DT Nov 2022

Dragon Tales

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2020

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ISSUE 225

You’ve probably seen a new face in Woodruff. His name is Mr. Van Dongen. For

some kids, Mr. Van Dongen is well known because he was Mr. Lau’s student teacher just a
year ago. Now we are lucky to have him in Moore & Woodruff as a STEM with Arts teach-
er. He teaches 5-8th graders. Some things he has done so far in his new program is build-
ing bridges, point-click brochures, egg drops and many more.

A little background information about Mr. Van Dongen is that he grew up in Hackettstown,
North Jersey. He grew up on a family farm with his parents and two brothers. The area
was very hilly, he even had a huge hill right in his front yard. In the winter, he and his broth-
ers used to go sledding. Upper Deerfield reminds him of home. At the moment, his parents
are still living in North Jersey. While in high school, he participated in fencing and tennis.
He loved fencing and even won a championship.
To continue, when asked about his favorite things, he replied with “I love a good bacon
cheeseburger.” Don’t we all! He also really enjoys Thai food. His favorite color is blue at the
moment but it changes quite frequently. For a good read he enjoys The Hunger Games se-
ries. While he's at home you can catch him watching “The Good Place” which is about the af-
terlife. His favorite animal is the Chinchilla.
When asked what advice he would give to students here at Woodruff he replied, “Read more
books.” and “Watch TV shows with subtitles.” Thanks for the great advice!!! If you’re ever
near the computer room stop in and see him.
Written By: Paige Hamidy

This year we have the great honor of having Mrs. Neri with us. Thankfully, she

kindly agreed to tell me about her in Woodruff School this year. She is helping teach sixth
and seventh graders in math, reading, and writing. She had previously taught for two years
at Moore school as a special education teacher. So some of you might already know
her. She’s been teaching for over 10 years, so you can definitely rely on her for help. The
reason why Mrs. Neri loves teaching is because she loves to see students have fun, and
learn by communicating with each other and with her. This quality makes her a perfect fit to
be a teacher.

Mrs. Neri was also kind enough to share a little about herself. She is married with 2
sons. She likes to go shopping and loves to go to the beach, as well as trips. I think we can
all agree that going on a trip does sound fun. She also likes to play around with decorating,
and designing things. For all you dog lovers, Mrs.Neri is a fan of dogs as well. She owns a
cute boxer, which you might be able to see in person if there ever was a bring your dog to
work day.

Here are some extra fun facts about Mrs. Neri which I think are really cool: she grew
up on a farm, she owned a horse before, and her favorite colors are black and blue. Mrs. Ne-
ri was also caring enough to mention advice she wants kids to know: “Be yourself, make
good choices, stay on your path, don’t let anyone else interfere with your dreams”, and lastly
stay focused. She wants kids to know that they should always stay on their path toward their
dreams. Thanks to her long years of teaching, dedication to help students, as well as great
personality. She is an amazing teacher to have with us.
Written By: Maahishee.M.Patel

In By: Molly McGuigan
The
Climate change is the pattern of Earth’s weather. The climate is affected by the
Earth’s atmosphere. The atmosphere traps some of the heat that the Sun gives
off. The climate has gone through thousands of changes throughout the years
and especially since Earth has had life on it. The more energy the atmosphere ab-
sorbs the hotter the Earth will get which will cause the climate patterns to change.

N The things we have now have affected Earth’s climate quite a lot. We have cars
E that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which traps more sunlight than
W normal. The things we use to power our homes and factories pollute our air tre-
S mendously. All of the gas that factories produce on a daily basis is horrible for
our Earth. Over a hundred years, Earth’s temperature has increased at least 1.5
degrees Fahrenheit. 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit may not seem like a lot, but, scien-
tists have concluded that ever since the Earth has warmed up, more droughts
have appeared, more glaciers have melted, and coral reefs have died-off.

As the Earth warms, the less chance we have of reversing the damage that’s be-
ing done. The climate change isn’t just affecting the temperature, it’s also causing
species to die, people losing their homes, and more natural disasters. With the
rising temperatures, the pesky mosquitos thrive more. Mosquitos carry a disease
called malaria, and if someone is bitten by a mosquito they could contract it and
die.
We can do so many things to prevent climate change! A few examples are: riding
bikes/walking instead of using a car, washing your clothes with cold water and
hang them to dry, eating less meat and dairy (livestock animals emit a gas called
methane which traps heat in the atmosphere), and you can unplug any electronics
that you aren’t using at the moment.

Tin Foil Prevents Forest
Fires

By: Hannah Smith
At Sequoia National Park in California, fire crews wrapped aluminum foil around these massive
Sequoia trees so they wouldn’t catch fire. To keep it short, aluminum foil deflects heat away from
the flammable materials it’s wrapped around. In the Sequoia tree, there is a substance called
tannin which is in their bark and protects them from wildfires as well as the aluminum foil. The tin
foil is just an extra layer of protection for the world’s largest trees.

