| Owl Gazette |
| Issue: 62 Page: 6 |
 |
| Penshire's Year In Review....cont. |
| One other thing we did before term officially started (e.g. classes) was to have the Penshire August Summer Challenge. It was just a little thing to get going on points, posts, and get ready for classes. The challenge had these items:
1.) Create a 'Random Poll' in the Chit-chat area. 2.) Visit yours or someone else's pet in the Owlery (make a post). 3.) Write 2 articles for the OG and two for the WD (post them in the threads). 4.) Do "The Poet in You" found in the Summer Club, do it once (2 examples of all four poem types) and earn 100 points, do it TWICE and earn another 100 points! 5.) Put a present in 3 student's lockers, one's you haven't done before. DEADLINE: August 24th (same as the OG and Summer Club deadlines.) Shirelings signed up and kept track of their progress, Adrianna Lunar came in first, but everyone was winners in this one and had fun! School-wide things included the July Tri-Wizard Tournament, run by Professor Lockhart. We did pretty good and had some fun figuring out the riddles and all. In August we saw the return of the Arcade Tournament and with several students entering it came down to two students, Gwen from Ravenclaw and Adrianna Lunar from the Shire................Adrianna won! There was the Hogwart's Choice Awards and the best draw was 'Hogwarts Has Talent'! Penshire had four students enter, Samuel did some siggie images, Emmaline did a couple songs, Cauly a poem, and Adrianna Reyes did a pumpkin carving. Up to the end, Sam and Em were high in the voting though they did not win, over all, the Shire can be proud. By entering, they all got us 400 points! To end up the year, the Yule Ball was a big success as was the Secret Santa both sponsored by the school and the one we had in the Shire. Matter of fact, the Shire's RPG 'gift exchange' is still on-going as this article has been written. Everyone out did them selves in gifts including two new puppies in the house, Spitz and Frodo. We will just say Faith has plenty of company now when she transforms! We are looking forward to the New Year, end of term and starting all over again! None of would be rather be any where else but in the Shire! So that pretty much sums up the past year in Penshire! We have had a lot of fun and laughter this year, and we hope for an even better year this year! |
|
| Paddington, A Year In Review
By Lana Laramie A new house was planned in the early months of 2008 to be added to the five other ones before. Paddington, as it was named, after much preparation, opened its common room doors in late May and students flooded in and made themselves comfortable. After sorting out the Quidditch team, house spirit club, owl gazette coordinator, and everything that needed doing Paddington seemed like it had been there forever. The house's first contest, the Polar Point Plunge, was in early August. More people had joined the house and there was a big outcome for the event. The point of it was to get as many points as you could for your team and the entire house, either by submitting your work to the Art Club or writing articles. Everyone had tons of fun so the staff decided to have a Polar Post Plunge later in the month, where your team has to post the most. The first Polar Posting Plunge (or PPP) held three teams, Orange, whose members were Toby Mcdermont, Jenii Chang, and Joe Nworb Red, who held Katlin Saywer, Lana Laramie, and Summer Whites and the Yellow Team and consisted of Yaxley Chambers, Tyler Scott Keegan, Soma Cruz and Envy_Midlight. After loads of posts the Red Team won the Polar Posting Plunge and got 25 galleons to spend at the Music Mate Shop. In October there was another Posting Plunge with three different teams. The Blue Team, the members were Yaxley Chambers, Envy_Midlight, and Tyler Scott Keegan; the Green Team consisted of Lana Laramie, Ina Delarosa, and Katlin Sawyer and the Red Team: Jenii Chang, Dawlish Ledgerhood, and Toby Mcdermont. After much posting again the Green Team won with 249 posts and 20 galleons to spend in their pockets. At the same time as the second Polar Posting Plunge the staff came out with the Polar Point Plunge! The teams again were named after colors and they were: the Orange Team, Katlin Sawyer and Tyler Scott Keegan; the Purple Team, whose members were Lana Laramie and Mort Johnson, and the Yellow Team who included Toby Mcdermont, Soma Cruz, and Envy_Midlight. After scoring major points the Orange Team won and everyone was given 25 galleons to spend in the Paddington shops! |
| One of the rules of the PPPs was that you couldn't just keep posting smilies over and over so all the games involving these little icons were closed and later in the year they were closed for good. Since there was some problems in Summer time in Paddington involving the 'Paddington Pride' smiley and many others the staff decided to shut down all the smiley games except one who accepted all of them. And since this smiley disaster took place in the Spam game the staff shut that down too, opening a new game called 'Paddy Chatter' which was a substitute to the popular game and could not post repeated smilies or the same phrase over and over. It had to be original.
