park. This experience teaches eighth grade students to create and maintain a personal budget. Students create a life-style budget that factors in health care providers, real estate offices, car dealer, home improvement stores, banks, supermarkets, res-taurants, stock brokers, and utili-ties. Students study the concept of personal financial manage-ments in the classroom and then apply them in a life-like business environment. JA Finance Park is an actual center, structured in a business park setting with 18 lo-cal businesses represented. Stu-dents visit each business at JA Finance Park, and utilize the in-formation they receive to create their own personal budget.

A trip to JA Biztown is free for all Broward County pub-lic school fifth grade classes. Other school groups can make special arrangements to attend. Biztown also has a one-week camp over the summer. JA Biztown is located at 1130 Co-conut Creek Boulevard, Coco-nut Creek, Florida and can be reached at 954-979-7100 for further information.

An Open Letter to Anakin SkywalkerIn honor of the new 3D Star Wars movie: The Phantom Menace

by Sara Itka Cross, Age 11Boca Raton, FL

Dear Anakin Skywalker,I have watched your story many

times, and I know that you grew up to become a great jedi/sith. But I want to know about your experience. I don’t think that George Lucas told the com-plete story, and I think you can tell it better. I want to ask you some questions about your childhood, and how you felt about your life being made into a six movie saga.

How did you feel when you left home? I could not imagine leaving ev-erything that I know, and going on an inter-galactic journey with a couple of jedi knights. Did you feel a little dis-couraged when the jedi council rejected you? I know I sure would have. The next chain of things that happened led to the death of Quigon Jinn, the jedi that de-fended you, and wanted to train you in the ways of the jedi, and eventually, the death of your mother. Was there ever a time where you just felt alone in the uni-verse? Did you ever wish that you could go back in time, and change things?

I have one more question. Why did you turn to the dark side? I know that

you wanted to save your life love Padme Amidala, but there were other ways. I think your biggest mistake was trusting Emperor Palpatine, your loyal friend, who turned out to be the sith lord that the whole jedi council was looking for. But it turned out to all be for the greater good, for no other apprentice of Emperor Palpatine/ Darth Sidious would still keep some of the good from his past locked inside of him. Eventu-ally you got rid of the evil in you, and managed to save your son’s life, even though you died in the process. I think you are a great character, who does what he feels he needs to do. I think you did good things and bad things, did things right, and made mistakes, just like any person does.

I know you will never get this letter because a) we do not have an inter-galactic mail system, and b) you do not exist. Nevertheless, it was nice talking to you!

Sincerely,

Sara Cross,Staff Writer and Reporter for the Circle Gazette

by Nathalie Thelemaque, Age 13Coral Springs, FL

If you love reading anything from non-fiction biographies to science fiction, you’re bound to enjoy going to the 24th Annual Literary Feast. Scheduled for March 2 to March 5, this four day event will not only allow you to read books from authors around the world, but also will let you get a copy of a novel signed by your favorite author.

Come on Friday, March 2 at 11:30 a.m. for a “Literary Lunch” at the marvelous Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six’s Pier Top restaurant, which is a hotel famous for its fine cuisine that overlooks to busy yet gor-geous city of Fort Lauderdale. At the high-ly anticipated luncheon, you’ll be able to meet some of the marvelous authors pres-ent at the Literary Feast.

Saturday, March 3 is mainly open to adults. The Literary Feast’s fundraising event kicks off with ticket holders meet-ing the Literary Feast’s fantastic authors. There, adults can attend a fancy cocktail party followed by festive activities hosted by one or two authors in private estates or extravagant restaurants.

On Sunday, March 4 at 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., come meet your favorite authors who will be one hundred percent willing to have lectures, discussions about their books and upcoming books, and book

signings, all for free! And as a special treat for the high school

students, on Monday, March 5 starting at 8 a.m., the authors will be talking to thou-sands of Broward County high school stu-dents about writing and how to write prop-erly. During their visit, the authors will announce who the winner is for the annual Literary Fair, where more than five hun-dred students enter each year.

With all these events happening around Broward County pertaining to the fair, you certainly must come to this annual event. No wonder hundreds of visitors show up every year for this legendary occasion!

The “lawn” in front of the Town Hall.

My job as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of IKEA

MARCH 2012 THE CIRCLE GAZETTE PAGE 7

Did You Know...… that 65% of people are sleep deprived? This is according to Dr Maas, author of “Sleep for Success, Everything You Must Know About Sleep but are too Tired to Ask.” Most students and adults are sleep deprived, causing marked reduction in their p r o d u c t i v i t y , concen t ra t ion and quality of work, as well as an increase in moodiness, stress, accidents, illness and shortened life span.

Did You Know...… that Celiac disease is an auto-immune disease that affects approximately three million Americans? There is no cure --only a strict gluten free diet. You can test negative for celiac and still have the disease when it is “triggered” later on in life. Once celiac is triggered, it is a life-long disease. BEWARE: Some products, like lipstick, toothpaste and vitamins, use gluten for processing but because it is not food, do not need to be labeled.