The base of the world’s
largest tree is wrapped
in tin foil to make sure
it doesn’t catch fire.

The Effect Lint Makes on the Environment

Clothing made from polyester and nylon is well known to be comforta-
ble and nice. It is easy to wash, wear, and is super comfy! Though
these are all nice things, everything always has a down side, and this
one affects our environment largely. Tiny fibers in our clothing (lint)
shed from our clothing during each laundry cycle. This lint gets washed
out with other tiny particles into wastewater. These tiny plastic fibers
shouldn’t make that much of an effect right? Well actually, those tiny
pieces of plastic pile up and create large amounts of this in bodies of
water. This pollutes the water and can cause many animals to die.

Thankfully, Dr.Yousef and other researchers began experimenting with
lint. These researchers were able to come up with a way to transform
the waste into useful energy that we use nearly every day. They did this
through a technique called pyrolysis, where they extracted energy prod-
ucts out of the lint. In this process, the researchers heated the collected
lint without using oxygen, causing the microfibers (tiny synthetic yarn,
tiny pieces) to decompose into three energy products: gas, oil, and
charcoal. Using this method, they were able to convert 70 percent of
this lint waste into energy. This helped us gain around 13 tons of
oil, 21 tons of gas, and 9 tons of charcoal. This helps us save elec-
tricity that we use on computers, fridges, and to see in the dark.
So, this new idea affects you too. It was able to help us and the
environment. Small problems, like with this lint, make huge ef-
fects. So, thinking about even the smallest problems in the world
can help you come up with a solution that makes a huge differ-
ence. Written by: Maahishee.M.Patel

Barbies Designed To Inspire Children
During A Desperate Time

Written by Jordan Anderson

Even during a pandemic, Mattel is determined to influence kids. On August 4, 2021, Mattel
created barbies that praise six female COVID-19 frontline workers. Most of these women
have sacrificed their health for their patients. The others have worked hard in trying to
create vaccines and make the world a better place. One feels that the point Mattel is trying
to make is that without doctors, there would be lots of problems in the world. The compa-
ny also wanted to tell people that it doesn’t matter if you’re a male or female. It also
doesn’t matter what race you are. Everybody is capable of pursuing their dreams. It only
takes commitment and determination.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

California Oil Spills

In early October, California officials were alerted of

an oil spill in Orange County. The 144,000 gallon spill

was caused by a 13 inch cut in the pipeline. Beaches

had been shut down and wildlife was threatened due

to the spill. Officials speculated that the cut in the

pipeline was caused by an anchor caught from a ship,

but no theories have been confirmed. Authorities

have stated that if they had been aware of the spill

earlier, less damage would have been done. But giv-

en the time, it was too late to avoid any major dam-

age done to beaches and marshlands affected. With

so many places and animals affected by this spill,

there is no telling how soon this environment can re-

turn to its former state. By: Hailey Randall

We all remember Fairly Odd Parents, with Cosmo and Wanda, but we didn’t expect
Timmy to be causing chaos in real life. In May of 2020, mysterious glowing waves began to
wash up on Laguna Beach, CA and the differencw was their blinding glow. The waves were
thought to be a once in a lifetime thing and most thought it had only happened that one
night, but boy they couldn’t have been more wrong.

The answer to the most asked question of why is organisms. The magical waves were
caused by bioluminescent organisms (single cell algae) that were stirred up causing the
light. The algae randomly grows, which would explain why the bioluminescent waves only
occurred twice in 2020. That would also explain why the ocean only glowed after the slight-
est wave. The next question would probably be: are the organisms harmful? Well, yes! So
don’t go swimming in the Tinkerbell ocean. Viewing the waves in person is not harmful and
can be quite beautiful. But swimming in the ocean is terrible. The organism is known for be-
ing extremely beautiful and extremely toxic. The single cell algae can make humans sick
and poison sea life. The organisms are most known for killing small animals like turtles.
Though there isn’t a way to stop the algae from growing, it’s best to just safely enjoy the
glowing ocean. Though we hope this fairy tale glow is just a one time thing, there really isn’t
a way of knowing. So sit back and watch the beautiful glowing waves.

By: Kamiya Gibson

Engineering Tower
By: Patrick Haley

Mrs. Baxter’s class is towering high with a big problem of building a tower with
only 30 centimeters of tape, scissors, and one piece of copy paper 8 ½ by 11
inches. The rules were that you can only use the materials given, also the tow-
er must stand on its own long enough for the teacher to measure it. The height
will be recorded and there's a prize or extra credit. But one of the catches is
you must design a model before building the actual thing and the model must
have the exact build of your design but you can make small adjustments
throughout the process. Afterward we had to write what shape could be made
to make it the strongest. You may also ask to restart the whole project and re-
draw the model.

