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Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections How To: Self-Publish By Leah Tyme Volume 1 Issue 8 June 8, 2021 Original infographic by Shinedip Kundlas (click to enlarge) Before anything, choose a pen name Any young and aspiring writer should use an alias when publishing their first book to save some trouble later on. Whether your book becomes world-renowned, or it bombs in the first week it’s out, your real name will be forever attached to it. Everything you do from that point forward will be compared to your novel, and if your book doesn’t do very well, it could bring down your chances for opportunities in the future. When choosing your pen name, choose something that makes you sound like a real person. It may be tempting to choose something fantastical, but very few people will be enticed to read a book by “Maximus the Dragon Master”. Choose a shortened version of your name or mix together the names of friends and family, and you’ll find the name to publish your masterpiece under! Now, write your book Okay, so now you know what name you’re going to publish under, you need to write something to publish! Figure out what story you’re going to make whether it be an autobiography, a dramatic retelling of a dream you’ve had, or even just a poem. Make sure that you spend as much time as you need to really develop and explore the topics and themes that you’re writing about but don't forget to set deadlines for yourself as to not procrastinate. Once you have a final draft, make sure you go back and edit what you have! No one wants to read a book full of typos, and you won’t be happy with a novel full of mistakes. Get an external editor (aka a friend) Now, while editing and polishing up your work can be good and beneficial for you, if you keep scrutinizing your work you might end up rewriting the whole thing! Speaking from personal experience, don’t spend too much time editing and changing your draft. Get an editor to do that instead! It doesn’t matter if you hire a professional or if you send a friend your manuscript. Most people will know if something doesn’t flow quite right and will catch a plot hole better than you ever will. Peer review is one of the best tools that you can use, and I’m sure that your friends and family will be happy to read your work! Time to publish Now it’s time to publish your book. You can use Barnes & Noble Press or Kindle Direct Publishing to upload your completed book and use the platforms to monitor sales and popularity. KDP allows you to publish via eBook or paperback, and Press makes it easy to track your revenue. Marketing is everything Seeing as how you’re not going through a publishing firm to get your book out there, you’re going to have to promote your book yourself. Luckily, it’s the 21st century, and you can advertise anything through social media. A good strategy would be to make pages for your book on Twitter or Instagram, and you can even make ads on these websites to spread your book even more. And you’re an author You’ve done it! You wrote your book, you chose your pen name, you published it online, and you made sure that everyone and their mother knew what it was and where to find it. You’re officially a self-published author! References https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202172740 https://press.barnesandnoble.com/ https://publishingperspectives.com/2015/02/teenagers-10-steps-to-become-successfully-self-published/ https://www.sweetmessyfaith.com/home/teens-self-publishing-the-number-one-thing-you-must-do-and-its-not-edit-more BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Art & Culture Back to Sections Different Views of Art By Rachel Ezeadichie Volume 1 Issue 3 December 16, 2020 Original image by Eva Grace Martinez Art is a universal language. Everyone and anyone can do art. I draw frequently and have seen many kinds of art, but anytime I see a new piece or type of art, I still feel awed and amazed. I love seeing how other people’s art styles compare to my own. Even though I feel this way, other people may not view their own art or art in general the same way I do. Art surrounds us, but each person views it differently. That is why I have interviewed a few of my peers to see how they view art. I asked the interviewees three questions: 1. What do you think about art?, 2. What types of art do you like?, and 3. What do you think of your own art? (if they were artists.) __________________________________________________________________ Anonymous Interviewee 1: Question 1 : “It’s an amazing way to express oneself.” Question 2 : “I like traditional and digital art.” Question 3 : “I don’t like it. I feel like I could do better.” __________________________________________________________________ Anonymous Interviewee 2: Question 1: “Well art, I believe, brings out the artist’s emotions to me, or their creativity.” Question 2: “I enjoy both digital and traditional art!” Question 3: “Currently, I feel my art lacks something, and I can never draw and express what I would