Goodbye, State Funding for California Libraries

Libraries around San Francisco have state fundings cuts. Libraries will no longer be giving literacy programs nor InterLibrary Loans. They will no longer be buying as many books, and Library Training Programs. 1999-2000 Libraries were getting $56.8 million but buy 2008-2009 $ 12.9 million. 2012 libraries get nothing.

This is a major problem for not only librarians but for people who can only get their books at the library. I get my books online so this is not a major problem personally, but for most people it is. Even if I do not get my books at the library, it is still a good thing to have them around.

Join the Celebration for Chinese New Year!

In 1847 San Francisco was a village called Yerba Buena the population was 459. In 1849 gold was discovered and over 50,000 people came to San Francisco a good amount of them were Chinese. In 1860's the Chinese wanted to share their culture with people who were not familiar with it. The Chinese started putting on little shows. Since 1958 Chinese Chamber Of Commerce has been in charge of Chinese New Year.

Today San Francisco Chinese New Year in one of the biggest celebrations in the world. Chinese New Year starts January 14th thru February 11th. Here is a picture of the directions of the route.

The Old SF

Today, I researched a website where you can look of pictures of your neighborhood from 1850 to 2000. You can chose which time you would like to look at pictures at. All you do is move the time line and click one of the orange circles. An image will pop up of the neighborhood and say whats its called and when the picture was taken. The more back you go in time, the less pictures there are. You can also look at places from a person's point of view from the ground. You can see the different stores and even look at your own house in 2000. Above are some images from the past.

A Thank You Video for the Giants!

Several of these photos were taken by Anya. From the upper-grade class, we (Anya and Camryn) attended the parade, and this is our video reporting what we saw.

To read our feature post on the parade and the incredible turn-out, click here.

How To Celebrate Chinese New Year in SF

In San Francisco, you can put tangerines all around the house for good luck. You shouldn't say any bad words around the time of Chinese New Year or you might get bad luck.

You might even get red envelopes around Chinese New Year. Put the envelope in your wallet for good luck throughout the year.

In Chinatown, there is a big parade with food and good luck charms. In the parade there is always a special event called the lion dance. In this event, there will be a bunch of people dressing inside a big lion costume. They do this every month because the lions scares the evil spirits. You can also eat cakes called moon cakes. If you are the year of an animals you get to be celebrated -- this year it is the year of the tiger. You also if you want to give food to the for the full moon.

Read Zach's story about what to do in San Francisco for Chinese New Year. Also, below is the parade route for the holiday parade.

By Brandon

!Gung Hay Fat Choy!

New Year is a really big holiday in San Francisco because there is a big Chinese population in the city. The parade runs from Market St., up Geary St., to Kearny St. (for map click on tiny URL at bottom). There is lots to see at the parade like the dragon and many others.

Chinese New Year starts on the first full moon of the new year and ends fifteen days later. It has been a holiday for over 5,000 years. The last day is called "Lantern Day" because children carry lanterns in the parade. The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. A lunar cycle is about 29.5 days.

The first day of the new year is known as "The welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth." Many people fast because they think it will ensure long and happy lives. On the second day, people pray to their ancestors and treat dogs very good because it is believed that that was the birthday of all dogs. The third and fourth day is for the son-in-laws to pray to their parents-in-law. The fifth day is known as "Po woo," people stay home and welcome the God of Wealth. From the sixth to the tenth day, people visit their relatives and pray in temples. On the seventh day farmers show off their produce and people celebrate the birthday of human-beings. On the eighth day the Fijian people have a reunion, and pray at midnight. On the ninth night people make offerings to the jade emperor. On the tenth to the twelfth nights, People invite relatives and eat a lot, for the thirteenth night they eat very little. The fourteenth night is spent preparing for the Lantern Festival.

What Happened To The Sea Lions?

In San Francisco, at Pier 39, the well known sea lions are missing and there are not many left. Now you are lucky if you see one of them, and about a month ago, there was more than a thousand of them on the pier's floating platforms. So, what has happened to the sea lions?

The sea lions move up and down the coast a couple of times every year, but now they all are moving in great numbers at once. Some specialists think that they are following their food and instinct. Since they are following their food and instinct, there is no reason to panic.

Also the Marine Mammal Center is always on the lookout to find injured seals who need help. Once they get the seal all better, they will release it to the sea. If you are 14 years or older, you can volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center.

