MY BASEBALL EXPERIENCE

Me, my brother & Mr. West enjoying the Mets game. Play ball!

By Torrae Swindell

Hello fellow readers, my name is Torrae Swindell, and today, I’m going to tell you about my experience at the mets game on Saturday, May 30th. I’m really excited to tell you about it. Let me begin at the arrival…

When I first saw Citi Field, it was bigger than I anticipated. It looked pretty awesome to me. As we walked down the sidewalk that led to the entrance, there was a lineup of some of the best Mets players ever, like Darryl Strawberry. When we went inside Citi Field, I saw a giant 42 statue. The number reminded me about Jackie Robinson, because that was his number and the statue was decidated to his memory. When we got to the field to check out batting practice, I thought to myself, how do people even catch a ball thrown from the other side of the field and act like it was thrown 5 inches away? After a few more minutes of watching the Mets practice, we headed down to the museum, where I discovered that the Mets were a team since 1962. I also saw old baseballs and rings from when the mets won certain games or championships. After that, we went to Shea Bridge (named after the Mets’ last stadium before Citi Field) to grab a bite to eat. My brother and I had a slice of pizza. Then, when we got to our seats, we were ready to see some mets kick some Marlin butt (or at least thats what I thought). The area where our seats were, could see the whole field and team. In the 1st inning, the Mets earned a run, but in the 2nd inning, the Marlins scored 2. The Marlins also scored another run in the 3rd inning and 2 more in the 4th, but the Mets scored 4 runs in the same inning. The next two innings no one scored. In the 7th inning the Marlins scored 2 more runs, and in the 9th inning they scored 2 more runs and it was official. The Mets lost by 4 runs, 9-5.

Even though the Mets lost, the game was still a great experience. The crowd was loud and filled to the brim with excitement. It was also really fun to cheer the Mets on. I hope I can see another game like that. Maybe next time I can see a Yankees game at their stadium. This experience was wonderful, and I don’t think I’ll forget about it any time soon.

Eagle & Bell go out to see the Mets!

by Mr. West

We got to the ballpark early to make sure we got our towels!

To celebrate springtime and reward our kids’ efforts this school year, Journalism teacher Mr. West organized a field trip to Citi Field to see the New York Mets. As you might know, the Mets have currently asserted their presence in the National League playoff race, led by an exciting young pitching staff and powered by slugger Lucas Duda. It was a good day to get to the park early: Mets Beach Towel Day! The first 15,000 fans at the arena received their own free beach towel with the New York Mets logo on it. We were among the first few hundred people in line, and all of us got our very own towels (see below for pics)!

It was a warm, sunny, breezy day, and the sun shone brightly as Mr.West, Ms. Jeannie, Mr. Nazario, Mr. Shelem, Mr. Ramirez, and Ms. Domeville watched the teams take batting practice with a whole host of Eagle kids. Angel Ramos, of the Eagle Academy middle school baseball team, even went home with a baseball!

This was Mr. Nazario’s first MLB game!

After batting practice, we went down to the Jackie Robinson Rotunda and checked out the baseball museum inside the stadium. There was tons of gear on sale, as well as old memorabilia from baseball’s earlier generations. There was also a huge blue number 42 in the rotunda area, in honor of the great Jackie Robinson.

After the museum, Mr. West took the group on a little walking tour through the park. We checked out Shea Bridge, named after the stadium where the Mets played for a couple of generations before it was recently replaced by Citi Field. Shea Stadium was the site of most of the greatest moments in Mets history, including Endy Chavez’ famous Game Seven catch as well as both World Series victories and tons of other memories. Next to Shea Bridge is a big area where fans congregate to watch the game from center field…and it’s also where the stadium’s biggest food court is! Citi Field has a wide variety of tasty food, and our field trip camped out for an inning so the kids and chaperones could have a bit of lunch. While we were enjoying our food, the Mets jumped out to an early 1-0 lead!

After lunch, we migrated to our seats. The Marlins took a 5-1 lead, as slugger Giancarlo Stanton his a booming line-drive home run. But the Mets roared back with a thrilling four-run comeback in the middle innings. The stadium was jumping, and our staff and kids made tons of noise to cheer on the home team (except for a couple of stubborn Yankee fans)! Two of our journalism students, Triston & Torrae Swindell, each wrote their own accounts of our trip. You can link to Triston’s here and Torrae’s here.

