Strong Vincent was a lawyer who became famous as a U.S. Army officer during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded while leading his brigade during the fighting at the Little Round Top.  He died five days later. He was born on June 17,1837 in Waterford, PA, and he died on July 7, 1863 in Gettysburg, PA. He is buried in the Erie Cemetery.

   Our large public school that has housed high schoolers and middle school students, was named after General Strong Vincent because he commanded Erie’s regiment in the Civil War.  This incredible picture shows how undeveloped the area was at the time. All the property North of West 8th street was owned by Charles Hamot Strong; it’s a neat coincidence that Vincent was built on the Strong estate. The Bayfront highway follows the path of the old railroad tracks on the right side of the photo . The intersection near the upper right hand corner of the school is 8th and Weschler, Reed Manufacturing is across the street from the school, one block to the west.  This is a brief history of our school, and Brigadier General Strong Vincent.

     My intentions are to gather opinions from students on what could be done to help them work more efficiently or feel more comfortable in their learning environment at school.  During the process of gathering information, I interviewed students that ranged from 6th grade to 8th grade; honors classes, regular classes, and integrated classes. A majority of the students I interviewed shared common opinions on how their environment can be more comfortable and how they can learn more effectively.  

Common opinions: 

Special suggestions:  

Our returning clubs are Dungeons and Dragons, Karate, Garden Club, Quiz Bowl, Bell Choir, and finally Anime Club. Most of these clubs are already filled up so sign up now.     

Our new clubs
There are also a few new clubs to offer:   Newspaper Club, Positive Vibes Only Club, C.R.A.F.T Club, Winter Décor Club, Holiday Cookie Club, and Holidays Around the World.  

 

Future clubs/club ideas
The students would like to start a Snow Club where students would do outdoor activities and play in the snow. Social Club is a new club that is expected to start when we come back to school in January.  This club is going to be participating in all the afterschool activity options and will be planning to make new clubs, setting them up, and helping Miss Kaitlyn. 

Our trade clubs are Auto Mechanics  and Cosmetology. The school has already done cooking, construction, and nursing. The purpose of these clubs is to help students explore possible future career paths. Throughout the rest of the year, more career clubs will be added to the list. Miss Kaitlyn is always looking for suggestions for any type of club ideas. She can be e-mailed at kfalk@eriesd.org. 

Well, if you are bored over the break here are some things you can do.

I really hope you liked these suggestions. Have a good break!

-Clear your desk. If you have any unnecessary clutter it may distract you from studying to your full potential.                    

-Try to study in a quiet place. If your family members are in the same room as you when you’re studying and they’re having their own conversations, you might be distracted by them. 

-Keep your mind clear as you’re studying. Any distractions can stop you from studying to your full potential.

Lots of people like to snack while they’re studying and some even say it helps them concentrate.  Yet, a mistake many people make is not snacking smart. You may think coffee, candy, and or anything super sugary may help you stay energetic throughout the study time, but in the end you’ll have a sugar crash. That will cause you to be way too tired to continue studying. If you want to stay focused and make sure you’re doing your best, then you want to snack healthy and smart! Studies show food like apples, edamame, or nuts (like pecans or cashews) are best to keep your energy up. Nuts are  rich in omega-3 fatty acids that support cognitive (brain) function and help you concentrate! While apples are a leading source of quercetin, an antioxidant plant chemical that keeps your mental juices flowing by protecting your brain cells.

A common mistake when studying is too many people just read over their notes and hope they remember it. Actually, one of the best ways to remember something is to write it over and over again. Say for example, you have a rule in Science you’re supposed to remember. Instead of reading it over and over again, you should write it over and over again. Writing by hand forces your brain to process the information. Flash cards are also one of the best ways to remember something like your vocabulary words. On one of the sides of a paper or card, you would write the word and the other you would write the definition. Read the word and try and think about what the definition is and once you think you’ve got it, switch sides and see if you got it right. You want to keep doing this until you can zoom through the cards successfully.

An effective way to remember something difficult is to explain it in simpler terms. This is called The Feynman Technique. The Feynman Technique is an efficient method of learning a concept quickly by explaining it in more plain and or simple terms. It is based on the idea “If you want to understand it well, you want to try and explain it simply.” If we explain a concept in our own words we are likely to understand it better. 

There are many ways you can study and these are just some of the best ways. If you want, feel free to do your own research on studying to get the best results on your upcoming assessments. Thank you and I hope you take some of these methods into consideration. 

I interviewed seventh grader, Sophia Ring, for her opinion. According to her, she often feels the same way. Sophia expressed she often needs teachers to explain things more than once - - especially if the assignment has multiple steps. "I'm not saying teachers need to hold our hands through the entire thing, but many of us need extra help."  A common belief held amongst many of us is we want to prove to ourselves and our parents that we can do well. My sister, Stella Valenti, an 11th grader at Erie High, says that she has a lot of stress from trying to keep her grades up and she doesn't want to disapoint anyone - including herself. Being older and wanting to get into a good college can take a toll on her. 

