Embedded Files
Lucie 7th
We all know Santa Claus, the jolly old man who brings joy to young boys and girls every December 25th and 24th. Santa Claus has changed a lot over the years. His evolution can be traced back hundreds of years back to a man named St Nicholas.
It is believed that this man was born sometime around 280 A.D in Patara, near Myra, in modern day Turkey. St Nicholas was much admired for his kindness, and became a famous figure in many legends. It is said that he gave away all his inherited wealth and traveled to the countryside to help the poor. His best known deed was saving three sisters from becoming slaves by giving them money to get married. (Click the arrow to read more)
Over the years, Nicholas’s popularity spread and he evolved into a symbol for protecting children and sailors. A feast celebrated in his honor took place every year on December 6th - his death anniversary. By the renaissance, he became the most known saint in Europe.
Later, even after the Protestant Reformation, a period when saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas was still cherished, especially in countries such as Holland.
After many years St Nicholas was given a new name and a new role. St. Nicholas was now called Sinter Klaas (in Dutch). Sinter Klaas was depicted as an altruistic man who rides his horses around countries, delivering presents to the well behaved or 'nice' boys and girls. Sinter Klaas eventually spread around the world but had the most impact in America where his name was adapted to Santa Claus. And instead of riding white horses, he rides a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer.
Over the years, the original Santa Claus changed several times but his kind hearted spirit that makes so many children so happy every Christmas never did.
Republished from last year
Holiday INTL Inquirer logo Made by newspaper club members
Team Seas
Connor, Karim, Alban 7th
As you might have heard, an ocean fundraiser breaking out. It is called TeamSeas. TeamSeas has been created by a variety of YouTubers, including famous influencers MrBeast, Mark Rober and many more. This fundraiser has a goal of raising 30 million dollars before January 1st. So far, they have raised more than half their goal. The crazy part about this fundraiser isn’t the fact that they have already raised 17 million dollars, it's the fact that every dollar donated is a pound of trash out of the ocean! To help this cause, a group of 7th Grade students who care about the ocean are trying to organize a bake sale, and use the money raised to donate to the TeamSeas website. If you want to help us, make sure to look out for a bake sale date in the winter season! To donate online, go to #TeamSeas!
Facebook Meta
Lucie 7th
Facebook's, now known as Meta, CEO, Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday, October 28th that Facebook is changing its name. What was previously known as Facebook Inc, Umbrella owner of Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Oculus is now called Meta Platforms Inc. The new name reflects the company’s growing ambitions beyond social media. Facebook, now known as Meta, is based on the sci-fi term metaverse, to describe its vision for working and playing in a virtual world.
Vaccines For 5+
Noel 6th
Children as young as 5 are now eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the US. While some parents aren't sure how they feel about this, others are jumping on the chance to protect their children from COVID-19.
Currently, children can get the Pfizer vaccine only, but Moderna has shared some promising results from its vaccine trial with this age group, and Johnson & Johnson is expected to begin vaccine trials for young kids in the future as well.
Image credit to Britannica
Real or fake trees?
Audrey 7th
During December, people have been debating on if it's better to use a real or fake Christmas tree. Using a real Christmas tree is good for the environment. They are more sustainable and support life by absorbing carbon dioxide and other gases, while emitting fresh oxygen. They are essential to complex ecosystems that provide refuge for wildlife. However, fake Christmas trees are made from fire retardant materials, which makes them a much safer option for your home. They are also reusable and convenient. In conclusion, it really depends on your opinion.
INTL Sports Update
Ryan 7th
The Dragons basketball team recently won their first game at Pescadero. The final score was 40-28. They are now at 1 win and 3 losses and will play their next game on the 16th. They are going to play Pac Bay, another private school. This game will be an away game. Meanwhile, season 3 of the sports league is starting. Soccer and girls basketball signup is available. They will play until February. News about season 4 will be available in March. Stay tuned for more information. Go Dragons!
The Colemak Keyboard
Remy 7th
Most people type with the QWERTY keyboard. But there is a much better layout available: Colemak.