The 1906 Earthquake — Our History

Everybody who lives in San Francisco should know about our historical earthquake -- the one that happened 104 years ago.

San Francisco, called "the Paris of America," was knocked down in the early dawn on April 18, 1906. Fires erupted, buildings fell down, and people were injured. The day before, it had been very hot and dry. No wind. Not at all. The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.7. States from Oregon to Nevada all felt a small part of the shaking.

San Francisco, at the time, was still a new contribution to the U.S. But the city already had 410,000 residents with 63,000 more a few months later. There were 42 banks, 120 places of worship, and also 3,117 places to buy liquor. Amazingly, some restaurants back then are still open today. They include Tadich Grill, Fior D'Italia, and Schroeder's Cafe.

San Francisco is right along the San Andreas fault. It is a daily worry for some that a sudden earthquake may hit. Here are some tips:

• When an earthquake hits, get under the nearest wooden object as soon as possible. A wooden object can include a table, a desk, or a chair.


• If you're in bed, get under the blankets and hold a pillow over your head. Other than that, you can also get under the bed.


• During a fire, try to get out as fast as you can. If you are in a room, feel the door with the back of your hand first before opening it. Also, cover your mouth and nose with a piece of cloth so the smoke doesn't get to your lungs.


• If you get fire on your body, you — stop, drop, and roll. I learned in a fire prevention assembly at my school.


• At home, parents can prepare safety kits for the family. You can include water, unperishable food, extra clothes, cash, a record of the house, a record of your car and car insurance, family member I.D.'s, flashlights, and something to comfort the kids.
  

At our school, we do a fire and earthquake drill about every 2-3 months. A loud alarm goes off and, depending on which drill, we have a few different procedures. During the earthquake drill, students get under their desks or under the doorway (our school was safe from the 1906). A second alarm goes off and the teachers lead their students out onto the sidewalk. During a fire drill, the students are expected to run out of the school onto the sidewalk and wait quietly for their teacher to take roll.

Parents who would like to be added to Hillwood Academic Day School's email notification in case of emergencies can contact Mr. Graham Clarke at hillwoodadmin@gmail.com.

Read Rubina's story about the terrible earthquake that happened in Haiti.

To see what Market Street looked like before the earthquake and fire, watch this video:



Picture and Article Source: SFGate.com, SFGate.com pictures

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi

Hey Herald readers! How was your Christmas and New Year's? I hope it was good as mine was.

Anyway, I'm sure all of you know Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. She is well known for being the first female, Italian-American, and Californian to take on this governmental role.

Pelosi was born in Baltimore, Maryland, as the youngest in her family. She was involved in politics at a very early age. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., was the Mayor of Baltimore and a U.S. Congressman from Maryland. Along with such a political father, Pelosi's brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III was also mayor of Baltimore and a Democrat.

Pelosi graduated from Institute of Notre Dame and Trinity College (now Trinity Washington University). She met Paul Pelosi and when they got married, the couple moved first to New York then to California. After moving to California, she worked her way up to Democratic politics. She was at first elected as a party chairwoman in 1977. Then on 1987, Pelosi decided to run for political office.

Just a little information about this strong leader, who lives just around the corner from Hillwood Academic Day School...

Source: Wikipedia

Questions We Would Like to Ask Nancy Pelosi:
~What is your job like as the Speaker of the House of Representatives?
~Are you always traveling around the U.S. because of your job?

~Do you have a favorite part about your job?

~What do you like about San Francisco? Did anything change over the years?

~Are there any ways kids can get involved with politics?

~What influenced you to become involved with politics?

~Why did you decide to move to San Francisco?

~What is a typical day for you?

Field Trip Highlight: The Zeum

The Zeum is a place where you and your family could go to have fun, and work on fun little creative projects. One project that I worked on with my class on a field trip earlier this week was with clay animation. What you did was, make a couple clay figures, and take many, many pictures of them doing something. When you play them all at once, it looks like they are moving all by themselves. You could also make a music video of yourself and friends singing your favorite song, with a back round of your choice. After, if you want to keep it, they could burn it all into one disc.


The above video clip is an example of the clay animation from the Zeum.

Upper-Graders Head to City Hall

On Monday, November 16, the upper-graders of Hillwood went on a field trip to San Francisco's City Hall. We toured this majestic dome learning about its history, looking at valuable objects and artifacts, and found out facts about San Francisco that we never knew before.

