Creator's Collective 2018-19

E CR A RA O T T RS' S' CO 0LL E I ECT TI E VE V 2018-2019

FDR MS

Creators’ Collective Showcasing the best Middle School creations of 2018-2019.

Heal .

Dakota Arnold Grade 8

Digital Drawing

I'm inspired by lots of things. Movies, television shows, books, songs, other art pieces, and even real situations. My motivations are mostly to improve, but to also allow me to express myself in ways that I understand. I make my art with my Wacom tablet mostly, but I also draw in sketch pads and notebooks with pens, pencils, pencil crayons, and markers in my self-taught cartoonish/semi-realistic style. Art really holds a soft spot in my heart, to be honest. I use it to help deal with my anxiety, and to "heal" myself (hence the title). This piece speciďŹ cally is about a character from a show that I can really connect with and can see myself in. They struggle and want to heal.

Monsters .

Miguel Yuren

Grade 6 Marker

I drew this drawing because I like to create monsters and creatures and drawing is the way I translate them from my head to real life. Also, I always had liked prehistoric animals and I love drawing the dierent animals from the past now.

Beginner’s Luck .

Henry Fowler Grade 8

Short Story Jeremy violently tapped his remote control. As a teenager on the weekend, he was looking forward to playing video games for two days straight.

With his eyes glued to the screen, he hardly noticed his younger sister walk into the room.

“What are you playing?” she asked in her high-pitched voice.

“Mario Kart 2048,” he replied with a heavy, deep intent to get her out of the room, but unfortunately for Jeremy, it went over her head.

“Can I play too?” she asked, clearly showing she wouldn’t take no for an answer. He rolled his eyes and scooted over, just a slight scooch. She happily sat down. “How do you play?” she asked with curiosity.

“It is a little complicated, but this lever moves the cart forward, and this one steers, these buttons let you shoot the purple turtle shells, and these give you speed.” His sister nodded.

“Okay, I would like to play.”

A few minutes later, she finished her first race. “2nd place, not too shabby!” Jeremy said.

“Thanks, can I race you?” she asked.

Jeremy laughed. “Okay, but don’t be sad if I win!”

She snickered something awful, and they played.

A few minutes later, she finished her second race. “Unbelievable!” Jeremy said, his voice rising. “You never played this in your entire life, and you crush me on your first try!”

“Beginner's luck,” she replied as she turned, and tucked a cheat sheet underneath her chair.

Later, Jeremy was up in the middle of the night writing in his journal because he didn’t care. “From that moment on,” he wrote, ”I knew I would never smile again.”

Optical Art .

Marcos Carhuallanqui, Celine Hoyle, Kristel Tapia

Grade 7 & 8 Essay

Optical art is the saying used to describe a certain painting or sculpture which vibrates and creates movement resulting in optical illusions. Op Art is a form of abstract art, it is most closely connected to The Kinetic and Constructivist Art movements. It creates optical illusions that were extremely popular in the late 1960’s. Most of these paintings and sculptors are black and white but as the time progressed artists became more creative and started expanding their ideas to primary colors and finally all colors were used in the making of Optical Art. Victor Vasarely is known as “The Father of Op-Art”. He invented Op art in the 1960’s. Victor was born in Pécs, Hungary at the time of 1906 on April 9. Victor died in Paris, France at the time of 1997 on March 15 because of an unfortunate diagnosis of prostate cancer. According to Vertu Fine Art, “Vasarely spent his youth in Hungary before moving to France, where he spent most of his career as an artist. Early in life, Vasarely’s interests leaned toward the sciences. The artist chose Medical Studies as his focus prior to his making the decision to pursue art. Indeed, the works of Victor Vasarely demonstrate the intertwined nature of the artist, intriguing us because they are indeed the merging of science and art − providing the kinetic motion within the work.”

Victor started creating Op-Art in France in 1950’s, but became very popular in the 60’s.

Even though Victor Vasarely will always be known as the Father of Op-Art there were other people who were also interested in expanding the Op-Art to not only black and white but also different colors. Beginning in 1965 Bridget Riley began to produce color-based op art, however other artists, such as Julian Stanczak and Richard Anuszkiewicz were always interested in making color in Op-Art the primary focus. Of course France will always be Op-Art’s origin but there are other places in the world were parts of Op-art have started like for example: Bridget Riley began color-based Op-Art in the United Kingdom but more specifically, London.