like in my drawing anymore. I don’t enjoy drawing as I used to do.” __________________________________________________________________ Anonymous Artist 3: Question 1: “I can express my feelings in different way.” Question 2: “I really like digital art because it looks cool/cute, but I personally would use traditional art.” Question 3: “I would say I’m good for a twelve-year-old, but I am not a prodigy. I still have a long way to go until I get super good.” __________________________________________________________________ These results show that not everyone feels the same way about art and that artist don’t always feel the same way about their own art. It’s so difficult to step outside yourself, as someone else looking at your art. Maybe you should think about how you feel about art, and maybe you’ll find that you view art way differently than the people here, and others around you. These results show that even though art can mean different things to different people, but there are common thoughts about art. The interviewees all thought that art was important in helping the artist express themselves, but also commonly felt that they still have things to improve about their art. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles News Back to Sections P.S. I Love You Week By Everton Prospere Volume 2 Issue 4 February 10, 2022 Image provided by P.S. I Love You Day The Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and the Wellness Center are working side-by-side to host Valley Stream North’s first P.S. I Love You Week, a time that brings awareness to mental health and bullying. Traditionally a single day, both organizations agreed to extend the celebration to an entire week from February 7th through the 11th. With a pandemic that has brought many extra hardships for students, the week seeks to bring love and joy to the entire North community. On April 23rd, 2010, the DiPalma family faced devastating news. The father of the family, Joseph DiPalma, committed suicide. This tragedy left a gaping hole within those who knew Joseph, particularly within Brooke DiPalma, his daughter. Rather than letting such a horrific event happen again, Brooke took action and worked with her family, school, and peers to annually designate February 11th as a day to ensure that no one ever feels alone. As the organization’s website states, “Tragedy should not be the force for togetherness; togetherness should be the force that ends tragedies.” P.S. I Love You Day is a day of togetherness, a day that will unite North and spread love to all. The SADD club and Wellness Center have planned several activities for the days leading up to February 11th in order to promote the event throughout the entire school: 1. The TikTok Challenge - This creative competition requires participation from all Spartans. Ending on February 9th, Spartans are encouraged to make creative videos on TikTok that bring awareness to mental health and bullying. The videos can include dances, pieces of art, or any creative media that promotes P.S. I Love You Week. The TikToks, which the administration will judge, can be made alone or in groups, with the winner receiving a $25 gift card. 2. Grade Level Purple Clothing Challenge - On February 11th, all the grades will compete against each other based on purple clothing. To participate, students should wear a purple article of clothing on the 11th to show support to P.S. I Love You Week. The grade level that collectively wears the most purple articles will receive recognition and a special award to their grade council. 3. Supportive Post-it Note Messages - Various clubs will come together on February 10th after school to make post-it notes with supportive messages. Every single locker will receive a personalized note, so all students are encouraged to visit their lockers on February 11th. The SADD club and Wellness Center hope that the North community comes together for this important cause with these events. This will, hopefully, be the start of an annual tradition at Valley Stream North. Mark your calendars for the first P.S. I Love You Week, from February 7th to the 11th! BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles News Back to Sections Adelphi Press Day By Elaine Ching Volume 3 Issue 3 February 24, 2023 Image provided by North Student On February 17th, the staff of North High School’s School News and Literary Magazine, North Star and POLARIS, went to Adelphi University in Garden City to participate in Adelphi’s Press Day, an event in which school newspapers from all over Long Island and beyond gather to work with college professors, collaborate in workshops, and learn how to better their journalistic skills. North students got to dive into the topic of newspapers moving from print to online, the theme of this year’s Adelphi Press Day. Starting off the event, students were sat in the Ruth S. Harley University center. They listened to guest speaker, Chris Corry, a renowned and experienced journalist. Along with other speakers were the Editor In Chief and faculty advisor from Lynbrook