The Past & The Future

by AlGene C (posted by Mrs. Whelan)

When I was younger I lived in Cleveland, Ohio, on a busy street called Detroit Road.I didn’t have many friends and then had no one to talk to. My parents were always too busy and my sisters hated spending time with me. So like most small, 4 to 7-year-old children, I made my own friends. But I failed, for my imagination was set on creating worlds with characters of my own design. Most of the time I was flying. Even though I wasn’t there I could feel the wind blowing through my hair; the clouds as I glided through them, the small drops of water tapping my face. Yes my images were small, but to me they were my only true place to be and not be alone at the same time. Then I moved for the first time.

New house. New people. New neighbors. New everything. My sisters and I weren't affected that much. For we were too young to realize what happened. But at that moment I found my first acquaintance, and his name was  Anthony. Now he wasn’t a real friend he was more like a TRAP to me; his words were like fire and actions like bricks raining from the sky and crashing on my head. I always was the player two in our crimes. We would run from the man behind the huge pine trees. I thought we were having fun. But I was the one taking the punishment. I was the one that was unhappy. The one that was left in the snow crying. The one with the black eye, and the blood-covered nose. Then a ray of light shined on me with one word. -----Moving. At the time I didn’t know why he was so mean and still considered him a friend. So as a result, on that single day when I got into that car to move away, I cried as I said good bye. For I had no one else to go to. No one to laugh with, no one to spend time with. Again I was alone. Even though I was finally free from that horrible experience, I didn’t feel good about it.

While I was dealing with the problem at home I was also dealing with a new school. A school that talked about how you could be anything but made it to the point you were nothing. The teachers were hypocrites; they would say stand up to bullying but not help when they saw it. They would punish you for being weak or scared. For me, the detention room was my class. I would be punished for the things I didn’t do. If it was for yelling @#%# in the lunchroom. Or saying that I was going to kill a kid. I had no friends in that hole. I was alone. No teachers to help me. That's the thing about teachers. They don’t understand kids and what they're going through. They don't understand how much pain I was in. Always living in fear of the sport kids. I had no talents. No special abilities. I had nothing. They made me felt like nothing. It hurt and no matter how hard I tried it wouldn't go away. I was crushed to the point I again felt that I wasn’t needed in this world. There was a guidance counselor that was supposed to help. But instead of stopping the real problem she made it seem like I was the problem. Why didn’t you do this?  Well, you did do this. My parents were the same. When I did stand up for myself I still got in trouble. But then the golden word appeared again.  -----Moving. The word that set me free again.

Now I am here, talking about the past - how it hurt me, and how I wish it never happened. The past is the past. After that third time moving I had lost all hope for a happy life.

Then I got to my new school. It was my first day of third grade. I was alone... I hadn't made any friends, nor did I want to. I had no skills. No similar interests of other boys. While some played football, I played. I was in the still in the sky. Then I met people. I slowly started to come out of my bubble. I knew it would take a long to to keep popping my bubble. Even now I still have parts of it floating around me. Yes I did find people that blew a new one around me. But I pushed through it. I learned to look at the bigger picture.

Don’t take pity on me. Learn from me. Learn to stop looking in the past, and start looking into the future. Yes the past has shaped me into the person I am today. Even though i’m still finding myself I know that. Sometime, somewhere I will find who I am. So if you're having trouble with your past. Stop. Take a moment, and think about the future. For staying in the past will get you nowhere. Take it from me. It’s difficult I know, but you will find yourself.

The Biggest Loser

[Note to the reader: A narrative is a story, and narratives can take many different forms. In this piece, an 8th grader uses narrative form to explore an important lesson she learned in childhood.]

Growing up, I had a very small house with a sizeable yard. Lucky for us kids, we enjoyed being outside all day long. We were able to amuse ourselves with sports and games, meanwhile keeping out of my mom’s hair. From the moment the sun came up and I finished devouring my breakfast, to the second I was called upon for dinner, I would challenge my siblings in a variety of games. Brooke, only two years older than me, was a close competitor, but ultimately had more skills than me. Griffin, my brother four years older, was like a species of his own. He would taunt us, running slower or showing the ball in front of us. Then, as soon as we would go for it…woosh! He would take off and win the game.