The geometric forms cause the audience to have optical illusions when they change their view perspective. According to Visual Art Cork, “Op art exploits the functional relationship between the eye's retina (the organ that "sees" patterns) and the brain (the organ that interprets patterns). Certain patterns cause confusion between these two organs, resulting in the perception of irrational optical effects.”

In other words, this painting or drawings makes the receivers (audiens) get confuse in how they eyes and brain work together, creating a Optical illusion. He starts the Op-Art style because he wants to create a confusion in people without using words, so he starts to use vibrants colors and confusing figures in different other with patterns, all of this works efficiently for confuse his audience and creates what we call “Optical Illusions”

Gun Violence in the United States Maria Calle Grade 8

Negotiation Letter

The United States Senator, Debra Fischer 454 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 March 17, 2019 Dear Mrs. Debra Fischer: One hundred of your constituents are killed with guns and hundreds more are shot and injured; two-thirds are suicides and one-third are homicides (“Gun Violence in America”). Imagine if there were stricter gun control laws in the United States. How many deaths could have been prevented by establishing these laws? How many deaths could these laws prevent in the future?

Gun control is any legal measure that is intended to restrict or prevent the possession of guns, primarily firearms. The problem is that in the United States there are not many gun control restrictions due to the 2nd Amendment which “guarantees” the right of every American citizen to carry and bear firearms (Schuster). One of the common problems that has arisen due to weak gun control laws is school shootings; there have been 288 school shootings in the United States since 2009 (Grabow; Rose). The most common reason why guns fall into the wrong hands is because not every person needs a ‘Federal Firearms License,’ which means that not every person goes through a background check. In other words, the government does not review all buyers for prior convictions and other "red flags." Some examples of loopholes to avoid background checks include selling a gun from a home, online, at a flea market, or at a gun show.

A 2017 collaborative survey done by Harvard and Northeastern Universities estimates that roughly one in five gun purchase transactions occurs without a background check. If 20% of gun owners do not go through a background check when purchasing or owning a gun, who knows whose hands these guns are falling into. It could be anyone.

The United States must create a law that requires every individual to undergo a background check when purchasing or owning a gun, with no exceptions or loopholes. Each individual should be required to then obtain a Federal Firearms License which includes a background check. Although many gun owners do have a Federal Firearms License, it is not yet a mandated federal law. I recommend making this license obligatory for all gun owners by 2023. This law would eliminate current loopholes that allow individuals to buy guns without background checks.

40,000 people died from gun violence in 2017 according to the Center for Disease Control’s electronic database. More school shootings have occurred in the past 18 years than in the entire 20th century (“Rapid Rise in Mass School Shootings in the United States”). Easy access to owning a gun and few restrictions cause catastrophic events such as these more often. Furthermore, gun suicide is concentrated in states with high rates of gun ownership (“Gun Violence in America”). Above all, these problems are arising because of the inadequate gun control laws in the United States, yet the government is not doing anything about it. By having every single individual that purchases or owns a gun go through a background check and get a Federal Firearms License, we can prevent problems like school shootings, and suicides from even happening. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

Enough is enough; we cannot let our ignorance kill innocent people including children; it is time for that change, and it needs to happen now.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely, Maria Calle 8th-grade student at Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The Jacobson Fiasco .

Gioia Pinasco Grade 6

Short Story The fiery rays of the sun were all around me, I had to keep walking, keep up with my friends, I did not want to be late for soccer practice. We had 15 minutes to get there and I wasn't sure if we would make it in time.

I saw my 2nd-grade teacher next to me and went to say hi. My friends Triana and Danika were ahead of me and Andrea was right beside me, amazingly still cool and without a hair out of place, she was nice. Even though I did not know her well, she was friendly. I remember Danika was sweating like a pig and Triana was panting as if she'd just run a mile.

Triana and Danika had come up with this imaginary ghost person named Gini, who was lodged between their arms. When someone passed their arm through them, Triana would shout: “Noooo, you are hurting Gini!”

And Danika would say, “Ohh are you okay Gini?”, as if Gini could answer.

We were walking past the commons hallway into the high school lockers when Danika says, “Hay que decirle a todos que saluden a Gini” (Let's tell everyone to say hi to Gini).

Triana, being the follower, said, “yaaaaa” (okkkkk).

