Hairspray!

On November 16th, the 8th and 7th grade classes were very lucky to be able to see Girard Academic Music Program high school. Everything was very prim and professional. The wigs, costumes, choreography and stage props. There was even a giant smoke spewing hairspray can! Starting in June, the students were working hard to make this production come out as extravagant as it did that day.

Video snippets of their performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvMlhIA1f1Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNvhXcstPWM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePuNUD7L1H4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUFSH4YgLDQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9kwQj7_7Fs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOZa5RJk2rI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPnvHl1qe9U

McCall 2010 Executive Board Election Results

President: Johnny Dickie, 327/8B









Vice President: Talia Smith, 327/8B










Treasurer: Keanne Wu, 324/7B










Secretary: William Alston, 327/8B

Student Council Elections - VOTE!!

Student Council Election Day 2010

President

 

 

Steven Khoa  8^th grade    

     Johnny Dickie 8^th Grade        

    

Vice President

 

Talia Smith 8^th Grade 

 

Lena Keys 7^h Grade 

 

Tracey Deng, 7^th Grade  

Treasurer

 

Keanne Wu 7t^h Grade 

 

Tyhler Williams 7^th Grade

Secretary    

   

 

Max Pignetti 7^th Grade 

 

William Alston 8^th Grade 

Washington Square Park Cleanup

In conjunction with the Society Hill Civic Association and the National Park Service, 7th grade McCall students helps prepare the flower beds in Washington Square Park for planting.  They learned about the growing cycles of different types of flowers and learned how to tie daffodils in preparation for the summer heat.  Thanks to all who participated!

Poetry Slam 2010

Congratulations to all who participated!  

 The second graders put on a show to remember to open the event.

Poetry Slam Winners

Sierra H. 8th Grade - First Place

Ming-Da T. 7th Grade - Second Place

Marquis R. 7th Grade - Third Place

 Sandy T. 7th Grade - Honorable Mention

Pssa Review

The Pssa’s....................... we all hate them, and knowing their importance raises the stress level to a thousand! I’m sure we’re all wondering “Why does ONE little test determine if we fail at life or don’t?” I know I was thinking, “What’s the point of working our butts off to get good grades just so are high school placement can get determined by the Pssa’s?” Even though it is a pain in the neck we all must remember that it actually does help kids have an end goal in mind for their studies to make sure they have everything thing they need to succeed in life. Pssa’s really do help you in the long run along with being the main thing that determines what high school you’re placed into. It also helps with studying habits and testing skills. Even though it’s very stressful it certainly helps with getting ready for the preparation of test, because everyone knows that at some point they had to study for the Pssa’s. So while everyone was studying and preparing they probably gained much more knowledge and wisdom which can be used in the future! There are many reasons why we should appreciate the Pssa’s instead of bashing them! Don’t forget these facts because they can be very crucial to your future, that’s all for now ttyl! =D

By Talia Smith

Grease Musical

“There are various people playing leading roles .the premier night cast is exclusive information that is enclosed to Mrs. Gooding and I. There are 3 nights on the play.”

                                             ¾ Dr. B.J. Marshall (play director)

The premier night of the McCall Elementary Drama Club Production of “Grease the Musical” is May 19,2010.

Q: How is the play coming along?

“ The play is…progressing each rehearsal. I think that ummm. It’s going to really SPECTACULAR.”

                                             ¾  Sean Bennett (one of the 3 Danny Zukos)

Q: Do you think you’ll get the premier role?

“I'm not sure, but hard work and determination will always succeed.”

The cast consists of Sean Bennett, Amani Bey, Sierra Hall, Maisy M., Jhonny Dickie, Jameka Cattlett, Maggie Mak, Shafeeqa Abraham, Milan M., Imani Bey, Brandon Carter, Collin W., the Bingham Children and many more.

Any donations will be appreciated.

By Amani Bey

Poetry Slam

The poetry slam is on Wednesday, April 29, 2010. It would be in the auditorium at 12:30 pm. Every 7^th grader has to read at least one poem from their magazine that they made. There will also be a “open mic” and “slam dunk”. “Open mic” is when anyone can read their poems or rap. “Slam dunk” is when people can compete by trying to read their best poems. Then people that don’t know you will judge and judge them to see who will be first, second, third. There is also one other award for “honorable mention”. Dr. Marshall ordered four trophies for the first, second, third, and honorable mention.

Wolf Men spotted at McCall

The male teachers at McCall grew beards in preparation of the PSSA.  They had before and after snapshots taken of themselves to show their progress and hopefully after seeing what their teachers did, they will try their hardest to study and do very well on the PSSA. Students can get ready for the PSSA by sleeping and eating right, studying and doing study island assignments, review and going over old test and doing practice test, get help with the subjects and areas your not too good at. Some teachers, such as our 8^th grade math teacher said that “Since the students hate my beard so much if they do good and get advanced and proficient on the PSSA I will shave my beard off if they do bad I’m keeping it.”

