The MLK Food Drive

by Marin T.

The Martin Luther King food drive was a success once again at Louise S. McGehee School. The Food Drive was from January 14, 2013 to January 22, 2013. This year McGehee collected about 1,900 food items for Second Harvest. McGehee got many types of food such as pasta, canned fruits, vegetables, cookies, crackers, cooking oil, rice and juice.

This year McGehee is going to help a lot of people because of all the kindness of all the students at McGehee. McGehee chose Second Harvest because it’s a very helpful organization to the citizens of New Orleans. Second Harvest delivers 22 million meals to approximately 263,000 people including nearly 82,000 children and 40,000 seniors.

The food drive was organized by teachers Erin Toomey Mark Babin, Allison Steinfeld, and all service learning chairs in Upper and Middle School. All the grades were plaired randomly, but the teachers did try to put together older students with younger students. They also tried to put together grades that don’t usually interact with each other. All of the students participated, but teachers could also help bring more food.

 All the food was brought to Second Harvest the last week of January.  Hopefully next year will be as successful as this year.

First Grade Blasts Through Science

by Megan G.

In 2013, Mrs. Sarabeth Gordon teaches interesting science to first graders. The children tell their teacher she is the best teacher ever, but that might be due to the science experiments involving ice cream and Halloween candy. Mrs. Gordon did many experiments with the girls.

In science, the girls are now learning how to be an astronaut. In the past, they have learned about kitchen chemistry. They tested many things, including what yeast needs to make carbon dioxide (CO₂), the chromatography (the separation of colors) of Halloween candy (mostly m&ms and skittles), how to make play dough, and about temperature by making ice cream.

In Mrs. Gordon's point of view she says “Kitchen chemistry is fun, but I always worry about food safety. The girls and I will not eat anything in class. The exception was ice cream. We did not even eat the Halloween candy. I am also excited about learning to be an astronaut because space is such a wide field.”

The first graders say, “Our favorite part about science is making ice cream, and we all like science because we get to make stuff.”

Mrs. Gordon chose these topics because it is a great way to learn about collecting data, following procedures, and making great observations. Mrs. Gordon says, “These are all things that scientists need to learn.”

Mrs. Gordon has two daughters, Megan (11) and Audrey (9) that go to McGehee, and a son named Jack (7).

The Ms. Satkoski Fan club report

by Therese M.

The Ms. Satkoski fan club is a club created by students at McGehee It’s a club that’s about Ms. Satkoski, but it also is a cool place to hang out and is fun for friends. It is ran by the head of the club, Ms. Satkoski (The History teacher), and the students Conery Schmidt, Katharine Solomon, Jasmine Mills, Angelle Brown, Claire Beary, and Eliza Powers.

The Ms. Satkoski fans all love the club and think it’s lots of fun. The meetings are held in Ms. Satkoski’s room, where they talk, relax, and eat snacks such as brownies, chips and donuts. The meetings are held on Thursdays and now Fridays at break unless something happens, then they find another time.

There are multiple answers why the students do the club. Some were because she is awesome or it’s fun or it’s cool because you can relax, and let everything out, and just talk.

The club was created because of one main reason, though. The reason is because everyone who loves history and Ms. Satkoski get a chance to show that they love history and her.

Mardi Gras Break: What Did The Students Do?

by  Bella F.

What did the students and teachers of middle school did over Mardi Gras break?

 Most people went to Muses, Rex , Oshun, Iris, King Arthur ; the list goes on. They also went to other parades through the Mardi Gras season. Most people caught great things, from stuffed toys to doubloons, to light up things. Some of the students decided to go Disney World , Mexico, and many other places.

 Holly Miller, a fifth grade student, says that she went to all of the parades, but Orhpeus was one of her favorites with some really long floats. Mr. Wagauespack , a fifth grade  and twelfth grade math teacher and sixth grade advise , spent most of his time writing for the Yahoo! Sports section.

Most people says that king cake is their favorite food during the Mardi Gras season. Some people did, and didn’t have a favorite food to eat while watching a parade or during the Mardi Gras season.

 Overall, the Mardi Gras season was great, and I bet you the students are just itching to get to the next one!

Parker Lacewell interviews Gabby Douglas

By: Frances C.

                On December 9, 2012, Melissa Harris Perry’s daughter, Parker Lacewell, got a chance to interview Olympic gold medalist, Gabby Douglas. The interview took place in New York City on the Melissa Harris Perry show. Lacewell was so excited to interview Gabby. Lacewell exclaimed, “I found out while I was in Times Square and I literally started screaming I was so happy!”  This was because she LOVES Gabby and it would be her first time meeting her but, it was her mom’s second time meeting her.

                Lacewell was a little nervous but not too nervous because she had been on her mom’s show before dancing to “Gangnam Style.” 

