Article for music club

Have you ever heard the sound of music throughout the forum during lunch on Mondays? If you have, you’ve probably been listening to Gunderson’s own Band Club, an endeavor of Ms. Hillman’s to expose the student community of Gunderson to the world of music. The Band Club, meeting on Mondays during lunch and Tuesdays after school, seeks to teach interested students to play instruments. The Band Club is open to all students, with several different instrument sections. The “electric area”, found in Miss Hillman’s room, will host the amplified instruments, such as guitar, bass, and drums. Then the “acoustic area” in Miss Buttrill’s room will be where you can find the other instruments, such as violin, flutes, and acoustic guitars. Finally, the Band Club also has quiet practice rooms for people who want to practice a piece on their own. Miss Hillman, the music teacher, acts as a supervisor and instructor during the Band Club’s meetings, though the Club often takes a freeform approach.
To take a look into the musical community of Gunderson, the Paw Print interviewed Kyle Marquez, an 11th-grader participant in the Club. Kyle is a blossoming multi-instrumentalist, a student of the guitar, violin, and piano. His first introduction into music was in the 4th grade, when he began playing the violin. With Carlos Santana and Slash as idols, Kyle is interested in solo work as he learns how to play the guitar. Despite this, he feels strongest on the piano currently, even stating that if he were to play onstage he would give a piano piece rather than guitar.
The Band Club is a donation-supported group, as they were only allowed one fundraiser this year. However, they were able to use that money to buy equipment, allowing people without instruments of their own to be able to participate in the club.
The Gunderson music department unfortunately only has one choir class this year (the usual is two), so Miss Hillman decided to open the Winter Concert up to the Band Club and the rest of the school. With auditions taking place this past Monday, the Winter Concert will showcase the best Gunderson has. The Winter Concert will hold the choir and several of the winners of the auditions, and will take placed after the school returns from its Christmas vacation.

Thanksgiving: Well?
Thanksgiving is a truly American holiday, and the first to be started here. The traditional story of the first Thanksgiving is that the friendly Wampanoag Indians shared with the Puritan colonists in Plymouth (now called pilgrims) the bounties of their feast in an act of charity. Since then, Thanksgiving has slowly become an American tradition. In 1680, Thanksgiving celebrations became a state holiday in Massachusetts, and in Connecticut in 1647. The first truly “American” Thanksgiving, however, was celebrated in December 1777, with General George Washington declaring a “day of thanksgiving” in the Continental Army to celebrate their victory at the Battle of Saratoga. In 1789, the first national Thanksgiving was celebrated. It would not be until 1863, during the Civil War, that President Lincoln would make Thanksgiving a national annual holiday, to be celebrated on the last Thursday of November.

But Thanksgiving today has several traditions that have been added over the years. The Thanksgiving Classic, football games played on Turkey Day, is one of the greatest pastimes for Americans. Also, parades are held across America every Thanksgiving, the most famous being the “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade”, an entertaining presentation for the entire family. But the food, the food is what makes Thanksgiving the day it is. Families gathering together, eating and sharing times with their loved ones. We polled the Gunderson audience about what their favorites parts of Thanksgiving were. Their favorite foods, their favorite traditions, and of course; what their favorite pies were. All traditional items of Thanksgiving are actually native to America originally. Turkies, corn, potatoes, and pumpkins, the traditional “noble foods” of Thanksgiving, were introduced to Europe only after Thanksgiving.

First draft(Well, not really)

Want some help through college? Let’s admit it, that we’d all like to get some help through the labors of universities that are to come when we leave our humble high school.
Well, on the financial side, there is help. Scholarships are grants that foundations give to students for them to spend on college. For those who simply cannot afford the full price of college, scholarships can help send them through the hallowed halls of learning by paying for classes, books(college textbooks have to be purchased by students; books can cost anywhere from fifty to three hundred dollars), or room and board(If a student lives on campus, it can almost double his/her expanses).
There are countless scholarships offered by innumerable foundations and organizations, tailored to each person and profession. For example, the United States Armed Forces offers scholarships in exchange for service. “They pay for everything, college-wise,” says Private First Class Crysta Ramzidon, 20, currently serving overseas in Camp Humphrey’s, South Korea as a morse code operator on a one year tour of duty.
Scholarships are out there, waiting for students to apply for them. The Internet is an excellent place to start, with many websites dedicated to scholarships.

email to Minjares

Miss Minjares,

My name is Justen Hunter. I am a reporter with the Gunderson Paw Print, and I am writing a piece on scholarship programs for our latest issue. I was referred to you by my adviser as a possible source for this material. If at all possible, I would like to arrange an appointment to you to discuss both profitable and irregular
scholarships that people can look for when getting into colleges. If you have a time that is open, please contact me at your convenience.

Thank you for taking the time to read this request,
Justen Hunter

Idea

An idea I had for a feature was an idea of tracking down Gunderson alumni; like, what are they doing now, who are some of the successful Gunderson graduates, etc...

Scholarships

Well, I'm going to be "developing" my first story; scholarships. I'm providing for all ye poor short people my 'introduction'.

The road to college is paved with scholarships, but the world of
scholarships is a large and complicated one. So, here is the official Gunderson guide to scholarships, both profitable and odd.

Who: Students
What: Getting Scholarships
Where: From the comfort of your own home
When: Before you get into college! Carpe Diem!
Why: Because college is getting more expensive with each passing year.
How: Sending those scholarships in!

becky_bruni@sjusd.org
desriee_minjares@sjusd.org

9/7/07 first post

Hey-yo, folks, this is Justen, editor of the Gunderson Paw Print. The first assignments that I will be writing is on the scholarship programs. Now, for those of you who have never read my prose before, you'll have to understand that I'm even more opinionated and horrendously intolerable when it comes to the written word. You all have permission to be afraid... very afraid.