Andrea and I followed reluctantly.

"Qué miedo cruzarnos con Dr. Jacobson (It would be so scary to run into Dr.Jacobson).

“Seria demasiado raro”, I exclaimed anxiously.

"Imagine that he gets irritated because of us being here and he yells at us” (imagínate que se moleste y nos grite por estar aquí).

I could tell that Andrea was thinking the exact same thing, she had an odd look on her face, a grimace with a tinge of anger and nervousness.

Danika spotted him first. Dr. Kerry Jacobson was walking towards us in the hallway, although he had not seen us yet, I knew what was about to come.

“Dr. Jacobson, Dr. Jacobson!!” she said excitedly “Hey, Girls” “Hey, Dr. Jacobson, do you want to meet Gini?”

“Sure”, he replied (I am warning you that the next part is hilarious, be careful) Dr. Jacobson passed his hand right in between Triana and Danika. I burst out laughing, even though I was watching a safe distance away, I could still tell that Danika and Triana were grinning broadly trying hard not to snicker. Dr. Jacobson was red all over his face and he had a startled look, almost as if someone had scared him.

“No, no, you are hurting Gini, STOP!!!!, Oh my God Gini are you ok?” Those words came out of Triana´s and Danika´s mouth faster than a car speeding on the highway.

“Oh, I´m sooooo sorry girls,” “It´s ok Dr. Jacobson”, Triana answered, flustered and red all over her face.

I could not make out the words but the scene that played in front of my eyes was so funny that it made me want to lay down on the floor and laugh so hard.

Danika sputtered then let out a sorry excuse for a laugh; a few minutes later Triana started giggling, being followed by Danika, and a little while afterward when Mr. Jacobson´s shock wore off he started laughing too, big bold laughs as if Danika and Triana had known him forever. Pretty soon the whole scene began to dissolve into small giggles that ended up in what we may call a mouse´s laughter, not even an ant could hear it.

“Well girls, it was nice to meet Gini,” Mr. Jacobson said trying hard not to chuckle.

“Yes,” Triana and Danika said in unison.

They ran back to where Andrea and I were standing, still laughing our hearts out.

Andrea looked at the time - we were late for class! We ran so hard it was like a mad dog was chasing us when we got to soccer, our coach was already wondering where we were.

“It was a long story,” we stated, as soon as those words left our mouths, we all let out a long continuous sigh and ran onto the field.

Before this incident, I used to think that teachers and administrators were unapproachable people, people I had to be shy around and would punish me for making a mistake. Boy, was I wrong! Teachers and principals help us learn from our mistakes, help us improve. After this event and realizing Dr. Jacobson is just a regular human being, I can now talk to them without speaking in a small voice. I can freely comment and chuckle with them about things we share.

Welcome to Fred Bear’s Dinner .

Stanley Dierkes Grade 6

Digital Drawing This is Spring Bonnie. He is one of my many (oh and I mean many) drawing pieces. I am inspired to draw things like this because Scott Cawthon ( the creator of the character I drew and the game Five Nights At Freddy's) made him from scratch and drew the entire game, and that really inspired me to draw one of his creations to tell everyone that he is one of the greatest game creators out there. It inspired me to do what he did - never give up. To me, art means taking something and putting it on paper or the computer. It helps people express themselves and to calm themselves down. Art means drawing something that is you, and you like that drawing because you put effort into it and that's what it is, loving what you make, even if it's not right.

Identity .

Ariela Alperstein Grade 7 Poem

Let them be as red, fierce, aggressive, always speaking their thoughts, but bound by their anger.

I’d rather be light gray, calming and soothing, representing sophistication.

To not be stressed and ferocious, to be calm and quiet, while analyzing my surroundings.

To always have an idea and a strategy.

To not be swayed by the intonation of the other colors.

I’d rather be calm and if then ignored by everyone, than to be a fierce color red, used for things harsh and scary, like panic and fire, stop signs and blood.

I’d rather be a bland color than a color that hurts your eyes.

If I could be myself and not stiff like clay, I’d rather be a light grey.

Imagine, try to imagine, for now, do this: close your eyes and think, dream, you have the opportunity to open your mind and feel comfortable.

Imagine a greener, healthier, more serene world; think about the people who go to work without being trapped in traffic, without getting angry with other people, parents who are walking to school to accompany their children.