All day we would play soccer, basketball, capture the flag and more fun games. I would always come out on the bottom of the pack. Occasionally, I would go crying into my room because “Griffin wasn’t being fair.” or “Brooke made me fall.” I would lay in my bed with my teary eyes and frowny face shoved into my pillow and I would think of all the reasons why the games weren’t fair. Eventually I would get bored sulking in my bedroom and would mope back outside to play again. Annoyed, my siblings would hold their tongues and let me rejoin.
One roasting hot summer day, my siblings and I decided not to let the heat stop us from having fun. We dusted off the sprinkler and continued our games, only stopping for an occasional leap through the cool water. We decided to play soccer, Griffin’s personal favorite game. Like usual, Griffin cruised through Brooke and me, scoring more goals than we could count. Again. Again and again. Every goal discouraged me more. The mixture of emotions from the scorching heat and my aggravating losing streak caused me to act up and go crying to my room. While whimpering upstairs, I quickly realized that no one cared that I wasn’t playing. No one was upset that I was pouting… except for me.

I decided to wipe my tears away and go back outside. I sluggishly walked back outside and returned to the front yard where Brooke and Griffin were kicking the soccer ball back and forth. I approached them to a close enough distance for them to know I was ready to receive the ball. After 5 times of them passing to each other and ignoring me, I assured myself that if I were to steal the ball, they would have to start playing again. As the ball left Brooke’s foot and progressed towards Griffin, I lunged forward and picked off the ball. Sprinting a couple of yards forward, I only heard silence behind me. Neither of my siblings were falling for my plan. Instead they held their feet to the ground like glue and gave me a dirty look. Then after all of the times I ran away, pouted and complained, Brooke and Griffin discarded all of their emotions. “Are you going to be a baby like always?” Brooke roared. Then Griffin chimed in, “Do you think you can always just come back and act like you weren’t a brat?” As they howled and made fun of me, I started to form a rock in the back of my throat. I just wanted to run away, but I knew they would make fun of me more. Instead I kicked the soccer ball between my feet and pretended to ignore them. As the day went on they let me play again.
From then on, when I wanted to run away and cry, I would stay and hold my ground. I learned that it was okay to lose games, even when the scores aren’t even comparable. The most important thing when playing is not to win (though it does feel nice sometimes). The most important thing is to have fun and be a good sport. Now, no matter what the competition is, I know that I need to have good sportsmanship and keep my cool. Because I was the biggest loser as a kid, I learned to play with fairness, now I am the biggest winner… Even when I lose. - by Vivianne J (submitted by Mrs. Reagles)

Reading, Writing and Speaking in the Real World

Students in the "Reading, Writing and Speaking in the Real World" seminar have studied and crafted various types of writing - beyond the 5-paragraph essay. The pieces shown here are modeled after the short news clips and new product ads that appear in various news, fashion, and business publications. (Submitted by Mrs. Whelan)

Gluten Free Eating Made Easy 

by Stephanie V. 

About 7 years ago, avoiding gluten was practically unheard-of, but today, about one-third of Americans claim to be “gluten-free”. Avoiding bread and wheat is one thing, but what does being truly gluten-free really entail? Well, anyone with celiac disease would be able to tell you. Celiac disease is a disease that makes the small intestine “hyper-sensitive” to gluten, resulting in extreme nausea, and scarring of the small intestine if gluten is continually eaten. So just avoid gluten right? Well, no. Making something gluten-free means it cannot even be touched by gluten, and If it is an animal product, the animal cannot have eaten gluten. Eating at a restaurant, or even having dinner at a friends house can be a nightmare.

That’s why 6SensorLabs created a portable device can test if there is gluten in a meal. Small enough to fit in a pocket, the device contains a disposable food capsule in which you put a small portion of the meal for testing. After 2-3 minutes, you will have your results by the display of a smiley or frowny face on the small screen of the device. If you see a smiley face, the food is safe to eat!

Shoe Fashion 

 by Kayli B.

