The Dawn 2023

The Dawn

The Dawn 2022-2023 The Salutation of the Dawn Attributed to Kalidasa, fl. c. 400 a.d. (as it originally appeared in The Dawn, Volume 1, Number 3 in June, 1927)

Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!

LOOK TO THIS DAY For it is life, the very life of life.

In its brief course lie all the verities And realities of our existence.

The Glory of Action, The Bliss of Growth, The Splendor of Beauty: For Yesterday is but a Dream, And To-morrow is only a Vision; But To-day, well-lived, makes Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness And every To-morrow a Vision of Hope.

Look well, therefore, to this Day! Such is the Salutation of the Dawn.

-From the Sanskrit

The Buckley School in the City of New York

THE DAWN 2022-2023 Lead Editor Nathan Reif, Class VIII Staff Charlie Allen, Class VII Nick Aston, Class VII Otis Eastman, Class VII Harry Elworth, Class VIII Soren Heintz, Class VII Gus Hope, Class VIII Sconsett Juracich, Class VII Oscar Paduano, Class VIII Matthew Trucano, Class VIII Henry Walter, Class VII Alfie Wayner, Class VIII Faculty Advisor Ms. Hauschen

Front and Back cover art: Luca Walter, Class VIII

History of The Dawn According to Volume LX (1985) of The Dawn: This little magazine first appeared at Christmas in 1926. It was named by Mr. Buckley after “The Salutation of the Dawn,” from Sanskrit, one of his favorite poems.

The Dawn was originally published three times a year in December, March and May. Originally, these publications included “contributions from parents, alumni, and faculty to round out the bulk of the material contributed by the boys themselves.” “The Salutation of the Dawn” began appearing regularly in the publication starting in June of 1927. Dawn publications from 1927 through 2003 are bound and currently housed in the Walker Adams Room.

Below is an editorial from Buckley’s founder, B. Lord Buckley, from December 21, 1926. Thanks to Elizabeth Manus for sharing this piece of Buckley history with the community.

“The Dawn - what has it meant to me all these many years?

It has meant many things - - new strength, higher hopes, a keener brain, a stronger will, a braver heart - - but most of all it has meant “opportunity”. A new day hands me a perfectly clean slate with all of yesterday’s failures and discouragements wiped away forever; it brings me another glorious chance to do my job better today than I ever did it before.”

B. Lord Buckley, December 21, 1926 - from his editorial in The Dawn

The Gray Wolf Thousands of years ago, there was peace and harmony among all animals. Kyrochi, the king of the animals, and a wolf ruled the lands. His fur was filled with all colors. He was the most beautiful animal in all the kingdom. In fact, all wolves had majestic fur coats. In all the kingdom there was one rule: No one is to drink from the rain god’s reservoir, not even the most powerful animals. Now Kyrochi, was a wonderful king who gave food handouts to anyone in need. However, this all came to an end. One day at one of Kyrochi’s balls, he spotted a stunning, beautiful wolf named Moira. Kyrochi immediately fell in love and asked her to become his queen. Now Moira didn’t really want to be the queen, but she thought of the power she could wield and did not stop to think. She manipulated Kyrochi to get her anything she desired.

Kyrochi, drowned in love, obeyed. One day, Moira asked her husband to kill their only son, Yois.

Kyrochi did as he was told. The god of life was shocked at what they had done and asked the rain god to stop his rain permanently as a punishment. Soon the whole kingdom didn’t have water, and everyone was starving. The king and queen, though, had their own private reserve of water in a secret well. This water lasted a few months but then ran out, and the royals themselves were thirsty. Moira wanted water and fast, so she demanded the king to provide water. Soon animals were pondering their options: get water or die. Then it struck Moira: she could get water from the rain god’s reservoir. When she told Kyrochi about her idea, his eyes widened; he was so seduced by the thirst that he agreed, and with his army of 48,000 and another 63,000 thirsty volunteers, trekked up the mountain to get water. It took them 2 weeks and 2 days, but they finally arrived. Once the reservoir was in sight, thousands of animals made a headlong rush to it.