Along with games at the time, Paddington's RPG areas were taking a hit also. A select few had a strange way of showing their image, literally. These people would post links in their posts, a record thirteen, to pictures of clothes that their characters were wearing. And to top that they RPed that they could use electronics at the school without them breaking. Obviously this annoyed the heck out of everyone so the Head of House, Tom Riddle, put a stop to it and most of the hooligans accepted they had made a mistake. Later on, in November, there would be another problem in the RPG area. A few RPers, most likely influenced by the Twilight craze, went overboard with the actions of Vampires and Half-Vampires. They made them out to be blood thirsty all the time, actually going out to drink an animal's blood. This is restricted in the powers guidelines so a Prefect Assistant stepped in followed by Professor Riddle and the problem was quickly fixed. But besides the chaos of role-playing there was also popular, non-rulebreaking rps. Such as Quidditch Celebration, where there was some drama a couple hooked up in the end and game of Truth or Dare where a guy dressed up in a cheerleading outfit. And there was also the Open House rp when Paddington first opened, it continued for months after that. |
| The staff that took care of these problems and monitored these rps have been switched around many times over the last couple months. The original staff was Professor Riddle, Professor Haddington, Jenii Chang, Yaxley Chambers, Brady Lennox, Joe Nworb, Sam Davis, and Rose Wick. Due to inactivity Brady was replaced by Lana Laramie, Joe by Toby Mcdermont, Sam by Soma Cruz and Rose by Katlin Sawyer. Later on Professor Haddington was replaced by Professor Montgomery and she was replaced later by Professor Morgan. Later Soma was replaced by Dawlish Ledgerhood and Jenii stepped down to Prefect Assistant.
There was a special group of people that liked to help out their fellow housemates as much as the staff and they are called the Student of the Month(s). Student of the Month began in June and the first person to win the honor was Katlin Sawyer. As the editor of Paddington's house magazine, Alohomora, and one of the most helpful people in the common room she defiantly. Those who followed this spectacular award were (in order) Soma Cruz, Lana Laramie, Jenii Chang, Joe Nworb, and Damien Spikes. Along with just knowing they did a good job each Student of the Month got an interview and free poster, a record of their achievement, in the magazine run and operated by Paddington members, called Alohomora! Again, Katie Sawyer was the editor of the awesome magazine; first issue completed in July and still has the patience she had when first working on the opening issue. All members say that it is a great read and an interesting one also. |
| Paddington had its first Quidditch match in history against Hufflepuff in the middle of November. The team members of the Polar Padfoots made an incredible effort and despite losing, they all said they had a great time and the whole house celebrated the match until the cows came home.