Try to dream of a more colorful, less gray, and more free city.

Free from these monsters, Monsters controlled by us, Monsters that we buy, that we want and desire.

Dream about a city without cars, try it, it is not easy, it will seem like a bare city, a blue sky without big black clouds.

I want to start blow away these clouds and start seeing the sun, I want to create a real change, I want to improve our world And our children’s world.

Perhaps I, too, am dreaming, perhaps, because instead, I believe not.

I believe that cities must be freed from this weight, they deserve it, they are our home, a fixed abode where we live.

Let’s free the cities from cars, we can do it, we go by bike or any other way that will help us all feel better.

So, let’s help ourselves, if we can imagine so perfectly, specifically, in detail, we will also be able to reflect our imagination in our world.

Desires can become reality so many people and things in our lives had tried to explain and teach it to us.

The time has come to apply this lesson in our lives, let us commit ourselves to achieve what we want, let us do it, we can all do it together we must do it with respect for the future of the planet, for who will come afterward, who will imagine, they will, they surely will think about how the world of our day was.

We can realize our dream, let’s work to make it real.

Imagine .

Nicolò Camagni

Grade 8 Poem

Seeking a Solution for Animal Testing Camille Forsyth Grade 8 Op-ed

“If you call it medical research, you can get away with murder” - PETA. Each year, more than 100 million innocent animals are being tested and suffering. Do you think that this truly advances medical research? Do you think they enjoy the tests? Animal testing is a practice that consists of scientific tests in which animals are obligated to undergo. This can make the animal suffer, get distressed, feel pain, and can even lead to death. Animals testing is used for various reasons such as testing beauty products, medications, or pesticides, as well as scientific research. These tests are not for the well-being of the animals; on the contrary, participation in these tests is involuntary and painful for these animals. Although some people think experimenting on animals benefits the well-being of humans, other people believe that testing is unethical and that animals should have rights just like humans do. Animal testing or experimentation should be illegal because there are superior alternative testing methods and medical trials conducted on animals do not ensure drug safety on humans.

There are more effective testing methods to replace experimentation on animals.

These alternatives give us better results and they are also less expensive. For example, in vitro testing, or studying cell cultures in a petri dish, can give us better and more accurate results ("Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?"). According to the article, “Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?” another testing method is microdosing; this consists of placing small doses of drugs in the blood. This could be done with human volunteers and their blood could be analyzed after the dosing.

Additionally, this article states, “Artificial human skin, such as the commercially available products EpiDerm and ThinCert, is made from sheets of human skin cells grown in test tubes or plastic wells and can produce more useful results than testing chemicals on animal skin.” Animal testing alternatives are also less expensive in all the scenarios studied.

A company, Empiriko, made synthetic livers which can be tested on to predict the liver's metabolic reactions to drugs. This test is quicker, gives more accurate results, and is cheaper. It would have required testing in 1,000 rats and in 100 dogs to get the same results ("Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?"). This clearly states that animal testing is outdated, and there are other experiments that can be conducted that can guarantee better results for human use. We can see that nowadays there are cruelty-free alternatives and that they can work even better. In addition, we can see that the alternatives can also be less expensive so animal testing an obsolete method.

Another reason why animal testing should be illegal is because drug testing done on animals does not necessarily guarantee safe use on humans. We can see this in the Thalidomide crisis. This drug was tested on mice and they found that only if the animal consumed too much of the drug the offspring would have some kind of malformation or defect. They released this drug, and it caused 10,000 babies to be born with some kind of defect. This is one of the many experiments that passed experimentation on animals and were not safe for humans. According to “Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?” animal tests on the arthritis drug Vioxx showed that it had a positive effect on the hearts of mice when tested. The drug went public, and it caused more than 27,000 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths before being pulled from the market. This clearly shows that animal testing is unreliable and that testing on animals from another species can get different results. Animals are different than humans and have different

systems. If we know that they are different from us, and that they are suffering, why haven't we humans stood up for them and demanded a change in this policy?

