Taiko Drumming by Jordan Florento

When my brother told me what Taiko was, I was amazed! The sounds were magnificent and the different sounds of different drums were so creative! Some were small and some were big, each playing a part of the song. At my first Leading Edge Rally, the Taiko team performed for the whole school and that inspired me to try out for Taiko.


The Taiko training was on Wednesday, 8:00 A.M. When I walked into the Taiko room, I was amazed about how many people signed up. When we divided into groups, we practiced the audition beat and people were still learning. Before that day, my brother had taught me because we both thought the audition was the next day. The Taiko member said that I drum very good.

There were about two to three practices. I noticed there were less people practicing and others weren’t interested anymore. I saw people get better and I too. Besides, we needed to work on our synchronization and playing the right part at the right time. When we tried playing the audition beat alone to see if we need help, it would be nerve racking and frightful. Some people went fast and sometimes messed up.

When it was day for the auditioning, it was scary. There was drums outside for people to practice before they go inside and perform. I was practicing and telling myself just to play the music and don’t focus on anything else. After that, I figured out that 8th graders were going next, I wished good luck to them and tell them “I hope you pass!” After that, the 6th graders go next. When they finished the audition beat, they heard them saying that they did bad and messed up and rushed. When it was my turn, I was very scared in the inside and confident in the outside. When I came inside the room, I saw Taiko members that were judges. They would write down stuff that is happening during the audition beat of each person. I played the beat and went fast at one part, then played the song well. I felt like I did splendid. After a week, my expressions teacher Ms, Meindl told me early that I have passed. I have informed some people that I know. After about one to two weeks later, there was a list on Ms. Meindl’s window about the people who passed. I saw my brother had passed and I was happy for the other people who had passed.

Our Mentors by Jeffrey and Diego M

Mentors can help anybody in many different ways. They also make fun activities like social activities you did in the beginning of the year. They are very nice and they check up on us once in awhile. Everybody has their own group of students with 2-3 mentors. They always make everybody feel welcome to our school. Mentors are part of a group called WEB(Where Everyone Belongs). In eighth grade anybody can apply to get to be a part of the WEB leadership too!!

You get your mentor when you first start the year when you have orientation. All kinds of people are in your group, like some people you know that went to a different school, but used to go to your school, or some of your friends might be in your group, or even some people you’ve never seen before and don’t know one thing about them!

Just recently our mentors came in and talked to us about the 5 Leading Edge Pillars. These pillars are Technical Savvy, Critical Thinking, Building Leadership, Cultural Diversity, and Global Thinking. We are having a parent conference in three weeks. We will talk to our parents about our work, our goals, and challenges. We’ll also make a digital portfolio to showcase our work.

In conclusion, our mentors are people that help us throughout the year and make us feel welcome to Natomas Charter School.

Book Review by Yathin

My Life as a Ninja

By:Janet Tashjian

I think My Life as a Ninja was a great book, it is about a boy named Derek and his friends trying to uncover a mystery about who vandalized the school with an artwork of a minotaur with graffiti. Ever since Derek and his friends tested out a video game called Arctic Ninja they have been obsessed with ninjas.So they started to take Junior Ninja lessons their sensei is Sensei Takai, but soon they figure out that all they do in their lessons are to stay silent. Then at school the principal announced that the school had been vandalized and will do anything to catch the vandals. So Derek and his friend in a wheelchair Umberto decide to put their ninja skill together and try to catch this vandals. So they try to catch the vandal, but something goes wrong they get caught by the principal, and the principal thinks that they are the vandals. So the principal tells their parents and they get in trouble. The next few days another mural of the minotaur was graffitied onto a wall of a high school so Derek and his friends began to collect clues, but then as Derek walked across the hall he saw a glimpse of Umberto’s backpack and saw a can of purple spray paint. So Derek starts to think Umberto’s the vandals and he doesn’t trust him. Derek mom’s birthday happens and caricaturist appears and draws everybody and Derek asks him if he could look at his drawings and on the last page he saw a minotaur grinning back at him. So he starts to think that the caricaturist is the vandal. So he decides to follow him at night thinking he will be there and he was he was staring at the artwork. Next night he goes to the same spot hoping to find him there but he found a new person graffitiing the walls with a minotaur. The vandal takes off his mask so he could take a breath and Derek found out it was Felix his dad’s colleague. So he catches him and Felix gets sent away. I hope you all take the chance to read this great book!!

Lawrence Hall of Science by Jordan and Jackson

So we went on a field trip to the “Lawrence Hall of Science Museum” and it was soo fun. When we got to the Museum the first thing we did was eat lunch. We ate lunch outside on the big blue whale, the spiral statute, and by the fountain. When everybody was done eating their lunch we went inside the building and we were able to explore for a few minutes. But after that we got to go and dissect squids, well I mean at least my group did, though there were two other groups, fantastic gas, and hydraulics. But man dissecting the squids was so fun.

We learned a lot about our squids too. Like how eat, and what they prey on. Although I do still have one question, what preys on a squid? I wonder. And then after we learned in one of our three classrooms we were able to explore all the other fun activities there were to do. Such as floating beach balls, along with our paper airplane aerodynamics, and planetarium. I believe that's what it was.

In the hydraulics group we were supposed to make creations that could move in two directions or could hold six or more ounces. The materials we used were syringes, long rubber tubes, water, and other things like pegs and peg boards.

Lawrence Hall of Science by Mari

Today was the day we went to the Lawrence Hall of Science. During this field trip, we got to do a variety of cool things. This included dissecting squid, learning about hydraulics and dry ice, and checking out some awesome exhibits.

The first thing we did was eat lunch. During lunch, we had time to play. There was a giant whale and a life-sized model of our DNA. We also had an opportunity to take photos of the amazing view.

Next, it was time to go to the labs. We got into our groups and went downstairs. I was put into Squid Dissection. We got to dissect a squid and learn how it survives.

The very last thing we did was look around in the exhibits. This included math, weather, and animals. My personal favorite was the animal area. There were lots of insects like butterflies, cockroaches, bees, and even walking sticks!

I had a great time at the Lawrence Hall of Science. I definitely think this is a field trip to remember. I think everyone will have an amazing time at the Lawrence Hall of Science.

2017 Varsity Volleyball Tournament by Amanda

This year varsity volleyball did a blast this season playing their games, the best part is that they won all! But the most important match was Championships. The Championships were located at our school. There were 4 teams who made it into the tournament. Varsity played the 2nd match and the 4th match. They played against Capital for the 2nd match and guess what……they won! Now it was time for the final game to see who is going to win the tournament, Knights vs Mills! It was the second set, everyone was excited… it was the winning point…..and boom they won! The Leading Edge families cheered and was so happy! And that’s a good end to their season.

First Dance of the School Year by Ava

On 10/6 we set sail to our first dance of the school year! Mrs.Meindl’s leadership team worked very hard for making this dance special. The school dance themed was cruise themed which was pretty cool cause we were setting sail to our first dance. Everyone was enjoying the food, music, and hanging out with their friends.This year we decided to have open up the outside of the MPR for more people to hangout if they just want to enjoy spending time with their friends. This is a night that the 6th graders will never forget. Especially since it was their first middle school dance.