Even more recent was the announcing of the renovation of the Ministry of Magic. Jumping at the chance to earn point for Paddington, many members became a part of the project, offering advice and information, web pages and images. All in all they had a fun time doing it and even more they won the contest! Paddington members were thrilled, everyone congratulated and thanked the active team and celebrated the gain of points. And finally, the most recent, Paddington's Cheer Team! The PCT (Paddington Cheer Team) idea was introduced months ago but really took off in December with a student, Ina Delarosa, wanted to be more active in the house and joined. Many others followed and a deadline was soon set by Lana Laramie, who would be judging the applicant's one paragraph on why they would be good leaders for the Team to see who would be Capitan and Vice-Capitan of the PCT. After a tough decision Lana chose Summer Whites to be Capitan and Michelle Adams to be Vice. Everyone welcomed them to the positions and were both excited to take on a new role. It's no wonder, as you have read, that many people from other house would be drawn to Paddington. The house would like to thank all the transfers: Jenii Chang, Dawlish Ledgerhood, Katlin Sawyer, Fabian Moon, Emilia Sinclair, everyone for having the bravery to say goodbye to their original and 'see the light' as Professor Riddle says of Paddington. Thanks so much for joining the family! And thanks to each and every Polar Bear for being such an asset to the house, and the staff for being so understanding and kind, the house ghost for sticking around so long, the students that helped create this wonderful house, and you readers for your willingness to read some insight on Paddington's history! Thank you all! |
|
| Year 2008 in Review: Hufflepuff Has-Beens and How-Fors
Teagan Kincade JANUARY The New Year beings at a slow pace. Kelsie Mcgonnagle joins as a first year. FEBRUARY Valentine's Dance softens the Great Hall. Some Huffies go, but most remain daunted because of the lack of boys in the common room and make excuses about not being able to. Teagan Kincade and Harmony Hill join as first years. MARCH Huffies run around in panic, trying to think of what to finish before the Spring Break. Tests are finished haphazardly, personal items are forgotten, and Teagan realizes she may be a squib. Zoey promises to visit the young girl over the break and teach her some tricks. APRIL John Chang joins as a first year. MAY Professors threaten and cajole students into either dropping or finishing their classes. Huffies run around the common room asking for tutors and for help. Darby Queally joins as a first year. She is immediately pounced on by the other Huff members to date Ron. The first Huff couple in a long time emerge! |
| JUNE
Classes end! Huffies breathe a sigh of relief. End of Term Feast explodes through the Great Hall. Many different threads open in the common room and students spend time discussing dates, dresses, tuxedos, scandals, and Professor Lockhart's success/lack thereof concerning stealing beds. John Chang brings back the Welcome Committee after the common room clean-out. House-wide participation ensues and lockers are immediately invaded! EmmaMay Isaak is named the 2008-2009 Hufflepuff Brawling Badgers Quidditch Captain! Hazel Woods joins as a first year. JULY I Challenge Thee Round 1 begins and ends! The students make a valiant effort but fail to complete their final requirements. Professor Lockhart replaces all of the avatars with pictures of morphed pictures of people and creatures! Aliana Rother joins as a first year. AUGUST Quidditch updated AGAIN? WHAT?! More rules?! Teams in all houses scramble to learn the new rules. EmmaMay Isaak decides to make the quizzes mandatory and appoints Teagan Kincade Co-Captain. Huffies conduct a long and thorough Quidditch practice to make sure all know and understand the new rules. I Challenge Thee Round 2 begins and ends! The students fail to make their quotas again! Luckily, Professor Lockhart has to run to an almost forgotten hair appointment and forgets to duel out the punishments. Professor Lockhart then goes on a secret trip for personal reasons. Some speculate it has to do with his hair and a receding hairline. Others speculate about his crumbling teeth enamels. Professor Kelina Bliss joins Hufflepuff as Assistant Head of House and immediately immerses herself in Hufflepuff Life. The entire house welcomes her with open arms. Taylor Sparks joins as a first year. |
| SEPTEMBER
Classes begin! Huffies scurry to sign up for their favorites and find supplies. Ron Weasley organizes the updated class supply list for the students in the house. The Start of Term Feast comes with a rumble through the halls of the castle. Hufflepuffs open numerous threads to discuss dresses, dates, and Professor Lockhart's absence. Beds are safe for the time being! Some Huffs consider going on a long journey with a couple of Ravenclaws to find Rave Luna Lovegood. Alaska, the Penshire common room, and Africa are named as possible places to look for her. Leslie Lovegood and EmmaMay Isaak found the Hufflepuff Cheerleadering team. Taylor Sparks and Hazel Woods get the Hufflepuff cheerleaders underway. Chants and rallies echo throughout the common room as banners line the walls. Teagan Kincade becomes the Writing/Poetry Club Assistant for Hufflepuff. Alistar Knight joins as a first year. OCTOBER Hufflepuffs first match against Paddington begins on Halloween Day! They win their first match! School Library is added and revamped. Huffs are now seen up there much more often. A large group of Hufflepuffs spend an afternoon at the new Three Broomsticks. And come close to being kicked out! Next time perhaps not start yelling about Cheezits? |
