6 • Student Life The Bulldog • January 2011 Street Jungle Gym By Adam Kirschner Parkour is an activity that many people around the world take part in, either for fun or competition. By definition, it’s getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible, without letting anything stand in your way. Doing this activity is chal- lenging for both the mind and the body, and it will give you a rush of adrenaline when you are climb- ing, running, jumping, rolling and vaulting. This activity takes place in the outside world anywhere with walls, buildings, trees or any place with vast amounts of obstacles. It’s usually a better experience when done in an urban area, where you can enjoy scaling walls and jump- ing buildings. There are a lot of variations in the activity, and many are not considered to be part of the sport. To make parkour more fun, one may add tricks such as flips and spins to their inventory. It’s not in the definition, but it makes for a greater experience and adds looks to the effect. The trick part of the activity goes more along the line of free running, which has no destination. Both free running and parkour have their similarities, for both the body and mind have to be highly disciplined. They are normally completed in the same general area: anywhere with obstacles. Lastly, they are both made up of the same building blocks; running, jumping, and vaulting. The possibilities are endless. It can be done anywhere, using dif- ferent tricks and techniques. There are many precautions one should take before entering the dangers of this activity. It involves a lot of practice, skill, and dedication, but when completing a self-made task in these activities, there is no better feeling. Although tough, parkour and free running are whole new ex- periences that many would enjoy. It can be learned at any gym that offers it, by watching YouTube videos or from a friend that has already learned it. There’s only one gym around here that offers parkour called 5 Star in East Rockaway. Parkour and free running are like no other activities, and everybody looking for fun and challenges should be out on the street attempting it. Parkour participants take risky, exhilerating jumps from one building to another. In Island Trees High School Peer Leaders is one specific group that influences students in a positive way. It has been in the works for over 20 years and continues to focus on providing good role models for younger students. Peer Leaders teach these students to fight against peer pressure, cyber bullying, drugs, and alcohol; they also touch on internet safety and help kids to build self esteem. The Peer Leaders aspire to help younger students in grades six through nine make healthy choices. “Having Peer Leaders in high school is so important because older students become role mod- els to younger ones. We want to show them that life gets hard and to know that it matters… that they matter,” advisor Mrs. Lyons commented. Peer Leaders have to get these younger students to trust them, and by doing so they have to be genuine and set a calm, trusting environment. They let the younger students know that everything they say is confiden- tial, that everything they share doesn’t leave the room. To become a Peer Leader students have to fill out an ap- plication. There are all different types of questions that help assess how much of a leader they are. The future eleventh and twelfth grade students who are applying have to be well rounded, out going, motivated students. Once the Peer Leaders are chosen, there are all different types of training they have to go through before they are ready to reach out to younger students. First, there is a field trip to Project Adventure. This is where these Peer Leaders learn team building and trusting each other while also learning to trust themselves. After this field trip, Peer Leaders then go through several training methods to get their presentation together for the younger students. Once every- thing is prepared they have one last training.The groups share their presentations with the rest of the Peer Leaders which will show if they are ready or not. Next on the schedule for Peer Leaders is visiting grade nine in March. They also help with the eighth graders’ orientation in April. Finally, in May, it will be time to fill out applications for next year. “It’s hard work to become a Peer Leader; you have to care and go outside your comfort zone. It takes a lot of courage and there are hard topics that you have to discuss. You have to be open to change and find out new ways to reach these students,” Mrs. Lyons pointed out. Peer Leaders are a group of students who want to help make a difference. They want to make society a better place. Students can change the way people act and help get kids to make posi- tive decisions. Peer Leaders By Ashley Kornstein collection in only 20 years, which is incredible. Sabers and swords were both part of Dr. Blauvelt’s collection and even though they look similar, they are different. The sabers have more of a curve and were used more as slicing weapons while the swords were straighter because they were used for jabbing. The juniors were delighted to get out of the classroom and learn a little bit of history first hand. On Thursday, March 4, the eleventh graders were treated to an in-school field trip back in time to the Civil War. The students went to the auditorium fourth period where Dr. Blauvelt recited war stories and disoplayed guns that were actually used from the Civil War. According to Dr. Blauvelt, the soldiers would carry two guns in battle, a rifle and a pistol. It would take the more ex- perienced sol- diers around one minute to reload the rifle and for the less experienced, up to five minutes. Dr. Blauvelt had an assortment of guns that were used in battle, some short combat and some long. He had an Enfield that was worth $3000 as well as rifles, pistols and swords. He put together this Trip to the Civil War By Steven Tsakanikas Eleventh graders pose with Dr. Blauvelt and his civil war battle weapons.