April 2021
Great Movies to Watch with Your Family
By: Haily Ziemer
A lot of new movies came out this year and last year and there are still many more that are going to come out! Here are some movies that are out or are going to come out soon for you to watch with your family and friends.
#3 The Croods: A new age
This movie is a sequel to Croods: the dawn of time and tells what happens after they “flew into the sun”. It was released on November 25th, 2020. It was directed by Joel Crawford and the movie is one and a half hours long. 82% of people who rated the movie liked it. Their budget was 65 million US dollars. If you are considering watching this movie click here to watch the trailer. It will not be available on streaming services but it will be available to buy on Amazon and other websites.
#2 Tom and Jerry
This movie was released on February 26th, 2021. It was directed by Tim Story and the film is about 1 hour and 40 minutes long. 86% of people who rated this movie liked it. They had a budget of 69 million dollars. It is available to stream on HBO max currently. If you want to watch the trailer click here.
#1 Raya The Last Dragon
Raya and the Last Dragon is a Disney film produced by the creators of Frozen and Moana. It was released on Disney+ on March 5th, 2021. Their Budget was $100 million+ and ended up being a 2-hour long movie. 86% of people that rated liked the movie. There were 3 directors including Carlos Lopez Estrada, Don Hall, and Paul Briggs. If you are interested in the movie click here to watch the trailer.
Movies that haven’t come out yet
#3 Minions: the rise of GRU
Minions: the rise of GRU is scheduled to come out on July 1st, 2022 in the USA directed by Kyle Balda. A movie that is already out that matches this is Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, Despicable Me 3, and finally Minions. It is scheduled to be an hour and a half long. Click here to watch the movie trailer. “Yes! Movies with the minions make me laugh. I can’t wait until 2022 to watch this. I am also excited for Boss Baby because that movie is funny too,” says Mrs. Bourland.
#2 Hotel Transylvania 4
Hotel Transylvania 4 is from a series of movies including Hotel Transylvania, Hotel Transylvania 2, and Hotel Transylvania 3 so make sure to watch those before the new one comes out. It is scheduled to come out on July 23rd, 2021 directed by Derek Dryman and Jennifer Kluska. If you are interested in watching it keep watch for the trailer because it will probably be out sometime soon.
#1 Boss Baby: The Family Business
Boss Baby: The Family Business is scheduled to come out on September 17th, this year but before it comes out you should watch Boss Baby. It is going to be directed by Tom McGrath and produced by Ramsey Ann Naito. It is scheduled to be an hour and a half long. If you are interested click here to watch the Official Trailer. Bryce Jacobson says, “I’m excited about all of the movies. I’m mainly excited for Minions and I want it to come by faster.”
Resident Evil Village Release
By: Alaina Butler
Before we get into this article, if you have not played the previous games, I suggest you play at least one. Resident Evil is very good at making immersive RPGs. Although, in order to understand some of the things this article means, you have to be familiar with the previous games.
Resident Evil Village is a first-person shooter/horror game and it’s about a man named Ethan Winters and his wife Mia who travels to Romania for a new start. To Ethan’s surprise, Chris Redfield (Captain of BSAA) attacks Mia and Ethan’s home, kidnapping their daughter. Ethan now has to rescue his daughter once again. The game is set in a very gothic village with a castle. The gameplay is relatively the same as the past game, Resident Evil 7 biohazard, but there’s a catch. Unlike most of the Resident Evil games, Ethan Winters is one of the least physically prepared main characters in all of Resident Evil’s games. So you can imagine that you would have to be cautious on how to go about certain problems throughout the game. Tiffany Arnett, a fellow eighth-grader from Highland Academy says, “Sounds interesting to those who like guns”. Resident Evil Village is available to pre-order now and is releasing May 7, 2021.
Resident Evil Village Characters
Of course, I have to go over Lady Dimitrescu or, Alcina Dimitrescu which the internet is going crazy about. Lady Dimitrescu is a 9’ 6” tall vampire who has Freddy Kreuger-like blades as weapons she also is made out of bugs as displayed in the demo of the game. She takes care of the village in her castle. Next up is Ethan Winters who was also the protagonist in Resident Evil 7. He got caught up in the Baker house incident and made it out alive. He lives his life quietly with the BSAA protecting his family. He has brown hair, a green jacket, and a dark gray hoodie. Chris Redfield, who has been in the series since Resident Evil 1, is a former S.T.A.R. agent and has made his way through all of the bioterror problems so far. Mia Winters, Ethan’s wife, used to be a member of the founders of the bioweapon that caused the incident in the Baker home. She also gave birth to Rosemary Winters who is Ethan’s kidnapped daughter. Arnett says “ Mia and Ethan kinda sound interesting, just from their descriptions”.
