Week 1 Senior of the Week : Briana Alonso

It is the time of year where seniors are applying to college, showing off all of their hard works, achievements and talents. Student we have known and taught since freshman year. Watching them grow and learn and pushing through all of the challenges that they are faced with. Appreciating our seniors is one of the many things Garinger is the best at.

For our first week Briana Alonso, Battalion Commander of JROTC, National Honor Society Member and Junior Marshall, was chosen and recognized for her all of her accomplishments as a Garinger Student. Briana Alonso will be attending NC State where she will be studying Criminal Justice and Criminology. Alonso biggest accomplishments was winning 1st place for the district competition for JROTC.

Kurdish Refugees Tell Their Stories

By: Mohamad Alo

In light of conflicts and wars in the Middle East, the Kurdish issue is often brought to light. The Kurdish issue has emerged in the region since the early 1920s and is still going on.  It began after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the discarding of the Treaty of Sever after the First World War, which provided for the establishment of a Kurdish state. Repression and arbitrary and criminal acts against the Kurdish people by the countries surrounding the Kurdish areas contributed to the establishment of parties and associations representing the Kurdish issue. These parties and militias have crystallized over time, especially in its war with ISIS in Syria and Iraq. In the following articles, I interviewed three families who settled near Atlanta, Georgia to highlight some actual Kurdish people refugees who left Syria because of the Civil War. They shared and talked about their experiences, issues and what it is like to be a Kurdish person.

Taha Yousuf’s Family

First row from left: Amina, Alan, Taha Second row from left: Newroz, Randa Photo by: Mohamad Alo

Taha Yousuf, a senior Kurdish man from Qamishli, Syria. He left Syria in 2013 because of the civil war. He is one of the 120,000 Syrian Kurds who did not a have a citizenship since 1962. After the Syrian Civil War conflict in 2012 he got a citizenship. The Syrian Government’s stance was “Foreigners are mute”. Taha got a Syrian citizenship in 2012. But even though Taha got his citizenship, some people who have been living there for 77 years they don’t have citizenship. They are deprived of all their civil rights, travel and purchase of land and houses. In 2012 Taha and his family moved to Istanbul, Turkey hoping for a better life for his children. He has a child with a disability, cerebral palsy, a congenital disorder of movement, muscle tone, or posture. Some of his friends helped him get an apartment. He has 5 children, two of them live in Germany, and the rest are living with him. His daughters, who are 16 and 15 years old, had to work instead of going to school to support their family and pay bills and rent. In 2013, he applied in UN (United Nations) as a refugee to get out of Turkey for a better future for his children. He got a chance to move to the United States of America. In September 2015, they came to the United States where it was the turning point in his life.  His children started to go to school instead of working. He faced some challenges at the beginning, where he couldn’t speak English, and do shopping for everyday needs. He didn’t have any friends, but with time he could build friendships with people from his local community. He got a driving license, even though he didn’t know English very well. He got a car from charities in his local community to be able to move in the city and drive his disabled child to doctor. He got retirement, and his young daughter got a scholarship into private middle school. His wife is taking ESL classes, and his middle daughter is studying GED.

From left: Jan, Jouana, Ali, Aras Photo by: Mohamad Alo

Ali Abdo’s Family

Ali Abdo’s family a Kurdish Syrian family from Afrin. They left Syria in 2012 because of the civil war. He crossed the border illegally, because they couldn’t get passports, because the Syrian government didn’t offer it to people. When he arrived into Istanbul, he could not find an apartment until three months. He stayed during this time with some of his friends. He and his wife had to work together to pay bills and rent. He has two children, John, 13 years old, and Joanna, 8 years old. They had to leave them at home alone to be able to go to work. It was a hard time for them. They couldn’t get their children into school and make a bright future for them. His employer was taking advantage of their situation as Kurdish Syrian refugees, and most of time he didn’t pay them fairly. In 2013 he applied as a refugee in UN to move to a different country hoping for a better life for his children. After a few months, the UN assigned them to the United States office. In 2015 they took an airplane to leave their miserable lives and move toward a new bright future for his family. He started a new life in his new community. As every new arrival family to the United States, he could not find friends or anyone to talk to them. He faced a lot of problems to learn English. His wife Aras took a great step when she started taking ESL classes. She is now preparing for the GED test and Jan and Joanna are going to school. Ali’s family quickly built a strong relationship with the American community and families. He is showing their positive energy and the Kurdish culture to get people know about the Kurds. He says “I will do my best to get my children educated and secure a bright future for them”. His biggest goal is to make his children educated to become successful people in the future. As part of the Kurdish culture sometimes they host events and parties for their friends to revive the Kurdish culture that people do not know about it. There were upset to leave their homeland, but they are also happy they left Syria because of the Civil War and got his family into a safe place where they could be successful.
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Hassan and Ranya Musa