Mr. West and the crew. Let’s go Mets!

After the Mets’ thrilling comeback, it was back and forth for a little bit. There were a couple of nice defensive plays, and overall the game was really exciting. And during the 7th-inning stretch, the whole stadium joined in a singalong of ‘Take Me Out To The Ballgame’…see below for a series of pics of Ms. Jeannie and Mr. Nazario helping fuel the vibe!

Unfortunately, Stanton hit his second home run of the day, and the Marlins dropped four late runs on our beloved Amazins. But everybody had a blast, and after the game the kids continued to bop around and enjoy themselves as our field trip migrated down to the exit. Check out some more pics below.

Thanks to our chaperones (including a few of our kids’ family members and a couple of our teachers’ loved ones) for a great effort on a day that went off without a hitch. And thanks to our kids for being generally awesome and providing a day full of smiles, cheers and good vibrations. Let’s go Mets!

Nice Mets towels, everyone!

Enjoy some more of our photos below, and don’t forget to check back soon for Triston and Torrae’s personal stories about our trip 🙂

Mr. Nazario & Ms. Domeville. Told ya the teachers had fun 🙂

Alex & Gian, hoping for a late-inning rally. Nice rally cap, Alex!

Group pic with Citi Field’s baseball diamond in the backdrop!

Gian showing off his new Mets towel!

Angel, showing off his Darth Ramos look.

“Take Me Out To The Ballgame!”

“One, two, three strikes you’re out…”

“…at the ole ballgaaaame!”

EVER WANTED TO SEE MICKEY MOUSE ON A BOAT ?

By Triston and Torrae Swindell

The 1/4 of the Disney cruisesTorrae swindell

Intro: 

The Disney company, with all its movies, sponsors, television shows, video games, beloved theme parks around the world, and resorts in designated countries and states, is very respected. But what makes the company even more successful is their very own cruise line. Seriously, when are they ever going to run out of money? Never, I guess. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I am going to tell you about the Disney Cruise Line. Even though I have never actually been on the cruise, I have done a fair amount of research about it, and each cruise line is not exactly the same, which is a good thing. So, without further ado, let me explain how awesome the boat is.

Activities: 

Okay, so the main reason of why a cruise is so much fun is all of the activities. Well you’re in luck, because the activities on the S.S. Disney has activities for boarders from the youngest child to the oldest adult. Even grandma can join the fun. There are clubs, pools, parties, and nurseries for the kiddies. For mom and dad there are adult clubs and restaurants to get a break from the kids. There are clubs for teens and pre-teens as well. They can play video games, watch television, surf the web, and listen to music. There are also pools and water slides to beat the heat. There are playgrounds and pool movie screenings too. Goofy’s Sports Deck is a great place on the cruise, where you can play mini golf, and basketball. There’s even broadway-styled plays about your favorite Disney movies with plenty of songs. There are way more activities, but I don’t want to bore you so let’s move on my friends.

Dining: 

Hungry for food? No problem, there are plenty of restaurants and mini-bars with grub you can sink your teeth into. The only catch is that not all restaurants are welcome to kids, which surprises me. There’s the animators studio eatery, a family club with plenty of food, also the food is nice and they serve almost everything and all the restaurants are allergy friendly. There are oodles of sweet creamy crunchy desserts like ice cream and cake, though you do have to pay for it. The restaurants also even provide entertainment while you eat your succulent mouth-watering meals. The cruise provides burgers, hot dogs, pizza, potatoes,vegetables, fruits, and breakfast cuisines as well, and it’s fun for everyone!

Atmosphere: 

The friendly atmosphere is guaranteed to make you feel comfortable while you stay on the Disney cruise. In each room there’s a queen-sized bed and two other beds that are inside a couch. Each room also has two bathrooms. In the main lobby there are meet and greets with your favorite characters and princesses. There are also statues of Minnie and Mickey made of metal. The cruise even has an elevator that goes up 12 decks and everywhere you go has a certain vibe or theme to it, and some paintings play Mickey Mouse cartoons when you walk by it. It’s pretty cool and innovative, if you ask me.

