The Junior Star

Job Spotlight: Interior Decorator

Are you creative? Do you have good people skills? Are you a go-getter? If so, you might be a good interior decorator! We interviewed Rü Jetha about her job as an interior decorator and here’s what she told us:
“The difference between an interior designer and an interior decorator is that I cannot make structural changes. I deal mostly with the cosmetic aspect of homes, painting, any kind of wall covering, carpeting, tiling, furniture layout, colour selections, that sort of stuff. I belong to an association called CDECA, standing for Canadian Decorators Association. I am registered at Designers Walk; Designers Walk basically is an area downtown Toronto that helps us by showcasing things for us, fabrics, furniture, ect. I would be hired by people who live in my area and need me to choose furniture for them, maybe a dining room table setting or chairs to match the drapes. Sometimes people who are renovating and need help choosing things for their house.”
Rü says that her favourite part of her job is, “Shopping! Shopping for somebody else is my favourite part of my job because I can show people, visually, how many things there actually are out there, how to mix and match colours, and how you don’t have to go big and expensive to get the best results and find things that you like and that look good in your home.” So if you like shopping, maybe you’d like this job where you’d be able to do lots of it.
Rü says that she doesn’t really have a least favourite part about her job, but if she really had to have one, it would be, “Sending people the bill. That would have to be my least favourite part of the job. Other than that, I love every aspect of my work.”
Rü says that, “[To be an interior designer], you can not be colour blind! Colour is a big aspect in decorating. You need to be creative, and you have to have good people skills. And everything else you would need, you can be taught. You can be taught how to coordinate things, and how to mix and match colours, and a lot of other fun stuff.”
Rü would recommend this job for, “Someone who’s a go-getter and who is not afraid of a challenge. There can be lots of challenges encountered in this kind of work. Maybe you’ll have got a bunch of tiles for the floor and you’ll start putting them down – and then you’ll realize that the floor is not that length and you have to redo the floor. If you’re really up for a challenge, you would do well. Sometimes it can be fast-paced, because everybody wants you to get the job done. I would definitely have to say I would recommend this job for someone who’s a go-getter.”
So do you think you’d like to be an interior decorator? If you enjoy seeing your creativity come to life, this may be a great career choice for you.

Anagram of the Week

Unscramble the words in italics. Remember: It will relate to at least one of the other words in the sentence.
I wonder if there was a tin core at the beginning of the universe.

Inside this issue:

Job Spotlight: Interior Decorator / Anagram of the Week	1
The Learning Corner: Sir John A. Macdonald: Our First Prime Minister	2
Junior Conundrum / Trivia Question of the Week
The Story Corner: The Ant and the Dove / Book Review: The Path through the Trees	3
Book Review: Ingrid and the Wolf / Anime/Manga Review: Fruits Basket
Hobbies Word Search / Completely Random Jokes	4
Survey: What’s your Hobby?

Thought of the Week:
Character is like a tree and reputation is like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
Abraham Lincoln

The Learning Corner: Sir John A. Macdonald: Our First Prime Minister

Sir John Alexander Macdonald was born on January 11, 1815 in Glasgow, Scotland. His parents were Hugh Macdonald and Helen Shaw. When he was very young, he had no interest in politics whatsoever: he was just your average child who liked to play and have fun. No one would ever have guessed that he would later become a politician, let alone Canada’s first prime minister. This was all about to change.
In 1843, at the age of 28, John A. Macdonald exhibited his first interest in politics. He was elected to the legislature of the Province of Canada and in 1847 was appointed Receiver General in William Henry Draper's administration. To him, this was a major accomplishment. But when the Conservatives lost the next election, John gave up his position and went on to help found the Liberal-Conservative party.
Until 1864, John A. Macdonald served as the leader of the opposition party. Then, in 1867, when Canada became a country, John A. Macdonald’s party won the election, making him the first prime minister of Canada! After that, Queen Victoria knighted John A. Macdonald for playing a crucial role in bringing about Confederation, which he really deserved.
As the prime minister, John’s goal was to unify Canada. Under his rule, the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, and Manitoba joined Canada. But unfortunately, after the Pacific scandal in 1873 John A. Macdonald was forced to resign and Liberal leader Alexander Mackenzie formed a caretaker government.
In 1891, Sir John A. Macdonald won the election again, but by this time, he was becoming prone to many sicknesses and wasn’t very fit to be the prime minister. On May 29, 1891, Sir John A. Macdonald suffered a severe stroke, which robbed him of the ability to speak, and from which he would never recover. He died a week later on June 6, 1891 at the age of 76.
The picture on Canada’s ten dollar bill helps us remember John A. Macdonald. It reminds us all the time how he helped Canada become a great nation.

Junior Conundrum

Trivia Question of the Week

If we told you someone weighed 40 kg plus half their weight, how much would they weigh?

