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WINTER 2015

TIPS FOR CHOOSING AHIGH SCHOOL

CHALLENGES OF BEING A FOSTER KID

CATCHING UP WITH NICK NERVIES

CONFESSIONS OF A NATURALISTACONFESSIONS

WELCOME LETTER

Hello students, staff, parents, and guardians,

I joined the CICS team two years ago at CICS-Avalon and was more than excited to begin my journey at CICS-Basil this year. Basil has done

some excellent work in the past year. This can be seen in our School Quality Performance Rating, which rose from a 2 to a 1 this year —

which is the second highest ranking!

Our scholars are dedicated to learning and motivated to achieve ac-ceptance into selective high schools, colleges, and beyond! Our parents and guardians form an essential part of our network, working together with teachers to ensure our scholars succeed. Teachers at Basil have a passion for our students and for making sure all scholars achieve an ex-cellent education that prepares them for success in a competitive world.

We are excited to be offering a variety of student activities this year, from tutoring, to student council, to basketball, to working with the True Star Foundation — all of which are a part of the dynamic activities that

Basil has to offer.

With all that said, I can’t wait to see the heights Basil will reach this year! Go Bulldogs!

Deborah Persson Middle School Principal

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORSDEANNA MCLEARY & NA-TAE’ THOMPSONMANAGING EDITORMARTI PARHAMEDITORIAL COORDINATORASHLEY HILLART DIRECTION DESIGN & ILLUSTRATIONANGEL D’AMICO-BAUERPHOTO COORDINATORDESHAUN ADAMSSCHOOL LIAISON JADE HEDGEMAN

STAFF

THE SKIN I’M IN5: THE FRIZZINESS: CONFESSIONS OF A NATURALISTA BY ISIS JOHNSON

THE STRUGGLE6: COPING WITH BREAST CANCER BY EMMANUEL SCHAEFFER 7: BEING A FOSTER CHILD BY CHRISTINE JONES8: CHOOSING THE RIGHT HIGH SCHOOL FOR YOUBY KATERRA BOWMAN

LISTEN UP9: CATCHING UP WITH NICK NERVIES BY THE CICS BASIL SCHOLARS

FASHION10: FASHION IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT BY BRANDI DIXON11-13: FASHION & FUN

HIGH TECH: FAST FORWARD14: IS TECHNOLOGY RUINING OUR FUTURE? BY JAMANI GREEN14: THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD BY DVALLE HARP 15: IPHONE 6: DOES IT LIVE UP TO THE HYPE? BY ISIS JOHNSON

PLEASE LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON

True Colors Magazine

CONTACT US: TRUESTARJR@TRUESTARMAGAZINE.COM

CONTRIBUTORS

Jamani Green

Dvalle Harp

Isis Johnson

Katerra Bowman

Emmanuel Schaeffer

Christine Jones

Brandi Dixon

TRUE COLORS 5

THE SKIN I’M IN

Let’s just say that having natural hair isn’t

the easiest thing that a girl can have. There

are a lot of good and bad things that come

along with having completely natural hair.

I’m sure it’s hard for many girls my age; we

have to do a lot to keep our hair in check. But

having natural hair is also a good thing; it gives

me versatility and it has helped me embrace

my natural beauty.

In order to keep my hair straight, there are

a several things that I must do. I have to go

through the long process of washing and

blow-drying my hair like everyone else, but the

difference is that some of us natural girls have

to add special oil to our hair so it won’t frizz

up. If you’re anything like me, that still doesn’t

work that much because I like to play a lot of

sports and my roots will frizz tremendously.

This causes me to have to wear my hair in a

ponytail for a while until I straighten it again,

which as some of my fellow naturalistas know,

can become damaging on the hair.

To say the least, having natural hair just

emphasizes your natural beauty even more. So

don’t be pressured to change cause you see

everyone else changing. Be true to yourself

and do what works for YOU. Embracing your

natural roots doesn’t come easy. If you are

transitioning, thinking of going natural or have

been natural for a while now, here are some

tips to get you through the process, or remind

you if you’ve fallen short.