Living HealthySleep is a necessary element in our lives. Are you getting enough of it?

by Sara Cross and Daniela Gómez, Ages 12South Florida

Hi kids! And welcome to Liv-ing Healthy, a column that talks about how to keep your body healthy and energized. With school getting into high gear, we know some of you are not getting the sleep you need. In this month’s column, we will share some tricks to getting a good night’s sleep. We’ll discuss why you need one, what happens if you do not get one, and the most common ways kids today don’t get that needed rest. So let us get started!

Sleep is an important thing for your body. It gives your heart a chance to rest, for your heartbeat slows while your sleep. Depriva-tion of sleep lessens white blood cell activity. The white blood cells are in charge of getting rid of viruses and bacteria that can make you sick. Sleep is also es-sential to secure connections be-tween our brain cells, otherwise known as neurons.

There are many ways for to-day’s kids to get a not-so-good night of sleep. Consider these scenarios:

SCENARIO #1:The child wakes up early in

the morning and goes to school. After school, he could have ex-tracurricular activities, making it late before he goes home and does homework. Once home-work is done, he hangs out until it is very late. The next morning, he is very tired, cranky, and un-able to focus in school.

SCENARIO #2:This time, the child goes to

bed on time, and is asleep on time. The child is then woken up by his parent or alarm clock, just as usual. He could be fully rested and able to get up and function. The next day the child is woken up under the same cir-cumstances, but this morning, he is not as well rested, and is tired, maybe having headaches, and maybe falling asleep at school. Why do each of these scenarios happen? Let us discuss them.

In scenario one, the child did not get enough sleep, for he went to sleep very late, and had to get up early in the morning. It is esti-mated that a child between 3 and 6 years of age needs 10-12 hours of sleep per night. Between 7 and 12 years of age, 10-11 hours of sleep, and between ages 12 to 18,

kids need about 8 to 9 hours of sleep. If you are eighteen or old-er, you should sleep for at least eight hours, but the more sleep you can get, the better. If you do not get enough sleep, you can experience symptoms like sleepi-ness, headaches, and the inability to focus during the day.

In scenario two, the child goes to bed on time, but still wakes up tired. This can happen because when you are asleep, your body goes through cycles of the differ-ent types of sleep. Which part of the cycle that you were in when you awoke determines how rest-ed you are. Sleep is divided into five stages. Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, and REM sleep. Stage one is a light sleep, one that you can be eas-ily woken up from. Stage two is a deeper stage of sleep, but you can be woken from it. Stages three and four are the stages of deep sleep, and it is very hard

for a person to be woken when in those stages. In stage three, the brain waves are a combination of fast and delta waves (slow waves). If woken up during this stage, you will feel dizzy and disoriented for several minutes. In stage four, the brain waves are only delta waves, so you would be disoriented for longer. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is the last stage of sleep. This stage is when dreams occur, and takes up approximately twenty per-cent of your sleep. This cycle repeats all through the night. In between the cycles is when you normally toss and turn in bed.

You now know that you need sleep, and what bad things can happen when you do not get enough sleep. But we are sure that if you are still awake by now, you must be wondering how to get more sleep. There are plenty of things you can do. According to WPBF channel 25, Dr. Oz, an easy thing to do to help go to sleep is to shut off all dim blue lights in your room that could be coming from your computer, television, phone, or MP3. He also recommends cooling your house down to 68o F. Being cold puts your body into a relaxed mode by slowing down your metabolic processes. Chamomile and sleepy time tea are also great options, the herbs

in them having a soothing ef-fect on the body. Often listening to gentle music can encourage sleep. We recommend listening to sounds of nature, like whale calls and rainforest noises. You can also try this:

STRETCH YOUR AMOUNT OF SLEEP

WHAT YOU NEED:A relaxed, cool, area without

loud soundsA yoga mat (optional)INSTRUCTIONS:Start by stretching your arms

and legs slowly. Do arm circles, sit and do half-straddles and straddles. Then stretch out both legs in front of you and bring your right leg up to your chest. Place your right foot to the left of your other leg and twist your upper body to the right. Repeat with the other leg. This stretch is known as number four stretch and back-cracker stretch. Get in a pushup position and then just tuck one leg in and place it close to your hands. Hold that position for a bit before changing. After a bit, curl up into a ball-like shape. Tuck your knees into your body and put your head down while stretching your arms out on the floor in front of you. Keep that position for about thirty seconds and then bring your arms in to your sides. Do any other relax-ing stretch you know and then go to bed. Do not do anything “hard” such as pushups or bur-pees. There is also a series of poses called Surya Namaskar, or Sun Salutations. They are re-laxing poses as long as you do not push yourself too much. You probably will not master them as soon as you try them, but they are great stretches. Try pushing yourself a little bit each night, and you will soon be able to do the complete stretches in the way that they are supposed to be done. Go to http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/yogapractice/sunsalu-tation.asp to find out how to do these stretches.