High School’s award-winning newspaper, The Horizon . Speakers shared their experiences with the press to further inspire student journalists. After a Q&A with the panel of speakers, students were sent off to participate in two workshops of their choice. For their first workshop, North students participated in #AUPressDay Photo Challenge with Chris Corry , in which students got to learn some fundamentals of photography such as the rule of thirds. In addition, they were taught how to take the best photos, just by using cameras available to them, their cellphone cameras. Students went around campus taking photos and then later reviewed them with other students. For their second workshop, the North Star staff split into two groups. One group going to Finding Ideas: From the News Pages to the Book workshop with Paul Thaler, a professor at Adelphi, where they were discussed how to best use their journalistic skills in order to write for the newspaper and to further improve their writing skills. The other group went to the Share Your Online Successes/ Missteps , where they collaborated with other students in order to discuss their newspaper’s online presence. Due to North Star being an online-only publication , North Star staff took the opportunity to display their website for the other schools. After both workshops, students were provided with lunch by Adelphi and got to watch the Quill Awards, an Awards ceremony where Adelphi chooses school newspaper schools to be honored with wins in categories such as “Best Layout”, a prize North Star has taken home in the past. News Editor, Everton Prospere, shows the North Star website to other students along with Shinedip Kundlas, Editor in Chief, Kimberly Shrestha, Art Editor, and Christina Ossa, Feature Editor. (Names listed from right to left). Entertainment and Media Editor, Alain Deen, takes a photo of Elyas Layachi, Managing Editor, taking a photo of Everton Prospere, News Editor, during the # AUPressDay Photo Challenge workshop. Photo taken by Augustine Magapan, North Star staff. Manal Layachi, North Star staff, Elaine Ching, Social Media Manager, Navrosedip Kundlas, POLARIS Editor, and Kimberly Shrestha, Art Editor in the Ruth S. Harley University center. (Names listed from left to right) Photo taken by Shinedip Kundlas, Editor in Chief. North Star staff members, Nora Chery, Rachel Ezeadichie, and Manal Layachi in the Ruth S. Harley University center waiting for the event to start. (Names listed from left to right). BACK TO TOP

Back to Artwork The Memory Project Back to Sections Alena Moriera - Memory Project By Alena Moreira March 18, 2021 Volume 1 Issue 6

Back to Articles News Back to Sections Welcome to BSU! By Sasha Smalls and Ahmya McMillan Volume 1 Issue 2 November 24, 2020 Original logo by Sasha Smalls Black Student Unions have been a space for advocacy and education operating in schools and universities around the country for decades. But where did this begin? During the Civil Rights Movement, in response to racial injustice, Jerry Varnado and James Garrett created the first Black Student Union at San Francisco State University, a predominately white campus. Vernando and Garret started a campus movement that demanded institutions of higher learning to address the needs of their black students. This has laid the groundwork for reform, advocacy, and change across many student bodies in various U.S. communities. “Welcome to BSU!” The title for our first meeting that announced the revival and revamping of Valley Stream North High School’s very own Black Student Union. The club began last year as an effort by some Class of 2020 seniors to rally school spirit and support for the Black student demographic here at North. Kristina Dormeus, Carlton Paris, Tonei Laroche, Sydney Hunt, Amir Grant, along with our gracious advisors Assistant Principal Mrs. Small and Teacher Member Ms. Coleman, put BSU on the map. The current cabinet is grateful for much of the groundwork established by last year’s cabinet and acknowledge all the contributions they have made to get the ball rolling for this club. When COVID-19 hit Long Island and soon thereafter Valley Stream, the school went full-remote during the month of March. Over quarantine, BSU, like most clubs, found it challenging to make the switch to virtual. Gratefully, in all this chaos, we managed to hold elections for this year’s cabinet: President Sasha Smalls (Class of 2021), Vice President Tobi Adebowale (Class of 2021), Treasurer Chris Devis (Class of 2021), Secretary Mereddith Rony (Class of 2021), Head Event Coordinator (Ahmya McMillan Class of 2021), and Junior Council Member Ariana Paul (Class of 2022). Over the summer of 2020, BSU was remodeled with a new mission and renewed perspective (not to mention a fantastic website and Instagram that you should check out - see below ). Our mission is to enhance North's community. We are an inclusive organization open to students of all backgrounds. We desire to create a welcoming, judgment-free learning environment and safe space. Through a mixture of