Voice of the PatriotsInteractive

 

Table of  Contents

  Mrs. Harrison: We Aren’t Losing a Teacher, We’re Gaining an Assistant Principal

by Sarah Lynch-Kelly
 
 Mrs. Harrison’s former classroom was Madison 5.  She taught a total of eighty to one hundred students.  She is now watching over the sixth graders at TMS.  She had worked as an administrative aide for four years. She “loved working as one, but I set high goals for myself.”  She had been awaiting this “wonderful opportunity.”  
 When asked how she felt about leaving her English students she said, “I’m not really leaving them.  I still get to check in with them on the sidewalk and find out how they are doing.” 
 Mrs.  Harrison loves her new job and feels that along with responsibility comes pride and accomplishments.  
 
 

School Variety

by  Steven S.

 How many people do you know?  Your answer is probably a lot, but how many people do you know that are from a country otbher than U.S.,  countries some people have never heard of?  TMS is filled with people with different ethnic backgrounds,  countries ranging from England to China, from Korea to Ghana, from Russia to Samoli, from Vietnam to Liberia.  TMS has students from 5 of 6 inhabitable continents, representing a total of 29 countries.  
 Of the 907 students surveyed at TMS, 825 were born in the US and 82 were born in some other country.  The survey shows that 9% of all students at TMS were born outside the US.  This means that about one out of every eleven students in your class is of a different ethnic background.  Some of the countries represented include:  Bangaladesh, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, El Salvador, England, Germany, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Mexico, Pakistan, Phillippines, Puerto Rico, Russia, Samolia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, Utila, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia.  Surprisingly Thailand is the country from which most students have come.  Twelve students are from Thailand,  a close second is Russia with 10 students;  and in third place is Mexico with 7 students.  It is good that TMS is a school with people of many different origins and backgrounds, because a world without variety cannot exist.
 A special thanks to all the teachers that responded to my survey.
 

“To Wear Suspenders Or Not To Wear Suspenders”: 

For Mr. Binggeli, That Is Not The Question.
by Declan G.

 The question for him is “Which pair?”  As some of you regular library-goers may have noticed, I have been holding a small contest to see who can guess how many pairs of suspenders Mr. Binggeli owns.  Over the years, his daily-worn suspenders have become, to many students, Mr. Binggeli’s trademark.  It comes in a close second to his frequently used motto, “Do great things today,” which can be heard every morning as students begin congregating on the blacktop.  School just wouldn’t be the same without these two traditions, both of which Mr. Binggeli has kept alive for at least three years now.  Enough talk though, here are the results; Mr. Bingelli owns.....(drum roll please) sixteen pairs of suspenders. Sarah K. and Van A. all guessed (or counted) the correct answer.  Sorry, no prizes; I didn’t have a chance to get the autographed suspenders I’d hoped for. I hope you lucky winners aren’t too disappointed.
 

“Reflections” Champ Taylor

by Brawner Alcorn

 When the time for the “Reflections” contest came around, Taylor B. was ready. The eighth grader used a story he wrote for a journal entry in English class to enter in the contest. After all the entries had been read, the results were that Taylor won for Tuckahoe Middle. Then his story was judged for the Henrico County winner. Again, Taylor won. Over and over this occurred until he had won for the state and recently, for the entire country! Each time Taylor won, he had to read his story to all the winners from the different divisions. Taylor stated that he was only a little nervous when reading in front of all those people. When the awards ceremony is held, it might be in Washington, D.C.; with Taylor once more reading his winning story.
 There are three awards of excellence and five awards of merit in the contest. Of the three excellence awards, one was given to Taylor. When asked how he feels about being so successful with his writing, Taylor replied modestly, “It feels cool, and it’s all good.”
 Congratulations, Taylor!
 

Virus Mania


by Leora Rothenberg

 With modern technological advances, there come some certain disadvantages that no one likes.  This year it happens to be the spread of the viruses.  Although there have been thousands since the sparkly silver ball came down with shrieks from the crowd, the most notable of this year, and also the one that caused the most panic, was the Melissa virus. This virus utilized two of the most popular email clients for personal and business use- Outlook, or the free edition for Windows and Macintosh computers, Outlook Express. The Melissa virus, as well as most others today, use email as its way of spreading. This particular virus would hide itself as being from a colleague and would have the subject header “Important message from” and then the person’s name who had just been infected with it. The virus, when opened, would replicate itself using the preferences from your email client and your address book. It would take the first 50 addresses from the book to send itself, inserting your name, which can be found in the preferences file, into the subject header. The Melissa viruses content includes links to pornographic sites that pop up for your viewing displeasure. 
  Other notable viruses are the Boa, Papa (known to insiders as the Papa B), and the Ping, which are all spread by email. Most of them use Outlook and Outlook Express to replicate themselves, but they can be accessed using other email programs. It just so happens that Outlook Express and its predecessor open up all incoming attachments automatically so you don’t have to have a helper application. If you are worried about your computer being infected and you have either Outlook or Outlook Express, go into the preferences and disable the preview pane. 

High Hopes For Wanna Play?!

by Declan G. 