When you think of high-end shoes, you probably picture shoes like stilettos or shoes with high-end labels like Michael Kors or Marc Jacobs. But what you might not know is that the shoes you probably wore when you were a kid are making a high-fashion comeback. Comfortably beautiful shoes are in and painfully beautiful heels are out! Shoes like Birkenstocks that I’m wearing on my feet right now have made a comeback and now they’re bigger than ever! Fashion stylists like Chanel, Marni, and Celine have even taken the leap out of their high heels and into what they call "normcore" footwear. Even the ‘’Duck boots’’ that had all the hype when you were a kid is still a major trend... so Birkenstocks can stick around too! These shoes have gotten great talk and they don’t look like they’re going anywhere. So try it out! Ditch the heels and slip into something that’s easy on the eye and on the feet!

There I see you

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper; collection of the Art Institute of Chicago

There I see you 

Through the glass.

You’re blurry but clear, 

Like us.

You think of me as a friend,

I think of you like the world. 

You’re so vast, 

I’m so tiny.

I’m always in the dark, 

And you’re in the light.

Your popular,

I’m not.

This world is filled with people,

But this small town isn’t.

You’d never notice me,

But yet you notice others.

Your extraordinary,

With a touch of inspiration.

The world would be different,

Without you.

I don’t understand why,

Why I don’t have confidence.

When you don’t have to worry,

Worry about anything.

You’ve got alot,

Alot more than you know. 

One thing you’re missing,

Is me.

(Anonymous poem posted by Mrs. Whelan)

Literary Analysis of Lord of the Flies

Summary
Young boys from 6-16 land on a mysterious island and find themselves without adults.Two of the most talked about boys, Ralph and Piggy, must lead the group to survival. Out of the gate Ralph becomes very prominent by giving orders, while Piggy goes with the majority. One of the other boys, Jack, becomes the alpha as Ralph is too orderly for the boys. The boys start to develop bonds, and at the same time break them. Ralph’s perspective on the situation is to develop order and Jack’s perspective is to hunt and kill to survive. These points of view crash and burn, causing war between the boys. The boys end up getting rescued, but what happens on the island is more important than getting off the island.

Symbolism
There were many examples of symbolism in Lord of the Flies, but one of the most prominent was the conch. The conch was used to call meetings and to discuss things with all of the boys. It was also used in the meetings; the person holding it was allowed to speak. The conch was the way all of the boys came together at the end of the book, but things fell apart very quickly. When the boys started to become independent the conch was called and there were not as many people that met. When the war begins at the end of the book, someone drops the conch and everything breaks.

The other item that showed a lot of symbolism was the fire. The fire was first lit when the boy’s decided to send a smoke signal to people possibly looking for them. There were boys in charge of tending the fire, they were Jack’s boys. Jack’s philosophy through the book was to hunt to survive, which is good, but also bad. When a boat passes the island, Ralph tells the boys to start the fire so the boat can see them. All of Jack’s boys were off hunting, so they could not start the fire. People start fighting and this breaks a lot of the boy’s relationship with Ralph. When the fire is burning, order is in place, when the fire is down, people start fighting.

Character Development
Some of the characters in Lord of the Flies did develop, but a lot of did not. Jack is a prime example of a character that did change. He was very naive in the beginning, but grew to be very dark and commanding. All of the boys were not mentally sane at the end of the book, because of the circumstances they were under. I feel this was why Jack changed, he became dark because all he could think of was survival, such as killing things so he could live. Piggy also developed in the opposite way. He was first very head strong and wanted to have input on the group. As the book progressed he was pushed around and got the feeling that he was not going to be able to have a big role in the group.

Society
Lord of the Flies was very relatable to how our society is run. This was my thought when I first started the book and looked for it through all of my reading. When our world is running the right way, when we have order and everyone is working together we have order. When people do not do what they are supposed to do, when we are fighting, we have chaos. This is the same in the book because when people fight and do not work, there is chaos.

Setting
There were 2 very specific settings where the boys stayed during their visit on the island, the beach and the jungle. The beach was the first place that we as readers were introduced to. The beach I first assumed would be a very pretty white sand beach, but when you listen to Ralph’s description is is much different that we would assume, “Then he leapt back on the terrace, pulled of his shirt, and stood there among the skull-like coconuts with green shadows from the palms and forest sliding over his skin. He undid the snake-clasp of his belt, lugged off his shorts and pants, and stood there naked, looking at the dazzling beach and the water.”. This quote I believe shows how the characters perceive the different settings. The forest is very dark and most of the boys are scared to go in it, before there is proof that there is not a beast living in it. The beach is very pretty and almost a safehaven for the characters.