NOTE: This exercise works best for people involved in sports.

We hope that this month’s ar-ticle helped you understand the importance of sleep. We will continue the topic next month, focusing on sleep disorders and how to prevent them. So look out for next month’s Living Healthy, get enough sleep, and we will see you in April!

Fluffy, Gluten Free Pancakesby Hebe NovichCaracas, Venezuela

Ingredients1 cup white rice flour1 Tablespoon sugar2 teaspoons baking powder½ teaspoon salt1 cup milk1 egg2 teaspoons corn oil1 Tablespoon butter

PreparationMix rice flour, sugar, salt and

baking powderAdd the milk slowly, the egg

and the corn oil, beating until the flour is moistened and you get a soft dough.

Heat a pan. Spray with oil or butter.

Pour a portion of paste.Cook one side until bubbles ap-

pear on surface.Cook the other side.Repeat the procedure with all

the dough.Serve with butter, honey, mar-

malade, or melted chocolate.

*Hebe Novich is a Medical Doc-tor graduated from the School of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Though an ophthalmologist by specialty, Ms. Novich has taken advanced classes at the Normal and Pathologic Nutrition Insti-tute and the Mucho Gusto Acad-emy of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Ms. Novich is the proud grandmother of Andy and Danny Hernández, regular contributors of the Circle

Gazette

Staying up very late, the next morning, you may be very

tired, cranky, and unable to focus in school.

PAGE 8 THE CIRCLE GAZETTE MARCH 2012

A Gift from the Heartby Sara Itka Cross, Age 11Boca Raton, FL

A few months ago, I turned eleven. I didn’t need gifts, so my family gave me money to save up and spend on something I really want. About a month later, there was a sale to give kids a chance to sell their old stuff to other kids and parents. I took all the proceeds from my sale and put it in an envelope. I sold a few more of my old toys, and added it to the money. I then took about forty dollars of the money I was given for my birth-day, and got together one hun-dred dollars. I took that money and gave it to Patty Gómez, the hard-working-till-early-hours Editor-in-Chief of the wonder-ful paper you now hold in your hands. I knew that Mrs. Gómez and the rest of the editorial team work hard to keep the paper run-ning, but they are rapidly run-ning out of money.

The Circle Gazette means so much to me because participat-ing in it helps me improve my writing, something that I love. It gives me a chance to learn skills like working on a deadline. I have been writing since the very beginning and my writing has majorly improved since. There are lots of things I do, and a lot of things I care about, but this is the best. It is a great learning experience, and a great way to have fun.

I took the money I got by sell-ing things, and the money I got for my birthday, and I used it. Not on another toy, or another

video game, or another thing to play the video game on. I spent it on something that means something to me, and so should you. I’m not saying you should never buy another toy again. I am saying that you should ask yourself how much you really want that toy. Use your money for something that has real val-ue. If the Circle Gazette means

to you what it means to me, then you could do the same thing. All you have to do is save. I hope to see more kids making a move to keep this paper running. I would like to deeply thank Patty Gó-mez and the editorial team for all that they do. They are the heart and soul of the paper, and they are the ones that make it all happen. Thank you.

All Wars End, My Movieby Alizdair Ray, Age 8Davie, FL

I was part of the cast for this movie. I want to talk about how I got in. When I went to try out for the movie I was nervous. A cou-ple of days later I had a call back to be in the movie. It was a good experience for me. I researched before the filming to see what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was and learned a lot. I learned that it is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after ex-posure to a very scary event.

I was nervous on the first day on set. This was the week af-ter Thanksgiving of 2011. But it didn’t last long. The whole crew was nice and I did my best in my scene with my movie mother. I played an Arabic son who was afraid for our lives. I didn’t real-ize all the long hours and time that take to make a movie. I have a lot of family, including my dad, that were in the military. It is sad that PTSD happens to a lot of people.

The writer, producer and direc-tor, Carlos Londono Arango, was very fun to interview and work with on the set of this amazing movie. Alizdair: What did you want to

be when you were a little boy?Carlos Londono Arango: I wanted to be Superman or an As-tronautAlizdair: Why did you call the movie All Wars End?Carlos Londono Arango: The story is about finding peace.Alizdair: What does the movie mean to you?Carlos Londono Arango: The war doesn’t end until you have peace in yourselfAlizdair: Do you think everyone did a great job?Carlos Londono Arango: YesAlizdair: Where were you born?Carlos Londono Arango: I was born in Colombia, South America.

I had a great time interviewing Mr. Carlos. I hope there will a Part 2 of the movie in the future.

“Carlos Londono Arango was very fun to interview and work with on the set of this amazing movie.”

Alizdair with producer and another cast member.