On the other hand, there are many people that argue against making animal testing illegal. They say say that animal testing should be done because they can ensure product safety for cosmetics and household items. For example, American women use many personal care products every day so for the products to be safe is crucial. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends animal testing to ensure the safety of the product or ingredient ("Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?"). However, animal testing is not the only way to ensure safety of personal care products. There are other alternatives on animal testing and in some places, animal testing in not done on these types of products. For example, in the United Kingdom, animal testing specifically for cosmetics is banned. They banned animal-tested cosmetics and ingredients used for vanity products. The United Kingdom implemented this law in 1993, but the full ban and effect took place in 2013 (“Understanding animal Research”). This example shows that there are other places in the world that are not using animal testing to prove safety and there have been no large-scale disasters (“Understanding Animal Research”). The United Kingdom has spoken and has taken a significant step toward advocating for animal rights.

They have spoken for the suffering animals who cannot, and worldwide, we need to use our voice and influence to do the same.

Once again, it is imperative that animal testing needs to be made illegal. This will allow us to have better results by using alternative testing methods. Furthermore, making animal experimentation illegal will guarantee us better and safer products for us to use. This ban will not only be helping us, but it will be helping these innocent animals that are needlessly tested. Until this law changes and people become more educated about this issue, you, as a consumer, can buy cruelty-free products. These animals do not have a voice, but we as humans have a choice in what products we buy and what policies we support.

The Hate U Give .

Claire Ferry Grade 8

Colored Pencil

This is a visual representation of the novel The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. All of the images and quotes are from the novel.

The Safe House .

Davia Hoover Grade 7

Short Story It was just a normal day, or so I thought.

I woke up to the smell of fresh eggs for breakfast and my family watching TV. But all of a sudden, out of the blue, the power went out and the sirens went off. We lived in an apartment complex at the time, so we went down the stairs to try to find anyone else in the building.

Everyone was gathered on the Great Lawn. We discussed the plan to get out of the city as fast as we could. We knew something was wrong, very wrong.

Everyone hurried to their cars, but suddenly one fell dead, then another, then more, until there was only me. Me, Noah, Ashley, and Gabe are the only people left.

We all huddled in the corner by the cars, we didn't know what had just happened, but we must get out of the city.

We took my dad's truck because it was the most armed and it would get us the farthest. As we drove out of our apartment complex we noticed that everyone was dead except for us. We don't know how we survived whatever just happened, but we do know that we need to find out what happened.

We went to the nearest market and loaded up on canned food and water and some blankets to keep us warm. But all the while we were doing this we were puzzled as to why we're the only ones alive.

We were on our way out of town, a car pulled up right in front of us and stopped us. We were very confused at the moment, we knew it could either be good or very bad.

They got out of the car, and told us to get out of our car, I said we should not listen to them but the others disagreed and got out.

They told us to come with them they had a safe house that we could go to, it seemed pretty sketchy but the others wanted to go. So I made a deal with the mysterious people that anytime we were free to leave and we could have our weapons on us at all times. I knew I might regret this decision but it either could be for the worst for the best.

We got to their safe house and there were many other people there as well, some were children and some were adults, but they had somehow all survived this mysterious situation.

Finally, the people from the car had introduced who they were. They were government agents trying to collect all the people who had survived, whatever we had survived. They told us not to worry that we were safe, but I do not believe one word. Something was fishy I could see it in their eyes the way they acted the way they talked like they were planning something bad. And boy was I right.

The next thing they had us do was all get in a line so that they could inject us with a “chip” so they could track us and make sure we did not get lost or hurt. This seemed very odd to me, I did not like it one bit at first I refused to have them inject me but then Noah convince me to. He told me it was for the better, but something was still not right.

Me, Noah, Ashlee, and Gabe, all met up at the cafeteria that next morning. The government people had given us rooms to stay in that were actually quite nice and they gave us good food and water - even games and activities we could enjoy when we were in there safe house, but something seemed like they were just playing an act, just try to act nice just to get us to trust them. I knew one day they would strike, take us down one by one, when we were least expecting it. Everyone told me I was crazy, but I ignored them. I knew in the back of my mind that this was not right.

The next few days were pretty normal and cool. But then one day they asked for a volunteer, someone named Luke, raised his hand. The people in charged told him to follow them.

I followed them and saw the officials inject him with a serum, or so I thought. They opened up the big gates and giant guard door and put him outside and closed it right after and left him stranded.

I saw them watching from the cameras in the control room, Luke almost looked like he was suffocating - red hives appeared on him and he started to fall to the ground. The people in the control room started shaking their heads and saying I knew this one would work.