Hasan & Ranya Photo by: Mohamad Alo

Hassan Musa is a Kurdish guy from Afrin. He lived in Syria for his entire life. Hassan was born without a right arm. This disability didn’t allow him to get a job in Syria. He was working with his family. In 2012, Hassan left Syria because of the Syrian Civil War. He went to Turkey by crossing the border illegally. When he got into Turkey, he could not find a job because of his disability. His wife had to work to provide everyday needs. He applied for the UN to get a better life and hoping to find a solution for his arm. In 2015, he had a chance to come to the United States and change his life. As most refugees, when first he came to the United States, he had a problem speaking English and visiting doctors.  His biggest problem was finding a job. He is an energetic person, but most employers could not give him a job, because of his disability. As time went on he got a car and his driver’s license. He is able to move in Georgia and go to shopping centers and to the doctors by himself. His wife had to work to pay the bills. After a few months, he got a part time job in a food store. Now he is living his life as anyone else in the United States, regardless of his disability. He is happy to be here, and he said “I would not live the same life that I live if I stayed in Syria or Turkey”.

Garinger Students Report for National Audience

Lachu Adhikari and Jamon Sanders taking pictures of Garinger High school in the school parking lot for the Garinger garden news story for PBS January 4, 2018. Photo by Donato Castrejon.

By Donato Castrejon

Charlotte, N.C January 4, 2018 – Garinger High School is participating in the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs program, to connect middle schools and high school students with public media stations to produce original, reliable, youth-focused news reports.

Students are able to broadcast content on the national NewsHour site and the nightly broadcast along with teachers ensuring that they help the program leaders create curriculum for the young people to be more engaged with news and public affairs, making sure young voices are active in conversations pertaining serious issues involving the nation.

“It’s simply fantastic. It gives students real world experience, it’s hands on and they get to report about issues important to them. I appreciate Jeff Sonier from WTVI for mentoring the students. It’s rare that students have the opportunity to work side by side with a professional journalist”, said a Garinger English teacher Michele Lemere, who applied for the program and is implementing it in her her fourth period journalism class.

A lot of the students who are active in the program are very interested about it. “I feel very excited, I feel like I have special privileges”, said  junior Jamon Sanders. “I feel like you get to learn a lot of things and learn something new,” said a senior named Lachu Adhikari.

Christmas in India

In India there is lot of people who speak different languages and they celebrate  in different ways. In India about 2.3% of people are Christians. It is said the population of India is over 1 billion, so there are over 25 million Christians in India . Mumbai is largest city is India

 

In India ,not only Christians celebrate Christmas, other religions celebrate it too. But for Christians,  it is a big family day for them  because they don’t celebrate other holidays like buddhist and, hindu do.

 

In India they Celebrate Christmas by getting together and they get candle in there hand and they sing and dance to worship GOD ( jesus ) in india they celebrate Christmas because is day when GOD( jesus )  was born to earth .

Every year on 25th December they Celebrate the birthday of jesus christ they start before December 25th because they go to there Family House and Dance Sing also they make food for each other and also they worship jesus by dance and sing .

We go every people house how is in they Charter to play Carol and we make food any kind of food and give to all of Charter member that the way Christians celebrate Christmas   .

In 25th of December they all get together again and give a gift to each other

Winter Fun School Wide

During 4th period Ms.Darlin’s leadership development class went in to our Garinger Cafeteria and decorated it for the christmas spirit and they also created a Christmas themed scavenger hunt for both the teachers and students, with exciting prizes for the winners and participants. Photo by Makiya Love.

~ Makiya Love

Christmas in Puerto Rico

Christmas (Día de Navidad) is a popular holiday celebrated in Puerto Rico. Christmas celebrations in Puerto Rico begin in early December and continues until almost February. The holiday is celebrated by joyous music and with family and friends and by consuming large amounts of food. In Puerto Rico the majority of people go on Parrandas (caroling). Three Kings’ Day is basically a second Christmas Day for the people of Puerto Rico. Many cities in Puerto Rico host festivals and parades on Three Kings’ Day to celebrate the event. Three men will dress as the three kings and give out gifts to children. All in all, Christmas in Puerto Rico is all about spending time with family and friends and enjoying each other company.

By: Amia Shyree Frazier

 

 

 

 

Children’s Day in Japan by Jewel

Children’s day in japan is a holiday celebrating children and their mother and father. They have koi fish flags.The big black one represents the father. The red one represents the mother and the blue one represents the child.  This holiday is celebrated on May 5. It also celebrates children’s personalities and their happiness. It is a really popular holiday in Japan.