Hundreds were injured by getting trampled and another 100 died. This was the most chaotic event that the kingdom had ever faced. As soon as the first animal reached the reservoir, the clouds turned gray and it started to rain. Rejoice hit the crowd, but in a second that lightning flashed everywhere, and there was the rain god. “How dare you steal from me! You will be sorry!” he yelled. Another piece of lightning bolted out of the sky, and the god was gone. When the king and the people returned 2 weeks later, the sky was still gray, and it was pouring. A month passed, and Kyrochi was concerned. His fur along with all the other animals’ was losing its color. Time went on, and Kyrochi and Moira had another child named Nkri. His fur was gray and not colorful. Kyrochi was shocked. He looked at his fur to compare it with his son’s, and to his horror they were the same color. To this day all wolves have been born with gray fur, and now you know why.

Felix Deschenes, Class VI

To be a word To be a word, Thrown around without meaning, Is like having your thoughts jumbled up, Or wanting to say something to someone you love, But being a word with meaning, Can let those things come out, Being a word with meaning, can show every feeling, It can show your true self, Inside and out, Peter Chmiel, Class VII

Day Dreaming As I open my eyes I look out and see The deep blue sea Calling out to Me And as I feel the breeze rustle my hair I smell the salty sea air And the ocean calls out to me.

As I bask in the sun I feel the warmth wrap around me like a hug, Comforting as if it were home And as I glide through the water There is nothing that bothers Because the ocean calls out to me As I feel the sand between my toes And see children running to and fro I realize this is where i’m meant to be On the oceanfront with the sea right in front of me, The ocean calls out to me.

And when it is cold and bare In the chilly winter air, I think back to the months between June and September, And the ocean calls out to me.

This is where I am meant to be.

Nick Aston, Class VII

Fallen oak Tree

Fallen from the branches There I was a speck of light Hidden in the earth like a diamond in the rough

As I blossom with vibrant colors I became a nimble stick Small but strong Grow ever so faster Becoming a juvenile tree

I bloom with vibrant colors The pollen filled the air Children weep and cried But I bright as green; stretching to the sky My roots reach out to the world

As the winter nights weathered me I Lose my beauty.

My Leaves Wither away My Branches Rot Until I was left a stump

Dylan Willis, Class VII

“3 Days of Fun” One day during spring break, I counted the minutes until I went on vacation. I couldn’t wait, but it disappointed me when I wasn’t allowed to take a friend. Every minute felt like an hour and every hour felt like an eternity. I decided the best thing to do to pass the time was to play Xbox. The next thing I knew, I was passed out on the couch. The following day, I was ready to get on the flight. I tried to hide my sadness because my sister brought a friend and I couldn’t, but I thought about everything that made me happy and forgot the whole thing. We landed about four hours later, and I was so excited to ski with my family. At the airport, a surprise awaited me: my best friend was there! It turns out that my parents had planned this all along! I was speechless. Now, my family, my friend Bob, and I were on the way to the house. We got there and just played games and had dinner. The next day, we went skiing. It was so much fun! My friend and I did challenges on the race slope and found out who could go faster. We then had dinner by ourselves and checked out the town. We decided to go to this arcade with a bowling alley, and it was the best. I beat my friend in bowling, but he beat me in the arcade games. We met some new people, and the next day, we went skiing with them. They were from Colorado and got to ski there every day in the winter and spring. They even told us that every day at 12, they skied no matter what. I was so shocked they were able to miss school. This was turning out to be the best vacation ever.

The days went by so quickly and we did so much. We swam, skied, and went ice skating.

We also met new friends and explored Colorado. This was the best vacation ever, and I hope this happens again!

Grayson Parr, Class VI

Archie Roosevelt, Class VIII

The Ultimate Run

My name is Markus Eder. I am currently in a helicopter, about to jump out and begin the biggest Red Bull ski stunt of my life: The Ultimate Run. I look down at the glacier, Monte Rosa, the second largest in Europe. This run starts in Zermatt, Switzerland, and ends at the bottom of an Austrian valley. Now I jump.

As I plummet toward the ground, I channel all my focus into the most intense next fifteen minutes of skiing I have ever done. I land perfectly. Immediately, I start down the north face of Monte Rosa, making each turn as precisely as I can. I jump off a 50-foot ice cliff. I know that I have to land every jump perfectly, for if I do not, it’s a long way down. I see my next detour, a crevasse. As I ski just above the crevasse, ready to enter it, I suddenly feel nervous that I might not make it through and instead get stuck in the middle. But despite my fears, I enter. Suddenly, the whole world goes dark, and all I hear is the grind of my skis against the ice. Then I realize that I am approaching the low point of the tunnel, where I must nearly sit on the back of my skis, or else I will be concussed with the impact of hitting the ice. I practically lie down as I slide through the tunnel, seeing the light at the end of the crevasse grow closer and closer to me.

