In Conclusion: 2009 Science Fair Winners

By Chloe & Nicklas

The 2009 Science Fair was full of interesting projects. All the projects were very well presented. The projects were all different. Some were about onions, and some were about crystal. Congratulations to the following students whose projects will advance to the all-county competition:

Grades 2-4

Physics

Ethan, Mrs. Timmons' 4th grade: "Can magnetism flow through liquid in 3D?"

Biology

Eddie-Joe, Mrs. Moscati's 3rd grade: "How Does Television Affect Homework?"

Chemistry

Amanda, Mrs. Kuchera's 4th grade: "Does price affect which nail polish lasts longer?"

Grades 5-8 Winners

Earth Science

Tim, Mr. Berger's 7th grade: "What is the driving force behind ocean currents, water temperature or salinity?"

Physics

Kady, Ms. Akhondzadeh's 8th grade: "Which type of lightbulb, incandescent, compact fluorescent or LED, gives off the brightest light, most heat and has the most energy efficacy?"

Chemistry

Philip Disarro and Jack Revkin, Ms. Water's and Ms. Klubnick's 5th grade: "What liquid coating makes a bar of soap slide the fastest and farthest?"

Biology

Micah, Mr. Keegan's 6th grade: "How effective is Rooibos tea as an antimicrobial?"

Environment

Samantha, Mrs. MacEnroe's 7th grade: "What fertilizer pollutes our water system the most?"

Congratulations to the elementary and middle school science fair winners. You did a great job on your work!

A Day in the Life...

By Lianna

Thursday, March 12, 2009

8:10 AM

I am currently riding to school on the red bus. I woke up 20 minutes ago; I slept way late. All of the younger kids are screaming their heads off and being extremely irritating while us older kids are sitting in the back of the bus half asleep.

10:00 AM

The eighth graders just got out of Math and Spanish. Math was unusually quiet today. We learned about trig functions (tangent, sine and cosine). In Spanish we learned the Spanish words for different body parts. We also watched a very humorous film in which a man walks around a mall and asks various shoppers if he can examine body parts such as the shoulder and the elbow. After he was done with that, he and his friend went to a taco bar and ordered tacos made of brains and tongues. Isn't that just lovely?

11:25 AM

I am now in the locker room after gym class, which is by far my least favorite class due to the fact that I am extremely uncoordinated. Our gym teacher had us do the dreaded "three-minute scores." Three-minute scores are a torture method designed by our gym teacher. Each quarter, he had everyone jump rope and run for three minutes straight while counting how many jump ropes we jump and how many cones we run around. This sounds fairly easy, but it is actually very frustrating. By the end of it, many of us can barely breath and the others gloat about how awesome they are. Then we have to shout out our scores in front of everyone, which is quite embarrassing. It is especially embarrassing for me because, as I mentioned before, I am extremely uncoordinated and my scores are always the lowest. Anyway, after the three-minute scores, I played beachball with two friends of mine. I was on a team by myself against two very skilled beachball players. This was an epic failure, because I am terrible at every sport in existence. The teams were made mainly for comedic purposes. We all wanted to see how terribly I would do. Well, now we're going to go to English class. Yay, Shakespeare.

12:40 PM

It is now recess, but instead of being outside like I would like to be, I am stuck in the English room with several other unfortunate souls who were stripped of their outdoor privileges. I was banned from going outside because of my lack of outerwear, though I could have easily walked a couple of feet down to the locker room to get it. Anyway, after gym we had English class, where we are reading the Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night. We will be performing this play in several months. After English we went to the cafeteria for lunch. My friend and I got scolded for throwing handfuls of Lucky Charms at each other. Now I'm in the English room reading one of my favorite books, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult for the 100th time. In a few minutes, we will be going to Social Studies and Science.

2:10 PM

Now I'm in Science. I normally would not be able to write during this period, since we are always occupied with things of a scientific nature, but I have a few spare seconds because I finished copying my chart early. In Science, we are learning abouty acids, bases, neutral substances and which household solutions contain them. In Social Studies we watched a movie and read about World War I. I have come to the conclusion that World War I is the most pointless war in the history of the world, though it is very interesting to learn about. I'm leaving at the beginning of next period, but if I wasn't, I would be going to study hall.

3:10 PM

I am now on the train going to New York City. My mom and I are celebrating my grandmother's 85th birthday with her and my grandfather. We're all going to eat dinner at Olive Garden (I hate it there, but my grandfather wanted to go there for reasons unknown). Then, we're leaving el viejo behind. My mom, my grandma and I are going to see the Broadway play In the Heights. Normally I would be at ballet class in Beacon from 4:30 to 6:00, but today is an exception.

8:00 PM

I am now at the theatre with my mom and my grandmother. Olive Garden was terrible; I think I gained 10 pounds in one sitting. I should probably stop writing because the play is going to start in two seconds.

11:15 PM

I just got on the train going back home. The play was very good, which means something coming from me because I tend to despise all musicals. The only ones I like are West Side Story, the Wizard of Oz, and the Lion King. My mom and my grandma enjoyed it a ton, since it reminded them of how life was back in the day for them. They made many personal connections with it. Now I'm doing the dreaded homework.

1:30 AM

I am now home, and I just finished my homework. Yahootie. I should probably go to sleep now, since I have to wake up tomorrow at 6:00, but I'm not very tired. So I'm going to go watch That '70s Show.

