Last Tuesday, on April 21, Massachusetts Gov. Baker announced that all schools in Massachusetts would be closed for the rest of the year, meaning that my birthday, on June 10th, will officially be a COVID-19/quarantine birthday. Millions of children around the world have had their birthdays suddenly upended by the coronavirus. Days when kids usually get together with friends or family for a birthday party, go on a trip, or have cupcakes at school, have been changed to days where kids pretty much have to stay at home. This is really, truly sad. Although I am in middle school now, I remember the days back in elementary school when it was such a big deal to bring in cupcakes for your class. Everyone would hurry to get in a line before recess and pick out which cupcake you wanted. Then, you would go outside and strut around with your cupcake, feeling lucky that someone in your class had a birthday, and, if it was your birthday, feeling happy to be special at school for a day. Having a birthday party with friends and family is always special, too. When people you care about are there just for you, you feel particularly happy. My birthday is in over a month, but still, some things have definitely changed. Because I won’t have school, no one will put a sign in my locker, and I won’t get to go to Boston on a field trip that feels like a birthday trip, because it was coincidentally scheduled for a day near my birthday. Most likely, none of my friends and family will come over, and my cousins won’t play in my backyard and take out all of our backyard games and spread them out all over the place. I probably won’t get to go strawberry picking with my mom, which is a kind of tradition for us. So, what are kids doing on their special days that suddenly don’t feel so special? The answer: many, many things. Just the other day, I was out walking and passed a sign saying “Honk for [name I don’t remember]’s 18th birthday!” People are doing car-parades, as well, where people drive past the birthday kid’s house to wish them well. So far, two of my cousins have had quarantine birthdays. They both had Zoom calls with family and friends and we all sang “Happy birthday.” One more of my cousins will have a quarantine birthday in about a month, and I wonder what she has planned. There is no doubt that COVID-19 and quarantine have messed up a lot of people’s special days. But we are all in this together. It is our natural instinct to try and make the best out of things, and that is what people are doing. I have no idea what the world will look like on my birthday, but I know that I can still make it a happy day. I, and millions of kids around the world, can do car parades, Zoom calls, and many more creative things to make our special days more special and unique than ever before. Anya Geist, 13 Worcester, MA
non-literary genre
Science Fair, A Documentary Review by Nina Vigil, 11
“Science fair”: Two very innocuous words. When you hear them, what first comes to mind? Kids presenting their mini volcanoes in an elementary school gymnasium? To be honest, that is what most science fairs are like. Would you be surprised to learn that there is a science fair in which high-schoolers from all over the world compete in 22 categories for a $75,000 winning prize? There is such a science fair, and it’s called ISEF: the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Recently, producers Cristina Constantini and Darren Foster (with National Geographic) made a documentary called Science Fair all about it! I watched it, and I knew in the first five minutes that I had to write a review about it. Science Fair focuses on a handful of students who are preparing to enter ISEF. We meet kids from poor cities like Iracema, Brazil and wealthy places like Jericho, New York and learn about their projects and their goals. Take Ivo’s project. It’s a kind of drone shaped like a chevron that can fly an amazing distance. Kashfia’s brain wave experiment uses a headset that picks up on brain waves, and uses it to make conclusions about emotions, decision-making and how brains work in general. ISEF works like this: schools around the world have competitions and choose finalists (one group can count as a finalist) to go on to compete at ISEF. Then, winners are selected in each category, as well as one finalist who receives the top prize of $75,000. As you can imagine, people get really competitive and make some incredible things. Something I found interesting was the focus on the adults supporting the kids. For instance, at Kendra’s school in New York, there are a lot of resources and a teacher who is really tough and dedicated and pushes her students to do their best. Then in Iracema, at Myllena and Gabriel’s school, there are almost no resources, yet her teachers supported her immensely. And in Brookings, South Dakota, Kashfia’s school was so focused on sports that she couldn’t find any science teachers to supervise her project, and ended up working with the football coach! What I loved best about Science Fair was how spectacularly engaging it was. I got so absorbed in it that I was super nervous and excited leading up to the judging, even though I wasn’t experiencing it myself. Another thing I liked was how inspiring this documentary was. The main contestants had various obstacles to deal with, from not having a lot of money or resources (Myllena) to having a school that barely gives any support to science (Kashfia). And yet they all made it in, and some of them placed. After the contest, they all continued work on their projects, too. Anybody can succeed, even those with a number of difficulties. Science Fair, after watching it only once, is my official second favorite movie. Kedi will always be my favorite, but this got pretty close! To everyone reading this, check it out. You may decide to enter a science fair too! Science Fair (National Geographic, 2018) is a documentary produced and directed by Cristina Constantini and Darren Foster. Find out more at the National Geographic website.
‘Misted’: music for saxophone and piano, by Abe Effress, 11
Abe Effress, 11, playing saxophone in Marina Del Rey I have been playing saxophone since I moved to Los Angeles from the mountains of Colorado four years ago. This year, I wrote a piece for piano and submitted it to the Composers Today program for young composers. I became very interested in making music, and have started to realize it is a passion that I want to pursue. I decided to really challenge myself with this new song, “Misted.” This is the first time I have composed music for two instruments, piano and saxophone. The saxophone that you hear was inspired by a spider that has been living outside of my windowsill in the room I share with my brother. This song is in a minor key because for one day the spider was not there and it made me sad when I thought my new friend had gone away. Many of my creations, especially my writing, are dark and gnarled, like the branches of my mind. In this song, I also included my love for music production in the form of a beat, which I added in GarageBand. When I started making songs on GarageBand this summer, my parents decided that I could get an Instagram account for my music, fiction stories, drawings, and any other art created by me. The positive response I have been receiving from real professionals in the music production industry has motivated me to work even harder. Here is a link to the full audio with the piano and drums; and this is the link to me playing the saxophone part out on the Pacific Ocean in Marina Del Rey, and to more of my work on You Tube. There is a video of the spider on my Instagram page, @wearing_a_wig. I really hope you enjoy “Misted.” I did my best to write down the notes for both instruments even though the piano is naturally in a different key than the alto sax. Thank you for taking the time to check out my work! From the Stone Soup Editors: Do you play saxophone? Download a printable copy of Abe’s composition, ‘Misted’, and try playing it yourself. Leave a comment for Abe below, and if you do try his music yourself, send us a recording of yourself playing his piece. Enjoy!
