IMEA Oct 2011

IMEA stands for Illinois Music Educators Association, and Bradley Bourbonnais Community High School has been part of it for a while now. On Monday, October tenth, seventy students from BBCHS’s orchestra, and choir will be auditioning. The auditions are at Bloomington High School. IMEA District three includes schools a lot of schools. They reach as far as Bloomington-Normal and Danville.

The students will be trying out for the District band, choir, orchestra, jazz band and jazz choir. For the students who get into the District three Jazz Festival, this event is on Saturday, November twelve at Illinois Wesleyan University. The other festival the students can get into to is the District three Music Festival. This event is on Saturday, November nineteenth at Illinois State University. The students will be playing with many of the other top music students from the other schools in the District three schools.

If the student places high in their section in their audition in October, may be selected to participate in the All State Music Convention at the end of January, in Peoria. The students of BBCHS music departments are well represented in the festival and at the convention. An average of twenty to twenty-five students participate in the festivals and an average of eleven students go to the All State Convention.

Kankakee Comm College Dec 2011

Kankakee Community College is a local college in the Kankakee area. Many are students start their college education there. There are many pros and cons to this community college, as there are with most schools.

Community colleges are cheaper. It is easier to pay for the college and is a great way to start saving for a bigger One. Community colleges are also closer to home. This is a good thing for some students who are not ready to leave home, or need a place to live. It is a great way to help student’s transition into the college life. Some students are not ready for the college experience, and a community college is a great way to start the college life. In community college, the classes are smaller, which means more time with the professor and a good way for students who have problems. The student would have more time to receive help. If you aren’t the best student in high school, Community college is a great way to get a second chance. The student can get another chance to get better grades, and better transcripts.

Community college isn’t for everyone, though. Some people want to be away from the people they have seen for four years, and want the freedom that colleges away from home give. With the community college, there are no dorms. This can be both positive and a negative thing. Some people don’t want to deal with roommates or having to see people in a building. Some people love the idea of this, they want to meet new people and experience a roommate they don’t know. Having to find a house to stay in, living with friends, or living with family are the only options in going to community college. In community college there are not as many classes to choose from. Most students who just graduated high school go to community to take the core classes. Going to a community college, students will lose out on some college life. There are no college sororities or clubs. There is no campus life, either. There are not a lot of things to do on the campus, and since students don’t live in a building together, they don’t get to know other people as much.

The tuition for community college is cheaper then university’s tuition. Kankakee’s tuition is one hundred and seven dollars: ten for the basic fees and the ninety-seven for the actual class. That is for one class. This is a small fee, compared to the twenty-eight thousand for six classes. That is four thousand for each class. At Kankakee Community College, they also have a gym and many other things for the students to use.

There are many positive reasons to go to the Community College, but there are also a number of negative reasons. Chose of where to go to college is up to the person who is going, and where the person can afford and where they feel comfortable.

Music going to Disney Dec 2011

On March ninetieth through the twenty- second, the BBCHS music department is going to Disney over spring break. They are going down there for a clinic coordinated by the Disney Music Staff. BBCHS students go every four years to Disney, and they always have a good time. Two hundred to two hundred and fifty students will be going on this trip. The clinic entails working with Disney Staff on Musical selections. Also recording session and creating soundtrack to a Disney animated clip. The orchestra, band and choir will be getting there by Charter Buses. It takes twenty-three hours to get there, which is a great time for the students to socialize and get ready to perform. The students perform, attend the clinics and then get to enjoy their time at Disney. Schools all over the country perform at this clinic.

The band will be performing a Latin piece called, “Santana”. They are hoping to get into the Magic Kingdom Parade. The Magic Kingdom parades are parades that go around the park two times a day. Mr. Dyche, who runs the band, does not know what other pieces they are playing or what days they are playing. Last time the band was there they performed in the Magic Kingdom Parade. The band does four fundraisers this year and will be using the profits from two of the ones from last year.