Commentary:

So, that’s my opinion about the Disney cruise line. It’s for all ages, and I’d really want to hop on board and sail away on one of those puppies. In fact, the only reason why I’m talking about it is because a few days ago I entered the Disney Channel teen beach 2 cruising away sweepstakes! If I win, I’ll get to go on one of those cruises, so I REALLY want to win. It will be the first time for me to get out of America, and I always wanted to see other parts of the world. Thanks for reading my post, you can make a comment if you like. See you real soon!

OUR JOURNEY THROUGH JOURNALISM

BY TRISTON AND TORRAE SWINDELL

Journalism class is every subject, but expressing yourself through complete paragraphs. Like my Nintendo character countdown, our happiness posts, or the why Six Flags is awesome post. I don’t care what you like, just write it down and own it like you actually mean it. –Torrae Swindell

I think journalism class is an activity when you can express your feelings about what you like. You can be 100% honest. Journalism is my favorite class because because you can put your thoughts to work. –Triston Swindell

 

Kindness is a strength

Kindness is actually strength because violence is way too easy to show. So when you’re kind to someone who is being mean to you, you are showing more strength than them. –Torrae Swindell

The way kindness is strength is that kindness can affect other people if you are kind to each other. Kindness can help you achieve your goals. If you help other people with kindness, then it will help people to be kind to each other and there will be no violence. A final way kindness is strength is that kindness will help other people in their lives. The reason I say this is because this could stop bullying and it could support people if they are sick and make them feel better. –Miguel Garduno

Kindness is powerful because it takes you places and you can be a friend magnet. Kindness is happiness. Don’t mistake me, people can take advantage of you. But kindness is one of your strongest weapons. –Triston Swindell

I believe that kindness should be a strength because you get more respect. I believe that we should be kind because you are supposed to be a good person. –Tylik McCullum

 

WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY

by Torrae Swindell

I like going to theme parks on a sunny day. You don’t have to worry about rainstorms, and the blue sky completes the day there. While you’re having fun in the sun, riding rides and eating really good food, your daily worries will seem to vanish.If you like the same thing then you’ll see what im talking about

WHY SIX FLAGS IS AWESOME

Six Flags logo

By:  Triston and  Torrae Swindell

Intro: 

For the most part, everyone has been to Six Flags, but that doesn’t mean that everyone loves it. Today, we’re here to explain why Six Flags has a spot on our list of awesome places. Throughout this post, we’ll not only give you reasons as to why this place is extremely fun, but we’ll even show you the rides, shows, and last but not least, the food. Who doesn’t love food right? So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

The Rides 

Okay, the number one reason why most people even go to Six Flags is for the rides and roller coasters. I mean, who doesn’t, right? Anyway, the rides are awesome, plain and simple. As a matter of a fact, go to the dictionary and search for the word awesome, you’ll see six flags in the definition. Some of the best rides featured are The Batman Coaster, El Toro, and Nitro. Those are pretty fun rides, but if you want to reach a new level of excitement and terror, there’s nothing to worry about. Six Flags is home to the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the United States of America, The King Da Ka. Its top speed is 128 MPH at an outstanding 456 feet tall. There’s also a pirate ship ride, a swing ride, and other classic amusement park rides.

Shows: 

If intense excitement and extreme heights isn’t your type of thing, Six Flags can still easily accommodate your needs. Six Flags is not just a thrill ride theme park. It has other things to do like watching good old rock bands and animals preforming tricks. There’s a dolphin show, and a couple of rock bands here and then. It really slows down the excitement from all those rides plus the shows are free of charge. There are Looney Toons character meet and greets, and Becky G and Fifth Harmony perform there as well.

Games: 

What makes a theme park a theme park? Games of course. It’s a perfect way to take a ”fun break” from all those roller coasters , and its definitely not like those rigged carnival games you see on television. There’s good old whack-a-mole, test your strength, and the water target game. There are plenty of other games too like Lazer dodging and the Crane game. Plus there’s a reward for your victory of winning a frustrating game, a nice big teddy bear you could never win for your girlfriend that night when the state fair was in town.

