(this picture is meant to be exaggerated, by the way. . .)

Where do you see yourself 20 years from now?

Your answers to this questions will be published in the yearbook!

So, what is Crefeld to you? We have a few questions that we think will be helpful in organizing our yearbook. What is it like to be a Crefeld student? If Crefeld were an animal, what would it be? You know you’re a Crefelder when… You know you’re at Crefeld when… Remember, this is for your yearbook. Keep it appropriate.

Examples:

You Know You’re a Crefelder when…

…you walk down the hall and see three people with blue hair.

…you get to sit on tables

…a teacher pushes you down the hall on a wheelie chair.

…you are open to being gay, lesbian, or straight.

…you can take walking as a PE credit.

By Emily Livingston

Although I’m on the Crefeld basketball team, I’m not really sure whether or not we have a mascot, or even a team name. The basketball team is a rather informal one compared to most schools. Our JV and our varsity often overlap, most of our uniforms don’t match, and we even have kids from another school on the JV team. However, compared to other schools, we probably have more fun playing basketball. The younger kids are accepted and liked by the older kids, and we don’t make a big deal about how good people are at playing. Everyone who joins feels like they are really part of a team.

Our biggest “rival” changes depending on who we’re playing – if there’s an upcoming game against PSD, everyone says it’s them. Then, when we’re headed to Hilltop, everyone talks about how they’ve always been our archrival. Of course, the student-teacher game is always the most anticipated. The teachers try their best, which somehow never turns out to be enough to win, and the students have lots of fun watching their history teachers try and tackle their advisees. Who knows, maybe this year will be different! Maybe this year the teachers will win! Then again, maybe not…

By Sarah Gimmi

Snow days, everyone loves ‘em,  no one hates ‘em. Snow days are rare, but when they happen, Crefeld kids all over Philadelphia sleep in. When they wake up, they do things such as sled, have snowball fights, or drink hot chocolate. When we have light snow, we have this thing called a two-hour delay. This day usually consists of madness with a little bit of a feeling like it’s Friday and a sprinkle of happiness and relaxation are just some of the things it brings.

It also brings a feeling of disappointment for teachers and children/teens and sorrow for the fact that we didn’t get a day off. Some of the things I personally would’ve done are watched T.V. or movies and played on my computer all day, along with sleeping, sledding, and snowball fights, in which I usually win. I’ve always enjoyed these days and feel that we should have them more often, although no one can make it snow. Lucky us, we’ve had a few big snowstorms.

This year we are expected to have a record breaking amount of snow based on inches per week in Philadelphia. Hopefully it will happen. The last record set for inches of snow in Philadelphia was 23 inches of snow. The current record for inches of snow in Philadelphia is 70. Because of this we had 6 days off from school.

By Forrest Piver

On January 12^th, 2010, a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the country of Haiti. A country already in shambles, this earthquake was the last thing they needed. By January 24^th, 54 aftershocks had been recorded. Estimates say that about 215,000 to 230,000 people were killed, 300,000 or more were injured, and over 1 million were left homeless. The death toll is still expected to rise due to the lack of proper medical care, sanitation and nutrition.

Many landmarks and important buildings were destroyed, such as the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly Building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral and the main jail. The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti collapsed and killed many people. Prominent figures that were killed included the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Joseph Serge Miot and opposition leader Micha Gaillard.

In the days and weeks following the quake, many countries pledged humanitarian aid to Haiti. Various countries, such as the United States pledged funds, rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Haiti’s communication system, roads, ports, hospitals and electrical grids were damaged, slowing rescue and aid to Haiti. There was a lot of confusion about who was in charge. The morgues in the capital were overwhelmed as tens of thousands of bodies were hauled there to be buried in mass graves. Once rescue operations came to a close, medical care and sanitation became a big issue. You have all these injured or sick people without homes and personal belongings. Due to the delays of bringing aid, there was rioting from survivors as well as looting and some violence.

On January 23^rd, the Haitian government officially ended the search for any other survivors there might be. To this day, the UN and aid workers are down in Haiti helping the thousands and thousands of survivors who need medical care, food and clean water.