At last, after what feels like an eternity, I can stand back up and make sure that I do not hit the ice that is rapidly narrowing to both sides of me. As I approach the next jump, I get ready to initiate my double corkscrew. Now as I look over the Klausberg ski resort, I feel a sense of nostalgia looking down at where I skied throughout my childhood. I jump down into the off-piste, ripping through the powdery snow and jumping over the exposed rock. I go through the resort until I jump over an off-limits sign back into the backcountry snow. I approach an avalanche stopper, which is supposed to be kept from being skied on. I jump up onto it and grind the rail at the top all the way across. I do this a few more times, and then I continue. Skiing across the rooftops of my hometown, I feel proud. I jump down into a truck and stop inside.

About a minute later, I jump off a ramp, out of the truck, and back onto the snow, heading straight into the abandoned Taufers Castle. I speed through the castle and jump out the back gate.

I ski down the slope leading to the end of my run until I am on top of the frozen lake at the bottom of the valley. I think about what a challenging and exhilarating twenty minutes it has been. I have just completed the craziest single run in all of skiing history.

Nico Jayanti, Class VI

Slumber In the morning I am mourning, For my lack of sleep Last night was a foggy blur And now as I wake up, I find it impossible to stir As my need for rest is overwhelming.

Finally, I’m able to rise With only 30 minutes to prepare For the long school day ahead As as I gaze upon my bed longingly I wonder, Why last night was such a blunder And If tonight will be a repeat of the last.

During the day I get a hint of salvation As I learn my only homework is reviewing citations With this information I’m given a boost of energy And sports goes by fairly easily And when I arrive at home, I know what I must do.

Unlike other nights I get to the work fast, And this time that work doesn’t last With a final click of a trackpad I’m free for the night And now all I see is the dim light Easing its way through my window As I slowly drift to sleep.

William Oshrin, Class VII

Attack Of Mystery It had been nine hours since I last had a sip of water or a trace of food. The hard labor I was forced into doing had enveloped me in some sort of cold sweat. My commander had originally forced me to prepare the bunkers in case of a sudden German attack. See, we were stationed right in the middle of Freyming-Merlebach, a small French town only a couple of miles from the German border. After the sudden realization we might not make it through the cold and foodless days ahead, I decided to disobey my commander’s orders and prepare everyone in my squad for battle. We were desperate to get out of Freyming - Merlebach and return home. Three hours later, in the darkest part of the night, the Germans attacked. A bullet from the German MP40 submachine gun zoomed right over my helmet and struck my partner and best friend, James Smith, in the shoulder. After this sudden event, a grenade was thrown into our bunker. I woke up sometime the next morning. A strong ringing in my ears gave me the most excruciating pain in my head I had ever felt. I was piled under tons of ash and dirt. As the ringing cleared out, I heard tons of German voices. "Stellen Sie sicher, dass keine Amerikaner mehr übrig sind," said one of them. From my years of learning German back in the states, I could easily translate this to “Make sure there are no Americans left.” This command quickly threw me into a panicked state due to the fact that I realized we had lost the battle and the Germans had taken over. My mind quickly raced through all my ways and options to get out of the dangerous situation I was put in.

Finally, I settled on the idea of having a quick yet stealthy escape, as I knew the Germans would soon start looking for remaining soldiers. Fighting through all my coldness, nausea, hunger, and thirst, I rolled over and started moving. I reached the end of the bunker, where I found a motorcycle left by one of the German commanders. I started it up and rode all the way to a city called Metz, where I was safe.

Max Falenchuk, Class VI

Charlie Allen, Class VII

Napoleon Bonaparte, the Corsican General Napoleon was born in Corsica (under French rule) in 1769 to a relatively poor family. He went to military school in mainland France, where he was bullied for his accent. Napoleon had an interest in learning about war generals. He primarily excelled in math and geography.

Unfortunately, it was hard to become recognized when he was against people in royalty, even though he had more talent. He graduated at 16 and was given the title of second lieutenant of an “artillery regiment.” This didn’t satisfy the ambitious Napoleon, who wanted to climb the ranks of society, which were closed off because they were based on nobility.