Sara Cross has published more than 80 pieces in the Circle Gazette (articles, stories, poetry and art). She has not missed an issue since the newspaper printed its first issue in October 2009. Sara is a reporter for the Circle Gazette and a volunteer. She is always ready for an as-signment and unafraid to try different literary genres.

10450 W. Atlantic Blvd., Coral Springs, FL 33071info@ArtsAlive.biz www.ArtsAlive.biz

954.372.7878

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homeschoolers!

MARCH 2012 THE CIRCLE GAZETTE PAGE 9

Fly, Back, Breast, Freeby Daniela Gómez, Age 12Margate, FL

First of all in the IMLiterally, it’s Individual MedleyYes, the first one is butterfly

Back stands for backstrokeAnd the ability to breathe is debatable…Can you rotate on your side? Keep your head straight, move your arms!

Breaststroke is “the warm-down stroke”Running? No way, it is slowEnding in the kick, so quickA stroke that relaxesSo soft, yet so sharpThe stroke of the frogs

Freestyle isn’t a real strokeReally, it is front crawl but…Everyone calls it freestyleEach stroke is unique; each stroke is fine! You are right, this is IM!

Fillyby Emma, Age 8Margate, FL

F lying through the wind I n the tall swaying, rippling grass L ovingly nickering to her mother L ooking suspiciously for food

Yielding to nothing but her mother.

My Filly

Mouseby Sara I. Cross, Age 11Boca Raton, FL

Milly the mouse,Out she went to play,Under the oak tree by her house,Sitting there with the flowers of May,Eating biscuits made by her mother mouse.

Playby Kate Maier, Age 8

Sunrise, FL

Down in the breezy, green meadow My sister and I giggle and play While a butterfly emerges from its tight cocoon, Dries its graceful wings and flies away. What’s the best part about a butterfly’s day? Flittering around the fresh-smelling flowers, I’d say.

Poetry CentralA column by Nathalie Thelemaque, Age 13Coral Springs, FL

St. Patrick’s Day LimericksThe pot of gold was quite fullHow hard it was to pull.The pot was very largeGold would spill out the margeIt was as hard as fighting a bull.

I once found a four leaf cloverIn a city, not far from DoverI found in my front lawnConsidered giving it to JohnBut instead put it atop a stover.

There was a leprechaun who didn’t believe in sharingAnd was never really that caringHe was always quite cruelAnd was definitely uncoolWith other leprechauns staring

Illustration by the authorOil pastels on paper

“Mouse” Mixed media on paper. Illustration by Kate Maier exclusively for this poem, Age 8

PAGE 10 THE CIRCLE GAZETTE MARCH 2012

The Boy Who Found a Friendby Ashlie Gallo, Age 11Margate, FL

There once was a little boy who had no friends. All day he would

sit inside and do nothing.One day he was watching TV

and there was his solution. The TV announced, “Go online to puppys.net and there you will find

a best friend!” The little boy went to his computer and typed the ad-dress provided. There was a vari-ety of friends. He had to choose from hundreds of best friends, and all of a sudden it hit him, he saw it with the corner of his eye. The perfect Labrador Retriever at the age of 3 and the color of milk. The boy had finally found his soul mate. The Labrador would live with him forever. He played with the dog every day and all day long.

The boy treasured the little dog until one day the Labrador got sick and they had to put him down. The little boy cried for three days straight. He had never thought this day would come.

His mom told him to “deal with it” and to go back to school and try to make friends there.

When he went back to school he thought kids would make fun of him, but they didn’t. There was a new kid in the classroom that didn’t have friends either. The boy who had lost his electronic friend walked up to him and asked, “Want to be friends?” The other boy shouted “Yes!”

The two little boys were best friends and treasured each other. The boy who lost his dog said to himself, “If you lose a friend, keep trying and find another one.”

Roxanne Of Ellicaby Shadya Amodu, Age 12Deerfield Beach, FL

Ernesto, the untrustworthy dwarf, had revealed her hiding place. As the silver night had ap-proached, Roxanne had glanced at the only weapon at her dis-posal, the jade amulet. She had aimed the amulet at the knight, focusing all of her energy. Sud-denly, a flash of emerald light had struck the knight in the chest. As the knight had van-ished into thin air, she had held the necklace up triumphantly, a victorious smile on her face. Un-fortunately, her moment of glory was stifled when her mother called her from the kitchen. Her mother’s voice reminded her that she was not, in fact, duel-ing wicked knights in her home; rather, she was in the magnifi-cent realm of Ellica, the Imagine country The secret entrance was behind the large, cream colored sofa. It was not exactly a hole, more of an open entrance. The opening was small, square and led to a closet.

