WEST UNIVERSITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL VOL. XVI ISSUE III
DECEMBER 2015
Monthly Mustang
The author with Officer Wilson outside the West U Police Station.
Dewuse Guyton in 5th Grade 1942 at West U Elementary.
KEEPING WEST U SAFE DURING THE
HOLIDAY S BY ABBY MANUEL
We all think West University Place is a safe community, and that is because of police ofBicers like Katie Wilson. OfBicer Wilson sat down to tell me a little bit about her job and to share a few safety tips with West U Elementary students. There are two parts to OfBicer Wilson’s job. One is patrolling the area, and the other is analyzing reports and educating the community about how to prevent crime. OfBicer Wilson does not like “sitting behind a desk,” so preventing crime is the perfect job for her. She says solving crimes is like putting together a puzzle. OfBicer Wilson has been putting puzzles together for eight years. West University Place is a safe community compared to other neighborhoods. OfBicer Wilson says, “West U is very small, so when we get a call, it only takes a few minutes to get there.” Because of West U’s smaller population compared to larger cities, the police can thoroughly investigate all reported crimes. The most common crimes committed in West U are identity theft, such as when someone opens a credit card in someone else’s name, and car burglaries. Violent crimes are not committed often. Crime spikes during the holiday season when people are buying Christmas presents, and thieves try to steal them. OfBicer Wilson says to prevent crime, “park cars in garages or behind locked gates” and never leave valuables in vehicles. Also, lock the doors to your house and set your alarm system. People commit crimes for many reasons: because they need money; they are on drugs; they have an opportunity, or for a thrill. OfBicer Wilson says, “There is never a typical day for a West U police ofBicer."
Houston Independent School District
WEST U 75 YEARS AGO
BY TRUMAN REID
Imagine being a child living in West University in the early 1940s. The United States is in the middle of World War II with many men off to war. West University is a small neighborhood, made up of new bungalows on the Blat plains. It is so Blat that you can see Lamar High School from your front yard. All of the BireBighters are volunteers at the local Bire station. Gas is being rationed for the war, so there is little trafBic. Fathers carpool to work and children walk or bike to school without their parents. West University Elementary and Pershing Middle School are on the same campus. Across from the school on Edloe Street is a movie theater, where a lot of children go after school and on weekends. During the summer, you and your friends take the bus to get to the downtown YMCA to play all day, swim and play ping pong. You shop at the JMH grocery store at the corner of Edloe of Rice. That was the childhood of Mr. Dewuse Guyton. I had the opportunity to interview him earlier this fall. He lived on Case Street and went to West University Elementary, Pershing Middle School, and Lamar High School. His house had three bedrooms, the children in one room, his parents in another, and they rented the last bedroom to wives of soldiers training at Ellington Field. He started delivering newspapers when he was 9 years old. He had to buy the newspapers with his own money and then collect payment by himself. He also worked at the (continued on page 3) http://westues.org
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WEST UNIVERSITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL VOL. XVI ISSUE III
DECEMBER 2015
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK BY NORA MAYRAL BOYLE
Do you like a good hike? Do you like nature and amazing, breathtaking views? Do you like swimming in lakes and hilarious s q u i r re l s s t e a l i n g your chip bags? If you do, Yosemite National Park in Sierra Nevada, C a l i f o r n i a i s t h e perfect place for you! R e c e n t l y , t h e plague was found in some of the of the squirrels at Yosemite. A child who camped at Yosemite fell ill with the plague shortly visiting the park. It is believed that a Blea from a squirrel with the plague bit the boy. Thankfully, the child has since recovered. Some of the trails are Mirror Lake Loop, Bridalviel Fall Trail, Half Dome Trail, and the Snow Creek Trail, but there are so many more than that. Hikes range from a half mile (round trip) to 24 and a half miles, (round trip) and last up to twelve hours! Yosemite was created in 1890 and is one of the oldest nature preserves in the United States. More than 3 million visitors a year make Yosemite a destination. Yosemite is one of the best and most well-­‐known national parks. It is certainly and amazing place to see nature at its most beautiful! NEW YEAR 2016 BY MATTHEW JEONG
SOURCE: http://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm FAVORITE HOLIDAYS BY BROOKE BLUM
People around the globe have been celebrating the start of the new year for millenia. People have different ways of celebrating The author pounding rice cakes in Korea in 2011.