The one scientist standing next to him, said, “Should we bring him in, or let him die?” The one in charge said to let him die. We don't need him, we've got others.

From this moment on I kept on high alert. I didn't know when they would strike next or if one of my friends would be the ones to go, but I knew this wasn't the end and I would have to fight if I wanted to see freedom beyond the door without them controlling me. I would have to work hard to make sure I wasn't next.

The End.

Spot 114, G Sector, Juno Beach .

Lucas Allan Grade 7

Short Story In honor of the canadians who gave their life on Juno beach to fight back the tyranny of Nazi Germany.

Splash! Boom! The shells hit the water, exploding with such a crash. They cause the landing craft to rock dangerously back and forth.

“Its okay men! Just hold it together till we get to the beach!” The lieutenant yells.

The shells get more frequent, and they start getting closer. All of a sudden, a massive explosion happens of the left side. I look over the side of the craft, and right to our port, the next landing craft is in flames.

I see a guy jump off covered in flames. He screams for his mom. A smell of burnt flesh comes over us. I was not the only one who saw this.

A man next to me throws up all over the people next to him. This causes a chain reaction throughout the craft, and soon barf is all over. Even the lieutenant carries and expression of worry on his face. Not very reassuring, I thought.

“Where are the bombers and navy guns?” Aren’t they supposed to be shellin the hell out of these krauts?” I yelled.

“Don’t know, guess they never showed up. The german AA might’ve been too much for them.” My friend Dave yelled back.

I shuddered. Cold water was splashing over, and I was freezing. I looked down at my hands, and they were shaking. I was chattering. And then I heard it.

A loud sound filled the air, as bullets rained down on us. They were spraying our craft super hard, and some of the bullets pierced the armour, and richotched off the sides, some of them flying into men. There were a few screams, and Doc got out his med kit.

As we crested a wave and splashed back down, our bodies were exposed to the machine gun fire. We saw it coming at us, from the German bunkers.

The bullets flew into our vehicle, and there were bursts of blood everywhere. I magically didn’t get hit.

Men dropped to the floor, and Doc turned around to treat a man next to me, when a sniper bullet hit right between the eyes. A hole opened up on his face, and blood poured all over his face onto me and the ground, and he crumpled to the floor.

I ducked down to try and avoid the fire, and cowered behind my dead comrades.

Bullets were landing right next to me, but still none hit. The machine guns focused on another craft, and the remaining men took a breather.

I pulled out my water canteen, and splashed some of it on my mouth and body. My stomach was twisted in knots. I felt hot, and sticky.

“1 minute till arrival, get ready!” called the driver.

I looked around for the lieutenant to gives us orders. I found him dead on the ground.

The machine guns on our boat started firing, and sniper shots cracked through the air bearing down on us. The machine gunners were dead instantly.

The driver was cowering behind his wheel. “I’m lowering the ramp, give em hell!” the driver called. And with that, the ramp was lowered, and we could see the beach that would be all of our graves.

The first lines of men charged out, to meet unrelentless machine gun fire. They all got shot in the first few seconds, and blood splattered everywhere.

The few men left all shouted “oh hell no!” and jumped over the side into the water.

I followed. Bullets kept comin at me, even through the water. The men in the water with me gave silent screams as bullets tore through the water. The man next to me just had a sad expression, full of pain as bullets ripped at him.

Soon, the water turned red. I realized it wasn’t safe here, there was nowhere to hide, so I gathered my resolve, and charged out of the water onto the damn beach.

When I emerged, shells were exploding all around me. There were big crude metal x barriers, to stop our tanks. I took cover behind these, and slowly advanced on the beach.

Sometimes a shell exploded next to me, and the sand that flew in the air gave me cover to move into the crater left by the shell.

There were screams of pain and for home all around me. No one wanted to die on this god forsaken beach.

I remember our time on the transport ship. We joked around about the beach. No one would be joking after this.

I joined some men next to me, and we huddled by cover, slowly making ground.

A loud whistling sound filled the air, and a shell exploded right where we were. I was miraculously unharmed. But the men next to me were whimpering.

My buddy Joe was in the group. Where he was standing, I found a pile of flesh and guts, and severed legs. Blood and flesh were everywhere. The men around me were missing arms or legs. I was disgusted, and couldn’t bring myself to help them.