“Roxanne!” her mother hol-lered. Her mother was always ordering her to do things. It was constantly, “Roxanne, do this,” or, “Roxanne, fetch me that.” She could not actually help it since after all she was nine months pregnant. Roxanne had swiftly scurried out of the hole and sallied to the kitchen. Her

mother was already short tem-pered enough without the baby on the way. When she had ar-rived in the kitchen, her mother was seated at the table in front of her porcelain dinner with her head in her hands. Her father was in his least favorite business suit, with a large briefcase that he carried for business trips.

Her father looked at her: “Roxanne honey, I have to go on a very important business trip. As you know, your mother is nearing the end of her preg-nancy. So while I am away, please be responsible and help take care of your mother.” Rox-anne was amazed. She would be taking care of her mother all by herself. ‘I am definitely going to mess up’ she thought to herself.

“Of course your father forgot to mention Aunty Cassy. He for-gets a lot though. Like how it is not good to leave your wife when she’s having your second child!” Her father groaned. ‘Aunty Cassy? I am going to be with some person who is my supposed aunt?’ thought Roxanne and then asked a very sensible ques-tion: “Is. …Aunty…. Cassy my real Aunty?” It took her mother a minute, but the answer came out rather fast. “She is one of my young cousins who I baby sat when I was in my mid teens.”

Roxanne thought about it for a minute, and then decided to

go back to her room to think some more. Then just as Rox-anne was halfway out the kitch-en door, Roxanne’s mom called again. “Roxanne I also need you to clear out the guest room. Cassy will be coming in two weeks and I want to impress her with a clean house.”

Two weeks passed very slow-ly. Roxanne kept wondering about this mysterious aunt, and then she finally came. Aunty Cassy looked like a teenager. Her long blonde hair flowed freely in the wind. Her smooth, caring face was gentle as well as beckoning. After a few weeks, her mother was rushed to the hospital to deliver her child. Aunt Cassy took this as an op-portunity to meet Roxanne and really get to know her. Luck-ily Roxanne was also thinking about the possibility of them being friends. Aunt Cassy told Roxanne all about New York and her job as a publisher. In exchange Roxanne told her about her adventures in El-lica. Aunt Cassy was amazed by Roxanne’s imagination, en-couraging her to write several books as well as stories. Thanks to Aunt Cassy, Roxanne grew up to be a successful writer. In fact her most famous book is one of New York’s best sellers, and the title of that book is Rox-anne Of Ellica.

Columbia University in New York, a several hour drive from where she was living in Wash-ington D.C. It was here that she was enrolled in a course given by Zbigniew Brzezinski, who would later be her boss at the National Security Council at the U.N.! She went on to receive her master and doctorate degrees in public law and government from Columbia.

It was not until this point that Albright became involved in poli-tics. It was true that she had polit-ical aspirations, but “at the time, any high political position was a no women zone.” she described during her lecture. However, af-ter fundraising for her daughter’s private school, she caught the eye of Senator Edmund Muskie’s fundraiser’s cochairman. He was impressed by her work ethic and the results of her fundraiser so he invited her to chair a fundraiser for the Senator who was running for the presidential nomination of his political party. Although Senator Muskie did not end up receiving his party’s nomina-tion, Secretary Albright now had made important contacts within the Democratic Party and had es-tablished a friendly relationship with the senator.

In 1978, Zbigniew Brzezin-ski contacted his former student and offered Albright a job as a congressional liaison at the Na-tional Security Council. This was a major milestone in Al-bright’s career and her new po-sition placed her in the center of the national political arena.

Four years later though, after President Carter lost his re-elec-tion bid against Ronald Reagan, Albright was out of a job. Instead of wasting precious free time, she took advantage of this opportuni-ty to write her first book, Poland: The Role of the Press in Political Change. She also became a pro-fessor at Georgetown University, where she became director of the Women in Foreign Service Pro-gram and the research professor of international affairs in the For-eign Service school.

Following these decades of work as a college professor and helping senators and national security advisors in Washington D.C., Secretary Albright’s hard work paid off when she was ap-pointed by President Bill Clinton to a very prestigious job. She was to be a United Nations (UN) am-bassador, representing the United States at the U.N. She was also now part of Clinton’s National Security Council as well since the U.N. ambassador post had been upgraded to cabinet status. During her four year tenure from 1993-97, she learned how to be stern and unyielding on critical topics but diplomatic as well. One of her best accomplishments, against almost all odds, was getting the necessary amount of votes from the U.N. Security Council to send American troops to Haiti, to bring peace to the nation. Another thing that impressed many people, in-cluding President Clinton, was when she successfully replaced Secretary General Boutros-Ghali, who was using his position for promoting his own views, and replaced him with Kofi Annan, a strong advocator of wholesale or-ganizational reform.

