By Halimah Kargbo

Features Editor

Hammond’s Culture Fest 2019

Hammond is still making attempts to hold true to traditions even in the online school setting. Culture Fest, a cultural showcase event that usually takes place in early spring, is moving online this year as well. This year’s Culture Fest is a completely different approach to what Hammond has been used to in previous years. In prior years, it was a two-day event, with a potluck dinner the night before and in school the next day, a showcase of poster boards, cultural attire, dances, and more. But, for the 2020-2021 school year, things had to be adjusted.

“We are hoping to have students submit pictures and videos,” Hammond Spanish teacher Ms. Hart says. “Our goal is to take those submissions and put them into a slideshow.”

In terms of submissions, they are looking for different displays of culture from students and staff. That includes videos, music, dancing, pictures, recipes, interesting information, and more along those lines. Ms. Hart has coordinated Hammond’s Culture Fest in previous years and has been trying to get more students to participate in the event this year as well. However, there have been a limited number of people reaching out. 

Pictured Above: Ngun Par, Andrew Oh, and Helen Sgouros having a discussion with former IRC President George Rupp

By Uma Ribeiro

Editor-in-Chief 

On March 27th, Hammond junior class SGA president Ngun Par was part of a discussion with former president of the International Rescue Committee (from 2002-2013) and current visiting scholar and adjunct professor at Columbia University, George Rupp, through a Zoom video call. Par, who escaped the Burmese military and immigrated to the United States as a refugee, has personal experience with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The organization helped her family immigrate to the United States in November 2007. 

Par is one of the Executive Directors of the English Kids to Kids and Bridging Cultures (EK2KBC) program. She, as well as volunteer Andrew Oh and mentor and EK2KBC co-founder Helen Sgouros, had the opportunity to ask Rupp questions about his personal experiences which led to his work helping refugees. They discussed their personal experiences as well. Given the current situation in Myanmar, in which the military is brutally killing peaceful protesters following the sudden military coup, the discussion Par, Oh, and Sgouros had with Rupp is more relevant than ever. 

The three of them discussed Rupp’s time working as president of the IRC (which is a partner of EK2KBC) in an interview that was just over an hour long. The two highly-accomplished high school students and mentor Helen Sgouros engaged in a lively discussion with George Rupp. Outlined below are the contents of the conversation: 

By Daniel Mapemba

Staff Writer

The Mars rover, Perseverance, landing safely on Mars on February 18 this year was a momentous occasion. Arguably the detachment and subsequent flight of its 19-inch piggy-backing helicopter, Ingenuity, was an even more exciting event. On April 3, the helicopter was deployed (detached), and on April 19 the copter took to the Martian skies, hovering three meters in the air for approximately 30 seconds. Live-streaming video to NASA three hours later confirmed Ingenuity’s success. The flight was power-controlled from sonar panels on the back of the Perseverance rover. The flight provided data on the differences in gravitational force between Mars and Earth (one-third of Earth’s) and the atmospheric conditions on Mars.

NASA explained, “This means there are relatively few air molecules with which Ingenuity’s two 4-foot-wide (1.2-meter-wide) rotor blades can interact to achieve flight.” Ingenuity is made up from unique parts that were tested by this flight to see if it can hold up in space.