Luckily for Napoleon, the French revolution came, making more equality and giving him a chance for glory. He demolished many revolution protesters, giving him so much popularity that he was given an army. Suddenly, France declared war on other monarchies in Europe.

Napoleon became well renowned after destroying the Austrian army he faced, forcing Austria to surrender. He trapped the French government and rewrote the constitution to make himself at its center. He traveled through the Alps for a surprise attack against the Austrians, leading to them making peace. Napoleon established him as king of France. Napoleon relied on speed to attack enemies before they could group together. He baited the Russian tsar and the Austrian king into a battle that he easily won, knocking Austria out of the war. Russia launched an attack on Napoleon and was quickly annihilated.

With many enemies and land, what would Napoleon do next? First, he made Russia his ally. Austria declared war on France again and got beaten by Napoleon for the fourth time. He invaded Russia with 650,000 men. Russians ran away while burning the earth, slowing down Napoleon, and turned around just before Moscow. They abandoned Moscow, leaving it in French hands. Napoleon asked for surrender but got no reply. It turned to winter, and he and his men started to freeze. An estimated 500,000+ men didn’t make it. European powers started backstabbing the French emperor. He gathered an army and attacked the traitors. Armies ran away and flanked him. During retreat, a premature explosion of a bridge stranded 30,000 French soldiers. He lost Paris and was deported to Elba. He then took a ship back to France and took control of the throne. The other monarchies declared war specifically on Napoleon. He was then exiled to Saint Helena to be watched and guarded on the small and depressing island until he met his fate in 1821.

Alex Conrod, Class VI

Golden Hour If we could find the time To appreciate those around us, In our darkest hours There would always be hope, The world is filled with many wonders, Some small and some large, Some heard and some experienced, Though none are perfect: For every perfect thing in life Comes at the cost of that who experiences it, Because with all joy comes sadness But with sadness comes rebuild In pursuit of the beautiful moment, We strive to become more than ourselves, More than we can possibly dream of becoming And yet why does all our hardship never lead to happiness And so dear child, I wish you to notice the world For what it holds, and for the imperfections That make up the world as we know it But in pursuit of your beautiful moment, Never waver from your morals: See what life has to bring you, For with every moment you experience Comes rebirth and the blossom of new beginnings For the world sees you for who you truly are Robbie Craigmyle, Class VII

Harry Elworth, Class VIII

“Learning How to Achieve a Goal Learning How to Jump Into Zero Gravity” THE BACKFLIP After watching a video of a person doing a backflip, I became intrigued about two concepts of the trick in the air: How do I learn to do a backflip? What are the steps to complete a backflip? I wanted to answer the first of my two questions about the backflip. I first searched for videos on how to do a backflip and found more information, but sadly not what I was looking for. It was not until I found a video with detailed explanations saying that it could take months or years to learn this trick. I was dumbfounded at how long this might take. Still, I was determined to learn the backflip, so I used my big brain to think about how to complete this goal in the shortest amount of time possible. I was thinking, I could train with my coaches at school, who probably knew how to help me with this life- risking trick. One wrong move and I would be in the hospital or injured badly, as my mother would say. The next time I entered the gymnastics room in our school, I went to the coaches to tell them that I wanted to learn a backflip. They were happy to help me. This is where my journey begins.

We first start by doing back rolls over some mats and progress to the mat that slopes on an angle to give more time in the air. That day was more of an introduction day. My next opportunity to practice would be two days later. I internalized their instructions and watched more videos of people doing backflips. The next time I had practice, my coaches and I reviewed the drills completed last class and moved forward to the next step – doing the backflip by myself on the angled mat – which I surprisingly completed. After we went to the floor, my coach spotted me doing a backflip and we progressed from there. After practicing a couple of more weeks, I completed the challenge by doing a backflip on the spring floor by myself and landing the trick.

For reference, it took a couple of months of learning and perseverance.