this holiday. People usually go to year end parties, eat traditional foods, and make goals for themselves. In Spain, you must chomp down 12 grapes for good luck right before midnight. The Swedish and Norwegians serve rice pudding with an almond hidden inside. They believe whoever finds the nut earns a year with good fortune. Chinese celebrate by eating long noodles for long lives. Cuban people eats pork. In Italy and Hungary, they eat lentil beans. In my family we make a traditional Rice Cake soup called Tteokguk (dukel) every year for New Years. Many people make resolutions for New Years. Common ones are such as: 1. I want to get a 100 on my spelling tests. 2. I want to get better in science. 3. I want to learn an another language this year. Whether you complete and make it to your goal, it is always good to make an attempt. What will your New Year’s resolution be? Send yours to Mr. Connolly mconnoL1@houstonisd.org Houston Independent School District
http://westues.org
D o y o u k n o w w h y w e c e l e b r a t e h o l i d ay s ? We celebrate holidays for fun, like Halloween, or because it is related to a religious event as with Christmas, Ramadan, Hanukah or Easter. Also, many people have a favorite holiday that they like to celebrate the most such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Ramadan, Halloween, Easter or Valentine’s Day. Sometimes people like all the holidays the same. For most, there is a favorite holiday and for the most part kids love holidays because it means a time for fun! Q. If you had to pick a favorite, what is your favorite holiday? A. Thanksgiving –Claire Cole, 3rd grade A. Christmas –Lindsay Blum, 1st grade A. Christmas – Millie Shah, 3rd grade Q. Why do you love celebrating this holiday the most? A. Because I love to eat turkey and have fun. – Claire Cole A. Because the “Elf on the Shelf” comes to our house. –Lindsay Blum A. Because I get to spend time with my friends and family and open presents. – Millie Shah page 2
WEST UNIVERSITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL VOL. XVI ISSUE III
GET TO KNOW
MS. GUTHRIE GET TO KNOW MRS.WICK
BY ANGELINA PASCALI
BY ELAINE SEE TOH
Q. How long have you been teaching? A. I have been teaching for 5 years. Q. What college did you graduate from? A. I graduated from the University of Texas. Q. Where are you from? A. I am from Houston. Q. What is your favorite subject to teach? A. My favorite subject to teach is Reading and Language Arts. Q. What is your favorite movie? A. My favorite movie is Despicable Me 2 because it is humorous. Q. What is your favorite song? DECEMBER 2015
A. My favorite song is Shake It Off By Taylor Swift. Q. Do you have any siblings? A. Yes, I have five sisters. Q. Who is your hero? A. My mom is my hero because she works really hard and she is alway smiling. Q. Who is your favorite author? A. My favorite author is Mo Willems. Q. What made you want to be a teacher? A. I love kids and I love learning. Q. Who inspired you to become a teacher? A. My second grade teacher, Mrs. Sims because she made me love learning. Q. How do you like your kindergarten class so far? A. I love my kindergarten class because they are learning so much everyday. Q: What is the most important rule in your classroom and why is it important? A: To be honest you should always tell the truth. Q: What is the toughest part of teaching today? A: To manage the behavior of students. Q: What is the role of homework? A: To reinforce what was taught in class. Q: What have been your most negative and positive teaching experiences? A: My most positive was when a student wrote me a thank you note and my most negative was when many students interrupted class. Q: How would you handle a student sleeping in your class? A: I would wake them up gently. Q: What do you do in your spare time? A: Watch my daughter play soccer and volunteer at church. Q: How long have you been teaching here? A: I have been teaching here for ten years. Q: What are five words you would use to describe your self. A: Happy, friendly, honest, trustworthy, and funny. Q: Do you like laughter in your classroom what are some funny things that have happened in your class? A: Yes and a funny moment is when I misspeak. Q: What motivates you? A: I want to make a difference. Q. Who is your hero? A. My hero is Julia Child. GET TO KNOW MRS. MCLAMB 75 Years Ago continued from page 1
BY ELLIE ELMORE
JMH grocery store, not the one where Tiny's
No. 5 exists today, but a different one in the
neighborhood.
While some things are the same at
West U Elementary, a lot has changed. For
example, there was no homework! There were
about 200 kids in the school and 35 kids in each
class. Your classmates rarely changed. If you
look at the old pictures, you see the same kids
in the same classes. The brick buildings looked
nearly the same, but many classes were in T
buildings. The baseball fields weren't there yet,
but there was a gym. There was no Fitnessgram,
school lunches, extra-curricular activities, and
no standardized testing. Mr. Guyton told me
that he had great memories at West U and
thinks it was a great school. Who wouldn't if
there was no homework?