2:00 AM

Now I am officially tired. Tomorrow won't be fun. Going to school with little sleep is not very fun. Now I'm going to sleep. Adios.

Congrats Cougar Contest Winners!

1st place, Middle School: Graydon

1st place, Elementary School: Kaelin

Finalist: Julie

Finalist: Skye

Special Report: All Wired Up

By The Cougar Times Staff

Nearly all of the 36 students in the Garrison School's eighth-grade class have their own cell phones, according to a survey by the Cougar Times. Many students in lower grades also carry cell phones.

Here are some of the types of cell phones and plans that students are using:

A Motorola Razr with unlimited texting and 500 minutes shared with siblings.

A Verizon LG Dare with unlimited texting and 500 calling minutes.

A yellow Verizon Chocolate with no texting and 500 minutes.

A Verizon EnV2 with unlimited texting and E-Z tip calculator.

A Verizon Venus with unlimited texting and camera.

A Samsung Verizon phone with unlimited texting to all Verizon phones and advanced Bluetooth.

A Verizon Venus phone with unlimited texting and calling and calculator feature.

An LG Dare Verizon phone with texting and web.

A Verizon enV2 with unlimited texting that can send more than 500 texts an hour.

A Chocolate Verizon with texting and web.

A Sony Ericsson w350i, AT&T phone with unlimited talk and unlimited texting.

The survey also found confusion over the rules governing cell phone usage at school. To help clear this up, we provide below the section on "Electronic Devices" found in the "Garrison Union Free School District Middle School Student/Parent Handbook:"

"Students are strongly discouraged from bringing cell phones, radios, beepers, CD players, laptops, cassette players, MP3 players (iPods), headphones, electronic games, laser pens/pointers, and other electronic devices as they are a distraction. Once students have arrived at school, all these devices must be put in students' lockers. Students, however, may use Walkman-type devices (with headphones) on the school bus on the way to and from school and during their own recess times. If students are using any of the other devices during the school day, they will be taken away and returned at the end of the school day. Students are responsible for any or all electronic devices. The school is not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged items."

It's High School Decision Time!

By The Cougar Times Staff

Eighth-graders have a big decision to make in the coming weeks about which high school they want to attend.

Hear from eighth-graders about their choices:

For more information on the public high school choices, please click on the links below:

Haldane High School, Cold Spring

http://hs.haldaneschool.org/home.aspx

James I. O'Neill High School, Highland Falls

http://www.hffmcsd.org/oneill/hshome.htm

Attention Artists: Cougar Contest!

The Cougar Times Student Newsblog wants a new look for its website banner. We're looking for someone to draw a face of a cougar, the Garrison School's mascot, to serve as the website's main symbol. The winner will have his or her drawing used prominently on the newsblog with credit and will also receive a giftcard from iTunes or Starbucks. The contest is open to all Garrison School students. Drawings should be completed on an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper in pencil in black-and-white or color. Please hand in submissions to Art Teacher Mrs. Forrest by Friday, Feb. 13. The winning drawing will be selected by the Cougar Times staff. If you have any questions, please post below or come talk to me. Thanks, and good luck! -Nicklas, art & design director

What's your New Year's resolution?

Compiled by Chloe and Lianna

"Get better grades and improve study habits." -Kady, 8

"Recycle more." -Jake, 8

"Build gardens." -Nick, 8

"Get taller. A lot taller." -Simon, 8

"Less cursing and talking in general." -Libby, 8

"Be more environment-conscious." -Eryn, 8

"Be less crabby and agressive when I wake up." -Richard, 8

"Wear less makeup." -Tucker, 6

"Eat more chocolate." -Graydon, 8

"Read lots of poetry." -Jaswant, 7

"My New Year's resolution is not to have a New Year's Resolution." -Gus, 3

"Give up candy." -Sophia, 3

"Whiten my teeth." -Chloe, 8

"Make my hair less poofy." -Phillip, 8

"Get a girlfriend." -Matthew, 4

"Snag a babe." -Brianna, 7

Photo by Mrs. Rowe

Entertainment Center

By Simon

Must Read

The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer

Here's a fairly entertaining book for anyone who enjoys a good, action-filled, plot-twisting, sci-fi story. The book takes place in Satellite City, "The City of The Future," which, not surprisingly, takes place in the future. The story revolves around an orphan boy who was found as a baby on Cosmonaut Hill and sent to the Clarissa Frayne Institute For the Parentally Challenged where he was named, imaginatively enough, Cosmo Hill. At age 14, he realizes he has to get out or he will die soon from all the tests and experiments the staff puts him through at the institute. He finally makes it out and joins a group that fights supernatural creatures that only he and they can see. The book is a bit far-fetched at parts but is overall an interesting and fun story.

For more check out the Amazon page at http://www.amazon.com/Supernaturalist-Eoin-Colfer/dp/078685149X.

Must Watch

Flight of the Conchords, HBO

Yes, finally, the new season of Flight of the Conchords will be premiering on January 18. For those who don't watch the show (which is probably many), and for those who just want to touch up on their Conchords' knowledge, the show is about New Zealand's former fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo who move to New York City to become rich and famous. Although they struggle with their primary mission, they succeed in making friends (and enemies) and much more in the Big Apple. The show (obviously fiction) is more for those age 13 and older.