When the project was done the results from each period were:

1. 65.5 cm builders were Alex Espinal and Isaac Profit

2. 104 cm builders were Mark Diano, Alisha Amokomow and Trent Garrison

3. 118 cm builders were Ava Stanker, Nicole Tarquinio

4. 55 cm builders were Lucas Wood and Micah Goldsborough

5. 80.5 cm builders were Patrick Haley and Paige Hamidy.

This was a great activity that used teamwork and strategizing to achieve a task!



WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE

“The best piece of advice I ever received
was from my aunt. She said that you
should never give up and always try hard-
er if you don’t succeed.

Daniel Guerrero-6th Grade

“My mom gave me a good piece of
advice. She said that whenever some-
one tries to bring you down, to always
keep on moving”

Edwin Martinez-7th Grade

“My aunt always tells me to keep chasing
my dreams and I am sprinting towards
them”

Emma Ott-8th Grade

THAT YOU EVER RECEIVED?

“The best piece of advice I have ever gotten
was from my cousin. He always said to not be
negative. If you try your best and never give
up, you will do well. So whenever I feel like I
am the worst, I think of these words and know I
will get better. This has helped to me in all as-
pects of my life: during soccer practice, school,
and especially homework.”

Halil Onal- 6th grade

“The best piece of advice I have ever received
was when my mother told me that it’s okay to
make mistakes. It helped me learn from what
I’ve done and to see that you don’t have to be
perfect to be a good person.”

Genna Fronczek-7th grade:

“I got some great advice from my dad.
One time while we were working on his truck
we started talking about something new I
wanted to try. I was nervous about it so he
told me that as long as I cared about it,
everything else didn’t matter . This inspired
me to do whatever I wanted and that it didn’t
matter what other people thought.”

Jadon Pierce-8th grade

Should Cursive Be Taught In
Schools?

Even in the age of computer keyboards, the ability to write neatly on paper is an im-
portant skill. Children are taught to print their letters, or write each one separately. That
style of writing looks like what you’re reading right now. But what about cursive writ-
ing?
Many schools no longer teach cursive. Some people think it’s a dated form of writing
and that school hours are better spent on other subjects; while others say learning to
write in cursive is still useful. What do you think?

Yes: Putting pen to paper has benefits that typing can’t replace. Research shows

that learning to write by hand is a key to good spelling and composition skills. Plus,
cursive writing could be considered an art form all on its own. It’s one way for students
to develop the side of their brain that isn’t developed by basic reading and writing
skills.

No: Cursive shouldn’t be taught in schools anymore. It’s hard to do and it’s a waste

of time. The letters are so complicated and fancy that practically nobody’s able to do it
accurately. And with all of this technology around nowadays, who needs it?

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

I’ve been noticing a lot of 80’s music and fashion making a comeback. Per-
sonally, I really enjoy the music, fashion, and feeling that the 80’s gives peo-
ple. I really like the fun colors and activities that occurred during that time
period. Unfortunately, kids today can’t do most of the exciting things that
people did back then, for a cheap price at least. For example, arcades, movie
theaters, and skating rinks are much more costly than they were once be-
fore. Movie tickets cost about thirteen dollars today for one person. Forty-
one years ago, they only cost five dollars. I feel like this is unfair for chil-
dren. It almost feels as if they are restricted to the amount of fun they can
have. Aside from expensive prices, kids are trying to live life in the 1980s. I
keep seeing the style, music, TV shows, toys, and hairstyles of the 1980s on
the internet. I think that this is a really good thing because not only does it
bring joy to people, but it also shows that some people won’t let expensive
prices ruin a great time. Written By: Jordan Anderson

FRUIT SKEWERS
There are many different types of easy recipes for kids to try out
and do at home with little effort. One recipe involves skewers and
fruit. The fruit need to be cleaned, stems taken out, and cut into
bite size pieces. All the child has to do then is take the pieces of
fruit and put it in the skewer, it’s that simple!

WALKING TACO
Another recipe is a little more complex, it is called the walking
taco. Just take a bag of chips and add some taco meat,
cheese, avocado, salsa, lettuce, sour cream and some toma-
toes. You add what you prefer and make the best walking taco
ever!!

CHOCOLATE COVERED DELIGHTS
We especially can’t forget the good old chocolate covered
pretzels. Just dip pretzels in some melted chocolate, and
boom! You have an easy snack that you’ll love.

FRUIT POPSICLE
Now if you want a snack more on the healthier side, you can
try out fruit popsicles. Take a popsicle mold and add a drink,
preferably lemonade or water, and add your favorite types of
fruit. Freeze for a little, and you have a refreshing fruit popsi-
cle that is great on a hot sunny day!