Brielle, a Senior at McDowell High School, says that they have always had good grades but have struggled with confidence issues when it comes to academics. They said, “I’ve always been the type of person to put the stress on myself, not necessarily teachers. I think people stress themselves out with their grades because they have very high standards for themselves.” I can 100% agree with that statement. As a teenager with anxiety and confidence issues, stress on grades happens a lot. I can say I’ve cried because my grades dropped. I feel like I’m disappointing myself, and I bet that many other people feel the same way. 

But also the stress can come from our fellow peers. Eighth grader, Jorge Bonifacio, says that when working in groups, sometimes, one or two people do all the work for the project and that puts a lot of stress on him. For some, this stress could make people anxious or depressed - - but for him it just simply makes him mad. This comment makes perfect sense because I feel that way, too. Stress from grades can stem from many different things like our peers, teachers, parents, or from ourselves. It can definitely affect our moods and emotions. I'm lucky to go to a middle school with teachers and principals who care about us. I know teachers are stressed out too, but we're all in this together.

    “I walk home and I think the weather has been very difficult. It's been icey and chilly, and it's dangerous and difficult to get home. I feel bad for others who have to walk home.” -Kathleen Mancinelli. 

    “It's  very snowy , cold and slippery. I don’t really like the snow but, I’m happy we are moving into cooler temperatures. The wind staying low is nice though.” -Jonas Maisner

We will be experiencing highs and lows for the rest of December. And we all hope we will have a white Christmas!

By 1834, the British Empire outlawed slavery. Slavery in the U.S wasn't outlawed until 1863 (formally 1865). Slaves were prominent throughout the southern United States. This means slaves had two options. They could go south or north. If they wanted to be free, they would travel north. The southern option was only available before the Seven Years War ended. In Spanish territories, any slave that escaped from the U.S would be set free. After the Seven Years War, the British took control of these areas, thus adding to the Empire and taking land away from the Spaniards. The slaves only had one option from then on, to go north.

Slavery was prominent in the south before 65’. Because of this, slaves wanted to be free. They were going north and passing through Erie to go to Canada. The underground railroad and some prominent anti-slavery groups were in Erie. Some prominent people in the Erie area were hardcore abolisionists. For example the famous John Brown lived in Crawford county and helped some 2,500 slaves by helping and sheltering them.

Slaves had to hide in the day and move at night. When they got to Erie, they had to hide or blend into the population. They could escape to Canada when they could. The underground railroad helped people by hiding them in their homes and businesses. For example, at the old Wesleyville Methodist Church at 3306 Buffalo Road, they hid slaves. Unfortunately,the church has since been demolished. Another famous place is the Perry Memorial house formerly known as the Dickson tavern. Opened in 1815 by John Dickson on 201 French St. It of course was a tavern but the underground railroad would also hide escaped slaves in the fruit celler under the bar counter. It was restored 1963 and in 1990 it was named a historical site.

Erie was once, and still is,a harbor. That’s another reason why slaves came here. We of course had ships. The prominent reason why everyone knows the Erie harbor is because it supplied Oliver Hazard Perry’s ships during The War of 1812.The ships that took slave sacross the lake where whatever ships where going to Canada at the time. Not all ships were from this harbor.

Erie has much more history than what I've just explained. If you found this interesting, I highly recommend you search this subject for yourself.

      On November 29, a school teacher witnessed Ethan searching ammunition on his cell phone and with that they reported it to school officials. The school authorities contacted Ethan’s mother through email and voicemail about his concerning behavior. His mother didn’t respond to the school right away instead she texted her son saying “LOL I’m not mad. You have to learn not to get caught.” Later that night Ethan recorded himself in a video discussing how he would kill students at his school one day. 

     The day of, Ethan was at school when he was caught by yet another teacher with a notebook filled with drawings of a person bleeding out with two gunshot wounds. More drawings of guns and blood were found. There were also disturbing words that go along the lines of “ The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.” and  “ Blood everywhere.” Along with a picture of a laughing emoji with a note that states, “ My life is useless” and “ the world is dead.” Around 10 am, his parents were called in for an important meeting regarding his notebook and concerning behavior.  During the time of the meeting, Ethan was questioned and observed by many school counselors. He then talked about his concern about missing homework and other assignments, which  doesn’t explain his dark drawings and comments. After further questioning, the counselors didn’t believe that he would harm others or himself.  When the meeting with parents, principal, and other teachers was over, James and Jennifer were asked to put their son into counseling within 48 hours or child protective services would be called.  The parents refused the request and left for work leaving Ethan at school.

     Around 12:50 pm, Ethan went to the restroom with a book bag that carried the weapon. Moments later he came out with the handgun and started firing shots at people in the hallway. He managed to kill four students and wound six including one teacher. The school went into lock-down and contacted the Oakland County Sheriff's office regarding the gunshots. The four victims that were killed are, Hana St. Juliana - 14 year old, Tate Myre - 16 year old, Madisyn Baldwin - 17 year old, and Justin Shilling - 17 year old. Hana, Tate and Madisyn all died that night and Justin died the next day.  They will be remembered and missed by those who were close to them. 

     When Ethan’s parents found out that there was a shooting at his school and the handgun was missing they warned the school. . Ethan was charged with murder and terrorism. Along with James and Jennifer who were each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. 

    So, if you are a student and hear something out of the ordinary from other students, please let an adult know so they can check into the situation.