information and discussion, we serve to educate and inform the community. We want the conversations of our meetings to transfer out and positively affect how North students conduct themselves: respectfully, kindly, with integrity, and with the utmost confidence. With a focus on Black history and culture, BSU delves into perseverance and overcoming adversity. Discussing current events and topics gives our members insight concerning the minority youth of America. Above all, we emphasize embracing the younger students at North. The sooner they feel empowered, the sooner they can outwardly influence the community here at North and around the world. Let’s discuss how we go about achieving all this. This year’s cabinet members sat down soon after our first club meeting and decided it would be best to do bi-weekly meetings. “Quality over quantity,” said Mrs. Small, and we all agreed. The cabinet meets independently twice. Once to solidify a club meeting topic, determine who will be designing the PowerPoint presentation, and discuss agenda items; then we meet again by Sunday to collaborate on the shared PowerPoint and delegate who speaks at what slide. By Tuesday, we have run everything by Mrs. Small, and we are ready to meet with our club. We have found that certain discussions warrant longer discussions, and we want to give everyone who desires, a chance to share. Therefore, we will have a longer discussion/meeting topic such as police brutality or political perspectives followed by a shorter meeting topic such as plans for Black Solidarity Day. We believe this balance is essential, or we fear we may lose the interest of club members who have to divide their time between schoolwork, jobs, and extracurriculars - much like the members of our cabinet. We acknowledge that the club is a Black Student Union, but we are an inclusive organization, as you may read in our mission statement. Our topics correlate with an issue plaguing the Black community members in America, but we also address other communities such as Latinx and Middle Eastern. We also put an emphasis on perspective and fervently exercise “playing the Devil’s advocate” during our meetings to balance the conversations. Now that you have learned about BSU, we would love to hear from you! You can reach out via email, Instagram, our website, or Teams chat. We have listed all our information below. Email : vsnbsu@gmail.com Instagram : vsn_bsu Website : esmalls28.wixsite.com/vsnbsu Microsoft Teams code : zwf3p7w BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Science & Technology Back to Sections The Sasquatch: Fact or Fake? By Matteo Somma Volume 1 Issue 5 February 12, 2021 Image provided by Patterson-Gilmlin For centuries there have been countless sightings of the Sasquatch, more commonly referred to as Bigfoot, due to its large foot size. Over 10,000 “witnesses” claimed to have seen a tall, hairy figure walking on two legs. The species Sasquatch in question has been spotted everywhere from all the way north in Alaska to the swamps of Florida. Whether it be a person dressed up for attention or a failed science experiment, one thing’s for sure: there’s something out there. The common name Sasquatch comes from the primitive ages of the Native People. Sasquatch is believed to be a simplified version of the Salish word Sasq’sts meaning “wild man” or “hairy man”. The Salish people, known as the Sta’ailes, claimed to have a close spiritual bond with the Sasquatch. The Sasquatch can be described as tall and hairy. But if you look deeper into the Sasquatch, Yeti, Bigfoot, and other similar creatures that all fall under the Sasquatch profile, you can see a common theme among all of them; muscular and slim. Unlike bears, the Sasquatch is very muscular and thin. Also unlike bears, the Sasquatch towers at an outstanding 9 feet tall and is rarely seen on all four legs, rather standing on its hind legs like humans. The Sasquatch is also reported to have ape-like footprints similar to humans but substantially larger. In the United States, only one state out of fifty has yet to report a Sasquatch sighting and that would be Hawaii. The Sasquatch has been reported in countries all over the world such as Russia, Switzerland, Canada, and Indonesia. While not all descriptions match North America's description, they all fall under the same category or tall, muscular, hairy, and walking upright. One of many theories on the Sasquatch is that it is a group of Neanderthals that never died off or developed into modern-day human beings. A prime piece of evidence for this is Zana. Zana was a female Sasquatch/Neanderthal that was captured in the Russian wilderness in the 19th century. After the Russian government captured Zana, they kept her in a cage for the rest of her life and experimented on her. Recently a British scientist who goes by Bryan Skyes (a professor at Oxford University) has taken DNA and silica samples of the descendants of Zana, and his findings were remarkable. He found that Zana was a Sub-Sahara African that was probably once a slave during the ruling of