I was panting, and sweat was dripping all over me. I was in complete shock, but I had to keep moving. I thought about my wife and kids at home. I was doing this for them.

I steeled myself, and pushed onward. I spotted my friend Robert across the field. I moved toward him, calling at him. He didn’t answer, and I wondered if he couldn’t hear me.

When I got to him, his shirt was soaked in blood.

He said, “I never heard the bullet” then the life fades from his eyes.

I screamed no.

I wasn’t gonna let another one of my friends die. I ran to and fro from cover to cover, looking for my friends or any soldier in need. I didn’t find any so far. I was quivering with rage.

Some of our soldiers had gotten close to the seawall, and they blew it up.

I charged along with the rest of them, as bullets soared past our faces. Some men fell dead, but I didn’t. I knew, the only reason I was alive was because I had a mission to do.

I stormed the bunker with my fellow soldiers, and we just unleashed hell on the Germans, not taking our fingers off the trigger until they were all dead.

We stormed bunker after bunker.

In the meantime, I kept looking for injured soldiers in need of aid. I was charging into a bunker, when I saw Allan, locked in combat with a kraut.

I raised my gun, but I was too late, the kraut gutted him with a knife.

I shot the kraut, and ran to Allan.

He was gasping for air. “Don’t leave me, please” he whimpered.

“I ain’t gonna leave you, ya hear me? I got you!” I put on over my soldiers, and look for a field hospital.

I saw a red cross banner about 200 meters to my right. I sprinted in that direction.

There were Germans pouring out from the trenches all around me.

I pulled out my sidearm and gunned a few of them down. One threw a grenade, but I kicked it away.

I was now only 100 meters away from the first aid station. But then I tripped on a rock, and a German was bearing down on me.

But then he suddenly stopped, and red began to flow from him. Allan was holding up my sidearm.

“Thanks man” I said.

“Anytime” he grunted.

I then picked him back up and continued my sprint.

I finally made it to the first aid station just as the Germans were reaching me.

The troops stationed at the hospital gunned the krauts down.

I left Allan in the good care of the doctors. I went out across the battlefield, taking all the fighting in. I hopped in on a battle for a farmhouse.

A shot hit my leg and I collapsed.

I realized my mission was over, and my luck ran out. Bullets whistled around me. Men around me died. But I kept fighting.

Then I heard a loud boom, and a shell landed right on me.

It was a brilliant beautiful orange glow. So luminescent, yet so deadly.

And that was it.

Or so I thought.

I woke up in a field hospital, a week later. I thought about all the men that died on that beach. I still think about it today. I visit the beaches often now. But in that moment, I just rejoiced.

I survived the beaches. I was gonna see my wife and kids again.

Tiger Collage .

Natalie Moxey Grade 7

Magazine Paper Collage When my art teacher presented this project to the class, she told us to create a collage of anything. I decided to make a tiger because they are ďŹ erce, strong, and beautiful creatures that I think deserve more love than we give them. I believe that it is very wrong that people keep amazing animals like tigers in cages when they should be free in the wild. That is why I put plants in the background of my collage to symbolize the free forest. The process to make this collage involved many steps, because I had to sketch it, paint it, and then tear tiny pieces of magazine papers and glue them down, so they would form a tiger.

The Curse of the Emerald ruby .

Aiden Duncan Grade 7

Short Story Chapter 1: The fallen hero Ian Maciot woke up to another day of lung cancer. The tall blonde man with eyes as dark as a cave would be stricken down by the disease. This was not how Ian hoped to die.

He always had visions of himself dying in glory - a massive explosion while thrusting victims of an office fire of a huge corporation out of the fiery inferno.

The pain always went to his back and head. He took his pills and rolled onto his side.

His doctor said to not go to work for a few months and his boss understands it. His best friend since high school would be here soon with some breakfast.

Ever since he was diagnosed with lung cancer he had spent a lot of money on pain pills and treatments. You name it, Ian tried everything he could to live a normal life.

There was a loud bang on the door. "Knock knock Ian" a woman's voice called "I got you some bacon and eggs on a waffle from the Waffle Bistro." A blonde woman in her early 30's burst into the room in Old Navy jeans, a GAP T-shirt, and a Maroon 5 hoodie. It was Cait Jensen, archeologist and world-renowned historian. And If it wasn't for Cait, Ian would have given up by now; Ian didn't want to let her down. She was his best friend.