Who had the most wives?
a) Henry VIII
b) Larry King
c) Michael Jackson

The Story Corner: The Ant and the Dove

One hot day, an ant was searching for some water. After walking around for some time, she came to a spring. To reach the spring, she had to climb up a blade of grass. While making her way up, she slipped and fell into the water. She could have drowned if a dove up a nearby tree had not seen her. Seeing that the ant was in trouble, the dove quickly plucked off a leaf and dropped it into the water near the struggling ant. The ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up there. Soon it carried her safely to dry ground. Just at that time, a hunter nearby was throwing out his net towards the dove, hoping to trap it. Guessing what he was about to do, the ant quickly bit him on the heel. Feeling the pain, the hunter dropped his net. The dove was quick to fly away to safety.
Moral: If you are good to others, they will be good to you.

Book Review: The Path through the Trees Rating: 10/10

Norah Bingham isn’t too pleased when her mother tells her they are going to spend Christmas with her great aunt Caroline who Norah hasn’t ever met before. Really, who could blame her? And when Norah gets there, her great aunt is distant and cold to her. But when Norah sees a boy outside the house, she tries to get her great aunt to tell her who he is, but she says it must be Norah’s imagination. So Norah starts to think that her great aunt knows something she doesn’t want to tell Norah. What can it be? Find out in this remarkable book!

Book Review: Ingrid and the Wolf Rating: 10/10

Eleven-year-old Ingrid Balezs has always sensed that there’s more to her past then she’s been told. And when her grandmother, her father’s mother, invites Ingrid to come to her castle in the summer and stay with her in the “Old World” as they call Hungary, Ingrid is very surprised. She learns that her family is of royal blood! They have been Counts and Countesses of Hungary for a very long time. Most importantly, after meeting her, her grandmother decides to make Ingrid her heir! So when she dies, Ingrid will be in charge of the castle (when she comes of age, of course)! But to make sure she is actually of royal blood, Ingrid must pass three tests, one of which thirty three people have died doing! Ingrid will need lots of courage to even attempt the test. Can she do it? Find out in this suspenseful book!

Anime/Manga Review: Fruits Basket

Have you ever heard about the Chinese zodiac? Tohru Honda, a young high school girl meets Yuki Sohma and his cousin Shigure Sohma. Yuki and Shigure discover that Tohru lives in a tent near their house and invites her to live at their house. While living with the Sohma's, Tohru discovers that the Sohmas are cursed. When a Sohma cursed by the Chinese zodiac gets hugged by a person of the opposite sex, they will turn into a Chinese zodiac, Yuki being the rat and Shigure, the dog. Then Tohru meets Kyou, who is the cat. But wait, the cat is not in the Chinese zodiac! The head of the family, Akito finds out about Tohru and he/she hates women (even though he/she is one him/herself, it does not mention that Akito is a women in the anime). What will Akito do to Tohru? Who will Tohru end up falling in love with, Yuki or Kyou? Find out in this wonderful series!

Hobbies Word Search

W	F	A	N	P	G	B	C	D	P	M	N	L	H	I
R	R	U	X	A	A	M	R	W	B	N	O	L	F	X
R	W	I	M	K	C	B	A	E	C	H	I	V	D	W
J	S	E	T	J	N	L	F	Q	J	P	S	L	F	H
E	S	S	P	I	Q	V	T	B	V	M	I	Z	V	A
N	I	O	E	P	N	E	S	L	M	S	V	R	M	T
Z	U	O	L	G	N	G	A	Z	B	E	E	D	T	H
M	H	Q	K	R	J	H	Z	N	N	K	L	D	Z	X
K	C	Q	E	Q	J	W	N	J	Y	U	E	T	T	W
F	L	T	E	L	H	D	U	T	D	J	T	V	S	K
M	N	B	N	Q	T	O	M	L	O	V	V	J	F	W
I	Z	M	P	V	Y	Y	G	W	D	X	V	V	G	R
O	X	L	A	C	Y	V	W	Q	D	E	I	E	F	W
M	E	S	B	F	J	H	E	N	T	R	Q	M	A	Q
T	M	C	E	Y	P	Z	F	R	E	A	D	I	N	G

CRAFTS	GAMES	INTERNET
READING	TELEVISION	WRITING

What did the doctor say to the man who complained he was shrinking?
You will just have to be a little patient!
What did the math book say to the history book?
Boy, do I have problems!
When is a car not a car?
When it turns into a driveway!
Forewords it is heavy, backwards it is not. What is it?
A ton!
What did the cherry tree say to the farmer?
Quit picking on me!

Doing crafts: 2
Going on the internet: 6
Playing games: 3
Reading: 4
Video games: 9
Other: 12

Completely Random Jokes

Survey: What’s your Hobby?