January ASB Newsletter – Tyee Middle School

January ASB Newsletter

Student Interview:

Carol Li, Aiden Carl, Luke Lee

Carol: Today, I’ll be interviewing two of the ASB cabinet members! Aiden Carl, the Student Recognition Chair and Luke Lee, the Vice President! 

Carol: Do you like pineapple on your pizza? 

Aiden: Yes 

Luke: Aiden’s weird 

Carol: So, this is a question for Aiden, um, what do you think of your job doing on bathrooms lately 

Aiden: It’s going great *Sarcastically puts up his thumb* 

Carol: Do you sometimes hear certain voices in your head? 

Luke: I hear Mr. Adams to tell me to not do things 

Aiden: That’s crazy 

Carol: Mr. Barnes vs Mr. Adams- who has better hair? 

Aiden: No comment 

Luke: Tbh, I like mine 

*Luke dances with his arms* 

Luke: Tickle tickle 

Aiden: What? 

*Aiden is on phone playing games* 

Carol: What is your favorite sport? 

Aiden: E-sports 

Luke: I like um 

Aiden: Baseball  

Luke: I played only for three years and in Kindergarten 

Aiden: That’s longer than me playing viola 

Luke: You started in fifth grade! 

*Conversation about time* 

Luke: I like golf 

Carol: Do you think chickens are smarter than people? 

Aiden: No 

Luke: The fact that they can stretch their behind so far to get an egg of them is crazy 

Carol: But humans… 

Luke: Let’s stop right there 

Carol: How many rocks are in a window? 

Aiden: Two 

Carol: Why? 

Aiden: I don’t know. How big of a window? Car window? 

Luke: My dad’s eyes 

Carol: I agree 

Carol: Do you guys like to scrub cats on the floor? 

Aiden: What? 

Luke: Honestly yeah, it makes for a good rug. Recycle and reuse. Trash the cat and get another one 

Miao: Any tea to spill? 

Aiden: Doesn’t Ms. Elzea have tea? 

*Water break* 

Carol: If you were in a relationship with two other people, who would it be? 

Luke: Not Aiden 

Aiden: Tyler and Luke 

Luke: NO! 

Carol: Do you think aliens exist? 

Aiden: Yes 

Luke: Because Aiden does yes 

*Luke tries to eat a paper cup* 

Carol: What is your favorite season? 

Aiden: Winter! 

Luke: Fall- anything that Aiden doesn’t say 

Luke: Hahahahah 

Carol: Do you think the school looks like cheese 

Aiden: Only one way to find out 

Luke: I’ll do it if you do it. 

Carol: Fun fact! Luke’s favorite ASB member is anyone but Aiden. (It’s Ethan Li. No Ethan, stop lying to yourself.) 

Aiden: Personally, my favorite ASB member is- can I have my phone back?, Victor Zhao 

Luke: I’m not giving your phone back 

Aiden: LUKE THE GLORIOUS KING LEE, CAN I PLEASE HAVE MY PHONE BACK? 

Carol: Who is your favorite student in school? 

Luke: I like Mr. Adams 

Carol: Student? 

Luke: I like me, myself, and I 

Aiden: Tyler Kim 

Martin Luther King Jr.:

MLK Biography:

Born Michael Luther King Jr. on January 15, 1929, he changed his name to Martin on April 4, 1968. He attended separate public schools in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated in 1948 with a B.A. from Morehouse College in Atlanta, an elite African American institution. King went on to receive his B.D., in 1951, from Crozer Theolog Seminary in Pennsylvania. He then went on to receive a doctorate from Boston University. During his time in Boston, he met Coretta Scott, a young woman with extraordinary intellectual and artistic talents. He married his wife, Coretta Scott Martin, and they had two sons and two daughters. Martin became the pastor of his church in 1954, and in 1956 he became the leader of the national association for the advancement of colored people (NAACP). He was also the leader of the first large-scale, nonviolent demonstration of modern times in the U.S., known as the Montgomery bus boycott, lasting 382 days. In these days of the boycott, King had been arrested, his home had been bombed, and he had suffered personal abuse. From 1957 to 1968, King had traveled more than six million miles and spoken more than 25,000 times, appearing wherever injustice, protests, and action was present. In those years, he had led a massive protest at Birmingham, Alabama, which captured the world’s attention, formed what he called “a coalition of conscience”, and inspired his “letter from a Birmingham jail”, a testament to the African American revolution. He had organized the drives in Alabama to register African Americans to vote; he had directed the 250,000-strong “peaceful march” on Washington D.C., to which he delivered his famous speech, “I Have a Dream,”; he had consulted with John F. Kennedy; he had campaigned for the election of Lyndon B. Johnson, and he had been arrested and attacked many times; he had been awarded five honorary degrees, and had become a symbol of the world. He was the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and when he was announced as the winner, he declared that he would donate the $54,123 prize money to further the civil rights cause. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968. He was on the balcony of a motel room overlooking a protest march in support of striking garbage workers in Memphis, Tennessee.