Now onto my second question: What are the steps to complete a backflip? I searched for some videos and found one that explained how to complete a backflip. Step 1: Make sure you jump high enough so that you won’t hurt your head and neck (this is important because without some height, you cannot complete this trick). You don’t need a high vertical jump but you do require enough power to throw your body up into the air. Step 2: You need to complete many tucks on the ground, just rolling to your back to get over the fear of going backwards and imagining what it would be like in the air. Step 3: After completing steps 1 & 2, put them together and try the backflip in the air, presumably a trampoline on your first attempts. Progress from a trampoline to mats, and when feeling comfortable on the mats and consistently landing them, further progress to just the floor where you apply everything learned. Step 4: GO FOR IT ON THE GROUND. DON’T THINK ABOUT ANYTHING; JUST DO IT!

Keshav Katkar, Class VI

Superbowl Sunday The crowd roars as the ball is snapped, The game of football has now begun, The players clash, their bodies wrapped, In battles fought beneath the blazing sun, The quarterback drops back to throw, His eyes scanning the field for a chance, A receiver streaks past his foe, The ball thrown with a flick of the wrist, The stadium shakes with every hit, As players collide with a force, Their helmets clashing, the sound of it, Echoing loud like a raging horse.

The running back charges through the line, Dodging and weaving with agility, His muscles bulging, his eyes shine, As he breaks free with great ability.

The clock ticks down, the tension high, As the game hangs in the balance, A field goal kick so high, soaring through the open sky, The defense charging with all their might, But the ball soars, already in flight, And boom that's the end of the Night.

James Ryckman, Class VII

“The Time Of The Dinosaurs” I entered the cave. It was cold, really cold. The walls dripped with water because there was a rain storm before. I was freezing. I found eggs in a nest, waiting. The smell was horrific, an overpowering stench. It was very acrid, burning my eyes so that they watered. It was only until a few hours later when I heard it. A thumping sound. The cave started to collapse. I panicked, and just when things couldn't get any worse, the eggs of the dinosaur started hatching.

As the cracking sound of the eggs opening rang in my ears, I couldn't help thinking what kind of dinosaur it would be. My name is Cory Jacobs, and I am an archeologist, meaning dinosaur fossils are something that I study. I wanted to take it a step further when my close friend and work colleague, Doctor Bane, created a time machine. This time machine allowed me to travel back in time to see real dinosaurs, so I did. Anyways, as the eggs opened, I found three baby tyrannosaurus rex waddling out of the eggs. One of their parents got back and roared in my ears.

I bolted out of the cave, but when I got to the end, it was blocked. I could smell the t-rex from where I was, the smell kept getting closer. I got lucky though, for I found an exit, but it was extremely claustrophobic and was a tunnel that went down using water. The tyrannosaurus rex had gotten to me, so I just went down. The water wasn't cleansed so the salt burned my eyes.

Besides that, everything was fine, until it happened. The drop, it was so dreadful that I believe the drop itself was scarier than the dinosaur I was running away from. I finally got down but was so shaken up by that drop that I waited for two minutes as I caught my breath. I said to myself , “I have to get back to the time machine.” I started off, trekking through countless mounds of sticky mud and dirt. The insects were much bigger back then, I thought. I encountered a snake that was extremely huge, called the Titanoboa. The one I encountered was just a baby, but back then, Titanoboa could be up to fifty feet long. I kept thinking about this as I went, until I realized I had finally made it to the time machine. The machine was only twenty feet away. I started running, but then I encountered something that chilled me to the bone. A pack of velociraptors charging at me. I knew I couldn't outrun them, but I foolishly tried to. I managed to find a hiding spot, but they had destroyed the time machine, which meant I was trapped in this time forever.

Zach Patel, Class VI

Acceptance

Emerging from the deep dark The barren wastelands The lifeless town Seeping into the light Slowing the burning Dimming the light The joy and excitement once there Disappearing, escaping to another land The parasite persists Slowly growing Consuming the bright Bringing the dark A beat starts to grow Accumulating speed Faster, faster faster The light is gone The night is here The fear, the pain, the beat Blocking out all senses Taking my final breath Allowing darkness to take over But, it remains where it is As if acceptance repels it Suddenly retreating back to its lifeless town Where it belongs

Charlie McLellan, Class VII

Otis Eastman, Class VII

The Day in the Deli It was a cold January day in rural New Jersey, and John was walking back from school.

He was thinking about all of the history, English, science, and math homework he was about to do when he got home. He was cold and walked into the local general store. Having been there often, he knew the shopkeeper, Adam, well. He had two kids and lived in the upstairs of the building. It was a cozy and family friendly shop. Not much happened there, but this one day was different. As he walked to the back to get his favorite bag of Doritos and a Joe’s Lemonade, he noticed he was the only customer in the store and could tell something was off.