The Unveiling Walls Of President

This beautiful sign was made my our one

and only art teacher, Ms. Craven, and our student council president, Katie Zhao

To celebrate presidents' day, Dr.Marshall and the eighth graders came up with an activity. Every eighth grader had information on different presidents. Students from lower grades came to learn about the 44 presidents. There was food there for the guesses that are invited. It was crowded. I could barely walk through everyone. I thought it was amazing. People use to say "The More, The Merrier", well it's true, it's so fun. The 8th graders were so amazing! They gave very well information about their president. It was cool how they had portraits of all the presidents on the wall.

Here's Judge Rizzo giving her

touching and heart warming speech.

Dr. Marshall is introducing the program to the

younger kids

These talented students played violin thought out the Unveiling Wall Of President

(From left to right) Imani Bey, Sean Bennett, Daniel Jiang, and Eric Yang

MR. JACOBS

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO BE AN TECHNOLOGY TEACHER?

I ENJOY TEACHING! LOVE THE EXCITEMENT OF BEING IN A CLASSROOM!

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR FREE TIME?

BUILD COMPUTER! PLAY WITH HAIRLESS CATS! AVID READER! I LOVE DOING THING WITH AMAZING WONDERFUL WIFE.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?

I LIKE BEING WITH THE KIDS.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE LEAST ABOUT YOU JOB?

SAYING GOODBYE TO THE 8TH GRADE GRADUATES.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HABIT?

BRUSHING MY TEETH.

WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE YOU STARTED TEACHING AT MCCALL?

BEFORE TEACHING, I WAS A SYSTEM ARCHITECT INCORPORATE AMERICA!

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING AT MCCALL?

I'VE BEEN WORKING AT MCCALL FOR 4 YEARS.

DO YOU HAVE ANY HAPPY MEMORY AT MCCALL SO FAR?

YES! I REALLY LOVE IT WHEN 8TH GRADER COME BACK TO VISIT AND TELL ABOUT THEIR DAYS IN HIGH SCHOOL!

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?

I LIKE PURPLE!

DID YOU KNOW THAT....

MR. JACOB DONT HAVE KIDS. THAT WHY BEING IN THE MCCALL FAMILY I IMPORTANT TO HIM!

Valentine’s Day 

 XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

• 1.   People believe that Valentine’s Day began in France and England.
  
• 2.   Cupid (symbol for Roman God of love), doves, lovebirds, roses, hearts and arrows are all symbols of the Valentine’s Day celebration.
  
• 3.   Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D.
  
• 4.   73% of Valentine Day flowers are bought by men, whereas women buy only 23% of Valentine flowers.
  
• 5.   Richard Cadbury introduced the first Valentine’s Day box of chocolates in 1868.
  
• 6.   In Medieval times, girls ate bizarre foods on St Valentine's Day to dream of their future spouse.
  
• 7.   74% of Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day.
  
• 8.   The United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France and Australia all celebrate Valentine's Day.
  
• 9.   Teachers receive the most Valentine’s.
  
• 10. February fifteenth was a lottery day for men for deciding their girl partner.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Easter Facts

• Easter is second most important candy-eating occasion of the year for Americans.
• In 2000, Americans spent about $1.9 billion on Easter candy.
• Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year.
• Adults eat 65% milk chocolate, 27% dark chocolate and 8% other types of chocolate.
• 4.2 million Marshmallow Peeps are made each day.
• In 1953, it took 27 hours to make 1 Marshmallow Peep and now it takes 6 minutes.
• People usually paint eggs called Pysanka.
• The first chocolate egg was made in Germany in the 19^th century.
• The Easter egg roll on the White House lawn has been a tradition.
• 57% of kids get up super early on Easter to see what the Easter bunny has brought them.
• Easter is a Christian holiday.
• Easter falls between March 22^nd and April 25^th.
• Christians celebrate the rebirth of Jesus Christ.

• 

Everyone in there 7th grade trip are supposed to write a play for Philadelphia young playwrights. The plays are told to include 4 main character, no narrator and a conflict of some type. The plays are due March 1st. To have some ideas of other peoples plays and former playwrights winners plays we are going on a field trip to Suzanne Roberts Theatre on 480. Broad street. The purpose of the trip is to watch student plays from the Philadelphia young playwrights 2010 professional productions. The trip with be held on 3/4/10 and is from 10 am to 2:00 and is for the 7th and 8th grade.

http://kierantimberlake.com/art_featured_projects/p_philadelphia_new_1.jpg

go to this website for pic.

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR PLAYWRIGHT 7TH GRADERS!! =]

Recommended Korean Dramas/Movies

Attack On The Pin-Up-Boys: A Korean movie about gorgeous high school boys being targeted by poop. Ki Bum and his friend,Dong Hae, decide to investigate, but instead of investigating the attacker, they investigate the next suspected target.

Boys Before Flowers: A Korean drama about four rich college students who are gorgeous. The four boys are called F4 (Flower 4) because they are known to be gorgeous like flowers. One day, a poor girl, Geum Jan Di, goes to deliver laundry and saves a life of a student. Their principal asks for Jan Di to go his school. She denies, but later accepts. When she enters the school, she got bullied by F4 and all the students in the school.