Cinco De Mayo
By Juan C.
The 5th of may is a national holiday in Mexico, however it isn't Mexico's independence day, it's just a celebration of victory over the french at the battle of puebla. “ Latinos have fought in all americans wars, beginning with the revolutionary war, many latinos are fighting and dying today for their country “ - Joe Baca, the celebration is big, thanks to Franklin D. Roosevelt cause he improved american and latin american relationships witch increased the popularity of Cinco De Mayo,” There Is Something Magnificent In Having A Country To Love “ - James Russell Lowell, in these celebrations your not gonna be forced but it'd be better for you too wear a puebla dress, if you don't know how they look it will be listed below. Sometimes throughout the celebration there's always gonna be a mariachi band, and another thing is that people like to eat tacos and drink margaritas, tacos are always the best with mole sauce. Cinco De Mayo actually benefits most markets because every time Cinco De Mayo is celebrated people go and buy avocados and every year they are always sold out, who doesn't like guacamole with tacos, or even with tortilla chips. But Cinco de Mayo is not only celebrated for their victory, it is also celebrated for many reasons like keeping the french from supplying their army with goods and ammunition.
Free Agency Frenzy
By: Bryce Jacobson
Well, the time has finally come free agency is in full swing and it is pure chaos. Big players have signed with new teams and superstars have hung up the cleats forever. Matthew Stafford was traded to the Rams for Former first-round pick Jared Goff and a first-round pick. Kenny Golladay went to the New York Giants for 4 years 72 million dollar deal. JJ Watt went to the Cardinals on a two-year contract. Julian Edelman retired Monday Morning this week, he won 3 super bowls in New England and won a super bowl MVP. Trent Williams of the 49ers signed a record-breaking deal of 5 years and 138 Million dollars. Leonard Floyd of the Rams resigned a 4 year 64 million dollar deal. Sam Darnold was traded to The Panthers this week. Packers Running Back Aaron Jones signed a 4 year 48 million dollar contract. Ryan Fitzpatrick signed with the WFT (Washington Football Team). Anthony Harris signed a 1 year deal with the eagles. The draft is also only two weeks away now and QB Trevor Lawernce is projected to go Number 1 overall in the draft. Brock Murray a Rams fan said, “This free agency has been very interesting, I’m really excited for the Draft.” Nick Jacobson a Rams fan said, “The Rams lost a lot of key players this free agency, hopefully the draft can help us fill in those spots.” Thank you for reading!
Mother's Day
By: Aaliyah Montes
Every year Mother's Day is celebrated. This year it will be celebrated on May 9th. It is a holiday honoring motherhood. I asked my mom if she was happy to celebrate this day and she said "Yes, I enjoy celebrating the day with family and friends." The first Mother's Day was celebrated in 1908 when a school teacher Anna Jarvis held a memorial service for her mother, she pressed to accept Mother's Day as a modern holiday in the United States. Mother's Day is celebrated all over the world with fun and festivities but not all countries celebrate it on the same day. I asked my sister Anjelina what she liked most about Mother's Day and she said "She likes getting our mom gifts and celebrating the special day with her." Some gifts that mothers usually get are flowers, gift cards, taking out to eat or something special they have been wanting.
On this day you can show mothers how much we appreciate all their hard work she does for the family. This day allows everyone to spend time with each other and do something special for mothers like take them out and pamper them and make the day all about them.
Classes You Might be Taking in High School
By:Amirah Jones
Just like in middle school you have 6 or more classes depending on what school you attend and what extracurricular you take. My cousin who is in high school said “although I had six classes in middle school it feels a lot harder in highschool”. You have your basic classes that everyone takes Math, P.E., Science, English, and History. Then you have an extra class whether it be a sports class or a class that prepares you for adulthood. If you don’t know what class you want to have here are some examples. Accounting, Business law, Personal finance, Animation, App development, Film production, Graphic design, Music production, Video game development, Web design, Web programming,American Sign Language,Ancient Greek, Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, choir, dance, drama, marching band, piano. There are so many more classes for you to take these are just a handful. Gracie from the 8th grade said “I wanna take classes that will help me for college.”
The History of Armed Forces Day
By: Lilliana Atkinson
Armed Forces Day is a day when we celebrate the men and women who are currently serving in the Military. My Uncle who is a Navy veteran says, “Military personnel has given this country so much, and the least we can do is give them a day that celebrates their active service.” So today I am going to talk about how this holiday came to be known as Armed Forces Day.