the Ottomans. He also found tracings of Neanderthal in their DNA, more than the average human would have, at least. Billions of dollars have been put into proving the Sasquatch’s existing but almost all have come to a dead end. So that question lies on you, is the Sasquatch a fact or a fake? BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Sports Back to Sections Should sports go on? By Ismaela Andre Volume 1 Issue 3 December 16, 2020 Original image provided by Valley Stream North Covid-19 is still around. Many schools and jobs began to open, but should we do the same with sports? In August of 2020, the Governor of New York announced that all school sports could start practices and minor meets starting September 21st, 2020. That changed soon after as Governor Cuomo decided to cancel all scholastic sports. Currently many New York City high schoolers are in full remote until 2021. This is because the COVID-19 cases are beginning to increase in New York. Also, in New Jersey, all high school sports were just cancelled due to the new Covid cases. Do you think our school should do the same? On December 7th, 2020, our school announced Winter Sports sign ups. North will begin low risk sports like track, bowling, and gymnastics. The high-risk sports are on a pause due to Covid. Do you think this is ok? During my interview with an 11th grader, she stated that ALL sports should not go on. She stated “There is close contact within every sport. This can cause COVID to spread.” She also stated “Winter sports especially should not go on because it is cold, so many students might catch a cold. This cold could pass on and turn into Covid.” This student is correct, but I interview a 9th grader who said “Sports should go on because many kids want to interact with other people. Also, during summer many kids had to stay at home and did not get a chance to interact with family and friends.” Both students have a point, but with whom do you mostly agree? BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Art Back to Sections UNESCO’s Updated Cultural Heritage List By Carolina Grace Figueroa Volume 2 Issue 4 February 10, 2022 Image provided by Pinterest UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) annually updates its list of unique cultural items. For 2021, 43 new item selections were announced on December 16, 2021. UNESCO is dedicated to preserving heritage and tradition around the world. Its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list now includes 630 items, events, or practices from 140 countries that help build awareness of other societies and carry great cultural significance. I would like to mention a few new and interesting selections: Haitian joumou soup : (or “freedom soup”) is known as a “symbol of freedom and liberation from slavery” after Haiti gained independence from France in 1804. This soup is made from a pumpkin called “ giraumon , vegetables, plantains, meat, pasta, and spices” and is a really flavorful dish that contains the authentic taste of Haiti. It is a celebratory dish that “promotes social cohesion and belonging among communities”. It is consumed the first of January (Haiti’s Independence Day), when it constitutes the first meal of the year, and also serves as traditional Sunday breakfast. Arabic calligraphy (knowledge, skills, and practice): this form of decorative lettering which is a sacred part of the Saudi, Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan culture. The “artistic practice of handwriting Arabic script in a fluid manner conveys harmony, grace, and beauty”. This script provides a variety of different possibilities “since the letters can be stretched and transformed in numerous ways to create different motifs”. Palestinian embroidery (called tatreez): patterns and images are hand-stitched onto clothes, with a variety of symbols including birds, trees, and flowers. This tradition “traces back centuries and was revived in 1967, when Palestinian refugees wore the colorful designs to show their national and political identities”. Women in Palestine try to gain their family’s income and do this by creating embroidery and other artwork which is a “social and intergenerational practice”. Belgian stilt jousting: this game is played on stilts, dating back to the 1400’s. During a joust, “participants attempt to knock all the members of the opposing team to the ground”. Jousts usually take place during festivals in the streets and squares of Namur. This sport is extremely popular and many fans and spectators enjoy coming to the jousting zone, watching and cheering for their favorite teams. Italian truffle hunting and extraction: truffles are a type of fungi that are considered delicacies. With the help of a dog, the truffle hunters (called tartufai ), identify areas where underground fungus grows. “They then use a spade to extract the truffles” without disturbing the soil conditions. To be successful in truffle hunting, this task requires “a wide range of skills and knowledge related to the management of natural ecosystems”. Netherland flower and