Picture done by : Chloe Guzman

Music is everywhere. Some artists make music and some music makers are just regu-
lar people like you and me who enjoy music. Popular artists right now are Drake, Oliv-
ia Rodrigo, Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, and The Weekend. Speaking of Olivia Rodrigo, her
song “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U” take the top two spots for most popular
songs. Third is Ed Sheeran with Bad Habits.

Is that type of music not your style? The most popular 80’s song is “Beat it” by Mi-
chael Jackson with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” coming in second.

By: Hannah Smith

Prefer movies?
The most popular action movies are Avatar and Avengers: Endgame (make
sure you watch Infinity War first).
Action movies not your thing? Then these comedies might suit your fancy.
Some of the most popular lists contain Free Guy, Jungle Cruise, and Cruella. Do
you not like any of them?
Then, how about some horror movies? The number one scary movie right
now is the Exorcist. Some other Halloween movies people like are the Halloween
movies starring Micheal Myers, Candy Man, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on
Elm Street.

Libra-

Sept. 23- Oct. 22: Solitude is the name of the game. You’re in no mood today. It is

encouraged that you honor rest, relaxation, and renewal above all else. Focus on healing any
open family wounds rather than letting them continue to fester.

Scorpio-

Oct. 23 - Nov. 21: Get your list of goals out Sagittarius. Tuesday’s cosmic landscape finds

you needing to fine-tune the things you actually want to accomplish vs. those grandiose plans
that may be too far out of reach .

Sagittarius-

Nov.22- Dec.20: Seek out your most cherished friends today. You’re longing for a sense of

connectivity. Reach out to your people and enjoy the lighthearted, easygoing atmosphere.

Capricorn-

Dec. 22-Jan 19: Give your thoughts an outlet today. You tend to hold your tongue when

your heavier feelings are stirred. Try to keep your emotions moving without getting to
worked up. Today reach out to someone that makes you smile, you are going to need it.

Aquarius-

Jan.20- Feb.18 Let yourself find a productive outlet for your excess energy today.

Exercising and eating a healthy meal will do the trick. Pull out a blanket, have a picnic and let
your creativity pour out.

Pisces-

Feb. 19- Mar. 20: Listen to your intuition today. You may struggle with tapping into your

intuition. If you ignore your gut instinct, you may say the wrong thing at the wrong time to
the wrong person. Take your time conversing!

Aries-

Mar.21-Apr.19: It can be hard for you to focus on accomplishing one thing at a time. Aim to slow

your pace and help you hone your focus Use this steady and smooth energy to tackle future-oriented con-
versations , as it’s easy to ground plans and follow through.

Taurus-

Apr.20-May.20: Give yourself a project to sink your teeth into today, Taurus. You have all the will

power and energy you need to apply yourself towards something you actually care about in your craft. It’s
an ideal day to chip away at work projects and create plans for the future, as well as reconnect with your
exercise regimen and healthy eating.

Gemini-

May.21-June.20: When was the last time you tended to your own personal creative projects? Gemi-

ni, I encourage you to reconnect with your own talents and find a way to make them shine as the moon
prances through you artistically.

Cancer-

June 21- July 22: You have no option but to heal yourself from the past to the present. You’ve been

steadily addressing any lingering emotional issues, especially those concerning your ability to form mean-
ingful commitments. Aim to keep things simple and reconnect to your core through cooking, journaling,
and connecting with family

Leo-

July. 24-Aug.23: Honor your need to be productive and useful today. You are pushed into

action when it comes to your school environment. This supportive and steady alignment makes it simple to
accomplish whatever you set your sights on, especially when your goals include activating your personal
talents.

Virgo-

Aug.24-Sep.22: The universe has steadily been testing your ability to commit to your creative side.

Encourage yourself to devote time and energy to deepen your relationship with your self-expression.

Drawing Done By: Mahagany Spencer

Jordan Anderson Peyton Genco

Kamiya Gibson Chloe Guzman
Patrick Haley Paige Hamidy
Molly McGuigan Hailey Randall
Mahogany Spencer Hannah Smith

Mrs. Mazza was selected for the Voya Unsung Hero award for the 2020
-21 school year. She was the one teacher selected from the state of
New Jersey for the life skills program that she has for her classroom.
Mazza received a grant for $2,000 to continue working with her stu-
dents in the kitchen.

Just a reminder for important dates coming up:

November 24 Early Dismissal
November 25-26 School Closed
December 3 Early Dismissal
December 17 Mid-Marking Period #2
December 23-31 Winter Break (YEAH!!)
January 17 School Closed (MLK Day)
January 28 Last day of Marking Period 2