| NOVEMBER
Hufflepuffs second Quidditch match against Gryffindor begins on the 28th. They put up an awesome effort, but lose. Tears glisten in eye sockets as captain and co-captain issue speeches for morale and general loyalty to their team. RPG sections are expanded on the BB, and the extra and smaller forums are removed from spaces throughout the castle, e.g. the Room of Requirement and the Hospital Wing. Alistar Knight disappears (probably stolen by the kangaroos). Elizabeth Crow returns to the common room. Emmett Cullen and Jessie Matt join as first years. Riley Jake transfers from Slytherin. DECEMBER The Yule Ball Dance rolls into formation. Emmet Cullen and Hazel Woods win the vote for King and Queen! And Hufflepuffs very own Assistant Head of House, Professor Kelina Bliss, gets TWO Kings! Professors Tom Riddle and Stephan O'Connell bicker over who gets to dance with her and when as Professor Kelina beams over her two consorts. The Paddingtons win the Ministry of Magic contest, and Huffies discuss ways to infiltrate. More information com--Never mind! Like we'd tell you. Professor Lockhart returns! He immediately steals beds, leaving poor, cold students to sleep on the common room floor. Professor Kelina is seen magicking her bed to keep it safe. A Post-a-Thon was put together and Hufflepuff boosts the CR post count by more than 8,000 posts in no time at all! Round 3 of the I Challenge Thee game begins AND ends! The Huff students win! Michael Peterson, Lysander Sacks, Frederika Weasley, and Penelope Hitchcock-Book join as first years. Alistar Knight returns. He retains no memory of his whereabouts. Teagan is heard mumbling the word "kangaroos" every time he comes close. |
|
|
| Slytherin Year�s In Happenings
Beonca Aims The Slytherin staff came up with a Posting War event from July 7th - 13th....It was not just about upping the posting count there was also prizes to go after. Below was the list and you see, we were very diverse in coming up with some things that everyone would enjoy. Here are said prizes: A brand new Firebolt (from Professor Snape) A 300 Galleon shopping spree at Salazar's Bazaar (from Beonca's shop) A lithograph from The Beast Within (from Eltanin's shop) A one week-long RPG with the HOH & AHOH (from the HOH & AHOH) A new siggie image from Samuel Craft (I am sure I can twist his arm) A new special engraved size 2 cauldron (from Beonca's shop) Automatic 100 points (from...me.) An exemption for elimination, oh, wrong 'game'. Scones for a year A season ticket for Quidditch beside me under the canopy I�d rather not give you the starting post counts nor the ending ones, just know it was a popular event and our winners were happy to choose their prizes and we did not make number them to the winner�s count, but they got to pick which they wanted with the winner going first and so on. The top three posters were Riley, Arien, and Julian with Riley claiming the Firebolt, Arien picked the RPG with Professor Snape, they ended up in the Restricted Area of the library, all interesting. Julian wanted the season ticket to Quidditch with the first dibs on sitting next to our Head of house. In September we came up with the �SLYTHERIN HOUSE FIRST EVER WRITE-OFF�, it ran from Sept. 21st to Sept. 26th and it was to fill both the Owl Gazette and the Daily Prophet with articles. The students signed up for a team as we decided to do teams for this one, and there were teams of THREE students per and they were to post in their team threads a heading for each publication and post their articles under the proper one. In their separate threads, they could discuss ideas for the articles too. The teams were The Cunning Copperheads, The riotous Rattlers, and The Sly Snakes. For this we did the prize thing also for those who �placed�. Prizes: 1st Place - each team member gets full set of supplies for a class of their choosing. 2nd Place - each team member gets full set of books for a class of their choosing. 3rd Place - each team member gets 1 work robe, a pair of dragon-hide gloves. Here are the teams, number articles written by each and you can see then, what they won, this just wasn�t about prizes as we all were winners with the points earned for the efforts of each team! In first place.......THE CUNNING COPPERHEADS! Members: Eltanin, Professor Snape, and Jessie DarkWing With 12 articles for the Owl Gazette! In second place......THE ROITOUS RATTLERS! Members: Beonca, Riley, and Tim With 8 articles for the Owl Gazette! In third place.....THE SLY SNAKES! Members: Josh, Arien, and Gred With 1 article for the Daily Prophet! |
| Hold that thought, got to turn page for more Slytherin..... |