Q: What is your favorite Blue Bonnet book? A: Great American Dust Bowl Q: How many years have you been teaching? A: 5 Q: What other grades have you taught? A: Just third! Q:What is your favorite animal? A: small dogs Q: Where did you go to high school? A: Mt.Carmel Academy in New Orleans Q: What is your favorite wildflower? A: Blue Bonnets Q: What is your favorite subject? A: Math, of course! Q: What was your favorite tv show when you were a kid? A: Hogan's Heroes Q: Where did you go to college? A: Loyola University in New Orleans Q: Why do you love teaching so much? A: I love the students. When I see their faces light up when they learn something new, I get so excited! Houston Independent School District
http://westues.org
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WEST UNIVERSITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL VOL. XVI ISSUE III
BENNER'S BLUEBONNET BOOK REVIEWS
Separate is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh out of 5 stars. This picture book tells the true story of the Sylvia Mendez and her family’s struggle against segregation. The book takes place in California during the 1940’s and has a happy ending! I give it four stars because the illustrations were colorful and very detailed. The book was easy to read and understand. However, I wish it was longer and had more facts. THUNDERSTORMS
DECEMBER 2015
BY WESTON BENNER
Mountain Dog by Margarita Engle out of 5 stars. This chapter book takes place in the Sierra Nevada. The novel follows an eleven-­‐year-­‐old boy who has to move from Los Angeles to the wilderness to live with his uncle and a search-­‐
and-­‐rescue dog. I liked how the story alternated between the boy (Tony) and the dog’s (Gabe) point of view. Also, I really enjoyed how the author included some amazing black and white illustrations and told the story in free verse format. I don’t want to spoil anything, but my favorite part was the nice ending! DEALING WITH SIBLINGS BY KATE JEONG
BY BROOK BLUM
The Bayou City’s own storm chaser Hank Schyma was able to
capture a lightning strike during Houston’s wicked weather. Shot
near the corner of Richmond and Weslayan, a lightning strike is
shown hitting the ground, lighting it up in a pinkish hue.
A thunderstorm is a storm with thunder and lightning. Thunderstorms can happen at any time of year, but they happen most often during the spring, summer and fall. They also happen most often in afternoon and evening. The lightning in thunderstorms kills more people than hurricanes and tornadoes. If you hear thunder, lightning is nearby. You can hear thunder up to 15 miles away. The heavy rain can cause flooding, high winds and can blow down trees and power lines, which can cause power outages. Remember the 30/30 lightning safety rule: go indoors if, after seeing lightning, you cannot count to 30 before hearing thunder, stay indoors for 30 minutes after hearing the last clap of thunder. Houston Independent School District
In life, we form a connection with our siblings that we'll never have with anyone else. We spend more time with our siblings than with friends, parents, teachers, or alone by ourself. Unfortunately, in a house with more than one kid, there's going to be some problems. Our brothers and sisters may borrow our things and not return in them in the previous condition. And sometimes, they even don't return it all! Psychologists at the University of Redlands found that 95% of younger siblings and 93% of older siblings said taking property was the major problem. Other problems are: the younger siblings tend to feel like the older sibling bosses them around; Older sibling may feel like the younger one gets all the family attention. (Don't worry, it's typical.) Competition leads to Kate and her 3rd grade brother,
Matthew.
arguing, hitting, and mean words. Too much competition can leave you very unhappy. http://westues.org
Remind yourself that you are special in your own way. Your brother might have won a basketball competition, but you might be good at math. Your sister might have won a dancing contest, but you may be good at singing. If you think the worst at all times, you can get depressed. Try to congratulate your sibling for their awards and share their happiness. They will be more likely to do the same for you when you have a success. Remember that our siblings one of life's most important experiences. Siblings teach us about loyalty and rivalry, selfishness and selflessness, mentoring and listening, and more. If you're getting into a fight with your bother or sister, take a deep breath and try to think for a bit. If that doesn't work, count to ten. Figure out how you're feeling. Think about what you'll say nextIf the situation gets out of control and you start to fight way too much, you should speak to someone about it. Talk to your parents or a trusted adult. Try spending some some with your sibling alone. Make rules such as, "If you take my belongings and return it in bad shape or lose it, you need to get me a new one. " Many siblings tend to fight and compete with one another while growing up, but end up becoming close friends when they get older. Always remember that your family is your family forever. page 4
WEST UNIVERSITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL VOL. XVI ISSUE III
FORMULA FOR SUCCESS BY DALIA KHERA
Do you want to know the formula for success? It’s simple! The answer is double your rate of failure. These are the famous words of IBM founder, Thomas Watson. I am sure that there are several pathways to success, but for many, the most common pathway to success is full of setbacks and failures. In fact, if you look at the lives of very successful people, most had their share of failures along the way. Have you ever heard of Hank Aaron? Hank Aaron is an American Major League baseball legend who played for the Atlanta Braves. Hank Aaron had over 750 home runs, but do you know how many strikeouts he had? He had over 1,380 strikeouts. 750 home runs, 1380 strikeouts. Hank Aaron struck out nearly twice the number of times he hit home runs, and Hank Aaron is known in history as one of the best baseball players ever. You can’t hit home runs without strikeouts. In other words, you cannot have success without failure. Life is full of challenges. There will be setbacks when it comes to school, sports and even friendships along our course in life. We need to remind ourselves that failure does not mean it is the end of our journey. Failure is usually required to ultimately succeed. So if things go wrong, do not give up! Finally, if you are ever feeling down, try to remember these famous words from American basketball star Michael Jordan, “I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
RESPONSIBILITY ROCKS!