While in the back by the fridges, he heard someone walk in and yell, “Hand over the money! I have a gun!” John instinctively hid behind the shelves of bread, where there was an opening for him to look through. He saw a man wearing a ski mask, gloves, a parka and shorts.

John noticed he had a tattoo of a surfboard on his left calf. John heard the sound of a gunshot and saw someone quickly open the cash register, steal the money, and leave in a red G.M.C. with California plates.

Once the car had left, John ran to the cash register and saw two things: all the money had been stolen, and Adam was in critical condition. He grabbed the landline adjacent to the cash register and quickly dialed 911. He informed them of the situation and in minutes they were there. They checked for security cameras but found none, and then discovered that their only witness was John, an 11-year-old boy with shaggy hair and no phone to contact his mother.

A few days passed, and John’s mother got a call from the police. They were asking for John because they had realized that he was the only chance they had of finding the criminal. John went to the police station and was questioned by them. He told them everything he knew.

After a few weeks with still no result, John checked on Adam in the hospital and saw that he was doing better. While on his way back home with his mom, John saw a man stepping out of a red G.M.C. He looked an awful lot like the one who was in that store that one day, so he asked his mom to call the police and have them meet them here at 22 Main Street. They arrived shortly after his mom called and caught the man with the surfboard tattoo.

Harley Frelinghuysen, Class VI

Magic: The Gathering Mountains are red Islands are blue If you play me in magic I will destroy you You played your tarmogoyf Mana cost two Prismatic ending Your game plan, unglued The game’s going on Without further ado Glistener elf Don’t let it get through Twas your only tarmo So in its lieu You played your death’s shadow To make me lose too But luckily for me You don’t have a clue What the card says Big hullabaloo For your life points It loses value It is a zero zero Oh no boohoo Groundswell, scale up Ten poison, you lose Now we shuffle our decks To start another game anew Alex Harwich, Class VII

An Interesting Day of Skiing In 2017, on a cold winter day of skiing in Big Sky, after ski school, my life changed. That morning, I was eating breakfast and getting dressed for ski school. At that time, I was six years old. Then, at 9:30, I joined my group class, and we took a chairlift up to one of the smaller mountains for the day. We worked on turning, stopping, and similar basic skills in skiing. After a few hours, we stopped at the mountain cafe/restaurant for some lunch. After devouring a burger, some fries, and slurping down a Coke, we hit the slopes once again, now working on some harder terrain. We also went into some glades, dodging trees, with our adrenaline pumping. That day, ski school was awesome. I made new friends but also improved and had fun skiing. After my dad picked me up at around 3 p.m., we wanted to get a few more runs in because the mountain closed at 4 p.m. We got on the same ski lift that I got on in the morning. I couldn’t wait because I really enjoyed the variety of trails on that part of the Big Sky Ski Mountain. I wanted to show my dad what I learned that day and some new skills that helped stay more balanced. The only problem was, I was exhausted, and the mountain was much colder and a bit more icier.

After we got off the lift, my dad and I got ready and we started to head down the slope. At this time, there were still many skiers. Toward the middle of the trail, my dad wanted to get a picture of me skiing, so he skied down further, and when it was time, told me to come down. I could barely see him because he had taken a corner down the trail. I shifted my weight to the front of my skis for some momentum and started down the short hill. When I turned around the corner, I saw something that scared me. I still saw my dad, but he was right next to a metal fence! For some reason, the mountain had put a metal fence in the middle of a ski run with a small opening to ski through for some reason – so inconsiderate of any beginner skier who is still working on how to stop! Well, I didn’t want to crash into the fence because I was rapidly nearing my dad, so I veered to my left and crashed into a tree. The weird thing was, I didn’t feel any pain at that moment and I was just sort of lying against the tree and crying. I was incredibly lucky because

one of the low tree branches could have impaled me. My dad quickly made his way up the hill and called ski patrol. The next thing that happened was sort of a blur. Ski patrol arrived in a snowmobile pulling a long sled and loaded me into it. Getting pulled on a sled was actually sort of fun but whenever it went too fast I was in pain. I went to the hospital in an ambulance and returned home the next day in a cast. I couldn’t go to school for three months, which was a bummer because I had missed my friends, but when I returned to school, I was in a wheelchair, which was fun to drive. After another two months, I got out of my cast and wheelchair and started walking, without a cast.

