Parents face hard decision
Local teen in coma while insurance runs out
By Savanna S.

On April 30, 2000, Francesca Panzeca was struck by a drunk driver. I want to help too, so let me tell you what's happening.
Seventeen, Francesca would be a student at Glenbard North High School. She is a dancer who studied cosmetology.
Francesca has been in a coma for about three months. Right now she is receiving stimulation therapy at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village.
Unfortunately, Francesca's medical insurance will no longer pay for her to stay there. The insurance company will also not pay for Francesca to be nursed at home. The only option they are offering is an out-of-state nursing home where she will not receive therapy.
The Panzeca family is working hard to raise the money they need to continue to care for Francesca.
Her father and brother are involved with the Flames Hockey Club. The Flames have set up a trust fund to help with Francesca's legal and medical expenses.
A fund raising event was held on September 8, and the family is also trying to organize a fundraising activity with the Kane County Cougars minor league baseball team.
I know that our student council president and vice president, Jamie Oswald and Kelly Hoppe, are interested in helping out. If you are interested, talk to them, and we'll see what Peacock students can do.

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How heavy is too heavy?
By Alicia N.

Are seventh backpacks too heavy? All the seventh grade students think so.
When the students were asked if they were concerned about their backpack weight they all replied in about the same way.
Alyson Klausing commented, "I don't want [my vertabrae] to be crimped or have back problems when I'm older."
All the seventh graders also agreed which were the heaviest books. These were Math, Language and Social Studies.
Ms. Kaye is trying to find a space to store our math books, and we often don't need our Language books. Just about everyday, though, we need our Social Studies books! That's outrageous!

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Brand New
By Carly L.

A brand new school,
A brand new sight,
So many changes in my brand new life.
Brand new teachers,
Brand new kids,
But I won't forget what I had before my brand new life.

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What would you wish for?
The Wish by Gail Carson Levine
By Nikki H.

If you had one wish, what would you wish for.... Well, Wilma Sturtz had one wish and she wished that she would be the most popular girl in school.
This is the background of Gail Carson Levine's novel, The Wish.
It is Wilma's last year at Claverford Jr. High and the end of the school year is almost here.
When her wish comes true and she ends up with some forty dates for the Graduation dance! What's a girl to do?
When the school year is over and she leaves Claverford, will her popularity last into high school or will she be Wilma Sturtz, the outcast, once more? Who will she take to the dance?
Read The Wish to find out. It's a winner.

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AOL's popularity peaks at Peacock
By Alyson D.

The popularity of AOL (America Online) among Peacock students has increased so much that it would have been unimaginable a few years ago. What is the attraction? Why is it so much fun?
"I love going on-line because it's basically my only connection to my friends back home instead of writing or calling. I know what's going on," said former student, seventh grader, Allie G., (Allie was "Annie" in last year's musical). "It's nice because there's always someone on and plus it's less expensive than calling someone up," she added.
"I mostly talk to my friends," explained seventh grader, Michael H., "All the people who are on my buddy lists are my friends and I think that's the same with everyone else."
Seventh grader, Alicia N., visits many areas of AOL, including, the horoscopes, Yahoo, and Ditto.com. "I love going into cool web-sites," she said, "and reading up on the soaps."
Seventh grader, Ian M., commented that he surfed to music web-sites "to look up the lyrics, listen to the songs, and read-up on tour dates." "I also love to go online because I like to talk to everyone I know."
There is a certain "language" that is used online, which abbreviates words in order to make them faster to type. It's mostly made up of abbreviations. Here are a few: r = "are," u = "you," neway = "anyway," s/h = "same here," nmh = "nothin' much here," LOL = "laugh out loud," etc. (you get the picture)
If you don't have AOL at home, but do have a connection to the Internet, go to http://www.aol.com and register for Instant Messenger for free! Believe me its great, because that's what I have!

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The Accident will chill you
By Sammie D.