Cait's parents had died when she was in high school, at a Home Depot when terrorists cut their throats which had suffocated them and she had come to live with Ian. Terrorists were a common thing in the year 2031. Ian had been in his Junior year and so had she. He had seen her around school before but he had never really met her. So you could see the surprised look on his face when he had opened his front door on that day and she had been just sitting on the porch drowning herself in tears. He had helped her up and welcomed her to her new home, to her new life.

Now, she was like family to him. Probably because his whole family was dead, except for a 12-year-old cousin named Quinn Maciot. Cait was very wry too, but other than that, she was a loyal friend. Even more loyal than his firefighter buddies, and they were the ones who had saved his life at the cabin.

The cabin was where all of his family had died, all because of his half-brother Fore, who betrayed his family for his own personal gain. Fore was the one who placed the bombs in the cabin and he had set up the microwave to be the countdown timer and trigger. Ian and Quinn were on the patio playing games that day with Quinn's fake firefighter figurine when Ian had smelled the gunpowder and saw Fore running away.

As the microwave started to spark, Ian had grabbed Quinn and jumped into the lake!

Quinn had made it into the water but Ian got pummeled into the ground in mid-air by an oak tree that had caught on fire and had fell fast. Ian had seen his firefighter gear flying towards him and he had grabbed it with his free hand - he had reached inside and had slipped his mask on and he had pressed his FIRE- ALERT and had slipped out of consciousness. Fire alerts were given to everybody in case the firefighters couldn't find their location.

The next morning he had been awakened by Quinn and his fire department, and the next thing he knew he had been hoisted up out of the charred wood.

After that, he had chosen to become a firefighter along with his friend Brayden Mackenzie, a tall buff man with a low-shaved black beard and cloudy green eyes, a man who had died in a school fire 2 years after the incident, trying to protect a second-grade class. The class made it out, luckily, but dozens of others died as well. They had flown the flag at half-mast that day, for the fallen heroes and the brave students. Ian was sick that day and couldn't help out when he heard the news about Brayden, and he was crushed.

A loud slam brought Ian back to reality. "Earth to Ian, Earth to Ian". "Ian! This is important!".

"What's so important" Ian sighed.

"Quinn!" Cait exclaimed.

"Jesus, Quinn! This kid can't catch a break What's the deal with his foster family always pushing him around".

"They made him run away". Cait's face grew sorrowful. "What if they don't find him".

"Then we have to find him ourselves".

"And why don’t they have a missing person case? It's not like Quinn stole government property or ...".

Cait cut him off "He took a few guns and the prototype Nani-copter. " “How did he get his hands on all of that?" Ian put on his coat and shoved down the last of the bacon egg waffle. Then he grabbed his backpack with his firefighter kit inside and walked out the door.

To be continued…

Plastic Pollution .

Isabella Fabani

1st Verse: Sorry.

I’m Sorry for all this mess.

Everything that has been done well isn’t a bless.

We’ve polluted so much pretty much it has concluded marine life.

By 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Well, it is pretty selfish.

We produce this for economical benefit, but ends up killing lives. Did you hear? Are you now relieved?

Happy. It is very crappy.

People lose hope, well please stop.

Chorus: I guess everything is pretty destroyed.

Animals dying, climate change, pollution everywhere is all caused by plastic.

And listen, I’m not being sarcastic.

Look I just want you to keep in mind about all the multiple things you leave behind.

Everything has made the environment go wrong but still isn’t all gone.

2nd Verse: But wait there is still some hope.

If we get together to help this globe, I bet things will get better if we get all together.

This problem is everywhere even in your newsletter.

But let’s go to the point. You don’t need the unnecessary plastic.

You know they last for 1000 years until de biodegrade.

That takes too long to be man made.

Grade 8

Rap Lyrics

We are all part of the problem.

We need to take action and give more attraction.

This issue is real. Real, real real.

But us, are we real to our planet.

Chorus: I guess everything is pretty destroyed.

Animals dying, climate change, pollution everywhere is all caused by plastic.

And listen, I’m not being sarcastic.

Look I just want you to keep in mind about all the multiple things you leave behind. Everything has made the environment go wrong but still isn’t all gone.

Ending: But hey let's not feel sorrow.

It’s time to get to work about the tomorrow.

Because if we don’t work together to save the environment, we will be equally… extinct.