President Clinton was obvi-ously impressed by the work Al-bright had done at the U.N. and he selected her to become the 64th Secretary of State in 1997, after Warren Christopher, the former Secretary of State retired. This was an enormous honor for Al-bright; she became the first female Secretary of State in the over 200 year history of the United States! She knew foreign policy like the back of her hand, as she had dealt with foreign nations at the U.N every day for four years. Howev-er Albright knew how risky Presi-dent Clinton’s gamble on select-ing her had been. She would be representing the United States in the Arab countries in the Middle East where women are often sec-ond-class citizens. “I needed to be rock solid whenever I visited a foreign country,” she described during the lecture. “I had to send a message that I was serious.”

On top of earning the Arab countries leaders’ respect, she would have to negotiate with them and often get them to fa-vor and support America’s point of view. “Diplomacy is like bil-liards, not chess, as it is common-ly compared to,” she described during the lecture. “Every action or event disrupts or affects ev-erything around it, like when the cue ball ricochets off all the other balls, and the whole pattern on the table is rearranged. In chess, one person’s move does not nec-essarily affect the whole board’s picture.” However Albright sur-passed all expectations yet again during her four years as Secretary of State. She was a very vocal advocate of civil and women’s rights, and publicized the benefits of democracy to all of the coun-tries that she visited. Albright even earned the title of “a deadly serpent” by the Iraqi media!

Secretary Albright also joked around during her lecture, show-ing her infamous “funny side” which made her well known among colleagues at the United Nations. She recounted a story about getting recognized at an airport while getting patted down at security.

“As I am getting patted down,” she recalled, “the security guard suddenly stopped. ‘Oh my gosh!,’ he gasped, ‘you are Secretary Al-bright! I cannot thank you enough for helping out my home country Bosnia. May I take a picture with you?’ ‘Sure!’ I replied. After-wards, a woman who was behind me in line was wondering why I was taking a picture with the se-curity guard. ‘Why were you tak-ing a photo with a security guard?’ she questioned me. ‘I helped out Bosnia while I was Secretary of State.’ I replied. ‘Secretary of what?’ she asked, ‘Bosnia?’” The crowd erupted with laughter.

Secretary Albright’s lecture at FAU was an amazing experi-ence for me to attend in person. It’s not every day that I can be ten feet away from a former sec-retary of state!

Secretary Albright is currently a professor at Georgetown Uni-versity, an author of four NY times’ bestselling books, and has been named to Time Magazine’s 75 most influential women of all time. She believes that the Ameri-can “people need to renew their faith in themselves and their gov-ernment,” in order for our econo-my to fully recuperate.

Secretary of What...Bosnia?Continued from page 1by Ismail Ercan

“Labrador Retriever” Watercolors on paper by Kate Maier, Age 8, Sunrise, FL

MARCH 2012 THE CIRCLE GAZETTE PAGE 11

R a s p f a i r yby Elizabeth Abrams, Age 7Fort Lauderdale, FL

Once when the forest grew wild and golden, there lived a graceful fairy with thick red velvet hair and sparkling blue eyes. Her name was Raspfairy. Raspfairy lived in a mouse hole with two windows and some stones piled on top that made a blazing chimney. Her bed was an acorn shell with feathers for a mattress and leaves for a blanket and pillow.

One beautiful spring day, Rasp-fairy went to pick raspberry buds to make raspberry pie for the fes-tival that the fairy queen was hav-ing that night. Each year the fairy queen planned a festival to cel-ebrate her birthday. The fairies loved the fairy queen because she was the most interesting and kind fairy. She had every good power of the forest. She could turn into any small creature and she could

speak with the animals. Her face shone like the morning sun.

On the way back from picking raspberry buds, which she carried in her special purse that the fairy queen had given her, Raspfairy heard a faint sound. It was some-body’s wings fluttering wildly. Each of the fairies had their own sound in their wings and Raspfairy realized it was the queen! Rasp-fairy turned around and saw the queen being pulled by Nastyfairy.

Nasty was a mean witch who wanted to be the queen. She looked like any other fairy except for a few things: She didn’t have wings, so she could not fly. She didn’t have a wand, so she could not have a special power. Her face was always scowling, so she scared away the forest animals and the other fairies.

Raspfairy dropped her purse and went to help the queen. She took out her magic wand and tried to turn Nasty into a raspberry pie.

But instead Nasty snatched the wand and turned the queen into a pie! Then in a sly way, Nasty handed the wand back to Rasp-fairy and said, “You’ll get the blame for this and I’ll be sitting on the throne! At the birthday festival, I will eat this pie and it will give me all the queen’s magic powers!” Nasty turned around, had one more look at Raspfairy, and snubbed “Huh!” at her as she walked away carrying the pie.

Raspfairy began to cry. “Oh dear,” she said in a weak voice. “I will get the blame for all of this. It’s all my fault,” she sniffled.

While she was flying home, she had an idea. She would go to the festival, take the queen’s pie, and replace it with another pie with witch poison. Then she would tell all the other fairies the whole story and get them to help her turn the queen back into a fairy. When all the fairies were together, they could use the powers from every fairy to unwind the raspberry pie spell.