The Frizziness: CONFESSIONS OF A NATURALISTA BY ISIS JOHNSON

1. Keep your hair moisturized.

2. Clip ends when needed.

3. Tie hair up at night with a satin scarf/bonnet.

4. Wear protective hairstyles to protect those ends and to help retain length.

5. Be patient with your hair; everyone’s hair journey is different.

6 TRUE COLORS

THE STRUGGLE

Cancer is an awful word that no one

person wants to utter, yet it has somehow crept

its way into the lives of many and affected the

lives of even more. According to cancer.org, this

year alone 232,570 new cases of invasive breast

cancer have been reported. That’s a lot! We

know who the cancer ultimately affects, but how

often do we stop to think how that person’s child

and family are affected?

Breast cancer is indeed a problem for families

due to the emotional toll it has. Today, breast

cancer is the most common cancer among women

in the United States, other than skin cancer. It

is the second leading cause of cancer death in

women, after lung cancer. That’s a tough pill to

swallow for any family. It is especially tough for

the children who are most affected. Takea Page,

16, knows this feeling all too well as her mother

was diagnosed with breast cancer not once, but

twice in a matter of nine months. “I felt extremely

hurt and even cried when I heard she had it.”

Page says in order to move forward she had to

“make changes in the way I think...I had to have

a positive mind-set, not only for myself, but for my

mother.”

Along with dealing with the anxiety of not being

100 percent optimistic about the outcome of

your parents’ sudden illness, children often begin

lagging behind in school due to emotional stress,

feeling shy about the subject or even feeling

awkward discussing it. Depending on the support

they have from other family members, children

are at times left with thoughts of suicide and

depression. Every child copes differently, but it’s

for certain that no one likes dealing with it alone.

“By being with my friends, going outside, having

my grandma and my cousin around, I learned

how to cope and find peace with what was going

on,” Page explains.

Through this time of turmoil and distress, Page

says she’s learned a lot about herself and the

strength of her mother. She offers this advice:

“We always keep our heads up. For teens whose

mother has breast cancer, keep your head up, do

everything you can to keep your mother happy

and pray every day.”

Coping With Breast Cancer BY EMMANUEL SCHAEFFER

TRUE COLORS 7

Sure, it’s common. You hear about it all the

time, but being a foster child is in no way a quick

hop, skip or jump around the park. Take a peek

into my world.

Being a foster child is very difficult; I don’t know

any of my biological siblings or family members.

Unfortunately, my family hasn’t come looking

for me like some other children’s parents. This

was a hard pill to swallow growing up because

I felt so disconnected from knowing who I was

as a person. Being a foster child is confusing,

especially at a young age. As I begin to grow

older, I develop more questions that, still to this

day, remain unanswered. Questions that mostly

center on: Why my parents would leave me, who

my parents even were, do they think about me,

or do they care at all?

Ok, now I know that was a lot, but let’s break it

down. Starting with the fact I never actually got

the chance to meet or know my birth parents.

I always wondered about what the future may

turn out to be. Wondering how my parents look,

speak or dress; if my mother and father would

be there to support me, just like I see other kids

and their parents on TV. But so far, it hasn’t

happen yet.

The fact that my biological parents are unknown

upsets me. But the world is still going to be here

with or without them, and that’s a notion that I

have to live with. Regardless of what the future

holds, I am forever grateful to have a loving fos-

ter family, friends who don’t judge me, and that

inch of hope that one day soon the doorbell will

ring, and I’ll open the door to a familiar face.

Being A FOSTER CHILDBY CHRISTINE JONES

AS I BEGIN TO

GROW OLDER,

I DEVELOP MORE

QUESTIONS THAT STILL,

TO THIS DAY, REMAIN UNANSWERED.

8 TRUE COLORS

It’s your 8th grade year! You’re excited, but

soon you will have to make one of the biggest

decisions of your life: Deciding what high school

you think is best fit for you. You have a future

ahead of you, picking the wrong high school

could put all of that at risk. Jerilynn Elliott,

Attendance/Truancy Counselor at Beacon

Therapeutic High School, says, “It is important

to not only prepare students for the world

academically, but socially also. Students need

to know how to interact with their peers and

elders.” When deciding on a high school of

choice, take heed to a few of the following tips.

1. VISIT THE SCHOOLS YOU ARE INTERESTING INGetting a feel for the school in person makes it

easier to tell if that school is a good fit for you.

While you are there, ask as many questions as

possible.

2. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT IN YOUR HIGH SCHOOLIf you’re big into sports, look for a school with a

good athletic program, but focus on academics.

