By Kai G-H, Guy D-M, & Dane the Pain
Hampton students are going to get off of school for winter break from December. 22nd through January 3rd. Lots of students and staff have plans with their family over break. “I celebrate Hanukkah by going to my aunt and uncle’s house,” said. Mrs. Stock, a third-grade teacher at Hampton. “We have a nice dinner, exchange presents, and then have a Jewish dessert called sufganiyot (jelly-filled donuts with powdered sugar on top). I celebrate Christmas on December 25th. My wife and I exchange gifts with each other and give our dogs their presents on Christmas morning. For dinner, we go to my wife’s mom’s house and exchange gifts with her.” Lots of students are going to spend their time doing things that they enjoy. “I’m going to play Fortnite over the whole break,” said Dane A Students and staff are happy about winter break because you get to miss school for 11 and a half days and relax for a while. “The first part of the school year was tiring because I taught, helped with the play, helped with Battle of the Books, and finished two graduate school classes. I am ready for some rest and relaxation during winter break! Although, I will miss my students,” Mrs. Stock said. Whether celebrating holidays, traveling, or just relaxing, the Hampton Elementary School Community is definitely excited for winter break.
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By Quinn WK, Rachel CJ, & Hailey
December has many holidays and traditions, at Hampton Elementary, many students and staff celebrate many holidays and traditions this December in their houses. Many different people celebrate the holidays by making baked goods. Especially on Christmas “I make cookies with my whole family. I also make gingerbread houses.” said Molly W. Other people celebrate the holidays by seeing friends or family. “My mom's side of the family comes over and spends the night,” said Mikey G. Some people celebrate the Holidays by decorating their trees or watching Holiday movies. “I decorate my christmas tree while watching Elf,” Said Ollie P. Some people instead of celebrating Christmas celebrate other holidays, like Hanukkah. “I light the menorah,” said Riley C. People also celebrate Hanukkah by eating varying cuisines. “I eat lakhs and homemade applesauce,” said Hannah J. Another thing people celebrate is New Years for a fresh start to another 365 days. “We try to stay up after taking a melatonin and whoever stays up the longest wins,” said Gabby H. What holidays do you celebrate? by Cooper J. & Semirah A.
At Hampton Elementary this winter Mrs.Winkler and Mrs.Panday organized a coat and toy drive during December. The toy donations go to Hampton families in need first and then they go to homeless shelters.The coat donations go to the Student Support Network. Hampton has done collections like this before. “It’s the first official one involving the Hampton community, but Mrs. Dyer and I have done smaller toy collections in past years,” said Mrs. Panday, the Community Outreach Committee for the PTA. People at Hampton think it's really important to give back to the community. “We do not want any child to feel like the holidays missed them, and want all parents to see their child's face lit up with excitement and joy,” Mrs. Panday said. By Gabby H. & Seth R.
Hampton 4th and 5th grade students had a winter concert conducted by Mrs.Fletcher and Mr.Evans on December 14th. The fourth grade students performed a winter vocal concert. The fifth grade plays various instruments. The students performed twice during the day for Hampton students and then once in the evening for their families. Everyone in attendance enjoyed the concerts. By The Hampton Herald Staff
Hampton Elementary School celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week from May 2nd to 6th to honor teachers for their hard work. Teachers at Hampton were treated to breakfast or lunch each day. The PTA set up the food in the faculty lounge. "I had a huge, delicious chocolate muffin on Thursday," said Ms. Patek, a fourth-grade teacher. "It made my morning!" Since the week was superhero themed, teachers were able to answer trivia questions each day. Mrs. kaiser announced the winner during dismissal announcements. Many students also brought in flowers, cards, notes, and other special gifts for their teachers to thank them for their hard work. "I got my teacher, Mr. Willmore, a Starbucks gift card," said Tyler R., a fifth-grade student. The Hampton community did a great job making teachers feel celebrated at appreciated this year. By The Hampton Herald Staff
Hampton Elementary School’s Drama Club will perform “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” on Friday, March 25th, Saturday, March 26th and Friday, April 1st, and Saturday April 2nd. This is the first time that students at Hampton have been able to participate in a musical as an after-school club. There are 51 total cast and stage crew members; they are all from 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. Mr. Willmore, a fifth-grade teacher is the director, Mrs. Barboza, another fifth- grade teacher is the choreographer, and Mrs. Fletcher, a Vocal Music teacher, is the music director. Mr. Willmore came up with the idea to do a musical because he had directed them before. “This is my third year at Hampton and I directed musicals at my old school,” said Mr. Willmore. “I performed in shows when I was in high school, and I wanted to bring that opportunity to Hampton students. This is the first year that we’ve been able to do the show since the shut down.” The teachers decided to do the “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” over the summer. They had one year to perform after they bought the rights. Auditions were held in October of 2021. Each student who auditioned had to sing a song and perform a monologue. Mr. Willmore was very impressed with the auditions. Shortly after auditions, casting was announced, and rehearsals began. Rehearsals are held every Tuesday and Thursday after school. Students warm up their voices, have a snack, practice blocking, and reading lines. Dress rehearsals begin this week. Students have been rehearsing scenes from the show and practicing choreography. “The choreography is spot on. They are practicing with their videos at home. We’re just working on some space issues right now with the props and things,” said Mrs. Barboza. In addition to Mr. Willmore, Mrs. Barboza, and Mrs. Fletcher, there are some other members of the Hampton school community who are helping with the show. Mrs. Towner, an art teacher, is helping with the sets, especially painting the backgrounds for the scenes. In addition, several other staff members also spent some time helping with sets. The tickets became available on Wednesday, March 16th. Homeroom teachers passed out papers for the tickets. People went online to order the tickets and then they brought the money to school. The tickets were five dollars per person. The ticket prices are to support next year's play. There are still tickets for the last two shows but others are sold out. The show begins at 7:00 P.M. in the school gym each night. It runs for about an hour with a fifteen minutes intermission in the middle of the show. Hampton students and staff are very excited to see the show this weekend. Teachers have the opportunity to view a dress rehearsal on Tuesday, March 22nd. Lots of people are already wondering what the show will be next year. “It’s been a big undertaking,” Mr. Willmore said. “We’ll take a big rest after this one and then start thinking about next year.” By The Hampton Herald Staff