Raspfairy unbolted the door to her house and went to her closet and got in her prettiest dress which was made of the finest flowers, leaves, and fairy thread. Then she went to her drawers and put her favorite shoes on. They were made of silver thread and feathers piled around, and on top was a marvelous red rose. Then she went and used her wand to make the most spectacular pie ever seen in fairyland.

Outside Raspfairy’s win-dow, the trees lay golden and the moonbeams shined upon the ground. It was time to go to the festival and time for her to make her plan work. She flew out into the evening air and headed to the festival in the middle of the for-est. When she got there, all the fairies gathered around her. One of them cried out: “You killed the fairy queen!” The witch had told all the fairies that Raspberry

had killed the queen and they be-lieved her because she showed them the pie. The queen in the pie was screaming, “Raspfairy, Raspfairy! Help!”

“Of course not,” Raspfairy cried, and tried to explain. But it was no use. They were so upset that they didn’t listen. Raspfairy was miserable. “Please listen, I wasn’t the one who did it. It was the witch! She snatched my wand and turned the queen into a pie…” “Oh…” the fairies said, and listened to her talk. She told them the whole story, describing everything including her plan. At the end, they all said, “Ooooooh! Such a good idea!”

They went to the witch who was lying on the queen’s throne. The queen’s pie was in a special glass case next to the throne. Rasp-fairy swept all the fairies into a corner and whispered, “O.K., you distract the witch, while I switch the pies.” The fairies surround-ed the witch and danced around her making her distracted while Raspfairy went and switched the pies. Just when she was done, the witch turned and said, “Now, I shall eat this pie, hehehehe!” The witch took the whole pie in her mouth and fell immediately dead.

Raspfairy had the queen pie in her hands and all the fairies flew around the pie and chanted a spell with all their magic powers. Sud-denly the pie began to break and crack, and the fairy queen popped out with pieces of pie in her hand. Then the queen dropped the pie pieces and cried, “thank you, thank you, thank you so much. If the witch had eaten me, I would have been dead for the rest of my years.”

After that, they had a big ball, and Raspfairy became the queen’s best royal friend. And when the queen had finished her years of being queen, the fairies chose Raspfairy to be their next queen. Raspfairy was queen for

forty years and then she went back home to her little mousehole with her fairy prince Mr. Plum-fairy and their two little newborn fairies. And there they lived hap-pily ever after making raspplum pies for all the fairies that lived in the wild and golden forest….

In Michigan, opinion polls dis-play Santorum tied at the top with Mitt Romney. Now, mind you, Michigan is Romney’s second home state. It is the state where Romney was born and raised and the state where his father, George Romney, served as governor for six consecu-tive years. It is the state that he won with ease four years previously -- the state that revived his campaign in 2008. Michigan may be in that same position now. If Romney loses Michigan as well as Arizona, his frontrunner dream would be com-pletely shattered in favor of Rick Santorum. I believe that Romney is probable to lose in the Michigan primary and that his glory as the leading contender may come to an end. I believe that he is losing sup-port because Republican voters are realizing that, unlike his opponents, Romney does not seem to possess any plan for the nation, campaigning merely by slandering the President as well as all of his opponents. Also, his hope for victory in March seems miniscule since several primaries will be held in regions that he is not eminently popular in throughout the South. Newt Gingrich on the other hand, has been gambling for success in the March contests, especially on Super Tuesday, the day when ten primaries will be held. If Gingrich’s plot for success involves him finish-

ing in last place in several opinion polls as well as fading out of promi-nence for the fourth time, then it is a highly successful plot. Santorum has not only replaced Romney as the front runner, he has also appar-ently replaced Gingrich as the Re-publican “conservative alternative” to Mitt Romney. If I were support-ing Gingrich and were in a position to provide him advice, I would tell him that if he possesses any desire to remain in the nomination contest, he should commence a serious cam-paign against Romney and Santo-rum, rather than pretending that he is already the president elect or the president when he is far from being the nominee, or he will experience a severe shellacking, come March 6. Paul continues to campaign in a method that is highly different from his opponents. Rather than scruti-nize Obama’s every action, the way Romney, Gingrich as well as Santo-rum have been doing, he is discuss-ing the causes that are vital to him: liberty, peace, and deficit reduction. Regardless whether one agrees or disagrees with the Texan’s opinions, one must admire his passion for his cause, how he has maintained a po-sition without reversing it, and how he inspires young voters --those who seem too discouraged by the profes-sional politicians -- to support him for the nomination. I am not endors-ing Paul, though I believe that his ability to inspire Independants will make him a serious threat to Presi-dent Obama in the autumn if he is the Republican nominee.