Elliot says that, “While researching schools, it

should first off be an institution that will prepare

you for post-secondary options, whether it be

junior college, university, vocational/trade,

military, or otherwise.”

3. TRY TO IMAGINE YOURSELF GOING TO SCHOOL HERE EVERY DAY Imagine how you would feel walking down the

halls or in the cafeteria. If you’re comfortable

and happy with many things about the school,

then definitely make it an option. Elliot says,

“A high school can only be as successful as the

students in the school and all parties have to be

determined to make that stride.”

4. TALK TO YOUR TEACHER OR THE STUDENT COUNSELOR ABOUT THE HIGH SCHOOLEnsure the fees are affordable for your family

without them having to make sacrifices.

“Although location plays a factor, many times

some of our gems of high schools are located

right in our inner city,” says Elliott.

Choosing the Right High School For You BY KATERRA BOWMAN

GETTING A FEEL

FOR THE SCHOOL IN PERSON MAKES IT

EASIER TO TELL IF THAT

SCHOOL IS A GOOD FIT FOR YOU.

TRUE COLORS 9

LISTEN UP

Nobly poised and delightfully amusing,

this19-year-old has certainly found his way

through Hollywood. A Los Angeles native, actor

Nick Nervies has landed himself a new TV sitcom

and decided to grant us an interview here at

Basil Media Center to catch up on everything

under the sun.

Q. What inspired you to become an actor?

A. Really, it started at the age of 9. It kind of

just happened. I had a friend who was an actor

and his mother asked my mother if she thought it

would be something I’d like to do.

Q. Do you plan on doing more movies?

A. I want to do more comedy movies. I like mak-

ing people laugh. At some point I want to do a

dramatic movie and do something that is more

challenging.

Q. Do you plan on acting forever?

A. Eventually, I want to stop for a while to go to

college.

Q. What TV show are you currently shooting for?

A. “Mr. Box Office.”

Catching Up With

NICK NERVIES BY THE CICS BASIL SCHOLARS

Q. Who is your celebrity crush?

A. Rihanna and Karreueche

Q. What has been your best and worst experience?

A. The worst experience is not being able to

spend time with my family and friends as often as

I would like. The best experience is being able to

travel and meet different types of people that I

grew up watching on TV.

Q. Name your most embarrassing moment.

I went on this date and I am afraid of heights,

and she wanted to go get on the ferris wheel.

So we are riding on the ferris wheel and it gets

to the top and stops. It started to rock back and

forth and I got so scared I started crying. She

never called me back after that.

Q. W hat advice would you like to share?

A. Whatever you want to do in life...go for it.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. Put

in that effort... Looking back you’ll be happy you

made that decision and stuck with your plan to

make it work.

10 TRUE COLORS

Fashion is a way that people can express

themselves with clothes, jewelry, and make-up.

People often copy what someone else wears so

they can look or be like them. They usually call

themselves twins, sisters, and bros because they

are wearing the same thing. Sometimes others

are often judged by what they wear or how they

present themselves, but should this really matter?

Fashion can be considered different styles and

trends. It is not categorized into one umbrella or

one particular style.

When others judge people for certain things

that they wear, they will call their clothes cheap,

ratchet, petty, and hideous. Quite often people

will say the more expensive your clothes are, the

better they are. What? The definition for fashion,

according to Webster’s dictionary, is “a popular

trend, especially in styles of dress and ornament

or manners of behavior.” So does everyone have

to be the same in the way that they dress?

Why is it that celebrities have such a major

impact on what teens wear these days?

Perhaps it’s because your average teens read

magazines, see what celebrities wear, and think

to themselves, “I like that,” or “She is really

rocking that dress.” They then interpret that as

a way to dress for themselves. But why would

you want to be like someone else when you can

wear what you want and be true to yourself at

the same time?

Fashion designer and owner of Smudged

clothing line, Maria Gilard, says that “Fashion

is such a complex word.” She added, “No one

designer can place a cap on what the word

means or stands for.”

We are all peculiar in our own way. Therefore

fashion, according to Gilard, can “represent

each one of us uniquely... One ‘size’ does not fit

all and no one should be ridiculed or pressured

to keep up with society.”

Basically, you should be your own person. Own

who you are and what you choose to wear and

be proud about it.

