A Rich Life For You

Here is a video about how a life would be if you are rich — and not necessarily rich in the money way. Have fun, enjoy the video, and let us know what you think.

A Dramatic Rescue in Kenya

On October 8, in Kenya, there was an 8-month-old elephant that fell and got stuck in a well.  The well is 5-feet-deep and is located near Kenya's Amboseli National Park.

It took about 30 minutes to get the baby elephant out of the well. While two people started to put a rope around the baby, a woman named Vikie Fishlock from the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, made a high-pitched sound to scare the mother (Zombe) away. With the mother elephant away, the rescue team got the rope around the elephant. Then, Fishlock used her Land Rover to pull him out of the well. Fishlock realized that the mother was coming, but she believed that the mother finally realized that they were trying to help her baby. She did not become aggressive and try to attack.

The next day, a 3-month-old baby elephant fell in the same well.  Once it got out it was sent to an elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city.

In the following video, Kennedy interviews Claire about the elephant rescue. Mia ran the Flipcam.

Giants win against Detroit Tigers

The San Francisco Giants capture a two to nothing win against the Detroit Tigers. The Giants are now 2-0 in the 2012 World Series.

The best defensive play was when Delmon Young hit a double to Gregor Blanco the left fielder, as he threw the ball to the cutoff man Marco Scutaro, who in turn threw the ball to the catcher Buster Posey to tag out Prince Fielder who broke for home.

Watch the video here.

Or watch Asiana interview me about the game. Mia was the camera person.

Who? What? Why? Electoral College Votes

Natasha and I went to a blog called electoral college 101 on The New York Times. Electoral college is where a group of citizens actually decide on the election. It's not really the people's votes for the president, it is more of the electoral college decision on who will be their president. 

Between Romney or Obama, the peoples votes are more on Obama's side, with about 22,000,000 votes. On the first Monday of November will be the election of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

The History Channel website also has a lot of options for learning more about the electoral college. Here is a video by a comedian on The Times that is also helpful.

Sun Flower Seeds With a Kick

If you see any pink sunflower seeds, steer clear — those are for the squirrels!

Because of a warmer winter, nuts are all over and where their are nuts there are squirrels. The population of squirrels is quickly increasing and while they might look cute, They're devils in disguise.

Squirrels can wreck havoc on their soundings. They are always at will to damage or destroy a tree. To keep the population  from growing without killing off any of the squirrels, they need birth control, but squirrels aren't willing to take a daily dose and if you think it's easy to catch a squirrel and give it a shot, you're way off. So our scientist on the scene came up with an easy solution: sunflower seeds. Now don't get me wrong, sunflower seeds are absolutely safe for you and the squirrels. The scientist put a special drug in the seeds called DiazaCon. This will lower the cholesterol of the squirrels to keep them from developing the hormones they need to give birth. Sunflower seeds are a favorite of the squirrels but for variation, the scientists dyed the seeds pink. Why? They need to know which squirrels have eaten the seeds and the dye turns their bellies pink. Also this lets people know the seeds aren't safe to eat. The one problem is now there are pink squirrels all over Carolina!

–Kennedy S.

In the following video, Claire interviews Kennedy about the squirrel situation. Mia was the camera person.

Learn more about the electoral college!

Needing more information or a simple tutorial about the electoral college?

Basically when people vote in the election all the citizen's votes should count. But all the votes will have to go through people who work for electoral college, and basically, the electoral people choose which citizens' votes count if they think it is a good choice. If the electoral people don't think your vote is accurate your vote won't count. So your voting counts about 40% out of 100% of the times; the other 60% is the electoral college's choice.

This year it is a big deal in the electoral college because the electoral people might choose who wins the election! The Scholastic has information online that might be helpful.

Here's a Schoolhouse Rock video that also helps explain the electoral college:

In the following video, Kennedy interviews Asiana about the electoral college. Natasha was the camera person.

Endangered Species!

Have you ever seen a majestic tiger in a zoo before? Did you know that's one of the 3,200 left? It's true!

Under thirty-two hundred tigers remain in the world, and most of them are in captivity. Some people hunt tigers for their furs. This isn't good news for tigers what so ever. The species can't do it alone. They need our help. If you want to put a hand into saving this species, click Tiger.

While tigers are critically endangered, they're not the only species with a big dilemma on their hands. Like pandas? They're near gone. Click here to save 'em Panda.

There are tons of species on their way out the door. You can donate to them to save them! Get to the website to do it by clicking the animal of you choice!

Sea Turtle

Komodo Dragon

Honey Badger

African Elephant

Tiger

Panda

Polar Bear

Amur Leopard

Emperor Penguin

Gray Wolf

Snow Leopard

There's more than a hundred other species in need of saving. The ones shown are nothing compared to all the other endangered species out there. To save the one of your choice and make a donation of up to... Well however much you really want, go to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Once these species go extinct, they can't come back. Save them today, so they can have a tomorrow. 