Cinderella Man: A Korean drama about two twin brothers who were separated at birth. One of the twins, Lee Joon Hee, is a rich man who accidentally meets his twin brother, Oh Dae San, who is a poor man who sells replicated clothing. Lee Joon Hee tells his brother Oh Dae San that they must switch identifications to go overseas to get a heart transplant. Oh Dae San switches identities with him in order to get money. A girl, Seo Yeo Jin, returns from Paris from a designing school after she finds out her father died. Her and Oh Dae San become friends and chemistry between them start to occur.

Do Re Mi Fa So La Si Do: A Korean movie about a girl and boy meeting and going through hard times in their relationship. Jung Won wears a dragon suit at an amusement park trying to earn some money. She sees a guy, Eun-Gyu, with his friends and ends up pouring soda on him for messing with her dragon suit. She later finds out that he just became neighbors with her and that he has a beautiful voice. He takes her to his band room and she discovers that one of his band mates was her best friend 10 years ago. She later dates Eun-Gyu, but disappoints him every time. They end up breaking up, which leaves Eun-Gyu heartbroken. Jung Won decides to attend his goodbye concert, but while he sings a song, he starts to cry and speaks to Jung Won. Jung Won finds out later on that Eun-Gyu was hit by a car and was caused to lose his memory about her and causes him to go a little retarded. Jung Won tries to remind Eun-Gyu about her as much a possible.

Stairway To Heaven: A Korean drama about male lead, Cha Song Joo, and female lead, Han Jung Suh, were childhood best friends. Tragedy begins when Song Joo studies overseas without her. Jung Suh's father gets married to Tae Mira and Jung Suh gets a stepbrother and stepsister, Tae Hwa and Yuri. yuri is jealous of Jung Suh's life and tries to take everything away from her. Meanwhile, Tae Hwa develops feelings for Jung Suh, but she still loves Song Joo. Five years later, Jung Suh gets into a car accident and loses her memory. She starts her life again with Tae Hwa. Song Joo was led to believe she was dead. One day, they see each other again and he tries to refresh her mind with the love they had for each other. Tragedy occurs again when Jung Suh develops eye cancer.

You're Beautiful: A Korean drama about a girl, Go Mi Nyu, who becomes her twin brother, Go Mi Nam, to be in a group, A.N JELL. Mi Nyu beomces her brother and is to be as him for one month. She is told to keep it as a secret, but tragedy occurs when the lead singer of A.N JELL, Hwang Tae Kyung, finds out her secret.

200 Pounds Beauty: A Korean movie about a girl at the beginning of the movie who is a Korean pop singer, but is ignored because of her physical appearance. She decides to have full-body plastic surgery and gains much attention and fame.

EASTER

BUNNY

spanish:vacaciones

mandarin:tù zǐ

cantonese:toe jai

EGG

spanish:huevo

mandarin:jī dàn

cantonese:gai dan

EASTER EGG HUNT

spanish:Caza de huevos de pascua

mandarin:fù huó jié cǎi dàn

cantonese:foc woo jit choi dan

by Sandy Y.

Yoga Club Reach for the Sky!

The McCall Yoga Club is sponsored by ASAP (After School Activities Partnerships - www.phillyasap.org). The teacher is Kelly Miller from Yoga Child on South Street. They meet on Mondays from 3:09-4:09. They have space for 3-5 more students. Currently the class is primarily made up of students in grades 1-3, but other students would be welcome to ask Ms. Benjamin if they are interested.

Photos by Ms. Benjamin.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year

·       Chinese New Year is known as the Spring Festival in China.

·       Chinese New Year in 2010 is on the same day as Valentines Day.

·       People get red envelopes with money inside.

·       Family members that aren’t married gets red envelopes.

·       Chinese New Year goes by the Lunar Calendar and changes every year.

·       Stock up on chicken and fish. When served whole, it symbolizes happiness and prosperity.

·       The day before Chinese New Year, families clean their house from top to bottom.

Chinese New Year Words

Spanish: Año Nuevo Chino - chinese new year

mandarin: xing naen kua le - chinese new year

cantonese: sun neen fai lok - chinese new year

 

Spanish: sobre rojo - red envelope

mandarin: hong bao - red envelope

cantonese: hong bao - red envelope 

Spanish: nabe- nabe

mandarin: huo guo

cantonese: da been lo

 

Martin Luther King Day Facts

Martin Luther King Day Facts

By: Julie Z. 7th Grade

·      Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia.
·      He died on April 4^th, 1968 because he was assassinated by James Earl Ray.
·      Martin Luther King Jr. is known as the leader of the Civil Rights movement.
·      Martin Luther King skipped the ninth and 12^th grade to go to college.
·      His wife is Coretta Scott King, who died January 30^th, 2006.
·      Martin Luther King is the author of six books.
·      He married Coretta Scott in Boston in 1953.
·      Martin Luther King led a march on August 28 and gave his “I Have A Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
·      Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
·      The third Monday of January was declared an annual federal holiday by the United States Congress.