The day after President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) organized the State of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math — or SoSTEM — event at the Eisenhower Executive Building. My editor Dante arranged for me to attend it.
When I got to the meeting room at 9:50 a.m., I went to interview Bobak Ferdowsi, better known as the Mohawk Guy, who is the flight director for the Mars Curiosity Program. Bobak was very nice and funny. He was wearing his “normal” Mohawk, except it was dyed blue and red. One side of his head said MARS.
The interview went quite smoothly. At one point during the interview we were briefly joined by Dr. John Holdren, the assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of OSTP. Dr. Holdren chatted with the Mohawk Guy about the State of the Union speech the night before.
At 10 a.m., the SoSTEM meeting began. The panel for the meeting included the Mohawk Guy, Lori Garver (deputy director of NASA), Todd Park (US chief technology officer), high school student Jake Andraka (2012 Intel Science Competition winner), and iTriage CEO Peter Hudson. Dr. Holdren was the moderator and started the meeting. In the audience, there were about 50 students from nearby middle and high schools. Some students asked about the Mars program and NASA, and others asked about STEM.
It was a really great meeting, and it was great to go to the White House — especially on one of my first assignments!
People all over the world are ready to celebrate the Chinese
New Year. At the International School of Indiana in Indianapolis, students
celebrated the Year of the Snake with a fun-packed assembly.
Students from 6th grade up to high school seniors who are
learning Mandarin (the official language of China) educated the rest of the
school about Chinese cultures and other rituals. This was taught through song,
dance, instruments, and videos. Some students even performed Tai Chi!
Mandarin teachers Janet Huang and Sophie Li made it their
duty to make sure that every person in attendance knew how to say a phrase in Chinese. The most popular was:
春节快乐！(chūn jié kuài lè), which means Happy New Year.
The assembly was
important for various reasons, one being that the mayor of Indianapolis, Greg
Ballard, was in attendance. After the assembly, Mayor Ballard expressed the
importance of learning about new cultures.
“I think it is
tremendous. We try to celebrate the Chinese culture within the city, and now
that we have a sister city relationship with Hangzhou which is on the East
Coast of China, we do Chinese festivals now in the city so we can celebrate it
along with them,” said Mayor Ballard. “It is nice to see the celebration.”
—Kid Reporter 易欣雷 (Grace Ybarra)
How does your community celebrate Chinese New Year? Let us know in the comments below!
Dangerous conditions and historic snow snarl communities
The winter storm that hit the northeast over the weekend had a tremendous effect on Long Island, New York, especially Suffolk County and Town of Brookhaven.
People joked about stocking up on supplies before the storm, but it became no joke when roads became unusable and residents could not leave their homes for days. Schools were closed early Friday and eventually Monday and Tuesday since streets were still not plowed.
"The storm hit at a time commuters were making their way back from the city," said Suffolk county Executive Steven Bellone. "The snow just swallowed them up. It came down so hard and so fast."
Photo: Snow buries Kid Reporter William Russell's bloc in Sound Beach. This was the scene all over Brookhaven Town in Long Island, New York, after the winter storm. (William Russell)
On Thursday evening, weather reports predicted a little more than seven inches of snow would fall in Westport, Connecticut. Those weathermen were in for a shock.
Storm Nemo dropped a foot and a half of snow on Westport, a coastal Connecticut town.
Schools were open Friday morning, but suddenly the skies opened up. Thick snow rained down on the town. Students arrived at school through the treacherous conditions, but were soon notified that there would be early dismissal for the Westport Public Schools.
After school let out, kids took to the biggest hills they could find armed with their sleds. Everyone enjoyed shooting down the slopes with their friends. Friday night brought heavy winds, but Saturday morning the children were back at the town’s best sledding spots.
The 18 inches of snow were the most in two years. Most kids said that they spent the weekend sipping hot chocolate, skiing, sledding, and enjoying the snow.
A place still recovering from Hurricane Sandy gets hit with nearly three feet of snow
The Town of Brookhaven was hit the hardest by the blizzard Nemo. Some neighborhoods -- including my community of Sound Beach -- got 32 inches of snow!
It all started Thursday night as people started to prepared for the storm. We all lived through Hurricane Sandy, and a lot of people feared they would lose power during this storm, too. There were also long lines at gas stations and gas was running out -- just like what happened with Sandy. People waited in long lines at grocery stores to get supplies.
On Friday, we woke up to light snow but still went to school. By 12:45 my school was closed and we all got to go home! The snow was getting heavier. Weather stations kept saying it would turn to rain but it never did. All night the snow got heavier and heavier. We could hear branches cracking outside. Cars were getting stuck on roads. People we knew were trapped in cars or at train stations trying to figure out how to get home!
The snow got so high that we couldn't open our front door. The branches on trees we hanging all the way to the ground. We just kept our fingers crossed the power would stay on.