Charles Jia, Class VI

Luca Walter, Class VIII

The Plod

The early sun shines over the white caps on the Rhode island coast

As I saw a bodiless figure slowly Creep up to my door I knew it was coming;

It sauntered Slow, Then fast And faster

The plod Scared the birds Scared the very grass on the fields

It came without fright With kin around I knew;

I crawled the hall Walked down the street To live alone

At peace with the world Without fear of what Was at the door

Alec DeFusco, Class VII

Jake Paduano, Class VI

The Long Cave Words are like a long cave, when you try to go a more cruel way with your words you get rejected by the cave walls, but if you find a more kind way with them you can keep on going into the long cave.

You keep on going on with your life until you're really deep into the cave and say something mean to another person, now you can't go back, you're already too far into the long cave.

The walls heard you say that mean thing and now are saying”Go back!”, but you’re too far into the long cave.

Now the words are being told to everyone, the caves are now bouncing the words back and forth until everyone knows what you did, now you try to get out of the cave, you're running as fast as you can.

Finally you see light, you get out of the angry cave, but everyone already knows, you can’t go back now.

Gardner Perkin, Class VI

A Message From the Pineapple Republic

My name is Royal McDarryl, and I am a representative of the Pineapple Republic in 2073. The Pineapple Republic, based in Los Angeles, is a movement for less pineapple waste in the Pacific Ocean. Pineapple waste started appearing in the ocean about 15 years ago when Whole Foods made a deal that if you bought 10 pineapples, you would get 2 for free.

Surprisingly, many people took up this deal; many other stores saw an opportunity and started offering cheap pineapple deals, too. By now, everyone had too many pineapples and started throwing them away by the dozen. Since the waste management in Los Angeles has gone downhill in the past few years, too many pineapples have been ending up in the ocean. This is a big problem because many native fish like tuna can die if they consume too much pineapple.

Also many pineapples have been appearing on the shore and driving away tourists who would usually love to swim in the ocean; it has in total brought down tourist rates 73%, crashed Los Angeles’s economy, and is turning many people to live on the streets – not to mention that all of Los Angeles is starting to smell like pineapples. If stores don’t stop selling and people don’t stop buying pineapples, we could have a worldwide crisis on our hands. You see, if there is too much pineapple in the ocean it will kill off the fish, which will give fishers nothing to catch, restaurants nothing to sell, and people nothing to buy. As you can see, this could be a major problem. Our first way of solving this is upgrading the waste management in Los Angeles so that the pineapples never end up in the ocean. Our second option is never buying these pineapples in the first place. If you are reading this, next time you go out to buy twelve or so pineapples, consider, “Am I really going to need these” and “Where will my leftovers go?” If you fall into the category of 99% of people who don’t need twelve pineapples, don’t buy them in the first place.

Finally, I would like to ask these stores who are selling these deals, “Is this really necessary?” and “Think about where all this waste is going?” I have said what I have wanted to say, and if you would like to, we at Pineapple Republic can always use your support.

Thanks, Royal McDarryl

Will Howard, Class VI

The Life of a White Oak Tree I am 300 years old and was born and raised in the Canadian province of Ontario. I live with my family and friends in a lush evergreen forest. My body is gray and my hair is a multicolored shade of green which reflects the glistening sun. My arms are modestly stout and mostly hairless. During certain times of the year, my arms grow with flowers that make me look extraordinarily beautiful. Each day, I am surrounded by chirping birds, agile deer, and bears with strength beyond many of their fellow creatures in the forest.

One day, a group of people came to my forest home and with a small lightweight chainsaw, so deceivingly powerful and horribly noisy, cut down one of my dearest friends. The workers also came with lots of heavy machines. We all shared feelings of fear and worry about the forest. Every week thereafter, someone else got cut down and taken away. One rainy, stormy day the team of men arrived as the sun just started to appear in the sky and took my younger brother, leaving my family and I heartbroken with our loss. I could not take it any more. Finally, the day came when it was my turn to be taken away. The razor-like blades of the chainsaw drilled through my body, and I was loaded onto a flatbed truck. I was scared of what was going to happen to me, and I didn't know where we were headed. I arrived at a large factory, where I saw many trees similar to myself. My legs and arms were cut off, and my body was trimmed down.

