Northpole

1

- Clementine? What are

you doing up here?

- I wanted to get a better

look at the Northern Lights,

to see how bad

things really are.

- Worse than you can imagine.

(Electricity crackling)

I'm afraid Christmas

is in serious trouble.

- So, what can we do?

- When you figure that out,

be sure and let me know.

- Kevin, you're the man

of the house.

Are these for the Christmas

lights or the router?

- Actually, they're what's

left of your old hairdryer.

I saw a video on Edison.

I got inspired.

- OK, that's the last time

I skimp on movers.

Everything is mislabelled!

Oh! Nice T-rex!

- It's a reindeer, but if

you

see a T-rex, let's go with

that.

- Oh, pragmatic artist.

Guess you got the best

of both parents.

Oh, honey!

We gotta leave in 10

minutes!

You're gonna be late for school.

- I'm not sure

anybody would notice.

- Oh, Kev, come on!

Look, I know one of

the hardest things to do

is to fit into a new school,

but it just takes

time, you'll see.

(Cell chiming)

Oh, that's my editor.

He wants to see me

in the office. Come on!

- Probably just to tell you

you're his awesomest

reporter.

(Chuckling)

- You're awesome!

You've always been

my biggest fan. Thank you.

- Mom, what if Santa looks

for us at the old house

and all he sees are empty rooms?

- Honey, if he can

deliver a billion presents

in a single night,

he's gotta have

some sort of system

that can track all

of us, don't you think?

(Chuckling)

Come on, let's go.

How is it in the making-

friends department, huh?

- Tommy Chan said sorry

when he tripped

on my backpack yesterday.

- See? That's

something, right?

- Seriously?

- OK, maybe not, but you've

got to keep trying, OK?

Oh, I have an idea!

Why don't you think about

maybe joining a team or a

club

or something like that?

- Well, I was thinking

of starting, like,

a Christmas committee

to put up more lights

and stuff at school.

- That's a great idea!

Come on!

(Child squealing)

- (Kevin):
Lights and

decorations tonight!

Promise?

- Promise, if we have to

tear

through every box in the

house.

- Great, 'cause the only

time

you see green and red

around this place

is when the 6th graders

dissect frogs.

- Eww! Gross!

But I get the point.

(Bell ringing)

- Top of the mornin', Kev!

- Hey!

- Who rides a bike

in the winter?

- Mom, this is

my teacher, Mr. Wilson.

- Hi, I'm Ryan.

- Chelsea! I didn't realize

Kevin's teacher was Irish.

- Oh, I'm not, actually.

I just like to keep

the kids on their toes!

(Both chuckling)

Nice to meet you.

- Yeah!

Your teacher is unique.

- Yeah! I like him.

He gets you to

see things differently.

- Kiss for Mom?

No? I love you!

Come on, buddy.

Talk to somebody.

(Telephone ringing)

- Uh, better make room

by the crossword.

There's something strange

going

on with the Northern Lights.

- Morning, Trevor!

- Morning.

- Hey, Chuck!

Nice piece on the bus strike!

- Thanks, Chelsea!

- Yeah!

- Hey, you want some eggnog?

- No, actually, eggnog and I

are not friends, so you

enjoy!

- Right choice!

Avoiding Chuck

in Christmas-party mode

is the best advice this

advice

columnist could give you.

- Listen, maybe you

and I could have lunch

today?

- If that means joining you

at your desk for a sandwich

from the vending

machine, no thanks!

- I'm sorry.

New-kid syndrome!

I feel like I have to prove

myself to the higher-ups.

- Well, here's your chance!

- Oh!

- Morning, Chelsea!

- I was just coming to see you!

- Good, good! Walk with me.

- OK.

- I've decided to

shake things up

and try you out on

the "City Beat" column.

- Really? Oh,

I won't let you down!

- I know! Back in Wisconsin,

you were the one

who broke the story

on the wholesaler

who was selling cheap

cheddar

as gourmet gouda, right?

- Yeah, well, I have

a nose for news,

and that didn't smell right.

- Put that wit and tenacity

in

your column, and you'll do

fine.

Your first assignment.

The town canceled the

Christmas-tree lighting

in Greenwood Park

to save a few bucks.

Think you can you handle

a "politician

turned Scrooge" story?

- Yeah, of course!

Um, should I...

OK!

(Scoffing)

(School bell ringing)

- Mr. Finster?

- Yes!

- Chelsea Hastings

from The Examiner.

I called you about the

tree-lighting ceremony.

- I'm sorry, we're

closed for the holidays.

- Doesn't the public deserve

to know why it was

canceled?

- Ms. Hastings, right?

- Yeah.

- The ceremony's expensive.

Power, labour, liability.

The mayor made a decision.

- It's a tradition around here!

- A tradition that seems

to have been forgotten.

If you have any questions,

talk to the mayor's office...

or the planning commission!

- What do they have to do

with the tree lighting?

- More than you might think,

but you didn't hear it from me!

(Bird chirping)

- Yes, he said

the planning commission,

which, of course,

is conveniently closed

for the holidays.

I'm telling you, Jasmine,

there's more to this story

than meets the eye.

Mm-hmm! Listen, I gotta go.

I gotta pick up my kid.

I'll call you later.

- (Ryan):
So, to sum up

from the textbook,

"fractions are

numerical quantities,

"when added together,

comprise the whole."

Confused?

I know I am.

(All chuckling)

All right, let's see

if we can make this

a little clearer.

(Sighing)

Suppose we took these

scissors to this tie

and made the tie

a fraction of its length.

(Children laughing)

I'd say that's

about half, right?

So, if I took it and cut

right here, it would be...

All together now!

- (Children):

One fourth!

- By George,

I think they've got it!

(School bell ringing

and children laughing)

All right, so, remember,

Christmas vacation

starts next week,

so you have exactly 2 days

to pick your holiday

project.

It can be an experiment

or a paper

or a plan to change the world!

Think bold!

Think big, people!

Hey! Nice to see you again.

- Thanks! That was an

interesting demonstration.

- Yeah, well, anything

to get the point across.

- What is the point of

the holiday project?

- My mom's a reporter.

She was born to ask

questions.

- It's OK. The point

of the project

is to teach the kids

creative thinking.

- Well, I think your

creative approach to math

has turned your $20 tie into

a penny worth of scraps.

- Well, you obviously don't

write for the style section,

'cause it was a $6 tie!

- Oh!

Tell me it went better today.

- Today was better.

- Really?

- No! But you told

me what to say.

- Spill it.

- OK.

This reindeer sweater, bad idea.

( Choir singing

The First Noel on radio

I also heard a nasty rumour

from the lunch lady

that the town's

tree-lighting

ceremony was canceled!

- Yeah, I'm actually writing

an article about it.

I was gonna tell you today.

- So it's true?

Remember back home,

the tree-lighting ceremony

in Nelson Square?

Practically the whole

town got together!

- Yeah.

- I really miss all that.

- Yeah, I know, buddy.

Me too.

But listen,

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