By Saturday morning, the snow had ended and we could see our winter wonderland! Although some people were not happy to shovel! The sound of snow blowers fill the air. Kids are snowball fighting and sledding. The snow is so high that its difficult to walk in some spots.
The town of Brookhaven has issued an emergency executive order that states nobody is allowed to be out on the roads starting at 10:00 a.m. until further notice. The roads are really dangerous for travel.
I plan in spending my day building a snowman and drinking lots of hot chocolate!
—Kid Reporter William Russell
Photo: Snow blankets cars an streets in Sound Beach, Long Island. There is so much snow that tree branches are sagging under the weight. (Courtesy William Russell)
In recent years, the Boston area hasn't been hit by any major snowstorms. But that is all about to change.
A major winter storm has begun moving dropping heavy snow, ice, and rain on the northeastern part of the United States. The storm has been named Nemo by the Weather Channel, and it could bring one of the largest blizzards this section of the country has ever seen.
Read today's top story and answer the following questions in the comments section below:
What do you do at your school to celebrate Black History Month? What civil rights leader has inspired you the most? Why?
Photo: (left) Rosa Parks smiles during a ceremony where she received the Congressional Medal of Freedom in Detroit, Mich., Nov. 28, 1999; the Rosa Parks bus is on permanent display inside Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. (right) (Credits: (left) AP Photo/Paul Sancya, (right) courtesy of The Henry Ford Museum)
Photo: An official game ball for the NFL football Super Bowl XLVII. The San
Francisco 49ers will play the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl on
February 3 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)
Diego: On Thursday, January 10, my good friend Damien and I
took a trip to Sony Pictures Animation Studios to get a behind-the-scene look
at how the movie Hotel Transylvania was made. When we arrived, we were greeted
by two very hospitable ladies who showed us around and walked us through the
animation process. Looking around, everyone seemed so enthusiastic and
exuberant as they were getting ready for their next big project and wrapping up
this one.
Damien: When we walked up to the entrance we were greeted by
a life-sized character cutout of Dracula from Hotel Transylvania. The lobby of
the studios was filled with giant 3D poster boards of all the characters from
the movie. I couldn't believe I was in the studios where so many of my favorite
computer animated movies had been created!
Our tour began with a special one on one drawing lesson from
Darrell Rooney, a story artist who worked on the movie. He taught us the basics
of how to draw Dracula. It's really simple and composed of the three basic
shapes: triangles, rectangles and circles.
Diego: Thanks to Darrell Rooney I can draw a decent portrait
of Dracula! Of course, it’s nothing compared to what he has done but at least I
know the basics to draw my own cartoons. “When drawing a character,”
paraphrasing what Rooney said, “it is important to exaggerate, distort, or
alternate certain features in order to help with theme development and
characterization.” For example, did you know that the shape of Dracula’s head
in Hotel Transylvania was inspired by a coffin?
Damien: Then we were off to meet the creator and director
himself, Genndy Tartakovsky. He was in the voiceover room where many of the
world's animation voices have been recorded. Diego and I took turns doing voice
over for Mavis and Dracula by viewing clips from the movie. It was hilarious
and super cool to try.
Diego: That was my favorite part of the trip. Going into the
scratch room with Director Genndy Tartakovsky and recording dialogue for a
scene was really fun!
Talking with Genndy was cool, too. He's an interesting man
with an impressive background in the art of animation. When he was young, and
he came to America from Russia, Genddy said cartoons were his escape from
everyday life. And now look where he is. Cartoons and animation ARE his everyday
life.
Damien: The last stop on our tour was to the other side of
the studios where we met 3D Stereoscopic Supervisor Von Williams who gave us a
sneak peek on the tech side of what it takes to make 3D movies.
Diego: Von Williams is possibly the best stereoscopic 3D
professional in the world and he gave us an inside look at his job, too.
Watching Von Williams was like observing a potter create a whole entire world
from clay, only with computers.
Damien: It's amazing how just the slightest touch of a button
here or a flip of a switch there can make all the difference in how a movie can
pop out at you. It was fascinating to see the layers and controls that are used
to make 3D animation come alive in 3D. It was a lot of fun to learn all the
secrets behind the magic of the animation movie making. It really is fun!
Diego: Seeing the characters jumping out of the screen and
huge, atmospheric castle chambers make many feel as if they were jumping into
the screen. But to actually see the 3D process is a whole other story.
Check out our video report about our time at the Sony
Animation Studio on the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps website! And watch a
video of our voiceover work below!
—Kid Reporters Diego Magaña and Damien Murphy
Photo: Kid Reporters Diego Magana (left) and Damien Murphy take a turn behind the microphone to give voice to characters in Hotel Transylvania during their Sony Animation Studio tour in January.
What do you think President Barack Obama should focus on in his second term? What are the most important issues facing the country?
Let us know in the comments section below!
Photo: President Barack Obama receives the oath of office as First Lady
Michelle Obama looks on at the ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S.
Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, Monday,
Jan. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in Scholastic News Kids Press Corps Blog are strictly those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Scholastic, Inc.