 Wanna Play?!, a musical about the lives of young people going into adolescence, or has been the latest project for the drama club and the chorus. Tryouts were Monday and Tuesday, the 19 and 20 of April, and about 65 singers and actors tried out by singing and reading a dialogue.  Only 34 of these qualified students made it; and as Mr. Frizzell said, that is the worst part of it, having to tell people they “can’t do what they want to do.”  He even added a chorus of 22 to the ensemble of 12 to let more people participate, but even then some had to be turned down.  The lucky students who did make it were Jared B., Rachel B., Erica B., Wren E., Jessica D., Haley H., Josie H., Ann Marie O. Sarah Lynch-Kelly, Amanda McC., and Kathryn S. (ensemble), Hillary B., Kelly B., Alem B., Angela C., Catie C., Jennifer C., Chelsea C., Krista E., Meredith G., Jimmy H., Leah J., Ashley K., Meghan K., Amanda L., Derek M., Maggie M., Ginny M., Reba O., Kristi S., Ellie S., Lexi T. and Lindsay W. (chorus).  This sounds like a large cast, even for seasoned director Mr. Frizzell to handle; but this should not be a problem, because he has directed various plays and at least one other musical, How to Eat Like a Child, a performance similar to Wanna Play?!, with its book by Linda Bergman, music by Jeff Rizzo, and lyrics by Barry Denna.  Rehearsals are held every day after school beginning Monday, April 26.  One of the best things about having a musical, according to Mr. Frizzel, is that it involves a larger group of people besides actors.  The chorus and Mrs. Roethke (a chorus teacher) are also involved.  The play is the 9th and 10th of June and is presently expected to be in the school gym.  Tickets will be sold the week or so before the play and are $3.00, a small price to pay for a night of singing, acting, and maybe even some dancing.  It is also a fun way to support your school’s drama and chorus programs. 
 

MATHCOUNTS in the State

By  Steven S.

 That’s right. Tuckahoe MATHCOUNTS team consisting of David R., Steven S., Raymond L., and Kostya L. went to the state competion on March 20 at the Nation’s Bank.  From the regional contest the team which brought home eight trophies in all.  David R. scored first place in the Individual round, Raymond L. placed fourth and Kostya L. placed fifth.  David R. competed in the state as a team member as well as an individual.  Due to their success Channel 36 decided to do an interview with the team members.  They appeared on Channel 36 during the week of March 5 through March 12.
 Raymond L., a seventh grader, had the most success.  He scored first place in the Countdown round and fourth in the Individual.  Overall the team scored first in the regional contest and earned the privilege to proceed to the state championship.  The top four individual scorers will move on to the national competion.  
 This has been the best year yet for Tuckahoe, and Mr. Binggeli is very pleased.  The team has practiced every odd day during 5th period in L-2.  Many of the competetion problems included algebra, probability, and geometry.  David Robert’s and Kostya L.’s experience in the Geometry gave a tremendous boost to the team.
 The state championship went better than expected.  The team came home with a 6th place team trophy, the first state trophy Tuckahoe has ever received.  The competition problems were harder than those the team had practiced.  In the individual round, David R. placed 22nd, Kostya L. placed 25th, Steven S. placed 26th and Raymond L. placed 47th.  Mrs. Wilcox is very proud of the team; everybody did their best.  
 

Save Mother Earth

by Steven S.

 As Earth is running out of natural resources, we will look on to recycling as a means of meeting our everyday needs.  The time to recycle is not when we run out of resources but is now.  At the rate at which we are expanding and consuming, Earth’s ability to support us is running out.
 Many industries have not yet realized the true potential of recycling, how it can help and eventually save us.  Schools around the country began developing the means of recycling materials such as paper and aluminum.  One such school in Chesterfield County, Swift Creek Middle, developed a system of recycling.  
 At Swift Creek all of the science classes participate in recycling, with the SCA plaing the biggest part in the process.  Out of 12,000 students, 90% participate.  For the past 5 years the amount of aluminum cans collected averaged to 10 pounds per student. Several major companies offer cash for recycled aluminum cans and paper, so this project brings the school about $4,000 yearly.  The money is used to buy new computers as well as supplies for the school.
 The recycling of paper is also done regularly at Swift Creek.  Students collect paper from the teachers, newspapers from the office, and carton boxes from computers and other merchandise.  Recycling of paper would help to save hundreds of trees, if all of the schools like Swift Creek Middle would join in.
 Tuckahoe Middle School has used as much paper as any other middle school in Henrico County, if not more.  From September to Spring Break Tuckahoe’s copier machine in Washington Hall made over 3.7 million copies of paper.  At least 25% of all that paper has been thrown away by students and teachers.  Keeping that figure in mind lets consider how much paper has been wasted for the past 3 years, for the past 5 years;  and what about the past 10 years....  This figure will continue on increasing as school years go on, as students and teachers will be in more need of computers and copiers.  Considering how many millions of pieces of paper have been wasted, amounts to hundreds and thousands of trees cut down.
 Tuckahoe Middle School can benefit greatly from paper recycling, and although aluminum recycling is done in cafeterias, it is minimal.  Recycling paper not only can benefit Tuckahoe economically but also help the environment in its struggle for survival.  In Henrico County, not a single middle school recycles paper, and fewer than 10% of high schools recycle.  If every elementary, middle, and high school would recycle in Henrico County, over the years thousands of trees would be saved from an electric saw.  
 A county does not need funding from a company to begin recycling, it has enough money to set up at least basic recycling means.  Those efforts could mean a whole lot to the school, to the community, and most importantly to the environment.  Tuckahoe can earn impressive profits from recycling, but there is the problem of organizing the effort. The SCA should be supportive and in charge of organizing it, and I believe that this can be done starting next year.  
 A county wide recycling program will not begin by a miracle, but from a single school setting it up.  I think that Tuckahoe is a good place to start considering the amounts of paper we use everyday.  A miracle will not happen, someone must make the idea a reality.