The Accident, by Diane Hoh, is for those of you who like scary and weird types of books. This story sets a ghost-like scene as a shadowy figure appears in a girl's mirror.
This dark creature turns out to be the ghost of someone who died long ago in a boating accident, and pleads with the main character, Megan, to trade places, just for a week.
Megan doesn't realize what could happen if the trade doesn't work out.
The Accident is a fast read and has a chilling story that will really keep you hooked.

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Kyle's keen on Tree Guys
By Kyle A.

If you know my family then you know we have two kitchens, the one at home and the one at Tree Guys kitchen. On Friday September 15, 2000, we went to our second kitchen.
My first Tree Guys Review was in the December 1999 Charger. You can find it at
http://itasca.k12.il.us/charger/1999/dec99enter.htm
My mom had a Shrimp Scampi. She said "It was a little dry but most excellent!" My dad had a tuna fish sandwich "...which was very refishing!! HaHaHa!!"
Cody, my brother, had mostaccioli, sauce on the side. He said, "It's great!" My Sister Kali had a salad. Kali stated, "It was good." I had Chicken Parmagiana and that was filling but good. I also highly recommend the excellent pizza.
Tree Guys appetizers range from about $1 to $11, and salads are from $2 to $6. In case you want some soup or pasta those range from $1 to $10.
A la carte entrees and sandwiches are between $2-$14. The burgers, which are only average, cost about $5. Pizza is anywhere between $5-$25. Drinks and deserts are less then $2 each.
Tree Guys Pizza Pub is located at 101 E. Irving Park. If you would like to order any food call (630)-773-4990.
Advice
Best Night: Monday
Worst Night: Fridays
(It's very busy)
Best Food: Pizza
Worst Food: Hamburgers
Best Waitress: All
Worst Waitress; None
Scores
(On A Scale of 1-5 or $-$$$$)
Food:4
Atmospere:3
Service:5
Value for Money $
Kid Friendliness:5
Overall:4.5

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Woodfire Chicken well worth a visit
By Trisha H.

Woodfire Chicken, on 1251 W Irving Park Road, has a wide selection of food, fun and entertainment. It has good food served fast.
The manager, Pete Kalantzis said every Saturday there is a car show that has mostly cars from the 60s and 70s.
Also, every other Saturday there is a live band.
Woodfire Chicken's specialty is roasted chicken and ribs with mashed garlic potatoes.
When my Mom and I walked into Woodfire Chicken on a Saturday we went to the counter, ordered our food took a number and sat down. A nice option is that you can sit inside or outside. We sat outside.
A friendly employee served our food about one minute later. We ordered a wood roasted chicken and BBQ ribs combo, their specialty. This meal also came with a dinner role, homemade coleslaw and garlic mashed potatoes.
The chicken and coleslaw were superb and so were the mashed potatoes. I personally didn't care for the ribs, but my mom loved them.
I highly recommend the chicken and coleslaw. After we had eaten we sat and looked at the cars and listened to the live band that was entertaining.
Food: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 5
Cleanness: 5
Value for money: 5
Kid Friendliness: 5
Entertainment: 3
Overall experience: 4 1/2

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Both presidential candidates talk the talk
But who will walk the walk on education?
By Michele B.,
Copy Editor