Some things that are memorable include the San Francisco flag, city flower, and the architecture. Most of the walls with designs were handcrafted and made from wood from Manchuria.

Brigette and I also learned about the San Francisco flag. On the flag, it has a phoenix emerging from the fire standing for the 1906 earthquake. On it, there are also the Spanish words: "Oro en Paz - Fierro en Guerra." When translated, it means "Gold in Peace, Iron in War."

Our city flower is the Dahlia. Its color and beauty symbolizes the life of San Francisco and the spirit of the people who live within the city.

And that was our field trip!

For some history about City Hall, read last week's post previewing our trip.

Photo of students: Ms. Woods
Photo of flag and building by Brigette and Irene

Photo of Dahlia is from the San Francisco Dahlia Dell.

City Hall in Pictures

These photos highlight our tour to City Hall on Monday, 11/16/09. I think the most interesting aspect of the building was the amazing detail of the architecture, it gives a sort of 'Renaissance' feel to it.

By Brigette

Our Upcoming City Hall Field Trip!

On Monday, November 16, we are going to go on a field trip to City Hall. This trip will be part of our social studies lesson.

City Hall, located in San Francisco, California, was opened in the 1800s but then damaged by the 1906 earthquake. It was restored in December of 1915 and is now the fifth largest dome in the world. Numerous couples have married at City Hall but the most famous is Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio.

The Board of Supervisors are there to help discuss problems with their districts. Our district supervisor is Michela Alioto-Pier, and she also manages the Catheral Hill neighborhoods, Cow Hollow neighborhoods, Presideo Hill neighborhoods, and some others.

The City Administrator is Edwin Lee and he was appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom. His responsibility is to manage all the policies and regulations made by the Mayor, board of supervisors, and voters.

And last but not least, Mayor Gavin Newsom! Mayor Gavin Newsom works from day-to-day to "chair the city council" and governs, specifically, San Francisco.

Picture Credit: Google Images
Sources: Wikipedia, The City Hall Website, Sfgate.com

City Hall Wordle

This is a wordle I created about the upper grader's upcoming field trip to City Hall.

Design for Giving Contest

A school in India has made a contest called the "Design for giving contest." They are trying to make India better and have been asking questions about how would they can help change India, the city they live in.

The Hillwood Herald is also asking these questions here -- in San Francisco and the United States. What bothers us and what can we do?

What bothers you? Put your suggestions in the box on the front counter.

Today, The Herald staff interviewed Zara, who is 18 and works on the contest. We used Skype to video chat with her. We also used iChat (AIM) to write her. We had some technical difficulties, but she was patient and it finally worked. We have also written to her using email. You can read her note to us at the end of this article.

Over the next few days, we will post some video and audio from our interview with Zara.

Zara was very nice to speak to us for so long. It was also very late for her at night because of the time difference.

Below are links to some of the questions we asked:

• Jacob
• Anya and Rubina
• Lance
• Julian F.
• Brigette

Below is one video from the "Design for giving contest":



The following is a note from Zara A., our contact in India for the Design for Giving Contest.

My name is Zara A., I just turned 18 and i am totally loving it! I am 100% indian though i have almost no command over any indian languages, i prefer to think of myself as linguistically challenged. I joined the "Design for Giving Contest" Team because my mom and Mrs Kiran Sethi, Principal of Riverside school, were college roommates and know each other well. I actually moved from Chennai, a city in the south of India, to Ahmedabad, which is in the west, to work on the competition. I just finished highschool and am currently doing a gap year to primarily introspect because I, like most teenagers, am not entirely sure what i want to do with my future.


The original team that worked on the contest was aged about 18 to 21 (me being the youngest technically) and we all served different purposes. I was in charge of letter writing, press releases, website content etc. so they nicknamed me 'Words'. It was an amazing experience to see how people who had just met each other formed a team that worked very well with one another and managed to actually produce something as large as the Design for Giving Contest. All together on of the most memorable things ii have ever done and i am so glad that you guys want to be apart of it =D


Looking forward to speaking to the kids! if you need any more answers please feel free to email me! oh and warn them that i do have an indian accent so they might have to speak slowly for me to understand and vice versa.

Words

Lance wrote part of this story and then other Herald writers contributed.

Photo credits: Images of Ahmedabad are from Wikipedia; the photo so Zara is from Zara.