The orchestra will be playing a beautiful piece called Millennium. They will be playing at the Downtown Disney Stage. Mr. White, who runs the Orchestra and helps with the band, does not know what other pieces they are playing or what days they are playing. Last time the orchestra went to the Disney they played at Epcot on the Future World West Stage. The orchestra performed “Bacchanale” from the opera “Samson and Delila” by Camille Saint-Saens, “Millennium” by Richard Meyer, and “Overture to the Barber” of Seville by Gioachino Rossini. The orchestra does a number of fundraisers through the year; such as selling candles, nuts, butterbraids, and poinsettias.

The choir will also be playing at the Downtown Disney Stage. Mrs. King, who runs Choir along with Mrs. Lord, also does not know what pieces they are playing at the moment or what days they are playing. The last time the choir went to Disney, they played at the Epcot Center on the Future World West Stage.

Snow person Dec 2011

During the Christmas break, there are so many fun things to do. One of the great things to do is to make a snowperson. Some people think that they understand and know how to make a snowperson, but they do not know how to do this. So grab your siblings, your mother and father, and your friends and go make an amazing snowperson.

The first thing is to make sure that the snow is able to pack together. If the snow is not able to pack then the snowperson will not be able to withstand the wintery season. The snow must be able to stay together without falling apart and must not be too hard.

The next thing is to start building the bottom of the snowperson. This is the foundation of the snowperson and has to be amazing. Take a handful of the white snow and form a ball. Continue adding snow to your ball, until you cannot hold it anymore. Make sure you keep the ball round or the snowperson will look lopsided. Put the snowball on the ground and roll it around the yard, making sure it stays tight. When you have a decent size ball, roll it out of the way and that is the bottom.

Next are the midsection and the head. This is the same thing as the bottom, but they are not as big. When putting these parts on, sprinkle some fresh snow on the top of the bottom layer, so the snow has something to grab onto. Be careful when putting on the layer, this is the hardest part. Make sure that the layer is on perfect or it will be lopsided and will fall over. To help the snowperson stay standing up, add snow in-between the layers. Place the snow in the center, where the layers meet.

The last and funniest part is decorating the snow person. You can dress your snowperson in the like of a friend, a famous person, or just dress it up like a regular snowperson. You need to decide the gender of the snowperson before you continue. To dress it up like yourself or a friend, then you will need stuff that will make the snowperson look like the certain person. If your friend has glasses or a Mohawk, then you need to get these things. If you are dressing the snowperson as a famous person, then find out what this person wears or a character that the person plays, and get the supplies that will make the snowperson look like the famous person. For example, if dressing it put as Edward from Twilight then get brown hair, a pair of sunglasses, and make it sparkle. If dressing it up as Harry Potter, then get a pair of glasses, a wizard hat, a clock, a wand, and clock. Adding a snow owl, will give you extra points.

If dressing the snowperson as a regular snowperson, then you will need a carrot, coal, licorice, and any other available food. For the eyes, you can use coal, black olives, or any black, small food. If you want a color eyes then get the color of eyes you want and use that instead. For the nose, use a carrot. For the mouth, you a stick or licorice. Anything long, thin and able to bend will work.

Pottermore

On July fifteenth, a lifestyle for a lot of students at BBCHS has ended Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two came out, and a lot of students, fans or not, think the Harry Potter series and lifestyle is over. Well it is not ending. The fans would, for one, never let that happen. J. K. Rowling also knows this, so she has added a new character to the Harry Potter lifestyle with “Pottermore”, which this is a new way to experience the world of Harry Potter.

Pottermore is a new website where Harry Potter fans, or as the fans like to be called, “potterheads”, can see the book in a unique ways. A few hundred Potterheads got to get onto the Pottermore site early. Over a seven-day period, the main page of Pottermore.com had a question posted on it, and when the questions answered, they got a link. Once the potterhead went to the link, they catch the magical quill and then got to make their account. The site started to let people in after a month, and the experience changed Potterheads lives forever.