On the Colemak keyboard, you only have to move your fingers to type a letter 36 percent of the time. Compared to QWERTY where you have to move your fingers 66 percent of the time. Think about the QWERTY layout; the most common letter, “E”, is not on the home row. Additionally, the semicolon is no longer taking up precious home row real estate. (Who knows how to use a semicolon)
The Colemak is also relatively easier to learn compared to other alternative layouts like Dvorak. Colemak only has 17 keys that are different from QWERTY. AZERTY has only 7 different keys but is pretty inefficient since lots of uncommon letters like Q and J are still on the home row. DVORAK has 27 keys that are different. Another big benefit to Colemak in this department is that all of the most common keyboard shortcuts keys like Z, X, C, V, B, M, Q, and W are in the same places.
The Boeing 777x
Wylan 7th
The new generation of Boeing aircraft is finally here! The Boeing 777x is the most advanced aircraft of its kind. It is part of the 777 family, a large two engined aircraft that serves long international routes around the world. It is the most efficient and largest aircraft of its kind. According to Boeing, the 777x will use 10% less fuel thus making it 10% cheaper to fly.
The roots of this aircraft manufacture are deep and full. If you have ever been to an airport you might have seen the classic B737-800 used in most airlines. You can find them everywhere from large major airports to small outposts near the Himalayan mountains. Surly Boeing revolutionized the aviation industry in 1963. And it will do it again. Generation after generation there have been many different kinds of versions of the aircraft. From the longer range B777-300 to the B777-300ER (ULR).
There are already eight class airlines that purchased the 777x: ANA, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Lufthansa, Qatar, and finally Singapore airlines. This is one of the most spectacular aircraft and you’ll soon see it in the sky.
(Press the arrow to continue reading Colemak article)
My experience with learning Colemak was pretty smooth. It took me about 1 and a half months of practice before I learned how to use it. At first I had hybrid typing, using both QWERTY and Colemak, but I kept getting confused between the two layouts. About 2 weeks into learning, I completely stopped using QWERTY, and decided to just tough it out and type slowly for a while with the Colemak keyboard. This was a good idea, as I started learning much faster than before.
Some additional benefits include:
Making it harder for your password to be stolen over your shoulder
It comes preinstalled on Mac and Linux, and can easily be installed on Windows.
Lots of games like Minecraft will automatically detect what layout you are using and will switch your keybinds to match so you can still press the same key as QWERTY to do an action, but typing in chat will be in Colemak.
Travis Scott's concert gone wrong
Emory and Kiya 7th
In Houston Texas, 9 people died and over 300 people were severely injured at Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert. Astroworld held over 50,000 people that night. They believed this concert would be a fun, eventful night. But they were wrong. Concerts have been a problem for many years. It is a prime target for shootings and alcohol abuse. In this case, it was death, not by bullets or toxins, but by people eager to get closer to the pop star, eager enough to cause a tragedy that would end 9 people's life.
Travis Scott’s concert was going smoothly until one person dropped dead from being compressed. This caused the front row people to die. When more people started dying, Travis Scott kept singing. There were ambulances in the crowd trying to perform CPR, but it was impossible because people were jumping up and down singing and dancing. After a while, the whole crowd started chanting “stop the show, stop the show!” Stupidly, Travis Scott thought they were saying “Make some noise, make some noise!” Even a girl got up on stage and started yelling at Travis Scott’s manager to stop that show. After this Travis tweeted “I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival...” After the Astroworld Festival, Travis helped out lots of those who were injured or had lost their lives. He also provided funerals and therapy sessions.
Club Spotlight
Join the Digital art club! In the DAC, we are learning how to navigate Procreate, weekly theme drawings and create posters for important holidays and other topics. We meet every Thursday from 11:50 - 12:25, and our supervisor is Mr. Saddouk. The club leader is Sophie Saibi. If you have any questions, feel free to email her (sophies27@stu.svintl.org).
Comics made by Mateo 6th
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