5/24/20

Happy Sunday!
Weekends don’t mean as much as they used to because it’s an invitation to stay home- more. Even though you have a new relationship with weekends, take this time to spend more time with your hard-working parents. Enjoy and make the best out of your weekends.

Tips For Your Own Garden!

By Ember Hernandez




If you plant fruits and vegetables yourself, it’s surprisingly rewarding... and delicious! Here are some tips and tricks to make the best garden!

1. Choose your seeds! Some beginner plants could be bell peppers, strawberries, rhubarb, or tomatoes.

2. Water on and off. Remember, these plants are sensitive. If you use a hose, then put it on a low-pressure setting. Don’t water too frequently or mold will grow.

3. Use deterring pesticides, but make sure they’re bee-friendly! Bees will help pollinate your garden, they are not pests.

4. Do you have any dead plants? Put them in some soil to make great fertilizer! That way, they are useful. Be patient, it could take a week or two to fully sink into the soil.

5. Transfer weeds. I say transfer because weeds can still be useful. For example, you can make jam out of dandelions, and crabgrass essence is an effective glass cleaner. Take them to a different part of the yard, where their roots won’t strangle your fruit and vegetables.

6. If you want to, you can buy ladybugs! Sometimes the pesticides don’t work, and ladybugs eat the little bugs chewing up your greens.

7. Finally, when you pick your reward, make sure that you don’t take too many. Squirrels and chipmunks love fruit, so toss the rotting ones (rodents have a better toleration to mold) in your yard.

Smokey: The War Dog of World War Two

By Antoinette and Michelle Durand

In the year 1944 in the jungle of New Guinea, Smokey the Yorkshire Terrier is found in a foxhole. Smokey was found by soldier Bill Wynne.

Bill started teaching Smokey tricks. She quickly mastered ‘sit’, ‘stay’, and other basic commands.


Bill needed to run wire through a seventy foot pipe. His fellow soldiers worried that it would take days to complete the task. Bill offered to let Smokey run through the pipe with the wire on her collar. Smokey did the job well.
Bill visited a hospital with Smokey. He got the idea to have her perform tricks for the wounded people. Smokey walked on a tightrope, blindfolded. She spelled her own name with alphabet blocks, and rode a scooter.

When the war ended, Bill got a TV show called How to Train your Dog with Bill Wynne so he could share Smokey’s trick’s with the world.

Smokey died on February 21, 1957 to be about thirteen years old on her bed.

Jacques Cartier: Famous French Explorer

By Antoinette Durand
Jacques Cartier was born on December 31, 1491 in Saint-Malo, Brittany, France.

Cartier set off on his first expedition on April 20, 1534 from Saint-Malo, France. He was given two ships and sixty-one men. A few weeks later, he made it to North America. Cartier stopped at Isle of Birds to get more supplies. On June 9, 1534, Cartier discovered the Strait of Belle Isle.

On June 15 of that same year, he sailed to the west coast of Newfoundland.

Cartier met the Micmac Native Americans on July 6, 1534. He traded knives and beads for furs and meat.

Cartier was forced to shore because of bad weather in the Gaspe Peninsula. On shore, the crew met three hundred Iriquois men. When Cartier posted a sign saying, ‘Long live the King of France’, the leader of the Iriquois, Donnacona was horrified. Cartier made peace with Donnacona via peace offering.

On September 5, 1534, Cartier, accompanied by two of Donnacona’s sons, made it back to Saint-Malo.

Cartier was permitted to go on a second expedition by the King of France on May 19, 1535. His three ships and 110 men departed from Saint-Malo for North America.

On June 25, 1535, a terrible storm separated Cartier’s ships. They reunited a month later.

They made it to the Strait of Belle Isle on July 26. The expedition went to modern-day Quebec, and charted nature. Over the winter, Cartier upset the Iroquois. He escaped quickly and captured a couple of Iroquois Chiefs.

When Cartier got back to France, he told the King that riches were farther west, and there was a river about 2,000 miles long that could lead to Asia.In May of 1541, Cartier left for his third voyage to the St. Lawrence River. He had five ships, and now decided not to look for a passage to Asia.Instead, Cartier wanted to build a permanent settlement on the St. Lawrence River. French settlers started coming a couple months later.

Cartier traveled to Quebec again, and set up a camp for the French settlers. Cartier thought that he had found an abundance of gold and diamonds.Without waiting for the settlers, Cartier abandoned his Quebec camp, and started to sail for France. During his journey, he stopped in Newfoundland.

The leader of Newfoundland ordered Cartier to go back to Quebec, but Cartier started for France again secretly in the night.

The colonists of Quebec realized that Cartier’s “gold” and “diamonds” weren’t real, but worthless. After the first harsh winter, they returned to France, and didn’t want to settle at Cartier’s camp.

France wasn’t interested in Cartier’s land. In fact, they weren’t interested for 50 more years. Cartier’s career ended, and his reputation was ruined by his encounters with the Iroquois. He died on September 1, 1557 at the age of 66 in Saint- Malo, France.