Reality
Lord of the Flies could obviously happen in real life, people turning on each other, and surviving in a new place. The parts that are not very realistic are very important to the book. We were never told how the characters got to the island or how there were no adults with them. Piggy and Ralph briefly talked about it in the beginning saying the pilot dropped them on the island and then crashed into the sea. My first thought was how could you not recognise anyone from the plane, you must have had someone sitting next to you on the plane and know what the look like.  The other controversial part of the book was that the book ended with a naval officer came on the island saying they saw the blazing fire from the forest, which was caused by the war. I wanted to book to end in a logical way, this was just a way to end the book. There was not resolution to any of the characters problems. The was just stopped and the book stopped. This made me very frustrated because when books end like this, they just stop. It was a very bad choice for this book because you want to see the characters make peace, the last impression you get from these characters is panic and fighting from the war.

Conclusion
Overall, this book had many good lessons and characters. This book was ultimately Golding's view of what our future could be like; he wrote this book so that we could learn what not to do in the future. I really enjoyed this book’s concept, but disliked how the book was not very realistic. We can definitely learn from what the boy’s went through and apply it to our own lives. The book was very enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone who likes adventure that has lessons through it that can apply to you.

by Allison B. (submitted by Mrs. Whelan)

Should drones be legal for everyone?

Source: pixabay.com

Have you ever heard of drones? Most likely, as it seems they’ve been the talk of the town lately with everything that is being established about them. Drones have been labeled as dangerous for regular people to use, but why? There have been many things that have gone wrong with drones when everyday people use them. There are rules to follow when you get a drone, but do people really follow them? The research says no. These drones have been putting a lot of people in danger and they are expensive to buy. They can be used for good if they are being used by the right people. Drones really should be restricted to military use.

Drones have been known to help people spy on others, which is an invasion of privacy. No one wants a drone flying over them or their houses, not knowing if someone is watching them. The scariest part is that people actually have used drones to spy on others. It’s not hard either as some drones come with a built-in camera. You can also easily attach cameras to the drones.The drones that do have cameras are expensive but drones without cameras are becoming cheaper to purchase which means more people could buy them to spy which leads to more of an invasion of privacy. Drones could become very dangerous if they are being used to spy on people, One could easily find out personal information such as, social security numbers, passwords and  more. Drones are only getting worse with privacy invasion.

Drones have been causing even more trouble in the sky. Usually when you buy a drone, the safety guide will tell you that drones are only allowed 400 feet up in the air. There have been many reports of drones flying as high where airplanes are flying. Not only is that way above the height they should be flying, it has become extremely dangerous. One pilot reported about 10 drones up in the sky once while he was flying and  he had to dodge them.Pilots shouldn’t be dodging things in the sky with people on the plane. When a pilot it distracted it could cause plane crashes. No crashes have happened yet but there have been very close calls. Not only do drones distract the pilots and almost cause crashes, the drones have been getting too close to airports and they can interfere with the airport technology.

Many people don’t agree with drones being illegal for citizens and have an argument for it. One person said: “if the government has them why can’t we?” Well citizens have been using them irresponsibly. The government has been using  them for good purposes and follows the rules to keep them safe. Another person stated “ We should be able to use drones they could help for things like news reports” Although that is a good idea we already have things that cover news reports like helicopters. Another woman said “This is taking away our freedom!” if people aren’t following the rules; they really shouldn’t have a drone then it ruins it for everyone who wants a drone responsibly The last person said: “Why don’t we just ban the invasion of privacy?” Yes that would be a good ban but it’s not going to stop a person from using it to spy. If they don’t get caught they will continue to do what they are doing. Although most of those things are good  for drones the other bad things outweigh the good.

Drones have been becoming more and more dangerous each time we hear about them. Between them almost crashing planes, invading people’s privacy and terrorists getting access to them to spy on us, drones are still being questioned by most people around the world on whether or not they are safe for us people to use. The only way drones would be used safely is if the military personnel were the only ones using them. It would be much better and safer. We shouldn’t wait around for these drones to cause something terrible to happen. It would be better if citizens didn’t use them at all. That would be better and safer for everyone.

by Sydni O. (submitted by Mrs. Whelan)