Hillwood's Annual All-Day Christmas Party

Every year during the merry month, Hillwood throws an all-day Christmas party for our students and families. The day starts off as normal. At around 10 AM, the whole school gathers in the middle room downstairs. The appointed Deputy of Santa (Eighth Grader Brigette W.) comes along with her helpers (Irene T., Julian F., and Julien G.) to distribute presents around to everybody (the presents are part of a Secret Santa Draw we do in class. Will get on to that in a minute). The Deputy of Santa will use her special "reindeer ears" to determine if each student has been naughty or nice for the year by asking questions such as, "Did you eat your veggies this year?" or "Have you listened to your mommy a lot?" The child will respond with (of course) yes to every question and he/she will receive a present sent by an anonymous student. The party is followed by a short break and lunch. Afterwards, the students host a Talent Show with various acts from grades Kindergarten to Eighth. Parents are invited as the audience of these special performances.

Secret Santa
In each class, a draw for Secret Santa is used. The teacher writes each students' name on a piece of paper and folds it. She puts it in a small container and asks one student to come up one at a time to pick one. Whichever person this student picks, he/she has to present a gift for the child with a limit of $10 on the gift. It's fun overall as you try to guess who is going to give you a present and what it will be. Also, it doesn't leave out anybody who doesn't get a gift. During the Present Time when the Deputy of Santa distributes the gifts, each student will know the sender on the tag.

Talent Show Acts
Ms. Gayle Schmitt, the school's music/singing teacher, conducts a song for each talent show (two annually) with each class. The upper graders will be singing "Jingle Bell Rock", Fourth Grader Faryn D. and Jennifer L. will be dueting the Spanish song "Feliz Navidad", and Brigette W. will be playing a lovely tune on her violin. There is always a variety. Last year, Samantha played the hula hoop and played the harmonica--at the same time! Julien G. is also very musically talented. He was in a band over the summer as a singer and he plays the piano. Zack taught himself how to play the guitar while Anya can perform amazing backflips! Everyone has a chance to show off some kind of talent.

Parents Corner
Parents can look forward to seeing their kids perform in the Talent Show and the Parents' Party. Our wonderful staff of Hillwood will be there. They include: Mr. and Mrs. Grantz, Ms. Kathy Tom, Ms. Sybil Dawson, Mrs. Eileen Woods, Ms. Samantha Caine, Ms. Lydia Cortias, Ms. Gayle Schmitt, Ms. Anna H., and Ms. Martha Yow.

Party Attire
Kids can come in fancy-casual dress. No jeans, t-shirts, and graphic shirts. Otherwise, uniforms as usual.

Picture Source: Google Images

Video Caption

Here is Irene T., a fellow Hillwood Herald reporter. She is being interviewed by Anya J. about her article on Hillwood's Fall Open House. In the video, Irene talks about the five W's of the event: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. There is also a flier included.

President Obama's Message for America's Students

On Tuesday, September 8, President Obama talked to all the students of America about education. Tuesday was the first day of school for Hillwood.

President talked in Arlington, Virginia, at Wakefield High School. He told the students that you need to work to get somewhere. You cannot drop out of school and then somehow land into a good job. Even if you did land in a good job, you would not have the education to do well at the job because you dropped out of school.

Video credit: The White House

Event: Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors

Student Assignment: Zack O.

Write a news story about the San Francisco's Shakespeare Festival's upcoming free performances. Highlight the two performances set to happen this weekend in the Presidio.

Use the Shakespeare Festival's website to collect information for your story.

You should also read the San Francisco Chronicle's review of the play. If you use any information from the story, remember to cite the information and link to the story.

Because this is a preview to a play, include the basic plot to this play. You should also consider whether this is play showing Shakespeare in the traditional sense or not.

Work in the following quotation from the Festival's website: "Only a Scrooge could fail to enjoy this light-hearted entertainment, which kept multi-generational family groups happily attentive for several hours," wrote Sue Steinberg, in the Pleasanton Independent.

Remember to answer the five 5 W's of a good news story.

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

Include a link to the Festival's video (also shown on this post).

Include an image (remember to credit the source). You could use this image.

Photo credit: SFGate.com.
Video credit: SFShakes.org.

Happy Birthday, Claude

Student: Angela V.

It's hard to believe that just 15 years ago, Claude was a tiny albino alligator poking his head out of an eggshell. From Sept. 8-15, people can visit the Naturalist Center to create an alligator-inspired birthday hat, or design a birthday cake for Claude in a special coloring activity. Then on Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 9:30 am, watch as aquarium staff present the reptilian star with cupcakes made of gator chow, and join fellow visitors in a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday."

Read more about this event on the Academy of Sciences website. Then, write a news story announcing the upcoming event. Include the five W's of a good news story: who, what, when, where, and why.

Include images, links, and labels in your story.