Koi fish

Christmas in the Philippines

 

Decorated lit stars in the Philippines

In the Philippines people like to celebrate Christmas for a long time, people can get festive as early as september! The actual Christmas celebrations start on the 16th of December when many people go the the first of nine early morning masses. The last mass is on Christmas day. The Christmas celebrations continue on to the first Sunday in January when the Feast of the Three Kings is celebrated. In the Philippines the early mass held the day before christma is called the “Misa de Gallo” or “Simbang Gabi in Filipino.”  Christmas customs in the Philippines are a mix of western and native Filipino traditions. Because of this people in the Philippines have “Santa Klaus”, Christmas trees, Christmas cards and Christmas carols from western countries.

 

Traditions

Filipino’s they have a christmas tradition called “parol” it is a bamboo pole with a lit star lantern on it. It is a very popular Christmas decoration in the Philippines. On Christmas Eve evening Christians go to church to hear the Christmas Eve mass. They then have a midnight feast that they call the “Noche Buena.” Many people in the Philippines stay up all night until Christmas day. In the philippines they are also known to hang lights and lanterns around towns and villages which is a beautiful tradition.

 

Food

On the Noche Buena which is a big open house celebration with friends, family, and neighbours dropping in to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Most households have several dishes laid out. One plate is “Lechon” (roasted pig), ham, fruit salad, rice cakes and other sweets, steamed rice, and a lot of different kinds of drinks.

 

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/philippines.shtmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2012/12/05/world/asia/irpt-xmas-philippines-traditions/index.html

Dia De Los Muertos in Mexico

Dia de los Muertos

Dia de los Muertos means the day of the dead. Dia de los Muertos is celebrated from October 31-November 2 in Mexico. It is also celebrated by Hispanics in the U.S. This holiday is being celebrated because this is when Hispanics honor and remember their dead loved ones. During this particular days they are not sad. They are thinking of their loved one in the most happiest ways. This is a very special holiday. This is when they have colorful skeletons. They have altars built in the room. The altars are used to invite and welcome the spirits into the home. On the altars are special foods and also things that their loved ones once liked. The foods that are on their is sugar skulls, Pan de Muertos, a special bread for the season. They also have flowers on it, the name of the flowers is cempasuchil. Some people might think that Halloween and Dia de los Muertos are the same because they both come from death, but they’re different holidays.  So next time when you see a colorful skeleton you will know what day it is. 

-Jasmine Grier

Christmas in Jamaica

In Jamaica, Christmas Eve is “ grand market.” In every town and city in the country, there is a cross between a festival and market. On the day of the “grand market,” Jamaicans go shopping for Christmas foods, sweets, toys and other things. At 6:00 pm the evening part of Grand Market starts and   ends the next morning. Its street vendors selling food like jerk chicken, boiled corn and sweets like candy canes and  sugarcanes. Then some of the people will go to a midnight mass church service and  others will party all night. Lots of people will go to a church service on Christmas day before the end of the grand market. The Christmas day meal is usually prepared on Christmas Eve. They eat curry goat, stewed oxtail, rice and peas. – Aurielle Hinton

Christmas in U.K

Christmas in the U.K

 

Christmas in U.K is similar to how we celebrate in the United States. December 25th is the day they celebrate it too.

In England and nearby countries, they have really big Christmas trees and they just do everything really big. They call Santa “Father Christmas”The Man Behind the Story of Father Christmas/Santa Claus. St. Nicholas was a Bishop who lived in the fourth century in a place called Myra in Asia Minor. He was a very rich man.  They have lights downtown in many different places like Longleat safari park, Wiltshire and Enchanted Parks, Gateshead ,usually have a famous person turn them on. This year it was actress and singer Jennifer Ellison.  They have their Christmas dinner in the early afternoons, around 12 or 1 similar to what we do. For dessert, they have Christmas pudding here is some of the ingredients they put in there I plum pudding, having been thickened with eggs, breadcrumbs, dried fruit and given more flavor with the addition of beer and spirits. 

Festival of Deepawali at Nepal

Festival of Deepawali

Tihar is one of the most well known Hindu holiday/festivals  throughout Nepal and in different parts of India. Tihar is also known as the Festival of Lights. Tihar is mainly divided into 5 days in October.

Day 1 is known as Kag Tihar which means “crow worship day.” Crows are worshiped and fed early in the morning. People leave different food items outside for crows to eat. Crow is considered to be the messenger of death because back on the days at World War I and II Nepal did not have the kind of technology to inform or get any information about Nepalese soldiers, so every morning if they heard the crow making a specific sound they believed that their loved one is no longer with them.

