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January 2022

The PS249 Student Newspaper

The Stress Less Issue

Meditation
By Raven Derring-Kilkelly

5th grade students at P.S.249 prepare to graduate into a whole new world.

Meditation is good for your mental health, it’s great for when you're stressed and it can help with separation anxiety.

By P.S. 249 Newspaper Staff

Have you been feeling stressed out lately? Is it because you need to finish your homework? Your grades? Something going on with your family or friends? THIS PANDEMIC THAT NEVER SEEMS TO END? You're not alone! When you're stressed out, you feel frustrated, overwhelmed, maybe angry. Sometimes you take out your feelings on other people, or act out negative way. But there's better ways to deal with your stress!
In this issue P.S.249 newspaper staff has written about some ways to relive stress. Meditation is one way, according to Raven Derring-Kilkelly, whose article is on page 4. Treating yourself to a treat like bubble tea, is another way according to Ashley Bonilla (see pages 16-17). Reading and exercising can help too!
Continued on page 3.

Would you rather stay stressed out for long or meditate to help the stress go away? You should believe in meditation because it's good for your mental health, it's great for stress and it can help with separation anxiety. Try meditation, it's good for your mental health because it can get bad thoughts off of your chest.

Read more page 4.

P.S.249 Attendance Incentives

By Amin Rahman
Class 5-101

This is the attendance tracker!

With P.S.249's Attendance Tracker, you can earn prizes for coming to school 10 days in a row!

To get your prize, you have to show your tracker to Ms.Vanessa or Ms.Amsterdam. Make sure you cross off every day you come to school!

Also, the days are only of school days, regardless of weekends, holidays or school break.

**THIS TRACKER WILL ONLY BE GIVEN TO STUDENTS WITH LOW ATTENDANCE**

Sponsored By P.S.249 Student Council

How YOU can destress in a stressful time

Jaleea Hussey says that spending time with family is also a great way to relieve stress. She suggests reading the articles on holiday baking by Jeanette Marin and Amyann Martinez and the article about National Spaghetti Day by Diara Dollar.

Exercise is a wonderful way to help your body feel better and deal with stress. Amyann Martinez writes about exercise on page ?.

You might even consider spending sometime in nature according to Domenica Tutillo and Toshiro Mohktar who wrote articles about bears and nature.

All About Meditation

By: Raven Derring-Kilkelly, 4th Grade

Want to try meditation? Click the pic to try it out!

There are 2, 5 and 10 minute guided meditations!

Lots of people have meditation necklaces/pendants and it can show your energy. If you meditate it can help because it's a good breathing and relaxation exercise. According to google, "while there are many forms of meditation, the ultimate goal is a feeling of relaxation and inner peace, which can improve in mental health."

Meditation, is great for when you're stressed. If you're stressed, breath in and out 5 times, slowly. Then go and get your meditation necklace and use it for 5 mins or more. It could relive stress, anxiety and even depression.

Also, it refreshes your mind with new good thoughts. During meditation you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress.

Practicing meditation is a great decision because you could make a wish and think about one specific person during the process. For example, it can control thoughts such as thinking about others you have in mind. In addition, if you have calmness and peace balance it’s most likely for that person to have positive thoughts about you.

Other benefits of meditation are that it reduces pain and enhances the bodies immune system, reduces feelings of anxiety, depression, anger and confusion. Most of all, it reduces stress. We all need that right now.

HOW NATURE AFFECTS DAILY LIFE

By Domenica Tutillo, Grade 5

Nature is all over us. From tiny pieces to massive, beautiful natural places. Some people don't know about how nature affects humans' daily life. Well, some scientists have studied nature for years and say that being in nature, or sometimes just viewing nature, reduces stress, anger, and other negative feelings. In other words, being exposed to nature creates a positive mood. Other scientists from England that also study nature say the same thing and agree with the other scientists. But these scientists say that it doesn't just help you in an emotional way, but it also improves your health. For example, nature has helped a lot of people with illnesses, such as high blood pressure, heart problems, muscle tension, and many other ways.

What can Nature Give us?

So you may be asking: "what does nature have to offer us?" Well, nature has a lot to offer that we use in daily life. For example, one thing from nature we really use a lot and we survive off of is water! We drink water to stay hydrated, and we should drink about 8 cups a day. Other things nature gives us are clean air and food that grows from plants (crops).

Something else that nature give us is clean air. This clean air make plants grow, which allows them to provide nutrients and food that is healthy. Some examples are tomatoes ,strawberries and other types of fruits and vegetables. Even cacao (what people use to make chocolate) comes from a plant!

This is because the amount of pollution is growing and global warming is little by little destroying nature. One example of this is ice burgs melting due to global warming. Water supply is also decreasing and some areas have drought. Also, there are forest fires like the one that occurred in Australia. A lot of animals and crops died due to the fire.

Problems in Nature

While nature is really beautiful, it has a lot of problems mostly caused by human beings. Two of the most important and serious problems are pollution and global warming. These two major problems could bring nature to an end if they are not stopped.

In conclusion, nature has a lot to give us that sometimes we don't appreciate. Nature give us food and rain to make crops grow and water to drink and stay alive. Unfortunately, some people prefer destroying some of nature's wonders. They cut down trees, cause forest fires, pollute and cause droughts.

Gymnastics can help your legs and arms stronger so you wouldn't hurt yourself when you try to do exercising or gymnastics. Similarly, riding bikes helps your legs get stronger. They get stronger and stronger every time you ride. When you ride a bike, you have to have good balance. Then, you ride the bike every day, you get stronger in your arms, legs and feet.

There is more exercises you can do to get way more stronger. Such as, Jumping jacks, Push ups, and maybe balancing.

Three Wise Men who are the bearers of gifts and leave presents in or near the shoes of small children. The holiday dates back to the 4th century. A grand feast would be held on this day to honor the occasion of Jesus’ baptism and to pay homage to the Three Wise Men.

From Spain and France to Chile and Mexico, millions of people celebrate the Three Kings Day with a variety of traditions, rituals and symbols, marking the end of the "12 Days of Christmas." Across Latin America and Europe this day will be filled with festivities, parades, dancing, costumes and floats, some of which even feature live camels too! Food will be also part of the celebrations and various types of King Cakes seem to be the favorites! People dress up as the kings for the celebration.

This day, which is one of the most important religious days of the calendar for many, celebrates the arrival of the Magi or Three Kings: Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar who saw a bright star on the night Christ was born and followed it to Bethlehem, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus. This scene is commonly represented in nativity paintings and scenes throughout the world during the Christmas season and is recounted in Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12 in the Bible.