BY NADIA KHERA
Responsibility means being accountable for your actions and behavior. Being responsible also means doing the right thing at the right time so others can count on you. Here are some ideas on how to behave responsibly: 1. Do your homework and chores on time without being reminded. 2. Follow through on your commitments even if you don’t feel like it. 3. Accept responsibility for your mistakes and learn from them. Don’t make excuses or blame others. 4. Take care of your things and those of other people. Return things you borrow. For example, turn your library books in on time. 5. Think things through and use good judgement. For example, eat healthy foods and wear a helmet. 6. Always do you very best. Others may be counting on you! Responsibility means doing all that you can do to be the best person possible. Behaving responsibly not only helps you but also the world around you. When each person takes responsibility for his or her actions, the world can be a much nicer place to live in. Remember, responsibility rocks! VIDEO GAME CORNER: MICROSOFT HOLOLENS
I bet you’re wondering “Why is this guy writing about sunglasses?” Well, coming in 2016, these are no ordinary sunglasses, but they are VIRTUAL REALITY glasses!! Just imagine playing Minecraft on your living room sofa with these babies. The catch? It costs approximately $350 bucks. Also, you have to have Windows 10 to use it. These problems are an easy Houston Independent School District
DECEMBER 2015
BY DAVIS BARNETT
Bix, but they are also very heavy to wear for a fair amount of time. The good thing is you play virtual games in the REAL world!! Not all real, not all virtual but both. It’s called mixed reality. Again, imagine playing Minecraft. You select create world, and a blocky, 3-­‐D city and landscape erupts out of your home, bedroom, etcetera. With a Blick of your hand, you move Steve (or Alex) to the closest village. You zoom in to get a better view, and you start your adventure in virtual reality! Remember, this is only a taste of what HoloLens can do. You can play other games than Minecraft, and you have more options to experiment with. This just about wraps up my time with you and this has been Davis Barnett’s very own Game Corner.
http://www.westues.org
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WEST UNIVERSITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL VOL. XVI ISSUE III
DECEMBER 2015
Nuts by Josie Pulaski
?
For
Here’s a
me?
present for
you.
I love
it!
Answer:
Cashews
December
Jokes by
Sofia Skaria
Where does a
Snow man keep
his money?
A. He keeps it in a
snowbank!
What car does
an elf drive in?
A. A Toy--ot--a!
What is a
snowman's
favorite cereal?
A. Frosted
HOLIDAY WISHLIST
BY AMY HE AND AVA YU
What do you want for Christmas? Let’s see what some of our student body wants to see in their stockings! • Davis Barnett, 5th Grade-­‐small remote controlled airplane • Peter Johnston, 4th Grade-­‐ a live mouse • Ava Yu and Amy He, 5th Grade-­‐ a Nook • Jane Johnston, 5th Grade-­‐ a canvas (painting) • Sophie Yu, 2nd Grade-­‐ new slippers Hopefully everybody has been good and have a happy holiday! Houston Independent School District
KIDS MEALS
BY MARISA BOUE AND KAI GOMEZ
Are you ever hungry? Imagine being that all the time. Do you ever think about the hungry children? That is why our school is doing this charity. We will be packing brown paper bags with sandwiches, apples, juice boxes and more. When we are done they will send these lunches to the hungry children. You probably eat more than these hungry children in a week than they eat in a month. So you should really participate in this charity. Make sure you mark your calendars for December 17th because that’s when we will be doing this charity. So next time you have a meal think about these children. http://www.westues.org
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