The BVMS Barker Issue 7

October 2022 Issue 7

Multicultural Month & WEB

by Aarav Savani

October is Global Diversity Awareness month when we pay tribute to the diverse thoughts and beliefs from worldwide cultures. It also helps open people's minds to new ideas and appreciates the unique differences cultures possess. Not only that but Global Diversity month is an excellent opportunity to learn about other cultures and promote cultural diversity or the existence of a variety of cultural or ethnic groups within a society. However, another interpretation of cultural diversity is that cultures respect each other's differences.

BVMS put in a lot of work promoting and executing Multicultural Month as it was its first time doing it as a middle school. A vital student factor in promoting Multicultural Month wasn't ASB, but WEB (Where Everyone Belongs). The WEB Program is an orientation and transition program where 8th-grade students serve as leaders and mentors to the incoming 6th-graders. The program addresses three primary elements: safety, information, and connection with the 6th-graders.

Here are excerpts from an interview with Aaron Aartal, a WEB member who contributed to setting up for Multicultural Month:

Aarav: "So Aaron, who was involved in planning multicultural month? Was it just the PTA and WEB, or were other people and/or organizations involved?"

Aaron: "To my knowledge, it was just WEB and PTA."

Aarav: “Okay, thanks! On to the next question. So we see that WEB promoted multicultural month through flyers and posters, but were there any difficulties in creating them because? I know that there were people who created posters about countries they have no relation to. Also, were there any obstacles WEB had to overcome while planning Global Diversity Month?"

Aaron: "Ya, there were multiple obstacles. For me, the main obstacle was trying to 'connect' with your country. Because after I connected with my country, Thailand, it became much easier to see what to include and what not to. That didn't mean the poster was a piece of cake, though. Since a country has a lot of history, it wasn't easy to figure out what to include on posters and what not to do. But once I 'connected' with Thailand, everything became easier. And for the obstacles that WEB faced, there weren't many."

Aarav: "Great, thanks! My last questions are pretty simple. First, how long did it take WEB to plan and put everything up for Global Diversity Month, and second, what were your and other WEB members' thoughts while working on it."

Aaron: "It took about 3-4 weeks for WEB to plan and put the flyers and posters up and Multicultural month was fun. My friends and I enjoyed it a lot. I think that it was a huge success and the best thing that WEB has done for the school so far."

Even though it's BVMS's first time doing Global Diversity Month, the people involved did a great job!

CELEBRATING EUROPE

Photo Credits: HaRim Lee

Spirit All Around October 24-28

By Miah Jackson

Spirit week here at BVMS is always celebrated with spirit by those who participate.

Monday was Shades day. Students were asked to wear sunglasses all day. For most, this proved challenging since it's harder to see indoors with sunglasses on.

Tuesday was pink out to celebrate breast cancer awareness. Quite a few kids wore pink, but I feel it should have been more. Sadly boys think that "pink is just for girls," so not many boys wore pink.

Wednesday was the pep rally, this day was crazy, but the theme was color wars. 6th grade wore white 7th grade wore black, and the 8th grade wore green. Unfortunately, I saw no 8th graders decked out for all green. But are principal showed spirit! Cheers to Dr. Skon.

Thursday was Jersey day. There were Lakers player #3, Labron James Space Jam, Orange soccer jerseys, Kolencaprinic, and many others. But the most special one was the Clippers Jersy with the matching hat. It was signed with every player on the Clippers team's signature.

To end the week, Friday was Norman nation day. We had to wear orange and black, the high school colors. Pretty simple. This fit in perfectly because Friday was a football game at Beverly High School and was accessible to all 8th graders. Quite nice, right?

Spirt week puts everyone in a good mood so join in everyone.

CELEBRATING OCEANIA AND AFRICA

CELEBRATING THE MIDDLE EAST

Photo Credits: HaRim Lee

CELEBRATING ASIA

Photo Credits: HaRim Lee

Halloween Fun 2022

Photo Credits: HaRim Lee, Daniela Taylor

Trash Left Behind on Campus After Lunch

Photo Credits: Daniela Taylor

Peanut butter Russian Roulette. Yes, It's a Thing

by Adam Lugassi

Beverly Vista Middle school has almost 900 students; it's nearly impossible not to see litter in a school so populated. There is about 25% of trash through personal observation, and this much trash is a burden to clean up every day. Kids litter in many ways, spilling liquids, causing food wars, mixing rubbish and beverages in a bowl, or playing peanut butter Russian roulette.

Kids have lots of ways to trash schools, one of the worst ways is by throwing and spilling liquids. It is common to find stains on the floor or the table. This trashing is a hassle for janitors and cleaners because once it dries, you almost have to scrub and peel it off.

Kids have to find a way to settle things, so for some, the answer is having a food fight. Food fights are not uncommon, and you can find people participating in these fights happen all the time. You can find many pieces of food on the ground just because of food fighting. It is almost impossible not to find amounts of food under every table.

If you thought Food Fighting was a lot, you have yet to see peanut butter Russian roulette. It's possible to see dry chocolate and peanut butter on umbrella chords after a fine session of Russian roulette at lunch. These are not just gross nuisances to clean but also irritating to kids who peacefully want to eat and get themselves struck by the peanut butter abomination. It's also a hazard to a kid's eye if they find themselves walking but the game in action.

All in all, kids in school need to pay more respect to the school and the janitors, as they are just creating more heavy work for the people cleaning after you. Next time you eat lunch, throw away everything on the table, and don't say, "Oh, that's not mine!"

Photo Credit: Adam Lugassi

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