As bad as the drama is now, it may be a harbinger for the volatility

that may occur from this campaign. All four of these candidates have declared their intentions to remain candidates until the Republican Na-tional Convention where all of their delegates will assemble to nominate a final candidate for the presidency. The convention, however, is in Au-gust, which means five more months of accusations, five more months of expensive negative advertising, as well as five more months for the can-didates to further the character assi-nation of themselves in front of the American audience. Though several Republicans believe that the even-tual nominee will benefit from this process as Obama benefited during his competitive primary contest with Senator Hilary Clinton four years ago, I beiveve that it will severly scar the eventual nominee in No-vember. That is since, while Clinton and Obama had a competitive con-test, they maintained a significant amount of decency while attempting to appeal to the independent middle class voters who were simply skitt-tish about the future. Now, the Re-

publican conmtenders are ceasing at no means to humiliate each other to enhance their image. This is es-pecially true for Mitt Romney, who has spent tens of millions of dollars on negative television commercials, exposing voters to every unflatter-ing detail about his opponents in the most volatile fashion. It may not be long until voters turn off their televi-sions permenantly fretting the nega-tivity. With the Republican nomina-tion contest floundering, President Obama’s reelection chances are becoming stronger. This month, un-employment has fallen to 8.3% from the 9.1% it was a mere six months ago. In addition, the economy seems to be impproving while the president has been enjoying an increasing ap-proval rating. I believe that if Presi-dent Obama is able to maintain his approval as well as further reduce unempoloyment, he should have no difficulty winning reelection. How-ever, things could alter. Until next month, I advise you to keep reading. Farewell.

(I have included this chart to dis-play the statistics of the four contend-ers for the Republican nomination.)

Our Braceletsby Nathalie Thelemaque, Age 13Coral Springs, FL

“We’re going to be friends forever.” That’s what we promised as we handed each other our handmade beaded bracelets. The one you gave me contained beads of my fa-vorite color, blue and orange, while yours contained glittery purple and pink ones. We wore those bracelets through thick and thin, whether we were to-gether at the moment or not. I even tended to sleep with it. Even though we’ve seen many friendships break over the years, we would stay true. We promised, right? People are meant to keep promises.

But not everybody does keep promises, and I knew that. You became more ac-tive in sports and extracur-ricular activities while I stuck with student government. And even when we didn’t have any meetings, something would come up. “Can you come to the library with me?” re-sponded with a, “Sorry, I have to study.” “Are you free this weekend?” responded with a, “I can’t, someone already in-vited me out.”

You didn’t realize it, or maybe you did; we were breaking apart before our very eyes. Knowing this, it didn’t make me feel tremendously upset when I noticed that you stopped wearing the bracelet. At first, I thought you simply forgot to bring it. But then I realized, your custom made bracelet was being replaced with crochet and charm ones.

But we still talked, not as much as we used to. You drifted off, talking with the sport fanatics while I stuck with our old friends, the ones who stood by us. For a while, we didn’t talk. There wasn’t much to say, after all.

All was well, until you got dumped. You moped around the halls for weeks, not talk-ing to anyone because your sport fanatic friends, or used to be friends, would refuse to talk to you. I knew it was wrong for you to be friend-less, so that’s why I came back to you. I greeted with you with a hug, which sur-prised you a bit, and allowed you to cry into my shoulder. Our old friends comforted you with the care and compas-sion a mother would give to her newborn child. We stood by you, no matter what.

So now when I look at you, I have to smile, glad that we’re friends. You still wear those crotchet and charm bracelets, but I can still see those purple and pink beads glittering even in the dull light.

Decision 2012 Countdown: Eight MonthsContinued from page 2by Bilal Amodu

Kids & PoliticsKids & Politics

Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Rick Santorum Ron Paul

Four States: - New Hampshire - Florida - Nevada - Maine

One State - South Carolina

Four states -Iowa - Missouri - Minnisota - Colorado

-------------------

42% of vote thus far 31% of vote thus far 16% of vote thus far 11% of vote thus far 106 delegates

(according to CNN) 35 delegates

(according to CNN) 37 delegates

(according to CNN) 27 delegates

(according to CNN)

“Raspfairy” by Elizabeth Abrams, Age 7. Crayons and color pencils.

PAGE 12 THE CIRCLE GAZETTE MARCH 2012

“Bluery”

by Isabella Cely-García, Age 6

Pembroke Pines, FL

“Still Life” Pencil on paper

by Kate Maier, Age 8 Sunrise, FL

“Angry Birds” Crayon on paper.by Michaelanthony Greenfield, Age 9

West Hollywood, CA

“Ice Cream Sunday” Crayon, pencil and colored pen on paper.

by Sarah Damas, Age 9Coconut Creek, Fl

“Alien” Marker on paper. by Diego Infanzon Age 6,

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The pigs were stealing the eggs.

The yellow bird found the eggs, the pig didn’t give it back.

The yellow bird said “please” and the birds andpigs celebrated by eating eggs for breakfast.

The end.

“Untitled”Marker on

paper. by Eva Infanzon

Age 3,Ft. Lauderdale,

FL