The Hillwood Herald

Each Friday, we write the blog of the school which is by the upper graders. We have it every morning on Friday from 9:00 to 10:30. We are assigned a topic to write about by Ms. Moorhead. We than research the topic and write a post about it. Afterwards we post it and people who read the Hillwood Herald read it! Sometimes. we work together and sometimes we are visited by the Design Squad or other people. We also video each other about the posts we did. Close to the end of the posting, some one tells the rest of the class about their post Currently, we are choosing a partner to work with, and with the partner, we are going to create an over sized design of creations which Adam and Judy talked about in the past. Many important topics we write about is the events that happen at the Hillwood Herald like Walk-a-Thons and Pennies for Patients. Besides doing current events on the computer, we write about them at school on paper as well which we talk about on Friday.

Back to School at Hillwood

I used these words because they describe the Hillwood Academic Day School. I made the image on Wordle.net, a website for making pictures with words. The school we are in is in a house, and this is the first week back to school. You get to learn how to blog every Friday.

Every Friday, the upper students of the blog, called The Hillwood Herald, will report on local stories and the school. You can put story ideas for us in the suggestion box at the front of the school. Let us know what articles that you would like to read.

By Erion

Hillwood Yearbook Publishing Ideas

Some ideas for our yearbooks include:

~The Stock Contest for 7th to 8th graders; write down the chosen stock companies

~A staff page with names, ages (optional), position at school, and something personal about them

~Graduating class and attending high schools in fall semester; include names, ages, etc. under picture/photo of student

~Kindergarten graduating class. Include photos of field trips, events, etc. on page.

~Achievements for "Person Who Read Most Books," "Honor Roll," "Best Halloween Costume," "Most Athletic Person," "Top Student in Blog Class," etc.

~List of Top Field Trips

~Favorite Singer/Movie Star

~Muir Woods Overnight

~"Traveling Around the World" page where kids can send in articles about going on vacations

~Ideas of summer activities

~Favorite sports and games

~Funniest moments in each class

~Most memorable moment in each class

~Book reviews

~Favorite lunch at Hillwood

~Favorite pet/animals

~Top books read in class this year

If you have any more ideas, please comment below =).

Credits go to Irene, Brigette, and Anya

Look Who's Reading the Herald

Look who is reading The Hillwood Herald! The Exploratorium. Well done, everyone!

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.

Just Wanted To Give A Small Update....

Hey Herald readers. Just wanted to tell you that Ms. Moorhead, our blog adviser, has already printed the news/story forms. The forms are on the front counter, which is where the front door is. You can pick one up, fill it in, and when you're done, you can drop it into the news box. If you spend more time on the computer, you can also comment and give the news ideas. Of course, we'll have to have Ms. Moorhead look it over, but, I guarantee, we will report on it some time. Have a nice day!

Any News Ideas or Requests For 'The Hillwood Herald'?

Hey Herald readers! Do you have any recent news or requests for us upper-graders to report on? If so, please comment below or if you attend Hillwood, there is a "News" box at the front counter which Mrs. Woods, the upper-grade class teacher brought in. You can write the idea on a slip of paper and put it in the little slit at the top of the box. We'll get back to ya!

For new families, I am pleased to introduce 'The Hillwood Herald' on behalf of my fellow bloggers. It is a blog where the upper-grade classroom report about recent happenings regarding about Hillwood School or families. We also post news about educational topics such as NASA moon plans and about the Address To Students Across America by President Barack Obama. So far, my favorite Herald posts would have to be about Zach, our school's dog by Zack O. and the post 'Create Your Favorite Super Hero' by Julien G.

Let's Get Hillwood in Wikipedia

The Herald staff and many people outside of Hillwood rely on Wikipedia for information. Now, let's get Hillwood Academic Day School in Wikipedia.

Student Assignment: Irene

For this week — Friday, November 2 — just continue with your Wikipedia assignment. Also, we can talk about how it is going in class. I realize that you may be very close to publishing it.

Also, if you have time, please write a news story about the Hillwood Open House. You news story should include the following:
• Date and time (NEXT week, Thursday, November 12, from 5 p.m. until 7:30 pm)
• Why? Introduce prospective families to Hillwood families -- our extended family of students, parents, teachers, directors, and alumni
• Light food and drink will be provided, as well as child care.
• Hillwood students should come and wear their uniforms

Your story about Wikipedia is excellent -- great work. Now, it's time for you to start crafting a Wikipedia entry about Hillwood and The Herald. This will take you two weeks to complete.

First, make sure that you have read a few pages on Wikipedia (general information page and the work-in-progress page) and then a more objective source such The San Diego Union Tribune and Scientific America.

Next, read through this tutorial on Wikipedia. Then begin writing a Wikipedia entry about Hillwood. You will post your entry on The Herald this week. You will need to include an introduction paragraph explaining what you are doing.

Answer the five W's of a news story about both Hillwood Academic Day School and The Hillwood Herald:

• Who
• What
• Why
• Where
• When

Remember to link to both the school and The Herald. The history page on the school website might be of particular help.