FASHION

Fashion Is What You Make ItBY BRANDI DIXON

“ONE ‘SIZE’ DOES

NOT FIT ALL AND

NO ONE SHOULD

BE RIDICULED OR

PRESSURED TO KEEP

UP WITH SOCIETY.” - MARIA GILARD

TRUE COLORS 11

FashionFUN

14 TRUE COLORS

HIGH TECH: FAST FORWARD

IS TECHNOLOGY RUINING

OUR FUTURE?BY JAMANI GREEN

Imagine a world where everything is controlled

by technology and everything is done by robots

and apps from your mobile devices, iPad, and

tablets. In our world today we can push a button

to start a car and have phones that talk to us. But

the main question is: Is it ruining our future?

According to theranger.org, “Technology isn’t

always negative; students have access to just

about anything they desire through the Internet.

The world is on their fingertips.” The site also

reported, “Sitting in one place, they have access

to everything that is going on around them… As

a result, students become more globalized. That

experience impacts their learning tremendously.”

While technology has come a long way, it has

also had some consequences. With the lack of

federal regulations online, parents need to be

more aware of what their children are viewing

on the World Wide Web, and how it’s affecting

their day-to-day lives. The website education.com

sites one of the cons of technology as one being

cyber bullying – a leading cause to frequent

deaths, such as suicide, for people under 18.

Whether or not technology will ruin our futures

or make it better remains to be seen.

THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD BY DVALLE HARP

What game console do you have? The

PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii all have something

in common. They are all well known and played

all around the world, but which is the ultimate

champion of the long lasting competition be-

tween the three?

XboxXbox has been around for 14 years, but Xbox

has had many problems in the past. It’s an all-

in-one home media center, very large and has

a growing game selection. Most popular games

include:

*Battlefield

*Need for Speed Rivals

*2k14

PlayStationPlayStation has been around for 20 years. Those

few extra years over Xbox are what many peo-

ple find to be a reliable quality about the system.

Popular games include:

*Grand Theft Auto V

*Lego Marvel Super Heroes

*Call of Duty Ghost

WiiPlaying the Wii is fun. It was the first game that

used a camera or motions in order for the user to

play the game. The Wii has been around for eight

years. Best games connected to the Wii are:

*Super Mario Galaxy 2

*Donkey Kong Country Returns

*Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition

If you own one or all of these game consoles,

then you know they are all different in their own

ways, and there is no clear champion because

they all perform uniquely different. You’re sure to

have fun no matter what game console you have.

It’s all about your preference.

14 TRUE COLORS

TRUE COLORS 15

If you know anything about the world today

you would understand the big deal about having

the latest iPhone. People stand outside in all sorts

of weather conditions just waiting to get their

hands on the latest bit of technology. Ricardo

Reddix, a Sprint store sales manager, says about

“150 people pre-ordered the new iPhone” at his

store alone. But is the newest iPhone what we

thought it would be?

There has been a lot of talk about the many flaws

the Apple product has. Yet, through all the flaws

of the new iPhone 6, it continues to sell without

any problem.

During the weekend release of the iPhone 6

and 6 Plus, over 10 million people went out

and purchased it. According to techtimes.com,

“Early signs point to the success of Apple’s latest

handset. The company has just announced that it

set a “new record” after selling 10 million units

of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units combined

during their three-day launch weekend...” Those

unit sales trumped the highly anticipated release

of the iPhone 5 by one million.

Now let’s get down to the real problem, the

flaws. There have been plenty of reports, rumors

and videos of the new and proclaimed iPhone

6 being able to bend. “Not sure of all its flaws,

but they are made out of a durable aluminum

which makes them sturdy, but if dropped they

dent instead of bouncing back like plastic,” says

Reddix.

According to theguardian.com, “How many

iPhone 6 Plus phones have been bent in users’

pockets is still unknown. Apple claims that

it is not an issue for normal use, but phones

from other manufactures have suffered similar

bending issues.” Despite this issue, people all

over the world choose to see past the bending

and continue to buy the latest iPhone. Reddix

claims that, “With every version of iOS software

there are bugs, but they tend to release updates

quickly that fixes them, but no software is

perfect.”

We all may want that new thing, but do we

stop and ask ourselves is it worth it or even

necessary?

THERE HAVE BEEN

PLENTY OF REPORTS,

RUMORS AND VIDEOS

OF THE NEW AND

PROCLAIMED IPHONE 6 BEING ABLE TO

BEND.

IPHONE 6: Does it live up to the hype?BY ISIS JOHNSON