FEBRUARY

BLACK HISTORY
SHOWCASE/POETRY

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5

SELMA
FIELD TRIP

STRIDE ACADEMY
PHONE SURVEY

PRETTY BROWN GIRL

PICTURE DAY

CCA COMMUNICATOR
Visit our website at www.creativecommunicationsacademy.org

Celebrating

Black
History
Month
February
2015
Designs Created by
Journalism Students

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VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5

Showcase Your Talent

By Tyler Barnes and DAndre Wallace
For the black history program, Ms. Grimes held auditions for
the mime/step team. In order to audition, students had to come
prepared with their own dance to the Academy Awardnominated song, Glory by Common and John Legend. The
three people that showed up were: Tyler Barnes, DAndre
Wallace, and Diamond Baker. The three of us had our own
style of dance. Once we came together, we were able to
choreograph the dance under the supervision of Ms. Grimes.
As we continue to work hard and practice together, we are
becoming stronger as a team and as friends. We are still
looking for other students to join the team after the showcase
and black history program in order to build a bigger, better
team. The showcase will be held February 19th and the black
history program is scheduled for Feb. 25, 2015. (Pictured on the
right: Ms. Grimes, CCA Social Studies Teacher and below from left to
right: DAndre Wallace, Diamond Baker, and Tyler Barnes)

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Life as a Slave
By Corelle Walton
Taken from our home
We were all alone
Ripped from our blood kin
Placed with people of lighter skin
We worked day in and day out
There was so much pain we wanted to shout
We were forced out into the baking sun
Wondering when our time would be done
Our fingers were always swollen
We hated what our masters had stolen
Picking cotton in the fields
We sang our sings as shields
Our fingers bled with cuts
The once soft fingers became ever so rough
We felt the slash of the whip
That felt like our backs were ripped
Blood rushed down our backs
While we laid on nothing but filthy sacks
Our young ones got beat
For simply trying to eat
We were broken down in despair
Over our children being damaged beyond repair
We woke to the sound of painful screams
Wishing it was just a dream
We slaves go back to sleep
With basically nothing to eat
Though we had been treated wrong
We stood proud and strong
We had not been defeated
Even though thousands of us had been deleted

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SELMA Field Trip

By Octavia Douglas
On Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015, the Dolton 149 Middle Schools went to the Marcus Cinema in
Chicago Heights to see Selma. The movie is based on the 1960s Selma to Montgomery
march led by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Some students thought the movie was
disturbing, while others thought it was very informative.
When I got home, I did some background research myself and found that some people
disagreed with the way they portrayed certain characters in the film. A lot of controversy was
raised from the movie.
A post-activity question that was circulated around some classes asked, When the marchers
arrived to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, would you have kept going or turned back to go home?
It was a 50/50 debate, but we agreed to disagree. The main consensus was that the students
really enjoyed the movie. We now have a better idea of what some of our ancestors and
leaders went through to get us where we are now, including a student and teacher below.

(Pictured Above: Lakya Nesbit and Mrs. Williams from CCA)

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Stride Academy Fabulous February

With the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers)
test coming in March, students are being encouraged to use Stride Academy at home
now more than ever before. To motivate this participation, there is a building-wide
contest being held during the month of February.

The respective homerooms in each school are competing to see which groups have the
most star points from week to week. They will be rewarded with Munchkins from
Dunkin' Donuts. There is also a list of the top ten students overall who will be awarded
as well. With only a couple of weeks left, you still have time to compete and prepare
for the upcoming assessment. So, the winner is . . . TO BE DETERMINED!

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IPhone vs. Android

By Shayna Norwood and Francois Edwards
On Feb. 11, 2015 teachers asked their students, which one is better IPhone or
Android? As a result of this poll, 62.42% of the students picked IPhones and
31.8% picked Androids.
The majority of C.C.A seventh and eighth grade students have chosen
IPhones. Some people said that they like IPhones because you can contact
others by using Facetime, you can do emojis, and Ios. Some people think its
better to see peoples faces while talking, instead of just listening to them
speak. Also people like to use emojis because they like to express themselves
with faces. Overall, people like the design of IPhones.
Some C.C.A students like Androids better than IPhones because the apps are
cheaper. Another reason is because of less restrictions. Finally, you dont
have to pay to download music. They really like the fact you dont have to
pay for the music you love. You can do a lot more on an Android than an
IPhone. Also, Androids dont crack as quickly and as easily as an IPhone.

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Pretty Brown Girl

By Oluwanifemi Taiwo
Following the success of the Male Youth Summit in District 149, parents felt that the girls needed a
program as well. Superintendent Dr. Shelly Davis-Jones listened and filled the void with Pretty
Brown Girl, which was implemented in our schools last month. Since that time, the girls who were
selected for the program have been inspired to build confidence by learning to have self-esteem and
practice self-control.
The program goals are to be polite, to be mature, to have self-esteem, and learn how to deal with the
world. So far, they are trying to accomplish feeling good about themselves even when someone is
attempting to bring them down. To generate conversations, the girls have been asked to talk about
their day, and tell personal things about themselves. They have done several activities to achieve their
goals and will continue working toward them until May 2015.

(Pictured above from left to right CCA 8th graders:

Amy Guindo, Vontrice Catchings, and Nia Scott)

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Shine Bright
Eighth Grade Picture Day (2/9/15)

(Pictured Above: Students from 8A - CCA)

(Pictured Above: Students from 8D - CCA)

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Picture Day (continued)

(Pictured Above: Girls from 8B - CCA)

(Pictured Above: Students from 8B - CCA)

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Picture Day (continued)

(Pictured Above: Girls from 8C - CCA)

(Pictured Above: Boys from 8C - CCA)

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CCA Communicator Mission Statement

The CCA Communicator believes that public enlightenment and educaAon

aligned with Common Core goals are the foundaAon of our democracy. Our
duty as journalists is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and
comprehensive account of issues and events.

Masthead
Editor: Kenya Trice
Associate Editor: Daysia Williamson
Assistant Editor: Jason Smith
Copy Editor: Stan West
News Editor: Raekwon Rogers

Sports Editor: Octavia Douglas

Layout Editor: Daysia Williamson
Reporter: Tajah Pittman
Multimedia: Paige Jeanpierre
Feature Editor: Cornelia Grant

Faculty Advisors: Tiffany Blackman, Angela Blair, Angela Grimes, Cherita

Smith, Saundra Smith, Secrett Stone, Kenya Trice, Lajoya
Washington, Rodeana Williams
Contributing Advisors: Jeff Spitz, Stan West, Kenya Thames, Aaron Stevens

Principal Gerald Scott

Creative Communications Academy (CCA)
1650 Pulaski Road
Calumet City, Illinois 60409
Office: (708) 868-7585
Fax: (708) 868-1247

www.creativecommunicationsacademy.org
We BelieveExcellence, Humanization, & Pride
Special thanks for your CCA Vision:
School Board President, Darlene Gray Everett
District 149 School Board Members
Superintendent, Dr. Shelly Davis-Jones
District 149 Administrators

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