Did You Know?

by Declan, 8th grade

The Harmful Impact of Feeding Ducks

Have you visited a lake and seen a sign that says, “Please don’t feed the ducks!” and wondered why? Although throwing handfuls of breadcrumbs can be seen as affection for wildlife, this kind gesture can destroy the ecosystem entirely.

Constant feeding can develop bad habits for the birds and their offspring. They will start to lose the drive to forage for natural foods. These sources of food can also attract mass quantities of a certain species. All animals lay eggs or give birth near an abundance of food. If people feed ducks daily, the population will rapidly increase, resulting in abundant fecal matter in the body of water. Fecal matter can benefit algae growth with fertilization; however, increased defecation pollutes the environment and introduces new diseases.

The amount of bacteria in the lake can cause it to become dangerous for human health. The excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the waste deprive the water of oxygen and will lead to toxic algal blooms. These algal blooms are detrimental and trigger a series of catastrophic events that can destroy the ecosystem.

Next time you are at a lake and see others sharing their food with the wildlife, you may share this information with them.

Beyond Academics

by Alicia, 6th grade

Why We Go to School

I was told the principal reason children attend school is to socialize and to learn their morals. We learn how to treat our peers properly, talk to adults, and advocate for ourselves. In social studies, we have been taught about ancient Greece. The education system of the city-state of Sparta is similar to schooling almost anywhere. Spartans gave their people an education focusing primarily on physical training by putting them in harsh situations, forcing them to learn how to endure and survive. Of course, students living in Orange County in 2024 don’t face life-and-death situations daily as part of their learning journey.

Instead, we are put into an environment where we depend on socializing and changing to get through the day. Survival of the fittest, almost. By observing and spending time with others, students learn what kind of people they enjoy most. Like Spartans, who developed skills in response to dangerous conditions, we acquire social skills in response to school life. We make small adjustments to ourselves to become the people we admire, and that’s how we flourish over time.

We’ve all heard the saying, “Don’t change yourself for other people,” but is this a motto worth following? It is hard to accept criticism since we often see it as something negative. Students face commentaries from others every single day while attending school. This is often physical, through eye-rolling, hugs, and distancing. Has someone ever rolled their eyes at you after you said something, and after you think it through, you start to realize what went wrong?

Perhaps it was because you sounded self-obsessed or because you’ve noticed that a specific individual simply hates your guts for no apparent reason. No matter the reason, we always gain new insight. Hopefully, we will use that insight to change ourselves for the better. Regarding the saying, “Don’t change yourself for someone else,” change isn’t always bad. We use change to grow as an individual. Beyond academics, students learn about and become the people they want to be, including how we behave around others and how we satisfy our desires and needs.

National Observances

by Mateo, 10th grade

World Wish Day, April 29

We all have our goals and aspirations that we would like to fulfill in the future. From dream occupations to once-in-a-lifetime experiences and everything else in between, these wishes hold great value. Some devote their entire lives to making them a reality. However, some do not have the opportunity to achieve their dreams due to certain hindrances that restrict their ability to reach their full potential.

World Wish Day is celebrated annually on April 29th to recognize the wishes of these people and encourage everyone to band together to make everyone’s dreams a reality. World Wish Day was inspired by a seven-year-old boy from Phoenix, Arizona, named Chris Greicius. His dream was to become a police officer, but his difficult battle with leukemia practically shut down this possibility, heavily lowering the young boy’s spirits. Aware of his fatal condition and his dream, the people of his Phoenix community united to make Chris’s wish come true. On April 29th, 1980, Chris became an honorary Arizona Department of Public Services member. He traversed the streets in a squad car, rode through the Phoenix sky in a helicopter, and met Lt. Col. Dick Schaefer, who gifted him a Smokey Bear hat along with an old badge of his. He also received his official police uniform from the DPS officers, which he proudly donned.

Unfortunately, Chris passed away less than a week later, but his community found solace in the fact that they were able to help him achieve his dreams and give him the experience of a lifetime before his passing. Chris’s incredible story inspired others across the country to make the wishes of other terminally ill children come true. On the same day his wish was made a reality, the Make-A-Wish Foundation was established to help others achieve their dreams. The organization quickly expanded, spreading to 50 different countries worldwide and granting over 550,000 wishes since its inauguration.

Many well-known personalities, such as John Cena, Michael Jordan, and Adam Sandler, have participated in the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s work for these children, granting hundreds of wishes through their program. As a result of their tremendous success and in memory of the child who inspired it, the foundation began World Wish Day in 2010, the 30th anniversary of Chris Greicius’s special day, to serve as a reminder that anyone can have their wishes come true with the right tools and the right people. So, on this very special day, we can use a bit of our time, energy, and money to help make someone’s wish come true, be it a loved one, a friend, or someone else we care for. Letting them know their dreams and aspirations matter can go quite a long way.

Poetry

by Lukas, 9th grade

Jungle Cacophony

Whistles, tweets, and squawks fill the air with harsh trochees, trees rustle, and leaves swirl in the breeze.

Echoing through undergrowth is the chorus, a jungle cacophony fills the forest.

Primates screech, alerting the troop to danger; the stanzas sound through Mother Nature.

Bugs chirp and flit across the forest floor, the mud a battleground, a miniature war.

Predators stalk, snakes swiftly slithering across the ground. Searching for prey, soon to be found.

Water lapping on rocks along the riverbank.

Flora and faunae, ever thirsty, give the pellucid liquid thanks.

The song of wildlife- Jungle Cacophony! Rings through the forest, a natural symphony!