Then I was power washed, my holes were filled, and I was sanded down until my skin was silky smooth. Lastly, I was sprayed a different color and was given two strong, thick, sculpted legs. I liked myself. I was lighter and felt more free. Eventually, I was brought to dry in a drying room.

A week later, it was my turn to leave , and I was loaded into a moving truck. We traveled for sixteen hours before arriving at a place surrounded by tall buildings and crowds of people. I had never been anywhere like this before. At one of the large buildings, I was carefully unloaded from the truck and gently brought inside to a huge moving machine. With a click of a button, we were rising up to the skies. Then I was placed in a cozy room surrounded by new friends, from many different forests, until the day came for me to be sold to a family with two children and the most friendly dog.

Every day, at set times, the family gathered around me and placed food and drinks on top of me. I was used as a workstation supporting computers, laptops and iPads throughout the day.

Other times, they sat around me and just talked and talked and talked. There was a mom, dad, and two children. They also had a little dog who laid underneath me, all day long, and kept me company. Although I missed my family in the forest, this new life was exciting, and the people whose home I shared made me happy in many different ways. I marveled at my good fortune of being invited into their home, sharing their space, and being treated kindly and also well cared for.

Tyler Mayer, Class VI

“A lost battle” World collapsed into doom The survivors hoping to see the next day Vegetation refusing to bloom The warm months always on delay

Every being stripped of their pride Environments once beautiful now plagued with heat Whenever they think their minds are filled with genocide Every mind filled with anxiety of defeat

Past events sending everyone to their tomb The sky always gray Fields unable to produce even a single legume Survivors still struggle to find their way

All remaining cattle stripped of their hyde Surviving in this time is no easy feat Major powers used their privilege and became allied Supplies running low forcing family and companions to compete

All hope fades while a hero urns to escape his mothers womb The boy will arise soon turning predator to prey Predator and prey waiting to collide Alone stand his followers hoping that history does not repeat.

Jack Hiscoe, Class IX

“Through the Dangerous Skies” My name is Matthew Fergurson, and I am a Canadian fighter pilot based in Ottawa. I fly NATO British Typhoon Eurofighters. I am 25 years old and completed my flight training one year ago. I am in Canada’s top 50 pilots in the Navy category, and I am only improving. I had no engagement in dogfighting until my situation earlier this month.

As I started my daily routine on July 25, 2024, I was talking to my fellow pilots, and we heard an irritating ringing noise that sounded close to us. We blew it off, believing that it was a test at the nearby naval training camp. Surprisingly, the alarms sounded off, and dozens of Russian 5th generation Sukhoi Su-57’s hurtled past the base. We realized that this was not a drill, and we all rushed to our fighters. We scrambled and rushed through our flight safety protocols and taxied to the runway as fast as possible. Our 56 Typhoon fighters were no match for their nearly 100 fighters. As I looked left and right through my visors, I saw explosions and not on our side. We were true underdogs in this battle. With lessening hope, I persevered, shooting down three enemy fighters. Our fleet was hurt, losing nearly one third of our fleet as they were shot down, so we retreated to the Montreal base, hoping the Russian jets would not pursue us. We barely made it to the base and warned the other pilots there of what had happened. We all swiftly but carefully refueled, completed our safety protocols, and were waiting on the tarmac for the jets to swoop by. We saw them on our radars and immediately departed one by one until everybody was airborne. We now had about 70 fighters compared to their 50. We circled behind them, getting out of their radar space, and ambushed the fighters, which we watched crumble and detonate. Our ambush was successful and against all odds survived their surprise attack.

All of the surviving pilots received medals for our efforts against the ambush. After this event, I withdrew from the navy wanting to pursue another job.

Dax Keller, Class VI

The Bigger Picture

Grab your camera and focus your lens Don't miss a single image.

The shutter speed needs adjustment, When life and images are moving too fast.

The aperture is turned up, Shutting out the light and laughter.

Suddenly the flood lights are on Your flash relighting your photo like a candle.

The camera is your heart It beats in your hands.

Light pulses through it As fast as lightning.

But you have only fought half the battle The grenade has been thrown: your photo was hit by Color, Filters, Tone.

You have developed your appreciation, The bigger picture.

Oscar Paduano, Class VIII