-Kennedy S.

Romney vs Obama — who will win?

Who will win the election, Obama or Romney? Who will be the winner; who will take all? Hurry and put your votes in before it's too late. There are eighteen more days until the election. On the first Monday of November, you will know the winner.

All around the USA, kids voted, too. The results of the kids votes are already in. These are the results to the kids votes.

Mind Meister and Lino!

Today, Anya and I used two fun websites. The first was MindMeister that is a website where you can made a list of things you need to do. Then we started to use Lino which we found very amusing. We started to wright about how to get ready for high schools. Anya then made another canvas where we started typing random things such as food and songs....

MindMeister helps brainstrom for ideas about any subject and wright down your ideas. Lino can also help brainstorm for ideas and share your ideas with friends who also have a Lino account.

Today, Anya and I were using the same account at the same time and after she posted a sticky note I then could see it (though sometimes I have to refresh the page to see it).

Learn about Electoral College.

Today I watched some videos on Electoral College. It wasn't an easy task to do, and I kind of didn't understand it. This is what I got out of it: When you vote, you don't always get what you want. Even though you take a vote and the majority wins, they still don't pick what the majority voted for — the electoral college does. For example, if you vote take a vote for Obama and more people voted for Obama more than Romney they don't just pick Obama. First the two candidate have a debate. Then you have to wait until the election.

This video from The New York Times is helpful in understanding the electoral college.

Leaping Tigers

When you hear a tiger you think you are going to hear a roar. But they actually have a few different sounds. Those sounds can be a purr, roar, chuffle, growl, and moan. In fact, tigers don't roar very often. But when they do, you can hear it from a mile away.

All tigers have stripes on them. A group of tigers is called a streak. They have over 100 stripes. Not only do they have stripes on their fur they also have stripes on their skin.

When you look at their fur you only think that they have one long layer of fur. They actually have two layers of fur. The top layer of fur is for protection. The layer under that is for warmth.

 When you look at their ears, their ears are black with a white spot on them which is called an ocellus. Their tails help them balance when making tight turns. Tigers are night hunters which makes them nocturnal. Tigers can see 6 times more better than humans in the dark. Most carnivores have 42 teeth, But tigers only have 30. Every paw on a tiger has four claws. On the front paw, each paw has one extra claw. Those claws are called dewclaws. They never touch the ground, but they are used for gripping and climbing. Tigers' toes are softly padded so their prey doesn't hear them coming.

Tigers are the largest cat species, and the third largest land animal. The largest are polar bears and the second largest would be brown bears. Tigers are strong swimmers. They are the only big cats that enjoy time in water. When a tiger leaps, he or she can jump over 30 feet. Tigers can mainly be found in many habitats such as, tropical forests, woodlands, mangrove swamps, and grasslands. Tigers are wonderful animals because they have so many interesting facts about them and they are an endangered species and we should start doing better to save these wonderful animals!

Franco Corelli: The Prince of Tenors

Franco Corelli in the role of Romeo

Franco Corelli was an Italian opera tenor. His wide range of repertoire and fascinating voice made him one of the best. His huge voice also played a role in his career. He was particularly identified with a spinto or dramatic tenor roles, (like Mario from Puccini's Tosca or Manrico from Verdi's Il Trovatore). Read an interview with Franco Corelli and Stefan Zucker here.

Franco Corelli was born on April 8, 1921 and passed away on October 29, 2003. Franco was given the nickname "Prince of Tenors". Franco also had handsome facial features and a charismatic stage presence which connected him with the audience. 

Franco Corelli's real name was Dario Franco Corelli. He was born in Ancona into a family with no musical background at all. While Franco's, (Dario's), parents were not the most musical people, his paternal grandfather Augusto had quit his job at 35 to establish a career as an operatic tenor. Franco's father was a shipbuilder for the Italian navy and the family lived by the Adriatic Sea. Franco adored the sea and at first decided to follow in the footsteps of his father by pursuing a degree in naval engineering and the University of Bologna. While he was studying at the University of Bologna, Franco entered a music competition under the dare of a friend who was currently studying for a singer. Although Franco did not win the competition, he was inspired and encouraged by the judges to continue singing. Corelli then entered the Pesaro Conservatory of Music. 

Loretta di Franco

While he was at the conservatory, Franco studied with Rita Pavoni and Arturo Melocchi but was unhappy with the results, saying that the lessons basically destroyed his upper register. Franco then decided to become his own teacher and said that teachers are "dangerous people" and a "plague to singers". Franco then wanted to turn himself into a baritone but quit after a while. He then began imitating famous tenors such as Enrico Caruso, Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Aurelino Pertile, and Beniamino Gigli.