Lacewell said, “I like being on live TV because I think I do extremely awesome!”

      Gabby has just written a book called Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith. The book is about Gabby’s perseverance, determination, and of course her faith. It also tells you how you should always follow your dreams because when you do, you can do big things with them! Gabby always wanted to be a gymnast so she followed her dreams and look where she is now!

          Lacewell stated, “I have read about half of Gabby’s book and I planning to finish it soon.”

                        Lacewell got to learn about the reason why Gabby wanted to be a gymnast.

         Lacewell informed, “Gabby said she always knew she had talent and that she wanted to do big things with it so, she traveled across the country without her family, to do gymnastics.”

                Lacewell commented, “A surprising thing that I learned about Gabby was that she liked Taylor Swift.”

  Lacewell also got to talk to Gabby outside of the interview while she was getting her makeup done, and when she was done signing A LOT of papers.

                 Lacewell DEFINETLY enjoyed getting to do this interview.  

                 “I enjoyed being on TV, hearing all of the answers to the questions and how her life is when she isn’t on TV” Lacewell shared.

Lacewell had a hard time picking which questions to ask Gabby, but she picked some really good ones!

Ghana Trip

by Sirina K.

On February 7, 2013 Mcgehee high school students left New Orleans to go to Ghana. They went to Ghana to work with a girl’s school in Bolgatanga.  Claiborne Beary, a high school student who went to Ghana, said that she went to Ghana because “I was really inspired by the presentation Aminata Brown, founder of the SISTA Scholar program, gave to the entire high school at assembly. She talked about these wonderful places, but what inspired me most was the fact that the students that went on the trip would get to present money to the girls school in Bolgatanga, Ghana that would be used to pay for the education. I couldn’t wait to see their smiling faces when the discovered that they had the promising hope of continuing their education through high school.”

 Before the students left for Ghana, they had some fundraisers to help pay for the scholarship, including a book drive and a duds day. Both fundraisers went very well, and the girls could actually pay for more scholarships than expected, they paid for eleven scholarships.  The books from the book drive went to the girls’ school in Bolgatanga.   

Claiborne Beary and Monica. Photo courtesy of McGehee School.

   

 When the students arrived in Ghana they went to many places including Accra (the capital of Ghana), Tamale, Kumasi, and lastly Bolgatanga. The girls were in Ghana for ten days: February 7, 2013 through February 18, 2013. While in Ghana, the girls met many different people including, Ezra, a woman who showed them batik and the girls at the Bolgatanga School.  The trip to Ghana went very well and the students helped many girls get a better education.

                               

The Hermann - Grima + Gallier Historic Houses

by Emily S.

           

           The Hermann–Grima + Gallier Historic houses are two houses that are on exhibit in the French Quarter. Both of the houses have been museums since the 1970’s. Their mission is to preserve, interpret, and educate. The preservation means the building and the collections inside them, the interpretation means the life in the houses, and the education means they work with many different people to educate them about life in the 19^th century. Both houses have won many awards including being named National Historic Landmarks, a number of honor awards by the Vieux Carré Commission, and they have both been accredited by the American Association of Museums for 30 years (this is the highest a museum can be honored).

 The Hermann-Grima house got its name because the Hermann family and then the Grima family lived in the house. The Gallier house got its name because the Gallier family lived there. 100% of the artifacts in both of the houses are from the 1800’s (when the houses were active) or earlier. 40% of the artifacts in the Hermann-Grima house are from the families that lived there, while only 2 artifacts in the Gallier house are really from the family. This is because they lost almost all of their things by selling them and giving them away.

            The Hermann-Grima house was active before the Civil War in the Golden Age of New Orleans. “The Golden Age of New Orleans,” says Mamie Gasperecz, the Executive Director of the Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses, “was an amazing time in the early part of the 19^th century when the port of New Orleans was very busy, sophisticated, and hopping and bopping.  There was a lot of money to make, and there were many opportunities for people who had immigrated to the United States.”

            The Gallier house was built in the 1860’s-1880’s (Victorian Times when Queen Victoria was on the throne of England). It was built after the Civil War. With the houses’ time periods being said, the Gallier house is more modern. It has indoor plumbing, hot/cold water, flushing toilets, and a boiler.

            The Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses are great replicas of life in the 19^th century. If you are looking for a fun way to be educated about life in the 19^th century, The Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses are the best choice!

             Within 9 blocks in the French Quarter, you can see both houses. The Hermann-Grima House is located on 820 St. Louis Street. The Gallier house is located on 1132 Royal Street.

            The Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses also offer group and school tours.

For more information go to www.HGGHH.org

                                    Their main phone number is (504)-525-5661

The Hermann-Grima House. Photo Courtesy of www.hgghh.org.

The Gallier House. Photo Courtesy of www.hgghh.org.