Valerie Tutson, a storyteller, hosted a virtual assembly for Hampton students on Tuesday March 1st to celebrate Black History Month. Initially, the assembly was scheduled for February 28th but was postponed due to weather. Hampton students attended one of two sessions, and during each session, Ms. Tutson shared a different folktale. Each story had a lesson for the students to learn. During the folktales, she encouraged the students to participate with songs and responses. After Ms. Tutson finished telling the folktales, she shared a story of Zora Neale Hurston. She told the story of Zora’ childhood and her attempts to fly. Through her story-telling, Ms. Tutson was able to share some history and culture with Hampton students. By The Hampton Herald Staff
Hampton Elementary celebrated Read Across America from Monday, February 28th through Friday, March 4th to promote the importance of reading in education and to encourage students to read more. To start each morning, a Hampton teacher read a story over WHES, the morning announcements. Students were encouraged to dress according to a new theme each day. Students wore pajamas on Monday, dressed to travel on Tuesday, wore a grade color on Wednesday, dressed as a superhero on Thursday, and dressed as a favorite book character on Friday. Throughout the week, students came to school dressed as Draco Malfoy, the Mandalorian, Harry Potter, wolves, and Spiderman. According to Ducksters, Read Across America began in 1998 by the National Education Association as a special day to celebrate reading. They chose March 2nd, which is Dr. Seuss’s birthday, a famous children’s author. The celebration has moved away from just Dr. Seuss and towards celebrating all kinds of diverse books. by The Hampton Herald Staff
To celebrate Black History Month, our Hampton Herald staff members did some research about influential and important African Americans. Please read below: Bass Reeves Bass Reeves is one of the most inspirational black people ever. He wa a sheriff in Oklahoma and only killed nine people on the job. He caught hundreds of crooks in his career. He helped make the wild lands safer. Katherine Johnson Katherine Johnson was a calculator for NASA. She calculated paths for rockets for space missions. The work she did was important for human space flight. She also helped John Glenn be the first American to orbit earth, because of that she helped America win the space race. In 2015 President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal Of Freedom for her work. You may be wondering how she got here. She was selected from three black students to integrate West Virginia's graduate schools. And by 13, she was attending high school. Henrietta Lacks Henrietta Lacks was born August 1, 1920 and died at the age of 31 due to her illness, cancer. Her cells helped create the polio vaccine and the covid-19 vaccine. They also took her cells to space to see what would happen to cells in zero gravity. Octavius V. Catto Another influential African American would be Octavius V. Catto. He was born in 1839 and died in 1871 when he was only 32 because he was shot and killed. In 2017 a statue was unveiled of him. He fought for an end to slavery and for civil rights for all. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Martin Luther King was born in Georgia in 1929, and at the time people were segregated and he was civil right worker. Martin was a good speaker. He won a big speech contest in high school. Martin Luther King was smart as well. In 1948, he became the minister. He also gave speeches and led marches. He did not want to have violence. He sometimes went to jail or faced violence for his ideas. In 1963 Martin gave his famous speech “I have a dream speech.” in Washington D.C. In 1964, Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize. Also, in 1963 the civil right act was passed when President Johnson signed the act of civil right. In 1968, Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis Tn, and they would still remember him by Martin Luther King Day. Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin was born on March 17, 1912 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He went to college at the City College of New York and became active in the Young Communists League because of its opposition to racial justice. Bayard Rustin was one of the main organizers for the March on Washington and he was a very important advisor for Martin Luther King Jr. He also became a main founder of the SCLC or the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Sadly, he died on August 24, 1987 in Manhattan, New York but he still remains a very important Black leader. By Hampton Herald Staff Masks will be optional at Hampton starting tomorrow, March 1st. Baltimore County Public Schools chose to allow optional masking in alignment with new CDC guidelines. In addition to school buildings, masks will also be optional on buses. Lots of students are excited about this update. “I’m really excited about not having to wear a mask because they are really annoying,” said Tyler, a fifth-grade student. Currently students are unmasked during lunch time and during recess, but now that will extend the full school day. There are some instances where people will still need to wear masks. People with symptoms of COVId-19 being seen in the Health Suite will need to wear masks as well as people who return to school buildings after a shortened quarantine. Baltimore County Public Schools is adamant that mask wearing be a personal choice and has stated that they will not tolerate bullying or harassment concerning mask wearing. If you’d like to read the full statement, please click the link below: https://www.bcps.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=2828&pageId=68382537 |
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