Franco was married to Loretta di Lelio, who later became Loretta di Franco. She was an Italian soprano.

You can read more about various other subjects, musical or non-musical, on The Freako Diva! http://thefreakodiva.blogspot.com/ 

Nobel-prize winner proves his teacher wrong

A "disastrous half" in school doesn't necessarily mean a disastrous life. John Gurdon proved his teachers wrong at Eton College. His 1949 report card   called his "idea for becoming a scientist" as "quite ridiculous." But today he is a Nobel-prize winner.

According to his report card, Gurdon was said to fail in all his grades. His report card shows that he was at the bottom of his class. But Gurdon went on to study Zoology at Cambridge and won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Medicine this week. He shared the prize with a Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka.

Radio hillwood... Yeah!

Hi! You are on the radio station, people! It's Natasha and Kennedy, telling you all about Radio Hillwood! This radio station is a great thing to listen to if you don't like inappropriate music. Go on to Radio Hillwood now! On the right hand side of the screen, there should be a button saying Radio Hillwood go there and listen! Well what are you reading for? Go, go, go!

• Listen to Radio Hillwood!

Text by Kennedy and Natasha
Video by Anya

Find your surname!

Today we looked up our surnames. It's where you type in your last name, and the World Names website will show you where other people in different countries have the same last name.

First you have to type your last name then below put your email down. After that, type your gender and press search. Then you will see a chart of different colors from low to high. We will put the link below.

Good luck finding your name!

World Names website

Story by Mia L. & Asiana D.
Video by Anya

Randomness Assumption

Portrait of a Man

Anyone ever heard of artist Anna Seven. Anna Seven is an American artist living and working in San Francisco. From a very young age, Anna Seven has been exposed to a huge variety of artwork in her house and in galleries. Anna has always enjoyed art and music. Music is an art, and art is music. Anna's works are in many private collections in Argentina, Armenia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Brittian, Israel, and USA.

Anna Seven started getting interested in art seriously in third grade. At age 18, Anna left her home country and learned how to use pen and ink professionally. She also worked a lot with watercolors, oil paints, and colored pencils. Anna Seven then graduated from YSU in 1995 with an MS in Electrodynamics and Theory of Electromagnetic Field. Anna paints in many styles with oil and acrylics on canvas. Her most important style would be best described as Aggressive Idiocy in Figurative Expressionism. 

Blue Angels take the skies during Fleet Week

The Blue Angels, a group of military fighter jets, came to San Francisco this past week to perform all sorts of amazing stunts. Their engines were loud and caught the attention of city residents.

Each year, their visit — called Fleet Week — is a big event that extends outside San Francisco to the larger Bay Area. This year featured for the first time the Air Force F-22 Raptor, the newest fighter jet. Also new was the America’s Cup AC-45 Race in the Sunday program, according to Stephen Teatro, executive producer of The Air Show Network with Fleet Week.

Teatro became the founder of The Air Show Network after 20 years as a military pilot. He flew jets and helicopters at air shows throughout Canada and United States. In an interview, Teatro explained, "the biggest crowd-pleaser is the performance of the Navy Blue Angels.  The crowds slowly grow throughout the day and reach their peak just before the Blue Angel performance."

The Blue Angels are exciting and fun to watch, but the main reason they visit the city is to remind people of the work that the military does. As Teatro explains, "The real mission of Fleet Week is to bring the Bay Area first responders together with the visiting sailors and marines to train for the humanitarian relief mission and to prepare for disaster relief in the event of a Bay Area earthquake or tsunami." While members of the public see the Blue Angels and the air show, Teatro says, "behind the scenes, marines are being trained in urban search and rescue" as local doctors and nurses learn the capabilities of Navy field hospitals. This, says Teatro, "along with honoring the sacrifices made by the men and women serving, is the true mission of Fleet Week."

A crowd of Fleet Week fans watched the air show in the Presidio. Kaylie Milliken, a teacher in San Francisco, was impressed by what the Blue Angels could do. Teatro says, "the biggest feedback this year has been the positive comments on how the show Saturday had no gaps. One act was entering the stage at the same time the previous act was departing."

Next year's Fleet Week may use Navy Seal skydivers. The Blue Angels and the military are also "working hard to get an aircraft carrier in the event that we can fly show planes off right in the bay."