From top to bottom, left to right: MLK in 1964, MLK at his famous “I Have a Dream” Speech, President Regan signing MLK Jr. Day into law, Stevie Wonder’s song Happy Birthday, the National Mall where MLK Gave his famous “I Have a Dream” Speech, MLK’s wife Corretta Scott, A pin promoting MLK Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Monday, January 15th, 2024:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a US federal holiday that falls on the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. and aims to celebrate his lifelong achievements over the civil rights of the United States.

A Brief History:

Legislation to enact Martin Luther King Jr. Day first began just days after the assassination of MLK. Michigan Congressman John Conyers spearheaded the bill, advocating strongly for its passage. Conyers introduced the bill year after year in Congress, for more than eleven years later, until 1979, when it was finally voted on. Unfortunately, despite the president, MLK’s wife Corretta Scott King, and a petition with over 600,000 signatures pledging support, the bill was five votes short and did not pass the House of Representatives. The opposition cited arguments that the holiday would cost too much, and that honoring someone who had never held public office would be contradictory to the country’s values. Conyers tried again. This time the King Center tried to make the general public more aware of the bill. This strategy was largely successful due to singer Stevie Wonder’s 1980 song, Happy Birthday, which celebrated the life and achievements of MLK.

“I just never understood

How a man who died for good

Could not have a day that would

Be set aside for his recognition” — Stevie Wonder’s Happy Birthday

Wonder would eventually sing this at a special concert at the National Mall, where Martin Luther King Jr. made his “I Have a Dream” speech. Ultimately, when the bill made its way to the House floor in 1983, there was overwhelming support. The Congressional Black Caucus, Corretta Scott King, as well as the six million (6,000,000) Americans who signed a petition backed the bill. The only major opposition was in the Senate, where North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms attempted to dismiss the bill by spreading rumors that Martin Luther King had ties with the Communist party. In response, New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan threw Helms’ 400-page binder of “evidence” onto the Senate floor and declare it “a packet of filth.” Ultimately, the bill passed Congress, and was promptly signed into law by President Ronald Regan on November 2, 1983.

At this point, MLK Jr. Day was only a federal holiday, meaning that only federal employees got a day off. This is because of the underlying structure of the United States government, which gives the fifty states the right to choose which holidays to enact. By 1989, six years after the bill was signed into law, only 44 states enacted the holiday. New Hampshire was the last state to pass MLK Jr. Day, doing so in 1999. Thus, all 50 states of the United States observed MLK Jr. Day in tandem on January 17^th, 2000.

Passed in 1994, the King Holiday and Service Act encourages Americans to find ways to improve their communities. Part of the bill declared Martin Luther King Jr. Day to be not a “day off,” but rather a “day on” to help support the community.

“I urge all people in our state to join me in answering Dr. King’s call to service by spending the holiday named after him as a “a day on and not a day off”

– Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s MLK Day Proclamation, January 16^th 2023

This is a common theme in MLK throughout all fifty states: working together with community to rise up to today’s challenges. Hence, in memory of Martin Luther King Jr., we invite you to help our community on MLK Jr. Day.

Fun Facts about Martin Luther King Jr. Day:

Although Dr. King’s birthday is on January 15^th, MLK Jr. Day will always fall on the third Monday of January, meaning it can take place anywhere from January 15^th to January 21^st.
This is because of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which we actually have previously discussed in the November newsletter regarding Veterans Day.
King County was originally named after the 13^th Vice President, William Rufus DeVane King, but was amended to honor MLK in 1985.
The National Football League (NFL) influenced Arizona to enact MLK Jr. Day.
Although Arizona originally enacted the holiday in 1986, but the decision was reversed in 1987. Arizonans were given the opportunity to vote on whether or not to enact the holiday in 1990. Hearing this, the NFL threatened to move the 1993 Super Bowl, which was planned to be held in Arizona. to another state if the holiday was not enacted. Unfortunately, the proposal was voted down, so the NFL moved the Super Bowl to California, causing Arizona to lose out on millions in revenue.
There are alternate names for MLK Jr. Day in some states. For example, the holiday is also called Civil Rights Day in Arizona, Human Rights Day in Idaho, and Equality Day in Wyoming. Unfortunately, some states also celebrate MLK Jr. Day in tandem with the birthday of Robert E. Lee, a confederate general.

Resources:

We highly encourage you to investigate Martin Luther King Jr. Day some more. Here are some resources to get started:

Art:

Happy New Year from Times Square, Charles Fazzino, 2023 (above)

Martin Luther King Jr., Boris Chaliapin, 1957 (above)

Comic, Brian Gordon (above)

Jokes:

Why should you never trust stairs? They’re always up to something.

When does a joke become a ‘dad’ joke? When it becomes apparent.

What’s the best thing about Switzerland? I don’t know, but the flag is a big plus.

What’s for breakfast on really cold January days? Snowflakes.

Someone stole my mood ring yesterday. Istill don’t know how I feel about that.

What washes up on very small beaches? Micro-waves.

I’m on a seafood diet: When I see food, I eat it.

What do you call it when two boats fall in love? A row-mance.

FunWordSearchGame:

Thank you, Tyee ASB