On August 31, 1949 Defense Secretary Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy, and Air Force Days. In a speech announcing the creation of the day, President Harry S. Truman praised the work of the military services at home and across the seas. The theme of the first Armed Forces Day was Teamed for Defense. It was chosen as a means of expressing the unification of all the military forces under a single department of the government.
The first Armed Forces Day was celebrated by parades, open houses, receptions, and air shows. In Washington D.C. 10,000 troops of all branches of the military, cadets, and veterans marched past the President and his party.
In conclusion Armed Forces Day is a very interesting and fun holiday to learn. My Grandpa who is a Marine Corps veteran says, “For Americans to celebrate all Military branches is very important. We thank them for their dedication to their service in protecting and defending Americans at home and aboard.” Thank you for reading my article. I hope you enjoyed it.
Popular Spring Break Locations
By: Kady W
Most of you know spring break is coming up or has already passed. Most people go to the same places over spring break. Where you may ask? Well, I know a lot of people go to the beach or camping. There really is no number one destination but there are some that are really popular. Some popular places to go are the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Florida, Utah. All these places are beautiful and I understand why people go to them for a break. Also, some people don’t go anywhere for spring break. Some people stay home or just hang out with friends which is what I did and it was pretty fun. These places are super popular because they are all really beautiful and there are a lot of fun things to do. I asked my friend their favorite place to go during spring break was and my friend said “Palm Springs'' I asked my cousin and she said she likes to stay home and sleep”
Memorial day
By: Kelvin Parham
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Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Memorial day is to those that died serving in the military(R.I.P). On May 1, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina, recently freed African-Americans held a parade of 10,000 people to honor 257 dead Union soldiers.(Historian David W), he is the one that started memorial day.
Each year memorial day it cut by one day for example, next year (2021 May 31) (2022 date May 30) (2023 day May 29).
I asked my Mom what did she think about Memorial Day and this is what she said¨you know I was in the army, so I think Memorial day was a great idea to have Memorial day¨ I asked my dad the same thing and here is what he said¨I was in the army to thats how I met your mom, but anyways I think memorial day was one of the best things to happen for people to mourn dead veterans¨
Star Wars day
written by Emerson Direen
Star Wars day or may the fourth be with you, the first recorded fraze was on May 4, 1979. In 2012 Disney bought Lucasfilm it included the rights to star wars. A lot of people who are into Star Wars as May 6 the revenge of the 6 also May 5 revenge of the 5. Star Wars day is May 25 it was declared in 2007. Star wars day is known all over the world, Most people who know may 4 is may the fourth be with you don’t even watch Star Wars. Star Wars day was first celebrated in Toronto, Canada in 2011. On star wars, day astronauts would watch star wars in space. I asked my friend what he learned he said ¨I did not know that it was the first celebrated event for may the fourth be with you was in 2011.¨
I asked my mom what she learned she said ¨I did not know about May 5 and May 6 as the revenge of the sith or the revenge of the fifth or revenge of the sixth¨
So yes Star Wars day is pretty old it first started in 1979 and as always may the fourth be with you.
What It Is Like Going Back To School
By: Caydence Gourley
Coming from someone that is new to Highland Academy, I love the school. I like how there are less people because my other school was a public school and there were so many people. The school rules aren't that bad, you,mainly just have to wear a mask and stay 3 feet apart from others which doesn't really happen but the teachers try their best to make sure students are following directions. After the 1st period you get a 15 minute break. After the 2nd period you get to have your lunch break. I asked my friend Aurora what she thinks about having our lunch break and she said, “I like it. I just wish it was longer” which I completely agree with. If you're eating or drinking water you can take off your mask. For period 1 I had Mrs. Melville's class. The class was really fun except for the fact that there were about 7 boys and only me and one other girl. The 2nd period was PE. I am in Mrs. Waters class. It was really fun because we got to join other classes and play pickleball. Pickleball is kind of like tennis except it is more fun in my opinion. In the 3rd period I had science which was in Mrs. Robinson's class. It's fun, but I'm the only girl with like 10 other boys. My 4th period class is Yearbook which is the class I'm in right now. We got to hand posters around classrooms talking about the yearbook. Yearbook is my smallest class. It's only me, Bryce, and Hailey. Bryce and Hailey are really nice to talk to. I didn't expect Bryce to be as tall as he is but he's really tall. Anyways.. I'll talk to you later. I have to go to my other classes and then I'll let you know how it went. I am now in History and it is so much fun. We got to talk about our favorite songs and what we did over spring break. I am now in English, which is Mr. Aziz's class. I like being in the class because it's fun and Mr. Aziz is really funny. Overall I would say my favorite class is history (besides yearbook of course). I asked my friend Elissia what her favorite class is and she responded with “PE because we get to be outside and I love playing pickleball”.