Our Washington D.C Trip

      This March, the classes of 6th-8th graders will be going to Washington D.C. We will be going for six days and will be visiting Create-a-Government Workshop, Three Faces of Democracy Study Visit, Jefferson Memorial, MLK Memorial, Lunch and Museum Study Visit, Arlington National Cemetery, White House Photo-Op, Mock Congress Workshop, Explore the Capitol Hill Visitor Center & Museum, Visit the Supreme Court & Library of Congress, Lincoln Memorial Study Visit, Korean, Vietnam & Monument Tour, Ordinary Citizens i History Workshop & Citizenship Send-Off Activity, National Archives Study Visit, AND Lunch and Smithsonian Museum Exploration. In Gettysburg we will be visiting Gettysburg Cyclorama, Lunch & Gettysburg Museum of the Civil War Study Visit, Walk Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Site, and Battlefield Tour.
      The cost will be $2,000 per child and around $2,300 for an adult.
      To raise money we are selling See's candy.

Are You Ready for the Bluegrass Festival?!

The Blue Grass Festival is going to take place in Speedway Meadow, Golden Gate Park. It will last through October 5th, 6th and 7th. You can read the schedule here. You can read the artist list here. There will be a lot of food and beverages to buy. Music will be playing on every corner and there is no way you can't entertain yourself. You can go with friends and family!

If you do not wish to spend money on food and beverages you always have the option to bring your own food and drinks. Bring your own chairs and get comfy! But always remember that the early bird gets the worm. Parking may be a big problem due to all of the big things going on in the city this weekend. The earlier you come the more likely you'll get parking:)

Written By: Rubina H.

See's candy fundraiser sale

    It's easy to see, Sees candy is the best! At Hillwood Academic Day School in San Francisco the fifth, six, seventh, and eighth graders are selling Sees chocolates to help raise money to go to Washington D.C and for fifth grade, Sacramento. Of course it does cost a whole lot to travel that far away, so if you live in the bay area and want to buy some chocolates heres what you can do! You can call or email to this adress, Bethany@shinezoo.com and give us your name last name adress and phone number so we can try to get back to you. Here is what we are selling...

Truffles                     1lb $19.40
Assorted Chocolates 1lb $16.90
Assorted Chocolates 2lb $33.80
Milk Chocolates       1lb $16.90
Dark Chocolates       1lb $16.90
Nuts & Chews          1lb $16.90
Nuts & Chews          2lb $33.80
Toffe-ettes                1lb $16.90
Peanut Brittle           1lb. 8oz $16.50
Molasses Chips        8oz $8.45
Peppermints             8oz $8.45
Lollypops                 1lb.5 oz $16.20
Jolly Snowman Box 4oz. $6.80
Mini Holiday Fancy Box 4oz. $6.80
Gift Certifcate          1lb. $16.90

Buy Now! Inventory going fast!

P.S SUGAR HIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Kennedy S. & Mia L.

Get Your See's Candy

Students of The Hillwood Herald are trying to raise money to go to Washington D.C. The way we are trying to raise money is that we are selling See's Candy's products. We are trying to raise $2000. per person to get to Washington D.C. which includes: hotel, airplane tickets, food, tickets to get to different museums, ect. If any of the people who want to buy some See's Candy, please email us back or send commets on what you want to buy. Here are the list of choices of See's Candy we have.

Truffles: 1 lb. $19.40

Assorted Chocolates: 1 lb. $16.90, 2 lb. $33.80                                                    Nuts & Chews

Milk or Dark Chocolates: Milk: 1 lb. $16.90, Dark: 1 lb. $16.90

Nuts & Chews: 1 lb. $16.90, 2 lb. $33.80

Toffee-ettes: 1 lb. $16.90

Peanut Brittle: 1 lb. 8 oz. $16.50

Assorted Molasses Chips: 8 oz. $8.45

Assorted Peppermints: 8 oz. $8.45

Assorted Gourmet Lollypops: 1 lb. 5 oz. $16.20

Jolly Snowman box: 4 oz. $6.80 (not ready until November)

Mini Holiday Fancy Box: 4 oz. $6.80 (not ready until November)

Gift Certificate: Continental: 1 lb. $16.90

please send us a check or money if you buy something. once you order, your order will come within a week. we will respond to your orders as soon as we can.

Really Important, Please read this: You must right your name, Adress, and Phone Number so we may contact you and give or send your candy to you.

See's Candy Fundraiser and Washington D.C Trip!!!

This year 6-8th grade are going to Washington D.C! This going to cost a lot of money so we have this fundraiser for See's candies. So far we raised about $950.00 for our third day. Fifth graders are not going because they are going to Sacramento CA but they are helping us fundraise. We are planning to go next semester in March. For each person it is $2,000. If you would like some chocolate, look for Asiana D. and come to Hillwood Academic Day school. If I am at Hillwood tell our afternoon teacher or anyone who can tell me to come downstairs. Then I will take your order and possibly hand you your chocolate right away if we have any left in stock. If you are Hillwood parent I will be downstairs so as you are picking up your child I will take your order. THANK YOU!!! (prices up above.)