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Showing posts from June, 2018

That Thing Where People Randomly Burst into Song and Dance, You Know, Musicals

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By Angelirene Cuautle and Kylie WiIliams Musicals (especially here in NYC), are huge and cause even bigger fandoms. Musicals like Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, Wicked, Matilda, The Lion King, Cats, Mean Girls, Phantom of the Opera, etc. The problem is, some people stereotype musicals to be happy and cheerful. But musicals can also have dark stories, cliffhangers and can help people get through some difficult times. They can even help people express their feelings. But overall, they are just as great as movies or shows and can also have cult followings. We at HPCMS here in Long Island City have our own musical productions too. This year we are doing Peter Pan, the musical. Students are making costumes and rehearsing in the auditorium. You can see students rehearsing their lines and marking their dance steps. Cara Giardina from class 603 explains: “My role in the musical is a Siren. Learning the songs is kind of hard but usually to practice, Mr. Quaintance (the director) makes u...

HPCMS and Chess

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By Nicholas Lentini Long Island City, New York - Chess is a very fun game to play. It may seem complicated at first but once you get to know how to play the game it is very exciting to play. If you don’t know how to play then I suggest learning how because once you learn the game then you learn strategies and then you can get better and better as you play during your journey through the game of chess. At HPCMS, chess is played all around the school. It is also enjoyed all around the school by students in all grades, staff, and administration. The Chess team at HPCMS has about 40 kids on it. These players have either just started in 6th grade or have been on the team since their first year at Hunters point. The team has been to many tournaments and had times where they won or where they “learned.” Chess is good for your brain which is demonstrated in many ways. For example, a Chessity article called The Benefits of Chess says, “The reality of chess is different – it actually ...

Why Do We Have Hair??

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By Gabriel Baez Alarcon Hair. Even though we might consider ourselves pretty hairless compared to other animals humans are actually covered in around five million hair follicles. We don’t think about it much but it’s always there. Us humans have many useless body parts including vomeronasal organ, the appendix, our wisdom teeth, and hair but are these parts completely useless like we think they are? What is it made of? Why exactly do we have it? What is hair?! Hair is made of a tough protein called Keratin. What is Keratin ? Keratin is a fibrous protein forming the main structural constituent of feathers, hoofs and claws. Most people think that hair is just dead cells but in fact, it is made up of living cells that divide and grow to build the hair shaft. How does hair grow some might ask? Something that you might not know which I found was pretty interesting is that males’ hair grow faster than females’ hair . But back to the topic, your hair starts growing at a root at the bo...