Cougar Times

Last week, Carlynton hosted a Bocce Tournament between themselves and Baldwin High School. The teams were made up of special education students, as well as additional high school students from their respective schools. For those who don’t know, bocce is an Italian version of bowling, with long, thin courts. The game begins by rolling a small ball, known as a polina , down the court.  Then teams take turns rolling larger balls, trying to be the closest to polina . At the end of a round, the team who rolls the larger balls closest to the polina gains a point of points. The match happened in the gym here at Carlynton during school hours, and students were visibly excited. It made for an exciting but friendly competition. Mrs. Chenette also brought the girls ensemble to sing the national anthem as the opening for the event. I spoke with James Lukaszewicz during the event, and he thought it was a great experience. He got involved because he enjoys working with students fr...

Now that midterms are over and we are all beginning to see our grades, we have had time to reflect on what study methods worked and what did not. This article compiles several study methods I have found successful throughout high school, and especially this year. Step 1: Determine What You Need to Study, AKA Prioritize It would be counterproductive to study topics you already know; therefore, it is necessary to prioritize what you understand least. Determining what you do not know is a vital part of studying. I find the most successful way to determine what you do not know is by attempting to complete a study guide or practice test without looking up questions. If the teacher did not provide any of these materials, you may try to redoing questions from your notes or worksheets you have already done. Occasionally, you may benefit from solving questions in the textbook or from online. It is common to do poorly on this initial assessment, but by observing what questions you get w...

Last semester, I took Peer-to-Peer Creative Expression. It was an art class with Mrs. Vayanos , where older students worked with peers from the Mr. Zebrasky ’s special education class to express themselves creatively and build artistic skills.  The class pulled a variety of mediums for the projects, and weeks were “themed.” For instance, one week was themed with leaves, and for a project we went outside and  collected leaves for leaf rubbings. We also cut large leaves out of watercolor paper and used watercolors to paint them. Occasionally, the class would set up scavenger hunts around the school, so that week we went around and  collected paper leaves. At the end, we went downstairs to Mr. Z’s showcase and pinned the leaves to a paper tree. As 3-dimensional projects were popular, we also borrowed projects from different classes. We spent a few weeks using clay to make the themed mugs from the Creativity and Innovation curriculum, which sparked a...

How many times have you heard a teacher, parent, or even another student mention college? Since you’re probably a student here at Carlynton, it is likely that college has been the topic of  several conversations for you. Although the word “college” evokes a sense of liberation and excitement, it might also inspire anxiety or overwhelming feelings. Not to worry, these feelings are pretty  typical - and you are not alone! As a high school senior who has gone through the college process, I would like to share some tips with you for applying to college.  First things first, you need to ask yourself if college is right for you because, no matter what anyone tells you, college is by no means a path for every individual. Simply because you choose not to go to college, does not mean that you cannot be successful - you can be! One of the initial steps you should take is considering what type of career you see yourself in throughout the years after high school. This is an impo...

Carlynton's Anime Club is held in the shop every Tuesday after school. The club has fifteen members, but there are usually comfortably small groups from 4-7 people that attend weekly.  Anime Club leaders would love to welcome new members!  Anime Club votes on a different show to watch each meeting. Members also enjoy practicing their drawing skills during meetings, and sometimes the club even holds drawing contests. The club leaders hope to bring some positive changes to the Anime Club during the winter and spring months of this school year. They intend to watch a greater variety of shows and genres, and have also considered creating a roster of shows to watch over the course of the year.  If you are interested in joining Anime Club , simply show up to the shop on Tuesdays after school and introduce yourself to any of the Club members.  They are often found congregating around the video game console playing Super Smash Brothers. Written by...

A common misconception with the word  "forensics" is that it only refers to scientific tests, but forensics has multiple meanings. Our middle school team participated in a competition of public speaking and formal debate, another meaning of the word forensics. This competition took place on D ecember 14th at St. Elizabeth Catholic School. It consisted of about two hours of public speaking in two different rounds. It works like this: T he speaker picks a piece to speak about in front of a room of students their age. They receive the script or piece a few weeks before and practice tones and voice levels to get the best sounding speech they can. The script they choose has to fall under the  c ategories of Prose (meaning a plain writing), Drama ( a dramatic script), Declamation ( a declarative speech), and Multiple Reading (a group of multiple people reading a play-type piece). Along with these there is the category of Extemporaneous. In this category you are given a...