fruit parades: in Corso culture, this annual Dutch parade is a “competition of elaborate floats or boats decorated with flowers, fruits, vegetables, and people in costumes”. This practice is great for the social economy because “groups of friends or entire neighborhoods may spend months preparing gigantic floats”. The parade also includes band and theater performances. Denmark/Finland/Norway/Sweden/Iceland Nordic clinker boat traditions: these small, open wooden boats are made of “thin planks that are fastened to a backbone of keel and stems, and the overlapping planks are fastened together with metal rivets, treenails, or rope”. These coastal clinker boats are between five and ten meters long and are used in Nordic region festivities. Democratic Republic of the Congo, (Congolese) rumba: this musical genre and dance is used in formal and informal spaces for celebration and mourning. It is an “urban practice danced by a male-female couple”. The rumba is passed down through generations from neighbors, clubs, formal training and schools and is known as a integral part of Congolese identity. Peru’s pottery: pottery is an example of one’s harmonious relationship with nature. The process of preparing the pottery consists of the “collection of materials, modeling, firing, decorating, and finishing”. The process of pottery has specific stages with different meanings that leave great value to the people of Peru. The pots created are used for cooking, drinking, eating, and serving food, rituals, and ceremonies. The “pottery designs are also used as a means of expressing personality”. Ecuador’s pasillo, song and poetry: the pasillo is a “fusion of elements of indigenous music (like the yaravi) and dance genres (like the waltz, minuet, and bolero)”. The music is also played with the rhythm of other guitars and is performed in ballroom dances, public events, and outdoor concerts. The lyrics are a “musicalized poem relating to love, homeland, and daily life”. Denmark’s Inuit drum dancing and singing: “drum dancing and drum singing are traditional forms of Inuit artistic expression in Greenland”. They are featured in celebrations and social events and can be performed by an individual or group. When a drum dance takes place, “the drum is moved in different directions and its frame is struck to produce a sharp, echoing beat”. The song is a combination of lyrics that express daily life. Together, they represent a sense of community for the Greenlandic Inuit”. Austria/Belgium/France/Germany/Ireland/Italy/Poland falconry: this is the traditional art and practice of training and flying falcons and other birds of prey. Falconry was originally used as “a means of obtaining food but has been integrated into communities as a recreational practice and a way to connect with nature”. Most falconry today focuses on “safeguarding falcons, quarry, and habitats as well as the practice itself”. I think this cultural information is very interesting and educational, so I wanted to share my research and findings. It is wonderful that UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee recognizes and safeguards many cultural heritages and traditions from around the world. Website Used: unesco.org BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles News Back to Sections Fun Day! By Samantha Altieri Volume 2 Issue 2 November 19, 2021 Image provided by Augustine Magapan On Thursday, October fourteenth, the Valley Stream North Class of 2027 participated in a Fun Day. Seventh graders played a variety of outdoor games from periods one to three. The activities allowed the students to bond with each other and create memorable team-building experiences, while also providing them a chance to destress. Members of SPO helped facilitate the event, with some members participating in the games as well. With games from Jenga to kickball, the seventh graders had a great time! On Fun Day, the seventh graders were split into groups of eight to 15 students. Two to four SPO members were assigned to each group and guided the seventh graders through the activities, like a camp counselor would to their campers. There were a variety of activities the seventh graders participated in, including: Kickball – two groups faced each other off in this sport, with SPO members watching and pitching. Lawn Games – several groups participated in games such as Kam Jam, Spike ball, Connect 4, and a modified version of Badminton. Potato Sack Race – three groups versed each other in this fast-paced hopping race. Cup Pyramid – two groups faced off in this fast-paced building competition. Racing against the clock, the group that built the tallest cup structure won. The wind and other environmental factors added a nice twist, raising the stakes of the activity. Steal-the-Bacon – six to eight groups faced each other in this intense version of Steal-the-Bacon. Students on each team were assigned numbers, and those who had the same number (one on each side), when called out, had to race to retrieve the pin and bring it back to their team to earn the point. BACK TO TOP