Day 2 is Kukur Tihar which means “festival of dogs.” People celebrate this because they believe that dogs are the the most loyal friend of mankind. Dog Puja  is done by putting a red tika powder on their forehead and a flower garland around the neck and offering them their favorite foods. Male dogs are worshiped most because people believe that dogs can see danger and death coming. Usually whenever dogs cry, people believe that someone is going to leave them and go far away where they cannot return back with them.

Day 3 is Gai Tihar which means “cow worship day.” Cows are worshiped with light sesame oil, garlands of flowers and the color red all over their body. In Hindu culture, people who don’t have their own mother worship cows as their own mother because they believe that they get older by drinking their milk. Others worship Lakshmi, a god and the mother of wealth and prosperity. Later in the afternoon they clean their houses and decorate with flowers and lights. Then when they are done they make small footprints in front of their main entry in belief that Lakshmi has  entered their house, then the family comes together, worships and asks for blessings. When the night comes, people start to light the candles and electrical lights and hang out with family and friends.

Day 4 is Goru Tihar which is also know as worshiping Oxen. On that day, people perform three different puja (worship). People also do govardhan puja which is done by making a hill of govardhan parbat which is literally cow dung. People in Nepal give much importance to cow dung because they use this for light at night and they paint their house floor with it. They believe that without this their festival is incomplete.

Day 5,  which is the last day of the festival, is Bhai Tika, which means “celebration of brothers.” On this day, sisters put different kinds of colors on the foreheads of her brothers, to ensure his long life and health. Then, brothers do the same thing for their sisters and give them gifts and money. On this day, brothers who are far away from their sisters try to make it to their sister’s place and share happiness. Some brothers don’t have a sister, so they go to the temple or they also “adopt” their friend’s sister or go to their neighbor and ask for favor to become their sister. Later on at night people go out and have parties. – Lachu Adhikai

Halloween In Mexico

“Halloween (Día de las Brujas) is hailed mainly as a children’s festivity in Mexico on October 31. It is often overshadowed by the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) celebrations. Halloween is celebrated among Mexican children who wear costumes when they go trick-or-treating to people’s homes, asking for candy. When they trick-or-treat at each door, they shout, “we want Halloween” (queremos Halloween).Toys and candy that are made to resemble skeletons, coffins, and the personification of death (La Muerta) are found in many stores at this time of the year. Candles, paper wreaths and seasonal flowers are also sold for the Day of the Dead celebrations, which start as early as the evening of Halloween. Mexico’s Day of the Dead, which falls closely to Halloween, is celebrated on a larger scale – Mexicans embrace it as a festive occasion with parties, dancing, singing, and even fireworks!” From https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/mexico/halloween  – Makiya Love

Kwanzaa

The name Kwanzaa comes  from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” in Swahili. families celebrate Kwanzaa in its own way, but celebrations often include songs and dances, African

drums, storytelling, poetry reading, and a large traditional meal. On each of the seven nights, the family gets the candles and a child lights one of the candles on the candle holder. The principles are values of African culture which contribute to building and reinforcing community among African-Americans. Kwanzaa also has seven basic symbols which represent values and concepts reflective of African culture. These are some of the symbols.

Unity:Umoja (oo–MO–jah)
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.

Self-determination: Kujichagulia (koo–gee–cha–goo–LEE–yah)
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.

Collective Work and Responsibility: Ujima (oo–GEE–mah)
To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.

Cooperative Economics: Ujamaa (oo–JAH–mah)
To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Purpose: Nia (nee–YAH)
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Creativity: Kuumba (koo–OOM–bah)
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Faith: Imani (ee–MAH–nee)
To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

source : http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/kwanzaa-history

 

 

Three Kings Day

The traditional “Rosca de Reyes” pastry that is made on January 6 for Epiphany.

Three Kings Day, otherwise known as Epiphany, is a Christian holiday celebrated annually on January 6. The holiday is used to celebrate the three wise men, which according to Christianity are the kings who brought the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus Christ on the day of his birth.

This holiday is widely celebrated throughout the Latino culture. El Dia de los Reyes, which is the name for it in Spanish, is celebrated by having kids leave their shoes out so the Three Kings can leave treats inside them.

Another way it is celebrated among Latinos is by baking the traditional Rosca de Reyes, which is a donut-shaped cake made to look like a crown. Inside the cake is a small figurine, the “baby Jesus”. Whoever finds it in their slice must prepare tamales for everyone.

Although Three Kings Day is celebrated in many different ways around the world, it generally serves as another day that brings people together during the holidays everywhere. – Camila Ramirez