The Bizzaro roller coaster

THE FOOD:  

You hear that? That’s your stomach grumbling and howling for some good old classic Six Flags cuisine. So many options to choose from like burgers, hot dogs, pizza, and nachos, but that’s the old boring dog food that you always find in regular amusement parks. Besides that, Six Flags has Mexican and Chinese food. So many things you can sink your teeth in. Also for all you rowdy adults out there Six Flags serves Bud Lite beer–but please don’t get drunk, no one wants to have thrown up beer on their shirt on a roller coaster! And don’t you get bored, there are plenty of fattening and teeth decaying treats to scarf down on like good old funnel cake and hot fudge sundaes topped off with whipped cream and a cherry on top.

FINAL THOUGHTS: 

Well, that’s our thoughts on Six Flags. If you still don’t like it, chances are you had no childhood. We gave all our reasons, but thank you for reading our post anyway, it means a lot to us. Well, peace out ya’ll!

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I’m thankful for, by Triston and Torrae

First of all I love Thanksgiving. All the great food, the parades, no school, I just love everything about thanksgiving. But what I am thankful for is my family, friends and all the food I am provided with each and every day. And the best of all, after thanksgiving, its all about Christmas.

Nintendo character countdown

Yoshi, the dinosuar.

by Torrae Swindell

These are my top  5 Nintendo characters, so if you don’t see your favorite don’t be surprised. Nintendo’s characters were created by Shigeuru Miyamoto. If you’re a Nintendo fan, help support it or join club Nintendo. Now, without further, ado lets get on with the countdown.

5: Captain Olimar

Captain Olimar is a character from a game called Pikmin. This brave explorer is a hard worker who has loyal friends by his side. Captain Olimar’s friends belong to a species known as the Pikmin (also the name of the game!); these tough, feisty friends won’t back down from a fight. Only one thing, Pikmin need a commander in order to fight–and who else to command them than the one and only captain Olimar? With Olimar’s leadership and the Pikmin’s loyalty, the Bulborbs and other creatures don’t stand a chance.

4: Yoshi

Yoshi is a character from the game Yoshi’s island.Yoshi is Mario’s friendly dinosaur friend. He has a frog-like tongue that’s sticky, and he uses it for to eat distant fruit. Yoshi also uses his froglike tongue to eat his enemies. Yoshi can produce eggs that he throws at hard to reach places. He can also hover in the air for a short period of time. Yoshi may be cute and cuddly on the outside, but on the inside he’s tougher than a piece of wood.

3: Link

Link is a character from the game Legends of Zelda. Link is a is a Hyrulian Knight, meaning that he comes from a place called Hyrule.  He goes on dangerous quests to save princess Zelda from the evil Gannondorf, the king of demons. Throughout these quests, Link runs into this old man who gives him weapons or items that aid him throughout him quests. When he helps Link, the old man usually says, with a famous quote; “Its dangerous to go alone, take this.” Some of the items he gives Link include a sword, a shield, a boomerang, a grappling hook. These items help Link solve the puzzles he encounters on his quests.

2: Mario

Mario is a character from the game Super Mario Bros. Mario is an Italian plumber from the mushroom kingdom who saves princess Peach from the evil Bowser. Mario has a brother named Luigi, who is taller than Mario and can jump higher than Mario. Mario wears red, and Luigi wears green. Mario has a small mushroom friend named Toad, and Mario can use mushrooms to grow bigger. There is also this flower called the Fire Flower, that allows Mario to throw fire balls.

Kirby, the pink puff.

1: Kirby

Kirby is a character from the game Kirby’s Dream Land. Kirby is a cute little pink puff that lives in a little country called Dreamland, on the planet Popstar. You’re probably thinking, ‘how can an innocent pink puff be a legendary hero?’ Well, Kirby can inhale his enemies and copy their abilities. If you think you can overpower this ball of fluff, think again! Kirby can eat you in less than a second, and can steal your personality forever if he wanted to. Yes, he is that dangerous.

Well, that was my countdown. If you have any suggestions, leave a comment. GO CLUB NINTENDO!!!!!!!!!