How much do you really know about the presidential hopefuls? Do you know what they're doing about education?
Governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore will meet in their first formal debate this week. They both have many improvements that they claim they will make.
Education is one issue that they both will work on; it is also the one that will effect Peacock students the most.
Republican George Bush is the forty-fifth governor of Texas. He lives with his wife in the historic Governor's Mansion in Austin with their twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, who are fifteen.
Democratic Party candidate, and current vice president, Al Gore was born in Washington D.C. He married Mary Elizabeth and they have four children.
On the issue of education, Bush hopes to ensure school safety and promote character education.
Gore meanwhile will focus on improving teacher quality and making higher education more affordable.
Bush plans to restore school safety by providing students in persistently dangerous schools with an option to transfer. He will also establish Project Sentry that will prosecute teens who carry or use guns and the adults who provide them.
Improving teacher quality is one of Gore's plans for education. He will do this by reducing class sizes, improving standards, and incorporating technology into individual classrooms.
Bush will touch on character education by tripling its funding. He will also require schools to enact a zero-tolerance policy dealing with class disruption.
While making a higher education more affordable, Gore plans to increase lifetime learning opportunities.
Al Gore names many improvements that he will make, but he doesn't say how he will make them, or when.
George Bush on the other hand seems to have every second of his time planned out and knows the exact details of how to accomplish his goals.
In the future, when we are old enough to vote there is one piece of advice from an unknown author to keep in mind: "It doesn't matter when you vote or who you vote for but no matter what, vote, and vote informed."

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It's puppet time in com time!
By Jacek M.

Mrs. Agnello's common time class, block two, is developing student made puppet shows. Ken Cousineau, Rob Vorhies, Keith Mikhail and Michael Nummer are my fellow group members. Our group has selected Jack and The Beanstalk as the fairy tale we will present.
We started by writing a script. This is my favorite part. This helps the puppeteers all know what to say and do. Everyone had so many good ideas it was difficult at times to agree.
Then we sketched pictures of what our background scenery will look like. These sketches closely followed the script. We all select the best sketches, which were then copied on better paper. This part of the project took three to four days.
With the scenery complete, the last step was to make our puppets. This didn't take us very long. We were particularly proud of our "Giant" puppet.
The practice continues until all the groups are finished. When everyone is done, each group will take turns performing their their puppet shows.
Mrs. Agnello said, "If these puppet shows go well, we may even be able to share them with students at Benson or Franzen."

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Gore/Bush What's the difference and why you should care
By Carl L.,
News Editor

Campaign 2000 promised to be different, exciting and a grand entrance into the twenty-first century.
What we have seen so far is nothing more then the same old political speeches and promises our parents heard back in the 80's.
Everyone has a plan to solve all of our problems but so far, I have heard nothing that makes me feel confident they can pull it off.
We still have the debates and town meetings to see how well the candidates can explain their plans.
Well, this is what I have found the candidates stand for, and how they plan to make us feel secure.
On Education - Texas governor, George Bush has based much of his campaign on his claim that he is the education candidate. Possibly, this is because his wife was a former schoolteacher and librarian.
Bush believes the states and local districts should control their own schools with no federal intervention.
Vice-President Al Gore believes the federal government needs to intervene in local districts to offer aid in the form of tax incentives, teacher education and scholarships.
Each candidate proposes major spending but neither states where the money will come from if there isn't a tax increase.
On the Environment - Bush's stand is for environmental reform to reduce air pollution, but this is extremely hypocritical of him since Houston, Texas is the most air-polluted city in the continental United States.
On the other hand, Gore is also accused of hypocrisy, because there is mining on his ranch, which is supposedly the cause of pollution in the area. At this point no concrete evidence has proven this statement true.
On gun control - Both candidates agree on child safety locks but that is the only thing they agree on.
Bush believes assault weapons are okay with no waiting period.
Gore supports gun control on such weapons. I suppose Bush never heard of Columbine or other incidents across the country at schools in the past two years.
On the death penalty - Both candidates support DNA testing to prove for certain the innocence or guilt of a convicted criminal.
On one occasion Bush did allow the use of DNA at the last minute for an inmate scheduled to die within a few hours. Unfortunately, DNA testing came back positive and Bush could no longer spare the man's life.
So as you can see both candidates have their pluses and minuses, but in the long run, Gore so far seems to be the better candidate.
This is surprising, considering that when most people are asked about the candidates, they almost always choose Bush. Then when there're told about the issues they usually change their minds and say Gore.
I guess they go for the familiar name or the fact that Bush's father was president. So to all the voters out there, learn more about the person your voting for. You might just change your mind.

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