Once a Potterhead gets into Pottermore, they sign in and get to explore the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Visitors go through all seventeen chapters. In certain chapters, visitors have to complete certain tasks before they can continue. In chapter five, Diagon Alley, they have to shop and get all their required school supplies. The Potterhead gets to visit all of the different shops, such as Potage’s Cauldron Shop, the Apothecary, and Eeylops Owl Emporium and Magical Menagerie. They even get to go to Ollivander’s. This is where they get their wand. There is a quiz they can take that J. K Rowling has made herself. In Chapter Seven, they will be sorted. When going through all of the chapters, visitors get to read information on characters, places, objects, and creatures. This is a great treat for all Potterheads, since Potterheads love to get more information on the books.

When the Potterheads are finished with the first book, they will have access to most of the extras on the site, such as going to the Great Hall, the Common Room, Diagon Alley, and Gringotts. While they wait for the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, they can make potions or cast spells. This will help them earn House points.

Pottermore is a great way to relive all of the Harry Potter books. Potterheads can remember the first time they read these books and relive the adventures. They can also relive their childhoods and the way Harry Potter has made their lives better.

Drama Club

The drama club had their first meeting of the year on last Wednesday, September 7th, 2011. Mr. Benoit held the meet after school, where the students involved in the club got more information. The club picked their club officials: Meganna Miller was elected President. Corey Campball was elected Vice President, Bridget Smith was elected Secretary, Gage Patterson was elected Treasurer and Cody Gindy was elected Publicist. If you could not make it to the meeting on Wednesday, then be sure to talk to Mr. Benoit in S202 or E201.

The drama club goes to see a play every year and this year they are going to see Mary Poppins, the musical.  They will be seeing this play at the Cadillac Palace in Chicago.

The job of the drama club is to get tickets sold for the plays. This year anyone buys a ticket to a play; they will be entered to win a prize, signed by the cast of the play. The play that is in production on now is You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. The play will be performed on October twenty-seventh through October twenty-ninth. On the twenty-ninth, which is a Saturday, there will be two shows. One at 2 PM, and then another at the regular time 7 PM.

The last order of business that was addressed was Off the Cuff. There are auditions on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, and are after school in the South Cafeteria.

The drama club is a great way to socialize with friends, be part of the schools plays without being on stage, and meeting new people. If you would like to join and could not make it to the meeting on last Wednesday, should talk to Mr. Benoit to get more information.

Too Many Electronics

These days, teens these days are obsessed with the Internet and texting. Most of the their day consists of texting or talking to people over the Internet. Some people don’t even know whom they are talking to. Internet and texting are ways teens can procrastinate and not do their homework and other important things.

In this point in time, internet has everything. Teens can blog on Tumblr, talk with friends on facebook or myyearbook, or even talking with a computer on cleverbot. Teens can even talk to strangers on Omegle. Teens are on the computer an average of twenty hours a day, and seven days a week. For teens, Facebook was ranked third in the one hundred searches. Teens say that they will stay on for a couple minutes and then spend hours on Facebook. According to Traci Campbell, “ teens between the ages of 15-17 spend approximately 19.9 hours online every week.” That being said, most teens spend more time on the Internet then with their parents or with their friends. This is making teens less social, and this is influencing with what they see and whom they talk to on Facebook. According to Amanda Lenhart, “ seventy-three teens have profiles on social networking sites.” It’s not bad to have a profile on these sites, but it starts to be when teens don’t do their homework or become anti-social”.

Teens don’t go any where without their phones these days. Teens send over one hundred text messages a day and over three thousand a month. Amanda Lenhart says, “seventy-five percent of teens own their own cell phone and eighty-seven percent of teens use text messaging at least occasionally.” Girls text more then guys. Girls receive around eighty text messages a day, while guys receive thirty. Teens text all the time, even while driving. They think if they don’t get caught, it is okay and nothing bad will happen. Texting is making teens have a different language. They do not spell words out completely, and teens use this language while doing school work. Using the language is fine while teens are texting, but when in school, teens should use the language that they were taught. Texting also makes teens anti-social. Teens text each other while sitting right next to the person, or the person across the room. Many teens do not pay attention to were they are going because they are too focused on texting. Kids are getting cell phones younger and younger. Most kids get their first cell phone at the age of eight.

Internet and texting teen usage is making teens anti-social and have lower grades. It is fine to get on your computer or text your friends, but when it takes over the teen’s life it is too much. Having limits on these things would be a great thing these days.