Design for Giving Contest: Irene's View ^^

During this period time, The Hillwood Herald reporters are going to enter the "Design for Giving" Contest. The "Design for Giving" Contest is a contest applicable by kids ages ten to thirteen. You can send in a PowerPoint presentation, a video, or a a document saying what problem you are going to attempt to solve. Since we are going to enter this contest, I will give my points of view!

What Bothers Me In San Francisco?
Hmm.......what bothers me in San Francisco? I guess my answer would have to be that people litter a lot and nobody has an attempt to help clean up. When I walk down the streets of San Francisco, I see trails of it. I'm sure that it happens in other locations in the United States, but I have only lived and remebered litter in San Francisco. I desperately want to pick the trash up but, my parents are being extra careful right now because of the H1N1 Virus right now.

How Am I Going To Help Solve The Problem?
I'm going to get some gloves, round up some people, and go around with huge plastic bags, picking up trash and recyclables!

What Bothers Me In The United States of America?
This is harder. I honestly have no idea of what bothers me in the United States. I guess my answer would have to be that some people are still racist. I know that racism was way back in the past and that now, all people are treated equally, there are still some people who are racist and discriminate against certain ethnicities.

How Am I Going To Help Solve The Problem?
I am going to help solve this problem by befriending and giving kindness to all different ethnicities of people. By doing this, people just might look past the outside and appreciate the inside!


Photo Credit from Google Images

Design for Giving: San Francisco, America

Though San Francisco is a pretty cool place, there are still some things about this city that bother me. I think that there are some things that San Francisco can improve upon.

Take for example, litter on the streets. It just bothers me when people dump their garbage on the walkways. I wish people would just respect the city more. I want to volunteer to help clear up littered streets.

Another thing that bothers me is poverty and gangs. One of my best friends lives in a hotel where she's afraid to leave the room, scared to even go to the restroom. She hears gunshots at night. I think there should be more programs that crack down on gangs and drug dealing.

As for America, well, everyone knows this country is not as discriminatory as many other countries and that we have plenty of freedom. Everyone knows that we Americans are spoiled with so much freedom, but still, everyone knows America isn't perfect. Some of its problems include: greenhouse gases, clean-up from Hurricane Katrina, the recovering economy, difference in pay between men and women, racism, sexism, and the war. America is working on reducing its amount of greenhouse gases, but there are still plenty of people who disbelieve its existence.

Though Hurricane Katrina happened over 4 years ago, there's still plenty to clean up and reconstruct. I hope the government would pay more attention to this major problem. The economy is recovering slowly, but there isn't really much we can do about that. America should also make it illegal pay men and women differently. Racism is still a big problem, but as time goes on, I believe that it will slowly diminish. As for the war between America and Afghanistan. It bothers me to know civilians are being killed by the dozens each day, but as for a solution, I'm not sure if I can say much...

Some things require action to be fixed, and some things just need time to heal.

by: Brigette W.

What Bothers Me

What bothers me in San Francisco is that lots of people litter and do not re-cycle. What I am going to do about it is that I will re-cycle, compost, not litter, and when I grow up I will take the bus or bike instead of driving a car. If everyone does that the world would be less polluted, no global warming, and cleaner air.

What bothers be in the United States is the same thing, but as a bigger problem. We need to learn how to reuse and re-cycle our energy like using solar, wind, hydro energy and more. Instead of using fossil fuels. Also we need more cars that use solar energy instead of gasoline. I think if everyone contributes to this then the world would be a happier and cleaner world.

Photo credit: Iceland Dreams

What Bothers Me and What I Will Do

What bothers me in America is that we give too much money to the rich and not enough to the poor. What I'm going to do about this is try to give the poor more money to the poor and try to give them a home.

What bothers me in San Francisco is they're not prepared for another earth quake and it would destroy the houses. If I'm rich when I'm grown up I'll try to do constructive work on San Francisco to make it stronger for another earth quake. The buildings won't break and houses won't cut in half. That's how I'm going to help San Francisco.


Photo credit: Wikipedia San Francisco Earthquake

Cleaning San Francisco

We need to help our community by reducing, reusing, and recycling "The Three R's."

We need to help our neighborhood by picking up litter and not littering.

We need to clean the beaches and help when there are oil spills so animals can live in a nice habitat. Why don't people understand there not the only living things on Earth? People should clean up after themselves or help their community. Even though animals come from shelters their not rabid. You shouldn't just abandon an animal when you take an animal you're taking a big responsibility. This image is from Google when the oil spilled into the ocean.

By Rubina and Anya